<<>>

“Interesting… the rest of the E.o.H. are here, most likely looking for Twilight, which reminds me, i need to get both of us ready for the final fight, after all, even after my trial, the element has a trial for her too…” I think as I watch from the double doors, the girls were eating the summoned food with different levels of enthusiasm. “Ah, the joys of blissful ignorance… I wonder how I can help them from now on… though, I would have to be in stone, at least until something they can't stop comes in to destroy Equestria… then i'll be released, and put into the hospitality of one of them, most likely Twilight herself, after all, she and Starlight are the definition of OP… so if I had to be placed with anypony, she would be the best choice.” I thought as the Celestial sisters come out of the Everfree and glared at me.

“As much as you are my brother Arcana, I hate you for making me endure that.” Luna said after I closed the doors, just to be sure that the girls couldn't hear us.

“It's good to see you in the realm of the waking too Lulu, and i'm sorry for that, I had wanted two of the Elements to go with Discord, not you two.” I say as I reshape the trees near me into a table with three chairs. “Care to join me?” I ask as I motion to the seats, one seat facing two, they just nodded and sat down.

“So they came with them, meaning they found out about the riddle, damn, I was hoping she wouldn't share it with them…” I thought as I sat across from them.

"So… you came to support Twilight, didn't you?" I ask looking straight at Celestia, she looked at me with a cold glare.

"We did… though i suppose that we aren't allowed entry into the castle, are we." She states, glaring at me even harder.

"Oh you can enter, the rest of the girls are on the other side of those doors in fact, you just can't interfere with the trials." I say pointing right towards the double doors that served as the entrance. "By the way, how do ya like the renovations I did with the place? Repaired it all by hand, and I don't mean magic." I say gesturing to the entire castle, they seem to just notice much of a nice place it looked.

“It definitely looks better than the last time both of us were here… but how did you do it?” Celestia asks looking at the castle in front of her.

“I had help, plus i needed to fix up the place for Twilight's trial anyways so I thought, ‘You know, besides making a nice place to live, this could act as the grounds for her Trial of Magic, plus, I could always fix the place of any damage she or her Element create in the magic fight trial that they're both going to accomplish, but wait, I need some extra hands to work on this, which means I'll have to distract her for a bit’, after I had that thought, I simply made the rhyme that made her go to Canterlot, knowing that she'd most likely share the riddle with the two of you, even against my hopes, which now brings us here.” I explained as I relaxed in the chair, Luna face-palms while Celestia starts getting angrier at that statement of me living here.

“And what pray tell, is to stop us from blasting you right now?” Celestia asks, making Luna face-table, which just makes me chuckle internally.

“Easy, there are going to be threats out there in the world, that will make everything you and those girls have gone up against, look like cute little puppies that you can't help but cuddle.” I say with a cold determination, looking straight into her eyes, she seemed off put by my statement.

“Well, like any villain, the Elements can take care of them.” she said in determination, having full faith in her ‘perfect defense’, that got me to smirk.

“Even if said villains are perfectly fine with killing them before they can do anything without remorse or guilt?” I asked, getting Luna to shoot up in surprise while Tia looked right out shocked, I continued breaking her vision of her all powerful defense. “Think about it, a beast made of pure flesh and fire, that’s able to kill anything around it with its body heat alone, wielding a sword as tall as your tower in Canterlot that can conduct and store lightning, and giant whip made of metal chains that can catch fire whenever it wanted it to, and when defeated, explodes in a fiery blaze so hot that everything within a hundred feet gets consumed in the flames, now imagine the damage it could do to your Element bearers, Twilight is the only one that could potentially survive a beast like that, the rest are as good as dead.” I say, explaining a Baylor going up against the mane six, the looks of horror that slowly spread on their faces was almost worthy of a smirk that i got my point across… almost.

“How does such a thing exist?” Luna asks, getting me to sigh and lean back in my chair while looking off towards the Gates of Tartarus.

“Tis the mystery of the Nine Hells Lulu… tis the mystery…” I say before looking back at them, they look confused. “You don't know of the Nine Hells?” I ask, they shake their heads in denial.

“We know of Tartarus, but not of nine hells, what are they?” Celestia asks, getting my to think about it for a bit before nodding.

“The Nine Hells, or better known as the Nine layers of Hell, are what make the entirety of hell, or as you know it, Tartarus.” I explain, they gasp before letting me continue. “Each layer is a representation of some sort of sin, such as the seven deadly sins, these layers are named in order, Avernus, the layer of Wars, most go to this layer, in preparation for the Blood War.” I said before Celestia spoke up.

“What's the Blood War?” she asked, making me sigh in regret of bringing up those two words.

“The Blood War is when every demon and devil of the nine hells charges into the Overworld, or better known as the Material Plane… and kill everything upon it.” I explain, they seemed worried before Celestia sighed in regret.

“At least Equestria won't be run over then.” she says, making me snort in surprise.

“Celestia… this is the Material Plane, if the Blood War happens, then every creature upon this very soil, and even across the sea, will die.” I say, making her go from shock to realization and settling on horror.

“How do we stop it, surely there must be a way.” she says standing up, I shake my head before answering.

“The only way to stop it is to destroy the Hellish Orb, which regulates how much magic the casters use to sustain the portal to the hells, but we won't know where it is until it's active.” I say, getting her to slowly sit down, Luna finally spoke up.

“How will we know when it's active?” she asks, getting straight to the details, that's what I always liked about her.

“Well… I suppose that it would feel like a very big pulse of corrupted dark magic, even those who barely know anything about magic would be able to sense it, and trust me, it's not a very inviting feeling.” I say getting them to shiver at my brief description of the energy anyone who could do magic would feel.

“Okay… what about the other eight layers?” Tia asks getting me to frown at the knowledge I had about the layers.

“The rest of the layers are as such, Dis, the layer of the Iron City, followed by Minauros, Phlegethos and Stygia, the layers ofGreed, Envy and Lust in that order, next are Malbolge, and Maladomini, the layers of Illusions and Deception respectively, after it comes Cania, the layer of the Drow, and finally Nessus, the layer of… Asmodeus.” I finish naming off the nine layers of hell, each one giving me a sense of dread, especially the last one, that name wasn't one i would say lightly.

“Who is Asmode-” Celestia started to ask before I clamped her muzzle down quickly.

