Author's Note

Proofread by Brinyprophet

I would use the above for passing of time

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This for when/if there are two separate stories so signify where one story ends for the chapter and another begins. Usually the two stories would happen in the same time.

{................................}This will be used to signify the exact thoughts of a character although I wont always write out the exact thoughts of characters so there is some room for interpretation by the readers.

"................" This will be used for dialog and if used in the middle of dialog or thoughts it is sarcasm

Chapter-2 A Battle Without A Fray [Edited]

As Luna watched Josh leave through the door, she was left alone to wonder on what had transpired. In less than an hour, the future element bearers would enter the castle. After that, all she would have to do is take the bearer of Magic, and destroy the elements in front of her, and let her use her powers to assign the elements to their new bearers and hope that her knowledge of the elements isn't proven false.

The parts of herself that she had split into, were returning in short succession, and informing her of the different tests that the future bearers went trough. The element of laughter, had dispelled an illusion, on some trees with a song. The element of honesty had spoken the truth when it mattered most The element of kindness had tamed an angry manticore. The element of generosity had given a part of her own body to gain passage through a raging river, and finally the element of loyalty had refused an offer of her deepest desire being fulfilled at the cost of betraying her new found friends. With five of the six having shown an affinity for one of the elements. The purple unicorn, was left as the only choice for the element of magic.

The night princesses mind was racing with thoughts of every possible outcome she might have missed. The more she thought of it there were only two things she realised she, had to concern herself about. The first was her new ally she had bound him with magic and she knew that he would not betray her orders if it were in his power, however she knew nothing of his skills as he knew nothing of his opponents, yet he seemed so confident in his abilities.

Could anypony be that confident in his situation? Josh was facing a one vs five scenario, and he had the added handicap of being forbidden to sustain any damage or inflict any permanent damage. Physical or other to his opponents.

She had done as much as she could on the issue. All she could do now, is wait and hope that Josh was capable of doing what she ordered him to do.

The second was her sister, regardless of what happens the elements, would take some of her power and disperse it, making her significantly weaker than her sister. The plan depended highly on her sister's wish to preserve the image of an all powerful and all forgiving goddess.

She had planned to beg for forgiveness, maybe even faint amnesia, if the situation allowed it. Oh how her sister would love the performance. The lunar princess cowering before the princess of the sun, and some of their subjects. Forever cementing their subjects beliefs, that Celestia is unstoppable, and is always right.

Luna hated the fact that she had to indulge in such deceit. Misleading her subjects, but she did not posses the power, or means to ending her sisters tyrannical rule.

Luna would bide her time and wait for the moment when she can either pressure her sister onto one of their subjects, or the other option is to wait for the day her sister is weakened then kill her.

As the moon goddess was thinking, she realized that her thoughts had drifted, when she received a warning from a ward that she had placed at the castle entrance. Without a doubt the six would be heroines had found the elements, and now the purple unicorn is trying to figure out how to activate them.

Before the bearer of magic could figure it out. Luna teleported in front of them and in their confusion wasting no time in teleporting the elements, and her ‘Opponent’ back to the throne room, where she had summoned Josh.

Luna had to sound like a stupid overconfident villain, so the instant she was alone with the unicorn, she began her monologue, while giving enough time for the other element bearers to find the throne room, after all she needed them to fight Josh if she were to convince her sister that she should take care of him. And she would do it too if he were able to follow her orders, he would have proven his worth to her.

"Did thee truly believe thy could defeat us. Tis us who imprisoned thy princess to the sun. Tis us who created all those obstacles on thy path, and we did so for no other reason than to entertain thyself."

Luna was stopped in the middle of her bad guy rant, by the outright laughter of the purple unicorn. She looked and saw the unicorn rolling on the ground, and laughing loudly.

{well it is a good way of stalling her, while her friends fight Josh.} Eight minutes had passed, and the unicorn was just now barely getting a hold of herself. The night princess really wanted to know what was so funny, so she decided to ask, and fill in as much of her bad pony charade afterwards. She had no doubt that josh had been fighting for some time, and she felt sort of guilty that she would extend his task, that much longer. But as the previous bearer of the element of laughter, she just had to know what was so funny.

