Back To The Drawing Board

by Bellothir

Rating: everyone
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Random
Length: 23584

An unknown inventor named Gadget Rust meets a certain bookworm and wonders about the outside world.

On the edge of the Everfree Forest, a local inventor named Gadget Rust is found to be working on various inventions for years, having never left his home. When he meets a certain pony, she is surprised about his work and asks him to come to Ponyville to introduce himself to everypony. At first, he is unsure, but she convinces him to take a look at the town.

Hidden deep within the Everfree Forest, an alicorn filled with darkness and anger is plotting and observing the ponies, waiting for the perfect moment to emerge out of the forest and rule Equestria, determined to overthrow Princess Celestia in the process. Perhaps the alicorn is working alone. Or he could be serving under a powerful abomination of darkness…

Author's Note: As you've already guessed, there is an OC in this story and my description may not be detailed enough, but I think the story will speak for itself. This is actually my first fanfic I've ever written, revised. I would put up the old versions, but they jumped around too much and the dialogue was pretty awkward. :P

This version on the other hand, I think it's much better. Enjoy the story!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-18 08:40:10 UTC

Chapter 1: The Unknown Inventor

Dust, dirt, steam, and the stench of metal filled the air of a large workshop that was on the edge of Ponyville, almost next to the Everfree Forest. Many ponies in town assumed the sound within the structure was the sound of a great beast or something more frightening. Nopony dared to ever approach it or take a peek inside. The building was already constructed similar to that of a rundown barn, adding more of a haunting presence.

Although, if a brave or curious filly investigated inside, they would not find a beast, ghost, or anything that would scare the faint of heart. Instead, they would find a barn full of machinery and contraptions that would boggle the mind and dazzle the eye, past the clouds of steam and dirt of course.

But who would create such creative inventions? Who would waste their life and time to make them?

It would be a pony responsible. Who was ambitious, quiet, nervous, and always messing his creations to utter failure. His name was Gadget Rust. An Earth Pony with dreams and goals and on one fateful day, he would meet a certain character that would make him wonder about the outside world.

“Alright… Come on! Twist all the way!” the earth pony said with goggles on his eyes, turning a bolt with his wrench and exhaling as it twisted in all the way. He wiped the sweat off his head and got back on his four hooves after standing on his back hooves.

“There! Done! Another astounding job well done!” he said with confidence in his voice. He trotted slowly to open a window, but only after passing a mirror and getting distracted.

He wiped the grime off the reflective glass on the mirror and got a good look at himself. His body was turquoise; his brown mane shaggy and dirty from all the days of working, his tail was long and covered in dirt, grease, and oil. He took off his goggles, looking at his green, sleepy eyes and trying to smile.

“Look whose making things progress. With your cutie mark motivating you ever since you were a little filly. If I remember correctly, it should be right here…” he said, turning his flank to the mirror to attempt to get a good look at his cutie mark.

His cutie mark was that of two cogs connected, with the tint of silver for the color. It was almost as if the cogs would start moving at any time if he looked at them long enough.

“Yep! Still there and always will be until the end of my days. Look at you, Gadget Rust. The most creative and hardworking inventor in all of Equestria. My father would be proud about what I have done!” He stated, getting back to the task at hand of opening the window in his workshop to air out the place.

Gadget Rust pushed open the window, causing them to accidentally slam against the wall on the outside, but it didn’t matter to him at the moment. Gadget Rust was enjoying the fresh oxygen and breathing it in slowly. The sun on Ponyville was bright as expected and he could see from a distance of various ponies walking around, most likely so busy with their day. Gadget Rust thought nothing of it and he shrugged.

“It’s too dangerous for me to go in that town anyway. I might be judged about my appearance and my interests. Nope! I enjoy staying here and busying myself with my dreams. ‘Better Safe than Sorry’ as my dad would say to me.” Gadget Rust lectured, nodding and smiling and looking at his recent invention that was in the middle of his house.

His new machine almost reached the roof and had a shape similar to that of a sewing machine, if it was ten times the size. Although instead of a needle at the end that stitched together various materials, it was a nozzle in place of the needle and was pointed to the ground. Gadget Rust trotted to the side of it and pushed down on a lever with his front hooves, giving it all his might.

The lever finally switched to the other side and his invention slowly started up with a loud vibration, almost shaking the walls of his workshop. The sound must have spread straight to Ponyville and possibly beyond. At least, that was Gadget Rust assumed. The machine was built for, as Gadget Rust intended, to clean ponies up within seconds, removing the trouble of filling up a tub and getting cleaned in there.

“Now… Let’s see if this works as planned.” Gadget Rust mumbled to himself with a grin, standing under the nozzle and looking up, closing his eyes. Unexpectedly, the soft stream of water he estimated turned into a powerful gush, being so strong that it pushed Gadget Rust to the ground before the hose connected to the back to supply the liquid disconnected, stopping it entirely. Gadget Rust slowly got back up and he shook his head, then his body, getting the water off. He was clean, but still soaking wet.

“Hmm… Looks like I still need to make some calculations. I’ll take this apart and check it over to make sure I built it right. Back to the drawing board if all else fails.” he said, trotting to the back of the machine and pushing the switch to the “Off” position, in order to stop it from making the loud noise.

Gadget Rust heard a knock on his door and he looked behind himself, caught off guard that somepony would actually check up on him. Could it be a pony with curiosity? Or possibly annoyance of the noise his creation had just done? The only way to find out what the answer could be, Gadget Rust had to open the door. He slowly approached it as he heard another knock.

“W-Who is it?” Gadget rust questioned in his best sweet and innocent tone he could muster. He gulped to himself and put his hoof on the barn door, pulling it open slowly to see a new face that made his eyes widen with surprise.

”Are you the one making that entire racket just a few moments ago?!” he heard the new visitor ask. Gadget Rust looked at the pony and he made sure to remember who it was. The pony was obviously a female with a purple body and a unicorn horn, which made Gadget Rust get distracted by it.

“What kind of part is that?” he wondered, staring at it before the female pony waved her hoof in front of his face, making him snap out of it and he went back to studying the rest of her. Her mane and tail were purple, with streaks of another shade of purple and pink complementing the color. The cutie mark she had on her flank resembled the stars Gadget Rust used to look up at every night, wondering if he could ever reach them. Suddenly, he was jolted out of his curious observation by a loud “Hey!” looking at her violet eyes.

“O-Oh umm… I apologize. W-What seems to be the problem?” Gadget Rust asked, giving a fake, big smile, trying to at least seem friendly to her, but it looked like it freaked the purple pony out.

“Were you the pony making all that noise? I was studying in my library, where suddenly, I heard this loud vibration that shook all my books off the shelf! I know for a fact that none of my friends were responsible, as they all wondered what it was as well, so I assume you did it since everypony was looking at the barn near the Everfree Forest. You even woke Spike up!” The stranger explained in a huff, which Gadget Rust began to break into a sweat, not wanting to look like a guilty filly.

“W-What? W-Why would I, a local inventor, even give myself the time to create something to make all that sound? T-That’s ridiculous.” Gadget Rust said, lying through his teeth and still giving the innocent smile. Although, she was not buying it and looked behind Gadget to see his latest work, putting two and two together and grinning, knowing she caught him in a blatant lie.

“Oh, then what’s that? Some sort of giant sewing machine to help you make giant clothes?” she asked, which made Gadget Rust grind his teeth and then sit down in a loss. He looked down at the ground and began digging his front hoof into the ground softly.

“Y-You got me. I-I’m sorry. I was just trying to make one of my many ideas work right. I was close this time, but I had a feeling there was going to be a consequence somehow…” Gadget Rust mumbled, which made her feel sorry for him and step inside, which surprised Gadget Rust by how curious she was. Maybe he found somepony who wasn’t afraid of him.

She smiled at him and said “I understand. Maybe if you told everypony what you were up to, I wouldn’t have come all the way here to get mad at you.”

He stood back up on his hooves with a smile and said in newfound confidence.

“T-Thank you. I do my best to try not to scare or frighten anypony with my work. In fact, you would actually be interested in this big… water dispenser. See, I devised a way so that somepony wouldn’t need the hassle of filling a tub to clean oneself. This will make the water shoot from the nozzle above and within seconds, you will be clean as a whistle, as you can clearly see. Except of course, the machine backfired and you’ll need a drain. T-That explains the mud under the nozzle. I’ll need to do some rework before it can be fully functional.” Gadget Rust explained, smiling at her.

“I see that. Very interesting, but you should really make it much quieter. Oh! I forgot. Since I just met you, I think it’s appropriate to tell you my name at least. I’m Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you.” She introduced herself with a soft smile and Gadget Rust bowed to her slightly in respect. It was nice to meet a new face in his workshop that didn’t peek in his window and gallop away in fear.

_____

As Twilight Sparkle and Gadget Rust were chatting away, another event was taking place deep in the Everfree Forest. Inside, a dark power was brewing within that contained negative emotions and absolute hatred. If anypony was to explore really hard and kept negative thoughts, they would discover a beast more frightening than a dragon. They would find an alicorn with incredible power. An alicorn named Eternal Rain…

“Curse her! Curse her! She believes she can banish me to the Everfree Forest? Never to return?! She does not know of my true strength!” The alicorn yelled, pacing around an opening, surrounded by dark and burnt trees, due to his power. His appearance was concealed with heavy armour, covering his hooves, flank, neck, and head. Accompanying the armour was a cloak that blanketed him, to define his dark, glowing ruby eyes.

“She thinks she can control me?!” Eternal Rain shouted, stamping his front hooves in anger, causing dark clouds to hover over him and rumble. Quickly, he made the clouds vanish and he inhaled deeply, and then exhale.

“Compose yourself, Eternal Rain. Time is your friend in this situation. You need to wait for the right moment and harness your power. Be patient and when somepony displays negative emotions strong enough, that is your time to strike and appear for all of those fools to see!” He said to himself, continuing to pace in a circle.

“Princess Celestia will regret imprisoning me and giving MY duties to her sister Luna. Of all the selections, she chooses her sister. A pure example of sisterly love to her, hah! Never thought I’d see the day that Celestia would appear soft and loving. When I spoke to her, she was cold, hated my company, and rejected my idea to change my name to ‘Prince Rain’ because of the lack of loyalty to her. I vowed on the day that I was put here, that I would break out and overthrow her. Then I will rule Canterlot and then Equestria. All I need is patience.” Eternal Rain spoke, looking up at the sky and grinning slowly.

_____

Gadget Rust blushed in embarrassment and looked at his various inventions as Twilight Sparkle viewed them all, admiring the parts put in and the very thought of creating them all. Every single attention to detail impressed her and tempted her to ask many questions.

“I-I’ve been doing this ever since I was a filly. I remember the day my dad handed me a toy that I had to assemble myself. It required a screwdriver and I enjoyed every step of the way, putting it together, taking it apart, putting different parts in different areas, and receiving outstanding, but bizarre results.” Gadget Rust said, smiling and looking at his many tools.

Twilight Sparkle looked on one of his many tables and picked up a sheet of blueprints, unrolled it and viewed it. She gave a perplexed expression for the plans that looked similar to some sort of cannon. Twilight was about to ask a question, but Gadget Rust noticed Twilight Sparkle holding the paper, which he immediately grabbed it from her hooves and put it in his mouth, trotting to a cupboard and stuffing it inside.

“That’s highly classified! You can’t just go around, snooping into other pony’s things!” Gadget Rust said in a frustrated tone, which Twilight Sparkle looked at him in an apologetic face and nodded. He exhaled deeply and he approached her, giving a pat and a small smile.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get angry at you. You’re a guest here and I should at least give rules for you entered my workshop.” he said, laughing it off slightly, but Twilight Sparkle wasn’t joining in.

“No… I’m the pony who should be sorry. I should just look, not touch.” Twilight Sparkle stated. Slowly, there was a feeling of uncomfortable awkwardness and they both tried to think of something to talk about.

An excuse came up in Twilight Sparkle’s head and she asked “Hey Gadget Rust! Since you’ve been inside this… house, maybe you should come to Ponyville with me. I’ll show you around and trust me, you’d be surprised with who you’ll meet and make some friends. Just give it one chance and I promise you won’t regret it.”

Gadget Rust froze in place at the suggestion and he began to think, but said “I-I’m sorry Twilight Sparkle. I cannot do that because… I mean look at me. I-I’m always busy and I’m dirty a-and…”

He stopped himself, not really coming up with better reasons. Twilight Sparkle looked sympathetic towards Gadget Rust and she trotted next to him, putting a hoof around him.

“Come on. It’s not that hard. We’ll do it together.” Twilight said, standing back on her four hooves and nodding to him. Gadget Rust gulped big and he slowly trotted towards the door, with Twilight Sparkle behind to make sure he wouldn’t chicken out at the last minute. He began to slow down in his tracks, but she pushed his flank towards outside, with Gadget Rust fighting back. His hooved began to drag on the ground as she pushed him forward and with one big final shove, both Twilight Sparkle and Gadget Rust were outside.

Twilight Sparkle sighed as Gadget Rust’s eyes squinted and blinked as the light temporarily blinded him. “See? It wasn’t that difficult. Now come on. We should get you cleaned up.” Twilight suggested, heading towards Ponyville, but stopping to look back at Gadget Rust, who was still looking at his surroundings. He dug his hooves in the soil, feeling the sunlight on himself and breathing in the fresh oxygen.

“I-It feels so… different. I can’t believe I’m outside. This isn’t a dream, I’m actually feeling the light and the air is much fresher…” Gadget Rust muttered to himself before looking up from the dirt and smiling wide. Gadget Rust neighed in accomplishment and embraced Twilight Sparkle a bit too tightly.

“Whoa! Okay, you’re kind of… squeezing me. Please let go.” Twilight Sparkled managed to say, which of course, Gadget Rust got the message and let go, Twilight Sparkle breathing in deeply and exhaling.

Gadget Rust kept the smile on his face and he suggested “S-So… Shall you take me to Ponyville? I-I know my mane and tail are a bit messy from not properly washing them, but y-you can explain it to them right? I-I wouldn’t have the confidence. I-I mean it’s nice I’m outside for the first time, b-but I can’t talk to strangers just yet.” Twilight Sparkle looked at Gadget Rust, before nodding with a big smile.

