Still Horsing Around

by Darkness Shade

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, Human, Main 6, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Romance, Comedy, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure
Length: 45808

The adventure continues with Ryan Ryder and his herd as they encounter new challenges that will test their will, their Friendship...as well as how ridiculous they can make things!

Over a year has passed since Ryan found his way into this land of technicolor ponies, and he's adjusted pretty well despite many interesting truths coming to light and completely turning his world around. While he and his herd now have to deal with their new status as royalty, they've managed to keep their lives pretty much the same.
Unfortunately, things never remain quiet forever, and as they're about to find out, their greatest challenges still lay ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It only took forever, but here it finally is! The long-awaited sequel to Just Horsing Around! We hope it's been worth the wait!

Published 2016-10-18 05:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-01-23 02:17:25 UTC

Sympony of the Neight

Spike knew he was in trouble, and couldn’t escape from it this time. In the past there had been some thankful distractions, or he’d been able to deflect any questions rather easily, but this time the girls were not going to let him be without getting an actual answer out of him. Looking around, Spike could see any exit was covered, and so he stood his ground.

“Spike, you know where that human of ours vanished off to, so why can’t you just tell us?”

“...I already told you, Twilight, I made a promise not to.” Spike looked around nervously. “I can’t tell you where he went, but he’s fine so why are you guys so gung-ho for an answer this time?”

“Because he’s been gone for two weeks! And the last time he went off for a while, he at least told us he’d be gone and why.” Rainbow swooped in close to the poor dragon, eyeing him fiercely. “Now tell us where Rys went!”

“...”

“Oh dear, it would appear he’s going to be silent on the matter.” Rarity smirked. “Perhaps we’ll just have to be a bit more...persuasive.”

Spike gulped, unsure as to what exactly that meant, before thinking of one last gambit...but it was a bit of a long-shot and even he wasn’t sure it was going to work.

“Look, I can see that you’re quite curious about what big bro is up to, and why he wouldn’t tell you what he was doing.” Spike began to walk calmly towards them, all while making a motion with his hands. “But the fact of the matter is, he made me promise to not tell, so you’ve left me but the one option…”

The girls seemed puzzled by that one, so Lyra spoke up. “Uhm, that would be telling us, right? Because you’re not going anywhere till you do.”

“Heh...you’d think that, but then you forget who I’ve been training with.” Spike smirked before snapping his fingers as the most curious magic began to emanate from his position.

“...! No! Grab him before…” Twilight gasped, having put the dots together but alas it was too late and Spike had poofed away in a curious green cloud of chaotic magic. “....Discord!”

“Now hold on, ya mean that there training was that wily ol’ chimera teaching Spike Chaos Magic?!” AppleJack frowned. “That seems dangerous ta me, but dang...that means he could be anywhere.”

“He couldn’t have gotten far! Now come on, we—Oof!” Twilight groaned, having collided with something rather solid. “What?”

“Hahaha, where y’all off to in such a rush?” A rather familiar voice stated, as a hand ruffled Twilight’s mane. “A guy goes off for a few weeks and y’all start losing yer senses.”

“Apple Ryder!” AppleJack gasped before leaping and tackling her human. “Where the hay have you been?!”

“Taking care of some business that’s most important.” Ryan chuckled softly, giving his apple mare a hug before getting up. “Nice ta see little bro kept his promise, though, although the fact that he pulled one over on you guys is pretty amusing.”

“W-wait, you saw all that?” Fluttershy nervously asked. “How long were you standing there, Ryan?”

“Long enough.” Ryan walked over to where Spike was before seemingly tapping the air...which made a slight gasp noise. “Disky has been teaching you some interesting stuff, huh?”

“Eyup!” Spike replied, reappearing right where he’d been. “It’s tricky, but I’m getting the hang of it...mostly.”

“Okay, so Rysy-Wysy is back and that’s great and all but dang it I need to know why you just took off!” Pinkie leapt at him and didn’t let go. “Why did you sneak off? Are their other mares?! How many families do you have?!”

“...wut?”

‘Something tells me Ponk here might have been hitting the sugar a bit too hard while we were gone.’ Dark chuckled. ‘You’ll get your answers soon enough, so just be patient.’

Though not fully satisfied by that, it was at least enough to get them to calm down...before they all tackled their human.

“Heh, nice ta know Ah’m missed at least. And don’t worry, Ah won’t keep ya gals in the dark for long about what Ah was doing. So...did Ah miss anything?”

Having seen that they weren’t going to get any answer out of their human, the group of mares decided to settle back into normalcy till Ryan felt like explaining just what the heck he was planning.

“Alright ladies, Ah’ve gotta go check on a few things before we meet up with Spike and Big Mac. Y’all take care and see ya later tonight.”

‘Goodbye, ladies. Fear not, for this sexiness will be back soon enough.’

Chuckling at the varied reactions this got from his herd, Ryan headed off, unaware that a certain rainbow-maned mare was apparently unable to wait.

“And there he goes...good. Time for some reconnaissance!”

Twilight rolled her eyes before sighing. “Rainbow, don’t tell me your going to go stalk our human hoping to find out what he’s up to again, are you? That would be the third time this week...and I’m pretty sure he know your doing it as well.”

“Besides, darling, remember how those last times went?” Rarity huffed, bouncing her hair for effect. “You saw him head off with Discord somewhere and thought he’d been “bewitched by chaos”...when all it turned out was him doing that cute little training stuff with him and Spikey.”

“...okay, true, but...what about when Spike and him went away to where that big, mean dragon lives south of here?”

“Oh, well that was simple: that dear old-timer was having a heck of a time with some of the locals and the Princess wanted to send those two as delegates.”

“Then why the secrecy?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Because it was supposed to be a secret till afterwards, Rainbow Dash. Goodness, it’s not that hard to follow.”

Rainbow Dash huffed, annoyed that Fluttershy of all ponies was laughing at her.

AppleJack sighed, knowing that her fellow herdmate was not going to let this go until their human finally revealed whatever the big surprise he was cooking up for them was. Adjusting her hat, she let out a huff before grinning. “Fine, Ah can see ya can’t calm down till we figure out whatever it is that Apple Ryder is up ta. So perhaps this time, we all tag along ta keep ya outta anymore trouble. Ah think we cut it close with ya almost ruining the rather thin peace we have with the dragon to the south, so Ah’d rather not risk it.”

“...I don’t have to be babysat. “ Dash quietly murmured, crossing her forelegs and frowning. “But if you’re all coming, then let's go. We can’t let him get too far ahead...who knows what he’s been doing while we’ve been wasting time arguing?!”

Though slightly more difficult than they’d expected it to be, they’d finally caught clues to Ryan’s trail and found themselves outside a certain establishment specialized with a certain theme.

“Oh hey! I recognize this place! This was where Rysy-Wysy went with Eris when we were off talking with all of our parents.”

“...isn’t this supposed to be some kind of retro place?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow as they drew near. “Like...why would he come here with Spike and Big Mac?”

“Well, darling, there’s only one way to find out: we just go in and see what he’s up to.” Rarity smirked. “And it just so happens I have the perfect outfi—I mean disguises in that reality breaking gift our dear human created.”

After a few moments of “getting into character”, Lyra led the group inside only to hear the ending lyrics of whatever song was last being belted out.

They need a hero. They’re holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night.

Turning to the stage after hearing those voices, they saw Ryan and Dark both holding a microphone while Spike and Big Mac were playing accompaniment behind them. DJ Pon3 was winding down the music as the quartet caught their breath and grinned.

“Hell yeah, y’all! That’s some choice tunnage right there!”

Ryan’s statement was met with a flurry of shouts and replies in all manner of 80’s lingo as he kept the crowd pumped while trying to figure out which tune to belt out next. He puzzled over it briefly before a smile began to form and he turned to Pone3.

“Hey Pon3?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s set up some seagulls, ya follow?”

“Haha, I’ll make it a whole flock, ya gnarly human you.”

“Okay boys, you know what we’re about to sing. Watch for your cues, mind the solos, and above all else: Stay Radical.”

With that Ryan counted off a beat by tapping his foot before Vinyl flipped a switch, her tables spinning up and the lights on stage flickering on. The sound of seagulls soon filled the room, echoing softly before Spike and Mac grinned and began playing. Ryan and Dark smirked and nodded to the beat as their brothers had their moment—Mac banging away on his drums and Spike strumming out some hot licks—before finally belting out the smooth grooves of the 80’s.

Ah walk along the avenue
Ah never thought Ah'd meet a girl like you
Meet a girl like you
With auburn hair and tawny eyes
The kind of eyes that hypnotize me through
You hypnotize me through

And Ah ran, Ah ran so far away
Ah just ran, Ah ran all night and day
Ah couldn't get away

As Spike continued laying out the beat, Dark produced a guitar of his own and began playing out bass to accompany it as the neon lights danced across the stage.

A cloud appears above your head
A beam of light comes shining down on you
Shining down on you
The cloud is moving nearer still
Aurora Borealis comes in view
Aurora comes in view

And I ran,Ah ran so far away
I just ran, Ah ran all night and day
Ah couldn'tget away

“Haha, hit it bros!” Ryan shouted, smirking as Big Mac rocked the drums hardcore before Spike nailed his solo, the crowd going wild to their delight as laserlight seagulls fluttered about. Even the girls had to admit that they were pretty dang good at this, and had to idly wonder just how long they’d been doing this in secret. Soon enough, Ryan and Dark continued singing.

Reached out a hand to touch your face
You're slowly disappearing from mah view
'Appearing from my view
Reached out a hand to try again
Ah'm floating in a beam of light with you
A beam of light with you

And I ran, I ran so far away
I just ran, I ran all night and day

And I ran, I ran so far away
I just ran, I couldn’t get away

As the quartet finished out the final chorus, their voices ringing harmoniously, Ryan pulled out a guitar as well and the four of them hammered out a spectacular ending, their actions in sync with Pon3’s as they finished with a bang. As the final strum was played, the seagulls exploded into multiple colors of light before fading away. All was silent for a moment before the crowd went wild, cheering their name as they caught their breath.

“Heh, thanks for the accolades, dudes and dudettes, but that’s all for us tonight. Now let’s hear it for the one, the only, DJ PON3 who’s going to lead us to the late hours with some choice selections.”

“You heard the human, party pones! Let’s get radical to the max!”

Finally stepping offstage and laughing with his brothers over another successful performance, he turned to see his herd there.

“Well now, y’all are looking like some primo babes tonight. What brings you here anyhow?” He leaned in and smirked at Rainbow Dash. “Come to “stalk” me again, mah Rainbow Drop?”

“Gah! Don’t use that in public!” Rainbow huffed before staring at the ground. “...though to answer your question, maybe...can you blame me though? You’ve got a secret and I need to know what it is!”

Ryan laughed softly before ruffling her mane. “Relax, Dashie, you don’t have much longer to wait. Ah should have all the preparations ready now, so you’ll be seeing soon enough what Ah’ve been working on. All of y’all will.”

“But hey, hey! Why worry about that?” Dark grinned, motioning towards a table. “We’re all here to have fun and stuff, so why not join us? I’ll order some drinks and we can enjoy the decadence that was the 80’s together!”

“I...suppose that wouldn’t be too bad. After all, we’ve been all getting a bit stressed lately with our daily routines.” Twilight shrugged before pausing. “Although, Dark?”

“Yeah, Twily?”

“How are you seperate like that? From what I recall, you guys hadn’t perfected that yet. In fact, didn’t you say that the chaos from that weird dimension you fought Starswirl in was probably the only reason you could do what you did?”

“I suppose an explanation wouldn’t hurt...but first, let’s drink!” Dark grinned, sitting down and grabbing a bright purple drink from those he’d had brought over...before slamming it down in one go. “Oh! Yeah! That’s the stuff, baby! Ahem! Anyway, seeing as our purple horse did ask a question, allow me to educate you on how this hunk of a dude is now—sorta—capable of being tangible once more.”

“...I told you not to call me that.” Twilight huffed, but let it slide as her desire for knowledge overrode her annoyance.

“So, after that whole debacle with my Master, both Ryan and I were a bit curious as to the extent that little spell was powered up. We dabbled here and there, attempting to see how long the separation could last, as well as distance and all that. At first we kept it secret, but when it seemed as if things were staying stable, we decided to try and see what happened when we actually did stuff...ya know, other than sparring anyway.”

Finishing his drink, Ryan wiped his face clean before adding his own two cents. “From what Ah can tell, the chaos energy in that little pocket dimension was the final component we needed to fully realize what Ah’d hoped Ah could do ever since that day Dark reawakened. Oddly, it would seem to be a combination of many factors, not the least of which was our little reality hopping thanks to the Doc.”

“So that’s what ya were up to all that time...y’all were having fun.”

“Well, Ah guess you could call it fun…” Ryan glared sideways at his soul twin. “If running from one of the more fearsome Captains of the Soul Society is what you’d consider fun.”

“Look! I already said sorry! Jeez!” Dark sighed, his sunglasses drooping comically. “Again, I have to reiterate: She. Kissed. Me. Ahem! Regardless, thanks to Ryan’s ability to learn things really quickly and innate ability to bullshit at a level unseen by normal humans, we’ve figured out the spell that lets me have my own body again. Well...more or less?”

Taking a small sip from her drink, Fluttershy crinkled her nose at that before looking at Dark. “What do you mean “more or less”?”

“Well, I may have my own body, but I’m still connected to Ryan in a way. If I take too much of a beating, I can lose the cohesion the spell generate and get poofed back into his noggin. It’s irritating, but at least we’ve determined that distance is no longer an issue...at least up to a manageable range anyway.” Dark nodded before smirking. “Woona will be quite surprised, but don’t let her know yet. I want it to be a surprise seeing as Nightmare Night is coming up, so don’t spoil it. And with that said, I’ve got to take a rest. Ladies, a pleasure as always!”

Ryan rolled his eyes at his counterpart’s playing it up, especially when he blew his herd a kiss before poofing back into his soul form. “Dark, yer an idiot.”

‘Aw, but I’m your idiot.’

“Heh, he’s got a point there, Ryers.”

“Dashie...don’t help him. Anyway, the night is still young and the beats are still bodacious. Anypony care to dance?”

And so time did pass, as September came rolling in and with it the changing of seasons. As promised, Ryan didn’t make his herd wait long to find out his big surprise, and sure enough this evening found them waiting patiently for his arrival...though why he asked them to wear their best dresses had them curious.

“What do you think he’s up to?”

“Lyra, darling, he clearly just wishes to treat his mares after making them fret so much over his...curious actions.” Rarity sighed, her hair bobbing as she adjusted a few last things. “Even for all his craziness, that dear man still knows how to be quite the gentleman.”

“...I still thinks he’s up to something.” Rainbow added, fidgeting a bit. “This dress feels a bit tight around the wings…”

“That’s probably because you ain’t got it on properly.” AppleJack trotted over to her herdmate and helped her adjust a few straps. “There we go. That better, sugarcube?”

Giving her wings a few quick flaps, Rainbow nodded. “Well, whatever the reason, it better be worth getting all fancy looking.”

Twilight was oddly silent, apparently deep in thought over the whole situation and wondering just what in the world their human could possibly be planning. She jumped slightly when she heard the doorbell ring and opened it up to see their human there, dressed sharply and carrying several bouquets of flowers.

“So sorry Ah’m running a little behind, ladies. There were a...few unforeseen hitches that needed addressed but this evening should run fine now.” Ryan smirked before handing them their flowers. “I hope they’re to yer liking, I did do mah best to get y’alls favorites.”

“Heehee, I’ll say!” Pinkie chuckled before using her mane to put one of the flowers in her hair. “Then again, you always know what we like, Rysy-Wysy.”

Looking over their dresses, he chuckled softly. “Ah could say the same about y’all. Now then...shall we?”

With that they followed him, flanking his sides as he led them towards the more fancy part of town. In particular, to what had quickly become known as the fanciest restaurant in Ponyville ever since it opened up recently.

“Darling! You…”

“Heh, yes, mah marshmallow?”

“...How did you get reservations here of all places? Ever since Gustave opened the newest branch of his restaurant here, the waiting list was already booked a year in advance.”

“Never doubt the strings Ah can pull. Nothing is too good for mah herd, after all. Now come! We should be just in time for a reservation.”

Holding the door for them as they stepped inside, he followed along before they came to the maître d's station.

“Oh! Monsieur Ryder! At last, at last! I was beginning to worry you were running late!”

“Haha, just a few hiccups, Pierre, but as you can see we’re here and all accounted for.”

“Ho ho, I can see zhat! You have quite the company tonight, which means we must do our best to make tonight special! Please, if you would, follow me.”

“After you ladies.” Ryan gave a slight bow, allowing his mares to take point as they were led to a quiet dining room slightly sectioned off from the rest of the restaurant. As they took their seats and awaited their server, a few members of his herd were a little surprised at how...fancy it all was.

“...Rys, I feel as if we’re bleeding money just sitting here.”

“Haha, perhaps Heartsy, but it certainly makes things a bit more special this evening, no?”

“I suppose…” She narrowed her eyes. “What are you up to?”

“Me? Up to something?” Ryan laughed nervously. “Oh please, what could Ah possibly be up to in taking mah herd to a very nice dinner date?”

“A lot if’n Ah know you, Apple Ryder.”

Rolling his eyes, he smirked at Apps before silently thanking the fact their server had walked in. After taking their orders and double-checking all was right, the server motioned towards somepony and suddenly the room was filled with very pleasant classical music adding just the right touch of ambiance.

“My my...such lovely sounds. Though I don’t recognize the tune at all, darling.”

“I do...it’s from Ryan’s world. I believe...Beet hoven?”

Ryan chuckled softly before pronouncing it phonetically. “Bay-tow-ven. But very good, Heartsy. This place is pretty classy and it seemed appropriate for the mood, so it didn’t take much to convince them to try and perform that and a few others from my world.”

“But uh, if it’s from your world, how do they have the sheet music to play it?” Rainbow fidgeted a bit, fiddling with her dress. “Last I checked you didn’t have anything like that when you ended up here.”

“Oh, well that’s easy: Tavi, though not interested in most of the music that followed me, took a liking to these tunes and managed to transcribe them by ear. She’s far more talented than Ah ever would’ve guessed.” Ryan shook his head slightly before smiling. “But enough of that, we’re here to enjoy our time together and have a nice evening.”

‘You heard the man! Just relax and enjoy a nice treat courtesy of your humans, my ladies.’

Pinkie couldn’t help but giggle at Dark being Dark yet again as their night continued on without too much of an issue.

As far as his herd could tell, they didn’t see any strange occurrences as their dinner date continued. In fact, as they finished their dessert, it had pretty much been a normal time...which only bothered some of them even more as they were wondering just when Ryan was going to reveal this...whatever it was he’d been secretly planning.

“Oh man, what a delightful meal that was. Heh, and judging from y’alls empty plates, Ah reckon you feel the same.” Ryan smiled, looking over the mares that he loved, that he wanted to make so many memories with...and a life with. It was at that time that he stood, and motioned for something.

“Ryers, what’s going on?”

“Yes darling, what are you waving your hand for?”

“Oh my, is that Spike? Why is he here? Is that a...a box? Wait…”

Lyra gasped. “I’ve seen a box like that before! Rys!”

Scratching her head, Twilight scrunched her face. “I feel like I have as well but...no. It couldn’t be.”

“What in tarnation are y’all going on about? What’s so special about that fancy felt covered box…!”

“I love surprises! See? I knew our human was planning something special. And it only took the author several months to finally write us to this moment.”

“Haha, leave the guy alone for now, Pinks. He’s been busy.” Ryan cleared his throat before continuing. “Ladies...we’ve been through so much now. Experienced so many things. We’ve become far closer than anyone of us could have possibly imagined. And all it took was me just showing up here in the middle of some cursed forest. It’s funny to think back on that day, what seems forever ago even if it’s oddly only been a little more than a year. Never did Ah—and most likely y’all as well—imagine that we’d not only become such close friends, but that we’d all fall in love as well.

“And yet, Ah can’t imagine mah life without any of y’all in it. Life just wouldn’t be complete without the seven of you in it and, after the most recent events we’ve had to deal with, Ah did a lot of thinking and thought: what was Ah waiting for? And so…” He knelt down and as he did so he opened the box to show seven brightly shining rings, each one designed to reflect which mare it was for. “Ah’ve but one question to ask mah beloved herd: Will y’all make me the happiest human in Equestria and marry me?”

His herd was silent for a moment, which certainly did make Ryan sweat a bit, but soon enough they all reacted in their own ways. From Rarity nearly fainting to AppleJack letting out a yeehaw, their reactions were pretty much what he’d expected, but when they all turned to him and said “Yes” it was his turn to be emotional. Needless to say he was soon buried under an avalanche of warm ponies as they hugged him tight. Ryan laughed softly, managing to raise an arm up to fistbump Spike before he left to let them enjoy their moment.

‘Haha! Congrats man! See? Didn’t Mac, Spike, and I say you didn’t have anything to worry about?’

“Yeah, yeah...but it wouldn’t be me if Ah didn’t worry. So then...it’s obvious that y’all are down with this...which is good since the date Ah picked is next month.”

“...say what?”

“Well, yes, Rares. See, part of the things Ah’ve been doing behind the scenes is to make this as special as possible. And, though we’ve only got about a month and a half to the date that Ah chose for such a reason, we shouldn’t have any problem taking care of the last few details.”

“...Apple Ryder?”

“Yeah?”

“What made ya, ya know, change yer mind about all of this? Ah know ya said once that we had time and stuff so...don’t get me wrong! Ah’m really really happy ya asked us, because we all knew it was something we eventually wanted, but what made ya decide to ask sooner than later?”

Motioning that he wanted to get up off the ground, he and his herd took their seats again before he explained. “After everything with DJ and StarSwirl and then this whole business with the Tree of Harmony, Ah don’t wanna risk waiting and then something happening...and from what Ah can piece together something will. There’s too much that we got told that we shouldn't have been told and it made me think. And the more Ah thought, the more Ah realized why were we waiting? We work so well together, we complete each other so well, we play off of one another’s strengths and balance one another’s weaknesses. We’re a cohesive unit that is always there for each other. In the end Ah couldn’t think of a reason not to. And when Lunes mentioned that the end of next month would be the first time in over 1,000 years that the Midnight Harvest Moon would appear, Ah knew that was a sign.”

“Wait...do the Princesses know what you were planning?”

“Well, T-Sparks, considering Ah had them helping with the wedding arrangements, that’d be a yes. They said they should have everything set for a beautiful nighttime wedding in Canterlot.”

“Oh there’s so much to do though!” Lyra was slightly flustered thinking on it. “Invitations! And we’ll need wedding gowns and…!”

“Relax, hon. Ah told ya Ah’ve been working on this for a while and those two weeks Ah was being very mysterious had a lot ta do with that. Ah pretty much pulled favors from everypony Ah know, so don’t fret. Everything will work out fine. Well, almost everything.”

Frowning, Rainbow could sense something eating at their human. “Ryers, what do you mean?”

“It’s just...it’s silly but...Ah always expected that when Ah did finally get married, mah family would be there. Ah know that can’t happen, but it’s a thought that’s just sitting there despite all the happy.” Ryan smiled before shaking his head. “But no need to bring down our jovial mood with that. We’re gonna be husband and wives. Man, now there’s a line Ah didn’t think Ah’d ever say. But Ah’m glad Ah can now! Ah love y’all so much and Ah’ll always be there for ya, no matter what.”

It should go without saying that after that night it was a flurry of activity for the human and his mares as they had such a short span of time to get ready for their wedding. Granted, certain members of his herd were still a bit disappointed that much of the planning that normally would go into such an occasion was already either taken care of or had to be accelerated to accommodate the date chosen. Regardless of these facts, the group of mares and their human had done a rather bang up job at getting things in order.

“Of course, when yer the kinda guy with friends like mine, such almost impossible things are usually pretty easy ta pull off.” Ryan sighed, trying on his suit and smirking at how sharp he looked. “Hmmm…”

‘Penny for yer thoughts, partner?’

“Just...thinking about the past again. How looking over mah suit reminded me of the first suit Ah ever got. Pops helped me get a nice one so Ah could look good for interviews near the end of my college days…”

‘...it’s really eating you that they can’t be here, isn’t it?’

“Heh, can ya blame me?” Ryan, satisfied with how he looked, changed back into his street clothing so he could go check on other things. “Ah mean, at least Ah’ve got mah new family here, and they’ve all been so helpful with this. Otherwise there’s no way we’d pull it off.”

‘Speaking of, how’s things coming with the Best Mare?’

“Well...she’s doing a pretty admirable job. Then again, she does run her own business, so it’s no surprise she’s good with planning.” Having headed outside and towards town, Ryan had a thought. “Hey, Partner?”

‘Yeah?’

“I kinda forgot, what with how things are here, but thinking back to another wedding reminded me that I’ve made an error and forgot an important role.”

‘...you dropped your accent again, this must be serious.’

“Well, all things considered, it is. I’ve completely forgotten about finding a Best Man.”

‘...oh.’

“Yeah...and, well...there isn’t anyone else around that I feel could fill that role better than you, Partner.”

Dark was stunned by this, but mostly because such a serious showing by Ryan was rare. ‘Ah...Ah’d be honored, Ryan.’

“Heh, and we know you got serious cause ya got mah accent.”

‘Such a brat...but...am I really such a good choice? Even if I can kinda split off into my own self, it’s not terribly stable yet and I’m just usually such a goofball.’

“But yer our goofball, Dark. Besides, the Best Man gives support to the Groom. And what other guy has given me as much support as you have? Hell, you’ve even gone so far as to fuse with me to save those Ah care about. If that ain’t true friendship worthy of being mah Best Man, then Ah don’t know what is.”

Dark was quiet for a moment, trying his best not to become a “sad, sappy mess” as a certain other spirit would put it, before laughing softly. “Well then, how can I refuse? Let’s make this wedding one that nopony in Equestria will ever forget.”

Grinning and mentally giving him a high-five, Ryan continued towards town with a spring in his step. “Trust me, Dark: a wedding with the two of us in it will be something to remember.”

At long last, the day had come. Despite the whirlwind nature of the days preceding it, Ryan Ryder and his herd—as well as their family and friends—had managed to pull it all off. With minutes to go before he had to be in the wedding hall, Ryan was going over a few last minute touches and trying to steady his nerves.

“Why the hell am Ah so nervous all of the sudden?” Ryan quietly mumbled, his hands shaking slightly. “It’s just our family and friends come to see our moment of happiness...no sweat.”

‘It’s because it’s a big step, Ry. From here on out, you and those seven lovely ladies will forever be joined together. I don’t know if I’ve said it, but I’m proud you followed your heart. That you aren’t making the same mistake that I did and waited too long.’

“Partner…”

‘Heh, sorry Ry. Hopefully you can forgive an old man losing himself to his thoughts for a moment.’

Ryan closed his eyes in thought, before squeezing his fist tight. “Ah promised ya that one day we’d get you yer body back, and Ah won’t stop until then, Partner. We’re so close...and Ah won’t give up till you can have back what you lost so long ago. Heh...who knows? When we make that day happen, maybe then our roles will be reversed.”

‘I’d like that...now then—’

“Sorry to interrupt, guys.” Ryan and Dark turned to see Shining Armor poking his head in.

“It’s all good, Shiny. They ready for us?”

“You bet. Looking sharp by the way.” Following him to the hall, he paused before opening the door. “Congrats as well. Oh, and good luck. Something tells me you’ll need it. Hahaha.”

“Always the jokester.” Ryan rolled his eyes before taking a deep breath. “Okay. Here we go.”

Taking his place, Celestia smiled as everyone began to settle. Looking over his shoulder and up through the large windows, he could see the eerie but enchanting blue glow of the Midnight Harvest Moon.

‘It’s gorgeous...I never knew it could look like that.’

Nodding silently, Ryan turned his attention back to the aisle as the organist began to play.

With that the doors opened and out walked his mares, slowly marching down the aisle. In that moment, Ryan felt so happy...but time has a way of doing things to those least suspecting harm. It was only an instant, but Ryan and Dark felt it, a dark feeling in the pit of their stomach. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he glanced up….and then a scream and ominous laughter boomed forth.

The screams of the crowd rang forth from the wedding hall as the windows shattered, sending glass plummeting towards all those there. Thinking quickly, Ryan as well as Cellie and Lunes threw a shield over them, sighing as the glass bounced away harmlessly.

Turning to look at just what could have caused this, they were stunned to see a bat-winged pony perched atop the hall.

“Ah, how good of you all to be here. It makes it so easy for me.”