"What does thou find so amusing"

The purple unicorn replied without hesitation barely holding anymore laughter.

"I was laughing at you, and your ancient speech, that makes you sound like a joke"

The moon princess was shocked. How was she suppose to know how the language changed in her absence. She was so infuriated that she subconsciously took on a threatening pose and subconsciously started to spin the elements around her.

They would give her no power thanks to her sister. Holding her anger in she withdrew to denial, and started asking hopefully correcting her, Thee and Thy, to you and your mimicking the purple unicorns speech.

"You are kidding? {Why does she not confirm it was just a joke. It is so infuriating}You’re kidding?...{oh it must be a joke please say it was a joke} ...Right?"

The source of her frustration didn't answer though, but instead started to charge a teleportation spell while running straight at her. Luna guessed that she could get to the bottom of this later, for now she would play the stupid villain.

She started running at the unicorn making sure to leave the elements behind so the pony could get to them.

The purple one began trying to control the elements with sheer magic. But since the elements chose their wielders, she didn't have sufficient comprehension of them. They created a magic backlash and sent her flying back.

It was at this moment, Luna remembered that she had yet to open the door, and she began to fear of what was happening. It had been well over twenty minutes, and nopony had entered, but neither had she felt any pain from the bond with Rovers. Did he actually hurt the bearers. Luna swiftly opened the door, and teleported next to the elements.

{I did order that they not be scarred permanently but did he actually take it as he could beat them half to death as long as he didn't leave scars?}

"No, NO."

Luna shouted as she began to fear the worst, without her being defeated by the elements, her sister would turn the kingdom against her, and she will be forced to fight the very subjects she wanted to free from their reliance on Celestia.

After what felt like an eternity for the moon goddess, but was most likely a few second, she heard the other ponies voices. Relieved that they are at least still conscious and fast approaching she proceeded with the plan.

She smashed the elements to bits, in front of the bearer of magic, to help her better understand the elements and then proceeded with her act.

"MUHAHAHAHA MUHAHAHAaaa. You little foal thinking you could defeat me. I am the princess of the night and my night will last FOREVER! MUHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"

Luna noticed that as the element bearers entered neither one of them had more than a minor bruise, and she could not help but wonder how did Josh Rovers, or rather Night Shadow do it.

She stayed and waited patiently as the element of magic listed the tests, Luna herself set for them. While the elements reconstructed themselves from the shards that The moon goddess had broken them into.

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As Josh exited the throne room, he began to think of ways he could delay five warriors without harming them, or himself. The first idea that came to mind was using the ends of the chain of his now three point chained staff, and either write out creepy messages or imitate wild animal claw marks in the floor and walls and then combine that with his stealth, and his ability to throw his, voice to keep them at bay until the doors open. He was however painfully reminded that, that might scare some of them on a psychological level. He was reminded by the words of the strange creature, whose name or even gender he still didn't know.

He then began thinking of traps, and immediately noted the many curtains on the many broken windows. If he could put the curtains within the window frames that were now empty he would turn the hall almost completely dark. Then he would use the darkness to surprize his enemies. At this moment he was reminded again, with a painful headache that he was not to scar them in any way.

That however didn't stop him, as he soon noticed that there was a long red carpet throughout the length of the hall. If he used the carpet he could detain them until he is given the signal, to lose the fight and let them through at which point he would carelessly let his guard down, and let them escape. And then pretend to be beaten by taking punches, while moving away from the punches, allowing for just enough contact to give the illusion, he is hurt while he is almost untouched.

He had finished darkening, the hall and had gathered the carpet, so that it was right next to the door so that when they escaped the enemies could enter the throne room, and play their part. He was not sure what that creature was doing or why it wanted to be defeated, but it had promised him freedom, and he would serve it to the best of his abilities. He might have been forced to do this, but since he would do it regardless if he wanted it or not, he was going to give it his all and hope that, that it accelerates his release.