“Of course I’ll introduce you. I can understand what it’s like being nervous in front of new ponies. I almost had the same problem when I first came to Ponyville. They’re all nice and won’t berate you with questions, unless you really want them to.” Twilight Sparkle assured, gesturing Gadget Rust to follow along to Ponyville. Gadget Rust trotted next to her and approached Ponyville as newfound friends. Little did the two know, they were being watched.

_____

Eternal Rain observed Gadget Rust and Twilight Sparkle from the entrance of the Everfree Forest, grinning darkly to himself.

“So… I see that this inventor has quite a temper. I’ll have to keep my eye on him to feed off his emotions and make my entrance. Soon, I will rule Canterlot and all of Equestria with my power, making everypony kneel before me. Do you hear me Princess Celestia? I’m coming for you…” Eternal Rain said to himself, looking up at the sun and sinking back into the Everfree Forest with a deep, evil laugh.

Chapter 2: The Pink Pony

As Gadget Rust and Twilight Sparkle trotted to Ponyville, he began to have second thoughts. It wasn’t about going to Ponyville, it was his appearance. It bothered him and he wanted to at least make a good impression before never going back outside ever again. He stopped and Twilight Sparkle looked at him in question.

“H-Hey Twilight Sparkle… C-Can we stop at a stream? I uh… Want to clean myself up. You know, I want to at least look presentable and not get nasty looks from bystanders. Can you lead you lead the way to one really quick?” Gadget Rust asked, as he was looking at the ground. She smiled at him and looked around, squinting to the side of the road, seeing a stream of water.

Twilight Sparkle looked back at Gadget Rust and said “Okay! Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up for everypony!” She grabbed his hoof and quickly pulled him along, Gadget Rust being totally caught off-guard. She kept on pulling him, almost literally dragging him, but he slipped from her grip and continued to follow along.

Twilight Sparkle and Gadget Rust stopped at the side of the stream, looking at their reflections. “It’s so clear and almost like glass…” Gadget Rust commented, which made Twilight Sparkle give an expression of confusion as to why Gadget Rust would make that comparison. He put his front hooves in it and felt the cold water, quickly pulling out his hooves, unsure about his decision to clean himself.

“I-I’m having second thoughts about this…” he muttered, ready to turn around, but since hooves were wet, he slipped on the grass and fell in the stream. Twilight began to panic and she tried to pull him out, but it didn’t look like he was in any danger. He was just surprised by the sudden jolt of cold water on himself. Twilight Sparkle waited until Gadget Rust was finished getting cleaned and then she pulled him out, to which he quickly got back on his hooves.

Gadget Rust looked at Twilight with anger and yelled “At least try to help somepony out just when they fall into some cold water and are forced to get clean!” Twilight Sparkle looked at Gadget Rust with slight surprise, seeing that his mane and tail were all wet and they were both smooth. His cutie mark almost reflected from the sunlight and she tried to muster up something to say.

“Y-You look… good.” Twilight Sparkle managed to say, smiling wide at him as he looked down at himself, then he looked in the reflection of the stream, seeing his new look. First, he screamed in shock then touched his own face to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Gadget Rust looked back at Twilight Sparkle and then he said “I-I can’t believe I’ll be going to Ponyville l-like this!” Twilight Sparkle giggled and pushed him forward back to the road, which he exhaled and trotted next to Twilight Sparkle back to the path to Ponyville.

Soon, they entered Ponyville and Gadget Rust was looking at all the ponies going past him. He noticed a green pony with a cutie mark resembling a lyre, which made him wonder what she did. Even more strange was that she was sitting with her flank on the bench.

“Strange pony…” Gadget Rust said to himself, following Twilight Sparkle to Sugarcube Corner and entering a building that looked like it was made out of candy.

“Hey Pinkie Pie, we have a new pony in town!” Twilight Sparkle said, looking around to see if Pinkie Pie was around and Pinkie Pie was busy cooking cupcakes when she heard Twilight Sparkle, quickly coming to the front of the store, almost covered in chocolate icing. Gadget Rust assumed the pink pony was Pinkie Pie because her name and appearance fit perfectly.

“Hello Twilight! I was-“Pinkie Pie stopped herself, seeing Gadget Rust and quickly going close up to him. She smiled wide at him, which made Gadget Rust pretty uncomfortable.

“Who are you? Are you new here? Do you like parties? We should have a party for you! What’s your name?” Pinkie Pie kept asking a barrage of questions, which Gadget Rust backed up slowly and try to say something, but was saved by Twilight Sparkle.

“His name is Gadget Rust. He’s the inventor in that old barn near the Everfree Forest. Remember? The place where fillies think it’s haunted by a ghost?” Twilight explained, but Gadget Rust was kind of offended that ponies would even have the very assumption that it was haunted.

“Oh yeah! I heard it was where a big scary ghost lived and it made all kinds of big noises like it did this morning!” Pinkie Pie said, smiling and hopping around the store, giving Gadget Rust a cupcake to eat.

“Um… Thanks? I’m still pretty confused. Why is this pony so odd?” Gadget Rust asked Twilight Sparkle in a whisper. Twilight giggled and she smiled at him.

“Well, that’s pretty hard to explain. She’s the only pony that acts like this. It’s truly something everypony needs to see. You can say anything bad that isn’t related to her and it won’t really matter in her eyes. That’s not always a bad thing though.” Twilight stated which Gadget Rust nodded understanding and approached Pinkie Pie as she went to continue making cupcakes. As he followed Pinkie Pie, he observed her making cupcakes, humming to herself in a happy tone.

Gadget Rust cleared his throat and began to say “So... Pinkie Pie, is this all you do? You make… sweets?” Pinkie Pie nodded, not making eye contact with him and finishing up a batch of cupcakes. When she was done putting the icing and cherry on the cupcake, she hopped right in front of Gadget Rust’s face, which he backed away slightly.

“Yesiree! I make a lot of cakes, cupcakes, and anything that will make a party fun!” Pinkie Pie said, which made Gadget Rust smile uncomfortably. There was a moment of awkward silence before Gadget Rust began to speak.

“That’s very nice and obviously delicious. Look, I think I should be going with Twilight Sparkle and continue the tour of Ponyville. I’ll leave you to your devices. G-Goodbye.” Gadget Rust said, quickly leaving the room and going back to the front to see Twilight waiting for him. He nodded and smiled, notifying her that he wanted to continue the tour. Twlight opened the door and Gadget Rust stepped outside with her and looking around.

“Come on! I’ll show you the Carousel Boutique and introduce you to Rarity.” Twilight said, trotting to the Carousel Boutique, Gadget Rust following along and wondering what the Carousel Boutique could be.

“Power of negativity… Show me what I desire to see…” Eternal Rain muttered to himself, using his horn and creating a circular black cloud that shot up out of the Everfree Forest and fly towards Gadget Rust and Twilight Sparkle. He closed his eyes and concentrated, seeing the two through his dark cloud, following them. Slowly, a sneer crept across Eternal Rain’s mouth and he said “Excellent… At least I can observe him this way. It will only be a matter of time before his anger and sadness feeds me and unleashes me upon Equestria. Then and only then, will I be able to defeat her and block out both the sun and moon! My rain and clouds will be the ones to hover over this world!” He let out a laugh and continued to watch the two ponies enter the Carousel Boutique, but by some divine intervention, his cloud stopped observing him and disappeared completely.

Eternal Rain opened his eyes in surprise, but his expression converted to frustration. “What stopped it from showing me what I want?!? Power of negativity, show me what I desire to see!” he yelled, creating another dark cloud that leaped out of the Everfree Forest to find what was responsible for destroying his previous cloud. He closed his eyes once more to see.

As the cloud moved across the sky, it stopped over Ponyville and he looked around, wanting to see what was responsible. Suddenly as he turned to the right, he saw a Pegasus fly towards his cloud with a grin, cutting off his vision and, as Eternal Rain assumes, evaporated it as well.

Eternal Rain opened his eyes again and yelled in frustration, trampling the ground before calming down moments later. “A minor setback, but it is of no matter. I am now aware that such a Pegasus would pose as a challenge to my nimbuses… I will need to think of a plan to distract that one. Maybe even distract them all, but how…” he whispered to himself, pacing around the forest with his head down, not coming up with any ideas, which surprised him.

“Blast! I cannot think of anything. I will just have to wait for the perfect moment and absorb the negative energy of everypony in Equestria as I have been doing do far. Seems like the only option I have for now…” he muttered, lying down onto the ground and closing his eyes.

Chapter 3: Clothing And Apples

Gadget Rust and Twilight Sparkle entered the Carousel Boutique, Gadget being completely mesmerized by the various clothes and materials around the shop. He wondered what the various materials were for. Were they required for, obviously, clothing? Or possibly blankets, bed sheets, or curtains?

“Wow… This looks very high class. These clothes and threads look like something only customers from Canterlot buy. I couldn’t possibly afford these if I sold all my inventions! Simply a marvel, these items…” Gadget said, looking around the store with a slack jawed expression. Twilight was fairly surprised that Gadget had a fascination for clothing. Then again, it was his first time outside of his workshop in maybe weeks or months.

Gadget looked at his own self through the mirror and admired his looks. It was much cleaner than the one he had in his house, which was a bonus. He grinned with confidence, but looked at Twilight to see she was looking in the other direction, possibly waiting for the owner of the shop to appear. He began to make faces in the mirror to himself and he giggled.

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked which Gadget immediately stopped goofing around and turned to Twilight with an innocent smile. Soon, he heard hoof steps and he saw the owner of the store come towards them. She had a purple mane and white body. A cutie mark with three diamonds on her flank accompanied with her.

“Twilight, what brings you here? Oh, and I see you’ve brought a new pony to the store.” The white pony said. Twilight smiled and looked at Gadget and nodded. She stepped forward by a step and cleared her throat.

“Rarity, this is my new friend Gadget Rust. He’s an inventor in that barn near the Everfree Forest. He was the pony that made a loud machine rumble the ground, remember?” Twilight said, introducing Gadget as he bowed lightly in respect. Unfortunately, Rarity didn’t acknowledge his bow and instead, she circled around him, which made Gadget very uncomfortable.

“U-Um… What are you doing?” Gadget asked as Rarity inspected every inch of him such as his tail, mane, and eyes. She smiled and nodded, answering with “You have a unique physique and very excellent mane! Please wait right there, I have to get you something.”

His face gave off confusion and worry about what might happen. Twilight looked at Gadget and said “Don’t worry. She’s just going to make you try on some clothes. Believe me, this happened to me too.” Soon, Rarity returned with many different articles of clothing and Gadget began to back away slowly, not really wanting to volunteer.

It was a losing battle for him. Rarity immediately pulled him to a mirror and practically forced him to try on various clothes, which Gadget always looked at himself when wearing them with disbelief. “I wouldn’t wear this. I’m not this… Hip.” Gadget thought as he was going through the “torture”.

When it was finally over minutes later, Gadget shook off a hat and looked at Rarity with anger. “So which one do you fancy the most?” Rarity asked, smiling away at him with Twilight watching from the side. Gadget huffed and walked out of the Carousel Boutique to take his stress outside.

Rarity looked at Twilight and asked “What’s wrong with him?” which Twilight sighed and explained to Rarity that it was his first time being outside for a long time, which Rarity soon felt pretty bad for making Gadget try on so many clothes without his permission.

“I should really apologize…” Rarity suggested, walking outside of the Carousel Boutique with Twilight and seeing Gadget pace around in frustration, muttering. Rarity and Twilight trotted slowly to Gadget, which he noticed them and breathed in deeply and exhaled. “I’m sorry Gadget Rust. I shouldn’t have been so careless about what you thought. Please accept my apology.” Rarity stated, looking regretful.

Gadget smiled a little and said “I-It’s okay Rarity. I understand why you did it. You wanted me to look my best and of course, I wasn’t really ready for it and you should’ve really asked first. It’s not your fault though. I-I was just so nervous to speak to you.” Rarity smiled back at him, and Twilight nodded to Gadget.

“Well, we should really be going Rarity. I have to introduce him to everypony else. Do you want to meet Applejack, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy?” Twilight said, looking at Gadget with a smile. Gadget began to think about the three names and which one would interest him the most.

“I think maybe Applejack. Name sounds pretty self-explanatory.” Gadget decided which Twilight nodded once again and began to trot away to Sweet Apple Acres, with Gadget following along. As they began their journey to Sweet Apple Acres, Gadget wondered what Applejack looked like. Possibly a tough looking farmer that is always serious about picking apples.

“S-So… This Applejack fellow… Does his life revolve around apples all the time, similar to how my life revolves around inventions? I mean, my name is Gadget Rust and his name is Applejack, so…” Gadget said, looking at Twilight with question, but even she looked back at him with question.

“You think Applejack is a he? What makes you think that?” Twilight asked with curiosity. Gadget shrugged and didn’t answer, but he would soon know who Applejack was and it was going to surprise him.

Moments later, they entered Sweet Apple Acres, Gadget looked at the barn, very surprised at how colourful it was and he wondered if Applejack would approve of that color. Gadget turned his head to the right, to see a red pony pulling a plough, which he assumed right away that the pony was Applejack.

“Wow. Applejack must be a hard worker, doing all of this by himself. That’s very fascinating!” Gadget said, expressing awe towards the red pony, Twilight looking at the pony as well.

“Uh… Gadget, that’s not Applejack. That’s her brother Big Macintosh.” Twilight said in a matter-of-fact tone. Gadget tilted his head and suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.

“A-Applejack’s a girl?!? She did all this?” Gadget said, his voice expressing disbelief. Twilight shook her head lightly and giggled at his sudden outburst.

“No. She has a family that helps her with the farm sometimes. Big Macintosh does all the hard work though.” Twilight said with a smile, which Gadget slowly calmed down and became collected.

“I-I see. So, should we look for her?” Gadget suggested which Twilight nodded in agreement and trotted off to a field of apple trees and soon Gadget followed. It was a strange farm to him. So many apple trees and it was pretty big by what he saw.

“I wonder if they make a lot of pies with these apples…” Gadget thought, but stopped pondering as soon as he heard a thump not too far away. Gadget looked to where he heard the sound to see an orange pony with a yellow mane and hat, bucking apples off the trees. Immediately, he assumed that pony to be Applejack because of her unique appearance and nice hat. Although, he was surprised that Applejack could actually buck apples off a tree without even the thought of just picking them.

“Applejack! Over here!” Twilight yelled, smiling at her and Applejack stopped, smiling back and looking at Gadget.

