Friendship is Aura

Chapters

My Worried Watcher
Of Ponies and Pokemon
Ponyville! Gotta Meet 'em All!
A New Guardian Appears!
Fear and Blaming in Ponyville
Go Home and be an Iron Pony
Game of Faiths
Mission Impokeble
Fool's Struggle
A Temporary Calm
Determination of the Night
The Guardian's Resolve
Nightmares May Dream - Part 1
April Fools' Special - Lucario vs Meta Knight
Nightmares May Dream - Part 2
Nightmares May Dream - Part 3
April Fools' Special - Lucario vs Shadow Peach & Shadow Zelda
Equestria and the Mystery of New Arrivals
The Land Devoid of Life and Bonds

My Worried Watcher

”Girls, are you all right?! What the hay do you think you’re doing out here all on your own?! Apple Bloom, what were you thinking?! How many times do I and everypony else have to tell you about-”

Applejack predictably entered her scolding mode the second she caught up with the fillies. When she had arrived at the CMC-clubhouse, it was abandoned, and the three fillies’ saddlebags were missing. It didn’t take a genius of Twilight’s level to figure out where they had run off to after the explosion in the forest.

“Sis, stop it! We don’t have time for this right now. He needs our help!” Applejack was startled at being so suddenly interrupted by Apple Bloom in the middle of her sentence. She was about to give the younger filly another mouthful when she finally noticed the blue figure lying on the ground. Her eyes widened upon seeing the mysterious creature, even more so upon noticing the small puddle of blood that had formed under its body. She worked her mouth pointlessly trying to question the fillies about this, but was yet again interrupted, this time by Sweetie Belle.

“Please Miss Applejack! I know this is all weird and that he looks scary, but he just saved us from being eaten by a pack of timberwolves! If we don't get him to a hospital fast, he'll-”

“That... was... so... AWESOME!”

Sweetie Belle and the Apple sisters all jumped as Scootaloo finally spoke for the first time since the attack. Her eyes were sparkling out of excitement and admiration over what she had just witnessed.

“DID YOU GIRLS SEE THAT?! First it was like *ROAR*, and then it was like *POW*, and then it was like *GASP*, and then it was like 'Leave', and then it was- OH MY FAUST, HE WAS SO COOL!”

Despite having just been in a near-death situation, Scootaloo was skipping up and down around the motionless body, beating her small wings like a hummingbird as she let her inner fan girl out. Considering that the body in question was bleeding to death as she did so, the resulting scene was as equally disturbing as it was hilarious.

“Since when did you turn into Pinkie Pie?” Apple Bloom asked the pegasus, struggling somewhere on the line between smacking her friend over the head and bursting out laughing. “He isn’t going to be that awesome ever again if we let him die here!”

Applejack was still speechless as she watched the bizarre scene before her. Sweetie Belle hunched over the creature on the ground, Scootaloo jumping up and down in circles around it, and Apple Bloom holding on to the pegasus filly’s tail in an attempt to calm her down.

I have no idea what's going on here... but at least it isn't weirder than any of our usual adventures, she thought to herself before finally moving forward to pick up and bring the creature to the hospital.

“We need to stop the bleeding immediately! Hay Dee, prepare disinfectants at once!”

These were the only two sentences Applejack could manage to make out before the hospital lounge erupted in a sea of commands and orders upon her barge through the front doors. The doctors and nurses had only stared at her mysterious patient for a brief moment before dashing away in all directions to prepare an operating room, a bed table, and various medical tools Applejack could never hope to recognize by name. Sacred Trot Hospital may not be the greatest hospital in Equestria, but its workers were professionals by the looks of things. As she let a pair of doctors pick the creature off her back, Applejack was approached by a familiar white-coated and pink-maned earth pony.

“Miss Applejack, what happened? More importantly, what kind of species is the patient? A diamond dog? We need to know if we’re going to give it the right treatments,” Nurse Redheart asked in a focused and professional voice. Applejack’s response was anything but that.

“We were- I mean THEY were- I don’t know what they- I just found- and that thing was-” It wasn’t necessarily because Applejack was in shock over the recent events that she stumbled with her words. First off, she DIDN’T know what kind of animal the creature was. Secondly, the explanation she had gotten from the three fillies on their way out of the forest hadn’t been very informative. Redheart was impatiently staring at Applejack and stomping her hoof when Sweetie Belle suddenly spoke behind her.

“I don’t think it’s a diamond dog, Miss Redheart. Miss Cheerliee had us read about them not too long ago in school, and I’ve never heard of a diamond dog that can talk without moving its mouth or glow in blue magical energy.”

Applejack and Nurse Redheart both stared dumbfounded at the small unicorn. Talk without moving its mouth? Blue magical energy? Was she describing the patient or a character from a children’s story? Yet her description was told very calmly and coherently, as if she really was telling them the honest truth. She wasn’t even paying attention to the chaotic scene around them.

Leave it to the innocent fillies to stay calm like this in an emergency, Applejack thought to herself, suddenly very embarrassed by her inability to keep her own cool. Nurse Redheart shook herself from her confused state and sighed.

“That’s sadly even less for us to go on then. We’ll treat it with our safest options for now until we have more to go on. You are free to go, Miss Applejack. We’ll take it from here.”

With that, she turned around and joined her co-workers. Realizing that waiting for the treatments to finish would take several hours, and that none of them really knew the patient, she gathered the cutie mark crusaders and left the building. Just as she left, one of the doctors spoke.

“Hay Dee?”

“Yes, Doctor Box?”

“Did you just treat the patient with some kind of miracle potion, or has its wounds started to heal up by themselves?”

Night had finally fallen over Ponyville. By now, the mysterious explosion was the village’s number one topic of gossip. Many ponies were still awake in their houses, talking to their friends and families about the peculiar day. The rumors of Applejack bringing some kind of canine-like creature to the hospital shortly afterwards was another hotly discussed topic among the villagers.

The hospital itself had actually quieted down rather quickly. To the doctors’ surprise, it seemed like their unknown patient had fewer wounds for every hour that passed. By the time it was given a room to spend the night in, it only had a few bandages covering the deeper wounds. Needless to say, the personnel of Sacred Trot were stunned. At this rate, the creature would be fully healed and ready to leave the very next day.

The blue creature was sleeping rather peacefully in its bed. It hadn’t regained consciousness after collapsing in the forest, despite the bumpy ride on Applejack’s back and the deafening voices that greeted them upon arriving at the hospital. Hay Dee had actually tried to poke it in the nose with a scalpel in an immature experiment to test its slumber. The end result was a still sleeping patient and Hay Dee turning into Doctor Box’s daily punching bag.

Visiting hours were long since over, and security guards were now patrolling outside the rooms. The hospital staff had decided to increase security once they realized that someponies would even break inside just to read one of their books. Yet none of the guards had noticed the figure that now stood by the bed and studied the creature sleeping in it. Her dark blue mane floated in the air, sparkling like the night sky itself. She didn’t know how long she had just stood there and watched it. In her heart, she knew it was pointless, but she felt like the creature would go on a rampage the second she took her eyes off it.

“Is this how you spend your nights nowadays, Luna?” a sudden voice asked behind her. The only thing that kept the princess of the night from jumping up in fright was the familiarity of the voice. It still surprised her a bit, and she swiftly turned around to face her companion.

“Sister? What are you doing up so late?” Luna asked upon seeing her elder sister Celestia standing behind her. The princess of the sun wore her usual motherly smile as she stepped closer to her younger sister.

“I noticed that you left Canterlot quite a while ago. I’m not usually up this late, but I wanted to see what you were up to.” Celestia let out a loud yawn as she finished her explanation, making Luna feel a little guilty over making her sister to stay up so late.

“You should be resting, dear sister," she said as she stepped up and gave her sister a quick nuzzle. "The council will certainly have many questions waiting for you tomorrow regarding the... incident.”

“Yes, don’t remind me." Celestia kept her smile as she nodded, "Thankfully, Twilight sent me a letter detailing what transpired here. It was quite thorough, despite that she hadn't actually met the subject in person before sending it.” She cast a quick glance at the sleeping creature before turning back to Luna. “It seems you’ve kept yourself busy here for a long time. Do you know just HOW long you’ve been gone?”

“I… I have to confess that I haven’t paid any attention to the clock tonight,” Luna admitted with a light blush.

“Good, because trust me, you REALLY don’t want to know,” Celestia answered with a laugh. It was still hard to believe for most ponies that their eternal ruler was keen on making subtle jokes whenever she found the opportunity. Those who did know about it loved her even more for it. Luna normally loved her for this as well, but her otherwise usual smile was now replaced by a concerned frown as she slowly walked back to the bed. Celestia quickly noticed her sister’s gloomy behavior. “What is wrong, Luna?”

“Sister, why is it that… you’re so calm about all of this?” Luna asked. Celestia gave her a puzzled look.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean regarding this!” Luna pointed her hoof towards the bed. “You felt it as well as I did. The huge burst of magic or... whatever that energy was that pretty much covered all of Equestria today. I think we both realize that whatever triggered that explosion…” She once again glanced back toward the bed. “… was this thing.”

Celestia regarded the theory for a moment. She didn’t doubt that the creature resting peacefully in the bed was extremely powerful. Even she, Luna, and Discord could never display such a strong outburst of energy without unleashing nearly all of their power. Before she could get any further on that, thought, Luna spoke again.

“I presume you have never seen this kind of creature before either.”

“No, I can’t say I have." Celestia searched through her memories. "After ruling Equestria for a thousand years, I’ve seen my share of strange creatures, but I’m afraid this one has avoided me.”

“Then it’s just all the more dangerous! We don’t know what it is, where it came from, what it can do, or what it is PLANNING to do. It could be the greatest threat Equestria has ever known! We should-”

Luna’s plan remained unspoken as she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her sister’s smile replaced by a frown. The kind of frown that said 'I don’t know what you were going to say, but don’t do it.' Luna let out a shaking sigh before starting over.

“I’m just scared, sister. I know that we should love and tolerate every creature in Equestria if possible but… I’m scared of what this thing could do to all our subjects if it should choose to do something. I’ve finally broken free from my thousand-year long banishment, and I’ve gained so many new friends. I just can’t bear the thought of anything happening to them…”

The hoof disappeared from her shoulder and was replaced by a comforting wing hugging her body like a blanket. For a moment, Luna just stood there, enjoying the all too familiar warm embrace that Celestia had given her throughout the years, ever since they were fillies. Once the wing finally unwrapped itself from her, Luna could see her sister's smile returned to her face.

“The future scares us because it is unknown to us, my sister. Just like how we don’t know anything about him.” She tilted her head towards the creature. “But I believe that once we get to understand the unknown, it will soon feel as familiar, safe, and close to us as anything else we know and love. All we have to do is to give it a chance.”

Celestia gave her younger sister one last nuzzle before walking to the back of the room, her horn briefly flashing as she teleported away in a glow of yellow light. Luna stayed behind for a few more minutes, reflecting over her sister’s words. She looked back at the bed and realized that she still couldn’t make herself trust the creature just yet. She needed more time, more answers.

“Then I will keep watch over you,” she told it, knowing that it wouldn’t wake up. She stepped back as well and began to charge her horn.

“I will find out everything there is to know about you.” The blue light from her horn engulfed her as she disappeared.

So that you may never scare me again…

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Icestar156 for proofreading the chapter, and also to Niarro Moreau for helping me with editing.

I would like to thank you all for your reactions toward this story so far. I’m having a blast writing it, I can tell you! Once again, feel free to leave any comments, criticisms, advice or thoughts in the comment section below.

There were a couple of Scrubs-references in this one. Hay Dee, Doctor Box, Sacred Trot Hospital, I just love making these pony puns. Oh yeah, and the name of the chapter (My Worried Watcher) also references how every episode of the show is named My (x), His (x), Her (x) and so on.

I apologize if this chapter was somewhat shorter than the last one. It was a good place to end the chapter and I believe it is better to upload a short, well paced chapter more frequently than uploading a huge chapter that some of you may not even be able to read through in one sitting.

Next chapter the story finally focuses more on our main hero. Look forward to it!

KangTheGuardian -

Of Ponies and Pokemon

”What’s wrong, Riolu? Surely you knew this was going to happen!” A figure cloaked in shadows stood over him, laughing madly as the world around him burned.

“This is your home, Lucario. Nothing will ever change that.” A beautiful queen, wearing a reassuring smile before being consumed by the flames.

“He’s your mentor! Your friend! Why can’t you trust him now?!” An old lady shaking him by the shoulders, fading away in smoke as she spoke.

“Lucario… please don’t do this…” A small pink child with a dark torso and a red nose, his eyes watering as he desperately tries to hold on to his paw.

“Do you get it now, old friend?” The dark figure’s mad laugh was now replaced by a hateful whisper, “You don’t trust anyone. You don’t believe in anything. In the end, you care for nothing.” It turned and walked away, passing through the surrounding fire unscathed.

“You know what they call someone like you?” The flames closed in around him.

“A monster.” He felt no pain or torment as the fire reached him. Only regret.

“You will never truly lose anything, Lucario.”

A man in blue suddenly stood in front of him. The rest of the world turned black, taking its horrid visions away as it disappeared. The man smiled at him, replacing the feelings of regret with a curious calm.

“Because the aura is always with you.”

Red eyes sprung open as the blue creature named Lucario finally woke up from his slumber. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a few minutes, remembering the events that had occurred the previous day. A lot had happened to him even before he found himself in that forest. The memories of those events were the ones that had plagued him in his dream.

Sir Aaron… the palace… everyone, he thought to himself. He was surprised at how calmly he was handling the situation. In a single day, everything had changed and his old life had been ripped from him. To make matters worse, he was even partly to blame for it. Yet he remembered his mentor’s final words to him, somewhat putting his mind at ease.

The aura is with me…

He suddenly realized his current situation and looked around the room. From what he could tell, he was in a hospital room. A nightstand was placed on the right side of his bed with some sort of book placed on it. A second empty bed was located on the other side of the room. He could hear other voices speaking in the rooms around him, although they were too muffled to make out any words. It was only when he tried to sit up that he noticed a few bandages covering his torso. After testing them with his paws, he concluded that the wounds underneath had healed up.

Looks like my Rest managed to heal me up before it was too late, he thought, remembering just how he had received those wounds the previous day. The echoing laughter of a dark figure crossed his mind as he did. Thankfully, the wolves in the forest had not put up enough of a resistance to do him in while he was weak.

He wondered what had happened to the girls that he rescued when a voice came closer outside. He got out of bed and approached the door to hear better.

“I must insist that you wait until the patient has woken up before barging into his room, Miss Sparkle.”

“He has been sleeping for 24 hours! I don’t care how injured he was, Princess Celestia is waiting for my next report about him. It’s about time he woke up and answered my questio-”

The door opened up and a purple-colored unicorn walked into the room. Her head was still turned to the doctor behind her, thus she did not see Lucario standing right in front of her before walking into him. She promptly fell flat on her rump while Lucario himself didn’t even flinch. He could swear that he saw a couple of stars circle around her head before she shook herself out of it and looked up. Her eyes widened in temporary shock.

“Can I help you?” Lucario asked. The unicorn blinked and looked around the room briefly as if she was trying to discover who had just spoken. Lucario remembered a similar reaction from the girls in the forest and decided to explain. “I’m using telepathy to communicate with you. My real voice isn’t capable of actual speech, only grunts and growls.”

The unicorn looked back at him and considered his explanation. “So that’s what Sweetie Bell was talking about. But how can you even use telepathy in the fir-” She remembered the reason for her visit and started over. “No, that can wait until later. Who are you? WHAT are you? Were you the one behind that explosion in the Everfree Forest? Where did you-”

“How did your wounds heal so quickly?!” she was suddenly interrupted by the yellow unicorn doctor behind her. He walked past her and started looking over Lucario’s bandages. “You had deep lacerations, blunt traumas, broken ribs and several minor burns when you were brought in yesterday. Yet you had already healed up the worst wounds before we could even get the bandages on you! How is this possible?!”

“It’s a bit difficult to explain,” Lucario began. “I assure you however that my wounds are fi-“

The doctor suddenly raised his hoof to silence him. “I’m afraid that I’ll have to examine the wounds myself before we can allow you to be released from the hospital, sir. It’s purely protocol and for your own safety.”

Lucario nodded. He had been injured before and was used to the same treatment from other doctors and medics. “Very well. I’ll let you do your work. Miss Sparkle, was it?” he questioned the purple unicorn.

“Y-Yes. My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she answered, a bit taken back at him having heard her name outside.

“I’m Lucario. If you want to question me you can do it now while the doctor’s working. I have a few questions myself if you wouldn’t mind answering them for me.” He walked back to the bed and let the doctor proceed with the examination. Twilight followed and sat down on the floor beside him.

“Okay. First of all, what are you? I’ve never seen a creature like you in Equestria before.”

“Equestria? Is that the name of this country?” Lucario asked.

“Yes. It is the land of ponies ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They control the sun and the moon to give us the day and night.” This was common knowledge among all ponies, but Lucario still seemed surprised by Twilight’s explanation. “I take it you’re not from around here then.”

Lucario shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m from a kingdom called Rota, ruled by Queen Rin of Cameran Palace. Have you ever heard of it?”

“No, I never have, and I don’t recall seeing it on any map or reading about it in any history book. Is it located far from here?”

Lucario was silent for a moment. Is it possible that I’ve been transported to a different world? Maybe even a different dimension, he thought to himself before answering. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of Equestria before. I’m no expert on geography, but I doubt that country exists in my world.”

“Your… world?” Twilight repeated in confusion. A few seconds later her eyes widened in realization over what he meant. “You come from a different world?!”

“I would guess so,” Lucario replied. “Everything looks so different here. I’ve never even seen any Pokémon like you before.”

“P-Pokémon?” Twilight could barely keep up with all this new information. Rota, Cameran Palace, another world, and now Pokémon? What was this thing even talking about?!

Lucario noticed her reaction. “You don’t call yourselves Pokémon here?”

“No, we don’t. We’re ponies! Well, there are earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns to be exact, but what in the world is a Pokémon?”

“It’s what we call our race in our world,” Lucario answered, trying to think up the best way to explain it to her. “There are many different species, and none of them look the same. We can look like animals, plants, and even non living objects, but we share the same core genes and can communicate with each other. We all have different abilities and powers as well.”

“W-What kind of abilities and powers?” Twilight asked, her notebook and quill floating in the air as they wrote down everything Lucario said.

“You see, every Pokémon is part of one or two different Elemental Types. There are seventeen types in total: like Fire, Water, Ground, Ice, Grass, Electric, and more. We can use other elemental techniques other than our own as well, but they are more effective if we share the same type.” He pointed towards Twilights floating quill and notebook. “That power you’re using to levitate those objects actually remind me of one of those types; The Psychic-type.”

“Psychic? As in mental-based powers?” Twilight asked. Her magic had nothing to do with the actual mind, but she wanted to hear Lucario’s reasoning.

“Let me show you.” Lucario turned to the book laying on the nightstand and reached out his paw. Suddenly the book started glowing in a blue light and floated up in the air. It was just like any normal unicorn’s levitation spell. “This is one of the most common Psychic-type techniques. Most people just call the technique Psychic like its type, but some prefer to call it Psychokinesis.” He put the book back and turned back to Twilight.

“Um, do these techniques have anything to with your unnaturally fast recovery from yesterday?” the doctor suddenly asked, having stopped in the middle of his work. He hadn’t understood most of what the two were talking about, but that was the only explanation he could think of for his patient’s fast healing.

“Actually, yes. It’s another Psychic-type technique called Rest. It forces the user’s body to enter a coma-like state. As he or she sleeps, the body will heal any wound it has, but they can’t be awakened by normal means and must sleep for 24 straight hours. Also, we can’t grow back lost limbs or replace organs, and we will retain scars from greater injuries.”

“I… I see.” The doctor tried to make sense of the explanation, only to fail rather miserably. “Well, thankfully it seems you won’t have any lingering scars, so you don’t have to worry about any direct visual differences.” Lucario nodded and the doctor returned to his work. Twilight finished writing down her notes and prepared another question.

“So, I guess you are of the Psychic-type element then, considering you seem to know many of its techniques.”

“I’m actually a Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon. A real Psychic-type Pokémon is able to use Rest for only 12 hours. As for me, partly being a Fighting-type makes me naturally talented in martial arts. I’m physically strong enough to easily break objects made out of rock, ice, and even metal.” Twilight was taken aback by how ‘matter-of-factly’ Lucario said this. Even creatures the size of Ursa Minors at least had some difficulties breaking through such hard objects.

“What about you being a Steel-type? Does that have anything to do with those metal spikes on your arms and chest?”

“Yes, that’s right. Well, at least partially,” Lucario answered. “It’s complicated, but imagine that every part of my body is covered by an extremely thin layer of metal. It’s so thin that I can’t feel it restricting my movements at all. I can manipulate that steel in order to use different Steel-type techniques. I can also use my steel spikes for the same effect.”

Twilight wrote down the notes and wiped her brow. Nearly a third of her entire notebook was now filled with all this new information. Still, there was something missing.

“All this about Elemental Types and Pokémon is extremely interesting, but there is something you haven’t told me yet.” Lucario looked at her curiously as she continued, “Just how did you end up in Equestria? How did you get here?”

Lucario turned silent and stared at nothing in particular on the opposite wall. Twilight could see that he was thinking of something, but before she could question him about it, he answered her.

“I was sent here by my friend, Sir Aaron. He was my mentor at the Cameran Palace.”

Twilight took notice of Lucario’s sudden change of voice. During his previous explanations he had sounded calm and even amused at some points. Now his voice had a tone of sadness behind it.

“Why would your friend send you to another world?”

Lucario looked down at the floor, his eyes shut as he seemingly reflected on the event.

“To start over…”

“Um…” The doctor finally spoke from the other side of the bed. Twilight and Lucario realized that he had finished his examination a few minutes earlier. “I’m happy to say that all of your wounds are fully healed and closed up. I will handle the paperwork, so you are free to leave the hospital at your leisure.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Lucario stood up, seemingly ready to go. Twilight was about to object as she had more questions, but Lucario continued, “Can I ask one more thing, Twilight?”

“Y-Yes?”

“That explosion you mentioned. Do you know if anyone has visited the site yet?”

Twilight thought for a moment before answering, “No, I don’t think so. The Everfree Forest is extremely dangerous, and many ponies aren’t brave enough to enter it. Even the pegasi think twice before flying over it. Why do you ask?”

Lucario nodded in thought before turning towards the door. “There is something I have to find there.”

Twilight watched as Lucario gave the doctor a final nod of gratitude before leaving the room. Her mind was still full of questions, so she stood up and ran after him shortly after.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Niarro Moreau for helping me edit this chapter!

Ok, so this was a very “explanation” heavy chapter. Not only about the basics of Pokémon, but also how the Elemental Types are portrayed in this story. I apologize if you find the chapter somewhat uneventful and boring as a result, but I figured I needed to explain a few things before moving on with the story.

You may be surprised that Lucario knows Rest and Psychic of all moves, but he actually knows many others. For those of you who argue that Pokémon can only learn four moves at a time, I will explain the reason behind this in the story later on.

The theory about Lucario’s body being covered by a thin layer of steel may sound ridiculous, but it makes some of his future techniques and abilities make more sense. There’s actually going to be one such technique in the next chapter. Oops, spoilers.

Speaking of spoilers, some of you may already be guessing what happened to Lucario in the past. Don’t worry, there are still many plot points that I’ve left out so that you won’t have it too easy guessing.

Finally, the shadowy figure calling Lucario “Riolu” in the beginning of the chapter is intentional (hint, hint).

I had nothing clever in mind for the chapter’s name this time, I’m sorry. It’s a reference to John Steinbeck’s novella “Of Mice and Men” in any case.

Next chapter, we’ll see how Lucario handles meeting the other ponies of Ponyville. Until next time!

KangTheGuardian -

Ponyville! Gotta Meet 'em All!

The doctors and nurses of Sacred Trot Hospital looked curiously at Lucario as he walked through the building. He paid them no mind, as he was still thinking through everything that he had learned from Twilight about Equestria. When he reached the front doors, Twilight finally caught up to him.

“Hey, wait! I still have more questions! You never finished telling me how you-”

A loud thud interrupted her question the second Lucario walked through the doors. A large wagon fell out of the sky and landed on the road a few feet away from them. Before any of them could react or question where it came from, it opened up. Flags and brass instruments erupted as music suddenly started playing from it. The most puzzling thing of all however was the pink pony that also flew out of the wagon and started singing.

Welcome, welcome, welcome! A fine welcome to you!

Welcome, welcome, welcome! I say how do you do?

Welcome, welcome, welcome! I say hip, hip hurray!

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Ponyville today!

The pink pony’s song came to an end as she slid on the ground, coming to a stop just in front of them. Lucario had no idea how to handle this surreal situation. Twilight on the other hand just rolled her eyes as if she was used to this kind of thing. Arceus help her, Lucario thought to himself sympathetically. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but the pink pony raised a hoof to stop her.

“Wait for it…” she said with a grin. Twilight suddenly let out a cry and threw herself into a nearby bush. Lucario stared at her hiding spot in confusion when he heard a click from the wagon. He turned his head and saw an oven open up on the wagon’s side. The pink pony ran up to it and took out a freshly baked chocolate cake which she soon handed to Lucario on a plate.

“Welcome to Ponyville! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I’ll be your newest best friend forever, mister! Now that I think about it, what kind of mister are you, mister? The black fur on your face makes you look like a thief. *GASP!* You’re not a thief, are you mister? Or maybe you’re a bandit. Or maybe… omigosh, you’re a NINJA! A Ninja Mister! Show me your moves, Ninja Mister! Pleasepleaseplease-”

“Um…” Lucario had never felt so awkward in his life. This Pinkie Pie was unlike any person or pony he had ever met. He raised a spoon of chocolate cake to his mouth without even realizing it. To his astonishment, it was one of the tastiest things he had ever eaten. Deciding to humor the hyperactive pony, he continued eating while letting her speak.

“Can you cut things like rocks and trees in half? Can you move so fast that you can’t even be seen? Can you throw ninja stars and bombs at people without them noticing? By the way, what do you call ninja stars again? Sugarpens? Supergangs? No, wait, Sure-I-Cans! That’s it! That would be so funny to joke about! Your enemies would be like 'Give up, Ninja Mister! You can never defeat us!' But then you would be like 'SURE-I-CAN!' and take them all down! You’re so cool, Ninja Mis-”

“PINKIE!” An irritated voice came from the bush close to them. Pinkie looked over and noticed Twilight’s head sticking out of it.

“Oh hey, Twilight! What are you doing in the bush? Are you playing hide and seek by yourself again? You really should invite more ponies to play with you. How can someone find you when they aren’t looking for you, and how can you find someone when you aren’t looking for someone?”

“Pinkie, I wasn’t playing hide and seek.” Twilight stepped out and shook off a couple of leaves. “I hid in the bush because I thought you had put confetti in the oven and the cake in the confetti cannons again. Don’t you remember the last time you used this thing on Cranky?”

“Oh, Twilight, that was the Welcome Wagon Mark III. This is the Welcome Wagon Mark IV! It plays the songs smoother, the oven bakes cakes faster, and it comes with its own hidden balloon stash!” She opened up something on the other side of the wagon. Surely enough, several balloons floated out of it.

“How does that fix your own clumsiness of mixing up the cake and confetti?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie looked at Twilight for a few seconds before sighing and patting Lucario’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about Twilight, Ninja Mister. She can be a bit of an airhead sometimes.” Lucario nodded in response, too focused on his cake to actually listen to what Pinkie said. Twilight grunted in annoyance before deciding to change the subject.

“Anyway, Pinkie. He isn’t a ninja, or a thief, or a bandit for that matter. His name is Lucario, and he’s a-“

“……yyyyyyyyaaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHH!” A sudden scream pierced the air, growing louder and louder by the second. Twilight looked up and noticed a familiar rainbow-colored pegasus fly towards them. Her hind leg was stretched out like a karate kick. Twilight realized that she was aiming for Lucario.

“Lucario! Look out!” She cried out to warn him. Lucario seemed to be far too busy eating his cake however. She was about to rush forward and tackle him out of the way when he suddenly spoke.

“Steel-type: Iron Defence.” His body briefly glowed in a white, metallic light. Soon after that, the pegasus kicked him straight in the face. The peel of a bell rang out from the impact before she fell to the ground, clutching her leg.

“OW! What was that about?! Argh, my hoof is all numb!” She cried in pain, rolling from one side to the other. Lucario looked down at her in annoyance, taking another bite of his cake like nothing happened.

“It’s rude to interrupt someone in the middle of their meal. I don’t know why you tried to attack me, but that pain should teach you a lesson,” he scolded her while finishing up the rest of his plate. He gave it back to Pinkie who immediately ran to the wagon to bring him a glass of juice.

“Rainbow Dash! What in the hay do you think you’re doing?!” Twilight asked the Pegasus. Her voice was almost trembling in anger.

“What I’m doing? What are YOU guys doing?! Can’t you see the diamond dog standing right next to you?” Rainbow stood up, leaning slightly on the opposite side of her pained hoof.

“He’s not a diamond dog, Rainbow! His name is Lucario, and he’s a Pokémon,” Twilight responded.

“A Poké-what?” Rainbow asked confused. Twilight was about to explain to her in detail when she realized that Rainbow probably wouldn’t understand that sort of explanation.

“He’s a creature from another world,” she said instead. Rainbow widened her eyes in response and looked over at Lucario. By now he was taking a bite out of Pinkie’s cupcakes. He was about to take a second bite when a trio of filles suddenly tackled him to the ground.

“You’re okay! You’re okay! I told you he would be okay!” Scootaloo cried out in happiness as she, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle hugged their savior from yesterday. Rainbow looked at the scene in confusion. How could the fillies push him over but not her? Lucario was startled at first by the event, but soon recognized them.

“Oh, it’s you girls. Are you all right? Nothing else happened to you in the forest, did it?” He asked while sitting back up.

“No, Applejack found us and brought us back to Ponyville after you passed out. She was the one who carried you to the hospital.” Apple Bloom pointed down the road, and Lucario noticed an orange pony wearing a hat approach them. Beside her was a white unicorn with a purple mane.

“So, um… it seems like you’re all fine and dandy today,” Applejack said. She was still a bit nervous around Lucario, but he seemed to be nice to the cutie mark crusaders. “I’m Applejack, Apple Bloom’s big sister. Thank you so much for saving them in the Everfree Forest yesterday.”

“It was no trouble,” Lucario answered. His eyes were soon drawn to the white unicorn by Applejack’s side. Her eyes were sparkling and she held a hoof in front of her mouth.

“You… look… absolutely… DASHING!” She suddenly burst out. She dashed around Lucario as if possessed. “Your fur is so colorful and stylish. It’s like you’re wearing clothes! And that mask-like pattern on your face! It makes you look so mysterious, so…” She noticed the weird look on Lucario’s face as her hooves were all over his body. She blushed and backed away, coughing awkwardly.

“Ehehe, *ehum*, my name is Rarity. I’m Sweetie Belle’s older sister and the owner of Carousel Boutique. It is Ponyville’s number one greatest fashion shop! Like Applejack, I came here to thank you for saving my sister. If you wouldn’t mind, would you allow me to use inspiration from your good looks to design my next line of clothes?” She bowed her head in plea. Lucario had heard of people designing clothes resembling his species in his world, but he had never seen them himself. He smiled and nodded.

“Of course. I hope they turn out great.” Rarity beamed at his answer and jumped up and down in joy.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I assure you they are going to be Equestria’s next greatest hit! Oh, I can’t wait to start-”

“Um…” No one almost heard the quiet voice speaking behind Applejack and Rarity. They turned around and noticed a yellow pegasus with a pink mane standing behind them. “I… I heard that some poor creature in the forest got hurt yesterday, and… I thought it was so terrible that I…” She looked past her friends and noticed Lucario.

“Oh… wow!” she exclaimed and rushed up to him. “I’ve never seen an animal like you before. Are you a new species? I’m… I’m so happy I don’t even know what to say.” Her wings flapped in the air, making her float in front of Lucario. “I’m Fluttershy. What’s your name?”

“My name is Lucario.” He smiled at the innocent pony. “I’m surprised that you chose to visit me despite having never met me before. You’re far too kind.”

“Oh… so it was you who were injured yesterday? Are you okay? I hope I’m not troubling you…” She floated back down and kicked the ground shyly. Lucario was about to answer when he suddenly noticed the sky. The sun was sinking down under the horizon, and it was starting to get darker.

“I’m sorry everyone, but I must cut our greeting short. I must go somewhere, and I’m afraid it can’t wait until tomorrow.” He turned towards Twilight. “Twilight, in what direction did the explosion come from?”

Twilight looked at him in surprise before pointing a hoof to the west. “It was that way, about 5 kilometers in. But you’re not planning to go in there now, are you? The forest is even more dangerous during the night!”

“I’ll be fine, I promise you.” Lucario answered. He didn’t want to risk waiting too long before searching the site. “I’m glad to have met you all, but don’t worry about my safety. I’ll be back well before morning.” He started to walk away from the group. Pinkie waved him goodbye as she finished up the rest of the snacks. Twilight was about to object when Lucario’s body started glowing yellow.

“Electric-type: Magnet Rise.” To the shock of everypony present, Lucario floated up into the air and flew towards the Everfree Forest at high speeds. All of them simply stared after him for a minute, mouths open. Scootaloo was the first to break the silence.

“See?! I told you he was cool!”

Lucario flew past the borders of the forest. After flying about two kilometers in, he closed his eyes. The appendages on the back of his head floated up as the world changed around him. Everything was now covered in blue, gentle flames. A world devoid of all other colors, yet he could make out everything in it. He saw the air flying past him. He saw the trees rushing past beneath him. He saw all kinds of animals walking around on the ground. If he reached out, he could even detect things too far away for his normal eyesight to see.

This was one of the primary powers known by the Guardians of the Aura. Sir Aaron had taught him this technique just a few weeks after he arrived at the Cameran Palace. The memories of his past life still pained him, so Lucario shook them off as he continued his search. Soon enough, he noticed a large crater a few hundred meters ahead of him. He started to descend, eventually landing at the site. The trees around the crater were either burned or broken. Whatever animals that had lived in this area were now long gone. The focus of his attention however was at the crater’s center.

A brown staff stood planted in the ground. Its top featured a metal head and metal weights hung from its side. It was the staff once owned by Sir Aaron himself. As Lucario walked up to it, he noticed crystal shards lying around the ground. They were the remains of the large crystal that once had been in the center of the metal head.

Lucario picked up one of the shards and studied it. It was a more concentrated form of the aura crystals that Sir Aaron had showed him in Rota. From what he remembered, they had the ability to store aura and transport it to other places. For the most part, they had used it to communicate with each other during missions around the kingdom. Now he wondered if the crystal in the staff had featured other powers as well.

He activated his Aura Sense again to study the shards. He didn’t get far before noticing that he wasn’t alone. There were no animals on the ground, but he could feel some sort of energy flying around a large distance above him. It wasn’t a regular animal or pony, that was for certain. He stood up slowly, once again glowing yellow as he activated Magnet Rise. But this time he had to mix it up with another technique.

Normal-type: ExtremeSpeed. Suddenly, Lucario disappeared from sight. During the blink of an eye he crossed the distance between him and his watcher. Lucario channeled his aura, creating an orb of blue energy at the end of his paw. The being barely had any time to react before it was mere inches away from colliding with the Aura Sphere Lucario held towards it.

“I’m not fond of being stalked. Who are you, and what do you want?” he asked. He had noticed that the being lacked a physical form. Instead it looked like a cloud of stardust, barely visible against the night sky. For a moment, it just stood still, as if it was studying him. Suddenly, it started glowing, forming the limbs and body of a pony. As the light settled, the cloud was replaced by a dark blue pony with a sparkling mane.

“I could ask you the same thing, stranger,” she replied. For a moment, Lucario somewhat lowered his arm. This pony was unlike any he had met so far. She was somewhat bigger than the other ponies, and featured both a pair of wings and a horn. But what took him off guard the most was her eyes. They stared straight into his without a glimmer of fear or uncertainty. Back in Rota, his friends and enemies alike had commented on how special his own eyes seemed. Like they feared nothing and hid a deep secret that no one knew of. Now he felt the same thing looking back at the light blue eyes in front of him. He mentally shook himself out of his trance and raised his arm again.

“You are the one who were watching me behind my back. But my name is Lucario, if that will put your mind at ease.”

The pony hesitated briefly before answering. “I am Princess Luna, Mistress of the Night, and one of the co-rulers of Equestria. You would be wise not to draw my wrath by threatening me like that.” She gestured toward the Aura Sphere in Lucario’s hand. She seemed surprised when Lucario lowered his arm almost immediately. The sphere discharged harmlessly in his paw.

“Twilight Sparkle told me about you. She told me that you and your sister controlled the sun and the moon. I’m sorry for threatening you like that, your highness.” He bowed his head, again taking Luna by surprise. She had not expected him to be so respectful.

“Y-Your actions are excused this time,” she said. Her voice stumbled and she silently cursed her nervousness. “As for who you are, I already know. I’ve been overhearing your conversations with Twilight and her friends.” Lucario raised his head at this. Luna could detect some annoyance in his red eyes. Apparently this creature hadn’t lied when he said that he wasn’t fond of stalkers. “Understand that I did it out of concern over my subjects. You came from a different world than ours, and thus your personality and intentions were unknown.” They still pretty much are, she added in her head. Lucario looked away as he considered her position.

“Very well. I understand.” He eventually answered. “You had only needed to come and ask me personally though. I would have answered anything you wanted to know.”

Luna’s frown suddenly changed into a curious smile. “Oh? Just like how you answered Twilight’s question about how you got here?”

Lucario’s mind was instantly filled with the painful memories. Luna raised her chin triumphantly as she continued. “Know that you are but an uninvited visitor in our world, Lucario. As a princess, we demand that whatever secrets you hold of your past will be revealed to me.” She finished her demand and studied Lucario’s reaction. On the outside, he was still as calm and collected as ever, but his mind was in turmoil. He was not yet ready to share those events with the inhabitants of this world. After all, it was all in the past now. Neither was he sure how such a tale would affect the seemingly innocent minds of the ponies he had met so far. He needed to make an excuse. As he stared back at Luna’s eyes, an idea came to him.

“That’s a little strange coming from you, Princess.” Luna blinked in surprise. “I thought you of all ponies would understand how much we sometimes want to forget the past.”

Luna leaned back in shock. Had this creature already heard the history of Nightmare Moon? As if he read her mind, he continued. “I don’t know what past event you are trying to hide, but I can see it in your eyes. That kind of fearless determination that one only obtains when they want to make up for a past mistake. I understand that you’re worried about me and my past life, but so am I about yours now. Shall we let our pasts remain where they are, or tell each other together?”

Luna’s mouth tried to work itself into speaking. Her past as Nightmare Moon was still fresh in the minds of her subjects. It shouldn’t trouble her at all to speak of them to this creature. Yet something stopped her. She wanted the world to forget about Nightmare Moon. Let it turn into nothing more but a myth to scare little fillies with. Lucario’s words had been filled with confidence, but she could see his eyes almost pleading for her understanding. At last she sighed and looked away.

“Very well. I will allow you to keep your past for now, no matter how much I dislike it.”

Lucario bowed his head again. “I’m sorry, Princess. But thank you.” Luna was about to answer him when she unintentionally let out a loud yawn. She immediately covered her mouth with her hoof, a large blush spreading across her face. Sadly, Lucario noticed everything and he chuckled in response. “Are you tired, Princess? Perhaps we should save this conversation for another day?”

Luna’s blush increased in intensity. This time it was both from embarrassment and anger. “D-Don’t be ridiculous! I’m the Princess of the Night; I never get tired under the moon.” She wouldn’t admit it, but she had been awake for most of the day waiting for Lucario to wake up.

“In any case, I better return to Ponyville and find someplace to sleep.” Lucario replied. “If you want to talk with me more, you know where to find me.” He turned around and prepared to leave. A sudden thought stopped him from taking off. “Oh, wait a minute.”

He dived back down to the crater below them. Using Psychic, he collected the crystal shards and drew the staff out of the ground. He flew back up to Luna and floated everything over to her. “This is the staff my mentor used to transport me to Equestria. Here, you look after it.”

Luna was taken aback by Lucario’s unexpected offer. “W-What? Why are you giving me these?”

“First off, you wanted to know how I got here. With luck, you could maybe find your answers by studying this. Secondly, I trust that you will be able to keep them safer than me, being royalty and all. Thirdly…” He turned around as Luna picked up the objects with her magic. “I don’t think that I was meant to return.” He glanced over at Luna one more time. “Good night, Princess Luna.”

He then flew off, leaving Luna by herself. She stared after him for a while, processing everything she had learned about him so far. While his past still remained a mystery to her, his overall character was far better than she had expected. He was friendly and cooperative, but also intelligent. She had no idea how he had managed to figure out that she was trying to hide her past as well. She remembered his red eyes, studying her very soul as they stared at each other. She found her blush returned to her face for no apparent reason. She shook her head, channeled her magic, and teleported away.

In a far-off cave, deep within the Everfree Forest, a giant woke up from its slumber. It could hear the gossip of the animals everywhere. They told of the new creature that had scared off the entire timberwolf pack by himself. They all feared him… respected him.

Smoke blew through its nostrils as the behemoth slowly stood up, stretching its limbs. The last time it was awake, it had been the ruler of the forest. It was about time that its inhabitants, and this newcomer, learned that.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Ooh, things are about to get real!

We managed to get the other main 6’s introductions out of the way in this chapter. Also, we had the first meeting between Lucario and Luna. Surely nothing would come out of that, right? /trollface

The chapter was longer this time around. I hope all of you enjoy that.

Today’s reference in the chapter name…come on. Do I really have to tell you guys? *sigh* Ok, fine: 01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100110 01100101 01110010 01100101 01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01010000 01101111 01101011 01100101 01101101 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110011 01101100 01101111 01100111 01100001 01101110 00100000 00100010 01000111 01101111 01110100 01110100 01100001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110100 01100011 01101000 00100000 00100111 01100101 01101101 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100001 00100010 00101110. Figure that out.

Next up in Friendship is Aura: The first layer of darkness falls over Ponyville. Oh, I can’t wait to write about this!

KangTheGuardian -

A New Guardian Appears!

The sun rose over the horizon, starting yet another day in Ponyville. Little by little, the villagers began to wake up and leave their houses. Some of them had another day of work ahead of them. Others just wanted to spend time with their friends. It was like any normal day, with the exception of one thing. Today, the villagers stopped in their tracks to look at the mysterious figure sleeping under one of the trees in the Town Square.

Lucario slowly woke up as the rays of light hit him. The night before, he had decided to sleep outside. He didn’t want to wake somepony up just to ask for a bed. After all, he was used to sleeping outside. He preferred it, even. He had done so several times while out on missions in Rota. Even during nights at the palace, he still chose to sleep either in the royal garden or on top of a roof. He didn’t know if it was because of his Pokémon instincts, but he just found it more calming. Maybe it was because of the night sky. The first time he could remember seeing the sky was during the night. The stars were sparkling everywhere and the moon shone down on him. That image had been with him forever since.

As he opened his eyes, he noticed the villagers watching him. Some of them just seemed curious or even excited, but others looked scared and terrified. He caught glimpse of a mother dragging her child away from him by the tail. Maybe it was a mistake sleeping out here after all, he thought to himself. Up until now, he had just met ponies who were accepting of him, like Twilight, her friends, and the girls from the forest. A part of him had started to believe that all ponies were like that. It seems like he was wrong.

He stood up and brushed some bark and grass off himself. Even this simple act caused some of the ponies to flinch. He was going to ignore them, but then a stallion in the crowd suddenly shouted.

“Y-You beast! You have some nerve just walking into our village and sleeping wherever you want! Get out now before I’ll chase you out myself!” Lucario glanced over at the stallion. He had stepped out of the crowd and was now facing him defiantly.

“I’m sorry for causing you distress. I assure you that I mean you no harm,” Lucario answered. The stallion seemed surprised for a moment. He hadn’t expected Lucario to be so formal. However, the hatred soon returned to his eyes and he collected himself.

“Mean us no harm?! Don’t think you can trick me so easily, monster! I can see what’s going on here. Two days ago, the Everfree Forest suddenly explodes, and now you are here. A creature that I’ve never seen before in my life. I can spot that you’re trouble, believe me!”

Some members of the crowd started to nod their heads in agreement. Some of them were still skeptical, but Lucario knew that the situation was growing worse. “I understand that you’re frightened right now, and you have every right to be. But-”

“What’s going on here?!” a voice shouted over the crowd. Lucario recognized it as Twilight’s. True enough, the purple unicorn soon pushed herself past the other ponies and placed herself between them and the Pokémon. “Is this how you’re greeting newcomers nowadays? You have no right to treat them like that!”

“That’s right!” Lucario jumped when he noticed that Pinkie Pie suddenly stood next to him. “Ninja Mister is the nicest and coolest guy I’ve ever welcomed, and he will SURE-I-CAN your flanks if you’re mean to him!” Twilight was about to tell Pinkie that she didn’t make any sense when the stallion spoke again.

“Oh, what a surprise, Twilight Sparkle! Who could’ve ever thought that YOU had something to do with this?”

Twilight turned back to the stallion, visibly taken aback. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Don’t play dumb with me! Every time something happens in this village, you and your friends seems to be just around the corner. The parasprite invasion, the purple dragon attack, the ursa minor incident, the list goes on. You’ve been nothing but trouble ever since the day you moved here!”

Twilight stepped backwards from all the accusations. “I-I…”

“You bring nothing but chaos and disorder wherever you go! Not to mention all the weird company you’re always in. Like that meddling zebra from the forest, or that traitorous witch you call Princess Luna! It’ll be better if you-“

A shockwave suddenly burst out from the town square. Several ponies in the crowd fell over from the force and various objects on the ground blew away. Strangely, Twilight and Pinkie found themselves unaffected by it all. So when they turned around, they were the first to see the blue energy that suddenly surrounded Lucario. His expression was filled with anger, and it caused even Pinkie to somewhat back away from him. He slowly walked up to the still paralyzed stallion and looked down at him. The pony was petrified with fear.

“You can dislike me and throw accusations at me all you want, but my friends have nothing to do with it. Leave them out of it, are we clear?” He crouched down and stared right into the stallion’s eyes. “And if you ever speak ill of Princess Luna again… I’ll chase YOU out myself.” For a brief moment Lucario’s eyes glowed yellow. The sight was enough to break the last of the stallion’s will. His eyes rolled up and he fainted where he sat.

For a moment, everything was silent. The ponies watching the scene were all quiet, their jaws on the ground. Finally, a mint green unicorn standing a few feet away from Lucario started cheering.

“YEAH! That sure showed him! What was wrong with that guy?”

“Did you hear what he said about Twilight and her friends? How could he even think that?”

“Was he even here during last year’s Nightmare Night? Princess Luna is awesome!”

“I say we lock that guy in a cell! He definitely deserves it!”

Twilight sighed in relief when she heard that the villagers were happy about this turn of events. She walked up to Lucario with Pinkie bouncing closely behind her.

“I’m not sure what you did there, and I would like you to explain it to me later… but thank you, Lucario.” She was still a bit upset from the stallion’s words and brushed a small tear from her eyes. “But why did you get so angry about him badmouthing Princess Luna?”

“I met her yesterday when I was searching the forest,” Lucario answered.

All of Twilight’s thoughts about the recent event were instantly forgotten. “Y-You met Princess Luna in the Everfree Forest?! What was she doing there?!”

Lucario briefly considered telling Twilight about how Luna had been watching him. He eventually decided against it in order to not make Twilight think badly of her. “Coincidence, it seems. We talked a little, and I gave her the objects I found at the site for safekeeping.”

“Objects? So you found something over there?”

“Yeah, my mentor’s staff. He used it to transport me to Equestria. It was broken however, and I doubt it can be repaired.”

“Why did you get so mad about the guy being mean about Princess Luna?” Pinkie Pie suddenly asked behind Twilight. Twilight blinked a few times before facehoofing herself.

“Pinkie, I just asked him that a few seconds ago!”

“Yes, Twilight, but Ninja Mister didn’t say why he got upset. He just told us how he knew Luna in the first place. He didn’t answer your question at all!” Pinkie smiled and bounced in place. Twilight shocked herself when she realized that there was logic to Pinkie’s statement. She looked back at Lucario and noticed that he was just as surprised and shocked as she was.

“Well, I…” Lucario tried to explain without success. He didn’t know the answer himself. He had only gotten gradually annoyed and angry by the stallion’s accusations towards Twilight. However, the second he insulted Luna, something inside him just snapped. He had no idea why.

Lucario never got to finish his answer, as loud thunder suddenly echoed throughout the village. It was a piercing sound that forced all the ponies present to cover their ears. Only Lucario seemed unaffected by it, but his eyes shot open in surprise just like the rest. When the sound settled down, Twilight lowered her shaking hooves from her ears.

“Lucario… t-that…”

“I know,” he answered. He turned towards the Everfree Forest. “That wasn’t thunder. That was a roar.”

His suspicions were soon realized when he detected a giant creature suddenly rising out of the forest. Its green body was covered in scales, and large wings soon spread out from the trees around it. Smoke was visibly blowing out from its mouth.

“Twilight, get everyone away from here. Take them to the safest area you know, now,” Lucario ordered the paralyzed unicorn. His voice was calm, but like that of a commanding leader during a crisis. Twilight managed to pull herself together and forced herself to speak.

“W-What about you?!”

“Just do as I told you. Pinkie, help her in any way you can,” he said before activating Magnet Rise and flying away towards the forest. Pinkie saluted him and stepped over to the terrified crowd.

“Okay everypony, follow our lead!” she shouted. She when inhaled deeply before having Twilight’s hoof shoved in her mouth.

“Pinkie, if you make everypony scream and run away in panic, I’ll turn you into a flour sack!”

It didn’t take long before Lucario reached his target. The behemoth was easily over 50 feet tall and towered over the treetops like a pony standing in grass. How something this big had managed to keep itself hidden was a mystery. The monster had noticed Lucario approaching and simply waited for his arrival. This, coupled with its studying eyes, told Lucario that it was more than a mindless animal.

“You answered my challenge faster than I thought, newcomer.” A deep, booming voice welcomed him as he stopped a short distance away.

“Challenge?” Lucario questioned. “What are you talking about? Who are you, and what do you want from me?”

The behemoth chuckled slightly at this. “It seems I was right about the forest forgetting about me. In that case, allow me to introduce myself. I am Razorfang, the dragon of the Everfree Forest. I was, and still am, its king and ruler. The entire forest and perhaps all of Equestria used to tremble at my feet. Feeling accomplished in my success, I entered my hundred year-long sleep in my cave. I thought the forest would forever remember my name, but it seems like I was wrong.”

“A lot can happen in a hundred years,” Lucario countered. “Even you can’t expect everyone to cover in fear of your legend for that long.”

“But they do, newcomer.” Razorfang lifted his claws and gestured over the forest. “I know this because I woke up for a short while just a little over a year ago. By that time, I could feel the animals still recalling me, still passing my story down to their children. Yet I woke up again yesterday, and my name was almost as good as forgotten.”

“And what do I have to do with it?”

“Everything!” the dragon suddenly roared and pointed his claw towards Lucario. “The animals forgot about me because a new name took my place. Everywhere I can hear the rumors spreading of the timberwolves’ defeat. How a newcomer had appeared out of nowhere and scared them off. You are the only thing they can think about, the only thing they fear, the only thing they respect! But timberwolves are but ants to me, as are you, and I’ll remind everyone of that here and now!”

Razorfang finished his proclaim and watched Lucario for a reaction. He had expected something like fear, uncertainty, or even defiance in the newcomer’s eyes. He found none. Lucario’s face was expressionless, simply looking disinterested at the so-called King of the Everfree Forest. Then he just sighed and turned around.

“I’ve no intention of playing along with your games, dragon. If you want those titles you mentioned, you can have them. They don’t have any meaning to me. Go back to your sleep in peace knowing that.” He then slowly started to fly away.

Razorfang was almost trembling in rage. The newcomer had completely ignored his challenge. Was he looking down on him? Did he not view him as a great threat? How dared he humiliate him?! He was about to roar in anger when he noticed that Lucario was flying towards the village located outside the forest. An evil grin suddenly spread across his face.

“In that case, you wouldn’t mind if I reminded the ponies of that village as well, would you?”

Lucario immediately stopped in his tracks. “What did you-”

“That’s more like it!” Razorfang shouted. Fire erupted from his mouth and engulfed Lucario and the forest in a sea of flames.

“Twilight, what’s going on?! What was that thunder?! Why are we evacuating?!” Applejack was just as confused as everypony else that were now led by Twilight and Pinkie out of the village.

“A dragon is about to attack Ponyville! Lucario flew off to try and stop him, but we must get everpony to safety as quickly as possible!” Twilight’s organizational-abilities proved invaluable for making sure that nopony was left behind. She had already gotten a complete list of everypony living in the village from her library. She checked them off one after another as they walked down the road out of the village.

A sudden rainbow-colored trail caught her eye. She barely managed to catch Rainbow Dash with her magic before the pegasus could fly into the forest.

“Rainbow, what are you doing?!” she exclaimed as she brought her friend back down to the ground.

“You expect me to just run away when Ponyville is in danger?! Let me go! I’ll teach that scalebrain a lesson!”

“Lucario is probably doing the best he can already, Rainbow. We just have to trust him and make sure nopony gets hurt.” Despite the crisis, Twilight couldn’t stop herself from smiling inwardly at her friend’s bravery. Loyal and dutiful as always. Rainbow gave in and stopped resisting. Part of her was actually jealous that Lucario was upstaging her.

The evacuation stopped dead in its tracks when the skies above the forest suddenly were bathed in red. Even from this distance, Twilight could feel the wave of heat hit her face. Whatever traces of Rainbow’s bravery that remained was now gone without a trace. She jumped into the air and ran back to her spot in the line.

“Lucario…” Twilight said to herself. She then remembered what the Pokémon had wished of her, and she returned to her evacuating duties.

The treetops in the entire area were scorched, but Razorfang had made sure none of them caught fire. As eager as he was to prove his might, he knew better than to start a giant forest fire. Beneath him, animals were running for their lives. They did not want to risk staying near the dragon in case he changed his mind. As for Lucario, he was gone. His remains scattering into dust along the smoke, Razorfang thought to himself. His deep laugh soon echoed throughout the forest.

“Do you remember now, weaklings?! Do you now recall the great Razorfang that rules over you?! Has your memory really failed to remember my might, my strength?! Behold, the dragon of the Everfree For-”

Razorfang’s speech came to an abrupt end when a blue ball of energy exploded in his face. The force was great enough to make him stagger backwards. He clutched his face and roared in pain. He span his head towards the direction the attack had come from.

Lucario was floating some distance away from him. His paws were still outstretched after throwing the Aura Sphere at the dragon. His disinterested expression was now exchanged for one of seriousness and anger.

“You were going to do what to the ponies?”

“Why you…!” Razorfang breathed out another wave of fire towards Lucario. The Pokémon immediately dove down between the trees below. Razorfang was about to aim down when he remembered his wishes to keep the forest from catching fire. Had the newcomer already realized that?

He didn’t have much time to think before Lucario suddenly jumped out of the trees just below his head.

“Sky Uppercut!” Lucario’s clenched paw hit Razorfang just under the jaw. To his great surprise and agony, he found his giant frame launched halfway into the air from the strike. As he fell back down, he raised his tail. Several spikes suddenly grew out of its tip as he swung it right into Lucario’s side.

Or so he thought. His opponent simply grabbed hold of one of the spikes and held on to it as it swung back behind Razorfang. There, Lucario let go and began running up along the dragon’s spine. Once he reached the root of Razorfang’s left wing, he placed his paw on it.

“Force Palm!” Lucario didn’t flinch at all when a giant shockwave erupted from his paw. The impact spread pain over every inch of Razorfang’s wing. The dragon spun his head around, breathing flames over his fireproof back. Lucario simply jumped off and once again took cover in the forest below.

Razorfang had never been so enraged in his whole long life. This creature was but vermin to him, yet time after time it outwitted him. Worse, it damaged him. Him, the great dragon of the Everfree Forest. He refused to accept this. He refused to let this newcomer humiliate him anymore.

“If you wish for me to burn this place down so badly, then so be it!” he roared. He stood up on his hind legs and breathed in deeply. Not a single tree or straggling animal would be spared from his wrath. However, he couldn’t see that Lucario ran up behind him and rushed towards his feet.

“Low Kick!” Lucario made a small jump and kicked both his feet into the dragon’s heel. Razorfang immediately felt his foot slide over the ground, causing him to lose balance. He fell flat on his back, a small tremor spawning from the impact. He was surprised over how much the fall hurt him. The air was knocked out of him and he began coughing. He opened his eyes and saw Lucario floating about a hundred feet above him.

The Pokémon’s paw was glowing blue, and the dragon expected him to throw yet another sphere at him. Instead, Lucario suddenly dove down towards him. His fist was held back in preparation for a punch. Razorfang desperately tried to force out a breath of fire, but his coughing prevented him. All too soon Lucario reached his torso.

“Focus Punch!”

The ponies outside Ponyville could barely make out Lucario’s small figure as he crashed down into the laying dragon. They held their breaths as they lost sight of him behind the treetops. A few seconds later a loud smashing sound echoed past them and the ground shook slightly under their hooves. Some of them could even swear that some of the trees swayed from the impact. They heard the dragon cry out in agony before everything turned silent.

Lucario stood on top of the unconscious dragon. He was panting slightly, but otherwise he was uninjured. Dust was rising from the ground around them. The scales on Razorfang’s stomach were cracked and broken after the Focus Punch. But it would take more than that to cause fatal injury to a creature of this size.

Suddenly, Razorfang stirred beneath him, coughing repeatedly. He raised his head and noticed Lucario standing on his stomach. He attempted to move, but his body was aching all over.

“That’s enough. You’ve lost,” Lucario told him. To the dragon’s even greater annoyance, the Pokémon casually sat down and rested on his belly. “I also think that my attack from before paralyzed your wing. You should rest for the moment.”

Razorfang stared at Lucario for a while before grudgingly taking his advice. He let his head lay back on the ground and attempted to catch his breath. For a few minutes, the two of them just stayed silent, reflecting on the battle. At least Razorfang was. He had been completely defeated. He hadn’t even been able to put a scratch on the newcomer. It had been like fighting a fly with the strength of an ursa major. On top of it all, the entire forest had witnessed everything.

“Tell me…” Lucario spoke from Razorfang’s stomach. The dragon raised his head again to look at his opponent. “Why are you so obsessed with being remembered?”

Razorfang’s eyes briefly widened in surprise. Then they closed as the dragon seemed to reflect on some distant memory.

“Creatures like you should count yourselves lucky. Your time in this world is short, barely a fraction of a dragon’s lifetime. But that short time you have is just perfect. You’re born, you learn, and you accomplish. When your time is at an end, you’re surrounded by friends and family you’ve gotten to know. Then you pass on happily, thinking that you’ve made an impact on the world.”

Razorfang opened his eyes and watched the clouds passing by above them.

“You’re lucky that you don’t live long enough to see them forget about you.”

Lucario blinked and turned his head towards the dragon. Its eyes were not filled with grief or sadness, but hopelessness.

“You told me before that even I couldn’t expect the animals of this forest to fear me forever. You’re right. I can’t. But by the heavens, do I want them to. Every time I wake up, no one can recall me. The friends I once had are gone. The home I once had have disappeared or changed. History had turned into legend. Legend had turned into myth. No matter how much I try or how I pass on my name to others, it always ends the same way. By the time I’ll leave this world, there will be no one there. Just visions and memories of the past. And even if there is someone with me at the end, they’ll eventually forget about me all the same.”

Razorfang sighed and laid his head back on the ground. The clouds from before had disappeared, new ones taking their place. “I gain, and I lose. Time and time again. What’s the point of it all?”

“You will never truly lose anything.”

Razorfang blinked and looked at Lucario. He was now standing up and looked back into the dragon’s eyes.

“Even if the world forgets about you, you yourself never will. The good times and the bad times. Your friends and your enemies. Your fulfilled dreams and your regrets. You will keep all those memories with you for the rest of your life… and thinking back on them will always make you smile. You’ll probably not understand what I mean now, but remember this…”

Lucario walked up to Razorfang’s face and smiled.

“The aura will always be with you.”

He then activated Magnet Rise and flew away. Razorfang stayed on the ground, his mind having lots of new things to think about.

Lucario saw the ponies gathered outside the village and landed near them. As he stepped closer, he could see that all of them had their mouths open in shock. They simply stared at him for what felt like an eternity. Just as Lucario was starting to feel awkward, Pinkie’s voice could be heard over them.

“See?! I knew it! NINJA MISTER! I called it!”

An explosion of cheers and stomping hooves then erupted as everypony rushed to him. Twilight and her friends hugged him. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were bouncing in circles around him. Others he had never seen before patted his shoulders and thanked him a dozen times over. He had gotten a few cheers before from the people living in Cameran Palace, but nothing like this.

An elderly looking mare with a light brown coat and a white mane walked up to him. “As the mayor of Ponyville, allow me to thank you for protecting our home. Who knows what that dragon could’ve done to the village if you weren’t here? On behalf of everypony, thank you.” She bowed her head in gratitude. “Please, if there’s anything we can do to repay you, it would be our pleasure.”

Lucario thought of the offer. He remembered something the stallion from before had mentioned and decided to ask.

“Miss Mayor, is it true that Ponyville has often experienced situations like this? I heard something about parasprite invasions and ursa minor incidents earlier today.”

The mayor blushed and giggled awkwardly. “Oh, haha, I’m afraid that we aren’t exactly strangers to these kinds of things…”

Lucario nodded, his suspicions proven right. “Then allow me to become this village’s guardian.”

The mayor and the ponies around him were taken by surprise. “Y-You wish to continue protecting us?! Even when your very life was in danger today?!”

“Yes,” he answered. He looked back at all of his new friends smiling behind him “That’s the least I could do for my new home.”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Icestar156 for proofreading the chapter!

And that finishes up the “beginning arc” of the story! I hope everyone is enjoying it so far.

Again, this chapter was longer than the previous ones. Please keep in mind however that some chapters will be of shorter length. It all depends on how much is happening in the story.

Razorfang is actually named after the same green dragon from determamfidd’s fanfic “It takes a Village”. I only used the same name as a tribute and reference, the rest of my Razorfang’s character is of my own ideas. If you haven’t read “It takes a Village” yet, DO IT! It’s one of the absolute best MLP stories that I’ve ever read.

Today’s chapter reference wasn’t a clever one. It’s a reference to the message that always appears when you encounter a wild Pokémon. “A wild Pidgey appeared!”

I've considered if I should submit the story to Equestria Daily. What do you guys think?

Next up, Lucario has another chat with everyone’s favorite mistress of the night. Until next time!

KangTheGuardian -

Fear and Blaming in Ponyville

”And then, Ninja Mister came crashing down on the big, scary dragon like a spear of justice! He was like 'Ninja art: Secret Hoof-bump technique'! Oh wait, he doesn’t have hooves, does he? Anyway, the dragon was like 'NOO! I just got the worst tummy ache ever'! And then the ground shook, making my voice sooound aallll siiilly! I was so shocked that I-“

Young fillies were gathered around Pinkie Pie, listening intensely to her story. Most of them couldn’t catch everything the pink pony was saying due to her own excitement. But they were awe inspired at hearing how someone had actually managed to defeat a full-grown dragon in battle.

It hadn’t taken long after the battle before balloons, confetti, and decorations covered every inch of the Town Square. Cakes, drinks, and snacks seemingly appeared out of nowhere as Pinkie announced her "Ninja Mister Saved the Day!" party. Everypony was now eating, drinking, dancing, and singing to their hearts' content.

Lucario himself sat at one of the largest tables. His friends and other ponies sat around him as they discussed his heroic act. He didn’t pay much attention to them. He was too occupied trying out all the different desserts that were spread around the table. He wasn’t really gluttonous, but their great taste almost seemed to make him stop noticing anything around him. He was so busy eating that he didn’t even mind or notice Fluttershy sobbingly hugging his torso.

“Oh Lucario, I-I was so worried. When I heard that you flew off to face that scary dragon, I just didn’t know what to… Oh, thank Celestia that you’re all right.” She again broke down in tears and hid her face in his fur. Lucario just nodded in response, seemingly by reflex. Applejack, who was sitting next to them, rolled her eyes and patted the pegasus’ back.

“Aw come on, sugarcube, are you still on about that? Lucario is just fine. There isn’t even a scratch on him! Now come back up here and finish your plate before Rainbow hogs it.”

“I would hog it?!” Rainbow replied a couple of chairs away. “I think you should worry more about Lucario! He’s the one who has been eating non-stop.”

“I do think that he deserves it, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity spoke from the other side of the table. “He did just face down a dragon all on his own. Even I would feel the need to stuff my stomach after something like that, and trust me: I’m VERY careful of my eating habits.”

“Yeah, we kinda noticed.” Rainbow gestured towards Rarity’s plate. Her piece of the cake was almost untouched. “Anyway, I still think I could’ve mopped the floor with that dragon myself.”

“Weren’t you the one who ran and hid behind me in line when we saw the dragon’s fire?” A purple colored pegasus with a wild, light blue mane asked her.

“Cloudchaser!” Rainbow burst out. Cloudchaser and her sister Flitter just giggled at her reaction.

“It’s all right, Rainbow.” Twilight tried to reassure her friend over the table. “Believe me, we were all scared.”

Rainbow scoffed and looked over at Lucario. “I’m sure he wasn’t,” she said quietly to herself.

“No frownie-downies at this party, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie suddenly appeared behind Rainbow and dragged the corners of her mouth up into a smile. “Now cheer up! I even turned your favorite song on karaoke for you!”

Sure enough, the strings of an electric guitar soon started playing from the speakers. Rainbow recognized the song immediately. It was one of the greatest hits from her favorite band, Pegacrush 40. She definitely needed to raise her spirits a little. She grabbed hold of the microphone Pinkie was holding and dashed up to the stage in front of the Town Hall. She turned around towards the audience just in time to start singing.

I don’t care what you’re thinking as you turn to me!

‘Cause what I have in my four hooves is enough to set me free!

I can fight the feeling to resist it all the time!

But when it’s just too much to take you sneak up from behind!

She cast a glance over at Lucario during this line before continuing.

Is it me, you say, you’re looking for?

Let me show you who I am and what I’m here for!

Here for…!

She then let out a loud “HEY!” which most of the audience joined in on before she reached the refrain of the song.

Try to reach inside of me!

Try to drain my energy!

Let me show you just

What I’m made of!

Simple curiosity

Try to take a bite of me!

Let me show you just

What I’m made of nooow!

As she continued singing she felt her confidence returning. That’s right. She was still Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria. She knew that she could show Lucario a thing or two if she was given an opportunity. And an opportunity she had in mind.

Lucario had finally finished eating and watched the scene in awe. He turned towards Twilight.

“I never expected her to be such a good singer,” he admitted.

“Good singer? What are you talking about? Everypony in Equestria is a good singer,” Twilight answered somewhat puzzled. Her confusion was nothing compared to Lucario’s.

“You mean everyone can sing as well as she can? The rest of you girls too?”

“Of course! We make up our own songs almost every day. Why, is it not the same in your world?”

Lucario blinked a few times at Twilight’s statement. It sounded like singing was the most natural thing in the world to her. Finding the thought somewhat amusing, he chuckled to himself. His new home wasn’t going to cease surprising him anytime soon. As Rainbow’s song ended, he didn’t see her pointing her hoof towards him during the final line.

Let me show you just

What I’m made of!

The rest of the day passed quickly. The sun soon disappeared over the horizon while the moon rose to take its place. One by one, the villagers left the party to hit the hay for the night. Pinkie’s parties certainly had a tendency to exhaust them. Not to mention that the day had been rather eventful and tiring overall.

Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy had offered Lucario a place to stay in their homes, but he had declined. As the village’s new guardian, he insisted on acting as a night guard. He had also told them about his preference to sleep outside. While they respected his wishes, they wanted to help him with eventually building his own house.

“I’ve read about houses that have one-way transparent ceilings. It would look like a normal roof from the outside, but you would be able to see the sky from the inside. That way you could feel like sleeping outside while also being protected from poor weather,” Twilight had suggested during their talk.

“Not to stomp on such a great idea or anything Twilight, but that sounds mighty expensive,” Applejack replied.

“Oh, it’s just a magical spell that unicorn construction workers offer to rich ponies willing to pay. I’m sure that if I studied enough, I could learn and use the same spell for free,” Twilight answered confidently. She knew it would take many nights of practice, but it was worth it for a new friend. It would also make good progress on her magic training.

Lucario would be lying if he said that he wasn’t touched by their willingness to help. He had only known them for two days, and they were already planning ahead as if he was to stay here forever. Not that I have any objections to that, he thought to himself as he listened to their ideas.

The girls eventually bid him goodnight and returned to their houses. Instead of sleeping under the tree in the Town Square, Lucario chose to move his sleeping spot. He found another tree on top of a hill just outside of Ponyville. It overlooked the village almost like a watchtower, which served his new duties perfectly. As he sat down, he activated his Aura Sense and scanned the village. He could sense everyone sleeping peacefully in their homes. Apart from a few wild animals, he could sense no one suspicious walking around the streets.

He turned his gaze towards the forest next. The borders were clear, and he couldn’t sense anything dangerous within the shadows. Razorfang had left a long time ago, again disappearing into whatever hiding place he came from. Lucario was certain that the dragon wouldn’t threaten Ponyville again. However, he would surely return to challenge him to another duel. Hopefully that duel would be a more honorable one.

Lucario was about to finish up his search when he noticed a familiar energy approaching him from above. He deactivated his Aura Sense and watched the skies. Soon enough, a dark blue figure came into view and landed next to him.

“Good evening, Princess Luna.” Lucario stood up and bowed his head to the mistress of the night.

“Good evening, Lucario,” Luna replied. For a moment, the two stayed silent. Their greeting had been normal enough, but something about it made both of them feel rather awkward.

“Have you rested up? You seemed rather tired when we spoke yesterday,” Lucario broke the silence.

“I-I’ve already told you that I’m never tired during the night!” Luna replied a lot fiercer than she intended. Lucario’s somewhat amused grin made her sigh in defeat. “If you must know, I’ve slept through the entire night and almost the entire day. I guess spying- I mean, observing you for so long without a rest took its toll on me.”

Lucario laughed. He had definitely heard the "spying" part of her sentence. He quieted down before Luna could reprimand him.

“I’m sorry for causing enough stress for you to do that. Although, I still think reverting to stalking was unnecessary. But enough of that. Why are you visiting me today, Princess?”

“Well…” Luna’s eyes gazed off in another direction. “You did say that I could come to talk with you whenever I wished, and I wanted to discuss today’s rather… active events.”

“You mean the dragon attack?”

Luna’s head dropped somewhat. “As I said, I was asleep almost the entire day. I only heard of it from my sister less than two hours ago. The thought of such a monster hurting my subjects just-”

“The village is safe, Princess. No one was hurt during the incident. There’s no need for you to worry about it anymore,” Lucario reassured her.

Luna looked down at the ground for a moment before turning back to Lucario. “Thank you.”

Lucario tilted his head curiously at her. “For what, Princess?”

“It was you who fought and defeated the dragon singlehandedly. You saved the entire village and everypony living there. If you hadn’t been there…” She shook off the troubling images and bowed her head down in gratitude. “Thank you, Lucario.”

Lucario stared at her for a few seconds before answering. “It was no trouble, Princess.”

Luna raised her head back up. For the first time since he met her, he could see a small smile on her face. She then walked to the edge of the hill and sat down, watching the night sky. She found it strange that she was suddenly so relaxed around the Pokémon. But he had risked his life to save her little ponies, even though he just arrived in Equestria a few days ago. She couldn’t help but to respect and admire him for his selflessness. Lucario stayed under the tree for a few moments before walking up to her.

“I don’t know if I should find it weird or normal that the mistress of the night likes watching her own sky so much,” he said upon sitting down next to her. “Does your sister like watching the sky during her day as well?”

