Ninja's Quest

Chapters

Enter the Nightmare
An Impossible Test
Revenge of the Ninja

Enter the Nightmare

The moon rose high into the starlit sky thanks to the assistance of the co-ruler of Equestria.

“Rest my sister,” Princess Celestia lowered her head in an exhausted manner, revealing cracked red eyes. “As always, I shall guard the night.” Luna, goddess of the moon assumed her royal duty of watching over the land of Canterlot at night. The night was as cold and silent as ever, and for a moment, Luna switched her sight from the all-seeing telescope to a small set of mountains out in the distance.

"I wonder where he is right now." Luna said to herself, wishing that a special somepony she once knew in the past was right beside her, before she was given her royal duty. “Besides Snowdrop, he was the only one who not only understood the importance of my night, but enjoyed it as well.” She breathed.

The moonlight shone on an old, deserted castle in the Everfree Forest. Shattered remains of a glass-like substance began to move. They gathered together under the moonlight and began to glow. After a short period of time, the pieces transformed into a dark glittering, purple smoke. A low, maniacal, witch-like laughter escaped for the substance and it headed straight for Canterlot Castle. Unbeknownst to the guards, the substance slithered into the castle walls and headed for Celestia’s bedroom. The sun goddess slept like a dove in its nest without a care in the world, unaware of the dark mist that was slithering up to her. Silently, the dark substance latched onto Celestia’s horn like a leech and began to suck out her magical energy. After several hours, Celestia’s internal alarm clock rang telling her it was time to raise the sun and relieve Luna of her position. The sun goddess rose from her cushion, trotted over to the telescope and tapped Luna on the back with her large wing. Luna let out a surprised yelp.

“Sorry, Luna,” She giggled. “Now you rest and I shall watch over the land.” The two goddesses shared a quick hug before switching positions. During their embracement, the dark substance on her horn, which had grown in size, altered into a mist form and flew out into the distance, hissing at the rising sun.

The snake-like mist flew deep into the Everfree Forest in search of a small ‘hut’. Inside the makeshift home, Zecora was mixing an herbal brew. “Why pay a fee, when I can make my own raspberry tea for free?”

When the hut was located, the vile substance dove like a lightning bolt full-blast at the tiny residence. In an instance, Zecora was blown away by the explosion. Getting back to her hooves, she scanned her ruined space for the cause of the incident. “Who dares attack my hut?! How would you like a kick in the……..… butt?”

Zecora didn’t know what she was looking at, but she knew it wasn’t good. The evil mist raced over to a small locked chest and squeezed in through the key hole. “Oh no!” gasped Zecora. The chest began to glow the same dark purple as the mist that entered. After a couple of seconds, the magic enveloping the chest changed from purple to red. A heartbeat later, the container exploded along with half of the hut. Once again, Zecora was blown away by an explosion. As she got up, a large black mare stepped fourth from the settling smoke. “Oh my Celestia!” thought Zecora. “She has the amulet!” The dark mare gave an evil smirk, then spread her wings and took off towards Ponyville, littering the skies with her laughter.

This was the start of a new day, and a new life for Twilight Sparkle, the newest and youngest princess of Equestria. She had spent the night at her old home in Canterlot, getting ready for her first day as a ruler of Equestria. Twilight stared at the mirror hoping she looked alright.

“Spike! How is my mane? Is this dress too wrinkled? Do you think I’m wearing enough make up? Ooooooh I wish Rarity were here.”

Spike laid on the bed, groaning in response to the multiple questions being thrown his way. “Twilight, you look fine!” he said.

“I have to be more than just fine!” replied Twilight, “Cadance and my brother will be here and I need to look my best.”

Spike moaned and rolled off the bed and approached the young alicorn. “Twilight, you’re fine, I doubt anypony else in the castle is as dressed up as you.” Twilight raised her brow in confusion. Spike shook his head and put his arm on Twilight’s shoulder. “Look Twilight, don’t waste time worrying about your appearance, because you look beautiful." "Not as beautiful as Rarity, but good." Spike silently added. Blushing at the comment, she hugged the baby dragon and decided that he was right, she shouldn’t waste anymore time.

“Thanks, Spike,” said Twilight. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“My pleasure... Princess Sparkle.” said Spike with a wink.

“Oooh, it’s going to take a while before I’m used to being called that,” Twilight murmured, “Well, I better get going, see ya later Spike, and don’t get into trouble.”

“Trouble? Me?” asked Spike in an astonished manner.

“Yes, you.” said Twilight with a raised brow.

“I promise, Princess.” replied Spike nobly.

“I'll see you later tonight.” said the young Princess. And with that, Twilight vanished in flash of light. When she reappeared, she was in Canterlot Castle. There was Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor.

“Twily!” exclaimed Shining. The siblings rushed toward each other and shared a quick hug. “I can’t say how proud I am to be your brother,” he expressed, “You know, you out rank me now.”

Twilight giggled. “I still can’t believe all this happened so fast.” Twilight shifted her gaze toward her wings. “Haven’t really gotten accustomed to these yet, either.”

"Do not fret Twilight. You’ll be able to harness the gift of flight eventually.” Princess Luna stated.

“It will all come in time.” Celestia added while rubbing her forehead.

“Are you alright, sister?" asked Luna. "You’ve been rubbing your head a lot this morning. Do you feel ill in any way?”

“No, I’m fine.” said Celestia. She was determined not to let this ‘drained’ feeling hold her back from her duties. Twilight looked up at her former teacher.

“Princess Celestia, please tell me you’re not going to give me a kingdom of my own to rule. I’m nowhere near ready for that kind of responsibility.” Twilight begged.

The sun and moon goddesses chuckled. “Of course not, Twilight, I know you’re not prepared," said Celestia. "You still have to go through a lot before you’re ready for something like that.”

Twilight also noticed Celestia occasionally rubbing her forehead. “Are you sure you're alright, Princess?”

“Yes, it’s just a small headache.” replied Celestia.

"Here auntie, let me help.” said Cadance rushing up to Celestia.” She aimed her horn at Celestia’s and began transferring her sky blue magic into Celestia’s horn, removing every bit of pain.

“Aaahhhh, thank you Cadance, now I feel perfect.” said Celestia, relieved.

“My pleasure”, replied the pink alicorn.

“Now Twilight, for your first task as a princess I’m going to have you…..” Celestia trailed off as the sunlight completely faded to pitch darkness.

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight asked. “What happened to the sun?”

“I don’t know.” Celestia admitted. Everypony looked to sky and saw an enormous black sphere eclipsing the sun completely.

“What in the world?!” gasped Shining.

“ Is that the moon?" asked Cadance. "How can this be?” Cadence then glanced at Luna.

“No," said Luna. “I'm not doing this.”

“I already know that.” said Celestia.

“Then who’s doing this? And who would have the power to do such a thing?” questioned Twilight.”

“I have no idea.” answered Cadance.

A second later, one of the royal guards rushed in. After a quick bow, he explained the situation outside. “Princess! We’ve spotted a dark figure flying over the castle and it’s heading straight for Ponyville!”

Twilight gasped. "My friends!"

“Go, Princess Twilight,” urged Celestia. “My sister and I will handle things here.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Twilight bowed to the goddesses and teleported herself back to her tree house home.

Meanwhile in Ponyville, everypony was panicking and fleeing from the approaching dark creature.

“What the hay is going on?!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“I have no stinkin’ clue!” answered Applejack. Just then, a huge scream reached their ears.

“Rarity! Come on, Applejack!” said Rainbow.

“Right behind ya, Dash!” replied the farm pony. The two mares raced towards Rarity’s shop and found her outside on the ground.

“Rarity!” yelled Rainbow.

“You okay?” asked Applejack.

“No! I’m not okay! I couldn’t see in this blasted darkness and I fell in a mud puddle! In my newest dress! Just look at me! This is the! Worst! Possible! Thing!” The two friends' shocked expressions quickly shifted to annoyed ones.

“For cryin’ out loud, Rarity!” yelled Applejack. “There are much more important things to worry about than some silly old dress!”

“Yeah, like what happened to the sunlight”, said a voice.

“Pinkie Pie?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Where’d you come from?”

“I don’t know.” admitted Pinkie. Suddenly, a bright flash occurred a few feet away from the four mares. As it faded, there stood Twilight without her formal attire. Once she spotted her friends, Twilight rushed over.

“Is everypony okay?” asked the Princess.

“Twilight!” said Pinkie as she embraced her friend.

“Hi, Pinkie,” said Twilight quickly ending the hug. “Are you all alright?”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” confirmed Rainbow Dash.

“All except one.” corrected Rarity.

“Forget that right now, we have bigger things to…” Applejack was cut short by a loud familiar scream.

“Fluttershy!” gasped Twilight. “Come on!” she ordered, and the five galloped toward the direction of the shriek, with the exception of Rainbow Dash who flew. They stopped in front of Fluttershy’s cottage only to find it all chained up. Twilight rushed up and knocked several times.

“Fluttershy! Are you in there?! Fluttershy!” asked Twilight. There was no reply.

“Stand back!” ordered Rainbow Dash as she flew a short distance away from the door and then flew at it full speed with her left rear leg extended out. Crash! As the others rushed in, they found Fluttershy huddled in a corner, in a petrified state; she was whiter than Rarity.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!” yelled Twilight, trying desperately to snap her friend out of her state of shock, but to no avail. For several seconds, Fluttershy didn’t respond to anything until Rainbow Dash got an idea. The Pegasus quickly looked around for Fluttershy’s pet rabbit Angel and found him hiding under a couch. Rainbow quickly scooped up Angel and brought him over to the traumatized Pegasus.

“Fluttershy! Angel’s hurt!” fibbed Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy instantly regained her sense and color. “Oh no! Angel!” Fluttershy stole the rabbit away from Rainbow and examined him carefully. “Thank Celestia you’re safe. Rainbow!” she said in a cross manner. “Why’d you lie to me?”

"Sorry, but we had to snap you out of it somehow.” replied Rainbow.

“Oh, I see.” said Fluttershy in an understanding tone.

“Are you okay?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Yeah, what caused you to scream?” added Twilight.

Fluttershy retreated right back into her corner. “You don’t wanna know.” She said confidently.

“We need to know Fluttershy, please.” said Twilight.

Fluttershy took a deep breath and explained. “I was in town doing some shopping, when I saw the sky was getting dark. I said to myself, there’s no way its night time already! But then I looked up and saw the sun being covered by huge black ball. I was getting frightened, then I saw the shape of Princess Celestia. I rushed over to see her, and I found out,” she said in dark tone. “I-It wasn’t her.”

“Well then who in tarnation was it?” asked Applejack.

“I... don’t… know.” Fluttershy admitted.

A determined look fell over Twilight’s face. “Well whatever it was, we’re going to get rid of it.”

“W-We?” asked Fluttershy, “But how?”

“With the Elements of Harmony,” said Twilight. “Besides I’m not going to let you girls get hurt, you’re my best friends and I wouldn’t be a Princess without any of you.”

“That’s our Princess.” complimented Rainbow Dash.

“Well, what are we all waitin’ for?” asked Applejack.

“Let’s do this!” said Pinkie Pie in a commando like tone.

“Whatever that thing is, it’ll make sure it pays for ruining my dress!” exclaimed Rarity.

With that, Twilight transported herself and her friends back to Canterlot Castle in a flash of purple magic. No sooner after they had left, a frantic knock came at Fluttershy's cottage door. The door was then kicked open by a scared zebra.