“Well, howdy there stranger! What’s your name?” Applejack said, approaching the two with baskets on her side, filled with apples. Gadget smiled wide, showing his teeth in nervousness.

“M-My name is uh, Gadget Rust. I-I’m an inventor who lives in that house near the Everfree Forest. Perhaps you’ve seen it? I-It’s nothing special, really.” Gadget introduced himself, which Applejack was impressed that there was an inventor in Equestria.

“No kidding? You make inventions? Well shoot, maybe you can make some things to help with the farm!” Applejack suggested with a smile, but Gadget was a bit off-put out by her accent and wondered why all the ponies he’s met so far, why Rarity and Applejack are the ones with odd accents.

“Oh… Maybe I will. I’ll put it on the list. Not that there’s much on the list anyway that will work.” Gadget said, chuckling awkwardly and accidentally causing a moment of silence until Twilight spoke up.

“Well, we should be going. He has to meet Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, so we’ll leave you back to your work.” Twilight stated, heading off to find Fluttershy and almost pulling Gadget along, so he wouldn’t be so distracted and ask Applejack a lot of questions about apples. If he ever asked her, he would have been stuck for a while.

Eternal Rain grinned as Gadget’s anger with Rarity gave him plenty of power and he laughed to himself. Slowly, he stood up and looked at the sky with a dark smile.

“Finally… I have enough power to escape from the shackles of this forest. Be ready ‘Princess’. I will be coming for you soon enough. For now, I will need to visit Ponyville for a little bit. I have some… things I need to get.” Eternal Rain spoke to himself and galloped out of the Everfree Forest, jumping up into the sky, spreading his dark gray Pegasus wings and flying across the sky, his hood being pulled back by the wind to show his helmet and red eyes. As he flew, he laughed loudly, making it echo across Ponyville and possibly reached all the way to Canterlot.

“Now it begins. I, Eternal Rain, shall rule all of Equestria with my power!” Eternal Rain shouted, flying down to Ponyville and landing in the town square with a stomp, which caught the attention of everypony in the vicinity.

Chapter 4: Eternal Reign

As the ponies gathered around the armour-clad alicorn, a grin crept across his face and he chuckled deeply.

“Kneel before me feeble ones! I am Eternal Rain!” Eternal Rain shouted with confidence, but all he received in return was a silent audience. He expressed confusion and looked at all the ponies. The pony that had destroyed his previous clouds landed in front of him and squinted at him.

“Who do you think you are, demanding everypony to do what you say?” The rainbow haired pony asked, to which Eternal Rain got angry and used his magic to summon dark clouds over Ponyville.

“You will speak when I give the order, fool!” Eternal Rain said, his face going close to the pony who questioned him. He then took off the cloak that covered him, revealing his heavy armour that almost covered his entire body, except his mane and tail. The rainbow pony became surprised of his intimidating stature and stepped back slightly.

“Much better… Now, allow me to properly introduce myself… My name is Eternal Rain. I am, or was, the watcher and creator of the clouds. I was responsible for making sure the clouds were nice, fluffy, and perfectly white. One day, I thought it would be necessary to be named ‘Prince Rain’. Mostly because I was loyal and made the sky clear if Celestia ordered it.

“Of course, she denied my request and after that, I would always try to improve myself, in order for her to reward me the title. I waited and waited, but my anger grew greater with every passing day, making me the strong alicorn I am today. Then, I tried to forcefully demand my title, but she overthrew me, imprisoning me in the Everfree Forest. From that day forward, I vowed vengeance and a promise that I will one day, rule Equestria with my clouds. That day has come…” Eternal Rain explained, using his magic to create more clouds to slowly cover the sun. Slowly, rain began to drip from the sky, transforming into heavy rain

.

Immediately, the ponies retreated inside their houses to prevent themselves from getting wet than they already were.

One pony stayed behind to fight against Eternal Rain. It was the rainbow pony, who opened her wings and flapped them, getting ready to practically charge him.

“You think you’re all tough and scary? Well then, let’s see you take me on!” she said, grinning confidentially and taking to the sky. Eternal Rain laughed lightly and followed along, quickly meeting her speed. She looked next to her, seeing him almost neck and neck.

“Chew on this!” the rainbow pony yelled, picking up speed and stopping in front of him as he was about catch up, she turned her flank to him and as soon he was in range, she gave him a buck to the chin, making him grunt in pain and flip backwards away from her and falling to the ground.

Quickly, he stopped flipping and landed on the ground to prepare for another attack. He looked up at the sky and saw her flying right him, ready to hit him once more. He grinned and used his magic to fire a dark cloud at the Pegasus. When it collided with her, she flew through it and destroyed the cloud, but felt odd.

“You should really calm down. Maybe a nap will help.” Eternal Rain said, continuing to smile.

She slowly became dizzy and landed on the ground slowly, falling asleep. Eternal Rain chuckled that his magic was effective.

“Challenging me was a big mistake. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to meet Princess Celestia for a special visit.” He said, opening his wings again and flying off to Canterlot, the rain continuing to fall over Ponyville and slowly spreading over Equestria.

-----

Gadget and Twilight looked at all the rain in confusion and quickly galloped to find somewhere to keep dry.

“Why did it start pouring all of a sudden? It was perfectly fine when we were leaving Sweet Apple Acres.” Twilight said, as they entered the town square to see the rainbow haired pony sleeping on the ground, not even bothered by the rain.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled, quickly rushing to her side and moving her slightly to wake her up. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash woke up and looked around in a daze, surprised to see Twilight of all ponies and another pony beside her.

“W-What happened? Who’s this? Where’s that one alicorn?!” Rainbow Dash asked, quickly getting up on her hooves and looking left and right.

Twilight tilted her head and said “Well, this is Gadget Rust. We saw you just sleeping here in the town square and… Wait, what alicorn?”

Gadget looked up at the clouds in worry, afraid that the weather might get worse and he suggested “Hey, w-we can talk later. We should get inside a house first!” Twilight and Rainbow Dash nodded and Twilight galloped to her house, with Rainbow Dash following along as well as Gadget.

-----

Eternal Rain spotted Canterlot and laughed as he flew closer.

“At last, I shall settle the score once and for all! I will be the one to rule Equestria and neither Celestia nor her sister can stop me!” Eternal Rain stated, landing outside the Canterlot Palace, the Royal Guards quickly getting in the way of Eternal Rain.

He looked at the guards and gritted his teeth, saying “Move out of my way and I’ll spare you the humiliation of defeat.”

The Royal Guards did not move and held their position. Eternal Rain growled and stamped his front hooves.

“Now you will know why you should fear me!” Eternal Rain said, inhaling a great amount of air and holding it in for a moment before screaming at the guards, which caused a force of wind to push them through the door, rendering them stunned.

He stepped through the door and approached the throne room of Princess Celestia, his face becoming serious and determined.

-----

“So, what you’re saying is that an alicorn dropped from the sky, wearing a bunch of armour with red eyes. He demanded for everypony to bow to him, you challenged him and hit him, but he made you fall asleep with some sort of black cloud?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash, who was lying down in the middle of Twilight’s house. She nodded.

Gadget looked around Twilight’s house, amazed by all the books and the fact her house was built from inside a tree.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying! He called himself Eternal Rain or something. Sounds like a stupid name to me, but I’m telling the truth. He caused all the clouds and rain to pop up out of nowhere!” Rainbow Dash said which Twilight began to ponder about the name.

“Eternal Rain… The name sounds familiar… Hold on.” Twilight grabbed a book from the shelf and opened it, using her magic to flip through the pages to look for any alicorn by the name of Eternal Rain. Minutes passed and Twilight found the page about his history.

“Here it is! Hm… Let’s see…” Twilight muttered, beginning to read from the text.

“Long ago, there was an alicorn by the name of Eternal Rain. He was noble, kind, and caring to his clouds and to the ponies of Equestria. Almost every day, he would create clouds in the shape of various objects to entertain the ponies below and make sure the clouds never blocked out the sun or moon and only made it rain when Equestria needed it for nature.

As the years went by, Eternal Rain became curious as to why Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had the title of ‘Princess’ in their names and asked Princess Celestia if he could be titled ‘Prince Rain’. She denied his request many times, rumoured for his lack of loyalty and negative emotions.

Eternal Rain slowly began to develop feelings of hatred and jealousy towards the sisters and on one fateful day, he challenged Princess Celestia for the throne. As they fought, Eternal Rain’s power seemed too strong, but Princess Luna joined the fray, helping her sister defeat Eternal Rain.

Unfortunately, they could not rid of him forever, so Princess Celestia used her magic to imprison Eternal Rain deep into the Everfree Forest, never to escape.

Some say that if enough negative emotions were absorbed by him once more, he would be able to leave the Everfree Forest and cause trouble all over Equestria again.”

Twilight finished reading and closed the book. Gadget’s expression showed great worry and Rainbow Dash brushed it off like it was just made up.

“So what if he can control the clouds and we get a little wet. We can still take him on! We’ll just use the Elements of Harmony and beat him. We used it on Nightmare Moon, why not him?” Rainbow Dash said, grinning and getting up. Twilight shook her head and frowned slightly.

“We could, but I don’t know if that’ll work. Who knows how much negative emotions he’s absorbed. He could be strong enough to stand a chance against both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” Twilight said, putting the book away and pacing around the room.

“How much negative emotions could he have taken to make him stronger?” Gadget asked, to which Rainbow Dash and Twilight began to think.

“Well, there was the time during the Grand Galloping Gala, Pinkie Pie getting sad when we didn’t want to go to her parties, and Spike when he got jealous of the owl… There’s too many to explain.” Twilight said, sighing and looking out the window at the rain hitting against it.

“Can’t we just get the help of Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and the Elements of Harmony and attack him at the same time? I think it would be more effective that way.” Gadget suggested which Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at him at the same time and smiled at the idea.

Chapter 5: The Fight

Eternal Rain charged through the door to Celestia’s throne room, busting it open in one blow and being greeted by many Royal Guards in front of him, with Celestia on her throne.

“I expected you would come here to seek vengeance as soon as you escaped from the Everfree Forest.” Celestia said, giving him a serious look, which Eternal Rain returned the same look.

He looked at the Royal Guards and inhaled deeply, then screamed at them, pushing the guards against the wall and rendering them unconscious. Eternal Rain smiled slightly and stepped forward, dark clouds slowly emanating from behind him and covering the walls.

“Did you think I would forget? Did you think I would forgive?” Eternal Rain muttered, using his magic to cover the throne room in dark mist quickly. Celestia stepped forward, Eternal Rain stopping his magic and quickly summoning six clouds in the shape of ponies.

“I will rule Equestria once and for all eternity!” he yelled, causing the six cloud ponies to charge at Celestia. Quickly, she used her magic to shine light on the clouds, making them evaporate immediately, to which Eternal Rain charged at her with a tackle, pushing her to the ground, with Eternal Rain on top of her. His heavy armour proved to be heavier than it looked and was almost hurting Celestia.

“Doesn’t this remind you of the first time we fought? I almost succeeded in defeating you, but your sister interfered. I won’t the same mistake again…” Eternal Rain said, grinning and pointing his horn at Celestia.

She used her magic once more on his eyes, blinding him and causing him to stagger off of her and back away.

“You will pay for that, ‘Princess’.” he said, shaking his head and blinking to regain his vision. Once it had returned, he was suddenly met with a beam to the face, cracking his helmet and hitting the wall.

Celestia slowly got back up on her hooves and said “I won’t let you cover Equestria with your evil clouds and hatred!”

Eternal Rain looked back at her and showed an expression of rage, quickly using his magic to fire a beam of lightning, causing her counter back with her own beam of sunlight.

The beams collided and Eternal Rain increased the beam’s power to attempt to overpower Celestia’s, but she kept up with him. Slowly, he began to trot forward and his magic began to overcome, much  to Celestia’s shock.

-----

Gadget, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight gathered all of their friends into Twilight’s house to discuss the plan Gadget thought of.

“So, what this idea you have Gadget? Tell us tell us tell us!” Pinkie said, smiling at him wide and he trotted in front of the six.

“O-Okay well… I have this hypothesis that if we use the uh, Elements of Harmony, with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s help, we may have a chance to beat Eternal Rain.” Gadget explained which the ponies all looked at each other with confusion.

“Hold on for a minute there, sugarcube. You saying there’s a CHANCE of beating Eternal Rain?” Applejack said, not really confident in the idea.

“Yeah, what if it doesn’t work?” Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head.

Gadget felt pretty embarrassed about the way he worded his plan. He cleared his throat and tried to make it sound easier.

“W-Well, I’m saying there’s a HIGH chance of succession. It would most likely beat him if we try. Come on, we have to at least help Princess Celestia and Princess Luna before he succeeds. I-I know we can do it.” Gadget said, looking at the six ponies.

Slowly, they thought about it and nodded. Twilight smiled at him, along with the others.

“Alright well, we should get to Canterlot as quick as possible!” Twilight said, opening the door to outside and the ponies all walked out, Rarity sighing hard for the fact that rain was still falling and it would ruin her mane. Gadget stepped outside and saw Royal Guards with chariots for the ponies that didn’t have wings.

“Twilight, you and your friends are needed at Canterlot immediately! Princess Celestia needs your help!” one of the guards said, which the ponies got into the chariots and flew off to Canterlot.

-----

Celestia was pushed against a window as soon as the beam from Eternal Rain hit her. He stopped in his tracks and grinned.

“At last… I will defeat you and I will be known as ‘Prince Rain’! I suggest you bow before me now and maybe I’ll spare you.” Eternal Rain said, his horn glowing for another attack. Celestia looked out of the window and she smiled.

“You’ll have to catch me first!” Celestia said, quickly jumping out of the window and flying up into the sky. Eternal Rain’s grin faded and he followed her to finish the fight.

Celestia flew around Canterlot, looking behind herself and seeing Eternal Rain catching up slowly.

“I have to think of something… I have to lose him and hit him with a surprise attack.” Celestia thought, looking at the clouds and quickly flying inside them. Eternal Rain grinned and flew into the clouds as well.

As he gave chase, she suddenly moved out of his sight and he stopped moving, looking around himself and keeping his guard up.

“You think you can hide from me?! Show yourself, you coward!” Eternal Rain said, getting fed up with Celestia.

“Perhaps you should calm down. Put this anger and jealousy behind you and I’ll let you watch over the clouds once more.” Celestia said from a distance, but Eternal Rain didn’t know where she was saying from.

