Bright Lights, Colors All Around (2/3)

An hour later, Zero Volt and the four little aliens were traveling along a metallic walkway. They had left the fleet of aircraft behind a while back, and Zero Volt was being led through a new area, although it seemed strangely familiar to him. Much of the area consisted of steel platforms and walkways. Electrical lighting was installed along the walls, allowing them to see where they were going now that it was nighttime. Zero Volt still thought he remembered this place, but the area had been built over so extensively that it was impossible to tell what used to be there, even with the occasional trees and flowers.

“Wait.” Zero Volt stood still and looked around. Eventually, he managed to look past all of the construction and development and see the hoofful of plants and thick grasses that were still around. “This is where I first came to this world. But where did all this stuff come from?” he said as he continued along the walkway. “How did all this get built in only a few hours?” The walkway led him to a body of water. “And is this supposed to be a river? Why’s the water purple? I don’t think water’s supposed to be purple.” The fourth alien squinted at him, as if calling him an idiot. Zero Volt examined the newest creature to join their party. This one was pink in color, and looked similar to the cyan creature, except with thinner limbs and spiny projections on its head. “So what kind of powers do you have?” Zero Volt asked. “Oh right, I have to say the right word first. Okay then, spike. Spine.” The pink creature pointed its limbs at the projections on its head. “Weird pink sun drawn by a grade-school colt?” The creature’s head and limbs slumped in frustration. “Yeah, I know. Just once I’d like to talk to you guys without it turning into a game of charades.”

“That last guess was awfully specific,” Pinkie Pie said. “Fluttershy, you can understand those little aliens, right? What’s the secret word?”

Fluttershy sighed quietly before giving an answer. “Spikes.”

“Didn’t he just say ‘spikes’?” Rainbow asked.

“No, um…”

“Actually, he said ‘spike’,” Pinkie interrupted, “without the ‘s’ at the end.”

“Because of one letter?” Rainbow said. “Shouldn’t ‘spike’ be close enough?”

“I’m not the judge,” Pinkie said, “I’m only the scorekeeper.”

Zero Volt scrutinized the pink creature, still trying to find the right word. “Whatever it is, it has to be related to those spikes on your-” The alien flew into Zero Volt’s body, cutting him off midsentence. “Seriously? You took points off because of one letter?! Oh well, as long as…” Zero Volt cut himself off again after glancing at a nearby window. He ran his hoof through his bangs as he stared at his reflection in the glass. “Promise me you’ll tell no one about this.”

“Great, now everypony knows,” Zero Volt said, burying his face in his hooves.

“It’s okay, Zero,” Fluttershy said, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “There’s no shame in a stallion having pink in his mane.”

“Well, maybe a little shame,” Rainbow Dash said.

A pink glow surrounded Zero Volt’s body, forming a sphere around him. He watched the energy flowing around him, but was surprised when a multitude of spikes shot out of the sphere. He took several steps forward and noticed that the ball of pink energy rolled along the walkway with each step. The six-inch spikes that covered the ball pierced through the steel walkway as it moved. “Huh, so this one let’s me roll around in a hamster ball of death. Alright, let’s taking for a spin.”

Immediately regretting the bad pun, Zero Volt broke into a gallop. The metallic crunch of the spikes tearing through the platform completely drowned out the sound of his hoof beats as he ran. The walkways hadn’t been finished yet, and he found numerous gaps in the platforms. Zero Volt sidestepped the gaps and ran along whatever sections had been built. A large gap extended across the entire width of the walkway ahead of him. He wouldn’t be able to leap across it, but he noticed a wall extending across that gap. He approached the wall and attempted a wall run along it.

Wall running was a fairly straightforward action for Zero Volt. All he had to do was run next to the wall until the right moment when he could hop onto it. Each step pushed him further up, but by pushing against the wall, he was also pushing off of it. As a result, he always had to jump off after the first few steps while his hooves could still reach the wall. But this time, something was different. After three steps with each hoof, Zero Volt realized that he was still running on the wall, and he was still climbing it. He came to a stop, only to realize that he was still standing on the wall even after he slowed down. Looking at the ball of pink energy, he noticed that the spikes running along its surface had embedded themselves into the wall.