“Oh no, I am too late. I hope they return soon, because this cannot wait.” said Zecora.

Back at the castle, the Princesses and Shining Armor were lighting every candle they could find and everypony was issued a flashlight. Suddenly, a flash of energy occurred and there stood the wielders of harmony.

“Twilight! Thank goodness you and your friends made it back.” expressed Celestia. The six mares bowed to their ruler.

“Princess Celestia, we’re ready to wield the Elements!” said Twilight.

“I know, my little ponies." replied Celestia. "Once we saw this dark storm, Luna and I brought them here awaiting your arrival.”

“Let’s do this!” cried Rainbow Dash. Luna magically disputed each element to its wielder.

“Is everypony ready?” asked Twilight. Everypony nodded except Fluttershy who gulped.

“Hold on, Twilight.” ordered the sun goddess.

“This time my sister and I are coming with you,” The six mares couldn’t believe their ears. Princess Luna also looked surprised. “I’ve never seen anything like this before and I believe you girls are going to need all the help you can get.” explained the white princess.

Fluttershy gave a sigh of relief.

“Princess Cadance, can you handle the Crystal Empire on your own for a while?” asked Celestia.

“Of course.” replied Cadance.

“Why alone?” asked Shining Armor.

"Because,” explained Celestia “I need you here to guard the castle during our absence. Can you do that?”

“Yes, of course, you’re highness.” promised Shining.

Celestia then turned to her sister. “Luna, this is a very dark enemy and no one knows more about dark magic than you. Will you assist us?” begged Celestia.

Luna gave an affirming nod. “Of course, sister!” she promised. “Now let us go!” Luna then transported herself and the other seven ponies to Ponyville. As soon as they had gone, Shining casted the same protection barrier around the castle, as he had at his wedding.

"Good luck Twily, and be safe." He prayed.

Right as the eight ponies arrived, they were greeted by a blast of pure oil colored energy.

Applejack was the first to get to her hooves.

“How dare ya’ll blast our Prin……?” Applejack’s body turned dead white as she stared at the being responsible for the attack. There stood a replica of Celestia, except for few minor details. Her coat color was blacker than a raven, her eyes and armor were blood red, her mane color started with red and slowly faded to black. Her cutie mark was a skull and cross bones and she wore a familiar amulet. The sun goddess stood breathless in front of the concocted reflection of herself, but the black alicorn shifted her sight over to Luna.

“Hello, old friend.” She said in low, wicked voice. Luna gasped at the sight of a familiar figure that she never wanted to see again, Nightmare Moon!

“I am no friend of yours, you vile creature!” cried the moon goddess.

“Actually, you’re more like my mother. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t exist!” said Nightmare Moon in laughter.

“Don’t listen to her, Princess Luna!” ordered Twilight. “This is not your fault.”

“You’re right, young ruler.” said the dark being. “It’s her sister’s fault for keeping such pathetic security!”

“Enough of this!” ordered Celestia.

“How did you find the alicorn amulet?” interrupted Twilight.

“Simple,” explained the dark mare. “I followed the amulet’s aura of power. Once I located it, I simply took it from that tough little zebra friend of yours."

“Zecora!” gasped the purple alicorn. “If you hurt her, I’ll….”

“Oh don’t worry,” Nightmare Moon interrupted. “I didn’t harm her… too much.”

All the ponies gritted their teeth in anger.

“Anyway, look on the dark side.” said the evil mare in a jokeful tone. “Now you get to sleep in as much as you all want, because I and my nocturnal nightmares will permanently stain this world with eternal…"

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” interrupted Rainbow. “Let’s just fast-forward to the part where we beat you and get back to our lives.”

Pinkie and Applejack chuckled. “Good one, Dash.” said the orange earth pony. Pinkie Pie continued to laugh.

“Alright girls, let’s do it!” Twilight ordered. The six ponies gathered together and each of their respective elements began to glow. Twilight’s irises were replaced by a bright white light as all of them slowly rose in the air. Then, when all of their powers combined together, they fired their rainbow of purification. As the spiraling aurora flew toward the dark mare, she simply scoffed and held up a single hoof. A clear force field was created instantly and blocked the rainbow like rain on an umbrella. The girls were dumbstruck; Nightmare Moon blocked their most powerful attack like it was nothing!

“How did she do that?!” asked Rainbow Dash, astonished.

“I can’t believe it!” echoed Fluttershy.

Twilight also couldn’t believe her eyes. “How is that possible? Nopony’s ever been able to withstand the power of the Elements of Harmony, let alone deflect their power!”

“Wait!” said a familiar voice.

“Zecora!” announced Twilight. “Please tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m alright, but with the amulet, her powers have reached a new height.” said Zecora.

“Yeah, no kidding!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

Applejack galloped over to the zebra. “Zecora, thanks for the heads up, but this ain’t the best place to be right now. Ya’ll better find somewhere safe, while we deal with this… monster.”

“I understand. But please be careful, for this time, our foe is twice as powerful.” Zecora then galloped off to find refuge.

“Enough of this!” announced Luna. “I’m sending you back to where it is you came from, forever!”

“Please,” countered the darker mare. “What makes you think you can defeat me, when I have all your best powers!” Luna didn’t care, she fired her most powerful blast at her former doppelganger. With a single hoof, Nightmare Moon slapped the blast away into the distance. “Told you.” mocked the black mare.

“Stand down sister,” ordered Celestia. “I’ll handle this.”

“Be careful, Princess.” begged Twilight.

Celestia gave her former pupil an affirming nod and stepped forward. The sun goddess prepared to fire, but as she locked onto her target, nothing shot from her horn. She gasped in horror, while Nightmare Moon gave a menacing smile. Celestia tried as hard as she could, and not even a spark escaped her horn. “How can this be?” she asked.

Nightmare Moon chuckled at the clueless princess. “Oh I forgot, while you slumbered, I snuck right past your wonderful guards, and sucked out every bit of your power down to the very last drop!” Realization struck the snow white princess like a boulder. So she’s the reason I felt so weak!

"How dare you do that to our Princess, you wicked beast!” yelled Twilight.

Nightmare Moon gave the small alicorn a venomous glare. “What did you say?” she asked in a threatening voice.

Twilight tried not to flinch, “Wicked… beast!” she repeated.

The dark mare roared louder than a manticore and fired several laser-like beams at the group of ponies. The beams exploded upon contact and sent the girls and goddesses back several feet. The eight mares laid cut and steaming; each wore a large bruise indicating the strike of the beams. Rainbow laid her hoof over her bruised chest and to her surprise, felt no jewel-like object.

“What the hay?” gasped Twilight. “What happened to my necklace?” The other ponies began to recollect themselves.

“Oh! Look at me!” cried Rarity, “Now I look worse than my dress!” She then froze as she tried to feel for her elemental pendant. She looked down and saw nothing but a large bruise mark. “My necklace, it’s gone!” “

"So is mine!” squeaked Pinkie.

“So’s mine!” said a befuddled Applejack.

Fluttershy’s gasp indicated that hers was also missing.

Once Celestia and Luna came to, they looked at their bruised horns and saw no crowns; even Celestia’s breast plate was missing.

Twilight finally got to her hooves. “What have you done with our elements?” she demanded.

Nightmare Moon cackled manically. “Look around you, ‘Princess.” She taunted.

Twilight alternated her sight from left to right and found nothing. She then spun around and her mouth fell open at what she wished she hadn’t seen: the shattered remains of the elements. “The Elements of Harmony! They’re… they’re…” she stammered.

“They’re destroyed, forever!” said the evil mare in place of the purple princess.

“I can’t believe this,” breathed Celestia. “The Elements are the most powerful objects to ever exist, and she destroyed them like they were nothing!”

“They were nothing! For me anyway, thanks to your power, Celestia.” reminded Nightmare Moon. “How ironic, the very magic you use to protect all of Equestria is now the source of the power that will extinguish the light FOOORRREVVVVVEEEERRRRRRR!!!!!!!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” said Luna galloping over to Twilight’s side. “Twilight!” she began. "Let us try combining our powers into a single beam. I hope it will do something." she thought.

“Great idea, Princess!” replied Twilight as she began to gather power.

“Good luck to you both.” said Celestia in an admiring tone.

“Yeah, you go Princesses!” encouraged Rainbow Dash.

“You can do it!” added Applejack. The three remaining mares all said various words of inspiration. The two princesses mustered up as much magical energy as possible and prepared to fire; Nightmare Moon watched the two as if she was watching an entertaining play. Once the two rulers had gathered as much power as they could handle, they gently clashed their horns and fired the combined beam of magic at the black mare. Suddenly, feeling intimidated, the dark mare fired a beam of her own right at the charging beam of power. CLASH! The two beams collided with a force that was immeasurable. The resulting wind blew hard at the five little mares. Celestia immediately rushed over and shielded the younger ponies with her immense wings and body.

“Thank you very much, Princess.” said Fluttershy.

“You’re welcome, young one.” replied Celestia as she was battered by the winds. The two princesses tried as hard as they could, but eventually Nightmare Moon overpowered them and sent the mares flying.

Nightmare Moon laughed in victory. “I told you,” She said mockingly. “Now that I possess the power of both the sun and moon, I’m invincible!” Celestia and the others quickly ran over to their wounded princesses.

“Twilight, Twilight!” called Pinkie.

“Twilight! Come on wake up!” cried Rainbow.

“Luna!” called Celestia as she bent over her younger sister. Both ponies slowly opened their eyes.

“Girls?” said Twilight weakly.

“Sister.” said Luna echoing Twilight’s level of tone. The five young mares immediately pulled Twilight into a warm embrace.

“Oh, Twilight we were so worried.” expressed Applejack.

“Are you alright? Oh, please tell me you’re okay!” begged Rarity.

Twilight managed to get to her hooves. “I’ll be alright.”

“Thank Celestia.” said Fluttershy trying not to cry.

“How’s Princess Luna?" asked Twilight.

“I’m fine.” said the moon goddess.

“Thank goodness.” breathed Celestia she pulled her sister into a hug.

Nightmare Moon laughed maniacally. “With Celestia’s magic and the amulet, I am now the most powerful being in the world!” She looked down at the eight mares. “Better get a sweater, it's going to get pretty cold from here on end, oh and a scarf, because you’re never going to see the light or ‘life’ of day again!” And she fired a large beam of magic right at the eight mares. Luna immediately gathered all the energy she had left and transported herself and the others back to Canterlot Castle. “Blast, missed,” spat the dark being. “Oh well, it’s not like they can stop me now. Now, I think it’s time for a little remodeling.”

The evil mare transported herself to Tartarus. The three-headed guard dog Cerberus instantly growled at her. “Stupid mongrel.” hissed the evil sorceress. Using her magic, she shrank the canine down to the size of a puppy. Frightened by her intensive power, the tiny guard dog scampered away, leaving the gate of the underworld exposed. All of the dark creatures immediately clamored to the doors, desperately trying to escape.

“You want out?” asked Nightmare Moon. “Very well...” The sinister alicorn fired a beam of magic at the gate’s lock shattering it like glass. The monsters then poured out like lava. They had multiple horned heads, bat-like wings, reptilian eyes and fangs, whip-like tails and razor-sharp claws instead of hooves. “This is just the beginning.” said the vile beast.