“Who the hell are you?!” Ryan shouted, angered at this intruder for ruining their wedding and nearly hurting his loved ones.

“Oh my, what’s this? Well, well, if isn’t a miserable pile of secrets and lies.”

“So what if Ah’m a man?! Better a man than an asshole like you!”

“Haha, such a temper. But enough talk, the great Ponycula has more pressing matters to attend to.” With that this so called Ponycula dove down with his forces, causing all manner of chaos before flying towards Ryan’s herd.

“Girls!” Ryan shouted, trying to plow through the waves of ghouls and supernatural beings surrounding them. “You leave them alone!”

“Mwahaha, what fine new brides they shall make for me. I would invite you to the wedding, but I’m afraid it shall be a private affair.” Giving a sinister laugh and casting some strange magic, Ryan could only watch as this vampiric menace disappeared with his ladies.

“Dammit!” Ryan growled in anger, his aura flaring. “What and who the hell was that?”

“Hmmm...I was afraid the legends might be true.” Celestia hung her head. “Our father and mother once told us of a great evil. One that appeared when the moon was a deep blue. He came forth from a massive castle that appeared where the Everfree now stands and cursed the land with his evil and ill intent.”

“Indeed, many suffered until a brave clan of humans banded together with them and hunted down the so-called vampire pony.” Luna frowned before looking towards the moon. “If only the legendary bloodline still existed, perhaps we would have more info to guide us. Alas, what would have been left was sent away in the madness of before.”

“Right, sorry about that one, boy.” Discord sheepishly added. “Normally I would lend a hand to my dear friend, but the unliving tend to be resistant to my brand of magic.”

“Ah just...Ah can’t believe they took mah whole herd.”

There was a grunt before a pew was kicked away, revealing a hat-wearing pony looking mighty pissed her dress was ruined. “Not all of them, Apple Ryder. Fer some reason, he didn’t take me.”

“Apps!” Ryan ran to her, holding her tight. “Thank Goodness one of y’all is okay...but the others…”

“Ah know, Ry-Ry...that pony has them now...and that just boils mah blood.”

“Mine too.”

‘Me as well.’

“Then there’s only thing we can do!” Ryan grabbed at his suit, pulling it off in one swift motion to show some rather curious garb underneath.

“Huh?!” Luna gasped. “That outfit! How do you know of that?!”

“This?” Motioning to himself, Ryan smirked. “It’s the traditional garb of the Vampire Hunter, Belmont clan to be specific.”

“...then perhaps there is hope.” Celestia smirked. “To think you would know of that legendary bloodline.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the pone. The Belmonts were real?” Ryan sighed before laughing. “Sure, why not? Konami had to get the ideas from somewhere. Either way…”

“We can’t let him get away with it, right?”

‘You got it, AJ. Woona, Tia, can we entrust the safety of those here to you? You too, Cordy.’

“Oh, if I must, I must. Can’t very well have our happy little family fall apart to some ancient evil after all.”

‘Thank you, old friend.’

“Big bro! I’m coming with you!”

“Spike…” Ryan saw the determined look in his eyes and knew he didn’t really have any choice. “Well, you are becoming quite the hero...and Ah know you won’t take no for an answer, so okay. Let’s go stop some ancient evil from destroying all we hold dear.”

Having made tracks for the Everfree, the quartet of heroes ran full-speed hoping to get to them in time. The castle wasn’t too hard to spot, having appeared just as the legend stated, jutting out from the Everfree and casting a shadow on an already dark night.

‘What a horrible night for a curse, eh Partner?’

“You said it, Dark...but the only one in for a horrible time is that slimy vampire bastard.”

“So, the plan is the usual one then, Big Bro?”

AppleJack smirked, answering for Ryan. “Run in there, hope to the heavens above things pan out, and kick some flank. Sounds good ta me!”

Skidding to a stop, Ryan glared at the ghastly ghouls blocking their path. As a familiar tune began to slowly play, he grinned before pulling out his sword and staring at it intensely. The moonlight reflected off its blade, shining brilliantly to light their path through the darkest of evil.

“Old friend, once more Ah call upon yer help. Please, give me the strength to save those Ah love once again.” Ryan slowly raised Malus Domestica up in the air as the music really kicked in. “FORM SHIFT! Malus Domestica! Crack the Skies! Apple! Vine! Vengeance!”

With a mighty crack that echoed through the forest, Ryan’s sword changed, segmenting and shifting to a more appropriate form for a vampire hunter. Spike and AJ were a bit surprised by this change, but figured it was just like Ryan to have something new ready.

“A chain-whip, eh?”

“You got it, little bro. The Belmont Clan knew what worked best, so why not emulate it?” Ryan smirked before charging ahead, whipping the ghoulish ponies in front of them into submission and sending them back to whence they came. “We don’t know how long we have, but we can’t afford to hold back, so come on!”

Nodding, they caught up with him and assisted, taking down all manner of ghastly foes that were now inhabiting the Everfree. Vampire ponies and bats, ghoulish zombies, and other foul beasts swarmed them as they made their way towards the castle entrance. Spike used the trees to his advantage, ricocheting off them with his jumps and springing from enemy to enemy as he ran them through with his flaming gauntlets. As for AppleJack, she gave them quite the run for their money with her lasso skills, roping them up and sending them flying high...making them perfect fodder for the modified Malus Domestica to whip into shape. All in all, our intrepid heroes laid the holy smackdown on their foes, not wasting anymore time than they had to on them.

“Spike! Incoming!”

Spike looked to the sky to see a massive wave of what appeared to be medusa heads coming headlong at them, but he knew exactly how to handle this. Letting out a roar, he launched a massive fireball at them, turning them into dust and clearing the way.

“Hee, that was a neat trick there, Spikester. Ah particularly liked the way the flames vaporized them.”

Ryan eyed AppleJack oddly, and was about to say something about her strange fascination with fire lately, but Dark had other ideas.

‘...it can’t be.’

Coming to a clearing just before the castle, Ryan seemed perplexed by something.

“Dark...isn’t this where the Castle of the Two Sisters should be?”

‘...yes. How dare he erect his castle here of all places...this guy is going to pay.’

“I’m afraid no one is going to be doing anything at the moment, Mr. Ryder.”

“That voice!” Ryan whirled towards the bridge leading to the castle to see a familiar face standing there. “...Hades?”

“Hey there, how’s it going? Not too busy to talk, I hope.”

“Uhm...is everything alright? Yer acting kinda weird.”

Hades gave a sigh before glancing over his shoulder at the castle. “It’s been well over a millennia since I last saw this place...and I had hoped it would remain a distant memory. However…”

‘Ryan! Look out!’ Dark shouted just barely quick enough to allow Ryan to dodge a mini-scythe thrown in his direction. ‘What the hell, dood?! Don’t pull a dick move and start acting like Mallie’s Underworld Keeper…!’

“Of course...How could Ah forget?”

Apps and Spike looked at each other confused before asking Ryan to explain.

“If the curse of Dracula and the story of his resurrection along with the Belmont Clan is based on the history of this world, then Ah’m afraid Ah know why yer here.” Ryan took up a defensive pose, his apple whip dangling at the ready. “Dracula always had an attendant that was closer than any other to him...and that attendant was you: Death.”

Hades sighed again before slow-clapping. “Good job, human. Should’ve known you’d figure this whole thing out pretty quick. Look, I haven’t got anything against you personally, and would rather not fight you, but with the big cheese alive again no thanks to that damnable blue moon, I don’t really have a choice in the matter.”

‘You can’t fight his control? Surely you’ve gotten stronger in the last 1,000 plus years…’

“Heh, I have...but Ponycula has as well.” Hades raised a hoof, summoning his 8-Bit scythes and narrowing his eyes. “I’m sorry Ryan, but if you and your family don’t leave, I won’t have any choice but to attack you...heh, but I already know the answer to that one. The rest of your family is still kidnapped…”

“So a fight is inevitable. Ah’m sorry, Hades, but we have to get through.” Ryan summoned up his magic before charging into battle. “And if’n we have to fight ya to make that happen, then let’s go! Hell itself won’t stop us from saving mah herd from that undead menace!”

Hades could only laugh, figuring that if they had to do this he might as well give them something fitting to fight to. As whip met scythe, an appropriate melody began playing as the backdrop for this grand battle. Ryan dodged left and right, narrowly getting sliced by all the blades being sent his way, before sliding underneath and planting his foot in Hades’ gut. The hellfire pony grunted at that before smacking Ryan back with a blast of flames...only to get Spike’s fist implanted right into his muzzle.

“Guh! The dragon! Forgot about him!” Hades roared, sending a giant skull flying towards Spike. Unable to get out of the way to dodge, Spike would have ate it big time had Apps not jumped in and bucked that thing into the distance. Taking the moment while Hades was distracted at what had just happened, AppleJack lassoed him with her rope and held him tight while Ryan unleashed his whip upon him.

“Grah!” Hades shouted, slicing the rope with his scythes and growling fiercely as he began leaking forth dark energy. Said energy slowly enveloped him before he transformed into something more demonic than he normally looked. “Playtime is over, kiddos!!”

“Damn!” Ryan gasped, backflipping away from a rather large flaming skull that scorched the ground he had been standing on. “That was almost me...sheesh. He might not want to fight us, but Ah guess Ponycula’s hold on him is greater. Damn that monster.”

‘To be fair, Ry, from what I can tell, why would Death be Dracula’s lackey? Like, is there a reason or is it just because he’s got that kind of power?’

“Not sure.” Ryan rolled away and whipped at some Gorgon Heads that had flown out from Hades’ wings. “Honestly, it never made a lot of sense to me either. Death is like the ruler of the afterlife for the most part, why would he take orders from someone that’s undead?”

‘Beats me...but we’ve got to end this fight soon. If we don’t, it could get messy.’

Seeing Spike and Apps both beginning to wear down from Hades’ attacks, he knew Dark was right. The only question was how to stop him without hurting him. While Hades was fighting them, it was only because of whatever hold Ponycula had on him. Thus, Ryan figured, he really didn’t want to go so far as to kill him because honestly he was a pretty decent guy despite what was happening….plus killing the keeper of the Underworld would probably cause some messy issues.

“It’s crazy, but it’s probably the only chance we have to ending this how Ah want to.” Ryan channeled some magic into Malus Domestica before running straight towards Hades. “Hades!”

“Human! Finally no more screwing around! Show me what you’ve got!”

“Ah will! Be Bound by Nature’s Might! Apple Vine Explosion!” Ryan shouted as he slammed Malus Domestica into the ground, watching as it shook before an explosions of vines made of light burst forth and began to surround and entangle themselves around Hades’ flying form. Hades grunted and struggled all he could, but the vines had him held tight as they pulled him downwards and pinned him to the ground, effectively immobilizing him.

“Ugh...grrr….heh, leave it to you to find a way to win without hurting me. Heh, that kid from the other world was right: you really do have a lot of light in that heart of yours.” Hades sighed once more, though this time in exhaustion. “Well done, human...but to answer your question, when Ponycula was first created, there was a magic stone involved. That stone gives him dominion over me...and is why I cannot resist his call.”

Motioning for them to move on, Ryan turned to Hades and smiled. “Then Ah’ll just have to find this stone and destroy it. That way even if he somehow comes back after we thrash him good, you won’t have to worry about him taking control of you ever again.”

Leaping up and whipping the air, Ryan grabbed the mysterious red orb that had appeared after their victory before catching up with Spike and AppleJack that were just about to the castle door.

“Haha, that human is something else. Now then...guess all I can do is wait and hope he succeeds.”

Pushing a large door open, the trio entered to find pitch black darkness awaiting them.

‘I don’t like this…’

As soon as they had cleared the doorway, the door slammed shut and one by one the candelabras began lighting to show they were most certainly not alone now that they had entered the castle. Laughing quietly as a funky tune began to drift in, Ryan took his stance with the others before shouting. “Ponycula! Ah know you know we’re here and yer listening in! So hear this: yer time is at an end, vile creature! We will save mah herd and send you packing!”

With that the trio began marching forward, whipping candles, smacking ghouls, and taking down any undead or ghastly menace that sought to impede their progress. Be they bat, ghost, or demon, none stood a chance with how determined our three heroes were to save their loved ones.

‘Be careful, guys. I’m feeling something weird about the air in here...I’m not a fan of the creepy vibes it’s giving me.’

Slashing another ghoulish pony to dust, Ryan scrunched his face up. “Well that doesn’t sound good. Any idea what yer feelin’, Partner?”

‘...not particularly, but keep your wits about you. I have a feeling there’s more to this vampire’s resurrection than just the blue moon.’

Taking the lead up a long flight of stairs, Ryan ducked in the nick of time to avoid getting sliced and diced by a ghostly knight that began attacking relentlessly. Growling slightly, Ryan whipped like crazy but wasn’t making any kind of progress as his moves were being countered as fast as he could make them. Trying to predict its movements, Ryan dodged right but was met by a metal fist to the face, sending him flying back down the stairwell with a loud grunt.

“Apple Ryder!” AppleJack roared as she charged at the knight, bucking it so hard it fell apart into several pieces. “You okay?!”

“Ugh...yeah...that hurt. Oddly, more than it should have.” Ryan grunted as he dusted himself off before rejoining them. “Ah think Dark’s thoughts on something odd going on here aren’t too far off. We’d best hurry.”

Continuing on, they came to a large room devoid of all but two platforms, one of which had a tall creature kneeling on it. Due to the cloak it was wearing, they were unsure as to what awaited them, but they’d pretty much deduced it was another boss.

“Ah don’t suppose there’s any point in asking if we can just move on, is there?” Ryan asked, only to see the figure stand up and hop down to meet them. “...is that a no?”

“No move on…” The figure removed its hood, to show what appeared to be Frankenstein’s monster but ponified. “Master will not be bothered...you go no further.”

“Sorry man, but that ain’t happening.” Ryan went to whip him, only to gasp as the creature grabbed his whip and sent an electrical current through it. “Guh!”

Despite Dark absorbing most of it, it still felt rather unpleasant and shot Ryan backwards into the wall. Groaning as he stood up, he glared at his foe intensely. “Alright...ya had yer chance. Apps, Spike? Let’s light this guy up!”

Deciding to forego the whip for now, Ryan ran in and began pummeling the Frankenpone with ice infused punches, hoping to slow it down somewhat. The creature groaned in frustration at these attacks, winding back and sending Ryan flying once more...but that left him open to a double team attack by Apps and Spike. Spike going low and Apps going high, the monstrous pony roared in pain as he was sent skidding across the ground, Spike’s flames still flickering where he’d kicked him. Groaning and growling, the Frankenpone stared our heroes down before twitching violently.

‘What the hell is he…? Oh shit!’ Dark shouted, realizing what he was up to. ‘Dammit! Gotta try this: Soul Separation!’

Ryan was a bit perplexed as he shook off colliding with the wall once again, but quickly came to his senses when he felt Dark split off from him to intercept whatever the tall, green pony was doing.

“GET DOWN!” Dark roared, flaring his Elemental Sync Mk.II and taking a stance. In a matter of moments, the Frankenpone unleashed his attack, sending a massive storm of electricity careening towards our heroes. Dark gritted his teeth, taking the attack head on and grunting as he tried to contain it all. Flaring his own electrical powers, he began to twist and distort the attack before finally sending it back to its owner...though charged with Dark’s own energy as a nasty little bonus. The Frankenpone’s eyes went wide as he was hit, his body shaking from such raw magic. Within moments it was over, the green pony sizzling from the attack...before falling to pieces and dissipating into the ether.

“...heh...heh...no need to fall to pieces from one little failure, dude.” Dark joked, feeling the strain that had taken on him all too well. “You guys okay?”

“Ah’ll manage, Darkness.” AppleJack grunted, shaking off some debris. “Apple Ryder?”

“Guh...that was not fun.” Ryan wiped his forehead to see he was bleeding more than he’d like. “...no worries, Ah’ll just…!”

“What’s wrong, big bro?”

“Mah magic...it’s...it’s not really working.” Ryan tried again and again to heal his wound up but it just wouldn’t budge. In the end, all he did was stop the bleeding. “Dark…”

“Yeah, I’d thought as much.” Dark held out his hand, struggling to channel even a small ball of lightning. “Something really funky happened with that attack we just got hit by. If I were to wager, it put our magical alignments out of wack. It’s gonna take a bit for them to fix themselves, so we need to be very careful in the meantime.”

Standing up and sighing, Ryan picked up Malus Domestica and smiled. “Heh, no problem. The Belmonts were just mortals, and they handled this no problem. We can handle a little thing like this with or without magic.”

Dark laughed softly before nodding. “Right. It’s not like we don’t have skills outside that, but come on...that door should lead forward now that green boy there is toast.”

Heading through yet another large pair of doors, Dark gave pause the moment he walked through them.

“Partner?”

“...that bastard.”

Confused by his statement, the others asked him to expand on it.

“Remember how this place appeared where the Castle of the Two Sisters was? Well take a look around and tell me, Ryan, doesn’t this look a bit familiar?”

Looking over the tapestry hanging in ragged bits, the broken bricks of the flooring, and then what appeared to be the ruins of a throne room between two sets of staircases, it finally clicked.

“No wonder yer so miffed. He literally sprouted this place up right on top of it. You going to be okay, Partner?”

Dark’s eyes took a faraway look to them, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah, it’s just...this place, ya know? It holds a lot of memories for me...both good and bad.”

Noting that he was going into a funk of sorts, and not wanting him to get lost in his past, Ryan wracked his brain for what to do. Finally getting one, the beginnings of a song began to flow through the castle as the others seemed a bit puzzled.

“Hey, Partner?”

Dark, wondering what was up, smirked and turned to Ryan. “Yeah?”

“Just…”

Cause the World might do me in
It’s alright cause Ah’m with friends
Guess Ah’m givin’ up again, It doesn’t matter
(Ooh ooh ooh)

Realizing what it was Ryan was up to, Dark more than happily joined in with that funky beat.

Had me feeling like a ghost
And that's what I hate the most
Guess I'm giving up again
This time
(This time)
(This time)

In a flash, the candles in the throne room all began to flicker on one by one, and that’s when our group realized they were not alone anymore as someone or something else began to sing with them.

This time I might just disappear
Ah yeah
(Uh)
(Woah Oooh oh oh)

“Oh looks, it’s just a bunch of cute little ghosties.” AppleJack remarked, “Ain’t nothing to be afraid of.”

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
AH YEAH
(Mo mo mo mo moah, oooh)

Watching as said ghosts suddenly became far creepier in tune with their singing, the others began running up the stairs as fast as they could.

“Okay...maybe Ah was a bit quick to say that, y’all.”

This time I might just disappear
(Uh)
(Woah oooh oh oh)

Having all tripped on each other and skidded to a halt, they slowly stood up only to see more creepy shenanigans going on.

“Oh great, the paintings are singing and staring at us.” Ryan huffed. “Honestly, what else could go wrong at this point?”

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
AH YEAH
(Mo mo mo mo moah)

Being startled as the paintings jumped out at them, they huddled together until Darkness noted one of them grabbing a rope. His eyes shrunk as he realized too late what they had planned.

“Oh shit!” He screamed as the floor gave way and they all began to plummet through some freaky landscape that would have fit right in perfectly in Wonderland. As they fell, they passed some bizarre mirrors that showed their reflections but slightly twisted: Ryan’s had a blank space where his heart would be, Dark’s eyes were missing, AppleJack’s cutie mark had vanished, and stranger still was Spike’s that cracked and exploded the moment he passed in front of it.

Groaning as he hit the ground, Dark saw that he was alone...or so he thought as the beats began emanating from a very spooky looking coffin.

(Uh)
Try and hear me, then I'm done
'Cause I might just say this once
Seen this play out in my dream
It doesn't matter
(Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm)

Watching a strange, ghostly humanoid figure emerge, Dark was shocked as it pointed menacingly at him and continued singing.

Tired of giving up the ghost
Fuck, it's you I hate the most
Maybe there's no guarantee
It doesn't matter
(Uuh)

The figure threw back the hood of its cloak, and while Dark had no idea who this was, some small part of him stated he should.

“So, it’s been fun and all, but, uh, I’m outta here!” Dark quickly scampered backwards before turning around and doing a full sprint in the opposite direction.

“COME BACK HERE, DARKNESS SHADE!” The figure bellowed before giving chase. “I know not how it is that I am back, and that you are here, but I will not waste this chance for my revenge!”

This time I might just disappear
Ah yeah
(Uh)
(Woah oooh oh oh)

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
AH YEAH
(Mo mo mo mo mo, oooh)

“Ugh...that hurt.” Ryan rubbed his bottom and groaned. “Great. We’ve lost Dark and Spike.”

“Uh, Apple Ryder?” AppleJack motioned down towards the hall, before Dark’s form ran passed them in a blur. “Ah found Darky.”

“...we should probably run as well, huh?”

“Ah reckon so.”

This time I might just disappear
(Uh)
(Woah oooh oh oh)

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
AH YEAH
(Mo mo mo mo mo)

This time I might just disappear
(Uh)
(Woah oooh oh oh)

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
Ah yeah
(Mo mo mo mo mo, oooh)

“Great! Who did you piss off this time, Partner?”

Dark growled in frustration. “Don’t know. But from how he was talking, it’s probably someone from my past that has a grudge to settle.”

“Lovely…” Ryan skidded to stop, nearly plowing into Dark. “And a dead end, great.”

This time I might just disappear
(Uh)
(Woah oooh oh oh)

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
Ah yeah
(Mo mo mo mo mo, oooh)

“For so long I have waited for such a chance. You will finally pay for what you did to me, for what you and those damnable princesses did that day!”

“Dude, I don’t even remember you, so doesn’t that count for something?”

“SILENCE!” The figure roared, building up energy and launching it at our heroes. “Now, DIE!”

This time I might just disappear
Ah yeah
(Woah oooh oh oh)

“Sorry there, old chap, but we can’t exactly allow you to do that.”

With a blast of pure white magic, the attack was gone and the mysterious figure was stunned at this turn of events. “How...how!?!”

“Doesn’t matter...all that does is it’s time for you to go back to hell!”

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
Ah yeah
(Mo mo mo mo mo, oooh)

“No! Damn you, Darkness Shade! Damn you and your friends to hell….”

With a sickening hiss, the strange figure was gone, turned to dust by these strange newcomers.

“So...friends of yers, Partner?”

This time I might just disappear
(Uh)
(Woah oooh oh oh)

“Who...do I know you guys?”

“Hahaha, guess you always were a forgetful lad.”

“I’m more amused to see those two were right about you. But remember…”

The two figures began to dissipate themselves, despite Dark calling out to them.

“No matter where you are, you will always have those that will watch over you…”

This time I might just dis-
(Mo mo mo mo moah, mo mo mo mo moah)
AH YEAH
(Mo mo mo mo mo)

“They’re...they're gone.” Ryan wasn’t sure what to say, but was puzzled by Dark’s reaction. “Partner?”

“My heart...it hurts…” Dark was surprised to see he was crying as well. “Tears? Why?”

“You going to be okay, Darky?”

“Yeah, AJ...I just…” Dark shook his head. “It doesn’t matter...I’ll worry about this later, right now we’ve got our herd to save. Though...hold on. Where’s little bro?”

As if to answer their question, Apps’ bag shook slightly before Spike came flying out with some curious equipment in tow.

“Oh hey! That’s where you were!”

“Ugh...haha, yeah. When Dark mentioned that our magic went a bit wonky, I remembered you saying before about how you’d put that set of devices you’d been tinkering with in there for safekeeping.” Spike took a small backpack looking device and put it on. “Considering what you said they were used for, I just took the chance when we fell to look for that. What did you call these things again?”

Smirking, Ryan tossed Dark one and helped AppleJack get situated with her own before pulling his own on. “Proton Packs...or at least a close enough approximation.”

Having gained some small defense against the creatures of the night and beyond that still lie in wait, our group of heroes pressed further onwards into Ponycula’s castle intent on reaching the top to save their herd...or at least that was the plan until a section of floor gave way sending them plummeting to the basement.

“Guh!” Ryan sighed, rubbing his head. “Everyone alright?”

“More or less...we fell quite a ways this time.” Spike looked about, but couldn’t see much in front of them. “Any idea which way we should go?”

Dark looked around, trying to see if his past knowledge of the castle could help some. Eventually he deduced that he might know where they were. “I think we’re at the bottom of what was used as the landing point for the many slide traps Tia and Woona made use of. If we go forward and look for somewhere to turn on our right, it should lead to an express elevator back to where we were….assuming it’s not in total disrepair that is.”

Ryan nodded and followed along with the others cautiously. Shortly after, however, he made a motion for them to halt and be silent. “...something’s wrong.”

“Whatcha mean, Apple Ryder?”

“Ah’m hearing too many foot and hoof steps.” Ryan motioned for them to all take a step and, sure enough, despite there being only four of them, they heard more footfalls than they should have.

“Okay...ready?”

“Three…”

“Two….”

“One….”

“NOW!” Ryan shouted, as the four of them whirled around and flashed a burst from their protonic weaponry behind them. “Oh ponyfeathers!”

“Everypony, RUN!” Dark shouted as the group began to make tracks away from the unholy abomination of flesh and ectoplasmic energy that had begun to follow them. “What the hell is that thing?”

“Grrr, whatever it is, the Proton Packs aren’t damaging it all that much.” Spike grumbled, taking another shot and only managing to piss it off.

“Ah feel like Ah’ve seen something like that before...in those Castlevania games. An unholy mass of flesh and beings joined as one…” Ryan pulled something off of his pack before yanking the pin and throwing it back. “Everyone, shield yer eyes!”

Doing so, the small device whirred extremely loud before detonating and releasing a massive and concentrated blast of protonic energy. The strange creature roared loudly, sending shivers down our heroes’ spines, but it seemed otherwise unharmed. Noting it was at least stunned for now, Dark led the others down a ways and found the tunnel that he’d been searching for.

“This way! We’re almost out of here!”

“Huff...Big bro...when all this is over, we need to make a lighter version of this equipment.” Spike sighed before running into Dark who’d stopped running. “...what’s wrong?”

“Dammit! The elevator shaft is here, but it’s not in great shape…” Dark pushed on some specific stones etched with runes and, despite their glowing, nothing seemed to be happening. “Well shit…”

“Uh, Apple Ryder? Ah hope ya got some more of those big bangie things from before, cause Ah think we’ve got company.”

Now that he was taking a good look at the creature, Ryan finally remembered just what this must be. “The One who is Many...Legion. Damn! A true hell spawn. Quick! They can only hold it for a short while, but we’ve got no choice: Dial your throwers to max and light up this oversized turkey!”

Flicking a few switches and hearing the packs hum up to full power, Ryan and the others unleashed a powerful combined blast that seemed to succeed in holding back the creature and even pushing it back.

“Keep on them!” Dark shouted, feeling his pack heat up. “How long can they hold this again, Partner?”

“Not long, unfortunately...but we are damaging it!” Ryan gritted his teeth as he listened for the sound cues of their packs. “Keep on...keep on...let up now!”

Reeling their beams back in, the packs gave a warning flash of light and sound as something slid out from the side and began to emit a lot of steam and heat. While their packs were now on cooldown, this also meant their otherworldly foe was now able to encroach once again.

“Any ideas, Apple Ryder? Ah highly doubt we can do that enough to stop this thing.”

Nodding, Ryan’s face twitched in thought before he glanced to Dark. The two nodded at each other and smirked before assuming a familiar stance.

“Oh yeah, let’s do this!” Dark shouted, doing the all too familiar dance as he and Ryan bumped fists. “Soul Synchronization!”

With a burst of light, Ryan and Dark were once again one but as a side effect so were their Proton Packs. As they smirked, pulled out both throwers, and flicked the switches to activate them, Kouki stared down Legion and said only one thing.

“Let us tell ya something: BUSTIN’ MAKES US FEEL GOOD!” Kouki grinned before charging the beams and unleashing a combined attack on the mass of corpses surrounding Legion. “Ultimate ProtonicCannon!”

Their strike was right on the mark, hitting the target and in fact penetrating to the being at its core, the screech it let out chilling the others immensely.

“Spike! Apps!” Kouki struggled to maintain the hold on it. “Now! The Traps!”

Spike grabbed the ones he had but was confused. “How many of them?”

“ALL OF THEM!”

With a mighty throw, several large traps were thrown out underneath Legion, rolling to a stop right in place. With a final shout from Kouki, Spike and AppleJack slammed the triggers, the bright light shining forth and snagging Legion in its pull.

“I looked at the trap, Apple Ryder.”