“Do NOT say his name.” I growl out gravely, making both of them look at me in fear, which makes sense, my eyes turned into that of a predator.

“W-w-what do y-you mean b-brother?” Luna asks, her voice starts to shake, which makes sense, she's never seen me angry before.

“Whatever you do, never, and I mean never, say that name, I only say it with the utmost caution in place, and even then, there's always a possibility that he can still hear us.” I growl at her, my eyes slowly going back to normal, I slowly let go of Celestia’s muzzle so she can speak again.

“Who is… he?” she asks once i sit down, i stay alert now, my muscles flexed and ready.

“He is the most silver tongued being that you will ever meet in your entire existence, the demon lord of the final layer, he always gets what he wants, even if it's by force, negotiation, or outright tearing a hole from his layer into the material plane and dragging you… the god slayer of the hells, the dark protector of this plane, I despise him with a passion, but my fear of him is far greater than my spite.” I say as I glanced around the small clearing, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

“Fear? That is something that you never showed to me before, even when the elements were used against you.” Tia said, making me chuckle at the irony of her statement.

“Tia… that's my secret, I don't show my fear, yet i'm always afraid, i just shove my fear aside to do what i must in order to survive… by the way, i'd like to apologize, I used both of you without either of you knowing.” I say, making them look at me curiously and confused.

“What do you mean?” Lulu asks, Tia acknowledging her question with a nod.

“I only have eight hundred years to live, now i can do a lot with that time, but back then, when we first met, there was no way that I'd be able to interact with this time, even if I found a way to prolong my life, and so, I purposefully made the two of you use the Elements on me so I could see this life, and live in this generation.” I explained, they had looks of shock on their faces.

“So that's why you had your hands near the tree… you were luring us into imprisoning you…” Tia said in revelation, I simply nodded in response.

“And it worked… but why?” Luna asked as I sighed, I was not wanting to tell them the truth… not yet anyway.

“I don't know, i thought Tia here just had a short temper.” I say shrugging my shoulders, before a hear something in my head via spell. “Welp, I better get going, the final trial is coming up soon and everyone needs to be there, but I have to get up there, i'm the final trial after all, see you two up in the tower.” I say before using my wind magic to launch me towards the exact tower that Nightmare Moon and Twilight were in when she first came to Ponyville.
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I had finally found the next book, this one was pink, I knew this was my love, if the colors coordinated with the emotion, I immediately opened the book, only to be pulled into it, and appeared in a grand dome, where everything was a dark pink, but what stood out was the… currently naked version of me.

“Twily! I'm so glad you came, I was starting to get a little… lonely~” she said, making me blush in the way she ended that sentence.

“Sorry, just had to find you first… so, I guess that we’re going to fight now?” I ask as I got first level bolts to begin with ready.

“Well… we could, but we could always do something different~” she said walking towards me, i was trying really hard not to look below her neck, but the closer she came, the harder it became, even if it was just another version of me.

“W-well, what would you suggest as an alternative?” I ask as she stops right in front of me, my blush now deepening as she leans forward and crosses her arms right under her breasts, making them bulge out towards me.

“We could always have a little fun~” she replies with lust deep in her voice, making me go beet red, it was really hard to process the thoughts that weren't having my head in the gutter after that.

“As fun as that might be, and I can definitely imagine that you'd make it very fun, I have a trial to complete, and you're in the way of the difference between Harmony and Chaos, therefore, I have to defeat you.” I say with as much conviction and willpower as I could muster before turning my matrix’ into a level four bolt and firing.

The four bolts hit her head on and knocked her down, sadly, her groans sounded really perverted, so I still had my blush as I stood over her and primed my bolts again.

“Concede Love, it'll make this easier for the both of us.” I say as she looks up at me with half lidded eyes, her body spread in a certain position.

“Fine… but next time, i'm having my fun Twiliykins~” she say winking suggestively before dissolving into a pink glow that swirled around me.

It went into places that I'd rather not say as it powered up my magic again, this time, my suggestion spells, mostly just mind control in general.

“Okay, two down, four to go.” I thought as I saw the library again, I immediately moved to find the next book.

During my search I actually saw the hourglass that was the center of this place, if the large circle area it was in was any indication, but what disturbed me was that it was three-fourths emptied into the other side, meaning I had one and a quarter rotation left, I immediately started to pick up my pace to search quicker. It took about twenty more minutes before I found a green book, my Will, I didn't waste any time in opening it and finding a green version of me, reading a book, the only difference was that this one was a stallion instead of a mare, he looked up and saw me, he bookmarked what he was reading and stood up, leaving the book on the chair.

“Twilight.” he said nodding his head, he almost sounded like Shining Armor, only lighter in tone, but I could tell he meant business.

“Will.” I said nodding back, we both stood there for a bit, waiting for the other to make a move.

It was then that we both activated a shield shot matrix and a needle matrix before firing at each other as if we had a small timer going off for our fight, we were trying to hit the other so the other would surrender quickly due to not being able to cast two spells at once, it was going about as well as one would think with shields, so we both switched, he to a wave matrix and I to a third level bolt matrix, we eventually both switched to two aura matrix’ and started to fight fist to fist, and while he could pack more of a punch in his blows, I could pack more magical damage into my blows.

“You've come a long ways Twilight, that's good, your willpower is tremendous.” he said as we broke away from each other and started to catch our breaths.

“Thanks, but your no pushover yourself, you've got quite the punch, if I wasn't pumping extra magic into my attacks, you'd be able to defeat me easily…” I say looking at him from my bowing state, we were both smiling a bit at the others compliments.

“My thanks, but I believe that if you want to finish the trial, you have to defeat me soon.” he said, and I agreed immediately, Love and Hope took up three-fourths of my time and now the hourglass has probably already started it's next rotation.

“Then let's finish this, one last attack, this being the deciding blow.” I say as I activate my aura matrix in my right hand again, he nods and does the same.

We charged each other quickly, rearing back our fists, and as he went for the hit, I pulled a move from Artimus’ style and weaved around it with the grace of a cat, letting me slip by and hit him with an uppercut, I would’ve laughed at his expression when I did that if we weren't in the middle of a fight, he flew back and hit the ground hard, I was really straining my magic now, but I eventually walked up to him, he looked up at me and I smiled and held my hand out for him, he smiled back and took it, letting me help him up.

