Chapter 3
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 3

“Take him to Canterlot?!” Fluttershy asked in shock, “But that’s when the first threat from Sora’s world started! What if he starts having nightmares of that event as well?!”

“That I don’t know for sure, Fluttershy,” answered Celestia, “But it’s the only way to help him and figure out what’s causing him to have nightmares of the events that has happened.”

“No! I won’t let it happen!” Fluttershy ran towards her sleeping son and gently hugged him without waking him up, “He’s suffered way too much, even with nightmares! I can’t let him suffer with more!”

“Sorry, Fluttershy,” said Twilight while walking towards Fluttershy, “But Celestia is right. Taking him to Canterlot is the only way to figure out what’s wrong and how we can stop the nightmares from happening.”

“But, Twilight…”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said in a serious but calm tone, “If we stay here and try to solve this problem, it’ll probably get even more worse than it is right now. You have to trust her. It’s the only way to save him.”

Fluttershy worriedly looked at the Princess of Friendship and then to her son who was still sleeping. The yellow Pegasus let out a calm sigh. She knew both Twilight and Celestia were right, if they stayed in Ponyville and try to help Lightning, the nightmares would get even worse and there won’t be any other way to help him.

Fluttershy gently rested Lightning’s head onto the pillow as she carefully placed the covers back on him before turning to Celestia.

“Okay,” she said to the sun princess, “But I’m going with. He’s suffered for far too long, and I’m going to be by his side and help him get rid of the nightmares.”

“We’ll join you,” said Sunset Shimmer with the mane seven and Spike nodding in agreement.

“So are we,” said Sunburst as Oliver gave them a nod in agreement, “We’re his uncles, and we wanna help.”

“I’m coming too,” said Capper, “He’s also going to need his father by his side, and that’s what I’m going to do since Cold Wind never had the guts to be his father.”

“Hey, Lightning’s not going anywhere without us,” said Gallus with the young five stood by him, “He’s our friend, and friends stick together.”

Gallus heard Smolder let out a “ahem” as he turned his head round and saw her looking at him with her arms crossed and her foot tapping on the floor as she raised an eyebrow at him.

The blue griffon looked back at the princess and the pegasus before saying, “And girlfriend too.” Smolder gave her friend a wink and a friendly pointed a finger at him.

Fluttershy smiled happily at her friends, husband and the students with tears of happiness filled her eyes. She was so happy that everyone wanted to help her son and stop the nightmares from continuing.

“Very well,” said Celestia, “You shall all come and help save the little colt from the nightmares. I’ll go get the tickets, you all stay here and make sure Lightning gets some peaceful rest before we leave.”

They all nodded in understood. Celestia walked out of Lightning’s room and on her way to the train station.

Celestia made her way out of the cottage and was about to go on towards the train station until she suddenly heard footsteps coming from the distance near her.

“Huh?” Celestia stopped and turned her head to the distance of where the footsteps were coming from. The princess saw a black coat hooded figure, with his hood on, walked from behind the cottage and towards the Everfree Forest.

Celestia recognised the black coat as she started to wonder if that figure was behind the nightmares on the poor colt. She glared at the figure before shouting, “Hey! You!”

The mysterious figure stopped walking before turning to look at the angry and concerned princess.

“Who are you and what were you doing behind Fluttershy’s cottage?” Celestia asked in an angry but calm tone, “Are you the one behind that nightmare Lightning Twister just had?”

The figure knew she was on to him so he started to quickly run into the forest.

“Hey! Stop right there!” She shouted before flying after him.

The hooded figure ran through several of trees, jumped over a log and ducked under a tree branch as he saw the princess of the sun flying towards him and was close on his tail. He suddenly stopped by a big boulder at the deep end. The figure turned and saw Celestia landed near him as she glared at him once more.

“I’m gonna ask you one last time. Who are you and what do you want?”

The figure chuckled before saying, “You’ll find out soon.”

Just then, a dark corridor appeared behind the figure on the boulder and the hooded guy walked backwards into the corridor.

“Come back!” Celestia shouted in command.

But it was too late. The mysterious figure had disappeared into the corridor as the corridor disappeared as well leaving only Celestia near the boulder now in confusion and worried.

“Who was that?” She asked to herself.

Back at the cottage in Lightning’s room, everyone was making sure Lightning was sleeping okay while also wondering how the nightmares are happening and why are they only affecting poor Lightning Twister with the events that had just happened.

“Wait, hold on,” said Spike, “If Lightning’s having nightmares based around the events we just went through, and featured Vanitas, do you think the nightmares could be done by someone from Sora’s world?”

“That’s not a bad theory, Spike,” said Twilight, “If Vanitas was in Lightning’s nightmare, then the nightmare had to be done by someone from Sora’s world if they wanted to finish what Xehanort or The Storm King started.”

“Even if it’s someone new that came from Sora’s world even if Sora has never met them before?” Pinkie asked.

“Possibly,” replied Luna, “We best keep that theory in mind in case it is someone from Sora’s world.”

“Well it better not be Sombra trying to rule both the Crystal Empire and Equestria while trying to use Lightning’s fear to bring him back,” said Rainbow as she crossed her hooves in annoyance.

“I don’t think this is a Sombra thing,” said Luna, “If he was giving the poor child these nightmares of the darkness events, I would have sensed him from last night. And I haven’t since he’s unable to keep his sense away from me in the dreamscape.”

“And even though we defeated him, there’s still a small chance he can return whenever he is ready,” added Oliver.

“True,” said Twilight.

“Well whoever or whatever is causing the little fella to have those darkness nightmares, we best help him and stop the nightmares at all costs,” Applejack said.

Everyone nodded at the farm pony in agreement.

“Come, let us go wait downstairs for my sister to return and let the child rest alone,” said Luna.

They began to make their way out of Lightning’s room as quietly as they could so they can let the colt sleep peacefully. But as they nearly got out, they heard whimpering sounds coming from the bed. They turned and shockingly saw Lightning whimpering while wrestling in the covers. He was having another nightmare.

“No, no no!” Fluttershy said worryingly as she quickly ran up to the bed and gently shook her son to wake him up. “Lightning! Wake up, sweetheart! Wake up!”

Lightning shot up while letting out a scream before breathing heavily and sweating.

“Sweet Celestia!” Said Rarity in a worried tone, “Are you alright, darling?”

“You were all tossing and turning before we were about to go downstairs,” said Pinkie Pie, “But you’re okay now, right?”

However, he wasn’t. Lightning started to cry again and buried his face into his mother’s fur chest. Fluttershy gently took him out of the covers and hugged him.

“This is so bad,” said Capper worriedly.

“We need to help him, and fast,” said Sunburst.

Just then, Celestia entered the bedroom with the train tickets in her magical golden grasp.

“I’ve got the tickets,” she said, “Let’s go.”

With Lightning’s crying now turned into sniffles, Fluttershy gently placed the colt on her back as Starlight magically levitated a purple blanket and placed over Lightning before they all made their way to the train station.

Everyone managed to get onto the train in time before it left the station and headed towards Canterlot. The mane eight, Spike, Oliver, Sunburst, Capper and the sisters were in the first coach with Lightning while the young six stayed in the second coach. The adults and baby dragon needed them away for a bit so they can keep a close eye on the colt and see how things went on with him.

As the train steamed along the tracks, Smolder was sitting on one of the coach’s seats while looking down and rubbing her two fingers together. She was getting more and more worried about her boyfriend after his second nightmare.

The orange dragon let out a sad and worried sigh.

Ocellus noticed this and she gently placed a hoof on Smolder’s shoulder in comfort as she looked at her changeling friend.

“He’ll be okay,” she said softly, “We can give them a few minutes and then we can go check on him. We’ll be there for him.”

“I hope he is,” Smolder replied in a sad and worried tone before looking down again, “I hate seeing him like this. He doesn’t deserve to go through any more of what he’s already been through.”

Tears started to form in Smolder’s eyes until Silverstream gently brushed them away with her claw.

In the first coach, Lightning was still asleep, but shaking a little, in Fluttershy’s hooves with the blanket wrapped around him. The mane seven, Spike, Oliver, Sunburst and Capper sat and stood by the Pegasus’s side while Celestia and Luna sat the opposite side of them.

“Luna, there’s something I need to tell you,” said Celestia.

“What is it, Tia?” Luna asked in a serious but calm and quiet tone so she doesn’t wake the sleeping child.

Celestia let out a soft sigh before saying, “On my way to the train station, I saw a figure walking from behind Fluttershy’s cottage. He was wearing a black coat, like the one Xehanort wore when Sora first came to Equestria.”

Luna was in shock after hearing her sister’s story. “Do you think it could be someone that has the same darkness as Xehanort?”

“I think so,” answered Celestia, “But he did have his hood on, so I couldn’t see who he was.”

“Spike did suggest the nightmares could be done by someone from Sora’s world,” said Luna, “Maybe that was the someone from our friend’s world. Spike’s theory could be true.”

“If his theory is fully true and he is behind the nightmares, then we must figure out a way to contact Sora so he can come help us again.”

The princess of the moon gently placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder.

“We’ll figure that out later, Tia,” she said, “Right now, we need to focus on Lightning Twister and be there for him.”

Celestia looked at Lightning who was still asleep in Fluttershy’s hooves with his head resting on her chest and the blanket around him as she gently and slowly rubbed his back to comfort him.

Celestia let out a soft sigh before saying, “You’re right, Luna. Lightning is more important than worrying about contacting Sora. He needs us more than ever.”

Luna gave her sister a nod before the two got off their seats and went over to their friends to see how Lightning was doing.

“How is he?” Celestia asked, “Is he doing okay so far?”

“He’s still asleep,” answered Fluttershy politely, “But he is shaking a bit.”

Celestia looked at the sleeping colt and gave him a sad smile before gently rubbing his mane with her hoof.

“Girls, gentlecolts,” Celestia said, “There’s something I must tell you all.”

“What is it, Celestia?” Sunburst asked in a worried but calm tone.

“On my way to the train station, I saw a strange figure walking from behind the cottage. He was wearing a black coat, just the one we saw Xehanort and the others wore during Sora’s visits. I thought he had something to do with Lightning’s nightmares, so I chased him so I can get some answers. But then he disappeared after we reached a boulder in the Everfree Forest.”

“Did you see his face though?” Asked Applejack.

Celestia shook her head. “I’m afraid I didn’t, Applejack. He had his hood up. So I couldn’t see who he was.”

“So my theory on someone came from Sora’s world and is responsible for giving Lightning those nightmares, might be true?” Spike asked worriedly.

“It might be, Spike,” said Twilight as she gently stroked Spike’s head with her hoof in comfort, “But don’t worry, if it is true, we’ll make he stays away from Lightning, all of us and Equestria for good.”

Twilight looked at Celestia before saying, “Celestia, I think we better ask Shining, Cadence and Flurry Heart to come and help us. The darkness from Sora’s world did also invaded the Crystal Empire, and that hooded figure might have gave Flurry Heart nightmares about the events too. And we need all the help and support we can give to Lightning.”

Celestia nodded her head. “I agree with you, Twilight. Lightning will need as much support as he can get, and we must make sure Flurry Heart’s doing okay at nights as well. I shall send Cadence a letter when we get to Canterlot.”

Suddenly, Lightning woke up and breathed heavily as he just had another bad dream before tears started to form in his eyes.

“Lightning, you okay, son?” Capper asked worriedly but calmly, “Did you have another nightmare?”

Lightning nodded his head to answer his father’s question before crying into his mother’s fur chest. Fluttershy gently hugged him while carefully stroking his back with her hoof.

“Shhh…shhh…it’s okay, sweetheart,” whispered Fluttershy softly in Lightning’s ear, “It’s okay. We’re gonna help you get through this. I promise.”

The young six entered the coach, the grown ups and Spike were in, and went to see how their friend was doing.

“How is he doing?” Ocellus asked.

“He’s still not doing so good so far,” answered Oliver politely, “He just had another nightmare.”

Smolder sadly looked at his poor boyfriend before going over to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, can I hold Lightning please?”

Fluttershy nodded her head for a yes. Smolder held her claws out as Fluttershy gently and carefully placed Lightning in Smolder’s claws. She then gently hugged her boyfriend with his head resting on her chest and began to gently stroke his back with her claw.

“S-Smolder,” Lightning said while crying, “I d-don’t l-love Cozy G-Glow. I o-only want y-you. P-Please don’t l-leave m-me!”

“Shhh…it’s alright, Braveheart,” said Smolder softly, “I know you don’t love Cozy Glow, and I would never think that you would cheat on me for a bad pony like her. We’re gonna help you get through this and stop the nightmares from continuing. Remember what I said to you that you’re the final piece of my heart? You still are. And you always will be.”

Lightning buried his face into his girlfriend’s chest and continued to cry. Smolder didn’t care how long this will last, she was going to stay by her boyfriend’s side and help him no matter what.

Chapter 5
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 5

Lightning Twister was still asleep in bed with Smolder laying beside him gently holding his hoof and Silverstream gently stroking his mane to help him sleep okay while Sandbar, Gallus, Yona and Ocellus watched.

Celestia entered the guest room and saw the six friends were taking care of the young colt like they were told to.

“How is he doing?” She asked softly.

“He’s sleeping okay we believe,” answered Gallus.

“He did started whimpering a bit, but we managed to calm him down and help him sleep better,” added Silverstream.

Celestia sadly looked at Lightning sleeping in bed before walking up to him. She gently stroked his mane to give him comfort of her own. The princess turned to the young six.

She let out a soft and calm sigh before saying, “Little ones, I have something that I need to tell you all. And it’s important you must hear and understand about this.”

“Teachers and Princesses found a way to save poor pony?” Yona asked in hope.

Celestia shook her head before saying, “I’m afraid we haven’t yet, my little yak.”

The young six looked down in sadness since they now know that it could take awhile before they actually found a way to help their little friend.

“You see,” Celestia began, “The thing I needed to tell you is that… Discord is back.”

“WHAT?!” The young six shouted but not too loud so they don’t wake Lightning up.

“That jerk of chaos is here again?!” Gallus asked in shock and anger.

Smolder quietly growled in anger while not waking up the poor sleeping colt.

“Now I know that all of you are not happy that he is back,” said Celestia, “And believe me, we’re not either after his actions. But he would probably keep bothering and annoying us if we don’t let him return, so I did say he can visit just so me, Twilight and the others don’t get annoyed by him.”

“And why should we trust him to be good this time?” Silverstream asked angrily.

“Yeah, that goat face putted us all in danger and treated Lightning like he doesn’t deserve a better life!” Agreed Gallus.

“I understand that you’re still upset for what Discord did to us moons ago,” said Celestia, “We’re still upset too. But I promise, we will keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t cause any more trouble, hurt Lightning and make him suffer even more. So as long you lot continue your part on helping the poor dear, we will continue with our part as well as keeping an eye on Discord.”

The young six looked at each other before looking at Lightning Twister who was still sleeping. They knew Discord might try and upset the colt again, but he would definitely be bothering the grown ups and Spike if they didn’t let him return. But they decided to let them handle the Lord of Chaos and finding a way to help Lightning while they look after their poor friend.

Smolder let out a calm sigh before saying, “Okay, we’ll try to stay calm and let you and the grown ups handle Discord while also helping Braveheart.”

“Good,” replied Celestia.

“But if he DARES try to break Lightning’s heart again like last time, he will not like what I’ll be doing to him if he hurts him,” warned Smolder seriously.

“Same here,” added Ocellus in a serious tone.

“What she said,” said Gallus in a serious tone with Sandbar, Yona and Silverstream doing a serious nod in agreement.

Celestia nodded her head at the students in understood.

“That I can allow since he did say some things about Lightning that weren’t true before we banished him and you all still remembered what he did,” she said, “But please try to remain calm and let us handle him if he does hurt him again.”

“We will, Princess,” replied Sandbar.

“Good. I shall leave you to continue taking care of Lightning.”

Celestia started to make her way out of the guest room and back to the wielders of Harmony and her sister.

The young six turned back to Lightning, who was still sleeping peacefully, as Smolder continued to hold his hoof while Silverstream continued to gently stroke his mane.

Suddenly, Lightning slowly began to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes to see Silverstream smiling at him while gently stroking his mane.

“You doing okay, cutie?” She asked softly.

Lightning looked at the pink hippogriff sadly before slowly shaking his head in response. “I had another bad dream.”

“What was it about, kid?” Gallus asked worriedly.

“I’ve dreamt, about the day, The Storm King invaded Mount Aris,” Lightning answered sadly, “I saw all of the hippogriffs, including you, Silverstream, running away in fear as The Storm King attacked the place and making the king become Tempest Plagueis before you all turned into seaponies and went into hiding in the sea with your new kingdom Seaquestria. It was terrible, I didn’t like how he treated them and how the king betrayed them and you, Silverstream.”

Silverstream felt sad after hearing about his dream. But she refused to let the sadness get to her and continued to be brave so she can be there for the colt she shared a brother and sister bond with for so long.

“Oh cutie, it’s alright,” she said softly as she gently stroked his back in comfort, “It’s all over now. We’re all free now, and The Storm King is no more. I was still afraid of him, even after his defeat, but not anymore. He even crossed the line when he scared you as a shadow like he did to me in my test.”

Lightning, however, was still not feeling better. He looked away while trying not to show Silverstream the sadness on his face.

“I’m sorry, Silverstream,” he said sadly.

“For what?” Asked Silverstream in confusion.

“For letting The Storm King invade your home.” Tears started to form in Lightning’s eyes as he continued, “When he was looking for me.”

Silverstream felt her heart ache after hearing that. Lightning was now blaming himself for what happened to her and the hippogriffs a long time ago before The Storm King invaded Canterlot.

“Lightning, that wasn’t your fault,” she said to him, “You didn’t know you were the grandson of The Storm King, even after you were born. And neither did me, Aunt Novo and the hippogriffs know he was searching for you when he invaded, and Twilight and the others didn’t know either when he started attack Canterlot.”

But that didn’t stop Lightning from feeling guilty as tears started to slowly run down his face.

“I-I l-let h-him ruin y-your lives,” sobbed Lightning, “It w-was a-all my f-fault.”

“No, it wasn’t,” said Silverstream.

“I’m w-what The S-Storm K-King is. I-I’m a m-monster, and T-The S-Storm Pony.”

“No, you’re not,” said Silverstream while shaking her head.

“I m-made e-every hippogriff and e-every c-creature live i-in t-terror, b-because he was l-looking for m-me! I-I ruined a-all l-lives! Q-Queen N-Novo will be m-mad at m-me, a-and…” Before Lightning could continue, he felt Silverstream’s claws gently picking him up as she pulled him close to her and gently hugged him in comfort.

“Lightning cutie, what happened long ago, wasn’t your fault,” Silverstream said softly while gently stroking the colt’s back, “You didn’t know you were The Storm King’s grandson and he was looking for you. None of us know either. And Aunt Novo would never be mad at you if she knew or hears about the truth of The Storm King’s actions, she’ll understand and treat you with love and respect. And I could never hate or blame you for making us go into hiding for so long, do you know why?”

Lightning sniffled before replying, “W-Why?”

“Because I love you,” she answered softly, “With all of my heart.”

“We love you too, Lightning,” said Ocellus, “You’re our friend, we can never leave you because you’re The Storm King’s grandson. And you’re nothing like him, you’re one of us.”

“And family and friends stick together no matter,” added Smolder.

Lightning looked at his friends, while tears were still rolling down his face, as a small smile slowly formed on his face. His friends really still wanna be friends with him no matter if he was part of The Storm King’s family or not.

Gallus walked over to Silverstream and started to gently rub the young colt’s shoulder in comfort.

“It’s all gonna be okay, kid,” he said to him in a friendly tone, “We’re here for you.”

With Silverstream hugging Lightning and Gallus gently rubbing his shoulder in comfort, the rest of the group gathered round them to show their support for Lightning and will always be there for him.

“You’re one of us, cutie,” whispered Silverstream softly in Lightning’s ear, “You’ll always be.”

Lightning said nothing and rest his head on Silverstream’s fur chest as the pink hippogriff gently brushed the tears away with his claw and continued to hug him.

Chapter 6
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 6

Outside the Canterlot castle, Shining Armor and Cadence, along with Flurry Heart and Amore, were walking towards the castle with Flurry Heart holding onto Amore’s tail.
Constantine and Vincent were also with them after telling the two humans about the nightmare situation that was going on. They also have their stuffs with them, that Constantine kindly magic the suitcases into tiny sizes so it’s easy to carry everything in his coat pocket, just in case they need to stay over nights.

They have just arrived after two hours of riding on the train and the parents and Amore couldn’t help but feel more worried about Lightning since it’s just about to get dark.

“Oh I do hope the little colt’s doing okay,” said Cadence in a worried tone, “It breaks my heart hearing and seeing him go through something that makes him so scared.”

“It’s okay, dear,” said Shining as he gently placed a hoof on his wife, “I’m sure Twily and the others are doing the best they can to keep him safe and make sure he doesn’t have any trouble sleeping during the night. And besides, we’ll be there to support him as well.”

“I know, honey,” Cadence replied, “But I just hope this isn’t Sombra’s doing and he’s using Lightning as a vessel…” her face then turned into an angry expression, “…or another one of Discord’s stupid exam to teach my son and sister-in-law and making an excuse to return to Equestria after his punishment.”

Shining Armor quickly removed her hoof away from Cadence with a fear look on his face. She still remembers the Grogar incident that happened moons ago and she’s still not happy with Discord after his actions, his foolish idea of helping Twilight and Oliver out, and how he just let her son get sent to the realm of darkness after saving Celestia’s life.

“And if he is behind all of this, he won’t like what I’ll do to him if he is behind the nightmare situation.” Cadence continued to walk to the castle in anger while the others stopped and stared at her in fear and worried.

“I know the feeling,” the stallion said, “I’m mad at the Lord of Chaos too after his stupid stunt.”

“Same here, mate,” added Constantine, “I nearly lost him if he haven’t had escaped and saved us before Cold Wind could hurt Lightning.”

“And Discord should know by now that you should never make a mother angry,” said Amore in a disappointed tone, “You wouldn’t like them when they’re angry.”

Shining continued to walk towards the castle with Flurry Heart, Amore, Constantine and Vincent following them.

In the guest room, where Oliver was staying in, the new royal guard captain was reading one of the castle library books to see if there was anything that can help stop the nightmares and help Lightning sleep peacefully again, even while they were trying to stop the nightmares as well.

“Come on,” he said to himself, “Come on, there’s got to be something that can help us.”

Oliver used his magic to turn over the page and began reading the page he was on now in the book. As he was reading the new page, he notice that he wasn’t alone in the room anymore, and he knew who else was in the room with him. Oliver frowned angrily while looking at the page before saying, “I know you’re here, Discord. Come out.”

A flashlight appeared and disappeared to reveal Discord as he was sitting on the bed while looking at the captain.

“Guess my invisibility trick can’t really fool you,” said Discord.

“None of your tricks can,” said Oliver in a annoyed tone, “My magic can sense you whenever you’re about or secretly appear in the room I’m in.”

“Cool, cool.” Discord got off the bed and floated towards Oliver, “Hey, listen. We’re friends, right?”

That made Oliver quickly slam the book shut before getting off his bed and stared angrily at Discord. “Oh we’re friends, are we? Because I thought you were trying to be my friend after inviting me to do some jokes and pranks with you, which my mother did not like the sound of one of them, only to find out that the Lord of Chaos thought that supporting others was no help at all and brought in a group of villains to make a threat happen, while pretending to be a villain, only to make me and Aunt Twilight see we are ready for the next step when we DIDN’T need a threat to see we are ready and put the entire Equestria in complete danger!”

“Okay that’s very true, but…”

“And not only that, but you also wanted to see Aunt Twilight fail and get scared and nervous so Celestia and Luna can change their mind and gave the throne to somepony else or you which you can forget, because we all know that is never gonna happen! The throne only goes to the ones that are worthy and know how to rule and protect Equestria properly, and not so they can do whatever they want!”

Discord felt more afraid of Oliver’s expression right now, but not too afraid he gets when Celestia tells him off.

“Oliver, I fall before you,” he said while falling to his knees, “Please tell Celestia that I really want to come back to Equestria. And see Fluttershy again, just like old times.”

“You betrayed her!” Shouted Oliver angrily while pointing a hoof at Discord, “The one pony who befriended you.”

“I saw my mistake! I should known they would backstab me like Lord Tirek did to me once!”

“You still don’t regret doing that one stunt that could have doomed us all and not support me and Aunt Twilight like a friend would do,” Oliver said angrily, “And you haven’t even took back the hurtful things you said and did to Lightning Twister.” He starts to walk out of the room as he opened the door with his magic, “Fluttershy is allowed to make her own choices, especially when it comes to family.”

Discord floated back up again and followed Oliver.

“Oh come now, Oliver. You should know by now that I only putted you and Twilight to the ultimate test so you can be the ruler of Equestria and Captain of the Royal Guards at the Crystal Empire that your friends and family truly see.”

“Yeah well it wasn’t up to you to decide that,” said Oliver crossly, “And even if it was, the test should have involved sick princesses and Captain so that me and Aunt Twilight will have to do their work the next three days, and NO THREAT!”

“But how would you two know you’re ready for the next step without a threat happening?”

Oliver stopped walking and turned to face angrily at Discord while saying, “We were doing just fine WITHOUT a threat happening! Thanks to the support from our family and friends, we were beginning to see that we are ready for becoming the new ruler and captain!”

“But you can’t become a new ruler or captain without the final exam,” said Discord.

“Like a future ruler and captain needs a threat to happen for their final exam!” Oliver replied angrily, “Celestia and Luna became the new rulers of Equestria before you attacked Ponyville and they didn’t even need a threat to prove that they’re ready.”

“Oh yeah, sure they didn’t,” said Discord in a annoyed tone while crossing his arms, “But Luna could have taken an exam before she became jealous and turned into Nightmare Moon making Celestia have no other choice but to banish her own sister to the moon.”

“Don’t you ever talk about the night Luna became Nightmare Moon!” Oliver said furious, “You don’t know what Celestia’s been through after that night, you don’t think about the effects that have affected Luna after Aunt Twilight and the girls saved her, and you don’t have the rights to speak about that night in that tone! Luna felt very guilty after she was no longer Nightmare Moon that she was struggling to sleep during the nights and she still regrets becoming the evil queen of the moon, and those two sisters really missed each other right after the fight between the princess of the sun and the mare in the moon!”

Discord floated down to the floor and stood on his feet as Oliver continued, “And if you think I’ll be giving you the captain role when that time comes since Celestia and Luna is giving the ruler of Equestria role to Aunt Twilight, you can also forget that! Because that is NEVER gonna happen too! If I ever have a son, adopted or not, or somepony that wants to be just like me one day, that role will go straight to them!”

Oliver turned back forward and started walking again. Discord followed him.

“Your angry is starting to scare me now like how Celestia does it.”

“Yeah?! Good!”

Oliver continued to walk to find his friends and family while Discord walked behind him.

The princesses, cat, dragon and ponies were in the dining room having a cup of tea, while Spike had hot chocolate, made by Celestia herself while trying to think of a way to help poor Lightning get through the nightmares.

Spike, however, was feeling down as he stared at his hot chocolate while letting out a sad sigh before taking a sip of his drink.

Twilight came to the table Spike was sitting at and sat next to her dragon. She knew something was wrong with him and wanted to see if there’s anything she can do to help since he’s part of the family and the wielders of Harmony.

“You okay, Spike?” Asked Twilight politely.

Spike looked at Twilight before answering, “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…”

Spike was unable to tell Twilight what was troubling as he looked away and rubbed his right arm. Twilight gave her little dragon a soft smile and gently wrapped a hoof around him for a hug.

“Come on, Spike,” she said kindly to him, “You can tell me. I am your friend plus sister plus mother after all.”

“I know. It’s just that…well…”

Twilight suddenly figured out why Spike was feeling so down as she then gave him a sad but understanding smile.

“You miss her a lot, don’t you?”

Spike knew what Twilight meant by that. She already figured out what was wrong with him, and she was right.

“Yeah,” he replied sadly, “I miss Xion very much. And we didn’t spend time together when Vanitas, Cozy Glow and The Storm King attacked since we were focusing on stopping them and protecting Lightning. But even though she said she’ll come back soon, I can’t help but feel like they’re struggling to find a way back here when there’s no emergency for them to come. And I really hope she hasn’t forgotten about me.”

Twilight could tell Spike was more worried about Xion remembering him the same way he was missing her. But instead of being sad still, she replaced the sad smile with a soft smile and kissed her dragon on the forehead which made him look at her and saw her smiling at him.

“Spike, I’m sure Xion hasn’t forgotten about you after all these moons.”

“How can you be so sure about that?”

“Because your friendship with her are connected,” she replied, “Which means no matter how far away you two are, you’ll be always be together and will never be forgotten. And as long you keep remembering her, she’ll never disappear from your heart, and she’ll be doing the same for her. Always remember in your heart, and everycreature you know won’t be forgotten.”

Spike let those words sink into him before placing his claw on his chest to where his heart is. He felt it beating inside as he felt Xion’s love and friendship. Now he knew Xion hasn’t forgotten about him, and his friendship and love for her is still with him. This made Spike happy again, so happy, that he hugged Twilight as she hugged him back.

“Thanks, Twilight. You’re the best sister and mom a dragon could ever have.”

Twilight felt a tear rolling down her face as she continued to smile at her child, but she was gonna let it roll anyway. She then gently rubbing his head making him look at her with a soft smile on his face. “Anything to make my little dragon happy again.”

Just then, the dining room doors open to reveal Oliver walking into the room with Discord following him as Oliver used his magic to close the doors behind them.

“Oliver,” Celestia said softly as she walked towards the new captain, “Have you managed to find anything to help Lightning?”

“Not yet, Celestia,” replied Oliver politely, “It’s very hard to find anything that can stop the nightmares or figure out who could be responsible for making the nightmares. So we’re just gonna do the best we can to help Lightning rest through the nights until we find a way to stop the nightmares.”

“And I’m guessing Discord interrupted you?” Luna asked while glaring at the Lord of Chaos which made him look at the night princess in fear.

“Yes,” Oliver replied in an annoyed tone before staring crossly at Discord, “Yes he did.”

“And do you have a reason for disturbing Captain Oliver Sparkle, Discord? Hmm?” Celestia asked in a calm but angry tone.

Discord continued to look at the princess nervously before speaking,

“Well…all I did was asked Oliver, as a friend, to tell you that I really want to return to Equestria freely once more. And to also see Fluttershy again.”

“After you betrayed me?!” Fluttershy shouted angrily, “Especially after upsetting my son and broke his heart?!”

“Fluttershy, please!” Discord begged as he placed his paw and claw together and fell to his knees, “You must understand, I…”

“You what?!” Fluttershy angrily shouted before Discord could even finished, “You thought Lightning was taking me away from you and decided to give him to the two ponies that I refuse to even let them come at least one hoof near him?! And upset him with the most cruel words I have ever heard in my life?!”

“N-n-no, of course not!” Discord said in fear, “I just…I just wanted to help Twilight and Oliver.”

“And you figured you should involve foalnapping my child after helping Cold Wind escape?!”

“I thought he was taking you away from me and forgetting about me!”

“Why would you think that?! He’s just a colt that lost his mother during birth and his horrible, HORRIBLE, father blamed him, hurt him and scared him with thunder storms! And all he ever wanted was a family he can call his own and a mother that truly loves him like his real mother does! He’d never take me away from my friends or make me forget them! They’re part of his family too!”

“Yeah!” Said Rainbow Dash angrily, “Fluttershy may be a mother now, but that didn’t stop her from hanging with us or forgetting she has friends that supports her in taking care of our poor little buddy!”

That was when Discord had enough and glared angrily at everyone in the room.

“Well I can’t believe you lot still don’t care that my actions not only brought ultimate doom to Equestria, but also that helped Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the princess and captain role!” He shouted.

“We don’t care on what you were trying to do,” said Capper angrily while pointing at Discord, “We care that you brought three dangerous villains in Equestria and one seeker from another world together while pretending to be a villain that isn’t around anymore as well as foalnap a child for stupid reasons!”

“He was taking Fluttershy away from me!”