“So I can stick to walls with this thing,” Zero Volt thought out loud. “Maybe I can stick to ceilings too.” He ran along the rest of the wall and jumped back on the walkway after finding a place to land. He stopped on the walkway and looked ahead, noticing a tower in the distance. The tower was at the other side of the tainted river, and the walkway ended at a ramp just above the river.

Suddenly, the spikes started to spin around the surface of the ball. Zero Volt stood in place, watching the sharp projections travel around the stationary sphere, sounding like a revving engine. Seconds later, the ball shot forward, carrying him across the platform against his will. Zero Volt shot over the ramp, clearing the river and landing on his stomach at the base of the tower. The pink alien emerged shortly afterward, and Zero Volt stood up and shook himself off.

“Ugh, warn me the next time you’re going to do that,” Zero Volt said. He looked up at the four creatures, who were gazing up at the tower. “Hey, what are you all looking at?” The orange alien flew down to him and tried to communicate with him. Zero Volt observed the creature carefully. He still had no way of understanding its chirping sounds, but could sense its fear and anxiety. “You don’t like this tower being up here, do you?” The creature shook its head slowly. “I don’t care much for it either. Fortunately, you little guys make a great demolition crew. Spikes!”

The pink alien flew into Zero Volt’s body again. It only took a second for the sphere and spikes to materialize around him. He stood still, allowing the creature’s power to rev up before taking off. The spikes sheared through the tower’s floors, walls and support structures as Zero Volt shot across every surface of the tower he could reach. By the time he was done, he was back at the base of the tower. Much of the tower’s walls and floors had been punctured, slashed and warped, but amazingly enough, it remained standing.

“Rocket!” Zero Volt shouted, absorbing the orange creature. He used its power to shoot upward, smashing through as much of the damaged structure as he could on his way. Eventually he reached the top of the tower, but when he landed on the roof, the structure started to collapse. Whole sections of the tower crumbled and fell, and Zero Volt felt the floor beneath him shake. “Uh-oh, we probably shouldn’t be up here while this tower’s collapsing,” he said. “Actually, where is the safest place to be in a collapsing building? The fall could kill you if you were closer to the top, but you’d be buried under tons of debris if you were on one of the lower levels.” Zero Volt brought his hoof to his muzzle and contemplated the idea as the tower crumbled at all levels. He was interrupted when the pink creature struck him across the face with one of its limbs. “Oh right, we need to escape. Laser!”

As soon as he absorbed the cyan alien, he flew off the tower, shooting across the sky at a downward angle. They arrived in front of another building, and Zero Volt landed on the ground after they separated. He looked up at the capsule on top, noticing the pink aura it gave off, when the ground suddenly started to shake. Another enemy appeared next to the building and turned its attention toward Zero Volt.

“Wait a minute,” he said, staring at the giant Ferris wheel robot that had just emerged, “didn’t I just trash this thing a few hours ago? Actually it looks like it’s got a few upgrades on it. Oh well, still a recycled boss. Spikes!” Zero Volt absorbed the pink alien a third time, and after charging up its energy, he climbed onto the giant robot and sped around its body. As soon as he damaged its body and cracked its faceplate, he jumped off, smashing through the capsule on top of the building before landing on the ground. He turned around to watch the destroyed robot break apart, only to notice the pink alien lose consciousness and collapse on the ground. “Hey, are you alright?”

The other creatures flew over to Zero Volt and tried to talk to him. “We need to get him to that ball of light?” he asked, noticing that they were gesturing toward the broken capsule. He gingerly picked the creature up with his mouth and teleported in front of the light. As soon as the alien was close enough, he absorbed the ball of light and woke up. “You okay?” The creature flew around him for a moment before nodding. Out of the corner of his eye, Zero Volt noticed a container on the ground. He went toward it and teleported the container, releasing the alien inside it without actually opening it. “How many more of you guys are there?” The cyan creature floated in front of him and held two of its limbs up. “Good, we’re almost done. Hopefully I won’t have to spend all night doing this.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“So this is supposed to be an aquarium?” Zero Volt asked. His eyes swept over the new area the aliens brought him to. There were numerous platforms and walkways suspended over the water. Lighting was available above the platforms to see where he was going, and light permeated throughout the water itself, making its surface and everything inside it brighter and more visible. “It’s not like I’m unimpressed or anything. I mean, hey look. World’s largest fish tank.” He moved closer to the edge of the platform to look into the water. His two-second warning activated and he fell backward just before something jumped out at him. “Was that supposed to be a robot piranha? Why are there killer robot fish in an aquarium? Oh well, I guess that’s one more thing to watch out for.”