“Just hold fast…” Kouki helped wrangle it down until finally with a ‘fwoop!’ it sunk into the traps, a slight hiss and beep accompanying its closure. “Phew!”

Feeling drained from their fusion, Ryan and Dark split before running over to check out the traps. Noting they seemed to be working as hoped, they laughed before high-fiving.

“All in the trap…”

“Ready to go…”

“We be fast…

“And they be slow!”

“Well, not that Ah’m not glad that turned out for the best, Apple Ryder, but there’s still the issue of how to progress from here. Also, Ah’m rather sure everything we did just burnt out these Pronoun Packs things.”

“Proton, hun, and yeah...most likely.” Ryan pulled out the portable hole and tossed the now spent weaponry in to worry about later. “However, it feels like whatever was sapping our strength is starting to let up.”

“Good.” Dark walked back over to the runes and examined them a bit closer before charging up some of his own magic and letting it flow through them. Eventually, he could see them shifting a bit as the crumbled rocks of the floor began assembling together and soon enough they had a new elevator ready to raise them up. “Perfect...well...good enough. It should get us up there in one piece, so let’s not waste anymore time.”

With an agreement from the others, they slowly ascended towards the top of the castle.

Eventually they came to a stop about where they had originally fallen and began to move forward into a large room filled with clocks. Shortly after entering, however, they gave pause as somepony fell down and stood opposite of them. There was an intense stare down as the four looked at this newcomer, wondering whether he was friend or foe. Soon enough the pony spoke up.

“Who are you? And what business do you have in this castle?”

“Ah’m Ryan Ryder, this is mah brother Dark, mah other brother Spike, and one of mah herdmates, AppleJack. As for why we’re here...we have business with the owner of this castle. See, he went and crashed our wedding, stealing away the rest of mah herd and, understandably, we can’t really let such a thing go.” Ryan walked closer to this stranger. “Tell me, sir, why do Ah feel the same type of magic from you that this Ponycula fellow gives off? Are you friend...or foe?”

“I can assure you, I have no quarrel with you or your herd. Indeed, your garb reminds me of humans that I have not seen in a long time. Perhaps...are you related to the Belmont clan?”

“No...but Ah am familiar with them.” Ryan offered his hand. “So then, what shall we call you seeing as you are friend and not foe?”

“Alucynop.” He answered, shaking Ryan’s hand. “And if it is the owner of this castle you are after, then perhaps I may lend my assistance.”

“You’ve got something against Ponycula as well, mister?”

“Indeed, little dragon. It’s rather personal, so you’ll forgive me if I do not go too into detail.”

“What? Is the dude yer dad or something?” Dark joked...though when no laugh came he deadpanned. “Oh...well...shit. Sorry, dude.”

The pony merely laughed softly in reply before waving a hoof dismissively. “It is quite fine. You certainly remind me of someone I knew from long ago, human. The two of you share an affinity for shades, which is quite curious. Still, we cannot waste much time with idle chatter. If my father is indeed back, and he has kidnapped your mares, then he may be trying to regain all of his strength.”

“Would you happen to know the way?” AppleJack gestured about. “We’ve been having a helluva time getting around and Ah’d rather we not run into anymore unholy abominations like what was skulking about in the basement.”

At that Alucynop nodded, before walking over to a nearby wall. “I am privy to the secrets of this castle, so if it’s a more direct path we need, then this should suffice.”

Pushing on a stone, the wall rumbled and shook before sliding back and revealing a dark hallway. Though lacking a horn, Alucynop somehow still produced light from seemingly out of nowhere to illuminate the way. “Come quickly! I have no doubt that my father will sense my interference now, and attempt to distract us even more so. We must stop him, and return this world to order.”

“So...does he have any weaknesses we can exploit?” Ryan asked as he huffed and puffed, running along with the others up the winding staircase.

“He can be a bit full of himself...and it should go without saying that holy water isn’t his preferred refreshment.”

Dark began rooting about in his jacket before producing a small vial. “Oh good! So lugging this with me from the mindscape was a good idea.”

Alucynop blinked before shaking his head. “You are a strange one, human. However, though he must be stopped, I ask that we only do that. At least...if I cannot reason with him. I owe my mother at least one last attempt at that, to get him to peacefully move on.”

“...it’s rather unfortunate that all of this was started just cause of buncha durn fools killed yer mom.” AppleJack grumbled with a growl. “We’ll do what we can ta help ya, Al.”

“Al? Haha, okay, I suppose I have been called worse things, young pony. However...do not underestimate the tricks he may try to use on us. Keep your wits about you and we should be fine…” Alucynop listened carefully before nodding. “We’re nearly there. Once we’re at the top, there will be one last stairway that leads to his chambers. We can ready ourselves there and then…”

“We go show him some retribution, Belmont style!” Ryan roared, making a whip crack motion with his hand. “Hmmm...kinda wish we had some food, all of this fighting got me pretty hungry.”

“Not to worry, Partner!” Dark smirked, pulling back and smacking the wall next to them.

“Big bro! Why did you do that?!”

Dark seemed puzzled, but merely shrugged before reaching in and pulling out what appeared to be a leg of meat of some kind. “Come on, Ryan should be well aware of what I’m doing given his knowledge of the Belmonts.”

“Of course!” Ryan smacked his forehead before taking the offered food. “When in doubt, wall chicken to the rescue. Oh wait, Ah’m sorry: “Pot Roast”. Wouldn’t want to offend any Castlevania fans out there by incorrectly referencing things.”

AppleJack eyed her human oddly as he chowed down on the mysterious meat. “Uh, are ya sure that’s wise, Apple Ryder? Ah mean, who knows how long that thing has even been there!”

“Tastes fine to me!” Ryan smiled widely. “Seasoned perfectly and what luck: it’s still warm ta boot!”

“If you two are quite done, the end of our journey is just this way.”

Stepping out of the stairwell, they could see they were now quite high up, near the tip-top of the castle. Indeed, as Alucynop had said, there was but one more staircase leading up to a rather large room where no doubt Ryan’s herd and Ponycula were waiting.

“This is it guys. Once we go up those stairs, there’s no going back. We stop that undead asshole and save the gals.” Ryan turned to their newfound friend with a look of worry. “Are you gonna be okay? Ya know, having to fight yer dad like this?”

“It is not the first time we have met in such a way, but I can only hope it will be the last.”

“I’m rather afraid that none of you will get such a chance!”

Whirling around, Ryan and company could see none other than Death himself free and staring them down hard with scythes in hoof.

“Hades!”

“That’s right, Ryder! You thought yourself quite clever, trapping me within those magical vines of yours, but even you failed to understand just how strong my master is...and speaking of.” Hades turned to face Alucynop with a displeased look upon his face. “Young Master...why must you once again meddle in the affairs of your father?”

“You know as well as I do, Death. My father cannot be allowed to do as he wishes and harm innocent lives. I know deep down you know this as well!”

Hades narrowed his eyes before shaking his head. “As I told Ryder, that is no concern compared to the strength of my Master. Now then, I will finally finish this and strike you down where you stand! You shall not stop my Master from returning to his full glory!”

With that he lashed out at our heroes, who barely managed to either dodge or block the attack. Ryan and Dark felt Hades bear down on them with his scythes, shakily holding their ground as the power of Hell itself threatened to rend them in two.

“Dammit! We don’t have time for this!”

“I’m in agreement, Partner, but what the hell can we do?”

“This!” Alucynop shouted, moving at lightning speed and knocking Hades into the wall opposite of them. “Go! Face my father! I will handle Death and catch up later!”

“Al…”

“Haha, do not fret, young one. I am far from my final time! Now hurry!”

With that they watched as their new friend faced Hades alone, parrying his strikes and keeping him from advancing towards them. With renewed urgency, they hurried up the final stairway before entering a large entryway.

“How appropriately creepy.” Spike grumbled before spotting a doorway that seemed to beckon to him. “Guys...I think he’s in there.”

Feeling a rather creepy vibe from within the doorway, our heroes steeled their nerves before charging in.

“Ponycula! We’re here for mah herd!”

At first they heard nothing, but then they heard a sound that began to slowly grow. Eventually, it began to resemble...laughter? And then they saw him at last, sitting upon his throne with the rest of Ryan’s herd behind him in a trance-like state.

“Well, well. Good evening. So nice of my dear guests to finally show up. But trashing my castle, destroying my minions, and even teaming up with my half-breed son...just who the hell do you think you are, human?”

“Me?” Ryan smirked before striking a pose and shouting loudly. “Ah am the morning sun, come to vanquish this horrible night!”

“You may not be related to them, but you certainly do have their flair for the dramatic.”

Dark growled, getting annoyed at his flippant attitude. “Die monster! You don’t belong in this world!”

“Heh, please. It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was called here by ponies, who wish to pay me tribute!”

“Tribute!” Ryan scoffed. “Ya steal pony’s souls and make them yer slaves!”

“Perhaps the same could be said of all religions…”

“Your words are as empty as your soul!” Dark spat back, his magic flaring at Ponycula’s carefree attitude. “Ponykind ill needs a savior such as you!”

Calmly sipping his wine, Ponycula sneered before throwing his empty glass to the ground where it shattered loudly. “What is a pony? A miserable pile of secrets! But enough talk…”

With that he levitated off of his throne before landing in front of them and unleashing his power. “HAVE AT YOU!”

Our heroes dove out of the way of a massive amount of fireballs that were launched their way, sighing in relief as they managed to avoid being singed. They weren’t given much time to breath, however, as Ponycula went on the offensive again, releasing a multitude of lightning blasts that threatened to fry them to a crisp. While Dark easily blocked and absorbed the attacks, Ryan did his best to bat it away while trying to shield Spike and AppleJack.

“Dammit, this guy definitely is packing some firepower behind that creepy facade.” Ryan groaned, before smirking. “Then again, he’s not the only one that’s got power in spades!”

Roaring loudly, Ryan unleashed his Elemental Sync before finally going on the offensive and smacking Ponycula with a mighty crack of his whip. The undead villain gasped in annoyance and flinched, fading from sight briefly.

“Ugh...I see that you also have their skill when it comes to those damnable whips. You are beginning to be more trouble than you are worth, human.”

“You ain’t seen the half of it.” Ryan chuckled. “So quit hiding and show yerself you monster!”

“If you insist.” Ponycula cackled, materializing directly behind Ryan. “Let us see you vanquish this night, Mr. Morning Sun!”

“What?” Ryan whirled around but was caught defenseless as he was struck dead in the chest, his body flying backwards at an insane rate before crashing against the wall. “...ugh…”

“Ryan!” Dark roared, flaring his electricity and charging headlong at their vampiric foe. Ponycula simply scoffed and dodged his attacks before mocking our hero.

“Oh please...if the human that knew of the Belmonts could not touch me, what hope do you have?” Letting out a laugh, he smacked Dark backwards as well before pausing. “...why do I feel water?”

“Heh...not just any water.” Dark laughed from his position on the ground, his hand placed palm down and wrapped in electricity. “Now feel the purifying might of Righteousness!”

“What?!” Ponycula roared in anger as Dark’s lightning snaked along the ground and right into the Holy Water splashed on him, supercharging it and causing quite the nasty sting of pain. “You foolish human! Do you think a little holy water will stop me?! I am the Lord of Darkness!”

“Heh, I beg to differ.” Dark smirked, turning up the voltage even higher and watching as Ponycula began to spasm in agony. “This ends now!”

“This...only...ends...when I...say it does! Rawar!” Ponycula’s scream echoed through the hall, it’s shockwave sending everyone there flying and landing them in a crumpled heap. Groaning, Ryan did his best to stand only to see a very demonic, bi-pedal pony creature standing over them.

“Shit…”

“Shit, indeed, you foolish human. You know of them, but you are not a Belmont. You cannot defeat me. Your herd is mine, and once I’m rid of you and the clock strikes 6am, they will be mine...forever.”

“Not if I have anything to say about that, Father!”

“What?! Guh!” Ponycula skidded back as his son bodyslammed him away from Ryan and the others. “Well well, if it isn’t my son. Even after all these thousands of years, you still insist on getting in my way.”

“Father, stop this madness! You know this isn’t what mother would want!”

Ponycula seemed to paused at this a moment, looking aside in thought. “Your mother...she was a kind, innocent woman. She didn’t deserve what happened to her, those humans and ponies murdered her all because she fell in love with me.”

“Then you know this is not what she would have wanted. She did not harbor hatred towards those that killed her, and instead wished for us to find peace with them.”

“Peace? With those that would murder an innocent woman?!”

“Not all of them are evil, father!” Alucynop pleaded. “I know you know this!”

“...” Ponycula turned away from his son. “Perhaps...but it is too late for me.”

“No it’s not! We can change things! It doesn’t have to be this way.”

“Haha, you have her naivety...and her kind heart. I do not wish to harm you, son, but if you try to stop me…” Ponycula turned around and unleashed his energy. “I will show you no mercy.”

“...I am sorry, mother, but I tried.” Ponycula roared, unleashing his own energy and charging at his father. “I cannot allow you to do as you please, Father!”

As Ponycula and his son began to clash over and over, Spike tried his best to nudge his brothers and AJ awake.

“Come on guys, this isn’t good! Al seems to be holding his own but he needs our help.”

“Ugh…” Ryan groaned, trying to move and finding it to be difficult. “His magic...feel so...weak…”

“Dammit…” Dark groaned, his hold on the physical realm fading slightly as his body turned slightly ethereal. “How can he be so strong?”

As for AJ, she was still out of it as she had hit the wall rather hard before landing on Ryan. Some groans were the only sign she was still alright, but it was clear she wasn’t waking up anytime soon. Spike seemed panicked, with his family out of the fight it was up to their new friend...and from what he could see he was having a bit of trouble with it. Whether that was from holding back because he still felt he could get through to his father or not, the young dragon was not sure, but if something didn’t change he feared they may possibly lose.

“I won’t give up!” Spike roared, charging towards Ponycula and attempting to assist in an assault. Ponycula scoffed, knocking aside his son before backhanding Spike and laughing.

“If even my son has trouble stopping me, what luck would a young dragon such as yourself have?”

“I don’t care about that!” Spike growled, snapping his fingers and disappearing from sight.

“You should!” Ponycula cackled, firing a blast of dark magic behind himself and nailing Spike, causing him to reappear and crash to the ground. “Heh, fascinating...I’ve not known a dragon that could do that.”

“There’s a lot of things I can do that you’d be surprised by!” Spike raised his right claw upwards before wrapping it in fire. “Take this! My love! My Anger! And all of My Sorrow! Burning Finger!”

Alucynop jumped away as Spike sped towards his father at incredible speed and was surprised when he actually made contact….but sadly it just wasn’t enough as Ponycula merely grasped the flaming claw and squeezed, smirking at Spike’s scream of agony.

“You are pathetic. That human that was somehow wise to the Belmont’s methods could not defeat me, the other human could not defeat me, and even my son has no chance. So what hope does a small, worthless little lizard like you have in doing such? Speaking of…” Ponycula held tight to Spike, lifting him up and flinging him towards the pile that was the injured Ryan, Dark, and AppleJack. “Join the other trash. Once I’m done disciplining my son, you three shall suffer and then...then I will have my brides. Mwahahaha.”

“Little bro…” Ryan did his best to catch Spike, softening the blow somewhat but causing him to hiss in pain at the collision. “Shit...this is not looking good…”

“Ryan...big bro...I’m sorry I couldn’t do it…”

“Heh...it’s okay, Spike. We’ll find a way...somehow.”

Despite Ryan’s words, that same feeling of despair began to creep into Spike’s mind: they might lose and then all would be lost.

At that thought, Spike’s world turned dark as his thoughts began to focus inward.

‘Dammit! Why...why am I always left behind no matter what? Every time that something has happened with those that I love, I’ve never been strong enough.’

His memories began to swirl and surround him, key moments in his life where he just didn’t have enough almost mocking him as they played out in his mind.

‘With the fight against Discord...against Chrysalis...even against Sombra was only thanks to Dark’s added might.’ Spike began to feel something rise within him. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it felt...warm. Right. ‘No matter what has happened, I’ve always been a liability. I’ve always been the one that has to be protected because I’m not strong enough to protect those I care about. Big bro has always had to bail me out of trouble. Him, Dark, even the girls are so much stronger. Dammit...I just...I just….I just want to be able to protect those I care about as well!!!’

In that moment, Spike felt something threaten to overwhelm him. His anger and frustration at being unable to aid his loved ones began to build and build, and soon enough he could no longer contain the fury he felt.

“I won’t. Allow myself. To be like that anymore!” Spike roared, an ungodly amount of green and purple flames emanating from his body and swirling around him. This display was enough to halt Ponycula and draw both his and his son’s attention toward the young dragon.

“...what in the world?” Ponycula gasped, confused by this turn of events. “Where is he drawing such power from?”

“Heh...well then, to think I’d live to see such a sight again. This must truly be one special dragon.”

With a furious roar, Spike’s flames exploded away from his body to show that something had indeed changed in the young dragon. His scales were glowing as if ablaze, his eyes shimmered like fire, and flecks of flames danced around him.

“I won’t let you get away with what you’ve done! I will not let you harm my family and friends anymore!” Spike roared, charging at Ponycula in the blink of an eye and landing a fearsome punch directly upside his head. Ponycula growled, feeling the searing heat upon his flesh and sliding backwards at such a powerful attack.

“What?!” Ponycula groaned before feeling Spike land another blow, and another, and another as the flames began to slowly cover his body.

“...S-Spike?” Ryan slowly turned to see his little brother knocking the ever-loving shit out of the vampiric pony. “...what the hell?”

“....He...I...I know what that is…but how did he…?” Dark groaned, feeling his energy fading a bit more but still maintaining his physical body. “...somehow...I think Cordy is to blame…”

“How can one small dragon be enough to rival even my power!?” Ponycula roared, gasping at his injuries. “What madness is this?”

“This father, is the power of one that fights for others.” Alucynop trotted over towards Spike. “You have done well, young one.”

“...we have to finish him.” Spike calmly stated. “I...I don’t really want to, but I can tell he’s not the kind of guy that can be stopped with words.”

Alucynop nodded sadly. “Yes...I am sorry, Father, but this is how it must be.”

Gasping and groaning, Ponycula could only smile sadly. “Well met, my son.”

With one final charging roar, both Spike and Alucynop ran Ponycula through with claw and sword to end this accursed night.

“Go back to whence you came. Trouble the soul of my mother no more.”

“Hahaha...I still cannot fathom how it was I lost so completely to one such as him.”

“You have been doomed, Father, ever since you lost the ability to love.”

“Ha, sarcasm. For what profit is it to someone who gains the world, but loses their soul in the process? Tell me...what were Lisa’s last words?”

“...she said do not hate the ponies and humans, that if you cannot live with them then at least do them no harm. For their lot is already hard enough.” Alucynop slowly walked towards his father. “She also said to tell you that she would love you for all of eternity.”

“Lisa...forgive me.” Ponycula’s body began to spasm and fall apart, the flames turning it to ash. “Farewell...my son.”

In a blinding flash of light Ponycula was gone, and when it faded there was nothing left of the vampiric king but a pile of dust. Alucynop turned to the others, helping them up before they checked on the rest of Ryan’s herd that was slowly coming to now that the curse had been broken.

“Ugh...what happened? I remember our wedding and then…! That pony! Ryan!”

“Heh, right here, T-Sparks.” Ryan smirked, laughing slightly despite his injuries. “Y’all back to normal now?”

“It would seem so...but it’s so dreadful. Our wonderful dresses, ruined!”

‘Heh, that’s Rares for ya.’ Dark remarked, having returned to Ryan’s body to recuperate. ‘Since it seems everyone is back to normal, we should probably get out of here quickly. If Ryan’s memories are right, without its Master this castle will soon vanish.’

“The older soul is correct. We must make haste. Quickly, follow me.” Alucynop nodded before leading the way, the others following behind...but not before Spike made sure to grab something shining in the ashes that were once Ponycula.

As our heroes made it out of the castle and stood on the far side of the bridge that normally led to the Castle of the Two Sisters, they watched as the sky itself seemed to rip open and a massive pillar of light burst forth to engulf Ponycula’s castle. Bit by bit his castle was lifted up and away into the vortex, leaving only the Two Sister’s castle behind. Eventually the light faded, as did the vortex, leaving only the clear sky as dawn slowly broke.

“Hey Al, Ah’m sorry we couldn’t save yer dad.”

“Heh, it is alright, young apple pony. It was a longshot, but at least he has been put to rest once more.” Alucynop seemed okay, but something about the way his features were didn’t sit well with Ryan.

“...Ah can tell it was painful for ya.”

“Indeed. But remember, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing…”

Ryan nodded. “Ah understand.”

“Alucynop...what are you going to do now?”

“Young dragon...the blood that runs through my veins is cursed. ‘Twould be best for this world if I were to disappear forever.”

“...I see.”

‘Well I don’t, dammit!’

“Darkness…”

‘So what if yer pops is an immortal jerk and you so happen to share his blood? You’ve proven you aren’t your father. There are so many out there that you could help with your powers. So much of this world to see. It would...it would be a shame if you just vanished like that.’ Dark smirked, laughing softly before reappearing and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Especially so as I’d hate to never see my new friend again.”

Alucynop regarded Dark’s gesture for a moment before laughing softly himself. “You are a strange human. But...perhaps you are correct. There is much to see and I don’t doubt there are many who need aide that I mayhaps can give. Very well, I see I cannot win this one.” With that he took Dark’s hand and shook before smiling.

“One day, we shall meet again. Until then, take care my new friends.”

And with that Alucynop vanished into the mists and out of sight, leaving Ryan and his herd alone once more.

“Rys, what about our wedding?”

“Heh, well Dashie, guess we’ll have to replan it. The wedding hall was totally destroyed, the guests are probably all in shock still, and let’s face it: as mah marshmallow stated, our wedding outfits are totally ruined.” Ryan laughed at a thought. “Well, at least this way you get to help in the planning and designing, Rarebear.”

“Oh, I suppose that’s true enough. Hmm?” Rarity walked over to where Alucynop had been and noticed he’d dropped a book of some kind. “What is this?”

Lyra took it from Rarity and looked over the cover. “Fascinating! It appears to be the journal used by Princess Celestia and Luna as they grew up.”

“Really!?” Twilight gasped, quickly grabbing it for herself and reading through it. “This is amazing...do you think he left it for us on purpose?”

“Heh, I wouldn’t doubt it.” Dark mused before feeling Spike tug on his pant leg. “Eh? What’s up little bro?”

“Uhm….well I found this. It seemed important.” Spike handed Dark a smooth, spherical stone of some sort. “It was in Ponycula’s ashes after we defeated him.”

“Partner…”

“Ah think it just might be that stone.”

“Then I say we free a certain friend of ours from its curse.” Dark concentrated his magic into his right hand and with a loud roar crushed it into dust. “Hades...now yer truly free again, old friend.”

“Uhm...well...if...if we’re all done now can we, maybe, head back home? I imagine everyone is still worried about us.”

“Flutters is right. Let’s get going ladies. Ah’m ready to rest and get things back on track.”

“I think that’s something we can all agree on.” Twilight added, trotting behind the others as they headed back towards town. “And if I can get this new spell I’m working on finished, I can give us a vacation that would be out of this world.”

“Haha, well with foreshadowing like that, even Ah can’t wait. Happy Nightmare Night, everyone!”

Author's Note

Well, damn. That took me a year to write and post the next chapter to this story. Sheesh. Sorry about that guys, but man did things keep interrupting this chapter from getting done. Work, the fact that Ah went to Italy for a month to visit friends, and just a lot of other unforeseen things, like a hurricane. That was fun.
Regardless, it seemed to work out for the best, as it was quite thematically appropriate for the holiday that just happened to be today, haha.
With that said, hopefully it won't take another year for the next chapter but Ah can only promise to try....huh?

Hmm...
What's wrong, Partner?
I just sense something is amiss with something tied to us...as if many voices were harmonized and then silenced at once.
You felt that too, huh? That might hold the future of some things unknown for now...either way, Happy Halloween and Nightmare Night to all of y'all.

Loose Ends & Chaos

Ryan slowly opened his eyes, groaning as the view outside his window showed the sun had just begun to rise over the horizon. Not wasting a moment, he carefully slipped free of the mares that had been snuggling him all night and got dressed before heading down into the basement of their house. Checking that he had what he needed, he opened up a recently installed door and stepped through...only to end up in a very large, grassy plain. Not missing a beat, Darkness Shade appeared before Ryan and smirked before finally speaking.

“Hitting it early again, eh? Not that I’m against training but don’t you think we’ve hit things a bit hard since we got back from seeing Mallie-kun and them again?”

Dashing towards his brother—and returning the smirk when he blocked it effortlessly—Ryan struggled against him before answering.

“You heard what he said, Dark. About how he was holding back during our rematch...but it’s more than that.” Ryan batted away Dark’s arms and grabbed him around the waist, intending to piledrive him. “Ah know he’s hurting and Ah know he wants our help, but he’s being...stubborn? Overly protective? Whatever it is, if we ain’t strong enough to stand up to them next time, we ain't gonna be able to help them.”

Dark wiggled to try and break free but was unable to as Ryan bent over hoping to plant him into the ground...but Dark caught himself, hooking his legs under Ryan’s arms and using the momentum to send him flying away. Laughing as his brother righted himself, he nodded. “I know that...but it’s been three weeks man. It’s already Novembrr. It’s time for celebrating...ya know? Hearth's Warming Eve is just around the corner.”

Ryan simply looked at the ground, his hands balled up. “Ah know that...and we’ve been working on fixing up the wedding plans and a whole buncha other things. It’s just...he’s mah friend, dammit! Ah never wanna see a friend feeling like that and the fact that Ah can’t do anything to help is killing me.”

Shouting loudly, Ryan’s body was encased in ice...a move that Dark copied, surrounding his in lightning. With that they resumed their sparring, fist meeting fist as ice and lightning clashed sending specks of snow everywhere. In no time at all they were going at such a frenzy it appeared to be snowing around them as they moved across their training grounds.

“Heh...you really do have a kind heart, Ry.” Dark laughed softly. “Then again, so do I. He might be a bit of a butt, but Mallie is my bestest buddy and not being able to help him or have fun with him again doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Then you understand why Ah have to keep going.”

“There’s more though, isn’t there?” Dark launched an assault at Ryan as they both flared their magic and powered up to their Elemental Sync Mk.II states.

“...yes. The things he told us about...about what is to come...about who is going to show up...if the differences between our worlds is anything to go by, he is going to be much stronger and much more of a foe than he was for Deej.” Ryan roared as he unleashed icy strike after strike before finally landing a blow on Dark, sending him careening into the ground.”...you okay, Partner?”

From deep in the hole, Ryan could hear a bit of groaning followed by a “yes” before Dark slowly floated back out of it. “Damn, Ry, this really does have you worked up, doesn’t it?”

“Quite.” He replied, landing next to his brother. “Between those things and not being able to tell the girls so time doesn’t get all fucked up, it’s kinda stressful. Ah’m not even sure what kind of signs we’ll get that we’re on the right track with that goofy box we’ve got now. We just know we need keys...from somewhere. And that it’s kinda important before the new big bad shows back up.”

Powering down, Dark tossed his brother a bottle of water before pondering something. “Ya know, you never did fully tell me why we don’t just hunt this motherbucker down and stop him before he becomes a problem.”

“Causality, mostly. We’ve already kinda screwed with the timeline of this reality by mah being here. Add in that those forms we saw seem kinda important to have and Ah don’t wanna disrupt things more than mah being here normally would do.” Ryan sighed, letting out a huff. “...”

Dark eyed his brother oddly, realizing there was more he wasn’t adding. “...you really need to chill, Ry. This stress can’t be good for you...and training will only burn off so much of it.”

“Ah know.” Ryan plopped down, sighing as he ran his hand through his quite shaggy hair. “But ain’t much Ah can do besides that to distract mahself...well, there's that one thing T-Sparks and Ah have been working on for Lunes at yer request.”

“Oh yeah. That project. Any progress?”

“We’re close. Can’t imagine it’ll be too long before it’s ready. T-Sparks has the spell pretty much nailed down, we just need to stabilize its effects on the real world and we should be good to go. Ah bet yer night mare will be quite happy given how intensely she took to video games.”

“Haha, ain’t that the truth. Hmmm...what day is it?”

“Hmmm...Wednesday, Ah think. Doesn’t Spike usually join us by now?”

Hearing a slight noise like the opening of a door, in walked said dragon carrying a bag and something else.

“Heh, speak of the devil.”