“He’s only a colt, Discord!” Spike shouted crossly, “All he wanted was to have friends, a family and a mother that loves him! And he wouldn’t be taking Fluttershy away, even for a good reason! Plus, you’re the one who made Fluttershy angry after foalnapping him and treated him like trash while also saying stuff to him that was not true! That was a stupid move!”

“No, what’s really stupid is that Twilight still treats you as a member of her family!” Shouted Discord.

Everyone in the room was completely silent, including Celestia and Luna, as they stared at Discord with their own shock expressions on their faces. Spike was in shock as well, but with tears starting to form in his eyes.

Twilight continued to be in shock for a few more seconds before changing the look to an angry expression.

“Would you like to repeat that but in a full English sentence?” Twilight asked angrily.

“Well,” began Discord as he crossed his arms, “After everything he’s done over the past few moons, you still treat him as a member of your family, even though he’s not a pony. And you still treat him as family after thinking you were trying to tell him that Sludge wasn’t acting like an actual father and said things to you that broke your heart and burned all of your speech notes during his molt. You should have kicked him out after breaking your heart and continued doing Sludge’s bad advice on being an dragon.”

Everyone had their mouths opened in shock after hearing those words come out of Discord’s mouth. Rarity and Luna had their hoof over their mouths in shock.

Tears in Spike’s eyes started to flow down his face as he started to cry and run out of the dining hall and run through the hallway.

“Spike! Wait!” Twilight called out worriedly, “Spike! Spike!”

But it was no good. Spike was now far away in the hallway to even hear Twilight’s voice as he disappeared in the distance. Twilight looked down in sadness before glaring angrily at the Lord of Chaos. She angrily flew up to Discord, making him look at her in fear, as she shouted,

“DO YOU EVEN THINK TWICE BEFORE SAYING YOUR CHOSEN WORDS?! FIRST YOU UPSET POOR LIGHTNING AND NOW YOU BROKE SPIKE’S HEART BY SAYING I SHOULD HAVE KICKED HIM OUT AFTER THE SLUDGE INCIDENT AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS HE DID AWHILE BACK WHEN I FORGAVE HIM! AND WHO CARES IF HE’S NOT A PONY?! HE’S STILL FAMILY! MY FAMILY! HE’S MY NUMBER ONE ASSISTANT, BROTHER AND SON! AND NOTHING IS GOING TO STOP ME FROM CALLING HIM FAMILY! FLUTTERSHY WAS RIGHT! YOU ARE STILL A JERK!”

Twilight finally took a calm deep breath before flying back down to the floor and went towards Celestia and Luna.

“I’m sorry about this, Celestia. But I need to…” Before Twilight could even continue, she felt Celestia’s hoof gently touching her shoulder as she saw her smiling softly at her.

“It’s okay, Twilight,” she said softly, “I understand what you want and need to do right now.” Celestia removed her hoof from Twilight’s shoulder while continuing to smile at her. “Go to him. He needs you.”

Twilight smiled at Celestia as she gave her a nod before running out of the hallway and chased after Spike to comfort him.

Just then, the two dining room doors, on the other side, open making everycreature turn to see the Crystal Empire family, Amore, Constantine and Vincent walking into the room and towards them. Flurry Heart saw her big brother as she let go of Amore’s tail before running excitedly towards him while shouting, “Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive! Olive!”

Oliver smiled and held his hooves out to his sister as the filly jumped into his hooves and hugged and the new captain hugged her while also picking her up and spun her around. “Ah ha ha! Flurry Heart, my sister! So good to see you again.”

Oliver gently placed Flurry Heart back on the ground.

“Sorry we were late coming here,” said Flurry Heart, “The train kept getting stuck on the turns.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” said Oliver politely as Shining Armor and Cadence walked up to their children.

“It’s so good to see you again, Oliver,” said Shining happily before frowning, “Even though it’s through a bad time again.”

“I agree,” added Cadence, “Especially if it has something to do with Lightn…” Before Cadence could even continue, she saw Discord standing next to the table as he gave her a nervous smile and slowly and nervously waved at her. Cadence glared angrily at Discord before turning to her son and asked, “What is he doing here?”

Oliver let out a sigh since he had a feeling something like this would happen.

“Mom, the reason Discord’s here, because he said he was tired of staying in his world after being banned from entering Equestria moons ago. So he brought himself here and begged us to let him stay and visit Equestria.”

“And you let him, Aunt Celestia?!” Cadence said angrily.

“I know you’re still angry about his actions, Cadence,” said Celestia calmly, “But I can’t help with the nightmare problem while dealing with his whining at the same time. I had no other choice but to let him just this once.”

“Plus I do wanna meet some old friends that I haven’t seen in a long time,” said Discord before playfully wiggling Flurry Heart’s cheek with his paw, “Especially this grown up little filly.”

Flurry Heart smacked Discord’s paw off her cheek before blowing a raspberry at him with Oliver grinning at the lord of chaos.

“And who said we were your “old friends” after what you did moons ago?” Shining asked crossly.

“Oh come on!” Said Discord, “That was moons ago! Can’t we move on and be happy again?” He turned to Constantine, “John, you can’t still be mad at me. Right?”

But all Discord got from Constantine was his glare as he walked up to him while pointing at him and saying, “I didn’t let Oliver get sent straight to the realm of darkness and doomed all lives including ours and the kids, you did!”

“But at least he became the new captain of the royal guards after escaping the realm of darkness and saving the day with his aunt and friends!”

“I didn’t made him captain after what happened that day!” Shining shouted, “I made him captain after the attack, because I knew he was fully ready to become captain right away! I was gonna make him captain the day after the gala!”

“Without any threats for him and Twilight to stop before believing they are ready?!”

“They were starting to believe they were ready WITHOUT any threats happening!” Luna said angrily, “You’re the one who thought having a threat would help them, not us! We knew supporting them would help, and it did since they were starting to feel calm about their new role!”

“But how would they know that they are ready for the next steps with a threat?!” Discord asked, “Supporting them won’t help much. And all rulers and captains should face a threat before they continue their role, even after the day they start their new role.”

Everyone in the room, including Flurry Heart, gave Discord a not amused look after everything he just said about how he thinks the next ruler and captain should know they’re ready.

“Pinkie?” Asked Oliver in a way of saying what she, and everyone else, thinks how the new ruler and captain way should work.

“Hmmm…” Pinkie began to pretend think while patting her chin, “Let’s see. Have a threat happen for the new upcoming ruler and captain to face, or support them to help them know they’re ready for the role? Ding ding ding! Support them wins hooves down!”

Oliver smirked at Discord as he crossed his paw and claw while glaring away.

“Are you sure letting him come here is a good idea, Aunt Celestia?” Asked Cadence still not happy.

“I know you’re not happy with me letting him come back, Cadence,” said Celestia in a calm tone, “But I can assure you, we will make sure he doesn’t do anything to Lightning or that can bring harm to all of us.”

Cadence glared at Discord, which made him flinch, before looking at her aunt as she let out a calm sigh. “Okay, fine. But if he is behind the nightmares and does anything to upset my daughter and that sweet little colt, I’m turning him back to stone myself!”

That made Discord walk back a bit while shaking in fear after hearing the Princess of Love say she would turn him back to stone herself.

“Hey, by the way, where’s Auntie Twily and Uncle Spike?” Flurry Heart asked as she couldn’t see them in the room after realising.

“Aunt Twilight has gone to comfort Spike,” answered Oliver, “His feelings just got hurt by the lord of chaos here.”

Shining Armor and Cadence gave Discord an angry glare, even Amore glared at him too, which made Discord flinch again.

“You really don’t think twice on the words you use, do you?” Shining Armor said angrily.

“Is he going to be okay?” Asked Flurry Heart worriedly.

“I’m sure he will, my dear,” answered Celestia as she gently stroked the filly’s mane, “Your Auntie Twilight will sure make him better again.” But deep down, she was worried about the baby dragon. Discord did say such horrible things to Spike that it probably made him think that he was a bad dragon, especially the things that Spike didn’t mean to do.

Chapter 7
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 7

Spike was still crying as he ran into the guest room, he and Twilight were sleeping in, and closed the door shut. He flew into his bed, pulled the blanket over him, including his head, and continued to cry. After hearing what Discord just said to him, he couldn’t stop crying or keep those words away from him.

Twilight made it to her guest room to see the door was completely shut. She gently knocked on the door and waited for Spike to open the door.

“Spike?”

No response was heard. Twilight knocked on the door one last time.

“Spike. It’s me, Twilight. Can I come in?”

No response was heard again. Twilight was about to go straight in and check on him, but then didn’t as he probably wants more time to be alone. So she decided to leave him for a bit and make him some hot chocolate, that normally makes him better.

“Spike, I’m just gonna leave you a bit,” she said, “Sorry for disturbing. I’ll be in the kitchen if you want me.”

With no response after that, Twilight made her way down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Twilight walked into the kitchen and poured some water into the kettle before turning it on. She magically levitated a tray out from the worktop cupboard and placed on top of the worktop. She placed a mug and a plate on the tray as she placed some cookies, from the cookie jar, onto the plate. The kettle began to whistle loudly as Twilight magically levitated the kettle and poured the hot water into the mug and put chocolate powder in it.

“Hopefully this will cheer him,” she said to herself, “Hot chocolate and cookies always cheers him up.”

Twilight magically levitated the tray and walked out of the kitchen and headed back to her guest room.

Twilight made it back to the guest room, while still levitating the tray with her magic, as she knocked on the door again just to see if Spike does respond this time.

“T-Twilight?” Spike finally responded, but he was still upset.

“Yes, Spike, it’s me,” replied Twilight softly, “Can I…?”

“Come in! P-Please!”

Twilight knew he was really upset this time and he really needs her. She opened the door and walked into the room to see Spike in his basket with his eyes now red and tears still rolling down his face.

“It’s okay, Spike. I’m in now,” she said softly to him as she placed the tray on the table that close to the bed.

Twilight walked over to the basket, gently picked Spike out from underneath the blanket and hugged him while gently and slowly rubbed his back as the poor dragon buried his face into Twilight’s chest.

“Shh…shhh…I’ve got you, Spike,” whispered Twilight softly in his ear, “I’ve got you.”

Spike started to sniffle. “H-He’s right. I d-don’t d-deserve to b-be in your f-family.”

Twilight was so having none of that. She pulled him away and held him while saying, “That’s not true. He is wrong. You do deserve to be in my family, especially after the day I hatched you.”

“But…but I yelled you after telling me about Sludge. And all the other things I…” Twilight gently placed a hoof on Spike’s mouth to stop him from hurting himself by saying the same thing Discord just said.

“Spike, the things Discord said, aren’t true,” said Twilight softly while smiling, “You may have yelled at me, but that was Sludge’s fault. He made you think that he was your dragon and taught you to be dragon in the way he wants you to be. I could never kick you out or punish you for something like that. And all the other mistakes you did, are in the past now. You’re part of my family, as son and brother. No matter what everycreature else say, it’s not gonna stop me from calling you family. You’re not just a dragon, Spike. You’re a Sparkle.”

Even though he still had tears in his eyes, Spike slowly formed a smile on his face as he and Twilight hugged each other.

“Can I start calling you mom?” Asked Spike.

Twilight smiled at her baby dragon before answering, “You may call me mom anytime you want, Spike.” She then gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

Spike said nothing and just smiled happily while hugging his mother.

They broke the hug before hearing a familiar voice near the doorway.

“Amazing job making him feel better, Twilight.”

Twilight and Spike looked at the doorway and saw three black coat hooded figures walking into the room. One hooded figure was tall, and the other two were a size tall of a teenager.

“Axel? Roxas? Xion?” Spike asked in hopes that it was them under the hoods.

The three took their hoods to reveal three smiley faces of Roxas, Xion and Axel while Axel said, “See? He really does remember us.”

Spike let out a gasp of joy as he saw Xion smiling at him.

“Xion!” He shouted happily before flying towards her while Twilight smiled at him go.

Xion reached her arms out and smiled as Spike flew into her arms and two hugged together in sweet happiness.

Twilight stood back onto her hooves as she said softly, “It’s so nice to see you three again. But, why are you here anyways?”

Suddenly, before anyone could say anything else, a growl came from outside the castle and near the guest bedroom. The pony, dragon and the three friends looked at the window as a strange dark ghostly figure broke through the window with another one coming in after.

The dark ghostly figures were shaped like wolves, have dark red eyes and dark smoke rising from their bodies.

“Not for them, to be honest,” said Axel in annoyed tone.

Twilight groaned in annoyance. “Why does every reunion have to end up like this?”

Twilight glared at the dark wolves and stood in battle mode with Roxas, Xion and Axel doing the same as they summoned their Keyblades.

However, Xion’s Keyblade was a new one. It was the same shape as the Kingdom Key, only the blade was coloured in purple and the teeth was in shape of fire flames. The blade holder was coloured red with the keychain coloured in green with a pink gem at the end of the chain.

The dark wolves began to charge at the group. One of them was aiming towards Twilight, but she jumped over the dark wolf just before it could strike her. She landed behind it and shoot a purple magic grasp beam at it. However, it didn’t disappear. Instead, it turned to glare at Twilight once more while growling.

“Huh? Why did it not vanish?” She asked in shock and confusion.

The dark wolf tried to strike Twilight again, but she flew up to the ceiling to where it can’t reach her no matter how high it can jump to strike her with its dark claws.

The other dark wolf tried to attack Xion, but she kept jumping a bit to dodge its attacks as she tried to smack it with her Keyblade, but the dark wolf was also quick on its paws and dodge her attacks.

“Be careful, Xion!” Spike called worriedly.

“Don’t worry, Spike!” Said Xion while trying to attack the dark wolf, “I’ll be careful!”

Axel changed his Keyblade to his two chakarms and threw them at the dark wolf as they went through it and flew back to Axel before he changed them back to his Keyblade. The dark wolf collapsed to the ground before disappearing into a small dark smoke.

“Gotcha!” Axel said proudly while smirking.

Roxas charged towards the last dark wolf while sliding his Keyblades on the floor, causing sparks to flick, as he sliced through the dark wolf which made it collapse before disappearing into a small dark smoke.

“All done,” said Roxas as his Keyblades magically disappeared from his hands.

Twilight floated down back to the floor. Spike flew up to her and hugged her as she returned the hug. Roxas, Xion and Axel walked up towards the two while Xion was still holding her Keyblade.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Spike asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay, Spike,” answered Twilight politely, “Don’t you worry.”

Twilight and Spike broke the hug before turning back to Roxas, Xion and Axel as Spike suddenly saw Xion’s new Keyblade.

“Is that a new Keyblade?” Asked the purple dragon politely.

“Yep,” answered Xion before holding her new Keyblade up for Spike to get a good view of it, “After Sora’s first Keyblade got destroyed, I felt bad for him and didn’t want him to feel upset about it if he keeps seeing my replica one. So I asked Yen Sid to give me a new one that isn’t a replica and one that I can call my own.”

“And he gave you one that resembles me? Cool!”

“Impressive,” added Twilight proudly.

Xion smiled at the Twilight and Spike with Roxas and Axel smiling as well.

Flashback

At the tower in the mysterious area of Twilight Tower, Sora and the other guardians of light were in the main room of Yen Sid. The retired Keyblade Master had called them all in as he suddenly felt something happened in the world of Equestria and it had something to with Lightning Twister.

Sora was not very happy after hearing this as he slapped his fist on the desk while angrily saying, “Are you being serious right now?! The darkness is back in Equestria and it has something to do with Lightning Twister?! First Young Xehanort, next Vanitas, and now this! Who else from our world is now spreading darkness in Equestria and is also after Lightning?! And how many more times do we have to fight the darkness until they finally decide to leave both Equestria and Lightning alone?!”

“Sora!” Donald said crossly, “Show some respect! That’s Master Yen Sid you’re shouting at!”

Sora glared at Donald. “I know who I’m shouting at, Donald! But I’m too angry to be careful of my shouting! The darkness is haunting Equestria again, and someone wants something to do with Lightning Twister for the THIRD time! And I’m getting tired of him being haunted by the darkness and those that want him in the darkness! How many more times do we need to defeat the darkness in Equestria before they start to realise that Lightning will never accept the darkness no matter what?!”

“Still no excuse to take out on Yen Sid!” Argued Donald, “He had nothing to do with it!”

“I’m not saying it is his fault!” Sora shouted angrily.

“Don’t make him get anymore angry, Donald,” said Yen Sid calmly, “He has every right to be angry.”

Sora stopped getting angry and stared confusedly at Yen Sid. “I do?”

Yen Sid nodded his head before saying, “Yes, you do. I understand that anyone from our world letting darkness get into Equestria and want something to do with young Lightning Twister is getting out of hand now. But I do hope you can continue helping him no matter what the darkness tries to do to him.”

Sora stood up straight and gave Yen Sid a nod in response.

“I will, Master Yen Sid. Lightning’s my friend. And I refuse to let anything hurt him, like Fluttershy and the others would do as well. No matter where the darkness is or whoever’s controlling it, I will always be there to protect him from getting hurt. As a friend, and a brother.”

All of the guardians, including Terra, smiled at Sora after hearing his speech. They were proud of Sora still accepting the quest to stop the darkness and save Lightning Twister, no matter how many times it tries to harm him, and refuse to get more stress and angry about it happening again.

“We’re coming too,” said Kairi, “You might need help fighting the darkness again, and there’s no telling who’s controlling it this time.”

Sora smiled at Kairi.

“Alright. With all of us going back to Equestria, the new darkness won’t stand a chance or even try to harm our Equestria friends even more.”

Everyone continued to smile at Sora as Axel gave him a thumbs up, even Yen Sid smiled at him.

“That is an excellent idea,” he said proudly, “I approve.”

“Thank you,” said Kairi kindly.

“Oh, and one more thing,” added Yen Sid, “Whoever is controlling the darkness this time, you might need another extra pair of hands for this time. Which is why I asked him to come along.”

Yen Sid lifted his left hand up to show the guardians who he asked to tag along as they all heard a pair of boots coming towards them. Sora and the others turned and saw someone, wearing black boots, standing near the desk.

That was when Sora started to recognise who it was.

“Hey, aren’t you…?”

Chapter 8
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 8

In the hallway of the Canterlot castle, the young seven were heading towards the kitchen with Lightning laying on Silverstream’s back.

The poor colt was getting a little hungry, even while getting some more sleep, so Sandbar and the others decided to grab a bite to eat before Lightning continues to get more rest with his friends helping him sleep well.

While laying on Silverstream’s back, Lightning couldn’t help but feel more scared of the nightmares he just had. He quietly whimpered as he buried his face in the back of the hippogriff’s neck with her mane covering his head.

Smolder noticed this and gently patted her boyfriend’s mane while saying, “Now now, Braveheart. Everything will be okay. We’re gonna help you get through this, I promise.”

Lightning slowly moved his head from Silverstream’s neck and mane to sadly look at the orange dragon.

“I just wish Sora was here,” he said sadly, “He could help with stopping the nightmares.”

“Us too, kid,” said Gallus while flying in mid-air, “Us too.”

Suddenly, a strange voice from the distance stopped the young seven in their tracks.

“My word. Your friendship with the Keyblade bearer really is strong, no matter where he is now.”

The young seven looked around to find where that voice came from, until they saw a dark corridor appearing near in front of them. It then disappeared to reveal a black coat figure with his hood on.

“But unfortunately, leaving here on your own to another world you’ve never been to before is not an opinion, Lightning Twister,” he said before moving his hand out to him, “I’ll take you to see Sora.”

Lightning said nothing and hugged Silverstream’s mane in fear but also knowing he could be bad news. The mysterious figure placed his hand while asking, “You don’t want that?”

“I do wanna see him!” Lightning said bravely but still scared, “More than anything. But…not with you around.” Gallus and Smolder placed their fists up ready to fight the mysterious figure.

“If I was a nice person, I would respect you and leave you be,” said the figure, “Except…I’m not a nice person!”

The mysterious figure disappeared in a flash making the young seven look around for him, but couldn’t see him anywhere in the hallway.

“Where mysterious person go?!” Yona asked.

“Right here.” The mysterious figure appeared in front of Silverstream, making the seven jump in shock, as he grabbed Lightning by the mane and picked him up from Silverstream’s back.

Lightning screamed in fear.

“N-No! Help me!” He cried in fear.

“Hey, put him down!” Said Gallus angrily before he and Smolder flew towards the figure to save their friend.

But the mysterious figure swung his left arm to the left making strong wind blow as it made the griffin and dragon fly backwards and smack against the wall. Lightning gasped in shock.

The mysterious figure turned to Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus and Silverstream before placed his left hand forward making strong wind blow again and made the four fly backwards and fell to the ground.

“All too easy,” the mysterious figure said before pulling the colt close to him as he was struggling to break free from his hand, but it wasn’t any good since he was too strong for him like his father was.

“Let me go!” Cried Lightning while hitting the figure’s arm.

The mysterious figure heard footsteps running towards him from the distance. He turned to see Sora, Donald and Goofy running angrily towards him as they stopped near him and summoned the Keyblade, staff and shield with Sora saying, “You heard him! Let him go!”

“Sora!” Lightning said happily. He was so happy to see Sora again.

“Well, so the story is true then,” said the figure, “You are the Keyblade’s chosen one.”

“Did you not hear me?! I said, let him go! Now!”

The mysterious figure did what Sora said and let the colt go, but let him fell to the floor. Luckily, Smolder quickly got back up again, flew towards the figure and caught her boyfriend before he could hit the floor and hurt himself.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart!” Smolder said while flying towards Sora with the other five running up towards them.

“You guys okay?” Asked Sora.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” answered Sandbar happily.

“Yona happy to see Sora and friends again!”

“Awww…Donald happy to see Yona and her friends too!” Donald said happily with Sora, Goofy and the young seven smiling at the wizard.

Sora turned back to glare at the mysterious figure while saying, “We hear someone else has got a beef with Lightning Twister and Equestria!” He turned to the young seven, “Get Lightning away from here as possible. If it’s really him that guy wants, he’ll stop at nothing till he has him.”

The young six gave Sora a nod in understood before running off to hide somewhere while Smolder held tight to Lightning as he had his hooves around Smolder’s neck and his face buried in her chest.

Sora pointed his Keyblade at the mysterious figure, with Donald and Goofy stood in battle mode, while they glared at the hooded guy.

“All right, we want answers from you!” Said Sora angrily, “Who are you and what do you want?”

The mysterious figure stayed quiet for a few seconds before answering, “That I would like to announce when the time is right.”

“And what time would that be?” Sora asked crossly.

“You’ll see,” he replied, “But what I want…what I really want, is have what Lightning has had back when The Storm King returned. The darkness within him, and to also rule everything with all the darkness I can ever want.”

“The darkness of The Storm King!” Donald said in shock.

“Ah yes, he knows exactly what I mean by that.”

“Well you’re not getting it!” Said Sora crossly, “He’s not The Storm Pony anymore, nor is he part of The Storm King’s blood! As long as the magic of friendship and our love is strong within him, the darkness can never come out of him or return into him!”

“That’s what you really think,” the mysterious figure said, “But when the time comes, the darkness will rise within him again. And he will be like me when I am able to control that darkness.”

“Is that why you’re giving him the nightmares he’s starting to have?!” Sora asked.

“Let’s say it’s my way of getting him to release the darkness that he locked away long ago and refuse to let it back into his heart.”

“Well, we won’t let that happen!” Said Sora angrily, “No matter how many nightmares you gave him or how many darkness allies you send, we’ll be there for him and to protect him! He will never be like you!”

The mysterious figure chuckled a bit. “We shall see.”

A dark corridor appeared behind the mysterious figure as he walked back into it.

“Stop!” Sora shouted before charging towards him. But it was too late, the dark corridor disappeared with the mysterious figure as Sora jumped and swung his Keyblade to where the figure was once standing.

Sora turned behind to see he missed and was too late. Donald and Goofy walked up to Sora as the Keyblade, staff and shield disappeared.

“He’s gone!” Said Donald.

“Yeah, with no name or how many more nightmares he’s gonna give Lightning until he has unleashed the darkness in his heart,” said Sora.

“Garsh, and we didn’t even get to see who was under the hood,” added Goofy.

“But we do know he’s not from either of the two Organizations we faced,” said Sora.

“Huh?” Donald stared in confusion.

“That voice,” explained Sora, “It wasn’t the same as Xehanort’s, or any other Nobody or darkness seeker we faced before I made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Donald and Goofy looked at each other and started to understand what Sora meant by that.

“Oh that’s right!” Goofy said, “And after we defeated both of the Organizations, they turned back whole again, back to their original time, and back into Xehanort before he passed on after his defeat.”

“So this new mysterious guy is definitely a newbie,” said Donald.

“But the question is, who is he?” Sora asked with his arms crossed, “And how did he know about Lightning and Equestria?”

Donald and Goofy tried to think as well, but they couldn’t think how that new figure knew about Equestria and Lightning Twister. There must be a way he figured it out and the real reason he’s doing all of this.

Their thoughts were shown cut off when they saw the young seven walking up towards them with Lightning being held by Smolder still.

“You lot okay?” Asked Donald.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” answered Ocellus politely, “We wanted to see if you were okay too.”

“Yeah, no worries,” said Sora kindly.

“Who was that?” Asked Lightning worriedly.

Sora bent down to Smolder’s level and looked at the scared colt while saying, “We’re not sure yet, Lightning. But we will figure out who he is and stop him. I promise.” He started to slowly stroke Lightning’s mane with Smolder gently rubbing his back.

Just then, a flash light appeared behind them as they turned before the light disappeared to reveal Discord.

“I thought I felt a familiar magic from somewhere,” he said proudly, “Sora! So good to see you again, it’s been so long. And I see you brought some friends along this time. When did you get here?”

Sora stared crossly and annoyed at the lord of chaos before saying, “About six minutes ago, actually. But I didn’t expect you to show up, especially after what you did during my first time here!”

“Had a feeling something like this might happen,” said Sandbar in annoyance.

“You know him?” Goofy asked.

Sora turned back to his friends, but in a calm look, before answering, “Yeah, Discord is what he calls himself the lord of chaos. And from what I heard from my first visit, he’s been causing trouble ever since he was “reformed”. And do you remember what I said when I explained my story about Young Xehanort in Equestria?”

Donald and Goofy nodded their heads in response.

“Well…” Sora angrily points at Discord, “HE’S the reason how he got into Equestria and spread darkness everywhere.”

“WHAT?!” Donald said in a shock look on his face, Goofy had the same shock look on his face too, before they stared angrily at Discord.

“Oh please don’t tell me you’re still mad at me too,” said Discord in an annoyed tone with his arms crossed.

“Well of course I’m still mad at you,” said Sora crossly, “You nearly doomed Equestria with darkness, and brought in a seeker that doesn’t even know this world!”

“And nearly made us lose Sora after he saved Kairi!” Donald shouted angrily.

“And put an innocent little pony in grave danger!” Goofy said angrily.

“I was only trying to help Twilight and Oliver see they’re ready for the princess and captain role!” Discord argued, “Plus that colt was taking Fluttershy away from me!”

“No, he wasn’t!” Said Donald, “Fluttershy adopted him as her child! He would never try to take Fluttershy away from her friends! He just wanted a family that loves him! And it was her choice to adopt him, and she was happy with the choice she’s made!”

“And it’s not up to you to decide who can be a part of Fluttershy’s life and family or not!” Sora added, “That’s not what friends do!”

“Yeah! Friends trust, support and respect others’ choices!” Donald said.

“Not treat them like their choice to make is yours!” Added Goofy.

“But how will they know they are ready for the next step?” Asked Discord.

“By supporting them!” Shouted Donald as he stomped his foot to the floor, “That’s how they know they are ready for the next steps without feeling worried all the time!”

Discord let out a “hmph” before saying, “Like that’s gonna help anyway.” He then snapped his eagle fingers and disappeared in a flash light.

“What’s his problem?” Asked Donald in an annoyed tone.

“Not happy with things going his way I expect,” Sora replied.

“Why is he here?” Lightning asked, “I thought he was banished.”

“Well…” began Sandbar while trying to put it into words that won’t make Lightning worried or more upset, “Discord appeared after we placed you in bed for some extra sleep, and he wanted to return to Equestria.”

“And she said he can?”

“I’m afraid so, kid,” replied Gallus, “She didn’t want to deal with his drama queen words while the nightmares are still haunting you.”

“But she did warn him that if he upsets you again while sorting out the nightmares, he’ll be going straight back to his world and to never return unless Celestia said he can,” said Ocellus.

“So you just leave the Discord problem to us if he does start bothering or upsetting you, okay?” Smolder said softly.

Lightning was now worried that Discord might treat him like he’s not a in the Friendship circle or part of Fluttershy’s family, call him hurtful names and scare him, but he decided to try and not worry too much about him. So he slowly nodded his head at his boyfriend while saying, “Okay.”

“Good boy,” said Silverstream softly while gently patting Lightning’s head.

“So where are you lot heading anyways?” Sora asked.

“Poor pony got hungry so Yona and friends were gonna get some snacks,” answered Yona.

“Gawrsh, now that you mention it, I’m getting kind of hungry myself,” said Goofy.

“Me too,” Donald added as he rubbed his belly.

“I suppose we could go for a little snack,” said Sora before looking at the young seven, “Mind if we join you?”

“Sure,” answered Ocellus politely, “The more, the merrier.”

With that being said, the young seven made their way towards the kitchen with Sora, Donald and Goofy tagging along. But none of them noticed that Discord was spying on them through one of the castle windows while glaring at them as he flew away from the window.

“Hmph!” He said angrily to himself, “Should have gotten a better welcoming than that. And yet, they’re still mad at me! I deserve some respect after what I have done anyway!” Discord crossed his arms, “I suppose I have find someone of my kind that help me get back their trust.”

Discord suddenly let out of gasp as he just thought of something. He grinned while saying, “And I believe there is something that’s also a draconequus. She could help show I deserve the respect after my plans to help Oliver and Twilight.”

Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light.

Chapter 9
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 9

In the other hallway, Oliver and Flurry Heart were having a little walk hoping it will help clear Oliver’s mind so he can get back to figuring out what’s causing Lightning to have nightmares about the Storm events.

Flurry Heart was feeling down as she walked by her brother’s side. She was getting more worried about Lightning and she was also worried that she might get nightmares too but also different to the nightmares Lightning’s having.

Oliver noticed this and looked at the young alicorn. “What’s the matter, little sis?”

Flurry Heart looked at her big brother.

“Well…” she began, “I’m just, a bit worried.”

“About what?” Oliver raised his eyebrow in confusion.

“About the nightmares that are hurting Lightning Twister. I don’t like seeing him go through such a hard time, especially after what he’s been through.”

The two stopped walking as Oliver sat on his haunches and gently placed a hoof on Flurry Heart’s shoulder.

“Oh it’ll be okay, Flurry,” said Oliver with a calm smile on his face, “We’ll be there to help him no matter what, even if it is someone trying to make him fall to darkness.”

“I know,” said Flurry calmly, “But, I’m also worried about myself. I was there when the darkness tried to bring harm to Equestria, Vanitas and Cozy Glow brought back The Storm King, and when you got sent to the realm of darkness. I’m worried I might nightmares based around those events as well. And I was only a baby during those events.”

Oliver knew something like this might happen by the time they decided to bring the Crystal Empire family to Canterlot to help out and in case Flurry Heart has nightmares too.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll be able to sort it out if you do start having nightmares like Lightning’s having,” said Oliver trying to make her feel more better, “Besides, we’re all working together like we always do. Although, if it is someone trying to bring Lightning to darkness, we will need to find a way to contact Sora for his help.”

Flurry Heart looked down and frowned. “Yeah. I still miss Sora after his second visit, and I also miss Kairi. Even though she promised to come back one day and see me become the new ruler of Crystal Empire when that day comes, I still miss her.”

Flurry Heart let out a sad sigh before hearing a familiar female voice.

“I missed you too, Flurry Heart.”

Flurry Heart stopped frowning and looked behind her to see who said that. And there, to her surprise in a good way, she saw Kairi walking towards her with a friendly smile on her face.

The filly gasped in happiness.

“Kairi!” She said happily before running up towards her.