“You know, now that you mention it, I don’t think so.” She released a small giggle. “That would look rather weird now that I think about it.” She quieted down and looked up once again. “I created the stars and the moon over a thousand years ago. It’s like a painting to me. Almost every night, I make small changes to it as I see fit. Maybe make one star shine somewhat more or less. Perhaps remove a star all together and make another one somewhere else. I somehow never grow tired of it.”

A sudden thought crossed her mind and she turned to her companion. “What about your world? Did someone create the night there as well?”

Lucario thought for a moment before answering. “I actually don’t know. In my world, there are certain Pokémon of greater power that we call Legendary Pokémon. We know that some of them created the universe and the planet. Some of them even control supernatural forces like space, time, and dimensions. But I actually don’t know how the night and day came to be. I only know that there are two Pokémon called Cresselia and Darkrai that represents the moon, dreams, and nightmares.”

“I see…” Luna replied. The word "nightmare" lingered in her mind, causing her smile to turn into a frown. She forced her smile back before Lucario noticed. “To return to why I like watching my own night, I think it’s also because it’s like an old friend of mine. Apart from my sister, it is the only thing that has stayed with me during all these years. Ponies may come and go, and the very world around us may change. But every time I feel like I’ve lost something, I just need to look up. The night sky will always be there to greet me, so that I’ll never feel alone.”

Lucario studied her in silence after her explanation. He remembered the story Razorfang had told him after their battle. “I wish the dragon could have seen things like that as well.”

Luna was taken off-guard. “T-The dragon? What do you mean?”

“The reason he challenged me and attacked the village in the first place was because he felt forgotten. He thought that after living for so many years, nobody would eventually remember him. He wanted to prove himself to the animals in the forest so that they would fear and tell stories about him forever.”

Luna was silent next to him. At first he thought that she either was thinking of something or watching the sky again. It was only when he turned to her that he noticed her wide open eyes staring at him.

“What… did you say?” She asked him. Her voice was suddenly dark and filled with barely controlled anger. Lucario’s own eyes widened in reaction to her sudden change of mood.

“He CHALLENGED you?! That was the reason for why he attacked Ponyville?! He was after you?!” Luna suddenly stood up and backed a few steps away from him. Lucario also stood up, trying to explain.

“He heard of me from the other animals in the forest. But I-”

“SILENCE!” Luna’s voice suddenly exploded in a thunderous volume. Lucario found himself stepping backwards from the force. “DOST THOU MEAN TO TELL US THAT IF THOU HADST NEVER COME TO EQUESTRIA, THE BEAST WOULDN’T HAVE ATTACKED?! ART THOU MEANING THAT THOU ART THE ONE TO BLAME FOR PUTTING PONYVILLE IN DANGER IN THE FIRST PLACE?!”

Lucario was speechless. He lifted his arm in an attempt to calm Luna down, but she ignored him.

“WE KNEW FROM THE MOMENT THOU CAME HERE THAT THOU WOULD BRING NOTHING BUT DISASTER AND DESTRUCTION UPON THE LAND! WE WARNED OUR SISTER SO MANY TIMES, YET SHE CONTINUED TO DOUBT US! BUT TODAY, WE HAVE PROOF THAT THYNE PRESENCE ONLY SERVES TO PUT OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS IN PERIL!”

“Luna, I-” Lucario started, but Luna flew up into the air and continued yelling.

“WE SHALT ONLY TELL THEE THIS ONCE, MONSTER! LEAVE PONYVILLE! LEAVE EQUESTRIA AND HIDE IN A FAR-OFF PLACE WHERE THOU MAY NEVER ENDANGER US AGAIN! THOU DON’T BELONG HERE, AND THOU NEVER WILL!”

Magic erupted from her horn as Luna teleported away, her yells still echoing over the village. Several ponies opened their doors and windows to see what had just happened. On the top of the hill, they could see their new guardian standing frozen in-place. Lucario hardly noticed when Twilight suddenly teleported next to him.

“Lucario, are you okay?! What happened? I recognized that voice shouting. Was that-”

“Nothing,” Lucario cut her off. He was still staring at the spot where Luna had disappeared. “It was nothing.”

The hateful whisper of a dark figure from the past passed through his mind.

“You know what they call someone like you? A monster.”

Luna materialized outside her bedroom in Canterlot. Her guards didn’t jump at her sudden appearance. She always teleported here so that they would know when she returned. They were still surprised to see her back so early.

“Your highness, you’ve already returned? Is everything all right?” one of them asked.

“I’m fine,” Luna replied. She was slightly out of breath and she sounded rather upset. “I’ll retire for the night, Darkwing. Make sure no one bothers me.”

“Of course, your highness” The guard replied. “Although, you arrived at a very convenient time. Princess Celestia is waiting inside and wishes to have a word with you.”

Perfect! Now I can finally convince her! Luna thought to herself. She didn’t find her plan nearly as exciting as she was expecting though. “Very well. I’ll go and see her now.”

Darkwing bowed and let her pass through the door. None of the candles were lit inside, leaving the room in darkness. Being the Princess of the Night, she could still see her sister standing by her bed.

“Oh, there you are, my sister. I’ve been waiting for you,” Celestia said upon noticing her.

“Sister, I must speak with you! I just returned from Ponyville and-” Luna was interrupted by Celestia hushing her with a hoof.

“We can talk all you want later, sister. But you look awfully tired. Please, have some rest, I insist.” She gestured over to the bed with her wing.

“I just woke up a few hours ago, sister,” Luna reminded her. “And I really don’t think I can sleep before we…”

Luna suddenly yawned, and a great exhaustion fell upon her. She blinked her eyes sleepily and began walking towards the bed.

“That’s right, sister. Just take some rest. You deserve it.” Celestia levitated the blanket over Luna once she fell head-first into the bed. The darkness obscured the grin that crossed the sun princess’ face. “I’ll take care of everything from here…”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Icestar156 for proofreading!

Come on, you didn’t expect things to go that smoothly between our main protagonists, did you?

A lot of you may find the song portion of the chapter somewhat weird. Well, I did it for three reasons:
1) The song fit Rainbow’s current thoughts rather well and also gave a hint towards her future plans.
2) There ARE a couple of scenes in future chapters where I’m going to have a song portion, no matter what. You may think it sounds silly, but they are actually some of my most anticipated scenes in the entire story.
3) Its freaking My Little Pony. How could we NOT have a few songs thrown in the mix?
(Please excuse the song for featuring a male singer. I actually searched around for a female version, but couldn’t find one. Oh well, the video has ponies in it, at least.)

Also guys, don’t hate on Luna. I know she came off as unlikable in this chapter, but she’s only worried about her friends. DON’T YOU DARE HATE ON MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE PONY! …*ehum* So yeah, there you have it.

I couldn’t think up a fitting reference in today’s chapter name, so I just chose Hunter S. Thompson’s novel “Fear and loathing in Las Vegas”. Too bad the story doesn't take place in Las Pegasus…

Next time in Friendship is Aura: Lucario may have defeated a dragon, but that doesn’t stop the fastest and most awesome flier in Equestria from challenging him. IT. IS. ON!

KangTheGuardian -

Go Home and be an Iron Pony

“You girls heard that shouting last night as well, right?”

“Of course we did. It was loud enough for everypony in the entire village to hear it.”

“Could anypony make out what it was saying though? It sounded less like words and more like thunder from my end.”

“Same here, but I think we all recognized whose voice it was. My ears are still ringing from last year’s Nightmare Night.”

“But why would Princess Luna be so mad at Ninja Mister? He just saved the village after all. Besides, didn’t he get really mad at that stallion who spoke badly of her yesterday?”

“Yeah, I got the impression that they were good friends as well. By the way dear, I think I heard that his actual name is-”

Lucario walked out of hearing distance from the mares sitting outside the café. They hadn’t noticed him as he walked by. It wouldn’t have mattered if they did. He had already heard the same gossip from half the village by this point. He was just thankful that none of them seemed to have heard what Luna actually said to him. Most of them would probably react as badly as she did upon hearing of Razorfang’s reasons for attacking.

Last night, Twilight had tried to ask him about what had happened, but he didn’t want to answer. He had acted rather cold towards the unicorn when she tried to press him for answers. Not only did he fear how Twilight herself would react, but a part of him actually agreed to Luna’s reasoning. If he hadn’t come to Equestria, Razorfang would’ve never attacked. The girls would’ve never been attacked by the timberwolves either. Luna was right. Maybe his mere presence only brought danger to those around him.

Twilight seemed rather upset once she finally left him alone. He felt bad about it almost immediately afterwards. Now he was making his way to her house in order to apologize, trying his best to ignore the villagers’ staring. He eventually arrived at the big, hollowed-out tree and knocked on the door.

“Just a sec!” A voice replied from inside. It wasn’t Twilight’s though. It sounded more like the voice of a young boy. “I’m just gonna- whoawhoawhoa! *CRASH!* Oh man, Twilight won’t be happy about that one. All right, if I could just…”

The door opened and Lucario was greeted by a large pile of books. He could barely make out the claws and feet of a small, purple creature desperately trying to carry them all. His face couldn’t be seen behind them.

“I’m sorry, you caught me at a busy moment. Anyway, welcome to the Ponyville Library! Do you want to borrow a book or are you looking for someone?”

“I was actually looking for Twilight Sparkle. Is she home?”

“She went out to buy some food a little while ago, but I’m sure she’ll be back anytime now. You can wait for her here if you want to.” The boy turned around and walked back inside. He was still so busy balancing the books that he didn’t turn his head to see who he was talking to. Lucario, however, could make out the familiar-looking spikes on the boy’s head and back, as well as the tail swinging behind him.

“You’re a dragon?” Lucario asked him as he stepped inside as well.

“Oh, so you’re new around here? I thought it was weird that I didn’t recognize your voice. Just let me put these… phew!” He finally managed to put the books down on the table in the middle of the room. He wiped his forehead and adjusted the pile a bit before turning around. “I’m Spike, Twilight’s number one assistant! What’s your- AHHHHH!”

Spike let out a loud scream and hid behind the table. “P-Please don’t hurt me! I’m not like that dragon you fought in the forest! I’m just a completely harmless baby dragon, promise! Ask Twilight, she’ll vouch for me!” He raised his arms over his head, as if he expected Lucario to jump at him at any moment.

“It’s okay. I can tell that you two are nothing alike. I’m Lucario. Judging by your reaction, I take it that you’ve heard about me from Twilight?” Spike peeked over the table to study Lucario. Seeing the Pokémon’s friendly smile calmed him down somewhat.

“Y-Yeah. Well, from her and pretty much the entire village. I heard you arrived in Ponyville a few days ago. I’m sorry for being scared of you. I guess I just got a little terrified after seeing you beat down a full-grown dragon by yourself. Oh, that reminds me!” Spike left his hiding place and walked up to Lucario. “I think that was the same dragon I met about a year ago.”

“You’ve met him?” Lucario asked surprised.

“Yeah, I happened to walk into his cave by accident. Man, he wasn’t very happy about that. Tried to burn me to a crisp for just eating a few of his gems. Twilight and Owlowiscious too when they came to save me.” Spike pointed towards the nearby window. An owl was sitting on the desk, watching them.

“Who?”

“Oh boy, here we go again. Don’t bother answering him, that’s all he sa-”

“I’m Lucario, nice to meet you,” Lucario answered the owl without heeding Spike’s warning.

“Who?”

“No, I’m not a diamond dog. I’m a Pokémon, a creature from a different world. What are these so-called diamond dogs anyway?”

“Who?”

“I see. They live just outside Ponyville, you say? Have they caused any trouble?”

“Who?”

“Hmm, I should keep an eye on that area then. Can’t let them go around kidnapping any other ponies.”

“Hold on!” Spike managed to force out. “You can understand him?! How?!”

“Let’s just say that single-word languages aren’t very uncommon in my world,” Lucario answered the shocked baby dragon. Before Spike could ask anything else, the front door opened and Twilight stepped in.

“Spike, I’m home! Did you stack up the books I wante- Oh… um… good morning, Lucario.”

“Good morning, Twilight.” Lucario remembered the reason for his visit. “Look, about yesterday, I-”

“I know. I understand.” Twilight smiled reassuringly. “I don’t know what Princess Luna said to you, but it must have been harsh. It was my fault for trying to make you talk about it immediately afterwards. I’m sorry for being so stubborn.” She looked down at her hooves in regret.

“It’s okay, Twilight. I wasn’t very friendly to you yesterday, myself. I’m sorry for being so cold.”

“Apology accepted. Now, do you want to borrow a book while you’re here? We have several books about Equestria, if you want to read up on it.”

Lucario was glad to see that she wasn’t mad at him. But most of all he was glad that she didn’t try to ask about his and Luna’s talk again. “Maybe, but I’m not sure if I can read any of it. It’s possible that your writing is different from the one in my world.”

Lucario was just about to pick up one of the books when the door slammed open behind him. He turned around and saw Rainbow Dash bursting into the library.

“Aha! Just the guy I was looking for!” she exclaimed as she pointed her hoof towards Lucario.

“Rainbow! What’ve I told you about slamming the door! Knocking goes a long way too,” Twilight scolded her friend.

“Oh come on, Twilight. At least I don’t crash through your roof anymore… or at least not as often.” Rainbow brushed her off and turned back to Lucario. “Okay, mister dragon beater. You got your good share of praise and fame yesterday, but here’s the thing: I think that I could’ve dealt with that dragon myself as well. Seeing as most ponies seems to have forgotten how awesome I am, they don’t believe me. So I can only think of one way to settle the score!”

“What score?! Protecting the village isn’t a competition, Rainbow!” Twilight tried to tell the pegasus.

“No, but this will be!” She flew up in front of Lucario. “I challenge you to an Iron Pony Competition!”

Lucario blinked curiously at Rainbow. He was about to ask what an Iron Pony Competition was when Spike suddenly perked up.

“You’re going to have another Iron Pony Competition?! That means I can be the announcer again! Can I, Twilight?! Can I?!”

“Yes, please, Twilight! Can we?! Can we?!” Everyone jumped at Pinkie Pie’s sudden presence in the room. None of them knew where she had come from.

“How does she keep doing that?” Lucario quietly asked Rainbow.

“Hey, YOU’RE the village’s new guardian. YOU go and figure it out for us,” she whispered back. Twilight brought a hoof to her forehead and sighed.

“Personally, I think this Iron Pony thing is pointless. But I guess I can’t change Rainbow’s mind once she’s decided something. But I’m sure Lucario has better things to do than…”

“I accept.” Twilight nearly dropped her jaw at Lucario’s answer.

“You accept?! Don’t you think that this is all just ridiculous?”

“She asked me up front and honestly. I don’t see any problems with it.”

“All right!” Spike and Pinkie shouted in joy. Rainbow smiled and gestured everyone to follow her.

“No time like the present. Let’s get this thing started!”

“Fillies and gentlecolts! Welcome to another exciting and thrilling Iron Pony Competition! I’m Spike.”

“And I’m Pinkie Pie! Today, we’re about to watch the two coolest people in Ponyville face off against each other! In the blue corner, we have the most dazzling daredevil pegasus in all of Equestria: RAINBOW DASH! And in the other blue corner, we have the most awesome guardian and dragon beater Ponyville has ever seen: NINJA MISTER!”

“Ninja Mister? I thought the one Rainbow challenged was Lucario, Pinkie. Anyway, it seems like we haven’t drawn such a big audience today as we did last time.”

“Oh, just have some patience, Spike. We didn’t have such a big crowd during Rainbow’s and Applejack’s competition last time, either. But once they hear all our great cheering and announcing, they’ll come running to us like hedgehogs!”

“Yeah! …Wait, what? Hedgehogs?”

Spike and Pinkie was sitting by a table some distance away from Lucario. He and Rainbow stood in the middle of a big forest clearing. Apparently, it was one of the few safe areas in the Everfree Forest, mostly because it was located just by the village. So far, Twilight was the only one watching the whole thing. At first, she thought that she was going to keep track of the score again. But when they arrived at the clearing, she found that the entire area was empty. There were no scoreboards, no gear to use for any of the rounds, and no benches for an audience to sit on. The only reason Spike and Pinkie had a table and two microphones was because Pinkie had stashed them away in a nearby tree. “In case of table and microphone emergency,” she had explained.

“Um, Rainbow, did you forget to bring everything with you?” she asked the pegasus. “We can’t have an Iron Pony Competition like this.”

“Sure we can, Twilight!” Rainbow answered. “We’re just not having the same kind of competition like last time.”

“Not the same kind? What are you talking about?” Twilight asked confused.

Rainbow was stretching her limbs. A loud crack could be heard from her legs and wings as she prepared herself. Lucario simply stood still and waited for her to explain. He sensed that there was more to Rainbow’s plan than a simple athletic contest. Once she finished her warm up, she let out a sigh and looked up. Her expression was surprisingly serious.

“Look, I’m not stupid. I saw how Lucario handled that dragon. His punch was strong enough to make the entire area shake. I wouldn’t be a match for him in a normal Iron Pony Competition. Not at all.”

Twilight was dumbfounded. She had never heard Rainbow admit that there was something she couldn’t do. “Then why did you challenge him?”

“Because this isn’t a normal Iron Pony Competition.” Rainbow suddenly had her trademark confident smile back. She began pawing the ground with her hoof as she entered some sort of stance.

“This is an Iron Pony One-on-One Battle!”

A brief silence reigned over the area before Twilight let out a loud scream.

“WHAAAAT?! You’re challenging him to a FIGHT?! Rainbow, what are you thinking?! This is just stupid! Lucario, please tell her!”

Lucario studied the battle-ready pegasus in front of him. He could see the determination and excitement in her eyes. Deep within himself, he could feel a similar feeling building up. A feeling most Pokémon felt whenever they were about to engage in a friendly match.

“Very well,” he answered. “Show me what you got.”

Twilight worked her jaw helplessly. She couldn’t believe nor understand what was going on around her. Just when she was about to argue against it, Pinkie started speaking over the microphone.

“Spike, did you just hear that?! They’re going to battle! It’s like a fighting tournament! I’ve always wanted to announce one of those!”

“I know, Pinkie Pie! This is gonna be so cool! I just hope that nopony gets hurt…”

“Oh don’t worry, Spike. They’ll be fine. Fighters, it’s almost time to go for broke!”

Lucario and Rainbow were ready. Twilight still had complaints but found herself unable to speak them out.

“Who will come out on top?! Well, stick around and find out, folks, because this is the battle of the century! Aaaand…” She suddenly picked up a bell from under the table and struck it with her hoof.

“FIGHT!”

Rainbow immediately dashed forward. She stretched out her hind leg and flew towards Lucario.

Trying that again? Lucario thought to himself. A white light engulfed him as he activated Iron Defence. Soon after, Rainbow’s hoof collided with his face. Just like last time, Lucario didn’t flinch from the strike. However, Rainbow simply grinned at him. Lucario was surprised at her sudden display of endurance.

“Last time you tried this, you ended up rolling around on the ground in pain.”

“Well, that was then.” She flipped backwards and landed before charging at him again. “This is now!”

Lucario chuckled lightly before dodging the pegasus’ assault. A flurry of punches, kicks, and even headbutts tried to hit him, but he effortlessly avoided every strike. He could see his opponent growing more and more irritated with every miss.

“Your spirit is strong, but it won’t help you if you cannot get a hit in on me.”

“Grr, I’m just getting started!” Rainbow suddenly crouched down and tried to sweep his leg with a sweeping kick. He simply raised his foot over it. Rainbow wasn’t done yet, however, as she continued spinning and used the momentum to aim a roundhouse kick at the side of his head. Taken off-guard by her coordinated move, he raised an arm to block the attack.

“Impressive. I didn’t expect you to know any real martial art moves.”

“Newsletter for you, mister guardian: I have a black belt in karate!” she explained with a smile. The smile was short lived, as Lucario suddenly grabbed hold of her leg.

“Fighting-type: Circle Throw!” With incredible force, he threw her over his shoulder and up into the sky. She screamed in panic as she rolled through the air and disappeared inside a cloud. She even left a comical body-shaped hole after her.

“WHOA! He just threw Rainbow like a ragdoll! I don’t know how heavy she is, but that must’ve taken some serious strength to pull off!” Spike commentated.

“Did you see that hole she made?! Hahahaha! Oh Rainbow Dash, you’re always such a laugh!” Pinkie giggled.

Lucario watched the cloud for any sign of the pegasus. He wasn't expecting the fight to be over just yet. Circle Throw was a technique used to throw enemies a large distance away from the user. It wasn’t a very powerful attack in itself, but it was commonly used to escape from unnecessary battles or encounters. But Lucario had thrown Rainbow higher up into the air so that she would be able to take flight before crashing. He doubted that would be enough to end their battle.

His suspicions were proven right when a bolt of lightning suddenly flew out of the cloud. He barely managed to avoid it, only to find another one coming down right in his path. For a few seconds, he dodged back and forth, evading bolt after bolt, before one of them lucked out. A large explosion of dust erupted from the ground as the bolt hit him.

Rainbow emerged from the cloud after seeing her attack hit. She flew back down and landed near the dust cloud, raising her hoof in triumph. “Yes! That’ll teach you not to throw a pegasus into a cloud. We know how to make use of those babies.”

“Rainbow, what if you hurt him?!” Twilight shouted from the sidelines.

“Way to go, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie cheered. “Even Ninja Mister couldn’t keep up with your weather management for long!”

“Hehe, of course he couldn’t!” Rainbow responded confidently. “Nopony is awesome enough to-”

“Pegasi can manipulate weather? I should remember that.”

Rainbow’s boasting was interrupted as the dust cleared from the area. Lucario was kneeling on the ground, completely unharmed. A long, light green stick was planted in the earth next to him. It was shaped like a bone and was several feet taller than his current height while crouching.

“H-Huh?! How did you avoid that?! And what's up with that stick?!” Rainbow asked him in shock.

“Ground-type: Bone Rush. It is a bone-like staff created from particles in the ground. I managed to form it and use it as a lightning rod before the bolt hit me.” He stood up and drew the staff out.

“Now… it’s my turn, right?”

He rushed forward and began to masterfully swing his weapon. Rainbow did her best to avoid the attacks, but for every swing she dodged, two others smacked her. They didn’t hurt very much, but they just kept coming without stopping. She was steadily growing more and more tired.

Okay, this is getting nowhere. In a case like this, offence is the best defense! She dodged the next strike and jumped forward. Her plan was to tackle Lucario to the ground. What happened instead was that Lucario easily side-stepped her and grabbed hold of her tail.

“Let’s see how you like your own medicine,” he said before sparks of electricity started to course through his paw. “Electric-type: ThunderPunch!”

Rainbow lit up like a light bulb as electricity showered over her body. Lucario held back the full force of the attack, leaving the pegasus just slightly scorched. Her mane had turned into an afro, inevitably making Spike and Pinkie Pie burst out laughing from their table.

“Had enough?” Lucario asked her as she shook her mane back in order.

“As if!” Without delaying for a second, Rainbow charged at him again. This time however, she flew past him and began flying in circles around him.

“Trying to catch me off-guard with a sudden strike? You’re going to need more than that to-” Lucario began, but stopped when he found his feet sliding over the ground. Rainbow was flying at an incredible speed, her body turning into a rainbow-colored blur. Before Lucario realized it, he was in the middle of a small tornado.

“There it is! With her outstanding 16.5 wing power, Rainbow has started her own miniature tornado!” Spike shouted in the microphone.

Rainbow kept the tornado going for several minutes before finally slowing down. She grinded to a halt and watched proudly as her creation died down. She expected to see a dizzy Lucario stumbling out with his eyes formed like spirals. Instead, she found the site to be empty, with the exception of a mysterious hole in the ground.

“Wait, don’t tell me he-” The earth beneath her began to crumble, and an arm suddenly reached out of it. It grabbed hold of her leg and dragged her down until only her head remained above ground. As she struggled to get out, Lucario dug himself out of another hole a few feet away.

“Come on! You can dig too?! And you say you aren’t a diamond dog,” she complained, eventually managing to drag one of her front legs out of the ground.

“You’re full of surprises yourself. Creating a small tornado with pure speed is no small feat,” he praised her. She merely grunted in response. Lucario stood back and watched her struggle as she finally got out of her prison.

“I’ve had enough of the ground for one day. Let settle this in the sky!” she exclaimed before flying up into the air. Lucario activated Magnet Rise and chased after her. After flying a large distance upwards, Rainbow turned and flew away from the area. Lucario stayed behind and watched her, wondering what she was planning. He eventually saw her turn around and begin flying back towards him. It was hard to tell, but she seemed to be gaining speed with every flap of her wings.

She wants to build up enough speed to overpower me? Good plan, if it weren’t for the fact that she’s charging right at me, Lucario thought to himself. Like this, Rainbow would never be able to hit him, no matter how fast she got. A simple dodge at the last second followed by a counterattack would end the fight.

It was at this time Lucario learned to never again take anything lightly in Equestria.

The sky around Rainbow Dash suddenly exploded. Rainbow-colored shockwaves erupted from her body as her speed instantly doubled. Before Lucario had any chance to react, she had already reached him. Her hoof collided with his face with massive force. For a moment, Lucario could feel his Iron Defence trying to resist the attack. He could almost hear it cracking as it finally gave in.

Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie watched in shock as Lucario was sent flying by Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom attack. Like a speeding bullet, he crashed to the ground deeper inside the forest. The sound from the impact echoed throughout the area as dust filled the sky along with several panicked birds. Rainbow hovered in the air for a moment before flying after him. As the birds flew by above them, Spike barely managed to squeeze out some commentary.

“Ho…ly… guaca…mole…”

Lucario rubbed his cheek as he recovered from his fall. His head was still spinning from Rainbow’s attack. It had actually hurt. What was that? It was like my ExtremeSpeed, but far more destructive and powerful. She shattered my Iron Defence like glass. Is she really a normal pony? he thought to himself.

It was then that he noticed the area around him. Several trees had fallen over and a large crater was left behind from his crash. He could both see and hear animals running away in fear all around him. A rabbit briefly locked eyes with him before it ran away with the others. As everything quieted down, he could see the remains of different animal nests laying around in ruins. For what felt like an eternity, he just watched the scene.

“You are the only thing they can think about, the only thing they fear, the only thing they respect!”

“He CHALLENGED you?! That was the reason for why he attacked Ponyville?! He was after you?!”

“WE KNEW FROM THE MOMENT THOU CAME HERE THAT THOU WOULD BRING NOTHING BUT DISASTER AND DESTRUCTION UPON THE LAND! LEAVE PONYVILLE! THOU DO NOT BELONG HERE, AND THOU NEVER WILL!”

“A monster.”

The voices of the past died down as Lucario noticed Rainbow landing in front of him. She was visibly exhausted, but wore a proud grin on her face.

“Ha… ha… how do you… like that?!” she asked him between breaths. Her smile disappeared when she noticed the grim and serious expression Lucario had.

“Enough. Let’s stop this battle, Rainbow Dash.”

“W-What?” She took a step forward. “Let’s stop? Are you giving up or something?!”

“Look around you.” Lucario gestured around him. “Several animals could’ve gotten hurt from my crash-landing. If we continued, things may get even worse.”

Rainbow shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. “You got to be kidding me! Okay, that last strike may have gone a bit overboard, but let’s just fight in the air then. No animals will get hurt if we-”

“It’s not only about the animals!” Rainbow stepped back at Lucario’s sudden outburst. His eyes were almost flashing with anger. “At this rate, you could get hurt too, you know?! What am I supposed to tell Twilight then, let alone the entire village?! I’m your new guardian, the one who should protect you from getting hurt! Yet everything I do can just backfire on all of us, all of you! How am I ever going to forgive myself if something happened to any of you just because of my mistakes?! Just because of my own strength?! Just because of…”

For a moment he stared at the pegasus, seeing her lean backwards from his shouting. His eyes eventually calmed down as he let out a sigh and looked away.

“Just because of my mere presence…”

The two of them stayed silent for a minute. Around them, a couple of the animals dared to come closer and watch the scene. For some reason ,they didn’t feel as scared anymore. Sure, their homes were destroyed, but they felt no malice towards any of the two standing near the crater. Rainbow kicked the ground a few more times before speaking.

“Look… I heard her, all right?”

Lucario looked up at her. “What?”

“I saw Princess Luna flying by my house last night, and I decided to follow her. Before I knew it, she landed next to you and you two started talking. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, I swear, but I wanted to know how you knew each other. At first I thought you were good friends, but then she started shouting. Blaming you for the dragon’s attack and saying that you don’t belong here. I heard it all…”

She looked away somewhat ashamed. Lucario himself didn’t know how to react to it all. He didn’t have to, because Rainbow continued.

“Do you know why I challenged you, Lucario?”

Lucario blinked a few times before answering. “You wanted to prove that you could’ve stopped the dragon.”

“Yeah, and the reason I wanted to prove that was because nopony believed me. They thought I was a weakling compared to you. That I was just a show-off. I just couldn’t stand it.” She shook her head a bit.

“I heard that you get really mad at anypony who talks badly of her, but Luna was stupid to think that about you. She said she had proof that you’re just putting us in danger, but there is ten times more proof of the opposite. You went out to stop the dragon without a second thought. You saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders from the timberwolves, even when you were seriously injured. You didn’t even know who they were by then. You offered to become Ponyville’s guardian despite hearing of how much trouble that happens around here. For every peril you might put us into, you always do your very best to fix it. You’re always proving Luna wrong.”

She gave Lucario a small smile. “Don’t let anypony say that someone like you doesn’t belong here.”

Lucario stared at her for a long time. Rainbow could tell he was thinking about everything she had said. Just when she started to find his staring awkward, he started laughing.

“You wanted to prove that you could’ve defeated the dragon? Well, there’s only one way then.” He clenched his paw, and soon it started glowing in a blue light.

“This is the punch I used to defeat it. Do you think you can handle it?”

Rainbow grinned with anticipation. “In my sleep!”

She took to the skies, flying higher and higher up in order to gain the distance she needed for another Sonic Rainboom. Lucario stayed at the ground, charging his Focus Punch. Eventually, Rainbow turned around. The two of them stared at each other, time seemingly frozen in place as they prepared for their final showdown. Then, at the same time, they charged. Rainbow dived down, soon triggering the rainboom. Lucario jumped up, his fist held back in preparation. The two of them reached one another in midair, his paw colliding with her hoof.

“Focus Punch!”

“Sonic Rainbomb!”

A stallion in Ponyville was just about to take a sip from his cup of coffee. He never got the chance, as a loud thunder made him jump and spill it all out in fright. In the distance, he and everypony else could see a huge explosion above the forest. One half was formed like a rainbow-colored mushroom cloud. The other half was a sea of blue-colored flames. They all felt the shockwave hitting them, sending some of them rolling across the ground. The stallion grabbed hold of his table and shouted in desperation.

“Can’t we have just ONE normal day in this village, anymore?!”

The energies around the two combatants faded away. Rainbow was hovering upside down, her hoof still resting on Lucario’s paw. It almost looked like she was balancing on top of it. She was done. She barely had the energy left to keep flying. As she gasped for air, she looked down at Lucario. He was winded as well, but not nearly as much as her. In fact, his eyes were still focused without a hint of fatigue behind them. A sudden realization hit Rainbow, causing her to laugh.

“You… never used… your full strength… did you?” she asked him.

“…no, I didn’t,” Lucario confessed.

Rainbow’s eyes started watering as she looked away. “So I lost.”

“Yeah…you did,” he repeated. Rainbow bit down at her lip, trying her best not to cry.

“But you would’ve definitely beaten that dragon.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. She looked back at Lucario, who smiled warmingly back at her. A smile of her own grew on her face as a small tear escaped her eye.

“Hehe… I knew that…” She then fell into Lucario’s arms, too tired to stay awake anymore.

“Rainbow Dash is unable to battle! Ninja Mister wins!”

Pinkie struck the bell once again, signaling the end of the fight. Lucario had landed with Rainbow Dash back at the clearing, and now Twilight was rushing towards them.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no! Please don’t tell me something happened to her! Is she all right? What just-”

“She’s fine, Twilight.” Lucario reassured the unicorn. “She’s just sleeping, that’s all.”

Twilight looked down at her friend. To her surprise, she found a smile on Rainbow’s face as she slept.

“Wow… that was the last kind of face I expected to see on her after that,” she confessed, wiping a relieved tear from her eye.

“THAT WAS SO AWESOME!” Spike shouted behind her. “That dragon must’ve been out of his mind when he challenged you!”

“And Rainbow Dash was so cool! 20 000% cooler than ever!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced around them.

“She surely proved herself out there,” Lucario said. “We should let her sleep now. She deserves it.”

“She can rest up over at my place.” Twilight offered before levitating Rainbow onto her back. As she, Spike, and Pinkie began to leave, Lucario stayed behind for a few seconds and watched them. Rainbow’s words still rang clearly in his mind.

“I will… prove myself as well.”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Icestar156 for proofreading!

Well, what can I say?
She sure showed him just
What she’s made of!

A few of you may argue against Rainbow’s strength during the battle. I would like to remind everyone that this is the same pony that COMPLETELY OBLITERATED AN ENTIRE BARN HOUSE WITH HER BARE HOOVES! Her final attack against Lucario is a nod to the explosion that occurred when she crashed into the barn in Lesson Zero.

This is the longest chapter AND the longest battle we’ve had in the story yet. Good to see that I can write longer battles as well. Lucario vs Razorfang was meant to be short in order to show off Lucario’s strength. There are MANY battles to come further into the story, so hopefully you’ll look forward to it.

“Go for broke”, “Who will come out on top”, and “It’s the battle of the century” are actually quotes from different announcers in fighting games like Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Street Fighter IV. “Rainbow Dash is unable to battle! Ninja Mister wins!” is a reference to the English dubbed Pokémon animé, where the judges always say something similar after every round.

Finally, today’s chapter name is a reference to Guile’s legendary quote from the Street Fighter series: “Go home and be a family man.”

Next time in Friendship is Aura: As strange news reaches Ponyville, Lucario begins to wonder what is happening in Canterlot. See you all next time!

KangTheGuardian -

……oh, and one more thing:

Luca(Ryu)o: HADOUKEN!
RainGuile Dash: SONIC BOOM!

Game of Faiths

Lucario was surprised by how his battle with Rainbow Dash seemed to fly under the radar. Upon his return to the village, no one cast him any strange looks or asked any questions about the explosion. From what he could gather from the gossip among them, the ponies had definitely both seen and felt the explosion from their last attack. But after the first explosion in the Everfree Forest and the dragon attack, it seems like the villagers had now grown used to these kinds of events. The mayor wasn’t joking when she said that they weren’t strangers to situations like these, he thought to himself.

Rainbow had awakened from her nap late in the afternoon. Twilight had expected her to fly out and see if the other ponies had heard of their fight. Instead, Rainbow had stayed at the library for a few more hours, drinking tea and chatting with Twilight and Spike. “I don’t really care if they know or not,” she had told Twilight when she asked about it. “Sure, I wanted to prove my awesomeness to them as well, but I’m fine with just me and you guys knowing about it. I guess that I challenged him to prove it to myself more than anypony else.”

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had passed by the library as well do see how Rainbow was doing. They had all recognized the familiar rainbow-colored energy that had erupted from her Sonic Rainboom. Everyone but Pinkie was now sitting at the table, discussing the battle. Pinkie’s absence was because of a "Rainbow put up a great fight even though she lost!" party that she had to prepare.

“I have to say, sugarcube, I’m mighty impressed!” Applejack gave Rainbow a pat on the shoulder. “Managing to send Lucario flying like that with a Sonic Rainboom? That would’ve been a sight to behold. Um, no offence, partner…” she quickly added.

“None taken,” Lucario reassured her.

“I, for one, will never understand how that brain of yours work, darling.” Rarity said while shaking her head. “You saw Lucario beat up that dragon yesterday, and your first idea was to go and fight him? What if you got hurt, or if Lucario’s marvelous fur got damaged!”

“I’ll take the fact that my well-being is ranked the same as Lucario’s fur as a compliment,” Rainbow remarked while rolling her eyes.

“Seriously, we’re just worried about you. I can’t imagine what poor Fluttershy must feel about all this.”

“Oh, um… I actually think its fine,” the yellow pegasus responded, nearly making everyone around the table spit out their tea.

*cough, cough* "YOU are fine with it?! Darling, you’re the most gentle and kind pony in all of Ponyville! How can you possibly be fine with such things?!”

“Well, um, many animals fight a lot with each other when they’re young. It’s like a game to them. Maybe the same thing applies to when ponies and Pokémon fight sometimes.”

If you only knew, Lucario thought to himself.

“Also, Rainbow seems very happy about the whole thing, so it couldn’t have been that bad, right?” Fluttershy finished her explanation. Rarity looked at her speechlessly for a few seconds before sighing in defeat.

“I swear, sometimes it feels like I’m the only dignified lady here.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow suddenly said with a smug smile. “Tell me again who was going to rip a few teenage dragons to pieces for touching one of Spike’s cute headscales?”

A bright blush appeared on Rarity’s face. She opened her mouth to object, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Spike, can you get that?” Twilight said to the baby dragon. “…Spike?”

Spike hadn’t heard a word. He was too busy staring at Rarity in some sort of trance. “Ahh, my heroine…” he said dreamingly. Twilight gave herself a small facehoof and stepped up to open the door herself. She was greeted by a huge, red-coated stallion with a sprig of wheat in his mouth.

“Oh, Big McIntosh, how are you? Are you here looking for Applejack?”

“Eeyup,” The stallion simply replied.

“Oh gosh darn it! I’m sorry, Big Mac. I forgot that I was supposed to help you with the last chores this evening. I’ll be right with you.”

“I think that I’ll take my leave as well,” Lucario said. “I need to make one last patrol through the village before it gets too dark.”

“All right. See you guys tomorrow!” The others waved them goodbye as they left. On her way past the door, Applejack turned towards Lucario.

“I suppose you haven’t met my brother yet. Big Mac, this is Lucario, the village’s new guardian. Lucario, this is Big McIntosh.”

“Nice to meet you, Big McIntosh,” Lucario greeted the stallion. “I take it that you’re Applejack’s big brother?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac answered with a smile.

“I see. Your family runs Sweet Apple Acres by the border of the village? You must be proud of your work.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed. It seems like Applejack had already told Lucario a bit about their family business.

“Your family was one of the founders of Ponyville, you say? How many years ago was that?”

“Ee…” Big Mac got confused. Did he say that?

“Over 70 years ago, since your grandmother was young? I can’t imagine how proud she must be to see how her family’s work has paid off over the decades.”

“Hold on a minute! When did you learn so much about us?” Applejack suddenly asked, every bit as confused as her brother.

“He told me,” Lucario answered.

“When? I thought you guys hadn’t met each other before. Oh well, let’s just get back to the farm and finish up the work. Let’s go, Big Mac.”

“Eeyup,” the stallion quickly replied, following after his sister.

“Okay, I’ll keep an eye after those Flim Flam brothers for you if they return. Good night,” Lucario called to them as they left. He then began to make his way through the village. “So it isn’t just owls who speak like that? Good to know,” he said to himself.

Lucario finished his search through the village and the borders of the forest as the moon rose over the horizon. There had been no signs of any strange activities anywhere. How ironic that most problems seem to occur during the day, Lucario thought to himself. Not that he complained. It would let him sleep easier during the night without having to constantly keep an eye open for trouble.

He returned to the tree on the hill and laid down with his back resting on it. A few birds looked down at him from their nests, but paid him no further mind. After making one last check over the village with his Aura Sense, Lucario closed his eyes to sleep. Half an hour later, he was still unable to drift off. He was tired after the long day, especially considering his surprisingly tough battle with Rainbow. Yet it was like his mind was waiting for something, something to finish the day with. As he irritatingly opened his eyes and looked at the stars, he realized what it was.

I’m… waiting for her? he questioned himself in his head. It’s true that he had talked to Princess Luna for the past two nights, but that was just it. It had only been two nights, nothing more. Had he already grown that used to their talks during the evening? He briefly scanned through the memories of their conversations. The image of the dark blue pony smiling at him after thanking him last night got stuck in his mind. He shook it off and gave out a small sigh. It’s not like she would want to talk to me after our last meeting.

As he watched the night sky, he could finally feel himself falling asleep slowly. Like always, it calmed him down to just watch the stars and the moon like this. Just before he did so, a final thought crossed his mind.

Why does the sky look so different tonight…?

“I BROUGHT YOU A LETTER!”

Lucario was abruptly woken up from his slumber. As he opened his eyes, he saw a gray-coated pegasus with a pair of yellow crossed eyes mere inches away from his face. He barely resisted the reflex to jump up and accidently headbutt her in the face. Seeing him awake, she smiled and picked out a newspaper from her mailbag.

“Miss, that’s not a lett-“

“Have a good muffin!” the mare said cheerfully before flying off, leaving a confused Lucario behind. After spending a few minutes trying to make sense of her “Have a good muffin!”-line, he decided to let it go. Taking a look at the newspaper, he almost immediately noticed the article on the front page.

Lucario reread the article several times. Luna was sick? And it had happened on the night of their argument? No matter how many times Lucario tried, he couldn’t remember seeing any signs of sickness or fatigue on Luna’s face. He pondered if the sickness had spawned from her outburst, but decided against that thought. If anything, Luna had been worn out and tired after all that, but not enough to make her physically ill.

That must also be why the night sky looked different yesterday. Princess Celestia probably doesn’t put in as much effort and detail into it as her sister does, he theorized. It wasn’t until now that he realized what exactly had been different about the sky last night. The glow of the stars had been random, lacking any artistic detail Luna said that she made to them every night. Normal ponies wouldn’t notice anything, but he did due to Luna’s explanation coupled with his tendency to sleep outside.

A sudden glow of light suddenly sparked beside him, and Twilight materialized out of nowhere. Her expression had a mix of worry and determination on it. She briefly threw a quick look at the newspaper in his paws before speaking.

“Okay, you’ve read it too, then. Look, I know that you didn’t want to talk about what Luna said to you that night, and I promised myself not to push you for answers, but-”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I understand,” Lucario assured the unicorn. “I will tell you everything that happened.”

Twilight looked up at him somewhat surprised. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Actually, Rainbow already knows. She was eavesdropping on us when we talked. I don’t think it is fair to keep it a secret from the rest of you girls anymore.”

Twilight seemed to calm down a lot from Lucario’s answer. She must’ve felt rather guilty for questioning him about it again. “Thank you, Lucario. Is it okay if I gather the rest of the girls too?”

“Sure. I’ll see you at the library.” Lucario nodded. Twilight nodded back before teleporting away.

It had taken a while before Lucario could begin telling his story. Part of it was because Pinkie Pie had mistaken the meet-up for Rainbow’s party, and thus decorated the entire library with confetti and balloons. Twilight was going to object to this, but Pinkie had also brought cakes for them to eat. Considering it still was rather early in the morning, she gave in and let everyone eat before Lucario got started. They didn’t have much of a chance breaking him out of his snack-eating trance anyway.

Once they were finished, Lucario told them everything that had happened during that night. Knowing that Twilight would want as much information as possible, he decided to go into detail. He told them what he and Luna had spoken of the first time they met (with the exception of their deal to keep their backstories secret) and every single line they uttered during the night after. He even told them how she smiled at him, causing Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy to give out a brief “Aww”.

“That’s when Twilight teleported next to me and asked me what had happened. I haven’t seen or heard of Luna ever since until today.” Lucario finished his story. Twilight scratched her chin in thought, thinking through everything he had told them.

“I see now why you didn’t want to tell us about it. I’m sorry Luna made you feel that way…”

“Well, I think she was just blaming him for no reason!” Applejack scoffed from the other side of the table. “Who cares if that dragon attacked just because he was angry at Lucario? He still flew off to kick its sorry rump without a second thought!”

“That’s what I told him!” Rainbow replied from her seat.

“She was just worried about us though, wasn’t she?” Fluttershy almost whispered from her side. “I think she was wrong too, but she had her reasons. I can’t be mad at her for that…”

“Darling, you can’t be mad at anypony whatsoever,” Rarity commented her friend. “Still, Lucario, please know that we bear no ill thought of you.”

“I know,” Lucario replied. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at his friends’ support. “Thank you.”

“I just can’t understand what kind of sickness Luna is suffering from.” Twilight was still scratching her chin. “And why didn’t Princess Celestia send word after me?”

“You know the princess?” Lucario asked.

“Oh yeah, I haven’t told you that. I’m actually Princess Celestia’s personal student. I’ve studied under her ever since I was a small filly.” Twilight’s mood brightened somewhat at the memories. “I moved to Ponyville to continue my studies and learn about the magic of friendship.”

“Magic of wha-” Lucario tried to ask, but was interrupted by Rainbow.

“Good thing you did. It wouldn’t have been nearly as easy for me to deal with Nightmare Moon if you hadn’t.”

“We all stopped Nightmare Moon together, Rainbo-” Twilight realized something mid-sentence. “Now that I think about it, you don’t know who this Nightmare Moon is, right Lucario?”

“Does it have something to do with Luna?” Lucario asked.

“Yes. She used to be-”

“Then I don’t want to hear about it.”

Pretty much every jaw in the room except Pinkie’s dropped at Lucario’s statement. “W-What? Why not?!”

Lucario remembered his and Luna’s first meeting over the Everfree Forest.

“It’s part of a deal.”

Everypony raised their brows at this. Pinkie was again the only exception. Twilight sighed and decided to take this as another one of Lucario’s “I don’t want to talk about it” answers for the moment.

“Anyway, I’m still worried. I don’t want to see anything happen to Luna.”

“Me neither! If she’s sick, who is going to scare us at the next Nightmare Night? It’s less than a month away, you know?!” Pinkie exclaimed from her side.

“And I want to pay her back for that lightning scare she gave me last year. N-Not that it scared me or anything!” Rainbow quickly added to her response.

“Then it’s settled.” Twilight stood up and looked over her friends. She brought a hoof to the middle of the table, which her friends quickly placed their own hooves upon. Lucario stared at it for a moment before shrugging and placing his paw on the top.

“We’re going to Canterlot!”

About an hour later, the group was waiting patiently at the Friendship Express Station. Twilight had given her friends some time to pack some luggage, as she expected that curing Luna would take some time. She herself had brought a suitcase full of medical books and research notes with her. Fluttershy was carrying a pair of saddle-bags with some herbs she normally used for her animals. Applejack had filled her own saddle-bags with apples for all of them to snack on. Poor Rarity almost had a heart attack when she heard that she only had an hour to pack her things. By some miracle, she had settled with a suitcase almost three times the size of Twilight’s filled with clothes. Rainbow hadn’t bothered to pack anything at all. She said that she could just fly over to her house if she needed anything.

“Pinkie, haven’t you packed anything?” Twilight asked her pink friend. The party pony had seemingly not brought a single bag with her.

“Of course I have, Twilight! I could never leave home without my Party Cannon!” She suddenly brought out a huge light blue cannon out of nowhere. Simply giving her astonished friends her usual smile, she put it back into whatever space it had come from.

“Okay, we’re gonna solve that mystery once and for all!” Rainbow slapped her hooves together. “Lucario, you can see pretty much anything with that ability of yours, right? Where did she put it?” She turned towards Lucario, but found that he was busy looking towards Canterlot in the distance.

“…Hmm? Sorry Rainbow, I wasn’t listening.”

“Oh come on!” The pegasus yelled out in frustration. Ignoring her, Twilight walked up to Lucario.

“We’ll get there soon, don’t worry,” she reassured him.

“I know. That’s not the reason why I’m watching it,” he answered. Seeing the unicorn waiting for further explanation, he continued. “It… reminds me of Cameran Palace back in my world.”

Twilight remembered what Lucario had told her about his home back when they first met. “I see. Did you live at the palace? I remember that your mentor used to train you there at least.”

“Yes. Sir Aaron and I served directly under Lady Rin. He was her personal adviser, helping her with negotiations and keeping order in Rota. I was her agent, heading out to deal with any incidents or attacks that occurred around the country.”

“How was Lady Rin? It almost sounds like she was your world’s counterpart to Princess Celestia.”

“She wasn’t the queen of the sun or anything. But she was an incredibly kind woman. She always placed the well-being of the people above her own, almost to a fault. Sir Aaron constantly had to remind her to rest so that she wouldn’t overwork herself. But her passion for being a queen was greater than anything I’ve ever seen. She loved to just take strolls through the town, speaking with the citizens and even playing with the children. Other countries thought that the stories about her were just a farce to make her look better in the people’s eyes. But I could see the happiness in her eyes every time she was out there. Even now I can’t believe that I ever had the honor of serving under someone like her.”

Twilight listened as Lucario described Lady Rin to her. She could see his eyes almost glimmering as he spoke of her. Once he finished, Twilight was smiling as well.

“I think she fits the Princess Celesta counterpart role just fine. She sounds like a great Queen.”

For a moment Twilight could see the glimmer in Lucario’s eyes turn from happiness to sadness.

“Yeah… she was.”

“Come on, fellas! Eyes up! The train is here!” Applejack suddenly shouted behind them. They could see the train approach them from a distance. Twilight walked back to the rest of her friends and grabbed her suitcase. The train came to a halt and opened its doors, letting the passengers out. Once they had all left, the group stepped into one of the carts and took their seats inside. Twilight was just about to put away her luggage when she noticed that something was missing.

“Wait… where’s Lucario?”

“Oh, he said something about flying over there instead. Apparently he’s used to traveling that way,” Applejack replied. True enough, Twilight could see Lucario activating his Magnet Rise outside as the train started to move.

“He what?! Oh boy, this is the perfect chance to race him!” Rainbow said excitingly, preparing to fly out her window. Twilight’s magic stopped her in midair.

“Leave it for another day, Rainbow. The last thing we need the guards in Canterlot to see is a Sonic Rainboom flying towards them.”

The news of Princess Luna’s sickness had spread like wildfire among the citizens of Canterlot. But the reactions they expressed were different from the ones in Ponyville. Apart from Ponyville, where all the citizens were neighborly acquainted with each other, Canterlot was mostly populated by ponies of the higher class. Who they knew and spend time with was almost always solely based on family names and standards in order to improve their public image. As a result, the majority of them were only concerned for their own reputation and safety.

That was why the personnel at Canterlot’s train station weren’t surprised when nearly a third of the city’s population suddenly decided to take a “vacation” after today’s news. Hundreds of well-dressed upperclasscolts and mares had been terrified after hearing of the possibly contagious disease. Thus, all of them were now waiting for the incoming train. There was no chance that they would all fit on it, and the personnel knew that they had a long day of work and complaints ahead of them.

“Jet Set, darling, grab our luggage. I think the train is approaching,” a yellow-coated unicorn mare with a grey and white striped mane called to her husband.

“I would, dear Upper Crust, if I could possibly carry all your bags with a single spell,” the grey-coated stallion with a black mane answered. “I say, are you really in need of all this? Surely your aunt in Fillydelphia has more than enough clothes and accessories for you to borrow?”

“Borrow?! I swear, sometimes you can be so dense, my husband. Can’t you imagine the shame of walking around in another pony’s clothes, let alone in public?! Honestly, ever since you started to spend more time with Fancypants you have become so… sloppy with keeping your image.”

“To be frank, my dear, Fancypants and I talked a long time after that Garden Party with miss Rarity. I assure you that the things he had to say about keeping good relations with the lower party was extraordinarily interesting. Life changing in fact.”

“Now you’re beginning to scare me, darling. Just get a hold of our luggage before the train… wait a minute… what’s that yellow thing in the sky?”

“Now YOU are beginning to scare ME, Upper Crust. To think that you would forget about the sun. Are you sure that you’re-”

Jet Set closed his mouth upon looking up into the sky as well. The ponies gathering at the station could now see the strange, yellow-glowing creature flying above the incoming train. Noticing that it was heading towards them, they began to back away in a panic. Just as the train stopped in front of them, Lucario landed in the middle of the crowd. Deactivating his Magnet Rise, he only gave them a brief look before turning to the train doors. Twilight and the rest of her friends nervously stepped out, unsure of how to cope with all the attention.

“Well, that’s one way to make an appearance,” Rainbow said as she barely managed to drag Fluttershy out of her hiding place inside the train. The group then began to leave the station, the crowd making way for them as they walked past.

“We should head to the castle immediately,” Twilight said to her friends. “I’m sure that Princess Celestia will be happy to offer us food and a place to stay once she lets us in.”

“IF she lets us in, you mean?” Rainbow corrected her.

“Why wouldn’t she? It’s not like all of us will walk into Luna’s chambers or anything. I just want to hear about her symptoms so I can start looking through my books.”

“I’m not going to back away now or anything, darling, but what if Princess Celestia’s fears are true? What if the disease is contagious?” Rarity brought up a very valid point.

“If it truly comes down to that, I will stay until we’ve found a cure, no matter how long it takes.” A sudden though crossed Twilight’s mind and her expression grew worried. “Girls, I’m sorry. I brought you all here without thinking what a mess I was getting you into. If you want to go back to Ponyvi-” An apple was promptly shoved in her mouth by Applejack.

“Stop with all that silly talk, Twilight. We’re just as worried about Luna as you are. If there’s anything we can do to help her at all, you bet we’re going to stay and do it!”

It only took about 15 minutes before Canterlot Castle came into view. As the home for the princesses themselves, it was considered a huge honor to be given a chance to visit it. Even the highest standing ponies of the upper class were rarely invited to its grounds. Being Princess Celestia’s faithful student had its advantages though. Coupled with the fact that she pretty much grew up at the castle, there wasn’t much doubt on Twilight’s mind as she led her friends to the gates. She gave the guards a simple nod and was about to pass through before a pair of wings crossed in front of her.

“The castle is off-limits to all visitors. Turn back now or we will have to escort you off the premises,” the pegasus guard on the right commanded. Twilight wasn’t planning on backing down though.

“Come on, Nail Gale. It’s me, Twilight. Princess Celestia would surely let me in, right?”

The pegasus sighed, letting go of his usual royal guard behavior. “Twilight, I know that there can only be one reason for why you are here. You’ve read the news and want to help Princess Luna. But nopony is allowed entrance. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in.”

“I’ll take care it from here, guards.” Nail Gale widened his eyes in surprise. The sound of flapping wings grew louder as the Princess of the Sun herself flew down towards them. As Twilight and her friends called out to her in recognition, Lucario remained silent and studied Celestia. She reminded him a lot of Luna, but was still in many ways her polar opposite. Her coat and mane fitted the day just as perfectly as Luna’s fitted the night. What he found to be the most interesting thing about her, however, was her eyes. Just like Luna’s eyes, there was a depth behind them that seemed to hide deep secrets. Maybe that’s to be expected after living for over a thousand years, he thought to himself.

Twilight ran up to Celestia and nuzzled her in greeting, a gesture Celestia somewhat reluctantly returned. “Princess, I’m sorry. We were so worried about Luna, and I heard that you’re turning away every doctor in-”

“It’s all right, Twilight. I understand,” Celestia reassured her student. Twilight looked up to her mentor and smiled, happy to see that the princess wasn’t angry at her. Celestia gave the rest of her friends a quick nod before turning towards Nail Gale.

“Guard, please escort Twilight and her friends away from the area. Have them stay the night at Shining Armor’s house.”

“W-What?!” Twilight could hardly believe her ears as Nail Gale nodded and began to push them back. “Princess, I know that you’re worried about us, but please! Let us help you!”

Celestia just shook her head. “I’m sorry, my little ponies. But this is something that I cannot risk involving you in. I will find a cure for Luna, I promise.”

“But Princess, I-” Whatever argument Twilight was going to use never crossed her lips. She found herself interrupted by Lucario as he lifted his paw to silence her.

“That’s enough, Twilight. We all know that the princess has her reasons. Let’s honor her request.”

Twilight stared at Lucario for a few seconds. Wasn’t he just as worried about Luna as the rest of them? She turned towards her friends for support, only to find defeated frowns on all of their faces. Finally giving up herself, she sighed and followed after Nail Gale as he led them back into the city. Before he left, Lucario turned around and briefly locked eyes with Celestia. He made sure to read as much as he could from them before she turned away and flew back to the castle.

Finally able to talk more casually now that he had left the presence of his fellow guards, Nail Gale began to ask questions about Lucario. To the group’s surprise, his battle with the dragon was hardly heard of in Canterlot. The upper class normally didn’t bother to read news from other small towns and villages like Ponyville. “I believe that you’re telling the truth,” Nail had reassured them. “You certainly look like the kind of guy to pull off something like that. But either Ponyville’s news doesn’t interest the ponies here, or you beat that dragon up so fast that nopony had a chance to notice.

“Probably the latter, I’d bet.” Rainbow smirked.

They eventually reached a house with two royal guards standing outside. Nail Gale knocked on the door, which was shortly opened by a white-coated stallion with a blue-striped mane.

“Oh, Nail Gale, you got the rest of the day off? What brings you… Twily?” He soon noticed Twilight smiling sheepishly behind Nail Gale. He nearly ran the poor pegasus guard over as he rushed out to hug her. “Twily, it’s so good to see you! Man, we hardly saw each other before the wedding, and now you come to visit me almost every month. Cadence will… Twily? Is something wrong?” He let go of his sister after seeing the sad frown on her face.

“It’s a long story. Can we come in?”

“Of course. Cadence and I will prepare something to eat for you.” He looked over the rest of Twilight’s friends, his eyes inevitably getting stuck on Lucario. “Whoa… new friend of yours?”

“That’s a LONGER story. Now come on, I can’t stand any more of Applejack’s apples!” Rainbow exclaimed impatiently.

“Oh, I’ll make sure to remember that during next cider season,” Applejack replied with an evil grin.

As the rest of the day passed, Shining and Cadence listened as Lucario first introduced himself. Once he had finished telling them how he had come to Equestria and about his new role as guardian, Twilight explained the reasons for their visit in Canterlot.

“I was so sure that Celestia would let us in. But she turned even us away,” she said somewhat hurt.

“Did you see how un-Celestia she was? She’s always happy and love to play pranks, but now she was even grumpier than Cranky,” Pinkie said disappointed.

“But why are you two staying here in Shining’s old house?” Twilight asked the couple. “Didn’t you decide to live in the castle after the wedding?”

“That’s exactly the problem, Twilight,” Cadence replied. “Celestia had us move here until Luna has recovered. She’s worried about us, being newlyweds and all.”

Lucario wasn’t focusing too much on the conversation. He was thinking through the situation repeatedly in his head. There was something wrong about all of this, that much was clear. So many things just didn’t make sense to him. He had never met Celestia personally before, but even he could tell that she was behaving strangely. What could possibly be so special about this sickness that only she would be able to find a cure for it? Furthermore, she didn’t seem to keep much of an eye on her increased security. He had seen several pegasus guards flying in and out of the castle’s windows and into the city. If the place was under quarantine, wouldn’t the guards need to stay inside at all times?

“It’s getting late. How about we leave the discussion for tomorrow and get a good night’s sleep. Sweetie, can you show everyone to the guest rooms?” Cadence asked Shining, but found that her husband seemed to be in deep thought. A nudge on the shoulder shook him out of it.

“Huh? Oh! Oh yeah, of course. Follow me; we have enough rooms for everypony,” he threw a quick glance at Lucario before walking up the stairs.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

As Celestia brought forth her second night in a row, everypony were now sleeping in their beds. At first, Twilight wanted to stay up and read through her books, but a few words from Cadence had convinced her to rest. It had taken some effort, but she had eventually managed to ignore Rainbow’s snoring from the other room and fall asleep herself.

A pair of red eyes suddenly opened in the dark of one of the rooms. Lucario hadn’t slept a wink. Unbeknown to the rest of his friends, he had simply laid with his Aura Sense activated, waiting for all of them to fall asleep. There was something he had to do, and he couldn’t risk involving any of them in it.

He got out of his bed and walked up to the window. Making sure that no one heard him moving about, he opened it quietly and leapt out, landing almost without a sound on the ground outside.

“I knew you were planning something like this.”

Lucario knew that he wasn’t the only one who had stayed awake during the evening. Shining Armor had left on some “guard duty” sometime before, but hadn’t returned before everyone fell asleep. Lucario had sensed him walk around the house and stop in the alley, as if he was waiting for someone. It eventually became clear to him as the hours passed who it exactly was.

“How did you know that I was going to sneak out the window?”

“The guards are still standing on watch by the front door. It would be next to impossible to get past them unnoticed, thus the window was your only choice. It’s just a small detail you learn after being a captain of the royal guard for a while.” His friendly smile was replaced by a frown as he came to the point of their conversation. “You aren’t seriously going to sneak into the castle, are you?”

“That was my plan, yes.”

“You got to be kidding me. Listen, Canterlot Castle was already the most well-guarded place in all of Equestria before Celestia increased security. There’s no way you’ll make it inside.”

“I will have a better chance now than during the day. Celestia should be asleep now, so this is my only chance of making it inside without her noticing. Besides, you are just as doubtful about this whole thing as I am, correct?”

Lucario seemed to have hit his mark, as Shining remained silent for a moment. “I guess you’ve noticed the guards flying in and out of the castle as well?” the captain eventually asked.

“Yeah. Seems like they’re rather unorganized without their captain.”

“Had the disease or curse been contagious, half of Canterlot would’ve been infected by now. Besides, Celesta is inside almost all the time, and there isn’t a trace of illness on her! I don’t understand why she insists on doing this.”

“That’s why I must get inside. Whatever the secret is, Luna is still in danger. Maybe tonight will be my only chance.”

Shining studied Lucario for a moment before sighing. “All right, we don’t have much time. I know of a few secret entrances into the castle. We can use one of them to-”

As he turned around to gesture towards the castle, Shining suddenly felt something hit him on the back of his neck. He struggled for a second before falling to the ground unconscious. Behind him, Lucario lowered his arm and looked at the knocked out unicorn.

“If something were to go wrong, I can’t let you be there to take the blame with me. I have my own ways of sneaking in, don’t worry. Now rest. I believe you have someone waiting for you.”

Using Psychic, he opened the window to Shining’s and Cadence’s room and levitated Shining inside. Landing softly next to his wife, Shining sighed in satisfaction as Cadence reflexively reached out to hug him in her sleep. Silently closing the window behind him, Lucario smiled lightly at the happy couple before disappearing into the night.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Icestar156 for proofreading!

Aaaaaaand we’re back! I’m sorry for making this chapter take so long, the last days of school (and Dragon’s Dogma) has a tendency to devour your free time.

First of all, let me give out immeasurable amounts of thanks to Joe Stevens at JoeStevensInc, the makers of Equestria Inquirer. They gave me permission to reference their work with the newspaper Lucario and company read. Some of you may know them from their updates on Equestria Daily. If you haven’t already, click the link above and read through their articles. I assure you that you won’t regret it!

The article is featured on my deviantART page.

There wasn’t any action in today’s chapter, but at least the story is driving along nicely. I have great things in store for the next two chapters, so prepare yourselves.

In case you didn’t know, Jet Set and Upper Crust were the two ponies who spoke ill of Rarity in Sweet and Elite. Leave it to Fancypants to straighten out at least one of them behind the scenes in this story.

I actually had a hard time thinking of a fitting name for this chapter. By some coincidence, I was watching a review of the recent Game of Thrones video game during one of my brainstorms. Beating myself over the head for not watching the series yet, I decided to name the chapter in its honor.

Next time in Friendship is Aura: The most guarded place in all of Equestria? A Pokémon who has never stepped a foot inside there before? No cardboard boxes?! ……Challenge accepted.

KangTheGuardian -

Mission Impokeble

The city of Canterlot was built almost a thousand years ago, shortly after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. Until then, the princesses had lived within the ancient castle inside the Everfree Forest. Even to this day, there are many speculations over why Celestia chose to move after the event. Some say that she just wanted to live closer to the center of Equestria. Others say that Nightmare Moon’s influence somehow corrupted the once tranquil animals living there, turning them into the wild and ferocious creatures that live there today. Finally, it is possible that Celestia just couldn’t stand living in a place where such dark memories would haunt her.

Building the new city and castle had taken a long time, but many secrets about Canterlot Mountain had been discovered in the process. In the past, as the workers were digging out the grounds for the city, they discovered a mysterious system of caves. What they found inside was the largest natural resource of gems that has ever been discovered in Equestria’s history. Soon enough, ponies from across the entire country came to harvest the valuables inside. But no matter how much they took, the ponies were never satisfied. Greed corrupted them, making them fight among each other over the smallest shards. A group of especially crazed unicorns even invaded the caves, claiming everything inside to be theirs.

Eventually, Celesta herself had to put a stop to the madness. Managing to break the unicorns free from their crazed greed, she ordered the caves to be sealed off, never to be mentioned again. However, the old entrance was still connected to the insides of the castle, a fact only known by Celestia herself.

“…So, why did you tell me all this again?”

The red-coated unicorn guard named Crimson planted a hoof to his forehead. He still couldn’t understand what wrong he had done to deserve sharing the same shift as Azure Scroll. It was a miracle that the poor unicorn finished magic kindergarten, let alone making it into the royal guard.

“For Pete’s sake. Azure, you were the one who asked me why nopony had been told about these caves up until now. Princess Celestia ordered ALL entrances to the castle to be secured, including the secret ones. If even one pony knows of these caves, they could’ve used them to sneak inside unnoticed. That’s why she decided to tell the guard about this place. We can’t let even the most unlikely… Azure, get a hold of yourself!”

Crimson fired off a weak shock spell at his co-worker’s backside. This was the third time Azure had walked off to stare into one of the nearby gems.

“OW! Hehe. Sorry, Crimson. But if the princess knows how alluring these gems are, why didn’t she give us a resistance to them, like a spell or something. It seems kind of rude to order us to stand guard here for hours if we’ll just end up turning crazy.”

“I would really like an answer to that question myself. I trust the princess’s judgment, but we are simply not trained to resist urges like these. Or at least you aren’t, you dimwit!”

“OW! Thanks again.”

*sigh* “The things I put up with. When are you ever going to start-”

As Crimson was about to continue his scolding, the sound of a falling rock echoed through the cavern. Crimson immediately stopped midsentence and stared into the darkness. Azure also heard the sound and walked up to his partner. Together they watched the shadows, knowing that the rock didn’t simply fall by itself. Crimson’s horn started to glow as he prepared for the possibility of something suddenly charging at them. He didn’t have to wait long as another rock fell near one of the gem pillars to their left.

“THERE!” he yelled as he fired his spell. The beam hit the pillar, shattering it to pieces. Letting the dust clear, Crimson walked up to see what he had hit. Cowering inside the dust cloud was a small bat, terrified at the sudden explosion that had almost buried him in rock.

“Oh, hehe. Sorry, little guy. False alarm, Azure. It was just a bat.”

“OW!”

“What do you mean 'OW!'? I haven’t even shot you yet. Or have you finally taken the liberty of hitting yourself whenever you-“

Crimson only had a brief moment to notice the blue-coated unicorn lying unconscious on the ground. He had even lesser time to react as something grabbed his neck, showering electricity over his body.

Lucario dragged the ponies behind one of the gem pillars. The red one had his mane shaped like an afro after the ThunderPunch. It wasn’t the most effective move to use for stealth operations, but he had found its use rather ironic after the stallion’s constant use of a shock spell against his friend. Making sure that they wouldn’t wake up anytime soon, he turned back towards the gate they had been guarding.

Sometime before, Lucario had approached the castle grounds to observe the security. Nearly every entrance was covered by at least two guards, with many more patrolling the streets and sky. As Shining had predicted, it would be difficult to make it past them. There was one thing that Sir Aaron had taught him about infiltration though: If you can’t use an entrance, make one for yourself. As he began to Dig a hole in one of the nearby alleys, his Aura Sense suddenly detected the vast and empty space beneath the castle. Sensing far less guards in that area, he decided to go there first.

Shining must have been referring to this as one of the secret entrances. He could’ve easily distracted those two for me before entering himself. They wouldn’t have the courage to question the orders of their own captain.

His thinking was interrupted as something bit his ear. Looking up, he saw the bat from before flying above him. It had been kind enough to help him distract the guards.

“Thank you. As promised, I’ll let you into the castle’s kitchen. Just be sure to be out before daylight so the staff doesn’t catch you.”

The bat nodded happily before landing on his shoulder, intending to hitch a ride to the kitchen. Lucario gave the guards one last look before opening the gate and ascending the stairs behind it. A few torches lit up the passage as he made his way to the top. Faced with a brick wall, he scanned the area behind it. It was a small room, seemingly just a place to put brooms and other cleaning tools. Outside of that he could see a larger room with many beds, possibly the cleaning staff’s bedroom. Nopony seemed to be sleeping there for the moment. Sensing no guards in the area either, he easily pushed the wall aside, dodged the buckets lying on the floor, and stepped into the bedroom.

“Luck is on my side so far. I better find Luna’s chambers as soon as possible.” A scratch to the chin reminded him of his earlier promise. “As soon as we get you to the kitchen, but it better be quick.”

Using Aura Sense, he scanned as much of the castle’s interior as he could. There were still many guards stationed throughout the corridors, but nothing that he wouldn’t be able to sneak past. His first target, the kitchen, was thankfully located close by. He would’ve needed to go past it on his way to Luna either way. His path decided for the moment, he left the bedroom and began to make his way through the corridors. Thanks to the high ceiling, he was able to either jump over or climb past the guards on his way. Finally reaching a wooden door, he opened it and stepped into the kitchen.

The bat let out a happy squeal as it flew away and began to snack on one of the nearby fruit bowls. Lucario had intended to be on his way immediately, but something caught his attention. Right next to the bowl was some sort of letter. Stepping inside the room himself, he picked up the paper and read its contents.

Dear Nanny:
I’m growing more and more worried about Princess Celestia’s condition. I delivered the plate of cupcakes you made to her room this morning, expecting them to be eaten already by the time I returned by ten o’clock. I know how much she loves your baking.
But I was distraught when I returned and found that she hadn’t taken a single bite. Sure, the plate was empty, but only because she had dumped everything in the trash. Surely even in times like these she should find herself able to relax and eat them, even for just a moment.
You’ve been with the princess ever since you were a small filly. Please, try to talk to her. We’re now just as worried about her as we are of Princess Luna.
Love: Candle Warmth.

As Lucario finished reading the letter, the bat let out a burp after finishing the entire bowl by itself. Lucario was about to put the note back when voices approached outside. Lucario leapt to the nearby wall and pressed his back against it. Thankfully, he had remembered to close the door after entering.

“Is this really our route?”

“I don’t know, all right? I’ve been walking around at random for hours now. Captain Armor didn’t even give us a note before retreating to his home with Princess Cadence. Way to leave us disorganized, I say.”

“I don’t know. Some of the other guys said that the captain had tried to question the princess’s orders at first. But for some reason she had been very forceful.”

“Well, he is technically family to her now. Last time I checked, it was normal to be worried about your family’s safety.”

“Yeah, but the guys made it sound like she was angry, desperate even. Like it or not, we’re just lost pigs without the captain’s supervision. Why the princess would try so hard to get him and Cadence out of here I will never under-”

“What will you never understand, guard?”

The guards and Lucario froze up as a familiar voice came out of nowhere. Outside the kitchen, the guards turned around to see the princess of the sun standing behind them.

“P-Princess Celestia?! What are you doing here?”

Celestia is awake?! Lucario panicked. This wasn’t good. He didn’t know the full extent of her powers, but he had guessed that one of them was the ability to sense everything occurring within the castle. That was why he had decided to sneak in during the night, so that she would be asleep. Now it was only a matter of time before he would get caught.

“What we mean is-” One of the guards coughed nervously. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping at this hour, princess? Staying up late has always been Princess Luna’s thing.”

“My sister’s 'thing' is exactly what I’m trying to do here. With the night back in my control, I need to stay awake longer to make sure that it is working as it should. Now, I believe you have a patrol to get back to.”

“Yes ma’am!” the guards answered before dashing away. Celestia looked after them for a moment before leaving as well.

Inside the kitchen, Lucario breathed out in relief. Had he been mistaken about Celestia’s abilities? If she had them, she would’ve noticed his presence long ago. Maybe she was too exhausted after being awake for so long? No, that was doubtful. Even her guards thought that she was acting out of character. This was clearly yet another example of that.

Activating his Aura Sense again, he studied Celestia’s route. It seemed like she was making her way to the lower floors, away from Luna’s chamber. That was a relief. Magical sensing powers or not, he wouldn’t want to risk being in her presence any more than necessary. Just a few more floors and he would reach his primary target.