“I’ll never accept your friendship…” he muttered, suddenly getting stuck by Celestia’s magic on his wings. He grunted in pain and tried to flap them, but it was useless as his right wing was damaged, making him land on the streets of Canterlot hard and break the armour on his legs, exposing his dark gray body slightly.

Celestia landed on ground in front of him and she said “Give up now Eternal Rain. You cannot win with just anger and recklessness.”

Eternal Rain shook his head and grinned.

“Don’t you realize it yet, Celestia? Can’t you feel it? The fear from the ponies in this place… It’s giving me strength and making me more powerful. As far as I’m concerned, I will not lose.” he said, laughing.

-----

Gadget looked at the ground below and felt a bit nervous, being afraid of heights and not wanting to fall. As he looked at the other chariots the ponies were inside, he began to wonder if his idea will actually work.

As they reached the entrance of Canterlot, Gadget said to Twilight “If we succeed, I’m going back to my inventions and share them with the people of Ponyville. I-I promise.”

The six landed on the ground of Canterlot and the ponies got out of the chariots, hearing laughter and sounds of fighting ahead of them. Gadget looked at the six and gulped.

“O-Okay… Let’s do this.” Gadget said, trotting forward to the battle with the six ponies.

-----

Eternal Rain charged at Celestia, pushing her at a distance, Which Celestia received minor scrapes from his armour.

“Kneel before me! I cannot lose to you, Princess Celestia!” he said with confidence and slowly approaching her.

Suddenly, he stopped and felt something familiar. A feeling that made him stare up at the sky to see another alicorn reach the ground and stand in front of Celestia.

Eternal Rain looked at the alicorn with curiosity. The alicorn had a dark mane resembling the night sky along with the body, her eyes a dark aqua color, and a cutie mark with the moon as the symbol.

Almost instantly, he knew who the alicorn was, but remembered she looked quite different from the last time he saw her. It didn’t change the fact that Eternal Rain still held hate for her as well.

“Princess Luna… I figured you would come to protect your older sister…” Eternal Rain muttered.

Chapter 6: Defeat

Luna charged at Eternal Rain to protect Luna, but he held his ground and they collided, their horns clashing and attempting to push the other. He looked in Luna’s eyes.

“You think you can defeat me? You are nothing compared to me, Luna. You were banished to the moon by your older sister for years. Yet her you are, protecting the one who mistreated you. Luna, you are weak!” Eternal Rain yelled, using his front hooves to kick her away from him.

His horn began to glow, but he stopped, feeling another presence behind him, which made him look back as it got closer to him.

“Impossible. The only ones who would be that strong are Celestia and Luna…” Eternal Rain whispered to himself, turning around fully to see seven ponies approaching him.

-----

Gadget and Twilight saw Eternal Rain a few meters away and all of the pony’s eyes widened, except for Rainbow Dash’s because she already encountered him. The yellow Pegasus gave a look of fright.

“H-He looks pretty scary…” the yellow Pegasus muttered, resulting in getting a pat from Rainbow Dash.

“Don’t worry Flutteshy. We can take him on! As long as we have the Elements of Harmony, he’ll be a cinch!” Rainbow Dash assured, making Fluttershy smile at her with confidence slowly.

“Alright… It’s now or never. Let’s do it!” Gadget said, galloping with the six to Eternal Rain who, as they got closer, looked much more frightening in Gadget’s eyes. Then, they all stopped in front of him, ready to fight.

-----

Eternal Rain locked eyes with Gadget and slowly, he grinned wide.

“Ah… I suppose I should thank you, Gadget Rust. Thanks to you and your frustration with Rarity, I was given the last push to be released.” Eternal Rain said, chuckling and bowing to Gadget lightly. Gadget looked away in shame.

“That’s right, sisters. Gadget Rust is responsible for letting me out. It’s a surprise that such a weak and lonely pony would have all that built up anger and sadness to give me. Perhaps maybe he shall serve under me after I am prince. He would be an excellent asset when creating minions that- well, I don’t want to give too much away of my promises.” Eternal Rain said, turning to Luna and Celestia with the grin still on his face.

Suddenly, Eternal Rain felt a buck on his leg, which made him jolt up and turn back to see Gadget looking back him with anger.

“I-I’m not weak or lonely! Y-You’re not so tough! You’re just a big… jerk!” Gadget said, squinting at Eternal Rain, which in return, Eternal Rain growl at him.

“You will regret insulting me, fool!” Eternal Rain said, his horn starting to glow, making Gadget back away slowly in fear.

Eternal Rain was then suddenly interrupted by a beam from Luna, making Eternal Rain hit a wall and his armour shattered as a result of Luna’s magic. Slowly, he looked down at the armour on the ground and looked back up at Luna and Celestia.

“That armour took me years to create… You will pay for that!” Eternal Rain yelled, whipping his head to shake the helmet off to reveal his mane and no longer concealed face. Celestia and Luna’s eyes widened, seeing how different Eternal Rain looked in comparison to what he looked like in the past.

Eternal Rain’s body was dark gray instead of white, his mane was a darker gray with streaks of yellow and it almost reached to his hooves instead of being light blue with white swirls, his tail the same color as his mane and touched the ground. His wings were completely black, along with his horn, instead of white with his body’s color. His eyes were completely red and his cutie mark resembled a tornado with two lightning bolts and raindrops tangled on the inside. His old cutie mark resembled a puffy blue cloud in the shape of a heart. The old Eternal Rain was nowhere to be seen in what Luna and Celestia saw now.

Slowly, his horn glowed brighter and he used all of his anger to summon a tornado around the palace, quickly flying up into the tornado. Luna and Celestia immediately followed him to finish the fight.

-----

Gadget, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie all looked at the tornado in awe and continued to trot to the fight.

“W-We have to keep going and use the Elements of Harmony.” Gadget muttered to himself, feeling his body shake in nervousness.

As they approached the palace, they all looked up and prepared themselves.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! C-Come down here at once! T-Twilight and I have an idea. If we could just explain it to you two, it might work, y-your highnesses.” Gadget yelled at the tornado, hoping to get their attention.

Almost instantly, Celestia and Luna landed in front of him and looked at Gadget with seriousness.

“O-Oh u-um… W-Well... Twilight and I thought that maybe if we use the Elements of Harmony with y-your help, it might defeat him once and for all.” Gadget managed to say, very nervous in front of ponies of higher class and rulers of Equestria no less.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, then at the tornado. They both nodded slowly and stood next to Twilight, ready for the plan.

Eternal Rain stopped circling around the tornado and he stayed in the middle, looking for Celestia and Luna in question.

“Show yourselves and accept your fate! You two are complete cowards!” Eternal Rain yelled, looking around in anger.

Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony towards Eternal Rain, firing a beam at him. Celestia and Luna quickly joined and used their magic to fire a beam at Eternal Rain as well.

Gadget ducked his head and lied onto the ground in worry if the plan wouldn’t work. He shut his eyes and didn’t dare to look.

Eternal Rain looked at the beams coming towards him and his eyes widened in shock, getting struck by them and destroying his tornado. He yelled in pain and started to feel an odd feeling from inside. He felt warmness inside instead of cold, his eyes began to tear up and his pupils began to show, his body, wings, and cutie mark began to change slowly, and for the first time ever, he began to see memories of his past.

Although, it wasn’t the cruel memories that made Eternal Rain what he was. It was the memories that he supressed after he became jealous.

He saw the days when he used to play around with Celestia when they were younger years ago. In his head, he could hear them.

“Celestia, do you think I’ll be just as important as you are? I mean, maybe one day, you’ll rule Equestria, but what about me?”

“Don’t worry Rain, I’m sure you’ll be pretty important too! You like clouds, don’t you?”

“Well, of course I do, but what can I do?”

“Rain, I promise that when I’m princess, I’ll make you take care of the clouds and weather.”

“Wow… If that happens, you would be the greatest friend ever!”

Suddenly after seeing the memories, he felt his darkness and anger practically split from his body and launch away into the sky and disappear, never to be seen. Eternal Rain fell to the ground when the beams finished.

-----

Gadget looked up after it was over, seeing Eternal Rain ahead of them with his old appearance instead.

Slowly, he stood up on his hooves and trotted toward Eternal Rain’s unconscious body.

“I-It’s over?” Gadget said, with his voice shaking with uncertainty.

Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight’s friends all approached him and waited for a response from Eternal Rain.

Suddenly, Eternal Rain’s legs twitched, to which Celestia knelt down next to him, pushing him lightly to wake up and to Celestia’s relief, Eternal Rain slowly opened his eyes.

Chapter 7: Dreams And Voices

Celestia smiled softly at Eternal Rain as his eyes observed his surroundings. He turned his head at Celestia slowly and groaned in the process, trying to say something, but he couldn’t. His throat felt dry and tired as he swallowed.

“It’s okay Eternal Rain. You’re safe now from your dark side.” Celestia said with care in her voice. Eternal Rain looked over at Luna, then at Gadget, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie. Suddenly, he remembered what he had done to everypony, feeling shameful. He opened his mouth and began to speak.

“I-I’m sorry…” Eternal Rain managed to say before closing his eyes slowly, falling into a heavy sleep, and the clouds slowly disappearing to reveal the sun and blue sky once more. Gadget stepped forward in concern before being stopped by Luna, getting a look from her.

“He’s probably just tired. We should let them share a moment.” Luna whispered to Gadget, to which he nodded and watched Celestia and Eternal Rain.

Celestia slowly stood up and turned around to face Twilight and her friends.

“I think it would be good for Eternal Rain to get some care at Ponyville.” Celestia stated. Twilight looked at her friends, then at Gadget.

“W-Well, I think that would be a good idea. He could apologize to everpony for putting a scare in them and he could get used to the place he’ll be watching over, among other things.” Gadget said, nodding and smiling a little.

-----

Inside Eternal Rain’s mind, he was dreaming of something strange. He saw himself in a white void with nothing around him. He stepped forward in curiosity, searching around before hearing something behind him. Quickly, he turned around in alert and saw himself, but his appearance was completely different.

His mirror image was completely covered in darkness and was smiling at him with pure white teeth.

“Now we can talk face-to-face. I believe from your expression that you know what I am.” The mirror image said with a grin. His voice was distorted, almost to frighten young fillies in the night.

Eternal Rain swallowed slowly and said “Yes… I know what you are. You were responsible for making me a monster.”

The mirror image chuckled and approached him slowly, almost touching noses.

“Please. Don’t try to sound so brave towards me. I scare you and make you powerful. Admit it. You liked having the magic and the armour to take on Celestia and Luna.” it said with a grin.

Eternal Rain turned away and stepped away from it, looking down at his hooves.

“I will admit it felt good using my anger against them, but I… I know it was wrong. Celestia is my friend. We’ve known each other since we were fillies.” Eternal Rain said, to which it stood next to him and moved to his ear.

“Come on… We can make a comeback. The Elements… That’s what caused our downfall. YOUR downfall, that is. If you could obtain the Elements of Harmony, we can make them crawl!” it said, trying to convince him.

Eternal Rain turned to his image with an expression of anger.

“You can do that by yourself! I won’t be used by you any longer!” Eternal Rain shouted, grabbing his image’s head with his front hooves and giving it a hard head butt, causing it to shatter into black pieces.

He looked down at the pieces and they slowly evaporated with a dark laugh in the distance above him.

“If you will not work with me, I can find another who will. If you remember, I split from your body before the going got tough. We are just, shall we say, connected mentally because your negative emotions were so powerful that it gave me life. You see, there is something more complicate behind it all and I think you will find out soon enough, my little alicorn.” the voice said before leaving Eternal Rain alone.

Slowly, Eternal Rain lay down and closed his eyes.

-----

Twilight, Gadget, and their friends slowly put Eternal Rain on a bed in a nurse’s tent that was set up in the Town Square, in order for everypony to check up on him and when he regains consciousness, take care of him.

The nurses started to put bandages on his wings as they all watched the process.

“It’s so strange. He looked so scary, but now, he’s like a little bunny who’s been hurt.” Fluttershy said.

“More like a scary bunny.” Rainbow Dash responded.

“In any case, we should watch him. In case he tries to attack us again. Just because he’s a different color and he said he was sorry, doesn’t mean he’ll act nice.” Twilight said, watching the nurses put bandages on his body next and almost finishing.

“A-Although, Princess Celestia looked so… hurt seeing him defenseless and sad after he was beaten.” Gadget said.

“We should really leave him alone though. Let him rest.” Rarity suggested and the ponies nodded in agreement, leaving the tent.

As they stepped out, Gadget looked pretty worried about Eternal Rain and wondered if he would ever wake up. It made his mind reel with every bad outcome that could happen. Eternal Rain could not wake up, wake up and not remember who or what he is, wake up and still be the same, or he could wake up, but not remember his childhood friend. Gadget’s skin shivered, but was brought out of thought by Pinkie Pie hopping in front of him.

“We should really have a party! For you and Eternal Rain being new to Ponyville! It’ll be really fun!” Pinkie said, causing Gadget to smile at her upbeat personality.

“I-I guess we could.” Gadget said with a shrug.

With that, Pinkie bolted immediately to Sugarcube Corner to get the party ready for the night. Gadget then looked at Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

“W-Well uh… I guess I’ll head back to my workshop. I-If you ponies want to pop in and see what I’m working on, d-don’t be afraid to do so.” Gadget said to break the silence, trotting off to return to his house, with a small smile on his lips.

He looked behind himself to see his new friends disperse to their own devices. Gadget began to think about what everypony would say if he brought out his inventions to show.

“Perhaps I could make a travelling show. I could embark all over Equestria, entertaining many ponies with my creations. Although, Twilight wouldn’t be there and I might lose confidence if they don’t function correctly.” he thought, looking up ahead to see his house in the distance.

“Gadget Rust’s Caravan of Clockwork…” he said to himself, beginning to laugh at the ridiculousness of the name.

-----

Twilight looked at the tent and began to ponder whether she should check up on Eternal Rain.

“I really shouldn’t… But, maybe if I talk to him while he’s resting, it’ll make him come back to his senses and then maybe, he won’t be as bad as he was before. I heard it helps.” Twilight mumbled to herself.

She straightened herself and entered the tent as soon as the nurses left Eternal Rain alone.

Twilight looked at him with surprise. He was practically covered entirely with many bandages from horn to hoof. It made her giggle at the silly sight, but she continued to approach him, standing next to the bed.