“Hey guys! Sorry I’m late. Figured you’d want a snack before we got to sparring and…” Spike looked about at the potmarked battlefield. “Good heavens, you guys were going at it hard this morning. Haven’t seen this place as damaged since you first put it in.”

Taking a fritter and some milk from his little brother, Ryan chuckled as a slight blush made its way across his face. “Yeah...might’ve been a bit aggressive this morning. Too much shit on mah mind.”

“DJ?”

“Yeah…”

“It’ll be fine. I told you, big bro, he’s one of the Beings. He’ll find a way through it and then we can all meet up again and have more awesome shenanigans.”

“...yeah, yer probably right. Anyway, you ready for some more training?”

“You bet!” Spike pulled out his gauntlets and threw a few punches to warm up. “I really want to learn to master that form I stumbled on back when we fought that vampire pony. If only I had more control of it when we went to DJ’s world, maybe then I could’ve helped out more.”

“To be honest, Ah’m not sure even that would’ve helped keep things from going the way they did. Speaking of that form, any luck on deciphering that name, partner?”

Dark simply shrugged. “Sorta...it’s in some pretty old Equestrian so the most we’ve translated would be the word Wrath...assuming we’re even right. But there’s no need to worry about that right now...if I’m not mistaken, little bro has something he’d like to try today.”

“Oh?” Ryan smirked. “So, what might that be, Spike?”

“Well, I thought some two on one might be good practice for you.”

“Ah see, so you and Dark against me, huh?” Ryan nodded before grinning. “Sure! Sounds like a fun time. Ah could use some practice against an unfair fight anyway, so with that said…”

“Right!” Spike made sure his gauntlets were on snug before striking his fighting stance. “Dark said he won’t power up, so if you want to go Elemental Sync feel free to.”

“Oh did he now?” Ryan laughed. “How generous of him, but for now Ah’ll stay base state. Let’s see what you two have got!”

With that said, Spike and Dark launched towards him, throwing punches that he managed to block and repel before moving to sweep their legs. Spike managed to jump high enough, but Dark was a bit slow and got clipped, falling forward and getting Ryan’s fist to the gut for his troubles. Quickly recovering, Dark dodged a blast to the face and drew Ryan’s attention long enough for Spike to come dive bombing in and delivering a kick right to his chest. Ryan grunted in pain and surprise as he went skidding back. Undeterred, he dashed forward and grabbed Spike by his tail, spinning him around and around before letting him fly...right towards Dark!

“I gotcha!” Dark shouted, catching his little bro and slowing him down. “Heh...he’s doing pretty good with this...better make it more challenging.”

Spike watched as with a roar Dark unleashed his Elemental Sync, a move that Ryan matched with a laugh.

“Heh, knew you wouldn’t let it be too easy.” Ryan remarked, taking flight and zooming towards the two of them. Not wanting to let him get too close, Spike unleashed a blast of flames that made the human slow down in order to avoid being hit...which was just enough for Dark to come flying in and smack him with a fist wrapped in lightning. Groaning, Ryan took the hit but matched it with one of his own, leaving an imprint of ice on Dark’s cheek. The two then began to exchange blows in midair, neither one willing to back down. It wasn’t until Spike joined the fray that Ryan began to have some difficulties, dodging and countering most of their punches but taking more lumps than he wished he was. Eventually having enough of this, he screamed loudly as his body was surrounded by ice that soon exploded away, knocking back Dark and Spike and showing Ryan’s upper body now partially covered in ice, his Elemental Sync Mk.II in full action.

Landing, Dark let out a quiet laugh before looking up at him. “Well well, Ryan, you certainly are faring pretty well with this and seem eager to let off some steam...but before we do that.”

Dropping down and standing opposite of him and Spike, Ryan seemed a bit puzzled. “Hmm?”

“...Do you want to see something cool?”

Cracking his knuckles and watching the snow particles fly everywhere, Ryan smirked. “Ya see, Ah know yer trying to play me...but yeah, Ah do.”

Spike and Dark both laughed ominously at that before they stood side by side...in a pose Ryan recognized right away.

“What?”

“Soul…”

“No….”

“Synchronization!”

Shielding his eyes at the intense blast of wind that rocketed past him, Ryan lowered his arm and stared wide-eyed at the new fighter in front of him. Rocking Dark’s hairstyle with a line of scaly spikes going down his back, a weird pair of feathery, leathery wings flapping slowly, and fire and lightning itself seeming to pulse through his leather jacket, this newcomer was quite a sight to behold. Swiping his clawed hands to no doubt test their weight, Ryan soon found the blazing, bright green eyes of his new opponent shining through his shades...and they were focused squarely on him. With a smirk, the figure posed before asking one question.

“Surprised, bro?”

“That doesn’t begin to cut it...how the hell did you two do that? Ah thought the only one you could Synchronize with was me because of our connection?”

“See, that’s what we thought too, till good ol’ Darky did a bit more digging and found some curious additional research Master Swirly had done. Apparently, with him being a soul being, it affords him a more...extended influence with that move.”

“In other words...he can fuse with someone besides me.”

“Correct. However, it can’t just be anyone willy-nilly.” The fighter let out a puff of flames and smoke before stretching. “It has to be someone that has a fighting spirit, and is capable of aligning that with the one wishing to Synchronize.”

“Alrighty, fair enough. Though Ah suppose if Ah’m to be pummeling you, Ah would like to know your name.” Ryan took his fighting pose before smirking. “So, newcomer, what do Ah call you?”

The fighter laughed. “Us? Haha, you may call us SPARK!”

Ryan faltered for a moment before looking aside and grumbling. “Damn that’s a good one. Probably thought on it for a while.”

“Indeed we did...now then! Let us continue the match!”

With that the newly named Spark charged forward, lighting and fire left in his wake as he unleashed a multitude of punches at Ryan. To his credit, he blocked and dodged them as best he could, though the weight of each attack was certainly felt as he was pushed back. Roaring, he flipped back before surging forward, surrounded by an aura of ice. Sliding under a punch, Ryan wound back and unleashed a powerful kick right into Spark’s gut, causing the human/dragon fusion to grunt.

“Heh...not bad, bro.”

Ryan huffed slightly. “Not bad yerselves. Ah wonder if this is what it’s like to fight Kouki?”

“Probably.” Spark growled before unleashing a massive burst of lightning wrapped fire, his wings now glowing the same color as his eyes. “This form is still new and can’t last terribly long, but yer about to feel the full force of it, Ry!”

Powering up as much as he could, Ryan couldn’t help but smirk. “That so? Well then, Ah won’t hold back either! Let’s go!”

With that their little pocket dimension shook with each hit they landed, the landscape potmarked in scorch marks and patches of ice as their strikes sparked fiercely. Eventually both fighters were quite worn out and knew they had just one last push left.

“Haha...this has been just too fun, but it’s time to finish it, bros.”

“We agree.” Spark put his hands together before drawing them back. “And what better way than with a bang?!”

“Haha...Rrrrraaaaaw! MAGIC!” Ryan shouted, the symbol of said Element appearing on his hands. “Ultra Fighting Miracle!”

Spark could only laugh as lighting and fire began to swirl into a dark ball where their hands met.“Unyielding Flame of Darkness!”

Ryan thrusted his hands forward, just as Spark did as they both shouted loudly.

“HARMONIZED JUSTICE CANNON!”

“INFERNO ERASER!”

The swirling masses of energy streaked towards each other before clashing with a massive bang as they struggled to overpower one another. Neither combatant let up, pouring all they could into this last push but it soon became apparent that the new fusion was indeed losing steam. Spark grunted as he felt himself sliding back as his attack was being overwhelmed.

“Damn. Oh well...guess it was fun while it lasted.” With that Spark smirked and split back into Dark and Spike who dashed out of the way of the blast. No longer impeded by an equal attack, Ryan’s Justice Cannon streaked off into the distance before exploding as it impacted with a far off mountain.

“Gotcha!” Ryan shouted, ricocheting off of Dark before striking Spike, sending the two to the ground with a final pant. “Damn….huff….that was something you two.”

Dark and Spike slowly picked themselves up before laughing. “Not bad, bro. Guess we’ve got to work on that form some more, eh?”

“Heh, that we do, Dark.” Spike grinned before feeling his stomach growl. “Man, I’m starved now! That form really works up an appetite.”

“Now that doesn’t surprise me. After all, Kouki does the same thing to Darkness and Ah.” Ryan laughed before sighing. “Well, we’d better go get cleaned up before the girls get up...assuming all that racket didn’t somehow rouse them.”

“...I thought you said this room shouldn’t be able to influence the outside world?”

“Well, it shouldn’t.” Dark paused before glancing over his shoulder at Spike. “But then again, I don’t think my master ever took a level beyond a Mk.II nor our Synchronized forms into consideration when he created this spell.”

“Eh, Ah’m sure we’ll be alright...now come on, you two, we’ve gotta get moving. After all, the girls are supposed to be heading off tomorrow so gotta spend some time with them till then.”

After waving them farewell as they headed off to Manehattan for Rarity’s fashion show, Ryan and Dark were just goofing around at home, killing time till their little sisters got off from school.

“Kinda sucks that Ah forgot Spike was going with them, huh?”

“Yeah, but at least we get to have the company of our sweet little sis trio this weekend.” Dark grinned. “Those little fillies are just too cute.”

“Quite...but they also cause quite the commotion. Let’s just make sure to limit the sugar we give them, okay?”

Dark waved his hand dismissively and grinned. “Yeah, yeah. They’re hyper enough as is...actually, it is kinda sweet of ya to offer ta look after them so Granny and Mac can have a break for once.”

“Eh, it’s no big deal, Partner. Besides, like ya said, our little sisters are just too cute and it’s been quite some time since we’ve gotten to just goof around with them. Speaking of…” Ryan glanced at the clock and noted the time. “We should get moving since Ah wanna pick them up from school and go do a bit of shopping for the weekend with them. And, if we end up getting a snack along the way, that will just have to be a risk we will take.”

Simply laughing in reply, Dark got up and followed Ryan as they headed into town. Noting that they were a bit early as they could see Cheerilee still giving a lesson, they plopped down on a seesaw and idly popped up and down to pass the time.

“Man, Ah haven’t done this since…”

“Ryan?”

“Heh, sorry Dark. It just dawned on me that the last time Ah was even on a seesaw like this was back on mah world...when Ah was still dating her…”

“Oh.” Dark grimaced a bit. “Sorry bro…”

“Naw, it’s okay. Shouldn’t let old memories keep me from having some simple fun.” Ryan perked up a bit when he heard the school bell chime and saw the door open. “Well, there’s our cue. Let’s go find those little goobers and go get ready for a fun weekend.”

Dark nodded, but his smile at all the younguns running passed began to falter as it seemed there was one missing. “Hey, Ryan...doesn’t it seem like somepony is missing?”

Tilting his head, Ryan gave Dark a puzzled look before looking over all the little fillies and colts. “Well, other than our little sisters, Ah don’t see DT. Ah mean, she could be with them but…”

“Why wouldn’t Silvy be with them as well?” Dark motioned to Silver Spoon off by herself, looking at the sky almost listlessly. “...that’s weird.”

“...Ah wonder.” Ryan started to ponder before he heard his and Dark’s name shouted before the two of them got flying hug-tackled by Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. “Whoa there, little ones! Hahaha, trying to knock us over?”

“Maybe.” Apple Bloom giggled. “We’re so excited we get to spend all weekend with you and Dark.”

“That’s right! We’re gonna have so much fun!”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh!” Scootaloo nuzzled Dark’s chest as he hugged her tight. “Right, big bro?”

“You bet your cute little nose, Scooty.” He gave her a boop, laughing softly at her reaction. “But first, we’ve gotta go get some supplies for the weekend. You three up for a shopping trip?”

“Yes!” They all replied in unison.

“And yer gonna be good, right? After all, if yer good we’ve got all the more reason ta spoil y’all rotten, ya know…”

At that the CMC’s gasped before putting on their brightest smiles. “We promise!”

With that they made their way into town, stopping off at the market to get a few food stuffs with which to cook some amazing meals, before making their way to Bonnie’s sweet shop.

“Yay! Candy!” The trio of fillies shouted as they made their way in, Ryan and Dark following behind them and shaking their heads.

“Well hello there, you three. And hello to you and Dark as well, Ryan. Treating your sisters to something sweet today, eh?”

“Heh, well yeah, but we’re actually keeping an eye on them all weekend what with the gals off in Manehattan.”

“Oh right, right. Lyra said something about going there with them and how you’d be staying here to watch them. With how busy it’s been this week, I totally forgot.” Bon Bon turned to the three excited youngsters and smiled. “So, what can I get for ya?”

After allowing them to pick out some treats, the group returned home. As the girls got set up in the living room—insisting they make the pillow fort of all pillow forts, which Dark was more than happy to oblige with—Ryan was hard at work whipping up something delicious for dinner.

“Of course, Ah’d have some more help with that if, ya know, mah other half would lend me a hand instead of helping fill our living room with downy softness. Totally would be done by now.”

Dark, poking his head out of the fridge because why not, smirked. “You’re just upset because you wanna help too.”

“Hmmm….just leave me some fun with them, okay?” With that he finished up the dish before placing it in the oven. “Okay. Food’s cooking, tea and juice has been made and is chilling, and dessert is setting. With that said.”

And as Ryan walked into the living room, he noted that nearly all available real estate in there had been turned into a legitimate fort made of pillows and sheets that surrounded the normal decor of the room. Approaching the “gate”, he gave it a knock before seeing the three fillies pop up and look down upon him.

“Who goes there?”

“Uhm, it’s me, Ryan.”

“Ryan? Do we know a Ryan?”

Scootaloo stuck her tongue out in thought before nodding. “I think so. But how can we know it’s truly him?”

“And not a swallow?”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Really? Ah’m not even carrying coconuts.”

“He does have a point.”

“You should give him a test. Ask him if a watery tart tossed a sword at him.”

“Dark, you hush. Come on girls, lemme in. Ah wanna have some fun before dinner is ready too, ya know?”

“Hmmmm….” The three fillies gathered together and discussed this in hushed tones while Ryan watched on. “On one condition.”

Ryan’s eyebrow raised but he shrugged. “Okay. What would that be?”

“The one thing you excel at: tummy rubs.”

Ryan sighed, facepalming at how that seemed as if it would never leave him. “Curse my masterful hand skills. Very well! If scritch-scratching tummies is the toll, then Ah shall pay! Now hurry. We have maybe 20 minutes till dinner is ready!”

With that the mattress drawbridge lowered and in Ryan walked...before he began to fall.

“Well...should’ve seen this coming.” He remarked, watching as he passed by all manner of throw and couch pillows. “Dark, have you been dabbling with the chaos again?”

“Maaaaybe.” He remarked, appearing as a grin before the rest of him formed next to his falling brother. “How else were we going to send you to the snuggle dungeon?”

Ryan facepalmed even harder, his hand slowly sliding down as he sighed. “A snuggle dungeon? That sounds like something Lunes would have. Anyway, we gonna hit bottom any time soon? Dinner has about five minutes left at this point, and would prefer it not to burn.”

“Oh, we can always order pizza if that happens.”

“No we can’t.” Ryan turned and poked his brother in the stomach. “We’ve had pizza way too much the last few weeks, and even with all our training Ah can tell you put on a little weight.”

Dark gasped, slapping away Ryan’s hand. “How dare you!? I am a fine, handsome, perfectly weighted specimen of humankind. Oh...we’re here.”

“What? UGH!” Ryan grunted, landing on a cushy mattress...which would have been fine were it not for one Darkness Shade landing on top of him. “Bro...why?”

“Hmmm...guess I misjudged the spatial warping. Gonna have to ask Cordy about that when he gets back from his trip.”

“Finally! Y’all sure did take yer time getting here!” AppleBloom and her friends came running up to greet them. “Awww, ya started without us.”

“Well we’ll just have to fix that! Hyah!” Scootaloo shouted, launching herself at Ryan and Dark before snuggling up against them. “Yeah! Double big bro snuggles are the best!”

“...somehow Ah should’ve known Disky was involved in this, even if it is indirectly.” Ryan shrugged before the other two fillies hopped up and joined them. “Well, Ah guess this is nice...even if yer being a weirdo, Dark.”

“Hey! You heard Scooty, double big bro snuggles are indeed best.”

Rolling his eyes, Ryan sighed but enjoyed the bonding moment...at least till dinner was done anyway.

After having their delicious dinner, Ryan and Dark noted that before they had any nighttime fun the three needed to get cleaned up and ready for bed. This led the trio to complain they didn’t need to, thus inciting a series of Benny Hill-esque hijinx as the big bros tried to get the little sisters to take a bath, chasing them through the whole house before they finally all tripped and rolled in a big katamari ball of humans and ponies right into the large tub, water splashing everywhere. Spitting out some water, Ryan sighed before shaking his head free of water.

“Tarnation, gals! Why did ya have to make this so hard?”

“Well, cause if we had to take a bath, we’d lose out on time with the two of you.” Applebloom pouted before taking some shampoo and rinsing her hair. “But it all worked out!”

“Mmmhmmm! Now we don’t have to be away from you, and you get us to clean ourselves up.” Scootloo hummed as she ducked down under the waters to blow bubbles.

“If anything, you’ve got to give it to the kiddos for not wanting to miss out any time with us.” Dark chuckled, “Now then, let’s make sure we get behind those ears!”

After everyone was dried and clean, the girls hopped up on the couch around their big brothers eager for them to play the game they’d chosen.

“...Are you gals sure ya want us to play this game?” Ryan asked, looking at the cover as he booted up the system. “Ah remember the normal version of this one from mah world and...it was pretty intense even for the twentyish years old version of mahself.”

“Oh come on, big bro! Alone, on a spaceship, your crew taken apart by some alien menace, left to slowly creep around while the sounds of the damned wail around you and wait for one moment of dropped guard to pounce and eviscerate you!” AppleBloom shouted excitedly...at least till Scootaloo motioned for her to dial it back.

“Actually, I think what she means is that the tense atmosphere and creepy ambiance leads to a rather enjoyable watch. Especially if our two awesomely skilled big brothers are the ones playing.”

Dark looked at Scoots and laughed. “Quite the way to put it, but from what Ryan’s memories have shown, this game does look pretty legit. And bonus for Ryan as it’s technically a different game since it’s been ponelated into a different version of itself.”

“‘Ponelated’”? Ryan raised an eyebrow, shifting through the menus to set the mood just right before making a motion with his hand to dim the lights. “Is that Darkese for translated into a pony version?”

“Yes!”

“...Ah should’ve expected as much. Well then...let’s start!”

“Issac, it’s me...I wish I could talk to you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything…”

“Shoot it, big bro! Shoot it!”

“Ah’m trying, Bloomie, but you gotta loosen that grip on mah neck!”

“Hahaha! This is delightful!” Dark cackled in glee as Scootaloo had hidden herself in his jacket, her head poking out as she watched Ryan’s panicked attempts to shoot the Necromorph hordes. Sweetie Belle was nestled between the two humans, a blanket wrapped tightly around her. “Isaac has got himself some sweet hardware! I wonder if I can get Eclipsis to transform into a Line Gun?”

“Behind you!”

“Wha? Oh shit!” Ryan shouted, watching as poor Isaac pony went flying from a hit by a giant brute of a Necromorph. “Crap, crap, crap, crap! Need the Contact Beam!”

Flipping through his inventory, Ryan pulled up said weapon and quickly whirled around, charging it and preparing to unleash it on the charging monster.

“Ryan! Fire!”

“Not yet! It’s not close enough!”

“Big bro!”

“...now!” Ryan released the shot, watching as it passed through its target and knocked it for a loop before it wobbled and fell down. “Suck it, bitch!”

“Well then, that was simply fantastic, bro!” Dark laughed and clapped before finally noting the mood. “Uhm...are you guys okay? It wasn’t that tense, was it?”

“...well...Ah think that’s enough of this for tonight.” Ryan made his way to the nearest save terminal before turning off the system. “Besides, it’s getting late, and if we’re gonna go have fun tomorrow we need to get our sleep.”

“You expect us to sleep after seeing all that?!”

Ryan blinked at the filly all up in his face before gently taking her in his arms. “Now come on, Bloomie, yer the one that said y’all would be okay with this.”

“Yeah, I mean...it seemed like it…”

“Right! Let’s go then.” With that Ryan scooped them up before heading upstairs to the guest room to help tuck them in for the night. “Make sure you brush yer teeth well, lest you have to make an even more terrifying visit to...Colgate!”

“Spoopy.”

“...okay, big bro.” The three fillies replied, getting ready for bed and then hopping in as Ryan and Dark tucked them in. Giving each of them a kiss on the forehead, they smiled before pausing at the doorway.

“Goodnight little sisters. See ya in the morning, sleep tight.” With that Dark flipped off the switch, the nightlight flickering on in the dark as he and Ryan headed down the hall to go to bed themselves.

“...anyone else feel on edge?”

“A little, Applebloom. It’s just a game, though. It’s not real.”

“We know that Scootaloo, but it’s just…”

“Still spooky?”

“Yeah. Well, we aren’t alone and Ah guess if all else fails we can go bunk with our big bros.”

With that the three nervous fillies did their best to fall asleep…

‘...something’s not right.’

Ryan grumbled, shaking his head and opening his eyes...only to see they weren’t exactly in their bedroom.

“...we’re dreaming, aren’t we?”

“Right on the money, partner.” Dark appeared next to him, noting the abstract but otherwise normal space of their dreams. “Our dream seems to be fine, but I sense someone else’s is not good.”

Ryan tapped his foot in thought for a moment before he nodded. “Our little sisters are having a nightmare because of that game, aren’t they?”

“It would indeed seem so, Ryan.”

Dark and Ryan looked to see Luna coming in for a landing in front of them.

“Woona.”

“Those three are having quite a rough time. Pray tell, my dear humans, what game did you play with them?”

“Dead Space.”

Luna blinked a few moments before frowning. “That game is just a bit violent for ones such as them, do you not think so?”

“Well, they assured us they could handle it...but Ah guess it was too much for them after all.”

“Indeed. With that said, you two shall assist me in helping them. Not that you weren’t going to anyway, haha.”

Ryan smirked. “You know us too well.”

“That I do. Now hold on tight, we know not what to expect, but we will not be defenseless in there.”

In a blast of midnight blue magic, the two humans and alicorn were transported from one dream plane and into another. This one, in contrast to Ryan and Dark’s rather peaceful dream, was dark and dreary, with the stench of blood and rot quite prominent.

“...we’re on the Ishimura, aren’t we?”

As if to answer his question, a very creepy song began to play over the intercom speakers. All three felt a chill go up their spine at the eeriness of the moment before trying to steel themselves.

“...I’d say that’s a yes, Ry.”

“Fear not my humans, we are not powerless here.” Luna concentrated slightly before a light began to overtake the three of them. When it disappeared, Ryan smirked to see he was now donning quite the outfit, a dark obsidian color with a dark blue glow emanating from the faceplate. As for Dark, he had quite the curious ensemble, looking like a more slap-dash and hodge-podge version of Ryan’s getup with a separate jacket and pants combo.

“Aw yeah, the Obsidian suit. How’d you know, Lunes?” Ryan reached to his side, pulling away a very familiar weapon. “And a fully upgraded Plasma Cutter? You shouldn’t have.”

“Heh, hell yeah! I get to test out one of these bad boys!” Dark hefted out a rather large device that seemed like a steroid-enhanced version of Ryan’s gun. “Line Gun ready to roll! And the Hacker outfit is a perfect touch. So then, the girls are in here somewhere, aren't they?”

“Indeed.” Luna replied, her own armor a bright red, the helmet shining just as red in the semi-darkness. Hefting up an Assault Rifle, she nodded before pointing down the hall. “I can sense those three in this direction. Keep your wits about you, Ryan and Darkness, and watch your fire. We may be in a dream, but I can assure you friendly fire will still hurt painfully so.”

“Noted.” Ryan and Dark replied, their helmets reforming over their heads as they raised their weapons and began trudging forward.

The spooky ambience of the derelict spacecraft did little to calm the nerves of the two humans and alicorn as they pressed on, puzzled by the lack of contact with, well, anything. No necromorphs, no other ponies...and as for their little sisters, the CMC were nowhere to be found. They could sense that they were going in the right direction, but the fact they had found nothing seemed off.

“This is most concerning.” Ryan shone the light from his weapon around, but only saw smudges of blood or sparking wires no matter where he looked. “The girls should be somewhere around here, right? And no necromorphs? This is far too quiet for mah liking.”

“I agree.” Dark nodded as the continued on before they heard some quiet sobbing. “Wait. It’s faint, but I think it’s coming from this direction.”

“Perhaps it is the three little ones. Quickly, dear humans!”

With that they picked it up double time, hurriedly stomping towards the source of the sound they had heard. It grew louder as they went, assuring them they were going the right way, until they finally came upon a locked door.

“Bloomie? Sweets? Scoots? Are y’all in there?”

Ryan waited for a moment as he noted the sobbing slow until…

“Big bro?”

“We found them, thank goodness!” Dark let out a sigh before trying to open the door. “Girls, we’ll get ya out of there somehow.”

“Don’t!”

“Why not, Scootie?”

“There was a really big monster, Dark. It was chasing us, but gave up when we locked ourselves in here. There aren’t any vents or anything they can use to get to us, so it’s safe here.”

“Be that as it may, children, we cannot rescue you if you do not come with us.”

“Lunes has a point, you three. Besides, we haven’t seen any sign of any monsters this whole time. It’s quiet, almost deathly so.”

“Ryan, better wording please.”

“Sorry, Partner. Regardless, come on out so we can get you out of this nightmare.”

“No way! You can’t hear it but we know it’s still out there.”

“Listen girls…” Dark’s eyes widened as a loud, piercing scream rang out from down the hall. “Oh shit…”

“It’s back!” Scootaloo whimpered, a noise on the other side of the door noting the three were huddling up away from the door.

Ryan cracked his neck, popping his helmet back into place before bringing his Plasma Cutter to the ready. Dark and Luna did the same as they watched and waited...and then it appeared down the hall: a hulking, massive, beastly necromorph that seemed somewhat different from the normal ones they were familiar with.

Waiting till it was closer, the three unloaded on it, severing its limbs and watching as if flopped to the ground.

“...that seemed way too easy.” Dark muttered, his unease flaring up at how quickly they’d taken down their foe.

“Maybe we’ve just gotten a lucky break for once?”

Of course, Ryan should’ve known better as the creature began to spasm and shake before it’s limbs began to regrow and it once more started making its way towards them.

“Oh fuck. Of course it’s the regenerating one. Ah bet that asshole scientist that made it is nearby as well.” Ryan grumbled, shooting off one of its legs to slow it down as the three began making their way forward. “Little sisters! Hang tight! We’ll be back for ya once we handle this bastard!”

“Okay, so obvious question: How did Isaac stop this thing exactly?” Dark fired off a stasis blast to slow it down while they turned a corner and dashed through a doorway before taking a levpad up with the others.

“It has been some time since I have played this particular series, but did he not freeze it? Or did he burn it up?”

“He did both, actually.” Ryan remarked, pulling up the hud on his suit to figure out where exactly they were. “Looks like we’re nearest the Executive Shuttle Hangar Bay, so burning this mofo it is. Not usually mah style, but if it worked for Isaac, it’s good enough for me.”

Hearing an ungodly roar, the trio looked at each other and nodded, taking off down the scaffolding and finally coming upon the shuttle itself.

“Perfect, now we just need to get it into position and blam! His ass is gonna be ash.” Dark nodded before having a thought. “So...who’s gonna lure it into position?”

“For the record, I have no one to blame but myself for this.” Dark sighed, glancing over to Luna and Ryan waiting by the controls to test fire the shuttle engines while he paced around the scaffolding to draw it out. “Okay, this is nothing for the great Darkness Shade. I’ve faced worst, after all. Now then, show yourself you son of a bitch!”

Hearing a smashing sound and then watching a vent go flying by, Dark balked as the massive necromorph jumped forth and roared at him.

“There you are, ugly! Come at me, bro!” Dark let loose with multiple shots, getting its attention and then booking it as fast as he could. The beast was more than angered by the annoying blasts and gave chase, intent of running our hero through with it’s claws. Dark wasn’t too keen on letting that happen, and dodged this way and that while getting off the shots needed to take care of it before giving it a blast of stasis to make sure it stayed in place.

“Ryan! Now!” Dark shouted, dashing out of the way while his brother flipped the switch and brought the engines online. The flames burned brightly as the creature was engulfed in them, a monstrous roar of pain emanating forth as it was slowly, but surely, reduced to nothingness in the white-hot flames.