Back in Canterlot, Shining Armor was doing everything he could to keep everypony in the castle under control. He was managing well so far, lighting candles and giving out jackets, scarves, and blankets. Suddenly, a bright flash occurred and there stood the three princesses and their five friends.

“Princess! Twily!” he immediately galloped over to his sister and shared a brief hug. “Are you alright, sis?”

“I’m fine, but the Princess isn’t.” Princess Celestia immediately collapsed on the marble floor.

“Princess Celestia!” Shining and Luna each got under the white ruler’s wings and helped her to a makeshift bed. “What happened?” he asked.

“Nightmare Moon somehow absorbed all of my sister’s magic and power," explained Luna. "Now she has none.”

“What?” The white stallion’s jaw dropped to the ground. “Nightmare Moon?! I don’t understand. Princess Celestia, are you sure it was her?"

“I'm afraid so,” answered the snow white alicorn in a somber tone. “Thank you Shining Armor, for keeping the castle safe.”

“It is my honor and my duty Princess.” replied the Captain.

“Why is it so c-c-cold?” interrupted Applejack, shivering.

“Without the sunlight, there’s no heat to warm up the land, or the air,” explained Luna. “And I’m afraid that’s not all.” Luna levitated the remains of the shattered Elements over to the white stallion.

Shining’s eyes shrank to the size of peas. “That…. thing… did this?!”

“Yes,” answered Celestia with her head down. “She also has the Alicorn Amulet, so her power has increased dramatically.”

“What are we supposed to do now?” asked the white Prince.

“I do not know at the moment.” admitted Celestia.

Everypony froze at the sound of her words. “You’re kidding, right Princess?” asked Twilight in a begging tone.

“I’m afraid not Twilight." answered the white ruler.

Twilight felt as if she was going to faint, until she heard soft hoof steps behind her.

“Twilight?” asked Pinkie Pie, the humor and optimism wiped clean from her face. “What are we going to do?”

“First off, we keep calm.” answered Twilight.

“Keep calm?!” asked Rainbow. “How are we supposed to stay calm at a time like this?! The Elements are gone, Celestia’s power been taken, Nightmare Moon has the amulet, and all of Ponyville is covered in darkness!”

“Silence!” ordered Luna. “We need to send to send a message to the Crystal Empire.”

“You’re summoning Cadance?” asked Twilight.

“Indeed I am," As soon as she finished, the lunar princess transported the emergency note to the Crystal Empire. "I hope she gets it soon, the longer she keeps that amulet, the more powerful she becomes.” thought Luna.

Cadance had her own hooves full, trying her best to keep the crystallized citizens of the Crystal Empire calm and warm. “Attention everypony!” the pink ruler announced from her tower. “At the moment, we do not know what is causing this eclipse!” All the assembled ponies’ faces contorted with fear. “But I have made contact with Princess Celestia and she is currently assessing the situation!” Some of the sparkling ponies began to relax. “The Princess will contact me the second she has any information! Until that time, everypony go home and do whatever you can to keep warm!” As the assembled ponies began to disperse, Flash Sentry rushed over with Luna’s letter.

“Princess Cadance, I have a letter from Princess Luna.” said the Pegasus.

“Princess Luna?” wondered Cadance. “Thank you.” Using her telekinetic power, she unrolled the letter and read it carefully. "Princess Cadance, We have found the source of this mysterious eclipse. Unfortunately, it’s an old adversary of ours. Cadance’s iris shrank as she read the enemy’s name. Nightmare Moon and now she has a life of her own! Still she forced herself to continue on. Also, I don’t know how she found this charm, but she has the Alicorn Amulet. Princess Twilight and her friends have tried the Elements of Harmony and Nightmare Moon destroyed them!" Cadance lost her breath as she read those words. "To make matters worse, she somehow absorbed all of my sister’s magic and power, so Celestia currently has none. Twilight and I even combined our magic together and still we couldn’t defeat Nightmare Moon."

Without realizing it, Cadance dropped the letter before she could finish. “This can’t be. I-I thought that Luna was…” she paused as she realized there was more to be read. Lifting it with her magic, she read the remains of the letter hoping there was so good news. “We need you to come to Canterlot to see if you can help Celestia regain some of her powers. Twilight is currently bringing Shining Armor back to watch over the Empire in your absence. Come as fast as possible. Signed, Princess Luna."

Instead of doing her usual deep breath remedy, Cadance began pacing around like a race horse. “This can’t be possible!” she exclaimed. “Nothing is more powerful than the Elements of Harmony. Nothing! Besides Luna and Nightmare Moon are, or were, one and the same. How can she all of a sudden be two different ponies? And how in Equestria did that monster ‘suck’ out Auntie Celestia’s magic? UUUGGGHHH! None of this makes any sense. Wait. What am I doing?” she asked herself. “I shouldn’t be pacing around like this. I have to be positive. Besides, I’m sure Twilight has a backup plan,” she hoped. No sooner after she finished her sentence, a bright flash occurred behind the pink Princess. As she turned she was greeted by her husband and sister in law. “Shining Armor! Twilight!” she quickly gave each of them a hug, then looked at. “Twilight, is all this for real?”

“I’m afraid so, Cadance,” she admitted in a defeated manner. “That’s why we need your help. You need to come with us and try and restore some of Celestia’s power.”

The taller alicorn pondered for as second, then breathed. “I don’t know if I can restore all of her magic, but I promise, I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you!” expressed Twilight as she embraced her sister in law.

“Cadance,” said Shining. “Please, be very careful.”

“I will.” Cadence promised.

“Oh! And I love you.” added the Prince.

“I love you too Shiny,” She giggled as the two shared a brief kiss. “Alright Twilight, let’s do this.” she breathed.

“Right.” replied Twilight. Shining Armor gave the two mares a worried wave as they teleported back to Canterlot Castle.

Back at the castle, Luna was doing what she could to help Celestia by transferring what energy she had to spare to her sister. “I’m sorry it’s not much sister, but it’s all I have left after that battle.” Luna explained.

“Don’t apologize, Luna,” breathed Celestia. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing. Now I feel like I can get to my hooves.” On unsteady legs, the alicorn Princess managed to stand up. She took a deep breath and made an effort to walk, but she stumbled and fell to her knees.

“Celestia!” cried her sister. “Don’t over exert yourself.”

Rainbow Dash hovered over to her rulers. “Is there anything any of us can do?”

“Help keep everypony warm.” ordered the fallen princess.

“Yes, you’re highness!” just as Rainbow was about fly back to her friends, a sudden flash occurred and there stood Twilight and Cadance.

“Princess Celestia!” cried the pink alicorn as she rushed towards her aunt. “How is she?”

“I’m alright," said Celestia. "Luna has given some of her magic, so I can walk a little.”

“A little.” reminded Luna.

“Leave the rest to me.” replied Cadance as she connected the tip of her horn to Celestia’s. Cadance then began transferring her healing magic into the snow colored goddess. After a while, Celestia’s eyes began to glow white, as did the rest of her body. Once the glow faded, Celestia stood tall and strong once more.

“Thank you, Princess Cadance.” said Celestia.

“You’re welcome, auntie,” Replied the pink crystal ruler as she embraced the taller alicorn. Cadance then turned her attention over to Luna. “You’re not hurt are you, Luna?”

The moon goddess gave her niece a reassuring look. “Not to worry, I am fine and all my magic is intact.”

“Thank goodness.” breathed Cadance and the two alicorns shared a quick hug.

“Thanks, Cadance.” said Twilight in a low voice.

“Twilight! Is it true the Elements of Harmony were destroyed?” asked Cadance.

Twilight looked at the floor. “Yes, Nightmare Moon destroyed them with the help of the amulet.”

Cadance’s eyes grew wide with fear. “So what are we going to do?”

“I believe I have a solution,” answered Luna. Everypony turned toward the moon goddess. “You must seek out an old friend of mine.”

“An old friend?” asked Twilight.

Celestia smiled in understanding.

Luna's cheeks turned a small shade of pink as she spoke. “A dear and loyal friend from my mare years, before Nightmare Moon robbed me of my life.”

“Who is it?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“His name is…Ninja.”

An Impossible Test

“Ninja?” asked Twilight with her brow raised.

“Yes,” answered Luna. “He was a special friend of mine while I was growing up.”

“What was he like?” questioned Pinkie Pie, full of curiosity.

Luna’s cheeks began to burn red. “He was a very powerful and kind stallion, who not only understood my night, but enjoyed it. We met one night when I was raising the moon. He was performing some type of dark magic spell that sparked my curiosity. So after I was done, I went to investigate."

“He knows dark magic?” asked Twilight, stunned. After hearing about his dark powers, the little alicorn began to suspect this stallion might be like King Sombra.

“Yes, but he only used it for pure purposes," confirmed Luna. "He was such a gentlecolt. He always bowed to me and showed the utmost respect. Nearly every night, we conversed about how much we both enjoyed the night, and we just continued on, night after night.” The other mares began to wonder what she met by continued, but she gave a reassuring glance that terminated any dirty thoughts. “He also told me about how he is the guardian of a secret power that nopony else knows about.”

“What kind of power?” questioned Twilight.

“The power of sacred animals called Arions.” replied Luna.

“Sacred?” asked Applejack.

“It means holy, young one.” answered Celestia.

Applejack’s emerald eyes widened.

“He told me hundreds have tried to reach the power," said Luna. "But none have ever come close. Only the purest and strongest may wield it.”

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash wore confident faces, while Twilight and the others looked doubtful.

“Do you still know where he resides?” asked Celestia.

“His home is hidden somewhere up in the snow capped mountains outside of Canterlot.” said Luna.

“Hidden?” asked Twilight. “You mean you don’t know exactly where he is?”

“I’m afraid not.” admitted Luna.

“Sounds... quite cold.” said Rarity.

“But right now, it is the only other source of power we have left.” said Luna.

“Then we know what must be done,” declared Celestia. “Princess Twilight.”

The younger alicorn rushed up to her former teacher. “Yes, Celestia?”

“You’ve seen what this monster is capable of," said Celestia. "You also know we have tried everything in our power to stop her, but it was not enough. You and your friends must go and seek out this mysterious master and the power he guards."

“But Princess,” objected Twilight, “What if we’re not strong enough? What if we’re not pure enough?”

Celestia fixed her lavender gaze on the smaller alicorn. “I understand your concern, but we have no other option. You must go, for it is our last hope."

“We’ll be with ya, Princess Twilight!” declared Rainbow Dash. “All the way!”

“With the fate of fashion in jeopardy, how can I refuse?” asked Rarity.

“We’re on ya like wheels on a wagon.” added Applejack.

“Sounds super duper fun!” squeaked Pinkie Pie.

Everypony looked at Fluttershy. She looked more scared than she had ever been in her whole life.

Twilight gave her a pleading gaze. “Please Fluttershy.”

The yellow Pegasus looked out the royal window at the endless black night that the dark mare had created. After a moment, she closed her eyes and turned back to her friends in a defeated manner. “Twilight, this is… just too scary.” She confessed. The girls couldn’t believe what they just heard.

“But Fluttershy, I…”

Fluttershy raised one hoof to silence Twilight. “Which is all the more reason why I’m in.”

“You’re serious?” asked Twilight.

“Of course. I could never leave any of you or my animal friends in the dark.” All the ponies ran over to the yellow Pegasus and embraced her.

“You’re very brave, Fluttershy.” commended Celestia.