However, as he scanned through the castle again, a sudden thought crossed his mind. If Celestia was awake, that would mean that her own bedchambers were empty. Scanning the area, he confirmed his theories upon sensing the empty room. Only a lone guard was stationed outside.

Rather poorly protected for being her personal chambers, he thought to himself. Luna’s safety was still his priority, but if there was one place where he could find clues to Celestia’s behavior, it was there. His mind made up, he left the kitchen and the bat behind him.

The security was growing thicker as he approached his new target, but a combination of the guards’ disorganized state and flying through nearby windows allowed him to avoid their sight. Finally making it to the chambers, he hid behind the corner and studied the guard outside the door. It was clear from his armor that he was of a higher rank than the rest, possibly a captain like Shining. His eyes were focused and devoid of fatigue. He also lacked a helmet, letting his silver-colored mane fall down over his neck. Simply sneaking past this guy would not be an option. After some thinking he got an idea.

The stallion was only briefly surprised when Lucario casually stepped out of his hiding place. One second later, a white glow engulfed the Pokémon as he was dragged in front of his captor.

“I don’t know who you are or why you decided to walk out before me, but know that whatever plans you had have failed. I, Captain Duty Edge, knew that walking around with the rest of the guard would be a waste of time. I would wait here; ready to capture whoever thought that he or she could sneak into our princess’s chambers. Now I have you firmly in my telekinetic grasp, and the only thing that awaits you is a cold, dark ce-”

Blue light surrounded the pony’s head, and it was promptly smashed into the nearby wall. Lucario could almost see tears of pain welling up in the pony’s eyes before he fell to the ground. Lucario just shook his head.

“First off: You’re not the only one with telekinetic abilities here. Secondly: The guards need some directions. It’s your job as captain to give them that, isn’t it? Thirdly: The rest of the guards have the right idea about one thing: Wear a helmet.” Paying the knocked out captain no further mind, he stepped through the doors.

The room inside was everything he would’ve expected from a princess’s personal chambers. A large fireplace was burning near the wall, with a huge crown painted on the top. The walls were painted by a mixture of clouds, rainbows and rays of light. Right in the middle of the room, a round purple carpet was placed next to a yellow pillow. This was probably just a resting spot, as the actual bed was located further into the room. A simple nightstand with a plant was placed by it.

Despite all this, the room was surprisingly empty. There were no bookshelves or wardrobes, only a small box under the bed where Celestia probably kept her crown, shoes and trinket during the night. If she kept any secrets within this room, they were well hidden. Lucario activated his Aura Sense to look for any clues.

The search didn’t last long, as he almost immediately noticed some strange power emitting from the nearby wall. On it was a large painting. The lower half was darkened like the night sky, with six stars placed in a hexagon pattern. A word was written by each star, each with a different color: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. The stars were connected with each other by a line, and all of them had another line drawn up to the upper part of the painting. There, one large star was shining down on the rest, lighting up the painting’s upper part in daylight. Again, a word was written next to it: Harmony.

To a normal pony, the painting would look no more different than any other. But Lucario could sense a power in it that he had never felt before. It was warm, welcoming and friendly. He felt like if he reached out his paw, the painting would grab and hold it like a long lost friend. What kind of magic was this?

No matter the origin of this power, one question still remained. Was there another secret behind the painting’s presence? As he studied it, Lucario could swear that it was some sort of puzzle. The connected stars, the words written by them, their color, there must be…

Wait. These colors… they are familiar. Orange, yellow, pink, white, blue and purple. Isn’t that…

Hesitating for a few more moments, Lucario reached out and touched the star by the word Honesty with his paw.

“Applejack.”

Nothing visually changed about the painting, but Lucario could feel something change about its energy. He moved his paw over to the star next to Kindness.

“Fluttershy.”

Another change. He moved his paw over the rest.

“Pinkie Pie. Rarity. Rainbow Dash.”

Every one of his friends’ names caused an effect on the painting. His paw reached the sixth star, Magic.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Yet another change occurred. Lucario stood still and waited for something to trigger, but the painting stayed dormant. Looking over it, he realized that the seventh giant star was left. Harmony…was there a seventh pony that represented it, like Celestia? Lucario doubted it. The six stars were all connected to it, as if they were the individual parts that made it up. Somehow it didn’t make sense for Celestia to be their unifier. There must be something he’s missing.

“I’m actually Princess Celestia’s personal student. I’ve studied under her ever since I was a small filly. I moved to Ponyville to continue my studies and learn about the magic of…”

His mind clicked as he moved his paw over the final star.

“Friendship.”

The six smaller stars started shining, and their rays of light erupted from the painting. They almost playfully danced around each other before uniting in the seventh one. Raising his arm to shield his eyes from the light, Lucario suddenly found a book floating in midair in front of the painting. It was small and simple with a title drawn on the cover with what looked like a crayon pen.

“Tia’s Diary,” Lucario read out loud as he grabbed it. Looking over it, he could see a happy sun drawn on the backside. “She went through so much trouble to hide this? I guess that our memories are our greatest treasures in the end.”

He had no idea why Celestia used the names of Twilight and her friends for the painting, nor why they each represented their own word. Rainbow and Twilight had mentioned that they had stopped this Nightmare Moon together in the past. Was that somehow linked with this? He would need to ask them about it later, as long as they avoided speaking more of Nightmare Moon.

We had a deal. I intend to keep it, for both our sakes, he told himself as he questioned his reasons for avoiding the Nightmare Moon subject. He shook his head slightly. That was a matter for another time. Right now, he needed to see what was written in the diary. Privacy never was an issue for him, not under circumstances like these.

Sitting down on the bed, he opened the book and looked at the last page, wanting to read the latest entry first. The handwriting was every bit as elegant as he expected, written with what seemed to be simple quill and ink.

September 29
Luna must have been more worried than I thought. I had hoped that my talk with her yesterday would calm her down, but I guess there’s not much stopping her once her mind is set.
She surprised everypony in the whole castle when she suddenly showed up at breakfast this morning. She must’ve hardly slept for more than a few hours. I hardly had any time to ask her about it before she finished her meal and flew off towards Ponyville. If I know her right (and I do) she probably spent the entire day spying on Lucario and his new-earned friends.
Oh, I forgot to mention that. Twilight sent me a letter a while ago that described her meeting with the creature. His name is Lucario, a so-called Pokémon from another world. While Twilight managed to learn many things about his species, the exact circumstances that led to his arrival here were withheld. Whatever the cause was, it surely must pain him greatly.
I can’t say that I’m not concerned about Lucario’s presence here. Travel between different worlds and dimensions can possibly have terrible effects on both sides. But I wouldn’t just go and send him back even if I could, at least not without his consent. His heart seems to be in the right place, if his rescue of the cutie mark crusaders is an indication. Most of all, he seems to have already built some bonds with Twilight and her friends. I look forward to meeting him in person.

Lucario finished the page, thinking through its contents. September 29 was the day he had awoken in the hospital and met his new friends for the first time, including Luna. But that was over four days ago. Had the princess not made any other entries after that?

She must’ve been too occupied with finding a cure for Luna. Besides, being over a thousand years old, she certainly couldn’t write something down every day.

Just as he finished that thought, the pages of the book glowed slightly. Surprised by this reaction, he began turning the pages backwards. September 28. September 27. September 26. Every day in September, July, June and every other month of the year passed by. No matter how many he turned, new pages seemingly materialized out of nowhere as he went further and further back in Celestia’s life. She had really done it. She had written something for every single day of her long life.

Speeding through the rest, he finally reached the first page. The first entry Celesta had ever written. The elegant handwriting her present self had was replaced by the unsteady writing of a young filly.

Dere diary. Mommy just gave you to me for my birftday! Luna was so jellus. Im going to vrite in you forever!
Tank you, Mama Lauren!

At the bottom of the page was a simple drawing of three ponies, two fillies and one mare. The fillies were obviously Celestia and Luna, judging by their coats and manes. The mare had a simple white coat, with a long red mane seemingly blowing in the wind. Simple as the drawing was, Lucario didn’t doubt the love Celestia had put into it so many years ago.

Every single day for over a thousand years. Her entire life is documented in this. Everything… except these last few days.

It was then that the last few traces of Lucario’s doubts vanished. There was no longer a question about it. His fears were correct. Standing up from the bed and putting the diary down on the nightstand, he rushed out of the room. He had to get to Luna, now.

Knowing that the front doors to Luna’s chambers were guarded, his only choice was to sneak in through one of her windows. He flew out of one of the windows in the corridor and kept himself hidden behind towers as he made his way forward. Using Magnet Rise in the middle of the night was risky due to its glow, but he was running out of time. Thankfully, he managed to avoid the patrolling guards as he finally slipped through one of the chamber’s windows.

Luna’s chambers were as different from her sister’s as the two princesses were from each other. However, Lucario couldn’t make out any exact details as the entire room was covered in darkness. He could still sense the princess of the night sleeping on her bed. Walking up to her, he studied her for a minute. For a pony that was suffering from an illness, she seemed to be sleeping rather peacefully. Her breaths were calm and she didn’t seem to be sweating. But there was something strange about her aura. Some strange force was flowing through it, as if it was a jailor keeping watch over a prisoner. Whatever it was, it didn’t come from Luna, that much was certain.

I’ll see what I can do for her later. Now I have to-

As he prepared his Psychic, the pair of blue eyes on the bed shot open. They briefly looked around in confusion before stopping at Lucario.

“THOU!”

Luna’s horn sparked as a magic force struck Lucario in the torso. He flew through the air and crashed into the doors, leaving little but shards behind as they broke from the impact. The guards outside jumped in fright as Lucario’s back struck the opposite wall. He coughed in pain as Luna followed him, her eyes glowing in rage.

“WHAT ART THOU DOING HERE?! HAVE OUR SISTER NOT ORDERED QUARANTINE OVER THE CASTLE?! HOW DARE THOU GO AGAINST HER WILL?!”

*cough, cough* “You… knew…?” Lucario managed to force out. Luna’s attack had not only taken him by surprise, but it had been incredibly powerful. The magic force had hurt far more than his crash through the doors and into the wall.

“DOST THOU TAKE US FOR A FOAL?! WE WOULD DO ANYTHING OUR BELOVED SISTER TOLD US! NOW ANSWER US! WHY HAVE THOU-”

“That’s enough, Luna.”

Yellow-colored magic surrounded Lucario as he was forcibly levitated into the air. Luna’s rage calmed down as she saw Celestia walk up the stairs, followed by a group of guards. Her eyes stared into Lucario's like knifes.

“Whoever this is, he will be punished for his actions. Know that standing against me will bring you nothing but failure. Guards, take him to the dungeon.”

The guards nodded as they stepped up to take their prisoner away. In most situations like these, the captive would be terrified and filled with guilt. But to the surprise of everypony present, a small smile spread over Lucario’s face.

“I’m sorry, Princess, but I have to ask: Don’t you recognize me?”

The guards stopped in their tracks, shocked that the creature not only dared to talk that way to their princess, but also claimed to know her. Nevertheless, some of them turned around to see if Celestia was going to answer.

“Don’t make me laugh. As if I would know a criminal like you.”

“Are you sure? I thought Luna would’ve at least mentioned me a little after our first meeting a few days ago. My name is Lucario. You seemed to remember it just fine in your diary.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “What diary?!” Realization dawned on her too late, and she lifted her hoof halfway to her mouth.

“Your diary, Princess. The one you’ve been writing in nearly every day of your life, remember? Although I think it’s a bit troublesome to solve that painting’s puzzle every time you want to write in it.”

“A puzz… I mean, I’ve had enough. Guards, take him away!”

“Can I ask why you haven’t bothered to write anything in it during these past few days? I know that Luna’s… 'sickness' have burdened your mind, but you seemed to have gone through similar struggles in the past. All those were documented.”

By now, the guards were whispering to each other. They had no idea what Lucario was talking about, but Celestia’s behavior was strange to say the least. Lucario briefly looked down on them before continuing.

“Let me ask something else, Princess: Can you name anyone of these guards’?”

Celestia involuntarily eyed the guards before scoffing. “Are you mocking me, Lucario? I don’t see why that is relevant whatso-”

“Um, Princess? You remember me, don’t you?” One of the guards suddenly interrupted her. “It’s me, Dream Weave. We talked a bit during lunch a few weeks ago.”

“And don’t you remember me, Princess?” a mare spoke up. “Lily Wing? I’ve known you longer than nearly any other guard in the castle.”

Celestia didn’t know how to respond as the guards stared at her. “L-Listen to me. I can explain!”

“I’ll tell you why you can’t name them, 'Princess'.” Some of the guards jumped when Lucario raised his voice behind them. His confident smile was now replaced by an expression of anger. “Because before a few days ago, you’ve never seen any of these ponies in your entire life. Every time I’ve heard you speak to them, you’ve always called them 'Guard' or 'Guards', because that is all you know about them. Is that really the only thing the princess of the sun knows about her most loyal subjects?”

“Silence…”

“Is that why you have no remorse for letting them stay in the castle, where they could be infected at any moment? No, that’s not it, is it? There is no illness, there never was. Pegasi have been flying in and out of this place at their leisure. Half of Canterlot would have been infected by now, if not half of Equestria!”

“Silence…!”

“Not to mention that you haven’t made an entry in your diary ever since this whole thing started! Whatever game you’re playing, you are doing a poor job at it. Every single pony here has doubted you ever since this ridiculous play of yours started! There is nothing more you can do to hide it! Why don’t you just make us all a favor and tell us-”

“SILENCE!”

Guards and door shards flew back as Luna’s voice again boomed over the area, sending a shockwave through the corridor. Her eyes glowing white, she almost ran up to Lucario and screamed at him.

“HOW DARE THOU ACCUSE OUR SISTER LIKE THIS?! HOW DARE THOU QUESTION HER THIS WAY?! THERE IS NOTHING BEHIND THYNE WORDS BUT LIES! TAKE EVERYTHING BACK, OR WE WILL TAKE THEM BACK BY FORCE!”

Luna’s horn glowed in a blinding light, her magic fueled by anger. The guards hardly dared to stand up, cowering in fear at her wrath. Lucario, however, just stared back into her glowing eyes. There was no more anger behind them. Instead, they almost seemed sad. Closing his eyes and sighing, he turned back towards Celestia.

“What is your mother’s name?”

Luna’s white eyes died down in an instant. For a moment she just stared at Lucario in shock and bewilderment, as if trying to figure out how he could know this. Soon she turned her head back to her sister, suddenly very desperate to hear her answer. Celestia looked all around her, as if she was searching for an answer. Just then Lucario thought he had her, Celestia’s face beamed up and she turned back to them.

“Why, it’s Faust, of course. I know that it isn’t common knowledge among the public, but surely you must’ve heard the speculations all over Eques-”

Celestia never finished her sentence, as Luna fired off another shockwave. Hitting her straight in the chest, Celestia was knocked to the other end of the corridor, crashing through a couple of pillars that stood along the walls. Her telekinetic grip over Lucario was immediately broken, and he landed back on his feet. Next to him, tears were clearly flowing down Luna’s cheeks. She didn’t even have the mental strength to use her Royal Canterlot Voice when she spoke.

“It’s Lauren! We ALWAYS called her Lauren! Of all the things you could forget, this is the one thing I won’t believe you have! Just who and what are you?!”

“My my, is that how you speak to me now, little sister?”

The voice that echoed through the area was nothing like Celestia’s. This one was sinister, calculating and terrifying. Behind them, the guards slowly got back on their feet, utterly confused at the situation.

“Don’t you dare call me that! You are not my sis-”

Luna’s head suddenly arched back, her words left unfinished as a loud scream pierced her lips. Lifting her hooves to her eyes in pain, she stumbled backwards in a state of agony. Lucario ran up to her immediately, holding her to keep her from falling to the ground.

“Luna, what’s wrong?! Luna! Look at me!”

Just as he gripped Luna’s hooves, her screaming stopped. She stood frozen in place, seemingly unaware of anything around her. As she slowly lowered her hooves, Lucario looked at her eyes. Their usual blue color was now replaced by a sinister shade of green.

“You are my beloved sister…”

“Hehehe, now that’s my girl.”

Magical energies suddenly spawned from where Celestia lied. Soon enough, a giant pillar of green energy erupted from her body, showering the area in its light. Rubble blew past them as the guards ducked on the ground. Only Lucario stood unaffected by the ordeal, defiantly standing in place as he let dust and rock blow past him without care. In the center of the magic pillar, Celestia’s body began to change. The feathers on her wings evaporated, leaving a pair of bug-like wings behind. Her white coat darkened to black, holes suddenly appeared on her lower legs and fangs grew out of her mouth. Finally, her flowing mane turned blue and dirty as it fell over her back, as if it hadn’t been washed in her entire life. As the magic around her settled, she opened her green eyes while laughing menacingly.

“I had hoped to keep my cover a bit longer this time, but it no longer matters. I am Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings.”

“Y-YOU?!” The guards exclaimed in recognition. All of them now stood up and rushed to Lucario’s side. “Haven’t you learned your lesson by now?! You attacked Canterlot just a few months ago, and we stopped you! What makes you think that you will have a better chance now?!”

Chrysalis just laughed and waved a hoof in front of her. “Now now, there’s one thing I must admit that I learned from my last attempt: To keep my plans to myself. Resist me all you like, my plan is already in motion. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

“What have you done with Luna?” Lucario didn’t take his eyes off Chrysalis, but he was still shielding Luna by standing in front of her.

“That’s one of her changeling powers,” Lily Wing answered him. “Changelings feed off the love and affection ponies feel for each other, fueling their own strength in the process. In this state, Princess Luna won’t react to anything around her, only what Chrysalis tells her. Last time she was here, she tried to impersonate Princess Cadence to feed off Captain Armor’s love for her.”

“And what a fool I was for choosing her.” Chrysalis scoffed. “Love is far more complicated than any of you will ever understand. It’s not just lovey-dovey affection and feelings. No, it’s far more than that: It’s trust, knowing that your friends and family will never leave your side and always believe in you. That’s why the royal sisters were the perfect targets. They’ve known each other far longer than any two creatures have in history. Ahh, even now I can feel Luna’s love flooding into me.”

“I suppose you won’t tell us where you’ve hidden the real Princess Celestia, then?” Lucario asked the queen. Predictably, he just received a laugh in response.

“Why? So you could run off and save her? Don’t make me laugh.”

“…I see.” Lucario looked down at his feet, as if processing the answer.

“Don’t worry yourselves, rejoice!” Chrysalis threw her hooves out in triumph. “A new era is approaching, and you are all invited to the mea-”

“Vacuum Wave!”

Lucario suddenly punched the air in front of him. At the exact same time, Chrysalis face was hit by an invisible force, making her stagger backwards. She grunted in pain as she held a hoof over the face.

“W-Why you-”

Just as she lowered her hoof, she found herself facing a burning leg. She barely had time to feel the heat radiating from it.

“Blaze Kick!”

The kick collided with her, sending her flying through the nearby wall. Two more walls crumbled as she finally found herself outside. Her eyes temporarily blinded by the fire, she never even saw Lucario appearing behind her. He grabbed hold of her long horn, and began swinging her around in a vertical circle.

“Circle Throw!”

With one last swing, Lucario threw Chrysalis towards the outskirts of Canterlot. The force put his earlier use of the move against Rainbow to shame. In just a few seconds, Chrysalis crashed into the ground, making dust and stone explode from her impact. Still flying above, Lucario’s paws glowed blue as energy formed between them.

“Aura Sphere!”

Three spheres were fired off, flying towards the crash site with incredible accuracy. One by one they hit their target, a huge explosion spawning from each. As the dust spread over the area, Lucario landed a small distance away. He watched the scene with an emotionless expression.

“Hehehehe, what was that supposed to be?”

Chrysalis was standing in the middle of the crater. Not a single scratch was on her after Lucario’s assault, with the exception of his first two attacks. A smug smile adorned her face as she laughed.

“Was that all you had? What did you even think such a weak effort would accomplish?”

Chrysalis expected her opponent to be shocked or at least surprised by how unharmed she was. Instead, Lucario gave a smug smile of his own as he began to crack his knuckles.

“My warm up.”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Icestar156 and halo003qd for proofreading!

To quote the wise words spoken by Rarity: IT. IS. ON!

I actually avoided putting in any Metal Gear Solid references in this chapter. There were a lot of things going on in the plot, and I didn’t want some half-flanked joke to get in the way of that.

As for writing a “stealth chapter”, it was a great deal of fun. I didn’t want to focus too much on the actual “sneaking past guards” part, but more on what Lucario learned upon reaching each target. Besides, it gets rather boring to read “A guard walked around the corner, but Lucario hid behind a pillar. Another guard walked down the corridor, but Lucario jumped and grabbed onto the ceiling.”

Did anyone guess that Chrysalis was behind this? I’ve heard theories ranging from Nightmare Moon to Luna suffering from Pokérus.

I changed the color of Celestia's sentence to green back in "Fear and Blaming in Ponyville". Back then, I didn't think of what color to use at all, I'm sorry.

This chapter’s name…even I flinch from the pun. I guess you can either see it as spot-on or terrible, whatever you prefer.

Next time in Friendship is Aura: Lucario vs Chrysalis. Need I say more?

KangTheGuardian -

Fool's Struggle

“You know what, Lively? This is boring.”

The beige-colored pegasus named Lively Premonition nearly spat out his mouthful of orange juice at his friend's sudden statement. The bartender behind the counter gave him an annoyed look. He had almost managed to make it through the entire night without having to clean the bar table. He planned to keep going for the record. The pegasus gave him an apologetic smile before turning to his friend Light Rain.

“What, are you kidding me? You’re the one who has been complaining about these late night shifts of ours for weeks. Why are you suddenly so bored with having some free time for once?”

“For several reasons,” Light replied. “First of: We DON’T have free time. We’re still working. The only reason we’re here is because there isn’t anything for us to scoop.”

Light gave his camera a little nudge. The two ponies worked as photographers for Canterlot’s official newspaper. They didn’t know what they had done to deserve it, but their boss had decided to put both of them on night shift duty a few weeks ago. Even under normal circumstances, this was the most boring time to be working.

“Secondly: Like I said, there is NOTHING for us to scoop. The boss will have our coats if we return without any photos for the next paper. The only thing that has allowed us to keep our jobs these past few nights are some occasional bar fights.”

“And I think he is getting pretty tired of those,” Lively added.

“Exactly! Thirdly: It was a pure miracle that we even managed to get to this bar. Those royal guards are patrolling every street, and I mean EVERY SINGLE STREET in the city. Several of our colleagues have already had their equipment confiscated by just bumping into them.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t really a pleasure to play secret agent and hide in the shadows every time a group approached us.”

“Actually, I think that part was pretty cool.”

“I mean, is this whole “Princess Luna got sick” thing so serious that they have arrest innocent ponies walking home or trying to find a place to enjoy themselves every night?”

“But… you know what the worst part of all is?” Light said on the verge of crying. This caught his friend’s attention. There was something even worse than all the things mentioned so far?

“I HAVE TO DRINK ORANGE JUICE!” Light yelled as he slammed his glass on the bar table. A visible dent was left in its wake. “Because we’re still working, I can’t even drink some cider. If the boss even smells a trace of that later, he will have my hide AND use it as a doormat! This is the worst night out I’ve ever-”

“Ehum…”

The two ponies turned to see a furious bartender staring at them. Barely able to control his anger, he pointed his hoof towards the dent Light had just made. Lively gulped nervously, realizing that they would have to pay dearly for the damage.

Oh please, if we’re going to have any large scoop tonight, let it be now.

As fate would have it, his wish was granted.

A loud crashing sound suddenly echoed outside. Turning their heads towards the nearby window, the ponies could see the wall of one of the castle’s towers crumble. Thanks to the moonlight, they could see some kind of pony flying out with its head on fire. Before any of them could comment on this weird sight, a canine-like creature surrounded by yellow light appeared out of nowhere behind the pony. Reaching out an arm, it grabbed hold of the pony’s horn and swung it around like a ragdoll. It then threw it to the ground somewhere outside the city’s borders, the rooftops obscuring the exact location. Without wasting any time, the creature proceeded to channel blue light between its paws. It then threw three glowing spheres of energy towards the crashing pony’s direction. Thundering explosions could be heard as smoke rose from their target. The creature then flew down, the yellow light briefly leaving a trail towards its destination.

The three ponies had been sitting still the entire time. Their eyes were wide open as they tried to process what they had just seen. The bartender had forgotten the glass he was currently cleaning, dropping it to the floor. The sound of broken glass finally shook the two photographers out of their stunned state.

“Grab the camera. We’re going.”

“Do you think the others saw that?”

“Not even a pony who is both blind and deaf could’ve missed that. Now come on! If we don’t hurry, ponies from other companies will get there first and take all the good photo angles.”

The door slammed behind them as they left. The small bell above it managed to break the bartender’s frozen state as well. It wasn’t until now that he realized that the two hadn’t paid for either their drinks or the dent.

A light breeze blew through the plains, clearing out the last dust that surrounded Chrysalis. She climbed out of her crash site and brushed herself off a bit before turning back to her opponent. She had thought that the creature would’ve been a little shocked to see her unharmed after its assault. It annoyed her somewhat that he barely even reacted.

Lucario himself stood about 30 feet away, calmly studying her. There was no trace of fear or uncertainty in his eyes. Chrysalis couldn’t help herself from chuckling upon seeing this. The poor fool had no idea what terrible fate she had in store for him.

“Pointless as your attacks were, I must admit that they’re impressive by pony standards. Tell me, just who are you anyway?”

“My name is Lucario, Guardian of the Aura. I’m a Pokémon, a species from another world. I became the guardian of Ponyville just a few days ago.”

“Pokémon? Aura? Your answers are gibberish to me, Guardian. But I can’t say that I really expected much else from a freak show like you.”

“You’re not one to talk, queen bug,” Lucario replied, causing Chrysalis to frown a bit at his insult. “I will give you one more chance: Tell me where Princess Celestia is.”

“Hahahaha! You’re wasting your breath, guardian,” Chrysalis just laughed in response. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t have much use of the information. After all, your pathetic life is about to end. Certainly your last attempt to harm me proved how pointless your efforts are?”

“Did it?” Lucario asked as he pointed towards Chrysalis. “I think my Blaze Kick from before burned your cheek just fine.”

Chrysalis blinked and involuntarily lifted a hoof to said cheek. A sting of pain greeted her as she touched it.

“I don’t know how you avoided getting hurt from my Circle Throw and Aura Spheres, but it seems my first two attacks took you by surprise. You’re not invincible by any means; you were just prepared for the latter strikes.” Small blue flames lit up from Lucario’s open pawn as he pointed it towards Chrysalis. “I’ll make sure you aren’t prepared for the next ones.”

“I’ve tolerated your tone towards our queen long enough, you filth!”

A familiar voice spoke up somewhere behind Lucario. Turning around, he saw a unicorn with a silver-colored mane, wearing a captain’s armor.

“You… you’re the pony that guarded Celestia’s personal chambers.”

“Indeed. I may have failed my duty to protect my lady’s room, but I’ll redeem myself by erasing your presence from her sight! You’ll think twice before standing against her again!”

“I suppose that hit to your head must’ve erased your memory of our last encounter then,” Lucario replied, still remembering the pony’s rather humorous look as he smashed his head into the wall. “You can't beat me. Turn back now, before I have to remind you of that again.”

“Silence! You may have taken me by surprise before, but I assure you that this encounter won’t yield the same results!”

For a brief second, the pony’s body was engulfed in a green light. Left in its wake was a black bug-like pony not too different from Chrysalis. The captain’s armor it wore was exchanged by a spikier one, much more intimidating to look at than the royal guard armor.

“I won’t allow it. WE won’t allow it.”

It hissed at Lucario before flying up into the air, letting out a shriek. The chilling sound echoed across the plains, reaching a small hole on the side of the mountain. Hundreds of blue eyes lit up inside, and several shrieks answered the call to battle. Soon enough, other changelings started to fly out of the hole, as well as from other caves and cracks in the mountain side. It didn’t take long before Lucario was surrounded by an army of several hundred changelings.

“My lady, leave this vermin to us!” the captain changeling called to his queen.

“Of course, Captain.” Chrysalis nodded, giving out a light chuckle. “Do your worst.”

The captain gave out one final shriek before charging headfirst towards Lucario with the others close behind him. Their bodies were engulfed in some kind of green, liquid-like energy as they prepared to wipe the so-called “guardian” from existence.

“Bow before Queen Chrysalis! Bow before the changelings!”

“CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN ARMOR! FOR FAUST’S SAKE, SHINING, OPEN UP!”

Shining Armor usually enjoyed staying in bed for a few minutes every morning after waking up. The reason was obviously the pink alicorn sleeping by his side. But he hadn’t become a captain of the royal guard for nothing. The second he heard the desperate shouting and stomping on the front door, he leapt out of bed. He jumped down the stairs and flung open the door with his magic.

“Dream Weave, what’s wrong?! What’s going on?!”

“At… at the palace… the…” the guard forced out between breaths.

The memories of the previous night suddenly came back to Shining. He had been talking to Lucario and was about to go with him to the palace when everything suddenly turned black.

He knocked me out so I wouldn’t follow him?! Oh please, don’t tell me that he got…

“The queen… the changeling queen has returned!”

Shining’s thoughts grinded to a halt as Dream Weave finally managed to give his report.

“What?” he replied, unable to believe what he had just heard.

“What?!” Cadence exclaimed from atop the stairs, having woken up from the shouting as well.

“WHAT?!” She wasn’t the only one, as Twilight and her friends rushed out of their rooms and yelled in shock as well.

“S-She has been impersonating Princess Celestia all this time!” Dream Weave continued. “The whole thing about Princess Luna being sick was just an excuse to keep feeding off her love or something!”

“You mean Luna was never sick at all?!” Twilight ran down the stairs to join her brother. “B-But how could the queen shift places with Celestia without anyone noticing?!”

“We don’t watch over Celestia every hour of the day,” Shining answered. “We understand that she needs some time to herself, just like everypony else. It must’ve happened sometime a few days ago when she was alone.”

“I want to know how in the hay she managed to blow her cover this time. Did you find the real Princess Celestia or something?” Applejack asked.

“N-No, we don’t know where she is.” Dream Weave replied. “There was this intruder that was sneaking into the castle. Lucario, I think his name was. He had snuck into Princess Luna’s bedchambers, only to get immobilized by her. We were about to imprison him when he started to question Celes- I mean the queen’s behavior during these last few days. She didn’t know any of us guards’ names or anything, not even Lily Wing’s. Everything he said just added up and we started to agree with him. Even Princess Luna was convinced. Once the queen revealed herself however, Luna was put under her control like Captain Armor was at his wedding.”

“Wait, where is Luna now? Is she okay?” Twilight asked, clearly worried over the princess’ safety.

“She’s still under the queen’s control, but we’ve taken her to a secured location within the castle. Her own personal guard is keeping watch over her as we speak. As for the queen, that Lucario guy kicked her through the wall shortly after she revealed herself. We spotted him throwing her towards the plains to the south.”

“HOLD IT!” Rainbow suddenly shouted behind the rest of her friends. “Did you just say that Lucario KICKED the changeling queen through a wall?! Why is that guy always doing cool stuff when I’m not around?!”

“Rainbow, quit it! This is no time for playing around!” Twilight scolded the pegasus. “We must go and get the Elements of Harmony at once! Lucario needs our help!”

“The Elements? But didn’t we stop the queen last time by having Shining Armor and Cadence love each other very much or something?” Rainbow asked puzzled.

“Even though that magic was great, it only seemed to knock the queen and her army out of Equestria. We’ll need the Elements to take her out for good, like we did with Nightmare Moon and Discord.”

“Oh, oh! Are we doing the Happy Rainbow Friendship Laser-thing again?” Nearly everypony present rolled their eyes as Pinkie Pie started one of her usual nonsensical speeches again. “WOOHOO! I’ve wanted to try that again for ages! Maybe I can make my beam look like birthday streamers? Or I can try to shoot magic balloons at her! Oh boy, this is going to be gr-”

Something suddenly flew by the street outside with incredible speed. The ponies inside the house would’ve probably not noticed it without the loud crashing sound that followed it. A large crack in the ground was left in its wake as a trail of dust blew in through the door. As everypony lifted their hooves to shield their eyes, they could hear whatever flew by crash into the neighbor’s house. The unicorns used their magic to clear the dust, and everypony rushed outside to see what had happened. What they found among the rubble was an unconscious changeling, wearing some kind of spiky armor.

“Oh my!” Fluttershy gasped, rushing up to it. “Are you okay? Is anything broken? Don’t worry, we’ll-”

“Fluttershy darling, what are you doing?!” Rarity exclaimed as she dragged the yellow pegasus away by the tail. “Can’t you see that it’s a changeling?!”

“Yes, but… I can’t just leave it. Oh dear, I wonder what happened to it.”

“I think I can take a very good guess.” Rainbow smiled smugly before flying up into the air. She stared towards the direction the changeling had come crashing from.

“OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH! There’s a whole small army of changelings out there! I bet Lucario is out there fighting them as we speak!”

“Changelings?! Where did they even come from?!” Rarity burst out.

“Who cares?! The important thing is that Lucario is teaching them the lesson of their lives right now! You girls get the Elements. I’m missing the beat down of the century here!”

“Wait, Rainbow!” Twilight caught her friend with her magic before she could take off. “The only way we can open the seal to the Elements’ chambers without Celestia is if we’re all present. You have to come with us!”

“Are you kidding me?! Argh! Fine, but you slowpokes better hurry up. We would’ve had them by now if you were as fast as me.” Rainbow didn’t waste any more time before flying off. To Twilight’s great horror though, she noticed that her friend flew in the exact opposite direction of the Elements’ chamber.

“Rainbow! Wait! Oh no, what is that egghead thinking?! Doesn’t she remember where we keep them?! I was even going to just teleport us there!” She let out a frustrated shout before turning to the rest of her friends.

“I’m going after her. The rest of you get to the chamber. It will be too hard for me to teleport all of us all over the city for her. Now go!”

All her friends saluted before running off, and Twilight herself soon disappeared in a flash of light. But a few seconds later, Fluttershy returned and ran back to the changeling.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go. Please, just relax and you’ll be okay. But, um… next time… wear a helmet, okay?” She then ran after her friends, leaving Shining, Cadence, and Dream Weave behind.

“Dream Weave, gather all the guards you can find and meet up by the gates. We’ll head out once I’m there,” Shining ordered the guard, who saluted and left without another word.

“Honey, should I…?” Cadence carefully began. Shining knew what she was going to ask, and he didn’t like it one bit. His shoulders fell and he sighed as he gave in, knowing that the situation was too dire.

“As much as I want to say no, you better come with us too. If Lucario can’t stop the queen before Twilight and the others arrive, we must take care of her ourselves. But please, stay out of sight. I don't want you to place yourself in unnecessary danger.”

“I know, love,” Cadence reassured him, giving him a small kiss. “I’ll be careful. But promise me that… What’s wrong?”

Shining suddenly had a very annoyed expression on his face. Following the direction he pointed at with his hoof, Cadence noticed a group of photographers flying past them.

“The last thing we needed in a situation like this: Civilians who’ll just get in the way.”

The charging changelings didn’t have time to react upon seeing Lucario effortlessly smash their captain away with the back of his paw. The green energy surrounding him had done nothing to protect the captain from the strike. In fact, some of the changelings would later swear that Lucario almost had a disinterested look on his face when he hit him.

It didn’t matter, though. The rest of the army was only a short distance behind the captain. Lucario was now surrounded by hundreds of charging changelings. There was nowhere for him to run.

That was why the first three changelings were rather surprised when Lucario suddenly disappeared into thin air, causing them to crash headfirst into each other instead. Just as they fell to the ground in a stumbled mess, Lucario reappeared above them and smashed them down with a Blaze Kick. He immediately sidestepped the next changeling, smashing it over the head with a staff that had materialized between his paws. Several more where hit out of the air before one changeling finally got a clear shot, charging towards Lucario’s head at full speed.

What the changeling didn’t notice was the purple glow that suddenly engulfed the Pokémon’s head. The only thing that resulted from the impact was the changeling nearly having its head cracked open from Lucario’s Zen Headbutt. It fell towards the ground, but Lucario had other plans. He grabbed the changeling by the hoof and flung it into another one that was closing in behind them.

From the sidelines, Chrysalis watched with a mix of horror and awe as Lucario effortlessly dodged changeling after changeling. Every one of them was greeted with a punch, kick or the smack of his staff as more and more unconscious bodies fell to the ground. Hundreds of her finest soldiers and guards were charging in, some of them with enough speed to rival the fastest pegasus. Dodging their assault would be like dodging rain. Yet Lucario moved around at a speed almost too fast for her eyes to keep up with.

How is this possible? No mere mortal creature in Equestria should be capable of such power. Just who and what is he?! The steadily growing pile of her defeated soldiers on the ground finally shook Chrysalis out of her shock.

“Fall back, you fools! The next one who charges at him pointlessly will feel my wrath personally!”

The queen didn’t need to repeat herself. Her army immediately ceased their assault and retreated back into the sky. Most of them were rather happy with not having to join their comrades’ unconscious bodies on the ground. Lucario simply watched as they backed away. If he was even a bit fatigued after their attack, he didn’t show it. His red, piercing eyes gave even the bravest of the changelings the creeps.

I can’t let this drag on for too long, Lucario thought to himself. Regardless of their individual strength, it will be tiresome to beat so many of them with just physical attacks. I have to thin their numbers quicker.

The changelings above him backed further away when a blue sphere formed above Lucario’s palm. For a moment, Chrysalis thought it was the same energy sphere he had used against her before. However, she soon saw drops of water falling from it, before its surface was suddenly frozen in a layer of ice. Was this supposed to be her opponent’s trick up his sleeve against her army?

Lucario showed no hesitation though. He launched the sphere into the air, and many changelings dodged out of the way from the incoming attack. The sphere flew past them, eventually passing through the entire group before disappearing into a cloud above them. One of the changelings stared after it for a short moment before bursting out laughing.

“Hahaha! You may be a complete freak up close, but you couldn’t even hit an ursa major with that aim! Come on, were you even trying to hit us?” Some of his comrades began to laugh as well. Only a few of them noticed how Lucario was unfazed by their insults.

“No, I wasn’t.”

Just as the changelings’ laughter died out at this strange response, something exploded inside the cloud above them. Seconds later, shards of ice started raining down on them. The changelings cried out in pain as the shards pierced and cut their skin. Some fell unconscious to the ground from the damage; others flew off in random directions in an attempt to save themselves. They didn’t get far before meeting the same fate as the others.

Chrysalis watched the scene before her. She watched her finest and most experienced soldiers fleeing for their lives while screaming in terror. She watched them drop to the ground like flies. Hundreds of soldiers turned into a dozen. A dozen turned into a handful. Before long, her handpicked group of elite soldiers was gone. The battlefield in front of her was now covered with unconscious changelings and shards of ice.

“H-How…?” she stammered to herself in disbelief.

“In my world, there are techniques that allow us Pokémon to briefly control the weather.”

Chrysalis spun around, finding Lucario standing a few feet behind her. During all the chaos, she hadn’t even noticed him dashing away from the battlefield before the ice fell.

“One of those techniques is a Water-type move called Rain Dance. By its own, it creates an orb of water that makes rain fall in the area for a time. While there are some special properties of the rain that affects other moves, it cannot directly damage an opponent by itself. However…” Lucario’s paw glowed briefly before suddenly being covered in ice.

“In time, we can learn to combine certain techniques with each other. In this case, I used the Ice-type technique Ice Punch to freeze the Rain Dance sphere. Thus, upon triggering, it makes ice shards fall down upon the area instead of rain. It seems that was enough to deal with the rest of your troops.”

Chrysalis had yet to speak, but it was clear from her expression that she was furious. She wasn't planning to launch an attack at him in this state though. Lucario closed his eyes and searched the mountain side with his Aura Sense. The tunnels inside were empty. It seemed like the group he had just defeated was the only one Chrysalis had at her disposal.

“I don’t know what your plans were, but they won’t do you any good now. Your troops are defeated. All of Canterlot will soon learn of your involvement with Luna’s sickness. It’s over, changeling. You’ve lost.”

Chrysalis lowered her head, obscuring her eyes from Lucario’s view. By doing so, Lucario caught a glimpse of Canterlot behind her, and the group of royal guards and ponies with cameras coming towards them.

The group of guards led by Shining grinded to a halt. Not because Shining had ordered them to stop or anything. They just stopped right in their tracks upon seeing the unbelievable scene before them. Hundreds of unconscious changelings covered the field. Small shards of ice laid scattered around the ground, and some changelings were lying inside their own small craters. It was as if somepony had knocked or punched them into the ground. As they slowly lifted their heads, they saw the “somepony” in question standing some distance away. He stood face to face with a seemingly apprehended Chrysalis, who was just staring down at the ground in defeat.

Shining was every bit as shocked as the other guards. He had heard Lucario’s story of how he defeated an adult dragon in the Everfree Forest. The changeling that came crashing through the street had also helped to prove the Pokémon’s strength. But a small part of Shining's mind had still refused to believe that any creature could pull off such incredible feats.

Using the Elements of Harmony is one thing, but this… it’s right before my eyes, and I still can’t believe it.

Shining finally managed to shake himself out of his shocked state. In any case, the battle was over and Chrysalis was defeated. Looking up, he saw Cadence smiling at him among the pegasus guards. Several of the journalists were already fighting over the best angles to photograph the scene. None of them dared to fly too close to the battlefield though. Eager for this scoop as they were, they were still thinking twice before flying any closer to the queen of the changelings. Still, Shining was relieved. Their presence hadn’t proved to be all too problematic, thanks to Lucario’s early victory. Now he and his guards could clean up the mess.

“Group A will come with me and help Lucario apprehend Chrysalis! Group B and C, you start collecting all these changelings, and make sure none of them tries to transform themselves into us without our notice! Group D, send a message back to-”

And then Chrysalis began to laugh.

Lucario remained silent as the changeling queen’s laugh echoed across the plains. Upon lifting her head, Lucario could finally see her expression. He realized that she wasn’t laughing out of madness or desperation. She was laughing out of confidence, like an adult laughing at a child’s attempts to best him at arm wrestling. Even after having her finest soldiers utterly defeated and now standing face to face with the Pokémon who did the deed, she still laughed. Because she still didn’t see him as a threat.

For the first time since arriving in Equestria, Lucario felt a chill run down his spine. Not only because of Chrysalis’ confidence, but because her laugh reminded him all too much of a certain shadowy figure from his past.

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Chrysalis’ laugh died down, and the area fell silent. “Did you really think that I would do all of this? That I would attack Canterlot for a second time? That I would kidnap Celestia and brainwash Luna right under your noses? That I would dare to challenge the princesses, the Elements, and all of Equestria? Did you think I would do all of this without knowing that no matter what, I would still win at the end?”

A green light slowly started to glow in Chrysalis’ eyes. The glow soon spread across her entire body, and small green flames rose from her coat. Smoke started to erupt from beneath her hooves, and Lucario realized that they were suddenly so hot that they burned the very ground they stood on. As the heat intensified around them, Lucario couldn’t help but take a step back.

“You seem confused, Guardian. Don’t worry though. I will help you understand it all soon enough.” The last thing Lucario saw before the world around him turned green was the evil grin spread across the changeling’s face.

“I’ll make you understand why you could never hope to defeat me.”

Outside Canterlot Castle, Twilight’s friends waited impatiently for Twilight’s return. They didn’t have to wait much longer before Twilight and Rainbow appeared in a flash of light. The poor unicorn promptly fell to the ground, covered in sweat. Teleporting herself all over the city had greatly tired her out.

“I… found… her…” she forced out between breaths as she tried to regain her strength. Rainbow was about to say something before having an apple thrown at her chin by Applejack.

“What the hay were you thinking, flying off like that?! Your impatience has maybe put all of Equestria in danger!”

“Please… don’t fight…” Twilight gasped before Applejack could continue. “We must be the best of friends for the Elements to work, remember?”

“Look, girls, I’m sorry.” Rainbow finally said. Applejack immediately noticed that the pegasus was sincere in her apology. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just-”

None of them ever heard the rest of Rainbow's explaination. All sounds were drowned out as the group found themselves covered in a green light. Turning around, they could all see a pillar of green flames erupt from the plains outside the city. More so, they could feel the heat radiating from it. Applejack lowered her hat to shield her face, and Fluttershy hid herself behind Rarity. Even Pinkie Pie’s usual smile faded from her face.

“Twilight, is that…?” Applejack began to ask Twilight.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Twilight grimly answered as she stood up. “It must be the queen.”

“But how?!” Rainbow exclaimed behind her. “That pillar isn't even in the same league as the one we saw when she revealed herself last time! How can she suddenly be so powerful?!”

“Lucario…” Fluttershy whispered their friend’s name, causing everypony to grow silent. Worry soon spread across all of their faces as they feared for the Pokémon’s safety.

“If anyone can hold their own against the queen for a few more minutes, it’s him.” Twilight said. “Minutes that we’re wasting by just standing here. I’m too tired to teleport all of us to the field, so we have to run all the way back once we have the Elements. Now come on!”

The group nodded in agreement before resuming their run towards the Elements’ chambers. Without them, this day would surely mark the end of Canterlot and all of Equestria.

Lucario was still holding his arm in front of his face as the green light finally died out. The smoke that now covered the area wasn’t made of dust, but was instead searing from the completely burned ground all around him. He had jumped a considerable distance backwards to avoid the worst of Chrysalis’ technique. However, the grass around him had burned to a crisp, and the rocks were covered in soot. The very air was almost boiling, nearly making his lungs burn from just breathing it.

Throwing a quick glance to his right, he could see Shining and his guards gathering themselves from the ground some distance away. The blast had launched them all backwards, putting more space between them. Lucario just hoped that Shining would have them stay put. This was an enemy way out of their league.

Slowly but surely, Chrysalis' glowing shape began to reveal itself. Smoke still rose from her coat, and it was glowing green as if her skin covered a sea of green flames beneath it. Her once blue and dirty mane now floated in midair, far too similar to Celestia’s own. But the one thing that surprised Lucario the most was the yellow sun that was now marked on her flank.

“Hehehe, how do I look? Not too shabby for the new ruler of Equestria, don’t you think?” Chrysalis asked mockingly as she dragged a hoof through her mane. Seeing that Lucario was still speechless, she let out an annoyed groan.

“Oh come on, you don’t have to look so surprised. I’m sure you can piece together what’s going on here from my appearance. A magically floating mane. A sun for a cutie mark. Power over heat and flames.” She let out another quick laugh. “It’s just what you think it is, Guardian. These are indeed the traits and powers once held by Princess Celestia.”

Lucario’s eyes widened in surprise, a sight Chrysalis savored every second of.

“How did you think I was able to keep my cover for as long as I did? I couldn’t possibly hope to impersonate either of the princesses without harnessing their powers to control the sun and the moon. Seeing as Celestia was able to control them both, I found her to be my ideal choice. Besides, she’s the one who takes care of everything in this country, isn’t she? That gave me the perfect chance to rule and corrupt this country as I saw fit.”

“As for Luna, I can’t imagine the poor girl having much work to do in the middle of her nights. I almost think that I was doing her a favor by controlling her like this. No more worries and no more responsibilities to plague her. She would just sit inside her chamber in an eternal slumber while feeding me with power. The rest of the world wouldn’t miss her anyway. In fact, I bet her subjects would be relieved to finally see the end of Nightma-“

An Aura Sphere was launched towards her face. Chrysalis didn’t even blink before conjuring a flaming barrier in front of her. The Aura Sphere exploded harmlessly against it, and Chrysalis gave her opponent a smug grin through the smoke. Lucario himself remained unfazed. He had expected the queen to be able to defend against such a head-on attack. It also explained how she had emerged unharmed from her crater after Lucario’s first attacks against her.

“Back in Ponyville, I met a stallion who hated Luna with all his heart. He called her a witch, and thought of her as nothing more than a traitor to Equestria. At first I thought I was the only one who got angry, but soon I saw that everyone else around us thought that he was crazy. They loved her, and they wanted to put the stallion in a cell for even thinking of her like that. To me, that doesn’t sound like someone that the world wouldn’t miss."

"So a few foolish ponies in one pathetic village happens to like her. Heh, I take it that you haven't been outside that village much, have you, Guardian? I think you'll find that your opinion of her is rather unique compared to the rest of this country."

"Don't speak of things you don't know of yourself. I doubt that you've been in the rest of Equestria any more than I have. In any case, I don’t know how you managed to steal Celestia’s powers. But I’ll admit that you’re stronger than I thought because of it.”

“Hmm, so there are traces of competence within you after all. You’ve done well to accept your inevitable defeat, Guardian. I’m glad that you realized how the odds have changed in this little showdown of ours.” Chrysalis nodded arrogantly in response.

“You misunderstand me, changeling.” Lucario answered without missing a beat. “Your power is the only thing that has changed. Nothing else has. What I said before still stands true. You’ve lost.”

Chrysalis was silent for a moment. Even after channeling the powers of Princess Celestia herself, the Pokémon still thought he could win? No, he was SURE that he would win. Was he really so foolish as to think that he would stand a chance now? Just thinking of it all made her laugh out loud once again.

“At least our encounter has served to humor me, Guardian. For that, I think you deserve a reward.”

Chrysalis horn started glowing, and Lucario instantly felt incredible heat radiate from the ground beneath him.

“I’ll make sure the world forgets your name to spare you from the humiliation of standing against me.”

Lucario backflipped just in time to avoid the eruption of fire and molten rock that exploded under his feet. He had no opportunity to counterattack, as Chrysalis conjured up more pillars to force him further and further away. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to dodge the next one, Lucario activated Magnet Rise and flew upwards to gain some space. He fired off more Aura Spheres towards the queen, but they harmlessly struck the barrier like the last one. Judging by Chrysalis’ confident grin, it didn’t seem like using the barrier fatigued her in the least.

“I would look up if I were you!” Chrysalis called to him as her horn glowed yet again.

True enough, Lucario looked up to see giant spheres of green fire floating in the sky above him. For a moment, their light intensified before great balls of flame started to drop from them. Activating Aura Sense, Lucario swiftly dodged the attacks and tried to fly away from the area. To his surprise, the spheres followed him, continuing to shower him with flames.

On the ground, Chrysalis flapped her wings and took to the air herself in pursuit. She swiftly caught up to Lucario and began to fire off magic beams from her horn. She paid no mind to the other balls of flame falling around her, as she could manipulate them to fall towards Lucario instead of her. She laughed evilly as the Pokémon barely managed to keep himself out of harm from her assault.

“Hahahaha! What’s wrong, Guardian?! Is this too much to dodge even for you?! Well, no need to keep me waiting. Feel free to perish at any time!”

As if to spite her, Lucario activated ExtremeSpeed and disappeared out of sight. Chrysalis’ eyes widened in surprise as she grinded to a halt. Even the fire spheres above her had been unable to keep up with their target’s whereabouts. They had even been magically enchanted to do just that.

Knowing that an assault could come at any moment, Chrysalis began to look all around her for any surprise attack. Sure enough, she looked behind her just in time to see an Aura Sphere flying towards her. Grinning in triumph, Chrysalis had more than enough time to turn around and raise a barrier in front of her to guard against the attack.

What she couldn’t guard against was the Sky Uppercut that collided with her stomach from below. Chrysalis coughed as the air was knocked out of her, which gave Lucario ample time to prepare his Bone Rush. Still clutching her stomach in pain, Chrysalis found herself showered with a barrage of swift strikes from Lucario’s staff. The adrenaline made Chrysalis find the blows as little more than a minor annoyance.

“Cease your pointless struggle, fool!” Immense heat radiated from Chrysalis’ body, raising the air’s temperature around her far more than the fire spheres did. Lucario swiftly backed away, but he could feel his fur almost burning from the heat. Worse, a familiar pain started to spread across his skin. Ignoring the pain, Lucario created another sphere and threw it towards the queen.

Chrysalis was about to laugh at the Pokémon’s pointless attack. The sphere would just explode against her barrier like all the rest. However, she soon noticed that the blue sphere wasn’t made of the usual blue energy. It was water, and the intense heat in the area soon made it evaporate into a thick mist. The fog covered her every angle, and she realized that she now had no way to know from where Lucario planned to strike.

Still floating a small distance in front of the queen, Lucario charged up his Focus Punch. He intended to finish this battle here and now, and a frontal assault was the last one Chrysalis would expect. He kept track of Chrysalis’ movements inside the fog with his Aura Sense, waiting for the best time to strike. When the queen raised her head to look above her, Lucario activated ExtremeSpeed and charged towards Chrysalis’ unprotected jaw.

The Focus Punch struck nothing but air as Chrysalis teleported out of the way mere inches away from getting hit. In the blink of an eye, she reappeared next to the still off-guard Lucario with her horn glowing in full power.

“As I expected.”

Green flames erupted from her horn as Chrysalis struck Lucario at point blank range. She took great pleasure in watching the Pokémon fall and crash into the ground. Laughing to herself, she soon landed and watched Lucario’s crash site from afar. To her surprise, she saw Lucario stand up on one knee and look back at her. He was visibly grinding his teeth in pain and clutched his right arm. It was then that Chrysalis noticed how the metal spike on Lucario’s right paw was somewhat glowing red from the heat. Realization dawned upon Chrysalis and she let out another laugh.

“Hahaha, and here I’ve been wondering if you even had any weaknesses, Guardian! Those metal parts of your body must be very inconvenient to have when facing great heat, aren’t they? Your arm must be in so much pain from having that spike burning your skin!”

Lucario didn’t answer. What Chrysalis said was true. Being a Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon made him more vulnerable to the Fire element than other Pokémon. Not only was the spike on his hand burning his skin, but his skin was also heated up, burning the muscles inside his arm. The only thing that kept Lucario from screaming in agony was his species’ natural tolerance for pain.

“Do you still think that I’ve lost, Guardian?” Chrysalis mocked him from afar. “Actually, you don’t need to answer. Your near broken and smoking body has already answered that for you. I told you before that you never had a chance to defeat me. However, judging by your eyes, it still seems you wish to stand against me. I’ll admit, I find that impressive… and annoying.”

The fire spheres that had floated above them before fell down in front of Chrysalis’ horn. One by one, they fused together into a single point. But instead of growing in size, their combined form focused itself into a small orb barely bigger than a tennis ball. Instead, it was the blinding light that intensified as Chrysalis caught the orb on her horn and pointed it towards the still grounded Lucario.

“This is the end of your struggle, Guardian. Your end, and the beginning of a new era for Equestria!” She then freed the power sealed inside the orb, intending to let its flames consume the Pokémon once and for all.

That was her plan, before the orb detonated in full force right in her face. Green flames and lava showered over her body, blowing her backwards like a leaf in a thunderstorm. Black burn marks covered her coat as Chrysalis bounced across the ground. Great cracks in the soil were left behind every time she collided with it.

“W-What?” Was the only thing she could force out of herself as she flew. She didn’t have much time to say anything else, as a blue paw struck her limp body into the ground. Feeling it pressing her even harder into the newly made crater, Chrysalis locked eyes with Lucario for the briefest moment.

“Ground-type: Earthquake.”

Shining Armor watched as the plains around the two fighters cracked open. He barely managed to conjure up a protective shield around his men as the quaking earth reached them. While the ground under them remained undamaged, the cracks went past the barrier’s sides and kept going. They eventually stopped mere meters away from the city gates. The vibrations in the ground didn't stop, though, and some of the guards could see the buildings inside the city shake. Even the pegasi flying safely above them could swear that they felt the air vibrate a bit around them.

By the time it was all over, the plains were covered in giant layers of rock that had risen up from the ground. Shining carefully lowered the barrier, knowing that he and his men had to live with the thick dust around them. None of them seemed to care though. They were too busy watching the plains with their jaws dropped. Even the most persistent journalist pony among them finally took several uneasy steps backwards.

“Um, Captain Armor?” one of the guards eventually forced out next to Shining. “I don’t know which one of them is the monster anymore.”

In most cases, Shining would find that sentence insulting towards any of his friends. But this time, a small grin spread across his face.

“I know which one of them is the monster, and I’m sure glad that he’s on our side.”

Lucario pulled back his arm and looked at the barely conscious Chrysalis at his feet. While he hadn’t aimed to kill the queen with his attack, he was impressed nevertheless that she was still awake. Chrysalis slowly rolled onto her side, surely to avoid burdening the several broken ribs in her chest. From what little he could read from her shocked expression, she understandably seemed confused by what just happened.

“Remember that Water attack that I used to cover you in a mist? It’s called Water Pulse, a seemingly normal Water-type move of decent power. What’s special about it, though, is that upon impact, it releases special kinds of water particles into the air. These particles have a chance to disturb the target’s senses, essentially making them confused. For some reason that even I don’t know, this kind of confusion sometimes causes the target to even attack itself. That’s why your attack struck you instead of me.”

“Chance…?” Chrysalis painfully whispered beneath him. “You’re making it… sound like…”

“That it was pure, dumb luck. Yes, that’s true.”

With a sudden furious scream, Chrysalis lifted her head and channeled magic into her horn yet again. Lucario effortlessly dodged the proceeding flames, but decided to back away a bit just to be sure. He silently watched Chrysalis struggling to her hooves, groaning in pain as she did. When she was finally standing again, she lowered her head and gasped for air. Just a few minutes ago, Lucario had been clutching his arm in near defeat. Now their roles had been completely reversed.

And yet Chrysalis laughed. Not in the same arrogant way she had done up until now, but it was just as evil. She didn’t even bother to lift her head to look at Lucario as she spoke.

*gasp, gasp* “Unbelievable. To think that I would ever find myself in a state like this. Even with the power of Princess Celestia herself, you brought me down to this level. Incredible… impossible…”

At last she lifted her head. Only one thing was readable in her eyes as she stared in contempt at Lucario: Hate.

“Unforgivable…”

Her horn glowed yet again, and Lucario prepared himself for another attack. But her horn didn’t glow from fire and flames like before, but from normal magic. A blinding light sparked beside her, and Lucario found himself terrified of the pony that now stood next to the queen.

“L-Luna!” Lucario called out her name, but Luna didn’t respond. Her eyes were still colored green from Chrysalis’ corruption. Still shaking from pain, Chrysalis reached out a hoof to touch Luna’s chin.

“Your sister needs you, my girl. Please… HELP ME.”

Green magic began to drain out of Luna’s body, siphoning into Chrysalis like a piece of cloth absorbing water. The burn marks that once covered Chrysalis’ body disappeared, only to reappear on Luna instead. This was shortly followed by the audible crack of ribs in her chest. Luna’s scream of agony echoed over the plains, coupled together with Chrysalis’ laughter. The whole process took mere seconds, but to Lucario it felt like an eternity. Yet he found himself paralyzed from the sight. All he could do was to watch every wound he had inflicted on Chrysalis being transferred to the pony he had tried to save.

Luna fell motionlessly to the ground, only to be caught up in Chrysalis’ magic grip. Once again at full power, she grinned evilly at Lucario.

“She does a wonderful job at my side, don’t you think? I’m so proud of her, let me tell you that. I bet she was so lonely without me while being together with those boring guards. Good thing that I can summon her to my side whenever I need her.” She looked back at Luna and rubbed her cheek. “Now now, my dear, I know you’re tired. But your darling sister has one more need of you.”

With that, Chrysalis threw Luna to the side. At the same time, a familiar small orb materialized above her horn, which she aimed towards the still flying princess. In an instant, Lucario realized that he wouldn’t be able to carry Luna out of the explosion’s radius. Neither would he be able to tackle Chrysalis’ with enough force to knock off her aim. Even though he knew that this was exactly according to Chrysalis’ plan, he had no choice but to go with it.

Chrysalis’ orb erupted into a giant current of flames. Just as they were about to hit Luna, Lucario appeared in front of her to take on the entire attack himself. As the plains before her exploded in a sea of green fire, Chrysalis just smiled.

“What was it I said before? Oh yes, hahaha. As I expected.”

Twilight and her friends ran outside the city gates at the worst possible time. All of them watched as Chrysalis fired a spell at Lucario and Luna, covering them and the plains in green flames. Fluttershy stopped right in her tracks out of shock. Thankfully, Applejack was running behind her and started to push her the rest of the way towards Shining and his men. Twilight didn’t even call out to her brother as she ran up beside him. She just watched in horror as the flames seemingly burned Lucario and Luna to a crisp.

“No… please no…” Shining finally noticed Twilight standing beside him, having been in just as much of a shock as her. His leadership persona kicked in as he put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Twilight, the Elements. It’s up to us now.” Twilight looked at her brother. Her eyes were already filled with tears. Soon enough though, she dried them with her hoof and turned to her friends with a determined look.

“Come on girls. Let’s finish this.”

Her friends would’ve slowly nodded in agreement there, filled with grief as they were. But instead, they all brought their hooves to their ears. Shining and his men did the same as a screeching sound reached their ears. Chrysalis too lifted her hooves in an attempt to hold off the horrible sound. While none of them knew how the sound exactly came to be, they all knew two things. It sounded metallic, and it came from the explosion site. Shining could only think of one reason for the noise. It was a warning signal.

"Girls! Stay put for now!" Shining shouted over the noise. Twilight turned to him, barely able to make out his words.

"Let us believe in our friend for a bit longer!"

The metallic screech finally died down, and Chrysalis slowly lowered her hooves. Her ears were still pulsating in pain from the sound, but that was the last thing on her mind. She was instead trying to comprehend how the sight before her was even possible.

Luna was lying in the middle of the explosion site, with Lucario standing in front of her. Both of them were completely unharmed, although Lucario was panting heavily. While the ground was burned to a crisp, a small circular area around them was untouched by the flames. Confused anger spread across Chrysalis’ face as she once again summoned Luna to her side. It was then that she noticed that almost all the burns on Luna’s coat were gone. She was even awake and able to stand again, making Chrysalis realize that her ribs must’ve been healed as well. Looking back at Lucario, she also noticed how the burns on his arm were gone.

“What did you do, Guardian?” Chrysalis asked the Pokémon. It was clear from her voice that she was done with sarcasm and expected answers. Lucario panted a bit more before answering.

“Three things. The first one was Normal-type: Protect. It creates an indestructible barrier around the user and his near vicinity. Even an attack such as yours is unable to even scratch it. However, I’m only able to use that move once a day.

“The second one was Psychic-type: Heal Pulse. By using my own aura, I can heal physical wounds on both myself and others. As you can see though, it has greatly tired me out.

“Finally, the screech you heard just now was Steel-type: Metal Sound. I used that just to inform you that I was still alive.”

Chrysalis didn’t care much about how the Pokémon’s powers worked. What both intrigued and terrified her though was that he was capable of such techniques. She hadn’t thought of it until now, but all of her opponent’s skills seemed like powers bestowed upon a higher being. While magic allowed ponies of all kinds to pull off similar tricks, none of them could even use a third of his arsenal. Even Princess Celestia’s powers seemed almost inferior in comparison.

A curious feeling spread through Chrysalis’ body as she watched Lucario slowly catch his breath. She was bestowed with Celestia’s powers, yet all of her best attempts had yet to finish off this creature. In fact, as she stared into his red eyes, she could see that he was still not taking her seriously. Her legs started to shake, and a small drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. She had the powers of a princess, and yet she was afraid.

“Ha… hahaha.” she nervously laughed. “Y-You can try for as long as you might, but you’ll just delay the inevitable. If you hurt me again, I’ll just use Luna to heal me. Then you’ll heal her, and the whole process begins anew. As long as she’s in my control, you’ll never win!”

“Which is exactly why I’ll end that control. Right now.” Lucario lifted his arm and placed his paw just above his right eye. For a moment, his eyes glowed red. Or was it violet? No… Pink?

“Normal-type: Attract.”

Lucario blinked, and a swarm of heart-shaped symbols shot out of his eye. They playfully looped around each other before shooting out towards Chrysalis and Luna.

“Eh...?”

Chrysalis simply stared at the hearts in disbelief. From the sidelines, Twilight, Shining, and the rest of their friends and guards had a similar reaction. Even the journalists nearly dropped their cameras at the ridiculous scene. All of them watched with their jaws on the ground as the hearts began to circle around Luna. After increasing in speed for a few seconds, they finally charged into Luna’s chest, causing her body to briefly glow pink. In the blink of an eye, the green and corrupted color in Luna’s eyes disappeared. In their stead, giant hearts shot out of them.

“OH, DARLING!”

Chrysalis nearly tripped over when the princess of the night squealed and brought her hooves to her cheeks. One spark of light later, Luna had teleported to Lucario’s side and began to dance around him.

“That beautiful blue fur, those charming red eyes! Aaah, I can’t believe a beauty such as yours even exists! Oh honey, let us stay together forever, flooding all of Equestria with our love!”

Aside from Luna’s lovey-dovey talk, the plains were deadly silent. Only a single flash from a camera disrupted the peace, likely from a journalist who took the photo by reflex. Chrysalis herself just looked on, entirely unable to understand what was going on.

“What… what’s the point of all thi-”

Several things happened to Chrysalis at once. In an instant, her mane stopped glowing and fell back over her neck in its usual dirty state. Her coat turned black yet again, and the cutie mark on her flank disappeared without a trace. Worst of all, she felt the near overwhelming power of Celestia leaving her like a blanket being pulled off a bed. In the blink of an eye, she was just the normal Queen Chrysalis again.

No… don’t tell me… Her eyes widened as her brain finally understood everything. He exchanged my mind control with his own!

“DARLING!” Luna flew towards Lucario with open hooves, intending to embrace him. But when she was mere inches away, Lucario disappeared, causing Luna to fall flat on her face.

At the same time, Chrysalis found herself nearly face to face with the Pokémon. He already had his arm pulled back in preparation for a punch.

“D-Don’t-”

“Close Combat.”

Lucario’s punch struck Chrysalis’ cheek, sending her head flying towards the side. Yet another punch intercepted her though, soon followed by an uppercut to her jaw. Two roundhouse kicks nearly knocked her headfirst into the ground, but another kick sent her flying into a standing position yet again.

For what felt like a lifetime, Lucario kept punching and kicking Chrysalis from all directions. Even when she fell towards the ground, another strike would send her back up for more blows. It was like Lucario’s assault was a carefully choreographed dance created for just one purpose: To cause as much pain to the target as physically possible.

Please… stop… These were the only words that echoed through Chrysalis’ mind as she felt her body growing numb. She couldn’t even feel the strikes anymore, just unconsciousness slowly and mercifully trying to claim her.

One final kick to the jaw signaled the end of Lucario’s assault. The strike was yet again just enough to knock Chrysalis into a standing position. To her great displeasure, Chrysalis found herself still barely conscious. Falling forward towards the ground, she found herself suddenly caught in Lucario’s arm. Her head rested on his shoulder as Lucario suddenly spoke next to her ear.

“Did I mention that the Metal Sound from before made you more vulnerable to non-physical attacks?”

Chrysalis couldn’t see the Aura Sphere formed in Lucario’s paw. But she definitely felt it as the Pokémon threw it at point blank range into her stomach. The queen of the changelings found herself knocked backwards from the blast, her body crashing into the ground in a near-broken mess.

Lucario took a moment to catch his breath before walking up to his former opponent. Her body was wounded all over, and there was no doubt that she was in great pain. Still, she would live. She still had to tell them where she had taken Celestia.

“I told you from the beginning, changeling. You’ve lost.”

Chrysalis didn’t answer. Lucario was unsure if she was still conscious or not, but her grunts gave the hint that she was. From the corner of his eye, Lucario could see the changeling soldiers from before lift their heads. They looked at their defeated queen with eyes filled with disbelief. More so, Lucario could sense a hint of worry in them. A few of them even tried to drag themselves towards her. Lucario watched them all for a moment before turning back to Chrysalis.

“I don’t understand you. Your people feeds on love, lives off of it. Your very existence is depended on it. In order for you to survive, you must come in contact with it. You must see it first-hand. Yet you don’t understand it. You claim that you know the true meaning of love, but you don’t even know the simplest form of it. You’re like a child, pretending to be an adult.

“Look around you. At this very moment, your people are worrying about you. They’re willing to risk their own lives to save you. No matter how much you’ve mistreated them or how little you’ve cared about them, they still want to see you safe. You’ve been surrounded by love all this time, and you haven’t even realized it.”

Chrysalis remained silent. Several of the changelings around them began to look between each other, as if a realization had dawned on them. A few of them even let out a low growl, like a child calling to its mother. Letting out a sigh, Lucario turned his back on Chrysalis.

“Once you’ve told us where Celestia is, we will let all of you go. Return to your homeland and think about what you’ve learned. The world can still accept you, and you can accept it as well.” He looked back over his shoulder to look at Chrysalis one more time.

“It’s like what my master taught me long ago: The aura will always be with you.”

He then turned and walked away, intending to leave the rest of the work to Shining and his men. He ignored the few changelings that he walked past, knowing that they knew when to accept defeat. At a distance, he could already see Twilight and her friends running to congratulate him. That is, until they stopped in their tracks and stared at something behind him.

“You’re the one… who don’t understand…”

Chrysalis was lying on her stomach, pressing her hooves down with all her might in an attempt to stand up. She was coughing repeatedly, but didn’t cease her efforts for a second.

“What does love gain you in the end? Once all is said and done, it always ends the same way. You’ll have to watch the ones important to you pass away, one by one. At the end, death is just an excuse to free you from that torment, and watch the ones who loved you feel that pain instead. We’re all better off unconnected. An eternity of solitude would be worth it, instead of living a single day just to watch your loved ones disappear.”

By sheer force of will, Chrysalis stood up once more. Her shouts echoed over the plains as she shouted at her soldiers.

“Do you think you mean anything to me, fools?! Do you think that your queen would even think to spare one thought of your pathetic well-being?! You’re nothing but tools! Your only purpose is to follow my commands and help fulfill my goals! Why?! Because my life matters so much more to me than all of yours combined! Now fulfill that purpose, infidels! Fulfill the meanings of your existence!”

Green light shot out of Chrysalis’ body, sending magical waves over the entire battlefield. As the waves hit the changelings, they shrieked in agony as their bodies evaporated into pure energy. One by one, their energies began to flow back towards Chrysalis, who absorbed their power without delay. Bit by bit, her form began to yet again take on the appearance of Celesta. As the final changeling disappeared and was absorbed into her, she immediately conjured another flame orb above her horn.

“I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings! I’m the herald of a new era for Equestria, and its new eternal ruler! Bow before my might, OR DIE BEFORE MY WRATH!”

For the third time that day, Chrysalis’ flame orb exploded, sending a stream of flames towards Lucario. From a distance, Twilight desperately called out to her friends to use the Elements. She knew all too well though that it was too late. Her friends and Shining called out Lucario’s name, and Cadence hid her face behind one of the pegasi’s backs.

Lucario, however, hadn’t even turned around since Chrysalis began to speak. He was still walking with his eyes closed, as if paying the incoming attack no mind. As the attack closed in on him, he just clenched his fist and whispered to himself.

“You fool…”

His eyes opened up, and yellow light flooded out of them.

The world was covered in light. It engulfed the plains and spread over all of Canterlot. A few ponies back in Ponyville woke up from the brief and blinding light that covered their entire bedrooms. It wasn’t a green light, like the one from Chrysalis’ flames. Nor was it rainbow-colored, like the Elements of Harmony.

It was yellow, and it seemingly covered the world like the rays of the sun itself.

Before anypony had the time to react, the light diminished, focusing itself into Lucario’s paw. In one swift move, he turned around and threw the yellow Aura Sphere against Chrysalis’ attack. It effortlessly pierced through the flames, making them die out by simply being in its presence. Giant cracks in the ground were left in its wake. When it reached Chrysalis, it was as if time itself stopped for the changeling queen. It gave her enough time to think one single thought.

Huh?

The group of ponies on the sidelines watched as the sphere struck Chrysalis. It took her body with it as it continued forward, flying towards the mountain side in the distance. It was but the size of a star in the night sky when it finally collided with the rock wall. Then it exploded, covering the mountain in a giant sphere of light. By the time the light finally died out, nearly a fourth of the mountain was gone. Giant rocks and boulders rolled down its slope, the mere sound of it thundering across Equestria.

The ponies stood in silence as they watched it all. All of them had already watched enough unbelievable scenes to last a lifetime, let alone one night. None of them knew if Chrysalis’ had perished from the sphere hitting her or from the explosion, and none of them wanted to know.