Kairi stopped walking and giggled a bit as Flurry Heart jumped towards the girl and hugged her with Kairi hugging Flurry Heart in return. Oliver smiled at the sight before seeing Riku and Mickey walking up towards them.

The two Keyblade masters stood near Kairi as Riku looked at the two and smiled happily at the two.

“Seems like somepony’s happy to see one of their friends again,” said Riku politely while placing his left hand on his left side.

Kairi chuckled before saying, “Yep. It looks that way.” Kairi and Flurry Heart looked at each other. “And the last time I saw you, you were only a cute baby.”

“And now I’m all grown up,” said Flurry Heart proudly.

“A LITTLE grown up you mean?” Oliver said while grinning playfully. Flurry Heart giggled while blushing a bit.

“It’s good to see you again, Oliver,” said Riku, “It’s been long since our last visit.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Riku and Mickey,” said Oliver, “I take it you heard about the nightmares haunting Lightning, right?”

“Yes, we are,” answered Mickey politely, “Yen Sid told us that another darkness threat was happening here in Equestria, and it had something to do with Lightning Twister again.”

“You said Lightning is having nightmares,” said Riku, “What sort of nightmares was he having?”

“He was having nightmares based around the event that happened during your first time here in Equestria,” Oliver answered, “The first one was with Vanitas pretending to be Twilight and told Lightning that he can hurt him in the inside still. But we don’t think Vanitas is behind all of this since he is no more. However, Celestia did spotted a stranger in a black coat coming from behind Fluttershy’s cottage when she was on her way to the train station.”

Riku placed his right hand on his chin. “A stranger in a black coat…” He removed his hand from his chin, “Did she see who it was?”

Oliver shook his head while saying, “I’m afraid she didn’t. The mysterious figure got away without even telling Celestia who he was.”

“Gosh,” said Mickey, “Sounds like he wants to remain a mystery and not want us to know who he is, in case we already know who he already is.”

“His target must have something to do with Lightning after Celestia saw him from behind Fluttershy’s cottage,” said Oliver, “If he is the one making him have those nightmares, there’s no telling what he might pull next.”

“But we can’t just give Lightning to that mysterious figure, can we?” said Flurry Heart, “It’ll just make things a lot more easier for him, and we’ll be giving him exactly what he wants.”

Riku looked at Flurry Heart and said, “Correct. Even if this mysterious person is new, he’ll stop at nothing for us to give Lightning to him, which is never gonna happen. But, if we’re gonna stop his nightmares from hurting Lightning, we need to find something that can cure almost everything, including nightmares. And the place where we can find it.”

Oliver started to wonder as he actually thought of something.

“The book shelf with the cure books in the castle library,” he said, “Of course.”

Riku, Mickey, Kairi and Flurry Heart looked at Oliver as Riku gave him a nod.

In the main throne room, Sunset and Starlight were also trying to figure out a way to stop the nightmares and help Lightning sleep better. Starlight was pacing up and down the room while Sunset was a reading a book that she hopes has the answer and cure.

“Find anything yet?” Starlight asked as she stopped pacing.

Sunset looked at Starlight while saying, “Nothing. Thought anything of any ideas?”

Starlight shook her head. “Not really. Not even a single memory from any of the books I read in Twilight’s castle.”

Sunset let out a groan of annoyance as she closed the book. “This is going to be impossible at this rate! There’s no telling when we’re gonna find a cure or help Lightning!”

“I’m more worried about the nightmares that are about to come if we don’t stop it in time,” said Starlight in a worried tone, “What if he starts having nightmares about us hating him all because he’s the grandson of The Storm King and we use our past evil actions on him? He’ll know what we did in the past, and would probably hate us for what we did to our friends!”

“I’m more concerned about who’s making those nightmares,” said Sunset, “We know that there’s a stranger in a black coat on the loose, but we don’t know if he has someone helping him.”

“And we can’t just say it’s Sombra’s doing since we still don’t know yet,” added Starlight.

“Correct. If we’re gonna figure out who could REALLY be behind all of this, we need to think on the villains we still know, would know any evil spell including nightmares and are still out there wanting revenge.”

“That’s gonna be hard to do since most of them have been reformed, locked away or somewhere in Equestria where we will never have to worry about them,” said Starlight.

“True,” said Sunset, “I mean, The Sirens are still banished in the human world stuck as normal teenagers without their jewel to help them sing good and freed off everyone’s arguments.”

“And Nightmare Moon is no more.”

“And Daybreaker is only an evil version of Celestia who doesn’t really exist, yet,” said Sunset.

“Chrysalis is more of an alternative version of the changelings and only wants revenge on me,” continued Starlight.

“Lord Tirek only drains the magic within us,” added Sunset.

“And Cozy Glow is just an evil filly with no evil alicorn magic or Vanitas’s darkness,” said Starlight.

“And those are the only villains we know that are from Equestria and have dangerous magic and powers unlike the other villains we faced that tried to ruin friendship,” said Sunset.

“And I don’t think those lot would even try find any dark magic or powers and try to make us pay for what we did to them after our first encounter with them.”

“True,” agreed Sunset, “However, let’s keep Chrysalis, Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow in mind. There’s no telling what they can do in the world we banished them to.”

“Right,” Starlight agreed. Even though the Legion of Doom are now in another world where they can’t harm Equestria, there’s still no telling what they can do next while being trapped in that world.

“But let’s not forget, there could be someone helping them. Like a new leader that they have to obey.”

“Double right,” agreed Sunset while giving Starlight a nod.

Suddenly, a new voice was heard from the distance but nearly close to the unicorns.

“If your theory on them is true, then we should be prepared in case they are behind all of this.”

“Huh?” The two said in unison while looking at each other.

“Who said that?” Asked Starlight as the two turned to the throne room doors.

“I did,” said the voice again.

There they saw someone walking up towards them. He was wearing a black hooded jacket, that’s unzipped, with short sleeves with a studded crown and emblem on each of them, gold buttons, and a checkered pattern at the hem. Underneath the jacket was a black sleeveless shirt with a red V-neck. He also has black cropped trousers, that are hemmed, and has the same checkered pattern the jacket has. He has black glovelettes on each hand, and black high-top boots. He also has heterochromia iridum, with his left eye being red while the right eye was blue.

It was Yozora.

Yozora stopped walking and stood near Sunset and Starlight as he stared at them. The two reformed unicorns stared confusedly at the newbie since they’ve never seen or heard of him before.

“Who, are you?” Sunset asked.

“I’m Yozora. I’m a new friend of Sora’s. I came here with him and the others to help.”

Sunset and Starlight were now in shock after hearing him mentioning Sora’s name.

“Sora?! You know Sora?!” Asked Starlight in shock.

Yozora gave Starlight a nod before saying, “Yes, I know him.”

“And he’s here along with his friends?” Asked Sunset.

Yozora gave Sunset a nod in response. “Yes, they’re all here. But, who are you two?”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

“And I’m Starlight Glimmer. And your name and voice actually remains me of what happened back when we faced that Nocreature with Terra awhile back.”

“Starlight Glimmer?” Yozora said in surprised, “You’re Starlight Glimmer?”

Starlight was surprised by his response.

“Huh?! You know who I am?!”

“Yes,” answered Yozora calmly again, “I was the one who helped you back when you and your two friends were fighting that Nocreature. Remember?”

“Oooohh!” Starlight said now understanding it all, “So you’re the one who helped me, Sunset and Terra break free so we can fight that pony.”

Yozora gave Starlight another nod.

“Correct. That was me.”

“Wait, you know him, Starlight?” Asked Sunset.

Starlight looked at Sunset and nodded her head in response.

“Yeah,” she said politely, “He was the one who helped me brought you, me and Terra back together to take down that Nocreature while he was pretending to be Twilight.”

“And you didn’t tell us about it?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

Starlight stared to sweat nervously after hearing. She knew she didn’t tell Sunset Shimmer or Terra about Yozora after defeating Xodiac, she really should have known that was going up the sooner she figured out that the Yozora in the room was the same Yozora who helped her.

“Well, uh…I uh…You see…uh…I just thought, Yozora didn’t want me to tell you or Terra about him after saving us. I was worried he wanted to be not mentioned as he just wants to remain a secret until he’s ready to come out.”

Sunset continued to stare at Starlight with her raised eyebrow which made Starlight sweat nervously even more as she didn’t know what Sunset was gonna say next. However, Sunset’s eyebrow went down and she smiled at Starlight.

“Oh it’s okay, Starlight,” said Sunset softly, “I understand what you thought was right.” Starlight smiled at Sunset.

“I understand too,” said Yozora as the two unicorns turned back to him, “But like I said, I am here to help like Sora and his friends are doing. Where is Lightning Twister?”

“Huh?” Sunset and Starlight said in unison. They were surprised to hear Yozora asking where’s Lightning Twister.

“Yen Sid said that this darkness happening has something to do with Lightning Twister,” explained Yozora, “If it is him the darkness wants, then I must see him right now.”

“Well…you will need to wait for a bit longer,” said Starlight, “He’s still trying to rest after that nightmare he had last night.”

Sunset suddenly saw something up ahead of the throne room as her eyes went wide in shock.

“And we also got company to deal with them first.”

“What?” Starlight asked in confusion.

Sunset points at the throne room doors. Starlight and Yozora turned towards the doors and what they saw made Starlight’s eyes go wide in shock. There they saw four dark wolves walking towards them while growling.

“What in Celestia’s name are those things?!” Starlight asked shockingly.

“I don’t know,” answered Sunset, “But they sure don’t look friendly.”

Tiny ghostly orange pixel cubes appeared near Yozora’s hands as they made both his crossbow-like weapon and sword with a glowling orange blade.

“Time to end them,” said Yozora in a serious tone before standing in battle mode.

Sunset and Starlight looked at each other and did a serious nod in agreement before standing by Yozora and stood in battle mode too.

One of the dark wolves growled at them before charging at them with the other three dark wolves following.

“I don’t think so.” Yozora teleported away in mini ghostly orange pixel cubes style as they made him reappear behind the dark wolves.

Yozora pointed his crossbow-type weapon at the wolves and blasted a red beam at the two wolves. The red beam shot through the two dark wolves as they disappeared in darkness smoke.

“Ready, Starlight?” Sunset asked.

“Ready,” answered Starlight, “Let’s spin!”

Sunset grabbed Starlight’s hooves and started spinning around slowly before going faster and faster as Starlight’s horn begins to glow. After spinning her around fast enough, Sunset let go of Starlight.

Starlight spun around the dark wolves while shooting magic grasp beams at them until three of each beam hit the two wolves weakening them.

Yozora ran towards the wolves and used his sword to slice through them. Yozora kneeled in front of the wolves as he stood back up again and turned round to see the last two dark wolves disappear in dark smoke.

Starlight stopped spinning before grinning at where the dark wolves were once standing as she blew the smoke from her horn.

Sunset walked up to Starlight before asking, “You okay, Starlight?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” replied Starlight politely, “Guess we showed them.”

“Haha! Yeah, we did!” Sunset and Starlight brohoofed each other.

Yozora’s weapons disappeared in mini ghostly orange cube style before looking at the smoke on the ground where the dark wolves were once at.

“I think, there’s going to be more of them soon,” he said.

Sunset and Starlight turned to look at Yozora in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

Yozora looked at the two unicorns and said, “Whoever is behind the nightmares, they will stop at nothing to make sure we don’t get in their way or stop them for what they want with Lightning Twister. Those strange things must from them, and were sent to kill us so we can’t stop them.”

“And we won’t be the only ones who will be attacked by those things,” said Starlight with Sunset nodding in agreement.

“The others should be with the rest of your friends,” said Yozora, “But we best check on them just to be sure they’re okay.”

Sunset and Starlight gave Yozora a nod in agreement before they walked out of the throne room as they went off to find the others to see if they’re alright.

Flashback

“Alright. With all of us going back to Equestria, the new darkness won’t stand a chance or even try to harm our Equestria friends even more.”

Everyone continued to smile at Sora as Axel gave him a thumbs up, even Yen Sid smiled at him.

“That is an excellent idea,” he said proudly, “I approve.”

“Thank you,” said Kairi kindly.

“Oh, and one more thing,” added Yen Sid, “Whoever is controlling the darkness this time, you might need another extra pair of hands for this time. Which is why I asked him to come along.”

“Hey, aren’t you…?”

Yozora was surprised to hear Sora recognising him already.

“You know me?”

“Yeah,” answered Sora, “You’re Yozora, right?”

“How do you know me?” Yozora asked confusedly.

“Oh, just a little comic strip I read a few days back,” Sora replied while placing his hands behind his head.

“What?” Donald was confused by this, “But, Sora, we…”

“Donald! Order!” Sora said through clenched teeth.

Donald started to understand by Sora said that as he quickly said, “Ohhh! Yes, that’s right! He did read a comic that had you in!”

Yozora looked at Donald for a second before turning back to Sora. “Well, that explains it then.”

Sora smiled in relief at Yozora before they both, including the others, turned back to Yen Sid.

“Good. Now that you are set and ready, I shall let you begin your new journey.”

They all gave Yen Sid a nod before making their way out of the room. While walking out of the room and down the stairs, Xion started to feel worried. She haven’t seen Spike since the Unversed attacked, and she was worried that he may have forgotten about her.

“Oh, I do hope Spike still remembers me,” she said worriedly, “I haven’t seen him for quite some time now ever since we stopped The Storm King.”

“Aww come on, Xion,” said Axel happily, “Spike’s a great dragon, and a rememberable one. I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten about you or any of us.”

“Yeah, Xion,” said Roxas, “Spike would never forget you, no matter how far you two are or how long it’s been since the last get together.”

Xion’s sadness turned back into a happy smile before giving Roxas a nod as they continued on making their way out of the tower and onto their new journey.

Author's Note

Looks like Yozora has joined the adventure.

Chapter 10
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 10

In the Canterlot castle library, Oliver, Flurry Heart, Riku, Kairi and Mickey were searching and reading through all of the history and cure books to see if there was a way and or someone to help stop the nightmares from haunting Lightning. But sadly, no luck has come upon them yet.

Oliver closed the book he was reading and magically placed it on the top of the pile of books he read through so far.

“Any luck yet?” Oliver asked the others.

“Nothing,” sighed Flurry Heart as she closed the book and placed it in her own pile of books.

“Can’t seem to find any answer in any of these books,” said Kairi still reading a book on cures.

“Nothing so far,” said Mickey still finding the answer in the book he was reading.

“Hate to say it, but no luck from me either,” said Riku while putting the book back on the bookcase.

“So far, none of this books have the answer we’re looking for!” Said Oliver in an annoyed tone, “Ugh! There has to be something to help Lightning and stop the nightmares from continuing! A place might be helpful too!”

“Why are books often so difficult to find the answer in?” Flurry Heart asked.

“I think that question will remain a mystery for all of us,” said Oliver calmly, “We just have to keep on trying.”

“That’s the kind of tone I like to hear,” said the voice of Twilight.

The two ponies and the three Keyblade heroes turned to the doorway of the library and saw Twilight walking towards them with the mane seven, Spike, Capper, Sunburst, Constantine, Vincent, the other six guardians, Yozora, Amore, Shining Armor and Cadence following her. Sora, Donald and Goofy were still with the young seven.

“Figured I might find the rest of you here,” said Twilight while smiling.

“Auntie Twily!” Flurry Heart shouted happily before running up to her aunt.

“Hello, Flurry Heart,” said Twilight before trotting up to her niece as they did the special greeting Twilight and Cadence created when Cadence should to foalsat Twilight when she was a little filly before passing it down to Flurry Heart.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” The two then laughed and giggled happily while hugging each other.

“Must you two always do that?” Shining asked with a smirk on his face.

“Hey, I’ll have you know this is now our aunt and niece bond,” said Twilight while gently rubbing Flurry Heart’s mane, “Especially after Cadence give Flurry Heart permission to do the special greeting with me.”

“What can I say?” Cadence said proudly, “If roles can pasted on, then so can special greetings.”

Shining playfully rolled his eyes while saying, “Whatever.”

“Hey guys,” said Sora as he, Donald and Goofy entered the library, “Anything we missed.”

“Hey, Sora!” Flurry Heart said cheerfully before running towards her first favourite Keyblade wielder.

“Hey there, Flurry Heart,” replied Sora happily while holding his hands out as Flurry Heart jumped into his hands and the two hugged each other. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“And look how much you’ve grown since we last saw you,” said Donald.

“Gwarsh, you’re a big girl now,” said Goofy with a chuckle.

Flurry Heart blushed a bit.

“Well, I am still little,” said Flurry Heart, “But I am a grown up little girl.”

Sora chuckled a bit before placing Flurry Heart on the floor.

“Hey, Sora,” greeted Oliver, “And no, you haven’t missed much. We’re still trying to find a way to help Lightning.”

“Ah, that’s okay,” said Sora, “We were just with them. We had a little snack before letting Lightning get more sleep. Hope that’s okay, Fluttershy.”

“Don’t worry, Sora,” said Fluttershy, “As long as he’s also getting more sleep, I’m not mad at all.”

Sora smiled at Fluttershy while chuckled a bit.

“Any luck on finding anything yet?” Cadence asked politely.

“So far, nothing,” answered Oliver while shaking his head, “None of the books has the answer we’re looking for yet.”

“And I’m still worried I might get the nightmares too,” said Flurry Heart in a scared and worried tone, “I was there when Xehanort and The Storm King attacked.”

Twilight felt bad and sorry for Flurry Heart as she frowned at the filly. She walked up to her and gently placed a hoof around her and said, “Don’t worry, little bug. We’ll find a way to stop the nightmares continuing. We just have to keep on searching until we find the answer we’re looking for, even if the cure is located in a place we’ve never seen or heard of before.”

“Hey!” Mickey said cheerfully, “I think I found it!”

Everyone quickly looked at the king with both happy looks on their faces.

“Really?!” Fluttershy asked with joy and happiness while shiny hope stars appeared around her, “You’ve found the answer to saving my baby boy?!”

“Mmhmm!” Mickey answered happily while nodding his head, “The answer of saving Lightning from those nightmares is right here in this book.”

Mickey closed the book and shows everyone the cover of it. Twilight walked over and looked at the book while reading the title, “Magical But Mystery Places.”

“Uh-huh,” said Mickey, “And here’s the page with the cure.”

Mickey walks over to the table and places the book on it before opening it flat for everyone to see the page he has found the cure in. Twilight looked at the page and started to read it,

“The Tree of Life. Home to King Kion, son of Simba and Nala, and Queen Rani, daughter of Sãhas and Ãnanda, and defended by a group of animals known as the Night Pride. It can help any hurt, sick or endangered animals and creatures including…” the friendship princess gasped with joy as she saw what was also on the page, “Nightmares!”

Twilight flew up into the air with joy while saying, “Woohoo! The King has found it! We can finally save Lightning from those nightmares!”

Mickey chuckled with delight after that comment from Twilight.

“So now that we’ve found the answer, where is the Tree of Life,” asked Ventus.

“Oh, right,” said Twilight calmly knowing Ven was right about that. She floated back down and looked at the page again to find out where the Tree of Life is.

“Okay,” she began, “It saids that the Tree of Life is located…oh.”

“What’s wrong, sugarcube?” Asked Applejack worriedly, “Where’s the location of the Tree of Life?”

Twilight looked at her friends and family, the two sisters, Constantine, Vincent, Amore and the guardians before answering,

“It’s located…Outside of Equestria.”

“WHAT?!” Everyone, except for Twilight, said in both shock and surprised.

“Another place that’s outside of Equestria?!” Rarity started to wince like a drama queen again, “Ugh! Don’t tell me we have to meet horrible, smelly and rude creatures there like we did at Klugetown during the Storm King attack!”

“Hey, Capper was from that town and he wasn’t like those rude creatures!” Fluttershy said crossly as Capper crossed his arms and stared crossly at Rarity.

“Plus you can’t say something about the animals there just yet, Rarity,” said Twilight while walking up to her friends, “The creatures from Klugetown, except for Capper, were rude and nasty, but we can’t say the same thing for the animals at the Tree of Life.”

“Twilight’s right,” said Applejack, “We can’t just judge them already before getting to see them first. And who knows? They might be friendly like we are.”

“And there’s no way I’m letting my poor nephew go through more nightmares by judging them already and refusing to go,” said Rainbow Dash, “That’s why I’m going to the Tree of Life to help Lightning and see the creatures there for myself.”

“I’m coming too,” said Starlight Glimmer.

“Me too,” said Sunset Shimmer.

“And I’m coming as well,” said Sunburst.

“We’ll come too,” said Celestia, “We wanna help with helping Lightning too.”

Twilight gave Celestia a nod in both understood and agreement.

“We’re coming as well,” said Mickey, “If that mysterious figure is behind all of this with those dark wolves, like Roxas and Yozora told us about, then we’ll be the ones to help handle them.”

“And you lot know the darkness well than we do,” said Spike politely earning a gentle pat on the head by Twilight who was smiling at her dragon.

“That is correct, buddy,” said Axel proudly giving Spike a thumbs up.

Flurry Heart started to bounce up and down with joy while saying, “Yay! We get to go on another adventure with Sora and the others, and visit a new place!”

“Oh no,” said Shining as Flurry Heart stopped bouncing and looked at her father, “You’re not going to the Tree of Life, Flurry Heart.”

“Huh? But why not?”

“Because it is too dangerous outside of Equestria,” answered Shining Armor, “If that mysterious figure is behind all of this and more dark wolves are out there waiting for us, then there’s no telling what might happen to you. And I’m not too sure if the creatures that rule the Tree of Life are friendly or not. That’s why you’re staying here in Canterlot with Grandmare and Grandpa until we come back.”

Flurry Heart was shocked and upset by that.

“But, but…but that’s not fair!” She said, “I went somewhere outside of Equestria before and that was dangerous, but I was okay! And Ansem the Wise and his apprentices were friendly, they didn’t even try to hurt me or Olive!”

“That was different,” Shining said, “But this time, it’s even more dangerous and I can’t risk losing you or let you get hurt.”

“But I can’t stay here with Grandmare and Grandpa! If the nightmares does come to haunt me, they might escape my mind and do something to them!”

“We’ll try to save them if it does happen,” said Shining in an almost cross tone.

“So you’re just gonna put their lives in danger when we don’t know who’s behind the nightmares and the dark wolves yet?!”

Shining Armor was not happy with tone Flurry Heart was using or the way she was speaking to him.

“Don’t you use that tone, young filly! And never speak to me like that either! I am not putting their lives in danger!”

“It almost sounds like you are considering they’ve never been in a darkness threat before!” Flurry Heart said crossly.

“Flurry Heart! I’m trying to keep you safe!”

“You’re not letting me come on this adventure and putting Grandmare and Grandpa in charge when they know nothing about darkness or been in any threats!”

“I’m doing this to protect you!”

“Like being overprotective of me and putting other ponies’ lives in danger is protecting me?! You’ve been overprotective of me since I started preschool and I’m getting tired of it!”

Shining Armor was getting more angry with the attitude Flurry Heart was using right now.

“Flurry Heart, I’m getting sick of your attitude right now!” He shouted angrily making his own daughter scared by his tone and stepping back a bit, “You are not going to the Tree of Life with us and that’s final! And if you continue to speak to me like that, you are going to be…!”

Before he could continue, Twilight’s wing blocked his view of Flurry Heart which he was shockingly surprised by. Shining looked at his sister and saw she was glaring at him as she said, “Don’t do this to her like you did to me!”

Shining took a step back while in shock since he knew what Twilight meant by that. Cadence, however, was confused by the way Twilight told her brother not to do the same thing to Flurry Heart like he did to his sister.

“Did…did what to you, Twilight?” Cadence asked calmly but confusedly.

Twilight looked at her sister-in-law with a scared expression. She knew she was on about what she just said to her brother, and now she wanted to know what she meant by it.

“Twilight, what did Shining do to you that he was gonna do to Flurry Heart? The princess of love asked in a calm but serious tone.

The five girls, including Celestia, were starting to get nervous to what Twilight will say to Cadence when she tells her what happened a long ago, especially since they were also part of it.

Twilight knew there was no escaping from telling Cadence what Shining did to her. So she let out a sigh before saying,

“Cadence, do you remember when I found you in caves beneath Canterlot and you saw me there after breaking you free?”

“What about it?” Cadence raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Well…if you thought Chrysalis imprisoned me there because I was onto her and I tried to stop her but she stopped me first. The first half you’re right, but the other half…you’re wrong. Chrysalis imprisoned me easily, with nopony around.”

“Nopony…around?”

The mane five were getting more scared to what might happen next when Twilight tells Cadence what happened on that day.

Twilight let out a long soft and calm sigh before explaining everything to Cadence.

“After we’ve got the invitation and I found out Shining was marrying you, you weren’t acting like the Cadence I’ve always known before knowing that the Cadence there was Chrysalis pretending to be you. You didn’t do the special greet we’ve always do, you only asked me if I was old to be doing stuffs like that. Even Shining agreed like you were really a grown up princess now. Then after that, the fake Cadence was acting rudely to my friends and treated them badly. Lying to Applejack about liking her homemade treats and throwing her own bag of treats away without her looking or knowing when you always like any kind of treats and tell the truth about them, making Rarity put more work on the dress when you never do that and always like any kind of dress, telling Pinkie Pie that the party she has done was for a little pony to make her feel like she hasn’t done well, and saying that Fluttershy’s birds were singing badly and off-key. I tried telling them that Cadence wasn’t feeling like herself and something was up, but they didn’t believe me. They all thought I was overacting and jealous of Shining getting married while letting the threat get to me, so I went to tell Shining to see if he believes me. But he didn’t, and that’s when I saw Cadence putting Shining under mind control knowing that she isn’t the Cadence I loved for so long. I tried to tell the girls about it, but they still didn’t listen and were more excited on being the new bridemares.”

Shining gulped nervously as Twilight continued.

“Then, at the rehearsal, I told Shining, the girls and Celestia everything about what the fake Cadence was doing while I was not in happy mode since nopony believed or listened to me. The fake Cadence suddenly ran off crying and they all thought I really upset you. That’s when Shining had a go at me and told me that the reason his eyes was all dizzy and stuff was because of putting the bubble shield in place and making sure the wedding was perfect and safe from the threat. He then told me to forget being his best mare and to not bother showing up at the wedding before seeing Cadence. The girls also walked out on me as well like I was trying ruin everything they did for the wedding, even Celestia walked out on me after telling me I had a lot to think about.”

Cadence’s mouth was wide open in shock after everything she had just heard from Twilight. Her own favourite filly being abandoned for trying to save her own brother from somepony that wasn’t really Cadence herself and being kicked out of the wedding.

Her mouth started to slowly close as she slowly changed her expression to an angry look. A very VERY angry expression.

Shining saw this and nervously walked over to his wife not knowing what was to come next.

“Cadence? Honey? You okay?”

The pink princess slowly moved her head towards her husband showing her angry look as it made him scared of her expression.

“You did all that to your own sister…LIKE SHE WANTED TO RUIN OUR WEDDING WHEN SHE WAS TRYING TO SAVE YOUR REAR END FROM A CADENCE THAT WASN’T ME?!”

Shining took a step back a bit in fear and got even more scared and nervous of how Cadence took the news.

Suddenly, they heard sobbing near them. The two looked down and saw it was their daughter who was sobbing. After hearing everything her auntie have just said, she was more upset of the way her father was speaking to her.

“You yelled at Auntie Twily for something she wouldn’t try to do!” She said while sobbing, “And you were gonna do the same thing to me when all I wanted was to help too!”

Flurry Heart started to run away while crying.

“Flurry Heart, wait!” Shining said sadly, “Flurry, please wait!”

But it was too late, Flurry Heart was already out of the library and probably heading to the guest room Celestia said she could sleep in.

Cadence was about to go after her until she saw Twilight looked down in sadness with her eyes closed. She was just about to say something to her, but then Twilight slowly opened her eyes and moved her head back up to look at her sister-in-law.

“I’m sorry, Cadence,” said Twilight in a sad and guilt tone, “For telling you this after not telling you moons ago. I didn’t want you to end your happy relationship with Shining if I did tell you, and only me tell you.” She then looked crossly at her brother, “And Shining, you’ve just upset your own daughter for the first time, in the same way you did to me when I was just trying to save you. I hope you’re happy.”

Twilight’s horn started to glow as she was about to teleport away.

“Twilight, wait!” Applejack called worriedly.

But, again, it was too late, Twilight had already teleported away and probably ended up in her room of the Canterlot castle.

Shining Armor saw Oliver walking towards the doors of the library while looking down in sadness.

“Son? Where are you going?” Shining asked worriedly which made Oliver stop but still looking down in sadness.

“I can’t speak to you right now, Dad,” answered Oliver before looking at his father, “Because I’ve got two things to worry about now. One is saving Lightning from those nightmares, and the other is doing the same thing you did to Aunt Twilight, but to my sister if I ever decided to get married. Just like you and Aunt Twilight, I’m Flurry Heart’s big brother and she’s my little sister. And I refuse to upset her, even if she is trying to save me.”

With nothing else left to say, Oliver continued to make his way out of the library and towards the guest room he’s sleeping in.

Shining watched his son walk out of the library with both sadness and guilt on his face. Sad, because Oliver can’t talk to him right now. Guilt, because he made Oliver think and worry that he might do the same thing he did if he gets married during a threat one day.

Shining turned and saw his wife walking up to him, with an angry expression on her face still, before saying, “Once I’ve done comforting Twilight and our children, you are in SO much trouble, young stallion! The same goes for you girls! And you, Aunt Celestia!”

The five girls and Celestia flinched after hearing what Cadence had just said to them.

“What about me though?” Spike asked, “I also left Twilight, why aren’t I in trouble too?”

Cadence looked at the baby dragon with a calm look before answering, “You’re a baby dragon, Spike. And I don’t like yelling or telling off a little foal, filly or any creature. Especially if that creature is a family member.”

Spike listened to what Cadence was saying to him and quickly understood why she wasn’t gonna tell him off as well for what he did. But deep down, he was worried about Twilight.

Cadence quickly noticed this and gently patted Spike on the head.

“Give her some time,” she said softly, “She’ll be okay as soon as you know it.“

Spike nodded his head in understood as Cadence made her way out of the library and towards one of the guest rooms depending which one of her children she’s gonna see first as well as her sister-in-law.

Celestia sadly but guilty watched her niece walk out of the library while worrying to what Cadence has to say to her after checking on Twilight, Flurry Heart and Oliver. She suddenly saw Luna walking out of the library too and, without searching, she had an angry look on her face.

“Luna? Where are you going?” Celestia called to her sister, but she didn’t listen as she was now out of the room. So the sun princess chased after her. “Luna! Please, wait!”

With Celestia now out of the library, all that was left in the room was the guardians, the first Crystal Empire ruler, two humans, two unicorns, a cat, a wizard pony, five guilty girls, one guilty stallion and a dragon who couldn’t help but still feel guilty as well.

Spike looked down sadly while rubbing his right arm. He then felt a hand touching his shoulder as he turned and saw Xion looking at him.

“Xion,” he began, “I’m sorry for what I did moons ago. I shouldn’t have done that to Twilight, especially since she was also my mother and not just my friend and sister. I didn’t know what I was thinking and…”

“It’s okay, Spike,” said Xion softly, “I’m not mad at you for what you have done. I wasn’t there, and I refuse to be mad at you for something that you did moons ago and I wasn’t there to see it.”

“But, but I…”

“Spike, you don’t need to worry,” said Xion, “If I say I refuse to be mad at you for something that happened moons ago, then I refuse to be mad. And same what Cadence said, you’re a baby dragon and you don’t deserve to be yelled at.”

Spike slowly gave Xion a small smile before saying, “Thanks.”

Xion smiled at her special somedragon and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead which made him blush.

Fluttershy sadly looked at Capper as he sadly looked at her back.

“Capper, I…” But before Fluttershy could continue, she felt Capper gently placing his paws on her shoulders as he bent down to her level.

“Fluttershy,” said Capper, “If you think I’m mad at you for what you did and leave you…I’m not.”

Fluttershy was surprised about this, but also confused as well.

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Or leaving you either,” added Capper.

“But, I made a huge mistake to Twilight,” said Fluttershy, “Even though it was moons ago, how come you’re not m…?”