Just to be sure, Twilight waved her front hoof in front of his eyes to make sure he was actually asleep and she sighed.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this. Talking to a sleeping alicorn, who may or may not be evil.” Twilight thought to herself. She then cleared her throat, ready to talk to him.

-----

Eternal Rain stood up slowly, stretching in the process. There was no point in waiting for something to happen.

“I might as well explore this… whiteness while I still have the time.” Eternal Rain said to himself, beginning to explore.

Suddenly, his exploration was interrupted by an odd voice. It sounded young and completely unrecognizable to him. At first, he assumed it was his mirror image, playing a trick on him, but he was soon proved wrong when the voice introduced itself.

“Um… Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” the voice said, which made him look up in curiosity and confusion.

“Hello? I’m Eternal Rain. How can you talk to me?” he asked, looking around, suddenly seeing the white void morph into a strange setting.

“You’re sleeping a tent in the Town Square of Ponyville. I don’t know I you can hear me, but you’re safe.” Twilight’s voice stated, causing the setting to transform into Etenral Rain’s memory of Ponyville from what he saw when he was evil. He looked around the place and continued to speak to Twilight, even though she couldn’t hear him back.

“Well uh, nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle. I’m sure we’ll have something to talk about when I wake up.” He said, smiling softly to himself.

Chapter 8: Return

Inside the Everfree Forest, there was silence. Animals crept out of their hiding places when Eternal Rain terrorized the area he stayed in. sunlight crept through the branches of the trees, almost as a symbol that darkness would no longer be around.

At least, that’s what the wild animals thought. Little did everypony know; another monster was in play, which was responsible for Eternal Rain’s actions.

-----

The shadow’s stretched into the ruins of the castle where The Elements Of Harmony were contained. Out of the darkest corner, emerged Eternal Rain’s dark side, bowing slightly towards the shrine.

“My liege… I am sad to report that the plan did not go as well as we had anticipated. Eternal Rain is no longer our puppet for your dreams.” The shadow muttered in failure.

As the shadow of Eternal Rain looked up, dark clouds swirled above the ruins and his master appeared before him.

The being was tall and completely shrouded in darkness, stood on two legs, almost resembling a monkey, but its back was straighter.

Its glowing red eyes squinted at his shadow and spoke in a deep, menacing tone.

“It is of no concern. Eternal Rain was only minor setback, even though disaster could have been averted.” His master said, crossing his arms in disappointment.

“It is with great shame that I am at fault, master.” He responded, to which his master approached him and patted his head softly.

“I have a different assignment for you now, Shadow Rain. I have been watching three young fillies, determined to earn their ‘Cutie Marks’. I want you to bring them here. I have a proposition for them.” The master said, turning around slowly and walking back to where he appeared.

Shadow Rain gave a look of uncertainty and said “But… My liege, they are just younglings! Surely there are other victims we can choose.”

Suddenly, the master turned around once more, looking more menacing. Shadow Rain bowed slowly in fear and backed away in the corner.

“I-It shall be done my liege.” Shadow Rain said, disappearing slowly into the shadows.

-----

Gadget Rust looked outside of the window in his workshop, wondering why he wasn’t working as hard as he was a few days before. He trotted away from the window and to his invention he was experimenting with when he met Twilight Sparkle.

“It’s so peculiar… Why don’t I feel the motivation anymore? I would be working on it right now like I used to. When I met Twilight Sparkle and her friends, I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s so much in Ponyville that I want to do. I have to get back out there! I want to see everything!” Gadget said, marching towards his door and opening it with his front hooves, posing proudly and closing eyes, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

Suddenly, that moment ended when Gadget opened his eyes, seeing Twilight Sparkle, having an expression of sadness.

“W-What’s wrong Twilight?” Gadget asked, tilting his head in concern.

She shook her head slowly and said “Um… It’s about Eternal Rain.”

Gadget’s eyes widened, expecting the worst-case scenario.

“H-H-He’s not…” Gadget whispered in worry, but Twilight shook her head still, making Gadget feel relieved.

“He’s still sleeping, but… I’m worried about him. What if he stays asleep? Sort of like… an eternal slumber.” Twilight said, looking at Ponyville.

Gadget wondered about the possibility as well, but he stood next to her and patted her back with his hoof.

“I’m sure that won’t happen. He’s Eternal Rain. The most caring and um… scariest alicorn there is. Well, now he is anyway.” Gadget tried to comfort her, but he wasn’t really the comforting type.

Twilight nodded softly and smiled a little.

“Want to go back to Ponyville?” Twilight asked, looking at Gadget, to which he smiled wide and nodded in agreement.

“I want to see if I can make cupcakes like Pinkie Pie.” He said with slight excitement in his voice. Twilight laughed a little and trotted to Ponyville, with Gadget following along.

-----

Shadow Rain crept in the shadows of Everfree Forest, reaching the outskirts of the area. He saw the three fillies near the forest, looking determined to enter. Possibly to prove they were mature enough to earn their cutie marks. Shadow Rain hesitated before slowly creeping away from entrance to get ready.

As he moved to his spot, he could hear the fillies discussing about how they earn their cutie marks in the Everfree Forest. He looked around a tree to watch them and he began to disguise his voice.

“Hello? Is anypony there?” Shadow Rain asked in a high pitched voice, attempting to sound less threatening.

The three fillies looked at each other in confusion and the yellow filly said “Who is that?”

Shadow Rain smiled a little, surprised the master’s plan was working.

“Y-Yes, I am in need of some help! I-I seem to have lost my belongings in the ruins of the royal pony sisters! I would get them myself, b-but I am too afraid!” he said, feeling a bit less confident in the plan since he spoke in a royal manner.

The three fillies perked up at the idea that maybe if they help, they might earn their cutie marks.

“You can count on us! We’ll get your things for you! Can you show us the way?” the orange filly with a purple mane asked with a grin.

Shadow Rain groaned, knowing he’ll have to put on a convincing disguise now. He breathed in and concentrated, changing his alicorn shape, to a small foal with a black body, white mane, and red eyes. Slowly, he came out from his “hiding spot" and smiled in nervousness.

“I-I guess I will show you the way. I have lived in the Everfree Forest ever since I was born. I’ll make sure nothing scary tries to get us.” Shadow Rain said, approaching them slowly.

“Now I have to show these fools to their traps?” he thought in annoyance.

“What’s your name?” The white filly asked in curiosity.

He was caught off guard by the question.

“O-Oh umm… My name is uh… Spook Tree. My name is Spook Tree.” Shadow Rain said, doing a fake smile.

The three fillies tilted their heads in the weirdness of his name.

“Your parents must have been odd ponies.” The yellow filly said, which made Shadow Rain get the feeling of frustration deep down.

“Y-Yeah well, my parents were very creative. S-So, shall we go?” he said trotting down the path to the ruins, gesturing the three of them to follow. They hesitated, but followed him nonetheless.

-----

Gadget and Twilight slowly moved into Sugarcube Corner chatting, until they noticed Rarity and Applejack galloping towards them in panic.

“Twilight, Sweetie Belle is missing!” Rarity yelled, grabbing Twilight with her front hooves. Applejack grabbed Twilight as well, shaking her.

“Applebloom is missing too! Do you know where in tarnation they went?!” Applejack asked frantically.

Twilight shook them off and looked at the two.

“Calm down. I’m sure they didn’t go far. Where did you last see them?” Twilight said, trying to make them take a deep breath and explain the situation.

“Well, I last saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle playing with Scootaloo at Sweet Apple Acres. I-I was bucking some apples and then the next thing I knew, they were gone!” Applejack told her, which Twilight began to ponder where they would likely go.

Gadget began to think as well, trying his best to possibly help.

“D-Do you think they went into the Everfree Forest? That’s the last place I would go, but I-I’m just guessing.” Gadget assumed.

Applejack and Rarity looked at each other with the same expression of realization.

“I remember yesterday that they said they would go there again!” Rarity said.

Twilight smiled at them and said “It’ll be okay. I’m sure they didn’t go far. Come on!”

Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight galloped towards the Everfree Forest. Gadget stood still, looking at them leave, not wanting to get himself into trouble with whatever was in there. It’s the one place that scared him the most because of its ominous presence.

-----

Shadow Rain guided the three fillies towards the ancient castle and he stopped in his tracks just outside of the ruins.

“What’s wrong Spook Tree?” Applebloom asked. Shadow Rain looked at the three and strangely, as he was guiding them to their trap, he had a feeling of regret. He must have obtained the feelings when he was hit with the Elements of Harmony.

“You three… You should leave.” He said, backing into the castle slowly.

“Why? I thought you were going to help us get our cutie marks.” Sweetie Belle said, giving a perplexed expression.

Shadow Rain continued to back away and as he touched a shadow, his form began to change into his original form. As he transformed, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom began to show fear on their faces.

When Shadow Rain finished, he looked at the three and said “Run! Get out of here!”

Suddenly, a hand reached around Shadow Rain’s mane and he was pulled into the interior of the ruins by his master. The fillies began to turn around and prepared to gallop away, but the master’s hand stretched out and grabbed them by their tails, carrying them into the castle.

“You’re not retreating just yet! I need you three for leverage!” the master said, putting the three down in front of him, with Shadow Rain in the corner.

“What’s the big idea?! Who do you think you are?” Scootaloo asked, trying to gain courage against the master.

He chuckled and changed his hand back to normal, crossing his arms.

“I have many names, but you younglings can call me… Tartarus.” He said, introducing himself with another dark laugh.

Chapter 9: A Quick Victory

Scootaloo attempted to attack Tartarus while he was laughing, but was quickly interrupted by his hand, which had picked her up by the tail. She began to struggle as he brought her close to his face, as if inspecting the filly.

“You have some kind of nerve, trying to attack me. Don’t you know I am everything a weak specimen like you should fear?” Tartarus said, blowing in her face with a black cloud, causing her to fall asleep in almost a second.

He put Scootaloo back down, next to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.

“What in tarnation did you do?!” Applebloom asked, looking frightened at their new enemy.

“Do not worry. I merely put her in a slumber. She will awaken in a few minutes. I do have standards, after all.” Tartarus explained, creating a makeshift throne from his power and sitting down, crossing his legs.

Shadow Rain looked at him and slowly said “M-My liege, perhaps this isn’t the best course of action. I understand you want to rule Equestria, but you are scaring these younglings.”

“It is the perfect course of action! Do you question my methods?!” Tartarus asked, looking at Shadow Rain in irritation.

“N-No. I am sorry.” He muttered and bowed.

“You shouldn’t be thinking you’re all tough because our sisters and their friends will be looking for us. When they do, you’ll be very sorry!” Sweetie Belle said, smiling confidently at Tartarus.

He laughed loudly, making it echo across the Everfree Forest.

“I guess that’ll be interesting, won’t it?” he said, putting his left hand under his chin.

-----

Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight heard the laugh and looked around, wondering where it came from.

“Am I crazy, or did you hear that too?” Applejack said.

Twilight nodded and wondered if it was Eternal Rain again. Maybe he escaped from his bandages and retreated back to the forest, but she wouldn’t want to mention it to either one of them because it was just a guess.

“Let’s see… If I were Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, or Applebloom, where would I go to earn my cutie mark?” Twilight mumbled to herself, getting only one solution.

“The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters!” she practically yelled, making the three of them gallop to save the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

-----

Gadget trotted around Ponyville, seeing almost everypony gathering around the tent of Eternal Rain. Even The Mayor was there, trying to get their attention from her podium.

“Okay! Everypony settle down! I know you are all excited to see Eternal Rain’s recovery, but you all have to be patient! Nurse Redheart is busy taking off his bandages.” The Mayor said.

Gadget slowly pushed through the crowd to get a good view of Eternal Rain. His white body, wings, and horn shined slightly from the sunlight, his blue and white mane was curly, almost in the shape of puffy clouds, and his eyes were yellow. His cutie mark was reverted back to its old puffy, heart shaped cloud symbol.

Eternal Rain looked at all the ponies, looking at him in awe and he smiled, blushing.

“Hello. T-This is a surprise.” Eternal Rain spoke, moving past the small crowd, but catching a glimpse of Gadget Rust and stopping.

“You… I’ve seen you…” Eternal Rain muttered, getting a good look at him.

Gadget backed away slowly, worried about what might happen. Gadget didn’t expect Eternal Rain to smile at him and bow towards him, still feeling sore from lying in bed for a long time.

“I wanted to thank you. Without you and your kind friends, I would have still been controlled by my negative emotions.” Eternal Rain said, standing up straight and slightly groaning in the process.

Gadget didn’t know what to say and he bowed back, a little shy towards him.

“Now… Where is Twilight Sparkle? If it wasn’t for her talking to me in my dreams, I surely would have been in an eternal slumber. I need to offer my thanks.” Eternal Rain said, looking among the crowd to see if he can spot Twilight, but he couldn't.

“O-Oh um… Twilight went to the Everfree Forest with Applejack and Rarity. They went to look for Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. I-I don’t know why they were so concerned…” Gadget explained, averting eye contact towards him.

Suddenly, Eternal Rain’s eyes widened in shock.

“They went where?! By Celestia, they are in great danger! Don’t they know that my other side is still in there?!? I must hurry!” he said in a panic, ready to gallop, but he grunted from the soreness of the previous fight he had.

“Eternal Rain, you shouldn’t try and be heroic. You need to relax for a while before attempting something like this!” the Mayor warned.

“I-I can’t just let them get hurt!” he argued, but deep down, he knew she was right. However, he had to solve the problem himself.

“W-Well… We could tell Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie about this. Maybe the E-Elements of Harmony would come in handy.” Gadget suggested, to which Eternal Rain looked at him and thought for a moment.

“No. We shouldn’t risk that kind of power towards him. It would be the first thing he would want. I’m sorry, but regardless of my condition, I’m going to fight him.” Eternal Rain said, opening his wings slowly and flapping them with slight trouble. He smiled slightly at the ponies looking up at him.

“It’s just a little irritation.” He assured, flying up into the sky and heading into the Everfree Forest to look for Shadow Rain.

-----

Tartarus looked visibly bored and he sighed.

“This bores me. I need something to entertain me.” Tartarus said, looking to see Scootaloo wake up slowly and look around in a daze.

“Wha- What’s going on?” Scootaloo said in a tired tone, but she quickly got up on her hooves in surprise and immediately remembered where they were.