Cadence slowly floated down to Shining’s side. While she was still just as shocked as everypony else, a thought began to cross her mind.

He won. He beat her. We’re saved.

Shining had yet to shake himself out of his shock. Cadence soon remedied that by turning his head around to kiss him. Regardless if it was because of the couple’s kiss or from their own minds catching up, the other ponies felt a similar joy inside them. The first one to speak before the cheers and screams of joy erupted was Rainbow Dash.

“Best... fight... ever.”

Lucario could hear his friends cheering behind him, but he paid them no mind. He looked at the trail left behind his attack, and the mountain side where Chrysalis had met her end. He thought of the words he had tried to tell her, and the words she shouted in response. He thought of the changelings that had pointlessly been sacrificed for their queen’s final stand.

He thought of the similar scene he had seen before, the day before he arrived in Equestria.

As a light breeze blew through the plains, they carried with them the few words uttered from the Pokémon’s telepathy.

“I’m sorry…”

“LUCARIO!”

The deafening shout was the only warning Lucario received before Luna tackled him to the ground. A cloud of dust blew up from the ground in a comedic fashion. Finding Luna’s hooves wrapped around his torso, Lucario began to flail around in an attempt to shake her off.

“L-Luna! I’m fine, you can let go. It’s all over no-”

“Forgive me…”

Lucario stopped his struggles upon hearing Luna sob against his chest. She never let go of him, but she let her tears drop down on his fur as she cried uncontrollably.

“I didn’t want to put you through this... I didn’t want to see you hurt... Please, I’m sorry!”

Lucario looked down at the princess, listening to her apologies. Remembering the pain she had gone through herself due to Chrysalis, Lucario wrapped his arms around Luna in a comforting hug.

“Yeah. I’m sorry too.”

Lucario thought that Luna was still in her attracted state, and simply needed time to snap out of it. What he didn’t know was that under Luna’s closed eyelids, her heart-shaped eyes had disappeared a long time ago.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to halo003qd for proofreading!

The world’s biggest writer’s block later…

No, seriously, I feel really bad for making this chapter take as long as it did. I had several things to do at home here during the summer, and they all sort of killed my writing enthusiasm. That’s not to say that this story is cancelled or on hiatus though. I’ve begun this project and I’m seeing it to the end.

So yeah, over 10 000 words… Holy crap. If you guys think that every chapter from now on will be this long, please be merciful on me! You’ve no idea how painful it is to proofread something this long.

As for the battle itself, I’ll leave that to your thoughts and opinions. Making Chrysalis have all of Celestia’s powers certainly made her a much more troubling foe for Lucario. Yes, it will be explained how she had those powers to begin with.

Where do we go from here? Oh come on, do you guys really think that Chrysalis will be the toughest foe Lucario fights in this story? You’ll see in time what powers even outshine the princess of the sun (no pun intended).

Lively Premonition and Light Rain are actually named after two video games: Deadly Premonition and Heavy Rain. Most of you have probably heard of Heavy Rain, but I strongly recommend that you look up Deadly Premonition. It's one of those games that have poor graphics and completely absurd characters, but has such an awesome storyline and feel to it that makes it one of my all-time favorite games.

That whole “yellow Aura Sphere” thing will make sense later in the story as well. There's a big mystery behind that, believe me.

Next time in Friendship is Aura: How will Equestria react towards the events of this historic battle? How will the land survive without Celestia’s sun? Just where is Celestia anyway? Answers to all of these questions in the next chapter. See you next time!

KangTheGuardian -

A Temporary Calm

”So… um… here are the photos we took, boss,” Lively nervously stated as he put his and Light’s collection down on the desk in front of them. His shaking hoof caused one of the photos to fall off the pile and land on the floor. It didn’t matter much though, because the pile was still much larger than it usually was at the end of their normal work shifts. Considering the rather spectacular events of the day, Lively was surprised that it wasn’t even larger.

On the other side of the desk sat a white-coated stallion named Mayday. His mane was brown, but was starting to turn grey in several places, showing his age. A large cigar was placed in his mouth, which he almost seemed to bite in half every time Lively saw him. As the boss of one of the biggest newspaper companies in Equestria, his reputation was well known all over Canterlot. Many young journalist ponies dreamed of one day working under him. Lively himself had been one of those ponies, so had Light. If they had only known the true merciless personality that laid hidden under the legend.

Mayday stared at the pile of photos for a few seconds, letting a few more puffs of smoke leave his mouth before picking it up. Despite the unbelievable scenes featured on every photo, he looked at them without any hint of interest on his face whatsoever. However, Lively noticed how his boss stared at the first photo for a pretty long time. From his experience with the old stallion, this usually meant that the photo in question was good. Mayday wouldn’t praise them for it, never in a thousand years, but maybe this one time he would at least…

“Trash, trash, junk, trash, worse than trash…”

Lively should’ve known better than to get his hopes up. With every phrase he said, Mayday threw a photo over his shoulder. Each of them landed in the trash can behind him with amazing accuracy. After over 30 years in his line of work, he was nothing short of a master when it came to this kind of thing. As the last photo was thrown away, the boss took another sip of his cigar before leaning towards Lively and Light.

“So let me get this straight: You two bore witness to the single greatest battle Equestria has ever seen since the Discord war? You were literally on the sidelines of the battlefield when this whole thing took place? You had fully loaded cameras, great angles, and could photograph to your hearts’ content without worrying about the guards?”

Lively and Light only nodded in response. They knew all too well what was coming.

“And you two only bring me PHOTOGRAPHS?!” A loud smash of hooves hitting his desk signaled the start of Mayday’s outburst. “What were you thinking with, your tails?! I can barely even make out what I’m seeing here! The changeling queen looks like a glowing neon light in your everyday Canterlot club! And what the hay is this supposed to be, a diamond dog?!”

“I-I think one of the other ponies around us called him a “Pokémon” after the battle…” Light tried to explain.

“Oh, so you DID listen to some gossip about the whole thing? Okay, then where are all the interview tapes?! It didn’t hit you dimwits that getting a word out of the royal guard would’ve maybe been highly informative?!”

“But… But captain Shining Armor ordered us and the other journalists to leave the scene immediately after the battle, boss,” Light stammered. Lively remained silent. He knew better than to talk back to the most famous business boss in his line of work.

“And that’s another thing, the other journalists! How do you expect our paper to sell when it says the same thing as every other paper in the city?! Hay, make that in all of Equestria! Have you looked at these photos?! They’re probably the exact same thing that all the other 20 or so ponies took over there! Every single one of them just shows the changeling queen fighting this, what did you numbskulls call it, Poké-Man? What does that even mean?! You didn’t ask it anything?!”

“W-We didn’t think it was a good idea to try and talk with someone who just blew up a quarter of a mountain, boss,” Light stammered again. Mayday promptly facehoofed in response.

“In the name of Celestia- You two are completely worthless!” The aged stallion stood up from his chair and walked around his desk towards the two journalists. “This is going to be talk of the entire country by tomorrow morning, and all you can give them is basically the same photo 500 times over?! Of all the times I need you to be at your best, you come back with nothing special whatsoev…”

Mayday suddenly stared at something on the floor in front of his desk. Before Lively and Light turned their gaze to see what it was, their boss had already picked it up. He stared at it for a long time, and Lively noticed how he seemed to bite down on his cigar a bit harder than before. Lively would’ve found this strange if he and Light weren’t busy with their cold sweating. They were probably just a few angry words away from being fired.

“Which one of you dirt bags took this one?” he asked as he turned the photo around for the other two to see. Surprised by the suddenly interested tone in their boss’ voice, Lively looked at the mysterious photo. His mouth dropped open in surprise at what it portrayed.

“Um, I think that one is mine, boss,” Light responded nervously. Lively snapped his head around to look at his co-worker. Had he really been able to get a shot of THAT scene? Mayday simply nodded before walking back to his chair.

“Congratulations you two, you get to keep your jobs for a few more days. If any of those other companies managed to get a photo like this, I bet they’re too scared to publish it.” He pressed his hoof down on a button and spoke into the nearby microphone. “Marker, get over here and take this photo to the guys downstairs and we’ll have it printed for tomorrow afternoon. It will take too long for the presses to get working for us to have it out in the morning. And to the rest of you workers who somehow didn’t notice the near cataclysmic battle outside the city, YOU’RE ALL FIRED! As for you two, you better make sure you don’t slack off, it’s going to be a busy week. I want photos! Photos of Poké-Man!”

With that, Mayday turned around and began to look through some papers about new willing employees. This was his usual way of signaling the end of a conversation. Lively let himself breathe out in relief. For whatever its worth, the two of them had managed to get by another day. He turned towards Light, who was now grinning rather arrogantly after saving their hides.

“I can’t believe you managed to get a shot of that. I was far too busy with being in shock about the whole thing. I mean, seriously?”

“Professionals can keep themselves focused in any kind of situation, my friend,” Light cockily responded while swinging his camera around his hoof. “And that’s why boss Mayday pays me the big bucks.”

As if his boast was answered by fate itself, both Light and Lively suddenly found themselves flying out the door by a pair of hind legs kicking them.

“I’ll pay you big bucks for not getting your flanks OUT OF MY OFFICE!”

“There she is! Hunt her down!”

“She took my child away! I’ll never forgive that witch!”

Luna didn’t know if she was flying or running away from the screams of hatred behind her. All she knew was that they were getting closer. Darkness surrounded her, obscuring her view of whoever chased her and where she was going. Normally she would’ve been able to control that darkness however she desired. But even the princess of the night couldn’t control the kind of darkness that was hidden within her own heart.

The yells and screams were almost deafening now, and Luna found herself unable to move any longer. Falling down to whatever served as a floor in this place, she turned her head to face the source of it all.

Her sister Celestia stood behind her, towering over Luna’s kneeling body. The screams and shouts had ceased, but the lingering silence was far worse than anything else. There was no sun light around Celestia, nor where her face wearing its usual smile. She simply stared at Luna without any emotion at all.

“Tia… please…” Luna tried to speak, but her voice was barely above a whisper. She lied paralyzed on the ground as Celestia drew closer to her without even walking. Their faces were mere inches away from each other when Celestia finally opened her mouth.

“AAAAH! BAT! HEEEELP!”

A terrified scream echoed through Canterlot Castle, waking up the blue-coated princess sleeping in her chambers. Luna shot out of bed, gasping for air in a near panicked state. Drops of sweat rolled down her forehead as the memories of the nightmare were still fresh in her mind. She was wiping the sweat off with a shaking hoof when she suddenly wondered how she could hear any noise from outside. Her chambers were soundproof in order to let her sleep peacefully during the day.

Turning towards the doors, she noticed the reason for this change. The doors were gone. Judging by the cracked frame, it seemed like they had been ripped off by force. She seemed to recall knowing what had caused this, but her head was still a bit foggy after the bad dream. Trying to remember everything, she heard the continuation of the loud scream outside.

“Candle Warmth, what’s wrong?!”

“There… There’s a bat in the kit- AAAH! IT’S ON MY FACE! NANNY, GET IT OFF!”

“Oh for crying out loud, girl, is there a spine in that back of yours at all? Just stand still, all right? I’ll get it! HIYA!”

“OW! Nanny, that was the back of my head!”

“If you young ones would just learn to stand still for a few seconds, it wouldn’t have been! Now come back here, it doesn’t help to run around like a timberwolf on fire!”

Luna heard the two ponies run around the corridors in a chaotic mess. A loud metallic crash gave her the impression that one of the royal knight armors outside had been broken. Annoyed by her servants’ clumsiness and the unbearable noise, Luna got out of bed and headed towards the door-less exit.

She walked up to it at the worst possible time. She was immediately greeted by a young mare with a dark red coat and yellow mane. She was flailing her forelegs around in a desperate attempt to shake off the small patch of fur on her face. The fur in question flew away just before the mare stumbled into Luna, sending both of them crashing to the floor.

Well, say what you want. She’s a very effective wake up clock, Luna thought to herself as she scratched the pained spot on the back of her head. Looking down at her chest, she saw her servant Candle Warmth rubbing off a few strays of hair in her eyes before suddenly realizing who she had fallen on top of.

“P… Princess?” Candle asked out loud, her tone of voice somewhere between surprised and shocked. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Luna gave away a small chuckle at the scene.

“You’re every bit as spirited as always, Candle Warmth,” she said as an answer to the young servant. Both of them were quiet for a moment before tears started to fall from Candle’s eyes. Next thing Luna knew, the mare hugged her mistress’ torso in relief.

“PRINCESS! Oh thank Celestia, you’re… you’re…” Candle’s voice gave away as she erupted in joyful tears. Luna was a little dumbfounded by the mare’s reaction, but placed a comforting hoof on Candle’s back. The whole scene seemed familiar to her somehow, like something that had happened just recently. No matter how hard she tried though, she couldn’t remember what.

“Some things never change, do they, my girl?” A voice asked in front of them. Looking up, Luna saw an elderly mare with a blue coat and white mane looking at them. Known only as Nanny by the other ponies in the castle, she had served under Celestia for almost her entire life. Luna was still confused by how a pony could stay so devoted to her job for so many years, but had chosen not to question the old mare’s reasons.

“Hehe, indeed they don’t, Nanny. Um, if you would be so kind?” Luna gave an embarrassed smile as she tried to make herself and Candle stand up. Nanny laughed heartily as she walked up and lend them both a hoof. Candle was still crying, and couldn’t make out any eligible words when she tried to speak.

“She has been worried about you, you know?” Nanny said as she held a foreleg over the young mare’s shoulders. “We all have, ever since this whole thing about you being sick started. But I suppose that wet mark on your chest from all her tears already gave you that impression.”

“Hehe, what makes you say that?” Luna answered with a laugh. Nanny and Candle were two of the few ponies in all of Equestria who treated her with any friendship and love. Even immediately after her return from her banishment, Luna had found the two of them by her side to support her. Nanny had heard many stories about her from Celestia, and chances were that she had conveyed them all to Candle during their spare time. Apart from her sister and her friends in Ponyville, the two mares where the only ones Luna felt happy enough to laugh together with.

A certain memory sparked inside Luna’s head as she laughed. What had Nanny said about her being sick? Images flashed in her mind as she remembered her strange meeting with Celestia in her chambers. A blue, dog-like creature standing to shield her from her sister came next as Luna’s eyes widened.

“My sister! The changeling queen! Lucario! What hap-” she screamed out in worry, but found Nanny’s hoof hushing her down.

“There there, my girl, calm down a notch. How much do you remember?”

Luna closed her eyes as she went through her memories. She remembered knocking the disguised Chrysalis through the corridor, shortly followed by darkness. After that, she had found herself on the plains outside Canterlot, watching Lucario fight the queen.

“There… There was a battle outside the city gates between Queen Chrysalis and-”

“Lucario. Yes, that’s right.” Nanny finished Luna’s sentence, causing the princess to look at her in surprise. “And yes, I know him. After the deed he pulled off yesterday, I would be surprised if every single pony in Equestria didn’t know him by now. You can thank the newspapers for the spread of that knowledge.” Making sure Candle had recovered from her crying state, Nanny walked a bit closer to Luna to continue her explanation.

“After the queen was discovered yesterday, she put that mind control spell on you like she did with Shining Armor. He had memory loss of that time as well, so I guess you suffer from similar symptoms. As for the queen, that Lucario fellow immediately started to fight her. I wasn’t awake when it all started, nor could I see everything that was going on from the balcony. But whatever happened out there, it has left enough scars in the ground to remain for decades. The grass is all but burned to a crisp, the very earth has cracked open, and you’ll find one of the mountains in the distant to be drastically smaller than before. If it were you or Celestia who had been fighting there, I would’ve believed it. But to think that someone like Lucario could be that strong…”

Luna listened to Nanny’s explanation. Her memories came back bit by bit as she heard the details. She doubted that she would’ve believed anything of that impossible story without them.

“And the queen?” she eventually asked, still unable to remember Chrysalis’ fate.

“Dead, my girl,” Nanny answered quickly, making Luna blink in surprise. “One moment, the queen is firing a stream of flames at Lucario. Next thing I know, the entire world turns yellow and Lucario throws a sphere of light, hitting the queen right in the chest. That blown up mountain I mentioned is the result of all that, as well as her gravesite.”

“I see…” Luna could indeed remember the blinding light. But an explosion of that magnitude was impossible to imagine even for her. She couldn’t say that she pitied Chrysalis though. Had she survived, Luna would’ve made sure that she received the harshest banishment imaginable. She knew far too well how much worse such a punishment was than death. “What happened next?”

“After the battle, Lucario took you to your chambers to rest, and then went to do the same. He was greatly fatigued, but I don’t remember seeing any big wounds on him. I swear, that boy is in a class of his own. As for the other changelings, the queen had absorbed them all in an attempt to finish Lucario off. Shining and his men just made sure to clear out those pesky journalists all over the place afterwards.”

Luna brought a hoof to her chin as she thought for a moment.

“How did I end up on the battlefield to begin with? Did Chrysalis bring me there?”

“Yes, but only a while after the battle had started. From what Shining told me, it seems that Chrysalis was feeding off your love for Celestia in order to increase her power. As for the reason why she brought you over there, I’d rather not tell you, my girl. The less you remember about what the queen did to you, the better. Let’s just say that I could hear your screams all the way from the castle…”

Luna gulped and nodded, noticing the pained expression on Nanny’s face. Nevertheless, she was finally caught up to speed about the events. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Nanny. Thank you.”

“I’m afraid that there is one more thing I must tell you...” Nanny said, lowering her head with a frown on her face. She walked past Luna stepped up to the window. Dragging away the curtains, she revealed the darkness of the night outside.

“It isn’t nighttime, my girl. It’s three in the afternoon. Nopony has been able to raise the sun today because… Celestia is still kidnapped.”

Luna’s expression froze as she suddenly remembered the greatest worry on her mind. Her sister… Celestia was missing. Without her, the sun remained hidden beyond the horizon, and Equestria was put under an eternal night. As the words “Eternal night” passed through her thoughts, Luna began to panic. She rushed towards the window, nearly knocking Nanny over in the process. She opened it up and prepared to fly out when a pair of hooves held her back. Looking over her shoulder, Luna was surprised to find Candle Warmth clutching her tail.

“Princess, no! Please, you must rest! It’s too risky for you use too much magic right now!”

“I must, Candle!” Luna almost shouted, trying to break herself free from the young mare’s grip. “All of Equestria must be in panic right now. They probably believe that-”

“Nopony believes that Nightmare Moon has returned,” Nanny reassured her. “Celestia’s kidnapping may have worried everyone, but no newspaper has spread any rumors about anything like that. And you sure as hay don’t help things along by over exhausting yourself. You don’t even know how to raise the sun to begin with.”

Luna hesitated for a moment, her hooves still on the window sill. She let out a heavy sigh as she realized that she could do nothing about the situation at the moment. Nanny and Candle gave her reassuring smiles as she stepped away. Just as she did so, something flew out from behind the curtains. It landed on her back, much to the horror of the nearby Candle.

“THE BAT! THERE IT IS! WATCH OUT, PRINCESS, IT COULD BE A VAMPIRE!”

The bat gave the screaming mare an annoyed look before turning to Luna. It stared at her for a few moments, its expression a mix of awe, excitement, and a touch of uncertainty. For a moment, Luna could swear that its eyes sparkled a bit, as if it was looking at a role model. The sight made her giggle a bit.

“Hehe, so small and yet so efficient at scaring others. You would make a fine assistant during Nightmare Night in Ponyville.”

The bat seemed to beam at this. It promptly flew up to Luna’s flowing mane, hiding itself within. While it hadn’t been Luna’s intention, it seemed to enjoy its new home, its face just barely visible behind the sparkling strays of hair. It seemed to have already fallen asleep.

“I-Is it really all right for it to be there, Princess?” Candle asked. She herself would be the last pony in the world to let such a thing near her mane, let alone inside it.

“It’s quite all right, Candle,” Luna answered with a smile. “I find him to be rather cute, actually. If anything, he helped me put my mind at ease for a moment.”

“Glad to hear that, my girl. I’m sure Shining Armor and the guard will find Celestia soon enough,” Nanny said. “For now, you just need to rest. More importantly, you need to eat. Come along, and we’ll see what the kitchen can make for you.”

Nanny walked towards the exit, but paused when she found a large piece of cloth mysteriously hanging over it. It obscured the ponies’ view of the corridor, and none of them knew when or how it had been placed there without their notice. Throwing a curious look and a shrug in Luna’s direction, Nanny grabbed the cloth with her teeth and pulled it down.

“SURPRIIIIISE!!!”

The poor old mare nearly had a heart attack when she was greeted by Pinkie Pie’s shout. The corridor behind her was filled with confetti falling from the ceiling, and several tables filled with cakes and other snacks were placed everywhere. The rest of Pinkie Pie’s friends were standing there as well, beaming at seeing Luna awake and well. Even Shining Armor and Cadence were standing at the side, smiling at her. Luna stepped out of the room and watched the scene around her.

“I-I don’t get it. How did you get all things here so quickly?” Luna asked everyone. She could’ve sworn that the corridor had been completely empty during her conversation with Nanny.

“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight and the rest of her friends answered in a heartbeat. Shining just shrugged while Cadence giggled at Luna’s confused expression. Before she could ask more, the princess of the night found herself hugged from all sides by her friends from Ponyville.

“I’m so glad you’re all right, Princess!” Twilight expressed herself.

“Indeed. All this stuff about you being sick and the changeling attack had us worried out of our minds!” Rarity continued.

“Heh, as if some silly bugs could ever hope to harm a single hair on her mane,” Applejack reassured them, but the tightened hug from her revealed that she was relieved as well.

“Especially not with Lucario on the job! Oh man, Princess, I hope you remember that fight! It was SO AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash nearly squealed next to her.

“I… I still think it was terrifying, but… I’m so happy that you’re safe, Princess.” Fluttershy whispered with her usual sweet voice, but hugged Luna just as tightly as the others.

“I told you guys she would wake up now! My Pinkie Sense never lies! I had spent all night preparing all the cakes and snacks, so she must’ve woken up now, or I would need to eat them all myself. And that would just give me the worst tummy ache, like the time I-” Pinkie Pie went on one of her usual ramblings. She continued as the group broke the hug and stepped a bit back to give Luna some space.

“Yes, I’m fine now, everypony. I’m sorry for worrying you all so mu-”

“Aw, don’t come and give us that nonsense now, Princess,” Applejack interrupted her. “That nasty queen and her lackeys are to blame for all this. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Hehe, I know. Thank you, all of you.” Luna smiled at her friends, receiving their own smiles in return. As she looked around the corridor though, she noticed that someone was missing. “Where’s Lucario? Is he all right?”

“He’s fine, your highness.” Shining answered her. “No small feat, considering the things he went through yesterday. In fact, he was up earlier than everypony else from what I know. Last time I saw him, he was outside the castle.”

“Thank you, Shining,” Luna said to the captain. “And please, you’re married to Cadence now. There’s no need to keep up with formalities around me. Just Luna is fine.”

“Ah, haha, sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess.” Shining scratched the back of his head while Cadence just shook her head in a friendly manner. She then stepped up and gave Luna a hug of her own.

“If you only knew how much everyone has missed you,” she said next to Luna’s ear. Luna’s eyes widened a bit at this. Glancing back at Nanny and Candle behind her, she realized how everypony had been relieved to see her again. A small tear fell from her eye as she felt her friends’ and servants’ love for her. She removed it with some magic before turning back to Shining.

“Shining, while we’re here, I must ask you: What’s the situation with the people of the city?” she asked the stallion. Shining’s happy expression changed to a more serious one, knowing that he would need to relay a report eventually.

“While you were sick, the majority of the city’s nobles left for other towns until everything had settled. Chrysalis had ordered the castle to be put under quarantine, making some ponies believe that your “sickness” was contagious. I was worried at first about how the public would react over this lingering night, but it seemed we received some unexpected help. Several journalists witnessed the battle, and newspapers have already released articles about everything. From what I’ve read of them, they’ve all made Celestia’s kidnapping known to the public, so the ponies in Canterlot are showing no signs of panic at the moment. I’m afraid I can’t speak for other towns and villages though.”

Luna nodded as she listened to Shining’s report. She was glad to hear that the public didn’t seem to believe that Nightmare Moon had returned. The last thing they needed was an angry mob charging the castle in order to hunt her down.

“And my sister?”

Shining frowned a bit at the question. Luna also noticed Twilight and her friends look down at the floor. The exception was Pinkie Pie, who was still bouncing around to give each pony a plate and glass.

“Nothing yet, Luna. Chrysalis definitely knew something, but her final stand forced Lucario to put an end to her. She made sure to absorb all of her soldiers on the battlefield too, so we couldn’t take any of them in for questioning.” Luna’s ears fell as she heard this. Celestia was gone, and there was nopony to tell them where she was kept.

“Except for one.” Luna’s ears immediately perked up at Shining’s sudden statement, and she turned to him to hear the rest. “When Lucario fought the changeling army on the plains, he smashed their captain away with great enough force to send him flying all the way into the city. Before me and my men ran to assist Lucario, I had some of them take the changeling to the prison.”

“Has he said anything?” Luna asked, eager to hear any news of her sister’s whereabouts. Sadly, Shining frowned yet again.

“I’ve had no luck with him. Not even Lucario could force anything out of him. I think he sensed when his queen died, and he’s been in a near mute state ever since. He just hissed at me when I tried to get something out of him.”

“I see…” Luna thought for a moment before continuing. “Do you think Lucario knows some more details?”

“I’m not sure. He probably does, if I would make a guess. I can’t tell what’s going on in his mind at all half the time.”

“Very well,” Luna answered, at least temporarily pleased with the current information. “Then I’ll go and speak to him immediately. Thank you for your help, Shining.” Before anypony could object, Luna channeled magic to her horn and teleported herself away. Candle ran up to the spot where Luna had been a second ago and held a hoof in front of her mouth in worry.

“Oh no, we asked her not to use magic right now. I can’t stand seeing her overworking herself.”

“I can’t say I blame her though,” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia is missing, and nopony knows where to look for her. I would be freaking out myself if I hadn’t already read every book about possible hideouts in the castle’s library all night.”

“Well, did you find anything?” Cadence asked. Twilight just shook her head.

“No, at least nothing definite to work on. For all we know, she could be all the way in the changeling kingdom right now.”

The ponies were quiet as they lamented the situation. A sudden splat sound woke them up from this state though, as Pinkie Pie had thrown a pie at Rainbow’s face.

“Oh, it is ON now!” Rainbow yelled, half angry with the sudden prank and half happy with the distraction. As the two of them engaged in a hectic pie throwing battle by one of the tables, the rest of the ponies couldn’t help but laugh a bit.

“I guess we better eat now before they use it all up. I would hate to see my apple pies go to waste,” Applejack stated. “Besides, we’ll need to have full stomachs if we’re ever going to find Celestia.”

It was a rather peaceful night in Equestria, despite of how it was supposed to be daytime. The stars were glimmering in the sky like always, and the moon’s shine kept the land at least adequately lit up. It was a rather strange sensation for the ponies of Canterlot to walk around in the darkness. Despite having been scared of the dark ever since they were foals, they found it to be surprisingly peaceful. Some of them even found it somewhat pleasant. While they were all worried about Princess Celestia’s safety, they couldn’t say that they didn’t enjoy this temporary change of scenery.

Standing on top of one of the castle’s towers, Lucario was gazing over the city with closed eyes. While Canterlot was a big city, his Aura Sense could make out most of it from his vantage point. Only a few ponies could barely make out his silhouette from the streets. While Lucario had become well known all over the country for saving the city from Chrysalis, they couldn’t help but feel a bit disturbed by his constant watch. Not that they knew of his Aura Sense or anything, but his mere presence on the tower was enough to creep them out. They still didn’t know or trust him as much as the ponies in Ponyville.

Sighing a bit to himself, Lucario deactivated his Aura Sense to take a break. He had been keeping watch over the city the entire day, but he had yet to detect any suspicious activity. There hadn’t even been any burglars trying to take advantage of the dark in order to rob stores. For being Equestria’s capital city, it sure was devoid of crime.

I guess that’s what happens when you live under the noses of supernatural alicorns, he thought to himself, looking over the city with his normal eyesight. Even during the night, it was still as beautiful as it was during the day. A testament to its two rulers, no doubt. As he watched it, Lucario felt something he hadn’t felt for a long time. Something he hadn’t even felt back in Rota. He felt relaxed.

You would’ve liked it here, Sir Aaron.

Rota had been far from a peaceful kingdom in its later age. Conflict threatened them from all sides as the lands around them descended into war. Lady Rin had refused to take part in it officially, but she still found herself without choice when other kingdoms made attacks against them despite their neutrality. Lucario and Sir Aaron had been her greatest assets in defending the kingdom from such threats, but there never seemed to be an end to it all. Lucario could barely count the number of restful nights he had had on one paw. Without his Aura Sense activated every night, tragedy would’ve fallen over both himself and Rota several times over as the years passed.

Lucario looked up at the moon, a small frown on his face. Equestria was different from Rota. The ponies here sought no conflict, they detested it. Kinship and love seemed to be a fundamental part of everypony’s life. Yet even they couldn’t escape the darkness that hid within the hearts of some. Chrysalis had been a perfect example of that.

Lucario’s thoughts were interrupted by a spark of light behind him. Looking back, he found Luna landing on the ground behind him before walking up to him. She opened her mouth to say something, but a small screech from her mane stopped her. A bat emerged from within, a smile worn on its face as it saw Lucario. It immediately flew out of Luna’s mane and landed on Lucario’s shoulder.

“I thought I told you to leave the kitchen before the servants woke up. I could sense them throwing a ruckus upon seeing you from all the way here.” Despite the scolding words, Lucario wasn’t angry about seeing the bat again. It made some gestures with its wings as it snarled something to the Pokémon.

“You didn’t know it was daytime because of the night sky? That would be an understandable reason, I admit. I’m just glad the servants didn’t catch you.” Lucario nodded. Looking back at Luna, he found the princess to be rather puzzled about the whole thing.

“You two know each other? More importantly, you can understand him?”

“He helped me distract some of the guards when I was sneaking into the castle yesterday. I let him into the kitchen to eat some fruit in exchange. He apparently didn’t have much to eat down in the crystal caverns. As for your second question, the majority of Pokémon back in my world can’t speak with words. Only a few numbers of us can communicate in actual languages, like my telepathy. We instead learn to communicate in other ways, like with body language or tone of voice. It seems that ability has translated rather well to this world.”

After having Lucario pet it a bit on the head, the bat flew back to Luna, once again making a place for itself in her mane. Luna giggled a bit at this.

“And here I thought he enjoyed your company more than mine. It almost seems like he can’t decide.”

“I’m sure he’ll be just fine with you,” Lucario answered. “You two make a strangely friendly image together.” Luna smiled a bit in response, before her eyes widened a bit in realization.

“Oh, that’s right. I haven’t named him yet. He… doesn’t have a name, does he?”

“I wouldn’t think so. Animals usually only receive names from their owners. Right now, his only real name would be Bat, like his species.”

“Well, we can’t have that, can we? But what to name a trusty companion like you?” Luna asked out loud as she studied the bat. Lucario chuckled a bit and turned back to look over the city while Luna made up her mind.

Names… Hard to imagine myself being called anything other than Lucario by now, he thought to himself.

“The letter G is a good place to start, I believe,” Luna mumbled behind him.

I don’t think I’ve told everyone yet that Lucario is also the name of my species. I probably shouldn’t though, it would only confuse them.

“I like the sound of Go, but what next?”

Now that I think about it, Sir Aaron never explained why humans always have… wait… is she…?

“Gol...”

Is she really…?

“Golb…”

She can’t possibly…!

“GOLBEZ! Yes, that sounds perfect!” Luna finally exclaimed, happy with her choice. The bat also gave an approving smile from within her mane. Both of them noticed though how Lucario gave out an almost relieved sigh.

“Something wrong?” Luna asked puzzled.

“No, nothing,” Lucario quickly answered. “Just felt like we almost broke the wall between dimensions there…”

Luna looked at him in confusion for a bit before shrugging and scratching Golbez a bit on his chin. As Lucario watched them, he couldn’t help but notice how happy Luna was about her new friend.

“How are you feeling?” he eventually asked her. Luna blinked in response as she realized that the two of them had yet to actually greet each other. She let Golbez fall asleep in her mane as she straightened herself and coughed. A small blush was barely visible on her cheeks.

“I-I’m all right, despite the circumstances. And you?”

“I’m fine,” Lucario simply replied. Luna stared at him for a moment, studying his condition.

“I can hardly believe you were in such a harsh battle just over 12 hours ago,” she admitted.

I’ve been in worse, Lucario almost answered, but decided that such a statement would only lead to unnecessary questions. “Chrysalis was far more dangerous than I initially thought upon seeing her. Compared to the dragon I faced near Ponyville, she was on an entirely different plane.”

A moment of silence lingered between the two of them. Luna was halfway looking down at the ground while Lucario shifted his gaze to the side.

“I’m sorry,” both of them suddenly said at the same time. Luna, having bowed her head in apology, quickly lifted it back up upon hearing Lucario’s own.

“W-What for?” she stammered in surprise.

“Despite my efforts, you ended up getting hurt during the battle. Worse, I had no choice but to finish off Chrysalis before she could tell us where your sister is. I’m sorry.”

“N-No, don’t say that. You’ve got nothing to apologize for! It’s me who should apologize!” Luna exclaimed a bit louder than intended. Realizing this, her blush grew a bit as she continued with her eyes on the ground.

“What I said to you that night we last spoke… I couldn’t have been farther from the truth. I blamed you for putting my friends and subjects in danger, thinking that your presence were the cause of all the incidents. But if you hadn’t been here yesterday, if Chrysalis’ scheme had gone unnoticed… I don’t even dare to think about it. You saved Equestria, you saved my friends and subjects, you…” Her voice trailed off, and she took another breath to finish the sentence.

“You saved me… Thank you.”

Luna’s eyes locked with Lucario’s. Her blush was clearly visible for the Pokémon to see, but she didn’t seem to care anymore. Lucario could read many things in her gaze. Gratitude, respect, embarrassment. Had Lucario not broken their gaze when he did, perhaps he would’ve also noticed the hint of affection lying within them.

“Has Shining told you about the changeling we have in custody?” he asked her. Luna reacted to the question, but was caught off-guard in her gazing state. Lucario deemed it unnecessary to wait for her to gather herself, as her reaction already suggested that she had.

“I’ve tried to talk to him twice already, but he refuses to speak with me. It’s not that he’s resisting me, but more like he’s scared of me. He knows that I killed his queen, and he freezes every time he sees me because of it. It’s not the kind of fear that I can use to force answers out of him.”

“And according to Shining, he just hissed at him and his men,” Luna continued with a hoof on her chin. “So what do we have to do?”

“I think you must talk to him personally,” Lucario answered. “He fears me, and sees no point in talking with Shining or the other guards. But from what I’ve seen of him before and during the battle, he’s very arrogant. If you, Celestia’s sister, would go to him, I’m sure he would savor the opportunity to mock you about it. With the right choice of words, I’m sure you can trick him into at least giving us a hint about Celestia’s whereabouts.”

“I would’ve gone down to him regardless…” Luna stated. “But I see how this plan could work. I will visit him immediately.”

“Very well.” Lucario nodded. “I suggest you go alone, without any guards. He’s no threat to you as he is now.”

“All right. But what about you? Are you going to keep watch over the city?”

"The city has been safe the entire day. I have little reason to believe that anyone would try to do something now. I plan to go back to Ponyville a bit. I’m worried about how the ponies there are doing. I am their guardian, after all.”

“As you wish,” Luna acknowledged. “If possible, try to return before the day’s end so you can hear what I’ve lea-”

“I BROUGHT YOU A LETTER!”

Lucario and Luna jumped as someone shouted above them. To Lucario’s surprise, he found the grey pegasus from Ponyville flying above them. Just like before, she smiled and pulled out two newspapers from her bag before giving Lucario and Luna one each.

“Um, correct me if I’m wrong…” Luna began. “But this isn’t what we call a le-”

“Have a good muffin!” The mare cheerfully interrupted her before flying away. Luna stared after her for a moment.

“Well, that was interesting, I guess. I wonder why this paper was delivered so late though. Then again, judging by that mailmare’s nature, her company surely goes through some mishaps from time to-”

She turned her head to Lucario, or at least Lucario’s last known position. The Pokémon was mysteriously gone, his paper left on the ground as if discarded in great haste. Finding this odd to say the least, Luna looked down at her own newspaper for the first time. There, on the front page, was a huge picture taken during the battle from yesterday. It featured her, with eyes shaped like hearts, dancing around Lucario in a most embarrassing manner. Whatever little that she had yet to remember about yesterday returned to Luna. Her cheeks nearly exploded in a blush as she realized that this paper was now delivered throughout all of Equestria.

“WHY THOU DIRTY, LITTLE-”

A good distance away, Lucario heard the echoes of an enraged princess of the night. Suddenly, he didn’t feel too keen on returning back to the city today.

“Wake up, Chrysalis.”

It was a short, but strong command that awakened the queen of the changelings. Everything around her was black, her eyes ever so slowly adjusting to the darkness. With shaking hooves, she lifted herself from the ground, looking around to find the source of the voice. As if heeding her request, fires began to magically light themselves around the room. Shielding her eyes from the sudden light, Chrysalis followed the fires, each new one revealing more and more of a long and wide staircase. As the last ones were lit, she could barely make out the form of a throne on the top of the stairs. Her eyes went wide, and cold sweat immediately poured out of her as she remembered where she was.

“Lord… Tartarus…”

The being sitting on the throne was covered in darkness. Not a single part of his body was visible in the fires’ light. In fact, Chrysalis would’ve believed the throne to be empty under normal circumstances. But there was a pressure in the air. A thickness in the room that pressed itself at both Chrysalis’ body and mind. It fatigued her already shaking body into kneeling before the being’s presence. As she looked up at it, there was only one thing she could ever hope to detect within the darkness. A pair of eyes, blacker than the darkest night, staring at her.

Chrysalis barely dared to breathe. Her soul screamed at her to speak, to explain her failure to her master. With shaking breaths, she desperately tried to regain her voice.

“There’s no need, Chrysalis,” the voice spoke yet again. Chrysalis was taken off guard by this reassurance, and she stared deeper into the darkness in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the form within.

“The first time we met, we called you here in your time of need. The world had rejected you, and you were left with nothing but hopelessness and hate. We offered you the power and moment to retake what was rightfully yours. If you succeeded or if you failed, it doesn’t matter. You’ve come back here, to your rightful place in life. And now we will offer you the reward that was always intended for you.”

Hidden behind the veil of darkness, the being extended a limb towards the changeling queen. The limb’s form constantly shaped itself between a hoof, a paw, and a claw like an ever-changing shadow.

“Join us, Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis blinked as she suddenly lost the feeling in her hooves. Looking down, she saw them melting into the ground, fusing with the stone beneath her. Panicking, she tried to fly away, but the ground was pulling her down at a constant pace.

“NO! PLEASE, NO, DON’T DO THIS!” she screamed as she struggled with whatever might she had left. “I DIDN’T WANT THIS, PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE! MY LO…”

Then the queen of the changelings was no more. Silence reigned again over the large room as the being’s empty eyes closed in thought. Within its mind, it saw Chrysalis’ life fusing with its own. Her childhood, her attempted conquests over Equestria, and her fated battle with a blue creature.

“We see…” the being said to itself. The fires in the room began to die out, once again covering the room in darkness.

“How interesting…”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to halo003qd and Icestar156 for proofreading!

And so the third act of this story begins…

This chapter was rather heavy with dialogue and exposition, which is a rather big difference from the epic battle in Fool’s Struggle. Rest assured, this arc will have its share of battles too, just be patient.

How could I ever write a section about a newspaper company without referencing J. Jonah Jameson from Spider-Man?

Also, say hello to Golbez, Luna’s new pet. His name is both a reference to the Pokémon Golbat, as well as the villain of the same name from Final Fantasy IV. I was trying to find a name that began with “Zub” like in Zubat, but I couldn’t find anything that I liked.

And yes, there you have it, folks. The main antagonist of this arc: Lord Tartarus. Who is he? What is he? Why is his name the same as the land of Tartarus from the show? Well, he wouldn’t make for such an interesting villain without a bit of mystery around him, right?

Next time in Friendship is Aura: As Lucario checks up with the ponies in Ponyville, something sinister approaches Canterlot. Will Luna and the Main Six be safe? Find out next time.

KangTheGuardian -

Determination of the Night

”…Wake up…”

A voice called out to him, echoing past him as if it came from the end of a tunnel. He let out a small groan, his eyes still tightly shut. He didn’t feel much haste in opening them, nor in seeing who or what called for him.

”…-ello? Anyone home? Wake up!”

The voice was persistent. It was doubtful that it would cease anytime soon. Realizing that ignoring it anymore would just grant him further bother, he at last opened his eyes.

“Oh, there you go! I’ve been trying to wake you up for ages! Are you okay?”

He stared up at the being that was leaning over him. Its eyes were staring into his without any hesitation, as if they had known him since the first day they opened. It stared at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“…I am fine,” he eventually said, pulling himself off the ground. The being grew a big grin on its face as it heard this.

“Great! That’s good to hear. I didn’t want to be all alone in this place.”

“This place?” Intrigued by the being’s words, he looked around himself for the first time. He saw nothing, but at the same time many things. The area around them had no shape. Their bodies seemingly floated in the middle of a void, covered by a lingering presence. As he stared at it, he was unsure what to call it.

“…Where am I?” he asked the being, hoping it would have the answers he sought. However, the being grew a perplexed look on its face, scratching the back of its head as it looked around as well.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I woke up just a short while ago too. You were the first thing I saw around here except for all the light.”

“Light?” he asked it, unable to understand the word. Was it referring to the presence around them?

“Yeah, do you like it? I came up with that word just a moment ago. I think it fits all this brightness perfectly, don’t you think?”

Brightness. Light. These were not the words he would use to describe the emptiness around them. Was the being really seeing the same thing he did? As he thought of it, a more fitting name came to his mind.

“I would call it darkness.”

“Darkness?” the being asked in a confused tone. “That’s a weird word. It feels so… depressing. Not what I would call it at all.”

The being blurted out yet another word he could not understand. Depressing? No matter how much he repeated it in his mind, he couldn’t decipher its meaning.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” the being suddenly exclaimed. “My name is *--*-*. What’s your name?”

He stared at the being for a moment. This time, he understood the meaning of its words. A name was a title used to refer to yourself. The reason he was quiet was because he repeated his own name in his mind over and over. It was only later that he would realize that it was the first time he had ever done that.

“…It’s **--*,” he eventually answered, granting him yet another beaming smile from the being.

“Hihi, nice to meet you, **--*.”

At the foot of a far-off mountain, a three-headed beast was laying down on the ground. While two of its heads slept on its paws, the third was looking out over the endless landscape before it. There were no trees, no roads, not even any grass as far as its eyes could see. While the soil was bared and vulnerable, it was completely flat and untouched. Not a single footprint was marked on it, as animals hadn’t roamed this place for centuries. The skies were clear, as if the clouds themselves avoided this cursed land. The sparkling night sky did little to liven up the dark mood that seemed to surround this place. Even the light of the sun normally just added to its creepy atmosphere.

The beast known as Cerberus let out a yawn from its still awake head. Finding its current view understandably boring, it turned around to look at the giant object that stood behind it.

A giant, black gate rose up from the earth right next to the mountain side. Or at least the beast knew that it was a gate. To outsiders, it would just look like a large, wide, rectangular pillar. There were no door handles on it, nor was it decorated with torches, statues, or even any support beams to balance it. It was just a flat, patternless wall, as if the architect that designed it was completely without inspiration.

The Gates of Tartarus. That was what the creatures of this world called it. A gateway between Equestria and the land of darkness. Nearly no living being in history had dared to enter. Those who did either never returned, or came back as something else, something far more dark and sinister.

Cerberus studied the gates for a few minutes, mostly out of boredom. It had already gazed at them countless times throughout the years, and this time was no different. It was about to turn around and let its third head join the other sleeping two when something caught its attention.

A hoof extended out of the black wall, soon followed by several more as a pony-like creature emerged from it. The gates neither cracked nor vibrated as the creature was joined by several more. They were all black, like the pillar itself was. When the first creature opened its eyelids, it revealed that the eyes behind them were no different either , sporting the same black color. From this distance, they looked like nothing more than three-dimensional shadows. The creature at the front of the group looked past the stunned Cerberus on the ground, staring at something far away in the distance.

“It’s time.”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS NIGHT PATROL, YAY!”

A few nearby ponies were startled as a trio of fillies suddenly shouted at the top of their lungs in the Town Square. It seemed like not even the kidnapping of Princess Celestia was enough to hinder the crusaders’ daily antics. The startled ponies cast a few annoyed glances at the fillies before returning to their own activities. Eternal night or not, it was still a normal day in Ponyville. Or at least as normal as it usually was without ursa attacks or parasprite invasions.

“Flashlights?” Scootaloo asked, reading from a checklist she and her friends had prepared beforehoof.

“Check!” Sweetie Belle answered.

“Handcuffs?”

“I’m sure good old rope will do the trick,” Apple Bloom answered while opening her backpack to show her friends. “Applejack has taught me all kinds of knots, so I can tie up any lawbreaker we find just fine.”

“Awesome! Cutie Mark Crusaders Night Patrol badges?”

“Made them during school today!” Sweetie Belle held out three name tags made out of paper. The fillies’ names were clumsily written on them.

“Aww. Couldn’t you make them out of metal like real badges?” Scootaloo asked disappointingly.

“Do I look like a blacksmith?” Sweetie Belle raised an annoyed brow. “These will do fine; nopony will notice them in the dark anyway.”

“It’s not that dark,” Apple Bloom stated. Sure enough, the moon was bright enough to lighten up the streets around them. Scootaloo was even able to read the checklist without a flashlight. While it was still much darker than during normal daylight, it hadn’t covered the village in darkness like usual nights did.

“Anyway, we couldn’t get any uniforms as Rarity is out of town,” Scootaloo continued. “Also, seeing as neither of you have your own shades, that leaves me as your awesome, cool looking squad leader!” Scootaloo pulled out a pair of sunglasses from her backpack. They were strikingly similiar to the ones owned by Rainbow Dash.

“Since when did wearing sunglasses make you the leader?” Sweetie Belle asked rather annoyed.

“Since I said so.” Scootaloo answered simply. She put the shades on with a smug grin before turning to the other two fillies. “Now, are we ready to do this?!”

“Um, Scootaloo? We’re over here.” Sweetie Belle’s voice came from behind Scootaloo. Wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night made the pegasus filly unable to see almost anything.

“Oh, sorry. Are we ready to do this?!”

“YEAH!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shouted in confirmation.

“All right! Let’s get this night patrol going!” Scootaloo announced as she turned around to begin their march. She only managed to take a few steps before walking straight into the wall of the nearby Town Hall. Relentless, she shook her head and turned right, this time succeeding in walking down the road.

“Shouldn’t we look through the alleyways first?” Apple Bloom asked behind her. “That’s what all the cool cops do in the stories.”

“Nah, we’ll save the best for last. It’s not like there are any bad guys there right now or anything.”

As the Cutie Mark Crusaders continued down the road, an eye peeked out from around one of the nearby alleyways. It cast a few nervous glances over the area, studying the ponies walking around. More importantly, it looked over at a white-colored house in the distance. The eye’s owner let out a quiet, evil laugh. For many weeks, he had planned for this day. The day the owner of that particular house would regret ever making a mockery of him and his pack. Now, with this sudden lingering night upon them, he had finally been given the chance he had waited for. With the cover of darkness, they would be able to effortlessly sneak in and-

“What do you see, Rover?” A voice interrupted his thoughts, nearly making him yell out in surprise. The diamond dog named Rover quickly turned around and smacked his partner-in-crime Spot over the head.

“Be quiet, you rock brain! You almost blew our cover!” he whispered.

“Oh, sorry,” Spot apologized while clutching his head.

“Fido, get the barrier ready.” Rover signaled to the third diamond dog further down the alley. Fido saluted before starting to rearrange a bunch of barrels and crates that stood around him. Soon enough, he had built a blockade between the inner alley and the streets, blocking anypony’s view of him, Rover, and Spot.

“All right, that should give us some privacy. Now, let’s go through the plan one more… wait, who’s the new guy?” Rover suddenly asked when he noticed a fourth dog with them.

“I dunno,” Fido answered. “He just appeared out of nowhere just a minute ago. I think he wants to join in on our plan.”

“Ugh, fine. Just don’t cause us any trouble.” Rover pointed a threatening finger at the fourth dog, who was sitting with his eyes closed as if he was asleep. “Bah! New recruits. If you can’t even stay awake during a night raid, you’ll never make it big in the pack! Now, here’s the deal:” Using his claw, Rover began to write a rough sketch of the area on the ground.

“That white house over there is the home of “Miss Rarity”. I’m sure you all remember the embarrassing ordeal she put us through when we captured her some time ago. Hehe, I wouldn’t mind hearing her whining once she notices that all her gems are gone after our little vengeful break-in. Anyway, the plan is simple. With these crates and barrels hiding us, we’ll dig a hole here and make our way to the house. Once we dig inside, we’ll grab all the gems we can and take them back here. We’ll then move to the other hole we’ve dug up not far from here, so that the ponies won’t track our trail so easily.”

“Wow, that’s brilliant!” Fido commented, genuinely impressed with such a complex plan.

“Of course it’s brilliant! That’s why I’m the head of this group, and don’t you forget it. Now, are there any questions?”

Fido and Spot shook their heads. However, the fourth dog raised his paw, eyes still closed.

“Yes, newbie, what is it?” Rover asked impatiently. Of course it was the rookie who needed to ask something.

“This whole 'breaking into someone’s house to steal their gems' plan that you’re about to do?”

Rover blinked as he noticed something strange about the voice. Did it really come from the new guy? He hadn’t opened his mouth or anything.

“Yeah… what about it?”

The fourth dog finally opened its eyes to look at Rover. A brief flash of light shined out from them before they turned back to their natural red color.

“How about you don’t?”

The ponies walking around Town Square stopped in their tracks as one of the nearby alleyways exploded in tree shards. Broken barrels and trashed crates flew out as terrified screams were heard coming from within. After several more sounds of broken wood and even an occasional cracked wall, a trio of diamond dogs ran out in a stumbled mess. Their clothes were tarnished and they all had several bruises on their furs. The one with a red shirt also seemed to have lost a few of his teeth.

“EVERY DOG FOR HIMSELF!”

“RUN! RUN!”

“THIS IS THE LAST TIME I DEAL WITH THOSE PESKY PONIES AND THEIR MANGY FRIENDS!”

The dogs ran past the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had come back to see what the entire ruckus was about. As the dogs disappeared in the distance with their tails between their legs, the fillies and the other ponies looked back at the alley. Stepping out of the smoke and darkness, Lucario dusted himself off a bit before looking in the direction that the dogs ran off to.

“I suppose those were the diamond dogs that I’ve heard about. Can’t say that I could see any resemblance between me and them,” he said to himself. He had detected the dogs immediately once he got close to Ponyville a few minutes ago. He had been quite surprised when they thought of him as an ally, but he wasn’t about to let them break into Rarity’s home.

“LUCARIO!” The Pokémon soon didn’t have any more time to ponder the encounter, as he found the Cutie Mark Crusaders tackling him in a hug.

“It’s Lucario! He’s back!” a yellow-colored earth pony mare also shouted.

“What?! He’s really here?!” A pale blue pegasus with a yellow mane flew around the house corner upon hearing Lucario’s name. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by a horde of villagers from all sides.

“Is what the newspapers said really true? Has Princess Celestia been kidnapped?”

“Did you actually beat an entire army of changelings and their queen by yourself?! I mean, I saw that weird light right before that mountain blew up, but was that really you?”

“I thought seeing you defeat that dragon by yourself was incredible, but this?! How do you keep doing this stuff?!”

“Have you taken a look at this guy? There isn’t a single scratch on him! He couldn’t have possibly been through all that without getting hurt, could he?”

Lucario couldn’t answer every question thrown at him; neither could he quiet the ponies down enough for them to hear him out. Looking over their heads, he noticed a few other ponies watching him from within their houses. In contrast to the ponies around him, who seemed to be happy to see him again, their eyes were filled with something resembling contempt. Most of them closed the curtains over their windows upon seeing him looking back at them.

So there are some ponies here that don’t trust me after all, Lucario thought to himself. I suppose it can’t be helped. I can’t expect everyone to take the news of my battle and Celestia’s disappearance calmly.

As the group around him kept asking him several questions at once, Lucario looked up towards Canterlot in the distance. By now, Luna was probably on her way to interrogate the changeling captain.

Get an answer from him, Luna. Once you do, I’ll be on my way to save your sister. I promise.

“I can’t BELIEVE that disgusting vermin!” Luna said out loud to herself as she trotted through the castle, expressing rage with every step she took. “I’ll be the laughing stock of the entire kingdom for I don’t know how long because of this! What did he even do to me?! Was it just a prank he pulled in the middle of the battle? How DARE he humiliate me so?!”

A part of Luna knew that Lucario would never “prank” or “humiliate” others simply out of personal enjoyment. Such behavior simply wasn’t in his nature. He clearly had a reason for making her act so… excited during the fight. But seeing as she couldn’t understand it, even after regaining all her memories of that night, Luna allowed herself to keep blaming the Pokémon as she made her way to the prison cells.

“I swear, the next time I see him, I will strike him with lightning so bad that his fur will be scorched for-”

“Your highness.” A guard acknowledged her arrival to the prison entrance.

“WHAT?!” Luna screamed out in her Royal Canterlot Voice. Only upon seeing that she had nearly scared the guard to death did she manage to calm herself down. She straightened herself and hoped that he wouldn’t notice the small blush on her cheeks.

“Ahem, I mean, I’m here to interrogate the prisoner you captured yesterday. I will make him reveal my sister’s whereabouts right here and now.”

“U-Understood, Princess.” The guard managed to gather himself. “I’ll have a few of my men accompany you to the-”

“No,” Luna interrupted him. “I will speak with him alone. Your presence won’t be necessary.”

“But your highness, he…” The guard tried to object, but found himself at a loss for words at Luna’s determined stare. “Very well. You’ll find him in cell block Z-5. We made sure to put him in the darkest corner this jail could offer.”

“Thank you.” Luna lightly bowed her head in gratitude before stepping through the doors behind the guard. A few torches were set up on the wall to her right as she entered, but she wouldn’t need them down there. Her magic would light her way.

Despite its size and complex design, Canterlot Prison was relatively underused. Crime had never been that big in the city, and criminals who were put there didn’t stay for more than a few days at most. In fact, the prison was usually so empty that several of the newer guards questioned why security had to be as tight as it was down there. Nevertheless, it was built to be the housing of criminals, and it needed to be guarded as such.

Block Z-5 was the innermost area of the entire prison. The number of criminals who had been placed there throughout the years could be counted on one dragon’s claw. It was a place where only the most sinister and irredeemable souls were put, so that they would never influence anyone who were unfortunate to be locked in nearby. A spot like this would have surely been saved to house Chrysalis, had she survived her encounter with Lucario. Seeing as she didn’t, the “honor” was bestowed on her captain instead.

Lucario told me that the changeling was too scared to speak with him. But truth be told, I don’t see how I have a better chance, Luna thought to herself as she walked. No matter how many times I go through the scenario in my head, I can’t see him revealing anything to me. It’s true that he would mock me, but he would never reveal my sister’s location, no matter how I acted.

By now, she had reached the entrance to the Z-5 block. Two guards were stationed outside, the emblems on their armors revealing their high rank. Shining Armor would have nopony less guarding such a prisoner, after all. They gave Luna a curt nod as she grabbed the door handle with her magic. Both of them raised their eyebrows however when Luna didn’t open the door. She stared into thin air, as if daydreaming.

Acting… yes, of course!

“Your highness?” Luna was brought back from her thinking by one of the guards’ concerned voices. She lightly shook her head before letting go of the handle and turning to the two of them.

“I originally planned to interrogate the prisoner myself, but I just had a different idea. I will need your help after all.”

The changeling captain awoke from his slumber. Sleeping on the hard bed wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he preferred it greatly to staying awake and remembering the events of the past day. The day his mistress had perished by the paw of that blue-furred freak. But as he returned to the waking world, his thoughts were focused on something different. More precisely on the loud explosion that erupted from the outer cell block door.

Rocks and dust blew past the changeling’s cell as he heard the screams of one of the guards stationed outside. This was soon followed by one of them flying past him at great speed, a magical green beam sending him down the corridor. As he hit the ground out of the changeling’s view, the area was briefly silent. Soon enough though, the sound of hoofsteps began to echo across the corridor, growing louder and louder as they approached the changeling’s cell.

The creature that walked past him didn’t look his way, but she didn’t need to. The former captain knew too well who she was. If there was a heart hidden deep in his chest, it surely skipped a beat upon seeing the last being he ever thought to see again.

“M-My lady!”

Chrysalis’ ears perked up slightly upon hearing someone shouting her title. Turning around, she saw a changeling desperately pressing himself against the magical barrier that kept him locked in. She stared at him for a moment before she blinked in what seemed to be eventual recognition.

“Ah, my faithful captain. So this is where you ended up after your rather… disappointing performance last night.”

“I have no words to explain my failure, your grace,” the changeling said. “But I thought you had… the ponies told me-”

“That I had perished?” Chrysalis interrupted him. “As if that meddlesome guardian could ever hope to end my existence. I’ll make sure to repay him in kind once we meet again.”

“So… my lady… you actually lost to hi-” Chrysalis’ green magic pierced through the cell barrier like nothing, lifting the changeling up into the air.

“You seem very inclined to stay in this place, captain, seeing as you’re so eager to question my abilities.”

“N-Never, your grace. I know that your powers and wisdom outrank his by miles.”

“Is that so?” Chrysalis replied with a smirk, letting the changeling fall back on the floor. “Still, maybe I should let you rot here anyway. You’ve failed me once already, and rather extraordinarily so. I came to this forsaken place to find someone who was capable to keep up with my schemes. I’m sure that I could find someone far more suited than you.” She turned around and began to walk away, leaving the changeling in his fate.

“W-Wait, my lady!” the changeling called to her. “Please, grant me another chance. I can still be of use to you. If nothing else, I’m the only one who knows the way back to… that place.”

Chrysalis stopped in the middle of her tracks. She didn’t turn around to face her former captain, but it was clear that she was thinking about something. She eventually rather hastily brought a hoof to her chin, as if not to appear as indecisive to her underling.

“Hmm, it’s true that it would be bothersome to describe the way to somepony new. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have some reinforcements called in, just in case. Hopefully more capable ones this time, considering how well you and your men performed before.”

“I’ll have them send stronger ones this time, your grace. Warriors that can overthrow Canterlot in less than a few hours. Please, grant me this chance to redeem myself!” the changeling begged. He didn’t dare to look up at Chrysalis who stood and watched him. Eventually, her horn began to glow as she fired a beam at the cell barrier, easily breaking it apart.

“Consider yourself lucky, captain,” she told him. “You will return to that place and gather whatever forces you can. A fair warning though: If they don’t meet my expectations, I’ll vanquish all of you myself.”

“Yes, my lady!” the changeling exclaimed as it hurried towards the broken doors. “I will do as you say and return to T-”

“Luna!” The changeling found himself crashing right into Shining Armor, who came rushing past the corner at the same time. Driven by what seemed to be adrenaline and haste, the unicorn didn’t even notice when he slammed his head right into the changeling’s own. Due to the injuries it has sustained to said body part the day before, the blow was more than enough to knock it out cold mid-sentence.

“SHINING ARMOR!” Chrysalis exclaimed before her body briefly glowed white. In less than two seconds, she had transformed back into Princess Luna. “Do you realize what you’ve just interrupted?! We were just a few words away from learning about my sister’s whereabouts!”

Luna’s plan had worked perfectly. Even if the changeling hadn’t mentioned the name of “that place”, it would’ve been easy for her to follow it in her smoke form. With the cover of the night, it wouldn’t have a chance to notice her. But thanks to Shining’s inopportune timing, that plan would never work again. Her anger at the royal captain soon vanished though when she noticed the expression on his face.

“What’s happening?” she asked him.

“Outside… the gates… something is… approaching…” Shining forced out between breaths. He didn’t have to say more to alert Luna of the situation though, as she quickly rushed past him through the exit. After taking a few more shaking breaths, Shining followed suit as well. Left behind were the two guards who had agreed to “act” in Luna’s plan.

“You think that was worth it?”

“Considering how much I will need to polish my armor after this, no, it wasn’t. By the way, she said she would pay for these damages, right?”

“Better prepare our paychecks just in case.”

Lucario walked out of the Town Hall, having just reported to the Mayor about the events that had taken place in Canterlot. She couldn’t do much about it, if anything at all, but at least she would now be able to tackle the wave of questions thrown at her by worried citizens.

Thankful for the lack of ponies waiting to question him outside, Lucario activated Aura Sense to scan the village. Most ponies were still walking around the streets, either finishing up their daily work or shopping around the stores. He also noticed a tunnel dug a distance away from where he had encountered the diamond dogs. He assumed that this was the exit route they had planned to use after succeeding in stealing Rarity’s gems. Perhaps he would take the opportunity to follow it and straighten the rest of them out.

Just as he prepared to leave though, he felt a somewhat familiar aura watching him from behind one of the distant houses. While he understood the worry and suspicion that some villagers felt for him, he still disliked being stalked. He also had a certain matter to discuss with this particular pony.

Using ExtremeSpeed, he disappeared out of sight right as the stallion watching him happened to blink. The next moment, Lucario was behind him and grabbed the stallion’s shoulder.

“I’m sure you have better things to do than to follow me around, don’t you?” he questioned the stallion. It was the same pony that had talked ill of Twilight, her friends, and Luna on the day of Razorfang’s attack. Shocked by Lucario’s sudden presence behind him, the stallion jumped and slammed his back into the nearby wall. After staring at Lucario for a few seconds, he managed to gather himself again.

“Hmph. Shows how much you know. I just finished packing my things for tomorrow.”

“What for?” Lucario asked.

“I’ve had it with this village. I’m going back to Trottingham first thing tomorrow morning. It’s much safer and normal there. Besides, there aren’t many who wish to see me here anymore after our little scene a few days ago.”

Lucario would be lying if he said that it was unfortunate to see the stallion go. “If the villagers dislike you for that event, you’ve no one to blame but yourself. I advise you to leave my friends out of any possible last grudge you have against them. Luna included.”

“Stop it with your constant defending of her already!” the stallion suddenly yelled. “You’ve been here for just about a week and you act as if you’ve known her your entire life! Do you even know what she has done to us in the past?!”

“Whatever she has done is history,” Lucario answered. “She clearly wants to move on, and she deserves the right to do so.”

“Oh.” A small smirk grew on the stallion’s face “So you don’t know then? I wonder if you would see her in the same light once you learn it. Trust me, you WILL learn eventually. It’s pretty hard to avoid. When you do, perhaps you'll see her like I do, like a constantly ticking bomb that could blow up at any moment, taking all of us with it!”

The stallion stared at Lucario for a moment, as if he was expecting the Pokémon to pounce at him for his words. But Lucario’s eyes weren’t filled with anger like they had been the last time they met. The feeling behind them this time seemed more like pity.

“Hey! Uh, Lucario!” A voice rang out from above them. Looking up, Lucario saw the pegasus Cloudchaser, who he had briefly met during the party after Razorfang’s defeat, waving a hoof at him. “I think you need to see this.”

Noticing her other hoof pointing towards Canterlot, Lucario followed the direction to see what was happening. What he saw made his eyes shoot wide open in shock. Before Cloud Chaser had the chance to say anything else, Lucario activated Magnet Rise and flew towards the distant city.

Darn. If I use ExtremeSpeed to cover the entire distance, it will leave me too fatigued, he cursed to himself as he flew. Please stay safe, everyone!

Luna grinded to a halt upon reaching the top of one of the city walls. Shining Armor soon caught up to her, thankfully not as out of breath now as before. Together, the two of them watched the scene in front of them.

Canterlot Plains was covered by a horde of black creatures. Luna was unsure how many they were, but they were many enough to nearly cover up the remains of the battle left behind by Lucario and Chrysalis. The creatures weren’t moving, simply standing still as if they were dolls left behind by a filly on the floor of their home. They just stood and watched the terrified guards and ponies watching them from within the city. At least Luna thought that they were watching. Their black eyes seemed to lack pupils, making it seem as if they were staring blankly at nothing in front of them.

“We noticed them approaching just a few minutes ago. My men haven’t dared to approach them yet, although I can understand them.”

Luna didn’t answer Shining’s report. She simply looked out over the small army before her. The expression on her face was impossible to read.

“Brother!” Shining suddenly noticed Twilight running up behind him, closely followed by her friends. “We noticed them before as well. What are they?!”

“Whoa nelly…” Applejack said to herself, doing her best to hide Fluttershy’s trembling body behind her.

“So… horrendous!” Rarity exclaimed while covering her mouth with a hoof. “I’ve never seen such characterless creatures in my entire life. All the gems in the world couldn’t liven up their image.”

Surprisingly, Rainbow was rather silent. Flying a few meters above her friends’ heads, she tried her best to hide the few drops of cold sweat that had begun to run down her forehead.

“Twily, I’m going to set up a barrier,” Shining told his sister. “You all go and get the Elements. I’m sure Luna can teleport you to their chambers immediately.”

“Are you two playing hide and seek?” Pinkie suddenly asked with her usual grin. Shining was shaken out of his trained captain persona.

“Wh-What? No, we aren’t playing hide and seek! Why would you even ask that?”

“Then why is Luna gone, but not you?” Pinkie grabbed Shining’s head and turned it back towards Luna’s last known location. She was gone. Looking around himself in a panicked state, he noticed a blue shape approach the army of black creatures out on the plains.

“Oh you've got to be kidding me…”

There was no hesitation in Luna’s steps as she approached the creatures. Her head was lowered, making her bangs cover her eyes from the creatures’ view, if they were watching her at all. She was sure that her friends were watching her from above the wall, shouting at her to return. But their worries were drenched out by another lingering thought in Luna’s mind. Something she intended to share with these creatures.

“We dost not know from where thou hast cometh, nor do we know thyne motives.” The Royal Canterlot Voice wasn’t as loud as it usually was, but it was more controlled. It reached over the plains perfectly for the creatures to hear. “We dost not know what thou are, what thou can do, nor if thou are even capable of speech. But for the moment, those things matters not to us. What dost matter to us is information about our sister. We dost not think that we’re jumping to conclusions by thinking that thou are the ones behind it.”

The creatures didn’t answer her, not that she expected them to. For just a brief moment, a small smile grew on Luna’s lips as she kept walking towards them.

“So let us make something clear to thee all, beings of darkness: Thou WILL tell us what thou have done with our sister, and thou WILL tell us where thou have taken her.”

High above the plains, clouds began to materialize from nowhere. They instantly turned black as the sound of thunder rumbled across Equestria. Beneath the creatures’ hooves, what remained of the grass after the last day’s battle began to shiver. For the first time since their arrival, a few of the creatures looked down and took a few steps back from where they stood. As lifeless as they seemed, they could still sense things like any normal pony could. Right now, they all felt as if nature itself was threatening to assault them at any time.

“At the off-chance that none of thee can speak, we can promise thee one thing:”

Luna lifted her head, revealing her glowing white eyes behind her bangs.

“THOU WILL SOON WISH THOU COULD.”

Just a bit more. I’m almost there. Lucario increased his speed a little as he was finally approaching his destination. Whatever those black creatures were, they wouldn’t get a chance to touch Canterlot as long as he was around. He prepared himself to use ExtremeSpeed to cover the last distance.

It was right then when lightning showered over the plains. Blinded by the sudden light, Lucario stopped in-midair and raised his arm to cover his eyes. Activating Aura Sense, he attempted to see what was going on. He found himself nearly breathless when he sensed the huge wave of energy that covered the plains, eradicating creature after creature faster than he could keep up with. It wasn’t just the lightning; the earth itself seemed to unleash its wrath upon them. What surprised him the most was that all of this came from a lone pony, who was simply watching the scene unravel before her.

At last, the lightning died out, leaving the world awfully quiet. Finally being able to lower his arm, Lucario deactivated Aura Sense and looked over the plains. Or at least what little he could see of it, as nearly everything was covered in dust. Seeing a blue light shine from within one of the clouds, Lucario dove down and landed just a short distance away from Luna. The princess of the night was holding one of the creatures in a steady, magical grip, forcing it to look into her eyes.

“WHERE IS SHE, BEAST?! IF THOU WON’T ANSWER, A FAR MORE TERRIFYING FATE IS IN STORE FOR THEE THAN THIS!”

The creature didn’t answer, although it was unclear if it was because of resistance or simply being chocked to unconsciousness by Luna.

“VERY WELL! IF THOU INSIST TO AVOID ANSWERING, WE WILL MAKE SURE THOU-”

“That’s enough.” Lucario placed a paw on Luna’s shoulder. She turned around to face him, her eyes still glowing white from magic. Judging by her surprised expression, she hadn’t even noticed him arrive. “We won’t learn anything from it like this. Please, calm yourself.”

Luna stared at him for a few more moments before letting out a long sigh. Her eyes ceased their glowing, turning them back to their natural blue color. She released her magic grip, letting the creature fall to the ground.

“I guess I went a bit overboard there.” Luna brought a hoof to her mouth in an apologetic manner. “You’re late, by the way.”

The sudden joke briefly surprised Lucario, but he couldn’t help but chuckle at it shortly afterwards. That is until he noticed that the black creature hadn’t hit the ground. It was floating just a few inches above the earth, held afloat by some unseen force. Quickly shoving Luna behind him, Lucario held up a paw and conjured an Aura Sphere at its end.

“If you wish to safekeep this world…” The creature floated up into a standing position, its hooves still not touching the ground. Its voice was deep and powerful, far more sinister sounding than anyone expected from even such a creature.

“Then come and face us, Guardian of the Aura.”

Then, the creature exploded. The dark ashes left behind shot up into the air and began to travel to the east. Watching it disappear into the distance, Lucario let his Aura Sphere dissolve and turned to Luna.

“Do you know where it’s going?”

“There’s only one place in that direction that I could see such creatures emerge from,” Luna answered, her eyes never leaving the direction the creature had flown towards. “It’s heading towards the Gates of Tartarus.”

“Tartarus?” Lucario questioned her, but Luna just shook her head.

“It will take a while to explain. Regardless, are you planning on going there?”

“Of course,” Lucario answered without hesitation, which made Luna smile a little.

“Good, because I’m going with you.”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to halo003qd and Icestar156 for proofreading!

The board is set and the pieces are moving...

Confused by the beginning of the chapter? Don't be. From now and until the end of this story arc, I will begin every chapter with a section about these two mysterious individuals. It'll all make sense towards the end, don't worry.

Spot the Scooby-Doo reference.

Luna definitely proved to be more than a damsel-in-distress in this chapter. Don't get on her bad side, or she'll go Thor on you. We'll see what more she can do later on.

Next time in Friendship is Aura: What is Tartarus? How will the citizens of Canterlot react to their only remaining princess heading there? Want to learn? Continue reading.

KangTheGuardian -

The Guardian's Resolve

Walking did little to help unravel anything hidden within the darkness, if there was anything hidden there at all. Even after moving in the same direction for quite a while, he felt like he was still standing on the same spot that he had woken up from. Not that he knew what he was looking for in the first place. To him, the darkness felt rather homely and welcoming as it was, but something was missing. Something he couldn’t name or imagine in his head.

Finally deciding that his search was futile, he stopped in his tracks and sat down. Behind him, the being who had followed him all this way did the same. The two of them sat in silence as he kept looking around, still finding nothing. The being, however, was just watching him with a smile on its face, something he took notice of after a while.

“Why are you staring at me?” he asked it. The being looked around itself, briefly studying its surroundings a bit before turning back to him.

“Well, you’re pretty much the only thing here for me to watch. I mean, the light is nice and all, but I’m having way more fun watching you.”

“I still don’t understand why you insist on calling it that,” he responded while turning his face away.

“But it fits so well!” the being exclaimed as it jumped up and began to skip around the area. “It makes my body feel so tingly and light. See? I said it again! It’s such a great word that it fits two different meanings. When I’m around it, I just want to dance, play, and run around. Can’t you feel it too?”