Capper gently placed a paw finger on Fluttershy’s mouth to stop her from making herself feeling more guilty and thinking that Capper is gonna hate her and leave her.

“Please, Fluttershy, don’t keep letting your actions get the best of you and make you think I wanna leave you,” said Capper before moving his paw finger away from Fluttershy’s mouth, “Even though what you did was wrong and it was moons ago, I refuse to break up with you and leave you.”

“But…but why though?” Fluttershy was still confused by this.

“Because,” Capper began, “I just, can’t. I loved you ever since Sombra returned, and my father role for Lightning Twister has grown upon my heart. And I don’t want him feel sad if I did leave you. It won’t be because of you that made me leave that’ll upset him, it’ll be because of me that’ll upset him. Plus it wouldn’t fix anything and I’ll bringing this on myself. My heart can not break for any mistake you did now or in the past. And that mistake was in the past, so I can’t and refuse to be mad at you about it.”

Fluttershy understood everything Capper had just said as she slowly smiled at her husband. The two then formed a hug with Capper rubbing his wife’s back gently.

While hugging, Fluttershy asked, “You’re gonna be okay when Cadence talks to me and the girls?”

“I’ll be okay,” replied Capper, “I’ll keep out of sight just in case.”

Fluttershy nodded her head in understood as the two continued to hug each other. But deep inside, Fluttershy was worried about something else other than just Twilight and the nightmares haunting her son.

“Well, I know none of us were also there when it happened, but…” Donald angrily walked up to Applejack and banged her head with his fist.

“OW!” Applejack shouted before rubbing her head with her hoof.

“You selfish pony!” The wizard duck shouted angrily making Applejack feel scared by the outburst, “Twilight was your friend! And you just walked out on her like she wanted to ruin your hard work on the wedding from the very beginning?! You should have taken her seriously, even if she doesn’t have proof! If a friend is worried about something or saw a threat inside the building even with one or no proof, don’t ignore them, stay with them! And you went off with a pony you barely knew for one day only for a princess you also barely knew! But not only that, you also ignored the threat that was happening! That’s more important than an exciting event! You five should be ashamed of yourselves!”

“I hate to agree with Donald here, but he’s right,” said Sora while crossing his arms, “You five should not have done that.”

The five girls felt more guilty for their actions they pulled moons ago as they looked down in shame. They suddenly saw Sunset Shimmer making her way out of the library with a sad expression on her face.

“Sunset? Where are you going, darling?” Rarity asked confusedly making Sunset stop.

“Going to my room,” replied Sunset while looking down in sadness, “I want some time alone.”

“Is it because of what we did to Twilight moons ago?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Cause I’ll have you know that you weren’t there either, so why are you upset about it?”

“Because I was abandoned by my friends too!” Sunset said angrily as she glared at the rainbow maned pony.

Rainbow Dash shockingly moved back a bit while having a sad expression in between the shocked look. Sunset Shimmer has also been abandoned by her friends as well, which means she is now feeling the same pain Twilight felt on that day.

Sunset stopped glaring and looked away in sadness before continuing her way out of the library and towards her guest room.

Sunburst sadly and worriedly watched her sister leave the room before looking at Starlight Glimmer.

“Starlight, I need to…” Before Sunburst could continue, he felt Starlight gently patting his shoulder.

“You need to go check on Sunset by yourself at the moment. I understand, Sunburst,” she said softly to him, “She needs you right now. Go to her.”

Sunburst smiled at his wife and gave her a nod. He then made his way out of the library and towards Sunset’s guest room to comfort her.

But at the far end of the library, with none of them even noticing, the hooded figure was standing there watching the whole thing. A dark corridor appeared behind him on the wall as he walked backwards into it before it disappeared.

Chapter 11
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 11

Flurry Heart was still crying while running into her guest room as she closed the door before climbing onto the bed and cried into her pillow letting the tears soak the sheets.

The guest room door slowly opened to reveal Cadence as she walked into the room to check on her daughter. Flurry Heart moved her head from the pillow and looked at her mother to show her tearful eyes at her before placing it back on the pillow and continued to cry.

Cadence walked up to the bed, sat on the bed next to Flurry Heart and gently stroked her back in comfort.

“Shhh…it’s alright, baby,” cooed Cadence softly, “It’s alright. Mommy’s here.”

Flurry Heart got up and hugged her mother before crying in her chest as she hugged her back while continuing stroking her back gently.

“Why? Why? Why?”

“Why what, sweetheart?”

“W-Why did D-Daddy do all of that t-to A-Auntie T-Twily? S-She was t-trying t-to save him. He was going t-to d-do t-the same thing to m-me.”

Cadence gently patted her daughter on the back of her mane before pulling her away from the hug to look at her in the eyes.

“Oh baby, I understand you’re upset about what Daddy did to your Auntie Twily and what he nearly did to you,” said Cadence softly, “I’m not happy with him either. And I am going to have a serious talk with him after seeing your Auntie Twily and your big brother.”

Flurry Heart wiped the tears from her eyes before continuing looking at her mother.

“Wait, Olive’s upset too?”

Cadence nodded her head.

“After Twilight told me everything and you ran off, Oliver started feeling down refused to talk to your father,” Cadence explained, “He even felt worried too.”

“Worried?” Flurry Heart asked.

“Yes,” said Cadence softly, “He’s now worried that he might do the same thing to you if he does get married one day since you’re his little sister, just like Twilight is Shining Armor’s little sister.”

The little alicorn suddenly had a shock but also worried expression on her face. Her big brother worried about making the same move Shining Armor did but to Flurry Heart if he gets married one day with a threat getting in the way.

“No, no, no!” Flurry Heart said worriedly, “He can’t be! He won’t make the same move! I know he won’t! I have to see him!”

Flurry Heart broke the hug, jumped off the bed and ran out of her guest room and headed towards Oliver’s guest room.

“Flurry Heart, wait!” Cadence called out to her daughter, “He might need some alone time first! Flurry Heart!” But it wasn’t any good. Flurry Heart was now far away in the hallway to even hear her mother calling out to her.

Cadence let out a sigh before saying, “Might as well go catch up with her then.” Cadence walked out of Flurry Heart’s guest room and tried to catch up with her daughter while heading to Oliver’s guest room.

Oliver was in his guest room sadly looking out of the window as he let out a sad sigh. And truth to be told from Cadence, she was right. Oliver was feeling worried about making the same move Shining Armor did if he gets married one day, and he doesn’t want to put Flurry Heart through the same thing Twilight went through. However, there was something else he was upset about.

His thoughts and alone time was then interrupted by his guest room door opening and slamming to the wall.

“Huh?” Oliver turned and saw the door was opened by Flurry Heart as she ran into the room and towards her big brother.

“Olive! Olive!” Flurry Heart cried before jumping to Oliver and hugged him.

“Flurry Heart? What are you doing here?” Asked Oliver in confusion.

“Mama said you were worried and upset, so I wanted to comfort you!” Flurry Heart answered while still hugging Oliver.

Flurry Heart broke the hug and stood in front of her brother while looking at him.

“But, why?”

“Because I don’t like it when you’re upset and worried,” the filly answered, “And Mama said you were worried about making the same move Daddy did but to me.”

Oliver knew his sister was right as he let out a sigh before turning back to the window.

“Well, she is right, Flurry Heart,” he said, “I am worried about making the same move Dad did but to you.”

“But, why though?” Flurry Heart asked sadly, “Why would you be worried about it?”

“Because…you’re my little sister, just like how Aunt Twilight is Dad’s little sister as he is her big brother. It’s like a circle going round, one family with the same siblings and the same different days they were born. Which means that, if I do get married one day, a threat might also happen and we might go through the same thing Dad and Aunt Twilight did. Me being possess by a villain and you knowing what was going on but I didn’t believe you and kick you out of my wedding when you were only trying to save me. And after what Aunt Twilight said what Chrysalis did to her after she found out the truth, there’s a small chance the villain might kill you instead of making sure you don’t get in the way again. I don’t wanna repeat what Dad did and risk losing you.”

Flurry Heart understood everything Oliver just said to her.

“I don’t want that to happen either,” she said, “But I do know you won’t make the same move Daddy did.”

Oliver looked at Flurry Heart, with his sad look has not change, as he then asked, “How do you know that?”

“Because you’re my brother, and I love you the same way you love me,” answered Flurry Heart, “We’ve been brother and sister for moons now, even after you left to live with Auntie Twily, and our hearts can lead us to do the right move and ignore the move that can be the wrong move and gets us into trouble. And even if you do get married, I know you won’t do what Daddy did. You would figure out why your girlfriend wants the wedding during a threat that’s happening, since shields can’t always save special days, and will listen to me if I figure what’s going on before you do and if the fake bride runs off to make you think I hurt her.”

Oliver continued to look at his sister and let all those words sink into him. He understood everything she just said and knew she was right.

“I…suppose that’s true, and you’re right about that,” said Oliver, “But even if somepony wants to use me for my love or something like that, I don’t see myself getting married one day, even if that threat does happening to me.”

Flurry Heart was surprised by this. Her own brother saying that he may not get married one day even without a threat happening?

“But…but why not?”

Oliver turned away from the window and walked towards the wall near the bed before saying, “Because, not only am I the son of Princess Cadence…” He then looked at Flurry Heart as he said, “But I’m still the creation of Chrysalis.”

Oliver walked over to the desk near the window while saying, “And I’m still half pony and half ink demon. I was born like this ever since I discovered my magic and before we found out Chrysalis was my real mother.”

Flurry Heart looked at her brother in concern as Oliver continued, “And worst of all, I don’t even know what will happen if I let go of the Ink Demon and be free from his grasp. Will I be like a normal pony with normal magic, or will I die? And what will happen to the Ink Demon if I set him free? He might cause chaos and mayhem over Equestria.”

Oliver sadly looked at the desk mirror while saying, “And who would ever want to fall in love with a monster like me that has a form of a demon?”

“Okay, the part of you still being the son of Chrysalis is true, but that doesn’t mean you’re still family,” said Flurry Heart.

Oliver let out a sad sigh before closing his eyes and looked down on the desk.

“No, really,” Flurry Heart said, “Look, Mama didn’t just take you in so you can be away from that horrible orphanage, she took you in because you deserve a better family and had no problem with you having strange magic. And she was right about me after deciding to adopt you, I did wanted a brother or sister to play with. And even if we found out you’re Chrysalis’s child before she could tell you herself, we still would have taken you in and make you a part of our family.”

Oliver opened his eyes and looking at his sister while asking, “And why would you still want me as part of the family?”

“Why would we still you as part of the family? Look at you! You’re the coolest pony any family could have if they’ve just given you a chance! And aside from having magic nopony could understand or have, you’ve got wings, you have a heart to still care, you protect those that can’t save themselves, your magic grasp does that, that, inky drops. You are a cool brother!”

Oliver’s sad look slowly grew into a small surprise look as he continued to look at Flurry Heart.

“Plus, I thought I was the only pony who was born as an alicorn. But I was wrong. You were born too as an alicorn, that makes us the same ponies who was born as an alicorn.”

Flurry Heart suddenly looked down in sadness.

“And all I did that was wrong, when I was a baby, was destroy the Crystal Heart before my Crystalling when I still had strong alicorn magic. I started to feel guilty after hearing the story of it. I often think Daddy is still cross at me for nearly dooming the Crystal Empire.”

The filly looked away with her eyes closed before saying, “I’m the one you shouldn’t want as a sister.”

Oliver was surprised by this. His own sister saying that she shouldn’t be his sister after destroying the Crystal Empire before her Crystalling when she was a baby?

“Listen, Olive,” she said while still looking away, “Continue saving Lightning from the nightmares. I’ll keep my distance away from you.”

Oliver continued to look at Flurry Heart with now a sad look on his face. Everything Flurry Heart had just said not only made his heart ache, but also made it better. Even though he was Chrysalis’s child, Flurry Heart still wanted him as a brother no matter what he was.

Flurry Heart continued to look away with her eyes closed as she heard hooves walking towards her. She thought that now after telling him what she did when she was a baby, he would walk away now and continued his part of helping Lightning Twister.

Suddenly, she felt a hoof around her as it pulled her to a chest. Flurry Heart confusingly but shockingly looked up and saw Oliver was hugging her.

“You’re hugging me.”

“Yes, I am,” said Oliver.

“But, why?” Flurry Heart asked as she was confused by this. “I destroyed the Crystal Heart when I was a baby. How can you still love me?”

“Because, like you said…you’re family.”

Flurry Heart’s eyes went wide in shock after that word came out of Oliver’s mouth. He said family.

“I’m family to you?”

“Yes,” answered Oliver with a small smile on his face, “I may not be able to find love just yet and I’m still half pony and half ini demon, but you are right. I’m still family. Even if you, Mom and Dad figured I was the child of Chrysalis, you would have still taken me in and made me who I am now. You’re my sister, Flurry Heart, and I don’t wanna change that.”

Flurry Heart slowly grew a happy smile on her face as tears of happiness started to run down her cheeks, but she didn’t care. She closed her eyes and hugged her brother. None of them even noticed Princess Cadence looking through the opened doorway of the bedroom while smiling at the two as tears formed in her eyes. She was so proud of her little filly saying those kind things to Oliver and making him better again, and she was so proud of her colt telling his sister that she was family to him and not being mad for what she did at her Crystalling moons ago.

“They grow up so fast. I’m so proud of them,” she said to herself quietly.

Cadence brushed her tears away from her eyes with her hoof and decided to leave the two be, so she walked away from Oliver’s guest room and headed towards Twilight’s guest room to check on her.

“Do you think Auntie Twily’s gonna be okay?” Flurry Heart asked feeling worried about her aunt.

Oliver was about to answer until he saw Cadence’s tail showing that the princess of love was leaving them be and heading towards the guest room Twilight was in. He smiled at his mother before looking at his sister and said, “I’m sure Mom’s gonna see to her. She is the Princess of Friendship after all, and the sadness can’t hold her forever when she still has love, happiness and friendship in her.”

Flurry Heart said nothing and continued to smile as she continued hugging her big brother. She knew he was right and her favourite best aunt will be happy again in no time.

“I love you, Olive.”

“I love you too, Flurry Heart.”

The two continued to hug each other until they were ready to continue helping Lightning Twister.

Chapter 12
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 12

Author's Note

This contains spoilers to Spider-Man: No Way Home.

If you’ve haven’t seen the movie yet, read this chapter until you’ve seen the movie.

Chapter 12

Princess Luna was still angry as she made her to the balcony outside the Canterlot castle. She then used her magic to raise the moon with the sun lowering down. Luna continued to glare at the sky before Celestia’s hooves walking behind her.

“Figured I would find you out here,” said Celestia as she stopped near the open doorway, “Completely forgot it was time for the moon to rise.”

The princess of the moon turned round to show her angry look to Celestia while saying, “Get over here.”

“What? Is everything okay?” Celestia asked worriedly while walking up to her sister.

“No, everything is not okay,” Luna answered crossly, “Can you figure out what the problem is?”

“I…I don’t really…I honesty have…” Celestia suddenly started to release what Luna was mad about as she just remembered what happened back at the library. “Oh…Oh dear.”

“Yeah! That’s right! “Oh dear” is the way of saying you now know!” Said Luna angrily, “How do you think I feel after my friend telling me and Cadence what you, the girls and Shining Armor have done before I came to the party? I am furious. Absolutely furious! You should know better than that!”

Celestia was getting more ashamed of her actions from the past, but also scared to how this was going.

“I-I did congratulated Twilight for saving Equestria from a Changeling invasion though,” she said in a scared tone. But Luna wasn’t have none of that, and her tone did not change.

“Look, congratulated or not, you’ve still did the biggest mistake a princess could make. I can not believe you ignored the threat as well as not listened to Twilight! She was your student!”

Celestia was getting more and more scared of Luna’s anger tone.

“But, Luna, I didn’t know Chrysalis was pretending to be our niece. I thought she was just stress and wanted her wedding to be perfect and have it done before the threat hits.”

“Cadence wouldn’t taken her stress out on those that were trying to make her day special or treat Twilight like she’s still a filly when she always enjoy doing her special greeting! She would have taken her stress into her room so she can’t upset anypony and would talk to somepony about it when she’s okay again! And she would also want her wedding to come after the threat since that was more serious than the wedding!”

Luna turned round to look at the sky again while saying, “I may not have known Cadence after returning back to normal from being Nightmare Moon, but I’ve spent enough time with her to know all about her and her time with Twilight.” She then turned glare at Celestia again. “And I know Twilight would never try to upset her favourite foalsitter or ruin anything for her on her wedding. Proof or not, you should have listened to her and know your own niece to understand the actions between hers and Chrysalis’s. At least I know I wasn’t the only one who took the threat more serious.”

Celestia’s ashamed and scared look suddenly turned into a cross look after hearing her sister say she took the threat more serious.

“You took the threat more seriously? Chrysalis managed to invade the entire Canterlot and her changelings managed to break through the shield! And while we were struggling to stop them, where were you when the attack happened? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t be mad at you for not showing up during the invasion!”

“Because I was in a cocoon!” Luna shouted angrily.

Celestia’s angry expression turned into a shock expression. Her sister saying she was in a cocoon during the invasion made her remember that she was in a cocoon as well.

“I was about to go see why Twilight was outside at nighttime when Cadence came into my room and said she wanted to speak to me in private, so I say okay and let her in. But then I saw her eyes grow green, meaning that the Cadence I was speaking to wasn’t our Cadence. After figuring that out, I tried to run out to find you and the others, but she blasted me on the head that caused me to fall unconscious. When I woke up, I saw I was inside a disgusting changeling slimed cocoon. I was unable to break free until a blast of love broke the cocoon and I was free. I wasn’t able to check on any of you since I was still in pain and injured after being knocked out and falling out of a cocoon.”

Celestia now feels guilty after nearly having a go at her sister for not helping with the invasion when she was trying to stop it but couldn’t during it. She even thought Chrysalis’s return was the first time Luna has been encased in a cocoon when the invasion WAS the first time she’s been in one.

“And I mean every word, Tia,” said Luna, “I may be the princess of the moon and may not do much princess duties during the day like you do, but I don’t ignore a threat. I may want a rest after doing my night duty, but I still need to do my part of being a princess and be there when needed, no matter how tired I am.”

“I’m…I’m sorry, Luna,” said Celestia in shame, “I let that happened to you. If I haven’t let Chrysalis win and have just listened to Twilight, none of that would have happened. I even nearly lost her and Cadence too.”

“Not only that, but if Twilight didn’t have the heart to forgive you, the girls and Shining Armor, she would have quit being your student, ended her friendship with you and the girls, and told Shining he was no longer her BBBFF,” Luna said in a cross tone, “I know that was long ago, but you still should be ashamed of yourself for your actions and words.”

The princess of the moon walked past her sister and headed back inside the castle.

“Luna, where are you going now?” Celestia asked while turning round to watch her go.

“To my room so I can do my duty,” answered Luna as she stopped walking and turned round to look at her sister, “I may not be a happy princess at the moment, but I still got a job to do.” Luna turned forward while saying, “And I must protect Lightning Twister from any more of those nightmares.”

Princess Luna walked towards the door and was about to open it with her magic until a golden magic grasp shield covered the door to stop her from leaving.

“Huh?” Luna was surprised and confused by this.

“I can’t let you do that, Luna,” said Celestia as she walked into the room with Luna turning round to look at her.

“Wait until we’ve figured who or what is causing Lightning Twister to have those nightmares,” said the princess of the sun, “Go do your part on saving him when we find out what we’re facing.”

“And what? Just only make sure other ponies sleep well and let the poor colt unable to have a goodnight’s sleep? You should know by now I don’t ignore a nightmare somepony’s having. I gotta do my part and protect Lightning Twister from those nightmares.”

“No, you gotta do your part, protect Lightning Twister and survive,” said Celestia, “I’ve been trying to tell you that, but you don’t listen.”

“If you wanted me to survive so bad, why didn’t you save me from turning into Nightmare Moon instead of banishing me to the moon?”

“I had no other choice.”

“Pfft, yeah.” Luna looked away from Celestia.

“I’m serious,” said Celestia, “I couldn’t think of another way to break Nightmare Moon from you. Banishing you to the moon and losing my connection with the Elements of Harmony was the choice I had.”

Luna glared at Celestia while saying, “You wanted me back in your life, and this is the best way to make sure I’m safe?”

“I’m trying to save your life.”

“You’re stopping me from going to the dreamscape and protecting Lightning from any more of those nightmares!”

Celestia was getting angry of the way Luna was speaking to her right. “To protect you!”

“Like this is protecting me?!”

“Just listen to me and do what I say, Luna! I’m not gonna lose you again!”

Luna glared down to the floor wishing she didn’t have to do it, but Celestia left her no choice.

“And I’m not gonna let Lightning Twister suffer more just to save my mane,” she said before glaring at her sister again with her horn glowing which made Celestia step back in surprise. “You underestimated me.”

The grasp around Luna’s horn begun to glow brighter as Luna started to float in mid air and made the entire room turn into the dreamscape, which was a light blue area with faded white. Celestia shockingly looked around as Luna floated back down to her hooves and glared at her sister again.

“No!” Shouted Celestia before shooting a golden grasp beam at Luna to stop her from having them in the dreamscape, but Luna was quick on her hooves and flew up into the air as the beam hit the spot where she was once at.

“Don’t fight me on this, Luna!” Celestia shouted.

“I don’t want to!” Luna shouted back while still flying, “But I can’t stay away from helping Lightning Twister!”

Celestia continued to glare at her sister, even after hearing her say that.

“Then I’ll do what I have to do. Keep you safe!”

Celestia shot another golden grasp beam at Luna, but she quickly dodged the beam by flying to the left as the sun princess shot another one at her but she dodged that one as well by flying to the right. Celestia shot more beans at her sisters a couple of times, but Luna kept on dodging them by flying to another side, up and down, flying around her sister and using her magic to shield some from hitting her.

Luna used her magic to change the dreamscape area to another area which had boutiques everywhere and lovely dresses flying out of each door one by one.

“This isn’t about me or Lightning Twister at all, Tia!” Shouted Luna while still flying and glaring at her sister, “It’s about you! You’re still afraid of losing me again!”

“Don’t you turn this on me, Luna!” Celestia shouted angrily before shooting another golden grasp beam at Luna which she blocked it with her dark blue grasp shield.

Luna shot a dark blue grasp beam at Celestia which did hit her and caused her to slide back a bit on her hooves. Celestia rubbed the pain of her chest before glaring at Luna. She spread her wings out and flew up towards her sister.

Luna quickly flew away as Celestia chased after her while shooting golden grasp beams at her to stop her, but Luna kept on dodging them by flying up, down and spinning around over them as well as using her dark blue grasp shield.

“When are you gonna understand I have to protect Lightning Twister from those nightmares?!” Luna asked while glaring at Celestia and still flying away.

“When are you gonna understand you can’t do that if something happens to you?!” Asked Celestia while glaring at her sister as she continues to fly after her and shoot golden grasp beams at her which she keeps on dodging.

Luna used her magic to change the area into a new area which was a very greyish railroad bridge with the Crystal Empire express running on the tracks. Celestia and Luna flew down to the coaches and landed on top of one of them.

“You don’t realise, I’m the only one trying to save you!” Celestia said angrily.

“And I’m trying to save Lightning Twister like the others are doing!” Said Luna angrily.

Celestia glared at her Luna as her horn started to glow and she charged towards her sister. But Luna was too quick on her hooves and jumped high enough to dodge her sister as she stopped on the spot Luna was once stood. Celestia turned and saw Luna landing on another coach of the train.

“You think you can protect Lightning from those nightmares we know nothing about yet? You can’t!”

“I have to try! He needs me!”

Celestia’s horn began to glow again as she charged towards Luna again, but this time, Luna used her magic to make more of the Crystal Empire express as they appeared one by one and floated around the original express to create a cylinder out of expresses. Celestia stopped and shockingly looked at the expresses above her.

Celestia glared at Luna while asking, “Didn’t you remember what Mother said about picking your battles?!”

“She told me to think about everypony else and not let them get put into danger no matter what!”

Celestia used her magic to make the multiple expresses disappear into pieces. Luna spread her wings and flew away as Celestia used her magic to teleport herself in front of Luna making her stop in her tracks.

“Throw yourself in situations you can’t handle. You know who did that once?”

Luna knew who she was referring to as she glared at her sister and said, “Don’t say his name!”

Luna was suddenly about to use her magic in anger, but she quickly changed it to make the area change into a new area which was the dreamscape again but with multiple stairs everywhere like a big maze. Celestia floated down and stood on the stairs that was upside down while Luna floated down to stand on the stairs that was facing sideways.

“You want me to lose you again but for real so I have to bury you? I won’t let you!”

Celestia shot a golden grasp beam at Luna with her magic, but Luna quickly jumped to another pack of stairs which were facing up as the beam destroyed the sideway stairs. Luna glared at Celestia as she shot a dark blue beam at her sister, but it only destroyed the upside down stairs while Celestia flew away before it actually hit her.

“You’re naive, sister! You’re still a princess trying to impress others because you’re the princess of the moon!” Celestia said while glaring at Luna.

“No, I’m the princess who knows everypony needs me!” Said Luna angrily after being hurt by what she used to be in the past when she was a filly.

Celestia blasted more golden grasp beams at Luna, but she kept on dodging them by flying to different packs of stairs as the beams destroyed them one by one. Luna ran up the stairs that were facing up before stopping halfway to stare angrily at her sister.

“You were never gonna accept my part of saving everycreature from evil nightmares. The risk I gotta take.”

Celestia flew to where she look down at Luna more clearly as she glared at her while saying, “You’re right. I’m done losing members of my family after trying to save everypony!”

Celestia started shooting golden grasp beams at Luna as she ran up the stairs again with the beams hitting the stairs and making a piece of the stairs fall off.

“How far will you take this, Luna? You’re gonna let the threats kill you as you prove you deserved your princess role?!”

“If that’s what it takes!”

Celestia’s beam broke another piece of the stairs which made Luna fly in mid-air. Luna glared at Celestia before flying up to her so she can see her face to face.

“Why are you trying to stop me from helping Lightning Twister sleep better, sister?!” Luna asked angrily, “You know it’s my duty to stop nightmares from haunting everypony, especially the ones made by a threat!”

“I refuse to lose you again, Luna!” Answered Celestia angrily, “If this is Sombra’s doing, he’ll destroy you before you could save Lightning Twister from him!”

“I’m not gonna let him have anymore bad nightmares if this is Sombra’s work! I can’t ignore a threat like you did at Cadence’s wedding! Only me and Twilight took the threat more serious than you, the girls and Shining did since it was the only special day you thought was more important!” Celestia’s anger started to grow more and more as her horn began to glow and spark while Luna continued, “You’ve just left Twilight handle the threat by herself like she can take care of it herself! She was still a unicorn back then, Tia! And you think you can just let her handle the threats so she can risk her life to save Equestria and you not helping out just so you don’t have risk your life? That just putting an innocent pony in danger! Especially the one you called your faithful student!”

“ENOUGH!!” Celestia shouted angrily and loudly while making a huge orange light blast around her which causing Luna to fly backwards with the dreamscape breaking into pieces revealing the room the sisters were once in as Luna smacked against the wall causing her to collapse on the ground.

Celestia’s anger started to cool as she saw her sister unconscious on the floor while having a now shocked and worried expression on her face.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted in shock before running to Luna’s aid.

Luna slowly stood back up, but nearly collapsed a bit due to the pain she got from smacking into that wall, as she moaned in pain a bit. Celestia ran up to her sister and saw what had just happened to her.

“Luna! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” She said in a panic and worried tone as she tried to help her sister up. “Are you alright?”

However, instead of answering, Luna glared at her sister and pushed Celestia’s hoof away from her. Celestia was surprised and worried from that, but she knew why though.

“Luna?”

Luna still didn’t answer and continued to glare at her sister before making her way to the doorway of the room now that the shield was finally down. She opened the door with her magic and she was about to leave the room until she was stopped by Celestia’s voice.

“Luna, wait. Please. I know I messed up. I let you down. But we’re family.”

“Family?” Luna said while turning round to glare at her sister again, “If we are family, then how come that didn’t stop you from keeping secrets from me, thinking I was ignoring the invasion, stopping me from helping Lightning Twister and fighting me?! Being family doesn’t mean doing all of that, even by mistake! Twilight was your family too! You treated and loved her like she was your own daughter! But that didn’t stop you from abandoning her, ignoring her about the fake Cadence proof or not, ignoring the threat as well and using harsh words on her like you were gonna tell her off when Chrysalis has the chance to attack after the wedding! And you nearly lost her if Chrysalis had different plans to deal with her.”

Celestia now had a sad and shame expression on her face. She knew Luna was right about everything. The words she used on Twilight made her think she was gonna get told off after the wedding and before Chrysalis started the invasion, and the way she did to Luna was almost losing her after trying to protect her from the nightmares.

“You are right, Luna,” she said sadly and shamefully, “What I did, was my fault since I was one of the ponies that let it happen. All I ever wanted was to have my family again. But, it really doesn’t have to be like this. You and me, hating and losing each other. That’s how it happened between us and him before what happened to our mother and aunt. I don’t wanna repeat that.”

Luna knew what Celestia meant by that, she remembered what happened with their mother and aunt before they became rulers of Equestria and refuses let the same event happen again as well.

“I don’t either, sister,” said Luna in a now calm tone, “But I can’t avoid threats you wanna protect me from.”

Celestia looked down in guilt knowing that she almost made things worse by stopping Luna from helping Lightning Twister sleep well during the night till they reach the Tree of Life and stop the nightmares from continuing.

“I can’t turn my back when Fluttershy needs me to help her son,” Luna said before making her way out of the room. As she made her way through the opened doorway, she said, “I have to be better than that.”

With Luna now out of the room, Celestia watched her sister disappear into the hallway as she let out a guilty sigh while looking down in shame.

At the old and destroyed, but still holding, castle of the two sisters, inside the damaged throne room was a pony in a black coat sitting on the floor staring at the destroyed thrones of Celestia and Luna. It’s unknown why he’s there, how long has he been there and what was he doing there.

He continued to stare at the thrones until he heard a strange coming from behind him. He turned and saw a dark corridor near him as the hooded figure walked out from the corridor and stood near him while the corridor disappeared behind him.

The hooded pony stood up and faced the hood figure. The figure placed a finger near his mouth was in the hood while saying, “Shhh.”

The hooded pony continued to stare at the figure before asking in a whisper tone, “What do you want?”

“From you? Nothing,” answered the hooded figure in a friendly tone, “For you? Everything I never had before. But what is it you want, my boy?”

“I want to destroy Celestia and Luna, and then take the throne,” the pony said in a calm tone.

The hooded figure understood what the pony wanted and stood sideways on the right while looking at the pony. He stretched his hand out and opened a dark corridor before saying, “This is where you can rest before getting exactly what you want. I can help you. Besides, the sisters, along with their friends and niece, are protecting someone that I’m after. We can use the help we can from each other.”

The hooded pony didn’t know what he was doing or what should he do, but he trusted the figure without even knowing more of him and only just met him. He walked towards the dark corridor and disappeared after walking into it.

“I would definitely take that, as a yes,” the hooded figure said gladly before walking into the dark corridor himself as it disappeared leaving the castle completely empty again.

Chapter 13
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 13

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Chapter 14
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 14

Cadence continued to walk down the hallway as she was to calm down a bit after her talk with the girls. After everything that was going on, she needed enough to energy for when she speaks to her husband and aunt. It was the just those two that she needs to speak to now.

Speaking of husband, Shining Armor was walking down the same hallway Cadence was in. He was searching for his wife hoping he could try to talk it out and explain why it all happened.

The white stallion saw his wife at the near end of the other side of the hallway as he started to run up to her while saying, “Cadence!”

Cadence saw Shining Armor running up towards her. The princess stopped walking as she gave her husband a cross stare.

Shining stopped running, when he got to Cadence, and said, “Cadence, thank Celestia I found you. I wanted to…” But before Shining could continue, Cadence crossly hissed, “You stupid royal guard.”

Shining took a step back a bit in surprise as he figured his wife is still mad at him for what Twilight had just said to her. Shining frowned a bit before saying, “You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m still mad at you!” Cadence snapped, “I am so angry at you, the girls and Aunt Celestia for what you did to Twilight at the rehearsal while I was trapped in the caves beneath Canterlot! What were you even thinking?!”