“Hmm… That took shorter than expected. Nevertheless, you three shall entertain me.” He said, using his magic to make black clouds cover their hooves. He snapped his fingers and slowly, the black clouds started to move their hooves, making them perform a choreographed dance.

“Hey! Stop it!” Sweetie Belle demanded.

“This isn’t funny at all!” Applebloom yelled.

“Be quiet! At least one of us is having fun.” He said, laughing to himself, making them continue their dance.

Shadow Rain watched in the shadows, wanting to make him stop, but he couldn’t gain the courage to do so. He looked outside of the castle to see Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack, feeling a sense of hope from within, which was odd to him.

“W-What’s happening to me?” Shadow Rain thought.

As the three ponies approached the entrance, Tartarus noticed them; stopping his magic on the young fillies and standing up out of his throne, making it disappear.

“What is this? Where are the other three?” Tartarus asked walking towards them and stepping over his prisoners.

“We’re here to get our sisters back!” Applejack said, getting ready to fight.

“You’re not going to hold my Sweetie Belle and her friends in prison anymore!” Rarity stated with determination in her voice.

Tartarus crossed his arms and tilted his head.

“Do you really think you can beat me? Don’t make me laugh again.” He said.

Twilight squinted at him and asked “What are you?”

Tartarus smiled at the question and turned around, opening his arms.

“I am Tartarus! The embodiment of evil and darkness!” he said in a boasting voice.

Twilight looked at Applejack and Rarity, getting the same idea that she had.

“Wow. You must be very powerful. Please tell me what you can do.” Twilight said, signalling the both of them to sneak around Tartarus as he was distracted and get the fillies away from danger.

“I’m surprised you don’t fear me. You see, I can create and control anything with my magic. I, for example, created the negative side of Eternal Rain years ago, thanks to his stubbornness and jealousy.” He bragged, looking at the sky, remembering that moment.

Rarity and Applejack slowly and quietly beckoned their sisters and Scootaloo to sneak away from Tartarus and get out of the castle by following them.

“So that was you? Amazing! You really did a good job.” Twilight said with fake awe, but he didn’t notice she was just pretending.

“Well, you are very kind. I am the strongest being in all of Equestria after all.” Tartarus said, turning back to face Twilight and giving the perfect moment for the fillies to sneak away.

Suddenly, Tartarus sensed a familiar presence.

“Wait a minute… You brought him here, didn’t you? You think you can fool me?” he asked, looking behind himself to see Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Rarity, and Applejack gallop away out of the other end of the ruins.

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked; a bit confused about who he was talking about.

Then, with a great thud and rumble of thunder, Eternal Rain landed in front of Twilight, looking at Tartarus, then at Shadow Rain.

“I had a feeling you would be here with your master.” Eternal Rain said, making eye contact with Shadow Rain.

“So… You are still connected to Shadow Rain.” Tartarus guessed, crossing his arms in disappointment yet again.

“It’s a blessing in disguise, if that’s what you would call it. Now I’m back and ready to defeat you.” Eternal Rain said, his horn starting to glow.

Tartarus looked at Shadow Rain, whose horn was also glowing. He looked visibly flabbergasted and clenched his fists.

“No… Not like this! I will return one day and when I do, you will all cower in fear!” he yelled, charging up an orb of energy in his left hand, but was quickly interrupted by two beams colliding into him. As he took the attack, light shined out from inside his body and almost in a flash, he disappeared, but resulted in Shadow rain disappearing as well.

Eternal Rain slowly sat down, feeling exhausted from using his magic. Twilight looked at him and wondered why they disappeared so quickly and why Shadow Rain would go away as well, even though he helped him fight Tartarus.

“I guess wherever that monster goes, my dark side is deemed to follow against its will.” Eternal Rain assumed, looking sympathetic before slowly getting back up.

“Well… I guess that’s it. He’s gone for now and Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle are okay. At least it didn’t get worse than it already was.” Twilight concluded, to which he nodded.

“We should leave this place before I depart. I’m starting to feel a little better after using my magic for good.” He said, laughing a little to himself.

-----

Gadget slowly approached the Everfree Forest, trying to get over his fear.

“I-It’s okay… It’s just a forest.” Gadget kept telling himself, slowly lifting a hoof to step inside it.

As he was about to, he noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Applejack, and Rarity galloping towards them and stopping right next to him, looking back to see if Twilight made it out okay.

“W-What happened in there?” Gadget asked, a little confused about what was happening.

“Well, Applejack, Twilight, and I went inside the Everfree Forest to rescue our sisters and Scootaloo. Then we saw this monster and Eternal Rain’s evil side. We saved them while they were distracted and we ran away when it looked at us.” Rarity attempted to explain.

Gadget heard hooves in the distance and out of the shadows, Twilight and Eternal Rain emerged, unscathed.

-----

“Twilight, are you okay?!” Applejack asked as they all clopped away from the Everfree Forest together and headed back to Ponyville.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks to Eternal Rain and his other half. If it wasn’t for them, I would have been in serious trouble.” Twilight said, smiling in relief.

“I hope nothing bad like that happens again.” Sweetie Belle said. Applebloom and Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

“I’m sure one day, my other half and his master will return. When they do, we’ll be more than ready. For now, I have to return to my duties as the watcher of the skies and clouds.” Eternal Rain said, looking up at the sky and opening his wings. They stopped and all looked up at him.

“Until we meet again!” he said, flying up into the air and vanishing into a cluster of white clouds.

“Wow… He’s so cool, but not as cool as Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said.

“We should really head back to Ponyville and tell everypony we’re okay, instead of standing here.” Twilight suggested, causing them all to trot to Ponyville.

Chapter 10: More Than Meets The Eye

Far, far away, in the darkest corners of Equestria, Tartarus was pacing around his Castle made of his shadowy magic.

“Hmm… I need those Elements of Harmony! It’s my key to rule! I can almost smell the throne!” Tartarus spoke in his deep voice, hands emerging from his dark body.

Shadow Rain was lying down next to Tartarus’ throne, reading a black text book. He wasn’t really interested in his master’s ramblings ever since that day.

“I’ll need to get inside their heads!” he yelled, his eyes suddenly widening from what he said. He had come up with the perfect idea.

“Of course… Inside! Why didn’t I think of this before?!” he realized, his body beginning to glow and change form. Shadow Rain looked up at his master, his expression slowly showing fear.

“If I want the Elements, I’ll just take them from under their noses…” he muttered, slowly going into a roaring laugh.

Gadget was busy working on another invention as he always did, until he heard a knock at his door. Since he was under his mechanism, he couldn’t check who it was.

“Come in!” Gadget yelled from under his work, which looked similar to a flying contraption Pinkie owned.

He heard the door open and heard the voice of Twilight Sparkle.

“Hey Gadget, I think you should come down to Ponyville. You’ve been inside of your house for days. Maybe you could go for some cupcakes…“ Twilight stopped, seeing his flying machine and giving a perplexed expression.

“Is that Pinkie’s?” Twilight asked which Gadget used his back hooves to slide out from under his invention.

“What do you mean? I thought this up myself. Look at the originality! All I need to do is test run it, then I’ll be sure to impress everypony with it!” he said with confidence.

“Umm, I’m pretty sure Pinkie Pie already made something like this.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Yeah, I saw Pinkie fly around Ponyville with it.”

Gadget sighed and then stood up on his hooves.

“You have got to be kidding.” He muttered; surprised somepony already beat him to the punch.

“You can even see for yourself when we get to Ponyville.” Twilight offered, making Gadget clop past her, heading outside.

As he stepped outside, he said “Well then, we shall! Come on!”

Down at Ponyville, it was busy as usual. Everpony was minding their own business, until they noticed somepony enter the Town Square, grinning and posing like he was the center of attention.

The new visitor had a dark blue coat with Pegasus wings and a horn, red eyes, and a black, long mane. He looked at the ponies around him.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I… Am Night Shade! The most dashing and, dare I say, handsomest pony in this pleasant town.” Night Shade introduced himself, giving a wink to Roseluck, making her swoon and faint from his looks.

Rarity looked at the crowd, trying to pass them. It was tough to see, so she had no choice but to make the ponies in front of her move out of the way.

“Excuse me! Sorry.” Rarity said, squeezing past the crowd. She reached the front of the crowd and noticed Night. She was confused why everpony had their attention on him. That’s when Night saw her.

He trotted towards her, yanking her and holding her with his front hooves.

“Well, hello. You must be the most beautiful flower in this field of roses!” Night said, smiling at her.

Rarity blushed lightly from his words and said “Oh please. You flatter me, dear.”

Night put her back on her hooves, smiling away.

“We must get to know each other. Perhaps a lovely dinner later?” Night suggested.

Rarity gasped. She never was asked such a question.

“O-Oh, I don’t know. I-I’ll need to find a dress to wear and I’ll need to style my mane.” Rarity said, fumbling on her words.

“Please… Take all the time you need. Perhaps we will meet sooner than you think.” Night Shade said, opening his wings and flying off into the sky. All the ponies then began to speak to one another about the pony.

Rarity blinked a couple of times, trying to gather her thoughts. Was it all a dream to her?

Twilight and Gadget arrived in Ponyville, entering her house.

“Alright, you can borrow one book before I show you Pinkie's invention. Then I’ll need it back tomorrow, okay?” Twilight said, as they both entered the library.

“I’m glad you saw it my way.” Gadget commented, looking at the books on the shelf as Twilight opened a book already on the floor and continuing where she left off.

“I don’t know how ‘for the greater good’ is a plausible reason…” she muttered, beginning to read her book.

As Gadget was busy looking through the books, they both heard the door open to see Spike enter, looking kind of grumpy.

Twilight looked at him with a smile and said “Hey Spike. Where were you?”

“Did you see that new pony in town?” Spike asked, walking past Gadget and crossing his arms.

“There’s a new pony in town?” she asked.

“Yeah, but he’s such a jerk!” Spike stated.

Gadget joined into the conversation, asked “Why is that? What’s his name?”

“His name’s Night Shade. The nerve of that guy! What does Rarity see in that pony?” he continued ranting.

“Why are you so concerned?” Gadget asked, Twilight looking at Gadget with a “isn’t it obvious?” expression, making Gadget nod in realization.

“It’s just… Something about that guy rubs me the wrong way. He’s got red eyes and a black mane. Plus, how many ponies do you see with wings and a horn? He looks too perfect.” The purple dragon stated.

“Another Alicorn, you say? How many are there?” Gadget pondered to himself.

Twilight became curious about this Night Shade and asked “Do you think we should spy on him? That seems pretty intrusive for somepony new here.”

Spike gave a huff and said “Well then, I’ll just do it myself!”

Surprisingly, Gadget became interested in a little spying on a suspicious pony.

“I’ll join you. I really have nothing else to do, so…” He offered, making both Gadget and Spike leave Twilight’s house in a march. Of course, Twilight sighed and shook her head.

Night Shade looked at the town from the sky, standing on a cloud. He growled at the ponies wandering below, the puffy cloud he was standing slowly starting to turn a dark gray.

“I hate these ponies… They’re so happy and brightly colored.” Night said to himself, the cloud continuing to turn darker and darker until it was completely black.

“I want those Elements as quickly as possible and then I’ll get out of here. Just focus and keep your anger under control until I have a chance to snatch them from their tiny little hooves.” Night assured himself, getting off the cloud, changing it back to normal and landing at the entrance of the Carousel Boutique, seeing Rarity in the window.

“Now… I’ll take hers first. She can easily fall for this disguise anyway.” He said, chuckling to himself and approaching the door.

Spike and Gadget peeked around the corner to see Night Shade enter Rarity’s house. Spike squinted in jealousy and said “Come on. Let’s see what he’s up to.” The two of them slowly sneaked up to the Carousel Boutique’s door, Spike climbing on top of Gadget to see through the window.

“What’s going on?” Gadget asked, ducking his head so Spike can see. From what Spike could see, Night Shade and Rarity were just talking and oddly, laughing.

“I don’t know… I still don’t think he’s what everyone else thinks. We should keep watching him.” Spike suggested.

“Well thank you Night Shade. I try making the best dress for everypony in this place.” Rarity said with a smile.

“I am impressed Rarity. Never have I seen such impressive craftsmanship in all my years.” Night said, faking a grin, but he turned his head slightly towards the door, seeing Spike in the window. His face showed irritation for a moment before smiling at Rarity.

“If you’ll excuse me a moment, dear. I think those two are eager to meet me.” He said, approaching the door, making Spike and Gadget back away slowly.

As soon as Night Shade opened the door and stepped outside, closing the door behind him, he looked at both Spike and Gadget.

“I’m sorry, but I’m very busy. Now if you would please, shoo.” Night demanded, hinting a tone of hostility in his voice.

Spike crossed his arms and said “Don’t think you can trick me! I know what you’re up to Night Shade.” He noticed Night’s eyes widen for a moment before he acted nonchalant again.

“I have no idea what you are talking about. Now, you should really be on your way.” Night said, stepping closer to them.

Spike and Gadget stood their ground.

“We don’t trust you for a minute. The only ponies with horns and wings are Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Eternal Rain. So how come you appear out of nowhere? I’ve never heard of you before.” Spike said.

Night Shade looked around to see no pony was looking. Quickly his front hooves changed into shadowy hands, grabbing Gadget and Spike and quickly using his magic to make them fall asleep.

“I think you should rest. When you wake up, it’ll be too late. I’m certain of that.” Night Shade said, his real voice speaking to them.

When they both were out of it, Night Shade looked around once more just to be sure and put Spike and Gadget in barrels behind a building, just to be sure they would catch sight of him.

“How convenient…” Night Shade commented, before going back out into the street, whistling lightly.

Twilight finished reading her book and closed it with her hoof, standing up and using her magic to put it back in the shelf.

Strangely, she felt a chill in the house. She looked around, feeling as if she was being watched now.

“Twilight… Twiiiiiliiiiight!” The voice called from behind her, causing her to look around quickly. She started to back up slowly.

“If this is a prank Pinkie Pie, you got me.” Twilight said, continuing to see where the voice was coming from. Suddenly, Shadow Rain emerged from a corner that was luckily covered in shadow, making Twilight gasp, but then getting ready to use her magic on him.

“What do you want? Trying to cause trouble?” Twilight asked.

Shadow Rain shook his head immediately and he said “No! Please! Listen to me for a moment Twilight.”

“Why should I? You tried to hurt all of the ponies here!” she recalled, her horn beginning to glow.

Shadow Rain sighed and explained.