“No, I can’t,” he flatly stated. “So unless you find something that interests me, I suggest you do those things you mentioned for yourself and leave me be.”

The being gave him a small frown, but he ignored it. All this talk about “feelings” confused him. He could “feel” his chin when he touched it with his limb. But from what he could decipher out of the being, it talked about a different meaning of the word. It was as if it concerned something more than just the body, something deeper. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded to him.

“How about this? Is this interesting?” A small tap on his shoulder disturbed his thinking, and he reluctantly turned around to see what the being was talking about this time. What he saw did indeed catch his interest.

The being was holding a pile of extremely tiny objects, so small that they almost became invisible against the dark void they stood on. No matter how hard the being tried to hold them, the objects fell out of its grasp in a small stream, leaving a steadily growing pile under it.

“Where did you find it?” he asked as he studied it.

“Nowhere,” the being answered with a smile. “I made it.”

This caused him to look up at the being with a confused look. “You made it?”

“Yeah, just now. I didn’t know I could, but I wanted to find something to show you. So I just pointed somewhere, and there it just was a moment later. I think I’m going to call this stuff Dirt.”

He blinked a few times at the being’s explanation. It just created it like that? Could he do that as well?

“Why don’t you try it?” the being asked, as if it was reading his mind.

“I was just going to.” He pointed somewhere like the being had done, but he realized that he didn’t know what to make. Taking what little inspiration there was to get from the “dirt”, he closed his eyes and tried to imagine what one of those smaller objects would look like if it was bigger. A small gasp from the being signaled the sudden appearance of a large, solid object in front of them. It was about half the size of their heads.

“Whoa! See? I knew you could do it too! What is it?” The being turned to him with an expecting expression on its face.

“…A Rock,” he answered after a short moment of thinking. By then, the being was walking around the “rock”, studying its features.

“Hmm… It looks nice and all, but I think my dirt is way better.”

“Your ‘dirt’ has no solid form as it is. What’s the point of something that falls apart when you touch it?”

“I can use my dirt to draw a face.” True enough, the being drew two small holes and a line in the small pile, making it look like two eyes and a smiling mouth.

“I can use my rock to stand on when I need to see farther away.”

“Dirt can be used to throw at someone when they’re mean.” The being picked up a little dirt and threw it at his chest, giggling all the while. After letting its giggles settle down, he gathered the dirt into a bigger pile, picked up his rock, and dropped it. The dirt pile was soundly flattened by the impact, leaving the being briefly stunned.

“Oh… yeah… that’s another way to deal with someone mean, I guess,” it admitted. It gave out a small laugh before it looked at him again. “Let’s see what else we can make!”

For the first time since their meeting, he found himself agreeing to the being’s idea. He had little to no interest in the being’s own creations, but he was slowly gaining more ideas for what to make next.

This time, he had something of a slightly bigger scale in mind.

The royal guards bowed their heads before closing the doors leading to the royal council chamber behind them. Luna gave them a curt nod in response before turning her attention back to the table. She, Lucario, Twilight, her friends, Shining Armor, and Cadence were sitting around a big, round table in the middle of the room. While it was commonly used solely by the princesses and the council members during important meetings, Luna had chosen to exclude the normal council this time. She felt like the matter at hoof needed to be made by them and them alone, without the pointless arguments of ponies who knew nothing about what was going on.

“Thank you all for coming here. I’m afraid this matter calls for all of us, despite my initial hopes to keep you out of it,” Luna began, making sure to make brief eye contact with everyone present.

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re always saying that?” Rainbow replied with a roll of her eyes. “Seriously, I think we’ve saved Equestria enough times to deserve to know what’s going on this time.”

“I agree, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. “Although, judging from Princess Luna’s awfully concerned expression, I guess this is a rather different matter than our previous adventures.”

“Bah! We’ve faced the likes of all-powerful beings before, I’m sure this will be no sweat either.” Rainbow was smiling smugly before noticing that Luna didn’t share her confidence. “…Right?”

“You mentioned something called the Gates of Tartarus before,” Lucario stated. “Is that something the rest of you are familiar with?”

Lucario guessed that was the case, as Twilight, Shining, and Cadence tensed up upon the mentioning of the name. The rest of Twilight’s friends just shot a few confused glances between each other, except for Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be too busy with calling herself a knight of the round table or something similar.

“The Gates of Tartarus?” Twilight repeated. “I know that place, all right. I’ve even been there myself. It’s-”

“Allow me to explain, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna interrupted her. After waiting for the others to shift their attention to her, she started to explain.

“Nopony knows when the Gates of Tartarus first appeared in Equestria. It’s possible that they have been here since the very birth of the world. Even over a thousand years ago, when Celestia and I had just become the rulers of the land, tales of the gates were already as old as the most ancient text. As to what lies beyond the gates, I cannot say. After confirming that the gates indeed existed, we forbid our subjects from ever venturing near it. I must say that I was both greatly worried and angry upon hearing that you had visited that place, Twilight. Whatever it is that lies beyond those gates, it is a dark force that should never pass into Equestria.”

“Good thing Cerberus is there to guard them for us,” Fluttershy whispered from her end of the table, almost too quiet for anyone to hear.

“Cerberus?” Lucario asked.

“He is the guard dog of the gates,” Luna explained. “He’s as ancient as the gates themselves, having been there to guard them for as long as history can remember. Nopony truly knows what he is or where he came from. Some suggest that he is a spirit similar to Discord, but of nobler motives. Others suggest that he came from the gates themselves in order to stop anyone from entering them… or leaving them, for that matter.”

“Well, he sure must’ve gotten bored of it lately,” Applejack said. “That jumbo critter just came rushing through Ponyville not too long ago as if he was out playing. That doesn’t sound like the typical behavior of the gates’ eternal guard dog to me.”

“I thought that was strange too.” Twilight brought a hoof to her chin. “I managed to guide him back before too much time had passed, but I’ve no idea why he left in the first place.”

“We’re to assume that Celestia has been brought there, right?” Cadence asked. “If so, then how did she get past Cerberus without him noticing?”

“It must’ve been Chrysalis,” Shining stated. ”She must’ve done something to Cerberus to gain access to the gates. Maybe she even got rid of Cerberus entirely, seeing as those creatures from before seemingly came from there without a hitch.”

“But that still doesn’t explain why Cerberus left his post that time,” Twilight said. “That happened at least a month before the queen’s first attempt to take over Equestria during your wedding. She couldn’t have prepared for Celestia’s kidnapping so early, could she?”

The group fell silent as they tried to make sense of the situation. None of them seemed to have any luck, as they were scratching their heads and looking down at the table in thought. The only exception was Lucario, who was staring at the wall with his paws clenched together in front of his face in deep thought.

“So what are we going to do now?” Applejack eventually asked. Luna looked at Lucario for a moment, but the Pokémon was still thinking, so she decided to answer herself.

“Lucario is planning to travel to the gates soon, probably by tomorrow. I’m going with him, and I’d like the six of you to come with us. We will need the aid of the Elements for this.”

“But Luna…!” Cadence exclaimed as she stood up from her seat in protest. “With Celestia gone, you’re the only one left to move the sun and the moon! If you get captured, all of Equestria is doomed!”

“I’ve no intention of getting captured,” Luna calmly stated. “I’m sure that I’ll be fine with Lucario and the Elements by my side. Besides, this is a personal matter to me. I’ll make whoever is behind this pay for kidnapping my sister!”

Cadence opened her mouth to speak, but Shining placed a hoof around her shoulder to silence her. The young princess looked down at her hooves in defeat, knowing that she couldn’t change Luna’s mind anymore.

“I want you and Shining Armor to take care of Equestria in my absence,” Luna continued. “I’m sure you’ll do fine. The citizens have grown rather fond of you after your wedding day.”

“They’re fond of you too, Luna,” Cadence replied, causing Luna to flinch a bit. “You can’t just leave like this. There will be chaos across the land if you leave without telling them.”

“I was planning to tell them, Cadence,” Luna answered. “I’ll have my advisors schedule an emergency speech for me at the city square tomorrow. The ponies deserve to know what’s going on.”

“Why do I get the feeling that this won’t end well?” Rainbow whispered to Applejack, who lightly jabbed her friend in the chest for being pessimistic about the event.

“There’s something you’ve yet to explain to me,” Lucario suddenly said, finally snapping out of his thoughts. “What are these Elements you keep mentioning, and what do they have to do with you six?”

“Oh, yeah, we haven’t told him that, have we?” Applejack scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

“Oh! Oh! Let me tell him! Let me tell him!” Pinkie shouted from her side.

“They’re not a Happy Rainbow Friendship Laser-thing, Pinkie!” the rest of Pinkie’s friends shouted at the same time, except for Fluttershy.

“Aww, you guys are no fun,” Pinkie complained as she sunk back in her seat.

“Anyway, The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful force in Equestria,” Twilight began to explain. “Each of them represents a certain spirit of friendship, and can only be used by those who represent each spirit. Over a year ago, when I first moved into Ponyville, we all became their new bearers to save Equestria. For example, I’m-”

“The spirit of Magic,” Lucario finished for her, causing Twilight to drop her jaw in shock. “Applejack is Honesty, Fluttershy is Kindness, Pinkie is Laughter, Rarity is Generosity, and Rainbow is Loyalty.”

“Ooh, someone did their homework! That’s Ninja Mister for you!” Pinkie happily exclaimed.

“But how did you ever learn all of that, darling?” Rarity asked. “I mean, most ponies know that we’re the wielders of the Elements, but almost nopony knows which one we each represent.”

“When I snuck into the castle before, I visited Celestia’s bedchambers in search for clues. I found a painting of several stars and words written in different colors. After guessing that the colors represented you six, I just spoke your names as I touched each star to make Celestia’s diary appear. By reading parts of it, I proved my suspicions about Celestia’s strange behavior.”

“P-P-Princess Celestia has a diary…?” Twilight asked with a shaky voice. Her eyes were suddenly sparkling dreamingly, no doubt fantasizing about the contents of that book.

“Don’t you dare, Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity pointed hoof in her friend’s direction. “It was awful when my sister read my diary and published it in those Gabby Gums articles, and I’ll not let you risk having another poor pony’s secrets leaking out!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry…” Twilight apologized, visibly regretting that she wanted to intrude on Celestia’s private life like that.

“And I trust YOU to not say a word about it! Capiche?” Rarity said to Lucario, who was stunned to suddenly see the seemingly regal mare act so spirited.

“…You have my word.”

“Good.” Rarity’s usual glamorous smile returned to her lips. “Now, I think that takes care of the topics of this meeting, yes?”

“Yes,” Luna answered. “We’ll leave for the gates immediately after I’ve finished my speech tomorrow.” She stood up and looked over her friends and family. “I suggest you get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow will be a stressful day, I’m afraid. You’re dismissed.”

With that, everyone stood up and began to leave the room. Twilight’s friends were still whispering with each other as the doors closed behind them. The only two left in the room were Luna and Lucario, the latter just getting up to leave as well.

“You seemed to be thinking for quite a while back there,” Luna stated. “Is there anything I should know?”

“Nothing concrete at the moment. I have some suspicions about things, but I can’t give them any explanation or reason until we arrive at the gates.”

“I see…” Luna replied before falling silent. Lucario was about to continue to the doors when she suddenly spoke again. “Don’t you find it strange?”

Lucario stopped and looked back at her. “What do you mean?”

“That voice that came out of the creature before. It knew who you were. None of them said a single word to me when I fought them, but that last one reacted immediately once you arrived. Just how does it know about you?”

Lucario looked down at the floor for a moment as he thought. “I have no idea. I’ve never heard that voice before in my life.” He turned and opened the doors while looking over his shoulder at Luna. “With any luck, I’ll get the chance to ask it myself by tomorrow.”

The doors closed behind him, leaving Luna alone in the room. The princess stared at the doors for a moment before sighing.

You’re always so eager to throw yourself at risk to save others. The dragon, Chrysalis, and now this? Why are you so protective of us?

Just around two hours ago, she had wanted to punish the Pokémon for making her act so embarrassingly during his fight against Chrysalis. But seeing him come rushing to aid her against the creatures, and seeing his resolve to travel to the gates made her forgive him without even realizing it. Still, there was a small part of her heart that doubted Lucario’s intentions. She didn’t want to, but the way he had wanted to avoid speaking about his past worried her. But those were worries for another time. She channeled her magic and teleported away, intending to find her advisors to schedule the speech as soon as possible.

The next day, the ponies of Canterlot weren’t that surprised upon hearing of Luna’s sudden speech. After all the events that had happened during the past few days, they were expecting some good answers out of her. Many of the nobles were still away in different towns and cities, but there were more than enough ponies to fill the space around the city square.

Luna was standing on the balcony of the nearby tower. The tower was short enough for the ponies to see her, as well as hear her when she used her royal canterlot voice. Twilight, her friends, Shining Armor, and Cadence were standing by her sides, ready to give their support should the need arrive. Lucario was the only one staying hidden within the tower. Luna had feared that his presence would make the citizens anxious, so she had asked him to stay out of sight for now.

Despite her best efforts, Luna had failed to raise the sun after several attempts. She simply lacked her sister’s magical experience that she had gained during Luna’s long absence. Luna knew that she had yet to regain all her magical power after Nightmare Moon’s defeat, but that was more than a year ago. Surely she would’ve recovered by now. But it felt like there was a wall inside her mind, stopping her from reaching her full power. How and when she would get past that wall was beyond her knowing.

A pegasus guard flew by, whispering something in Shining’s ear. The captain nodded and dismissed the guard before turning to Luna.

“Everypony is present now, Luna, or at least everypony who were willing to come. Go ahead.”

Luna nodded and walked up to the side of the balcony. She looked over the ponies below her for a moment before clearing her throat to speak.

“Citizens of Canterlot, I thank you all for coming here on such a short notice.” While Luna mostly spoke in old equinish when using the royal canterlot voice, she forced herself to speak in the modern way as she spoke to her subjects. “These past few days have been quite an ordeal for all of us, and you’re no doubt wondering what is going on.”

Several ponies on the ground nodded their heads, some more impatiently than others.

“You are all already aware of the changeling queen’s attack on the city the other day, as well as the kidnapping of my dear sister. Until yesterday afternoon, we had no idea where she has been taken. But her location was finally revealed during the attack of the mysterious black creatures yesterday.”

The ponies gasped and whispered a few things to each other before looking back up at Luna.

“My sister has been taken to a place called the Gates of Tartarus. It is a passageway between Equestria and a land of darkness no living pony has ever seen. Not even I know what lies beyond those gates, but it is there Celestia has been taken. Thus, it is there I must go.”

The city square fell silent as the ponies looked up at Luna in disbelief. Twilight shot them a worried glance from her side of the balcony, but kept quiet.

“After this speech is finished, I intend to travel to the gates together with the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Together we will find my sister and bring her back to us. While we’re gone, I’m leaving Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor to rule Equestria in me and my sister’s stead. But have no fear, my loyal subjects. Whatever it is that awaits us beyond the gates, I’m sure that we can handle it. With the Elements by my side, there is nothing that-”

“ARE YOU INSANE?!”

Luna’s speech was abruptly stopped by the angry shout of a stallion on the ground.

“You’re going to travel to what seems to be the most dangerous place in Equestria?! I don’t care how strong you and the Elements are, you’re the only princess we have left to move the sun and the moon! Have you even thought of what would happen if you were to get caught?! What’s wrong with you?!”

“She hasn’t even raised the sun yet! Is she expecting us to walk around in this darkness longer than necessary? What, can’t she do it or something?” a mare yelled as well.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to,” the stallion answered. “She’s been waiting to show off her night to us ever since she came back! I bet she’s just laughing at this moment all the way to the bank!”

“BE SILENT!” Shining yelled from the balcony, visibly furious. “I’ll not have you speak of Luna like that!”

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Prince,” the mare sarcastically replied. “I bet you would just love to rule Equestria for a bit while the princess is off saving the world and what not! Maybe you’re secretly hoping that she doesn’t come back at all!”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” It wasn’t Shining Armor who yelled at the mare this time. Instead, she found herself face to face with Rainbow Dash, who had flown down when her anger got the better of her. “You’re either a changeling in disguise or the dumbest mare I’ve ever seen! That is the last thing Shining Armor would ever think! Besides, there’s no way we’ll let those gates get the better of us, especially not now when Lucario is coming with us!”

“Luca-who?” the mare asked with a raised eyebrow. Rainbow was about to continue, but Twilight pulled her back up to the balcony with her levitation spell, much to the pegasus’ dismay.

“Wait, you’re not talking about that freak who nearly destroyed us all the other day, are you?!” the stallion asked. “Are you going to trust Equestria’s fate to someone like that?!”

“That guy saved us all, if you were blind enough to not read the papers!” another stallion suddenly yelled behind him. “If he hadn’t been here, the changeling queen would have had all of us for breakfast!”

“Oh, so you trust the monster that blew up nearly half a mountain and left the plains in ruin?!”

“It was a QUARTER of a mountain, and I think he has a better chance than the rest of us!”

“We know nothing about him! He could just as well be the one behind all this, just waiting to lead the princess into a trap!”

“He risked his life to save us from the changeling queen! How does that fit the schemes of a villain, huh?!”

“I told you this wouldn’t end well,” Rainbow whispered in Applejack’s ear. The rest of the ponies on the balcony were equally worried about the building tension on the ground, especially Luna. This was the last thing she had hoped for during this speech.

“You’re just an idiot for blindly believing in anything you read!”

“And you’re just an idiot for questioning everything you read!”

The tension at last reached its boiling point, as the two stallions charged at each other to begin an all-out brawl. Fluttershy hid her eyes behind her hooves, and Shining was about to call on the guards to break up the fight. But something happened that made him delay his orders.

The two stallions jumped at each other, only to find themselves grabbed in midair by blue magic. Or at least they thought that it was magic. It felt different, somehow. Thinking that Luna herself had stepped in to stop them, they looked up at the balcony. Gasps and whispering spread across the crowd as the other ponies did the same.

Lucario was standing at the edge of the balcony, holding the stallions up in the air by the grip of his Psychic move. He began to lower his arm, allowing both of them to slowly land back on the ground. They didn’t continue their fight as Lucario let go off them, instead choosing to look at the diamond dog-like creature above them. Lucario gave them a brief glance before looking out over the rest of the crowd, studying the ponies’ expressions. Some seemed afraid; others seemed to look at him with something resembling awe. But each of them seemed to share a certain emotion in each of their hearts. After briefly closing his eyes to study their auras, he confirmed to himself that his guess had been true.

Luna and the other ponies looked at Lucario in surprise. While Luna was thankful for the Pokémon intervening the fight, she feared how her subjects would react to his appearance. She was about to say something when Lucario suddenly leapt over the railing, causing Rarity and Fluttershy to gasp in brief shock. Activating Magnet Rise to slow his fall, Lucario landed in the middle of the crowd, ignoring how the crowd quickly backed away in panic. He looked at all of them for a few seconds before closing his eyes in what seemed to be contentment.

“You’re all worried about them, aren’t you?”

A few ponies flinched upon hearing his voice speak inside their minds. But there were many more who widened their eyes upon hearing his words.

“Not just about Celestia, but about Luna too. You’re afraid of what will happen to them at the gates, and you fear that they will never return. It’s normal to be worried about such things, as their presence here is required for you to have the day and night. Without them, Equestria would slowly fall into ruin.

“But that is not the kind of worry I feel in you. You’re not worried about your own safety. You’re worried about theirs. Not because Equestria depends on it, but because you simply like them. Love them, even. They’re both more than just mere rulers to you all. They’re your parental figures, your friends… your family. Such a deep connection between the people and their rulers truly amazes me. It even reminds me of the bond I had with my old queen back in my world.”

The ponies looked between themselves. Not in awkward silence, but in thought. Lucario spoke as if he was looking into their very hearts, and pulled out the innermost feelings even they themselves were unaware of. The small smile that had been on Lucario’s lips faded into a small frown, and his eyes grew a bit more serious.

“I intend to travel with Luna and the Elements to the gates. I’m prepared to risk my life to ensure their safety, as well as the rescue of Celestia. I promise you all that they will return home safe and sound.”

“Why?” Lucario looked back at the stallion that had been against Luna’s departure before. “You don’t even know any of us that well. Why are you risking your life to save ponies you’ve never met?”

“Is that so strange?” Lucario asked in response. “You ponies did the same thing to me when I arrived here. I was a stranger to you, perhaps even a monster in your eyes. You had no obligation to help me, nor did you have any reason to trust me. But the ponies I met that day brought me to safety despite that. They gave me a chance to find a new life here, to make new friends. It’s true that I’ve been here for just around a week. Even back in my world, creating such bonds between people would take much longer than that.

“But you ponies are different. Friendship and bonds are as natural to you as the air you breathe. In less than a day, you can forge ties between each other that can never be broken, even when it comes to those who’re different from you, like I am. I’ve been here for just a week, but I think something became clear to me from the very first few days:”

The crowd stayed silent as they listened. Luna and the others looked down at the scene, and even a few of the guards lost their focus as they watched the Pokémon. Lucario noticed a small filly standing at the front of the crowd around him, and he gave her a genuine smile.

“You’re family to me now, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to defend your family, is there?”

At once, it felt like something changed deep within the hearts of every pony present. A few mares lifted their hooves to their mouths as small tears began to drop from their eyes. While most of the stallions’ faces remained unchanged, the mistrust they had for the Pokémon gave way for respect and idolism. This creature that they had never met before was willing to risk his life to protect them and their princesses. Not out of debt or force, but because they were important to him.

“…Wow. Just wow,” Rainbow said on the balcony. “Did Lucario just act… almost sappy?”

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘kind and inspirational’, sugarcube,” Applejack responded with a small chuckle.

“That was so nice of him to say,” Fluttershy said, beaming with a smile for the first time since Chrysalis’ attack. “I… I just want to hug him for that.”

“I have to go! I must prepare for Ninja Mister’s ‘Awesome heartwarming speech’ party!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran away before anypony could stop her.

Luna simply stood in silence as she watched Lucario on the ground. A few of the younger fillies and colts had begun to approach him, studying and running around him as if he was some kind of superhero. She couldn’t say that Lucario was exactly beaming. He wasn’t the kind of pony, or Pokémon in this case, to display emotion on Twilight and her friends’ level. But there was warmth beneath his smile, as well a clearly visible glimmer of happiness.

I thought there was a secret behind your willingness to protect us,” she thought to herself. “But maybe the only secret is that you’ve just come to love us that much.

Something changed within the hearts of the ponies present that day, including Luna’s. They no longer considered Lucario to be a possible threat or a dangerous monster. From that day on, he was one of them. From that day on, he was their friend.

From that day on, he was their guardian.

Darkness surrounded Lord Tartarus in his throne room, like it always had. Nothing moved and nothing made a sound, except for his own slow breathing. The dark voids he had for eyes were closed as he simply waited, not moving the slightest as he sat on his throne.

Suddenly, outside the gates leading to his kingdom, a trail of ashes passed through the black pillar, fusing with the ground on the other side. At once, scenes of an enraged princess and the arrival of the blue creature appeared in his mind, causing him to open his eyes.

“So they’re about to make their move…” he said to himself, letting his words echo across the room for no one to hear. “Predictable, but interesting nonetheless.”

Without standing up from his seat, Tartarus waved his hand at the ground in front of him. At once, two shapes began to grow out of the floor at the bottom of the stairs. While they were colored black at first, they eventually shifted to their own natural ones.

“We’re about to have visitors,” Tartarus said. “We’ve let you keep your personalities, so make sure that they get a warm welcome.”

“Oh, how I do love greeting visitors! Leave it to me, big boy, I’ll give them the greatest party they’ve ever had!”

“This fool’s plans are nothing but nonsense, my lord. Leave it to me. I’ll take care of those little foals personally…”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to halo003qd and Icestar156 for proofreading!

I was initially planning on having chapter 13 and 14 as a single chapter, but due to the overwhelming length, I’ve chosen to split them up. Over 5500 words are still more than enough to satisfy your hunger, right?

This chapter was more of a “build up” chapter than anything. I still think it was important to settle Lucario’s reputation among the ponies of Canterlot early. Earning their respect even before he goes off to rescue Celestia makes him awesome in my book.

I had to take some liberties in making up a backstory for the Gates of Tartarus and Cerberus, which I hope you don’t mind. The possibility of Cerberus being at least as old as the princesses and Discord certainly makes his character more interesting. I mean, he’s the freaking guard dog of the underworld in Greek mythology, how could he not be more supernatural than he seems to be?

Next time in Friendship is Aura: Many mysteries are about to be revealed as our heroes arrive at the gates. Among many things, they’ll see what really lies beyond the dark pillar, and learn the true secret behind the legendary three-headed dog.

KangTheGuardian -

Nightmares May Dream - Part 1

Time. It was a word and concept yet unknown to him. Even if he had known its meaning, he would still not understand its purpose. Time meant that things would change around him against his will, endlessly flowing forward without a real goal or motive. Even long after he eventually learned of the word, he saw no point in it. If time was just an excuse to age and end the things of the present, it was as useless as the ideas spurred out from the being’s mouth.

Time had no place in his world. The looming darkness around him had stayed the same since the first time he woke up in this place. His creations that he had continuously worked on changed only by his will alone, and not by some outside, unexplainable force. Even his body remained the same as it always had. The mere idea of it changing without his consent was a thought that had never even crossed his mind. He was what he always was, just like the darkness. Only the ever-changing mass beneath him was his to alter as he saw fit.

While he felt no fatigue from his work, he decided to take a short break to study the ground’s current form. He had lost count of how many times he had changed it. For some reason, he was just never satisfied with it. In fact, he had come to enjoy being able to shift it as he saw fit whenever he wanted. Plains, Hills, Tunnels, Caves. These different designs he had made up during his work always seemed to prove themselves useable in almost any kind of place and situation. Why limit the ground to just one, basic form when it could shift itself into whatever was fitting at the moment? Perhaps he had already found the perfection in his design by altering it like this.

As he looked over his progress, his eyes fell upon a giant sphere of rock he had formed long ago. He studied it for a moment, trying to keep himself from acting on the curious feeling of temptation in his chest. Despite his struggles, the feeling won him over, and he waved a part of the rock sphere away to reveal the contents hidden within.

He almost immediately regretted his choice, as his eyes began to burn slightly from the sharp color of the being’s grass. Despite its creator’s absence, it still looked the same as it had upon its creation. The vast plains within the globe were covered in it, inch to inch. As he was unable to change the being’s own creations, he had no choice but to simply hide it away from his sight. Sadly, the ever-present rock globe was enough to remind him of the thing it was supposed to block away from his memory.

Sighing to himself, he prepared to close the sphere up again when something stopped him. Staring at the grass, he couldn’t understand what was making him hesitate. The grass would no doubt serve to only distract him from his work, if not even corrupt the designs he had in mind. There was nothing about it that made him feel more focused or more creative. The only things he saw in it were pointless ideas, and the smile of a being that had left his side long ago.

For the first time in his life, the concept of time began to take root in his thoughts. He had no idea how long it had been since the being had left, simply stating that it wanted to look around a bit more. He had felt so free and relieved by the sudden, calm atmosphere that he had lost himself in his work. It was only now that the question about the being’s whereabouts came to him. What could’ve possibly been so interesting within the darkness to keep it away for so long?

He began to look around himself, noticing nothing but the same darkness that had always surrounded him. He couldn’t explain why he suddenly felt such an urge to find the being, but he just wasn’t able to put himself at ease before he found it. He didn’t even glance back at his work one more time before turning around to begin his search.

“Looking for someone?”

His new quest ended as quickly as it had begun, as he found himself staring into a pair of brightly colored eyes mere inches away from his face. Taking a few steps back in what was his life’s first startle, he eventually recognized the being that had snuck up on him. It was giggling at his reaction, the sound instantly familiar to his ears.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Not long, I think,” the being answered as its giggles settled down. “I, um… lost track of time a bit after seeing you again. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

It was the first time he had ever heard the word Time, but he didn’t think of it. He was too busy studying the being’s appearance. It was the same as it had always been, but there was something different about it. The way it stood and held its head seemed… mature, as if its spirit had grown tremendously since their last meeting. Also, positioned on its cheeks were some red marks he didn’t recall it having before. He wasn’t even sure they had been there before the being had begun to speak.

He opened his mouth to ask it about this, but a sudden movement from the being cut him off. It walked up and threw its limbs around his shoulders, squeezing him against its chest as it pressed its left cheek against his own. He stood still for a moment, expecting some obvious reason for the being’s act to show itself. However, the being simply held its grip on him, its slow breaths the only thing to break the awkward silence. He could also feel some sort of weird beat coming from its chest, yet another mysterious thing he had never noticed about the being before.

“…What are you doing?” he eventually asked, seeing as the being wasn’t giving him an explanation.

“Oh! That’s right; you’ve never had one of these before. It’s called a Hug. It’s a way to express affections and feelings to others.”

“Feelings?” he asked, the strange word already tasting awful in his mouth as he spoke it.

“Yeah… that might take a while to explain. Don’t worry, you’ll learn eventually,” the being said, not loosening its grip one bit.

“…Can you let go of me now?”

“Why? You’re not pulling away.”

Suddenly realizing that he had indeed not tried to simply push the being away, he took a few steps backwards to break the hug. The being only held on to him for another short second before letting go, giving both of them some space. The red marks on its cheeks were even brighter now than before.

“…Where have you been?” he eventually asked after recovering himself a bit from the recent close contact.

“What? Did you miss me?” the being asked back in a teasing tone.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he answered without missing a beat. “With you gone, I’ve been able to work in peace. The fact that you’ve been gone for so long simply occurred to me mere moments ago.”

Rolling its eyes a bit at his answer, the being leaned its head to the side to look at his work behind him.

“Are you still working on that? I finished the landscape of my entire world ages ago.”

“Your world? Finished?” he repeated. “What do you mean you finished it?”

“I’m done with it. It’s complete. I moved on to other things a long time ago. I had a feeling it would take you a while to come up with the idea yourself, but this is just ridiculous!”

“…What are you talking about?” The being was spouting out nonsense, and he felt himself losing more and more track of what it was trying to say.

“You’re not going to believe me if I just told you.” It reached out and grabbed his limb, dragging him with it as it began to walk. “Come on, I’ll show you. Trust me; it’ll blow your mind!”

He remained silent as they began to walk, leaving his own work behind. Under normal circumstances, he would’ve objected to the being’s proposal. However, he found it oddly comforting to have the being in his presence again, so he obliged to its wishes.

“By the way, I noticed you kept my grass around. Have you tried rolling in it yet?”

“The thought never crossed my mind, *--*-*.”

The being turned oddly quiet, simply staring at him as they walked. Noticing its sudden silence, he looked over to see its eyes looking into his, shaking ever so slightly as they began to water up.

“You remembered…” it whispered without breaking their eye contact. A single drop left its eye before a quiet laughter escaped from its mouth. “I’ve missed you too, **--*.”

The two of them disappeared into the void, leaving a mass of ground, rocks, and a partly obscured layer of grass behind.

Windless as the area was, the field of grass and flowers still waved back and forth in unison. Among them all, the small petal of an Adonis flower lost its grip and flew away, rising up towards the night sky as it danced around in the air. It was the only thing that briefly blew past and broke the eye contact between the Pokémon and the alicorn staring at each other.

Lucario was still standing on the ground, his eyes filled with confusion as he looked up at the familiar shape on top of the tower. Appearance-wise, she looked different from Luna in many ways. Her coat was black as the night sky itself, and while her mane shared the princess’ blue color, it lacked the same shape and weight of Luna’s own. This mare was also much taller, coming close to or even surpassing that of Celestia. The greatest difference of all was the catlike eyes that stared down at him, accompanied by a small smile on the mare’s lips.

By all reason and logic, it would’ve been obvious that this mare was lying about her identity. Even the youngest child could tell a difference between her and Luna. But as Lucario studied her aura, he sensed that it was extremely familiar. It lacked the normal corruption that evil beings like Cerberus possessed. It wasn’t good either, but it felt like the aura of someone who had been misguided rather than one who was acting on their own sinister motives. Had it not been for his normal eyesight, he would’ve believed her words without doubt when she said that she was Luna.

“How do you like my country?” His thoughts were interrupted as the mare finally spoke down to him. “Gorgeous, isn’t it? Even without the sun, the plants continue to grow and display their beauty. My moon is all they need, and all they’ll ever need. I believe I’m right in guessing that you find the moon’s light to be much preferred over the sun’s own as well?”

“Your country?” Lucario asked, ignoring the mare’s own question.

“That’s correct, Guardian. Yes, I know who you are. This is my kingdom, or at least what it once looked like. A paradise free from my traitorous sister’s rule and her misled subjects. It was a place where the true beauty of the night could be displayed in its full splendor. And one day, believe me, it will do so again.”

Lucario didn’t respond, simply staring up at the mare with an empty expression. The mare didn’t seem to have expected an answer, though. She began to walk back and forth by the tower’s edge, continuing with her monologue as she did.

“Have you ever asked yourself why we have both days and nights in our world? Why there must be both a sun and a moon, endlessly chasing each other over our heads? In ages past, it was the unicorns who took it upon themselves to together raise and lower the two of them. They, and only they, were capable of such a feat. Of course, they took full advantage of it. They demanded trades, gifts, and even submission from the other pony species to keep the cycle of day and night going. One refusal from anypony was all it took to keep them from their duty, and thus the world was locked in a chain of tyranny and conflict. Only the arrival of my sister and I saved the world from inevitable doom.

“But what if there was no need for both a sun and a moon? What if the night was all the world needed to sustain itself? As its beauty clearly overshadows that of the day, I’m sure nopony would have any objections to the idea of the night being… well… eternal. Can you imagine it? A world under the permanent light of the moon, where everypony could bask in its glory. Such a wondrous future, such a perfect world! Such a-”

“You can stop now. I’ve lost interest in your words.”

The mare’s speech was cut off by Lucario’s telepathy, making her look down at him with a mixture of confusion and irritation. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve heard speeches like yours countless times before while serving under Lady Rin. They’re all the same; empty words and promises spoken by a ruler who could care less about their subjects’ well-being. They only want power, and are willing to mislead an entire country just to achieve their own, selfish goals.”

“Are you saying my plans are naught but lies?!” the mare shot back at him, flaring her wings in anger.

“No. I’m saying that your reasons are more… personal.”

The mare stared at the Pokémon for a moment before closing her eyes with a small laughter. Flapping her wings, she jumped off the tower to glide down to ground level, landing a few meters in front of Lucario.

“Perhaps you’re wiser than I thought. It’s true, I care little for the actual effects an endless night would have on the world, or for what ponies think of it. None of them have ever realized just how amazing it is, even after all these years. If I have to force it upon them, then so be it.”

“Who are you?” Lucario did not ask, but demanded to know. At first, he only received laughter from the dark alicorn.

“Hahahaha, I’ve told you already. I am Princess Luna, Princess of the Night, ruler of the stars and the very moon itself. Are you saying that I’m jesting?”

Lucario remained silent. As much as he wanted to confirm it all as a lie, the mare’s familiar aura still left doubts in his mind. Smiling at his lack of an answer, the mare began to walk around him.

“Perhaps you know me by a different name, a name that has made its mark in legend all over the world. It’s a name parents have told their fillies every night, warning them about the inevitable future that’s in store for them. The name of their true and future ruler… Nightmare Moon.”

Lucario’s eyes widened at the mare’s revelation. While he was usually quick to pick up on clues and hints during investigations in both Rota and Equestria, something had just blocked out the thought of the mare’s true identity from his head. He had thought that whoever this Nightmare Moon was, she was originally the same being as Luna. If so, then how could she be standing in front of him now? Had this land turned her back into her dark self?

As Lucario thought of it, he realized just how little he knew about Nightmare Moon. She had been a part of Luna’s past, and thus he had chosen to keep himself from learning about her in order to keep his and Luna’s promise. While he did not regret this choice, he found himself wishing he had more clues to go on concerning Nightmare’s presence here. If she really was Luna, he had no idea how to free her.

“You seem conflicted,” Nightmare said after walking a full circle around Lucario. “Do you still think that I’m lying to you about me being Luna? How can you even have such doubts? The resemblance is clear to see, is it not?”

“You just told me yourself that you’re Nightmare Moon,” Lucario shot back.

“And what is Nightmare Moon exactly, Guardian? Is she a malicious impersonator like a common changeling? Is she the physical form of the original’s inner evil? Or is she perhaps the true feelings and desires hidden deep within the princess’ heart, taken shape out of pure desperation to release her own needs and wishes?” She smirked at the Pokémon’s lack of an answer. “You know nothing about me, do you? You know nothing about either of us.”

“…We made a promise not to reveal our pasts until both of us are ready,” Lucario found himself answering. It was as if the alicorn pulled the words out of him against his will.

“Before YOU are ready, you mean? I have no problem with telling you about my past if you wish to hear it.” She noticed how Lucario’s eyes widened a bit in response. “No? Then you’re crueler than I thought, Guardian. Is your past really so terrible that you can’t bear to share it with anyone? It can’t possibly be much worse than having your own people and sister turn against-”

A screeching sound of metal interrupted Nightmare’s words as she found her throat inches away from three razor sharp blades extending out of Lucario’s paw.

“I told you that I’ve lost interest in your words,” he simply said. He would not allow this mare to reveal the story behind Nightmare Moon at any cost, even if she truly was Luna herself. The two shared a brief stare before Nightmare laughed and backed a few steps away.

“You made the biggest mistake in your life coming here, you know? You have no hope of defeating me, nor do you stand a chance against the even greater horrors that wait beyond me. Your mission was destined to fail the second you entered through the gates. But there is no need to worry yourself,” she said as her eyes began to glow, making Lucario enter a fighting stance to prepare himself. “Your life will end in the best way possible: UNDER AN ETERNAL NIGHT!”

Blue fog surrounded Nightmare’s body, her shape disappearing within as she fused together with it. Before Lucario could intervene, the fog flew away at great speed, camouflaging itself against the darkness around them. Unable to keep track of Nightmare’s whereabouts anymore with his normal eyesight, Lucario quickly activated Aura Sense and studied his surroundings. After a few moments, he managed to locate his target flying by the tower. Without wasting any time, Lucario fired a Vacuum Wave in her direction. While the attack was rather weak compared to other moves, it was one of the fastest ones he knew, a trait he hoped to exploit in order to catch Nightmare off-guard.

To his surprise, though, the fog split itself away from the incoming attack, as if was simply blown away by the shockwave. The Vacuum Wave exploded against the tower wall, cracking the rock a bit without punching a hole through it. Still keeping track of Nightmare’s aura, Lucario fired off several more Vacuum Waves, hoping to eventually score a lucky hit, but the fog dodged them all just as easily.

“Is that all you have?!” he could hear Nightmare shout to him. Her voice didn’t seem to have a clear origin, reaching his ears from all sides without revealing her position. “Don’t tell me you’re holding back! Do you have such deep affections for the Princess of the Night that you don’t even dare to strike her?!”

Lucario cursed to himself. It was true that he was trying to simply knock Nightmare out instead of seriously hurting her. The possibility of her being Luna was still on his mind. However, with Nightmare being able to dodge even Vacuum Wave, the chances of him catching her were slim.

Still keeping track of his opponent, Lucario noticed the fog suddenly go on the offensive, charging towards him from his right.

Perfect. As long as she’s close, I can use Ice Punch to freeze her, he thought as ice covered his left arm. He then swung his paw right into the incoming Nightmare, knowing that his great strength would stop the alicorn’s attack easily.

His expectations were proven wrong when the fog effortlessly cut through the ice. It was not a blunt attack like he had thought, but a slash. With reaction speed honed over many years of combat, Lucario activated ExtremeSpeed and barely managed to dodge out of the way before the attack could slice him in half. It continued onward for a bit until it hit one of the boulders, effortlessly cutting through it in a diagonal line. As the top slid off and hit the ground, Lucario looked down on his paw. While he had pulled it away from the attack using ExtremeSpeed, a bloody wound was still left behind, letting small drops of blood fall down on the ground by his feet.

“Underestimating me, are you?!” Nightmare taunted him from the shadows. “And here I thought you were the greatest warrior Equestria had to offer! How someone like you managed to defeat Chrysalis is beyond me!”

Lucario barely listened to Nightmare’s insults. She was proving herself to be a rather troublesome opponent, one he would not be able to defeat while pulling his punches. As much as he hated it, he couldn’t hold back anymore. Ignoring the pain in his paw, Lucario conjured up an Aura Sphere and threw it in Nightmare’s current direction. The attack was much slower than his Vacuum Wave, something Nightmare immediately noticed.

“As if an attack like that could hit me!” she boasted while dodging to the side. However, instead of flying past her like the Vacuum Waves from before, the sphere instantly changed direction and followed after her. Surprised by this, Nightmare again dodged to the side, only to still find the sphere tailing her.

“There’s no point in dodging,” Lucario told her from the ground. “The Aura Sphere locks on to the aura of whomever I target, chasing them endlessly until it hits. You’ll never be able to escape it.”

“Tsk, in that case…!” Nightmare changed her course and made a bee-line for Lucario, the sphere still on her tail. With her great speed, it seemed like she was attempting to dodge out of the way just in time to make the Aura Sphere hit Lucario instead. A fruitless attempt, as the sphere would follow her lead perfectly, regardless of how sharply she turned.

A sudden flash of light revealed that his opponent was a bit cleverer than that. With a simple teleportation spell, she had warped herself behind Lucario, leaving the sphere to fly directly towards the Pokémon who was now standing in its way.

“Nice try,” Nightmare mocked her opponent as the sphere collided with him. However, to Nightmare’s confusion, there was no explosion from the impact. As the Aura Sphere was made out of his own aura, Lucario could still manipulate it without being damaged himself. He demonstrated this to the surprised alicorn by effortlessly catching the sphere with his right paw while simultaneously turning around to throw it back at her.

“Same to you,” he responded as he swung his arm, sending the attack right into Nightmare’s chest. Nightmare looked down in shock, no doubt bracing herself for the inevitable pain from the blast.

But the blast never came. Instead, the sphere simply passed through Nightmare's body, flying out of her back as it harmlessly detonated on the ground a few meters away. Lucario’s eyes widened upon finding his trademark attack to have no effect on his opponent. He wasn’t able to recover from his shock fast enough to dodge the dark beam of magic that shot out of Nightmare’s horn, sending him grinding across the ground in a cloud of dust and flower petals.

Panting a bit to catch her breath after the recent event, Nightmare was trying to make sense of the attack’s ineffectiveness against her. Raising her head up to look after her opponent, she found Lucario’s body shrouded in dust, obscuring it from her sight. An unsure laughter began to escape her, eventually regaining its confidence as she reveled in her swift victory.

“Ha… hahaha. Hahahahahaha! Well, that must’ve been embarrassing for you, Guardian! Good thing your precious princess wasn’t here to witness your fiasco… Oh wait, she was! Hahahahaha-”

“So it was a lie after all.”

The calm voice sounding from the dust silenced Nightmare’s laughter. Watching the cloud clear up, she found Lucario kneeling inside it, holding a glowing paw to his chest. Some kind of energy pulsated from it, mending the wound that had been left behind by her attack. Even the cut on his paw had been closed up, not even leaving a scar visible within his fur.

“Lie? What nonsense are you speaking of now?” she asked him, her voice managing to not reveal her surprise of seeing him recover so easily from her spell.

“I admit that I believed you when you told me that you’re Princess Luna. Despite the difference in your appearance, your aura is nearly identical to each other. However, thanks to that Aura Sphere, I can put my doubts to rest.” The wound on his chest now closed up, Lucario stood back up on his feet and looked at Nightmare. “Because I’m fairly certain that Luna wasn’t a ghost.”

Nightmare, while not shocked by Lucario’s statement, raised her eyebrow in response.

“It was impossible to tell from just looking at you,” Lucario continued. “Apart from other ghosts, it looks like you have a body of your own, one that doesn’t look transparent. It is even able to come in contact with living creatures and objects. I don’t know how you managed to gain a body after your death, but you would have no trouble with tricking others into thinking that you're alive.

“However, in my world, ghosts are more than just spirits of the departed. There is also a Ghost-type element, which some Pokémon can utilize for different attacks and moves. One of the Ghost-type’s most well-known traits is its complete immunity to both Normal-type and Fighting-type moves. Attacks like my Aura Sphere will just pass through Ghost-type Pokémon without leaving a scratch, even if they have a physical body.” Lucario pointed his paw at Nightmare. “Just like it did with you. It’s true that you’re not a Pokémon, and thus don’t have an elemental type like we do, but it seems my own moves still follow the principle from my world, being ineffective against you.”

“Hmph, splendid explanation, Guardian.” Nightmare rolled her eyes while stomping her hoof lightly on the ground in a mock applause. “I’ve no interest in how your world works. If anything, your observation has only helped to prove my point. If you can’t even damage me, your victory is all but hopeless.”

“On the contrary,” Lucario answered as he began to crack his knuckles. “Now that I know that you’re a ghost, I can finally stop holding back.”

“What are you-” Nightmare tried to speak, but Lucario interrupted her.

“I no longer believe that you’re Luna, which means that I can stop holding myself back from hurting you. My Fighting-type and Normal-type attacks may have no effect on you…” His right paw began to glow in a silvery light. “But I know moves of thirteen other types that can.”

Nightmare didn’t even have time to blink before Lucario crossed the distance between them with ExtremeSpeed, striking her cheek with the Steel-type attack called Bullet Punch. It was a move similar to Vacuum Wave, except that it was a physical attack instead of a long-range shockwave. A short, but loud burst of thunder sounded from the impact as Nightmare was sent stumbling backwards, using her wings to barely keep herself from falling over.

“How dare you…!” she shouted as she looked back at the Pokémon. Her furious expression changed to one of shock when she found herself no longer facing just one Lucario. A group of no less than twenty copies of him had surrounded her from all sides, each one standing with their arms crossed in front of their chests as they stared at her.

“Normal-type: Double Team,” the group said in unison. “But because the move isn’t limited to just one clone, some prefer to call it Shadow Divide, or Shadow Clone.” Not waiting for a response, they all raised and pointed their paws at Nightmare. The spikes on their backs all began to glow as silver-colored energy began to gather in front of them. “Flash Cannon.”

Beams of light erupted from their paws, charging towards Nightmare from every angle. The alicorn gritted her teeth in anger. “Don’t get too confident, fool!”

Fog again surrounded her as she shouted. Just as the beams were about to hit their mark, Nightmare’s body split itself into several smaller clouds, flying off in every direction to avoid the attacks. Instead of exploding in the middle of the Double Team group, the beams simply passed through each other, continuing forward and hitting the clones standing in their way. While most of the clones were unaffected by this, one of them faded out of existence as it was hit by the real Lucario’s Flash Cannon from the opposite side of the group, something Nightmare noticed from above.

“So they were all just illusions? How pathetic! Let me show you how it’s really done!”

A small group of fog clouds began to slash through the rest of the clones, while another group charged towards the real Lucario. Activating his Metal Claws, he began to dodge and slash them apart as they flew by. He quickly noticed that none of them were the real Nightmare Moon, but also that they didn’t seem to be quite as sharp as Nightmare’s full fog form had been before. She must’ve been forced to split up her powers between them all, he theorized.

Lucario was reminded of the disadvantage of fighting multiple foes at once as two clouds charged at him from both his left and right sides. Realizing that he didn’t have the necessary momentum to slash them with Metal Claw, he was forced to simply block them inches away from his torso with his paws. Thankfully, due to their lesser cutting power, he was able to hold them back by using Ice Punch on both paws.

“It’s over!” he suddenly heard Nightmare shout. The rest of the clouds fused together with the real Nightmare Moon, who immediately flew towards the defenseless Pokémon to finish him off while he was busy holding the two smaller clouds away. While not at full strength, she would have more than enough power to seriously wound him.

But instead of panicking, Lucario’s body was surrounded in white light, strengthening itself with Iron Defense. Just as Nightmare was about to hit him, he pulled his head back, engulfed it in a purple glow, and then literally met the attack head-on with a Zen Headbutt.

Receiving only a slight cut to his forehead thanks to his increased defense, Lucario managed to knock Nightmare back. The alicorn took on her physical form yet again as she clutched her face with a hoof in pain. Even in fog form, her real body was still vulnerable to damage. After letting the two smaller clouds rejoin her as well, she grunted furiously as she lowered her hoof, only to find her opponent gone from her sight.

“Rock-type: Stone Edge.”

Hearing Lucario’s voice above her, Nightmare looked up just in time to see the Pokémon somehow materialize rocks out of thin air around him, which he promptly began to shoot down at her. Scoffing at his attack, Nightmare fired a dark beam from her horn, intending to vaporize the rocks before they could even come close.

That was why she was taken off-guard when the beam passed through the rocks as if they weren’t even there. At the same time, the ground beneath her cracked open as another wave of rocks erupted from it, hitting her stomach and legs from below. Seeing the rocks fired from above fall through the ground around her, she realized that the Lucario above her had been another clone from his Double Team.

As if to confirm her observation, Lucario dug himself out of the ground a short distance away, carrying another big rock in his paw that he had found buried underground. Using the Dark-type technique called Fling, he threw the rock right into Nightmare’s chest, causing the alicorn to fall onto her back and bounce off the ground a few times from the painful impact. The large necklace that hung over her chest had protected her from any major damage, but it had recieved a noticable crack as a result of the attack.

“ENOUGH!” Nightmare’s Royal Canterlot Voice thundered across the plains as she got back on her hooves. “I’VE PLAYED AROUND WITH YOU FOR FAR TOO LONG!”

Once again taking on her fog form, Nightmare disappeared into the ground, leaving Lucario alone in the suddenly quiet area. Using his Aura Sense, Lucario tried to locate Nightmare’s position. What he detected instead was the alicorn’s magic that began to spread into the countless number of flowers around him, corrupting them with her will. He realized just in time what his opponent was planning, and activated Magnet Rise to escape into the air.

Just as he did, all the flowers in the area extended themselves out of the dirt, taking the forms of giant stalks and thorns all around him. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by a horde of nightmarish plant monsters, one of which leaned over him while letting out a chilling scream from the newly created mouth within its petals.

Her powers live up to her name, Lucario thought to himself just as one of the plants whipped a vine at him. Dodging to the side, he activated Blaze Kick and kicked away the next plant that tried to attack him. While the Fire-type attack was effective, it wasn’t quite enough to make it catch fire.

Dodging more incoming attacks, Lucario activated Aura Sense to look for Nightmare Moon. However, due to all her magic pulsating through the ground to empower the plants, her position was impossible to tell. Even if he could, the plants were so closely grown together that he wouldn’t even have a clear shot to dig himself underground. Even his super effective Blaze Kick was unable to burn up the plants enough for him to get down.

He suddenly found himself grunting as sharp pain began to spread across his back. Some distance away from him, a giant rose had shot its thorns into his back while he was distracted. The wounds were shallow thanks to his Iron Defense, but they were enough to let the thorns pierce his skin and cause blood to start running down his fur.

“That would be the end of it, I believe,” he heard Nightmare’s voice talk to him from every direction. “The thorns that just hit you are filled with deadly poison. You won’t even be able to move within the next minute. But, you know what they say: If you’re going to do anything, then you might as well do it properly!”

Loud thunder echoed over Lucario’s head, and he looked up to find the sky covered by a giant, black cloud. Flashes of light could already be seen shining within it at irregular intervals, waiting for its creator to unleash its wrath on the Pokémon.

“I’ve loaded enough magic into that thundercloud to burn your sorry form into a crisp. I wonder how long you will be able to dodge both the plants and the lightning before either they or the poison catches up to you, hahahahahaha!”

Nightmare’s laugh fell on deaf ears as Lucario simply brought his paws together, creating a shining orb of light between them. Dodging to the side to avoid another lash from an attacking plant, he threw the orb straight up into the air, letting it disappear somewhere within Nightmare’s thundercloud.

“Fire-type: Sunny Day.”

It was as if the scenery turned into one from a children’s book. Rays of light pierced through the black cloud, evaporating it into nothingness as a miniature sun revealed itself hidden within. Even the night sky above it seemed to disappear behind the light as it shone down over the previously dark area.

“M-My night!” Nightmare’s voice stammered around Lucario. “How dare you do this to my-”

The rest of Nightmare’s words were drenched out by the shriek of one of the plants as it slammed its head towards Lucario. However, instead of dodging the massive attack, the Pokémon once again engulfed his leg in fire. For just a brief moment, it seemed like some of the light rays were drawn to the flames, letting the Blaze Kick absorb them into it. As if suddenly drenched in oil, Lucario’s leg nearly exploded in an even greater fire, letting the flames reach up over his waist. The limb could no longer even be seen under the intense light of the attack.

Spinning around, Lucario kicked the attacking plant right when it was about to reach him. The empowered Blaze Kick burned a straight hole across the plant’s head, causing flames to spread over the rest of its body. Without wasting any time to look at the effect of his attack, Lucario charged down towards the ground, burning a hole through another plant’s midsection that was in his way. Piercing through it like a drill through wood, he finally reached the ground, landing on one knee as he touched the soil with his paw.

“Earthquake.”

The ground immediately cracked open as unbearable tremors began to pulsate from Lucario’s paw. Even the plants’ roots were broken into pieces as the earth forced itself apart. Some distance away from him, Nightmare herself couldn’t keep herself hidden anymore as the quake threatened to break every bone in her body. Having no choice but to escape, she flew out of the ground and landed in front of the tower, which had somehow been spared from being crushed by the nearby plants.

“Fine, so be it!” she shouted as she pointed her horn up into the air. In nearly an instant, another thundercloud formed itself above her head. It wasn’t nearly as big as the one that had covered the sky moments ago, but it would be enough to finish off Lucario if he dared to even come close to her. “Come at me if you dare! My lightning will strike you down before you can even-”

Nightmare had expected the Pokémon to keep his distance due to the danger of approaching her in this state. She was reminded of her opponent’s unpredictability when Lucario appeared in front of her, paw held back in preparation for an attack. By reflex and a brief feeling of fear, she instinctively released the lightning upon the incoming Pokémon.

The bolts hit their mark as Lucario’s body was engulfed in electricity. After standing in silence for a few moments, expecting some kind of retaliation, Nightmare calmed down and laughed as she watched what would surely be the guardian’s end. The only lingering question on her mind was why the Pokémon had bothered to try and block the bolts with his right paw. Stepping forward to take a closer look and gloat in her victory, she then noticed something else shining slightly within the electricity. It was a light green staff, thrust into the ground and held firmly by Lucario’s left paw. As she saw the lightning pass over his body and into the staff, she finally realized what was going on.

“W-What?!” she stammered in disbelief. “You’re using that staff to ground yourself from the electricity?!”

As if to answer her, Lucario’s right paw suddenly clenched itself. Looking at it, Nightmare noticed that it was shining brightly from concentrated electricity, having somehow absorbed some of the lightning bolts that would’ve otherwise doomed him. It was then that the lightning above them ceased, the cloud having completely discharged itself. Time froze as Nightmare stared at the Pokémon. Lightning sparked over his raised paw, and smoke was rising from his scorched fur. Nevertheless, he was staring back at her with unbelievable determination.

“ThunderPunch.”

Due to a combination of shock and fear, Nightmare was unable to move as the punch struck her chest, shattering her necklace into pieces. Not only did electricity spread through her entire body, but smaller lightning bolts were shot through her torso and out of her back due to her own lightning overcharging the attack. Her body disappeared out of view within the flash of light as Lucario sent her flying. The alicorn crashed through the tower wall, punching a second hole through the other side as rocks and furniture within flew in all directions. Around them, the giant plants immediately shrunk back into their normal sizes, their connection to Nightmare’s magic lost.

Panting heavily, Lucario leaned forward as he tried to catch his breath. While the combination of ThunderPunch and Bone Rush had saved him from Nightmare’s lightning, it had still been a painful process, and he could feel his entire body burn in agony.

I need to patch myself up with Heal Pulse soon. However, it looks like I still have to finish things up here.

Using Aura Sense, Lucario could detect Nightmare Moon struggling to her feet within the cloud of dust that had surrounded the tower after her crash through it. He was amazed that the alicorn was even conscious at this point, but remembered having a similar reaction to Chrysalis’ endurance during their battle. He wouldn’t expect much less from such powerful opponents like them, though.

He didn’t need to use ExtremeSpeed to cross the distance between them, as Nightmare wasn’t even able to look up at him as he approached due to her wounds. She tried her best to get back up upon noticing him, but her legs failed her as she constantly fell back on the ground.

“How… is this possible…?” she gasped in exhaustion and pain. “How can you still be alive? The poison from those thorns should’ve done you in by now!”

“Steel-type Pokémon like me are immune to poison,” he explained as he walked. “We’re also immune to toxicity and acid, due to the small layer of metal surrounding our entire bodies. The thorns may have pierced my skin before, but the metal surrounds the insides of our bodies as well.”

Reaching the downed alicorn, Lucario leaned down and grabbed her neck with his left paw. He then dragged her and held her up to a part of the tower wall that was still intact. While he didn’t like to use excessive force like this, he knew that Nightmare was still able to fight back if he let his guard down. He also wanted some answers out of her.

“Where’s Princess Celestia?” he demanded to know, tightening his grip a bit.

*Cough, cough!* “I… wouldn’t tell you even if I knew…” she whispered back.

“You don’t know? What do you mean?”

“You’ve seen how this land works, haven’t you?” *Cough!* “The environment changing as it pleases, the bodies of your enemies melting into the ground. Even if I knew where my sister was taken, she could be somewhere else entirely by now.”

“She’s Luna’s sister, not yours,” Lucario corrected her.

“HOW WOULD YOU-” *Cough, cough!* “How would you know? I know more about that mare than you ever will. I grew up with her. I was betrayed by her!”

“I’ve told you that I don’t want to hear about your past. If you don’t know where Celestia is, then there’s only one left who could. I know there’s someone pulling the strings behind all this, so tell me where they are. Where’s your master?”

Nightmare didn’t answer. She simply stared into his eyes, her own not wavering in the slightest. Despite her catlike irises, Lucario could feel something familiar in them. The depth behind them seemed to hide a past as dear to her as her very life, just like Luna’s. He also noticed something else in them, something he hadn’t been expecting. They weren’t withholding rage or contempt, nor did they mock him as she didn’t answer his question. They were sad, as if their owner was looking at someone who had disappointed her, or had even broken her heart.

“So you oppose my dream as well…” Nightmare whispered, almost too quiet for Lucario to hear. His eyes widened upon hearing the genuine sorrow in her voice, and he felt his grip on her loosen just a tiny bit. “Very well. If you won’t listen to my past, I’ll settle with the next-best thing…” Lucario was unable to look away from her stare, as if he was suddenly captivated by it. “I’ll watch yours instead.”

Lucario let go of his grip completely as he staggered backwards, holding his head with his paws. The entire world was spinning around him, and he could feel both his mind and body grow heavier as a wave of fatigue hit him. It wasn’t due to his exhaustion from the fight. It was as if he hadn’t slept for days. Managing to look back up into Nightmare’s eyes once more, Lucario felt his body fall to the ground as the alicorn seemed to stare into his very soul.

“Don’t despair, Guardian,” she said as his eyelids fell further and further down. “Your eternal night is waiting for you.”

Darkness claimed him, and Lucario briefly watched images of his past and present friends flash in front of him as the world around him faded away.

Nightmare Moon allowed herself to catch her breath as she watched Lucario sleeping with his back on the ground. It had been a stroke of luck for her that the Pokémon had kept staring into her eyes for so long. It had given her the time she needed to slowly hypnotize him into a deep slumber. But despite falling asleep against his will, Lucario’s closed eyes were calm and his breathing was peaceful. It was as if he had fallen asleep in the comfort of his own home. He should be thankful to her, all things considered. Like this, the worries of reality would no longer haunt him, and he wouldn’t feel pain from any of the wounds she had inflicted on him during their battle.

“Tsk, to think that I would be forced to use that power on him,” she said to herself. “I can’t believe he was able to overcome me like that. I can see now why Chrysalis lost to him.” She looked down at him, listening to his breathing. “But why is Lord Tartarus so interested in him? What did he want to test him with by fighting me?”

Shaking her head to rid herself of these questions, she looked up and noticed that the miniature sun from before had disappeared, letting her night sky become visible once again. She breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that the Pokémon somehow had the ability to change night into day like her sister could. The mere thought of it had caused her blood to boil. She sighed again to calm herself before walking up to Lucario’s sleeping form. Her body was still aching from her wounds, but she would have time to recover in just a moment. First, there was something she needed to know.

“Let’s see then, Guardian,” she said as she leaned down to his face. His mouth was slightly open as he was breathing through it. “Let’s see what events led you to this-”

“Dr… lse…”

Nightmare stopped in her tracks as Lucario mumbled something beneath her. Did he just talk in his sleep? she thought to herself. I didn’t expect someone like him to-

“Dragon… Pulse…”

As Lucario took another breath of air, a green orb formed itself in front of his mouth. In an instant, it grew as big as his head mere inches away from Nightmare’s face. Her eyes widening in shock, she pulled her head back just in time to avoid being hit as the orb was launched into the air. She could feel the fur on her nose singe a bit as the orb barely touched it. Taking several steps away from Lucario, she looked up to see the orb disappear into the sky.

Was that… dragon magic?! she thought to herself in bewilderment as she stared after it. Are those elemental types he mentioned even capable of that?! Even Star Swirl the Bearded spent his entire life trying to figure out the secret of dragon spells!

Spawning illusionary clones, splitting the very earth open with his bare paws, the ability to create temporary miniature suns, and now showing himself capable of not only utilizing the elements of fire, ice, electricity, and rock, but also a magic so mysterious and advanced that even the greatest genius in unicorn history couldn’t master it. For every move he revealed, Lucario upstaged every magician and fighter to have ever lived in Equestria. He was even able to almost match the powers of Nightmare herself, Celestia, and possibly even Discord, although it was still to a lesser degree. Regardless, the fact that a creature capable of such feats even existed was inconceivable. Are all Pokémon just as powerful as he is?

Wait, how was he even able to attack me? He’s asleep! Nightmare suddenly realized as she lowered her sight from the sky to look at Lucario. To her surprise, the Pokémon was no longer lying on the ground. He was standing up, swaying back and forth with his arms and head hanging down. Being the ruler of the night, Nightmare recognized a sleepwalker when she saw one, but she had no idea how Lucario was able to do that while being under the effects of her powerful spell. She didn’t know that he was in fact using a Normal-type move called Sleep Talk, which allowed the user to use random moves while asleep.

And as Nightmare soon learned, he still knew exactly where his opponent was standing.

Leaning forward as if he was about to lose his balance, Lucario instead pushed his feet into the ground and dashed towards Nightmare. Taken off-guard by his sudden charge, she was unable to dodge when the Pokémon reached her, opening his mouth and biting down her right foreleg. While it wasn’t as damaging as his other attacks, the pain Nightmare felt was unbearable beyond any logical sense. Flapping her wings, she began to fly all over the area in a desperate attempt to make Lucario lose his grip, blowing up dust and uprooted flowers from the ground.

“ARGH! L-Let go!” she screamed as her eyes began to water up from the pain. “What do you think you’re doing?! Stop biting me at once! I said LET GO!”

Finally managing to gather herself, Nightmare lowered her head and blasted Lucario’s face with a beam from her horn. He staggered a few steps back from the spell while Nightmare stumbled backwards as well, her back hitting a part of the tower wall. After briefly looking back to see what she had hit, she turned around just in time to see Lucario coming towards her yet again. Relying on instinct, she leaned her head to the side, barely avoiding the claw that slashed past her and cut through the wall behind her like paper. This time, the claw wasn’t made of metal. Instead, much to her ever-growing shock and disbelief, the claw was made out of some kind of dark energy, engulfing the Pokémon’s paw in a transparent layer of shadow.

He can use the power of darkness as well?! …No, that’s not it. The power radiating from that claw feels different. It’s almost… spiritual? Was this what he was referring to before as that Ghost-type element?

Having grown tired of Lucario’s spontaneous surprise attacks, Nightmare entered her fog form and flew away from the area. To her relief, it seemed like the Pokémon had trouble utilizing that sensing ability of his while asleep as he simply stood in place, not even turning away from the damaged wall. High above him, Nightmare looked down at the sleeping creature that had time and time again caught her off-guard. To say that she was infuriated by his constant advantage over her would be an understatement.

How dare he humiliate me so?! Asleep or not, he will pay for toying with me like that! It’s about time I end this, once and for all!

The air all across the flower field began to shiver as Nightmare’s eyes lit up in a blinding light. Incredibly powerful magic began to erupt from her horn as the entire area shook from the force. Eventually, the many boulders and smaller rocks lying around were suddenly covered in a purple glow, lifting them up into the air one by one. Even Lucario was lifted off the ground, whether he was aware of it or not in his sleeping state. While he floated higher and higher up towards the sky, the rocks and boulders began to attach themselves onto his body, covering him up bit by bit. By the time he reached the top of the tower, he was completely imprisoned in a great sphere of rock.

But Nightmare didn’t stop there. Sending her magic deeper into the ground, she unearthed even more rocks as she continued to increase the size of the sphere. Slowly but surely, it continued to grow, its shadow easily covering the entire tower as it floated a mere meter above its roof.

Eventually, Nightmare finally sighed and let her magic settle down. After panting a bit in exhaustion with her head hanging, she took a deep breath and looked back up at her creation. The countless number of boulders and rocks had formed themselves into a brand new moon, floating just above the tower without the need of her magic. While it wasn’t nearly as big as the real thing, it was more than enough to keep Lucario locked up within. Even his Earthquake ability wouldn’t be able to crack it open so easily.

Still flying in the air some distance away, Nightmare studied the moon for a while to see if the Pokémon would attempt to escape. Thankfully, it seemed like he had fallen dormant inside of it, and she could feel that he was still under the effects of her sleep spell. With a smile of relief on her lips, she finally flew up to the moon and landed on the roof of the tower. Walking up to its center, she lifted her hoof and placed it on the moon’s surface.

“Nowhere to run anymore,” she said as she closed her eyes. “Now… show me what you’re dreaming of.”

The world around her faded away, and while her body was left behind, Nightmare’s mind drifted off into another world.

Opening her eyes, Nightmare found herself in a great corridor. The floor beneath her was covered with a big, red carpet, and a pair of great, brown doors stood in front of her. She tried to turn her head to see what was behind her, but found herself unable to do so. In fact, her entire body was out of her control as it simply stood in place, facing the doors in what seemed to be brief hesitation. It wasn’t until she finally lifted a limb to the door handle that she noticed a paw at the end of her leg instead of a hoof.

Tsk, so my powers haven’t recovered enough yet. Being forced to occupy this fool’s body during his dream is beyond degrading.

In the past, Nightmare had been able to simply observe ponies’ dreams instead of having to experience them herself. But creating her own avatar within somepony’s mind required more magic than normal, and a fateful defeat against a group of six wielders of harmony had cut her off from her full strength. Had she been the Nightmare Moon she was back then, still in control of Luna’s body, she would’ve had the powers she needed. Alas, her strength had been weakened considerably after her forced split from Luna, leaving her no choice but to switch places with whatever pony, or in this case Pokémon whose dream she entered.

Pushing open the doors, she entered what seemed to be a giant throne room. While her head was forced to stare forward at the throne ahead of her, she still felt as if she knew of her surroundings without needing to look around. The room was extremely wide, with a group of red pillars supporting an alcove to her right, and a ceiling so high up that an adult dragon could stand on its hind legs within it. To her left, several large windows were built into the wall, leading out to some kind of balcony or courtyard. On the far side of the room, on the wall behind the throne, several red curtains hang down from the support beams above, the middle one being embroidered with some kind of royal symbol. Whatever that symbol was or represented was unimportant, though, as she continued to stare at the… creature that sat on the throne in front of her.

It was a female, judging by her long, blond mane and feminine features. She was dressed in a beautiful, blue dress, and a golden diadem hang down her forehead. Judging by her face, it seemed like her body lacked fur, leaving her pale skin visible. She was also bipedal, which she showed by standing up to greet Nightmare as she approached, her arms outstretched in preparation for an embrace.

But what Nightmare noticed the most about this strange, yet beautiful creature was her smile. It was the kind of smile only a motherly figure could give, or someone who was mature by character and considered everyone to be her beloved children. In her entire life, Nightmare could recall only two other ponies who had shown similar smiles. The first one was her mother, whose image she could still recall clearly, even after countless years. The other was her sister, who gave her such a smile after she had escaped from her banishment on the moon. She had only seen it for a brief moment before returning her banishment in kind, yet it stuck to her memories like glue.

“Lucario…” the lady in front of her suddenly said. “I’m so… see you safe…”

Her words sounded distant, making it hard for Nightmare to hear her. She found herself stopping before reaching the lady, who lowered her arms in worry after seeing Nightmare neglect their hug.

“Where’s Sir Aaron?” Nightmare asked. She had never heard that name before, yet it sounded familiar to her, as if she had known it her entire life. The lady took a step towards her, lifting her strange, five-digit claw to her cheek.

“…do you mean? Where… been? What…”

It wasn’t that Nightmare didn’t concentrate on what the lady was saying. She simply just couldn’t concentrate at all. She felt her lips move in response to the lady’s unheard question, but she had no idea what she said. Whatever it was, it caused the lady’s expression to grow even more concerned, nearly screaming at her as she tried to make Nightmare face her by grabbing both of her cheeks. However, whatever else she said was now completely muted.

From the corner of her eye, Nightmare noticed something black in the sky outside the big windows. She turned her head to face it, but it reached the room before she even had the chance to see what it was. The entire world turned dark, and Nightmare’s ears rang from a deafening explosion that seemed to echo from all around her. She didn’t know what had happened, whether she had been hit or if she was still standing. It was as if her entire body had disappeared, leaving her mind alone in an empty void. She could only hear the explosion, crumbling rocks, and screams of terror that chilled her to her very bones.

The world slowly began to reform itself. She found herself on the floor, her vision blurred and her head dizzy. She forced herself to stand, but had to grab onto a nearby doorframe several times to keep herself from falling over. As her vision slowly recovered, she found the throne room to be gone. Instead, she was standing in some kind of living room. Ahead of her was an open doorway to another room with a big bed standing in the middle. The lady from before stood in front of the bed, her back turned to Nightmare as the alicorn still tried to find her balance. While Nightmare herself could barely even stand, the lady seemed to be standing firmly with her hands held together in front of her waist.

For some reason, Nightmare dared not to breathe. Only the tiniest, briefest breaths escaped her mouth as she desperately tried to stay quiet. Despite having surely made a lot of noise already while trying to stand up, it felt like the quietest of sounds would alert the lady of her presence, something she suddenly wanted to avoid at all cost.

But the lady turned her head around to face her. Her motherly smile was gone, replaced by an emotionless expression and lifeless eyes. She only stared at Nightmare for a second before running towards her, her arms reaching out in attempt to grab her. She seemed to whisper something to her, but her words were inaudible. The only things Nightmare could hear behind them were curses, hatred, and blame. Nightmare panicked, and she turned around to run for her life. It felt like she was running in slow-motion, her body feeling heavy and unresponsive. But she had to keep running. She had to escape.

Rounding the corner of the second doorway leading out of the living room, Nightmare found herself running into some kind of corridor. Just as she entered it, an arm extended itself from behind the doorframe to scratch her face. Another creature like the lady had been waiting behind it. She was an elderly female dressed in servants’ clothes, her expression and eyes just as lifeless as the lady’s. Nightmare tried to scream, but her voice came out as nothing more than a barely audible squeal. She kept running through the corridor, feeling her pursuers trying to scratch and grab her tail. Only once did she turn around to see how close they were. She swiftly regretted it as their faces were almost mere inches away from her own.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Nightmare smashed open a door that was standing in her way, finding herself outside whatever building she had been in. She was now surrounded by darkness, her panicked breaths being the only things she could hear. She didn’t know if she was still chased, but she dared not to look back a second time. She continued to run at a snail’s pace, reaching deeper and deeper into the black void.

And then she heard something else. It was so quiet at first that she couldn’t tell what it was, but it grew continuously louder as she ran. Looking ahead of her, she found herself approaching a sea of flames, burning all over a vast field of grass floating in the darkness. In the middle of it all, untouched by the fire, stood something. A shadowy creature facing away from her and with its head turned up towards the sky. The closer she came to it, the louder the sound grew. Seeing the creature’s whole body shake in synch with the sound, Nightmare finally realized what it was.