Shining was getting more scared and nervous of Cadence’s anger right now as he was also struggling what to say next and how to explain everything.

“I…I-I really thought Twilight upset you during the rehearsal when she accused you of being evil.”

“And you actually thought she was trying to ruin our wedding and marriage when she was telling the truth and nopony else listened or believed her?!”

Shining began to rub his hoof while saying, “Well…the imposter was crying when Twilight accused her of being evil.”

“And THAT was a mockery of me!” Cadence said angrily, “I never cry the way Chrysalis did it! I can not believe you thought Twilight upset me and I ran off crying when I never do stuff like that when somepony upsets me! She was your sister, and you choose the imposter over her?!”

Shining was getting annoyed by his wife not understanding why he did and the way she was speaking as he glared at her while saying, “Well, Twilight didn’t have any proof that the Cadence during that day was evil and not really you! She just told me what she was doing before nightfall and came into the rehearsal acting a jealous pony and, of course, a filly!”

Cadence let out a gasp of shock and anger before angrily saying, “How dare you. How DARE you say that about your own sister!”

“How dare I? How dare YOU!” Shining said angrily, “You don’t understand what was going on during that day or what we went through!”

“No, Shining, you don’t know what me AND Twilight went through! I’ve been imprisoned in the caves for more than twenty-four hours with no food or water and Twilight spent most of her time during the preparations spying on the imposter like she was the only one who took the threat seriously and knew what was going on! You think trying to make the wedding perfect during the threat was awful, I could have die if Twilight haven’t freed me and saw I was the real me! And Chrysalis could have killed Twilight instead imprisoning her as well! And I bit you didn’t think to check on Twilight on the day of our wedding like she wasn’t important anymore after the way she acted during the rehearsal when she was trying to save your rear end and because nopony was listening to her!”

“I WAS planning on checking on Twilight, but the fake Cadence told me not to worry about her and just focus on the wedding!”

“So you thought Twilight just went back to Ponyville like she didn’t deserve to come back to the wedding at all?!”

“Well…yeah. But just so you didn’t forget, I was under Chrysalis’s control since she wanted my love!”

“Ah, but were you under her control during the rehearsal? Hmmm?”

“Ye…I…” That was when Shining Armor realised he wasn’t under Chrysalis’s control during the rehearsal, and it was him that decided to kick Twilight out of the wedding. He looked down in shame. “No, I wasn’t.”

“So don’t use “Chrysalis controlling you” as an excuse for me to say it wasn’t your fault you did all of that to Twilight! And how dare you thought Twilight went back to Ponyville and not bothered checking on her before getting some shut eye or in the morning before the wedding! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Shining couldn’t help but feel even more guilty for what he had done in the past.

“And don’t go seeing Twilight, even if you want to start putting things right which I suggest you do,” Cadence continued, “She’s having time to herself and deciding whether to show you how she felt during the rehearsal or not. But you go see your daughter and make things right with her and let her come, she is right about leaving her with Night Light and Twilight Velvet. Not to mention, the nightmares could haunt her too. And if Twilight does have a go at you, you let her. You deserve it and should know how she felt when you did it to her. Do I make myself clear?”

Shining didn’t answer, instead he just slowly nodded his head at his wife.

“Good,” she said, “Now, with you done, I must go find my aunt so I can have a word with her.” Cadence walked past Shining as he watched her go with a guilty expression on his face. He was about to say something, but Cadence quickly stopped and said, “And no, Shining. I’m not planning to divorce you. It’ll break Twilight and Flurry Heart’s heart, and it’ll probably make things worst. And we already got enough problems on our hooves with poor Lightning Twister suffering from horrible nightmares.“

Cadence continued to make her way down the hallway to find Celestia as Shining watched her disappear in the distance of the hallway. He was glad she wasn’t gonna break up with him, but he was worried about the talk he’s gonna have with his sister and daughter. Shining started to walked down the other side of the hallway as he was searching for the room Flurry Heart was in.

The mane five were all in one of their guest rooms as they needed some time alone after the conversation with Cadence earlier. After everything they did wrong in the past, even when they knew what they were doing was wrong, they couldn’t help but feel like they’ve learned nothing about friendship before doing those bad moves.

Applejack finally spoke up, “You know what, girls. Cadence is right. Every time we go on an adventure and try to save Equestria without the princesses’ helping or being there, one of us is doing something stupid. We were supposed to be Twilight’s friends and the bearers of the other five elements, instead we were treating her like a side pony and not taking friendship or its lessons seriously.”

“I hate to admit it, but AJ’s right,” said Rainbow, “Even behind the princesses’ backs, we did some things to Twilight that we should be guilty of and not her.”

“What? Even when she tried to steal Queen Novo’s pearl?” Pinkie asked crossly.

“Well that was on us, Pinkie,” said Rainbow while crossing her hooves, “None of us had even tried to help Twilight see that we can have fun and help others during a mission to save Equestria as well as making sure no villains try to stop us or find the pony they’re after.”

“Says the Wonderbolt who did her Sonic Rainboom which helped Tempest find us easily,” said Applejack crossly which made Rainbow glare at her.

“Hey, I didn’t know that was gonna happen!” Said Rainbow angrily, “I wasn’t thinking straight and I was too busy being excited and celebrating Captain Celaeno and her crew being free from The Storm King’s order! And I could say the same thing to you, Applejack! You were the one who told Twilight go stay in Ponyville where it was “safe” when Discord’s vines were attacking and got us to agree as well when she was needed during the search for the Tree of Harmony!”

“I didn’t tell her to! I just made a suggestion so we don’t lose her!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the farm pony while saying, “Even before she came back and suddenly got attacked by gas vines when we started to realise we’ve made a mistake?”

“Well the vines were capturing the two princesses and Twilight, even though we don’t know why they were also after her since Discord planted them long ago,” said Applejack calmly, “I was just trying to keep Twilight safe like a good friend would do.”

“Except a friend doesn’t tell them to go home when they are needed, no matter who or what is after them!” Rainbow said crossly, “And seeing how Cadence is mad at us for what we did to Twilight, how is she going to react when she finds out we made Twilight go back to Ponyville when we did needed her?!”

“Don’t forget about Celestia, Luna and Shining Armor,” added Pinkie Pie which made the four girls stare at her.

“What?” Fluttershy asked confusedly.

“Nothing,” answered Pinkie Pie, “It’s just that they were also not around during the vines attacking Ponyville problem.”

The girls were giving the pink pony the cross look since they all know what she meant by that and what will happen if they did find out what happened during the vine attack.

“You only said Cadence, okay?! I’m just making sure we’re all on the same page, in case Celestia or Luna haven’t been told what happened during our journey to the Tree of Harmony!”

“Who would think that?” Rainbow asked in a annoyed tone.

Pinkie quickly looked at Fluttershy for a second before turning back to Rainbow and saying, “Maybe Fluttershy?”

“Oh thank you, Pinkie,” said Fluttershy crossly and in a annoyed tone, “Blame the pony who is the only harmony bearer that is a mother, why not?”

“Well who else could I blame?”

“I don’t know,” replied Fluttershy angrily, “How about Rarity?”

“And why me?” Rarity asked crossly.

“Because you haven’t even said anything when Applejack started this conversation!” Fluttershy said crossly.

“I have to agree with her, Rarity,” said Applejack, “You know that we did things that isn’t Twilight’s fault and we hurt her pretty bad most of those times.”

“Even when she tried to steal the pearl?! That was on her! We didn’t cause her to do a stupid move! Besides, she used us!”

“It WAS on us, Rarity!” Rainbow said angrily, “We didn’t help her see that she can still have fun while saving Equestria and finding what we’re looking for! She used us and tried to steal the pearl, because we didn’t do our job of taking her safe from Tempest and being her friends!”

“But she yelled at Pinkie!”

“Again, on us!” Pinkie said angrily, “She yelled at me, because I hurt her by saying she doesn’t trust her friends without even realising what we didn’t do after we arrived at Klugetown! Plus we also did a stupid move! We trusted a stranger who was also a liar!”

“That’s still my husband you’re talking about,” said Fluttershy in a cross and annoyed tone.

“Oops, sorry,” Pinkie said quickly.

“Pinkie does have a point,” said Applejack, “Most of these past actions are literally our fault. We do treat Twilight as our friend, but sometimes, we don’t and make her believe that it’s her fault this happens when it’s really our fault.”

“Well Twilight should have had some prove that the fake Cadence was evil and mean when she told us during that night before rehearsal,” said Rarity.

The four glared at the white unicorn for saying that. Rainbow was about to say something, but then decided not to in case it’ll make things worst between them all. However, Applejack gave her a nod as a way of telling her to say it. And so Rainbow gave the farm pony a nod in return before turning back to Rarity and saying, “Oh I see. When one of us do something wrong, we forgive each other and move on from them while saying we know you didn’t mean to. But when Twilight does something she didn’t mean to do while none of us knew we made her do it,” she then did her Rarity impression, “Twilight should know better, and should have had some prove that the fake Cadence was evil and mean when she told us during that night before rehearsal.”

“And while we were on the subject on others finding out what we did,” said Fluttershy, “What do you think is going to happen when Lightning Twister finds out what we did during the wedding?!”

The four turned to look at Fluttershy after hearing her mentioning Lightning Twister.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about him,” said Rainbow while rubbing the back of her head.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” said Pinkie Pie, “I’m sure Lightning won’t be mad at you if he does find out what we all did before you adopted him.”

“How can you be so sure about that, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked crossly, “He wasn’t mad after Rarity yelled at him during the Gala and he didn’t have a go at you after you upset him because he was The Storm King’s grandson. And that’s a good thing. But how is he going to react when he finds out what we did before I took him in?”

“She does have a point there, girls,” said Rainbow, “I’m feeling worried that the kid might hate us if he finds out what we did to Twilight over these past few moons.”

“Why are you so worried about him being mad at you, Rainbow?” Rarity asked, “You didn’t even do anything wrong to him.”

“Uh yeah I did actually, Rarity,” said Rainbow in an annoyed and cross tone, “When I first met Lightning, I scared him with a thunder storm and called him a crybaby without even thinking straight. And after hearing what Cold Wind did to him before he ran away, I couldn’t help but feel so guilty for scaring him and calling him a crybaby. I felt so awful doing that to him, and he didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“Rainbow’s right,” said Applejack, “And children can often get angry at their parents for the actions they did before having them. And even though Lightning still has a heart to love and care for us all, no matter how long Cold Wind treated him, there’s no telling how he will react to our wedding betrayal.”

“Don’t you girls think you’re just overreacting about Lightning hating us for the actions we did in the past even though some was Twilight’s own fault?” Rarity asked annoyingly.

“The actions that Twilight did WAS our fault and not Twilight’s, Rarity! Stop making things worse for us!” Fluttershy said angrily, “And we’re not overreacting, we’re worried about Lightning’s response! We’re not stupid!”

“Neither is Twilight!” Added Rainbow.

“None of us even said she was stupid,” said Pinkie Pie.

“I know that, Pinkie! I’m just saying that since none of us took the threat more seriously or even saw what was going on with the fake Cadence! She was our friend, and we treated her like we were doing it for the Elements of Harmony and because she was the student of Celestia! In other words, just using her!”

“Can I just remind you, Rainbow, that you often call Twilight an egghead like she was stupid since she reads a lot?” Rarity said which made Rainbow glare an annoyed stare at her.

“Well I now regret calling her that, even before I started reading the Daring Do books!” Rainbow said crossly, “And I now know that’s how Loyalty works! So for now, I’m staying by Twilight’s side, having her back and treating her a true friend like a true Loyalty friend!”

“And I’ll always be kind to her like a true Kindness friend,” added Fluttershy.

“And I’ll always listen to her and make sure my lying sense is open like a true Honesty friend,” said Applejack.

“And I’ll always help her smile again, when she feels down, like a true Laughter friend!” Pinkie Pie said.

The four stared at Rarity waiting for her to say her bit for treating Twilight more like a friend and as the true element bearer. The white unicorn looked at the girls confusedly.

“What? Why are you all staring at me for?”

“Well we said our bit for treating Twilight as a true friend and as a true element bearer, we’re waiting for you to say yours,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Seriously?” Rarity asked annoyingly with an raised eyebrow.

“Rarity, do you want Twilight feel upset and guilty for the rest of her life, not to mention our lives, and have Cadence, Shining, Celestia and Luna be mad at us for what we did as well make this impossible to help Lightning?” Rainbow asked crossly with her hooves crossed, “Because I’m not letting my poor nephew suffer from anymore nightmares!”

“What’s the point though? Cadence is already mad and disappointed in us! She even kicked us off her favourite girls list and banned us from attending her future anniversary parties!”

“She only said we were banned from THIS year’s anniversary party until further notice!” Reminded Rainbow, “And who cares if we’re off her list and banned from future anniversary parties? We deserved it! And I don’t really care if I’m off Cadence’s favourite girls list or banned from future anniversary stuff, all I want is to make up for my mistakes, treat Twilight as a true friend and being there for her like I’m supposed to!”

“Same here,” said Fluttershy.

“I ain’t treating Twilight like a party pooper anymore!” Pinkie said proudly.

“And I’ll be treating her like a true Apple would do,” said Applejack.

Rarity looked at the girls before saying, “Well, I suppose I will be kind to Twilight like a true Generosity friend and treating her more as a friend.”

“Then it’s settled,” said Applejack, “When Twilight has finished being alone, we let her have a go at us for what we did, if she decides to do that, and then we start treating her as a friend.”

“Agreed!” The four girls in unison while giving the farm pony a nod.

Celestia was walking down the hallway after cleaning herself up from that fight she had with Luna. After everything she just said and did to her own sister, she couldn’t help but feel like she was taking this too far, especially after happened moons ago before Discord attacked Ponyville.

Just then, she saw her niece walking down the other side of the hallway as she saw her aunt and stared crossly at her before continuing walking towards her.

“Just the aunt I wanted to speak to,” said Cadence crossly.

“Please, Cadence, don’t. I already had Luna having a go at me for my actions, and it ended badly. We’ll talk later.”

“No, we’re talking right now!” Cadence said angrily, “I don’t care how much guilt you’ve took from your talk with Aunt Luna, it’s my turn to have a word with you!”

Celestia sighed before saying, “Please don’t. I can’t take any more of the guilt. I understand you’re mad at us for how we treated Twilight at the wedding, but just so you didn’t know, I was upset with how she was acting during the rehearsal and how she was treating you which is why I left her.”

“Even after warning and telling you that I wasn’t acting like myself when Chrysalis was pretending to be me when the threat was still going on?!”

“Cadence, I thought you were stress during the preparation of your wedding and wanted it to be perfect and to be done before the threat got even worse.”

“Chrysalis was treating everypony badly, bossing them about and saying horrible stuff about their work on the wedding making them think I was stress! I never take my stress out on anypony, nor do I hurt them, boss them about or say rude things about the things they did for me! You should know that by now! I thought she knew me!”

“I do know you! I loved you ever since I took you in!” Celestia said.

“But you didn’t know when Chrysalis was pretending to be me and did things that only Twilight knew I would never do! And you just ignored her like she didn’t love me anymore and I was marrying her brother even without telling her how long we’ve been dating! Not only that, but you also hurt her with hurtful words and left her to handle a threat like it was none of your concern!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“You didn’t mean to?!” Cadence said crossly.

“But I did congratulate Twilight for saving your wedding and Equestria from a huge threat!”

“You didn’t mean to, but you did it. You had the chance to stand by your student’s side and help save Equestria for once, but you just decided, I don’t know,” she pretended to be Celestia and walked while saying her aunt’s words, “You have a lot to think about,” she then stopped as she continued, “That’s it, you did it. Did you not think that Chrysalis might kill Twilight when you gave her the chance or maybe think she might stop being your student if she didn’t have the heart to forgive? No, you didn’t thought about that. You just thought about the wedding, thought about making me happy and thought about not caring about the threat like the shield could protect us all.”

“Let me remind you of something, Cadence. Before Luna came back, Twilight didn’t have any friends during her time in Canterlot. She may likes reading, but she didn’t have anypony to hang out with until she found out about Nightmare Moon and before I sent her to Ponyville. I made her a better pony.”

Cadence, however, wasn’t gonna take it.

“Oh you made her a better pony, huh? Well let me tell you something. Before Twilight became your student, she had me foalsitting her. She didn’t have friends during that time, but she had a fantastic life spending time with me, studying, learning new spells, having fun with Shining and trying to impress you. And she’s been trying to impress you before she became a princess and making all threats are dealt with, but you never really bothered to help out on any threats no matter if you’re cut from the elements or not.”

Celestia knew Cadence was right about that. Twilight did have a good life before she moved to Ponyville, and the fact that Celestia never really bothered to come help stop any threats from harming Equestria. She just made Twilight deal with it like she can handle it herself.

“You’re right about that, Cadence,” said Celestia guiltily, “But at least I didn’t send Twilight out to deal with Lord Tirek.”

“Oh don’t you bring that up, especially after sending Pennywise the chaotic clown out to stop him,” said Cadence crossly.

“Discord?”

“That dipstick let that demon drain everypony’s magic and made Twilight give up all the alicorn magic for her friends to live! And Spike could have been killed by Tirek if Twilight didn’t surrendered her magic! He was her baby dragon!”

Hearing all of that made Celestia remember what Twilight, Spike and the girls told her what Lord Tirek did while she, Luna and Cadence were trapped in Tartarus after refusing to tell Tirek where their magic was. Now the sun princess couldn’t help but feel more guilty for not thinking straight and putting her own student in grave danger. She looked down in shame and closed her eyes.

“Twilight has having some time to herself alone in her room,” said Cadence, “She wants to think about whether to tell you, Shining and the girls how she felt during the rehearsal or to let it hurt her forever. So don’t even think about going straight to her and try to set things right with her just yet.”

Cadence started to walk off as she went past her aunt, but she stopped and turned to stare angrily at her again while saying, “And if you ever, EVER, do something like that from the rehearsal night or similar to the Tirek situation again, you won’t be seeing or hearing from me again as I will stop being your niece. You’re lucky Twilight has a heart to forgive. She would have stopped being your student, and that would have been the second student you lost.”

Celestia sadly turned her head to look at her niece as she saw her cross look showing that she meant it. Cadence stared crossly at Celestia one last time before heading off down the hallway. Celestia watched Cadence disappear into the far end of the hallway before looking down again in sadness.

“She’s right,” Celestia said to herself, “If Twilight didn’t had the heart to forgive, she would stopped being my student. But worst than that, I could have lost her when Lord Tirek attacked. And Twilight could have lost Spike if she didn’t surrendered all the alicorn magic. Why do I keep doing this to her? She’s like a daughter to me, but I keep treating her like she can handle anything.”

A tear started to roll down Celestia’s face and fell to the floor making a tiny puddle near her hooves.

Chapter 15
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 15

Author's Note

I’ve been wanting to write this chapter after writing chapter 10!

Chapter 15

Things were as quiet as a mouse in the guest bedroom where Oliver and Flurry Heart was in. After their comfort hug and making each other feel better, they decided to read a book or two just to past the time till Twilight and the others sort out the situation they’re dealing with at the moment. “The betrayal rehearsal situation” we’ll call it.

Shining Armor decided to do what Cadence told him to do as he entered the guest bedroom and saw his children reading a book. He was nervous and worried to what will happen when he starts talking to Flurry Heart since he was the one that started this problem over the nightmare situation that was still happening.

The stallion let out a calm and brave sigh before gently knocking the door before saying, “Uh…Flurry?”

Flurry Heart turned to see her father at the doorway, but then turned back to her book as she refuses to speak to him right now after yelling at her in the library.

Shining knew Flurry might do something like this, but he wanted to set things right with his daughter and sister, and to also make Cadence happy again. He walked up to Flurry Heart while saying, “Flurry Heart, I know you’re upset with me for yelling at you, banning you from coming along and what I did to Twily moons ago. But please hear me out. I may be overprotecting you and not letting you come with us to the Tree of Life, but it’s because I love you. And we’re family.”

“Really, Dad?” Flurry Heart said while staring crossly at her father, “Family? How come that didn’t stop you from overprotecting me, stopping me from going to the park with Mama and letting me walk to my bedroom on my own? That’s not how families work from what I’ve read in family books.”

“I know, Flurry, but it’s just that I love you and I don’t want to lose you. I’ve never been a parent before and I felt worried about how things are gonna turn out after you were born and when you come to your filly age.”

“That’s not even a good excuse for me not going to school when there’s still things I need to learn before I become the next princess,” said Flurry Heart crossly, “Plus Auntie Twily is still the Princess of Friendship and I want to impress her by making some friends and understanding friendship like she did. And even if some don’t like me or even bully me, I can just tell you or Mama about it so I don’t make a huge mistake and become a bully myself.”

“If Aunt Twilight was here and heard that, Flurry Heart, she would be impress,” said Oliver happily.

Flurry Heart smiled proudly at her big brother before looking crossly at her father again while saying, “And another thing, was everything Auntie Twily just said, back in the library, was true? Did you really kick her out of the wedding and thought she was trying to ruin everything for you and Mama?”

Shining sighed deeply and guiltily before nodding his head instead of saying yes.

“You really shouldn’t have done that since you knew what was going on and there was a threat going on,” the filly princess said, “And if it haven’t been Auntie Twily, you’d still be under Chrysalis’s control, Mama would have die in the caves below, the changelings would have feed on everypony, and everything that has happened would be like that if Auntie Twily and the girls haven’t had showed up to fix everything.”

“Well…” Shining began, “When you put it like that, you are right about everything.”

“Yeah.” Flurry was then surprised by what her father just said. “Wait, I am?”

“Yes,” answered the stallion, “I wasn’t even under Chrysalis’s control during the rehearsal, so I should have listened to Twilight, even after seeing the fake Cadence’s true self before she mind controlled me. And now that I think about, I was making the same mistake back in the library as well as putting my own parents in danger. So you are right, Flurry Heart. I was putting innocent ponies in danger, and I know your grandparents doesn’t understand dangerous threats like we do. Not only that, but I was overprotecting you when I said you couldn’t come to the Tree of Life with us. You only wanted to help, and I didn’t see it. I’m sorry.”

Flurry Heart stared at Shining surprising while listening to every word he just said as Shining gently placed a hoof on her shoulder and said, “Flurry Heart, you may come with us to the Tree of Life. But you must promise to be good and do as you are told, understood?”

Flurry began to smile happily after hearing she can go to the Tree of Life with them as she replied, “Yes, Daddy. I promise to be good and do what you tell me to do.”

“So you forgive me then?”

“Mmhmm,” she said happily while giving him a simple nod.

Shining smiled happily as the father and daughter hugged each other while Oliver smiled happily at the two. He was glad that the two finally fixed things between them. Shining was also glad that things have been fixed between him and his daughter, but there was still one more pony he needs to fix things with: his sister, Twilight Sparkle. But he decided to worry about that later and continued to smile happily and hug Flurry Heart, even though he was still worried about what will happened between him and Twilight when he sees her next.

Twilight pacing back and forth in her guest bedroom while thinking about what to do when her brother, friends and teacher comes in to make things right with her. Either tell them how she feel felt after defeating Chrysalis or to let the anger sink into her and let the betrayal night hurt her forever. She was even scared to think how they would react or say if she did tell them how she felt.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted as the bedroom door opened making the princess stop pacing and looked to see who it was opening the door. There she saw Spike slowly and nervously entering the bedroom with a worried expression on his face.

“Uhh, hey,” he said nervously, “Is this a bad time?”

“Spike? Why are you acting so nervously? Is something wrong?”

“No no, nothing’s wrong,” answered Spike quickly, “It’s just…well…”

“Did Discord say something about how you treated me during the rehearsal that made you upset again?” Twilight asked in a calm but serious tone, “Because I have every right to tell him to…”

Twilight was cut off by Spike saying, “No, he didn’t this time. Although, I am wondering where he went do. But it does having something to do with what I did at the rehearsal moons ago.”

“Oh Spike, that wasn’t your fault what you did back there,” said Twilight as she walked over to her child, “You were just confused and worried, that’s all.”

“But I can’t help feeling like it is,” said Spike sadly, “I should have stayed with you, but I didn’t, even when I was messing around with the cake decorations. After everything you’ve done for me, I shouldn’t have left you. You took care of me, you raised me, you were always there for me when my real parents weren’t, and that was the thanks I gave you?”

“Spike, stop blaming yourself for what you did at the rehearsal,” said Twilight softly, “I’m telling you, it was not your fault.”

“But, Twilight, I l…” Spike was cut off by a touch of Twilight’s hoof on his shoulder as he saw her smiling softly at him.

“Spike, did I glare angrily at you when I left the library?” Spike slowly shook his head in response.

“And did I tell Cadence what you did during the wedding preparation?”

“N…no.”

“And did Cadence tell you off for your actions during that night?”

“No, she didn’t,” replied Spike politely.

“And am I showing you how mad I am at you and making you upset?”

“No,” Spike answered while shaking his head.

“And why didn’t Cadence and I do all that to you?”

Spike tried to think of a good answer for that question. He was about to shrug his shoulder in response, but he remembered what Cadence told him after asking her why he wasn’t in big trouble. He looked at Twilight and said, “Because I’m a still baby dragon?”

“That’s right,” said Twilight happily, “Which means there’s nothing for you to worry about. Neither me of Cadence are mad at you or telling you off for what you did during the wedding. You may have done that action, but I refuse to yell at you or tell you off for doing that since you’re still a baby dragon. My baby dragon.”

Spike blushed at that last bit of the sentence.

“Now, how about you give me a smile?” Twilight asked nicely.

Spike tried to gave his mother a smile as she asked, but the only smile he could do was a small one and Twilight wasn’t gonna accept that smile.

“I’m gonna need more than that kind of a smile, Spike,” said Twilight jokingly, “Come on.”

“I…I can’t, Mom,” said Spike sadly, “I’m still a little guilty for my foolish actions.”

Twilight, however, wasn’t going to have that. She wanted a smile from her baby dragon and she was going to get it, even if she has to do it the hard way.

While smiling, Twilight let out a calm sigh before saying, “All right then, Spike, you’ve left me with no choice.” She then used her magic to lift Spike up and pulled him towards her while grinning playfully at him. “I want to see a smile on your face, and I’m going to get it. I’m doing this the hard way.”

Spike was confused, but also a bit worried, as to what Twilight was on about. “What kind of hard way?”

“The tickle way!!” Twilight began to tickle Spike’s sides with hooves, while he was still in her magical grasp, as he started to laugh uncontrollably. Twilight slowly lower him down to floor with her magic while still tickling his sides which made him fall on his back.

“Hahahahahahaha!!! T-Tw-Twilight, p-please! S-Stop! Hahaha!”

“Tickle, tickle! Tickles on the baby dragon! Woooo!”

After a few more seconds of tickling, Twilight stopped tickling Spike’s sides and let him catch his breath as his face was red from all that laughing. He slowly got up, but he was pinned down back to the floor by Twilight’s magic as she playfully grinned at him again.

“Oh no you don’t!” She said playfully, “We’re not done yet!”

Twilight took a big breath before blowing a huge raspberry on Spike’s belly making him laugh again as he wiggled his hands and legs around.

“N-No! Hahahahaha! N-Not that! You o-only d-do that to F-Flurry H-Heart! Hahahahaha!”

“Not today, my little dragon!” Twilight laughed before continuing blowing raspberries on Spike’s belly.

Twilight finally stopped blowing raspberries on her dragon’s belly and let him catch his breath again as he stood back up again before looking at his mother with a real smile on his face. This made Twilight more happy now.

“That’s better,” said Twilight, “You’re much better with a smile. And much cutie.” Spike blushed at that last one while giggling.

Just then, they heard hoofsteps coming into the bedroom. The purple alicorn and dragon turned and saw Shining Armor, Celestia, Luna, Cadence and the mane five walking into the room. The mane five, Shining and Celestia all have worried but also guilt looks on their faces as they all stared at Twilight.

“Cadence and Luna had a word with you about your actions from the wedding, didn’t they?” Twilight asked.

“Yep,” answered Rainbow Dash, “Well, only Cadence had a word with us and Shining. Luna only had a word with Celestia. But I’m just saying.”

“But they weren’t happy during the talk,” added Applejack, “They gave us a very rightful talk and showed how disappointing they are.”

“We even got kicked off Cadence’s favourite girls list and her future anniversary parties!” Whined Rarity which made the four girls give her a not amused look.

“She said until further notice, Rarity!” Pinkie said in annoyed tone.

“And none of you four are also upset about Cadence kicking you off her favourite girls list and future anniversary parties until further notice?”

“Not really,” answered Fluttershy, “We pretty much had it coming.”

“Cadence even told us you were having some thinking time to think about whether to tell us how you really felt after defeating Chrysalis or continue keeping it in you and let it hurt you forever,” said Applejack, “And we all agreed that you should tell us how you really felt, even if it involves shouting, and let it out.”

“Even if it’s too much for you all to handle?” Twilight asked.

“Yes,” answered Shining Armor, “I shouted at you before during the rehearsal, you deserve to do the same to me. I don’t care how much you’re gonna say to me, I deserve it.”

Twilight looked at Celestia, and saw she still have that guilt look on her face, as she looked at Twilight and gave her a nod before saying, “I hurt you with the most hurtful words that I wish I didn’t say them in the first place. You have every right to show your true anger at me, Twilight.”

Twilight looked at the princess for a few more seconds before looking back at her friends. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath calmly before saying, “Okay. I’ll tell you how I really felt.”

And then, she let out the outburst she had kept to herself for very long time, even before the defeat of Chrysalis.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ALL THAT TO ME!” She shouted angrily, “After everything we did and been through together, and all the friendship lessons we’ve learned, this is what you do to somepony who knew what was really going on even without proof, especially between ponies none of you met before or knew them long enough?!” She turned to her brother, “Shiny, out of all ponies that didn’t listen but thought I was making up stories, I thought you would listen to me since you were my brother and protect me before I moved to Ponyville to learn more about friendship! Even without Chrysalis’s control magic, you still thought I was trying to ruin your special day when I was trying to PROTECT you, and what do I get in return?! Kicked out of the wedding, got told that I was no longer your best mare and got abandoned like I wasn’t part of your life anymore! I was hurt, Shiny! I didn’t want to lose you to somepony that wasn’t Cadence! I was happy that you were marrying her, even though you or Celestia didn’t say who in that invite letter, but the way Cadence was acting, that wasn’t the Cadence we both love! You’ve been overprotecting me since before school, but you didn’t when Chrysalis trapped me, and you made me felt like you mean everything like you really did want nothing to do with me anymore!”

Shining flinched after that last bit before looking at her sister with a sad and guilt look on his face. She was right. After what he did at the rehearsal, he did made it sound like he didn’t want anything to do with Twilight anymore when all she was doing was trying to save her from an imposter.

Twilight turned to the girls. “And you five! I thought you all had my back and would listen to me whenever I’m worried about something after that week when I was late sending a letter to Celestia, but obliviously that still didn’t stop you from checking on the imposter and finishing up the wedding! None to mention, you all forgotten about your roles in the Elements of Harmony and only focus on the special day instead of the threat when that was MOST important! I mean, Rainbow Dash, you’re the Element of Loyalty, but you didn’t have my back! Pinkie Pie, you’re the Element of Laughter, but you didn’t make me smile after being kicked! Rarity, you’re the Element of Generosity, but you didn’t put me first! Applejack, you’re the Element of Honesty, but you thought I was the one lying and not the imposter! And Fluttershy, you’re the Element of Kindness, but you weren’t kind to me after the rehearsal and abandoning your friends was nothing like you!”

The five girls all looked at Twilight with sad and guilt looks on their faces as Rainbow rubbed her hoof in shame. After learning about listening to others, they ignored that lesson during the rehearsal night and left Twilight like their element roles wasn’t needed when they were. Fluttershy was even more guilty. Twilight was right, she would never do stuff like that to her friends since she was too kind to do that.