The enemies sure were taking their sweet time. Josh was now swinging his new weapon remembering his new weapons range, maneuverability, and thinking of different ways to use his chained three point staff. He discovered that, he could tie one end of the chain to each of his hands and use the bending staff to block blows. He wasn't sure if it would work but it was a decent backup strategy, if the original plan failed. During his training of swing and the like of his new fighting style he observed, that his left hand felt a bit stronger and a bit sluggish. Most likely a side effect of that healing, the creature performed that made him feel pain, stronger than any he had felt in his thirty nine years of training, and killing of people. He would have to deal with slower but stronger attacks.

Suddenly he was startled, as he heard thunder from within the throne room for a second he thought something had gone wrong. But then he remembered that the creature had said that it would entertain one of the enemies, and this was most likely the way it brought the enemies to it. That would mean that the other five would soon find their way here and he would finally complete his orders, and hopefully receive some explanation on what is happening.

The first enemy he saw was a yellow mini horse with wings he wouldn't have even known it was an enemy, if he hadn't heard the words of that creature stating simply{NIGHT SHADOW}and just like that the one possession he had always kept was taken from him.

He couldn't explain it, every moment in the past, where he had said or thought of his name he remembered, Night Shadow.

Night knew that his name was different, but right now only the creature that used him as a puppet knew what it was.

Shadow wasn't sure why the creature made it so that he forget his name. He would ask it later, but for now he had to concentrate, he was lucky that the first enemy was alone but without a doubt the next enemy to enter would be followed by a group enemies.

As his mind wandered on the future, he took the carpet and prepared to throw it over the yellow winged mini horse. Unfortunately it noticed him and let out a quiet eeep sound. Shadow immediately threw the carpet over the creature as it fainted.

Roughly five minute later Night was starting to worry. He started shaking the now tied yellow creature in an attempt to wake it up.

Fluttershy was afraid, a strange creature had appeared out of nowhere and then captured and tied her up in a carpet. Now she was being roughly awoken. {Oh maybe I can use the stare yes I am sure that would work it works on all animals.} Flutershy opened her eyes and gave the sternest stare she could muster, and said.

"Now listen here mister, you will untie me, and help me find my friend! NOW!"

Night was surprised, the creature had given him a look that he knew all too well. It was the look of a true warrior, who was laying down their very life on the line to achieve their goal. He was now confused. Why did this creature faint if its determination was so strong? Regardless, he had his orders, and the doors were not open yet, so he returned the look to convey his own determination, as one warrior to another, before he spoke.

"I will not. I have been bound to guard this hall, and hold your passage. At the very least I shall grant you knowledge of your friend, as respect for your determination. He is with the creature, that bound me to halt your passage, in the room at the end of this hallway."

Fluttershy was scared, not only had the creature resisted the stare but it had returned a stare of his own. {It said it was bound but it has no chains, Magic? And what did it mean my determination. Oh um I am glad to know, where she is but how do I free myself, and get the others? And how can we get past this creature it doesn't seem to be evil, but if it is doing this against its will then it won't let us pass, if it can move. Perhaps I can make the girls tie it up, as he did with me yes, that way we can pass and we don't have to hurt it.} Suddenly Fluttershy heard the voices of her friends, but before she could respond, she found her muzzle tied shut with the carpet that was tied all around her.

"Fluttershy , Fluttershy , Darling?"

Night heard, the voices of the other enemies, and tied the mouth of his prisoner shut. It would not do, if it told its friend where their friend is. He picked up his staff and wrapped the two ends of the chain around his hands, and prepared to defend himself.

He was hopping that he could delay them with words as any kind of physical confrontation held the possibility of either them or himself being harmed. He could threaten to hurt his prisoner. It had been about fifteen minutes by now and if they believed his lie all he would have to do is attack them and pretend to lose when the doors open. He then moved, and removed one of the curtains so that he and his prisoner were visible then he spoke loudly.

"Halt, I can't let you pass. Should you continue your friends life is forfeited!"

Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie immediately froze in place fearing that should they take another step forward the heirless diamond dog would do as it said and kill Fluttershy. Apple Jack however, knew that it was lying . Sure it was truthful when it said it couldn't let them pass, but it had no intention of harming Fluttershy. She decided to confront it verbally, as if she were to charge at it, it would cause her friends to restrain her and it would waste precious time. Time that Twilight would have to fight Nightmare Moon alone.

"Naw I know y'all fibbing. Ah know that y'all won't hurt Fluttershy so tell ya what if ya let her go, I won't have all my friends here charge and beat ya up. If ya do it without arguing we can even talk this out about us passing. Mister?"

Night Shadow was surprised, if the orange mini horse was truthful, then he could complete his task.

He honestly expected that it would be harder. He started untying his prisoner, and while he did he thought {Well I never was good at lying} then said.

"Night Shadow, and what is your name creature?" If he started a conversation while he is still releasing his prisoner the four creatures, would be more willing to keep their word, and reply.

The five mares were both shocked, and relieved. Shocked that Apple Jack was called a creature, but also relieved that the strange diamond dog was releasing their friend. Everyone was silent for a few moments as Fluttershy slowly walked to her friends.

Apple Jack was torn she and RD could easily take down the creature but she did say that she would try to resolve this peacefully, and she was no liar. The diamond dog had seemed to notice her hesitation and was now holding a strange weapon. She had to calm it down before she turns into a liar.

"Naw mister Shadow, ya don't have ta fret none I am a mare of mah word. My names Apple Jack, and these are my friends Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and ya already met Fluttershy. So have ya seen our friend she's a purple unicorn? We really need to find her.

Night was perplexed the species name was mare. Mare was what he referred to when speaking of female horse, did that mean this species was comprised of only one gender. The thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind, as he had to keep the conversation going or he risked dying for failing to follow his orders. he was relieved to see in the corner of his eye that the doors were opening as he spoke.

"I haven't seen your friend, but the mare that brought me here, and bound me to guard this hall, led me to believe that she and your friend, could be found at the end of this hall. However I was bound by magic to guard this hall."

The five mares were all wearing expressions of horror. That anypony would use magic to force somepony to do something against their will, it was unforgivable. Fluttershy was the first to speak, as she had time to think of how to overcome this problem during her imprisonment.

"Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack take the carpet and tie him up and um don't hurt him, please. He isn't doing this because he wants to."

As Night heard Fluttershy's orders he decided that if he didn't act in an attempt to stop them, ,he might give them a hint that this was all just a play made by this mare, that had summoned him. He folded his weapon and ran up to Apple Jack then quickly extended it rapidly straightening his weapon, which hit the orange mare and she was sent flying into Rarity and Pinkie Pie. As he did this he spoke to further cement the fact that he was forced to do this.

"Please forgive me."

Everyone was surprised by the diamond dogs fast movements, it had sent Apple Jack flying. Rainbow Dash almost charged at it on instinct but then she heard that it was begging for forgiveness, and remembered Fluttershy's word. As fast as she could Rainbow picked up the carpet and threw it over Night. He seemed to struggle but AJ was already on her hooves, and proceeded to tighten and tie the carpet restraining Night Shadow completely.

A few seconds later Night couldn't struggle at all and AJ satisfied with her work spoke.

"Don'tcha worry none sugarcube we have ta go defeat that mare that forced ya ta do this but after that we’ll figure out a way to send ya'all back home"

Night felt fear if what he was told was true, then he felt he should inform his captors that he would die if he is too far from the mare that summoned him.

"That would serve no purpose, but to kill me. I was bound to her body, should I attempt to distance myself from her, my life is forfeited.”

The five mares had faces of pity and horror, and it was Apple jack that spoke first

"Well ah'm mighty sorry but we need to defeat her. We don't know what will happen to ya but if y'all are still kicking afterwards we'll do what we can ta help ya mister Night."

{And so my orders are done, all I can do now is wait, and hope, hope that my new master know’s what she is doing. And dream of what I would do if she hold’s up her end of the deal to give me my freedom.}