It was laughter. The most sickening, twisted laughter she had ever heard in her life. Laughter filled with a kind of psychopathic joy no living being in Equestria had ever shown. It seemed to revel in the destruction around it, embracing it as if it had caused it all itself. It contained no remorse, no regret, and no sympathy, only malice and insanity. Whatever the creature was, it was the most terrifying thing Nightmare had ever seen… and she was running straight towards it.

She tried to stop. Every fiber of her being yelled at her to stop. She didn’t care if the other two were still chasing her; she just had to get away from that thing. But her body did something worse than to simply ignore her will. It was drawn to the creature, as if it was seeking something only it could give her, the only thing left that could free her from this torment.

An end.

With her face now mere inches away from its back, the creature turned around. Its bloodshot eyes and the maniacal grin on its face burned themselves into Nightmare’s mind as she felt something slash across her chest. The last things she heard were the cracks of broken bones, and a quiet, nightmarish chuckle.

With a panicked gasp and cold sweat running down her coat, Nightmare woke up. Staring at the floating moon in front of her with shaking eyes, she backed away as fast as her body allowed her. In her terror, she forgot that she was standing on top of a tower, and thus promptly found herself falling over its edge. She tried to unfold her wings to break her fall, but they were paralyzed in fright and refused to respond. She hit the ground below hard, but the pain was lost on her. All she could think of was to get as far away from the sphere of rock as possible, crawling backwards away from the tower as she still did not dare to let her eyes fall from the object of her fear.

Eventually, her pushing legs failed her, and she found herself lying on her back as she gasped for air while still staring at the moon. Except for her breaths, everything was silent. No more than a few minutes at most had passed in the real world since she entered the dream, but it had felt like a lifetime to her.

She was Nightmare Moon. Dreams and nightmares were as much part of her as her own life. She had been the source of nightmares and tales of horror to ponies for over a thousand years. She had witnessed countless other nightmares before. She was the very embodiment of fear itself. Yet here she was, trembling like a little filly that had just been attacked by a manticore. She was scared. Nightmare Moon was scared. Scared of the shadowy creature she had seen in the dream. Scared of the knowledge that she had only witnessed a fraction of the terrifying events that the nightmare was based on.

Most of all, she was scared of the Pokémon sleeping within the floating moon, whose past was every bit as real as the nightmare had felt to her.

Her voice still shaking from the fear, Nightmare asked the only question she could think of out loud for none to hear or answer.

“What kind of… monster are you?”

She didn’t know how long she lied there; trying to calm her beating heart down before it risked exploding within her chest. But in the midst of all her fear and terror, a thought slowly began to form itself in her head.

I can’t let him escape. It’s far too dangerous to let him live. I have to stop him now before he brings destruction upon us all!

It took a lot of concentration and focus, but Nightmare finally managed to calm herself enough to stand back up on her hooves. It took even more to start channeling magic through her horn, but she couldn’t afford to waste more time. She had to put an end to Lucario’s life now, before it was too late.

“Forgive me, Lord Tartarus,” she silently apologized out loud. “I don’t know what you wished to learn from him, but I can’t risk this monster leaving this place alive, not at any cost.”

The moon was engulfed in its creator’s familiar magic, and it started shaking as its layers of rock began to press against each other. Slowly but surely, the sphere began to shrink, compressing its innards tighter and tighter around the Pokémon sleeping within. It wouldn’t be long before Lucario’s body would get crushed by the force. And with him gone, the world would be a safer place for all.

But as Nightmare stood and watched Lucario’s approaching demise, her expression was not one of joy, relief, or even determination. Even she was surprised by the emotion that took its hold of her chest. She felt sad, disappointed, and even a bit let down. Annoyed by these unexplainable feelings, she lifted her hoof and wiped her eyes in irritation. There was no reason for her to feel this way. She knew what fate had been in store for the Pokémon once they met, and regardless of what her master had wished to test him with in this battle, she had still brought him victory. Everything was going according to plan.

But for all the terrors that lived within Lucario’s past, there was something else to them that Nightmare had wished to see. Not some deeper secret or some darker mystery. What she wanted was much simpler than that. And as she watched the moon growing smaller and smaller above her, she found herself whispering the reason for her grief.

“I wish… that you could’ve understood my dream.”

She lowered her head, not wishing to see the rest of the scene before her play out. She didn’t want to see the only being whose past she could ever hope to relate to disappear. In the end, all they had known of each other were fragments. Regardless of her victory, it had left Nightmare in the same state she had been before: In loneliness.

She didn’t know that in the process of watching Lucario’s dream, her panicked heart had reached out to his and shared her own.

Where… am I?

This was the first question Lucario asked himself upon waking up. Or at least he thought he had woken up. His mind was groggy, and he couldn’t open his eyes despite his best attempts. His ears were ringing, drowning out the sounds of his pained breaths and grunts. He tried to move his arm, but it just dragged numbly over the ground he was lying on, almost as if it was no longer under his control.

What happened…? What did Nightmare do to me…? Why can’t I move…?

His eyes finally opened up ever so slightly, revealing little but mere shadows of his surroundings. He was in some kind of big room, and he could barely make out a strangely colored wall in the distance. For a second, he could see some kind of object fly past the corner of his eye, but it was gone before he even noticed it. He felt his head move to the side, although it was not by his will that it did so.

Why is my body moving on its own…? What’s going on…?

The ringing in his ears began to fade, and something else became audible to him in return. The sound was muffled, as if it had been slowed down several times over. However, he recognized it as some kind of voice, and he was barely able to make out what it was saying.

“-ut of the way…”

Is someone talking to me…?

“-na, you have to mov…”

That voice… sounds familiar. Where have I…?

“WAKE UP, LUNA!”

The world instantly became clear to him, and he pressed his limbs down on the ground to move his body away. Just as he did, a large object fell out of the sky and landed right where he had been less than a second ago. He dashed backwards away from the object as fast as he could, but his legs felt unresponsive. It was only after stopping that he began to take in the strange scene around him.

He was in some kind of throne room, but a throne room unlike any he had ever seen before. The object that had almost hit him was a giant… pie? Some kind of cream from it had been splashed everywhere, but it was smoking and hissing as it somehow burned straight through the checker-patterned floor. While such a design was unusual as it were, he at last also got a good look at the equally strange walls he had seen before. Dots, stripes, squares, and various other designs were painted on them in all kinds of colors, as if their designer had gone mad in the middle of his or her work.

But the walls and the floor proved to be the least surprising things around as he took notice of pink, cotton-looking clouds all across the broken ceiling. Some kind of brown rain was falling from some of them, and it was drunk up by several ponies that were flying through the air. To his ever growing surprise, they weren’t even all pegasi. In fact, it seemed like the majority of them were earth ponies and unicorns, floating in midair as if they were swimming or holding on to invisible ropes.

And in the middle of it all, looking down at him with mixture of mischief and annoyance, was some kind of dragon. Or at least that was what its overall physique resembled. Every single one of its body parts was different, resembling all manner of animals like a bat’s wing, a goat’s leg, and a deer’s antler. It was the most abnormal creature Lucario had seen since arriving in Equestria, and it could still hold its own next to other strange Pokémon from his own world.

“Hmph, always the party-pooper, Woona. Some vanilla cream will do your fur and coat good, I assure you. Come on, you know I never lie!”

“I told you to stop calling me that!”

Lucario felt the words leave his mouth, but the voice didn’t sound like his own. It was high-pitched, childlike, and even feminine. Furthermore, he hadn’t spoken the words by his own accord. It was as if he was in the body of somebody else.

Somebody else… Wait, could it be?

While he was still unable to move his head to look down on himself, he had enough sense of his body to feel how different it was. He was standing on four legs instead of two, and he could feel and see a light blue mane hanging down the sides of his head. Some unfamiliar body parts were attached to the sides of his torso, and he could feel the slight weight of a horn on his head.

This is not my body. This is…!

“Luna, are you all right?!”

A concerned voice sounded behind him, and his head turned around to face it. A white-coated alicorn with a pink mane walked up to him, unfolding her left wing to briefly embrace him.

“I-I’m fine,” he, or more exactly Luna said. “He just caught me off-guard.”

“I told you to be more careful,” the other mare said with a frown. “You know we can’t defeat him like this. We have to use them.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” the strange dragon asked above them while mockingly angling its head to hear better. “You have a secret weapon up your sleeves this time around? Oho, now this should be interesting! Come now, don’t keep Mr. Discord waiting, he has some other chaotic matters to attend to soon.”

Luna and the other mare looked at each other and exchanged a nod before closing their eyes. Unable to see what was going on anymore, Lucario tried to make sense of the situation.

Why am I inside Luna’s body? And that other mare, is that Celestia? And Discord… I remember Luna mentioning his name during our meeting in Canterlot, that he was some kind of ancient being as ancient as Cerberus. But why is he here now? Why are Luna and Celestia-

He didn’t get the chance to ponder these questions, as he suddenly felt some kind of warmth spreading over Luna’s body. Her heart started beating more quickly, but not out of fear or fatigue. It was a happy feeling, one that would’ve prompted a child to run and jump around in joy.

Then Luna opened her eyes, and Lucario could see the throne room light up from the intense glow that radiated out of them. Six orbs were floating in circles around Luna and Celestia, each one marked by differently shaped gems, with the exception of one that was instead marked with a six-pointed star. Discord seemed to be intrigued by all of this, as he floated down to ground level and studied the orbs from afar with a claw under his chin.

“Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic,” Celestia spoke behind him. “These are the spirits of friendship you’ve never bothered to learn, Discord, and the same spirits that will today end your reign of terror: The Elements of Harmony!”

The force of the Elements’ power was overwhelming, forcing Discord to raise a claw to shield his eyes from the light. For just the briefest of moments, his expression betrayed a look of fear. But it was soon replaced by a knowing smile and a confident laugh.

“Hahahaha! ‘Friendship’, you say? Aren’t we pulling out some big words now, my little ponies? You almost sound as if you even know what that word means! Hahahaha, oh, this is too much! No more, please, I can’t take it anymore!” He continued to laugh with his claws on his belly as tears ran down his cheeks.

“You can’t fool us with your words anymore, Discord!” Luna shouted over the laughter.

“Fool you?!” Discord managed to answer in-between breaths. “Oh please, do I have to repeat myself over and over? I NEVER lie, Woona. I think the three of us have been together enough for you to realize that. Remember that time I predicted that you would slip on the newly cleaned floors in the dinner hall and glide right into Celestia’s table, embarrassing both of you in front of everypony?”

“YOU were the one who made the part of the floor I walked on extra slippery!” Luna shouted back.

“But you still slipped, didn’t you?” Discord replied as he broke down in another fit of laughter. Lucario felt Luna grind her teeth in rage, but Celestia walked up and held her back with a wing before she could run up to the dragon. Discord’s laughter faded away sooner this time, and he looked up at the princesses with the most serious expression Lucario had seen on him yet.

“My point is that when I say something will happen, it WILL happen. So let me tell the both of you something you would do good to remember: Your ‘friendship’ is not as great and unbreakable as you make it sound. What will happen once you two have a little fight? Or will you even remember what those ‘spirits’ or whatever are in a few years, let alone in a few centuries? Trust me, you’ll forget it all eventually, and once you do, I will be here to tell you ‘I told you so’!”

“Enough!” Celestia called out. “We don’t need to listen to you ever again, Discord. This is farewell. Brace yourself.”

Discord raised a brow at Celestia’s statement, only to close his eyes and shake his head.

“Ugh, fine. Have it your way. I suppose I could use a holiday,” he stretched his back, put his right claw on his chest, and raised his left one into the air, taking on some kind of pose. “We’ll see each other again, you two. And when we do, I hope you’re ready to hold on to your hooves…”

The light around Luna and Celestia intensified, forming itself into a giant rainbow that shot out towards Discord.

“Because I will bring back some good, old memories with a good, old party of CHAOS! HAHAHAHAHA-”

The whole world turned white as Discord was hit, blinding Lucario from the effects of the blast. It eventually died down, and everything was suddenly vastly different. The checkered floor and colorful walls had turned into simple, gray bricks, and the pink clouds had vanished without a trace. The flying ponies were now lying on the floor, clutching their heads as they tried to gather themselves from what must’ve been Discord’s curse. Discord himself was standing in the middle of the throne room, his body turned to stone from the Elements striking him. Even in petrifaction, his face was frozen in a permanent laughter, looking every bit as happy as he had before.

One of the ponies caught glimpse of Luna and Celestia standing at the other end of the room, and her eyes immediately widened in recognition.

“T-The Princesses of the Day and Night! Discord is vanquished! Equestria is saved!”

One by one, they all ran up to their saviors, kneeling before them and even kissing their hooves.

“Thank you, your highnesses! We’re free! We’re finally free!” another mare said while tears of joy ran down her cheeks. From the corner of Luna’s eye, Lucario could see Celestia smile down at them.

“Yes, my little ponies. You’re free. Now and forever free.” She brought a hoof to her chin in thought. “Hmm, ever free… I like the sound of that.”

Luna leaned over to her sister a bit. “’Your highnesses’? We aren’t their rulers, are we?”

Celestia answered the question with another smile. “We are now, little sister. Let us lead Equestria into a new era of peace.”

It was when she said those words that Lucario finally realized what was going on.

So that’s what this is. This is Luna’s past. Nightmare must’ve put me in a dream were I would witness all of this. Mentioning Nightmare’s name to himself triggered yet another realization, one he wasn’t sure he was thrilled for. It was enough to make him lose focus of his surroundings, not noticing that the world began to dissolve around him.

She’s showing me how Luna turned into Nightmare Moon.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to halo003qd and Icestar156 for proofreading!

Over 13 000 words and we still have two parts to go? Dear Faust...

So yeah, there's definitely A LOT going on in this battle. So much that it's the first time I've been forced to split up a chapter into two parts. I don't think it would be too good if I uploaded a chapter that was over 30 000 words long.

I'm still working on part 2 as of the release of this chapter. I was initially planning to release both parts as a same-day-upload, but as you may have noticed, writing this chapter has taken quite a while. I don't know when part 2 will be finished, so please be patient.

Including that bit with the Adonis flower petal was my attempt at a bit of flower language. According to a website I looked up, the Adonis flower represents sad memories, a bit of foreshadowing to what we will learn about Luna's past during the battle.

For those of you who were confused by Lucario's "thirteen other types" line, let me explain. There are a total of 17 elemental types in the Pokémon games (not counting the ???-type, glitch types, and the Shadow-type from the Gamecube games). Out of all these types, the only two Lucario can't learn any moves of is Grass and Flying (unless you count Hidden Power as one of those two). Thus, if you also subtract the ineffective Normal and Fighting-types, that leaves 13 types at his disposal that can damage Nightmare Moon.

I've also learned that writing nightmares is a whole lot of fun. A problem with watching nightmares in a movie or on a show (like Scootaloo's nightmares in Sleepless in Ponyville) is that it's really hard to make the viewer feel creeped out as well. So when I started planning the nightmare sequence in this chapter, I tried to make a list of things we experience in them that we find horrifying. Loss of control over our bodies, like Nightmare feeling like she was running away at a snail's pace. Voices and sounds we can't make out. Something flying or running past the corner of our eyes before we can even get a closer look at it. Taking something friendly and non-threatening and twisting it into some kind of mindless husk that wants to kill us, like the humans Nightmare were chased by. And finally, an encounter with something so terrifying that it not only kills us, but also makes us feel so much despair that we welcome death's embrace just so that we can escape from that living hell. Waking up after such an experience has at least been my own most horrible nightmares.

The name of this chapter (and the next) is a reference. Hey, it's been a while since we had one of those. It's a reference to Devil May Cry, to those who didn't catch it. The name wasn't actually inspired from the recent release of the latest DMC game. I've had that name planned from the very first day I started writing this story.

Next time in Friendship is Aura: The events that led to the princess of the night's downfall will finally be revealed to us. What secrets will be revealed to us about her dark past? Find out next time in Part 2 of this epic three-parter.

KangTheGuardian -

April Fools' Special - Lucario vs Meta Knight

Something was wrong.

There were many things Lucario had taken notice of while he watched Luna's past. His lack of control over his, or in this case Luna's body. Being unable to look anywhere he wanted, forcing him to look at whatever Luna was currently watching. Seemingly having no sense of Luna's thoughts, fatigue, or physical pain, judging by how he personally felt fine during the princesses' battle with Discord. And finally, the inability to watch a current scene for however long he wanted instead of being suddenly cut off from it, like he was from the aftermath of the Discord battle.

Thus, it would be rather far-stretched for Lucario to say that anything felt right at this point. Because nothing really did. But what it did feel was... different.

Which meant something was wrong.

Lucario's eyes sprung open as a cold breeze blew over his fur. It was the most chilling wind he had ever felt since coming to Equestria, perhaps even in his entire life. Luckily for him, his species were naturally resistant to cold temperatures, both due to their Fighting/Steel-type element and their tenacity to endure in normally unbearable enviroments. From what he had read about it in books back in Cameran Palace, Lucarios were seemingly rather well-known for their tendency to live in the mountains, training vigorously in all manner of climates to train themselves.

Still, he wondered if other Lucarios would've been able to keep their composure in his situation. Not because of suddenly finding themselves in subzero temperatures, but because of suddenly finding themselves in subzero temperatures... while balancing on the extremely tiny peak of a rock.

Not even thinking about his uncomfortable stance, Lucario looked over his current location. He was on top of some kind of mountain, giving him a view of a wide, open world of forests, fields, canyons, and even a nearby desert. While he didn't look above him, he could hear the sound of thunder coming from the sky, and the darkened landscape gave him the impression that a thundercloud was floating above. He briefly pondered if the cloud had something to do with Nightmare Moon, but quickly rejected that theory. What he saw near the foot of the peak he was standing on was enough to tell him that he wasn't in Equestria anymore, or Tartarus for that matter.

Three strange beings stood below and stared at him. Two of them were vaguely humanoid in appearance. A boy and a girl, if their blue and pink colored clothes were any indication. They were much shorter than adults, though, but still rather deformed compared to children. Two wooden mallets were lying by their feet, although their great sizes made Lucario doubt if they really belonged to the kids or not. They seemed to be afraid of him, as they had their hands up to their mouths in suppressed gasps. It was a reaction Lucario was used to seeing by now, from both humans, Pokémon, and ponies alike.

The third member of the group, however, was another matter.

At first glance, the being's form somewhat resembled that of a Jigglypuff, but covered from head to toe in armor like a knight. A blue cape on its back fluttered in the wind, and it was carrying a golden sword in its right hand. Its face was hidden behind a metal mask, with only a v-shaped opening revealing a pair of yellow eyes behind it. In contrast to the kids, these eyes held no fear in them. They stared up at him with only mild confusion, without any sort of tension at all.

Lucario had no idea what this creature was, or were he was located. But regardless of its role in his sudden arrival to this place, it was the only living thing around that he could hope to get any answers from.

Answers he had to get if he would have any chance of returning to his new home again.

With a strong push of his foot, Lucario leapt off the peak and landed in front of the group. Seeing the knight tense up in response, he held up a paw towards it as aura began to course through his body, letting blue flames engulf his arm. It was a defensive position, one he only planned to keep until he could ask for some answers. However, the knight held up its sword in response, and the kids gulped as they watched the confrontation.

Whether he liked it or not, Lucario realized that a battle was inevitable.

A brief flash of light was the only warning Lucario recieved before he found his face inches away from the edge of the golden blade. Acting on instinct, Lucario brought his paw up and barely managed to deflect the swing before it could cut his head open. Seeing his foe now vulnerable after the strike, Lucario aimed a punch at the knight's mask. His attack missed as the knight leapt into the air, swinging at Lucario some more as he passed over his head. Lucario responded by simply ducking down to avoid the slashes, and stood up just as quickly in order to grab his opponent's arm to disarm and bring him back down.

However, much to his surprise, the knight ascended even higher into the air to avoid his grasp. The blue cape on the knight's back was now replaced by a pair of bat wings, their flaps giving their owner an extra push to keep himself airborne. Only briefly fazed by this display of arial mobility, Lucario swiftly conjured up an Aura Sphere and threw it up at the knight.

In the blink of an eye, the bat wings had transformed back to a cape, which the knight wrapped around himself as the sphere closed in. Then, just as the attack was about to hit its target, he was gone. Having been unable to detect his opponents movements, Lucario quickly closed his eyes and activated Aura Sense. He had just enough time to feel his foe's presence behind him, and he spun around while lifting his arms to deflect the incoming sword slash with his Metal Claws.

A sharp surge of pain shot through his torso as the knight's attack successfully sliced across Lucario's chest. With eyes widened in confusion, Lucario backflipped away as he clutched his wound with his paw. A paw that had yet to bring out any Metal Claws. What was going on? Why didn't his attack work?

The knight, sensing Lucario's bewilderment, readied his sword once again as he dashed forward to strike the Pokémon while he was open. He was only halfway there before a blue light shined down at him, followed by an explosion as the Aura Sphere from before struck him from above. Like countless others, he'd had no idea about the sphere's homing capabilities. He bounced over the ground a few times, smoke from the blast surrounding his form, before he regained his footing with a flap of his wings. He raised his gaze from the ground just in time to see Lucario coming towards him, aiming a glowing paw at his face.

Just like before, the knight wrapped his cape around him and teleported away, reappearing behind Lucario's back. However, repetition was a bad choice of tactic against the Pokémon, which the knight learned upon seeing that Lucario had raised his second paw behind him as well, anticipating the cross-up. The impact sent the knight flying backwards, who flipped around in midair to land back on his feet before readying himself once more.

But he was met with nothing but an empty field of snow as he found his foe gone without a trace. Too late did he figure out his opponent's plan as he felt his cape pulling him into the air. Behind him, Lucario swung the knight upwards before slamming him back down into the ground. He was thankful to see that he was still able to use ExtremeSpeed. Fighting a foe with this kind of attack speed would otherwise prove troublesome.

Not waiting for the knight to fall back down, Lucario threw yet another Aura Sphere in his direction. Sadly, the knight recomposed himself and began to spin around at a rapid pace. It didn't take long before a small, yellow tornado began to swirl around his body. Not only did this move somehow let him float to the side, but the incoming Aura Sphere was harmlessly detonaded just out of reach, as if it had just been sliced open by the knight's sword. After landing, the knight spared no time in continuing his assault, hopping into the air sword-first as he charged towards Lucario like a drill. Lucario, in response, lifted his paw to block the attack with Ice Punch, hoping that the move would work.

But Lucario's hopes were for naught as no ice spread over his arm, leaving the Pokémon to block the knight's attack with his bare palm. By reflex, knowing that the blade would pierce through his paw if not deflected, Lucario attempted to fire off a Force Palm. This time the move worked, and the knight just barely managed to hold on to the hilt of his sword as he was sent back by the shockwave. No doubt feeling pain in his hand from the impact, he remained stationary as he seemingly caught his breath, letting Lucario do the same.

This battle was beginning to drag on too long for Lucario's liking. While the knight was remarkably skilled, he was nowhere near the same level of power as Nightmare Moon. If Lucario had access to his full arsenal of moves, he could've won this fight without much trouble. Still, he respected his opponent for his abilities. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen anyone swing a sword that swiftly before.

A sudden spark of light interrupted Lucario's thoughts, and he lifted his head up to detect its source. To his confusion, an orb were floating back and forth above their heads. It glew in all manner of colors, and some kind of plus-shaped emblem was barely visible on its surface. As he tried to figure out what this object was, the knight was revealed to have other plans. With a powerful flap of his wings, he flew up to the sphere and cut it in half with his sword. After another flash of light, the knight landed back on the ground, his body now engulfed in rainbow-colored flames.

Standing as if petrified by the sight, Lucario watched the knight grab hold of his cape and swing it in his direction. Amazingly enough, the cape grew in size slightly as it barely reached Lucario. The whole world then suddenly turned dark. The few flakes of snow in the air stopped in their tracks, and the sound of the wind died out as if muted. The only thing Lucario could hear was a deep, echoing voice.

"Behold..."

Then, before anyone could possibly react, a giant pillar of light banished the lingering darkness. It rose up to the heavens in the blink of an eye, cutting a giant hole through the thundercloud floating high above the mountain's peak. At the pillars base, the knight stood with his sword raised. The light wasn't some kind of spell or any energy-based attack. It had been a simple slash. A single, extremely powerful slash that cut apart anything that were unfortunate enough to be in its way.

An unfortunate fate that Lucario had seemingly met with, as he still stood in front of the knight with widened eyes. The knight swung his blade to the side in a finishing manner. The only thing he had to do now was to wait for his opponent's body to react to his Galaxia Darkness attack. It wouldn't surprise him if Lucario's body was cleanly cut in two.

What did surprise him, however, was the sight of Lucario fading out of existense, like a mirage within a thick mist. He was even more surprised by suddenly being tripped over by a powerful slide kick to his feet, falling backwards as Lucario grinded to a halt in front of him. Wasting no time, Lucario proceeded to grab the knight by his mask, slammed him into the ground, and then released a Force Palm on his pinned down opponent. Waves of snow blew away from the impact as the knight's body was pressed into the ground. While his mask had impressively enough remained intact from the attack, it mattered little at this point. Still holding onto the mask, Lucario lifted the knight out of the now present hole in the ground, conjuring up another Aura Sphere in his free paw as he did.

But once he threw it, the sphere was not aimed at the knight. Instead, it flew off to the right, aiming for another glowing orb that had materialized earlier without the knight's knowledge. As the sphere hit its mark, the knight's yellow eyes grew in size as Lucario's body began to glow with the same rainbow colors his own body had done before.

"Your turn... to behold."

Bringing his free paw to the mask's surface as well, Lucario let the power of the orb course through his palms. A blinding, blue light engulfed the knight's form as a giant beam of aura blasted its way over his body. Lucario had no idea how big the beam actually was, but he could feel its power flying off into the distance, the end of its range remaining a mystery.

As the snow around the area settled down, Lucario lowered his paws and looked at the effect of his attack. Nearly all the snow on the entire mountain top had been blown away, and even much of the ice below it had cracked upon from the force. On the sidelines, he could see the two children hugging each other with a mixture of terror and amazement, their jaws hanging open and their pupils so small they were barely even visible.

Some distance in front of him, a golden statue was lying on the ground. To Lucario's shock, it was a statue of the knight, and a quick check of it with Aura Sense revealed that it was indeed the knight's real body. Walking up to it, Lucario brought his paw to his chin in thought. While the knight had been hostile, Lucario still wished to ask him about his current whereabouts. This world obviously worked differently compared to his homeworld and Equestria, and making enemies like this would get him nowhere in figuring out a way home.

Memories of being accepted by complete strangers in an alien world flashed before his mind, and Lucario's eyes sharpened in resolve. Crossing the remaining distance between him and the knight, Lucario tapped the statue with his paw. He didn't know why he did it, but something inside him told him that this would somehow work.

It was the same feeling that told him that his adventure in this strange land was far from over.

To be continued...?

Author's Note

Happy April Fools's Day!

Take note: I literally began to plan this entire fight the second I started to write it. Around 20:00, I got the idea for a Lucario vs Meta Knight fight, and figured it would make a good joke chapter. Finished it in three and a half hours. I hope you all enjoy it.

And come on, y'all, don't be so sad. I promise that the real Nightmares May Dream - Part 2 will be up soon. There hasn't been a single day where I haven't thought about this fic and you guys since I started to write this thing, afterall. I won't leave you hanging now!

KangTheGuardian -

P.S: You guys DID get that this chapter was a reference to Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Subspace Emissary story... right?

Nightmares May Dream - Part 2

There were many things he had expected to happen during his and the being’s journey through the darkness. Considering how long it had been absent from him, it wouldn’t surprise him if the being spent the entire journey talking about what it had been up to and why it had been gone for so long. Perhaps it would’ve occasionally asked him about what he himself had done all this time, inquiring him about his work and what designs he had made up for it. A part of him even expected the being to suddenly stop and create something out of nowhere to amuse itself with for a few moments, like another patch of grass, before moving on. The possibility of this was great enough that he had even begun to imagine the ensuing quarrel between them in his head. He would scold the being for wasting time, and the being would in return tell him that he needed to relax more.

He had expected many things to happen, but a lingering silence was not one of them. So far, the entire journey had been spent without the being uttering a single word. It wanted to tell him something; that much was certain. It continuously turned to him with its mouth half-open, preparing to say something, only to close it and turn away again. It was as if it was trying to keep itself from talking. Half the time, it even looked a bit frustrated by its own hesitance, a frustration that had begun to spread over to him as well.

Despite the length of their walk, the being had yet to inform him of where they were going and what it was going to show him. It had mentioned something about a “world”, but that was the only clue it had given him. If it was more information about this subject that the being was keeping itself from telling him, it was doing a poor job of hiding it. Curious as he was, though, he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of travelling so far away from his own work for reasons he knew almost nothing about.

What confused him even more were the red marks on the being’s cheeks. For some reason, they had stayed on ever since he had spoken its name when they began to walk, and they seemed to grow brighter every time the being turned around to say something.

After yet another repetition of the being trying to say something, his patience finally ran out. He decided that it was time for it to come clean, even if he had to drag the answers out of it himself.

“What’s keeping you from telling me?” he asked it just as it turned its head away. The question apparently caught the being off-guard, as it jumped in surprise and turned back to him with widened eyes.

“W-What?” it asked him. The red marks on its cheeks had grown even larger than before.

“If you’re going to explain where you’re leading me, then get on with it. This secrecy of yours has only served to confuse me this entire time.”

The being blinked a few times, as if it was processing what he had just said. The silence only lasted a few moments before a glimpse of realization flashed in its eyes.

“Oh. You didn’t mean… Ah, hahaha. Okay, I see. Um, nevermind then,” it said in-between laughs before collecting itself. “I wasn’t planning on telling you what I’m going to show you at all. It’s such a great surprise, and I would hate to spoil it!”

“What could be so-” he tried to ask.

“Sorry! Not telling!” the being interrupted him in a teasing tone while rolling its eyes. He almost couldn’t keep himself from rolling his own, albeit in a different mood. He had not come all this way just to have the being play around the subject.

“Then what is it that you’ve wanted to say?”

The being’s eyes widened yet again, but this time not out of shock or surprise. The red marks on its cheeks returned after briefly fading away before during its teasing, and it let its head fall down a bit as it looked back and forth between him and the void they walked on.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

He hadn't expected the sudden apology, and it took a moment for him to verbalize a response. “F-For what?”

“For leaving you like that. I lied when I said that I was going to explore the area more. I just had an idea I wanted to try out, and I was afraid that you would… I don’t know… get angry if I told you about it. But once I got started, there was so much to do, so much to keep track of. I wanted to come back and get you, I promise, but I just didn’t have the time. I’ve felt so awful about it all this time… I’m so sorry, **--*…”

“…Your apology is unnecessary,” he answered after trying to piece together the clues hidden in the being’s explanation. Whatever it was that it had been working on, it was not only required to be monitored and maintained at a near-constant basis, but it was also something he would’ve objected to if the being had told him about it. If this was true, it didn’t help to ease his worrying expectations about their destination at all. “I’ve already told you that I didn’t even notice your absence before-”

“STOP SAYING THAT!” His sentence was interrupted as the being suddenly shouted and stepped in front of him. It stared into his eyes with an expression of slight anger and self guilt. “You may not realize just how long I’ve been gone, but I do!”

He stared blankly back at the being, surprised by its sudden outburst, but unable to understand the reason behind it. The being seemingly noticed this, and the anger in its eyes faded as it sighed and sat down with its head hanging.

“I… I’ve thought about you so many times since I left. Every time I created something new, I promised myself that I would go and get you. I even created some things to motivate myself to do so. You know that word I said before, ‘Time’? I made such a thing up just so I could know how long I’ve been gone, and to pressure myself to go back to you.

“…But I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave it all behind, I had to stay and watch over it. Something would always go wrong, forcing me to fix it before my whole work was ruined. I even managed to start walking away a bit before having to turn around to fix something else. And I couldn’t just move it all over to you, not in the state it’s in now. I’m actually worried that something else might’ve gone wrong while I was away now, even though I made sure that it was okay a thousand times over before I left.

“All this time, I’ve wanted to see you again, and show you what I’ve made. I wanted to talk to you about it, explain how and why I created it, and what inspired me to do so. I would look over my shoulder to see the look on your face… but you were never there. For such a long time, no one was there. I was… I felt so lonely…”

The being had yet to raise its head up to look at him. It spoke so quietly that it seemed that it was speaking to itself. And all this time, listening to its every word, he looked down at it. His expression remained unchanged throughout the entire speech, and in most part, his mind did the same. Tried as he might, he couldn’t understand the meaning behind what the being was saying. He couldn’t make out the reasons for the way it spoke, its voice quiet and sincere. He couldn’t fathom the origins behind the words that were hidden beyond his sight within the being’s conscience.

“Like I said… unnecessary,” he eventually said, making the being flinch upon hearing him. “You know just as well as I do that we’ve done nothing in the past but annoy and distract each other from our work. You’re a burden to me, as am I to you. When you left, I was finally free from your interference, and we’ve now accomplished things alone that we could’ve never done together. Regardless of what you’ve created by now, you could’ve achieved so much more without spending every other thought on me. Even apart, you keep on distracting yourself by thinking about someone you’ve no reason to care about.”

He walked a few steps forward; stopping next to the being’s sitting form. He didn’t even look down at it as the next few words left his mouth.

“It would’ve been best if you hadn’t returned at all, *--*-*.”

Without looking down to see the being’s reaction, he began to walk away in order to resume their journey. Just like he’d expected, the being had only served to stall their progress. It was still even refusing to answer his questions about their destination. He began to curse his decision to follow it in the first place. He could only imagine the new things he could’ve created by now instead of venturing out on this pointless walk.

He reflexively perked his ears up, expecting the being to lash out at him again, or blabber on about some other, meaningless topic. But instead of words of argument or an annoyed grunt, he found himself hearing something he’d never heard from it before.

Small gasps, sometimes followed by almost inaudible squeals, escaped through the being’s breaths. As he turned around to look back at it, he noticed that it had yet to stand back up from its sitting position. He could see its shoulders shaking slightly with each gasp, and that it had raised its limbs up to its face, covering its eyes as if it was shielding them. He could just barely make out small droplets of liquid falling from its face.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, standing in silence as he listened to these strange sounds. The moment he first heard them, he had begun to sense something build up within his chest. It was as if a void was forming within it, creating a hole in his very soul. He had no idea what it was, or why he was feeling it now. He only knew that whatever it was, it was growing more and more unbearable.

He remained quiet as he walked back to the being, stopping in front of it. This time, though, out of curiosity and other unknown reasons, he leaned down to get a better look on the being’s face. He didn’t even notice himself raising his limb to it, slowly lifting it by the cheek to let the being’s eyes look back at his.

The red color on its cheeks had now nearly spread out over the being’s entire face. Its eyes were red as well, almost swollen as drops continued to fall from them. Its jaw was held shut, but its lips were parted in a grimace, leaving its clenching teeth visible for him to see. As it stared at him, he could see anger boiling within its eyes even more than before, mixed with something else he had no word for. He didn’t ask it what it was. In fact, he refrained from saying anything at all. His chest had begun to ache even more upon seeing the being like this, and he felt like it would grow even worse if he spoke.

Despite his silence, the being’s expression slowly began to soften. Its anger made way for confusion as it stared at him; as if it was listening to the unspoken words he was stopping himself from saying. After lifting a limb back to its face to dry its eyes one more time, it suddenly spoke to him with a shaky voice.

“…If you think we’re better off apart… then why did you stand up to go and look for me before?”

While their journey had been silent before, it was nothing compared to the silence that now reigned over the area. The being seemed to stare beyond the mere borders of his eyes, its own not wavering in the slightest as it waited for his answer. It was as if it was looking for something even he was unable to see deep within himself. Was it trying to read his thoughts? Was it trying to look into his very soul? Or was it trying to sense his… his…

My… feelings…

The being had mentioned that word shortly after returning to him, and he had grown to despise it the moment he heard it. What these ‘feelings’ were had been no concern of his. His ability for creation had been the only thing to fill his mind, and he had needed nothing else. Even the being’s presence had served as nothing more than a nuisance to his work. As long as he could let his thoughts take shape in his designs, nothing else had mattered to him.

And yet there had been something missing, a piece of his existence missing from his soul. No matter how much he created, he never managed to fill that hole. So he had tried again, changing and erasing his work over and over to find the one thing he unconsciously sought. But regardless of what uses his designs had, they never fulfilled the purpose he had in mind. How could they? He didn’t even know what he was trying to make in the first place, what it was that could fill up the void in his chest.

But now, as he stared into the light blue eyes in front of him, that sense of something missing began to fade.

Was this why he had suddenly noticed the being’s absence? No matter how much he thought of it, it didn’t make any sense. The being had only served to annoy him. Every moment he spent with it was frustrating. When it was near, he couldn’t focus on his work, and he couldn’t make up new designs without having it object or creating something pointless in return. By every sense of logic, he would’ve had it better if he had never come to know the being at all.

But in the back of his mind, he knew that it wouldn’t have been better that way. Because regardless of how the being made him feel, the fact remained that it actually made him feel something at all. Something he couldn’t duplicate with a wave of his limb into some kind of object. For all the times it complained about his designs, he knew that it was because it was interested in his creations. For all the times they argued, he felt a feeling of warmth in his chest, knowing that he had someone to talk to at all. It was enough to make him want to have the being at his side, because in the end, it didn’t simply irritate him. It made him feel… feel...

He didn’t know what he felt. Nor did he know why those feelings were so important to him. As he continued to stare into the being’s eyes, he still found himself unable to answer its question. Why did it mean so much to him? Why was the being itself always thinking and caring about him? Why did it make him feel complete, giving him purpose beyond just aimlessly creating things in the dark?

Why do I want to be with you? he asked himself in a final attempt to gather his thoughts. In the end, however, he was left with only one answer.

“I… don’t know.”

His eyes fell from the being’s own, breaking their eye contact as he suddenly didn’t want to look at it anymore. Not out of annoyance or irritation like all those times before, but simply because he didn’t want to see its reaction to his answer. It was strange how much things had changed, how different he was now compared to mere moments ago.

He didn’t have long to ponder his change, though. Small giggles interrupted his thoughts as the being brought a limb to its mouth in a pointless effort to block its laughs. Strangely enough, he could feel the ache in his chest settle down as he heard the familiar sound. The giggles eventually ended, and the being raised its head back up to look at him.

“Don’t worry… It’s fine.”

It lifted its limb back up, this time placing it on his cheek before slowly, with the tiniest bit of force, pulling his head closer to it.

“You may not realize it… but I do.”

“W-What’s happening? Where am I? Who’s there?!”

“FEAR NOT, YOUNG DISTANCE DROP! THY PRINCESS IS HERE TO HELP THEE CONQUER THY FEARS!”

“No… not you! S-Stay back! Don’t come near me!”

“W-What? No, wait, listen to us! We only wish to help-”

“Stay away from me! By Celestia, somepony help me! HELP!”

With a heavy sigh, Luna opened her eyes in the looming darkness. As she did so, the world around her also became visible once again to the disoriented Lucario. Before focusing on Luna’s new whereabouts, he tried to make sense of what he had just seen during her conversation with a colt named Distance Drop.

What was that? The whole world suddenly felt… unstable. It seemed like it was constantly changing before my- Luna’s eyes. I can’t even recall it all completely…

Realizing that dwelling on it wouldn’t get him anywhere for the moment, Lucario took notice of Luna’s current surroundings. He could see everything around her clearly, but he could still tell that it was nighttime. Everything was quiet, and only a mild breeze was audible in the air. As for Luna’s location, she was standing by the side of a building, looking through one of its windows. Instead of glass, a simple drapery hung in front of it, which Luna was currently holding up using her magic. From what little time Lucario had to tell from the room inside, it was the home of a rather poor family. The furniture was heavily worn out, and it seemed like the entire house only had one, big room.

On a small bed located in the far corner, a panting colt was sitting up with his thin blanket thrown down on the floor. His entire body was shaking as he just stared into space, too scared out of his mind to look around. Luna seemingly knew better than to wait for him to see her through the window, though, as she turned around and began to walk away down the dirty road next to the house.

*sigh* “Why do we even bother anymore?” she quietly said to herself. “As if entering their dreams like that will ever work.” A hint of sadness was clearly detectable in her voice, but she didn’t elaborate on the reasons behind it for Lucario to hear. While he was able to see and hear everything she did, he was still unable to read her thoughts.

So that strange scene with the colt before was a dream? Lucario thought to himself as he heard Luna’s words. But why did she enter his dream in the first place? Is that part of her duty as the princess of the night?

As she walked, Luna occasionally cast a few glances to the buildings around her. Judging by their numbers, Lucario guessed that she was walking through a fairly large city. The buildings seemed to be just as old as the one Luna had just been to, as many scratches and cracks were visible on the rocky house walls. All of them had windows with the same, dirty kind of drapery hanging over them as the other house, and the roofs were made out of straw, similar in design to the ones used by common villagers several centuries ago.

Luna mentioned at our meeting in Canterlot that she and Celestia began to rule Equestria over a thousand years ago. This must take place sometime before her transformation into Nightmare Moon. Is this how Canterlot used to look like back then?

While this theory sounded plausible at first, Lucario suddenly remembered the conversation he had overheard between the two royal guards he encountered in the caves below Canterlot.

No, that can’t be right. If what that guard said was true, then Celestia didn’t build Canterlot until after Luna’s banishment. And those words she said to the ponies after beating Discord… ‘Ever free’… The guard did mention that the princesses used to rule Equestria from a castle inside the Everfree Forest. So that would make this... Everfree City?

While Lucario thought about all this, Luna passed by a narrow alleyway on her left side. Instinctively lifting her gaze from the ground to look at it, she noticed a pair of shadows disappearing around its corner. An empty basket fell down from the barrel that the shadows had passed by; serving as proof for Luna that she hadn’t been seeing things.

“Who’s there?” she called out, trying to be as quiet as possible so that none of the ponies in the nearby buildings would wake up. Like she probably expected, she received no answer. Normally, she would’ve left it at that and kept walking, but Lucario noticed how she kept staring into the alley. The shadows, from what he had the time to tell, were noticeably smaller than those of an adult pony. This fact must’ve caught Luna’s attention as well, as she transformed her body into stardust before flying up above roof level.

After a bit of searching, she found what she was looking for. Stepping through the darkness of the alleyways were two young unicorn fillies. One of them, who had a clear white coat and a pink-colored mane with a purple stripe through it, was moving so stealthily from cover to cover that it was almost comical. She pressed her back up to almost every wall and object she hid behind, throwing overly dramatic gazes all around her in search of potential danger. Behind her, walking much more realistically after her over-the-top companion, was another filly of similar age. She had a simple blond mane, and her coat was a multicolored mix of chestnut and different shades of brown. Even from this distance, thanks to Luna’s night vision, Lucario could make out the annoyed expression on her face. More importantly, he could hear them bickering quietly between each other as they snuck.

“I told you to be more care-”

“Shh! We’re trying to sneak here.”

“Exactly! Do you have to tackle nearly every barrel you see to the ground when you hide behind them? What if somepony saw us?”

“Pff, you worry too much. Remember who you’re talking to here.”

*sigh* “That’s exactly why I’m worrying…”

Luna stayed hidden above the fillies for a few more moments, watching the more serious one of the two lift a hoof to her forehead as they slowly made their way through the alleys. However, after probably assuming that they wouldn’t say anything of interest, she dived down in front of them both, taking on her normal form as she did.

“Greetings to thee, our young subjects,” she said as she landed. The fillies’ reactions were roughly what Lucario had expected from such a sudden greeting. The one at the front, who had just walked out from behind another trash barrel, jumped up into the air while yelping in fright. Either by complete accident or intentional comedic effect, she somehow managed to fall perfectly into the barrel she’d just hid behind. The second one had a similar reaction, but instead chose to throw herself into cover behind a pair of crates. She rolled into the wall a little harder than she’d probably intended, but still got back on her hooves in order to watch Luna from the edge of the back crate.

“No need to be afraid,” Luna hurried to assure them. “Thou are but speaking to Princess Luna, ruler of the night, and younger sister of Princess Celestia.”

A rather long and awkward silence followed as Luna waited for the two to say something. She tried her best to hold up the reassuring smile on her face, but it was getting more and more strained as the fillies just continued to look at her. The shock they received from her sudden appearance was still present on their expressions, and it wasn’t farfetched to assume that they would soon change into looks of fear.

It was this assumption that caused both Lucario and Luna to be surprised when the white-coated filly’s lips slowly began to tug themselves into a smile. By the time it had turned into a full-out grin, her other friend finally threw a quick glance away from Luna to see the up-building reaction.

“Sneaky, calm down.”

“I don’t think I can…”

“You’re going to wake up the entire block.”

“Worth it…”

“Listen, I’m just as excited as you are.”

“Doubt it…”

“But we have to stay quiet, even if it is-”

“PRINCESS LUNA!”

The ironically named Sneaky shouted at the top of her lungs as she shot out of her barrel prison, making it fall over with a loud thud. She barely even touched the ground before leaping towards Luna, wrapping her hooves around her neck and squeezing her with all her might.

“Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh, it’s actually you! The real you! Not a demon trying to devour me in my dreams or anything, but just you! Oh, oh, can I touch your mane?! Can I hear the stars twinkle in it if I put my ear to it?! Can I-”

In-between trying to pull the overly excited filly off her with her hoof and wheezing for air, Luna turned her head to one of the nearby windows upon noticing lights being lit within the building. Even through all of Sneaky’s loud talking, muffled voices could still be heard coming from inside as its residents woke up from the noise. Clearly not wanting to be caught like this by her already mistrusting subjects, Luna took a quick step towards the other filly, who had remained hidden behind the crates with a worried frown. Her horn lit up briefly before she and the fillies disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the investigating ponies that peaked out from their windows to simply find an empty alley with a fallen over barrel.

When Lucario’s sight returned to him, he found Luna and the fillies standing on the side of a small street. Judging by the poor condition of the nearby houses, it was still somewhere within the city’s poor district. These houses, however, had actual glass windows, and the roofs were made of more modern tiles instead of straw. It was quiet around them once again as Sneaky, still clutching onto Luna’s neck, looked around a bit in surprise upon noticing how they’d suddenly teleported. She was undoubtedly about to comment on this before her friend leapt up to put her hoof to her mouth before she could even open it.

“Don’t. You. Dare,” she punctuated as she locked eyes with Sneaky with a venomous stare. Probably getting the hint at last, Sneaky let go of her grip and softly landed back on the ground. She threw a quick shrug in her friend’s direction.

“Sorry. It’s just…” She looked back at Luna in awe. “It’s her. It’s really her.”

“As you were kind enough to shout over that entire block,” her friend deadpanned as she dusted off her coat a bit. “But… you’re right.” To both Lucario’s and Luna’s surprise, the filly’s voice grew soft as she too looked up at Luna, her eyes even more awe inspired than Sneaky’s. “Princess Luna…”

Caught off-guard by the fillies staring, Luna kept quiet for a few seconds before eventually catching on to her very un-royal behavior. She immediately straightened herself and made a quiet cough as she regained her composure.

*cough* “Indeed, our young subjects. We’re the one and only Princess Luna, like we’ve already assured thee. We’re… grateful for thy enthusiastic welcoming, although…” She lightly rubbed her neck with a hoof. “…We would appreciate no more sudden invasions of our personal space.”

Both she and the other filly glanced at Sneaky, who took a moment to realize that the request was referring to her.

“Oh, right, sorry. Your mane really did twinkle, though.”

“What my friend is TRYING to say is…” The other filly jabbed Sneaky in the side before forcing her head down in a bow with a hoof. “We’re so sorry about before.” She looked back up at Luna with a mix of worry and adoration. “And it’s an honor to meet you… your majesty.”

“That’s putting it lightly.”

“Be quiet.”

Luna couldn’t help but smile a bit at the fillies’ humorous bickering. “It’s quite all right, young ones. Do not worry thyselves about it anymore. Now tell us, what are thy names?”

“Oh! Oh!” Sneaky immediately lifted her head back up despite her friend’s grip on it and waved her hoof like a scoolfilly in class.

“Thy name we believe we’ve already been acquainted with,” Luna said. “Sneaky, if we’re correct.”

“That’s right!” Sneaky answered proudly before suddenly throwing herself to the ground in a prone position. “I’m the stealthiest and most undetectable pony in all of Everfree! No, make that all of Equestria!” She began to crawl around as she continued to boast. Upon reaching a discarded pot of withered flowers under a nearby window, she quickly grabbed them and held them in front of her face, as if they were supposed to hide her. “Once I’m in the shadows or behind a clever disguise, I’m practically invisible! ”

Sneaky’s two-pony audience watched her little demonstration in awkward silence before her friend turned to Luna with what must’ve been a regularly practiced neutral expression. “She’s deluding herself, I know.”

“Hey!”

“It’s so unfitting for you. Just because 'Sneaky' is your name doesn’t mean it’s your talent. I mean, if your name had anything to do with it, you would’ve had your cutie mark by now.”

“To move on from the subject…” Luna said, sensing an approaching argument in the air as the fillies exchanged grumpy stares. “What does thy name happen to be then, young unicorn?”

“Landlubber, your highness.” The filly quickly answered with a straight and proud face.

Your name doesn’t fit much better… Lucario thought, unbeknownst to him exactly at the same time as Luna thought the same.

“Very well then, young Landlubber and Sneaky. Now that our introductions are out of the way, may we ask what the two of thee were doing out here in the middle of our night? The dark streets are no place for children like thee.”

“Lubby was just escorting me home after our nightly walk,” Sneaky answered as she bounced back to Landlubber’s side, just in time to have her friend’s hoof pressed against her mouth once more.

“Nightly?” Luna repeated in slight surprise “Thou mean that thou go out like this every night?”

“Of course!” Sneaky exclaimed happily as she shoved Landlubber’s hoof away. “We always climb on top of a tall rooftop and watch the stars and the moon together.” Turning to Landlubber for affirmation, she instead found the unicorn filly giving her what was certainly by now an often seen frown. “Oh come on, why wouldn’t we? You like it just as much as I do, not to mention all the other kids.”

“Others? There are more of thee than just thou two that… watch our night?” The surprise was this time clear in Luna’s voice. In fact, Lucario almost thought he could hear a trace of… disbelief.

“They already went back on their own,” Landlubber explained. “But we meet up every night we can to watch the night sky, like Sneaky said. We know we’ll get in trouble if somepony finds out, but… we really don’t have much else to do together.” She looked up at Luna with a hint of worry in her eyes. “Are we in trouble?”

“Huh?” Luna responded, having seemingly drifted off in deep thought. She quickly shook her head once the words registered. “N-No, of course not, child. We would never think of punishing thee for simply… enjoying our night. But still, we believe it’s best for thee to return home now, before morning draws too close. Tell us where thou live, and we’ll make sure thou will get there post haste.”

“Right! Leave it to me, princess!” Sneaky saluted before starting to spin around in circles, scanning the surrounding area with her hoof. “If I got our location down right, my house should be riiight… here, actually.”

Sneaky ceased her spinning search as she found herself pointing right at the building they were all standing by. She blinked a few times before turning to Luna with an impressed smile. “Wow, you’re good. Or am I good? Who knows?”

Landlubber rolled her eyes. “Well, in that case, I better head back as well. See you tomorrow, Sneaky?” She asked, surprisingly with a hint of hopefulness in her voice, considering all of the two’s bickering up until this point.

“You bet!” Sneaky beamed and gave her friend a hug. “And it’s been so fantastic meeting you, princess! Thank you so much!” She ran up and gave Luna an only slightly less painful hug than she’d given her neck before, which Luna returned as unawkwardly as she could. After letting go, she walked towards the door while waving back at them. “I hope we can see each other again! Bye, Lubby! Princess!”

Luna and Landlubber watched as Sneaky casually opened the door and went inside without a second thought. For someone calling herself the stealthiest and most undetectable pony in all of Everfree, she sure could use some more lessons in subtlety, Lucario thought, wondering why the filly didn’t seem to care about risking her parents waking up from all the noise.

“Now then,” Luna said as she turned to Landlubber. “Shall we be off, young one?”

“Y-Yes, your highness.” Landlubber bowed her head, and Luna followed her lead as they began to make their way down another alley.

The walk was mostly spent in silence, with Luna only reassuring Landlubber once that there was no need to walk so carefully anymore with the princess of the night herself escorting her. As they moved onward, Lucario took the chance to ponder over Luna’s strange reactions from before.

Did I just imagine it? She reacted as if ponies have never even looked up at her night sky before. This may take place a thousand years ago, but surely astronomy had been invented at this point. Why is she so surprised?

As he thought this, Lucario noticed Luna’s eyes drifting to Landlubber from time to time, occasionally opening her mouth a bit as if wanting to say something.

Whatever it is, she’s troubled by it. But I still don’t understand how all of this is connected to Nightmare Moon.

Thinking back on his encounter with the fallen alicorn, Lucario gathered what he knew for sure about her. She was prideful, but not arrogant like Chrysalis had been. She held her night in higher regard than anything, and was easily enraged when anyone dared to speak ill of it. And most of all, her dream of ushering forth an eternal night over Equestria was something she was more than happy to proclaim to whoever she met.

All of these traits pointed towards a mare with a single-minded purpose. A mare who cared about little else than fulfilling her goals, sparing no thought of the ponies that would suffer because of her selfish dream.

A mare who contrasted greatly to the shy, shut-in princess who were now escorting a small filly home in the middle of the night, and who had nearly been left speechless upon hearing of her and her friends’ nightly escapades.

That colt from before, Lucario thought as he reflected on the memory of Luna’s prior dream visit. He wasn’t the first to react that way, was he? He was just one of many, if not countless others who have shunned away like that. Shunning her night. That must’ve been why she was surprised to hear about a group of children sneaking out to watch it all the time. Because this was the first time she’d heard anyone ever speaking well of it.

All of a sudden, a familiar feeling of sympathy grew inside Lucario. He realized that this was the sole connection he could find between this past Luna and the present’s Nightmare Moon, as he’d felt just the same when he saw a wave of sorrow invade her eyes when he held her up against the tower wall.

“So you oppose my dream as well…”

…I do, Lucario found himself thinking. The only question is… why you’re still fighting for it.

By now, Luna had given up her attempts to speak, instead opting to just walk a few steps behind Landlubber as she led the way through the alleyways. As they passed onto a main street, Landlubber turned her head to the small tunnel that came into view around the corner. Next to its wall, under a single leaning layer of plywood held in place by a couple of rocks, slept a colt around Landlubber’s age. His coat was dark brown, almost black, and his curly mane and tail were bright white in color, although slightly faded from dust and dirt. His mane was long and unkempt, with strands sticking out everywhere in different directions. His sleeping spot was understandably uncomfortable for him, as his posture seemed somewhat strained and non-relaxed.

As she caught sight of the colt as well, Luna stepped up next to Landlubber and regarded him with curiosity. “Who’s this, pray tell?”

She barely finished the question before the colt’s eyes shot open. Luna had tried her best to stay quiet, but the colt’s hearing must’ve been that of a bat to immediately pick up on it. After noticing his sudden company, he spared no time in jumping to his hooves and dashing away, his little makeshift shelter collapsing as he disappeared around the corner. His light hoofsteps grew continuously more distant as he ran further and further away, leaving a confused Luna and Landlubber in his wake.

“That was Whiteout,” Landlubber answered Luna’s question. “He’s a new colt in the area, and nopony knows where he came from. He’s the only one in the group who doesn’t come with us on our night gazes. Although… he really isn’t a member of our group at all. More like the outcast.”

“We see…” Luna answered slowly, soon giving voice to the question that had struck Lucario’s mind as well. “But why was he sleeping out here by his lonesome? Surely he would have it better with a roof over his head?”

Landlubber didn’t answer immediately, but a small frown grew on her lips as she looked at the fallen plywood. “It’s best if I just show you, your highness.”

With that, she resumed her walk down the street, getting a few feet ahead before Luna followed after her. Both of them remained quiet for the remainder of the journey, which came to an end as the two reached a small plaza. A small fountain stood in the middle of the area, turned off for the night as its unicorn handler had went to bed. Both Luna’s and Lucario’s focus, however, laid themselves on the big building on the end of the street. While definitely in better shape than the rest of the buildings around it, its walls and roof were still showing signs of lacking caretaking. It was seemingly located at the border of the city, as what Lucario guessed to be the Everfree Forest was visible just a hundred feet behind it. Aged iron gates stood on each end of the property’s surrounding wall, far too short to reach each other across the open main entrance leading to the front doors.

Luna’s eyes eventually fell on the small signs located by each gate, and she stepped up to wipe the dust away from one of them to get a clear view. There was no name or writing underneath. Just the black silhouette of a prancing filly, a mark that a princess like Luna was no doubt familiar with.

“Thou are… an orphan?” Luna breathed out the question more than she actually spoke it, but Landlubber’s downcast gaze proved that she’d heard her.

“We all are. Me, Sneaky, and everypony else in our group. Whiteout too, probably, although he has never told us. Miss Flour is the only one who takes care of us in there, but she’s too old to give it much effort or even care. Sneaky is the only one who’s lucky to live somewhere else, although she’s just as much on her own as we are. That’s why I accompany her home while the rest come back here every night. Heh, Miss Flour never hears us, not with her bad hearing. That’s another thing she’s bad at, I guess. As well as making food, keeping track of us, cleaning the place, taking…”

Her rambling was interrupted by a small sob, and she quickly raised her foreleg up to rub her eyes.

“She… she barely does anything, really.”

As the young filly tried to regain her composure, Luna silently stood in front of her. It was clear that she had no idea what to do or how to act at the moment. Any other pony would probably run up and embrace her, and Lucario was sure that many would’ve been angry with how Luna instead kept her distance from the distraught filly.

But Lucario wasn’t. Because after having walked through the streets of Rota under Lady Rin’s service for several years, he was no stranger to the bottom of the economic ladder. Neither was he clueless to the reason for Luna’s awkward handling of the situation. As a princess, she was living a life of luxury in the castle. Hers and Celestia’s wealth was undoubtedly big enough that their savings could take care of a normal pony’s economic needs for life. With a simple summoning spell, Luna could’ve probably brought forth a bag of money or food to give to Landlubber in order to secure her and her friends’ daily needs for quite some time. However, treating one or even a few subjects with such unbiased care would inevitably lead to others demanding the same treatment. And no ruler, alicorn princess or otherwise, could do that. They could donate some of their funds to various needing groups, but there’s a limit to how much they can give. Even the most kind-hearted leaders can’t hope to please everyone.

Lucario had learned all this from both Lady Rin and Sir Aaron. Not from their teachings, but from simply watching them during meetings and councils. It was hard to accept such harsh facts about one’s limits, especially when the ones calling for aid are right in front of them. That much could be seen in his queen’s and mentor’s eyes when they regretfully turned down requests, both before and during the war. He was pretty sure a similar look could be seen in Luna’s own eyes now when she stood in front of Landlubber.

“I-I’m sorry,” Landlubber eventually forced out after drying up most of her tears. “I’ve already wasted enough of your time without breaking down like this. I’ll just get inside and let you get back to your duties, your highness.”

Luna regarded the small, but surprisingly mature filly for a moment before nodding. “It’s been no trouble, child. Our time has certainly not been wasted in thy company, thou have our word.”

Landlubber threw Luna a small smile before beginning to make her way to the orphanage. Luna turned to leave as well, but she stopped herself and looked back at the distant filly, briefly letting her gaze fall to the ground in thought.

“Landlubber?”

Both Landlubber and Luna jerked their heads up. Landlubber, because Luna suddenly wanted to talk to her again. And Luna, because she’d just called one of her subjects by name without any honorifics.

“Yes, your highness?” Landlubber walked back to Luna and sat down in front of her. At first, Luna seemed hesitant to continue, but eventually decided to get her question out.

“Why do all of thee watch my- OUR night? What’s so special about it to thee that thou risk being found out by thy caretaker, not to mention the guard?”

Landlubber clearly hadn’t expected such a question, but she still furrowed her brows in thought as she thought of an answer.

“It’s… complicated, I guess. I’m sorry, but I can’t really explain why. We just…”

The filly looked up at the night sky, and a smile grew on her face as she gazed upon the stars and the moon.

“We just love your nights so much, princess.”

Landlubber continued to watch the sky, unaware of the strange expression that fell over Luna’s face. Lucario didn’t know what she was thinking about, but the filly’s words must’ve had deeper meaning to her than most would realize. As flashbacks to his battle with Nightmare once again flooded his mind, Lucario slowly began to understand the reasons for the alicorn’s dream.

Luna… you…

“Wait here.”

Landlubber was effectively brought out of her stargazing when Luna suddenly gave her an order. Lucario had noticed a friendlier tone to Luna’s voice, but it seemingly passed over the surprised filly’s head.

“W-What?” she stuttered.

“Wait here, and don’t move,” Luna said as her horn suddenly began to glow. With a spark of blinding light, Landlubber was gone, as was the orphanage and the street they were standing on. Instead, Lucario found Luna face-to-face with a young unicorn mare carrying baskets of bread and fruit in her magic. She predictably whelped and fell to the floor, the baskets and their contents swiftly caught up in Luna’s own magic before they could be launched all across the kitchen in which they were now located.

“Thank thee, young Bonfire,” Luna said as she once again teleported away, returning to Landlubber with the two baskets in her grasp. Landlubber’s eyes widened drastically upon seeing the food, although she failed to get a single word out of her moving mouth.

“Take these inside and hide them where Miss Flour won’t see them. They’ll keep thee and thy friends full for at least a day or two.”

Luna floated the baskets down by Landlubber’s side, who was still either speechless or unsure of what to say about this sudden ordeal. Whether she would eventually shake herself out of her shock or not remained unknown, as a blue wing slowly wrapped around her and pulled her close to the alicorn in a gentle embrace.

“Don’t worry… It’ll be all right.”

The small form remained motionless inside Luna’s wing for several seconds before a pair of hooves slowly wrapped themselves around Luna’s chest. Nearly inaudible sobs could be heard coming from within, but Luna kept the filly close without opening her wing to look at her. Her own eyes closed themselves, leaving Lucario’s sight in darkness.

“And thank thee… for loving our night.”

“Your highness?”

Lucario didn’t know what had happened after Luna closed her eyes, but he quickly noticed the change of scenery as Luna reopened them upon hearing the voice. Landlubber, the orphanage, and the city streets were gone, replaced by some kind of bedchamber. Luna was sitting in front of a desk, having been in the process of signing a pile of documents stacked on top of each other. She placed her quill back into its inkwell before turning around to face the royal guard standing in the doorway.

“Yes, Moon Shield, what does thou wish?” she answered.

“The day's official meetings are about to begin in the throne room, your highness,” the guard answered with a salute. “Princess Celestia has already arrived there, and they’re all eagerly awaiting your presence.”

Lucario couldn’t help but notice that something was off about the guard’s report. The tone in his voice made his words sound almost sarcastic, as if he was hiding away some personal opinions about the matter. Luna seemingly noticed this as well, as she rolled her eyes and looked back down at her documents.

“Yes, verily. Return to our sister and inform her that we will be with her shortly.”

“Yes, your highness,” the guard answered before leaving the room. Although Luna didn’t turn around to look at him as he left, the sound of the chamber doors closing rather quickly gave Lucario the impression that the guard hadn’t keen on staying.

Although she had pretended to focus on her documents as if they were of greater importance at the moment, Luna sighed upon the guard’s leave and moved them to the side. Lucario hadn’t gotten a chance to read them in detail before they were pushed out of his and Luna’s sight, but nothing of critical importance had stuck out from them from what he’d gathered. If they were anything like the documents he’d seen Lady Rin and Sir Aaron work on back in Rota, they were probably just trivial reports and already made political decisions that simply needed to be officially signed by either a royal or noble name.

Luna brought her forehooves to her eyes and rubbed them in fatigue. While most of the room was covered in darkness, he could detect traces of daylight behind the curtain-covered windows. He had no idea how far into the day it was, but Luna’s lack of energy suggested that she hadn’t had a long night’s sleep. In fact, he wasn’t even sure why Luna was awake to begin with. Being the princess of the night, he’d expected her to be asleep at this hour before waking up to continue her duties during nighttime. If this was supposed to take place the day after Luna’s meeting with Landlubber and Sneaky, she couldn’t have had more than a few hours of sleep at most.

“Why does she keep inviting us to these meetings? She wants me there even less than the nobles do.”

Luna’s words caught Lucario by surprise. Of all the words he’d imagined her ever saying about her beloved sister, these were among the last he’d expected. They weren’t spiteful, nor did they hide any traces of hate, but they made it sound like the relationship between the sisters was rather strained.

There must be something going on here. Is it somehow linked to the poor reputation of her night, seeing as she mentioned her lacking standing with the nobles?

Standing up from her seat, Luna walked up to a window and lifted up part of the curtain covering it. Lucario was only briefly blinded by the light before his eyes readjusted themselves, letting him take in the view of the city spreading out below the balcony on which Luna was now standing. It was smaller than Lucario expected it to be, although it was still larger than Ponyville. As far as he was able to see, it was surrounded on all sides by the Everfree Forest, and what he guessed to be the future Canterlot Mountain stood in the distance. Apart from the castle tower Luna was located in, there weren’t any other tall buildings in sight, although Lucario guessed that at least one more tower should be located somewhere behind them, seeing as Celestia was in need of her own residence.

“We better deliver another basket or two to the children tonight,” Luna said to herself as her eyes fell on the distant orphanage. “It’s been three days since our last visit, after all.”

This must take place more than just three days since that night, judging by her choice of words, Lucario deduced. Which means that she’s been supplying the kids with food for at least a little while by now?

Luna remained silent as she drifted off in her own thoughts, leaving whatever questions Lucario had about the current situation unanswered. While the lack of a conveniently told explanation annoyed him, he knew that wishing for Luna to talk about everything out loud to herself for him to hear was too much to hope for. He was just about to try and piece together whatever information he had by himself when Luna suddenly raised her head in what seemed to be some kind of epiphany.

“Of course! Now’s our chance to talk to her about this, before her next meeting begins,” she said as she turned back inside her chambers. After hastily looking around her room for anything out of place, she went out the doors and began to make her way down the tower stairs.

The castle, from what Lucario could see as Luna walked through the proceeding corridors and hallways, was expectedly in much better shape than the rest of the city. Majestic pillars and decorated windows were present in almost every section, and various maids and servants could be seen running around, cleaning every inch that was even the tiniest bit dirty. Lucario quickly took notice of how the majority of them eagerly left when they noticed Luna’s presence, including the unicorn mare whose baskets Luna had taken the other day. The numerous guards they passed by kept their serious and focused stature as Luna walked by, but Lucario was sure that at least one of them eyed her a bit as she passed by.

Come to think of it, there weren’t any guards stationed outside her bedchambers, Lucario remembered. And all I’ve seen here yet seem to be of Celestia’s personal guard, judging by their armor.

The evidence supporting Luna’s lack of popularity among her subjects was already overwhelming as it was, but simply walking through the castle gave Lucario more proof of that fact than he ever needed.

The fuel behind Nightmare Moon’s birth is clear to see by now. All that’s left is the spark…

Pushing open a final set of doors at the end of a long hallway, Luna finally entered the castle’s throne room. While in Canterlot, Lucario hadn’t gotten the chance to see its own throne room firsthand, but memories of Cameran Castle flashed in his mind as he beheld the spacious room. It wasn’t as big as the one in Cameran, but it was still an awe-inspiring sight in its own right. Dozens of guards stood stationed along the left and right walls, and an additional four were placed on each side of the actual throne, on which Celestia was currently sitting. Her flowing, multicolored mane was easy to make out, even from the other end of the room. As Luna took her time to approach her sister, both her and Lucario’s eyes fell on the elder looking unicorn stallion that was sitting just in front of the throne, facing Celestia.

“I’m fully aware of the countless other duties you have on your shoulders, your highness, but I must insist that the discovery of my master’s whereabouts must take priority. Our family simply cannot afford to-”

“If thy master has been kidnapped like thou fear, Mr. Bitworth, we’re certain that thy house would’ve received a message of demand from the culprit long ago. The royal guard is searching through the city and the surrounding forest as we speak, but we’re afraid that there’s not much else we can do at this point. Be patient, and thy master will return to thee in time.”

Celestia lifted her gaze from the stallion to acknowledge Luna’s arrival. Mr. Bitworth turned around to see who was interrupting them, but his expression swiftly changed when he saw the other alicorn. He gave a curt cough as he stood up and bowed once to both princesses, although much staler to Luna.

“Very well, your highness. We’ve now surely taken up enough of your time with this matter. Thank you for your ever generous assistance.”

With that, he was escorted out of the room by a pair of guards, the doors closing behind him loudly. Luna didn’t look back at him as he left, instead locking her gaze with Celestia, who stood up from her throne and walked up to her.

“You’re late, as usual,” Celestia said simply. While the words were harsh, they were more filled with annoyance than outright anger.

“And you didn’t wait, as usual,” Luna calmly countered with the same tone. It occurred to Lucario that both princesses had ceased their use of the ‘Royal We’ in their speaking, reverting to a more casual language with each other. It was the first positive sign of their sisterly bond Lucario had seen in the vision thus far, which did little to ease the overall tension between the two.

“Leave us,” Celestia commanded the surrounding guards. They all saluted before beginning to leave the throne room, the two princesses staying quiet until they could have some privacy. As the doors closed behind the final guard, Celestia began to pace to the side of the room while Luna followed closely behind.

“Did I miss anything important this time?” Luna asked.

“Not especially. Requests for renovations, planned parties, tributes, you’ve heard it all before.”

“And this Mr. Bitworth?”

Celestia sighed. “He’s a butler from one of the more high-standing families. His master went missing some time ago, and he’s already sent me letters requesting assistance for the past few weeks. This was the first time he came in person, which means he’s getting desperate.”

“You have relayed to him the possibility that-”

“His master has gone lost in the forest?” Celestia finished as she sighed yet again. “Yes, I have. Several times, in fact. I think he just doesn’t realize how easy it is to… encounter danger out there.” She stopped her pacing and looked down at the floor with contained anger. “Discord’s cursed influence on that place still hasn’t left, even after all these years.”

“I fear that it probably never will, big sister,” Luna said in melancholy. The revelation that Discord was behind the unnatural nature in the Everfree Forest was pushed to the back of Lucario’s mind for the moment, the sisters’ discussion taking priority.

“Still, things aren’t so hectic that I can’t keep up with them,” Celestia said with a gladder voice. “The nobles’ requests are tedious, but not impossible to grant. We should be happy that we don’t have any more coming to our doorstep every day.”

She flashed a smile in Luna’s direction, but Luna didn’t return it, a frown instead growing on her lips.

“True,” she agreed. “The nobility only takes up 5% of our population, after all.”

The smile immediately disappeared from Celestia’s face, and she turned her head away as she walked a few steps ahead of her sister.

“Luna, we’ve talked about this.”

“And I will continue to talk about it until you listen to me,” Luna declared. “That’s why I came down here today, sister. The orphanage in the city is in dire need of aid. It’s understaffed, lacking provisions, and the children are most of the time all on their own. There are even some that sleep out on the streets every night. If we don’t do something soon, they’ll all-”

“Luna.” Celestia’s reprimanding tone cut Luna off, and the smaller alicorn found her sister glaring at her in irritation. “I’ve already told you that there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Why?! Because they aren’t nobles?!” Luna shot back, her voice now loud in fury. “They’re our subjects just as much as those arrogant messengers you greet every day, sister, and you know it! The entire city is in ruins because you neglect to aid them!”

“What do you want me to do then?!” Celestia stepped up to face Luna nearly head-on. “Empty our entire treasury just to care for everypony in this town for a few days at best? Create a scandal among the nobility because we wasted our resources on a market stand instead of their requests? If the lower class has it as badly as you say, they wouldn’t still be here after all these years!“

“Don’t talk as if you know what they’re going through!” Luna now pressed her head against Celestia’s in defiance. “When was the last time you took a stroll through the streets, or flew across the rooftops? Years? Decades? I’ve been out there almost every night since we defeated Discord, sister. I even neglect my own sleep to stay up as much as possible during the day in the hopes to see you finally do something about the city you’re supposed to protect! Not just lead! Protect! You’ve no idea what everypony is going through!”