And lastly, Twilight turned to Celestia. “And you, Princess Celestia! I thought you would listen to me like you did when Nightmare Moon was returning, but you didn’t! You just left me to handle the threat, hurt me with those hurtful words and went to check on the imposter like you knew Cadence when you should know she never acts like Chrysalis was doing! In fact, you never really do help out with any threats before the wedding! You just left me and the girls to handle them! You may have lost ties with the Elements of Harmony, but this is your Equestria too! You could have helped us find the elements and not let Discord trick us in order for him to finally win! I nearly left Ponyville because of that! When there’s a threat going on, you should think about how we will handle it! If there’s a new villain we’ve never faced before but you have, we might need extra help defeating them!”

Celestia knew Twilight was right about that. She has been putting threats into Twilight and the girls’ hooves instead of helping out when some of the threats weren’t the kind of threats they dealt with before. All she could do now is look down in sadness and shame.

“Do you know how I felt after you all left?!” Twilight said as they turned to both Shining, Celestia and the girls, “I felt sad, scared for what you were going to say to me after the wedding and guilty for blaming Cadence for being evil when it wasn’t really her! And after Chrysalis imprisoned me, I felt even more sad and scared after she said that none of you will come looking for me or won’t even care to find me! And after entering the wedding with the real Cadence, that proves none of you cared to check on me and only focused on the wedding!”

The white stallion, princess and the five felt even more guilty after hearing that, and they know Twilight was right. In the morning before the wedding begun, none of them thought to check on Twilight and Shining didn’t think to make up with her or even invited her back to the wedding and his best mare. It made him believe that every word he said almost came true and Chrysalis almost gave him what he said with his own words.

“I could have die!” Twilight went off, “I could have killed or become like Chrysalis if she didn’t imprison me! And even though if I haven’t bursted into the rehearsal and accused Cadence of being evil, I probably wouldn’t have found the real Cadence, but we still could have found her another way! And sure if I had proof she was evil, none of you wouldn’t have abandoned me and thought I was making up stories to ruin everything! But none of you five had proof Zecora was evil when I was in Ponyville!” That’s when Celestia’s sad look turned into a shock look as she looked at the five girls with Luna staring shockingly at them too.

“When I first saw Zecora, you all just hid in your houses and shops, faint whenever you hear something she does, and whenever she sees you, you just duck for cover and shake in fear! You accused Zecora of being evil when she was digging something in the ground of Ponyville and because she was a zebra and not a pony! How is Zecora being a zebra, living in the Everfree Forest and whatever she was digging in the ground an evil thing?! The hiding, saying she was evil and singing a song about her probably hurt her feelings if she knew what you were all doing! And not just that, but it was racist! You can’t accuse others of being evil if they’re not a pony and because of what they do! When you all first met Spike, none of you accused him of being evil because he’s a dragon and dragons didn’t care about friendship until the dragon hatching season, and I’m also glad you didn’t since Spike has been in my family for so long and hasn’t done anything evil at all! All of you thought I was being silly and thinking my brain wasn’t thinking straight when I was telling the truth about her not being evil or putting a curse on us when we were in the Poison Joke bed! Sure I did thought she was evil after thinking she was making Apple Bloom soup, but that was only because I was worried for her! Plus Apple Bloom wasn’t even under Zecora’s control when she started following her when Applejack was overprotecting her or even doing anything to her! And even if she was doing something to her, how come she was facing forwards and not done anything to Apple Bloom before we entered?”

Applejack was about to say something, but decided not to, because she knew her friend was right. They all accused Zecora of being evil and being racist towards what she was.

“You’re right, Twilight,” she said, “We shouldn’t have accused Zecora of being evil from the start or thought she cursed us.”

“And it was racist of us to think she was evil, all because she was a zebra,” added Rainbow guiltily.

“And we are going to have a talk about this later,” said Celestia in a disappointed tone, “You should all know by now I do not tolerate racism in Equestria whatsoever, especially after what Neighsay did when the School of Friendship started.”

The girls looked at the two princesses with a guilt look on their faces. They knew they were in trouble again now after Twilight telling the Zecora Evil story to them. They all turned back to the purple alicorn as she continued.

“And if I didn’t had the heart to forgive, I would end my BBBFF as well as big brother with you, Shiny, end our friendship with you girls and stop being your student, Celestia! And even if something does happen to the elements if I did end it all, then restoring our friendship would have been hard and would take like months to fix everything with me in order to fix the elements and, possibly, giving them a new look. Especially since I was the only one who was hurt, abandoned and the only one that took the threat seriously and knew what was going on! I mean, somewhere out there, there’s a royal prince who’s about to marry his marefriend in about, maybe, a few days while there’s a threat happening. And if the bride wants to do the wedding during that threat then obliviously the prince or his friend or sibling knew what’s going on if they knew her for a long time too! And even though Big Mac and Sugar Belle got married, I’m leaving them out since their wedding was a quiet one and nothing bad was happening during it. But you lot have no idea what it feels like to be kicked out of a special day, get abandoned and get hurt by words nopony can even take back until that day happens again but with one of us being the one to save the day! So until you, or a friend, or a family member gets married while there’s a threat happening, all you’re going to be hoping for is to make the same mistake happen again!”

After ending it there and letting all her anger out, Twilight slowly took deep breaths calming down a little.

“Finish?” Applejack asked nicely.

“Yes,” answered Twilight calmly while nodding her head.

“Feeling better after all that?” Rainbow asked in a friendly tone with a hopeful smile. Twilight just nodded her head this time.

“Good,” said Rainbow but in a nice way.

“Was that too much?” Asked Twilight.

“Not really, Twilight,” answered Celestia, “And like we said, we deserved it after treating you like you wanted to ruin everything when all you were doing was trying to save us.”

“And you did tell us what could have happened after defeating Chrysalis if you didn’t have the heart to forgive us and some events that could have happened if you did end our friendship, stop being Celestia’s student and told Shining he was no longer your BBBFF,” said Pinkie Pie, “Even if they did actually happen, but in different worlds to this one.”

“It could be possible, Pinkie, I have to agree,” said Twilight, “Especially with all the ponies and creatures, out there, that didn’t like how you lot treated me at the rehearsal or think I was the one doing the wrong thing before the invasion.”

That’s when all the ponies, including Spike, glared at the screen meaning that they’re looking at YOU. Because they know what other fanfic stories are out there, even some I read myself.

They stopped glaring and looked at Twilight as she looked at them while saying, “But now that I let it all out and told you how I really felt, I feel much better now.”

“Good,” said Shining Armor happily and in relief, “For a second there, I actually thought this gonna continue on and we have two problems to deal with.” Cadence gave her husband a not amused look.

“Well, even if you did do those things, Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash, “I just hope it won’t affect the magic of friendship or make it disappear.”

Twilight let out a friendly chuckle.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t, Rainbow, if it did take you months or moons to own my forgiveness if I did end our friendship. But even if the magic of friendship does suddenly disappear, when we do as well, I’m sure somepony will bring it back.”

“Wow, Twi,” said Applejack in amaze, “It’s like you’re foreshadowing the events that might happen in the future with the magic of friendship disappear as well as the magic from the unicorns and Pegasi with the three pony species going against each other with one Earth pony thinking that they can all be friends so when she discovers that unicorns can’t do magic and the Pegasi can’t fly and then understands why the magic disappear before bringing it back and brings the pony species back together again, the Earth ponies will be all like, “Huh. Guess we should have listened to that pony and not think that the unicorns and Pegasi are evil.””

“And if we’re able to see the whole thing,” added Pinkie Pie, “We’ll be all, “Wow, looks like we were right about the magic of friendship living on and growing in every new pony to continue the legacy.””

“That’s what I really want to happen when we disappear one day,” said Twilight while smiling, “The magic of friendship continuing on and growing with everypony that has the guts to believe it in friendship and showing that friendship is magic, like we do.”

The five girls and Spike smiled happily at Twilight as they walked over to her before forming a group hug together while the princesses and the captain watching with smiles on their faces.

While hugging, Fluttershy quietly said, “Please don’t tell Lightning what I did to you at the rehearsal. I’m a bit worried he might not be happy with me.”

“I won’t tell him, Fluttershy,” whispered Twilight, “I promise. But he will have to find out at some point. You understand?” Fluttershy nodded her head in understood before Twilight whispered, “But I do believe he won’t be mad at you for leaving me at the rehearsal since he’s got a caring heart like you do.”

Fluttershy said nothing and just smiled while continuing the group hug.

“I bit she’s gonna break that promise like she did with Spike,” said Pinkie Pie quietly.

“Not now, Pinkie,” whispered Rainbow crossly as she was defending Twilight’s promise, “Don’t spoil the moment.”

While the hugging was still going on, Luna knew it was time for her to do her duty and protect Lightning Twister from any more horrible nightmares. So she walked out of the guest room and made her way towards the guest room Lightning and his friends were sleeping in. But she didn’t notice Sora, Donald and Goofy was next to the door of Twilight’s room hearing the whole thing.

Sora turned to his friends and said, “I think it’s best we don’t tell him either. Just to be on the safe sure.”

Donald and Goofy gave Sora a nod in agreement. The three then decided to leave them be for now and went back to the rest of the guardians.

Chapter 16
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 16

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Chapter 17
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 17

The sun shone in the sky as it was now morning in Equestria. Everyone woke up at the crack of drawn and had yummy pancaked with fruits shaped as a happy smile made by none other than Princess Celestia herself. She enjoys doing it as it was a small way to say she cares, and to also help make Lightning happy after the nightmares he had in the last two nights.

And it be honest, it did made Lightning happy. After one bite of the pancake, his smile grew back like he doesn’t care about the nightmares anymore. It made both Fluttershy and Celestia happy that they couldn’t stop feeling happy to see the colt smile again.

After breakfast, they all gathered supplies ready for the big trip they’re going to have. Sora and the guardians didn’t pack anything since they’re not really from Equestria, but do have their own supplies they need from their own home. Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Amore worked together to magically shrink the supplies into a small size, so they didn’t have to carry everything on their journey.

Celestia placed the small supplies into her bag, which was light blue with her cutie mark on the lock part of the bag, before smiling at everyone and saying, “Okay everycreature, I think we’re all ready for this biggest journey we have yet to go on. But just to double check, have we gotten everything we need?”

Twilight looked at the checklist to see if they messed anything.

“Sleeping bags, check. Food, check. Bottles of water, check. Lamp, check. Daring Do books, check. Studying books, check. Lightning’s plushie, check. Notebooks, check. Yep, we’re all good, Celestia.”

“Perfect. Thank you, Twilight,” said Celestia, “Now, has everycreature been to the bathroom before we all packed?”

Everyone either nodded their heads or just said yes. Well, except for Shining Armor who had just realised he didn’t go yet.

“Oh, I’ll be right back!” Shining quickly zoomed off to the bathroom.

“Ohhh, Dad,” said Flurry Heart annoyingly.

Shining zoomed back in the dining hall after that quick run to the bathroom. “Better now.” He smiled proudly while Twilight and Cadence slowly shook their heads with a not amused looks on their faces.

“Okay,” Celestia continued, “And have we got everycreature to help us on this journey?”

“Not everypony yet,” said a familiar female voice.

Everyone turned to the dining room doors and saw Tempest Shadow walking towards them wearing her black coat and light dark scarf with a bag on her back.

“Fizzlepop? What are you doing here?” Asked Spike politely.

“Well, I couldn’t help but sense that Lightning Twister was in trouble and needed help again,” answered Tempest, “So I packed what I needed and came here to offer my assistances. That is, if there’s room for me to tag along.”

“Of course there is, Fizzlepop,” said Celestia while smiling, “We’ll be happy to have you help us again.”

“Yeah! Welcome aboard!” Sora said happily.

“Thank you,” said Tempest, “I am glad to be part of the team once again.”

“Hey, don’t forget about me!” Said another familiar voice which made Celestia’s smile go into an annoyed look, even Tempest recognised that voice and she was cross to hear he’s back.

“Oh sweet Celestia,” she said in an annoyed tone, “Please don’t tell me he’s back.”

“I’m afraid he is, my dear,” replied Celestia annoyingly.

Two bright lights appeared and quickly disappeared to reveal Discord and another Draconequus that had a lengthy wooly with purple and pink feathery body, skinny goat horns on her dragon-like head with a retractable frill growing on the sides of her face, a flowing cobra-like hood, a bushy pink chest tuft, two large blue bat wings with black tips on her back, two large blue eagle talons with black claws and a long scorpion tail.

“Hello, Discord,” said Celestia in an annoyed tone.

“Good morning, my dear Celestia!” Discord said in his usual happy tone, “I’m all packed and ready for the journey to the Tree of Life!”

“Oh so you know where we’re all going then?” Luna asked in an annoyed tone.

“Why of course I do, Luna,” said Discord, “I’m the Lord of Chaos, remember? I can hear everything.” He then saw Tempest Shadow, who was staring crossly at him, as he floated towards her, “Ah, Tempest Shadow. So nice to see you again.” Discord placed his eagle claw around Tempest’s neck while saying, “It’s been moons since we’ve seen each other.”

“Likewise,” said Tempest crossly while moving Discord’s claw away from her neck, “I would have thought you would still be banished from Equestria after what you have done. Especially to Fluttershy’s child.”

Discord’s happy expression turned into a frown.

“Oh come on! Is there anypony here who isn’t still mad at me for trying to help Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the captain and princess role?!”

“Oh I’m still mad at you alright!” Tempest said angrily, “You’ve put our friends and family in danger and grouped four villains and a seeker from another world just so for a stupid “final exam” that YOU made up!”

“Well how else was I supposed to help them see they’re ready?” Discord asked crossly.

“By supporting them!” Flurry Heart shouted.

Discord glared at the filly before disappearing and reappearing close to her which made her tremble in fear as he continued to glare at her while saying, “And I suggest you watch what you’re saying and who you’re speaking to, young filly!”

Twilight angrily stood in front of her niece as she glared at the Draconequus making him step back in fear.

“Don’t you ever speak to my niece like you did to my son yesterday, otherwise you won’t like what me, Shining and Cadence will do to you if you do,” said Twilight in an angry tone.

“Your son?! He’s a dragon and you’re a…” Discord was cut off by Twilight grabbed his beard and pulling him close to her face as she continued to glare angrily at him making more scared than he was before. “Don’t finish that sentence! I don’t care if he’s a dragon and not a pony, he’s still part of my family and my son! And if you ever say stuff like that to him again, I’ll turn you into stone as well! Got it?!”

Discord gulped nervously before nodding his head in response. “Y-Yes.”

“Good,” said Twilight crossly as she let go of his beard, “And you better, or else.”

“Yeah,” added Shining Armor, “Also, who did you just bring with you?”

The female Draconequus looked at the white stallion since she knew he was talking about her and that’s when Discord realised he’s forgotten to introduce her to everyone.

“Oh where are my manners?” Discord disappeared and reappeared near the female Draconequus and proudly said, “Ladies, gentlecolts, guardians and creatures, may I introduce you all to my sister Cosmos!”

Cosmos lifted her claw and waved at the group without even saying a single word. This made both Fluttershy and Twilight confuse. They both knew that Draconequus’ often do chaotic and silly greetings when they first meet someone new, however Cosmos just waved.

“I don’t know about you, Twilight,” whispered Fluttershy, “But I’m not too sure about Cosmos. She maybe Discord’s sister and a Serpopard, but she doesn’t act or do what Discord normally does when it comes to greetings.”

“I agree with you, Fluttershy,” whispered Twilight, “I think something might be wrong, like she doesn’t like doing Discord does.”

Twilight and Fluttershy looked at Cosmos and saw she was still waving at them without saying a word or doing anything chaotic or silly like Discord does.

“I think we should leave her until she’s ready to tell us in case there is something wrong,” whispered Twilight.

“Good idea, Twilight,” whispered Fluttershy, “Besides, we need focus on helping my baby boy right now.” She then saw her son gently being placed on Silverstream’s back so that he didn’t have to walk so much on the journey to the Tree of Life. Fluttershy smiled at the sight.

“Discord, if this is one your own ways to try and make us see you were right and did help Twilight and Oliver, you can leave it here,” said Celestia, “We have too much on our hooves, claws and hands right now. We can’t deal with your shenanigans and the nightmares harming Lightning.”

“Oh come now, my dear Celestia, I just brought my sister along just for extra backup,” said Discord, “Although, sooner or later, you will have to admit I did a good job on helping Twilight and Oliver see they’re ready for their new roles.”

“No, you didn’t!” Oliver and Twilight shouted crossly in unison.

Celestia sighed annoyingly before saying, “Alright, fine. You two can come. But let me repeat myself. Do not ever, EVER, upset Lightning or treat him like he did something wrong! Understand?”

“Oh yes, of course, Princess. Anything you say.” A fake holy appeared on top of Discord’s head.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, guys,” whispered Gallus to his friends as they all nodded their heads in agreement.

“Okay, back on the checklist,” said Celestia, “Constantine, you still got the map for the Tree of Life?”

“Still got it with me, love,” answered Constantine before lifting his hand out as dark golden grasp formed above his hand to reveal the map to the Tree of Life which was a dark golden grasp line showing where they need to walk on. Everyone, except for Discord, was amazed by Constantine’s trick.

“Wow okay, that is totally awesome, Constantine,” said Rainbow in amaze, “I’m so glad you stayed in Equestria.”

John just smiled at Rainbow before giving her a thumps up while saying, “Cheers.”

“Okay, looks like we have everything we need for the journey,” said Celestia happily, “Let’s get going!”

“To the Tree of Life!” Donald shouted happily.

Sora looked at Lightning before walking over to him. He bent his knees down to the level of where Lightning was on Silverstream’s back and gently stroked his mane while saying, “Don’t worry, Lightning. We’re gonna help you get through this. I promise.”

Lightning nodded his head at Sora in response.

The guardians and the Equestria group all started to make their way out of the castle and on their way to the Tree of Life.

The guardians and the Equestria were now walking among the streets of Canterlot as John magically made the map appear in his hand to see where they need to go now.

“Where to now, John?” Spike asked flying next to John.

“According to the map,” replied John while looking at dark gold grasp style map, “It says to keep going forward before turning right.”

But just as the map magically disappeared from Constantine’s hand, the guardians and the Equestria group were suddenly stopped by a big blast that was shot right in front of them and made a big dirt mark on the ground.

“Woah! What was that?!” Sunset Shimmer asked in shock.

Vincent turned and saw where that blast came along with who did it.

“Look!” He shouted while pointing up.

They all turned as they looked up and saw who Vincent was pointing at. On top of the balcony of the castle was a pony wearing a black coat, similar to what Tempest Shadow used to wear, as a few tiny sparks lit from inside the hood.

“Who is that?!” Pinkie asked in shock.

“Somepony who’s trying to stop us,” replied Starlight.

Suddenly, a quick whoosh appeared near the groups to reveal a human with grey hair with a bit of white in the middle and has blue eyes with the right eye looking blinded. He wears a white shirt with a black tie, a dark brownish trench coat and a red scarf with black shoes. It was Gellert Grindelwald.

“Who is that?” Lightning Twister asked in fear.

“Someone who’s trying to stop us as well,” replied Capper.

Just then, two familiar ponies walked towards the strange human and stared at the groups. One had a white coat with dark pink mane and tail with a tiny blue bow at the end of the tail, the other had a brown coat with light blue mane and tail, and they were both wearing orange prison suits. It was Mr and Mrs Warlock.

“Who are they?” Asked Ventus in shock and worriedly.

“They don’t like me,” answered Oliver in shock and worriedly.

And lastly, a red Pegasus landed angrily on the ground as she glared at them. Lightning recognised the pony first and began to shake in great fear as he hugged Silverstream’s neck.

“D-Daddy?!”

“What?! That’s his abusive father?!” Donald asked in shock.

“Yes,” answered Oliver, “And before anyone else can say they don’t like us, let’s just assume that not everypony here likes us and there will be those that will try to stop us.”

The human reached into his trench coat and pulled out a stick was made from elder wood, was 15 inches and contains a Thestral tail hair core. It was the Elder Wand.

“I don’t like what he’s got there,” said Flurry Heart in feae as she hid behind her mother’s hooves.

“Me either, honey,” said Cadence.

“What is he doing?” Shining asked worriedly.

Grindelwald points his wand at the groups as a dark green grasp shoots from the stick and flew towards them. Suddenly, the green grasp was flicked away by a orange spark and hit the wall of a building making a dirt mark on it.

“What the?” Constantine asked in confusion.

Before anyone or anycreature could say anything else, a orange sparkling ring shaped portal opened and out came ninw humans.

One man had black hair and beard with gray tinges. He wore a two layered blue tunic with a mystical red cowl and cape, a golden eye shaped medallion, golden rings on each hand, a brown leather strapped and sashed belt, dark blue pants and black leather boots with blue strappings and light blue straps on his arms. It was Doctor Strange.

The second man had gingery hair. He wore a white shirt with a dark blue bowtie, orange vest and dark blue trench coat with a tiny green Bowtruckle on the left side of the trench coat, blue jeans and black shoes. He was also carrying a suitcase. It was Newt Scamander.

The other man, next to him, had brown hair. He wore a white shirt with a black jacket, jeans, tie and shoes. It was Theseus Scamander, Newt’s brother.

One woman had brown hair. She wore a white shirt with a black leather jacket, black jeans and shoes. It was Tina Goldstein.

The second woman had gingery hair. She wore a pink coat with a pink scarf, pink jeans and black shoes. It was Queenie Goldstein, Tina’s sister.

The third man had brown hair. He wore a white shirt with a light blue vest, dark red tie, light blue jacket and trousers with black shoes. He was also a tiny bit fat. It was Jacob Kowalski, Queenie’s husband.

The fourth man had brown hair and beard with tiny bit of white. He wore a white shirt with a light blueish vest, jacket, jeans and hat with black shoes. It was Ablus Dumbledore.

The last man had long black hair. He wore a black shirt, jacket, jeans and shoes with a red tie and tiny chains hanging out from his shirt. It was Aurelius Dumbledore, once known as Credence and Albus’ nephew.

Doctor Strange used his sorcery magic to make the wind blow stronger and made Mr and Mrs Warlock fly backwards as they landed on their backs.

“Wow! That was amazing!” Rainbow said in amazed, “But who are they though?”

“Go! Run!” Shouted Strange as he and the other humans ran past the groups.

“Your names are go and run?” Asked Pinkie in confusion, “Weird names, especially since there’s eight of you.”

“No, what he means run away from them,” said Twilight before running off to catch up with the eight new visitors as the rest of the groups followed her.

Pinkie Pie looked behind her and saw The Warlocks getting back on their hooves. That’s when she quickly realised what Twilight just said and now understood what the beard man had just said them.

“Ooohhh,” Pinkie said before running off to catch up with her friends and the new visitors.

“Get the little pony,” said Grindelwald.

The Warlocks and Cold Wind all chased after the two groups and the new visitors as Grindelwald followed them. The black coat pony jumped from balcony and onto a building before jumping off that building and onto the ground as he chased after them as well.

Rainbow Dash, who was flying next to her friends, looked behind her and saw the three nasty ponies and the evil man running after them.

“Guys, they’re now on our tail!” Rainbow said to the others.

“Well technically, Rainbow, not all of us have tails,” said Discord while flying near her.

“Not now, Discord!” Rainbow said crossly.

The Warlocks and Cold Wind were catching up to the groups as they tried to run faster to get away from them. Grindelwald shot more green grasp from his wand as they blasted to the ground making more dirt marks since the ponies and creatures kept dodging the attacks.

Aurelius turned towards the evil lot, while still running, before pointing his wand at the ex-orphanage owners and shot black smoke at them which made fly backwards and hit the ground.

“Nice one, nephew!” Albus said proudly as Aurelius turned back forwards while still running with his uncle running beside him.

The Warlocks got back as Mrs Warlock glared at the groups while growling angrily before saying, “I’m not letting him escape us this time!” She got up and ran after them with Mr Warlock following her.

Doctor Strange used his sorcery magic again and opened another orange sparkling ring shaped portal near them as it showed a dark sky, with tiny sparks of different coloured stars, dimension through it.

“This way! Hurry!” Strange said to everyone while running to the portal.

Doctor Strange jumped into the portal followed by his seven friends.

“Should we trust them?” Asked Rarity while still running.

“What choice do we have? Come on!” Constantine replied as he ran straight to the portal with everyone else following him.

They all jumped into the portal one by one with Yozora being the last one to jump into it. However, Grindelwald and the four bad ponies were getting close as they jumped into the portal before it closed behind them.

Inside the portal, the colourful stars all flew backwards while Doctor Strange, his friends, the guardians of light and the Equestria group all flew forwards. Doctor Strange, Newt, Theseus, Tina, Queenie and the Dumbledores flew straight while the others all spun round, even Constantine and Vincent. Jacob and Donald were both screaming since they’ve never been through something like this before.

While flying and spinning in the dimensional portal, Pinkie Pie suddenly saw Grindelwald, Cold Wind, the Warlocks and the black coat pony flying towards them.

“Guys!” She shouted worriedly, “They’re onto us!”

Doctor Strange saw this and made an orange sparkling rope and swung it towards Cold Wind. The rope hit him causing him fly backwards to where he was now behind everyone but still flying forwards. Cold Wind growled angrily before flying forwards to catch up.

Newt, Theseus, Tina, Queenie and Albus took out their wands and shot tiny light blue grasp balls at them, but the evil lot kept dodging them while Grindelwald shot tiny green grasp balls at them as Aurelius uses his dark smoke to block them with the help of his wand.

Doctor Strange flies towards Grindelwald, while dodging his green grasp attack, as his cape comes off him and flies towards the bad ponies by itself making the ponies and creatures look at it in complete shock. They’ve never seen a cape move by itself before.

“Okay, that cape, is totally amazing,” said Twilight in amazed.

“No argument here,” said Applejack.

Doctor Strange tried to punch Grindelwald, but he was able to dodge quickly. Grindelwald give the upper hand and punched Strange in the face. Strange gave the dark wizard payback and punched him twice in the face as Grindelwald grabbed his fist before he could punch him again. Doctor Strange grabbed Grindelwald’s fist as well before he give him another punch.

“What happened to your eyes and long hair?” Asked Strange making Grindelwald confuse.

“Sir, I have never seen you before in my life.”

Grindelwald and Strange struggle to move their fist to each other’s face to punch it until Strange moved his foot up and kicked Grindelwald in the stomach causing him flying back a bit after letting go of Strange’s fist.

Lightning was struggling to reach Silverstream as he was scared of what he was right now. Suddenly, he heard the voice of his abusive father behind him. “Lightning Twister!”

Lightning turned his head round and saw Cold Wind flying angrily towards him with a very angry look on his face.

“You are so in for it now after spending the rest of my life in prison!”

“Ahhh! Silverstream, help me!” Lightning cried in fear while still trying reach the pink hippogriff.

“Hang on, Lightning!” Silverstream called while flying towards her favourite cute colt.

Silverstream tried to reach her claw out to grab Lightning, once she was close enough to grab him, but before she could save him, Cold Wind grabbed Lightning by the wings and pulled him away from the hippogriff.

“Lightning!” Silverstream shouted worriedly.

Lightning tried to break free from Cold Wind’s hooves, but he was still too strong for him to even escape. And because he spent the rest of his life in prison, he had gotten so strong that he was holding the colt’s wings too tight. So tightly that his wings started bleeding making Lightning yelp in pain.

“Ah! Ow! Ow! S-Stop it! Ow! Ah!”

Silverstream gasped in shock while seeing what Cold Wind was doing to the poor colt, and she didn’t know what to do. Cold Wind continued to tightly hold Lightning’s wings until he felt a dragon claw on his shoulder. He turned and saw an angry looking Smolder glaring at him.

“Get your dirty hooves off him!” Smolder shouted angrily before punching the abusive pony in the face causing him to let go of Lightning and fly backwards to where he bumped into the Warlocks knocking them away and making a sound of a bowling ball knocking pins down.

Smolder turned to Lightning who was now free from Cold Wind’s grasp, but his wings were still bleeding. “Braveheart!” She shouted worriedly.

“Ah! S-Smolder!” Said Lightning still feeling pain from his broken wings.

“Everyone, hold on!” Shouted Doctor Strange before using his sorcery magic to open up another another orange sparkling ring shaped portal on the right side of the dimensional wall as it sucked up the guardians, the Equestria group and the new visitors. The portal quickly closed leaving the five villains still flying straight forward through the portal and mostly heading back to their home after their failed ambush.

The three groups fell through the new way portal as a bright light shone beneath them and faded away to reveal a forest with light brown leaves on the ground. They all landed on the leaves, some on their backs and some on their fronts, before the portal disappeared.

Oliver breathed slowly after experiencing what had just happened. He slowly sat up before rubbing his head while groaning in pain.

“Oh, my head,” he said, “What just happened back there?”

“Here, let me help you,” said Newt offering his hand out to the alicorn. Oliver stared at Newt before taking his hand as he helped him back up.

“Thanks.”

Oliver and Newt saw John Constantine running towards them before worriedly saying, “Oliver, that was one nasty fall we all had. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” answered Oliver, “Just had a bad landing, that’s all. Going through new places ain’t always that easy, I can tell you that.”

“Ah it never is, mate,” Constantine said while smiling at his friend before turning to Newt Scamander, “By the way, I want to have a word with you.”

“Oh, no! Lightning!” Oliver said worriedly before running to his nephew’s aid. John and Newt watched him run to Lightning before looking at each other with John saying, “In a minute.” The two then rushed to catch up with Oliver.

Fluttershy slowly got back onto her hooves while groaning in pain after that nasty fall.

“Fluttershy,” said Discord as he floated towards her, “Are you al…?” Before he could even finish, Fluttershy suddenly saw her son. “Lightning!” She shouted worriedly before running towards him.

Discord crossed his arms angrily while saying, “Hmph! And I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence.”

Lightning was crying in Silverstream’s arms as his face was buried in her chest. His wings were still bleeding and badly wounded after the tight grab by Cold Wind. Silverstream was hugging him while gently stroking his head in comfort and trying to calm down as she gently hushed him.

“Shhh…shhhh…” she whispered softly in his ear.

Oliver, Newt, Constantine and Fluttershy shockingly saw what was wrong with poor Lightning Twister as everyone else, including Cosmos, stood around the poor colt in the arms of the hippogriff.

Fluttershy gasped in shock and worried. “My baby boy!”

“Twilight, quickly, in my bag!” Tempest said in a worried tone while pointing at her bag which was laying on the ground near a tree, “There’s a bottle of a potion that can heal broken wings!”

Twilight nodded her head in understood before running to Tempest’s bag to get the potion as Tempest then added, “It has the yellow liquid in!”

Twilight opened Tempest’s bag and magically lifted out the mini potion bottle with the yellow liquid in. “Found it!” She flew back to the others while carefully holding the bottle in her hoof.

“Good. Now clean the brush part,” instructed Tempest as Twilight did what she said and spun the lid round to clear out the liquid on the brush part.

Tempest gently took the bottle from Twilight and spoke gently to Lightning, “Lightning kiddo, this will sting a bit. Hold on to Silverstream, okay?”

“O-Okay,” Lightning said while looking at the dark purple unicorn with tears in his eyes.

Tempest took out the brush from the bottle and pulled over Lightning’s right wing first as she slowly and gently made tiny drops of yellow liquid drop onto the wing. And she was right, it did sting a bit as Lightning started whimpering and groaning from the stung of the potion liquid.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” He said painfully.

“You’re doing great, buddy,” said Sandbar in support while Tempest did a few more drops on the wing before moving on to the next wing.

“What happened?” Fluttershy asked worriedly, “I thought he was still with you when we were in that portal!”

“He was,” answered Silverstream, “But then that portal made him fly off my back. I tried my best to reach him but, Cold Wind grabbed a hold him before I did. I tried to save him, but I was struggling to get towards him and Cold Wind was holding him tightly that…his wings got snapped.”

Fluttershy and Silverstream sadly watched the poor colt whimper while Tempest did a few more but last drops on his wing. “Done.”

Lightning started to cry as Tempest put the brush back in the bottle. She placed the bottle down, picked up a roll of bandage and gently wrapped some around the wings one at a time while making sure she wasn’t hurting the colt.

“It’s over, little pony,” she said softly while wrapping the right wing in bandage before doing the left one, “It’s over. Everything’s going to be okay now.” After she’d finish wrapped the left wing in bandage, she placed the roll of bandage down.