Zero Volt looked back at the creatures around him and noticed the newest member of the party. It had a round, green body with three round pods on the end of its limbs, much like the orange creature. However, nothing about its appearance told Zero Volt anything about what it could do. “So what powers do you have?” he asked. The green creature responded with a few squeaks while floating around him. It would occasionally descend, but floated back up before it could touch the ground. “Uh… float, levitate, bounce, flying… floating, levitating, bouncing… nothing?” The creature shook its head and continued its chirps. “This is the worst game of charades ever,” he sighed.

“What word were you shooting for this time?” Spike asked.

“Hover.” Zero Volt and Fluttershy said simultaneously, followed by an awkward glance at each other.

“Whoa, freaky,” Pinkie said. “Hey, maybe if we shout it loud enough, Past Zero will be able to hear it.” Pinkie Pie inhaled deeply, and just before she started to inflate like a balloon, she shouted at the top of her lungs. “HOVER!”

“Past me didn’t hear you,” Zero Volt said, removing his hooves from his ears, “but you are just one decibel shy of Luna’s public speaking voice.”

“Are you mocking the co-ruler of Equestria, Zero Volt?” Luna said.

“Am I not allowed to?” he asked.

“I have a joy buzzer that can answer that for me,” she said.

“Actually, joy buzzers don’t have any voltage in them,” Twilight said. “It just feels like you’re getting zapped by them.”

“Oh, then I’ll just use a thundercloud.”

“Isn’t that a little extreme?” Zero Volt said.

“No need to worry,” Luna said. “I only jest.”

At some point in the middle of the alien’s chirps, Zero Volt’s ears perked. “Hover?” The creature flew into his body immediately after, causing his hooves to bounce off the ground. “Hover it is.” He floated back down, only to bounce back up as soon as his hooves touched the ground again. Deciding to test the creature’s power, he straightened his legs and floated higher up, then straight across the water. “It doesn’t go very fast, but at least it has good handling.” He corkscrewed through the air as he floated above the water. Several robot piranhas jumped out of the water, but were torn apart by the green aura that surrounded him.

“I take it that you’re enjoying that.” Zero Volt turned around and saw a white unicorn with a purple mane floating next to him.

“And I take it that you’re with those other ponies,” Zero Volt said.

“What other ponies?” Nightmare asked.

“The ones with the same sickly black veins across their bodies that you have.”

“Sickly? Well, even if they do clash with the coat and mane, I still look gorgeous.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” he said with a smirk.

“How dare you!” Nightmare said. “I’ll show you what beauty and radiance are!” The air around Nightmare started to shimmer as strands of magical energy, blue with a tinge of black, circled around her. The strands condensed together, forming fragments of sapphire and onyx. As the precious stones materialized, they gathered around Nightmare, forming into a body with two heavy arms. The stones formed a space inside the body for Nightmare to stand in, with a transparent sheet of diamond to protect her. As soon as the body was complete, she stretched its arms and punched Zero Volt across the aquarium.

The gems that formed the arm cracked after coming into contact with the green alien’s aura, but the punch hit its target, sending Zero Volt’s body skipping along the water’s surface. He eventually made it to several platforms, rebounding off of a wall and into the air. “Ngh, my head,” he moaned. “And pretty much everything else.” Nightmare flew at him to punch him again, but Zero Volt corkscrewed upward just in time to dodge her.

“Come back here, my little pony,” Nightmare said. “I’m in the mood for a little basketball.”

“Sorry, I don’t play,” Zero Volt said, struggling to avoid Nightmare’s attacks. He tried to dodge the punches thrown by the jeweled body she had built, but the green alien’s powers made him too sluggish in the air. “And I am not a basketball.”

“Fine, basket-colt,” she said. “Not that it matters. Wordplay won’t save you.”

“Maybe not, but this will.” Nightmare threw another punch, but this time, Zero Volt flew at her instead of away from her. He attempted a somersault as he rammed into the head, only to bounce off toward its arms. He then bounced off one arm, back into the head, then into the other arm. Every bounce caused cracks to form in the gemstone armor as Zero Volt ricocheted about the body. Before long, the protective diamond covering fell off, and Zero Volt slammed into Nightmare herself before rebounding upward. Nightmare vanished into a black fog after taking damage while the gemstones crumbled away and fell into the water.