“A very good maneuver Twi.” he says, I notice that he's no longer using the business voice, meaning that I passed.

“Thanks Will, I'll see you around, yeah?” I ask as we shook and he starts to become a soft light.

“Definitely, now go forth young one, and face this trial and the one after with your hopes and dreams supporting you and your steel will seeing you through.” he said before enveloping me in a green glow, I was immediately in the library again.

“Don't worry Will, I won't let you down, because I won't let anything stop me from obtaining my element.” I whispered as I sprinted to the other side of the library, passing the hourglass, which had started filling the bottom part again, this gave me about an hour left, maybe an hour and a half before I failed the trial.

It took only ten minutes before I found a yellow one, this was my fear, which made me question why fear was one of my strongest traits, why not something more fitting, like intelligence? I was wondering it, but I couldn't waste time doing that, so I opened the book, but it seemed to resist me, which was confusing, because it was just a book, but then I remembered what emotion this was, so I whistled what my mom used to sing to me to the book, eventually I was able to open the book, bringing me into a small room with a younger yellow version of me, she was hiding in the corner, trying to get as small as she could, slowly walked up to her, which made her try to shrink even more than she was, when I was three feet away I sat down.

“I can see why fear is a strong emotion now… especially in me.” I think before smiling i bit at the girl, who looked at me with fear and curiosity, I started to remember what mom did when i was like this.

“What's wrong dear?” I asked softly, she looked ready to cry. “Are you afraid of something?” I asked peering around the room, it looked like a gray scale version of my old room after i was Celestia’s student.

She nodded and pointed over to the bed, i knew this fear well, sometimes Spike would crawl under the bed because it was too bright and would snore when in a dark space. It wasn’t until he had a sleep schedule as my assistant that he stopped doing that.

“Silly filly, that just Spikey.” I said booping her nose, it was a Pinkie thing, but I thought that it was a good idea, she giggled a bit before I went over and got the small drake out from under the bed, showing him to her, she smiles in embarrassment. “Come on you silly filly, let's get you to bed.” I said picking her up, she squeaked in surprise before I leaned her against my chest, she began to slowly go to sleep.

“Night… mommy…” I heard her say before drifting off to the dream realm, that made me go into shock, but then I remembered that she was just a filly me, so with how I acted, she would see me as a mother.

“Goodnight, sleep tight, and dream of flying with the princesses tonight, my little Paranoia.” I whispered to her before tucking both her and Spike into the bed, she turned into a soft golden yellow light before wrapping around me.

The glow set against my chest, and I embraced it with a soft touch, when i blinked again, I was back in the library, I had two more books to find, Magic and Compassion, which were both on this side of the library, as they followed my fear to this side, so I began my trek to find either of them. After twenty minutes I found a white book, which I took but didn't open, i knew this was Magic, but i think that this was supposed to be the last one that i find, so I continued my search until I found the purple one, my Compassion, I immediately opened the book and saw a version that looked almost like me, the only difference was that she was two different shades of violet, her mane and tail being significantly darker than her coat.

“Twilight! It's good to see you, I've always wanted to talk to you.” she said smiling, I noticed that we were in the library I basically moved into after three years of being Celestia’s student.

“So, what's you're name? Because i'm sure you don't want me to call you Compassion.” I say as I look up to her, she smirks.

“You're right, call me, Pashi, instead.” she says placing a hand on her chest as if she were about to present something extravagant.

“Alright Pashi, so how are we going to do this?” I asked before she dropped down to my level and looked at me with a smile.

“Well, that all depends on how you treated the others.” she says as four empty crystals appeared in front of her, which made her look at me questioningly. “You didn't go to Magic before me?” she asked, getting me to chuckle before pulling out the white book and showing her.

“Figured that Magic was the most powerful of all six, and therefore, by elimination, i had to find you next, before i went after Magic.” I said before putting the book away, she nodded her head to agree with my logic.

“Very well… then let's look, shall we?” she says before four screens pop out of the crystals, showing all four areas that I was in.

The first one to play was Hope’s crystal, showing our battle and my eventual victory.

“Strategic, and she held no hard feelings about it, good.” she said before Love’s crystal started to play, she seemed to chuckle at my embarrassment. “Ah yes, Love’s advances on you, but you eventually got out of that… for the time being.” she continues before Will’s starts to play showing our battle, she seemed to smile, especially at the end, where I helped him up smiling. “Well i don't think he thinks badly of you, i mean, he is smiling at the end.” she says before Fear started playing, which made her have a sad smile, looking at the little version of me. “And you approach with the motherly role to her… it's nice to see that you truly are compassionate.” she says before the crystals disappear, she then turned to me. “You're trial was supposed to be mine last, as I was the judge of this trial… but with what I've seen, i say you've passed my sub-trial, so good luck in the final sub-trial Twi, you'll need it.” she says before leaping at me while turning into light.

She wrapped around me before i came back to the library, I immediately ran for the center to look at the hourglass, it was almost empty, so i had to end this final sub-trial fast, so I flipped the book open as I quickly brought it in front of me, the flash made me cover my eyes, when I opened my eyes again, I saw an angelic white version of me with bolt matrix’ ready, I immediately threw up a shield to block the shots she threw at me.

“Do you understand how important this fight is?” she asks as she lands halfway towards me.

I dropped the shield and rushed her, throwing needles and bolts at her, not answering the question, as I knew I had to win and quick if i was to move on to the final trial. So i began to throw every kind of spell i had at her at least once, always changing when I threw the spells, logic and planning weren't going to win, but I did know that she was just as good if not better at magic than I was, she probably knew this, because she threw a counter-spell for everything i threw, I eventually made a clone of myself and hid while the clone continued the fight with her, I started to create a level ten dual beam matrix, which takes a good ten minutes to complete, after nine more minutes passed before my Magic finally made my clone fall on her flank, she stood above her, a level four dual beam matrix in her hands.

“You lose Twilight Sparkle, you fail.” she says about to release the beam.

“No, you lose Magic, I've just been providing the best distraction I could.” my clone said before i came out from around the pillar.

“IT'S OVER!” I yelled as I fired the beam right at her.