Our heroes sighed in relief, having taken care of what was undoubtedly the cause of this nightmare, but did not notice a streak of inky black dissipating from where the creature once stood. Feeling as if the day/night/whatever was saved, they headed back to the CMC eager to get out of this dream and start getting some decent sleep.

“Despite all the terror, this wasn’t exactly unenjoyable.” Dark remarked. “Playing out a videogame for real is pretty neat.”

“Verily, my Darkness. Were it not for the threat on our lives, this could be seen as fun.” Luna chuckled softly. “I do wonder what that may say about us, however.”

“Eh.” Ryan shrugged. “It’s no more dangerous than half the stuff we’ve dealt with in the real world, so Ah think we’re okay. Now then, let’s get the little ones and head back to the normal dream state, Ah’m exhausted and we’ve got a full day of fun with them coming up tomorrow.”

With that the dream was saved, the three little fillies were overjoyed to be rescued, and they all returned with Princess Luna back to the collective dream world before heading off to their own respective mind doors. Watching the last of them leave, Luna gave pause as she glanced down the seemingly endless hallway, her eyes showing she was thinking of something.

“...something about that dream, that nightmare...I said nothing to the others so they would not worry, but I had the strangest sensation of familiarity in the air.” Luna frowned slightly, unsure as to what that feeling was or meant. “I can only hope it is nothing and not an omen…”

Ryan—and Dark by proxy—yawned as the sun slowly shone through the blinds. He went to move, but oddly felt warmth despite his herd being off in Manehattan. Opening his eyes, he wasn’t too surprised to see the forms of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo curled around him.

“Well, given the dream we had, Ah guess it’s understandable they didn’t wanna sleep alone.” Ryan softly spoke before nudging them. “Okay little ones, time to wake up. We’ve got a fun day planned but we can’t start till we get ready and have some breakfast.”

“Can we have waffles, big bro?”

“Sure thing. Ah’m pretty sure we’ve got all the fixings for them so Ah’ll get to cooking while y’all wake up.”

Having done just that, the girls had made short work of the stack of waffles he’d created and were just about ready to head off for a day of fun and adventure with their big brothers.

‘Or two of them anyway.’ Dark chuckled as Ryan made sure they all had their bags on tight. ‘So any particular reason we’re teleporting so far away?’

“Well, we did want to check out a rockin’ arcade, and the west coast of Equestria apparently has some of the best.” Ryan turned to the three fillies. “Okay! Y’all ready to go?”

“You bet!” Scootaloo ran in place, a huge grin on her face. “I heard they might have some kind of really cool skateboarding game, so let’s hope the rumors are true.”

“You and your extreme sports love, haha. Okay. Hold tight. It’s gonna be a quick trip, but probably just a bit bumpy. Haven’t really tried this on mah own too many times.”

With that, Ryan held on to them tight as he focused on their destination and with a poof they were gone.

Several ponies were standing around a rather beautiful park, going about their day before feeling something was off. Without warning, Ryan and the others poofed into existence, scaring the daylights out of two of them that were far closer than was for comfort.

“Heh, oops.” Ryan laughed softly. “Sorry ta scare y’all like that. Guess Ah missed the teleportation zone by a few blocks. Y’all okay?”

The two ponies were still a bit too stunned to offer anything but a nod in reply. Ryan, sensing they should probably move on, sat the girls down before motioning to his right. Getting their bearings, they could see they were close to their main destination and so quickly made their way there before pausing at the massive neon sign they saw outside the building.

‘Oh hell yeah! They’ve got a wicked 80’s motif going on! This is going to be awesome!’

Pretty much agreeing with Dark’s assessment, they stepped in and observed the perfect gaming environment: black light lamps graced the ceiling, giving just enough illumination to make the games glow, neon designs in the carpeting popped brilliantly in such light, and a veritable treasure trove of games both new and retro were ripe for the playing.

“Little ones, Ah think we found heaven.”

Wasting no time in acquiring the cards used by this arcade, Ryan watched the girls run off to have some fun while he took the time to slowly look over the games until one in particular caught his eye. Stopping in front of it, his face twisted up in thought a bit as he seemed to recognize this one.

“...it certainly looks a lot like it, anyway.” He quietly mumbled to himself, placing his hands over the large buttons that were arranged four on top, five on bottom. “Name is different, no surprise there. Ah suppose if DDR has an analog here, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the other rhythm games might as well. Well then, let’s see how Pone ‘N Music compares to its other-dimensional counterpart.”

Some time later…

“Woohoo! We got ourselves of mess of them non-tangible ticket thingies, girls!”

“I know, Applebloom! Big Bro is gonna be blown away with how well we played!”

Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement before looking around. “Speaking of, where is he? We kind of wandered off on our own and he never crossed paths with us again.”

Scootaloo waved a hoof before smirking. “This place is like heaven for big bro, he probably got caught up in some kinda gaming bliss and has been kicking all sorts of flank.”

“Maybe…” Applebloom tapped her hoof for a moment before seeing a crowd of ponies clumping together near one of the machines. “What in the world is going on there?”

“What’s going on? That tan, hornless, short minotaur dude is all but setting that game on fire.” A random pony replied, watching in awe as the sound of something slapping plastic was heard in rapid succession.

“Dude.” His friend replied before rolling his eyes. “I keep telling you he’s not a minotaur. He’s one of them...what’s the word? That species that’s all the way out there in the Ponyville/Canterlot area...man, not remembering that word is gonna bother me now…”

“Tan? Short? Hornless Minotaur? Ponyville?” The CMC questioned before a thought dawned. “Wait a minute.”

Pushing their way through the crowd, they heard the digital cheering sounds before finally seeing that—as they had deduced—said “minotaur” was actually their big brother. Scootaloo went to grab his attention before AppleBloom stopped him.

“Hold up. He still has his final stage to play, best not to interrupt him.” Bloom smirked. “‘Sides, Ah wanna see just what all the fuss is about.”

His hands flying about the buttons, Ryan selected a few options before finally deciding on a song to finish it on. Cracking his knuckles and grinning, Ryan smashed the Start button as his chosen stage loaded.

“Are you ready?” Asked a very cheerful set of voices before the show began. With that Ryan’s hands were a flurry of movement, the colorful buttons being hit in time to the music, laying out a beautiful piano rhythm. AppleBloom and her friends could only watch in surprise at how fluid his movements were and try to keep up with the speed of the notes. Really getting into it, Ryan’s body began bobbing and moving as he pounded the buttons with style all while maintaining a rather decent rhythm. Eventually he finally reached the end of the song and with one last flourish, cleared it cleanly.

“Ugh...man, slapping them Pop-kun’s hurts something fierce.” Ryan grunted, shaking his hands in an effort to get the blood flowing faster. “Heh, nice to see mah skills in that haven’t deteriorated too much since ending up here. Still, boggles mah mind how our world’s seem to have so many similarities...or maybe not given what Ah know. Now then, maybe we should…”

And that’s when he finally turned around to notice the rather large crowd he’d drawn, all staring at him in various different ways.

“Uhm...hi?” Ryan gave a small wave before laughing nervously. “Hmm...tough crowd. Oh! Did you guys want to play? Ah didn’t mean to hog the machine like that, Ah just was really getting into the rhythm, haha.”

“Are you for real, dude?”

Ryan looked at the pony asking said question oddly before nodding slowly. “Last time Ah checked Ah was real. Anyway, like Ah said, sorry for hogging the machine. Y’all can have yer turn now, Ah got to rest mah hands.”

“Uhm, big bro?”

“Oh! Hey! There you three are! Did ya have fun while Ah was distracted?”

“Mmmhmm! We sure did!” Scootaloo nodded furiously. “Got a lot of tickets too, but how did you get so good at that game?”

Parting the sea of ponies that still were staring at him, Ryan led the three towards the Redemption Room. “Short answer, it’s a rhythm game, and Ah’ve always had a knack for those. Longer answer, it’s actually similar to a game Ah played back home, mostly right after Ah moved out on mah own. Given all we’ve found out about how the worlds are connected, things like this really shouldn’t surprise me anymore, and yet somehow they do. Anyway, if y’all are done, let’s total them tickets and see what sweet prizes yer able to get!”

With a hearty ‘Huzzah!’ as a reply, the three fillies began looking around at all the various prizes available before finally choosing what they each wanted. With that they headed out, noting that it was actually almost dinner time.

“So, Ah probably know the answer, but what would you three like for dinner?”

His three little sisters looked at him before talking amongst themselves briefly. Having come to a conclusion, they grinned widely before saying one thing.

“PIZZA!”

“Heh, okay. That was easy enough, but…” Ryan looked around and frowned. “Not really sure where the nearest pizza joint would be. Hmm…”

Pausing a moment, Ryan walked up to a nearby mare to ask if she knew where the nearest pizzeria was.

“The nearest pizza place? Oh why that’s easy, dear. If you just…” She turned around and was slightly startled at seeing Ryan. “Oh my! Oh! How rude of me to act like that. I’ve just never seen someone like you before...though…”

“Hmmm?” Ryan seemed a bit puzzled. “Ma’am?”

The mare shook her head. “It’s nothing. Now then, you wanted to know where the nearest pizza place was. It’s not far, so if you’d like I could show you and your…”

“Little sisters.”

“Haha, of course. I could show you four if you’d like.”

“Well that’d be downright kind of ya, ma’am.”

“Oh! But first we need to wait for my daughter. She should be done any minute.”

‘Daughter? Wait...this mare looks oddly familiar for some reason.’

“Okay, mother, I’m finally done. They had to go to the back to find what we were looking for and...Ryan?”

“DT?”

“...you know this man? You know my daughter?”

“Of course I know Ryan. He’s from Ponyville. Oh, and you’re here with the others too. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Diamond! You’ve been gone for a while. Silver Spoon seemed so worried and she wouldn’t tell us where you went.” AppleBloom hesitated for a moment before hugging her. “What happened?”

“...some things. Mother, we haven’t had dinner yet so would it be okay if I invited them somewhere?”

“Well, I don’t see why not. As it turns out they were looking for a pizzeria, so how does that sound?”

“Sounds good! I know just which one to go to as well, so follow me!”

With that the group walked along to their destination, all while Dark began putting together the dots.

‘Huh. Guess that explains why she looked so familiar...but then...if she’s out here...why is she out here? What happened to her dad? Come to think of it, we haven’t heard from Mr. Rich in some time...not since that party...hmmm.’

“Okay! Got yer order in and we’ll get that out to youse super quick!”

As the waiter headed off, Ryan asked if they could finally explain DT’s absence.

“Oh my, where do I begin? Do you remember that fit that daddy threw back at that holiday party?”

“Oh yeah we do.” Ryan narrowed his eyes and sighed. “The one where he flipped out and then threw a chair at me.”

“Indeed.” Diamond sighed before continuing. “The princesses were quite thorough in making it clear his type of behavior was not tolerated. While they did not punish him with traditional methods, he certainly received punishment enough.”

“Uhm...what’s that supposed to mean?” Scootaloo scratched her head, trying to understand.

“What my daughter means is that her father was asked to, not officially step down, but to back out of the limelight with his business dealings for a time. No specific time frame was given, just that it was in the best interest of his company’s image if he took a “break” as it were.”

“I see. Can’t imagine he took that well?”

“You would be correct, AppleBloom. Daddy...was not thrilled. He blamed Ryan and was always so...angry. It’s like he wasn’t even himself. While Daddy could be a bit passionate at times and have that fiery attitude, it wasn’t like this.” Diamond looked up to see their pizza had been brought out before she stared at it. “It was like...he wasn’t himself. He just felt so angry, so...dark. I tried to stay to help but even I had to get out of there.”

“And so that’s when you left? Which is when we noticed ya weren’t there and Silver Spoon started to worry.”

“Sweetie is correct. I came out here to live with my mother who runs her own branch of Daddy’s business. I..must admit I did so secretly, so as to not let Daddy know where I had gone. That had the sad side effect of making my friends worry, it would seem.”

‘Hmmm…’

“What was that?!”

“It’s okay, mother, that would just be Darkness Shade. He’s a human from long ago that kinda lives in Ryan’s mind.”

“Oh, I see. Well I do remember hearing such things from my husband’s communications. Something about a bizarre creature with split personalities. Heh, never would have guessed he was talking about a human that was carrying two souls, haha.”

‘Sounds about right. But the way your father was acting, from what I gather he wasn’t always that way?’

“Yes...Dark, what are you getting at?”

‘Nothing too much, but I have this feeling we need to pay Filthy Rich a visit when we return home. Such a change like that seems...off.’

“Hmmm.” Diamond took a bite of her pizza and frowned. “If you feel it is worth looking into, I won’t stop you but please...do be careful.”

“Heh, it’s us. You know we’ll be careful.”

Diamond simply giggled at that before nodding. “How could I forget? Although, if you could help Daddy, it would be nice. Both for his sake, and so I can return home.”

“Haha, okay, okay. Enough heavy stuff! The pizza is getting cold, guys.” Ryan remarked, grabbing a still hot slice and taking a big bite. “Delicious!”

Having spent some more time with Diamond and her mother before finally mentioning they had to go, Ryan, Dark, and their little sisters teleported back home. While the CMC got ready for bed, Ryan and Dark began contemplating what to do about Filthy.

‘So...now that we’re back and in the know of what went down, you can sense it, right?’

“That vaguely, very low level, and clearly trying hard to hide itself creepy energy?”

‘Eyup. And guess where it’s coming from?’

“Ah feel like Ah needn’t need to guess. Interesting that it was able to hide so well until we became aware of what it was doing.”

‘...it?’

“Yes. Ah have this bad feeling Ah know what might be going on based on things we’ve found out recently. Ah truly hope Ah’m wrong, but if Ah’m not...we better be ready for quite the fight.”

With that said, the two headed to bed as well knowing full well that the next day might prove to be quite a challenge…

As the sun rose on this new day, Ryan and Dark were already up and focusing as they waited for their backup. Said backup gracefully teleported in with a matching pair of white and dark blue lights.

“Ladies. Thanks for showing up.”

“When you made mention that a past threat may have returned, and the way you alluded to this threat, we knew time was of the essence.” Celestia nodded, a determined look on her face. “Do you truly think it is...that?”

“It’s possible.” Dark appeared in his physical form before continuing. “From what Diamond told us and that weird low level magic we can sense, I am not certain we can leave it to chance. If it's not it precisely, some bad mojo has latched onto her father and, despite how he may have acted, we can’t just leave him to whatever it is.”

“Partner’s right, Ah might not have liked how he acted towards us, but we can’t rightly leave someone suffering to whatever we’re going to find.”

“And what of Twilight Sparkle and the others?”

“We filled them in as best we could once they got back. It seemed as if they had something to tell us as well, but once Ah mentioned what might be going down, they said they’d explain later. Kinda curious what happened on their trip, but they’re ready as backup. Without the Elements at their disposal, though, Ah’d rather they not be fully on the front line. They’ve discreetly evacuated the town, so if bad shit does go down, we can at least minimize any collateral damage.” Ryan frowned. “Ah’m getting so many cases of the willies right now, but we need to confront whatever is in that house.”

“Then let us be off, my little humans.”

“It looks normal enough.” Ryan remarked, looking over Filthy’s sizeable estate. “Typical mansion most super rich businessmen might have, but yet…”

“Yes. Now that we are closer, the sensation has increased in strength.”

Dark scrunched his face in thought before staring at the front door. “So do we just go in and see what’s up? Direct approach? Stealthy?”

Luna grimaced but shook her head. “I do not believe that stealth will be necessary. Regardless of how hard we might try to suppress our presence, being this close leaves me no doubt it knows we are on to it.”

“...but then why has it not tried to escape?”

“...I fear I may know why, Ryan.”

“Cellie?”

“...it wants a stronger host.”

“...oh. Oh. Well then, let’s not let that happen.”

“...Woona.”

“Heh, do not worry, my Darkness. I am not the same young mare I was all those years ago. The tricks that may come into play have no hold on me anymore.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Dark led the charge, walking up to the door and kicking it open. “Honey! I’m home!”

The echoing noise of the door landing was all they heard in the incredibly bleak looking darkness inside the mansion. Even though the sun had risen and there should be some amount of light shining in, somehow the sun outside cast no light through the windows. This set off a few alarms in our heroes minds, as well as unsettled them slightly.

“Huh...well, willing to bet our thoughts are on target. That does not sit well with me.” Dark adopted a more ready stance, hand on his sword as he led the quartet slowly into the house. The darkness permeated every inch inside the house, and even Celestia’s spell casting forth from her horn only barely held it back. While this meant they could see a few feet in front of them, it also meant they could only see a few feet in front of them.

“...We’re getting closer.” Ryan whispered, motioning ahead and upstairs. “Methinks it’s hiding in the master bedroom, no doubt wanting to be all theatrical.”

“Seems about right from what we’ve been told.” Dark slowly led the way upwards, following the ever growing presence of malice to its source. “...”

The others knew without him saying anything, they had found the right room. With a nod, swords and horns were readied before Dark blew the door away and they stormed in.

“Vile creature! You shall relinquish your hold on the pony you inhabit and surrender yourself!” Luna bellowed at the form sitting across from them.

There was no response for a time, until a deep, sinister laugh began to emanate from the body of what definitely seemed to be a pony. Slowly, two eerie, glowing points appeared, no doubt the eyes of this possessed creature that bored into their very souls.

“Hahahah. Well well, so you finally found me out at last. Amusing. So much for being such grand heroes when someone like me could hide under your noses for so very long.” The creature clapped sarcastically. “If only this pathetic pony had been something more, I would not have had to bide my time in order to deceive one of you enough to take you as my own. But what fortuitous luck I must have, for you four have come to me. Mmmm, I see you’ve taken good care of that body for me, Luna.”

Luna cringed a bit, especially at what seemed to be the entity running its tongue over it’s lips in the dim light of the room. “My body is my own, foul beast, and you shall not be having it again.”

“Heh, how sad. I truly thought we did such fine work together. But if you won’t have me, I’m quite sure the other three will do just as well. In all my travels, I’ve never had a human before...it could prove to be quite...exciting.”

“...man, this thing is creepy as fuck in addition ta being evil.”

“From my viewpoint, you’re the evil one, but alas, that will simply make it more delightful when I eventually possess one of you.”

“Like hell you will!” Dark growled. “Yer reign of sorrow ends here. We won’t let you harm anyone else.”

“Oh really?” The creature grinned, sharp, shiny teeth reflecting in the light from Celestia’s horn. “And how might you do that? After all, as I hear, you don’t have those pretty gems to help you this time. And if you attack me too much, that poor, pathetic pony that is my host will die. After all, his strength is nothing compared to an Alicorn, and you know I’ll make him feel the pain if you try.”

“...is this thing bluffing, Woona?” Dark whispered, hoping it was just a ploy to slow them.

Woona grimaced before shaking her head. “No...I can attest to that all too well.”

“So it would seem we’ve got a bit of a standoff here...allow me to fix that.” With that the creature moved inhumanly fast, getting right up in their faces and causing them to slight recoil at the twisted, vile visage of a corrupted Filthy Rich. “How dare you bring light into my lair! Now you must die!”

Celestia gasped, throwing up a shield to block the darkness flung at her by this apparent Nightmare Rich creature. While not as strong as the attacks from long ago, it still packed quite a wallop.

Ryan roared as he charged the creature, hoping to land an attack to incapacitate it, but it simply faded into mist causing him to go right through, slamming into the wall. “Guh! Cheating asshole.”

“Now now, temper, human. Wouldn’t want to feed the flames, yes?” Nightmare Rich laughed a deep, evil laugh...and then groaned as Dark planted his foot into its back. “You insolent fool! A dirty, filthy monkey like you needs to learn your place.”

With that Dark felt something grab his legs—looking down revealed it was a purplish tendril of some kind—before he was knocked against the floor multiple times before being flung towards Luna.

“Darkness!” Luna caught him best she could, managing to hold her stance and keep them both upright. “You monster!”

“Oh my! Yes! There’s that passion, that anger, that unbridled rage that was just oh so...yummy. Come now, Luna, put aside all this nonsense of being “reformed” and your “true” self again and rejoin me.” The entity smirked before staring maliciously at the midnight alicorn. “After all, without me, you’ll always be runner up to your sister and that damn sun of hers.”

Luna stood there for a few moments until she began to laugh softly. “Oh how foolish you truly are. To think one such as you ever took over my body. It will be enjoyable finally stamping out your foul presence once and for all. Now then, have at you!”

With that she charged in, firing all sorts of magic blasts and delivering some serious kicks when she got in close, all of which left the Nightmareified Rich’s body looking a bit worse for wear. It coughed violently for a brief moment before smirking.

“And what exactly are you so pleased for? You are beaten and with the four of us here you shall not escape.”

“Oh, dear, sweet, gullible Woona. Who said that I was ever going to try and escape? If anything, my trap worked rather well and led you fools right where I wanted you.”

“What?” Ryan seemed puzzled before he felt something shake the house...and then suddenly they were no longer there but in a very dark, desolate looking void. “...what did you do?!”

“Why, I did what any good host would do: I invited you into my home. Now then.” With a quick flick of a hoof, our heroes found themselves held in place, a dark spell latched over the alicorns’ horns and humans hands. “First someone familiar, and then once I’ve ground down any resistance, I’ll finally get to see what human tastes like.”

Dark tried to break free, especially as the creature made its way towards his Woona. He growled and struggled with all his might, before roaring as he unleashed the full might of his Elemental Sync and busted free. “WOONA!”

As the entity dove out of Filthy Rich with the intent to possess Luna, it suddenly found Darkness in its path. Colliding with Dark, the human groaned as he felt it ooze and spread over his body, trying his best to fight its influence until…

“Well, guess I get to sate my taste buds early then. How predictable of him. Well then, foolish mortals, bow down and shiver in terror at the might of Nightmare Shade!!”

“We will never bow to such a horrid creature.” Celestia grunted, struggling against her bonds.

“Oh, we’ll see about that...after I break you in maybe you’ll do well as my servants. After all, every king needs a few fools to amuse him.”

“Sorry, that’s not in the plans, bro.”

“What?” Shade grunted, Ryan’s fist connecting and sending him flying across the vast nothingness.

With a quick swipe of his sword, Ryan banished the spell over Cellie and Lunes’ horns before glancing in the direction he’d knocked Dark’s possessed self. “Ladies, check on Mr.Rich and make sure he’s not too banged up.”

“What about you? Won’t you need our help?”

“Maybe. Probably...but something tells me that there’s more than that creature that wants to see Darkness and Ah finally have a true showdown.” Ryan seemed oddly serious, before smirking. “Besides, Ah know Dark is fighting on the inside to break free from that thing, and it seems pretty focused on the whole human aspect. That makes me a better distraction. Just find a way for us to get out of here once Ah do whatever Ah’m planning ta do.”

“Heh, the same for you, my little human.” Celestia let out a quick laugh before nodding. “Do take care.”

“Hey, it’s me. Don’t Ah always?”

And with that, he dashed off towards the direction he’d sent Darkness flying…

“I suppose it doesn’t do much to mention that was a cheap shot.”

“Sorry, Shade, but considering what you’ve done, Ah’m not keen on taking any chances with you.”

“Haha, well, well. Here we are, Mr.Ryder. You and I, face to face, and ready to fight in a battle that no doubt has been wanted.”

“...stop using his voice. You have no right to say that as him.”

“So touchy. But then again, that emotion of yours has always helped you, hasn’t it? We’ve been through so much, dear brother, that it’s only fitting I be the one to end this once and for all.”

To that Ryan said nothing, his eyes closed as he focused. In his mind, he could feel the moment building, and then he knew, it was time to end this.

“Don’t hold back, because I certainly won’t be!” Shade shouted, running at Ryan and throwing a punch. Ryan matched it with one of his own as the two traded blows over and over, each punch connecting with the other and neither really making any ground over the other. Soon kicks were added to it, and the two humans were like whirling tops with how they flew over the eerie black battleground.

“Grah!” Pulling out a very distorted form of Eclipsis, Shade sliced at Ryan who leapt back just in time.

“Sheesh. Any slower and more than mah shirt would’ve been thrashed. Ya wanna play that way, fine!” Ryan pulled out Malus Domestica before taking a stance. “Come on! Ah know ya can hear me in there, Dark! Fight that asshole! It’s yer body, not its!”

“Do shut up!”

Ryan gasped, holding back the attack as sparks flew. Their blades clashed over and over, lighting the battlefield and making impressive imagery in time with the music, each clash syncing perfectly as neither one showed any sign of backing down.

“Enough!” Ryan roared, flaring his Elemental Sync and going straight into his Mk.II form. “Come on, Darkness! You know this isn’t how it should be! You can’t let everything we’ve worked so hard for come apart because of some hellish abomination from beyond!”

“Such hurtful words!” Shade growled, matching Ryan’s form and smirking. “No matter how hard you try, you will not reach him. I’ve made sure of that.”

“So, how do you think that thing is able to latch on to people like it does?”

“...I’m not sure, Ryan. Perhaps it finds weakness or fear in a person’s heart. Some form of doubt that it can feed.”

“...So, their darkness?”

“Maybe, but as we’ve said before, light and dark are neither good nor evil. They only get that way from how people use it.”

“Hmmm...it seems kinda sad if ya think about it.”

“How so?”

“Well that thing only ever deals with negative emotions. It doesn’t know joy or happiness or...what it means to have friendship.”

Dark looked at his brother for a moment before laughing softly. “Only you would look at it in such a way. Not that it’s bad that yer like that. All that light in your heart...as long as you never lose that, I don’t think we’ll have to worry. Now come on, the girls are expecting us for dinner.”

“Dark…” Ryan paused, something about the void they were in triggering his memories. “I won’t ever give up on my friends! You hear me!”

Shade chuckled before grimacing. “What…? Impossible. Behave! This body is mine now! Now die!”

Barely blocking, Ryan felt himself skidding backwards at the weight of Shade’s attack. Gritting his teeth he roared and flared his magic, pushing back and kneeing his opponent in the gut. Seeing that this staggered him, he took the initiative and knocked his sword away before grabbing Shade and tossing him upwards.

“Hold on tight, Partner! This one is gonna hurt!” Ryan flew after him in a flash, grabbing on tight before spinning around and plummeting towards the ground. “Insane Kamikaze Attack! DARKNESS SHADEBOMB!”

With that a massive explosion echoed through the void, leaving a huge cloud of what appeared to be particles of darkness floating in the air. As it cleared, Ryan appeared to be rather well off and the being known as Shade was halfway buried in the midnight ground. Ryan panted, catching his breath as he stared at the nonmoving form of his body.

“Ryan, I know you want to believe in the best of everyone, but I know you know that with some we can’t. With them, we can’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Otherwise…”

In that moment, Ryan quickly teleported away, the spot he’d been occupying filled with razor sharp tendrils of darkness. Grimacing, he stood stoically as Shade launched himself free of the ground to glare at the human.

“Hahaha, should’ve seen that one coming. Impressive human, but you’re at yer limit.”

“Yer a fool if you think I’d ever give up. I won’t ever turn mah back on Darkness! There’s so much we’ve been through to just stand down! So much I still have to make happen! Ah’ve already almost got him his body back, and soon he’ll be able to have his life back! Ah promised him Ah’d make it happen and Ah won’t let some two-bit piece of shit like you steal that way from him again! RAWR!”

With an ungodly roar, Ryan’s Elemental Sync flared wildly, specks of white flickering in and out for the briefest of moments as he charged at Shade. Fists and kicks met once again, and, to its surprise, Nightmare Shade seemed to be...losing?

“How?! How is this possible?”

“Because I won’t give up on my friends! I don’t care who I have to face, even if it’s mah friends themselves…”

“If you return without my say-so, I will kill you. I will not put this world at risk just because you have some sensation that you have to protect me. So do you get that?! I. Will. Kill. You!”

Shaking off that memory, Ryan kept laying on the pressure, smacking away every attack sent his direction before he finally got in close and grabbed Shade by the throat. In that moment, his other hand charging a powerful blast of magic to end this, his mind wandered through his memories with Dark: from his first arrival here, to the Justice Blitz, to getting Dark his own body, and then to the last memory, their arms crossed in camaraderie. Just as he was about to unleash his attack, he quickly pointed away and fired it harmlessly to their side. “No!”

“Yes!” Shade grunted, breaking free of Ryan and unleashing a devastating punch to his gut. “Haha, so weak. Even when you had the shot, you couldn’t harm your dear brother.”

“Huff...nothing...nothing weak about that. Ah can still fight, so come on you asshole.” Ryan raised up Malus Domestica before running towards him. “Let’s end this!”