Both sisters remained silent for a minute as they engaged in a contest of will with their eyes. Celestia’s eyes were unwavering, and it occurred to Lucario just how firm she was in her belief about the situation. He’d never met the sun princess personally before, but he was sure that the Celestia of the present had erased all of that. The one standing before Luna now could’ve just as well been a different mare entirely.

“…Well,” Celestia slowly said as she leaned her head away from Luna’s. “Maybe if you actually showed up and helped me at every meeting, I would.”

Luna, struck speechless by her sister’s sudden words, remained motionless as Celestia walked back to the throne, gathering some documents that had been left behind after her council. It was now an uncomfortable kind of silence that hung in the air, far more so than even before. Slowly, almost painfully, Luna lifted her hoof up to rub her eyes.

*sigh* “I’ve told you that it won’t work, sister. The nobility hates me, and they foalishly fear my night more than they even feared Discord.”

“Then why don’t you do something that will change their minds?” Celestia countered.

“I can’t!” Luna stomped her hoof on the floor.

“Why not?!” Celestia shouted while stomping herself.

“BECAUSE YOU KEEP STOPPING ME!”

It seemingly took a moment for the echoing words to sink in for Celestia, because it was only a few seconds later that her expression softened a bit. She looked down on her hooves, although Lucario couldn’t judge if it was a sign of regret or hopelessness.

“The only way for our subjects to accept the night is to make them actually experience it,” Luna continued quietly. “Not just sleep through it, but walk through it and be awake during it, just like they’ve done all this time under your sun. I know dangers unknown to the day come to life during our night, but I wouldn’t let them harm anypony, sister. Not as long as I’m watching over them. And I know that I already have supporters. Those children in the orphanage? They’ve snuck out almost every night to watch our stars and moon together. They think they’re beautiful, and they’re unafraid of the darkness that comes without the sun. If you’d just give me a chance, I could-”

“Is that what this is all about, little sister?”

Luna’s words ceased as a dark shadow seemingly fell over Celestia’s face, filling her eyes with the same harshness that had been present there just before Luna’s explanation.

“W-What are you talking about?” Luna asked, genuinely confused.

“You want to help those children just because they support your night, don’t you? All that talk before about aiding the lower class, and you were just concerned about a small portion of them.” Celestia’s eyes shot daggers at Luna, making the other alicorn cower backwards slightly. “It’s just an act of selfishness on your part, isn’t it? You would’ve never even batted an eye in their direction if they hadn’t liked your night.”

“They’re CHILDREN, sister!” Luna shouted, but her words were now falling on deaf ears. Celesta calmly gathered her documents and walked past Luna on her way to the exit. She only stopped once to look back at her younger sister.

“No, Luna. To you… they’re your nobility.”

The doors slammed shut loudly behind her, and Lucario’s vision began to fade as Luna’s sight became blurry from growing tears.

Lucario knew that the next part of Luna’s past had begun, but it wasn’t because of what he saw. In fact, he couldn’t see anything at all. Darkness had claimed everything around him, leaving his conscience floating in a sea of nothingness. Without a body of his own, and without access to his aura abilities, he had little choice but to patiently wait for Luna’s sight to return.

Because even though Lucario couldn’t see, he could still hear. And what he heard was slowly beginning to break his heart.

Luna was crying. Her sobs and quiet cries would’ve been barely audible to anyone standing near her, but to Lucario they were almost deafening. Every time they came and went, he found himself reflexively trying to raise his paw in a hopeless attempt to reassure the princess. But each time, he was reminded of his current status, and even he was surprised by just how much it devastated him. He’d heard crying in the past, and had supported the ones who did. But never before had he ever felt such a powerful inner need to do so than now.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Luna opened her eyes. Just like it had been after Celestia’s exit, her sight was blurry from the tears still rolling down onto her pillow. A noticeable stain had already made its mark on it, and Lucario was sure that Luna’s cheeks were damp from lying on it. She slowly pushed herself up with her forelegs, bringing one up to wipe away the worst of the tears. For a moment, she simply stared into space, either lost in thought or too upset to even think. She didn’t even seem to be aware of how her eyes slowly drifted to the side, falling on a pair of food baskets lying in the corner of her room.

After a while, Luna’s breathing suddenly slowed down. She was now definitely focusing on the baskets, her tears ceasing as she did. She closed her eyes, and Lucario heard her take a deep, only ever so slightly shaking breath.

“I’m sorry, sister…”

With that, she got up from her bed and walked out on her balcony. The city below the tower was only partially lit up by a few lights, and they were one by one being put out as Luna simply looked on. The moon and the stars were shining brightly in the sky, and a light fog had crept into the city from the nearby forest. Luna’s posture was tired and a tiny bit reluctant, but the way she was holding her head high seemed to give no room for uncertainty.

What is she doing? Lucario barely had the time to think before Luna began to sing.

Come, little children. I’ll take thee away

Into a land of enchantment

Come, little children. The time’s come to play

Here in my garden of shadows

A flash of bright, white light flashed from Luna’s eyes as she finished the familiar song. Throwing a quick glance down directly below her balcony, she saw a pair of guards outside the tower’s entry suddenly fall to the ground. Even though he was shocked by this, Lucario still managed to make out their slow, peaceful breaths from this distance.

She’s… putting everyone to sleep with her magic. What is she going to-

Interrupted by the next line of Luna’s singing, Lucario simply watched as Luna flew off her balcony and sailed down to the city’s streets. She passed by Sneaky’s house and the small tunnel in which Whiteout was once again sleeping before coming to a stop in front of the orphanage. As she continued to sing, magic surrounded her horn as weak lights suddenly lit up within the building. Seconds later, Lucario’s nonexistent eyes widened as Landlubber and several other colts and fillies slowly floated through the opening windows. Luna took flight once more as the confused, but strangely happy children followed her, and as they rose higher and higher into the sky, Lucario could see even more joining them. Sneaky approached with a beaming smile, and even a perplexed Whiteout followed soon after.

Together, they all disappeared above the clouds, with Luna floating Sneaky in close to lovingly nuzzle her. She was still singing, but while her voice was ringing with long-desired happiness and freedom, Lucario’s inner thoughts were filled with anything but.

Luna… What have you done?

Lucario had already figured out the fuel behind Nightmare’s birth. And now, as the ponies slowly sailed towards the distant moon, he was sure that he’d seen the spark.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to halo003qd for helping me proofread this chapter!

My work shift for the season has ended, I'm no longer half-dead every time I get home, and I've now had MONTHS to plan this baby out in almost every inscrutiating way. *SHARP INHALE* It's good to be back.

Whooooooooooooo boy... this chapter was NOT easy to write. I was stuck on the part where Luna met Landlubber and Sneaky for AGES, for reasons I will elaborate on in the next chapter's Author's Notes (which is already out by now, so why are you still reading this? Go!).

The colt named Distance Drop was named after the game Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Just thought it would be fitting, wouldn't you agree?

Whiteout was named after the text that appears when a player loses all of their Pokémon in the second and third generation Pokémon games: " whited out!"

Mr. Bitworth was named after Alfred Pennyworth, the one and only butler of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman.
DISCLAIMER: BATMAN AND ANY VERSION OF THE CHARACTER IS NOT PRESENT IN KANGTHEGUARDIAN'S FRIENDSHIP IS AURA.

As for the origins behind Landlubber's and Sneaky's names, I'll let you see if you can figure them out yourselves. /troll

Next time in Friendship is Aura: The Nightmares May Dream trilogy reaches its end as all knots are untied about Luna's past. What will Lucario do when he finally learns the truth? Click that wonderful 'Next Chapter' button and find out today!

KangTheGuardian -

Nightmares May Dream - Part 3

The darkness around him was… lighter than usual.

That was the only observation he bothered to make as he and the being continued their journey. Beside him, the being walked with a bright smile on its lips, the red marks now only slightly visible on its cheeks. Even though there was nothing more of interest to see on the being’s face, he found himself unable to look away from it. Only when the being turned to look at him did he hastily pull his head away, trying to hide the fact that he’d been staring.

“Were you staring at me?”

With little success…

“Does it matter if I did?” he questioned without looking back.

“Hmm…” the being thought out loud as it brought a limb to its chin. “Nope! I guess not.”

“Then don’t bother bringing it up,” he summed up as he picked up the pace a bit, leaving the being a few steps behind.

“If you want to kiss again, you only have to ask.”

He stopped dead in his tracks as the laughing being passed by him, giving him a quick whisk with its tail before walking ahead. While he still had no knowledge about the being’s invented concept of time, he was still sure that he remained motionless for quite a while before willing himself to move on. By that point, the being had already disappeared out of sight, its last direction being the only thing leading him in what he guessed to be the right way.

There she goes, running off again. I wonder if she-

A realization hit him, causing him to once again pause in his steps. “She”? When had he begun to refer to the being like that? He wasn’t even sure what a “she” was. It just came to mind for him out of nowhere, like many of the other words he had simply known when he first found himself in the void.

But I’ve never called her ‘she’ before. Why did I start now?

Shaking his head upon not reaching a plausible answer, he restarted his journey after the being. It didn’t take him long before he stopped for a third time, noticing something coming towards him in the distance.

“*--*-*?” he called out, but realized that the thing approaching him wasn’t the being. It was far more massive, and it was shining with an intense light that came close to almost burning even his eyes. Despite the lack of pain, he immediately shielded his eyes from it, finding it bothersome to look at for various reasons. He stood back and let the object pass by him, even from a close distance not appearing to be more than a giant, round sphere of light. Some of the light was thicker than the rest, flickering back and forth a bit at random. Some of it licked across his body a bit as it passed, but left no mark in its wake.

He stared after it as it drifted past, watching it slowly grow smaller as it got further and further away.

“…What was that?” he asked himself.

“The sun,” he heard a voice answer, and he turned back to see the being now standing behind him, smiling proudly.

“The sun?” he repeated. The being nodded sharply.

“Yup! It’s what I came up with to keep the place going while I was away. It warms it up, lights it up, and various other complicated things!”

“What… ‘place’ are you talking about?” he asked, sensing that he was finally about to learn the being’s secret. The being beamed at him and pointed a limb towards something behind her. What he saw beyond wasn’t anything he had ever predicted.

At first glance, it seemed to be just a massive sphere of dirt, like the type he and the being had made up early on. But various differences were present across its surface, most noticeably the various colors. Green, blue, white, and even a few traces of yellow were spread all over it, and when he squinted his eyes, he swore that he could see parts of it move slightly. The “sun” he’d seen before was in the process of spinning around the object, and a smaller, gray sphere was spinning on the opposite side of it, chasing after the sun endlessly.

“**--*,” the being proclaimed as she flexed out her limbs, her back turned to it all as she faced him. “Welcome to my planet!”

He didn’t comment on the revealed surprise at first, opting instead to wait and see if the being was about to elaborate. It turned out that she wasn’t, so he voiced his first question himself.

“Planet?” he repeated. The being blinked a few times before scratching the back of her head.

“Well, I was going to think up a clever name for it, but nothing really came to mind. But nevermind that! Come, let me show you around!”

Grabbing his limb, the being dragged him down to the sphere’s surface. At first he expected to just see layers of differently colored dirt, but was once again left speechless by what he saw instead. The green part of the “planet” turned out to be a vast field of grass, like the one the being had created on his own work. Scattered around the area, a few other similar, but much greater objects were planted into the ground. It reminded him of the grass, due to its long, green petals, but the brown centerpiece it was all connected to made it stick out. To his surprise, he could see mountains, something he himself had created during his own work, far in the distance, some of their tops mysteriously colored white.

“You remember the conversation we had just before I left?” the being began to explain. “You thought that my grass was pointless, and I was trying to think up a word for why I thought it wasn’t. Wanna know what word it was?”

He didn’t say anything, which the being took as a sign to continue.

“’Lifeless’! I didn’t want our creations to just do whatever we created them for. I wished that they would have… well… a mind of their own.” She pointed down at the grass under them. “Like this grass does. It can’t talk or really react to anything that happens to it, but it is… alive. As is that tree over there, and those flowers growing on that field. There are even things hidden in the dirt all over the place that are alive. This whole planet is living and breathing, just like us!”

He did his best to absorb the information the being was giving him. Most of it, like the concept of “life”, passed over his head, but he could tell from the being’s descriptions that she had put a lot of thought into this.

“I’ll admit that your work here is ambitious,” he said once the being stopped talking. “And there are parts you’ve gotten further with than even I have. Still, I fail to see how ‘living things’ are-”

A small shadow passed over the grass below him, gliding over its surface like a flat image. Seeing it even pass over his own body as if it was sticking onto him, he turned around to see where it went. His eyes widened when he saw the shadow join together with some kind of strange creature that landed on a nearby tree. Unable to even describe it in his head properly, he stood up and walked a bit closer to get a better look.

“What is that?” he asked the being.

“That’s a bird,” the being answered quickly.

“A bird?” He was aware of how often he’d simply repeated whatever word the being said, but he simply had no better way to question it.

“Yup! And that over there is a rabbit!” She pointed down the field towards another creature with overly long ears. He didn’t have time to ask more before the being grabbed and dragged him away yet again, stopping over another field filled with larger, more muscular creatures.

“Those are cows,” the being said, this time not waiting before dragging him away to a new place. “That’s a snake. There’s a few fishes. And these…”

A final pull left the two floating above what seemed to be a collection of strange-looking objects planted into the ground. They were made out of rock, what he guessed to be part of trees, and other materials he couldn't recognize. What perplexed him were the holes that pierced through nearly every side of them all.

“…These are ponies.”

The creature that walked out of one of the objects shocked him more than anything of what he’d seen until now. It was a four-legged creature, its coat colored yellow while its tail and the mane on its head were dark red. After yawning a bit to itself, the creature was soon joined by several others of its kind all over the area. All of them sported unique colors and were of different sizes, and they nodded to each other as they passed each other by and went their separate ways down the surrounding fields.

But it wasn’t any of these facts about the creatures that had shocked him so much. The real reason… was because they looked familiar.

“They look… just like us,” he stated as he looked back at the being.

“They were the first creatures I created,” the being explained while looking down at the ponies with a warm smile. “Well, okay, not the first. I experimented a bit with a few others before them just to get the technique down right, but they were the first I managed to make without screwing anything up. I’ve made several others types since then too, but these are the only ones that look like us, like you said. Look! I even gave some of them horns, others wings, and some got neither. I think they’re okay with that, though. They haven’t really complained.”

“If they are as unable to talk and react to what happens to them as the grass is, I’m not surprised,” he figured out loud.

“Oh no, they can talk.”

His eyes widened as he quickly looked over at the being.

“And react, and think, and make decisions, and anything else you can probably think of. Or… no, not everything. They can’t create stuff out of nowhere like we can, and they have their set limitations in other areas.”

He remained silent for a while as he just watched the ponies pass by below him. A few looked up from time to time, but none of them seemed to acknowledge his or the being’s presence. Perhaps they were invisible to them, probably by the being's choice.

“So this… is what you’ve made while you were gone?” he eventually asked.

“Yes,” the being answered, and her voice was now every bit as warm as her smile. “This is my achievement. A world that can live on its own without my control. A place where countless creatures other than us can live and be happy.” She turned and smiled to him. “This is my… OUR home.”

He sat and simply stared at the being for a moment, once again unable to look away as he felt the void in his soul fill up a bit more from her smile.

“I, uh, hope you aren’t mad about all this, though,” the being suddenly said while laughing awkwardly. “Your stuff was great, I swear, but it seems like I got a bit ahead of you this time.”

“Don’t get used to it,” he countered. “And you’re just unable to see the brilliance behind my designs, like al-”

“What are you two talking about?”

His and the being’s conversation ended abruptly as they both spun around to face the source of the new voice. Behind them, a pony was sitting down casually, floating in the air just like them. While the colors of its coat and hair was visible, they were a bit obscured by a shimmering light that engulfed every inch of its body.

“Welcome back, *--*-*!” it said as it waved happily at the being.

“Why can it see us?” he asked the being, who was now breathing a bit irregularly and looking back and forth between him and the pony.

“Uh, well… You see… That’s…” she tried to explain, but the pony swiftly started talking again.

“Are you new here, mister? I haven’t seen you before. Although you remind me a bit of those other guys.”

“…What ‘other guys’?” he asked, even surprised at himself by how interested he suddenly got.

“Those guys, who else?” the pony answered as it pointed into the distance above them. Squinting his eyes, he could vaguely make out small, shadowy forms floating high above.

“What are they?” he asked the being.

“Oh, um, nothing you need to worry about! Just a few experiments I’ve yet to fini- H-Hey, wait!”

He didn’t listen to the being’s objections as he began to walk towards the distant shadows. Whatever it was that the being was trying to hide from him, he felt an uneasy need to figure it out.

HAPPY MONTHIVERSARY, LULA!

The first thing Lucario saw as his sight returned were these words clumsily written on a blue-colored banner. The banner in turn was clumsily held up by two colts, smiling widely as they and their surrounding friends waved and beamed in Luna’s direction.

Luna, standing still after having seemingly just seen her welcoming party, gave Lucario a chance to take in his new surroundings. They were standing in some kind of circular kitchen, traces of flour and various other ingredients visible all over the place, including on some of the children’s coats. The cake that had been made out of these ingredients stood on a nearby table, almost comically sinking into itself due to its bakers’ inexperience. A pair of simple stairs went up to the upper floor near the wall, and a few, oval-shaped windows were spread out evenly around the room. While it was clearly darker than during daytime, there was still enough light for anyone to see what was around them clearly. Luna was of course used to it, but the children also seemed to be able to see just fine.

The door behind Luna shut quietly as Landlubber walked into the room. After giving Luna a smile of her own, she soon took notice of the banner and promptly sighed.

“Okay, who was in charge of writing the banner?” she asked with great constraint.

“Me! Why?” Sneaky quickly answered on the side of the room, oblivious to her friend’s annoyance. As Landlubber tiredly pointed her hoof up to the banner, Sneaky and the other children looked up to see what was wrong. The reaction was immediate.

“Oh darn it, Sneaky! How could you misspell ‘Luna’ out of all names?!”

“What? Don’t look at me, you were the ones not holding the banner steady.”

“It was lying on the floor!”

“Like I said, you weren’t holding it steady!”

“What could be steadier than the freaking ground?”

“Your hold, for one.”

The never-ending argument was thankfully stopped by an uncharacteristic laugh coming from Luna. The children watched in silence for a moment as she brought a hoof up to shield her mouth before small giggles began to leak out from them as well. It didn’t take long before everypony in the room was laughing, with some of them even rolling around the floor. Even Landlubber couldn’t keep her composure as she soon descended into a laughing fit of her own.

“Hah… hahahaha,” Luna finished as her laughter died out. “Thank you, children. I was surely not expecting this when Landlubber suddenly asked me to go with her on a moon bunny hunt.”

“WHAT?! NO FAIR!” Sneaky yelled in jealousy before being hushed by a nearby colt.

“But why celebrate a… ‘monthiversary’, as you’re calling it, everypony?”

“Well, a month is the time it takes for the moon to make a full orbit around the planet, right?” Landlubber answered. “We thought it was more fitting than to wait an entire year.”

“Not to mention it would be BORING!” Sneaky exclaimed as she dramatically waved her head back and forth. “I love this place and you all, but we needed to have a party! I can’t wait an entire year for that!”

Luna giggled as a few of the children actually nodded in agreement with Sneaky’s statement. Wild in behavior as she was, she still had the same core mindset as most of her friends. The alicorn walked up and spread out her wings for a group hug, which the children made no delay in holding off.

“This is a wonderful surprise,” she said gently. “Thank you all so much.”

It only now occurred to Lucario that Luna didn’t talk using the ‘Royal We’, instead talking just as she’d done with Celestia before. Somehow more noticeable to him was how content she sounded. Her voice hid the same happiness that it had during her song, and the way she pulled the surrounding children closer into the heartfelt hug was reminiscent of that of a mother figure.

She really loves these children… doesn’t she? Lucario thought. If she ever loved them just because they loved her night like Celestia said, then it has definitely changed now.

Luna broke the hug and let the children step back. Giving all of them a bright smile, she turned her attention to the ever-shrinking cake on the table. “Now then, I think it’s time to dig in on the main dish.”

“Actually, why don’t we eat it outside?” Landlubber suddenly suggested. “It’s as beautiful as ever out there, and we always eat inside anyway.”

Seeing her friends nod in approval, she began to order them around, assigning some with carrying the cake and the table, while others handled the chairs. After assigning Sneaky with keeping charge of the outside arrangements, a choice Lucario was certain would end in disaster, she stayed behind with Luna as the rest of the group went out the door. After a while, Luna walked up to one of the windows and looked out, finally revealing the outside to Lucario.

What he saw immediately spawned memories in his mind.

This is… where I fought Nightmare Moon, he realized as he looked over the giant flower field surrounding the building on all sides. Although he couldn’t see it directly, he became certain that the building in question was the great tower that had stood in the middle of Nightmare’s field as well.

“This is my kingdom, or at least what it once looked like. A paradise free from my traitorous sister’s rule and her misled subjects. It was a place where the true beauty of the night could be displayed in its full splendor.”

Remembering Nightmare’s words from before their battle, Lucario got the chance to look up at the moon when Luna lifted her gaze upwards. Which is why he was shocked that he never had a chance. For the moon was gone, instead replaced by a colossal landmass stretching out almost as far as his eyes could see. The multicolored mix of white, blue, and green immediately revealed its true identity.

That’s the planet, he thought in disbelief. Which means that… we’re on the moon?

Creating her new country on the very celestial object she’d built her night around was something Lucario guessed that he could’ve expected from Luna. Not only was it located far away from the influence and interference of Equestria, but it was also the most fitting choice for building a land of eternal night. He briefly questioned how they were all able to breathe in this atmosphere, but quickly figured it was thanks to Luna’s magic. Perhaps the moon had always been habitable in this world, in contrast to the one from his old life.

The sightseeing of the area ended as Luna turned away from the window to look at Landlubber.

“Has there been any sight of Whiteout yet?” she asked, the question taking Lucario by surprise. Landlubber frowned and walked up to join Luna’s side by the window.

“If you can’t find him, I doubt any of us can,” she said sadly. “I don’t know how he survives out there, but I’ve heard that a few of the others leave food around for him to eat in case he passes by.”

Luna nodded, the disappearance of the young foal clearly weighting her down. “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought him along. I knew that he wished to be left alone, but I just assumed that-”

“He’s a sillyhead for not wanting to be with us,” Landlubber quickly reassured the princess. “Or for not wanting to be with you, for that matter. I’m sure I speak for everypony when I say that you’re the best thing that has ever happened to us.”

Luna smiled at the compliment, nuzzling the filly in thanks before letting her eyes drift back outside once more. The two of them sat in silence as they listened to the yells of the other children, clearly upset with something Sneaky had messed up again. It was a peaceful moment, eventually broken by Landlubber as she spoke up again.

“Do you remember the night we first met, and you asked me why we all watched your night?” Looking up to see Luna nod in affirmation, she continued. “I said that we simply loved your night so much, and it was complicated to explain exactly why. But now… I think I can tell you.”

Luna looked down at the filly in surprise, but remained silent in order to let her speak freely.

“I was always acting as the leader of all the kids, trying to make sure nopony did anything stupid, and that everypony was all right. But I’m just a kid myself, and there were times I couldn’t keep them all in check. Both because I just couldn’t handle them all, and because they wouldn’t listen without a real adult present. There were times I felt so powerless and hopeless that I just up and left the orphanage, hiding myself away in some random part of the city until they came and found me. I didn’t know how we were supposed to survive, what would become of us in the future, or… why we even struggled to keep going at all.

“One day, I ran away like I’d done before, climbing up on one of the rooftops to hide from the other kids. I lied down and just cried everything out up there for ages, until I by chance opened my eyes and looked up at the stars. There were so many of them, and out of boredom, I began to see if I could imagine as many futures for myself as there were stars. A firemare, a guard, a teacher, a simple cleaner. The list just grew larger and larger, and even when I was beginning to run out of ideas; I forced myself to continue, because there were still so many stars left for me to mark.

“Eventually, I began to fantasize about how my life would be in each of my futures, like what struggles I’d face, or what goals I would accomplish. Before I knew it, Sneaky eventually found me, but I got her to sit down and think of different futures with me. The day after, we invited a few of the other kids, and the day after that, even more wanted to come. We spent hours just sitting up there, talking about our dreams, or what we would do if we couldn’t fulfill them. I learned more about each and every pony in a few days than I’d done in months.

“And now… I’m not sure what I want to become anymore. Not because I think that it’ll be hopeless for me, but because I have so many choices that I don’t know what to go for. I can have as many dreams as I want, as many possibilities as I want. I don’t even care which one it’ll eventually be. I just… want to fulfill one of them. And as long as I’m alive and breathing, I know that I’ll do so.”

Landlubber slowly turned to Luna, her eyes twinkling from building tears. Judging by Luna’s strained face, Lucario guessed that her eyes did the same.

“That’s what your night taught me. It taught me that I can be whatever I want to be, as long as I’m willing to actually try it. And even if I fail, there’s always another chance, just like how there’re still an endless number of stars left if one of them would go out. You… make me keep going. You keep supporting me. You always… love me.”

The tears were now flowing unhindered down both Landlubber’s and Luna’s cheeks, the latter holding her hooves to her mouth.

“Thank you… m… mother.”

Luna let out a shaky gasp as she embraced the small filly in a bone-crushing hug, which Landlubber returned in kind. Only Lucario knew how long they sat there, lost in time as they forgot about the rest of the world. Only when Sneaky slammed open the front door did they pull apart.

“Would you two hurry up already? The Children of the Night are waiting for you!”

“What did you just call us?” a muted voice asked from outside.

“Oh shut it, you know that sounded cool,” Sneaky replied as she closed the door again. Luna and Landlubber laughed briefly at the filly’s antics before they stood up.

“She’s a bit of a hoof-full sometimes, isn’t she?” Luna asked jokingly.

“I know,” Landlubber laughed. “I still can’t believe that you managed to take her with us.”

“Now now, Landlubber. I know that she can get on one’s nerves sometimes, but that’s no reason for me to consider leaving her behind.”

“No, not that. I mean, I still can’t believe you managed to persuade her parents to let her come with us.”

An ice-cold feeling of dread spawned inside Lucario’s stomach. Luna must’ve shared the same symptom, as her entire body froze up and turned cold. Her legs twitched ever so slightly as she looked down at Landlubber.

“W… What did you just say?” she asked, a layer of panic seeping into her voice.

“Her… parents,” Landlubber repeated unsurely. “Or more like her foster parents? They’d taken care of Sneaky for quite a while after adopting her from the orphanage.”

“Bu-But…!” Luna stammered. “You told me that she simply had a house to live in! I thought that she lived there by herself!”

“N-No, her parents just aren’t home very often. That was why she went inside that night we met without caring about waking them up. Y-You mean you didn’t-”

“Luna? Are we having company today?”

Briefly shaken out of her panicked state, Luna turned her head to answer Sneaky’s question from outside. “N-No, why?”

“Because there’s a group coming this way right now! They even brought torches to keep us warm!”

The word “torches” was all Luna needed to hear before she flew towards the door, nearly slamming it out of its hinges in the process. Ignoring all the set up furniture, she followed Sneaky’s still pointing hoof. In the distance, barely within eyesight, a group of ponies were approaching steadily. Like Sneaky had said, they were carrying numerous torches, which they held up and waved back and forth threateningly as they walked. Distant murmurs could be heard coming from them, and Luna didn’t need to have heightened hearing to piece out the blatant anger in them.

“Landlubber, get everypony inside, now,” Luna commanded automatically. She left the filly no room to argue, as she immediately fired up her horn and teleported away, reappearing just a few meters away from the approaching group’s side. They didn’t notice her at first, but one stallion happened to look her way.

“There she is! Hunt her down!” he immediately screamed before throwing his torch over his fellow ponies’ heads. Luna was so caught off-guard by the sudden violence that she failed to avoid the incoming projectile, letting it painfully strike her right wing. The fire burned up a good number of her feathers as she grunted in pain, beating her wing fiercely in an attempt to put it out. Knowing that she was grounded for the moment, Luna turned tail and ran as the entire group chased after her, screaming and throwing whatever objects they were holding at her. She did her best to avoid it all, but the hateful yells rang so loudly in her head that all she could think of was to just run away.

For what felt like ages, she ran across the moon’s surface, her pursuers never letting down the chase. She had begun to pant heavily even before she started running, and now it was an unbearable mixture of fatigue and panic. Lucario himself was for once not in a much better shape of mind, his lack of control over the situation leaving him to simply watch powerlessly as the alicorn ran.

Eventually, after the tower and the flower field had long disappeared into the horizon, Luna reached one of the giant craters planted across the moon. It was far too steep for any non-pegasus to follow her down, so she leapt up and forced her wings to cooperate for the incoming dive.

She grunted in surprise when her dash was stopped by seemingly nothing, sending her falling backwards to the ground. She tried to get up and try again, but stopped when she noticed the yellow, magical barrier that had suddenly materialized in front of her.

“That’s enough, Luna.”

The familiar voice made Luna hold her breath, and as she slowly turned around, she noticed the even more familiar figure making its way towards her through the group.

“S-Sister…” Luna stood back up on her hooves and stepped as far away as the barrier allowed her to. “W-Why are you-”

“Why do you think I’m here, Luna?” Celestia interrupted her. Her face was making no attempt to hide the feelings of contempt hidden inside. “Did you really think I wouldn’t come and look for you after what you did?”

“I… I wasn’t-”

“She took my child away!” an older mare suddenly shouted behind Celestia, barely held back by two younger stallions. “I’ll never forgive that witch! Not after she took my little Sneaky!”

Luna’s eyes widened as she realized the identity of the mare. “No! I mean, I swear I didn’t-”

“There are a lot of things you didn’t do, Luna,” Celestia interrupted her. “You didn’t think things through, you didn’t tell anypony, and worst of all…” A flash of seething fury flashed over Celestia’s eyes. “You didn’t listen to me.”

Luna winced at her sister’s words, but her fear soon made way for a wave of her own anger. “Listen to you? All you’ve ever told me to do is to hide away, or do something impossible while you try to stop me every bit of the way!”

“Don’t try to shift the blame this time, Luna,” Celestia almost growled back. “The children will be returned back to Everfree where they belong, and you’ll be lucky if even I’ll ever forgive you for this. Now, where is he?”

The sudden question took Luna by surprise. “W-What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play games with me, Luna!” Celestia shouted, her patience at an end. “You know who I’m talking about, so just-”

“About time somepony came to pick me up.”

The new, high-toned voice interrupted the argument, and everypony present turned to the young colt that was now standing on the sidelines. His coat was grayed out from moon dust, but his dark brown coat was still visible beneath it all.

“W-Whiteou-” Luna began, but was interrupted by a familiar-looking elder stallion.

“Young master!” Mr. Bitworth exclaimed as he ran up to the bemused-looking colt. Instead of embracing him, Bitworth stopped and bowed down gracefully like a common butler. “It delights me to no end to see you safe and sound! After your fight with your father, I was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing you again!”

“Be quiet, Bitworth,” Whiteout commanded, his voice far more arrogant than Lucario could’ve ever expected. “I’m willing to admit my fault in my father’s argument, as long as I’m taken away from this disgusting place. I’ve been forced to sleep out on the streets like a common bum, make up a fake name when interacting with those pathetic foals, and now I’ve spent a month’s time fending for myself on this piece of rock because of this joke of a ruler.”

“My apologies, young master,” Bitworth answered professionally. “It was uncouth of me to further annoy you after your terrible ordeal. I’ll make sure you’re brought home post haste.”

“Very well, but make it quick,” Whiteout said as he walked towards the back of the pony group. “It will take me days to rub all this filth off my body.”

“Yes, master Blueblood.” Bitworth didn’t throw Luna another glance before following after the colt. Luna herself didn’t say anything, Whiteout’s real identity leaving her speechless.

“Are you happy now, Luna?” Celestia broke the brief silence. “Is this what you wished to happen all this time?”

“N-No, I didn’t…” Luna tried to answer, but her words died in her throat as her entire being shook from trauma.

“I’ve told you more times than there are ponies in the city that none of this would ever work. I tried to make you think up different ways to do this properly, but you’re always sprinting ahead, unable to hold your shallow self-control in check!”

“I… I…”

“Why, Luna?! Why?! Why do you keep insisting on doing this?! Why are you so desperate for attention?! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS TRY TO SHOW OFF THAT STUPID NIGHT OF YOURS?!”

Celestia’s Royal Canterlot Voice echoed across the entire moon before eventually fading out. All that was left in its wake was silence, even the gathered ponies keeping quiet after the outburst. Facing them on the other end of the small plain stood a motionless alicorn. Her eyes seemed to stare into space, but within, a Pokémon could see them locking on to the eyes of the other princess. Nothing in the area dared to move as Luna slowly brought a hoof to her chest, still staring into her sister’s eyes.

“I… I just wanted…”

The rest of the words never left Luna’s mouth, but her lips voicelessly worded them out for no one to hear. Only the princess of the sun, who was watching her the entire time, made out the unheard words. Slowly, like a burning candle, her furious expression melted away, bit by bit giving way for one of sudden understanding, pity, and regret.

“Luna… I…” she tried to say, but Luna interrupted her by bringing both of her forehooves to her head, letting her head fall down into them as she did.

“IjustwantedIjustwantedIjustwantedIjustwantedIjustwantedIjustwantedIjustwantedIjustwanted I… I JUST WANTED…!”

And then a bone-chilling scream erupted from the alicorn’s mouth, her hooves pressed to her eyes as she stood up on her hind legs. Every single pony standing behind Celestia stumbled back and fell to the ground as the scream shook them to their very core. All around Luna, a dark blue aura faded into existence, and Celestia’s barrier broke into pieces as it could no longer stand the overwhelming magical force. The aura grew thicker and thicker around Luna, her body steadily disappearing out of sight within. For just a brief, heart-wrenching second, Luna lowered her hooves to lock eyes with Celestia one more time before everything turned dark.

This darkness was on a completely different level from the one Lucario had experienced during Luna’s crying. He could still hear the magic swirl around him outside his vision, but he found himself instead searching for any sound that could come from Luna. He knew full well what was happening, but that didn’t make him care about Luna’s state any lesser.

And then he finally heard something, and it was the last thing he'd ever hoped to hear from the alicorn at this point.

Laughter.

“Ha… hahahahahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s right… What I want is…!”

Unbeknownst to Lucario, a pair of blue, catlike irises became visible to the outside ponies.

“AN ETERNAL NIGHT!”

The darkness around him exploded, and Lucario’s vision returned just in time to see the wave pass over the surrounding ponies, making several of them cry out in fear. Only Celestia stood still, her expression in a broken state as she watched the creature that stepped out of the shadows. Lucario didn’t need to notice the difference in height to understand Luna’s new from.

“What’s the matter, big sister?” Luna asked sarcastically. “I thought you would be the last pony in the world to be surprised by this form. After all, isn’t this how you’ve always imagined me? Isn’t this who I truly am?”

“Luna, you-” Celestia tried to say, but Luna lifted her hoof and wiggled it disapprovingly.

“Tsk tsk tsk, that’s no longer my name. I need a more fitting name, one that every living creature on our planet will recognize. Like…” A malevolent smile grew on her face. “’Nightmare Moon’… or what do you think?”

Celestia again opened her mouth to speak, but Nightmare continued before she got the chance.

“On second thought, scratch that. I don’t really care what you think. I’m sure you know the feeling.” Dark aura surrounded Nightmare’s horn as she raised her head to the sky. “Now let’s begin, shall we? The conflict you oh so wisely have predicted all these years. Let’s decide once and for all who is fit to rule Equestria!”

With that, she flew forward and slammed her horn into Celestia’s own. The older alicorn barely had the chance to prepare a spell of her own to deflect the slash, and a mixture of yellow and dark magic flooded every inch of Lucario’s vision.

“But just so you know, dear sister… The night… will last… FOREVER!”

Before his eyes, the intense battle between sisters raged across the surface of the moon. Time and time again, the advantage changed between them, and the two fighters gained wound after wound as they continuously tried to overcome the other. One was fighting like a mad beast, doing her best to inflict as much suffering as possible upon her opponent. The other was barely able to fight seriously, as tears of grief ran down her cheeks in fruitless reluctance.

But Lucario paid no attention whatsoever to the fight, and he had no interest in doing so. He knew how it was going to end, and what would happen long after the battle had ended. His thoughts and focus instead drifted off to the memories of what he’d seen before now, and what had led to this tragedy.

He saw a mare desperately trying to reassure a panicked dreamer. He saw the same mare walk alone through the city streets, her head hanging in sadness. He saw her reaction to a pair of fillies loving her night. He saw her very being warm up in the knowledge of finally not being feared of. He saw her attempting to convince her beloved sister, only to be ignored. He saw her cry into her pillow the following night. He saw her make a choice led by her heart, and then saw her entire world collapse as a result.

“Why do we even bother anymore? As if entering their dreams like that will ever work.”

“Sorry. It’s just… It’s her. It’s really her.”

“We just love your nights so much, princess.”

“No, Luna. To you… they’re your nobility.”

“You… make me keep going. You keep supporting me. You always… love me… Thank you… m… mother.”

“I… I just wanted…”

For the first time since the vision of Luna’s past had begun, Lucario closed his eyes at his own accord. Celestia’s and Nightmare’s battle disappeared, and he let out a deep, long sigh to himself.

“I’ve been a fool.”

And then he simply turned and walked away, his conscience leaving Luna’s body as if he’d never been bound to it at all. He didn’t open his eyes as he walked further and further away, paying no more attention to the lingering sounds of the princesses’ battle. But instead of growing darker, a light slowly began to make its way past his closed eyelids. When he finally opened them, a blinding beacon of light was shining just a few feet in front of him. Most others would’ve thought that a light like this was the gateway to the waking world, but he knew better. And as he lifted his paw to the light, a mysterious voice echoed inside his mind as his whole body grew warm.

Surpass me…

“Just a little more,” Nightmare said out loud as she forced the ever shrinking moon above her to crush the Pokémon within more and more. “He can’t survive much more of this! Soon, everything will be-”

Light. It was a part of life that Nightmare preferred in smaller doses. The small twinkle of a star, or the reflected light bouncing off the surface of the moon. Perhaps even a small candle to lighten up a small room, if only for the sake of atmosphere. She hated daylight, the rays of the sun, and even something as little as a lamp, which only served to shine light upon an area that needed none.

She hated too much light. But until that moment, she’d never been sure if she outright feared it.

Afterwards, she knew what her answer was for sure.

The moon above her exploded in the most blinding light Nightmare had ever witnessed. The tower, the field around her, and even her own body were drowned out by the endless wave of bright yellow that flooded through anything and everything in its wake. She wasn’t even able to lower her foreleg down from her eyes due to well-placed fear of turning blind. Even closing her eyes did little to spare her from it all.

“W-WHAT?! WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”

Within the core of the floating moon, a figure engulfed in yellow light stood unburdened by the giant mass of rock and stone pressing against him from all sides. He lifted up both of his arms, effortlessly stretching them outward as they simply pressed the surrounding rock away like a limb through water. His paws opened up, and he let his palms press themselves against the sides of his prison.

“Force Palm.”

If Nightmare had been able to see anything through the light, she would’ve beheld the two, giant shock waves that erupted on both sides of the shining moon. As a deafening explosion reached her ears, the light immediately ceased. She heard quakes around her as rock and debris fell to the ground, and her mouth could taste dust blowing into her face. When only a few, lingering sounds of small rocks hitting the ground remained, she finally lowered her hoof and opened her eyes.

The moon she’d created to imprison the Pokémon was gone. A cloud of dust still floated slightly in the air above the tower where it had floated a few seconds ago, but giant boulders and rocks as big as chariots lied spread across the now ruined flower field. The tower, in comparison, had survived mostly undamaged, the moon’s explosion having sent the debris falling outwards away from it. And on top of it, staring down at her from the edge, stood a seemingly unfazed Lucario.

A minute passed as the two simply looked at each other. Lucario’s expression was as hard to read as ever, while Nightmare’s was frozen in a state of terrified shock. She barely dared to move as she looked up at the Pokémon, fearing what he would do if she did as little as to even flex her wing.

“H… How…” she found herself asking against her will. “How did you-”

“You were right before.”

Nightmare blinked and ceased her question as she heard Lucario’s sudden statement. “A… About what?”

“About me being cruel. The night I met Luna, I was so fixated on my own past that I used her own as a bargain to keep mine secret. I thought the inhabitants of this world didn’t need to hear it, or that it was even too horrible for them to comprehend. I was… foolish. Because right then, I saw something in her eyes. I saw a shrouded past just as painful as my own, and deep in my heart, I knew I was selfish to ignore that past. But I still did, and now…”

He lifted his paw up and inspected his palm briefly before clenching it.

“Now that I’ve seen that past, I wonder if I pained her by not even lending my ear to listen.”

Nightmare’s eyes widened upon hearing Lucario’s words. “Now that you’ve seen it? You mean that…?”

“I was a fool,” Lucario said as he lowered his paw. “If I’d heard about her past beforehand, maybe this battle would’ve never taken place. Maybe I would’ve understood her dream sooner… both of yours.” He looked down at Nightmare, regret clearly visible in his eyes. “But I do now… and I’m sorry I took this long to do so.”

Nightmare didn’t answer Lucario’s apology. She didn’t even visibly react upon hearing it. To Lucario, she still seemed frightened and confused, ready to run away or cower back at any moment. But inside her mind, a new feeling was starting to grow by the second. Inwardly, a smile grew on the alicorn’s lips as she made out the implications in the Pokémon’s words. And the answer she found warmed up a heart that had long since been left cold.

Does he… does someone finally…?

“I’m going to end it.”

Again, Nightmare’s expression didn’t change. But the faint glimmer of happiness that had slowly begun to grow in her chest disappeared without a trace. It now instead felt as if someone had pierced her heart with a sharp blade, and she could feel the sensation spread across her entire body as her eyes slowly widened. Above her, Lucario’s paws were engulfed in blue flames as he pointed one of them down at Nightmare.

“I’ll wake you up… from this false dream of yours.”

Windless as the area was, the field of grass and flowers still begun to wave backwards as some unseen force slowly began to push at them. It was barely noticeable at first, with even the most fragile flowers managing to hold on to their petals. But eventually, as moment after moment passed in complete silence, the force gained in power. Petals, blades of grass, and uprooted flowers started to fly off the ground, and even one of the distant boulders turned slightly as dark energy started to spread across the area. In its center, still frozen like a statue, stood Nightmare Moon. Her teeth were clenched shut, her lips slightly parted in a furious grimace, and part of her mane had floated over her face, obscuring it from sight. It felt like the entire world shook as she was more and more enveloped in her dark blue magic.

“How… dare you…”

She threw her head up, and her catlike eyes glowed with terrible power as she directed all of her wrath at the Pokémon.

“CALL MY DREAM FALSE?!”

Nightmare’s body exploded in a sea of stardust, but instead of shooting out in all directions, it flew towards and began to spin around the tower at unbelievable speeds. Before Lucario could’ve had any possible chance to react, a giant, dark blue tornado engulfed the tower, leaving it standing in the center of its eye. The edges of the tower were torn off by the force, and various flowers and debris from below flew up to join the ever-growing spinning cloud of destruction.

“HOW CAN YOU WITNESS EVERYTHING I’VE GONE THROUGH AND STILL DENY THE TRUTH?! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY CLAIM TO UNDERSTAND IF YOU STILL CHOOSE TO FIGHT ME?! YOU’RE JUST LIKE THE REST, JUST LIKE ALL OF THOSE FOOLS WHO’VE FEARED ME FOR CENTURIES WITHOUT REASON! FINE THEN! OPPOSE MY DREAM! I WILL CRUSH YOU JUST LIKE I WILL CRUSH EVERYPONY ELSE!”

Despite the alicorn’s deafening cries all around him, Lucario stood unaffected by the chaos around him. His eyes were once again closed, something he always seemed to do when not taking something seriously, which only served to enrage Nightmare even more.

“YOU CAN’T STOP ME, GUARDIAN! I’VE SPLIT MY BODY INTO BILLIONS OF PARTICLES INSIDE THIS ATTACK. NOT EVEN YOUR SENSES CAN FIND THE REAL ME, NOT IN A THOUSAND YEARS! NOT THAT YOU COULD EVER UNDERSTAND HOW LONG THAT IS MORE THAN I DO! BUT I’LL MAKE YOU SEE! I’LL MAKE ALL OF YOU SEE! THE NIGHT…!”

“Foresight.”

“WILL LAST…!”

“Mind Reader.”

“FOREVER!” Ignoring the quiet words coming from the Pokémon, Nightmare’s tornado shot inwards towards Lucario, her yells echoing louder than the greatest thunder. She didn’t react when a ball of light blue energy bigger than an Aura Sphere appeared in his right paw as he opened his eyes.

“Focus Blast.”

In a millisecond, Lucario spun around and showed his paw downwards, striking Nightmare’s head from above. Time grinded to a near halt as she found herself slowly falling down towards the roof below her, traces of her stardust still floating motionlessly in the air around her. She didn’t wonder how the Pokémon could’ve possibly hit her, nor what the words he’d said just before his attack had meant. All she could focus on was the incredible force pushing against her head, soon followed by her helmet finally giving in and breaking into pieces.

Lucario’s Focus Blast sent Nightmare crashing through the roof with a deafening rumble. One by one, the floors on the lower levels gave way as the attack forced the alicorn further and further down, destroying more and more of her and the orphaned children’s past home. When she finally reached the ground level, the light still pressing against her head briefly intensified before finally detonating.

Lucario activated Magnet Rise just as the entire tower exploded under his feet. The walls holding up the bottom floor turned to dust that blew outward over the surrounding field, and giant cracks spread up the rest of the structure, splitting it into pieces. Several pieces of rock and stone were launched into the sky, flying past an uncaring Lucario before gravity finally reclaimed its hold on them.

But as the seconds passed, the falling sides of the tower began to slow down. The surrounding smoke froze in midair as a few rocks falling around Lucario also stopped in their tracks. The sound of the explosion grew distant before it faded out completely, leaving Lucario in complete silence and inactivity.

As he looked around himself in surprise, Lucario saw the unmoving tower walls beginning to glow. Soon enough, the dust, the smaller rocks, and even the flower field below him turned completely white, and small orbs began to float into the sky as the objects they were born from slowly shattered like leaves falling from a tree. As the orbs began to fill the sky, Lucario descended to the ground and walked up to the center of large crater. He didn’t need to use his Aura Sense to see what was hidden inside the still lingering cloud of white dust.

But what he heard coming from within was a sound his heart had never hoped to hear again after his vision.

*sob* “Why…?”

The dust faded away, exposing a broken, but still conscious Nightmare Moon lying within. Her left wing was broken in several places, and dark stains were flowing down her head and onto her neck. The helmet she’d been wearing until now was gone, letting her disheveled mane fall over her face just like Luna’s bangs. Despite the difference in coat color, it was almost impossible for Lucario to tell them apart from each other now.

“Why does everyone… oppose my dream?”

Nightmare painfully brought her foreleg to her face, hiding it from Lucario’s sight as she continued to cry. The sounds of her sobs and tiny gasps were the only things to break the lingering silence. The Pokémon’s expression remained unchanged, simply staying quiet as he watched tears flow down his beaten opponent’s cheeks.

“I’m not a monster… Why is it that everyone’s wishes but mine can be fulfilled? Can’t nightmares have dreams of their own? What’s so wrong about mine compared to all others?”

Lowering her hooves a bit, Nightmare rolled onto her back and stared up at the night sky above them. Even the stars and the moon she had created for herself there were beginning to disappear, leaving only a layer of darkness behind.

“It’s not fair…! I don’t understand…! Why can’t I have my dream? I don’t care if my night lasts forever, or even for just one more day.”

Nightmare covered her face with her forelegs, but her open mouth could be seen from the side as she let more sobs escape her breath.

“I just wanted… someone to see it…”

Nightmare’s open cries continued to wail across the area. She continued to hide her face, as if trying to shield herself from the rest of the world. Lucario kept his silence for a few more moments, but then closed his eyes as he slowly shook his head.

“You’re wrong. That’s not what you wanted.”

Nightmare gasped sharply, and though she still hid them behind her hooves, her eyes turned in Lucario’s direction.

“The one you wanted your subjects to see… was you.”

Nightmare’s eyes now widened visibly as her hooves fell down a bit from her face in shock. Her tears stopped falling, and she briefly held her breath as she looked up at the Pokémon.

“The ponies from your past hated you. I don’t know why or how it began, but they did. At some point after you defeated Discord, they simply started to fear your night, blaming it and whatever it brought for all the terrors that plagued them. Monsters, darkness, nightmares, and whatever else they could come up with. In time, you became nothing more than a lesser version of your sister to them, or barely even a shadow of her. It reached the point where you were no longer even welcomed to help or associate with them… and it left you in a state of isolation from which you had no chance to free yourself.

“You knew that you had to make them accept your night… but why? Because you wanted to have your work appreciated? Because you wanted to show everyone that you were your sister’s equal as a ruler? No. Those things barely even mattered to you. You just didn’t want to… be alone. And when you met Landlubber, Sneaky, and the other children from the orphanage, you finally no longer felt that way. They praised you. Accepted you. Loved you.

“But they were the only ones who did. The rest of your subjects continued to despise you, and when you made a desperate attempt to find happiness for yourself with those you held dear, even your own sister seemed to feel the same as them. ‘Why do you always try to show off that stupid night of yours’? That was when you realized… that no one truly understood you.”

Lucario looked up at the now blank sky as he remembered the words he’d heard in his vision.

“Isn’t this how you’ve always imagined me? Isn’t this who I truly am?”

“The night became an excuse. Thinking that they refused to accept your night was much easier for you to take than knowing that they didn’t accept you. You tricked yourself into believing that that was what you fought for. Overthrowing your sister and taking over Equestria so that your night could be eternal. But… like you said, you don’t care how long your night lasts. Because in the end, what you wanted…”

He looked back down at Nightmare, who was still staring at him between her hooves.

“I… I just wanted…”

“…was friends, wasn’t it?”

Lucario fell silent as he watched Nightmare. The alicorn’s expression was unreadable at first, processing what he’d just said. After a while, she looked away in what looked like shame, either humiliated by Lucario’s words, or simply unable to know how she was supposed to take it all. Her crying had stopped entirely, and she didn’t look back at Lucario to either object to or acknowledge anything. Thus, she didn’t see the gentle smile that appeared on his lips.

“But you know… Luna…”

Nightmare blinked and inhaled in surprise upon hearing her true name. When she turned back to Lucario, the Pokémon carefully knelt down next to her to take her hoof in his paws. Their eyes locked with each other, and Lucario’s head tilted slightly as his smile grew even warmer.

“…You’ve already fulfilled that dream, haven’t you?”

Nightmare's breathing had ceased for reasons unknown to her. She stared up at the now completely non-threatening Pokémon that was holding her hoof, her mind trying to get working after grinding to a halt. She found it peaceful, just looking into Lucario’s eyes. She was so tranquilized by it that she didn’t notice her world beginning to blur, or how the hoof Lucario held in his paws began to turn slightly transparent.

“Now if only another will as well…”

A distant voice echoed in her ears. It was too dark for her to see, but the voice sounded… familiar.

“Princess Luna.”

Nightmare opened her eyes, finding herself lying on the rocky floor of a castle. Lifting her head up in shock with widened eyes, she noticed the tall, white alicorn walking towards her.

“It’s been a thousand years since I have seen you like this,” Celestia said as she approached, her head held high like always. Her expression wasn’t angry, but Nightmare couldn’t bear to look at her. She closed her eyes and cowered back, fearing what her big sister would do.

“Time to put our differences behind us.”

Not expecting to hear these words, Nightmare carefully opened her eyes to see Celestia kneeled down in front of her. A strange urge inside her heart forced her to keep up the eye contact, letting her see her sister’s face up-close for the first time in centuries.

“We were meant to rule together, little sister,” Celestia continued. Behind them, the voices of other ponies could be heard asking something, but Nightmare ignored them. She watched her sister stand back up, a small, hopeful smile appearing on her lips as she did.

“Will you accept my friendship?”

Nightmare felt her body reflexively wince back, but her heart was yelling at her. She spared another glance up at Celestia, still seeing the warm smile directed at her. It was then that the words finally sunk in, a certain one standing out from the rest.

Friendship… No… she would never say that. She would never… I… I…!

“I’m so sorry!” she heard herself scream as her body ran up to Celestia by itself. While her mind panicked, she found herself lovingly nuzzle her sister as tears of joy fell from her eyes. “I missed you so much, big sister.”

She screamed at her body to back away, to escape before Celestia could do anything to her, but fell silent as she felt drops of liquid drop down on the back of her mane. A small sniffle made her open her eyes, and she found herself staring into her sister’s equally teared-up eyes.

*sob* “I’ve missed you too…”

Nightmare’s real eyes widened as her vision blurred again. She didn’t see how the transparency on her hoof had spread over her whole body, or how she slowly began to evaporate into small, white orbs. She instead found herself standing in the middle of a small village, a pair of pegasus fillies flying by to place a wreath of flowers around her neck.

What… are these?

The village gave room for a bedchamber, with her drifting off to sleep under her sister’s wing.

Are these… memories?

A bat-winged pegasus held a door up for her, smiling genuinely as she thanked him.

Whose memories are these?

She stood among a group of dressed-up villagers, laughing as they all threw spiders on a distant web.

Why am I seeing them?

Hugging her sister in a dark hospital room.

Why…?

Hugging a group of familiar ponies in the middle of a decorated hallway.

Why…?!

Flying through the air with a blue creature, smiling at each other as they simply talked.

……Why do they… make me feel so happy?

Against all odds, despite all her hardships and past tragedies, Nightmare Moon couldn’t help but smile as the last traces of her body disappeared, leaving white orbs to peacefully float away into the endless dark above.

Lucario continued to hold Nightmare’s hoof until it simply passed through his paws. He then watched in silence as the alicorn disappeared, just as the last traces of the similarly fading environment around him did the same. With no stars or moon to spread their light, the area was once again left in darkness, now nothing more than a wide, empty cave.

The only exception, Lucario found, was the vast field of grass. The flowers that had once adorned it were gone, but the grass itself defiantly remained, unaffected by the evaporation that had claimed everything else. Lucario wasn’t sure what to make of this, and his focus was soon shifted to the exit that suddenly opened up by itself in the nearby wall. Knowing that this was a sign to leave, Lucario turned to it and walked a few steps forward, but stopped as he looked back one final time at where Nightmare had disappeared.

“I’ll… keep your dream alive… I promise.”

With that, he turned back and ran through the exit as it closed itself behind him, leaving the field of grass in his wake.

And unbeknownst to Lucario, it would always remain there, waiting for however long it needed to finally fulfill its own dream.

To one day have its creator happily roll across its surface once more.

Sometime before, elsewhere in Tartarus...

Curse this place and its mazes! I can’t figure out if it’s leading me somewhere, or just spinning me in circles!

Luna’s patience with the never-ending tunnel she was flying through was growing thin. Not only was her sister still being held captive somewhere in this world, but she’d had Twilight and her friends seal the entrance behind her with the Elements of Harmony so that no creature or monster could pass through until Celestia was saved. Worst of all, she’d been separated from Lucario, her only companion, and she had no idea what had become of him.

And now I’m being led around like a dog chasing a treat, she thought to herself in frustration. I swear that when I find the one responsible for all of this, I’ll-

A distant growl from behind her reached Luna’s ears, interrupting her inner rambling as she landed back on the ground. Turning back to face whatever was coming, she engulfed her horn with magic.

“Show yourself!” she shouted, predictably receiving no answer. She was about to fire a beam down the tunnel when a second growl made itself heard, this time in the tunnel ahead of her. Turning so that her sides faced both directions, Luna eyed back and forth repeatedly as she waited. Her heartbeat grew louder and louder, each beat seemingly representing each step the unseen monsters took towards her.

*beat* *beat* *beat* * beat* *quack* *beat* *beat*

Wait… ‘quack’?

*POOF!*

Luna found herself standing in the middle of a checker-patterned field, surrounded by a group of dancing frogs. They were all yodeling together as they spun each other around by the elbows, waving their top hats up and down joyfully. One of them, for some reason wearing black armor that covered every inch of its body, walked past and dipped its measuring jug into the ground, somehow filling it with water before clumsily pouring all of it into a bottle. After splashing a bit of it over its face in an attempt to drink through its helmet, it gave Luna what seemed to be a curt “Good morning” before continuing on its merry way.

Luna stood still as she watched the dancing frogs and their armored friend, who was licked up by the distant sun before he could disappear into the horizon. Understandably overwhelmed by what seemed to be her sudden descent into madness, she found herself thinking the only question her mind could currently handle without breaking.

Where the hay is the duck?

A flash of light briefly blinded her from above, and she turned her head up to look for its source. Her near-shattered mind quickly pieced itself together when she saw the figure floating above her, holding a camera in its claw while laughing its lungs out.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that was PERFECT! I wish I had a newspaper to send this in to, because that reaction-shot was the best! Hahahahahahaha!”

Luna didn’t share the creature’s enjoyment. Instead, a stone-cold mix of hatred, dread, and fear took hold of her heart as memories of her past gave name to the monster above her.

“D-Discord?!”

“My, my…” Discord leered down as he threw his camera away. “It’s been a long time, WOONA.”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to halo003qd for helping me proofread this chapter!

Whew! Now when that's all over, let's get down to business!

Luna's past is without a doubt the most difficult part I've written in this story yet. At first, I'd planned to actually make it fairly short, as I originally intended to tell all of it in one chapter. But as my planning stage continued, I realized that there were just too many small details I needed to focus on for it to come out properly. How much personality and background story could I give the children without making them steal the spotlight? How much personality and backstory did I HAVE to give them in order to make Luna's relationship with them sympathetic? What subtle teases did I need to throw in about the eventual revelation about Sneaky's and Whiteout's families without making them too obscure or too obvious?

Another great detail was the way I needed to explain Luna's dream solely through her backstory. Nightmare Moon always goes on and on about her night, but I've always seen it as a facade for her true wish: To just be accepted by her subjects and the ponies she loves. So I needed to somehow blur the lines between her dream for friends and her false dream for an eternal night in these chapters. I decided to make it seem that she was always wishing for the latter, but make it just vague enough that it could be interpreted as the former. Of course, this turned out to be even more complicated to pull off.

And then of course we have the fact that I had to tell Luna's entire backstory through Lucario's eyes... while he watched everything through Luna's eyes. That means we couldn't hear what Luna was thinking, and that not everything was explained out loud to us immediately, like when Luna went to see Celestia without saying why for Lucario to hear. Trust me, writing from such a viewpoint is HARD. Like, dear Faust, I hope I never have to do that again.

The release of the finished version of "Children of the Night" also put a few stops in my schedule. Since I'd always planned for Luna's backstory in this story to be based on that video, I had to make the two fit together as perfectly as possible. I started to study the animation obsessively, trying to make out where it was located, what all the houses looked like, and what all the children in it looked like as well. If you watch the video, you can actually see the ones I based the characters on in a few scenes. Landlubber is seen on the right as the children wake up in the orphanage, and she's the pony in the black robe we see narrating at the beginning of the video. Sneaky is seen sleeping and then floating out of her house before nuzzling Luna towards the end. Even Whiteout is seen sleeping in the tunnel I described in the story. Then there are other details, like the overall design of the orphanage, and how part of the Everfree Forest could be seen some distance behind it.

Celestia's personality in Luna's backstory is surely something I think a few of you will disagree with, but it makes sense in my head. This isn't the same Celestia as the one in the present, who has had over a thousand years' worth of experience in ruling a country. This one is still relatively new to her duties, and has been weighted down and mislead by all the awful choices she's no doubt been forced to make throughout her rule. The fact that she pretty much did it all alone after her subjects began to fear Luna probably didn't help much.

There's actually a second reason for why I chose the name Whiteout, aside from the Pokémon reference I mentioned in the previous chapter. According to Wikipedia, a whiteout is "a weather condition in which visibility and contrast are severely reduced by snow or sand. The horizon disappears completely and there are no reference points at all, leaving the individual with a distorted orientation." This was a very subtle hint on the fact that there was more to Whiteout than we could see upon first seeing him, as if his true identity was hidden within an unseen horizon.

I couldn't think of a way to explain how the moves Foresight and Mind Reader worked in the actual text, so I made them into links leading to their descriptions on a major Pokémon site. In short, Foresight lets the user hit Ghost-type opponents with Normal and Fighting-type attacks, and Mind Reader makes his or her next attack have a 100% chance to hit the target no matter what. Focus Blast, for those of you who were wondering, is a more powerful energy attack than Aura Sphere, but it lacks the latter's homing capabilities, and is in fact rather inaccurate (70% chance to hit in the games). Combined with Mind Reader, however, it works itself around this flaw.

I would like to thank all of you for staying patient when waiting for these chapters. The combination of real life and the complexity of this part of the story didn't mix well together. But despite the hardships that came with it, this was one of my most looked forward to parts of the entire story. You can't imagine how many times I've replayed Nightmare's passing in my head these past months. I can only hope that you find it even a fraction as good to read as I do.

Next time in Friendship is Aura: Over a thousand years ago, Luna helped save the world from the tyranny of the master of chaos. Now she faces him yet again, but without the sister and the elements that had been vital to her last victory. How will she fare when she now faces this nigh invincible opponent all alone? Join us next time when we dive from one great battle directly into the next: Luna vs Discord.

KangTheGuardian -

P.S: Yes, I know Luna's backstory here will be proven false once season 4 kicks in, but it doesn't matter.

P.P.S: Does this pic look familiar to you?

April Fools' Special - Lucario vs Shadow Peach & Shadow Zelda

A looming shadow hung over the land. It was great enough to cover an entire city, black enough to completely drown everything it covered in darkness, and terrifying enough to make all living creatures run for their lives at the sight of it. And they could not be blamed for this act of cowardice. Because this shadow had heralded the end of countless towns and areas around the world. Nothing remained in its wake, save for giant spheres of dark energy that nobody dared to touch or approach.

Chaos and misery had invaded the land... in the form of red, thundering clouds, and a flying, masked airship.

The Halberd. That's what the ship was once called, when its crew was still made up of gentler hearts and merrier spirits. But those men and women were long gone now, replaced by the sinister monstrosities that now walked the metal corridors. These creatures came in all forms, all sizes, and used all manner of weaponry and tactics in their assaults. They had already terrorized the citizens of this land many times, and only the bravest and strongest had survived their onslaught to tell the tale. Almost all of them told the same, horrifying story of the approaching apocalypse.

...ALMOST all of them.

Seems like they compensate in numbers what they lack in individual strength, Lucario thought as he left yet another corridor covered with defeated foes behind him. While he'd been initially surprised by the creatures and their slight resemblance to the ones from Tartarus, he quickly figured out that they were not related after studying their auras. Said auras were still red and corrupted, though, and so they received no mercy from Lucario when they chose to attack him.

Many of the creatures' bodies had begun to dissolve into pollen-like dust, and the ones that were still whole lied in all manner of positions across the floor, bested by either the force of a punch or the slash of a blade. Some of them were even sticking out of open holes in the walls, charred black by extreme heat. While all these wounds could've been inflicted by Lucario himself with moves like Metal Claw and Blaze Kick, he still had yet to recover his full power since arriving in this world. Instead, those moves had been delivered by someone else, more specifically the two companions that now followed by his side.

The masked knight he'd met and fought before was one of them. He'd revealed his name to be Meta Knight, and was the true captain of the airship they were now infiltrating. After having somehow resurrected him from his petrified state, Lucario had listened to the knight's story of the current events. Realizing that this world was in every bit as much danger as Equestria was, Lucario had offered his assistance and formed a partnership with Meta Knight, which had immediately led to their impromptu attack on the ship after it crashed into the side of the mountain during an aerial struggle with a smaller ship.

It wasn't long after their boarding that the two had encountered the third member of their team, who both of them had nearly missed as they ran past him. Even Lucario's Aura Sense had missed this strange man at first, only revealing his presence after he strained his sensing powers to the max. This same man was now following behind them at irregular intervals, rolling between cover and occasionally prowling over the floor melodramatically. His name was Solid Snake, and he was a human, something which had greatly surprised Lucario upon first meeting him. While the children he'd seen with Meta Knight before were humanoid in appearance as well, Snake was far more similar in shape to the humans from Lucario's home world. A bit grittier and mature in appearance perhaps, but otherwise very familiar. Visions of Sir Aaron had flashed in Lucario's mind before he suppressed them again. He couldn't let them distract him in the middle of enemy territory.

While Meta Knight's intimate knowledge of the ship's interior had made him their group leader, Lucario was in charge of scanning the approaching corridors for enemy activity, an advantage that had made their previous battles a lot easier. Not long ago, he had sensed the auras of two, non-evil beings in a large room near the rear of the ship, most likely hostages that had been petrified into statues. Describing the room as well as he could to Meta Knight, the knight had identified it as the ship's engineering room, and had since led the three towards that destination. Lucario had at first caught a small hint of reluctance in Meta Knight's eyes when he'd told him of the hostages, which he guessed mostly came from the former captain's desire to retake his ship before all else. Still, he'd not been one to put innocent lives at stake, and Lucario was thankful that he'd chosen to assist him and Snake's rescue mission without any complaints.

Finally, they reached a pair of metal doors that slid open by themselves when they approached it. Like Meta Knight had said, it was some kind of engineering deck. The engine at the back of the room was surprisingly quiet, but Lucario wasn't educated enough in the field to say whether this was normal or not. Regardless, his focus had already fallen on the two cages hanging from the ceiling, each holding a golden statue. Slightly obscured by the metal bars, Lucario stepped forward to get a closer look when a familiar, hissing sound reached him and his teammates.

Slowly running down the chains were the purple pollen that had leaked out of their enemies before. Judging by its aura, Lucario guessed that it was this very substance that made up the creatures' bodies. Before any of them could react to stop it, the dark matter flowed over the statues, covering them head to toe before slowly leaking out of the cages' bottoms. It fell soundlessly to the floor, briefly forming two small puddles of darkness before they suddenly stirred again. Raising up by their own will, the puddles compressed themselves and, in a brief glow of dark blue, took the shape of the imprisoned captives.

And upon seeing their regal clothes, their refined features, and the royal crown and tiara on their heads, Lucario's eyes widened. For an agonizing moment, all he saw was a familiar, motherly smile, worn by a woman whose life he had not too long ago ruined.

"Lady... Rin..."

Just as quickly as the memory had hit him, it left as the two shadow women raised their arms for combat. Meta Knight and Snake did the same, and Lucario was quick to follow when his senses returned to him. These women, one blonde and one brunette, were undoubtedly royalty, most likely princesses judging by their age. However, they were not his former queen. While the past still haunted him, he would not allow it to hold power over his present.

A flash of green light signaled the start of the fight, along with the sudden disappearance of the brown-haired princess. A bad feeling made itself known in Lucario's chest, and he quickly used Extreme Speed to dodge to the side. Thankfully, Meta Knight and Snake had chosen to get away as well, as the princess reappeared in another flash of light right where they had stood less than a second ago. Settling her eyes on Lucario, she conjured up an orb of flame in her hand and fired it towards him. Thinking quickly, Lucario formed an aura Sphere and sent it flying to intercept the orb before it could reach him.

The sphere passed through the orb like it wasn't even there, and Lucario was forced to duck under the orb as it flew past him. Or at least he'd expected it to fly past. Instead, the orb slightly arced itself downward to follow Lucario's dodge, stopping mere inches away from his face. A small flash of light sparked as the orb briefly disappeared, and Lucario heard the princess give out a short yell before an explosion of fire detonated in its place.

That half second delay had been all Lucario needed to leap back, though, giving him just enough space to escape the orb's blast radius. Activating Aura Sense, Lucario looked through the smoke to anticipate the princess's next attack. He had barely even raised his head before he was greeted by his own Aura Sphere coming towards him, punching a hole through the smoke as it did. Instinctively raising his arm to catch the sphere before it hit him, Lucario was too late to notice the strange change the sphere's aura had undergone.

But what would've resulted into a devastating blow was miraculously prevented by a series of lightning-fast slashes. The Aura Sphere shattered into pieces in midair as Meta Knight suddenly stood before Lucario, having teleported in front of him with his cape. He gave Lucario a quick nod before turning his cape into wings and charging at the princess. Normally, his intervention would've been pointless, as Lucario could freely control and manipulate his own aura. However, he now realized that something had been strange with the sphere, and looking back at the brown-haired princess still standing some distance away with Aura Sense clued him in on what it was.

That Aura Sphere... it was made of her own aura. So unless she herself is an aura user, she must've somehow converted my aura into hers instead.

Lucario had no idea how the princess had pulled this off, but he now knew better than to underestimate her. Fake clone or not, she probably possessed the same powers as the real deal. Her manipulation of magic was something even Twilight would've envied.

Had Lucario not had Aura Sense activated at that point, he would've probably been too busy mentally praising his opponent to notice the sudden approach behind him. Tilting his body to the side, Lucario felt a wave of air hit his face as a hand holding a golden crown slammed past his head's previous position. He briefly cursed himself for forgetting their second opponent before turning to face the blond-haired princess. This one seemingly had some knowledge of magic as well, as she was floating a few inches above the ground, her body twisting and spinning without her feet having to bother with the otherwise necessary footwork. She aimed a pair of spinning slaps at him, only for Lucario to catch both of her wrists with one paw. Lifting them up, Lucario pushed his free paw into her exposed stomach, unleashing a Force Palm as he hit her.

The blonde princess flew a few feet back, but got up impressively quick. The clones must've been more durable than the real deal, he thought before she suddenly rammed her hands into the metal floor. Against all logical sense, she somehow pulled up a giant turnip or radish with some kind of drawn face on it, which she then threw at him. Thinking nothing of it, Lucario blocked the vegetable with his paw, only to feel his arm turn numb from the surprising force. Regardless of its size, the vegetable shouldn't have been this heavy or powerful.

Deciding that it was time he got serious, Lucario grabbed the vegetable himself and threw it back at the princess. She raised her hand to catch it, but simultaneously felt something impact into her back, sending her face-first into the incoming projectile. Lucario, having used Extreme Speed to dash behind her to deliver a swift kick while she was distracted, wasted no time jumping up in a somersault as the princess reeled back from the vegetable's blow. He then slammed his foot down on her face with an axe kick, hitting her hard enough to give him some extra aerial momentum. Landing a few feet in front of her, Lucario conjured up an Aura Sphere and threw it at his downed opponent.

A flash of green light briefly blinded him as the brown-haired princess teleported to the scene, having abandoned her fight with Meta Knight some distance away. Spinning around as she landed, a crystal-like barrier formed around her, with small shards even flying outwards from its surface. An evil grin donned her face as the sphere hit the barrier.

...And then passed through without a care in the world. The cocky look on the brown-haired princess's face quickly disappeared as an explosion hit the ground just behind her, barely out of reach from her barrier. She hurriedly turned around by reflex, leaving her front open as the blond-haired princess flew into her stomach and sent them both rolling over the floor. Shaking and grunting in pain, both of them lifted their heads to see not one, but two Lucarios standing before them, one some distance slightly behind where the brown-haired princess had stood moments ago.

"It was easy to see your teleportation coming with my Aura Sense activated," the Lucario further back explained as his other self faded away. "I wanted to know how you managed to convert my Aura Sphere into your own before, so I set up a Double Team right when I noticed you approaching. So that magic crystal barrier of yours was what did it, was it? Powerful magic, I'll admit."

Seemingly not fond of listening to him talking, the blond-haired princess got up on her feet and pulled out a parasol out of nowhere. Before she could even begin to charge at Lucario, however, a golden tornado flew past and cut it into pieces right in her hand. Coming to a stop beside Lucario, Meta Knight ended his tornado attack and raised his sword in preparation for further combat, which Lucario mimicked by raising his paws while engulfing them in aura.

"But that magic pales in comparison to the one I've seen," Lucario stated as his memory drifted back to a group of six ponies effortlessly dispatching a three-headed dog. "As we will prove to you right now."