It took her by surprise as she turned to see a pure ten foot magenta beam of magic hurtling at her, I noticed her matrix’ started to falter before they started to shift, she tried to put up a shield, but my clone fired needles into her arms, making them useless, the beam hit her head on, enveloping her on the spot, she screamed in pain before everything went white. When I regained my vision, I was lying on the ground, sweat covering my brow as I started to get up, on the other side of the room, I saw my Magic still implanted in the wall which had a good four foot deep indent in it.

“It's over Magic… I win.” I said as my clone fell apart and disappeared, I was now standing with shaky legs, she opened her eyes to look at me with a small smile on her lips.

“It does seem that way Twilight, excellent use of the cloning matrix by the way, I couldn't tell the difference.” she said as she turned into light. “Congratulations, you have passed the Trial of Fortitude.” she said before the light blinded me, making me close my eyes quickly.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in the lunar hall I first met the female again, looking across the hall, I saw that she was starting to get up, i was slightly injured, but other than being mentally exhausted a bit, i was fine, but she groaned as she propped herself against the wall before looking at me.

“Well done Twilight Sparkle, you have passed my Trial with seconds to spare… therefore, you have earned the third crystal fragment and the pathway to the final trial… I hope you bring everything with you to the next trial, because it will be the hardest fight you will ever be in.” she said pulling out the third fragment out from her cloak.

It floated up to me and I quickly put it into my pocket, there was a soft glow coming from it before I grabbed it.

“Thanks for the warning, I don't plan on holding back during the next trial.” I said as I stood up slowly, she chuckled and nodded.

“I'll be watching, so you better.” she said before i passed by her and made my way towards a spiral staircase at the end of the hall.

I started to climb, wondering who my next ‘Trial Master’ as I've come to call them was. I continued up the staircase for a good ten minutes before seeing a pair of double doors with my cutiemark on it, i decided to rest and recover before heading in, so I sat down and went to sleep.
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<<>>

It had been three hours since we entered the castle and waited for the results of the third trial to be revealed, I was getting impatient, and i could tell Dash was too, she was twitching her wings, like she usually does when she has to wait for more than an hour for something. The princesses had surprised us when they entered about an hour and a half ago, they apparently were done with Discord’s game and made it to the castle easily, they were introduced to Artimus and Nova, who greeted them like they did us, Artimus was still sitting in Nova’s lap, letting him pet her ears slowly, it wasn’t until twenty minutes later that the doors on Luna’s side of the castle glowed violet briefly before fading, making Artimus go over and peak inside, she gasped and rushed in, we were worried before peaking inside, she was kneeling next to another cloaked figure, fretting over her like a mother would their children.

“Star, what happened to make you like this?! You've got cuts all over your arms and legs, not to mention the bruises and a black eye.” she said looking over her quickly, Fluttershy came over to look at her too.

“Not much… just a giant beam of pure magic hitting me in the face while doing battle in the mindscape happened to hit me dead on before I could pull up a shield.” the cloaked pony said, confirming that it was a mare.

“Geeze sis, what happened for you to get hit by that?” Nova asked walking over to the girls.

“Screw you too you thieving bastard, and for the record, I wasn't expecting her to use a cloning matrix like that, she took me by surprise is all, it hurt a lot… but her spell drained her, I could tell that she didn't have that much energy left, not that i was in better condition, it hurt just to sit up like this, so i could use some healing spells.” she explained before he made his hands glow with a brilliant light green glow before he placed them on her shoulders.

She was bathed in that same green light before it slowly dimmed down and she slowly stood up, with some help from her brother, she stretched and nodded.

“That's better, thanks bro, guess you're not a complete bastard, but you're still a thievin’ one.” she said lightly punching him in the shoulder, he chuckled before speaking up so everypony could hear.

“I suppose that Ms.Sparkle has passed three of the four Trials of Magic, we should head up to the viewing platform, for the final battle, and the deciding trial of Harmony or Chaos.” he says wrapping an arm around both Star and Artimus before leading them through the door we just came from, Artimus looked back at us.

“Are you girls coming or what?” she asked while still following Nova.

“Wait, why aren't we going up those stairs?” Dash asked pointing towards the staircase at the end of the hall, Nova sighed at that question, but it was Star who answered.

“Because that leads to the final trial, besides, and I don't think you want to miss out on an epic battle of pure magic potential, skill and cunning by sitting behind a door for hours and hours on end, do you?” she said, firing her own question back at us, we definitely had sat in wait enough, and I knew I didn't want to do that more.

“Alright, y’all got us, let get movin’.” I said before following the three cloaked figures towards the other side of the castle.

It took about an hour before we made it to the top of one of the towers, this had a large black screen on one side, there were also seats for all of us, a big couch that could easily fit five ponies along with four chairs. There was food and drinks in the middle of the seats.

“Welcome to the viewing area, go ahead and grab a seat, get comfy and get ready for the show.” Artimus said before plopping on the far left chair, we all took a seat, with Nova and Star sitting on the floor in front of the table, eating a large bag of chips and some water.

It only took five more minutes before the screen came to life, showing Twilight, her body was slightly bruised and battered, but she held herself with determination, she looked slightly tired but alert, it was then that something came at her from one of the pillars to attack her, to which she responded by ducking from the sweeping leg only to jump away from the attacker when they brought their other leg down towards her head, the figure jumped away before they landed at an equal distance from each other, the figure then thrust their hands out, we could hear crackling coming from the screen.

“Thunder Elves, Ho!” Artimus calls out as we see electricity sparking on their hands as they slowly pull them apart, showing actual lightning bolts traveling in between both hands.

“Get ‘em Twilight!” Dash cheers as Twi does the same thing, only for four white balls to materialize in between her hands instead.

“Let's see who's superior in the field of magic, the ‘Jack-of-all-trades’ Twilight… or the master of elements Forest.” Nova says before the screen changed.

It showed just the both of them on the screen with their names and a diagonal line going through the middle with the letters ‘VS’ in a bold golden yellow on it, the background behind the hooded figure was lavender while Twilight’s was white, then we heard a deep announcing voice come from the screen.

“Twilight Sparkle! Versus, Forest Flare! Three… two… one… FIGHT!!” it said before switching back to the two of them as they both rushed each other magic flaring as they tried to blast the other.