“Now, can we get going?” asked Rainbow impatiently.

“First, we have to get supplies,” said Twilight. “If we’re going up into the mountains, we’re going to need flash lights, warm clothing-”

“I’ll handle that!” said Rarity. Twilight gave her a nod of approval.

“We'll need snacks too.” said Applejack. The purple alicorn nodded in acceptance.

"Oh! Don't forget the cinnamon buns!" squeaked Pinkie. Twilight rolled her eyes in response.

“Good luck my little ponies.” said Celestia.

“Indeed, we wish you all the best of luck,” added Luna. “Oh! And one more thing. If he asks why you want the power, tell him I sent you. Remember that.”

“We’ll remember, Princess!” With that Twilight and the others disappeared in a flash of white.

“Are you sure we can trust him.” asked Celestia.

“I’m positive,” replied Luna. “Trust me when I tell you he is the purest pony I know." "Not to the mention the most handsome." She added silently.

“I hope this power really is as strong as you say.” said Celestia

“So do I.” echoed the moon goddess.

After gathering supplies for their journey, Twilight transported herself and the girls to the edge of Canterlot.

“I recognize this part of town.” voiced Rarity. “This is where that marvelous jewelry shop is.”

“Yeah, yeah, right now we’ve got more important things to worry about!” said Rainbow Dash.

“So where exactly are these mountains?” asked Applejack.

“Right over there!” answered Pinkie Pie, pointing with her hoof.

The six all stared up at the gigantic mountain range.

“It’s so…high.” uttered Fluttershy.

“Here we go again.” thought Rainbow.

Rarity pulled out some, ear muffs and jackets from her saddlebags. “I took the liberty of designing a special set of clothes for each of you girls.”

The others looked at the white unicorn in confusion.

“Twilight, I created a set of clothes with nothing but sparkling stars just for you. I do hope you like it.” Twilight stared in her garment in awe. “Pinkie Pie, I cooked up this patch of sweet pink clothes for you.” Pinkie was bouncing with excitement. “Fluttershy, I know how much you love animals, so I made you this forest green sweater with a swarm of butterflies.” Fluttershy’s eyes glowed. “Applejack, I thought you might like something like, this.” Using her magic, Rarity levitated an apple red sweater with a barn in the center over to the farm pony.

“Well thank you kindly, Rare.” said the cowpony.

“Rainbow Dash, it took me a while to get this one, but think even you might find this design, interesting.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened at the design in front of her.

“I put a couple of rainbow lightning bolts dashing through the sky. What do you think?” asked Rarity quidkly.

“It… is… Awesome!” answered the blue Pegasus.

Applejack then walked to center of the group of mares. “Whenever ya’ll get hungry, I brought some apple fritters, dumplings, apple fries, and, good old fashion apples.”

“I brought the flash lights.” added Fluttershy. She distributed one to each of the mares.

“Alright!” said Rainbow Dash confidently. “Is everypony ready?” The others nodded in unison. “Then let’s get going!”

Without the heat of the sun, the journey up the mountain proved difficult for the mares, but they struggled on.

“Thank you for making these outfits, Rarity.” said Twilight.

“You’re quite welcome. After all when you travel up a huge mountain, you’ve got to do it in style.”

“Anypony hungry?” asked Pinkie.

“Pinkie, we shouldn’t waste anymore time.” scolded the lavender Princess. A gurgle then sounded from her stomach, causing Twilight's face to flush.

“Yeah,” sounded Rainbow. “Maybe we should stop and have a quick bite.”

“On it!” announced Pinkie. With the assistance of her party cannon a small picnic was instantly set up.

After a quick meal, the girls strapped on their packs again and continued up the mountain.

“Are we there yet?” asked Rarity, after an hour.

“No, not yet.” answered Applejack.

(Five minutes later) “How about now?” repeated the fashion designer.

“No.” replied Rainbow Dash.

After another hour of hiking they finally reached the top of the mountain. “Brrrr, it’s cold.” voiced Fluttershy.

“I know,” agreed Rarity. “Even my outstanding designs can’t shield me from this blasted wind.”

“Girls, this is what it’s always like up here in the mountains.” reminded Twilight.

“Oh my stars!” expressed Rarity. “I’m covered in sweat!”

“It’s probably somepony else’s.” grumbled Applejack as she walked over to the designer mare. “Huh, well Whatta ya know. It actually is yours.”

“Get it off!” Rarity screamed.

“It’s okay, it just means you’re actually putting fourth some effort. Congratulations, Rare.” said Applejack.

“Well, thank you Applejack," said Rarity. "But still! Get it off!”

“Why do I bother?” asked the farm pony to herself. She then heard heavy breathing behind her. “Fluttershy, you alright?”

“It’s getting hard to breathe up here.” replied Fluttershy.

“There’s less oxygen up here because of the harsh winds and cold climate.” explained Rainbow.

Twilight looked all over and didn’t see any signs of a home or shelter. “I don’t understand,” She expressed as she walked towards one of the mountain flanks. “How can this Ninja guy live up here in these conditions? I mean what does he do? Throw out a sleeping bag and----”

Twilight dematerialized and passed right through the mountain in a flash of purple electricity. The girls gasped in astonishment.

“Twilight!” cried Rainbow Dash.

“Are you alright?! Oh please be alright, please be alright.” begged Fluttershy.

Applejack tossed a rock against the mountain flank. It too passed right through. The girls all stared in awe.

“I reckon it’s some kind of secret passage.” decided Applejack.

“That is so cool!” exclaimed Rainbow as she zoomed toward the hidden entrance.

“Rainbow NO!!” cried Rarity.

Applejack went for her tail, but missed and the Pegasus shot right through in flicker of blue lightning.

“Hmph, Pegasi.” voiced Rarity.

Fluttershy raised a brow.

“Oh! Huh, no offense.” said Rarity correcting herself. “I hope they’re alright.”

“Only one way to find out,” decided Applejack. “I’m going in!” With that, the farm pony rushed into the mysterious passage; and disappeared in quick spark of orange static.

“Unbelievable.” whispered Rarity.

“Come on! This’ll be fun.” alerted Pinkie as she bounced through leaving behind a quick flash of pink lightning.

“Well, come on Fluttershy,” said Rarity. “We’re not getting anywhere just standing here.”

Fluttershy watched as the snow colored unicorn dematerialized in a brief white spark. “Come on Fluttershy! You can do this! You can do this!” she told herself. “Besides, your friends need you.” Pushing her fear aside, the yellow Pegasus galloped toward the hidden entrance and passed right through in a spark of yellow voltage.

Inside the mountain, the girls found themselves in a semi-dark cavern.

"Twilight!” called Applejack.

“Princess!” echoed Rarity.

“Over here!” Twilight responded. The five mares galloped a short distance following their friend’s voice; until finally, she came into view.

“Twilight!” gasped Fluttershy as she flew towards the alicorn. After a quick hug, the Pegasus checked her friend over. “Are you alright, Twilight?”

“Yes, I am.” confirmed the alicorn.

“So, now whatta we do?” questioned Rainbow.

Click! “Ah, much better.” said Fluttershy turning on her flashlight.

“Thanks for the light, Fluttershy.” said Twilight. As the purple princess stepped forward, her hoof landed on a type of button followed by another brief click.

Realizing she had triggered something, she gave a small gasp and looked down.

“Twilight!” called Rainbow pointing upward.

Twilight immediately looked up, and saw thousands of spears plummeting like rain. Instantly, she stretched out her wings and flew as fast as she could towards the other end. The others followed, but began to lose speed as they neared the other end of the cavern. Two spiked ends began stretching out of the walls, threatening to either close off the girls or impale them.

“What do we do?!” screamed Fluttershy.

“Run!” replied Twilight.

“Where?!” asked Rarity.

Instead of responding, Twilight fired a purple beam of magic at one of the lower spikes, leaving a small hole for her friends to escape.

“Got it!” said the blue Pegasus. She shot right threw the exit, followed by the others. Once they knew they were safe, they stopped to catch their breath.

“Is everypony alright?” asked Twilight. Panting, the others nodded.

"Ow.” said Applejack as a small trickle of blood flowed down her left leg.

“Applejack!” expressed Twilight as she rushed to her friend’s side. “Are you okay?!”

“I guess so.” replied the farm pony.

“Let me see!” said Rarity as she shoved her way to the front. “Oh, you poor thing. Here, I have just the thing.” Rarity pulled out some disinfectant wipes, pain spray and bandages from her saddlebag. Applejack’s eyes widen.

“You brought all that?” asked the farm girl.

“Told you I backed everything essential.” After cleaning Applejack’s cut, Rarity wrapped up her cut.

“Gee, thanks nurse Rarity.” said Applejack in a jokeful tone.

“Not at all,” replied the white unicorn. “Now please Twilight, do try to be more careful.”

The alicorn’s cheeks turned pink. “Sorry. Hey, where’s Fluttershy?”

“She was right behind me.” answered Applejack.

“Fluttershy!” called Twilight.

“Fluttershy!” echoed Rainbow Dash.

“Over here.” said a weak voice. The five mares turned their attention to a small bush nearby. Fluttershy’s bright blue eyes peeked through the leaves.

“Are you alright, darling?” asked Rarity.

“I’ve never been so scared in my entire life,” whispered Fluttershy. “I just want to go home.”

Applejack walked over to the small shrub. “I understand that you’re scared Sugarcube, but this Ninja-guy is our last chance to save Ponyville.”

Rainbow Dash landed to the farmer. “Not just Ponyville, Equestria! Besides, Fluttershy, what would happen if Nightmare Moon got a hold of your animal friends.” The yellow Pegasus’s eyes widened at once. “You couldn’t stop her, and the elements are gone! So we couldn’t even stop her!"

"Also, our families," interrupted Twilight. "Our friends, even the Princesses! We have to keep going if we ever except to......"

Fluttershy flew out of the bush. “Then what are we waiting for?” the lemon colored Pegasus pointed across the cavern. “Let’s get going!”

“Right!” added the others. Suddenly, a tremor shook the inside of the chamber. The girls looked up and gasped in horror as the entire ceiling sprouted giant spikes and descended down toward them. At the same time, the ground started shaking and began elevating towards the pointed top.

“Come on!!!!” cried Rainbow as her and the others raced across the stone floor.

Twilight looked at the spikes above and the end of the escalating floor. Doing a fast calculation in her mind, she estimated the time it would take for her and the others to reach the end. “We’re not going to make it! Faster, girls!” But as they neared the end, they all saw that the spikes already started to seal it up. In a last attempt, Twilight fired a large beam of purple energy creating a cavity large enough for the girls to escape.

As the girls charged towards the hole, they fell into a single file line with Rarity in last. The unicorn looked up saw that the points were just inches away from connecting with her.

She was just entering the hole, when… CRUSH! The top hit the bottom and Rarity’s tail was caught under the sharp ceiling. She screamed in absolute pain.

“Rarity!” shouted Twilight. The princess immediately ran back toward her friend, with the others on her heels.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! My tail! My tail!”

“Just hold on Rarity, we’ll have ya outta there, lickity split.” said Applejack.

Pinkie grabbed Rarity’s left upper hoof, while Rainbow took the opposite and began to pulling.

“STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPP!!!!” the unicorn yelled. “It hurts too much!” Pinkie began to let go.

“Sorry, Rare.” Rainbow pulled harder.

“OWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!” repeated Rarity. Strands of her violent tail began plucking from her tail until, RIPPPPP! The two ponies tumbled forward. The others gathered around their friends.

“Oh my goodness!” gasped Fluttershy. “Are you alright, Rarity?”

“Oh, my tail!” Rarity whined. “I said I would never part with it again and once again, it’s gone! Thank Celestia it was only the tip of the end.”

“Sorry about that, Rare. But I had to get you out somehow.” said Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, well, at least I’m free.” breathed Rarity.

“Does it hurt?” asked Fluttershy.

“Not anymore.” replied the white unicorn.

“Oh, thank goodness.” said the yellow Pegasus.

“Come on girls, let’s get moving,” advised the young princess. “We still have a long way to go.”

“How do you know that?” questioned Rainbow.

“I don’t.” admitted Twilight.

“Eeeeek!” Screeched Pinkie Pie as she nearly walked into a huge web.

“Oh relax, Pinkie.” said Applejack. “It’s just a big cob web.”

“Well, it’s the biggest I’ve ever seen.” remarked Rarity.

Applejack sighed. “Ah got it.”

“Wait!” cried Fluttershy as she pulled back her friend by the tail. "It could be another trap.”

"Good thinking, Fluttershy.” declared Twilight. Using her magic, the purple mare grabbed an old stick and carefully lifted the web. Instantly, a barrage of never ending obsidian blades shot out from the walls.

The girls stood with their mouths agape, while Fluttershy fainted.

Rainbow smacked her forehead with her hoof. “Great! How do we get through this?!” Nopony uttered a word.

“Wait! I got it!” voiced Twilight. The sound of her friend woke Fluttershy. The little princess concentrated and charged her magic for a few seconds, then formed a semi-large force field around the six mares.

“Alright Twilight!” cheered Rainbow.

“Where did you learn that?” asked Fluttershy.

“From Cadance and my brother.” said Twilight.

“I knew you were a super smart smarty smart pants.” said Pinkie.

The alicorn rolled her eyes. “Come on everypony, let’s get moving.” With the protection of Twilight’s spell, the six charged into the shower of sharp blades and emerged on the other end unscathed.

“Alright! We did it!” cheered Rainbow.

“Good job girls.” praised Twilight.

“Twi?” questioned Applejack. “Why can’t I feel any ground?” Everypony looked down; they were standing on nothing. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy fell straight down; leaving Rainbow and Twilight hovering.

“Hold on girls!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“We’re coming!” echoed Twilight. “Fluttershy! Use your wings!”

A late realization struck Fluttershy and she immediately opened her wings and joined her descending allies. Fluttershy grasped Applejack, while Rainbow went for Pinkie, leaving Twilight to get Rarity.

“Woo, just in the nick of time. Thanks, Fluttershy.” said Applejack.

The Pegasus’s cheeks turned Pink. “It was nothing, AJ.”

Rarity gave her thanks to Twilight, but Pinkie Pie remained silent with her eyes wide.

“Uh, Pinkie? You’re safe now,” reminded Rainbow. “So I think I deserve a little thanks or something.” Instead, the coral pony pointed down. Once Rainbow’s gaze met the bottom, her eyes grew wide as Pinkie’s. Four impaled pony skeletons rested at the bottom of the stalactite laden floor.

“Let’s get outta here.” suggested Applejack.

“Yeah...” agreed Rainbow. While trying to erase the recent gruesome image from their minds, the airborne ponies flew their flightless friends to a small piece of ground.

“You know?” asked Pinkie. “I’m starting to think this is a booby trap party.”

"This ain’t no party, Pinkie Pie!” yelled Applejack.

“Yeah, and I’m hoping that was that last trap.” expressed Rainbow.

“Me too,” breathed Fluttershy. “I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“I know,” said Twilight. “But something tells me we’re almost there.”

“We better be,” whined Rarity. “I’ve just got to rest!”

“Me too,” agreed Twilight. “Once we get to the top, let’s find a ‘solid’ piece of ground and rest a while.”

After a short break, Rainbow rose up and began looking around.

“What are you looking for?” asked Pinkie.

“A way out, what else?” answered Rainbow.

“Oh, you mean like that?” Pinkie pointed to a catenary rope bridge that connected their resting place to a cave on the other side.

“How did we… not notice that?” asked Rainbow.

“Dunno.” answered Pinkie. All the mares looked at the bridge.

“How do we know it’s not another trap?” asked Rarity.

“Don’t worry,” assured Rainbow. “I’ll fly over and check it out.” The blue pony inspected every inch of the bridge. Once she was satisfied, she flew back to her gang.

“Well?” asked Twilight.

“I checked the boards, the strength of the chains," said Rainbow. "And the hoofrails and made sure both ends were securely fastened. It’s good.”

“I’m impressed, Rainbow.” admitted Twilight.

“Daring Do did that in her fifth book.” replied Rainbow.

“Good memory,” said Twilight. “Alright girls, let’s get to it.” The six mares cautiously approached the bridge.

“Are you sure it’s safe, Rainbow?” asked Applejack.

“Positive.” confirmed Rainbow.

Pinkie trotted over and pressed her ear onto the first board.

“Uh, Pinkie. What are you doing?” asked Rarity.

“Shhhh!” hissed the pink pony. After a few more seconds, she raised her head. “It’s good, I don’t hear anything.” With that, she began walking across the narrow bridge leaving the others in complete confusion.

“Okay......” said Twilight. “Let’s get going.” The mares began to follow their pink leader, but Twilight still kept her senses open for any sign or sound of trouble. They were more than half way across and still no trap was triggered. Twilight began to ponder. "I don’t like this, it’s is too easy."

“I know.” agreed Rainbow. Just then, a huge pendulum axe swung across and cut the chains.

“RUN!” cried Twilight as the girls raced toward the end. But as they picked up speed, more pendulum blades began swinging back and forth, cutting the girls off from their escape. Twilight knew there was only one way to save them all now. Just as the pendulums were about slice her and the others, she gathered her magic and they disappeared in a flash of white.

The six reappeared a second later on the other end.

“Thank you, Twilight!” breathed Rarity.

“Way to go Twi!” added Rainbow.

“You saved us again.” voiced Fluttershy. The alicorn’s cheeks burned red at the complements. SNAP!!

A huge crunching noise cut the celebration short. The girls cowered into a corner until they found the source of the continuing sound. A set of jaw-like panels stood in front the mares, endlessly crunching.

“Alright, this is just gettin' weird!” said Applejack.

“I’ve seen worse.” Pinkie commented. Everypony looked at the pink mare in confusion. “What?” Pinkie asked.

“Well," began Twilight. “I guess we’ll just have to, jump through."

“Well, duh,” replied Rainbow. “But we gotta time it just right." Fluttershy gulped.

“Hey! Look at this!” called Pinkie as she peered through the snapping obstacle. More sets of crunching structures lay inside.

“Oh great!” grumbled Rainbow.

“Come on girls, it’s easy.” Encouraged Pinkie as she bounced right into the chomping trap. The other watched in shock as the rose colored mare simply bounced through set of jaws; just barely missing each set of teeth.

“Okay, pretend you’re Pinkie Pie and just... bounce right through.” suggested Twilight.

“Can’t you just teleport us through?” asked Fluttershy, praying she’d say yes.

“I don’t know where the other end is and I don’t know how long these.... things go on.” explained Twilight.

“Come everypony!” cried Rainbow. "It’s time to pony up and just go for it!”

“Yeah!” stated Applejack. “We made through all those other traps. We can do this one too.”

As the girls prepared to jump through, Twilight calculated the timing of the chomping pattern. “It closes every one point five seconds,” she confirmed. “We’ll go one at a time. Remember, the second the jaws open; jump as fast as you can, but just enough to get through. Don’t want to go too far.”

The others nodded.

“I’ll go first,” said Twilight. She let the jaws crunch three more times. "NOW!!!" And the young princess jumped through. As Twilight cleared the second set, Applejack went next, then Rainbow Dash, followed by Rarity. But Fluttershy didn’t move an inch.

“Fluttershy!” called Twilight after a long while. “Are you alright?!”

“Yes!” replied the timid Pegasus.

“Well, what’s taking so long?!” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I-I-I-I…I can’t do it!” Fluttershy admitted.

“Yes, you can!” urged Rainbow.

“NO! No, I can’t!” insisted Fluttershy. “I feel like I’m jumping right into the mouth of a d-d-d-dragon!” The little Pegasus buried her face in her hooves. “I just can’t!”

“Fluttershy!” voiced Rarity. “If this were a dragon’s mouth, we wound have been digested a long time ago!”

Fluttershy raised her head in realization.

“Oh yeah. But it still doesn’t make it any less scary!” cried Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy!” called Pinkie. “Just pretend you’re Angel bunny bouncing back to your cottage to get a nice, tasty carrot!”

Fluttershy thought for a minute. “Oh, alright.” she decided. The little Pegasus walked up to the snapping jaws took a deep breath, and jumped in. “I, I did it. I did it!” she cheered.

“Come on Fluttershy!” called Twilight. “Just seven more to go!”

Feeling more confident, Fluttershy hopped like a rabbit through the rest of the sets.

“Alright Fluttershy!" praised Rainbow “Double high hoof!” The two Pegasi banged their front hooves together.

“We knew you could it!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Congratulations Fluttershy.” said Twilight. “You overcame your fears and made it through.” Fluttershy’s cheeks flushed pink.

“Hopefully that was the last trap.” said Rarity.

“I know.” agreed Twilight.

“How many more can there be?” asked Applejack.

“Maybe if we just don’t move for a while, nothing will happen.” suggested Fluttershy. Suddenly, a loud rumble sounded from behind. The girls peered into the darkness and giant boulder came rolling toward them.

“RUN!” yelled Pinkie. The six dashed down the opposite side. After a while, the girls saw a large space awaiting them.

“Get ready to jump!” alerted Applejack. While the winged ponies flew over, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie made a leap of faith. Applejack and Pinkie Pie landed perfectly, but Rarity missed by a hair. Rarity began to plummet to black abyss below until; something magical enveloped her. Using her magic, Twilight lifted Rarity back onto the ledge, leaving the boulder to fall down into the gap in the ground.

“Thank you again, Twilight.” Rarity breathed.

“You’re welcome Rarity.” replied the little Princess.

“Even standing still doesn’t keep us safe!” exclaimed Applejack.

“I know,” agreed Rainbow. “No matter where we go or what we do, we end up in some kind of trap.”

“Look!” interrupted Twilight. Up ahead of them was a series of stone pillars.

“Alright!” Pinkie shrieked. “We get to bounce some more!” But before the mare could leap forward, Applejack grabbed her by the tail and hauled her back.

“Are you crazy, Pinkie?” scolded Rainbow.

“It’s another trap!” declared Fluttershy.

“Well then, how are we gonna get across?” asked Pinkie.

“Um, hello?” said Rainbow pointing to her wings. “Fluttershy, Twilight and I will fly you guys over it.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” rushed Rarity. Taking the same pairs as last time, the three groups began to elevate; when all of a sudden, hundreds of arrows shot directly at them.

“Down!” ordered Twilight. Once they touched the ground, the arrows ceased.

“What was that?!” questioned Applejack.

“A way to make sure we don’t fly across.” decided Twilight. “See that red line?” A couple feet up was a transparent red line; indicating the aerial limit. “I guess if we go over that line, we’ll get shot at.”