“You were very brave, sweetheart,” said Fluttershy softly to her poor child.

“Such a brave little boy,” said Fizzlepop softly while gently placing a purple blanket on Lightning without hurting his wings.

Fizzlepop took out a bottle filled with medicine that can help make painful body parts better and makes it less painful. She pours some into a tiny cup and gave it to Lightning while saying, “Here, drink this, little one. It’ll help.”

Lightning let out a small hiccup while drinking the medicine from the cup. Once he drank it, Fizzlepop took the cup away as Lightning rested his head on Silverstream’s fur chest.

“He’ll be fine, Fluttershy,” said Fizzlepop, “The potion will heal his wings and he’ll be flying again soon.”

Fluttershy let out a calm sigh of relief while smiling at Fizzlepop and saying, “Thank you, Fizzlepop.

Fizzlepop smiled at the yellow Pegasus and gave her a nod.

“Where are we?” Asked Flurry Heart while looking around the forest.

“I’m not sure, little bug,” answered Twilight, “I don’t even know how far we are now to the Tree of Life. John?”

Constantine looked at the dark golden grasped map in his hand before answering, “Bad news, love. We’re in the area that has the Tree of Life in, but it’s miles away from where are we now.”

“And how many miles away?” Asked Smolder.

“You ain’t gonna like the answer…” John took a deep breath in before saying, “Hundred miles away.”

“A hundred miles?!” Fluttershy shouted in shock, “That’s gonna take days and nights to get there, and my baby boy won’t be able to handle more nightmares! Can’t you just teleport us there to make it easy and faster?!”

“I’m afraid not, Fluttershy,” answered John sadly, “Even if I knew what the Tree of Life looked like, I still wouldn’t be able to teleport us all there.”

“And we can’t really just teleport there,” said Celestia in a calm and friendly tone, “If we do that, the rulers there would think we came to attack them. We must journey there by hoof, paw and foot.”

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “But Celestia is right. We need them to know we mean no harm to them and we just came for their help. It’s the only way to help Lightning.”

Fluttershy didn’t want her poor son to suffer more nightmare before they reached the Tree of Life, but she knew Constantine, Celestia and Twilight were right. If they teleport to the Tree of Life right now, they would think they were invading their home. She gave her friend a nod in understood instead of speaking.

“Hey,” said Doctor Strange as he and the other seven approached the two groups, “Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to say we’re very sorry for ruining your journey. We just wanted to make sure Grindelwald doesn’t harm anyone in any world he enters in.”

“It’s fine,” replied Oliver politely, “Stuff like this happens often when we go on big journeys.” Oliver started to realise what Strange had just said. “Wait. Grindelwald? Is that the name of that grey hair man? Okay okay, we’re getting off topic here. I think introductions are in order. Your name?”

“Doctor Strange.”

“Okay, and theirs?”

“They are Newt and Theseus Scamander, Tina and Queenie Goldstein, Jacob Kowalski, Albus Dumbledore and Aurelius Dumbledore, Albus’s nephew.”

“Great, nice to meet you all. I’m Oliver Sparkle. This is my Aunt Twilight, Spike, Mom and Dad.”

“Princess Cadence and Shining Armor,” said Cadence kindly.

“My sister Flurry Heart.”

“Hello!” Flurry Heart said happily while waving her hoof.

“And these are Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Capper, Sunburst, Princess Celestia, Luna, Amore, Tempest Shadow, John Constantine and Vincent.”

“I’m Sandbar. And this is Gallus, Yona, Smolder, Ocellus, Silverstream and Lightning Twister.”

“Our best students,” added Twilight.

“And Lightning’s my precious baby son,” said Fluttershy.

“I’m Sora. And this is Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Roxas, Xion, Axel and Yozora.”

“A pleasure to meet you all,” said Albus Dumbledore kindly.

Pinkie suddenly saw Jacob acting a bit funny as he felt dizzy and confuse to what he’s now seeing. This is normal to Newt and the others since both him and the other five are wizards and witches while Jacob was a Muggle, someone that doesn’t believe in magic, except for him after what he’s been through after encountering Newt, Tina and Queenie for the first time and then falling in love with a witch.

“Hey, is he alright?” Asked the pink pony.

Theseus looked at Jacob before turning back to Pinkie while saying, “Yeah, he’s fine. He’s just not used to seeing creatures he’s never seen before or anything that has to do with magic since he’s what we call…a Muggle.”

“A Muggle?” Pinkie was confused by this.

“Someone who doesn’t believe in magic,” explained Tina.

“Oooohhhh,” said Pinkie as she started to understand now, “But if he knows that you lot can do magic, how come he’s still a Muggle?”

“Long story,” answered Newt, “I’ll explain later.” Pinkie nodded her head in understood.

While Jacob was acting a bit funny and weird, Queenie went over to her husband’s aid as she gently rubbed his shoulder and said, “You alright, honey?”

“First, I see magic,” said Jacob while shaking in complete shock, “And now, I’m seeing and hearing talking ponies, griffin, yak, dragons, bug and hippogriff.

“Hey!” Ocellus said angrily after being offended by being called a bug.

Jacob saw Discord and Cosmos before pointing at them while shocking saying, “And what are they?!”

“Rude,” said Discord annoyedly with his arms crossed.

“Oh that’s just Discord and Cosmos, they’re Draconequus’,” answered Celestia, “They’re well known for doing chaos magic. But don’t worry, we’ll make sure they don’t do any chaos on you. Well, one of them.” She eyeballed at Discord showing that it was him she was on about.

“Still rude,” he said annoyedly.

“Okay,” Oliver said before letting out a calm sigh, “Look, we all have a bunch of stories to tell, especially to the newbies and what stories they have to tell. But how about we all set up camp first before story time?”

“He does have a good point there,” agreed Luna, “It’s almost time for me to raise the moon.”

“You, can raise, the moon?!” Jacob was now in complete shock even more after hearing that Princess Luna can raise the moon.

“I’ll explain later, dear,” said the Princess of the Moon while smiling softly to the baker.

“Okay, I’ll go get the tent,” said Newt before walking over to a perfect empty space in the area they’re in while carrying his suitcase. Everyone, except for Doctor Strange, Tina, Queenie and the Dumbledores, were confused by what Newt meant by tent, even Jacob was confused too.

“A tent?” Applejack asked while raising an eyebrow.

“Where are you going to find a tent?” Asked Jacob as Newt placed his suitcase flat down on the ground and opened it. He placed one foot into the suitcase and did the same with the other foot before climbing down into the inside of the suitcase. The guardians and the Equestria group were surprised by this, however, Jacob just flapped his hands up before placing them on his hips while looking away a not amused look on his face. “Should have known.”

Twilight and Flurry Heart walked over to Newt’s suitcase and looked inside it with a shock expression on their faces. They’ve never someone with a suitcase that they can climb into so easily before.

“That’s the second surprising new thing I’ve seen today,” said Flurry Heart.

“Same here, Flurry,” replied Twilight, “And I’ve got a feeling we’ll be seeing some more during our journey, even we hear the stories from Doctor Strange and his friends. And what new threats we’ll encounter along the way.”

Chapter 18
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 18

Darkness was walking angrily into the hall of his castle where Grindelwald, the black coated pony, Cold Wind, Mr and Mrs Warlock were waiting for him. After hearing they’ve failed the mission to stop the groups from reaching the Tree of Life and capturing Lightning Twister, he was not at happy.

Grindelwald, the black coated pony, Cold Wind, Mr and Mrs Warlock were all waiting in the hall of the castle nervously waiting for Darkness to arrive. Well, Grindelwald isn’t nervously really. But anyway, the hallway was in the colour dark with smashed windows and torn up curtains, broken ceiling lights and two big dark hallway doors with grey handles.

The hall doors swung open loudly making the five turn to them and saw Darkness walking angrily towards Mr Warlock with a knife in his hand as he grabbed him by the shoulder, pinned him to the wall and hold the knife to his neck while angrily saying, “You were warned what failure would bring!”

Mr Warlock shock nervously as he stared at the knife that was near his neck before looking at Darkness. “S-So w-why are we holding a k-knife at me? I-It wasn’t just me!”

“The poor boy has had a hard life and I wish not to treat him badly like how he was treated before,” answered Darkness, “And I also wish not to get on Grindelwald’s side since I know what happens if someone has a go at him. But still, you had one job to do! One job! And this is what I get?! Defeated and no colt captured?!”

“Look, look, I can explain! We can explain!” Mr Warlock said in fear while still shaking.

“Silence!” He shouted making Mr Warlock yelp in fear and shake even more, “I’m going to give you three one more chance. Fail me again, and there will be consequences. Understand?”

Mr Warlock gulped nervously before nodding his head in understood as Mrs Warlock and Cold Wind nodded as well.

“Good. Now let’s keep it that way.” Darkness pulled the knife from Mr Warlock’s knife and moved away from him. Mr Warlock breathed heavily after that scary moment. The knife in Darkness’s hand disappeared in darkness smoke. Darkness placed his hands behind his back, turned towards the opened doors and walked away while saying, “Come, my boy. I would like to speak to you in private.”

The black coat pony did what he said and followed him out of the hall. Darkness snapped his fingers and made the doors close by themselves leaving just Grindelwald, Cold Wind and the Warlocks in the hall.

Mrs Warlock rushed to her husband’s aid and worriedly asked, “Honey, are you okay?”

Mr Warlock continued to breath heavily as Mrs Warlock rubbed his back to try and calm him down. Cold Wind let out an “Ugh” in an annoyed tone while staring at The Warlocks before looking at Grindelwald who just remained calm and didn’t even flinch or move a muscle.

“How come you weren’t scared of his anger?” Cold Wind asked.

Grindelwald looked at Cold Wind.

“I fear nothing from his anger or what he can do,” he answered, “I only fear Dumbledore. The only wizard that can truly stop me from killing all Muggles. You have the same fear too, but from a mother.”

Cold Wind knew who he meant by mother. He was talking about Fluttershy since she pretty much stopped him from taking Lightning Twister away and her mother rage is what he’s scared of the most.

“She believes every word Lightning Twister had said about me,” said Cold Wind, “Her stare and anger haunts me every night during my life in prison. That little freak deserves every punishment after ruining my life, and that so-called mother of his won’t save him this time.”

Grindelwald continued to look at Cold Wind before turning to one of the windows and said, “So your life was ruined by a child who wanted to be loved, and to have a real family. Reminds me Credence.”

Grindelwald walked towards the window he was looking at as Cold Wind stared at him confusedly. “Credence?”

“He was a child that has developed a dark parasitic force which we all call an Obscurus, and it made him an Obscurial,” explained Grindelwald while looking at the window, “He was the perfect weapon to kill Dumbledore so he wouldn’t try and stop me, even with our blood pact shielded in a vial that keeps us from duelling each other. He wanted to know who he was and wanted to be with his real family. I gave him what he wanted, even restored his name. Aurelius Dumbledore. And the thanks I get from him was telling all wizards and witches that I tricked them into making me leader with a fake Qilin.”

“What do you attend to do with him now?” Cold Wind asked as he approached the window Grindelwald was staring at.

“After betraying me and joining his real family, I have no other choice but to kill him,” said Grindelwald, “And I might as well kill Dumbledore myself now that the vial is broken.” Grindelwald looked at the Pegasus, “We both have the same fear and the same kind of enemy. Perhaps you’d like to work together. You help me kill Dumbledore, and I’ll help you ruin your son’s life like he did to yours.”

Cold Wind wasn’t sure if he would like Grindelwald’s help. But if it means ruining Lightning Twister’s life after being put in prison for life, he would do anything to ruin his life. So you could say, he’s going to accept his help.

“Come, we’ll talk more in my room,” said Grindelwald as he used the Elder Wand to open the hall doors. Grindelwald and Cold Wind walked out of the hall and headed towards the dark wizard’s room.

Mr and Mrs Warlock watched them leave the hall before looking at each other.

“Do you think he plans to kill Darkness and take his place along with helping Cold Wind ruin his son’s life?” Asked Mrs Warlock.

“If he wanted to do that, he would have done it already since he’s the most dangerous and powerful wizard from what I heard,” answered Mr Warlock, “But he still wants to help Darkness get what he wants if he does want to kill all “Muggles” in his world.”

Mrs Warlock just gave her husband a nod as they both stared at the opened doorway and watched Grindelwald and Cold Wind disappear into the hallway.

By the time Luna raised the moon, the tent was already set up ready for tonight’s rest. The Equestria group and the guardians were amazed and shocked when they saw the inside of the tent. It was bigger on the inside while the outside of the tent was normal, and had enough room for all of them to sleep in for the night.

They were all inside the tent, along with the new visitors, telling stories from how the magic of friendship started to how Dumbledore’s Army began fighting Grindelwald and how Stephen Strange became a sorcerer.

“So you’re actually a changeling and not a bug?” Jacob asked Ocellus trying to not offend her again.

“Yep,” the kind changeling answered.

“And you can turn yourself into anyone and anything?”

“Yeah, watch.” Ocellus transformed into Jacob.

Jacob jumped in surprised after that transform and said, “Woah!” He then stared at Ocellus, in Jacob form, as he moved around a bit with Ocellus copying his every move. “Well, fancy that. It’s like looking in a mirror.”

“That’s what I said,” said Sora remembering the first time he met Ocellus.

Ocellus turned back to her normal form before looking at Newt and asked, “So do you have a lot of creatures in your suitcase?”

“Yes,” said Newt while smiling, “And I’ve taking care of them for a long time now. Some can be a pain, but some can be quite helpful. I never leave them behind.”

“Just like how we never leave each other behind, including the little cutie!” Silverstream said happily while hugging Smolder and Lightning and making sure she isn’t hurting Lightning’s broken wings. The two smiled at the hippogriff.

“And this one here stays on my coat for most of my journeys,” said Newt while showing them the Bowtruckle, “His name’s Pickett. He’s a Bowtruckle.” Pickett waved at everyone.

“How beautiful,” said Fluttershy staring at Pickett while also thinking about the other creatures Newt takes care of, “I would love to meet some of the creatures you take care of, Newt.”

“Well, once things have settled and we’re not dealing with bad problems afterwards, I’m sure I’ll let you have a look at the creatures I look after,” said Newt.

“And you’re a Sorcerer, correct?” Sunset asked.

“Yes,” replied Strange, “I was once a Neurosurgeon before I broke my hands during a car crash when I was on my way to a date. I lost the one I love when the pain in my hands was making me furious. When I met a Sorcerer Supreme called The Ancient One, she trained me to become a Sorcerer. She died after fighting a dark sorcerer named Kaecilius who was helping Dormammu. I time looped him so he can kill me several times until he gave up and left Earth alone before asking me to break the endless loop, and it worked. For this day forward, I became a Sorcerer and a protector of Earth.”

“Ouch. That must have been very painful,” said Pinkie Pie while thinking how much pain Strange felt from his broken hands.

“Oh believe me, it was very painful.”

“Yikes,” said Pinkie Pie, “Oh well, at least you defeated the evil Sorcerer and his master, fixed your hands and saved your world from a big threat! Wait, what about your girlfriend? Did you ever go back to her?”

“Not really,” Strange answered politely, “She’s got a new boyfriend now. And as long she’s happy, I’m happy for her.”

“Well, as long as you’re happy with that, then all I can say is you’re doing the right thing,” said Twilight while smiling.

“You know,” began Discord, “The mistake Doctor Strange made reminds me of a mistake that happened in Equestria.”

The mane eight, Spike, Capper and Sunburst glared at Discord.

“If you’re talking about our poor little fella Lightning Twister, you’ve got another thing coming,” said Applejack crossly with Rainbow cracking her knuckles.

“I wasn’t talking about Lightning Twister this time,” he replied, “I was talking about the mistake Twilight did long ago.”

Pinkie gasped, she knew what Discord meant by that. She then glared at him again while saying, “Don’t you dare bring that up!”

“What mistake?” Celestia asked confusedly.

“I’m telling you this RIGHT now, Discord! Don’t get Twilight into trouble! What she did is now in the past, and we wish to move on from it!” Rainbow said angrily.

“Are we seriously doing this again?” Rarity asked, “Couldn’t we just accept that it was Twilight who decided to steal Queen Novo’s pearl and use us to distract her?”

The four girls stared shockingly at the white unicorn after hearing her say that which made the two sisters and everyone else, including the young seven and Flurry Heart, go into shock mode too.

“Steal Queen Novo’s pearl?” Luna said shocking.

Rainbow Dash stared angrily at Rarity for letting out the mistake they swore not to tell Celestia or anyone else about it so they wouldn’t get Twilight into big trouble.

“Thank you so much for not spilling the beans, Rarity,” she said angrily through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, thanks a bunch!” Said Pinkie angrily through clenched teeth.

“Twilight, did you really try to steal Queen Novo’s pearl?” Celestia asked.

Twilight started to feel worried. She didn’t know what to say or do. If she told Celestia she did try to steal the pearl, she would be very angry at her. If she didn’t tell her, she would be a liar for life or Celestia would keep asking her to make sure she wasn’t lying to her.

“Look, Celestia, I-I can explain!”

But before she could continue or even explain, Pinkie quickly interrupted. “It’s not what you think, Princess! It wasn’t Twilight’s fault, it was ours!”

“Your fault?” Celestia asked even more confusedly but still in shock.

“Yes!” Pinkie replied before realising something, “But not Spike’s! I’m leaving him out of this! We wanted to save Equestria and you the same way Twilight does, but we were so caught up with helping new friends that we’ve forgotten to help Twilight see that we can help others as well as save Equestria which made her lose our trust! We’ve been listening to Capper before realising he was trying to sell us…” Pinkie quickly turned to Capper, “No offence,” and then turned back to Celestia while continuing, “And made a Sonic Rainboom to help Tempest Shadow know where we were going which helped her capture Twilight after she used us distract Queen Novo and the Seaponies so she can steal the pearl when she said no and before she can finally say yes! Don’t be mad at Twilight for that mistake, be mad at us! It was our fault, not hers! We’re responsible!”

“Are you seriously still thinking it was our fault she did it, Pinkie?” Rarity asked in annoyed tone causing the pink Earth pony to stare crossly at her.

“Oh don’t start going on again, Rarity!” She said crossly, “Besides, you’re the one to talk anyway! You, along with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy, were the ones that got Twilight to say about my Yovidaphone playing like she has to be the one to tell me and make me upset! Don’t you think she wants to not upset me again?!”

“Well, yeah, but I wasn’t the only one that makes mistakes that we regret making! Applejack nearly ruined my fashion show with Photo Finish and Hoity Toity with her honesty about the dresses!”

“Hey, that was also, kind of, your fault too since you didn’t ask me first!” Applejack said crossly, “And besides, you blamed me for ruining your tour with Tenderhoof when he fell in love with me when I didn’t do anything to make that happen!”

“Yeah, well…Fluttershy hurt Pinkie and my feelings when she started being mean!” Rarity said making Fluttershy gasp before glaring at her while saying, “That’s because Iron Will made me become that and I didn’t realise what I was doing! And in case you haven’t forgotten, Rainbow Dash did a scary prank on me when she knows I get scared easily!”

“And I should not have done that,” said Rainbow feeling guilty, “Can’t argue on that. But I will say this. Pinkie kept giving me pies and had a go at me for not eating her pies when I don’t like pies and I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want to upset her!”

“Rainbow made me have a go at her for not telling me about not liking pies when she could have just told me!” Pinkie added.

“Applejack told Twilight to go back to Ponyville during Discord’s vines attacking and we agreed with her!” Rainbow said causing the four to look at her with a shock expressions on their faces while the sisters, Shining and Cadence stared at the five with wise eyed shock looks.

“Applejack upset me when I accidentally made a huge snow mess during Winter Wrap Up when I just wanting to help!” Said Twilight making Applejack cover her face with her hat in guilt.

“Pinkie played musical instruments to make the Parasprites leave Ponyville and decided not to tell us when it would have saved the huge mess that happened!” Fluttershy said making Pinkie rub the back of her head nervously.

“Me and Trixie lost the Cutie Map during magic lessons while Twilight and the girls were out!” Said Starlight. The mane six stared at Starlight in shock.

“I love Thorax, even before he became king!” Flurry Heart said which made her parents stare at her in complete shock.

“Did I remember to bring extra bandages and healing potion with me?” Tempest asked herself while checking through her saddlebag.

Shining looked at everyone in the tent before saying, “I wanna ggggooooo!” Cadence stared at him in confusion as he just looked at his wife. “Sorry. Thought we were all having a thing here for a second. Heh.”

Celestia felt dizzy after hearing all those info as she rubbed her forehead while saying, “That’s a lot of information to get in thirty seconds.”

Celestia finished rubbing her forehead and starting to stand on her hooves. She walked over to Rainbow and politely said, “Rainbow, if you want to tell Pinkie you don’t like pies, then you can just tell her. I’m sure she would have understand you don’t like them, even when you’re trying not to upset her. But the next time you don’t like something and somepony makes you that, just be honest with them and tell them you don’t like it, okay?”

Rainbow slowly nodded her head in understood. Celestia turned to Pinkie as it was her turn. “Pinkie, you shouldn’t overreact to something that your friend is doing behind you, even when they didn’t want to upset you. If you discover something your friend is doing from the beginning, just ask them politely and try to understand why they did it. And don’t just do something and not tell your friends why you need to do it, even if it’s something they’ve didn’t know about before.”

Pinkie just nodded her head in understood instead of just responding like Rainbow did. Celestia walked over to Rarity who was next to speak to.

“Rarity, just because Tenderhoof fell in love with Applejack when you had a crush on him, doesn’t mean you can blame her when she didn’t do anything to make him love her, break your heart and ruin your tour. And you shouldn’t became what Applejack is just so he can love you. Becoming what your friend is won’t fix everything or make that pony love you instead of the other pony, especially if that pony’s your friend.”

Rarity sadly looked away in guilt knowing that Celestia was right. Applejack was her friend, and instead of just letting Tenderhoof be until he’s ready for the rest of her tour, she let her jealous get to her and blamed Applejack for ruining her tour and having her heart break by the one pony she had a crush on.

The sun princess turned to the farm pony and she was nervous inside as to what Celestia was gonna say to her.

“Applejack, I understand that unicorns are not allowed to use magic during Winter Wrap Up. But you should understand that Twilight didn’t mean to make things worse in your team . You can’t just get mad at somepony who just wanted to help and didn’t mean to break the one rule when they were new at something they knew nothing about.”

Applejack guiltily took her hat off and hold it on her chest while closing her eyes. She knew Celestia was right about that, and she shouldn’t be mad at somepony who just wanted to help. Celestia turned to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, I understand that you were tired of being treated like a doormat and not standing up to those that like treating you badly. But maybe next time, try asking one of your friends to help you stand up instead of someone who thinks they know best when they just make you become a bad pony, okay?”

Fluttershy nodded her head in understood before the princess walked over to Starlight as she was one of the last three to speak to.

“Starlight, I can tell you didn’t mean to lose the map when you were teaching Trixie new magic spells. But as long as you brought the map back and placed it back in its spot, then there’s nothing to worry. And I’m sure Twilight will understand that too.”

Starlight looked at Celestia for a few seconds before turning to Twilight who just smiled at her as she gave her a friendly wink showing that she does understand and knew she didn’t mean to let the map disappear from the castle. Starlight smiled at Twilight in return after seeing this.

Celestia walked over to Flurry Heart as she looked up to the white alicorn and saw she had a soft smile on her face.

“Flurry,” she said softly, “I truly understand you have feelings for Thorax, even after seeing he wasn’t like Chrysalis when he first entered the Crystal Empire. And I’m sure he loves you too when you’re old enough to go out with him.”

Flurry Heart smiled happily at the princess after hearing that. Celestia looked at Shining, with a not amused look, and said, “Don’t act so silly, Shining. Grow up.” That made Cadence snicker after hearing her aunt say that to her husband which made him have a small shock expression on his face.

Celestia looked at Tempest Shadow, being the last pony to speak to, as she politely said, “Fizzlepop, you did remember to bring extra bandages and healing potion. It’s in the other side of your saddlebag.”

Tempest checked the other side of her saddlebag and saw that Celestia was right. She did remember to bring extra bandages and healing potion with her, they were just in the other side of her saddlebag.

“Oh. So I did. Thanks.”

Celestia smiled softly at the reformed unicorn while giving her a nod. She turned towards the mane five and looked at them with a disappointed look on her face. It was time for her to say how disappointed she is after hearing what the five did when Discord’s vines were attacking.

“As for telling Twilight to go home during the vines attacking,” she begun, “I am very disappointed in the five of you. Twilight may be the last princess the vines were after, but she was still needed to save the Tree of Harmony and the only one who can bring the magic in the Elements. After all the adventures and missions, that was the one you thought Twilight shouldn’t be in when you can just protect her? She’s your friend, and friends should stick together no matter what.”

The mane five looked down in guilt and sadness while Applejack held her hat on her chest again. They all knew Celestia was right about Twilight being their friend and how they should have just protected her instead of sending her home to be safe.

“Even we’re disappointed too,” said Cadence as she, along with Luna and Shining, stared at the mane five with disappointing looks on their faces, “After hearing how you girls saved Equestria several times together, I thought it would have been clear that you still save the day together, even if the threat wants something to do with either one of you.”

“Yeah, but the vines and many things were trying to stop us from reaching the Tree of Harmony in time to save Celestia and Luna since they were after Twilight,” said Rarity.

“What does that matter?” Cadence asked crossly.

“That’s quite a lot when you’re trying to save the day and protecting your friends from harm’s way,” said Jacob.

“Well we often do protect our friends from any sort of dangers and threats,” said Applejack nicely, “Especially if that threat wants something to do with one of us or to stop us from fixing everything.”

“Then why didn’t you protect Twilight when you were all heading to the Tree of Harmony?” Shining asked crossly.

“How else were we supposed to get to the Tree without the vines or anything trying to capture Twilight?” Applejack asked crossly back, “Thought it’ll be safe for her and easy to save the Tree.”

“Well it didn’t,” said Cadence crossly, “And I bet it made Twilight feel like she’s not needed to help save Equestria from the vines, even if it’s just her they’re after.”

“It did,” said Twilight before looking down while closing her eyes in sadness as she remembered Applejack telling her to go home to stay safe when all it did was made her feel like she’s unwanted to help save the day.

Flurry Heart sadly looked at her aunt before walking towards her. Twilight suddenly felt a soft tug on her chest and a pair of hooves wrapping around her neck. She looked down and saw her niece hugging her trying to cheer her up.

“Please don’t be sad, Auntie Twily,” she said in a sweet tone, “I don’t like it when you’re sad.”

Twilight continued to look at Flurry hugging her as a smile grew on her face while a small tear rolled down her face. She gently hugged her niece back and nuzzled her cheek.

“Thank you,” she whispered in her ear.

Everyone, aside from Discord, smiled at the cute sight they were seeing from Twilight and Flurry Heart. Cosmos was smiling at the sight too, but was trying to make sure Discord and the others don’t see it.

“Your daughter has such a big heart,” said Tina kindly to Cadence.

“Yes,” replied Cadence while smiling at her daughter and sister-in-law, “Yes, she does.”

Flurry Heart turned to Celestia, while breaking the hug, before saying, “Princess Celestia, please don’t punish Auntie Twily for what she did to Queen Novo. I know what she did was wrong, but if what Pinkie said was true and that it was moons ago, I’m sure we can forget about it and…” Flurry Heart was stopped by a gentle hoof touching her shoulder as she saw Celestia smiling softly at her.

“It’s alright, my dear,” she said softly to the filly, “I know you don’t want Twilight to get into trouble for trying to stealing Queen Novo’s pearl long ago. And you’re right.”

“She is?!” Rarity asked in complete shock which earned a glare look from Princess Cadence.

Celestia nodded her head before saying, “I’ve known you girls since the day you defeat Nightmare Moon and became the new wielders to the Elements of Harmony. And Pinkie is known for quickly telling the truth, even when she doesn’t want any of her friends to get into trouble for what they did, mistake or not. So she had every right to tell the truth about Twilight so she doesn’t get into trouble.”

“I did?” Pinkie asked before realising that Celestia was right, “I mean, yes, I did.”

“So does that mean Twilight’s not in trouble?” Asked Fluttershy in hope.

Celestia smiled at the yellow Pegasus as she said, “Yes, Fluttershy. Twilight is not in trouble.”

The mane five sighed in relief. They were glad Twilight wasn’t in trouble after telling Celestia what happened during their mission to save Equestria from The Storm King.

“Besides,” Celestia continued but in a sad tone now, “She’s not the only princess that made a mistake long ago.”

Everyone looked at the sun princess in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked.

“Well, you see, Spike,” said Celestia before letting out a calm sigh, “It wasn’t supposed to be just me and Luna to rule Equestria. There was supposed to be three of us ruling Equestria. We had a brother.”

“A brother?!” Cadence asked in deep shock.

“Yes,” said Celestia while nodding her head at her niece, “His name was Solar. Prince of the Eclipse, and the second to be born before Luna.”

“So he was in charge of placing the sun and moon together on the night the Eclipse is shown,” said Twilight.

Celestia looked at Twilight while saying, “Correct. He was supposed to be the one bring the Eclipse on the nights it was to be shown. But on those Eclipse nights, it had been me and Luna showing it since Solar didn’t became the third ruler. He was full of anger when he was told what his guardian rule was when Mother and Aunt announced we were to become the next rulers of Equestria. They tried to help him understand, but his heart was filled with anger, hatred…and darkness. I still remember the night we lost him. I could never forget the first mistake I’ve made, as a princess.”

In the throne room of the castle, that wasn’t destroyed yet and still in clean looks on the walls, Celestia and Luna, when they were young like Twilight as unicorns and their manes and tails remaining like a normal pony mane and were pink and blue, were looking crossly at Solar who was glaring them back. He was a unicorn with a white coat, dark mane and tail, almost the same height as the two sisters and had a Eclipse cutie mark on his flank.

“How is this our fault?!” Celestia asked crossly, “We didn’t tell Mom and Auntie Lunar to give us the sun and moon role and give you the Eclipse role!”

“I don’t care!” Solar shouted angrily, “How come you two get the easiest and funniest roles and I only get the role that doesn’t always happen?! You get to rise the sun and moon every day and I just show the Eclipse when the night comes! It’s so unfair, and will not fit my role as the next ruler!”

“But at least you won’t feel left out!” Luna said crossly, “And we’re supposed to rule Equestria together! The three of us! It’s what Mom would have wanted before she and Auntie Lunar retires!

“Like I said, I don’t care! I will not rule Equestria with a stupid role that’s not gonna happen every day or every moon!”

“It’s our destiny, Solar!” Said Celestia crossly.

“Well maybe I prefer a destiny that doesn’t involve a role that’s not gonna happen every day while my stupid sisters gets an exciting role each!”

“Well maybe we’re better off without a brother LIKE YOU!” Celestia yelled angrily with her horn sparkling a bit.

Celestia suddenly saw the shock look on Solar’s face before it turned into a sad look as a tear rolled down the unicorn’s face. Celestia stared shockingly at her brother after realising what she had just said to him. Even Luna was surprised at Celestia’s outburst, she had never heard her sister yell like that before.

“Solar, I-I didn’t mean to…” Before Celestia could say more, Solar glared angrily at her while saying, “You wish to rule Equestria without me, fine. I’ll make sure your wish comes true.” He then ran out of the throne room and probably towards his room.

“Solar, wait!” Celestia called out. But it wasn’t any good. Solar was far away from the throne room to even hear his sister calling out to him.

Celestia looked down with her eyes closed as tears rolled down her face. She felt guilty after yelling at her brother and saying they were better off ruling Equestria without him. Luna decided to stay and try to comfort her big sister. Even though she did and say was wrong, she couldn’t just leave her and act like she wasn’t gonna take any part of her action.

Just then, two alicorns walked into the throne room and went to Celestia.

One alicorn had a yellow faded white coat with purple and orange mane and tail that flowed in four streaks of rosey pink and her cutie mark was a sun with a white diamond on it. That was Celestia and Luna’s mother, Princess Crystal Sun.

The other alicorn was black with dark purple mane and tail that flowed with tiny sparks of stars and her cutie mark was a moon with tiny stars around it. That was their aunt and Crystal Sun’s sister, Princess Lunar.