“My thoughts exactly!” Shade replied, running towards Ryan with Eclipsis drawn. The two came closer and closer until finally...KASWING!

Ryan and Shade’s forms stood still for a moment or two, until Ryan groaned and fell to the ground holding his right arm.

“In the end, you just couldn’t beat me, bro.” Shade slowly marched over towards Ryan, casually knocking aside the shots Celestia and Luna had fired at him. Hunching down over Ryan’s prone form, he smiled darkly. “So...any last words?”

“Yeah...just two.” Ryan lunged with his right arm, embedding his hand inside Shade’s chest. “Soul Separation!”

With that almighty yell, Ryan focused and struggled before finally pulling his hand free. Wrapped around said hand was a very strange, very inky black mass that seemed to pulsate as if alive. Quickly scooting back so as not to have Dark’s body fall on him, Ryan stood up and stared at the goop on his right hand and lower right arm before frowning.

“Okay, so mah plan worked to this point...now what?” Ryan shook his arm vigorously, but could not remove the goop from his body. “Well. This is unfortunate. This thing is pretty stubborn.”

“Ryan! We saw Darkness fall and thought to...what in the name of Faust is that on your arm!?”

“Uh...the true form of this thing, Lunes. And it’s pretty sticky. Kinda gross too…” Ryan’s eyes widened when he saw it start to creep up along his body. “Oh that’s bad….so bad...ew! Get off, get off, get off, get off!”

“Ryan…”

“No, stay back!” Ryan quickly summoned his sword to his side, splitting it into its three forms. “Bloom! Arbor Pomifera!”

“Ryan!”

“Cellie! This thing...it’s trying to do what it did to Dark to me...can’t let it hurt you guys...Malus Domestica….keep yer owner locked up...protect our friends…” Ryan groaned, frozen in place now as it began to cover the right half of his body. “...don’t...let...me...free….”

Ryan slowly came too, unsure as to just where he was exactly. Unlike the void where he and his friends had been whisked away by the entity they were fighting, this place was...bright. And warm.

“No grass, so this ain’t the afterlife. And yet, it feels so..familiar here. Like it’s connected to me.” Ryan looked around for any kind of landmark, but saw none around. “Well, this direction is good as any to head, so let’s get moving.”

“...it just seems to keep going.” Ryan slowed his running before crossing his arms and tapping his foot. “Could this...could this be inside mah soul/heart? Is that why it’s only me here?”

“Oh you dear, silly boy. You are far from alone here.”

Ryan gasped, barely jumping back and away from the mass of black that had struck at where he had been standing.

“Sheesh. That was too close. So...is that what you actually look like? Some super edgy, runny silly putty looking garbage heap?”

“Tsk, tsk...doing such things to me and then making fun of how I am not fully myself. Heh…”

Ryan grimaced as he felt the air change and watched as the goopy black being began to twist and writhe about until it began to take a more definitive shape. Humanoid, and...female?

“Damn, and she’s kinda cute ta boot.” Ryan grumbled. “Cute, but evil. Man, that sucks.”

“Haha, problem Mr. Ryder?” The now female being of darkness smirked. “Just be a good boy and come here, so that we can become one and show your pesky friends true despair. I can sense you want the power I can give you, all to help your little friend from another world. It’s so adorable, if a bit foolish.”

“...there’s nothing foolish about wanting to help a friend. And how do you know about that?”

“Easy. When I take over someone, I gain access to their memories. No matter how strong their mind is, it’s always the same inevitable outcome. I’ve lost count really, of how many people I’ve been inside by this point.”

“That’s disturbing.” Ryan shook his head. “Then if you know what you say you do, you know that Ah’d never accept an offer from someone like you.”

“Quite...however.” The shadowy female smirked, outstretching her hands and firing off a very goopy, inky black attack at Ryan. He groaned, trying to dodge it and failing, his body latched on tight by the strange tendrils.

“Oh yes, do struggle. That makes it more fun for me. Hee, after all you’ve fought against, all you’ve done to protect that family of yours, that you would be the one to end their lives and fulfill my desires. Oh my…” The creepy humanoid grinned, licking her lips and moaning slightly. “I haven’t been this excited in ages.”

“No...dammit…” Ryan struggled, feeling the darkness slowly overtaking him. “Dammit...Ah...won’t...give….up….”

Slowly Ryan’s body was covered up by the dark sludge, causing the dastardly villain to laugh maniacally.

“Well then...let’s go ahead and take this body for a test spin, shall w—what?”

Ryan’s covered body began to shake slightly, then more and more and more, until finally with an almighty explosion, the darkness was shattered by an intensely bright light.

“WHAT?!”

Ryan stood there, an intense white aura emanating from his entire being. It appeared as if he was in his Elemental Sync, but instead of ice it seemed as if the light itself was one with him.

“Rawr! This is mah body! This is mah soul! And Ah will never let someone as despicable as you hurt others with it! Now get out!”

Ryan took a step towards her, a shockwave firing forth that unbalanced the night time denizen.

“What? What is this light? How?! How can it be so strong?! No one’s heart is this bright!”

“Heh, Ah don’t get it mahself, but Ah think someone knew about this if Ah know mah time traveling goofballs. Now then, like Ah said. Get. Out. Of. My. Soul!” Ryan accentuated each word with another stomp towards the now scared entity. Raising his hand up he narrowed his eyes and unleashed a powerful blast of light right at her. “BEGONE THOT!”

“What? Impossible!!!!” The being was enveloped by the light before fading away.

Ryan blinked for a moment or two before turning towards you. “Hmm, Ah think Ah got a bit too caught up in the moment. Do...do you think Ah maybe went a bit too far with that one?”

Outside, the others had watched the shining walls of Malus Domestica rise up, enclosing Ryan’s motionless body that had almost been fully overtaken by the strange, goopy darkness of their foe. Celestia was at a loss, unsure what exactly to do to stop this thing from taking out another loved one. Meanwhile, Luna had helped heal Darkness and he was currently on his feet, though leaning against her side.

“Dammit, Ryan.” Dark growled slightly. “Why did you have to go and do something crazy like that?”

“...because he cares about us, my Darkness. You are his brother, and as you recall, I did the same back then to protect Tia.”

“Maybe, Woona, but still...hold on.” Dark paused, staring as Ryan’s body began to vibrate violently. “Tia! Something is about to happen! Get back!”

Eyes wide, Celestia flapped her wings and shifted back just as a bright light burst forth, disengaging Malus Domestica and blinding them momentarily. As the light settled, they saw a strange female humanoid that they quickly surmised was their foe given her dark aura, but as for the source of the light.

“...it cannot be.” Celestia quietly mumbled to herself. “...that light.”

“Rawr! You done goofed now, ya crazy chick!” Ryan roared, his light sparking ferociously as he stared down his foe. “You have no hope of winning this, so it’s time to finish ya and send you back to the nothingness that birthed you!”

“Guh…” The shadowy woman grabbed her shoulder and snarled. “You think some stupid light can stop me? I’ve been fighting the light and outwitting it for millenia, there’s no way I would fall to some young punk of a...BAH!”

Ryan had enough of her ranting and had instantly covered the distance between them, landing his elbow upside her head. The shadow recovered after rolling around on the ground and growled. “Hey! You aren’t supposed to hit a lady like that.”

“You’re right, you aren’t.” Ryan narrowed his eyes. “But you ain’t exactly a lady, “lady”. Now then, Ah think it’s time we all ended this forever. Cellie, Lunes, Dark! Ah know you can feel this light, too! She’s on the ropes, so now is our chance!”

The others nodded, sensing their ties of friendship with Ryan filling them with the same warmth he no doubt felt. As Ryan pummeled their foe into position, they took their spots behind him as they focused on their enemy.

“For all the countless beings you’ve no doubt harmed, all the lives you’ve ruined, and all the sadness you’ve brought about, you’ll finally feel the wrath of Justice at last.” Ryan held out his hands, gathering the light from not only himself but his friends as he began to glow insanely bright. “Feel the intensity of a light greater than a thousand suns and vanish from this world! FINALSOLAR FLARE!!!!!!!!!”

With that roar from all four of them, the intense burst of light honed in on the shadow, engulfing it and slowly eating away at it.

“No! This can’t be!” She roared, trying in vain to escape this attack but failing.” No! My...nightmares...can never...be….stooooooped…”

As her last words faded on the breeze and the attack lifted, there was no sign of their foe left. In fact, it would seem that her destruction lifted them from the weird darkness they’d been trapped in and left them back in Filthy Rich’s house, his unconscious body crumpled where it had been discarded.

“...ugh…” Ryan fell to his knees, face twisting in pain as he finally returned to normal. “What...what the hell was that…?”

“I will explain later, my little human.” Celestia nuzzle his cheek, “But first we must attend to those less rugged than we.”

“Right…” Ryan used her to slowly get to his feet. “Ah’m okay...just...a bit tired. That was certainly new...but first, is Mr. Rich okay?”

Luna looked him over and smiled. “Yes. Though he was possessed for quite some time, it seems he is himself. We should get him to the hospital, however, as his body needs to recover from being inhabited. Unlike myself with my alicorn physiology, being an Earth pony means he is less able to just bounce back.”

“Heh, well, that and he didn’t get purified by the Elements like you did. Ah imagine those things probably helped heal whatever injuries that thing left when it possessed you.” Ryan carefully picked up Filthy’s limp body, grunting a bit. “Ah’m okay, Ah’m okay...he’s just heavier than he looks. Come on, let’s get him to Red Heart and the others.”

“Ryan!”

Ryan turned to see a young filly running towards him, her mother walking up behind her.

“Heh, hey DT.” Ryan crouched down to scoop her up in a hug. “Glad y’all finally got here.”

“Is it true…? Did you...did you manage to save daddy?”

“Ah told ya Ah would, didn’t Ah?” Ryan gave her head a pat before setting her down. “That thing had a tight hold on him, but we wouldn’t let it win. He should wake up soon, thanks to Luna’s experience with that thing aiding Redheart and the others in their treatments.”

“Thank you again, young man, for risking your lives to save my husband.”

“Oh come on, yer gonna make me blush.” Ryan chuckled, rubbing the back of his head and doing just that. “Besides, being the hero is kinda our thing, ya know? Always up for helping out others.”

As it was, Redheart had come to let them know they could see him now. Filthy was still not awake when they entered, which did make both his wife and daughter frown, but they didn’t let it dishearten them.

“He looks to be okay. No doubt your doing as to free him without hurting him.”

“Well, ma’am, it was tricky, and a bit risky, but somehow we pulled it off. Given how that thing works, Luna said he may or may not remember what happened while possessed. They only know how it affected an alicorn being possessed, so a normal pony is unknown territory.”

“I see...well, let us hope that whatever happens, his mind hasn’t been harmed.”

With that they sat, until two hours later they heard a rasping groan and saw Filthy trying to sit up.

“Daddy!” DT leapt out of Ryan’s lap and ran over to his bed. “You’re awake!”

“...Princess?” Filthy croaked out, his throat dry. “Water?”

“Right here, dear.”

“...Spoiled? What are you…” Filthy took a drink before his memories finally caught up with him. “...oh my. Some very bad things happened, didn’t they?”

“Well, Mr. Rich, they could have...but the Princesses and mahself, along with Dark, made sure they didn’t.”

“...Mr.Ryder...heh, given how I treated you in the past, I’m surprised you’d come to my rescue, let alone be there for my family.”

“Heh, well, Ah’m not one to leave someone to stay possessed by an ancient evil of pure darkness...even if said person took exception to what Ah am.”

“Hmm…” Filthy wasn’t sure what to say to that. He looked at the covers for a moment before glancing up at Ryan. “That thing had quite a hold on me for some time...not too long after you had appeared in our town, I had gone on a business trip overseas. During that time, I had gotten lost on my way back to the hotel and ended up in a strange alleyway. It’s very fuzzy, the details that is, but something whispered to me from that alley. I tried to fight it, but whatever it was wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Ah see...so those comments, and then the winter party last year…”

“Yes...it was my negative emotions and knowledge being used by...that thing.” Filthy seemed ashamed, looking away from him at that point. “Though it did those things with my body, those thoughts had to come from somewhere for it to act on them. It would appear that my own fear of a human showing up left me vulnerable to being tainted by that darkness.”

“It would seem that way.”

“Ryan…” DT quietly stated, frowning slightly.

“But, it’s not like you were probably the only one with those thoughts. While not the majority feeling during my initial arrival here, Ah’m fairly certain you weren’t the only one either confused, scared, or both at who and what Ah was. That’s the thing with what we were dealing with, it takes any little weakness, any little darkness in our hearts, and uses that against you. It uses it to take over you and make you it’s puppet.” Ryan flashed him a grin. “So with that said, there ain’t any hard feelings towards ya, since you seemed to suffer enough watching as that thing did what it wanted with your body.”

“Haha, I don’t really deserve your forgiveness, but thank you. My business partners on the other hoof, they might not be as forgiving.”

“Yeah, see, Ah thought about that after we brought ya here and might know something we can do to fix that. Once yer healthy, we can talk about that.”

“...heh, very well, Mr.Ryder.”

“Come on, just call me Ryan like everyone else does.”

“As you wish, Ryan. So, with that, could you ring the nurse and see about getting me some food? After all that, I’d really like to enjoy a nice...lunch?”

“Yes, dear, it is still around lunch time.”

“Good. I’d like to enjoy a nice lunch with my family again.”

“Ah’ll go flag down Redheart. She’ll wanna give you the once over anyway, now that yer up.”

“So y’all had quite the time in Manehattan as well, did ya?”

“Indeed, darling. Even though everything worked out, I still do feel quite dreadful over letting myself become so obsessed.”

‘Eh, we all have our moments like that, Rares. As long as y’all made up, then I don’t see any need to keep beating yourself up over it.’

“You are quite right, Darkness. Despite your antics, it does seem like you’re capable of having sound thoughts every once and awhile.”

Dark nodded in Ryan’s mental scape. ‘Exactly. See, I...hey, wait a minute!’

Rarity couldn’t help a giggle escape as Dark caught on to her teasing words. “Oh relax, Darkness. A lady can be allowed to be mischievous from time to time, can’t she?”

Dark grumbled for a moment before smirking. ‘Yer lucky you’re so darn cute, and handy with thread.’

“Sorry ta break up the flirting you two, but didn’t ya say something about a thread Miss...Pommel gave you?”

“Oh yes!” Rarity reached into her bag and pulled it out. “With the quick manner in which we had to assist as soon as we got back, I hadn’t even unpacked it yet. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Ryan looked it over and had to admit it was quite unlike anything he’d seen before. “Hmm...curious.”

“What is, darling?”

Ryan shook his head before handing it back to her. “Nothing, mah marshmallow. Ah thought Ah saw something for the briefest of moments, but Ah must still be worn out after our fight.”

“Well then, Rysy-Wysy, it sounds like you could use a little more R&R with your herd. And I’m the pony to make that happen.”

Ryan didn’t even bother trying to fight against Pinkie grabbing him and dragging him off into another room of their house. “Well, Pinks, if anyone knows how to make the stress disappear, it’s you.”

“Quite! Now then, you get on that bed and let us snuggle all that awful stress right out of ya!”

‘Ho, ho. I like a mare that can take charge!’

“Ugh, must you, Dark?” Ryan rolled his eyes before flopping onto the bed...and then getting buried in pleasant pony warmth. “...”

‘...Ryan?’

‘Ah’m just thinking about some things, Partner. Like is that thing truly gone? We didn’t see any sign of it left, but…’

‘Yeah, I know. We can only hope it is, and just keep vigilant for any signs if it isn’t.’ Dark paused a moment, smirking as Rainbow nuzzled her head into Ryan’s palm. ‘You’re also wondering about that strange form you took, I take it?’

‘Bingo.’ Ryan scratched AppleJack’s belly and laughed softly at the silly face she made. ‘Cellie seemed to recognize it, but Ah never got a chance to ask her. Ah also have a feeling yer mentor may have an idea, hell, maybe this is what Deej hinted at when he used to make remarks about the light in mah heart. Ah can’t seem to sense it anymore, not really, but hopefully that’s not a problem.’

‘Hopefully, since I can only deduce that it came about in reaction to that thing trying to possess you.’ Dark frowned before shrugging. ‘Man, and with all this that went on we never even got to tell Cordy the news we found out.’

‘Yeah…’ Ryan closed his eyes, the warmth from his beloved mares beginning to make him drowsy. ‘If those leads are right...then we know what our next mission is. Ah can only hope that finding them will lead us to her.’

‘Won’t know till we try, Ry. But hey, rest up for now. Between that and helping Twi with that new magitech she’s been working on, we’ll have our hands busy.’

‘Don’t Ah know it…’ Ryan yawned before getting settled in. ‘Goodnight, Dark.’

‘Goodnight, Ryan.’

And with that, our heroes got a well earned rest, wondering what twists life would throw at them next.

‘A concert?’

“Yeah, apparently they’re having a pleasant little symphony in Canterlot and Octavia had these tickets sent so we could unwind after all that nasty business with saving Mr. Rich from that damnable shadow thing.” Ryan frowned. “Ah’m still worried it survived somehow.”

‘You literally used the light from our hearts as an energy bomb, Ry. I’m pretty confident it got obliterated. Now stop fretting on that and focus on what kinda outfit we’re gonna have our Rara make for us to look oh so stylish at the concert in a few days.’

“Ah suppose yer right…” Ryan knocked on the door to the boutique before walking in. “Hey hon, got yer message about meeting you here and...Rare-bear?”

His confused tone was at how there was a handful of new dresses already made, and one very curious outfit behind them that, were he not mistaken, seemed to be staring at him.

“...odd. Hey! Mah marshmallow! Where ya at?”

“Oh darling! I’ve told you not to say that nickname too loud!” Rarity sighed as she came downstairs. “Sorry, hon, but I simply had to wash up after finishing those outfits.”

“Ah can imagine so, since it looks like you’ve been busy. Did you even sleep last night?” Ryan glanced at the dresses, but that one outfit—that upon further observation seemed to resemble the outfit of a schoolgirl from Japan but in black with red accents—kept grabbing his attention.

“So, uhm, Rares, what’s with this one in the back here?”

“Oh! That one! Well, the other night, the one after we all snuggled the stress out of you, I was observing the sky after working late on some dresses. I was about to lock up and head home when I saw something shining in the sky. It was glowing the most unusual color and kept getting closer.” Rarity walked over to the outfit and adjusted a few things to make it look better on the mannequin. “It landed in the park, but oddly made no sound when it hit the ground. Seeing as no one was around, I wen to check it out. Curiosity had the strangest pull on me that night, and when I finally found the impact zone there was just a few strands of the strangest material. It was threads of string unlike any I had seen, sparkling red in the moonlight and brimming with...something. I couldn’t quite deduce what, but I soon found myself almost possessed by an idea of how to use this thread.”

“Hence the outfit Ah see here.” Ryan glanced over the outfit again, especially noting that it seemed like the designs in the shoulders resembled eyes. “...Rares, is this outfit alive?”

“Living clothing? Haha, you dear man, that’s quite the imaginative idea.” Rarity paused, tapping her chin. “A novel idea, but I feel that magical, animated clothing might be problematic for some reason. Although…”

‘Although?’

“Although, it is an unusual design, is it not? I’ve never seen such a type of outfit, and yet I knew exactly how to mold those threads into it. Very strange…” Rarity paused a moment before clapping her forehooves together. “But enough about that, if you follow me, I must take some new measurements so that we can make a fine suit for our concert date.”

With that Rarity walked off, leaving Ryan to continue staring at the yellow eye-like designs on the shoulders. Seconds ticked by, and both human and human spirit alike knew something was off with this outfit...especially since it seemed like it started to sweat nervously, somehow.

Ryan gave a sigh and then smiled. “Look, Ah’m not sure what’s going on here, but you do look kinda familiar for some reason. Whatever is going on here with you, as long as ya ain’t out to cause trouble, then you’ve nothing to worry about.”

Giving the outfit a pat on the back, he grinned. “And treat Rares right. She’s a heck of a seamstress and any clothing in her hooves is sure to get the star treatment. Ain’t sure if you got a name, but Ah’m Ryan and…”

‘The lovely voice you’re hearing now belongs to Darkness Shade. I’m human too, but don’t have a permanent physical body. Hence my occupying Ryan’s mind.’

The two didn’t hear any reply, but they felt as if they weren’t just crazy and talking to a plain outfit. Almost like something subconscious told them that the message had been received.

“Oh darling! It’s not proper to leave a lady waiting~”

“Coming, Rarebear!” With that Ryan gave a wave, leaving the outfit to just continue resting on the mannequin, but with something new to think about.

“Hmmm, what a pleasant night it is. The weather is getting to my preferred temperatures, Ah’ve got mah lovely ladies all decked out in beautiful dresses, and we’re all to enjoy a pleasant respite courtesy of dear Tavi.” Ryan’s grin was beaming at this point. “Heck yeah this is gonna be a great night!”

‘Canterlot always did look even more charming this time of year, the snow gently coating the city and making it shine in the moonlight.’ Dark chuckled softly to himself. ‘Reminds me of good times.’

“Darky-Warky, I know you’ve got all those old memories, but don’t forget about the new memories with us, okay?”

‘Haha, I don’t think I could if I tried, Ponk. So, do you think there’s anything special about this concert? Tavi did seem pretty insistent on us coming to this specific performance.’

“Oh Darkness, why must there be some ulterior motive? She is a friend, after all, and she no doubt would have heard about the troubles we’ve been facing and therefore would want to do something to help us relax.”

Ryan smirked. “Gee, Ah wonder where Ah heard that before, Partner?”

Dark narrowed his eyes before rolling them. ‘Yeah, yeah...just keep moving so we aren’t late.’

A short while later, the group had made it to the concert hall, entered, had a brief chat with Octavia as well as Vinyl before making their way to their box seats.

“What a nice view. You can see the whole orchestra from here.”

“Ya sure can, Flutters. It’s been some time since Ah went to this kind of concert, but it will be nice to hear some more classical sounds for a change.” Ryan closed his eyes, taking in the sounds of the orchestra warming up along with the background chatter of all the ponies in the audience. “It’s quite calming…”

Not long after that, the concert began, with the ponies of the orchestra playing a very catchy, speedy piece that set the mood well before moving into more relaxed, almost moody pieces. Some songs Ryan recognized as twists on the more classical pieces that had followed him to this world, while others felt familiar but he was rather certain they were Equestrian in origin. Before they knew it, almost two hours—with an intermission, of course— had passed and they had just finished their current song before a round of applause. It was then that the conductor gave a wave and made way for...Octavia?!

“Now, as a special treat for those of you here, I wish to conduct a special piece that was written specifically for this concert. The song you are about to hear was a challenge to adapt to the more classical format I am well versed in, but considering its origins I felt it was well worth the attempt.” Tavi shifted to look up towards Ryan and his herd. “And to our special guest, I can only hope that I have done Amuro justice.”

Rainbow seemed rather puzzled by that, watching as Octavia took her place at the podium, glancing over the orchestra...and smirking as she waited for Vinyl to give her the okay from her location in the back.

“Rys, who or what is Amuro?”

“Amuro?” Ryan scrunched his face in thought. “Well, Ah know of Amuro from the Gundam series, but Ah highly doubt she means that. That said, the only other Amuro Ah can think of is—!”

The performance’s opening caused Ryan to jump slightly in shock, the song sounding incredibly familiar for many reasons.

“It...it can’t be…” But as the music began to rise, he knew it was. “It’s…Double Ace.”

“What’s AA?” Pinkie asked, noting the strange look in her human’s eyes.

“It’s a song from another game in that same series as the one Ah said was like Hoof Hoof Revolution. Beatmania IIDX. It’s a song from so long ago that has a very strong meaning to me. A memory of an old friend from a bygone time. The one that got me into the game in the first place. And the struggle we both had to conquer it’s challenge.” Ryan smiled as the music really kicked in, the bits of piano and Vinyl’s contribution to the song meshing well. And when the horns added their melody as well, he could feel the memories rushing back to him.

“It was a long time ago, somewhere around the year 2006 in my world. IIDX had a resurgence in popularity, so home versions were being released once more. And with that, the 11th version was released, IIDX RED. My friend and Ah were so excited when it came out, as it was the first of the new generation of Beatmania to come to home systems. And this song, AA, was such a monumental challenge. It was one of the hardest songs yet, but the melody of it, and sublime arrangement of the notes drove us to push on towards clearing it. And so we pushed to the limit, our hands aching, knuckles swelling, until finally one day we did it. That day, at his house, when we finally achieved that glowing clear indicator on this song...it’s always stuck with me, and always comes to mind when this song plays.” Ryan sighed, a sad smile on his face. “It wasn’t too long after that something happened, and we no longer were friends. Sometimes Ah wonder what he’s up to, and if things could’ve gone differently, but Ah then realize that kind of thinking doesn’t do any good.”

As the song’s tone shifted, Ryan couldn’t help but laugh sadly. “Funny enough, not a few years down the road, DDR got this song as well. While tough, it wasn’t the same challenge, and it always served as a reminder of what Ah no longer had. But, when Ah had a need for a friend during those years, Ah had him. And those memories of what we did, despite causing me aches, will always be treasured no matter what.”

Ryan focused on the performance and grinned. “So now, Tavi, show me a finale worthy of DJ AMURO.”

As the tempo began to build more and more, Ryan watched in silence with his herd, but they could tell his mind was racing as fast as the song was. His eyes gave it away, the far off look they took and how they began to shine as a dampness formed from said memories.

Memory after memory sprang forth from his mind, the song triggering flashes of them faster than he could think: countless days of DDR, of clearing this song to their trips for music games, the in-jokes, shenanigans, and then—sadly—as the music reached its final peak, that cold winter night when their friendship was no more.

“Bemani, and the Goober Union forever, old friend…” Ryan choked out, tears finally flowing as his emotions became too hard to keep under control anymore. His herd looked on, unsure of what action was best to do, when he stood up and began applauding loudly, giving a cheer at such an amazing rendition of AA. Soon, all those there joined in as well, the thundering applause drowned out Ryan’s initial approval, but from the way she was bowing, he could tell Tavi knew she’d done well.

Later, Ryan and his herd headed backstage to meet up with Octavia and Vinyl.

“So, Ryan, I don’t feel like I need to ask, but did you enjoy my rendition of that song?”

Ryan laughed softly. “You have no idea, Tavi. DJ Amuro would certainly have approved. It easily brought up some old memories that had been buried for some time. They almost feel like a lifetime ago with all that’s happened.”

“See? What did I tell ya, Tavi-baby?” Vinyl smirked before throwing a foreleg around her. “You were worried about keeping the more modern touch mixed in with the classical feel, but the original was all about that. We just gave it our special touch of style.”

Octavia sighed and shook her head, smirking at her marefriend. “I suppose for once, you were right.”

“Hey!”

“Haha, I do hope you all enjoyed tonight. From what I’ve heard you certainly seemed to need it.”

“Yeah, that whole situation was pretty bonkers.” Ryan sighed, looking at his hands. “Still not sure what the heck happened to me, but at least it all turned out alright in the end.”

“Well, no need to worry about that party ponies...uh, and human. It’s almost the sweetness that is Hearth’s Warming, so let’s get ready for that holiday fun!”

‘...Pon3? Have you been drinking?’

“...maybe just one shot of Spectrum. Come on! We rocked that song so why can’t I celebrate?”

‘Fair enough. Had I known you wanted to party some, I’d have brought some of the true Rainbow Party Brew.’

“...what?” Vinyl lowered her shades. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh yeah, you weren’t really there, were you? When we had that whole thing with Deej...the first time, when he came here.” Ryan smiled initially as he thought of his interdimensional friend, but the smile faltered as thoughts of their last meeting came to the forefront. “Turns out Lunes had a bottle of the original version of that and boy, it had been aging for a long time. Next time yer free, we’ll have a real nice get together and see what you think of it.”

“Sounds like a plan, number one human.” Vinyl smirked before nodding. “However, if you’ll excuse us, Tavi and I are ready for some rest but hey, we’ll definitely make sure to meet up before Hearth’s Warming.”

Celestia awoke only to find, with some amusement, that she was once again part of what a certain human always referred to as a “cuddle puddle” after he and his herd had come to spend the night after “partaking in some culture”—his words, not hers. Although, something seemed amiss in the dim light. She could hear the wind quietly whistling outside, no doubt part of the very light snowfall that had continued on through the evening, but a quick headcount showed that someone important was missing.