“Well, looks like we’re bouncing after all.” voiced Pinkie.

“I guess so,” accepted Twilight. “Alright everypony, remember don’t jump too high.”

“Right!” said the others in unison.

“Ready?” asked the princess.

“Ready!” replied the others.

“GO!” called Twilight.

As the girls hopped onto the first rock, it faintly cracked.

“Girls, move!” called Twilight. Just the girls hopped off the rock, it plummeted downward rapidly.

“I knew it was another obstacle!” yelled Rarity. It was true, every rock the girls landed on, fell a half second later.

“Girls!” called Twilight. “The second you land, jump again; in any forward direction!”

“You don’t gotta tell me twice!” replied Applejack. After what seemed like forever, the girls finally cleared the last rock and landed on solid ground.

“Ow!” cried Fluttershy.

“What happened?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy held her front right hoof in pain. “I landed wrong and twisted my hoof.”

“Oh no!” said Rarity. She rushed over to assist her friend. “Don’t worry; I’ll wrap you up, good as new.” Gently, the unicorn wrapped Fluttershy’s swollen hoof.

“Thanks Rarity.” breathed the Pegasus.

“You’re welcome.” replied the white unicorn.

“Ugh! I thought that would never end.” breathed Twilight.

“Yeah,” replied Pinkie heavily. “It stopped being fun, after the first twenty.”

“Well, at least it's over and we’re all safe.” spoke Fluttershy.

“Look!” said Rainbow pointing forward. Ahead was a large, ancient, foreign looking house.

“I bet my hat, that place is loaded with traps.” voiced Applejack.

“I agree,” said Fluttershy. “Let’s not go in!”

“Wrong!” said a deep voice from behind.

Slowly, the girls turned around and found the owner of the voice. Standing behind the mares, was a large stallion figure veiled in black. His dark eyes opened immediately.

“No more remain, so go forth and find what you wish to gain.” Though the stallion’s words were simple, they sent a chill down the girl’s spines.

“Does he know Zecora?” thought Applejack.

Pinkie stood up. “Are you that Ninja guy? Cuz if you are, we’ve been looking all over for you.”

The stallion jumped and flipped over the mares. “No.” replied the dark stallion in a whisper.

Rainbow Dash slapped her forehead.

The doors of the temple slid open automatically as the dark stallion neared. Before entering, he looked back at the girls. “The master is waiting.” He turned, walked in and the doors slid shut.

“Cool.” Rainbow commented.

“I think we’re finally here.” said Twilight confidently.

“Then what are we waiting for?” asked Applejack. “Let’s go!”

The mares galloped toward the temple entrance. As the girls approached, the doors creaked open.

“Cool.” said Rainbow.

“Mysterious.” added Pinkie.

As the mares walked in, the doors slammed shut. “Eek!” cried Rarity.

"Hello?” called Twilight.

Instantly, a bunch of dark shapes appeared out of nowhere and lined up against the walls. The girls stood frozen in shock; the shapes were just shadows, but there were no figures casting them. The silhouettes then peeled off the wall and became ponies; half were unicorns and the other half were Pegasi, all dressed in the same cloak as the previous stallion. Three unicorn stallions walked toward the mares and inspected Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy. Once they spotted their injuries, the stallions lowered their horns and enveloped the girl’s cuts in dark gray magic; healing them instantly.

“Wow, thank you.” expressed Fluttershy.

“Yeah, thank you kindly.” added Applejack.

“My beautiful tail!” exclaimed Rarity. “It’s finally back! Thank you so much, good sir.”

The stallions nodded in return. The black ponies immediately lined up into two lines, forming a path to another set of doors.

“I guessing that’s where Ninja is.” whispered Rainbow to Twilight.

“Correct.” blurted out one of the dark stallions, scaring the two mares.

“I hope it’s not filled with more traps.” Fluttershy commented.

“As do I.” said Rarity.

“I doubt it.” inserted Rainbow. Suddenly dark blue magic drenched the doors; slowly, they opened. Immediately the black ponies jumped and vanished into the ceiling.

“Enter.” called a calm, stern voice.

“We finally found him!” said Twilight.

“Yippee!” squeaked Pinkie.

“Come on girls.” declared Twilight and the six entered in the room. The girl’s eyes grew wide in disbelief. There, mediating and levitating in midair was a deep blue alicorn stallion with a navy mane and tail in the shape of a curved blade. He wore a light blue head band and his cutie mark was a pair of golden Japanese symbols.

Revenge of the Ninja

The blue alicorn slowly descended himself down to the girls. “Welcome brave ones.”

Twilight bowed to him, hinting the others to the same. “Nice to meet you.” replied the younger alicorn.

“Do you know that you’re the only ones to ever pass through all those obstacles….. alive?” quizzed the Stallion.

“Really?” asked Rainbow.

“Yes indeed, Rainbow Dash.” said the master.

The Pegasus stood stunned. “How did you know my....”

“I know all your names.” Ninja interrupted, turning to each mare as he spoke. “Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and of course, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“How did you know?” raised Pinkie.

“Clairvoyance.” answered the blue stallion.

“Then, you must be Ninja.” Twilight assumed. The master nodded.

“Finally!” breathed Rarity. “You don’t know what we’ve gone through to get here!”

“Actually, I’m the one who set them all up.” admitted Ninja.

“Oh.” said the unicorn.

“Five hundred and seventy six have tried, and they all...... perished.” said Ninja.

Pinkie gasped deeply.

“Many were strong, but not wise;" said Ninja. "Whilst the others were wise, but not strong enough. Plus, some even abandoned their friends and left them to die, just so they would survive and they still failed. To control this power you must be balanced in wisdom, courage and power. But most of all, you must be, pure.”

“Woah.” whispered Rainbow.

Ninja then closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he smiled and opened them. “And I’d say Celestia and Luna choose well. "You all balance each other out. Applejack and Rainbow Dash." The girls stood up straight as if reporting for an important mission. "You two represent the strength of the group, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, you two represent bravery." The mares' cheeks flushed red. "Finally, Rarity and Twilight, you represent the intelligence. When the ponies of the past attempted to conquer these challenges, none of them realized that it takes teamwork and friendship to complete this.” The girls’ eyes shone.

“You are all indeed worthy of this power, so let us begin.” Ninja closed eyes and began charging his magic.

“Now, Form a circle around me and join hooves.” ordered Ninja. The mares did as they were told. “Close your eyes and concentrate, I shall guide on your quest for knowledge and magic.” As they girls closed their eyes, Ninja began chanting his spell. "Masters of the ancient arts, I call upon thee, please heed my cry. Bestow these warriors with your magic and might, and bring us victory in our fight." Spirits of ancient martial masters appeared and began flowing around the girls. "I beseech thee. Grant them the powers to rid the world of this seemingly unbeatable foe. Sun, moon, sky, earth, fire, air, water, rocks, stars......COMBINE!!" The spirits fired beams of rainbow magic at the girls and disappeared.

“Your journey is complete, open your eyes and claim your new powers!” said Ninja. The girls woke to find glittering martial uniforms covering their bodies, as well as headbands above their brows. The gis matched each girl’s coat color, while the bands and belts were the same as their manes and tails.

“Wow!” expressed Rarity. “This outfit is gorgeous!”

“Sparkly!” squeaked Pinkie.

Fluttershy was at looking her hooves as if something wasn't right.

“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?” asked Twilight.

Ninja smiled, then threw a rock toward the cream colored Pegasus. Fluttershy instantly thrusted her hoof out. “Hiya!” she yelled, shattering the rock upon impact. The Pegasus turned to her friend. “I know Kung Fu.”

“Awesome!” said Rainbow. “Let me try.” Without the assistance of her wings, Rainbow jumped and preformed a quadruple backflip. Upon landing, she completed twenty five kicks with one hoof in just ten seconds.

“Wow!” gasped Rarity. Now even she was tempted to try a punch or two. Imaging a pony in front of her, the unicorn conducted ten jabs, fifteen uppercuts and eight knife strikes like lightning. “Amazing.”

Twilight looked around and spotted a stone half the size of her. She proceeded toward the stone, then hesitantly lifted her hoof above it. Closing her eyes, Twilight struck the rock with all her might. Hardly feeling any impact, the alicorn opened her eyes only to find the stone in two chunks. “Unbelievable.”

Applejack flexed her new enhanced muscles. “Is this the power?”

“No,” answered Ninja. “This is only the first step, fighting skills from masters even better than me.” The girls’ eyes doubled in width. “Follow me and prepare to receive the true magic.”

The girls followed Ninja outside and approached a huge underground cave.

“This place is humongo!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“Indeed.” agreed Rarity.

“Is the power inside?” asked Fluttershy.

Ninja nodded. He then closed his eyes and gathered all the magic he could harness as if he was going to move something. Suddenly the ground started shaking mildly and a gigantic stone tablet began advancing toward them via Ninja’s magic.

Once the tablet stood in front of the girls, Ninja released it. The girls stared in awe at the symbol in the center of the stone panel. At the heart of the slab was a mural of six divine horses standing like guards. “Behold the power of the Arions,” explained Ninja. “The Sacred Steeds.”

“Wow.” said the girls in unison. Immediately, the Arions began to glow gold. Six smaller versions of the divine horses flew out of the tablet and stared gliding around. After a couple of seconds, the little horses began flowing around the girls. They then soared toward the girls' chests and vanished inside, filling them with new bound powers and abilities. The mares glowed with magic; the golden light then rushed to their necks and formed new necklaces, symbolizing their friendship elements in Japanese.

“We did it!” cried Rainbow.

“Way to go everypony!” said Applejack.

Rarity took time to absorb the immense sparkle of her new outfit. “This reminds me of the Crystal Empire.”

“Yes, it is beautiful.” added Fluttershy taking in the beauty of her attire.

“Glad you like them.” replied Ninja.

Twilight closed eyes for a second and felt the eternal power flowing through every limb of her body. “Wow, this really is the ultimate power. Alright girls, we better get going. We have a war to win.”

“Yay!” screeched Pinkie.

“Let’s do it!” said Applejack.

“Hold on Princess Celestia, we’re on our way.” said Rainbow.

“Thank you, Nin…ja” Twilight looked around, but the blue stallion was gone.

“Cool.” commented Rainbow.

“Oh well,” said the alicorn. “Hold on girls, I’m transporting us back to Ponyville.

“Ready!” replied the others full of confidence. In a flash of light purple, the six warriors were gone.

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Nightmare Moon was bringing the town to its knees. “Mwahahahah!” The dark mare crackled. “I love this new version of Ponyville! So much more, dark and unnatural.” Her evil minions had already destroyed the entire town, leaving everypony homeless, helpless and scared. Every family was huddled together, pitifully trying to calm each other. Screams of children and baby foals clouded the air. “Now that I’m done with this stupid town, I can focus on Canterlot. Then, all of Equestria!”

“Not if we can help it!” said a voice.

“What?” Nightmare Moon turned to see the six mares standing on a hill above. “Oh look, it’s the heroes. Come back for another embarrassing defeat?”

“Actually,” countered Rainbow. “We’re here because somepony ordered one major butt whuppin’!”

“Oh, really?!” dared the evil queen.

“Yeah!” cried Pinkie.

“Well, unfortunately, I’m too busy conquering the world to play.” said the sinister monster in a taunting tone.

“Awwwwww.” groaned Pinkie.