After watching his enemy disappear, Zero Volt turned his attention back to his flight and performed another corkscrew. However, he managed to spin into a long, winding trail of small golden rings. The green alien’s power homed in on the rings and followed the trail, keeping Zero Volt in a corkscrew. At the end of the trail, the green alien emerged and struck a pose in midair while Zero Volt landed painfully on a platform.

“Ngh, you guys have an annoying habit of throwing me into stuff,” he groaned as he stood up and placed a hoof on his head. The cyan creature tapped his muzzle and pointed across the water. “We still have to keep going, don’t we?” There were no platforms in the direction they were supposed to travel, and Zero Volt couldn’t see their final destination. “I just thought of something. If clouds are less dense than water, and I can stand on clouds, then I should have no problem standing on top of water.” Zero Volt jumped off the platform, but his hooves fell through the water’s surface and he sank like a rock. Seconds later he teleported back onto the platform, soaking wet. “Okay that didn’t work. And apparently I’m not a very strong swimmer,” he said. He turned toward the aliens and noticed the looks they all gave him. “Hey, it was worth a shot!”

Rainbow Dash burst in laughter in the middle of the scene. “I wish Twilight had thought of that,” she said. “She would’ve gone all egghead and failed so spectacularly.”

Zero Volt glared at Rainbow before turning to Fluttershy, who was giggling at the scene. “And what do you have to say?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, is just that-” she tried to say, but laughed out loud along with Rainbow Dash.

“You’re lucky that I’m nice,” he said. “Otherwise, I’d ask the princesses to put both of you in that flight blooper reel.”

“I don’t suppose any of you can get us across a body of water this big?” Zero Volt said. The cyan, orange, pink and green creatures all shook their heads, but the yellow one flew in front of him. “Hm, I think I see what you’re getting at, but would I need to use a different word, like torpedo?” The yellow creature shook its head. “Oh, then just drill.” As soon as the creature flew into him, Zero Volt jumped into the water. With the yellow creature’s energy spinning around him, he rapidly made his way through the water. Several enemies chased after him along the way, but were torn apart when they went anywhere near him. He turned to avoid any live fish that were in the waters, surprised that there would be any marine life here with the robot enemies.

Eventually, he found a large platform and jumped onto it, separating from the yellow alien. A building stood at the center of the platform with a green capsule on top. Zero Volt walked toward the building, but was stopped by the green alien, who pointed toward a trail of rings that ran through the building several times. “You want me to use you with those rings again?” he asked. “You’re not going to drop me like you did last time, are you? Alright fine, hover.” Zero Volt floated up using the green alien’s energy and corkscrewed into the trail of rings. He followed the trail as it looped around, barreling into the building whenever the rings led toward it. He landed on the ground as soon as he was done, and the building and capsule were both destroyed.

Zero Volt looked at the wreckage of the building when he heard a loud splash behind him. He turned around and saw a submarine emerge from the water. “The rest of you guys are good up here, right?” he asked. The creatures all nodded at him. “Okay then, drill!” The yellow creature flew into him as he galloped off the platform and into the water. Meanwhile, the green alien was making its way toward the light above the destroyed building. It grew stronger after absorbing the light, and moments later, Zero Volt emerged from the water with two small creatures.

“Alright, sub’s trashed and I got your friend back,” he said as he lied on the ground. “Good night, little cephalopod things.” The cyan and pink aliens flew toward him and tapped him forcefully. “Look, it’s two o’clock at night and I’ve had a very long day. I know you still have one more friend, but I’m sure he can wait a few hours.” The pink alien backed up several feet, but was interrupted by Zero Volt. “Alright, alright, I’ll go. Just don’t stab me like that.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Zero Volt stood at the edge of a cliff with the six little creatures around him. There were several sets of rails nearby, and they watched three sets of roller coaster cars travel along those tracks. Each track plunged downward at the end, causing the roller coasters to fall off the rails and plummet into the abyss below. “Ugh, never again,” Zero Volt said as he walked away. The landscape became much bleaker as he and the creatures moved away from the cliff. On his left, he found a river flowing with green liquid, too viscous to be water, but not the least bit inviting to any organism. He noticed a factory to his right, and as the aliens directed him toward it, he found himself examining its design. Many of the structures he had seen today were jarring when placed against the environments they were built over, but this was entirely different. The architecture of this building looked dark and foreboding, like the lair of an evil overlord. “Hey, do you guys remember when this place actually looked nice?” he asked. “All that plant life, that landscape made entirely out of sugar, and the air fleet would’ve all made great postcard photos. Now we have roller coasters that send you falling to your death, not to mention the creepy factory we’re walking into.”