Anything after that was lost to the cacophony of shouts from everypony as the two fought with all their strength, it was definitely something, to see two very capable and skilled magic users going at it for the world, because of Twilight lost, that was it, Discord ruled over Equestria again, but if she won, then both Arcana and Discord would be trapped in stone again.
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<<>>

About an hour and a half after I went to sleep, I woke back up, i felt better than before, I stood up and walked towards the door that still held my mark, I opened them, there, on the other side of the room was my element, but what got me thing was that the crystal that looked like my cutiemark was missing, I took a couple of steps into the room before my instincts told me to duck, when i did i noticed a leg fly over my head before I jumped back before i could be hit again by the other leg, the figure then jumped backwards towards my element.

“The fourth trial begins now, there will be no questions until the trial is over.” the figure said, making me recognize the voice as Arcana’s.

“Arcana?! You're my final trial master?” I ask getting him to nod.

“Time to put your training to the ultimate test Twilight Sparkle… Noctis Lucis Voca!” he calls out thrusting his first forwards.

I could hear the sounds of electricity coming from him before he pulls apart his hands, slowly opening them to show pure lightning arcing from his hands, his eyes bore into my soul and he seemed to be issuing me a magician's challenge, I had to accept it, and for Equestria, i had to win. So I charged up a spell I haven't used in a while, a fourth level missile matrix, I copied his movements before four balls of pure magic formed in between my hands, three were spiraling around the fourth, i saw he held an excited smile on his face, I smiled a bit too before I heard a voice echoed through the room.

“Twilight Sparkle! Versus, Forest Flare!” the voice called out making me look around, but i see Arcan-no, Forest, tensing his muscles, making me do the same. “Three… two… one… FIGHT!” it calls out before he charged me, I decided that I would meet his charge last second.

We threw our spells at each other with great precision, they hit the others spell and exploded before we reached each other and started throwing fists and magic enchantments at each other, eventually using more damaging spells he was using nature spells while i was using every type of spell in my arsenal to take him down, after a good hour and a half I finally knocked him back, he tumbled across the ground until he stopped groaning, that wasn't that hard, I wasn't even going past fifty percent power at most.

“Not bad Twilight… now let's see how you handle a little power-up.” he says before i see the female from my last trial come from nowhere and clasp hands with him, making her disappear from sight, he seemed to have healed a bit.

"Oh that's just not fair!" I yelled at him as i could feel his magic output rise.

"This is everything you've been taught Twilight… i'm not making this easy or fair." He says flexing his muscles a bit, I'll admit, I was staring as his muscles while he flexed them.

"Round Two! Fight!" The voice from before said before firing off more spells, making me put up a seventh level shield matrix.
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<<>>

It's tough, watching your student go through something like this, fighting to save Equestria, this wasn't supposed to happen, she should've imprisoned Discord two days ago, not tomorrow, but i guess it was to expected considering who she was currently fighting, I noticed that as I was doing an inner monologue, one of the two ponies, Star, I think her name was, wasn't sitting in front of me anymore, it was then that I heard the others.

"Oh come on! That's just cheating!" Rainbow exclaimed very loudly, making gestures towards the viewing screen.

When I looked, I saw Star standing next to Arcana before disappearing from sight, the bar on his side of the screen, which was half red, started to fill until it was three-fourths green, i heard Nova chuckling.

"Round Two! Fight!" The screen said before spells were being used again.

"It wouldn't be much of a boss fight if he was defeated easily Dashie." Nova said making her growl in annoyance.

"Yeah, then we wouldn't get a great fight from either of them." Artimus remarked while grabbing a small bucket of candy.

“True, but did he really have to heal that much, i think that's a broken mechanic.” Pinkie commented eating another bucket of candy.

“I don't know, I can't do that… but that'd be awesome to do, just as your opponent thinks you're defeated, someone comes in and merges with you… giving you your strength back, if only somewhat.” Artimus replies taking handfuls of candy during the scene.

“True… that's definitely helpful.” Pinkie replies also eating her candy.

“What is with these two?” I thought as they continued their conversation on how it could be improved upon.

I noticed Nova preparing a spell, looking at the screen, I saw that Twilight’s bar had just passed halfway, while Arcana’s was about to drop to a quarter, both were going down considerably as they traded blow for blow, whether it was magic or their fists, when Arcana was about to be defeated, he disappeared from sight, right in front of me, one second, sitting, the next, gone, I looked at the screen and he was blocking Twilight’s magic bolts with great precision.
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<<>>

“Block, duck, bolt, needle, wave, bolt, shield, triple bolt, quad needle, uppercut, left leg, cross, hook, hook, wave, counter kick…” my mind was working overtime trying to keep up with Forest and his quickened magic, speed, and strength, but it was nothing a small boost couldn't handle, it was certainly getting more difficult than I had hoped.

“This is certainly harder than the last bout Forest, I have to give you some credit, you certainly know how to bring out the best in a pony.” I say as we lock fists again, I was panting a bit, and while I could tell he was too, he had a smile plastered on his face, as if he was enjoying this.

“I try Twilight, i wouldn't be who I am if I wasn't a good person.” he says before trying to kick my head.

I ducked under it, in doing so, I headbutted his stomach, making him lose in the struggle, letting me slug him in the face, he definitely was low enough now.

“And I have to give you credit too, you've definitely given me a fight I've been hoping for Twilight, if you weren't Tia’s student, then I'd probably ask if you'd be mine.” he said getting up and getting into another fighters stance, I was smiling, knowing he was actually praising me, and not just trying to boost my ego.

“Thank you, but i have to win.” I said prepping level five bolts to finish him off, this was it, the end of chaos.

I threw ten bolts at him, and while I smirked at him, knowing he was defeated, he was smiling at me, before the bolts were blocked by something very fast, when all of the bolts were blocked, I saw the male that was in my second trial.

“Time to finish this game, or do i have to take over for you?” the male asked, shifting his head just enough for me to know that he was talking to Forest and not me.

“Yeah-yeah, I get it Nova, time to wrap this up, let's do it.” Forest says before clasping his hand, Nova turned into light before disappearing, Forest stood up and stretched. “Ready for this Twilight? This is my FULL POWER!” he called out before the air around him started to swirl around him.

“Final Battle! Fight!” the voice said again, but this time I ignored it and instead went to overpowering him at my full strength.