“Don’t worry, I brought some new friends of mine for you little foals.” At that moment, hundreds of her freaky concocted monsters swarmed up behind her.

“Is that all you got?” challenged Twilight.

“What?!” yelled the black beast. “How dare you speak to me in such a manner! I'm the new Queen of Equestria! Minions! Get them!” she commanded. The vicious looking creatures stormed down towards the six mares.

Smiling, the girls nodded at each other and leapt into the air against the plague of vile creatures. Instantly, the maniacal creatures covered the six girls, but then, a small explosion erupted within the horde and sent the troublesome monsters flying. From the blast emerged the girls each displaying a different martial pose.

“What the?” gasped Nightmare Moon.

“That was fun!” squeaked Pinkie.

“I didn’t even come close to breaking a sweat.” boasted Rarity.

“Who’s next?” asked Rainbow with eternal confidence.

The dark mare growled in anger. “Get them!!!” The other beasts immediately stopped wrecking the town and went after the girls. The mares prepared to fight. Right before the monsters could touch the six ponies; a giant Fuma shuriken flew over the girls' heads and sliced twelve of the monsters in half.

Looking closely, Twilight saw that the weapon was enveloped in a familiar shade of blue magic. In a boomerang like motion, the shuriken flew back to its owner.

“I bet I can guess who that came from.” muttered Applejack.

The girls turned to see Ninja guiding the spinning blade back to him.

“Ninja!” cheered the girls.

“Somepony forget to invite me?” the master asked.

“We were going to, but you vanished.” explained Rarity.

“Yeah, where were you?” asked Twilight.

“Sharpening this,” said Ninja referring to his huge shuriken. The giant blades collapsed together and the warrior placed it on his back. “My favorite weapon.” He stated.

“Woah.” breathed Applejack.

“Dude, that’s a big, uh, ninja thingy.” expressed Pinkie.

“Thanks,” replied the indigo colt. Turning his attention back to the remaining mass of monsters, Ninja spread his wings as if he was about to take flight. “I’ll take the ugly ones.”

“What’s the difference?” asked Rarity.

Instead of answering, Ninja launched himself into the sky, knocking out every creature in his airborne path.

Just as the girls were about to join him, a small army of black veiled Pegasi stallions soared over the girls and began aiding their master against the evil creatures.

"His students." thought Twilight.

Deciding that Ninja had the sky under control, the girls dove into battle against the minions on the ground.

Twelve monsters surrounded Rainbow dash inside a ten foot perimeter. Without a care in the world, the cyan pony dared them to come closer. Insulted by her mockery, the black beasts attacked simultaneously. Rainbow then spun around and delivered a spinning hook kick, striking every one of the monsters’ chins. Once done, Rainbow turned her head to a sudden sound behind her; twenty more stood there growling at the Pegasus. Rainbow smiled and brought her right front hoof to her forehead. Her necklace started glowing, at the same time, multi-colored electricity began sparking on her hoof tip and after a moment, she released it. “RAINBOW BEAM CANNON!!!!!” A spiraling blast of rainbow energy shot out of Rainbow’s hoof directly at the monsters, resulting in a massive explosion. “Cool.” said Rainbow.

Nearby, Applejack had just finished beating up eight more of the minions without breaking a sweat. From the shadows appeared nineteen more. The farm pony decided to use her new ability. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out an apple. After chewing up most of it, she spat one seed into her hoof. Her pendant began to glow gold and instantly, the seed extended and grew into a sword-like weapon. “Come to mama.” dared Applejack. Intimidated by her blade, the beasts stood still. Grabbing the sword with her tail, Applejack galloped straight at the fiends and she sliced into each of the monsters at blinding speed several times. Afterwards, the farmer tossed her blade aside and the minions fell into multiple chunks.

Pinkie Pie was flipping through multiple fiends, knocking them all out with a simple punch or kick. After her ninth flip, she finally landed, only to find twenty five more waiting for her. “Hey guys, wanna hear a joke?” The mare then raised her hoof as her necklace started to shine. “Oh, you’re gonna love the, punch line!” and she struck the earth with all her might, shattering the earth beneath her and sending a seismic wave towards the awaiting fiends.

Meanwhile, Rarity was dodging beast after beast, determined not to get her outfit dirty. This time, Rarity caught one of the monsters. She then broke it through a brick wall, flipped it over her, slammed it into the ground and stomped on its back. “You are so lucky my outfit wasn’t stained or torn or anything, because if it had, I would have…” a set of growls sounded behind her. Two more mutants were flying straight at her. Rarity simply delivered a set of swift but hard kicks at the dark fiends. “Like I was saying, if my outfit gets…” Rarity stopped dead. The unicorn looked at her gi and saw that it had been torn. “I’LL DESTROY YOU!!!!!!” she cried. Her rage felt like fire, so she decided to use it. Clasping her hooves together to form some kind of sign, Rarity opened her mouth and released an enormous fire ball, engulfing every one of her enemies.

Instead of fighting, Fluttershy just kept dodging the dark fiends, one after another. Even with her new found powers, she still felt the fear of battle. Squeak! a small voice sounded from nearby. “That sounds like a mouse.” thought the Pegasus. “Oh, I hope he’s not hurt. I have to get to him,” Fluttershy looked around, multiple monsters surrounded her. All at once, they dove for her, but the yellow pony clashed her hooves together and disappeared in puff of yellow smoke, leaving the beasts to smash into each other. Reappearing at the place where she heard the sound, Fluttershy began searching for the little creature. “Oh my goodness, please be okay, please be okay,” she begged. Finally the Pegasus located a small hole and peaked inside. Huddled at the end of the hollow was a small, terrified, brown mouse. “Don’t worry little guy, I won’t hurt you,” She said, trying to calm the tiny creature. “But you have to get out of there, it’s not safe here,” Without a trace of fear, the little rodent ran up to her and nuzzled her furry chest. Overpowered by the creature’s cuteness, the Pegasus lifted the mouse up for a small embrace. “Don’t you worry little guy, I’ll get you out of here,” she promised. Suddenly, the Pegasus heard a growl approaching her fast. They found me! She realized. Spreading her wings, Fluttershy began to elevate herself, but before she could leave the ground, the dark fiend slashed its claw across her cheek and hooves. The mouse! she realized. Fluttershy immediately stood up and checked around for her little friend, but then she heard a small crunch. She looked up at the monster that just attacked her, there was the mouse, lying dead in between the beasts’ teeth. “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!” cried the yellow Pegasus. Ignoring her pleading cry, the monster swallowed the little mammal whole. The light in Fluttershy’s eyes died and the mare lowered her head at the sight of monster’s consumption of the mouse. A fire then erupted inside her, giving birth to a new hate that felt like it had been concealed throughout her entire life. Feeling nothing but feral rage, Fluttershy wiped the blood from her cut cheek…and licked it. The salty taste of her blood doubled the mare’s anger and made Fluttershy want to DESTROY. More fiends began to surround the mare. Letting her rage control her, Fluttershy raised her hoof to the dark clouded sky. A bolt of lightning shot down to her and the Pegasus grasped it between her two front hooves. The electricity crackled, then edged itself into a sword. Just as the monsters were about charge toward Fluttershy, peeled her blade into two. Grabbing the swords with her wings, Fluttershy spun around creating a tornado of blades and screamed all her anger out.

Twilight had just finished beating up fifteen of the demonic monsters, when twenty two more began buzzing around her. Slowly, they descended to the ground and crept toward her. Twilight was getting bored, so she decided to finish them quickly. Paying the fiends no attention, the small alicorn closed her eyes and tapped into her new power. Her horn began to glow and purple magic enveloped every one of the dark beasts, raising them into the air at a high rate of speed. As the monsters were ascended, Twilight concentrated hard on the monsters. She then released all her concentrated energy, causing the fiends to explode spontaneously.

“Where in the world did they get these abilities?” pondered the wicked mare. “Oh well, I’ll just send more.” Blowing through a special whistle, more of her fiendish slaves rushed to her side. All the girls ceased their actions and looked towards the hole in the dark sky.

“Oh, great!” groaned Rainbow.

“This is getting a little boring.” added Applejack.

“I think I’m starting to sweat,” voiced Rarity. “If I get this new outfit wet, I’ll smash those monsters INTO DUST!” Everypony backed away from the unicorn.

“We need help.” announced Twilight. The alicorn then looked up and saw Ninja rocketing toward the swarm of evil beasts.

“What’s he doing?” asked Pinkie.

“I don’t think even Ninja can handle that many.” confessed Fluttershy.

As Ninja neared the plague of demons, he pulled out his giant shuriken and pitched it toward the monsters.

Applejack’s expression grew dark. “One star isn’t enough to take down…all…those…”

The farmer’s jaw fell as another blue pony slid out from the shuriken and threw another. Another Ninja flew out of the new star and the process kept repeating until fifty were present. They all then launched their shurikens at the multitude of monsters, slicing them to ribbons.

“I didn’t know Ninja had brothers.” said Pinkie. The others were dumbfounded by Pinkie’s sentence.

Back in Canterlot, Celestia was getting worried, she hadn’t heard anything from the girls and she was starting to wonder if they would ever return.

“Do not despair, sister,” said Luna. “With Princess Twilight as their guide, they can achieve anything.”

“Thank you, Luna.” said Celestia as she nuzzled her sibling.

“Celestia! Luna!” cried Cadance as she dashed into the throne room. The guards have spotted Twilight and others!” The goddess’s expressions brightened immediately. “They’re fighting those dark creatures as we speak.”

“Told you.” reminded Luna.

“Plus, they have a blue ally with them.” Cadance added.

“Ninja,” breathed Luna. “I must go.”

“Wait!” gasped the sun goddess. “Luna, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I need to see him.” insisted the blue mare.

Celestia could see the love in her sister's eyes. “Very well, but please be careful.”

“Don’t worry about me.” said the moon goddess.

“Good luck, auntie.” said Cadance.

The moon mare nodded to her niece and teleported out.

Thanks to the aid of his army, and his students, Ninja was starting to bottleneck the flow of fiends, until finally, he closed with his magic.

“Dang, he’s good!” said Rainbow.

“Sure is.” agreed Applejack.

The six then marched toward the wicked mare.

“That just leaves you and us, you witch!” said Twilight.

“You'll regret those words!!!” yelled Nightmare Moon. “Feel my hatred!!!” and the mare fire a massive black beam of energy toward the girls followed by an enormous explosion. ‘”Ha!” cackled the vile mistress. “All that talk and no action to defend it!” All that was left were six burned, torn gis. “Eventually that blue buffoon will fall to my----”

A small pebble hit her head.

“Yoo-hoo! Queen Meanie!” called Pinkie.

The dark mare spun around and was shocked to see the six with their gis completely unscathed.

“What?! But, how did, I saw you all....”

Applejack chuckled. “Ninja’s not the only one who can do fancy tricks.”

“And we aren’t even alicorns,” mocked Rainbow. "Except Twilight."

The dark mare growled in anger. “Fine! You wanna play rough?! I can play REAL ROUGH!” Nightmare then drew in as much magic as she could and created six more versions of herself.

“Uh-oh.” breathed Fluttershy.

Nightmare Moon turned to her duplicates. “Play nice with the little fillies.” The clones grinned and flew at the girls.

“Let’s get em’ girls!” ordered Twilight.

The girls dove into battle, each one fighting a copy of the vile sorceress.