Zero Volt turned a corner and walked into the largest room in the factory. He and the other creatures scanned the room as they moved through it. Hundreds of capsules occupied the room, each filled with a purple energy that was made murky by a tinge of black. The atmosphere made Zero Volt even more uneasy, and the aliens huddled closer to him in fear. Suddenly, an alarm sounded and a red light filled the room. Blast shields moved into place over each capsule, and an army of robots dropped in from the ceiling, surrounding Zero Volt. Zero Volt’s gaze shifted across the room as he glared at the robots, which were all aiming their weaponry at him. Before anyone could act, the sixth alien flew in front of Zero Volt and tried to communicate with him. This creature, blue in color, had a more boxlike appearance than his other friends, with a cubic head and stiff, rectangular limbs.

Zero Volt watched the creature intently as it chirped and flailed around. “Cube?” The blue creature flew into his body, and he rose up into the air. A blue aura formed around him, taking on the shape of a cube and slamming into the ground. The impact generated a shockwave that spread across the ground and tore through everything it passed over. It shattered the capsules, shredded their blast shields, ripped apart every robot in the room, and fractured every wall and floor in the room. By the time the shockwave subsided, the entire factory was in ruins.

“Hey, remind me never to use you indoors, or anywhere crowded,” Zero Volt said, finally mustering a response to the catastrophic damage around him. Seconds later, he felt the ground shake underneath him as the factory started to fall apart. “Oh that’s right, we’re indoors right now.” Zero Volt looked at his options carefully, trying to find the best way out of a collapsing building. “Uh… drill!” He burrowed underground the moment the yellow Wisp flew into him, and within seconds, he surfaced again, having escaped the factory’s collapse. He was about to reprimand the blue creature when an armored warship flew overhead. All of them stared at the ship, and the aliens started talking amongst themselves. “Your last friend is up there?” Zero Volt asked, receiving a nod from each of them in response. “Then we have to make sure it doesn’t get away.”

Over the next two minutes, Zero Volt made use of the creatures’ powers to attack the warship. He activated the green one first, using it to follow a trail of rings that brought him on top of the ship. The pink creature came next, which he used to perforate the ship’s armor. The damaged armor allowed him to use the yellow creature and drill into the ship. He caused as much internal damage as he could, then delivered the coup de grace with the blue alien. The shockwave from the last attack destroyed the ship internally and externally, causing it to fall apart and crash into the ground. The last spherical container rolled from the wreckage and in front of Zero Volt, who had teleported off of the ship before it crashed. He teleported the container away, releasing the creature trapped inside. The last creature, purple in color, took on a demonic appearance and seemed to have a wicked smile across its face instead of eyes.

“Are you sure that’s your friend over there?” Zero Volt said. “He seems a little off.” Noticing the other creatures nearby, it lunged at them. Zero Volt teleported between them and held the purple alien back with his hoof. “Hey, calm down. No need to get into a frenzy.” Suddenly the purple creature started glowing and flew into him. Zero Volt’s knees buckled and he placed a foreleg over his stomach. Purple liquid started to ooze from his eyes, ears and mouth, and a purple fog emanated from his hooves. He lifted his head, but before he could let out a scream, the purple alien’s energy spread across his body and consumed him, taking the form of a monster’s head.

The monstrous head went into a rampage, snapping its jaws as it jumped across the ground. It first went after the other aliens, which floated up to avoid it. The monster tried to jump up at them, but couldn’t jump high enough to reach them. Unable to devour the other creatures, it turned its attention to a nearby building with a capsule on top of it. It lunged at the building, chomping into its walls and support structures. As chunks of the building broke off, the monster absorbed them into its body, growing progressively larger in the process. Within seconds, the building was unable to support itself and collapsed. The building collapsed on top of the monster, which absorbed much of the debris and ballooned in size. The capsule on top of the building shattered upon hitting the ground, releasing a blue sphere of light.

