Hero of Time and Speed

Before I tell you the next set of events, know this, I don't scare easily. Horror movies? Been watching them since I was six. I enjoyed watching them, but at the same time didn't. I was, and still am, a very logical person. Horror games? Eh, I saw them more as a puzzle challenge than anything. Haunted Houses? I accidentally broke an actor's nose when they tried to scare me. So you have to understand, when a bunch of trees suddenly morphed to look like monsters, and the girls started to scream in terror, I was rolling my eyes in exasperation.

That was until Pinkie Pie started laughing at them… which caused the tree she was laughing at to return to normal… and then a whole song and dance routine followed. Yeah, brain gets car and goes brrr. Even Jarvis and Gideon had no logical explanation. The girls were all laughing until we exited that cursed section of the forest. I know it was cursed cause Jarvis had alerted me of Nightmare's magic before the trees transformed.

Now, though, we were at the bank of a raging river, leaving me to ponder how to get across. Normally, I would try running across, but the surface tension of the water wasn't calm enough or rigid enough for me to run across. At least, from what I understood of how the Flash ran on water. Applejack had suggested we fly across, but Fluttershy was exhausted from saving Rarity and Pinkie, and Rainbow wasn't strong enough to fly someone across by herself.

My suit could, but I didn't know how long it would last trying to do such a thing. Apparently, even though the lightning I generated helped recharge the batteries in the suit, the processors had to go into Overdrive to keep up with my sped up perception of time. Gideon was fine, as she was built for it, but Jarvis, not so much. The drain was more powerful than what I generated, so my battery was now at 35%.

I needed to conserve what I could for the battle against Nightmare, so I was trying to use my suit as least as possible at the moment. Looking up and down the river, I began to devise a plan. "Alright… I'm going to run up and down the river, to see if there is a way to get across nearby. You six stay here, recharge yourselves, and get ready for more walking when I return." They nodded, okay with that idea. Deciding to go against the river first, I sped my way up the river.

Finding nothing, I went back to the group… and found that they had crossed. Also, Rarity no longer had a tail. Shame, her look didn't seem complete without it. Also, the river was now calm. After making my way across, I asked them what had happened.

"We met this nice serpent fellow, who was upset that his glorious mustache had been ruined by a dark cloud." Rarity explained. "So, I cut off my tail, and used it to fix his mustache."

"Damn, that's pretty generous of you Rarity. Shame you lost your tail though." She stopped, her ears perking.

"Oh… why do you say that dear?" I shrugged as I walked past her.

"It really completed your look. I liked it." I didn't see her blush, nor hear her silently squeal like a girl who had been told that her crush liked her looks. After that, we continued on our journey. This time though, Rarity stuck quite close to me, asking me a few questions about me, my world, and what fashion was like there. "To be truthful, I'm the worst person to ask about fashion."

She waved me off, and followed up with; "Well, any input is better than nothing at all dear." I thought about that, and came up short.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Hmm, well, for one, everybody had to wear clothes if they wanted to go out in public. They could face serious charges if they didn't. Being here though, with you all… well, okay with going without such, kinda threw me for a loop." Rarity looked back at the few naked ponies behind us, and nodded.

"Yes, I can see how such a change would disturb you. But if everypony-"

"Everyone, sorry for interrupting, but we say everyone, but please, continue." She nodded and did so.

"Yes, um, if everyone wore clothes, then there must have been lots of different styles, yes?" I nodded, but explained that our style changes from class, gender, and time.

"In modern day, we, that of the medium class, wear whatever we feel is comfortable. Sure, some care about their style, but I didn't. I don't really remember them all, but here are the ones I do. Hmm, there was Gothic, Western, Casual, Business Casual, and many more I can't think of off the top of my head." I said, scratching the back of my helmet. Strangely enough, it didn't make the loud screeching noise metal against metal usually makes.

"Hmm, interesting. And, uh, what style would you say I have?" She asked, slightly posing in the most attractive way she could.

"Uh…" I had to be honest, I was blushing. It wasn't everyday an attractive woman was trying to seem even more attractive to me. "Well, in a word, uh, fancy, I guess. Your elegant sundress, aside from being a bit dirty from the earlier rock slide, is very beautiful, and greatly compliments your looks." Rarity blushed, looking away.

"Oh, that's right, I must look absolutely horrid right now. Come by my boutique later and I'll give you a taste of what I look like at my best~" She said enticingly. Somewhere, in the back of my mind that usually takes my current situation and turns it into a meme, a voice spoke.

'She wants the D!' I quickly shut that voice up as I responded. "To be honest, I think you look beautiful no matter what. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you were a model." Rarity's blush deepened and she raced back to where she should be, next to Twilight with her face and even some of her ears a light shade of red. Mixed with her coat color, made her look like a whited out version of Pinkie. Soon after that conversation, we finally saw the castle come into view. However, another problem soon became apparent.

"Oh no, the bridge! Now how are we gonna get across?" Twilight exclaimed, looking down into the foggy ravine. Rainbow scoffed and flapped her wings, showing them off as she jumped off the cliff, and hovered down to the other half of the bridge, which she picked up and flew to the other side, trying to repair it. But soon, Jarvis alerted me of Nightmare Moon, and with my suit, I saw three pegasi come from the dense fog on the other side.

They looked similar to Rainbow in terms of body shape, but it was covered by a skin tight latex suit. However their breasts and ass were a bit bigger than Rainbow's. While I couldn't hear what was being said, I saw Rainbow turn her back to them. After which their eyes began to glow. I saw this and launched myself to the other side, blasting two of the evil pegasi with repulsor blasts. The third however went right up to me and, what I guess, tried to hypnotize me.

Unfortunately for her, I still had my helmet. Also, my brain was just too fast for normal hypnotism to work. I smacked her away, and blasted her, which caused the three to turn into that miasma from earlier and into the castle. "Wow, that was awesome." Rainbow said, having finished repairing the bridge. When the others joined us, Rainbow told us what the 'Shadowbolts' had tried to do. But she chose her friends over their deal. Something I was kinda proud of.

It didn't take us long to get to the front gate, but we stopped to go over a game plan. "Alright, this is it. We're going all in on this, and while we don't know our opponent's hand, we do know ours. 5 of the elements are here, and supposedly, once there is a 'spark', the sixth should appear. But, if that's not the case, then we grab and go. Where… I don't know. But at least we'll have something. If Nightmare shows up, I'll deal with her until the elements can be used or y'all escape." Having a plan set, we turned to the door. Lifting my hands up, I unleashed a repulsor blast, making doors fly off their hinges and into the ruined castle.