“Now that they’re taken care of, I can exterminate that Ninja pest.” hissed the evil queen.

“Don’t you dare!” called a voice. Nightmare Moon turned to see Princess Luna standing a few feet away from her.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my creator.” said the dark mistress.

“This fight is between you and me!” declared Luna.

“Very well,” agreed the black sorceress. “Then let’s finish it!” With the aid of their magic, each mare lifted a weapon; Luna wielded a blue axe while Nightmare Moon chose a black scythe.

CLANG! The blades of the two princesses clashed multiple times, but neither one was able to touch the other’s body. Finally the two mares separated.

“This was fun, but now it’s time to finish you.” said the vile alicorn.

“Bring it!” demanded Luna. Nightmare Moon charged at her alter ego, ramming Luna to the ground and knocking her axe from her magical grasp. Pinning her down, Nightmare Moon held her blade just inches away from Luna’s throat.

“Finally, I can rid you of this world," said Nightmare Moon. "After all, there can be only one Queen of the night and that will be----”

A blast of deep blue magic hit the evil mare before she could finish. Ninja then appeared above Luna and extended his hoof out to his love. After helping the mare up, the two stared at each other for a brief moment.

“I knew you would come.” said Luna as she gazed into the stallion’s gray eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Ninja responded. “If only I’d known, I would’ve come sooner.”

Luna placed her hoof over Ninja’s mouth. “You’re here now, that’s all that matters.”

“I missed you.” whispered the ninja master as he embraced the mare.

“I’ve missed you more.” said the moon goddess.

“You dare strike me?!” exclaimed the vile mistress. “The Queen of Equestria!”

Ninja looked the mare with disgust. “Queens either inherit their position or earn it. You haven’t done either you pathetic peasant!”

Nightmare Moon exploded. “HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY!!!!!!” She then fired a large beam of magic at the stallion.

As if it were in slow motion, Ninja allowed the beam to near him, then simply smacked it away.

The dark goddess’s jaw fell in shock. She then lowered her head and began to laugh manically and the alicorn amulet slowly melted into her chest.

Ninja raised his brow in confusion.

The dark mare’s laugh began to grow deeper and tentacles began slithering out of her sides. Her eyes gleamed red and her size slightly grew. As she grew, the mare sprouted another set of wings and her horn sharpened itself to a point. “TIME TO DIE!!!” growled the monster.

Meanwhile, the girls were having a difficult time with the clones who proved to be rather tough one on one.

Fluttershy then heard a huge roar and turned to see Ninja fighting a larger, freakier version of Nightmare Moon.

“Whoa!!” cried Rainbow. “What the heck is that?”

“I don’t know.” answered Twilight.

“One thing’s for sure,” commented Applejack. “Ninja needs help.”

The six mares once again tapped into their new powers, causing their necklaces to glow. The girls transferred a load of power to their hooves and struck each of the one of the clones so hard that they exploded into dust. Finally free of their troublesome opponents, the girls charged toward the vile beast.

Taking advantage of her new limbs, Nightmare Moon grabbed each of Ninja’s hooves with her tentacles and pinned him to the ground. After recovering from the shock of the evil mare’s transformation, Luna picked up her axe and flew toward the evil creature, but Nightmare Moon caught the moon goddess in another one of her limbs and raised Luna out of reach.

Finally, the dark beast picked up her sickle and prepared to slash Ninja’s throat. “SAY GOODBYE!!!!” said the demonic monster. But before she could swing her scythe, Twilight fired a laser-like beam at the blade causing it to explode. The beast turned to see the six mares back and ready to fight.

“TROUBLESOME INSECTS!!! roared the mutant alicorn. She then extended her remaining tentacles toward the girls.

“Watch out!” squeaked Fluttershy.

Nightmare Moon kept lashing her whip-like limbs at the girls, but continued to miss.

This is going nowhere. thought Twilight as she continued to dodge the strikes. We need to devise a sneak attack... That’s it! Tapping into her power while avoiding the tentacles, Twilight sent a telepathic message to her friends.

“Got it.” said Rainbow.

“Sounds good.” answered Applejack.

“Okay.” responded Fluttershy.

“Let’s get it over with.” replied Rarity.

“This is so cool how we can do this.” added Pinkie.

Putting Pinkie’s comment aside, Twilight started a countdown. “Three, two, one!” At that very moment the girls vanished instantly.

“WHAT THE?” asked the black beast. Three seconds later, the six reappeared. Then, with powered hooves of fury, they drove their hooves into the mutated monster’s flesh simultaneously in six different spots: her side, back, cheek, chest, neck and gut. The seven mares seemed to be frozen in time for several seconds. Finally, one word broke the silence.

“Owwwwww.” The black mutant began to tumble, as she struck the ground, she returned back to her original state; only her sharpened horn remained. The amulet then rematerialized and fell to the ground.

“Did we do it?” raised Fluttershy.

“I think we did.” answered Rarity.

“Alright! We did it!” cheered Rainbow.

Ninja raised his hoof. “Not yet.” he uttered.

At that moment, the dark mare slowly began to rise. “You fools.” she announced. “I cannot be beaten.” Finally, she regained her balance and stood tall. She then charged at the group of ponies with all her might.

Ninja had reached his limit. “Enough!” In that moment, Ninja unleashed one of his strongest spells, freezing Nightmare Moon dead in her tracks. “Girls, I can’t hold her forever. You must use your most powerful attack and destroy her.”

The six nodded in understanding, then trotted a small distance away and formed a circle around the wicked alicorn.

“Alright girls,” ordered Twilight. “Gather all the power you can muster.”

“Sorry, I don’t have any mustard.” said Pinkie.

“I said muster, not-you, know what? Never mind! Just focus!” moaned the purple princess.

“Okay.” replied the pink mare.

The six gathered every piece of magic in their entire beings and channeled it into their limbs for one final attack. Applejack and Pinkie Pie raised one hoof and waited for the others. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew up a small distance and clasped their hooves together. Twilight and Rarity channeled their power into their horns and began the chant needed to start the attack. Balls of power began forming at the girl’s hooves and horns as they spoke. “KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and the girls blasted six different colored beams of energy right at the maniacal witch.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her scream was drowned in the explosion.

As the explosion settled, sparkling rainbow particles began raining down across the town. Everything they touched was instantly restored to normal. The dark clouds faded and the large object in the sky slowly descended.

“Now did we do it?” asked Pinkie.

“Yes, Pinkie! We did! ” cheered Twilight.

“YES!!!!” cried Rainbow.

“Way to go everypony!” added Applejack.

Back at the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor was still trying to keep everypony calm, but he was beginning to run out of encouraging speeches until finally, the dark sphere was lowered and the sun shone once more. Immediately the crystal ponies cheered and returned to their normal lives.

Shining looked across the land to Ponyville. “Way to go Twily,” He breathed. “I’m so proud of you.”

When the sun shone, the guards rushed in to alert the two princesses.

“Princess Celestia!” called one of the guards. “Princess Twilight and the others have defeated the beast!”

“They did it auntie!” cheered Cadance. “I knew they could do it.”

“Me too,” expressed Celestia. At that moment, a small storm of glittering dust rained over Celestia and restored her magic. “Thank you Luna.”

After everything was restored and put back in order, the six ponies headed to Zecora's hut. Twilight knocked on the door three times, then called out the mare's name. "Zecora!"

Not long after, the door swung open, and there stood their zebra friend. "Princess Twilight, it seems you and your friends have won the fight."

"Sure did." confirmed Rainbow.

"Well done to you all." Zecora then glanced at the new necklaces around the girl's necks. "It seems those new powers, have ended this brawl."

"Please, Zecora," inserted Twilight. "We need you to lock this away again."

"I promise you," replied the checkered mare. "I shall keep it out of anypony's view."

"Thank you." said the purple princess.

Once again, everypony was gathered together at the Canterlot Hall getting ready to honor the heroes of Equestria, including the families of each mare. Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor all stood waiting for their saviors to arrive. As the double doors opened, the six mares walked in towards their awaiting rulers accompanied by Ninja.

“Mares and Gentlecolts,” began Celestia. “We are gathered here today to once again honor the heroism of these six friends who fought hard under the toughest of circumstances to save us from an evil that would have brought us all to an age similar to the time of the enslaved Crystal Empire. Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity,” She then shifted her gaze to the blue stallion. “I would also like to give thanks to the stallion who not only fought alongside them, but also gave them the power they needed to seal away their enemy. My special thanks to you, Ninja, for helping our heroes put an end to this reign of terror!”

The blue master bowed in respect. “My pleasure, Princess.”

For a small while, there was a deafening applause and the proud families all rushed to embrace and congratulate their children/heroes. After the celebration died down, Luna began searching around for her old friend. “I need to see him just one last time. Sister, have you seen Ninja?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t.” confessed Celestia.

“I know,” said Rainbow. “I wanted to say goodbye to him too.”

“And thank him for the new powers.” added Twilight.

“Yes, these necklaces are fabulous.” Rarity pointed out.

“I hope we see him in the future.” said Fluttershy.

“Yeah, and maybe we can meet his brothers.” stated Pinkie. The others rolled their eyes.

“Really?” asked Applejack.

Suddenly, fighting noises were heard from outside. Luna and the others rushed toward the exit, only to find Ninja sparring with six of his black coated students. Once they noticed the mares, the stallions ceased their combative practice and bowed to the girls.

“We thought you left.” expressed Luna.

“My apologies.” said Ninja.

Twilight stepped forward. “Thank you for everything, Ninja.”

“Yeah, thanks for teaching us how to kick butt!” announced Rainbow.

“And for the new elements.” uttered Fluttershy.

“You’re very welcome.” replied Ninja.

“Are these powers permanent?” asked Applejack.

“Only when you need them.” explained the master. “When you tap into the powers of your necklaces, the magic will be released.”

“Cool.” said Pinkie.

Luna stood face to face with the steed. “I will miss you.”

“What do you mean?” asked the stallion. “I’m not leaving for good,” He leaned over to Luna’s ear. “Whenever you wish to see me, I’ll be there. Trust me,” He said with a wink. “That goes for you all too,” Ninja stated as he jumped up onto a small hill. “If you ever need me again, I shall be there,” Then with a snap of his tail, his students assembled behind him. “But until that day comes, NINJA! VANISH!” the colts then jumped and disappeared instantly.

Later that night, Luna was just about to assume her nightly duty, when Celestia blocked her way. “I’m having one of the guards take over your shift tonight, Luna.” she explained.

“But why?” demanded the smaller alicorn.

“Because a friend of yours is waiting in the courtyard.” answered Celestia.

Luna’s eyes brightened. “Ninja?” she gasped.

“Mm-hm.” replied Celestia.

“Thank you, sister.” The moon goddess immediately transported herself to the private garden.

I hope she has a good time. wished Celestia.

When she arrived, Luna immediately began looking for her friend. “Ninja?”

“Boo!” said a voice behind her.

The mare let out a small gasp and spun around. “Please don’t do that!”

“Sorry.” replied Ninja. The two then gazed deeply into each other’s eyes.

Luna then pushed Ninja over, causing him to fall to the garden floor.

"Princess?" asked Ninja, blushing.

“I thought this moment would never come,” confessed Luna as she embraced the stallion. “But it was well worth the wait. I love you.” whispered the goddess as her lips met Ninja's.

After they separated, Ninja whispered, "I love you, more." The two just sat in silence for the rest of the night.