We clashed with fury and determination to defeat the other, everything hinging on this final fight, I couldn't lose, but I knew that he wasn't going to make this easy for me. We clashed at each other for a good two and a half hours, throwing fists, hooves, and even spells at each other, it was hard, and we were both badly damaged, but I eventually won, he stood there, completely disoriented.

“FINISH HIM!” the voice boomed through the room, i knew what it meant, deal the final blow and win, or let him recover to fight even more.

I knew the perfect spell to do so, so I made a level six dual beam and fired it straight at him, he flew into the wall, smashing into it, when the beam died, he was impacted into the wall.

“Victor… Twilight Sparkle!” the voice said making me smile, i saw that the final piece had floated away from Forest and was now resting above my tiara.

Having a hunch, I pulled out the other three pieces and set them in my palms, they each started floating towards the fourth piece. Once there, they started to glow and spin in a circle as they got closer and closer to each other, once they were close enough, they emitted a blinding light, making me look away, when I could see the pieces again, I saw my crystal floating above my tiara, it then set itself into the slot perfectly, without any sound. I was about to hit the floor when I felt somepony catch me.

“Whoa there sugarcube, don't go hittin’ your head on us now.” I heard before sleep took me away, into it's sweet embrace.

“I did it… I really did it…” was my only thought before I fully went under.
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<<>>

We were all cheering when we saw that Forest’s bar went dark, i noticed that Artimus was clapping, even when her side lost. I could see the acknowledgement that Twilight was that good, even better that Forest.

“Well done Twily, well done indeed…” I heard her say to herself, getting me to smile at the statement.

“Well, what now?” Dash asks, getting all of us to look at Artimus.

“Go and congratulate your friend, she just pulled off a feat that not many have the honor of claiming.” Artimus said making a ‘shoo’ing gesture towards us.

Before any of us could agree with her, Celestia and Luna had teleported us straight to Twilight, she was swaying in place and was about to hit her head on the floor when I caught her.

“Whoa there sugarcube, don't go hittin’ your head on us now.” I said before a small smile formed on her lips and she slipped into sleep, she looked peaceful like that.

“Kinda cute…” I thought but immediately blushed at that thought, I've never had that thought before… so why now?

“Is she alright AJ?” Dash asks, my back still to them, that got me out of my stupper.

“Ye-yeah… she's fine, just exhausted is all…” I reply, fighting to keep my blush down, I pulled her closer, sitting on the ground and placing her head in my lap, I looked up at the slightly limp form of Forest Flare, he was just… hanging there. “Does anypony know why Flare here did all this? I mean… he doesn't even seem like a threat.” I ask, continuing to watch him, Artimus came out of the doors, gaining our attention as she walked over to Forest and pulled him out of the wall.

“Because he cares… plus he doesn't want weaklings defending Equestria.” she said as she does the same thing i'm doing with Twilight.

“But why? I mean… I get that he'd want us to be tough, but other than that, he wouldn't have any reason to do this.” RD asked looking at him with a confused look on her face.

“Lulu, can you dive in and find out for them? He’ll be more open in the dreamscape.” she asked looking up at princess Luna, who kept silent, but nodded and came over to her.

She began to work her magic, but we then saw that she was having a little trouble, but after a few minutes, she got through.
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<<>>

When I got through to my brother’s dream, I instantly saw a different environment, it was a house, that was for sure, but it seemed to be more… advanced, than the usual homes in Equestria, even those in Manehattan or Balimare, I started to hear voices from upstairs. So being the curious pony i am, i looked for the voices, it led me to a room that had it's door open, inside was what I would call, at best, shaved ponies, they seemed to be having a conversation while one was tending to the mane of the other.

“You know bro, you could always go with a wig, at least then it'll look a bit more natural than this mess you call hair.” the one standing said, the pitch letting me know it was female.

“No way Sapph, you know what my hair looks like when i take off a wig, besides, this way, I don't have to mess with it when I move too much.” the one sitting said, the voice i knew immediately as brother, but I didn't understand, he looked different.

“I know, I know, that's why I agreed to dye you're hair silver anyways, remember?” the girl now known as Sapph, asked leaning to her left and looking at him.

“I know, thanks for this by the way, we both know i would have botched it if i had tried by myself.” he said, making me come closer, I started to see similarities to brother the more I looked over his face.

“Hey guys! You ready yet?” I hear being yelled from downstairs, making me jump a bit, the others just rolled their eyes.

“One second Noah! Were just finishing up!” Sapph yelled back before doing brother’s mane again. “And… done! How does it look bro?” she asks turning him to face the mirror, I could say that he looked like I first saw him.

“I say… that it looks ready to take three days of fun!” brother says standing up, looking all over his hair, Sapph smiled in joy.

“Good, now I have to wash my hands, i'll she the two of you in the car.” she said before going through another door, brother started grabbing a few things, I noticed his bow, sword, shield, and his glaive.

“Now all I need is a spell book to complete the look… bah, i'll probably find one during the convention, but I better hurry, don't want to be late.” he says rushing down the stairs, his ‘sister’ following after a few minutes.

I was about to follow when the room suddenly shifted until I was in the Canterlot diner hall, brother sitting down in Celestia’s seat.

“Lulu.” he says drinking a cup of water.

“Brother… what was that?” I asked him as I walked up to him, I sat in my usual seat before he answered.

“One of my memories… it's been some time since i heard their voices…” he said, i could hear grief and sorrow deep in his voice, I even saw a tear going down his cheek.

“Who are they?” I ask, making him sigh, it was rare for him to be sad about something.

“My family before Equestria.” he replied as he set the cup down and reclined in the seat a bit, I was surprised by that.

“O-oh… well, do you know where they are?” I ask before he shakes his head in denial.

“I don't… but i know what they look like.” he says before the scenery changes to the room where I first met the rest of his family, he walked up to the fireplace and took the picture that was hanging above it.

“The same picture i saw when you introduced me to everyone…” I say in realization, he just nods absently, brushing a finger over the glass.

“That day was the last one I ever saw of them… and I don't know if they're dead or alive… but considering the lifespan of both races… I wouldn't be surprised if they were already claimed by nature.” he said, tears now slowly coming down his face, I quickly wrapped my arms around him as his hands begin to shake in sadness.

“Shh… you don't know that for sure… they could still be out there, looking for you, wanting to hear your voice again…” I said as the scene shifted into one that had us lying on a bed.