The monster turned and tried to devour the sphere of energy, but stopped in its tracks. Moments later, the monster’s body dissolved, revealing Zero Volt and the purple creature at the center of it. Zero Volt felt delirious shortly after the creature left him, but after a few seconds, delirium became nausea, and he lowered his head to throw up. Looking down, he noticed that his vomit was purple in color. He coughed and sputtered painfully as he spewed the last few bits onto the ground. “Oh dear sweet Celestia, that was dreadful,” he groaned. “Or maybe it’s Luna.” He held his foreleg on his stomach and spat a few times, hoping to get the taste of this unnatural puke out of his mouth. “Oh who the hay cares; both of them.” He looked up at the purple creature, who looked like it could have been foaming at the mouth. “Ugh, what happened to you?”

“I happened to him!” Zero Volt turned around and saw an alicorn mare standing behind him. Her coat was black and her mane, tail and wings were ablaze with orange and gray flames. “Look upon me and despair, for I am Nightmare!”

Zero Volt stared at her for several seconds. Apart for the flames on Nightmare’s body, both ponies stood perfectly still. After ten seconds of silence, Zero Volt raised an eyebrow and asked, “Who?”

“You have to be kidding,” Nightmare said with a facehoof. “Haven’t any of you ponies ever opened a history textbook?”

“Not in recent memory,” he said. “So… who are you again?”

Nightmare sighed in frustration. “Over a thousand years ago, the royal pony sisters rose to power and established harmony throughout Equestria.” An image of Celestia and Luna, both a thousand years younger, appeared in front of Zero Volt as Nightmare spoke. “But the princess of the night, Luna, grew a little jealous of the adoration that the ponies showed her older sister. Her anger and envy allowed me to take control, and together we turned on her sister, refused to let the sun rise, and threatened to plunge Equestria into night for all eternity.” As she spoke, Luna’s image became altered, reaching the size of a fully grown alicorn and taking on the appearance of Nightmare Moon. “Celestia was nothing before our combined power and we almost defeated her, but in desperation, she activated the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned us within the moon. For the next thousand years, we waited in lunar exile, growing stronger with each passing year, until the day that we finally escaped.” The images of Celestia and Nightmare Moon disappeared, replaced by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Zero Volt looked at each of them one by one, noting how each of them appeared: Rarity striking an elegant pose, Fluttershy sitting with a demure expression on her face, Pinkie Pie looking as lively and cheerful as the real one, Rainbow Dash in the middle of an aerial stunt, Twilight with a wide-eyed look in her eyes, and Applejack wearing a smile while adjusting her hat. Meanwhile, Nightmare continued her story, but with an added bitterness and anger in her tone. “But Celestia anticipated my return, and these six fillies used the Elements of Harmony to thwart our plans and separate me from their precious Luna!”

“Uh, question!” Zero Volt shouted as he raised his hoof. “I couldn’t help but notice how attractive the six of them look and-”

“You’re kidding, right?” Nightmare asked. “Are you really thinking about rutting them at a time like this?”

“A little bit, but that’s not the point,” he said. “If you hate these girls for thwarting your plans, then why are the images you have of them so flattering?”

“These images are my templates,” Nightmare said. As she spoke, black veins appeared across the bodies of the six young mares. “I replicated their forms and tweaked their abilities to my liking. I was planning to use them against those fillies and their kingdom, but you seem to have damaged a few of them.” The images of Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity lost their black veins, and their skeletons appeared to glow through their bodies.

“So is that all you wanted to use them for?” Zero Volt said. “I thought you were planning on using them for a little foe-yay.”

“I did not create these duplicates so that I could have my way with them!”

“If you insist…”

Zero Volt looked to his right, and then to his left. All six of his friends were staring at him with their mouths hanging wide open. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he said. “I’ll bet each of you has met at least one pony you wanted to pounce on.”

“Yeah of course, but we wouldn’t actually admit it to them,” Rainbow said.

“Hey, I only admitted it to Nightmare, and I was planning on killing her afterward,” he said before turning to face Luna. “Why didn’t you edit that out?”

“Celestia thought it would be amusing,” Luna said. “And it was.”

“Yeah, very funny.”

“First of all, ‘pounce’ is a very indelicate way of putting it,” Rarity said. “Second of all, a lady does not pounce.”

Zero Volt turned his head to check his flank. “Now what are you doing?” Nightmare asked.