“Things have changed for me… Ever since that day where I split apart from Eternal Rain, I felt… warm and regretful for what I did instead of cold and viscious. I don’t know what happened, but I can’t use my powers for darkness anymore on anypony. It wouldn’t… Feel right.” Shadow Rain said, lowering his head and for a moment, Twilight felt sympathetic for him.

“I see… And no matter where you master goes, you are doomed to follow.” Twilight added, which he nodded and looked at her.

“That’s why I’m here. The new pony named Night Shade isn’t all who he says he is. He’s actually my master in disguise. You must get him to reveal himself to everypony. If his plan to steal the Elements fails, he will retreat.” He said.

Twilight tilted her head in suspicion and asked “Why are you telling me all this? Why do you want to foil you master’s plan?”

Shadow Rain averted eye contact and said “Because I already told you. I’m not the same anymore. Please, you have to trust me. Stop him from stealing the Elements and show them what he really is. That is all I can say. I have to go before he senses my presence.”

And with that, Shadow Rain vanished in puff of black smoke. Twilight pondered about what he said and decided to look for Night Shade.

Chapter 11: Foiled!

Night Shade looked around, finding himself near Sugarcube Corner.

“Fantastic… Now I’m lost. I’ll just have to fly into the air and get back to that place.” Night Shade mumbled, seeing the door of Sugarcube Corner open and looking at Pinkie Pie, standing there with a face of surprise.

Quickly, Night Shade cleared his throat and said “Greetings. I am Night Shade. I believe you’ve already heard of me from others, correct?”

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie hopped in front of him and circled around him, looking him over.

“You must be new here! Like Gadget Rust!” Pinkie Pie said in her usual voice, making Night Shade cringe from it.

“Ugh… Her voice bothers me! I should get out of here.” He thought.

“You should come inside! I’ll make you a batch of cupcakes since you’re a new pony!” Pinkie Pie offered, interrupting Night Shade’s escape and pulling him into Sugarcube Corner.

Gadget felt a poke on his face, making him move slightly until being fully woken up from the barrel falling over onto the ground. He looked at who was poking him, seeing Rainbow Dash.

“O-Oh! Rainbow Dash! What are you doing here?” Gadget asked, wiggling out of the barrel and watching her wake up Spike the same way.

“Well, I was flying over Ponyville and I noticed you two were in here. What happened?” she asked, helping Spike out.

Spike looked around, and then asked Rainbow Dash “Did you see a dark blue pony with a black mane around here?”

She thought for a moment, but shook her head.

“No. Why?” she asked, causing Gadget and Spike to look at each other with shock and worry.

“L-Listen, it’s a long story and maybe we’ll explain. For now, we have to find him or Rarity might be in trouble!” Gadget said, jumping over the barrels and going back into the street, with Spike following along.

“Wait! Let me come with!” she yelled, catching up to the two.

“Really, I don’t think it’s necessary to make me sweets. I’m not really hungry.” Night Shade tried to reason, but Pinkie Pie didn’t listen.

“Don’t be such a silly filly! You just wait right here and I’ll be right back with a fresh batch for you!” she insisted, hopping to the kitchen.

Night Shade sighed and wanted to change into his original form, but he didn’t want anypony to see it happen. Plus, his form would be too big.

“I have to get out of here! Forget the cupcakes! I’m leaving!” he thought, opening the door and trotting out, but seeing Spike, Gadget, and Rainbow Dash across from the store, making him shut the door.

“I can’t let them catch sight of me. They know about my disguise now and I can’t let them expose me in front of everyone. I’ll need to find a way out of here…” he muttered to himself, quickly looking for a way out. He spotted a window and tried to see if he could open it, but there was no way to open it.

“Who designed this structure?!” He accidentally yelled, causing Pinkie Pie to hear him. She peeked out from the kitchen.

“What was that?” she asked, Night Shade quickly regaining his composure.

“Nothing, I was just impressed by the building.” He said, faking a smile.

Pinkie Pie went back into the kitchen, continuing to bake the cupcakes.

Twilight caught sight of Rainbow Dash, Gadget, and Spike, making her gallop to the three.

“Hey! Where’s Night Shade?” Twilight asked.

“We don’t know. That’s why we’re looking for him.” Gadget responded.

Pinkie Pie came out of the kitchen with the new batch of cupcakes for Night Shade to eat.

“Eat up! You’ll like them, I promise!” Pinkie Pie said happily, which Night Shade looked at them with uncertainty.

“Fine… I’ll just have one.” He decided, picking one up with his hooves and putting the whole cupcake in his mouth. The first two chews were fine, but suddenly, the sweetness of the cupcake came to him in an odd reaction, making him spit it out onto the floor in disgust and bolt out of Sugarcube Corner, looking for something to wash his mouth out. It must have been the love and care she put into making the cupcakes that had a negative reaction from his dark and evil emotions.

Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and Gadget looked at where the commotion was coming from to see Night Shade galloping around Sugarcube Corner in a panic.

“There he is!” Spike yelled, running towards him to make sure he didn’t get away this time.

Night Shade saw them coming, making him growl and bolt up into the sky.

“Catch me now, fools.” Night Shade said to himself, looking back to see Rainbow Dash following.

“Get back here!” Rainbow Dash yelled, catching up to him slowly.

Night Shade attempted to out maneuver her, but it was no use. She was much quicker than him and eventually, she got a hold of his tail with her teeth and pulled him down to the ground with her near the Schoolhouse.

Gadget, Spike, and Twilight caught up with the two.

“You’re not going anywhere Tartarus!” Twilight said; her horn ready to use magic on him. Night Shade looked visibly angry and disheveled from the scuffle to the ground.

“You… You haven’t heard the last of me! I will rule Equestria and you all will be the first to be punished by my power! ” Night Shade yelled, his body morphing slowly back into Tartarus. He then quickly spun in a circle, disappearing into a puff of black smoke.

They all sighed, thankful that he left, but also disappointed that they didn’t stop him when they had the chance.

“He won’t be coming back for a while.” Twilight said, looking back at them.

“How can you be so sure? What if he comes back?” Gadget questioned, making Spike nod in agreement.

Twilight smiled and said “I just have a feeling. The way he just left without putting up a fight. He probably isn’t strong enough to fight us yet.”

Gadget thought for a moment before agreeing with her.

“I-I guess so. Plus, since Eternal Rain is okay, he has to deal with him too.” Gadget said.

“We should really tell the mayor about this. Just to make sure that everpony will be aware of him.” Twilight suggested, heading to the Town Hall.

Apple Bloom was trotting around Sweet Apple Acres, looking at all the apple trees around her.

Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her, making her turn around to see Shadow Rain in the shadow of an apple tree.

“W-What do you want?” Apple Bloom asked, getting ready to protect herself from possible danger.

“Do you… Want to play?” Shadow Rain asked, turning into his Spook Tree form and stepping out of the shadows.

Shadow Rain gathered that as long as he wasn’t in his true form, Tartarus wouldn’t be able to sense his presence. At least, he hoped.

“Please… I just want a friend.” He begged, showing sadness in his eyes. Apple Bloom thought whether or not she should accept.

“Alright, but if you do anything sneaky, The Cutie Mark Crusaders will teach you a lesson!” Apple Bloom said, squinting at him. Spook Tree smiled a little.

“Thank you.” He said.

Chapter 12: Friends With The Enemy

Apple Bloom showed Spook Tree around Sweet Apple Acres. He was completely blown away by the sheer amount of apples in the farm. It seemed to go on forever, like an ocean. He wondered more about the world that he despised so much, wanting to see more of Ponyville.

“Okay! Let’s see if you can buck some apples!” Apple Bloom said with a hint of enthusiasm in her voice and a smile.

Spook Tree was a bit confused by what she meant.

“Buck… Apples? How do I do that?” he asked, tilting his head to the side a little in curiousity.

Apple Bloom’s eyes had widened by the question. She then looked at one of the apple trees and did her best to explain.

“Well, it’s pretty easy! My sister showed me. You just turn around against an apple tree like this and then you just…” she explained, turning around while doing so and bucking the apple tree lightly, disappointed a little that it wasn’t as effective as her sister’s.

“It uh… It looks very challenging. I would have expected an apple to fall from the tree.” Spook Tree assumed, looking up at it.

“Okay. Now it’s your turn to start buckin’.” She said, watching him slowly approach it with an expression of uncertainty. He turned around like she did and bucked as hard as he could. Surprisingly, he had succeeded in bucking the apple tree, making all the apples fall to the ground. Although, he was a minion of darkness and power, so it wasn’t all that surprising to him.

“Maybe I put too much into it. I should really suppress my strength to fit in more.” He suggested, showing a sign of embarrassment and backing up from the tree. Apple Bloom on the other hand, was impressed that he could do it, even though he was just a foal.

“That was amazing!” Apple Bloom said with surprise and awe. He blushed lightly at her comment and said “Well, I am a creature of evil.”

Apple Bloom nodded a bit in agreement before continuing the tour around Sweet Apple Acres.

Gadget went his own way after the event with Tartarus’ plan being stopped. Twilight told him that she would go to the Carousel Boutique and talk to Rarity about what had happened, just so she wouldn’t be heartbroken about Night Shade’s “sudden disappearance”.

He wondered what would have happened if Tartarus had succeeded with the gathering of the Elements of Harmony. His mind brought an image of a desolate land and ponies living in fear of his power. Gadget shook that image out of his head quickly and decided it was best to find something to keep him busy from that thought.

Gadget explored around Ponyville, but stopped at Sugarcube Corner.

“Hmm… I could go for something sweet right about now.” Gadget thought to himself, slowly clopping into Sugarcube Corner and peeking inside.

He saw Pinkie Pie on the steps in the front of the store, looking at her cupcakes, visibly sad about how Tartarus left after tasting one cupcake and hating it.

“U-Uh… Pinkie Pie? A-Are you okay?” Gadget asked, moving inside more and approaching her carefully and slowly.

Pinkie Pie looked at Gadget before looking back at her cupcakes, thinking about what she did wrong.

“Were those cupcakes for Night Shade?” he asked her, which she nodded slowly.

“He didn’t like them.” She muttered quietly. Gadget sat down on the stairs next her and tried to think of something nice to say. He wasn’t used to this type of stuff.

“W-Well, I don’t think they’re that bad. In fact, I’d like to taste one. Let a pony with a sweet tooth try it out.” He suggested with a big smile, in an attempt to make her feel better.

She perked up instantly, glad that somepony would taste her cupcakes.

“Here! Try one!” Pinkie said with happiness in her voice again, giving Gadget a cupcake. He stared at it closely and slowly bit into it. He began to chew it and not surprisingly, it was very good. He then gobbled the rest of the cupcake down and swallowed it with a big smile on his face.

“Wow! These are really great! Can I have another one? I-I mean, please?” Gadget asked with desire for the sweets she had.

Of course, Pinkie smiled and handed him another.

“We’ll share!” She suggested, eating a cupcake with him as they laughed together.

Spook Tree looked at the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse and was pretty surprised that it looked so bright and well-constructed.

“I am impressed by the work! You did this in one attempt?” Spook Tree assumed, climbing up the stairs to the clubhouse slowly, admiring the colours.

Suddenly, he was pulled back by Apple Bloom and she gave him a stern look. He looked confused why she was looking at him that way.

“You can’t just walk in the clubhouse! You ain’t a member yet!” Apple Bloom stated, making Spook Tree understand what she meant.

“Oh… I’m sorry. How do I become a member?” he asked out of curiosity. Apple Bloom thought for a moment and thought of a perfect idea for how to prove himself.

“I’ll have to get the other members first, so we can see if you got what it takes!” She said, galloping to get Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Spook Tree just looked at her leave and then slowly sat down at the end of the stairs.

“This is such an amazing world. I don’t know why I even wanted to cause trouble. Well, actually that was because of my master’s bidding, but now… This place looks too beautiful and wondrous to destroy.” Spook Tree thought to himself, smiling and looking at all the apple trees.

Then it occurred to him. He hadn’t seen the rest of Ponyville. This made him even more curious and excited about what he would discover there. He looked to the left, then the right, seeing that Apple Bloom hadn’t come back yet.

He continued to wait for a few more minutes, but she hadn’t returned. Spook Tree then slowly stood up on his own hooves and decided it was time for him to check the rest of Ponyville out. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Gadget walked out of Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie Pie after they had finished eating the cupcakes. They were both in such a good mood.

“H-Hey Pinkie Pie, do you uh… W-Well, I have this flying machine that Twilight says looks exactly like yours. Would you like to check it out? We could fly both of our contraptions together.” Gadget asked, a bit nervous about asking a pony other than Twilight to look at his creation.

She smiled big and hopped in excitement over what he made.

“Okay! I want to see!” Pinkie agreed, which made Gadget smile as well and they both trotted (Rather, Pinkie hopped alongside him) to Gadget’s workshop.

Spook Tree clopped out of Sweet Apple Acres, but he didn’t leave through the entrance. He just wandered past the clubhouse and went to a random direction to reach Ponyville, only to come face-to-face with a river.

He looked at the water flowing by and smiled at the noise it was making. Slowly, Spook Tree looked at his reflection in the water, but quickly backed away because he thought it was some other pony under water.

He looked again and tilted his head a little, realizing it actually was just his reflection. Spook Tree then dipped his front hoof into the gentle stream, feeling the cold, refreshing water. At first, he flinched at the feeling, but he adapted to it.

“Wow… It feels so nice. I wonder if…” He muttered, putting his other front hoof into the water and enjoying it immensely. He carefully approached the river closely and put his face into the water to see what it looked like, but the temperature of the water made him pull his head out and shake his head to dry his mane.

“I should really do that. I might fall and the consequences could be dire.” He reminded himself, taking his hooves out and backing away from the river. Suddenly, he heard Apple Bloom’s voice from behind him and he quickly galloped back to the clubhouse.

When he reached the clubhouse, he saw Scootlaoo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle there, all looking at him with perplexed faces.

“Where did you go Spook?” Apple Bloom asked, to which he tried to lie, but looking at them, he knew he couldn’t.

“I… was playing around in the water. I was curious about Ponyville and I wanted to see, but I couldn’t make it across and I suppose maybe that I’m stuck here.” Spook Tree explained, looking a little guilty.

Sweetie Belle smiled and suggested “Why don’t we take you Ponyville? We can show you all around! You have a lot to see about this place!”