He was turning smaller, into a young colt, he was grabbing me as if he was scared that if he let go, i would disappear from his sight.

“Please don't leave me…” he said, his voice very different, if I had to guess, he was now about four or five.

I couldn't leave him, seeing him like this, I felt something different, a need to protect him from everything that could harm him.

“Don't worry my little wildfire… I won't leave you, not in a million years…” I whispered as I brought him closer to me.

I wasn't even blushing about how close he was to my chest, just that I needed to be there and protect him from any danger, and so I did, until I woke up the next day in the ruins of the old castle, Forest right next to me, sleeping peacefully, for what looked like a long time.

“Lun-” i heard before firing off a beam at whoever spoke, it was apparently my sister, and she looked shocked behind her simple shield.

“Shh… he's sleeping peacefully for once in over a thousand years.” I whisper-yelled at her, she quickly became quiet.

We waited about three more hours in silence before everypony began to wake up, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were quite loud so i put a noise canceling spell around both me and Forest, after ten minutes, everypony was up except for Forest, so i leaned into his ear to speak to him.

“Wake up my little wildfire, we have a long day ahead of us.” I whispered to him, he stirred and slowly opened his eyes.

“Lulu? wha…?” he asked looking around at the room and spotting the mares as well as Artimus all awake and talking. “Oh, right… she passed my trials… well, this is going to be fun.” he said standing up and stretching, I canceled the sound spell as he did, gaining the attention of everypony. “Okay… well, that was an eventful last couple of days.” he said before going over to the element and holding it like he would when crowning somepony. “Twilight? Will you come up here please.” he said, said mare came right up to him and waited two steps below him.

“Are you giving me my element back now?” she asked, getting the others to chuckle at her bluntness.

“Yes, but not before a little speech i cooked up if you did pass the trials.” he said holding the element closer to him than her, he cleared his throat before continuing. “Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia, Banisher of Nightmare Moon and savior of princess Luna, it is my greatest honor, to give you the title Master of Magic, for you have participated and completed the trials set just for you, and you did it by yourself. You have braved the most brutal of physical blows, and dealt damage far more brutal. You have shown that you can trust your instincts with unseen potential. You have proven that you can control your emotions. In doing so, letting your magic soar to new heights, and finally, you have gifted us, to everypony here, proof that you can pull up vast amounts of magic, and still fight, no matter how strong the opponent, and therefore, I present onto you, Master Sparkle, with the Crown of Magic… may if forever aid you in battle.” he spoke with conviction, he named each task she went under while here, and every title she has gained since becoming an element bearer, before slowly extending his arms forward to place the crown upon her head, she let him place it. “Let the element bring forth your true potential.” he says before letting go of the crown, which begins to glow, lifting Twilight into the air.

“Twilight!” everypony cried out as she began to be encased in a shimmering violet crystal.

“NOPONY MOVE!” he called out, his voice a lot louder than usual. “This is supposed to happen.” he explained after calming down.

“What do you mean ‘this is supposed to happen’!? She being crystallized!” Rarity exclaimed in worry glaring at the half-elf.

“As is part of the trial… the final trial of magic.” he said softly, just loud enough for everypony to hear him.
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<<<???,???, Twilight POV>>>

“What the…? Where am i?” I thought as my eyes try to readjust to the whiteness that seemed to be all around me, I decided to stand up, as i was currently laying down on what seemed to be floor.

“Welcome Twilight, to my realm…” a voice that seemed to protrude power spoke behind me, making me turn around, it was a white alicorn, but it wasn't Celestia, no, her mane was short and looked more like Dash’s mane than anything, but instead of multiple colors, it was a dark ginger.

“Who are you?” I asked as I activated my magic, she just sighed.

“You may call me, Faust.” the mare said as she curtsied a little bit, as if she was at a large noble party.

“Very well… where are we?” I ask, my bolts still ready to use.

“We are in my domain, the Golden Cloud city of Suntra.” she said clapping her hands, the white around us dissolved, showing me that I was standing on a pillar made of gold, or what looked like it.

As I look around me, I saw a sight that took my breath away. Buildings that shone in the light were underneath me, in so many shapes and sizes, towers that stretched towards the sky, people who had white wings that made Celestia’s look small, they even looked fuller than the princess’. The mare in front of me stayed quiet as I took in the golden city, sitting on her own pillar I couldn't believe that something like this existed I finally laid my eyes upon her form, was in a velvet dress, it flowed over her form gracefully, she was very young, but her eyes told me that she was older than Celestia herself, it was then that I decided to speak again.

“What am I doing here?” I asked her, she seemed to smile before floating up to me.

“You are here to partake in my Trial of Magic Twilight… your final trial.” she replied politely, even with the power in her voice, I felt at ease around her, which was weird.

“Okay what do i have to do?” I ask preparing for another battle.

“Simply answering a couple of questions will do Twilight.” she replied as she sat next to me, i looked slightly confused at her, but sat down nonetheless.

“Okay, lay them on me.” I said preparing for hard questions that would lead to a lot of thinking.

“What do you believe magic is?” she asked, I looked at her in shock, I wasn't prepared for this.

“W-well… I guess that magic is simply that, magic, no matter the form, there is no good or bad magic, it's just a way to extend your will onto others or objects, magic is mostly neutral, the only difference being holy and unholy magic.” I answered with my knowledge of quoting a book, she just shook her head.

“I don't want you to quote anything or anyone Twilight, i want to know what you think about magic.” she says, making me nervous, what did I think of magic?

“O-oh, well… I guess that magic is apart of ourselves, the more you have, the more you are willing to show, it doesn't matter what type of magic one has, as anyone can do their magic, but magic is more connected to the pony that can naturally do that specific kind of magic.” I said, giving my own view of magic, Faust seemed to smile at that.

“Good, now, how do view your friends?” she asks as a screen came up showing the ruins, the girls looking worried, Forest was relaxed, glancing over at me.