“For a second there, I thought that my special talent was distracting others,” he said.

“And yourself apparently.”

“No, I’m not distracted,” Zero Volt said. “I know exactly what I’m dealing with. Without the sun’s light, the earth would freeze and plants wouldn’t be able to grow. Every creature would starve, and before long, the world would become a cold, desolate wasteland. You’re not trying to rule Equestria. You’re trying to destroy it and end all life.”

“That’s exactly right,” Nightmare said. “Luna was so easy to manipulate, though I always wonder what would’ve happened if I had gone in the other direction. When those two ponies first came to power, the young Celestia had let the adoration of her subjects go to her head. I could have manipulated her just as easily and brought eternal daylight to Equestria. Every plant and animal would wither and die, and the earth would become scorched and desiccated. But what can I say? I was in the mood for chilly that year.”

Zero Volt cringed as she spoke. Nightmare almost seemed giddy as she described the end of the world to him. “Maybe, but that still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” he said. “Why are you attacking and capturing these creatures? What purpose does it serve?”

“For a second there, I thought you actually had some intellect,” she said. “These creatures are called Wisps, and surely by now you’ve seen just how much damage they can cause, especially after spending this entire day using them against me. Just imagine how much damage they’ll cause to a pony city, or even to the ponies themselves.”

“So let me see if I understand this,” he said incredulously. “The cute little cephalopod things have power in them to destroy the world. Just what was in that fog I walked through this afternoon?”

“I can assure you that this is no hallucination,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zero Volt said. “I’ve freed all the Wisps and destroyed everything you’ve built here! It’s over, you’ve lost!”

“Oh you naïve little pony, you haven’t saved all the Wisps,” Nightmare said. “That last one and all of its power still belong to me.” Zero Volt heard a strong wind coming from behind Nightmare. Off in the distance, where the factory once stood, the purple energy rose from the wreckage and rushed toward them like a dust storm, glowing in the darkness of the night. Once it reached them, it gathered and swirled around Nightmare. The purple Wisp reacted to the energy and growled ravenously at it. Zero Volt extended his hoof to try to hold the Wisp back, but pulled back when it lashed at him. “It looks like my new pet is hungry. I’d be more than happy to oblige it. Frenzy!”

“No!”

The purple Wisp flew away from Zero Volt and toward Nightmare. Nightmare absorbed the creature, along with all of the purple energy that swirled around her, and started to undergo her transformation. Zero Volt lifted his right foreleg and extended the wings on his bracelet as powerful winds swept from Nightmare. The remaining Wisps huddled closer to him, trying not to get blown away. When the winds subsided, he looked at Nightmare, who had taken on a form similar to his when he accidentally activated the purple Wisp. The major difference was two arms, each with a head at the end of it, extending from the sides of the main head.

The smaller heads snapped their jaws before lunging at Zero Volt. Zero Volt dodged and teleported to avoid the heads, but by the time he realized what they were really lunging at, it was too late. Nightmare’s arms retracted back, taking the other six Wisps with them. She absorbed the rest of them into her, augmenting her transformation even further. Her transformed state was originally the size of a pony, but now she had grown to the size of an Ursa Minor.

“Let them go now!” Zero Volt growled, staring up at the monster in front of him.

“You’re in no position to demand anything of me,” Nightmare roared. “With the Wisps’ power at my disposal, nothing in Equestria can stop me. I can only imagine what some of these will do to the ponies and their towns. Actually, why imagine it when I can at least test them on you. Cube!” Blue streaks appeared across the smaller heads on Nightmare’s arms. She aimed them at Zero Volt, each one firing a cube-shaped projectile at him. Zero Volt leapt backward, but the cubes hit the ground instead, spreading their powerful shockwaves across it. Though he was still airborne when the cubes landed, his two-second warning had shown him what nearly happened to him, and it wasn’t pretty. Instead, the shockwaves sundered the ground as they passed over it, and by the time they were gone, the ground was still shaking due to its own instability. “Never mind then, there will be plenty of creatures to use this on in Equestria. But since you were nice enough to show me how to use their power, I will set aside this entire world to be your burial place.”

Zero Volt watched as Nightmare flew off. The ground shook underneath him, and whole sections of it started to break apart and collapse. He bent his knees, ready to break into a gallop, and said his last words before entering his toughest fight yet. “Not if I stop you first.”