Spook Tree gave a big grin at the idea and said “Really? Then please, lead the way! If this place is as great as Apple Bloom said, I can’t wait to see Ponyville!”

The four fillies then happily clopped to Ponyville, laughing and talking while Spook Tree just listened. Strangely, he enjoyed spending time with them. Almost as if he belonged.

Chapter 13: Departure

         Spook Tree looked at all the ponies around him as the Cutie Mark Crusaders showed him around. His eye practically glimmered from the look of the town and was simply astounded.

“I am shocked that I didn’t see this place from a different perspective. This is truly a place to behold!” Spook Tree said in awe. The three fillies smiled at each other, knowing that Spook Tree wouldn’t even try to double-cross them. He seemed too intrigued by the place.

“We’re happy that you like it! Have you ever tried Pinkie Pie’s sweets?” Sweetie Belle asked him, making him look back at them and shake his head.

“No, I don’t believe I have.” He stated, suddenly getting pulled towards Sugarcube Corner by Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.

Gadget opened the door to his house and revealed his machine to Pinkie Pie, making her look around and say “Ooooh! This is where you live?”

He bashfully nodded because it was the first time somepony besides Twilight that was actually surprised how he lived.

Almost immediately, Pinkie Pie looked at all of his things, touching and inspecting them with great curiosity. Of course, Gadget would have normally told her not to touch anything, but since she was almost blown away by his work, he excused it.

“O-Okay well, here’s my flying machine. What do you think?” he asked, putting his hoof on the front of it while Pinkie Pie continued to explore, almost completely ignoring him.

“Oh. Yeah, it looks almost like mine except it’s all grey and metal.” She said with little attention towards his work.

Gadget sighed to himself, having a feeling she will just keep on looking at his things and be too occupied with it. So, he just decided to sit on the ground and wait until she was done.

“And I thought I would get an insane amount of compliments from the happiest pony in town.” He muttered.

Tartarus sat in his throne, digging his claws into it in anger. He looked around to see if Shadow Rain was nearby.

“Come here at once, my servant!” Tartarus yelled, waiting for his minion to appear and bow towards him, but nothing happened.

“I summon you, Shadow Rain! Approach your master!” he yelled once more, having no result. This made Tartarus upset and he stood up on his feet, walking towards the outside of his kingdom of shadow.

He raised his hand up in the air and closed his eyes, attempting to sense Shadow Rain. From what his eyes could see from his minion’s, he was inside of a bakery of some sort with the three fillies he had imprisoned before.

“What… is this…? Is he… with those things?!” Tartarus said to himself, watching him as he picked up a cupcake and ate it slowly with Apple Bloom and her friends.

“You would turn you back on your master… For them?!” he thought, stopping his observation and growling slowly. He balled his hands up into fists, his anger and disappointment building up inside of him. His castle slowly began to crumble and return to his body, making him become stronger and his body bigger.

“Well my servant… You will know what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you…” Tartarus said, vanishing to confront him.

When Spook Tree finished the cupcake, he smiled wide and said “Amazing! I had never known that such delicacies existed!”

Suddenly, a rumble of thunder was heard outside Sugarcube Corner, causing the four of them to trot outside to see what was going on.

Their eyes widened to see the ponies retreat to their houses to be safe from an approaching figure as tall as an adult dragon. Spook Tree felt fear inside of him, knowing who it was that and that it was coming towards him.

“Apple Bloom, get inside. I have to take care of this.” He said, making the three fillies look at him with disbelief.

“What in the hay are you babbling about?! You can’t fight that thing!” Apple Bloom protested, but he pushed the three inside Sugarcube Corner, closing it and turning to look at his master.

Tartarus looked down at his servant’s new body, making him growl loudly, echoing across Ponyville and reaching Canterlot.

“Did you really think you could connect with these inferior beings and betray your master?!” Tartarus yelled, pointing at him so that his finger was almost touching him.

“I-I don’t care what you think, master! These ‘beings’ as you would classify them as are my friends and I won’t let someone like you tell me otherwise!” he yelled back, looking up at him with defiance.

Unfortunately, it was a mistake to talk back at his master because Tartarus picked up Spook Tree quickly and began to slowly squeeze him with his hand.

“Then I will have to administer my punishment onto you!” Tartarus said, making his grip tighter on Spook Tree, almost putting him on the verge of choking.

Suddenly, Tartarus saw something out of the corner of his eye, making him turn his head to see Eternal Rain fly towards him.

Eternal Rain fired a beam of his magic at Tartarus, which hit him in his eye, causing Tartarus to drop Spook Tree. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo immediately galloped outside and helped get him inside, away from the fight that was about to begin.

“You will not harm anypony here, Tartarus!” Eternal Rain said, landing onto the ground and charge his horn up for another attack. Tartarus looked down at him and changed his size to be his height, just to even the match against him.

“So… The hero arrives at the right time to save the innocent. I admire your courage, but despise your intentions to stop me!” Tartarus said, his hands beginning to glow a faint fiery orange.

“I know Shadow Rain more than you. Just because you created him doesn’t mean that he will not have a mind of his own.” Eternal Rain said, staring at the beast before him.

Tartarus’ red eyes widened, but he then laughed at his statement, thinking that it was foolish to assume that his creation would think on his own.

“Do you really think that will change my mind? I’m sorry, but I will destroy my creation and then, get rid of you and your friends!” Tartarus said, firing a beam of his magic at Eternal Rain, resulting in Eternal Rain to fly backwards out of Ponyville.

“You underestimated me, creature.” He said with a dark laugh and turning his attention to Sugarcube Corner, charging his magic again.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked out of the window and gulped, not knowing what to do.

Thankfully, they caught sight of Twilight and her friends, except for Pinkie Pie.

“Look! We’re saved! Get him Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said with a big smile on her face.

Tartarus turned around slowly, seeing the ponies he had encountered before and a couple more.

“I had a feeling you would come back. You never know when to give up, do you?” Twilight said.

“This world is mine and I am going to rule!” he yelled, firing his magic at the ponies, but they avoided the attack.

“Alright, that’s it! You’re going down!” Rainbow Dash said, flying towards him and giving him a buck to his face, which did make him stumble back away from Sugarcube Corner, but it didn’t hurt him.

“Hah! You think your barbaric attacks can damage the master of darkness?” Tartarus taunted, regaining his composure.

“No, but this will!” a voice from behind Tartarus yelled, a beam making contact with his back and putting him down on his knees. Tartarus slowly turned his head to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, using their magic to weaken him.

“You two… I never expected the two of you to work together. Together, your powers are nearly a match for my own!” he said, breaking out of the hold their magic had him in and turning towards them. Tartarus fired two beams of magic from his hands at the sisters, but they used their magic to create a barrier to block his magic. Unfortunately, Tartarus continued to fire.

“We need to use the Elements of Harmony on him! Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Twilight said, looking around to see if she could spot her anywhere.

“I think I saw Pinkie Pie go to Gadget Rust’s house. I’ll go tell her about this right away!” Rainbow Dash said, bolting up into the sky and heading to the direction where Pinkie Pie and Gadget went.

Gadget got onto his contraption and said “Now, watch this thing fly. You’re going to be the first witness to see if my machine actually works!”

He began to pedal slowly, seeing that it wasn’t starting. So he began to pedal faster, the flying machine slowly beginning to turn its propellers and lift off the ground. At first, he didn’t believe it, but his eyes showed surprise and happiness when it actually worked.

“I-It actually works! By Celestia, my invention works!” Gadget said with a smile on his face. So far, it hadn’t fallen apart or exploded like his previous ideas.

Pinkie Pie watched him fly up slowly and was smiling wide. Although, the moment of joy was interrupted by Rainbow Dash’s sudden entrance into his house.

“Pinkie Pie! We need you in Ponyville right now!” Rainbow Dash said, grabbing her hoof and pulling her outside. Gadget was confused by what was going on, so he landed the machine on the floor of his house and got off, galloping to follow the two ponies.

Tartarus stopped firing and went he got close; he grabbed both Luna and Celestia with his hands. He then closed his eyes and a dark liquid emerged from his hands and began to spread onto them, starting at their neck and worked their way across their entire body.

“You two will be my new servants! Once my power completely covers you both, you will be forced to serve under me! Nobody will stop me then!” Tartarus said, laughing loudly as Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Gadget Rust met up with Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack.

Suddenly, Tartarus was knocked away from Celestia and Luna, losing his grip on them and his magic disappearing on them. Tartarus slid on the ground on his back, but stopped himself and looked up to see Eternal Rain had returned to help in the fight.

“Alright Tartarus, it’s over now. The six ponies are here, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are here as well, with me assisting them. Run away while you still can and maybe we will forgive your actions.” Eternal Rain said, standing next to the sisters.

“I’m sorry Eternal Rain, but we cannot just let him go. He has to be imprisoned.” Celestia stated, making Eternal Rain look at her with surprise.

“But Celestia, shouldn’t everyone, no matter what they have done, be given a second chance?” he asked, to which she shook her head slowly.

“I cannot allow that. Not this time.” She responded, ready to use her magic.

Tartarus slowly stood up and looked at them. He raised both of his arms in the air and slowly, a giant red ball of dark energy began to form.

Quickly, Twilight and her friends trotted in front of Celestia, Luna, and Eternal Rain, using the Elements of Harmony, firing a beam directly at Tartarus. When it collided into him, his knees buckled for a moment, but he stood straight up and laughed.

“It will take more than that to defeat me!” he said, continuing to charge the ball of energy.

Eternal Rain, Luna, and Celestia used their magic as well, firing at Tartarus, which thankfully, made his energy vanish from his hands and making him grunt loudly in pain and fall to his knees. Although, it didn’t make him completely give up.

Slowly, he stood back up and began to approach them.

“I… Will not lose to you fools!” he muttered in anger, picking up speed to a faster walk.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom continued to watch the fight from the window of Sugarcube Corner, worried if they would actually succeed.

“Come on! You can win! Don’t give up!” Scootaloo yelled.

“Show him whose boss Rarity!” Sweetie Belle cheered.

“Beat him to a pulp, Applejack!” Apple Bloom encouraged.

Spook Tree opened his eyes and slowly got on his hooves, his form changing back to Shadow Rain. The three fillies heard him groaning as he fully changed and they gasped.

“S-Spook Tree! You’re back to being… that?” Apple Bloom said in shock. Shadow Rain looked at the three, showing embarrassment, but he averted his eyes to see the conflict taking place outside of the store.

From that moment, Shadow Rain knew what he had to do. It was a risk that he was willing to take.

He opened the door and looked back at the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“W-Why in the hay are you going out there?! It’s too dangerous!” Apple Bloom asked.

“Apple Bloom, I brought him into this place. I have to help.” Shadow Rain said, clopping outside and standing next to Eternal Rain.

As he fired his magic, he looked to see Shadow Rain charge up his dark magic. They made eye contact and nodded. Shadow Rain fired at Tartarus, which was what they needed to finally defeat the being darkness and evil.

Tartarus fell to his knees, yelling in pain and losing his power. He attempted to get back up, but they were too strong. He collapsed onto the ground and they stopped using their magic.

Princess Celestia approached him slowly and he looked up.

“P-Please… Spare me… I-I have learned my lesson…” Tartarus said, his body slowly shaking from his loss of power.

“I highly doubt that. You tried to hurt the ponies here. Do you really think I will let you go, just so you will come back and try this again?” Celestia stated, her horn glowing once more.

“You’re going to a place where you can never escape and never use your magic to attempt anything evil. Farewell, Tartarus.” She said, using her magic to summon shackles, causing them to wrap around Tartarus’ wrists and pulling him into a portal, disappearing from Ponyville for good.

The ponies that were sheltered in their homes, trotted out slowly and looked to see Tartarus had vanished, causing them to cheer and approach the victors.

They all smiled at the ponies, thanking them for saving Ponyville from danger.

As that happened, Shadow Rain felt something odd on his hooves, similar to a feeling of numbness.

He looked down to see his hooves fading away slowly, making him quickly jolt up into the air and fly off to Sweet Apple Acres without thinking.

The three young fillies saw Shadow Rain leave when they stepped outside, wondering what happened.

“Why did he just leave? Shouldn’t he be celebrating?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“We should see what’s up.” Scootaloo suggested which they nodded in agreement, galloping to Sweet Apple Acres.

When they had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, the first idea they decided on was to check the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse. They galloped towards the clubhouse, seeing Shadow Rain lying on the ground in front of the stairs, quickly approaching him and he slowly faded. So far, he was almost see-through.

“Spook Tree!” The fillies said in unison with a tone of worry in their voices.

“Are you okay? What’s happening to you?” Sweetie Belle asked, which Shadow Rain sighed and looked at the three of them.

“I’m… I’m sorry… I don’t think I can stay here for long…” Shadow Rain managed to say, the fillies not really understanding what he meant.

“W-What in the hay do you mean you can’t stay here?” Apple Bloom asked, getting close to him with a sad expression slowly creeping on her face.

Shadow Rain looked away from her big eyes and said “I-I was created by Tartarus to cause trouble and harm other ponies, but now… Since he lost his power and was taken away, I have… I have to leave…”

They gasped and Apple Bloom grabbed him in a hug, her front hooves around his neck and resting her head on his chest, not wanting him to go away.

“Don’t go! W-We wanted you to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders when he finished visiting Sugarcube Corner!” she tried to reason, but there was nothing Apple Bloom could do.

He used his transparent front hooves, pushing her away slightly from himself and smiling.

“Apple Bloom, I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s the way it’s meant to be. I don’t want to leave as much as you do, but I have no choice.” Shadow Rain said, tears coming out of their eyes slowly.

Shadow Rain stood up and looked at the sky with tears starting to come out of his own eyes, which amazed him. He looked back at Apple Bloom.

“Look… I’m crying too… I thank you for that. If you all didn’t show me friendship, I never would have felt this emotion before…” he said with a warming smile.

Shadow Rain looked at Apple Bloom and nuzzled her softly, slowly being lifted up into the sky and fading away.

“I will be in your hearts as a great friend, Cutie Mark Crusaders. Goodbye…” Shadow Rain said before completely disappearing from Equestria.

And so, the being of darkness and evil Tartarus, was defeated and sent to a land being guarded by Cerberus, rightfully fitting his actions.

Ponyville and Equestria were saved from danger, holding a grand celebration that lasted several days.

But what of Gadget Rust and his time after the event of Tartarus?

That is a story for another time…