“Well… I guess that despite how much they can drive me up the walls all the time, they definitely have positives, Applejack is a hardworking pony, always putting her friends or her family before herself, Rainbow is definitely smarter than she lets on, and she'll stick with her friends and family before she gives into others, um, Fluttershy… there's definitely something about her that lets me just talk to her, letting me rant without interruption, she gives off this, motherly vibe i guess, Rarity is definitely a Canterlot mare, there’s no doubt about that, but she definitely takes her friends opinions into her works, especially with the Gala, Celestia that was a disaster, and then there's Pinkie… she's, she's just Pinkie, i can't describe her any other way, but despite her breaking every law of physics I know of, she can definitely bring a smile to my face and make me laugh in any situation.” i describe my friends, that's when my eyes fall upon Forest, he wasn't somepony that i'd consider a friend, but i'd like to be one of his friends. “As for Forest… he's definitely a mystery, and I don't think we’re on the friend tier of a relationship… I'd say we're more acquaintances, but I can tell he cares about me, even if he shows it in the most violent way possible.” I say giving him the benefit of the doubt.

“And interesting way to perceive them, but that's what i expected of you, now for the final question…” she paused as i looked at her, she seemed to be steeling herself for my answer. “Will you do anything to grow stronger? Even at the cost of your friends?” she asked, getting me to do a double-take on the question.

“Um… well, I do want to grow stronger, yes, but I want to grow stronger with my friends, and I wouldn't trade them for the world.” I answered, looking back at the screen, they were still waiting for me, and I had to go back to them.

“A good choice Twilight Sparkle… a good choice indeed.” Faust said before everything started glowing. “You have passed my trial… now go forth with a new strength.” she told me before everything went white.
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<<>>

"It's been thirty minutes, i wonder what's going on… oh well, she'll come out eventually. Oh, wait the others are talking to me now." I thought as I watched Twilight's crystallized form.

“--to her darling?” Rarity asked as i decided to listen in.

“You say something Ms.Belle?” I ask taking my sight off of Twilight’s crystallized form, she sighed in frustration.

“I asked how you did that to her.” she said with slight anger in her voice.

“I didn't do it, her element did.” I replied looking at them, they all seemed confused at my answer, Dashie even verbally expressing it.

“What the hay do you mean it was her element!?” she exclaimed, confusion clear in her voice, and her face.

“The elements aren't just some shiny rocks that you wear, they are sentient beings, and they can reject any of you at any time.” I explain before looking back at Twilight. “Her element is putting her through the final trial, if she passes, she will truly be the Master of Magic… but she can easily be rejected just as easily…” I say making them look at Twilight worried waiting for her to come back.

It took about another ten minutes before he heard a loud crack, i smiled as the sounds started to increase in frequency, I got up and walked to the steps and stopped there, the crystallized version of Twilight now sported thousands of cracks upon her form.

“Three, two, one, now.” I thought before the crystal crumbles away with the sound of glass falling to the floor.

She was slowly placed at the top of the steps, her arms now had swirls of pure magic upon her skin, which traveled from her shoulders towards her palms, which held a spiral design focusing into the center of her hands.

“Greetings Sparkle, I take it that you passed the final trial?” I say making her turn around, showing off her clothes, which also changed.

Instead of a slightly loose tank top and a dress-skirt that she was wearing beforehand, she now sported form-fitting pants, shirt and wizards robes, the robes color were golden yellow with accents of black, the setting sun displayed on her chest, her crown was turned into a circlet upon her head, the crystal still there, just smaller than before.

“I have… and I feel a lot more powerful… but in a good way.” she replied walking down the steps, we stood face to face as she hit the bottom step, watching each other's eyes intensely before she held up a hand. “From the setting sun.” she stated, i knew that phrase well, so I easily responded by taking her hand in my own.

“To the rising moon, forever shall you're path hold true.” I said grinning like crazy, she smiled knowingly, before we ended our handshake. “Now I believe you had a Spirit of Chaos to defeat, Master Sparkle.” I said sweeping my arm towards her friends, she simply nodded before walking towards them.

“Let's go girls, we've got some Harmony to spread.” she said gathering her magic, her friends gathered around her quickly.

"Twi, do ya have enough magic tah teleport all of us?" Applejack asked just before she teleported all of them from sight.

"I guess that answers that." I chuckled before holding my hand out for the sisters and Artimus, my other hand ready to snap my fingers. "Ready to see how a new master at work sis?" I asked, making Artimus smiled while taking my hand.

"How could i say no?" She asked in amusement before turning to Luna. "Well Lulu? You coming or not?" She asked holding her hand out.

"No, we must return to Canterlot at once." Celestia said about to place her hand on Luna's, but before she could, she placed her hand in Arty's and smiled.

"Why not, it'll be a good sight to see after so long." She said before being pulled towards us by Arty.

"Then off we go! Teleportieren!" I call out teleporting the three of us into Ponyville before Celestia could intervene.

We got there just in time to see a large rainbow come crashing down on a certain Spirit of Chaos, his panic clear on his face, once he was petrified again, all of the chaos in and around Ponyville vanished in a dome of color, resetting it to how it once was, it was quite the show, watching the dome wash over us, the energies they held was stronger than I felt when the elements were used against me.

“That was certainly something, wasn't it brother.” Luna said enjoying the feeling of the elements washing over us.

“It was, sadly I fear that this won't last, but for now at least, peace is restored once again.” I say closing my eyes before looking out over Ponyville, taking in the peaceful atmosphere it gave off. “For now, i don't need to worry, but soon… soon i'll have to interfere with the timeline… i'm sorry guys, but I don't think this will last much longer.” I think as I look towards the sky, it's sapphire blue color promising a false hope of peace, not that they'll know what the future holds for those six ladies.

“It's time, isn't it…” Artimus comments as i notice that the mane six have come up to me.

“Yes, it's time, for now at least, we’ll be released when the time is right, for the world isn't ready for our magic just quite yet.” I say using a variation of the teleport spell. “We’ll see ya in the dream realm Lulu!” I call back before she nods and teleports back to Canterlot, leaving us to the elements.

This particular spell lets me teleport one item to my side, it works for a long distance, and Canterlot is inside that distance, which is about seven hundred and forty-five feet or point fourteen miles, so i teleported my bag of holding, which I placed around my neck just before the elements fired at us, Artimus decided to jump into the rainbow laser before it hit me, petrifying the both of us, and so we wait, to be released to combat a threat that only we could deal with.

Author's Note

And the end of this arc is here! this was definitely the longest one I've made so far, but i hope you all enjoy!

Until next time my lovely little night terrors, and for this month, stay EXTRA terrifying!