Almost as one, Lucario and Meta Knight took a step towards their opponents. They had only known each other for a few hours, and yet they already moved like seasoned partners. Whether this was caught by the two princesses or not remained unknown, as the brown-haired one wasted no time in engulfing herself in magic. Her body disappeared from view behind the light, and when it finally reemerged, it was not the same. Standing in the princess's place was a man, dressed in a tight, ninja-like outfit and with his face hidden behind a piece of cloth. He lowered himself down into a fighting position at impressive speeds, which gave Lucario the hint that this form was a lot more melee-focused. Producing a group of steel needles from his back, the ninja-

*CRACK!*

-fell unmoving to the ground as the sound of cracking bones suddenly echoed across the room. Before the ninja dissolved into dark pollen, Lucario noticed that his head was twisted nearly 180 degrees back, which had undoubtedly been the source of the cracking sound. The other princess stared down at the slowly disappearing body for a second before looking up at the man that she and everyone else in the room only now noticed was standing next to her.

"Now!"

The blond-princess's body exploded into a mess of dark energy as something on the back of her back waist suddenly detonated. The seconds drifted by as the dark pollen slowly evaporated, leaving the room in silence as Snake put back some kind of remote control into his belt while smiling at his two partners.

"Kept you waiting, huh?"

Author's Note

Missing an unnecessary sequel to my April Fools' chapter from last year? Not on my watch!

This time written and edited in just three hours. I'm getting better at this, ain't I?

*Looks back at the very huge lack of chapters this past year*

...Okay, I'm definitely not. You know what? To hay with it. Next official group of chapters coming next week. Be Real or Be Chaotic - Part 1 & however many else I decide to split them into.

KangTheGuardian -

Equestria and the Mystery of New Arrivals

”CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS POTION BREWERS, YAY!”

By this point in time, the village of Ponyville was used to the deafening trio of screams that suddenly burst out from the CMC-clubhouse. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had seemingly thought up yet another plan to discover their talents and thus earn their cutie marks. Their ongoing quest was common knowledge among the villagers. The majority of them had already fallen prey to their different attempts to help them with their jobs and professions. More often than not, the results were disastrous. The young fillies always meant well, though, so the villagers took it in stride.

The crusaders’ plans were mostly harmless, usually taking place within the safe borders of Ponyville. But the fillies' plan today was anything but safe. Today, their quest led them to one of the most dangerous areas in Equestria. The great forest that was located just outside the borders of Ponyville: The Everfree Forest.

“Are you sure about this, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked somewhat nervously. The excitement that had filled her voice during her and her friends’ shout from before was gone without a trace.

“Oh come on! Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts,” the purple-maned pegasus replied, skipping several steps ahead of her two friends. “Potion brewing just HAS to be our talent. We made that love potion during Hearts and Hooves Day perfectly on our first try!”

“First of all, it was a love POISON that almost ruined Miss Cheerliee’s and Big McIntosh’s life!” Apple Bloom replied, the memories of the two ponies’ gross flirting making her gag. “Secondly, while I think potion brewing could be our special talent too, I’m not so sure about searching for ingredients inside the Everfree Forest.”

By this point, the crusaders had arrived near the borders of the forest. None of them could recall how many times the adults have told them to stay away from it by now. Judging by the many nightmarish creatures that dwelled within, their warnings were undoubtedly well-founded. Scootaloo just gave her friends a mock laugh and continued on.

“Hah! We’ve been inside there by ourselves before while visiting Zecora. Besides, it’s not like we’re planning to go that far in. We're just going to get a few pieces of bark, some flowers, and whatever else we find.”

“And how will we ever be able to make potions out of those kinds of things?” Sweetie Belle asked. Scootaloo gave the young unicorn a deadpan look.

“If we could make a love potion out of clouds, rainbows, and pegasus feathers, I’m sure we could make something out of flowers and bark. Especially considering that pretty much anything that comes from Everfree Forest must be special or magical in some way.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked over their shoulders towards Ponyville. Both of them were thinking of the same thing: the huge scolding they would receive from their families once they found out where they had been. Apple Bloom’s sister Applejack and Sweetie Belle’s sister Rarity would be especially angry. Still, it wasn't like they were planning on looking for dangerous animals or anything.

“Well, I guess it’ll be all right as long as we stay within eyesight of the village,” Apple Bloom eventually responded. “Maybe we can-“

Her thoughts were instantly interrupted when a huge explosion suddenly rose from the forest. The three fillies watched in shock as a wave of blue, magical energy rushed towards them between the trees. For a few seconds, the whole world turned blue around them. Even the light of the sun was seemingly replaced by this new, dominant color. The echoing thunder could still be heard once the world returned to normal, leaving the crusaders shaking together in a tight embrace. For what must at least have been a few minutes, they simply sat on the grass, petrified. Their eyes focused on the darkness that once again covered the inner forest. They were all expecting something to suddenly rush out and attack them, but silence once again reigned over the area as the last thunder faded away.

The fillies' embrace remained strong for a few more moments before Scootaloo decided that she'd had enough. She broke free from her friends' grip and promptly rushed into the forest.

“Wa… wai… wait!” Sweetie Belle finally managed to force out, her heart still pounding in fear. It was a miracle that none of them had passed out from fright.

“Come on!” Scootaloo yelled back, her voice clearly trembling from a combination of terror and excitement. “Whatever that was, we could be the first to discover it! We could become famous in a day!”

Sweetie Belle still hadn’t recovered enough to move, let alone run after her friend into the most dangerous forest in Equestria. Apple Bloom, however, was seemingly made of sterner stuff as she soon rushed after the pegasus.

“Scootaloo, stop!” she shouted after her friend as she ran. “You said we weren't going to go that far in! Are you even listening?! Hey, Scootaloo!”

Sweetie Belle sat for a few seconds and watched her friends disappear within the shadow of the trees, Apple Bloom's yells growing more and more distant as the two of them ran further in. Realizing that she was being left behind, she shook her head fiercely before pursuing them as well.

There weren't many things that could distract Applejack from her daily apple bucking. Sweet Apple Acres was the most massive piece of land in all of Ponyville, and even with the help of her brother Big McIntosh, it would take several weeks of hard work to get every single apple down from every single tree. While she was more than willing to put work aside to help out her friends or come to the Ponyville's aid when it was in danger, she knew how important it was to her family to make sure that the apples were harvested properly. Thus, she wouldn't let anything but the most dire or shocking events to break her attention.

Thus, it wasn't surprising when Applejack froze mid-buck as a giant pillar of blue light erupted from the Everfree Forest. She stood for about a minute and watched the scene in front of her unfold, an activity soon joined by Big McIntosh as he came running from the farm to check on her. He was about to shake his sister out of her temporary shock when he realised what direction the explosion had come from.

“Sis’?” he began.

“…Yeah?”

“Apple Bloom and her friends’ clubhouse is in that direction, isn’t it?”

Applejack stared at her brother briefly before understanding what he had meant.

“Oh nelly, I better check if they’re all right!” she exclaimed before rushing away in the clubhouse’s direction. They better not get any adventurous ideas from all this.

Several miles away, a certain princess of the night woke up from her slumber in Canterlot as she felt the world seemingly shake from a huge burst of magic. For a moment, Princess Luna just laid still, trying to comprehend what had just transpired, before throwing herself out her bed. She slammed open the doors to her bedchambers, scaring the guards outside half to death. They weren’t used to see her awake during daytime, let alone rushing out like she was chased by Discord himself. Using her magic, she detected her sister’s presence on the dining hall balcony. Apparently, she had been in the middle of her dinner. Once Luna arrived, she found Celestia looking out towards Ponyville, where a huge cloud of dust was seen erupting from the Everfree Forest.

“Sister, what was… where did it…” Luna tried to ask in confusion. Celestia was briefly startled by her sister’s presence before once again turning her focus towards the forest with a serious expression.

“I don’t know, Luna. But I have a feeling that Equestria is in for some new experiences.”

Luna could see a smile starting to grow on Celestia’s face. In contrast to her own worries, Celestia seemed to be almost thrilled about the situation. Contemplating her inability to understand her sister sometimes, she turned towards the forest as well.

“New things aren’t always good things, big sister...”

"I said WAIT!" Apple Bloom shouted as she made a latch-ditch effort to jump at Scootaloo after finally catching up to her. The effort paid off as she managed to knock the pegasus to the ground, finally putting an end to her friend's running.

"Ow!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she rubbed her head. "Was that really necessary?!"

"It wouldn't have been if you just listened to me and stopped on your own!" Apple Bloom answered with a noticeable amount of irritation. Behind her, Sweetie Belle finally caught up with the two, but she was too busy panting in exhaustion to contribute anything to the conversation.

"Why are you so worked up for? I know where we're... going..." Scootaloo trailed off as she realized that she, in fact, had no idea where they were. The vegetation around them was so tightly grown that barely any sunlight made it past the trees' crowns to light up the fillies' surroundings. Scootaloo offered her friends a sheepish smile, which Apple Bloom answered with a facehoof.

"Hehe, whoops," the pegasus laughed nervously. "But hey, it's no problem! I'm sure we can find our way back. Miss Cheerilee said something about following your own hoofprints when-"

A shadow suddenly dashed between the trees in front of her, and her words came to a grinding halt as she began to look around the area. Her sudden behavior was quickly noted by her friends.

"What... are you..." Sweetie forced out between breaths, finally able to actually talk after her rush.

“Quiet!” Scootaloo hissed back. Her friends noticed the serious expression on her face, something they nearly never saw her wearing. Scootaloo was looking all around her now, the sound of footsteps around them now audible when her friends were silenced. It didn't take long before several green eyes suddenly revealed themselves in the shadows. Growls and even an occasional howl could be heard as canine-like wood creatures revealed themselves.

"Timberwolves!" Apple Bloom shouted in terror. Sweetie Belle let out a loud scream and hugged her friends in a desperate attempt to calm herself. Granny Smith’s tales of the mysterious and vicious creatures had become a legend among her classmates after the old mare had told them her story during Family Appreciation Day. While her story at school had sounded exciting and adventurous, Granny Smith told Apple Bloom in detail afterwards about how dangerous the creatures actually were. If she had not managed to find and clang a couple of metal pots together all those years ago, the wolves would've caught and devoured her for sure.

"Y-Y-You wouldn't happen to have a pot or two with you, AB?" Scootaloo stammered. It wasn't common for her friends to see her scared like this, but nopony had any intention of making fun of her this time.

"E-E-Eeynope."

"Great... J-Just great."

The wolves walked around them in circles, closing the gap between them and the fillies slowly but surely. All the while, they were snarling and biting at each other, as if they were arguing over who would make the first launch. The fillies knew there was no way out, and thus they simply tightened their embrace and closed their eyes while waiting for the wolves to make their move.

One of the wolves finally broke free from the rest of the pack. It rushed towards the fillies and leaped into the air in order to pounce on its meal.

Deep within the forest, in a giant cloud of dust and smoke, a brave jackalope approached the giant crater that had suddenly appeared next to its nest. While the rest of its family ran away in fright, the horned rabbit had been left behind in the chaos, and was now the only animal left in the whole area. While it had spent the last few minutes shaking behind a rock, a strange feeling of curiosity began to take hold of its mind. Curiosity was soon followed by courage, and it was now slowly making its way to the site.

Taking short, quiet steps, the jackalope finally reached its target. Looking over the edge of the crater, it tried its best to see through the heavy layer of dust that was still swirling around in its center. Thinking that it could barely make out a shadow of something hidden within, it prepared to slide down and take a closer look.

What it did instead was to spin around with perked-up ears as terrified screams were heard echoing past him. His startled reaction only lasted half a second before it remembered its current plan. But as it turned back to the crater to proceed down its slope, it found that such an action was no longer necessary. The bottom of the crater was now fully visible, the dust suddenly blown away from it as if pushed back by a sudden, powerful movement.

As for whatever had laid hidden within, the jackalope never learned. The crater was empty, its previous inhabitant gone without a trace.

A loud crack sounded throughout the area. As the three fillies closed their eyes in fear, the wolf that had pounced at them suddenly exploded in shards of wood. The branches that made up its body flew through the air, one of them embedding itself into a nearby tree, nearly piercing itself through the entire trunk. It took a moment for the wolves to realize what had just happened, looking around at the pieces of their fallen comrade in surprise before turning their attention back toward the fillies. Instead of growling in anger however, the whole pack was instantly silenced.

Still shaking, the three fillies opened their eyes to see what had delayed their certain demise. What they saw made all of them let out a unified gasp.

A canine-like, bipedal creature was standing in front of them. Its fur was colored blue, tan, and black, and it had some kind of appendages on the back of its head that almost seemed to float in midair. Its chest and the backs of its paws featured what looked like metal spikes. Its eyes were closed for some reason, and judging by its stance, it seemed like it had punched the attacking wolf straight in the face as it charged. There were many questions on the fillies' minds as they watched it. What was it? Where had it come from? How did it manage to make its way past the wolves without them noticing? Did it really just punch a timberwolf in the face so hard that it exploded?

A second gasp was suddenly let out by Sweetie Belle, making her friends break away their stare at the creature to look at her. Lifting a hoof, she pointed them back in the direction of the creature, pin-pointing trails of red liquid that was running down its torso and limbs. It was injured, and grievously so. Regardless, it stood defiantly in front of the entire pack of timberwolves, keeping all of them at bay with its mere presence.

A few of the younger wolves started to back away from the creature, the consequence of their friend’s last attack still fresh in their mind. Their retreat was soon halted by a sharp bark from their pack leader, who growled furiously at the blue creature before letting out loud howl. One by one, the other wolves began to join in with their own howls, and soon enough, the entire pack was in on it.

It was then that all of them, much to the fillies shock and disbelief, started to glow green. Their bodies slowly shattered into pieces as their branches began to attach themselves to the pack leader. Even a few stumps and old trees floated in over the fillies' heads as the monstrosity in front of the blue creature continuously grew in size. Giants claws dug themselves into the earth as they sunk deeper and deeper down into the soil from their owner's weight.

Once it was all over, the fillies didn't even dare to gulp as the now giant timberwolf let out a thundering roar. Its sickening breath came out of its mouth in a trail of dark green smoke, packing the punch of a powerful, stinking gust of wind. Drops of nectar dropped from its fangs as its lowered its head to look at the surely horrified expression on the creature's face.

But the creature was almost completely expressionless. In fact, it hadn't even opened its eyes to look at the spectacle in front of it. The wolf's eyes widened in surprise before a hateful growl escaped its throat. However, a trained ear would've noticed that there was more than fury behind the growl. There was a second feeling as well, a feeling that soon became appearent for everyone present.

The petrified fillies suddenly took notice of how dust on the ground began to blow away from the mysterious creature. Rocks in the area were shaking from an unexplainable force, and little by little, the creature started glowing in a blue, flame-like light. Compared to the green light that had surrounded the wolves before, this one was far more forceful. The very air seemed to vibrate, and the tree branches were rustling loudly.

The giant wolf had at first stood still as it watched the scene before it. But as its surroundings began to shake and shiver more and more, it began to take a few, anxious steps back. As it backed further and further away, the second feeling that had been present behind its growl took shape in its eyes. Its steps became unbalanced, nearly making the monster fall over in now completely appearent terror.

After what felt like an eternity, it all stopped. The light around the creature suddenly went out, and the rocks ceased their unnatural shaking on the ground. The blowing dust froze in midair as time itself seemed to stop in the suddenly tranquil area. And yet the creature now seemed more terrifying to the wolf than ever before. It opened its eyes, and a brief, yellow light glowed from them. Once it faded, a pair of red-colored lenses were revealed. The appendages on its head fell as whatever force that kept them floating seemingly left. It looked at the timberwolf like a dragon disdainfully regarding a small fly before burning it to a crisp.

“Leave.”

The simple word echoed throughout the area like a commanding order from Princess Celestia herself. The wolf wasted no time, letting out a loud whimper as it made a heel turn and ran for its life.

Before long, the forest was quiet once more, save for the sound of the fillies’ shaking breaths. The creature stared after the fleeing wolf for a minute or two, making sure that it wouldn’t suddenly come running back. It eventually turned its head toward the fillies behind him, who were staring at him with hanging jaws.

“Are you girls all right?”

The fillies were unsure where the voice came from. The creature’s mouth hadn’t moved in sync with the voice. Instead, it was just panting rather heavily. But the way it looked at them implied that it was indeed it’s voice, as if it spoke inside their very minds. With her friends still seemingly unable to talk, Sweetie Belle braced herself.

“Y-Yeah… I think we’re okay. Thank-”

“APPLE BLOOM! SWEETIE BELLE! SCOOTALOO!” a sudden voice could be heard behind them. Apple Bloom instantly recognized it as her sister Applejack, and she was happier than ever in her life to hear it.

“You know that person?” the voice asked inside Apple Bloom’s head. She turned around to see the creature looking at her curiously, having noticed her happy reaction upon hearing the shout.

“Yes, that’s my sister Applejack,” Apple Bloom replied. It was obvious that she was overjoyed to hear her sister’s voice.

The creature smiled back, taking the fillies by surprise. They had not expected such a friendly emotion from something that had scared away an entire pack of timberwolves by simply staring at them.

“Good… you’ll be fine then…” it replied, sounding relieved. It then fell over on the ground, finally letting its wounds get the better of it.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Niarro Moreau for helping me edit this chapter.

Oh boy, here we go…

This is the first chapter of my crossover fanfic, and the first fanfic I've ever written. Friendship is Aura is a story that has been on my mind for several months, but I was unsure if I had it in me to actually write it down. It's a rather ambitious project, as it will be pretty long and complex. I don't see any reason to back away now though. The first chapter is out, so I'm finishing this thing no matter what.

I hope you'll enjoy the ride as much as I will. Let's get this going! Que the opening theme music!

...Oh yeah, by the way. The name of the chapter (Equestria and the Mystery of New Arrivals) is a reference to the Pokémon movie "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew". You know... in case any of you were wondering...

KangTheGuardian -

The Land Devoid of Life and Bonds

He didn’t know how long the two of them sat there, letting their fantasies run wild as they created object after object. It had started off simple enough, with the two of them mixing his rocks and the being’s dirt together over a massive area. He initially didn’t want his work to be mixed with that of the being’s own, but he reluctantly realized that dirt was much more capable of shaping itself into proper forms than his rocks were.

The two of them had realized that while the void beneath them was solid enough for them to stand on, they were still able to create their objects beneath it. To gain a better overhead view of their creations, they thus decided to place their work on a level far below from where they were standing. While they were unable to move closer to their work themselves, they could move their objects closer or further away from them as needed.

“Hey, why don’t you create another rock, but one that is MUCH bigger than the other ones?” the being had asked him during their work. While he found this request to be purely out of pointless curiosity, he gave in and pointed at the Ground, as the two of them had agreed to call their combined work. A moment later, a rock of the size the being had asked for appeared. To call it “enormous” or “giant” would be an understatement. It was tall enough to completely dwarf everything else the two of them had made. He was even forced to move their work further away so that the rock’s top wouldn’t reach their level.

“WOW! That’s so cool!” the being exclaimed, eyeing the great mass beneath them with sparkling eyes. “You need to come up with a name for that, we can’t just call that another simple rock!”

“…I suppose Mountain will do,” he decided. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was rather proud of his work. If he were to stand on top of the mountain, he would have a clear view over the entire…

What to call it…? Land, yes, that will suffice, he decided after some thinking. It gave him a sense of pride, staring out over his and the being’s creation. It was then that he realized what he had been looking for within the dark during his search before. He was looking for something to call his own, something that the darkness wouldn’t just keep from him, but share with him. Something he could use and alter as he pleased.

Regardless, he still felt no animosity towards the darkness. It was still the comforting veil that embraced him and his work from all sides, as if it was just watching them. Not impeding, but not praising him either. Just knowing that it was there was good enough for him.

“Hmm, it still feels like something is missing.”

If only this one could act the same, he thought to himself in slight irritation as he turned to the being. It was looking down at their work, scratching its chin as it was thinking about something.

“What do you mean?” he asked it.

“I don’t know. This whole thing just feels so… I don’t even have a word for it, just something-less!”

The being closed its eyes, trying to think up a solution to its problem. He stared at it for a while, and was just about to continue with his work when the being suddenly exclaimed in triumph.

“I got it!” Pointing down at the ground, something began to grow out of the dirt. It began as a simple strand, soon followed by a dozen others. A dozen became hundreds, which in turn became thousands. Before he had a chance to say anything, a large portion of their work was suddenly covered with these objects. Their color differed greatly from the brown and grey soil it had come from.

“I’m calling it Grass!” the being proudly stated. “Do you like it?”

He brought some of the grass to their level, studying it. “What purpose does it serve?” he eventually asked the being.

“Not everything must be directly useful, you know?” the being replied as it rolled its eyes. “The ground just looked so boring, and I think the grass fixed that perfectly!” It conjured some more grass beneath it before it started to roll back and forth over it. “And it feels so nice to roll and lie on! Come on, try it!”

“I’ve no interest in such pointless activities,” he stated, clearly annoyed by the being’s behavior. The grass had begun to burn his eyes with its bright color, making him immediately despise it. “If it has no purpose other than to look ‘pretty’, then I’d like to ask you to leave it out of our work.”

“That’s right; it’s OUR work, not just yours! I don’t see why I can’t make things however I like as well. I mean, just look at all this. It’s big and solid, sure, but does it have to look so li…”

While he hadn’t been listening too much to the being’s complains, he found himself intrigued by its sudden silence. Looking over at it, he noticed how it was holding its limb over its mouth, as if had just realized what it was saying.

“Um, do you think you’ll be all right by yourself over here for a while?” it suddenly asked him. “I-I think I’m going to take a break and check out the area a bit more.”

“We’ve already confirmed that there’s nothing else around here,” he reminded it. “Why do you suddenly want to-”

“I’m sure I’ll find something this time! I’ll be back in a bit, so don’t wait up for me!” the being hastily said before running off in a random direction. He stared after it for a moment, still confused by its sudden change of behavior. After a while, he simply reminded himself that the being’s presence wasn’t necessary for him to continue his own work. With the being’s sidetracking ideas out of the way, perhaps he would finally be able to make some much-needed progress.

Out of his earshot, the being was still running. It had to create quite a gap between the two of them if it would have a chance to test its new idea in peace.

“That’s the word I was looking for. It feels so… lifeless.”

Things went better than Luna had predicted when she and her companions set out from Canterlot. Thanks to Lucario’s speech from before, no angry crowd had gathered to object to their leave from the city. On the contrary, several ponies had gathered to wish them well and pray for their safe return. Even a few members of the remaining upper class had come to see them leave, among them being Rarity’s good friend Fancypants. The highly respected stallion had been most sincere in his well wishes, as well as intrigued to get a chance to meet Lucario in person.

There were three chariots that eventually left Canterlot, dragged by some volunteers from the royal guard. Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy sat in the first. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow were in the second. Luna had a chariot to herself, mostly because she had planned to share it with Lucario, only to find that the Pokémon preferred to fly on his own.

Perhaps that’s for the best, she thought to herself. Some ponies could’ve gotten the wrong idea from seeing us share the same transport… Wait a minute, why would they even get an idea like that?! Ugh, I’m just overthinking things…

Shaking her head to rid herself of the thought, she looked over at the rest of her friends. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were busy with looking at the view. It wasn’t everyday that non-pegasi ponies like them got the chance to see Equestria’s landscape from so high above. Twilight didn’t seem to notice, however. She was staring out into space, probably thinking about their important mission. Rainbow and Fluttershy, being pegasi, didn’t seem to be overly excited either. Fluttershy still enjoyed the wind in her mane, but Rainbow was sulking in her seat. She would’ve flown with Lucario, but she couldn’t keep herself from dashing past the royal guards leading the way to prove her speed. With her luck, she would just get lost trying to get as far ahead of them as possible.

Lucario was flying a short distance away from the others. His eyes were closed as he watched their surroundings with his Aura Sense. Seeing as they were travelling to the possibly most dangerous place in Equestria, he hadn’t been willing to risk them falling into an ambush. His Magnet Rise illuminated the darkness of the night around him, which surprisingly served to give the group’s travel some calm atmosphere. “He’s like a light bulb you lit at evenings to read a book before bed,” Fluttershy had described it, much to Rainbow’s amusement. Imagining Lucario as a light bulb had been too much for her.

All six of the ponies from Ponyville were now equipped with the Elements of Harmony. Twilight was wearing her golden tiara while the rest of her friends were wearing their golden necklaces. Lucario hadn’t asked them how these accessories could represent the most powerful force in Equestria, instead choosing to study them with his Aura Sense. He had yet to explain what he sensed within them, but nopony had remembered to ask him about it.

Apart from a few “Ooohs” and “Aaaahs” from the earth ponies and Rarity watching the view, the group spent the ride in silence. They all had much to think about concerning their destination. Despite all their adventures together, Twilight and her friends still felt nervous about travelling somewhere nopony alive had ever been before. Twilight had explained that she had only escorted Cerberus to the outskirts of the area before the three-headed dog had stopped her and continued on his own. She hadn’t even been able to see the gates before turning back to Ponyville.

“It was like he turned into a completely different dog,” Twilight had said. It was possible that Cerberus had just remembered his important task and stopped Twilight to keep her out of danger, but it still seemed suspicious, especially to Lucario.

Luna impatiently fidgeted with her hooves and flexed her wings a bit. She needed to clear her head a bit, and just sitting back in her seat wasn’t going to help. Looking over at Lucario again, she decided that it would do her good to fly on her own a bit.

“I’m joining Lucario for a moment. Stay on your course and I will rejoin you shortly,” she said to the guards dragging her chariot. They nodded in response, letting her leap out of her seat to take flight and join Lucario a small distance away from the rest of the group. Twilight and her friends noticed Luna flying away, but none of them decided to ask any questions.

“Anything to report?” Luna asked Lucario as she flew up by his side.

“The wildlife has decreased drastically for the past hour,” he answered without opening his eyes. “It seems even regular animals are wary of the gates. Aside from that, I can’t sense any hostility. At this rate, we’ll make it to the gates without any problems.”

“I see. That’s good to hear,” she replied before the two fell silent. From the corner of her eye, she could see Twilight and her friends peeking at them, although all of them constantly looked away to look discreet.

“I didn’t expect you to be such a good speaker,” she eventually said to continue their conversation. “You must’ve done it many times before in your world, I take it.”

“I haven’t, actually. Being Lady Rin’s personal agent, I was often present during her many speeches. She always talked with her people’s concerns and well-being in highest priority. I guess I just picked it up from her. I never had any formal training on the subject.”

“I hope that doesn’t mean that your speech was just empty words…” Luna said quietly, causing the Pokémon to open his eyes and look at her.

“I meant every word,” he quickly told her, but a small giggle from Luna revealed that she hadn’t been serious with her accusation. “What I said about being indebted to you all for taking care of me was true. I really owe you all a lot.”

“You’re welcome,” Luna replied with a small nod. The two of them found themselves keeping their eye contact for longer than planned, eventually causing them to look away rather forcibly.

“Your country is beautiful,” Lucario suddenly said. He had turned his back around and was watching Ponyville and Canterlot slowly disappear over the horizon as he flew backwards. The moon’s shine cast a silver-colored light over the landscape, something even Luna hadn’t noticed until now. While the wildlife had grown more and more sparsely, the ground was still decorated with beautiful trees and flower fields.

“I-It is, isn’t it?” Luna replied, slightly taken off-guard by the Pokémon’s sudden compliment to her and her sister’s kingdom. “I often go out for a flight like this every night to appreciate it all. Not much else you can do when nobody else is up during the night.”

“You’ve been awake during daytime the past few days because of your sister’s absence. Are you feeling well?”

“Do not concern yourself, I’m fine. I hardly even noticed it upon waking up after your battle with Chrysalis. But tell me, isn’t your country as beautiful as ours?”

“It was, a long time ago,” Lucario answered, his eyes losing focus as he remembered images from his past. “Lush, open forests. Clear, sparkling lakes. Deep, breathtaking ravines. Rota was filled with beauty, and I saw all of it several times as I traveled through the land during missions. But, several years later, that changed…”

It was easy for Luna to notice the remorseful expression on Lucario’s face. She still had no idea what had happened to him, nor did she know nearly any details about Rota. She was waiting for Lucario to continue when the memory of their conversation in the Everfree Forest returned to her.

“Not long ago, Rota found itself at w-” Lucario’s story was interrupted by the tab of Luna’s hoof on his shoulder.

“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want too. We made a deal that day in the Everfree Forest, and I’m not going to have you break it off before we’re both ready for it.”

“…Thank you, Luna,” Lucario responded, surprised that Luna was willing to keep their deal so diligently. He hadn’t actually planned to tell her the events that led to his arrival in Equestria. He almost wondered if he ever would.

“However, I’ve been intrigued by that thing you told me about ‘Legendary Pokémon’, like those who could control time and space. Can you tell me more about other such beings? I’m curious about how much their powers resemble mine and my sister’s own.”

“I only know as much as I’ve read about in the Cameran Library,” Lucario admitted. “But I suppose I could tell you a bit more. I remember that there were tales about a group called the Weather Trio…”

Twilight and her friends couldn’t hear what Lucario and Luna were talking about, but it was clear to see that they were in deep conversation.

“Aww, aren’t they just cute together?” Applejack stated in a teasing tone.

“Oh, stop with your unbiased remarks, Applejack,” Rarity scolded her friend. “I’m sure the two of them just-” Her words got caught in her mouth when her eyes widened in sudden realization. “Wait... No way… You don’t believe that those two really…?”

“They do seem to get along really well…” Fluttershy whispered.

“Like any of you are surprised!” Rainbow exclaimed, still too quiet for Lucario and Luna to hear her, but still louder than the others’ voices. “Lucario is the second-coolest citizen in Equestria after yours truly. Of course even a princess would fall for him!”

*GASP!* “You don’t think Ninja Mister is planning to take her away, do you?” Pinkie asked. “Although that would be rather fitting for a thief or a bandit. Snatching your love away in the dead of night, taking her to a place where nopony could find you so you could live out your lives in blissful happi-”

“Will you girls stop getting such funny ideas?!” Twilight reprimanded the rest of her friends. “I’m sure that it’s nothing like that. But… now that you mention it…” She looked back at Luna and noticed the peculiar smile that was adorned on her face.

“I’ve never seen Luna so happy and open around someone else but us before…”

“I still don’t get how a small, green fairy can travel through time to simply watch over forests. I thought there already was another Pokémon that could control time.”

“I don’t know the full reason behind its powers either. Celebi cannot control time, only travel through it.”

“But how is it connected to that other time-controlling Pokémon? If there was another pony in Equestria who could control the moon and the night to some degree, I would surely know of-”

“Hate to break off your little talk, guys, but look ahead.” Lucario and Luna found their conversation interrupted by Rainbow, who had flown out of her seat and were pointing at the ground ahead of them. Looking down, both of them noticed that the environment had changed drastically. Only a sea of untouched soil laid before them, entirely free of grass, trees, and all other plant life. There were no more clouds around them, and the very air felt dry in their throats. Nobody noticed that, however. They were all too busy staring at the great, black pillar that was standing by the foot of the nearby mountain, as well as the form of a giant, canine-like creature lying by it.

“Is this really it?” Rainbow asked no one in particular. “I can’t see any gates anywhere.”

“It’s that black pillar,” Luna told the rest of her friends. “Don’t let its appearance deceive you. It may not have any doors, but it’s a portal to the land of Tartarus. Let’s land here before we approach it.”

The guards dragging the chariots nodded as they began to descend. Luna noticed how the two guards dragging her own chariot looked at her with slightly annoyed expressions. It was only then that she remembered that she had planned to return to her seat after finishing her talk with Lucario. Had time really passed by so quickly? The guards surely now thought that they had come with the group for no reason, seeing as no one had bothered to ride in the chariot they were dragging.

The group landed a good distance away from the gates. If Cerberus had noticed their arrival, he didn’t bother to approach them. Twilight and her friends stretched out their sore limbs after the long flight, and Applejack offered everyone a last chance to eat some of the provisions she had brought with her. Rainbow flatly refused the offer, having had enough of her friend’s apples for the past few days. But she didn’t object to the cupcake that Pinkie Pie seemingly pulled out of nowhere.

“So Cerberus is all right?” Twilight asked as she looked over at the distant guard dog. “But if he’s been here all the time guarding the gates, how did Princess Celestia and those creatures get past him?”

“Maybe he did notice them, but they beat him down before he could stop them,” Fluttershy offered as an explanation before letting out a loud gasp. “Oh no, you don’t think he’s hurt, do you? It would be terrible if he has broken something, or got a large bruise.”

“We’ll see for ourselves soon enough,” Luna said. “Guards, I want you to stay here and wait for our return. Do not approach the gates at any circumstances. We’ll need you if we have to resort to a quick escape after my sister has been rescued.”

“Yes, your highness,” they all answered at once. Truth be told, they weren’t sure they had anything to contribute to mission in terms of fighting power anyway. Luna looked over her friends, giving them a nod before beginning they all began to walk towards the gates.

Pinkie Pie was bouncing and humming on a song, probably as a theme for their heroic march. While Twilight had seemed worried about their mission before on the chariot, her expression was now filled with determination to save her teacher. Applejack opened her saddlebag to check on the lasso ropes she had brought with her before readjusting her hat with a confident smile. Rainbow flexed her wings and did a couple of small loops in the air to warm herself up. Rarity was walking with her head held high as usual, her Element of Generosity clearly visible for all to see. Creatures of pure darkness or not, their foes needed to see an example of a proper lady before they were all stomped out under their hooves. Fluttershy was almost sneaking over the ground, trying to use her mane as a cover to hide behind. Luna glanced over at Lucario, finding the Pokémon staring at the approaching gates in thought. He noticed her, however, and gave her a reassuring smile. Luna returned the smile before spreading out her wings. The distant sound of thunder echoed over the area as the Princess of the Night announced her arrival to the gates and the creatures that hid behind it.

Behind them, the guards couldn’t help but to stare in awe. The group that walked towards the gates seemed to radiate some kind of power. Even staring at them from behind made the guards gulp nervously. It was clear that they were currently watching the strongest force to ever band together in the history of Equestria.

“…Maybe we should take a few more steps back, just in case.”

“Agreed.”

Lucario kept a close eye on Cerberus as he and his friends approached the gates. The guard dog was still lying on the ground in deep sleep, unaware of the group’s landing. He took the opportunity to further study the dog’s aura. Confirming his previous assumptions, he opened his eyes and decided to wait for the dog’s reaction upon seeing them.

The group stopped a few feet away from Cerberus. Only Luna continued forward while the rest of the group took in the scenery, what little there was to see except for the black pillar. After walking nearly all the way up to the dog’s three sleeping heads, Luna spoke with her royal canterlot voice.

“AWAKEN, GUARD DOG OF THE GATES OF TARTARUS! I, PRINCESS LUNA, AND MY COMPANIONS HAVE URGENT MATTERS TO ATTEND TO THAT REQUIRE YOUR ATTENTION!”

Most ponies would’ve woken up with deaf ears after Luna’s shout, but Cerberus just perked up his ears and opened a sleepy eye to look at Luna. Yawning loudly, the newly awoken head slightly bumped itself into the other two, waking them up as well. After standing up and stretching his legs a bit, he looked over at the rest of Luna’s friends with half-open eyes. The eyes eventually stopped at Fluttershy, and they immediately shot up in recognition.

“Oh, Cerberus! I’m so glad you’re okay,” Fluttershy happily exclaimed as she fearlessly walked up to the guard dog. She had been scared to approach the gates before, but she had no problems with that now after seeing that it was safe. Cerberus happily wagged his tail and fell on his back as the small pegasus began to scratch his belly, like she had done to calm him down the day he ran into Ponyville.

“Can you see if he’s hurt, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

“I can’t see any recent wounds on him,” Fluttershy responded as she flew around Cerberus’ body, scratching his fur while inspecting his body. “He’s in such good shape that I doubt that he’s been in a fight for ages.”

“But if he isn’t hurt, then how did those things get past him with Celestia?!” Rainbow asked loudly as she flew up to Cerberus’ middle head. “You’re hiding something, boy, and I want you to tell me right now!”

“Rainbow, calm down,” Twilight reprimanded her friend. “He couldn’t tell you anything anyway, since he can’t talk. Um… he CAN’T talk, can he?” she asked Luna, realizing that she actually didn’t know herself.

“He has never spoken a word to us since the day we first met him,” Luna explained. “While he’s clearly immortal like me and my sister, I doubt that he’s capable of anything other than normal dog barks.”

“That still doesn’t explain why he seems totally oblivious about what has happened here,” Rainbow continued as she crossed her forelegs in suspicion.

“Maybe he was just really sleepy!” Pinkie offered as an explanation. “I mean, if Princess Luna woke me up with that voice of hers, I would jump so high I would crash my head through Sugarcube Corner’s roof!”

“It does make sense, now that I think about it.” Twilight scratched her chin as she thought about Pinkie’s theory. “Chrysalis’ mind control was strong enough to put Luna in a near-constant slumber, and she was really tired after Lucario rescued her. Maybe she did the same thing to Cerberus.”

“I say, that’s quite a nap he took then, considering that he has slept nearly two whole days longer than Luna did,” Rarity pointed out.

“Either way, it’s good to see him fine and dandy,” Applejack replied. “Now we can all just enter that pillar thing and find Celestia.”

“I would not wish to spend any more time out here than necessary,” Luna said. “Everyone, form a line after Lucario and I. We’ll go in first to make sure it’s safe before-”

Mentioning Lucario’s name triggered a memory in Luna’s head. Wasn’t he capable of speaking with animals, like he had done with Golbez? If so, why hadn’t he said anything? She was about to ask the Pokémon about this, but her question was answered before she had the chance to even speak it.

The entire group was suddenly engulfed in blue light, which carried them up into the air and a large distance behind Lucario and Cerberus. A few of Twilight’s friends tripped over as they were released back on the ground. One of Cerberus’ heads looked at the scene in confusion, while the other two stared at Lucario. The Pokémon was staring back, studying the guard dog’s eyes in silence for a moment as he let his friends gather themselves behind him.

“A part of me believed that Chrysalis had used her shapeshifting abilities to sneak past you. After all, her disguise was so flawless that she was able to trick everyone in Canterlot. She was even able to hide her true identity from me until I found evidence in the castle. She was my enemy, but I’ll admit that her powers were amazing.”

Cerberus raised an eyebrow in confusion, an action that Twilight and her friends mimicked while looking between themselves.

“Because if she hadn’t had those powers…” Lucario continued. “I would’ve seen through her the very first moment I met her outside Canterlot Castle.”

“What?!” the group of ponies behind him exclaimed. He ignored them as he closed his eyes to study Cerberus’ aura once more.

“It’s true that aura surrounds every living being and every lifeless object in existence. But that doesn’t mean that they all look the same. This is especially noticeable when it comes to living beings. Everyone’s aura is connected to their very being. It’s a representation of their strength, their will, their personalities, and even their alignment. Chrysalis, once she revealed herself, showed that her aura was… sinister. It’s hard to describe it in a way that you will understand, but think of it as if it had a different color. Her very aura was corrupted by her selfishness and her malicious motives. I can’t say that your own aura is exactly like hers…” Lucario opened his eyes again and lifted his paw to point at Cerberus. “But it definitely proves that you’re no friend of ours.

“We all thought that it was weird that Chrysalis had somehow snuck past you with Celestia, but that wasn’t what happened, was it? You didn’t even put up a resistance, judging by your lack of wounds. No, you LET them past, didn’t you? She wasn’t an intruder or an enemy to you. She was an ally. You let her walk in and out as she pleased, using Tartarus as her base of operations to hide from the rest of Equestria.

“If that wasn’t a sign of your poor job at guarding the gates, then your tendency to just leave your post and explore Equestria certainly was. Why would the guard dog of the most dangerous place in the land just leave the gates unguarded? You’ve already spent over a thousand years guarding the gates without rest, so why would you suddenly grow bored of it now?

“But the answer is simple, isn’t it? Because what I find most intriguing is that out of all cities, villages, and settlements in Equestria, you chose to visit Ponyville. That isn’t even the nearest located village to this place. But there’s something special about it, something that no other village or place in all of Equestria has.” Without taking his eyes off Cerberus, Lucario turned halfway around and pointed at Twilight and her friends.

“It has them, six seemingly normal ponies who just happen to be the holders of the greatest power in Equestria: The Elements of Harmony. Was it really a coincidence that you decided to visit the very village they live in? Was it a coincidence that you happily chose to run back to the gates after meeting them? But I think the more important question is… why? Why would you travel all that way to see them? That is… if it truly was of your own curiosity and wishes to do so at all.

“I don’t know who or what lives inside that gate, but I assume that it is the same being who was in command of that army of creatures that attacked Canterlot. Perhaps it is the same being that gave orders to Chrysalis. More importantly, I think it is the same being that over a thousand years ago told you to go out here and make sure no one entered the gates.”

Lucario grew silent for a moment, briefly looking down at the ground as he thought of something. He then shook his head and locked eyes with Cerberus yet again.

“No, your master didn’t care if you guarded the gates or not. No normal pony would’ve been able to enter them and return alive anyway. This whole thing about you being a guard dog was just an assumption that the ponies made after meeting you. That was never your true mission, nor your true duty.

“You’re not a guard dog. You’re a scout.”

Silence fell over the area. With the lack of wind or any other natural sound that would occur in other places, it seemed as if time itself had frozen in place. Behind him, Lucario’s friends looked at him, their expressions a blend of shock and bewilderment. Pinkie’s also had a unique blend of amazement and awe to it. They all wanted to object to his accusations. How could he have come to such a conclusion from so little information? He had no concrete evidence, nor did he base his facts on anything but farfetched assumptions. Besides, they all remembered how surprisingly gentle and friendly Cerberus had been when he arrived in Ponyville, letting Fluttershy scratch his belly and all. Lucario just couldn’t be right about this.

But their gazes inevitably shifted towards Cerberus, who had just stood in silence and watched Lucario as he spoke. All six of his eyes were studying the Pokémon, the heads’ expressions impossible to read. Or at least they were until all three of them suddenly closed their eyes, and their mouths shifted into small, uncharacteristic smiles.

“Over one thousand years, and my master’s words still hold true. You ponies are repulsive.”

Loud gasps erupted from the ponies behind Lucario as all three of Cerberus’ heads spoke at once. Fluttershy fell backwards as she covered her mouth in disbelief, tears already starting to form in her eyes.

“He told me all about you the day he created me, but ordered me to stay out here to report on your activities to him, as well as to see how you all truly are for myself. That day I visited you in Ponyville wasn’t the first time I’ve left this place. I’ve done so many times, keeping myself hidden in the shadows as I studied villages and cities throughout history. My master was right. You’re all blind. You live in a fantasy world, refusing to see the truth that is so clearly hanging in front of you at all times. The truth that my master knows, and has so graciously allowed you all the time to realize for yourselves. But just like he expected, you failed, and his patience has come to an end.”

Twilight and her friends gathered themselves together as Cerberus spoke. Only Fluttershy remained where she had fallen over, still distraught over the sudden revelation. Luna’s horn glowed, and her wings stretched out in preparation for a fight. Lucario was still standing between the group and Cerberus, pointing a paw covered in blue flames at the three-headed dog.

“I had seen the powers of the so-called ‘Elements’ before, when they were first used by the princesses so many years ago. I was curious that perhaps, at long last, you would’ve realized what they truly represented. That you would’ve realized how pointless the power of ‘friendship’ truly is.”

Nobody noticed how Fluttershy’s ears slightly perked up at Cerberus’ words, and how her hooves slowly lowered themselves from her tearful eyes as she muttered something inaudible.

“But you cling on to it more than ever before, believing that it is the very reason for your pathetic existences. That’s why you’re repulsing. That is why you and that friendship deserve to be crushed under my master’s will. Only then will you finally know the true meaning of-”

“YOU’RE WRONG!”

Cerberus’ speech was promptly interrupted, and Twilight and her friends nearly fell over startled as Fluttershy suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. Taken off-guard by her yell as well, Lucario turned around to see the previously timid pegasus walk towards Cerberus in unstoppable fury. Her eyes seemed like those of another pony entirely, staring so focused and unwavering into Cerberus’ eyes that she seemed to look into his very soul. Even with all his powers and experience, Lucario found himself stepping out of Fluttershy’s way without a word, letting her fly up to Cerberus’ eye level.

“HOW DARE YOU CALL FRIENDSHIP POINTLESS?! MY FRIENDS ARE THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO DOESN’T REALIZE HOW GREAT FRIENDSHIP IS! JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN IN A WORLD OF DARKNESS DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU CAN THINK OF US HOWEVER YOU LIKE! NOW TAKE BACK EVERYTHING YOU SAID AND SAY YOU’RE SORRY!”

Cerberus, despite having a six-on-two eyes advantage over Fluttershy, didn’t make a sound as the enraged pegasus floated mere inches in front of his middle head. The rest of the group was equally as silent, watching the scene in disbelief. While Twilight and her friends were rather used to Fluttershy’s mood swings by now, they were always just as surprised as before whenever she let her inner beast out. As this was the first time Luna had seen Fluttershy in this state, she was understandably shocked beyond words.

However, much to everyone’s surprise, Cerberus somehow gathered himself and pushed his head forward to challenge Fluttershy’s stare.

“And what if I refuse?” he asked in a mocking tone.

That was when Lucario saw the next last thing he’d ever expect to see from the pegasus. She turned around in midair, reeled back her hind legs, and kicked Cerberus’ middle head straight in the face. Said head was knocked back a bit from the strike, and the dog lifted his left paw to clutch it in pain. The other two heads stared at it in shock for a second before turning back to Fluttershy, a loud growl sounding from both of them.

“Why you little-” Cerberus snarled as he lifted his paw from his face, intending to swipe it at Fluttershy to strike her down where she flew.

The paw never found its mark, as a purple beam of magic suddenly hit Cerberus left head in the eye. Gnarling in pain, Cerberus’ other heads looked past Fluttershy, only to find the purple unicorn who had fired the beam to be gone without a trace. He had little time to react before another beam hit his right head from his right side. This time detecting Twilight’s presence, Cerberus turned and charged towards the unicorn, who simply teleported away before he could reach her. Another beam hit his back, but Twilight was gone before Cerberus could even turn around to face her.

Figuring that catching the annoying mare would be impossible right now, Cerberus turned his attention to the rest of the group.

“YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST ME, PONIES!” he roared at them.

“Aw, but it’s no fun if the game isn’t fair.”

Cerberus blinked in confusion, and his left and right heads turned to see Pinkie Pie standing behind his middle head’s ears. The pink pony was giggling and pulling one of the ears with her hooves like a child playing with a piece of rubber. When and how did she get up there? Both annoyed and insulted by Pinkie’s act, Cerberus smashed his right paw onto his middle head. The blow only resulted in a severe headache though, as the pony was already gone.

“Oh, are we playing Whack-a-Mule?! I love that game, although I’ve never been the mule before. Try again! I want to see if I can get the high score! Is there even a score yet for being the mule in Whack-a-Mule?”

Pinkie had somehow found her way beneath the pit of one of Cerberus’ forelegs. Steadily growing more and more frustrated of her constant speaking, Cerberus began to wildly strike and bite his body all over in an attempt to get her. After several bruises and bite marks, Pinkie finally jumped down and began to bounce away cheerfully. Despite the pain he was in, Cerberus had no intention of letting the party pony go, and leaped after her in anger.

However, Pinkie simply bounced high up into the air, somehow defying the laws of gravity by not falling back down. Cerberus paws found no target as they landed on the ground, but he did find a white unicorn waiting for him, her presence previously obscured by Pinkie Pie’s form.

Rarity lowered her head down, pointing her horn at the ground as it began to glow in a light blue light. Soon enough, the ground began to crack open as rocks and gems shot out it, taking formation around Rarity as she levitated them above her.

“Normally I would ask Spike to dig these out for me, but I’m no stranger to such a chore, especially not when it’s to punish a brute like you!”

With that statement, Rarity began to launch the rocks and gems at Cerberus, simultaneously digging more and more out of the ground to replenish her arsenal. While the incoming projectiles would normally have no effect on a creature of Cerberus’ size, Rarity aimed them with perfect accuracy at his eyes. By reflex, he stood up on his hind legs to create distance between him and the unicorn, as well as to shield his eyes with his forelegs.

This proved to be a mistake, as something suddenly wrapped around Cerberus’ middle neck. Behind him, Applejack had taken the opportunity to take out a lasso from her bag and throw it around him. With the rope clenched between her teeth, Applejack grinned confidently at the confused three-headed dog.

“TINDER, ERERYHONY!” she yelled as well as she could before pulling the rope with all her might.

While Big McIntosh was the physically strongest of the Apple family, Applejack wasn’t a joke herself. She demonstrated this by effortlessly dragging the giant dog backwards, tumbling him over on his back like a tower being flicked over by a giant. The surprisingly hard impact with the ground knocked the air out of Cerberus, who began to cough repeatedly from all three of his heads. As he opened his eyes between the coughs, he noticed something strange about the moon that was floating nearly directly above him. A silhouette was flying in front of it, though the moon’s shine prevented him from seeing who and what it was.

Hundreds of meters above Cerberus, Rainbow Dash looked down at the downed dog with a cocky smile on her face. She noticed that the scene was rather familiar to one from a few days ago. The day the new guardian of Ponyville had charged down and punched a dragon right in the stomach. She had been angry that she hadn’t been the one to save the day. Although she had since made up with Lucario, it seemed like fate was a pretty cool guy and wanted to make up with her as well.

“Now we’re even,” she stated out loud before diving down as fast as she could. It didn’t take long before a familiar rainbow-colored explosion shot out from her body, and she slammed into Cerberus’ unprotected stomach before he even had the time to widen his eyes in realization. A large mushroom cloud erupted from the impact, bathing the rest of the group in dust and falling rocks.

Despite the force of the impact, Rainbow calmly flew away from the site and landed next to the rest of her friends with a grin. Standing together, they watched the dust slowly drift away from the area, revealing the unconscious Cerberus lying with nearly half of his body buried in the ground.

“NEW RECORD!” Pinkie Pie shouted while holding some kind of scoreboard above her head.

“That’ll show him, making fun of our friendship and all,” Applejack stated as she readjusted her hat a bit.

“He didn’t just make fun of it, he outright insulted it! Oh, I have the urge to go up and stomp his heads the rest of the way underground so that I can spare myself from seeing him!” Judging by the few steps Rarity made towards the site, it seemed like she clearly meant what she said.

“Are you okay, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked her friend with a glint of worry in her eyes. “I mean, we just-”

“No, it’s all right,” Fluttershy reassured her. “’When somepony tries to hurt your friends, there’s no longer time to make amends’… um, at least that’s what I think Iron Will would say.”

“I heard that guy was kind of a jerk, but I agree with that slogan,” Rainbow replied as she put a hoof over Fluttershy’s shoulders.

By chance, Applejack turned around a bit, making her notice something behind them. Coughing awkwardly to catch her friends’ attention, she pointed them towards Lucario and Luna, who were staring at them in surprised silence.

“Oh, um… sorry, sugarcubes. I think we kind of forgot you were here for a moment,” Applejack admitted while scratching the back of her head.

Lucario didn’t answer. To say that he was impressed by his friends’ fighting prowess would be an understatement. While their individual strength wasn’t all too great, they had displayed amazing teamwork and coordination in taking down Cerberus. Was this one of the powers of the Elements of Harmony?

“…Not to undermine your victory or anything,” Luna slowly began as she gathered herself. “But me and Lucario could’ve taken care of him easily. There was no need for you girls to get involved.”

“Maybe so, Princess, but this case was different,” Twilight answered. “He was looking down on friendship, and so it was our job to make him pay for it.”

“Pay for… what?”

Twilight and her friends’ eyes widened as a trio of voices spoke behind them. Turning around, they found Cerberus slowly lifting himself up from the ground, sand and dirt rolling down his fur. He grunted in pain from Rainbow’s strike on him, but he forced his heads up to look at the group regardless.

“You know in your hearts that I speak the truth, deep within where you can no longer even sense it. You think that friendship will carry you through every problem and trouble, but it is that very same friendship that will eventually lead to your doom. The doom of this entire world! Even if you defeat me here, my master will prove it to you. He will tear down this world and its ideals like shredding the bark off a tree. It’s pointless to resist it!”

Twilight and her friends shared a few glances between themselves. They didn’t say anything, but Twilight’s nod seemed to speak for itself as they all smiled and looked back at Cerberus.

“Oh, really?” Twilight answered. “You mean as pointless as this?”

Until then, Lucario had sensed nothing special about the Elements that his friends had equipped. While they certainly seemed to hold some kind of magical power, they hadn’t been anything different compared to other magical items he had seen in Equestria. But now, as the ponies closed their eyes in unison, something happened.

Using his Aura Sense, Lucario sensed something leak out of the golden accessories. It flowed into the holders’ bodies, fusing with their auras like a stream of water pouring into a lake. One by one, the jewels in the shape of the girls’ cutie marks began to glow, and they all hovered up into the air. The magic force around them continued to intensify, and Lucario found himself having to lift a paw in an attempt to shield him from the light. He expected it all to reach its peak at any second, but the power continued to grow far beyond anything he could imagine.

Then, right then it felt like the very world was about to tear itself apart around them, Twilight opened her eyes. A blinding, white light shined from them, while a mysterious smile grew on her face. The only thing Lucario had a chance to think was how happy she seemed to be before something erupted from above the group. It was two sparkling rainbows, and they playfully spiraled around each other before fusing into one, giant form. It then shot out towards Cerberus, who simply howled in terror as he was engulfed in a giant, rainbow-colored tornado.

Lucario expected the three-headed dog to shout something, to curse their existences or say that their efforts were futile. But all six of his eyes were simply filled with fear. Fear of something that Lucario couldn’t see or detect with either his eyes or his Aura Sense.

This was a fate that any creature incapable of feelings would meet after being struck by the Elements. They were faced with the thing they could never understand or come to know. The very thing they had chosen to discard from their lives:

The magic of friendship.

At last, the rainbow tornado died down, leaving surprisingly little damage on the ground where it had been. Cerberus was gone, replaced by a small cloud of black dust that floated in midair for a short moment. Then, before anyone could stop it, it flew towards the black pillar, disappearing inside it without leaving a trace.

“Did we get him?” Rainbow asked out loud, a bit uncertain of Cerberus’ fate after seeing his remains fly off like that.

“…You did,” Lucario managed to answer, still taken aback by the Elements’ power. “One of the creatures that attacked Canterlot did they same thing after Luna defeated it.”

“Well, no use in standing around here then,” Applejack stated. “Let’s head in. Princess Celestia is waiting for-”

Her sentence got caught in her throat as she noticed something about the pillar, or rather the black hoof that began to extend itself from it.

“Heads up, everypony! Incoming!” she shouted as she pointed towards the gates. As everyone turned around to look as well, several more hooves had already begun to slowly extend from the pillar as well.

“Are those the creatures that attacked Canterlot?!” Twilight asked as she joined back together with her friends.

“They are,” Luna answered as she and Lucario stepped in front of the others. “They must’ve sensed Cerberus’ defeat and are now trying to fight us back.”

“No, it’s more than just a counterattack,” Lucario said, causing Luna to look at him in confusion. “It’s a warning. If we all enter the gates together, what’s going to stop them from exiting the gates while we’re inside? They could invade all of Equestria before we even get out with Celestia.”

“W-What?!” Rarity exclaimed. “W-We can’t let that happen, but how can we stop it?!”

“Some of us must stay behind and fight them off. Meanwhile, the rest will enter the gates and save my sister,” Luna stated, understanding the gravity of the situation. She cursed herself for not bringing Shining Armor and his men with them now. Behind her, Twilight looked around herself as she thought. Her eyes eventually grew determined ah she lifted her head back up.

“We can use the Elements to create a barrier around the gates. That way, we can keep them out without having to engage them in a fight.”

Luna turned around to look at the ponies. “But… can you really hold that barrier up for such a long time? We’ve no idea how long we-”

“We’ll be fine, Luna,” Twilight reassured her. “The Elements are connected to our friendship, and that is a fuel that will never run dry. Now go!”

The rest of Twilight’s friends gave Luna reassuring smiles, even Fluttershy. Knowing that they had no other choice, Luna sighed and looked over at Lucario. The Pokémon gave her a quick nod before entering some kind of stance.

“See you on the other side.”

By then, the first of the black, pony-like creatures’ head had emerged from the pillar. It opened its equally black eyes to look at its surroundings, but the only thing it saw was the blue paw that collided with its face. Using ExtremeSpeed, Lucario had instantly crossed the gap between them, and his strike took both of them backwards back into the gate.

Still flying a bit in the air from his dash, Lucario did his best to take in as much of his surroundings as possible. At first glance, it seemed like he was inside a giant, black cave. The walls around it were decorated with nothing but simple rock, a look they shared with the equally rocky floor and ceiling. In contrast, a large staircase led down from the gates he had just entered from.

But the most important detail that Lucario noticed was the army of black beings that stood around the cave. There weren’t just pony-like in appearance anymore. He could also barely make out the form of something similar to a griffon in the mass, as well as other animals like cows, donkeys, and even diamond dogs. Most threatening of all were the giant, bear-like creatures that stood near the back of the cave. While their size didn’t match that of a dragon, it was intimidating nonetheless.

The brief, seemingly frozen time he spent floating through the air ceased, and he found himself flying towards the army of creatures at great speed. Seeing that he was about to land head-first on the ground, Lucario stretched out his arms and broke the fall with his paws. He took the opportunity to spin around and kick a few of the attacking creatures with a pair of Blaze Kicks. Still in momentum from the previous ExtremeSpeed, he flipped forward back on his feet. Another creature had tried to charge at him at that moment, but he simply hit it over the head with the Fighting-type move called Brick Break as he flipped to a standing position.

Forming a Bone Rush between his paws, Lucario began to rush through the horde of enemies, striking whatever creature that was unfortunate enough to stand in or near his path. Using the staff to trip one of the creatures over, he grabbed the creature by the hoof before it could hit the ground and began to swing it around in a horizontal Circle Throw, all while still dashing forward and smashing other creatures away. He was now getting closer to one of the bear-like creatures, who stood up on its hind legs to pounce at him.

It was at that moment Lucario let go of the creature in his grasp, sending it flying straight into the bear’s face. While it was still in the motion of reeling back from the impact, Lucario used ExtremeSpeed to fly up to the bear’s face and placed his paw at the creature that was still imbedded in it. A single Force Palm was all it took send the bear flying back, crashing into the ground with a loud thump.

Back near the gates, the creatures at the front of the horde had turned around to face the intruder. None of them thus had the chance to react when lightning bolts shot out from the gates, burning several of them to a near-crisp. The others turned around to see Luna emerge from the gates, holding her head high as she looked down upon them all. Right when she passed through them, the gates started to glow in a rainbow light, signaling that Twilight and her friends had closed them off from Equestria.

One of the griffon-like creatures flew up towards her, but it was simply stopped in midair by her telekinetic grasp. Throwing it aside into the nearby wall without thinking more of it, Luna pointed her horn at the ground under the creatures’ feet. A brief second later, a fissure spread between them, leaving countless of them to fall into the newly created abyss. The ones who managed to avoid the sudden death trap were instead smashed aside by Luna’s wings, which had begun to glow with strange, constellation-like lines as she flew through the horde, still shooting lightning bolts anywhere she pointed her horn.

It didn’t take her long before she joined up with Lucario, who was in the middle of electrifying a creature’s face by the grasp of his ThunderPunch. As Luna landed, several creatures that had managed to follow behind her dashed at her, something Lucario quickly noticed. Seeing a part of the ground behind Luna that was cracked and loose, he grabbed it with Psychic and flipped it up just in time for the creatures to run right into it. Their severe concussion was only the beginning of their worries though, as Lucario had already crossed the distance and punched the rock with his right paw. The move he used, a Fighting-type attack called Rock Smash, wasn’t very powerful in itself, but it had the ability to effortlessly smash through any rock and boulder. The rock shattered into countless pieces from his punch, showering the creatures behind it with tiny, sharp shards.

Together, Lucario and Luna stood their ground against the attacking army, sending creature after creature flying with both physical and magical attacks. However, despite their combined effort, the number of creatures didn’t seem to grow thinner.

“We’ll be in trouble if we try to take them out like this!” Lucario shouted over the chaos as he froze a creature’s head solid with an Ice Punch. “Can’t you conjure up a lightning storm to take them all out?!”

“I can only do that if I have clouds!” Luna responded, blasting a group of creatures away with a powerful shockwave. “I need them as a source for my lightning magic! Without one, I can’t send lightning bolts over a large area!”

“Leave that to me!” Lucario replied without delay, striking down the creatures around him to gain some momentary space. Conjuring up a sphere of water between his paws, Lucario sent it flying towards the ceiling. “Hit that sphere with your lightning, now!”

While she had no idea what the Pokémon was planning, Luna obliged and shot up a bolt of lightning at the sphere. Said sphere was the center of Lucario’s Rain Dance move, which soon showered the area with heavy rain. Thanks to the lightning that Luna was now channeling through it, bolts began to chain themselves between the falling drops of water. The creatures had no chance to avoid the downpour, and each of them was struck with powerful bolts. Meanwhile, Lucario had picked up another rock with his Psychic, using it as a makeshift umbrella from the electrified rain to shield him and Luna. He didn’t have to hold it for long, as Luna’s spell made short work of the rest of the creatures. Even the giant bears had been knocked out from the attack.

Letting the rock fall back to the ground, Lucario took the opportunity to catch his breath. Luna did the same, and they looked over the mass of bodies that lied scattered all over the floor. Before they could say anything to each other, they noticed how the bodies began to melt into the ground, fusing with it as if they were of the same material. Luna lifted her hoof in disgust while Lucario simply looked on with curiosity. It wasn’t long until the cave was empty, leaving the two of them alone.

“What… just happened?” Luna asked as she slowly lowered her hoof. “Why did they-”

“I don’t know,” Lucario answered. “This place seems to work entirely different from Equestria.”

“You don’t think… that my sister has been…?”

The sudden worry in Luna’s voice made Lucario turn to her. Seeing the worry clearly displayed in her eyes, Lucario put a reassuring paw on her shoulder.

“She’s all right, I’m sure of it. But she may not be for long if we waste time here.”

“Y-You’re right,” Luna agreed as she turned to look around. “I don’t see an exit anywhere. Do these creatures move around by fusing with the ground like that?”

“If we’re unlucky,” Lucario replied. “If so, I can try to just Dig through the walls. Give me second to sense-”

Something suddenly grabbed hold of Lucario’s leg. Looking down, he saw some kind of claw holding on to him before it pulled him downward with great force. From the side, Luna didn’t even have time to shout his name before Lucario disappeared beneath the surface.

The darkness around him only lasted a second before Lucario found himself freefalling down some kind of cylinder-formed hole. The creature that had grabbed him was now revealed to be a simple griffon, shrieking at him as it pulled him closer to its beak. Lucario, not intimidated by the shriek, simply covered his leg in flames with a Blaze Kick, causing the creature to let go from the pain. He then hit the griffon with a Vacuum Wave, sending it crashing sideways into the wall. Activating Magnet Rise, Lucario turned around and tried to fly back up from where he came. To his confusion though, he found that the walls around him kept flying by him at the same speed, no matter how fast he tried to move. Furthermore, the hole above him was constantly refilled with shapeshifting rock, isolating him further and further away from Luna.

So they wish to separate us? Darn, I didn’t want her to be alone in this place.

Having no choice but to turn back around, Lucario looked down to see more griffons flying towards him. Angered by his separation from Luna, as well as noticing that the creatures of this world didn't seem to be like normal living creatures, Lucario decided to let some of his frustration out while he had the chance.

The metal spikes on Lucario’s paws began to glow, and three sharp claws instantly grew out from each of them. Readying his Metal Claws, Lucario dodged the first three incoming griffons. As he passed by each one, he swung his claws over each of their wings, cutting them clean off with ease. Only after he passed the third one did the first griffon notice its own injury. They all shrieked in pain at the same time, but Lucario was too focused on the other incoming griffons to notice. With a combination of Magnet Rise and ExtremeSpeed, Lucario blurred through the passing horde. Due to the yellow light from his Magnet Rise, he looked like a swiftly descending bolt of lightning that bounced between the walls as he slashed griffon after griffon with his claws from left and right.

At last, he found himself approaching the bottom of the hole. Delivering one final slash to an especially large griffon at the back of the horde, Lucario speeded the rest of the way down in a straight line, a large, yellow line left in his Magnet Rise’s wake. Standing up from his landing position, he walked a few steps forward before retracting his claws. At the same time as he did that, the bodies of his fallen enemies began to hit the ground behind him where he had stood just a second ago.

Not even turning around to look at his work, Lucario closed his eyes to study his surroundings with Aura Sense. The area around him was strange. While the walls around them had their own aura like everything else, he couldn’t sense anything beyond them. It was as he was walking in a tube someone had built around him this very instant. Even if he could Dig out, it would lead him nowhere.

To top it all off, I only have one direction to go, he thought to himself as he opened his eyes to look at the straight corridor in front of him. This is certainly what the enemy wants, but I don't have much choice but to play along for now.

His current goal set, Lucario began to run forward, leaving the bodies behind him to melt into the ground like the others.

“Lucario! Lucario, can you hear me?! LUCARIO!”

Luna received no answer as she shouted at the ground where Lucario had been dragged down. Even if she had used her royal canterlot voice, the Pokémon would still be unable to answer her. Seeing the bodies of the creatures melt into the ground before didn’t help to ease her worry of her friend’s safety.

No, I’m sure he’s all right. If I know him well, it will take far more than that to do him in.

Luna didn’t have more time to think of the subject, as she noticed that another wave of creatures had suddenly spawned around her.

“We do hope thou realize the state thou have put us in,” Luna said, letting her voice echo across the cave. “Thou have separated us from our companion, forcing thee all to take us on alone. Thou see, when he’s not here…”

Luna’s horn glowed in preparation for a spell. What fewer of the surrounding creatures noticed was the fangs that suddenly began to grow from her teeth.

“WE DON’T FEEL THE NEED TO WITHHOLD THY PUNISHMENT.”

The entire cave was engulfed in darkness. It wasn’t the same kind of darkness that the creatures usually lived in. That darkness was their home, and they could find their way in it like any pony could find their way during the day. But this darkness was impossible to see through, even for them. Finding them so abruptly blinded caused some of the creatures to back a few steps away from Luna’s last known whereabouts.

A brief, surprised grunt of pain sounded from the darkness, and the nearby creatures noticed that one of them had suddenly disappeared without a trace. Studying the darkness around them helped them little, and another creature was swept away someplace else. The disarray grew even more when two or even three creatures were suddenly attacked at the same time. Such a feat should be impossible by a lonesome pony.

The creatures on the outer lines of the horde were suddenly pushed towards the center of the room by some king of moving wall behind them. Pushing and attacking the wall did nothing, as it was covered in a hard layer of what seemed to be scales of some kind. Powerless to stop it, the creatures found themselves wrapped together by the mysterious wall, and they looked around themselves in an attempt to find their attacker. Only a single one of them decided to look up, and it was thus the only one who noticed the giant eyes that looked down at them all before they descended upon them mercilessly.

The darkness eventually disappeared, leaving an empty cave behind it. Only Luna stood in the middle of the room, spitting some kind of small, black pieces from her mouth. The pieces mysteriously ran around the ground in an attempt to avoid her, but each of them found themselves stomped flat under her hooves.

“Ugh, why do I keep doing that?” she asked herself as she stomped out the last piece. “Tastes nothing like a good piece of camellia toast.”

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that an opening had suddenly revealed itself in one of the walls. She wasn’t sure when it had appeared, but she guessed that it was some kind of “reward” for her victory over the creatures.

“Very well. If you wish to challenge me so badly, I will accept. I will find my sister, no matter what you throw at me!”

Spreading her wings, she lifted herself off the ground and flew through the passage. The opening shortly closed itself behind her, leaving the cave in silence.

“They have arrived.”

The two shadows within Lord Tartarus’ throne room turned themselves to their master as he spoke.

“They got inside? What was that fool Cerberus doing?!”

“Defeated by the Elements’ holders. We just received his memories of the event, and it seems his defeat was rather devastating,” Tartarus calmly answered.

*sniff* “I will miss you, Cerby boy! Wait, no I won’t, I don’t even know who you are. Oh well, I’m sure you were a splendid fella. Does that mean it’s our turn now, high and mighty?”

“Yes,” Tartarus nodded. “They will arrive at your assigned areas at any moment.”

“At last. I’ve waited for my chance to deal with that indecisive joke of a princess. I’ll make sure her-”

“No, the one called Princess Luna will not be your opponent. You will fight the guardian.”

The shadow turned around to face Tartarus in shock. “But my lord, she’s my-”

“We know who you both are, and that is why you will not fight each other. There’s something we wish to test them both with, and it can only be done if you fight the guardian. Let the joker deal with the princess.”

“You are the best pal I’ve EVER had, leader man! You know exactly what I want as a present. Hahaha, I will enjoy this.”

A spark of light signaled one of the shadows’ leave from the throne room. The other shadow looked at its master one last time before disappearing as well.

The walls changed little as Lucario ran through the corridor. He had been running in a straight line for a while now, and his Aura Sense detected nothing new around him whatsoever.

Have they simply trapped me here to buy time? If so, I’m not sure how to get out.

It was certainly a serious problem. If the enemy somehow had the ability to shape his surroundings like he thought, there was nothing stopping them from keeping him here forever. For all he knew, they could’ve captured Luna herself by now and imprisoned her like they had probably done with Celestia.

By this point, he wasn’t even sure if using THAT would help him escape this place.

Thankfully, his fears were proven false as he sensed a new area approaching him. Deciding to save the energy from using ExtremeSpeed for later, he ran at the same pace as he had done until now, getting closer and closer to his destination. Eventually, he reached the end of the seemingly endless corridor. The area he now found himself in was certainly a change of scenery.

A wide, open field of flowers stretched out around him. Grass was visible under the flowers’ heads, and they waved back and forth despite the lack of a wind. A few lone boulders were placed around the area, having seemingly been there since time immemorial. The field was seemingly endless, as he could neither see nor sense any walls surrounding the area.

In the middle of the field, a giant tower stood placed in the soil. It was of a simple design, and he could sense some simple floors and stairs inside it. A few round, oval-shaped windows were the only things that revealed the tower’s innards for his normal eyes to see. The structure was just tall enough that he could’ve heard someone speaking to him from its flat rooftop. As he followed it up with his eyes, he noticed that this place had its own night sky. The moon was shining even brighter here than it did outside the gates.

Many questions were at Lucario’s mind. What was this place? Why did it exist in a land so devoid of life as Tartarus? Why was it made? For WHOM was it made?

Taking some time to think about it all, Lucario kneeled down and studied one of the flowers with his Aura Sense. If there had been any answers hidden inside its aura, he never learned them. His focus was abruptly shifted to a voice that suddenly echoed across the area. It was feminine, and it sang with surprising clarity and beauty.

Come, little children. I’ll take thee away

Into a land of enchantment

Come, little children. The time’s come to play

Here in my garden of shadows

Looking up at the top of the tower, Lucario noticed the singer sitting with her back turned to him at the roof. It was a pony, her blue mane floating in the air like a cloud of stardust.

“…Luna?” he asked out loud, more to himself than to the singer herself. She heard him though, and laughter escaped her breath as she stood up. Her black coat was adorned with silver armor, and a helmet covered her head, leaving her floating mane to simply leak through it like fog.

“Hehehe, that’s right…” She turned around to face him, revealing her catlike irises within her blue eyes.

“I AM Luna.”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Many thanks to Icestar156 and halo003qd for proofreading!

Well, this chapter turned out longer than I expected. I would’ve split it into two, but I didn’t think there was a fitting place to do so in the text. Besides, splitting it into two chapters means that I would need to write another beginning part about the two beings, and I didn’t have the necessary filler for that.

And some of you were worried that I wouldn’t let the Main Six have their own battles in this fic. They’re the main protagonists of the show for Pete’s sake, how could I ever forget about them?

This chapter was a rather even blend between dialogue and action, I think. I actually had great fun with writing all the fight scenes in this one. Good thing too, since they’re FAR from the last fights before this fic is over.

Next time in Friendship is Aura: Her name has yet to be revealed, but we all know who she is. Join us next time for the next great battle of this story: Lucario vs Nightmare Moon.

KangTheGuardian -