‘...where has our little human gotten off to?’ she wondered, noting his absence. Closing her eyes, she tried to feel where he might be and felt what seemed like his magical signature...outside? Carefully extracting herself from the others—and cursing how difficult that had been no thanks to the small, small, very small, nigh infinitesimal amount of weight she’d put on from extra holiday cake indulgence—the Princess of the Sun began walking towards wherever Ryan had gone. She soon found herself exiting into the gardens and then paused as she saw him there, sitting and looking up at the moon as the snow slowly fell around and on him.

‘At least he had the good sense to put some warm clothing on before he came out here to think.’ Celestia laughed softly to herself. ‘But what has him out here so late anyway?’

Shrugging, she figured that he wouldn’t mind some company and so walked over towards him.

“Well, well, and what might you be doing up at this hour, Cellie?”

Celestia sat down next to him and smirked. “I could say the same to you, my little human.”

“...fair enough.” Ryan glanced at her slightly before looking back at the moon. “...thinking.”

“Hmmm?”

“Ah’m just thinking about stuff...though it was beautifully done and Ah’m very grateful for it, the song that Tavi conducted at the concert tonight dredged up more memories from the past than Ah originally thought.” Ryan heaved a quiet sigh. “Add in it being almost Christmas...sorry, Hearth’s Warming Eve again, and well Ah lost the battle to mah thoughts pretty fast, haha.”

Unfolding a wing and wrapping it around him, Celestia smiled before nodding. “I can understand, Ryan. After all, I’ve had over a thousand years to collect those kinds of thoughts...but I’ve also had a thousand years to learn how to fight them...let’s say more efficiently.”

“Ah can’t even imagine having that many years to gather memories, haha. My thirty something has already had so many, and this last year and a half alone was packed full of them.” Ryan leaned against Celestia, closing his eyes. “Ah guess the most surprising thing was how it still hurt so much even after so many years.”

“No matter how much time passes, Ryan, the heart never forgets. It only dulls the pain, but that pain is important. Because it shows just how important the memory and those connected to it are.” Celestia nuzzled his head. “Of course, that doesn’t make it suck any less.”

Ryan snickered before breaking into full laughter. Catching his breath he sighed before smiling. “Ah think that’s the first time Ah’ve ever heard you say that word. It just sounds so...naughty for a princess to say something like the word ‘suck’.”

‘...is that my cue?’ Dark snickered. ‘Sorry to intrude, but I woke up at just the right moment and couldn’t resist, Partner.’

“You would make such a remark, Darkness.” Celestia shook her head and smiled. “Some things never change. Now come on, it’s late. We should get back to bed.”

“Right, right...after all, tomorrow’s a brand new day and who knows what it will bring.”

Author's Note

Man, that sure took a long time, didn't it y'all? Over two years trying to work on this on and off while life was just a rather large pain. Regardless, Ah hope it was worthwhile and here's hoping that with what Ah have planned perhaps Ah can get back to updating a little more frequently...and not leave y'all hanging for another two years, haha.

I'm back, bby! Woo! :rainbowdetermined2:

Root of the Problem

“Ah, there we go. That should about do it, we should be just where we need to be now. And none too soon, as it seems the time we gave for our arrival is here.” A brown stallion wearing a red tie fiddled about with a few switches and levers before grinning. “Perfect! But then again when have you ever let me down you sexy, sexy machine you?”

“Doctor. You know it’s weird when you start acting like that towards the TARDIS.”

“Haha, oh indulge me dear Derpy. She certainly gets us where we need to go, so the least I can do is compliment her on another successful trip. Now then, we should disembark and go meet those two...and hope they did not cause any undue trouble while they were here.”

Derpy giggled softly. “But Doctor, when it comes to those two they seem to do nothing but attract trouble.”

The stallion sighed slightly, shaking his head. “Far too true, but more than likely that’s because of one thing…”

“And what’s that?”

The Doctor opened up the door before squinting at the bright, clear sky on the other side. “They’re both human.”

Scrunching her face, the bubbly mare frowned slightly. “That doesn’t seem fair, especially since you’ve only the two of them to go off of.”

“That would be true, but I’ve known others besides those two...hmmm.”

Derpy went to ask what it was he had seen or heard to give him pause, but he simply held a hoof up to ask for her continued silence. Eventually, a noise began to grow from the horizon, and with it, a rather large dust cloud that seemed to be growing in size and intensity.

“Oh ponyfeathers...something tells me that would be our humans. Judging by all that ruckus, they don’t seem to be alone either.”

“...what should we do?”

“Ah’ll tell ya what y’all should do!” Ryan shouted as loud as he could, “Get in the damn thing and be ready ta shut that door when Ah jump through it! Eeep!”

Ryan dodged left quickly, watching as a flash of pink embedded in the ground before churning it up into a fine mist. “Damn it, Dark! Why do you always have to provoke such emotional goodbyes?!”

‘What can I say, Ry? When I make an exit, I make an exit!’

“Ya don’t think ya could’ve just said goodbye instead of, ya know...kissing his sister!? Yikes!” Ryan dodged another blur of pink again, watching as a bit of his hair fell to the ground. “Dammit Byakuya, why are you attacking me?! Ah didn’t kiss yer sister!”

“That is beside the point. Shade did, and he’s back inside you, so therefore you are my target now.”

“...that’s really stupid.” Ryan gasped as he dodged yet another attack before seeing his goal in sight. “Thank God. Dammit man...because of you Dark, Ah didn’t even get to say goodbye to the others properly!”

“I would not worry yourself with that, Ryder, as you have more pressing concerns.”

‘...why don’t I like the sound of that?’

“Bankai.”

Ryan’s eyes shrank at hearing that. “Oh Fuck! Doc!”

“Righty-o! Time to get a quick getaway! Hold on to something, Derpy!”

Pushing with all his speed, Ryan jumped into the TARDIS, watching as the door slam shut and shook as something very powerful smacked into it. As soon as he heard the familiar noise signifying they were on their way, he let out a sigh of relief before collapsing on to the ground.

Derpy, concerned about his well-being, walked over before gently nudging him. “You okay?”

“...yeah. Yeah...Ah’ll be alright.”

“I say, what was all that about anyway?”

“Well Doc…” Ryan slowly sat up before sighing again. “Everything went pretty well after you left, once they decided to take us seriously anyway. Ah guess even though you knew them and that helped us get the in for training as it were, they still doubted us.”

‘Well, up until we busted out Eclipsis and Malus Domestica that is. Haha, oh man, the look on Renji’s face was priceless.’

“Ah’d reckon most of the Captains were a bit surprised to see us wielding weapons like that.”

The Doctor nodded before frowning. “Still doesn’t explain why you were being chased like that…”

“Oh yes...that.” Ryan made a very irritated face. “Seems that, given his ability to separate from me thanks to all the energy in their world, Dark took it upon himself to be very friendly with the ladies.”

“...Oh.”

“Oh indeed. We were all ready to say our goodbyes, when Dark decided to be Dark...and kissed Rukia.”

The Doctor simply blinked before looking down and sighing. “Oh Darkness...why oh why would you do such a thing?”

‘What? She’s cute...and...I wanted to say goodbye in a memorable way. Why am I on trial here? In my defense, she kissed me, okay?’ Dark smirked, though no one could see it. ‘It’s no surprise, after all. I am pretty hot stuff, and the ladies just find me irresistible.’

The three there simultaneously facehoofed/facepalmed before the TARDIS let out a couple of beeps and noises indicating they were at last home.

“Oh thank heavens. It’ll be nice to be home again. Speaking of, how are mah mares doing?”

“Rather well. Twilight...sorry, Princess Sparkle is adjusting well enough...well, as well as she usually adjusts if you don’t mind my saying.”

“Ah getcha, Doc. She’s always so nervous about everything. Hmmm...they’re probably in Canterlot, aren’t they? Ah know ya said the time flow is different in their world, so it’s been about a week here, right?”

“Exactly! So they’re getting ready for the Summer Sun Festival.” The Doctor led the way out, before smiling. “Speaking of, we’re to assist in preparing here, so we’ll leave you to go visit your herd. Do try to keep the trouble to a minimum, won’t you?”

Ryan made a face at that, sticking his tongue out at the stallion. “Doc, when you say that it makes me sound like some kinda delinquent.”

Derpy simply giggled in amusement at their antics before nudging the Doctor towards the door. “Feel free to see yourself out, Ryan. We’ll see ya later!”

Now alone, Ryan growled softly at his partner. “Dark...Ah’m really upset Ah didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to mah new buddies.”

‘Oh don’t worry, Ry, they know you’ll miss them.’ Dark snickered. ‘Well, maybe not Renji. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone get so upset over being whacked by the flat of a sword since DJ.’

“At least Renji had the decency not to call Malus Domestica a “knock-off zanpakuto”. Oh goodness, Ah’m a mess from all that dodging. Hmmm.” Ryan gave a spin, snapping his fingers in the process, before stopping and striking a pose. “Damn Ah love magic! Alright! Now Ah’m ready to go say hi to mah gals again! Let’s see….ah-ha! There they are!”

And with a burst of chilly magic, Ryan disappeared from sight…

“Oh so much to do, so much to get ready...so many things to take care of.”

The others watched Twilight pacing with worry, noting their fellow herdmate was a bit more nervous than usual.

“Oh, Twi, don’t y’all think maybe yer overthinking things here a bit?”

“Overthinking?! AppleJack, we’re talking about my first big task as a Princess here! Do you know how important it is that I make sure to do what I’m expected to perfectly?”

“Darling...of course we do, but stressing yourself like this is not ladylike in the least.” Rarity bounced her hair a bit and sighed. “Let alone good for your health...what would our human say if he saw you getting so bent out of shape like this?”

“He’d most likely say that someone needs a nice stress relieving snuggle of the human persuasion.”

All the mares there turned towards the doorway to see their human standing there, smile wide on his face.

“Haha, y’all miss me?”

“Ryan!”

“Oh God!” He gasped, finally saying hello to his other waifu the ground while his herd buried him in their love tackle. “Ladies, Ah know Ah’ve been gone for a while but please, control yerselves. We are in the castle after all.”

“As if you’ve ever let that stop you before, my little human.”

“C-Cellie!” Ryan craned his head to see her standing over him, a smirk apparent on her face. “...how long have you been there?”

She giggled softly. “Oh, long enough. It is good to see you back in one piece. Did your travels go well?”

“And then some.” Ryan picked himself up before dusting off his clothes. “Ah think Ah learned what Ah needed to. Heh, Ah guess Ah missed all this more than Ah thought after being gone a month.”

“...a month?” Lyra titled her head. “Ryers, did you hit yer head when we tackled you? It’s only been a week.”

‘Technically, Lyrs, it was a week for you. For us, it was a month’s time. Something about time differences between worlds.’

“Hmmm...curious.”

“Yes, but Ah’m sure that won’t play into anything in the foreseeable future. Wink.”

‘Ryan...you said it instead of actually winking again.’

“Silly me. Ya know, though...being back here, and welcomed like this...it feels me with such a warm sensation. Like this is how it should be. In fact, it makes me feel like…”

And that was when those there began to hear a somewhat familiar tune begin to play, and they knew exactly what was about to happen.

“Hehe, well it only seems appropriate since it’s our big opening, right Rysy-Wysy?”

“Couldn’t have said it better mahself, Pinks. What better way to start this new journey off then with what is undoubtedly a pretty kicking remix? Now then...y’all ready for this?”

“Heh, ah shucks. Sure thing, Apple Ryder! Let’s do this ladies!”

Dark could only chuckle in amusement. ‘How crazy is it that it took five years to get a remix album like this?’

“Shh, don’t go breaking the fourth wall at a time like this, Partner. We’ll miss the best part.”

And as the song kicked up, Ryan couldn’t help but smirk and hum along as he helped them continue getting ready. “Aw yeah, that violin is kicking. Now then! Hit it T-Sparks!”

My Little Pony

I use to wonder what Friendship could be

Mah Little Pony

Until you all shared its magic with me

Big Adventure!

Tons of fun!

A Beautiful Heart!

Faithful and Strong!

Sharing Kindness is an Easy Feat!

And Magic makes it all Complete!

(You are my~) Do you know you're all my very best friends?

And as the breakdown followed, Ryan couldn’t help but look around and smile at the happiness he felt being back amongst his family.

My Little Pony

Doyou know you’re all my very best friends?

Mah Little Pony, Pony, Pony…

My Little Pony

Doyou know you’re all my very best friends?

Mah Little Pony, Pony, Pony…

“Heck yeah! Spot on as always, ladies! Seriously, awesome remix and perfect opening. Now then, what exactly is left to take care of? The celebration is, what, tomorrow?”

“Yeah...and the problem is I still don’t feel confident enough for my part.”

“...still having flight issues?”

“Yes, my peach.”

Celestia chuckled softly at the scene before wrapping a wing around Twilight. “Twilight, even now as a Princess you still worry too much. You’ll do fine and conquer this challenge just as I’ve seen you handle every other one before.”

“I suppose so, Prin—Celestia, it’s just that this festival is what brought us all together originally. Speaking of,” Twilight sighed before glancing at her friends. “It does bum me out that you’ll not be able to be here for the official one in Canterlot. But…”

“But the Mayor needs all the help she can get for Ponyville’s part in all this, so we gotta do what we gotta do.” Rainbow nodded with a frown. “It stinks, but hey, that’s the problem with being awesome: everypony wants your help!”

Dark snickered. ‘Good ta see your ego is still the same, Speedy Snooze.’

“As always, you must make mischief, Darkness.” Celestia smiled softly. “I am just glad this festival is joyous nowadays, and still not a reminder of how I failed.”

‘Tia…’

“Haha, I am okay, Darkness. Even if things have improved, we never can fully erase such things from our hearts, yes?”

‘...our hearts. Hmmm….’

“Something up, Partner?”

Dark shook his head, but once again no one knew save for Ryan. ‘It’s nothing...just thinking on something from a while back, but we’ve more important stuff ta do.’

“Oh yes...but if we’re to do them, we need to make sure we make the train.” Fluttershy looked at the time and nodded. “Even if we do have to go, you can check in on us when you want. You and Ry both can teleport pretty easily these days, remember?”

Twilight laughed sheepishly. “Oh yeah. That’s right. Heh, with the whole “You’re a Princess Now” thing I kinda forgot about that.”

“Then I will leave you to it. I have things to prepare as well with my sister, so we shall both see all of you later. Do take care, especially you my troublesome little human.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and sighed. “Back not even thirty minutes and already you assume Ah’m gonna create some kinda havoc. Thanks, Cellie.”

Hearing only her laughter in reply, Ryan shrugged before filing out with his herd and heading towards the train station.

“Ah’ll see y’all a little later. Ah’m gonna hang back and give T-Sparks some help with her last minute preparations. Kinda figured Ah should, being a sort-of-kinda Prince and all.” Ryan shrugged before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “Still sounds weird ta say that…”

“Heh, but Ryers, if that’s weird wouldn’t that be normal for you?”

“Heartsy!” Ryan went to flick her ear in retaliation but she had already jumped aboard the train. Sighing, he watched the rest of his herd board as well before heading off. Turning to his purple mare, he frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I know this is how it should be, but the train just left the horizon and I already miss them.” Twilight was pulled from her staring when a postman showed up to hand her a letter. “Huh? ...haha.”

‘Pinkie?’

“Pinkie.” Twilight smiled before putting the letter away. “Now then, come along boys. There’s still quite a bit to do to get ready.”

And thus Ryan, Twilight, and Spike—and Dark too, I suppose—worked on the plans for the festivities to follow the next day long into the night. As they were doing this, Luna was deep in thought before being startled by her sister.

“Are you okay, Luna?”

“Yes, sister, I’m just...nervous I suppose. Though it is the second one since my return as well as the second one that a human is a part of, it is the first that my dear Darkness will be participating in since long ago. Add in the whole part of our newest Princess and Ryan’s part as he’s pretty much a prince and….”

Celestia laughed softly before nuzzling her sister. “Yes, there is much to happen tomorrow and much hope for it all to go off right. But you shouldn’t worry yourself sick, Luna. It is a happy day again, and, for the most part, all of us are together again to celebrate it.”

“Hmmm, yes: You, I, Darkness, and Discord...if only Starswirl and Sombra could be here, then it truly would be like old times.” Luna stared up at the moon, her eyes closed in thought. “I am sorry, my sister. It just seems as if old memories are getting the better of me tonight.”

“When you live as long as we have, I wouldn’t expect them not to. However, we do have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Yes, yes, Celestia.” Luna chuckled softly before sticking her tongue out at her sister. “We all are to need our rest so it goes off perfectly. I just…”

“Just what?”

“I just have this strange feeling that something is not right in our land…”

As they had been talking, they were unaware of a strange, black vine twisting up from beneath the floorboards until suddenly…

“EEEK!”

Ryan groaned softly, feeling not rested in the least thanks to the awkward position on the couch he’d fallen asleep in. Slowly cracking one eye open, he was greeted by a face full of purple, which at least explained where Twilight was. Feeling a smaller weight resting on his side, he deduced that to be his younger brother and just sighed as he tried to remember how he’d fallen asleep here of all places.

‘You guys were planning and double-checking into the early late evening, partner.’

‘Oh yeah...then Ah flopped onto the couch and must’ve just passed out with the others joining not long after.’ Ryan replied before hearing Spike mumble something and roll off of him on to the ground. Leaning over as best he could he smirked, “You okay, little bro?”

Spike groaned, rubbing his head as he grit his teeth. “Yeah...kinda forgot where I was sleeping. Is it morning already?”

“Guess so...we’ve been asleep long enough...Ah think anyway.”

Slowly getting up, the young dragon yawned before walking to stretch his legs. He gave pause, however, when he passed the window. Blinking, he rubbed his eyes before laughing nervously. “Uhm, guys?”

‘What’s up, Spikester?’

“So...if it’s morning...why are both the sun and moon up?”

“What?!” Ryan gasped, practically launching out of the couch and taking Twilight with him.

“Huh?! Sweet fuzzy peaches!” Twilight blurted out before looking around quickly. “Wait...where am I?”

“With yer family, but we’ve bigger issues, T-Sparks.” Ryan set her down before looking out the window as well. “Eeeeyup. That sure is the sun and moon, all right. Lunes and Cellie sleeping on the job or something?”

“I don’t see why they would be. We need to find them and find out what happened!”

Almost before they could exit the room, however, two royal guards came running to them looking quite worried and out of breath.

“Thank goodness you two are still here. Huff...huff…”

“Swift Cut?” Ryan seemed a bit concerned at their exhausted state. “What happened? Ah know the sun and moon are all outta wack, but Ah’m sure it’s just something off with the Princesses…”

“While normally you would be right, that’s just it: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are missing.”

“WHAT?!”

“They mysteriously vanished sometime last night and we can’t find a trace of them.”

‘Damn...that’s not good.’

“We’re just glad you're still here, Princess Twilight.” Swift Cut turned to Ryan. “And you as well, Prince Ryan. We need to know what you wish us to do since you’re the only royalty left right now.”

“Ugh, Ah told you ya didn’t have ta call me that because it’s all weird sounding still.” Ryan sighed.

“I know, but that’s why I did it.”

“Jeez, this guy haha...well, T-Sparks?”

“What? Uhm...I...that is…” Twilight looked around before pulling herself together. “Keep looking for the missing Princesses. We’ll do what we can to find out what has happened, but let us know right away if you find out something.”

“Very well. I suppose with that said you two will—”

But Swift was cut off as another younger guard plowed into the room, looking very exhausted and terrified.

“Sir! Sir! News from...Ponyville!”

“Ponyville? Well don’t just stand there, speak!”

“It’s...it’s the Everfree! It’s invading!”

Well, that was all Ryan needed ta hear as he turned to Swift. “Hey, keep things on lock down here. Ah’ve got a bad feeling this is all connected somehow. T-Sparks, let’s get home.”

“R-Right! Send word if you find out anything. Ready, Ry?”

Giving a nod, Ryan and Twilight focused for a moment before they and Spike disappeared from sight…

….only to land in the library on top of the frazzled herdmates.

“Good to know we guessed right…” Ryan groaned, shaking his head. “Y’all okay?”

“Ryers! Thank goodness. There’s all these weeds and stuff and it’s causing all this havoc and our house would’ve been carried off if Deej hadn’t done that weird thing to it and…”

“Heartsy. Relax.” Ryan sighed before standing up. “How bad are things looking?”

“Well…” AppleJack yanked on a weed that had twisted through a window before tossing it aside. “Most of the town is overrun by all this freaky foliage and it’s not showing any sign of stopping.”

“Oh, I don’t understand though.” Fluttershy squeaked in surprise when a giant vine shattered the window, only for Ryan to slice it with his sword. “The Everfree always kept to itself, so what would make it go crazy like this? All my poor animal friends had to take shelter in my house to get away from it.”

‘Hold on here…’

“Ah think Ah know what yer about ta say, partner.”

‘One could say this is causing trouble, yes? Throwing things all out of whack? In other words…’

“...creating chaos.” Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Now guys, guys...Ah know this definitely seems like it’d be up Disky’s non-existant sleeves, but let’s go see him first before jumping to conclusions.” Ryan kicked open the door, only to see ponies running everywhere from the strange vines creeping every which way. “Follow me ladies! Ah’ll clear us a path! Incinerate! Fire Ruby Orchard!”

Blazing a trail through all the madness, Ryan and his family made their way towards their home on the outskirts of the farm only to see Discord’s house untouched.

‘Okay, gotta admit, that doesn’t work in his favor but maybe it just knows better than to mess with a god of chaos?’

“We’ll see.” Twilight remarked before banging on his door loudly. “DISCORD! Open up!”

They didn’t receive a response at first, but heard some noises coming from inside before the door just disappeared and there was Discord...standing with a towel around his head and another around his waist.

“Oh! I had to wonder just who would be knocking on my door of all doors, but seeing as most of those other ponies have no desire to get to know me, it’s not very surprising to find my dear, wonderful friends.” Discord toweled himself off a bit before smirking. “Now then, what cause did you have to knock so harshly on my door?”

“Are you crazy? ...Don’t answer that!” Twilight shouted before pointing towards the forest. “Don’t you see what’s happening?!”

“Hmmm?” Discord poofed his towel into some binoculars and sighed. “Oh dear, it would seem there’s a bit of a gardening problem going on. Shouldn’t you get on that, uhm, Apple Dandy? Ya know, work that Earth Pony expertise. Especially since all those buildings are kinda floating away...pity. I did ever so like where the cafe was.”

‘Cordy...are you to say you’re not involved in all this...chaos?’

“Oh, Darkness my dear friend. To wound me in such a way...I’m reformed, remember?” Discord poofed about before wrapping a paw around Ryan’s shoulder. “The boy saw to that along with his little herd. While I still like to be...mischievous from time to time, I’ve learned from the past and how not to cause trouble. Well, any irreversible trouble anyway.”

“Okay...show of hooves, who thinks he’s full of shit?” Rainbow asked, throwing up hers and seeing several others join. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Twi, let’s blast him to stony oblivion till we sort this out!”

‘...when did you grab the Elements?’

“Just before Ryan cleared a fiery path for us.” Rarity smirked as she powered up her Element along with her friends...though Fluttershy seemed a bit hesitant.

“Stop this, ladies.”

“Ry?!”

Discord blinked to see Ryan standing in front of him. “Coming to my aide, boy? You sure about that?”

“Look, even if you are somehow behind this, blasting you without proof isn’t the way to go about it. Besides, Ah’d like to give you a little faith seeing as you are mah friend.” Ryan narrowed his eyes, yanking on Discord’s goatee to stare him dead in the eyes. “But if Ah find out ya did have something to do with this, you are going to have a lot ta deal with if you still wanna stay friends, capiche?!”

Discord, stunned by Ryan’s actions, gulped slightly before laughing. “Oh my, so overly dramatic as always. That’s all just part of your charm, boy, so very well. Though if you want my advice, perhaps you should ask a resident of the forest?”

“A resident?”

“Ryers, the only pony we know that lives there is...Zecora!”

Sure enough, their zebra friend was emerging from the edge of the forest, dragging her possessions with her and looking rather upset. Heading towards her and helping her settle her belongings, the others asked if she knew what could possibly be happening.

“I’m afraid even that I do not know, despite the destruction the vines continue to sow.”

“Do you think there might be something we can do? Anything at all?”

“AppleJack, I am not sure what to do, but perhaps aide we can find in a certain brew.”

Dark went quite silent as she pulled out a vial with a mysterious liquid in it. ‘...I know what that is.’

“I would not doubt that of you Dark, but to make use of it we need a little spark.”

To that everyone tilted their heads in confusion, staring at the zebra with wide eyes.

‘...she means a magic that only certain ponies can use. Twily, you have to do what you did back in the Crystal Empire and use that magic.’

Twilight seemed a bit puzzled until her eyes grew wide. “Wait? That magic? You mean that freaky dark magic, don’t you?”

“That creepy stuff you did after seeing it once?” Spike shivered. “I still have nightmares about what happened down there.”

‘Yeah, that magic. Zecora, that potion...it will let us see the past, won’t it?’

“The words you speak are true, to see the past is the job of this brew.”

‘Right. Ryan, we’re diving in with Twily. I feel like...like we need to go back with her.’

“Uhm, alright...Ah can’t see the harm but ya feeling okay, Partner? Ya seem...worried.”

‘Let’s just find out what we need to save Equestria.’

That being that, Twilight unleashed the freaky dark magic upon the bottle, turning the liquid inside a bright white. So bright, Ryan was rather sure it was glowing and that did little to settle his unease. “That, uh, that stuff looks pretty funky now...ya sure it’s safe ta drink?”

‘Oh quit being a baby and take a swig. See? Twily did it without any worry.’

Shrugging, Ryan took the bottle and drank...before making a weird face.

“Ah feel weird….”

“Uh, should Ryers eyes be glowing like that…?”

“Ugh...damn, that stuff packs a punch.” Ryan groaned, slowly coming to and standing up...before realizing they were not in Ponyville anymore. “T-Sparks...where are we?”

“Not sure...looks like a castle of some kind...two thrones...wait? That tapestry…”

‘...shit. This is their original castle. Which means we didn’t go far enough back...why would it send us here…?’

“Partner, ya gonna be okay…!” Ryan gasped upon seeing a figure emerge from behind the thrones. “Lunes?!”

‘...she can’t hear us. We’re just observing the past, guys. So anything we see cannot be affected by us in any way.’

“Oh, it’s a lovely night out tonight. Clear and peaceful…” Luna sighed wistfully as she looked out a window. “The kind of nights you loved...that we loved…”

‘...Woona…’

“Hmm? Here you are, sister! I was looking for you. Why are you here by yourself?”

Celestia walked in to join her, staring up at the sky and suddenly releasing why.

“You know he wouldn’t want you to let this eat at you so.”

Luna hung her head slightly, closing her eyes. “I know this...it is the same reason that I let you plead your case that my night was appreciated despite feeling otherwise. I was...rather foolish to not know that others enjoyed the night, even if they were not as vocal as those that loved the day.”

Celestia nuzzled her younger sibling before smiling. “Yes. I...I won’t lie. I worried for some time that what happened might affect you harder than I could help with.”

“...I would imagine, dear sister, that it affected you nearly as hard.” Luna chuckled softly, smirking at her sister’s reddening cheeks. “Losing him hurt us both deeply...hard to believe that it’s already been quite some time since that fateful day.”

“Hmmm….”

“Sister?”

“Do you...do you think there was still something we could’ve done to find him? To find them?”

“Sister...you know we did all we could. And when the Crystal Kingdom needed help, we had to focus on stopping yet another of our old friends…”

“...it would seem that alicorns are cursed with such heartbreak, sadly. Perhaps that is why there are so few of us left…”

“We certainly didn’t draw the best hand from fate, did we? However…” Luna smiled softly. “I don’t regret the life we’ve had...there are many good times that I would never wish to lose out on despite the bad. Knowing Darkness...loving him...I am thankful for every second we had together. And for his sacrifice…”

“Yes…”

The two sisters stood quietly together, simply looking up at the sky, before Luna made a slight noise and removed herself from her sister’s embrace. “Well, no need to waste such a wonderful night. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a flight around our kingdom for a bit.”

“Very well, sister. Do be safe.”

Our trio from the future had been watching curiously, and had quite the questions. Twilight in particular was rather confused.

“So, Ry, Dark...this is obviously after Discord and Sombra’s encounters...so...why does this not match up with any of the history we know of this time period? Why is Luna not jealous? She’s not anywhere near becoming Nightmare Moon from what I can see.”

“Ah’m not sure, hon. Partner, any thoughts? ...Partner?”

‘...sorry, Ry. Just...seeing what the aftermath of all that was, it hit me a bit hard seeing the anguish that they carried.’ Dark seemed to be thinking deeply before a loud scream was heard just outside. ‘...that sounded like Woona!!’

Racing outside, they saw that Celestia had heard the cry as well and up in the sky they saw something that puzzled them: Luna was speeding through the night sky, something weird and ominous chasing after her. Though the sky was illuminated brightly due to her full moon, the strange being chasing her was pitch black and gave Ryan and Twilight the heebie-jeebies.

“The hell is that thing?!”

‘....’

“Dark? Dark! What is it?”

“No! It cannot be!” Celestia shouted, before taking to the skies. “Sister! Hold tight! I am coming!”

“Celestia?! No! Stay back! I won’t let it take both of us!” Luna swerved away, climbing higher into the sky. However, it became quite clear that she was not going to outrun whatever this was. Feeling it closing in, she smiled sadly at but one thought. “I’m sorry, my love...but I just wasn’t strong enough...whatever may happen now...please give Tia the strength to protect...our...home…”

There was a large explosion of midnight black magic as the strange creature engulfed Luna, causing Celestia to shy away. Landing, she looked up as what was her sister and now was something more...nightmarish.

“Hahahahaha! You fools! To think that you would be able to keep me at bay! I am the true ruler of Equestria! The only Princess that should be!”

“Luna! Snap out of it! Do not let this thing control you!”

“Luna? Peh! There is only NIGHTMARE MOON! This night shall stay forever, and you will bow to me!”

“You vile fiend! Do you think I would let something like this go so easily?” Celestia roared, flaring her Elemental Sync. “I will not allow you to steal my sister away like this! I’ve lost too much already, I won’t lose her!!”

Cackling madly, Nightmare Moon grinned as Celestia engaged her in battle, magic attacks flying all around as each tried to take out the other. Unfortunately, the castle suffered more than anything as it was torn to pieces by their missed shots. Following after them, Ryan and Twilight watched helplessly as the struggle continued until…

‘TIA!’ Dark shouted in fear, watching her take a direct hit and crash back into the castle. ‘...Tia…’

“Remember, Dark...this already happened. We already know they’re okay in the present.”

‘...I know but...I’m so confused by what’s happening.’

Twilight, having landed with them and seen Celestia lying there with Nightmare Moon looking on smugly, finally figured it out. “Ry? This is the night Luna got banished to the moon…”

“Oh shit! Then that means…” Sure enough, Ryan could see the Elements as they once looked long ago rising from the ground at Celestia’s command. “Damn…”

Watching in silence, they saw Celestia rise up, the Elements circling around her as she looked on at the being in front of her. With tears in her eyes, she began focusing the magic of them before gritting her teeth. “Sister...I’m so sorry….One day...I’ll save you…”

“Hahahahaha! You think your magic can stop me?” Nightmare Moon retaliated with a blast of her own, but it was no match for the magic of the Elements. Their blasts collided, but it became quite apparent that the Nightmare was no match. With a wild scream, she was engulfed by the harmonic magic and launched in a swirl of rainbows towards the moon before creating the Mare in the Moon image they well knew. Ryan, Twilight, and Dark were stunned at witnessing such a heartbreaking event, and, as they watched, Celestia fell to the ground and collapsed into a crying mess.

“Sister...Darkness...I’ve lost both of you now...why…” Celestia choked out between sobs. “How...how do I go on now, alone? Mom...what do I do...now?”

‘...Tia…’

And as they looked on, a bright light filled their vision until…

“Guh!? Huh?!” Ryan gasped as he blinked and looked around. “We’re...we’re back…”

“Tarnation! What happened to y’all?!”

“Yes, darling...you were mumbling about something, and crying...as if you’d witnessed something dreadful.”

“Personally I thought it was just so amusing~”

Ryan and Dark immediately glared at Discord so hard he began freezing up, literally. “You shut yer Solaris damned mouth...this is no joking issue. What we just saw…”

‘...Ryan…’

“What we saw was not...good. Also raises some questions that we’ll have to answer later when we find them but…”

Discord raised his paw and claw up defensively. “Oh my, such language. You humans are so emotional sometimes…”

“Anyway…” Twilight sighed. “We still didn’t find out what we needed to.”

“If the answers you still seek, perhaps further back you should peek.”

‘...so in other words, take another sip and trip.’

“Ah guess...but God, if Ah gotta see another heartbreaking sight like that…”

With that said, Ryan and Twilight took another swig before their eyes blanked out…

And the world they knew looked quite unusual.

“Now where the hell are we? If’n Ah didn’t know any better, Ah’d say the bizarre state of things looks rather familiar.”

‘...Oh my. This...this is when Discord, when my friend….when he lost his mind after Gauge’s death.’

“Wait...so from what y’all told us about what really went down, wouldn’t you currently be looking for the original Elements then?”

‘Most likely...oh. Wait...nevermind.’

Twilight seemed puzzled as to why he changed his mind. “Uhm, what makes you say that, Dark?”

‘That.’

And as if on cue, what appeared to be Past Dark crashed in front of them sending a lot of the ground flying every which way.

“Snap out of it, old friend! You can end this madness peacefully! I don’t want to have to do this to you! None of us do! We just want you back! We want those peaceful times back…”

Discord cackled manically before sneering at the clearly wounded human. “Peh! Who wants something as boring as all that?! Besides...we can never go back to those days. Not after what your damnable kind did!”

“Cordy, we still don’t know if Gauge—uk!” Dark gasped for air as Discord closed the distance and grabbed him by the throat.

“I told you to NEVER say her name! You have no right!” Discord growled, slamming Dark into the ground repeatedly before tossing him into a giant container of green jello.

Dark blinked, making to swim for some precious air, only to find that he was sealed in pretty well. Slamming against the sides, he tried breaking his way out but found it rather resilient to even his strongest magic. Finding himself out of options and nearly out of time, he did the one thing he could do: he started eating it. After getting just a bit down, he managed a small pocket to gather some air...but he knew it was just short-lived unless he got out of this thing.

“What’s the matter, old friend? I thought you always enjoyed the sweet treats I would come up with?”

Laughing maniacally, Discord was not prepared for a massive blast of magic to complete tear apart Dark’s prison, leaving him to gasp for precious air. Looking up, the human smiled at seeing Celestia and Luna finally on the battlefield.

“Heh...and with the Elements in tow. Guess you gals figured out how to harness them.” Dark spat out the gelatin before making a face. “But man, that’s just evil, Cordy. Who in the world makes brussel sprout flavored gelatin? Bleck!”

“Oh come now. If I had made it taste good, then that wouldn’t be very diabolical of me, now would it?” Discord laughed darkly. “And oh my, what might those pretty little baubles be? The Elements? Is that what you said, dear Darkness? Peh! Those little things won’t help you. In fact, I’m almost certain you’re bluffing: you know as well as I that those things are a legend, a myth. To think a mystical set of gems would exist, let alone embedded in some dumb little tree…”

“I would not be laughing if I was in your position, Discord.” Celestia was more than tired of his shenanigans, her flames flickering about as she focused her share of the Elements. “It pains me to have to do this, but you’ve left us no choice.”

“...and who said I’d give you a chance to even use those supposed Elements on me?” Discord moved insanely fast towards the two alicorns, but snarled as Dark was there to block his attack. “Darkness! Again you feel the need to get in the way!”

“Cordy! Come on man! I know you’re still in there! Please! Fight it and end this!”

“Oh...if you want me to end this, then by all means I shall!”

With that said, Discord grabbed our shade-wearing hero quite roughly by the neck before flinging him about, batting his body around like a soccer ball before unleashing a blast of chaos magic his way. To his credit, Dark fired off a Darkness Eraser and deflected most of the blast but was still hit with more than his body could withstand. Falling to his knees, he slowly smirked as his shades cracked and hung limply from his face.

“Heh, heh...heh...that all ya got, ol’ pal? Guh!”

“Even to the bitter end you show that bravado...any last words before I finish you off? I’ll do you quick, for old time’s sake, Darkness.”

Dark laughed softly, before coughing. “Haha...yeah. Get...Rekt!”

Looking behind Darkness to see that Celestia and Luna were done charging the Elements, Discord was furious at having allowed this human to get the better of him. Roaring loudly, he unleashed his fury on the defenseless Darkness.

‘Well, Master...I guess you were wrong...I couldn’t finish that spell...I failed…’ Dark grinned, holding out his hand and giving a thumbs-up. ‘I’m sorry Woona...I’m sorry Tia...take care of each other...and find a way...to...save...him…’

With that the human known as Darkness Shade was completely obliterated from view, the only thing left the smoldering remains of his leather jacket and wand.

“DARKNESS!!!!” Luna shouted, tears streaming down her eyes as she glared at their target. “DISCORD!!”

“Sister! Now! While...while he’s winded!”

Despite the ache of watching Dark die now sitting on their hearts, the two sisters managed to focus their magics and unleash the Elements’ full force upon the draconequus. Groaning in agony, Discord glared at them as he slowly turned to stone.

“You may have stopped me, but the last laugh shall forever be mine…” Discord made one final movement of his paw before finally petrifying completely. Luna and Celestia were puzzled by this, but soon enough would understand just what their former friend had wrought upon their world.

“Holy shit, Partner.” Ryan commented, watching as Luna ran to where Past Dark had been vaporized.

‘...damn...not gonna lie, that was just as painful to watch as it was when it first happened to me.’

“To think things truly were so different than what we’d been told…” Twilight frowned. “But we still haven’t gone far enough back, have we?”

‘No...we’ll probably need one more trip, to when my friends and I found the Tree of Harmony…’

“Which means waking up from this again…” Ryan blinked before seeing white. “Speaking of…”

Coming to once more, the others were simply staring at the three just as confused as last time.

“Any luck, Rysy-Wysy?”

“Not yet...we’re close.” Ryan turned to Discord, who was actually behaving himself for once. “Disky...Past you really was an asshole. Not gonna lie.”

“Oh my! Did that brew send you back there? Oh, such a dreadful day...you might not believe me, boy, but I do wish I could’ve done things differently back then. It’s almost like I was a different person altogether.” Discord rubbed the back of his head before blushing slightly. “I feel kind of embarrassed you saw that event of all things, especially since I caused so much trouble with that foolish act. Youth does lead to rash decisions I’m afraid.”

“Indeed. Ah’m actually surprised you can feel embarrassed given everything we’ve been through.”

“Oh come now, my dear human, even I, the great Discord, have things I’m not proud of. But enough of that, shouldn’t you still be looking for more info?”

“He’s right. We need to go back one more time.” Twilight grabbed the bottle once more. “Looks like there’s just enough for one more jump, so let’s hope it’s the right one…”

“Ugh...really wish that was an easier entry.” Ryan looked around to see that this time they were in the Everfree, though it looked a bit different. “Is this the right place this time, Partner?”

‘Hmmm...I want to say it is. If so...yes. We need to head south a bit. I have a feeling we’ll find what we need that way.’

Twilight looked at her human and shrugged. “Well, he would know more about this time period than we would so let’s get moving. While things are, uhm, kinda stable right now, we don’t know how long we have until something terrible might happen.”

With that said, the three of them made their way through the forest looking for any sign of what they may want. As they began to suspect Dark might have deduced the wrong direction, they began to hear a voice...then two...then more!

“Are you sure this is the right way, Dark?”

“Heh, come on Sombrero, ya know my sense of direction is the best there is!”

“Then, pray tell, why was it you led us astray for such a terribly long time?”

Dark turned to what appeared to be a human roughly his age, the vibrant white hair matching his shining armor rather well. “Look, Cecil, even the greatest at something is wrong once and awhile—”

“—not if you’re me. Heh.”

“Stay out of this, Hurricane.” Dark glared at the smirking pegasus before turning back to his other friends. “Relax, man. Master left behind this info because he knew we’d need it...we need to find these things and do what we can to save our other friend.”

Cecil sighed, frowning at that. “Indeed. Discord has lost what little sense he had to begin with and I fear that left unchecked the world we know might be lost to chaos.”

“Yes. Anyway, if you’re so worried, Sombrero, just lead us to those things.”

“Me?”

“Yeah! They’re supposed ta be some crazy powerful gemstones or something, right? Granted, they’re supposedly in a tree, but that doesn’t mean you can’t track them down. After all, when it comes to magic stones you’re the authority.”

Sombra blushed slightly at his friend’s praise. “Well, yeah, I suppose. I just wish the direction wasn’t so vague on that map Master left us. Hmmm….!”

“Find something?”

“Perhaps...this way!”

Seeing the past quartet take off, Ryan and Twilight followed along before they saw them stop suddenly in front of a very shiny looking tree.

“Safe ta say you guys found it.”

‘Heh, ain’t that the truth.’ Dark smirked, watching his past self looking over the tree with his friends. ‘It seems like only yesterday we ventured forth to find these magical macguffins to hopefully save our friend and world…’

“Dark?”

‘...sorry. I just...I miss them. I never got to say a proper goodbye to any of them, except for Sombrero, and even that was a pretty shitty reunion.’ Dark sniffled before seeing Cecil and his past self remove the Elements and bag them up for their journey back. ‘Well, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say we found out what we needed.’

As the trio from the future began to fade away, Past Darkness paused and turned to look in the direction they had been in.

“Is something bothering you, my friend?”

Dark shook his head. “No. I’m okay, Cecil. I just...thought I felt something...familiar. Hmm...Come on! The Princesses need these on the double!”

“Guh! The kickback on that is way too harsh!” Ryan groaned, grabbing his head and waiting for the world to stabilize. “So wait...Dark?”

‘Yeah?’

“Did y’all know the tree might weaken without the Elements?”

‘...it was a possibility, but we didn’t know for sure. Unfortunately…’

“It turned out to be true.” Twilight turned to the rest of their herd. “Ladies...we know what we have to do. The Tree of Harmony needs our help.”

“Heh, ya heard Twi. Get yer rears in gear, ladies!”

With a far too eager farewell from Discord, the group of intrepid heroes made their way through the Everfree….though not peacefully, as it’s denizens were more than eager to be troublesome as usual. So much so, some of the girls were a bit worried as to what they might find—especially in regards to how that might affect the seemingly last Princess left in Equestria.

“Again, gotta point out Cadance is still there, ya know.”

“Yes, darling, but she has her own issues to deal with. If we can’t find Princess Celestia or Luna, there will be a need for someone to handle things.”

‘And so y’all are thinking to disband the group and send Twi back to town?’ Dark rolled his eyes. ‘That’s probably the dumbest thing I’ve heard, and let’s face it: I’ve said some pretty stupid things in the past.’

“But Dark, ain’t no guarantee when we find this here tree that Luna and her sister will return.”

“...that might be a possibility, Apps, but Ah’m with Dark on this one. Haven’t we gotten through everything we’ve dealt with by sticking together? By working together? Our Friendship and Love uniting us into an unstoppable force?”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Rys does have a point. We kinda do our best work together, after all.”

“...what about that time we sent you off when Discord attacked again?”

“Well, T-Sparks, that is true...but we only beat him again when Ah came back and saved y’all through the connection in our hearts.”

“And, uhm, what about when we were in, ya know...Hell?”

“Again, yes, that is true Flutters. But that was different, it was clear that even with our combined might, Hell’s power kinda had the upper-hand after that crazy bitch jacked it for herself.” Ryan let out an exasperated sigh. “Point is, we kick butt together, we stay together, end of story. After all, we’re Ohana...and that means no one is being left behind. Now come on, we can’t waste time arguing here when our town is being overrun.”

Those that were hesitant pushed their worries aside and continued on, realizing that arguing wouldn’t help the situation at all. Besides, Ryan hadn’t led them astray before, so why would this time be any different?

“...Ah. Hate. This Forest.” Ryan groaned, entangled in pesky vines while something that looked like an overgrown fly-trap laughed...somehow. “Jokes on you, buddy. You and yer friends messed with the wrong ponies. And human.”

‘And dragon.’

“...regardless of who we are, they done goofed! Let them have it, Ladies!”

With their usual flare, Twilight and the others tangled, sliced, scorched, and weeded out the problematic plants with practiced ease. Which only left Ryan, who had drawn out his sword. “Plants, this is Malus Domestica. It might be named after a tree, but it’s no friend of yours.”

One series of lightning fast strikes later, Ryan was free and all that was left of his chloroform-filled captor was a pile of leaves. Smirking, he holstered his sword. “Sorry to cut and run, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

“...weren’t we looking for a tree, and not a fish, Rysy-Wysy?”

Facepalming, the human looked at his pink pone who was all giggles. “Pinks...sometimes Ah wonder when ya say stuff like that whether yer playing me or not.”

Pinkie giggled even more at that. “But Rysy, flustering you is like the most fun ever, plus it totally broke the tension.”

“That’s Pinkie Pie for you.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “But seriously, come on guys! You said you saw it somewhere this way, right? Near the old ruins?”

“What puzzles me is, if that’s where it is, how did you guys not see it when you first stumbled on the Elements?”

‘Careful, Lyra...yer treading into plot hole territory there. Not a good place to go.’

“...plot...hole?”

“Oh Lyre-Wyre, I wouldn’t think about it too hard. It’s just one of those things that Ry and I like to talk about and—oh hey look! That’s really shiny over there!”

Following her after that outburst, they could see something tucked away into a cave, though it was mostly buried in a writhing mass of vines. The same vines, they noted, that had begun invading Ponyville.

“Well, probably gonna say that’s the tree, guys.” Spike noted before scrunching his face. “So, uhm, what exactly do we do?”

‘...we need to return the Elements back to the tree. Only then will it regain its power and set things right.’

There was a noise, not unlike a record scratching, as the mares—save for Twily—all stared at Dark.

“SAY WHAT?!”

“Apple Ryder, he’s speaking nonsense...right?”

“Yeah, like, those things are pretty important...if we just give them up, that kinda leaves us open to all sorts of trouble.” Rainbow Dash huffed before growling slightly. “Like that nutjob, Discord. The only reason he’s behaving is because we can just zap him back to stone if he goofs up. What’s gonna happen if we don’t have that anymore?”

“And besides, those things brought all of us together. If’n we give them up…” AppleJack looked down and frowned. “It means giving up the thing that connects us.”

Ryan laughed softly. “You really are a silly pony.”

“Huh?”

“Our human is right.” Twilight smiled before nuzzling her herdmate. “While the Elements brought us together, AJ, our friendship...and well, our love as a family will always keep us connected.”

AppleJack simply blushed before nodding her head.

‘So precious. You really are just too cute when you blush, AJ.’

“Sh-shut up, Dark!!”

With the whole group laughing at her outburst, they all nodded as Twilight removed the gems from their necklaces and began moving them over to the Tree. Each one took their place in specific slots before being accepted by the Tree which pulsated with the Harmonic energy and began to push back the weeds. Near the base of the trees were two bundles of weeds that began to spasm violently before exploding to reveal none other than…

‘WOONA! TIA!’

“...Darkness?”

“Princess!” Twilight gasped, running over to hug the two of them. “We found you! Thank goodness!”

“Haha, you have done well, Twilight. You and your friends have accomplished much to not only find this place, but in your decision as well. I know it might have been tough, but you did the right thing.” Celestia smiled before noting something amiss. “...there is a strange energy coming from the tree.”

“Y’all felt that too, huh?” Ryan frowned before noting a new flower blooming in front of the tree. “Okay...it’s not evil looking like those other ones. That’s a good start.”

Spike looked around before slowly walking up to poke the flower, and jumping back when it chose to bloom with a flash of light. As the blinding light died down, the group stood in confusion as they saw a locked box of some kind just sitting there.

“One, two...six keyholes?”

“Hmmm, though I do not know where the keys may be, I have a feeling you will not be searching for them alone.” Celestia smiled before motioning towards her friends. “And if our past events have taught me anything, it’s that your human will most certainly find a way to meddle in this as well.”

Ryan huffed before glaring at the sun Princess. “Ya know, Cellie-Bellie, those comments are gonna cost you tummy rubs.”

“...are you threatening the Princess of the Sun?”

“Heh, Ah like to think of it more as bargaining.” Ryan laughed, “But still...a box, huh? Curious. Well, either way, we should get back to Ponyville and make sure everything went well.”

“Oh ho! Here they are, the stalwart adventures!” Discord cackled happily as he saw his friends emerge from the forest. “And you’ve found the Sun and Moon. Bravo!”

Ryan frowned slightly as the draconequus wound his way around the group, taking note of the now missing Elements of Harmony. Tapping his foot, the wily chimera smirked, “I do say, however, where did your curious little baubles go?”

‘...They’re gone. Back in the Tree where they first came from.’

“Gone, you say?” Discord grinned widely. “Oh...that’s such an interesting development.”

In a flash quicker than even Celestia and Luna could detect, Ryan and Dark had synchronized and stood glaring at Discord in their fused form. With their Elemental Sync flaring brightly, they stared hard into their friend’s eyes before speaking. “Just because they’re gone, doesn’t mean we’ll tolerate any shenanigans. Heh, that is…”

“That is?”

Kouki smirked. “That is, if you still wish ta be our friend.”

“Oh very well. You and your overdramatic actions. Peh, just know this: I don’t do windows.”

With that they turned back into just plain ol’ Ryan as Discord pondered over something.

“What’s that yer mumbling to yerself?” AppleJack eyed him suspiciously.

“Oh, it’s nothing too important, Apple Dandy—”

“—The hay did you say?!”

“—just that, those plunderseeds I planted as a failsafe against those three’s little plan should’ve sprouted a long time ago.”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other before tilting their heads. “What?”

“Oh it’s easy, you’ve been to the past, right? Well, in-between when Dark and his little friends found the Elements and when my past self kicked Dark’s oh-so eager butt, I planted a bit of a backup plan just in case those magical maguffins turned out to be real.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes before leaping at Discord. “You knew what was behind this all along?! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

Gently pushing the enraged alicorn from his person, Discord laughed. “What? And deprive you of the chance to learn your first lesson as a Princess? Please, a friend would never keep another from learning something new about themselves.”

“Hmmm...I’ll let it slide this time, but as my peach warned, you better behave yourself.”

Poofing into an outdoorsy uniform, Discord held up his paw and nodded. “Scout’s honor.”

‘...Cordy…’

Sighing, he uncrossed the fingers on his other hand and rolled his eyes. “Sometimes it’s hard to be me when you know me so well, Darkness.”

‘Heh, someone’s gotta help keep ya in line, ol’ pal.’

And so it was that the Festival was back on track, and boy was it fantastic. Twilight and Ryan pulled off their parts without a hitch, with her rainboom-esque maneuver and his scattering petals raising the moment to even higher levels of grandeur. As the festivities died down, Twilight and her human had told Celestia and Luna they had some questions about what they had seen and needed to clarify it. At first, they were hesitant, even going so far as to deny they knew what they were talking about.

‘Woona, Tia...I need to know what the hell actually happened regarding Nightmare Moon. For the longest time, you told us that it was merely your potential but corrupted by your own jealously.’ Dark sighed. ‘That’s not true, though, is it?’

“Please, Princess, we need to know why the history we know and the history we saw are two very different things.” Twilight seemed worried. “In particular, what it was that...that changed you. That seemingly took over you.”

“Ah’m not quite sure why ya changed history to what it is, but Ah know one thing from what Ah saw: whatever that thing was that grabbed on to ya, Lunes, it gave me more cases of the willies than anything Ah’ve seen.” Ryan shivered a bit. “And Ah just have this bad feeling that even though T-Sparks and the others seemingly defeated it, that it may possibly be lurking in the shadows. That kind of evil...it doesn’t go away easy.”

Luna and Celestia looked at one another again before sighing.

“Sister…”

“Yes. Perhaps they deserve to hear the truth.” Celestia motioned for them to follow. “This way, my friends. We will answer the questions you have, but only when we know we are secure.”

Unsure as to what that even meant, but figuring they’d get their answers, they followed along until they came upon a very large, wooden door. It opened slowly, and inside appeared to be pitch-black.

“Do not be frightened. Though it may look imposing, inside is the safest spot to talk about what you three saw.” Luna smiled before walking in and disappearing. Her sister followed, and thus Ryan, Dark, and Twilight did as well. The door slowly closed and latched tight, effectively sealing the five of them away from the world they knew.

“! This place!” Twilight recognized the starry sky and lights all around them. “This is where you brought me after I fixed StarSwirl’s spell.”

“Indeed. This reality is separate from our own, with it’s own special properties. We must make use of it if we are to talk to you about...the Nightmare.”

‘...as I deduced. What turned you into Nightmare Moon was not jealousy...but something far worse.’

“Your insight guides you well, Darkness.” Luna sighed before bringing up some images. “We don’t know exactly how long it has existed, nor do we particularly know where it came from. What we do know is that the Nightmare latches on to living beings and corrupts them for it’s own use. From animals to humans to ponies...pretty much any living being on Equestria, no, on Equus is susceptible to it’s terror.”

“Ah knew that thing was pure evil. What...what does it want?”

Celestia sighed at the next set of images showing a detailed look at this Nightmare. “Of that, we aren’t sure. It seems to seek out any light in the universe and desires to blot it out. We aren’t even sure if this is it’s true form or not, as it’s only ever been seen as an inky black ball of darkness.”

“Has...has something like this always been on our world?”

“Hard to say, Twilight.” Luna grimaced at the next set of images, showing her being transformed by the Nightmare. “While our mother and father had no records of such a creature existing, we can only guess. It does not seem to be of our world, but that fact only worries us more. If one exists, then could there be more?”

“That’s a horrifying thought.” Ryan gritted his teeth. “And the only way you were able to defeat it was to...to…”

“Yes...to banish both it and my sister using the Elements. As you well know, when Nightmare Moon returned, the Elements assisted once again. Only this time…”

“This time we were able to purify your sister instead and separate her from the Nightmare entity.” Twilight tapped her chin in thought. “So wait! We didn’t just save Luna! We set this creature free on our world!”

‘...if that’s true...why has it not made any move since then?’

“Speaking of it somehow gives it strength of some type. Gives it purpose and meaning.” Luna growled softly. “We have made great strides to remove any type of information regarding the Nightmare. Even going so far as to rewrite our own history so no others can know and give it strength.”

“Well, that explains most everything about why the written history is different from real history, but do you think it’s still out there?”

“We can only hope it is not, Twilight. However, we are not willing to chance something like this, and thus have made it so only us two knew the truth.” Celestia laughed sadly. “However, we felt we could not lie to you three.”

“But know this my dear Darkness, Ryan, and Twilight: you must never share this information with anypony else. The more that know, the stronger it may become...if it still is alive. We cannot allow any chance of it becoming strong again if it is.” Luna had a very serious look on her face as she stared at them. “Do I have your promise of this?”

‘Of course.’

“Ya know me, Ah know how ta keep a secret.”

“...I will. But...it worries me. We no longer have the Elements, there’s this new box to worry over, and apparently a horrible abomination of evil that caused one of the greater tragedies of Equestria may still be alive.” Twilight laughed nervously. “No pressure.”

Celestia smiled, wrapping a wing around Twilight. “Do not worry, Twilight. Even with all that, as long as you believe in the Friendship in our hearts, you will find a way. You, your herd, and your human. You are unstoppable as long as you never forget that. Now then! It’s gotten late, would you three wish to stay for dinner before returning home?”

“Hmmmm?”

“And if memory serves correctly, did we not just get a fresh shipment in from our friends in the Gryffon Kingdom?”

‘Gryffon? Partner…’

“Yeah, Ah know, Ah know...that means delicious meat.” Ryan laughed softly. “Well, when ya say things like that, Ah think we can stay a little while longer.”

Twilight giggled before poking Ryan’s tummy. “Always thinking with this, huh?”

“Hey!” Ryan ruffled her mane, sticking his tongue out at her. “We saved the day again, yes? Then why not celebrate a little! Ladies, lead the way.”

As they made their way back to their normal world and upstairs to the dining hall, Dark couldn’t help but be worried just a bit.

‘They might have eased Ry and Twi’s worries, but I can’t help but feel something bad is on the horizon. Whatever it is, I hope we can handle it.’ Dark grimaced, another thought occurring to him. ‘I wonder...could this be related to the things Mallie and DJ mentioned?’

Author's Note

Huzzah! The sequel begins with a bit of a look into the past, as we begin our long trek into Season 4 and all it has to offer. For those reading this when it first came out, sorry it took so long to get this out after JHA's final chapter, but hopefully the wait till the next chapter in this saga won't be too long. Hahaha. :twilightblush:

With that said, the hunt for the Keys begins...but what else may lie on the horizon for Ryder and his herd?
What else, indeed...