Celestia looked at her mother and aunt, showing the tears in her eyes. She tried to explain, but before she could, Crystal Sun gently placed a hoof on her shoulder and smiled softly at her showing that she knows she didn’t mean to yell at Solar.

“My mother told me not to worry about Solar and that she and Aunt Lunar will try to help Solar out. But I was a bit worried about him after saying he’s gonna make sure what I said to him came true.”

We then go to many moons later after that event and see Celestia and Luna, now nearly as adult ponies and now alicorns, sleeping in their own beds in the same bedroom.

“Many moons later, when me and Luna became alicorns, we were a month away from becoming the new rulers of Equestria and our mother and aunt’s retirement. But one night, as we were asleep, we were woken up by the sound of our mother and aunt screaming. We rushed down the hallway to see what was wrong as we saw what made us both shock and really upset.”

Celestia and Luna gasped in shock and horrified to what they were seeing. Laying down on the hallway floor was Princess Crystal Sun and Princess Lunar with their eyes closed, not moving and blood flowing on the ground and around the two alicorns. They were dead.

“Mom!” Celestia cried worriedly before towards the alicorns.

“Aunt Lunar!” Cried Luna worriedly as she ran towards the alicorns too.

The sisters stood around the dead alicorns as tears started to form in their eyes. They wished this was a nightmare, but it wasn’t. It was all real. Their mother and aunt were now dead.

“How? How did this happen?!” Celestia asked in a sad tone, “Who would do such a thing to our mother and aunt?!”

Suddenly, they heard a knife dropped to the floor. Celestia and Luna turned and saw a knife standing through the floor with the blade through it with the killer standing near it. It was none other than Solar.

“Solar? You did all of this?” Celestia asked shockingly, “You killed Mom and Aunt Lunar?!”

“It was the only way,” replied Solar while walking up to the sisters.

“Only way to what?” Luna asked in a cross tone, “To get the role you actually wanted?!”

“I’ve moved on from that moons ago,” said Solar.

“Then what is it, Solar?” Asked the angry white alicorn, “What reason do you have for killing them?”

“For us,” he answered, “I did it for us to have our rightful place on the thrones, and to do our roles with no right time, no day, and no waiting. We can rise the sun and moon and show the Eclipse whenever we want to.”

Celestia and Luna were in shock after hearing what Solar had just said to them. He killed his own mother and aunt just so he can have the throne and show the Eclipse whenever he wants to, and he’s involving his sisters in the plan too. The two sisters glared angrily at their own brother.

“For us?!” Luna said crossly, “You murdered the only family we had left just so you can have the throne now, ignore the duty of your role and show the Eclipse whenever you want to, and you’re getting us involved with this?! How could you! The Solar we know would never turn into a murderer and kill his own mother and aunt!”

Solar’s happiness was now crashed after hearing Luna say that and seeing they’re not gonna appreciate what he did as his stared angrily at the two before saying,

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?! I’ve forgotten about what you said to me moons ago, and you don’t appreciate what I did for us to do what we want as rulers?!”

“Solar, this is murder!” Celestia said crossly, “You don’t understand what we could be up against or what we might go through!”

“No, Celestia, you two, along with Mom and Aunt Lunar, don’t understand what I’VE been! I’ve spent months and days waiting for the nights to show the Eclipse every moon! I even got into trouble when I showed the Eclipse on the wrong nights, even after learning how to show it! You think you had problems with trying to lift the sun and moon early and before bed? I got tired of waiting for my time, Celestia! Meanwhile, where have you two been, getting used to lifting the sun and moon at the right time, having to wake up early and before it’s time for bed when you could be living the life and doing lifting the sun and moon whenever you want to!”

“We should be mad? We should be mad, Solar? How can you say that when not everypony gets the role they really want?!” Luna asked angrily, “Mom and Aunt Lunar were trying to help you see what good you could do for your Eclipse role when you wouldn’t listen to them!”

“Well listen to this, you won’t accept doing your role whenever you want, fine!” Solar used his magic to lift the knife up from the floor as he grabbed Celestia by the neck while saying, “I’ll just kill your own and only sister so your anger will make you change your mind!”

“No!” Luna shouted in fear as she grabbed her sister’s hoof and tried to save her, “You don’t understand!”

“You once said you wanted to do better with your role so I’m gonna make that wish come true!” Solar said while pulling Celestia away from Luna before pulling the knife to her neck ready to cut it open.

“I’m not losing my sister too!” Luna jumped towards Solar and pushed him making him let go Celestia and the knife as it landed through the floor a bit again.

Solar pushed Luna off of him and got back onto his hooves. He saw the knife and ran towards it only for it to be lifted by Celestia’s magic as she pulled it away from Solar while glaring at him.

“Solar,” she began, “For the murder of our mother and aunt, I’m afraid you’ve left me no choice but to place you under arrest.”

“You don’t have to do this, Celestia,” said Solar, “With us now having the thrones, we can raise the sun and moon and show the Eclipse whenever we want. Nopony can tell us when to do them and…”

“No, Solar!” Luna said angrily as she stood by her sister’s side, “That’s not how rulers work or what we can do now! What do you think’s gonna happen?! That we’re gonna betray our ponies and disobey our roles?! This is our destiny! We’re supposed to follow the destiny and roles the right way!”

“We can now have responsibility to make our roles and Equestria better if you would just lis…”

“I don’t give a flying feather if we have responsibility now and I don’t care if I have to continued raising the moon before my sleep!” Luna said angrily, “This is my Equestria, and I will not let you stop me from protecting my ponies!”

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Luna. And I can’t let you ruin everything.”

Celestia breaks the knife with her magic, so Solar couldn’t get any more ideas, and drops the blade and holder to the floor before saying, “Luna knows exactly what she’s saying. And we won’t let you make things worse for Equestria.”

Solar glared at his sisters, or rather ex-sisters now, as he closed his eyes and then said, “So be it.”

Solar made a huge dark grasp magic blast at Celestia and Luna causing them to slide backwards on their hooves as smoke appeared around them. The two coughed while trying to find Solar. While still coughing and trying to clear the smoke away, Luna saw Solar running past her and heading down the hallway and onto the right.

“Celestia, he’s getting away!”

“After him, Luna!”

Celestia and Luna ran out from the smoke and down the hallway towards the right where Solar headed. But it was a dead end, and Solar was nowhere to be seen. There was no doors, the window wasn’t broken and the ceiling remained the same.

“He’s gone!”

“Check every room in the castle, Luna! He can not have gone far!”

Luna gave her sister a serious nod as the two split up and searched throughout every area and room in the castle for Solar. However, after searching every guest room, the bedrooms, the bathroom, the library and even the throne room, they still couldn’t find Solar. It was then they believed Solar had escaped and is now somewhere in Equestria hiding from them.

“We had no luck in finding Solar after that night. So we made announcement to everypony about the death of our mother and aunt before taking the thrones. As for the disappearance of Solar, we kept that secret so nopony can feel worried him or believe we’re not worthy of taking the thrones since one of our family members was a murderer.”

“I couldn’t risk disappointing our mother if we did tell anypony,” said Celestia sadly, “There’s no telling what they might do if we did.”

“And you didn’t tell me about him to protect me from him,” guessed Twilight.

“Yes,” replied Celestia with a nod, “I did it to keep you safe from him. If you knew about him and tried to find him so you can help him change his ways, he probably would have hurt or kill you. His heart is filled with anger, hatred and darkness. I couldn’t risk losing you. I lost my mother and aunt before losing Luna and Sunset, I can’t lose you as well.”

“I understand,” said Twilight while walking up to the princess, “But you mustn’t keep feel guilty for what you did long ago or feel like it was all your fault it happened. If you continue letting that guilt and pain get to you, it’s gonna make things worse. And we all make mistakes sometimes, but we always have a way to move on from them. You may have done something that you didn’t mean to do, but that didn’t stop you from being the princess of the sun and protecting Equestria with Luna. And without you, I wouldn’t have met my friends, saved three unicorns, and raise a baby dragon.”

Spike blushed at that last bit as Celestia smiled at the purple alicorn.

“Thanks, Twilight,” she said softly, “That meant a lot to me.”

Twilight smiled back at Celestia until something popped into her mind.

“But, there is just one thing unaccounted for. Where did Solar go after escaping?” She asked.

“To be honest, that’s the one thing we don’t know,” answered Celestia.

“But we decided it’s best not to worry about it and just continue ruling Equestria and protecting everypony,” added Luna earning a nod from her sister.

“Wow,” said Theseus, “You lot must have made a lot of mistakes over the years. No offence.”

“None taken,” replied Sunset politely, “And it really doesn’t matter to us really. Because even if we do make mistakes, there’s always a way for us to fix them and move on from them. And we learn a friendship lesson from that mistake too.”

“Yeah,” added Gallus, “Some of us used to think that friendship meant nothing to us, until we learned it does. And without it, we wouldn’t have become friends, saved the day and met Lightning Twister who also became our friend.”

“And we love seeing him happy and smile,” said Silverstream.

“Until that Darkness showed up with his nightmares and his Legion of Doom 2 that’s more worst than Discord’s,” said Smolder crossly while crossing her arms.

“Heard that!” Discord said crossly.

“You were supposed to!” Shouted Smolder crossly.

“Seems like this Darkness person has grouped some of our enemies so he can get the kid easily if he is after him,” said Doctor Strange.

“Do you think some of them might come back!” Ocellus asked worriedly.

“Quite possible, kid,” Strange answered, “Quite possible. He won’t be giving up so easily after that failure attack anyway.”

“You know, if we all team up, we can get to the Tree of Life, stop Darkness and save our worlds together and it can make things a lot easier for us all,” suggested Pinkie.

Everyone looked at each other while thinking about that suggestion.

“Well I can always use a break from baking and selling,” said Jacob happily, “And I’m quite ready for another adventure.”

“So you’ll help?” Flurry Heart asked happily in hope.

“Count us in,” said Albus giving the filly a thumbs up.

“Awesome!” Said Rainbow proudly, “This is gonna be so cool!”

“I know right!” Agreed Sora.

“Ugh! That’s just great!” Discord said crossly and rudely while crossing his arms, “More people in this group means less fun for me.”

“Oh moan and whence all you want, Discord,” said Applejack crossly, “We need all the help we can get to save the poor sugarcube.”

“Yeah!” Agreed Rainbow, “And it’ll be fun having a Sorcerer, four wizards, two witches and a baker on the team!”

“Agreed!” Said Donald.

“Oh and you still wanna help that colt who took Fluttershy away from me and ruined everything for me!”

“Discord, we are getting really sick and tired of your behaviour towards Lightning right now,” said Twilight angrily, “And Lightning didn’t take Fluttershy away from you, you just think that. And he didn’t ruin anything for you, you brought those past actions on yourself!”

“Well perhaps it’ll be much easier for me if that little brat haven’t gotten into Fluttershy’s life in the first place, then I would have been happy still and having tea with my friend!”

Albus Dumbledore had enough of what Discord was doing and saying as he angrily stood up, making Discord flinch and look at him in fear, while saying, “Discord, outside! Right now!”

Albus walked towards the zip of the tent with Discord following him. He unzipped the tent and went out while Discord did the same. But Albus didn’t zip the tent though, meaning that everyone in the tent can actually hear what Albus is saying to Discord. And boy, he was not happy when speaking to the Lord of Chaos.

“I don’t know what it is you’re doing, but this is a very hard time for all of us! Grindelwald and other enemies have joined an enemy we’ve never faced before! And you’re treating a poor innocent child like he’s nothing after having a hard life?! Whatever it is that gives you the rights to upset Fluttershy’s son, stop it, get back in there, be nice to Lightning Twister and there’ll be no desert for you!”

Everyone was in complete shock after hearing Albus telling Discord off in an angry tone, especially Aurelius, Newt and his friends and brother. They’ve never seen or heard Albus be this angry before.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Albus continued.

“Never heard Albus be this angry before,” said Newt in surprised.

“Ne neither,” agreed Theseus, “New stuff always come in surprising ways in every turn.”

In an area that had grey metal walls and parts of what seems like machine stuffs, Darkness and the hooded pony was walking down the metal hallway in search of something. Something that will help them get Lightning Twister.

Doors slide open as the two walked into the room where the thing they were after was in.

“You said this thing we’re looking is special,” said the hooded pony.

“Oh, he’s beyond special, my boy,” replied Darkness, “He’s what we need to get a hold of Lightning Twister, take what we want, and destroy everyone that gets in the way. Including Sora. Someone else used to be here once, and now he’s helping me. But I’ll explain about him later.”

Darkness reached his hand out and made the metal floor slide open. He stood back a bit, so he wouldn’t fall in, as a big glass box rose from the ground. The hooded pony saw what inside the glass box before asking, “Is that it? Is that what you’re after?”

“Yes,” answered Darkness, “He’s what I’m after. The one key to help stop anyone from getting in our way.”

“Who is he?” Asked the pony.

Darkness looked at him before answering, “Project: Shadow.”

Author's Note

:pinkiegasp: Project:Shadow?!

Chapter 19
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 19

It was now getting late at night as everyone was getting ready for bed. However, there weren’t enough beds in the tent for everyone to sleep in, so the ponies and creatures decided to sleep in sleeping bags while the humans, the sisters and the Crystal Empire parents sleep in the tent beds.

Luckily, they left one tent bed for Smolder, Silverstream and Lightning to sleep since they both know Smolder is Lightning’s girlfriend and Silverstream shares a big sister bond with him and the poor colt will need a lot of comforting in case more nightmares come. And because, sleeping bags aren’t big enough for three to sleep in.

As everyone got into their beds and sleeping bags, with Sandbar getting into the same sleeping bag Yona was sleeping in, Fluttershy was the last one to get into her sleeping bag as she wanted to make sure her son sleeps okay during the night. She lift a small candle, so Lightning doesn’t get scared during the night, and carefully brought it to the the desk that was next to the bed Smolder, Silverstream and Lightning was sleeping in.

While bringing the candle over, Silverstream was singing her lullaby to the colt to help him sleep during the night.

Sleep my little brother
Sleep my little star
Sleep little piece
Of my heart
This little colt
Now wants to sleep
Let’s make his bed
Full of warmth and love

After singing her lullaby, Lightning was now asleep as Fluttershy brought the candle to the small desk. She saw her child sleeping and just smiled. Fluttershy carefully pulled the covers a bit more onto his small form before gently giving him a kiss forehead.

“Goodnight, baby,” she whispered softly in his ear, “Momma loves you.” Fluttershy looked at the dragon and hippogriff. “Goodnight, Smolder and Silverstream,” she said quietly.

“Goodnight, Fluttershy,” said Smolder and Silverstream in unison but quietly.

Fluttershy went to the sleeping bag she and Capper were sleeping as Capper gently wrapped his arms around his wife. Smolder carefully wrapped her arms around Lightning and gently pulled him towards her chest and belly. Silverstream gently placed her arm on the two, giving the colt some more comfort, as the two fell asleep along with the others.

Luna’s horn glowed bright white and a beam of white grasp line flew towards Lightning. It entered to his forehead helping Luna enter the dreamscape to make sure no more nightmares hurt him.

Lightning looked around in fear. He was in nothing but a pitch of darkness, until it slowly faded away to reveal the training room from the Storm Kingdom. This is made Lightning even more scared as he knew what sort of nightmare he was about to have now.

He was getting even more to what he saw next. There, in front of him, he saw the moment Tempest Plagueis was about to kill Silverstream which was also the moment Lightning killed the evil hippogriff when The Storm King’s darkness first got a hold of him. The scared colt started to get even more scared while now shaking in fear as to what’s gonna happen next.

“I was wrong to think you could stand with me!” Plagueis walked towards Silverstream and raised his Soul Eater in the air preparing to finish the pink hippogriff off. He was going to kill her!

“Stop!” Lightning shouted in a scared and worried tone.

But Tempest Plagueis didn’t listen. “Any last words?!”

He just about to finish Silverstream until Lightning Twister began to breath heavily and uncontrollably while sweating a bit before shouting, “I said stop!”

His Keyblade suddenly appeared and, before he knew it, he quickly slashed through Plagueis with his Keyblade causing him to stop while feeling pain in his body after the slash.

He began to groan in pain before dropping his last Soul Eater which now got destroyed and disappeared. The evil hippogriff started to collapse to the ground.

The dark smoke faded away taking the now defeated and dead Tempest Plagueis.

Lightning took a step back a bit while seeing him kill Tempest Plagueis with his Keyblade. He was now more scared of this nightmare and was worried for what was to come next. The area slowly faded into dust and revealed the darkness area once again. Lightning looked around in great fear as six angry ghost heads of the Young Six flew by him and each said a line that the REAL Young Six would never say to him.

“Why would you do that, Lightning?” Said the ghost head of Sandbar.

“Not cool, kid,” said the ghost head of Gallus, “Not cool.”

“Pony not Yona’s friend anymore,” said the ghost head of Yona.

“Was our friendship not worth stopping you from killing?!” Said the ghost head of Ocellus.

“I know my uncle was evil, but you shouldn’t have killed him!” Said the ghost head of Silverstream.

“You crushed my heart!” Said the ghost head of Smolder, “I can’t believe I fell in love with a pony who just became a killer! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!”

Tears started to form in Lightning’s eyes as he looked forward and saw the Young Six appear in front of him with angry looks on their faces. Lightning gasped in fear while taking another step back.

“Never speak to us again!” Gallus said angrily.

The Young Six all angrily walked towards the scared colt making him walk backwards trying to get away from them. “N-No! P-Please! I-I didn’t m-mean to do it!” Lightning fell onto his back as he covered his face with his hooves. “N-No! No, I’m n-not a killer!”

Lightning whimpered, until he heard Luna’s voice, “LEAVE THY YOUNG ONE BE! BEGONE TO WHENCE YOU CAME!” The Young Six disappeared into dust and flew away. Lightning pulled his hooves away from his face, turned round and saw Princess Luna walking towards him. He got up and ran towards the princess as he hugged her hoof tightly with the tears of fear rolling down his face.

“Shh…it’s okay, little one,” said Luna softly while pulling a hoof over his small form, “I still got you. Shh…”

“P-Princess Luna, the n-nightmares w-won’t leave me a-alone!” Whimpered Lightning, “I-I want them t-to s-stop!”

“I know, my dear, I know. I will do everything I can to protect you till we reach the Tree of Life. Don’t you worry.”

Suddenly, the sound of music can be heard from within the area. Luna and Lightning looked around to see where it was coming from.

“Where is that coming from?” Asked Luna.

“Princess Luna, I think I see somepony coming,” said Lightning in a scared tone.

Princess Luna looked forward and saw that Lightning was right. There was somepony coming towards them. Or rather, a filly. Luna recognised the form of that pony coming from the shadows and gasped in shock.

“Oh no,” she said shockingly and worriedly, “Lightning, I have to get you out of here before she comes any closer.”

The way Luna say “she” made Lightning quickly realise what pony she was on about as he became more scared since this was the only pony he hoped to never see again, even in dreams.

“You mean…it’s h-her?!” Lightning asked in fear while hugging Luna’s hoof tightly.

Luna hugged the scared colt with her hoof while answering, “Yes, I’m afraid it is.”

They looked at the small pony coming closer from the shadows as it was revealed that Luna was right. It was who she thought it was. It was the evil filly, Cozy Glow.

She continued walking towards the two while singing,

I'm telling you embrace the darkness
But you keep denying
Saying what your life is better
But I ain't seen nothing

Typical hardly the type I love for
I like when the pony don't leave me asking
for more
I'm a evil filly
Who knows just how to get what I wanna

What I want to do is tell you the truth
Back up all of the things that I told ya
You been saying all the right things every day
But I can't seem to get you over here to rule the darkness

Little one can't you see?
This darkness is fitting on me
The dark coming from this heart
I'm about to yell
I don't think you know

I'm telling you embrace the darkness
But you keep denying
Saying what your life is better
But I ain't seen nothing

You say you're a little pony but I can't agree
'Cause the love you said you had ain't been put on me
I wonder
If I'm just too much for you wonder
If my kiss don't make you just wonder
What I got next for you
What you wanna do?

Take a chance to recognize that this could be yours
I can see just like most creatures that your game don't please

Little one can't you see?
This darkness is fitting on me
The dark coming from this heart
I'm about to yell
I don't think you know

I'm telling you embrace the darkness
But you keep denying
Saying what your life is better
But I ain't seen nothing

The darkness started to flow everywhere in the area making Lightning more scared than he is now and Luna worried and unable to stop this nightmare as she tried to use her magic to get rid of the nightmare, but it wasn’t any good. So she knew what must be done. Lightning has to wake up.

“Lightning,” Luna said while looking down at the colt, “You’ve got to wake up. I can’t get rid of this nightmare. It’s too strong. You have to wake up.”

“But, w-what about y-you?” Asked Lightning worriedly.

“I’ll be fine. When you wake up, I’ll still be in the tent in my bed. You don’t need to worry. Now, wake up.”

Lightning nodded his head before closing his eyes and did the best he could to wake up. And it’s working, because the darkness walls started to break and Cozy Glow, who was walking towards the two while grinning, started to slowly fade away. Pieces of the walls started to fall as a bright light appeared brightening up the entire area and ending the nightmare.

Lightning shot up while opening his eyes and letting out a scream of fear after waking up from the nightmare. This made Smolder and Silverstream wake up as the dragon quickly hugged her boyfriend and gently rubbed his back with his head resting on her chest. Luckily, it didn’t wake up anyone else in the tent.

“Shhh, shh, shh, shh shh shh, shhhh…” whispered Smolder softly calming Lightning down, “Did you have another bad dream?”

Lightning nodded in response, while sniffling, before saying, “I d-dreamt t-that day I k-killed Tempest P-Plagueis, and a-all o-of you were m-mad at me, i-including you, S-Silverstream.” That made the pink hippogriff both shock and sad after hearing him say what she did the nightmare. “You a-all s-stopped being my f-friends and were g-going t-to s-stop before C-Cozy Glow c-came and told m-me to e-embrace t-the d-darkness, and P-Princess L-Luna w-wasn’t a-able to stop the d-dream. I-I w-was s-so s-scared!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” said Silverstream softly while gently stroking his mane, “Shhh…it’s over now. You’re safe. We’re here.”

Lightning sniffled as he moved his head from Smolder’s chest and looked at Silverstream, showing the tears in his eyes.

“B-But I-I s-still k-killed h-him,” he said sadly, “W-Why a-ain’t you mad at m-me?”

“Because we know you didn’t mean to and it was The Storm King’s darkness that made you do it,” Smolder answered, “Why would we be mad at you for something you didn’t mean to do?”

Lightning turned to Smolder and said, “B-Because I did s-something t-that w-was w-wrong, and y-you’ve f-fallen i-in love w-with a m-monster that k-kills.”

“I don’t think you’re a monster. None of us do,” said Smolder softly, “You didn’t mean to kill him. It was all Storm King’s doing. And besides, you didn’t want to lose Silverstream when Tempest Plagueis was about to destroy you. So what happened at the castle was his fault and The Storm King’s, not yours. None of us are mad at you for something you didn’t mean to do. You understand, Braveheart?”

Lightning wiped the tears from his eyes before slowly nodding his head at the orange dragon. She then gently kissed him on the forehead before saying, “Good. Come, let’s get you some water before going back to sleep.”

Smolder gently held Lightning towards her and climbed out of bed with Silverstream climbing out of the bed as well. They both made their way out of the bedroom part of the tent and to the part where the kitchen was. Once in the kitchen, Silverstream took a glass out of the cupboard, went to the sink and poured some water in the glass. She gave the glass of water to Lightning, he thanked her for the glass and slowly drank the water before giving the glass back to Silverstream as she placed it near the sink.

“Feeling better?” Smolder asked softly.

“A little,” answered the little colt quietly but enough for Smolder to hear.

“Good,” she replied, “That’s all I needed to hear.”

Suddenly, a bright light shone and Discord appeared as he then said, “Oh how can he be feeling a little better after remembering a murder he did long ago? He should start feeling guilty.”

“Don’t you dare make him upset again, Discord,” said Smolder crossly, “He’s going through enough with the nightmares still hurting him. And I thought Dumbledore telling you off stopped you from continuing.”

“Pfft, Dumbledore. More like Dumbledumb. He should know by now that I am the Lord of Chaos, and I don’t listen to anyone.”

“You still have to listen to Twilight, Celestia, Luna and Cadence though,” said the pink hippogriff while staring crossly at him, “They are the princesses after all.”

“No, I don’t,” said Discord while crossing his arms, “Just because they’re princesses, doesn’t mean I have to listen to them. Especially after banishing me after trying to help Twilight and Oliver.”

This was making Smolder so angry as tiny pieces of smoke came out from her nose. She continued to glare at the Lord of Chaos while saying, “Silverstream, hold Lightning. I am now a dragon on the edge.”

Silverstream did what she said and quickly, but gently, took Lightning and cradled him close to her as he hid his face in her soft pink fur chest knowing that this wasn’t going to go well at all. Smolder angrily flew up to Discord so she was face to face with him with his not amused expression not changing and his arms still crossed.

“Listen to me, you annoying variant of Q. Lord or not, those four are still the princesses and you still have to listen to them, especially when Flurry Heart becomes the new princess. And you didn’t help Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the next steps, you only wanted Twilight to fail and panic hard so that Celestia would give the throne to you since that’s the main thing you wanted ever since Twilight became a princess and you became jealous of her. And not only that, you tried to take Lightning away and upset him by saying he isn’t part of the Friendship circle or part of Fluttershy’s life and family when that colt will always be her child.”

“He is not her child,” growled Discord. Smolder flew back to the hippogriff as she gently took Lightning out of her talon arms and cradled him close to her with his head resting on her shoulder with Discord continuing, “And I deserve to have a throne since I’m the Lord of Chaos, even when Fluttershy was the only one that became my friend. And my plan for Twilight and Oliver defeating some villains was the best way for them to see they are ready for the roles.”

Smolder turned to glare at Discord, still holding her boyfriend, while saying, “And look at you. Got into big trouble with the princesses and Sora for bringing some of the dangerous villains together and nearly brought harm to everycreature in Equestria. You didn’t learn anything about friendship, tried to make Celestia give you the throne instead of Twilight. Blamed a poor and innocent colt for being banished and lost a friend who loved that pony with all her heart! You did that all to YOURSELF!”

Discord angrily uncrossed his arms and was about to go over to the orange dragon to show some manners until she shot a fireball from her mouth and hit Discord which caused fall back and land on his back. Silverstream quickly flew over to Lightning and gently stroked his mane so he wouldn’t get scared after that.

“Twilight lives! Fluttershy lives! The magic of friendship lives! Our friendship and Fluttershy’s motherly love for Lightning lives,” said Smolder as she turned away from Discord while continuing, “As long as they do, happiness lives in his heart. Lightning changed Fluttershy’s life when she first found him, and they were both happy after the adoption. You may think and know he’s The Storm King’s grandson, but to us, he’s no Storm Pony. He’s our friend and Fluttershy’s child. And my boyfriend.”

Lightning fell asleep in Smolder’s arm as a small smile grew on his face which made both the orange dragon and the pink hippogriff smile. Smolder carefully kissed him on the forehead before Silverstream gently kissed him on the forehead after. They both made their way back to the bedroom part of the tent while Smolder continued to hold the sleeping colt in her arms.

Discord glared at the three before letting out a hmph and snapped his fingers as he disappeared in a bright light. None of them even noticed that Twilight and Fluttershy were hiding behind a corner of the tent kitchen room and saw the whole thing. They were happy that Smolder and Silverstream stood up to Discord, but weren’t happy with the way Discord spoke about Lightning and the princesses.

“I can not believe he’s still saying hurtful things about my son,” said Fluttershy, “And Smolder is right. He brought this on himself. I can call Lightning my child whether he’s adopted or not. He should know by now that Lightning will always be my baby boy. I’m getting sick of his behaviour.”

“You and me both, Fluttershy,” agreed Twilight.

“Even I’m getting sick of his behaviour too,” said the voice of Celestia.

Twilight and Fluttershy turned and saw Princess Celestia walking towards them with a worried expression on her face.

“Princess Celestia,” said Fluttershy in a worried tone, “I hope we didn’t wake you up.”

“No, it’s okay, my dear,” said Celestia softly, “It’s just that I was woken by the sound of my sister waking up after the nightmare Lightning just had. I’m beginning to feel more worried for the poor pony. These nightmares are getting more worse and worse every night. Now I really wish we were at the Tree of Life already.”

“Don’t worry, Celestia,” said Twilight gently placing a hoof on the princess’s shoulder, “We will get there and save him. We just have to focus on protecting him and make sure he sleeps again.”

“I know, Twilight. I just hate seeing him go through something like this, even if it doesn’t really involve him. He’s been through enough, and deserve a happier life.” Celestia sadly closed her eyes and turned her head away. But she then opened her eyes in shock as she just realised that Twilight wasn’t doing what she normally does when she gets worried. Celestia looked back at Twilight and asked, “You’re, not feeling too worried like you often do?”

“Well, normally I would go all panicky and say what might happen next if we don’t do something about it, and I am worried for my nephew, but not the worried kind you all saw in the past. I’m all calm and a tiny bit worried put together, because I know we will save Lightning and put an end to whoever is behind all of this. And besides, I’ve changed, remember? The worried me is gone. The only worried that you will all see will the worried that isn’t too much but a tiny bit.”

Celestia smiled happily at the impression Twilight was giving her. Her worried Sparkle side was no more and the only worried side she now has is the normal worried side.

“As I said before, spoken like a true princess,” said Celestia happily, “I’m proud of you, Twilight. You’ve become the princess I knew you would become.”

“And I couldn’t have done it without the help of my baby dragon, and my friends,” said Twilight before smiling at Fluttershy who smiled at her back.

Fluttershy walked over to Twilight and said, “And I’m glad you have changed and become the princess we all knew you would become.”

The three continued to smile at each other before Celestia noticed something from outside with tent unzipped. She turned to the unzipped tent and what she saw outside the tent made her confuse as she then asked, “Why is Cosmos sitting outside alone?”

Twilight and Fluttershy looked at Celestia confusedly before looking outside and saw that Cosmos was sitting outside the tent alone. She was looking down sadly while rubbing her arm. This made both Twilight, Fluttershy and Celestia worried and confused put together.

“I don’t really know,” answered Twilight, “Do you think she’s alright?”

“We best check on her just in case,” suggested Fluttershy.

Twilight and Celestia gave the kind pony a nod in agreement as they walked out of the tent and went to see Cosmos. The female Draconequus did hear them coming, but she didn’t move or even turn her head round to see who it was. Twilight, Fluttershy and Celestia sat next to Cosmos as Fluttershy then asked, “You okay, Cosmos?”

Cosmos continued to look down in sadness as she said, “Yeah. I’m okay.”

The three were surprised by the response and tone she gave them. She wasn’t pretending to be sad or spoke rudely or even spoke like chaos means everything to her. She was actually sad and spoke in a calm and friendly tone. But they didn’t care about that, they still wanted to see if there was anything they could do for her.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked kindly, “Because you don’t sound okay. Plus you’re not acting like you’re in a mood for doing chaos magic either.”

Cosmos let out a sad sigh before looking at the purple alicorn and said, “Well, the truth is…I don’t like using chaos magic a lot, or even for fun.”

Twilight, Fluttershy and Celestia were even more surprised by this. A Draconequus not behaving like Discord always does and not liking using chaos magic a lot or even for fun? What is the world coming to?

“But I thought all Draconequus enjoy using chaos magic and use it for fun,” said Celestia, “How come you don’t enjoy it or use it for fun?”

“Because I never believed in evil or thinking chaos is everything after me and Discord were made,” answered Cosmos, “And we were the only ones of our kind.”

“Oh.” Celestia felt bad for saying “all Draconequss” only to hear that Discord and Cosmos were the only ones. “I’m sorry for saying that.”

“It’s fine,” said Cosmos in a calm and kind tone, “You didn’t know.”

“So how come you don’t enjoy doing chaos?” Fluttershy asked, “Are you a good Draconequss like how Thorax was a good Changeling?”

Cosmos looked at Fluttershy and gave her a nod before saying, “Yes. You see, back when Grogar made both me and Discord, we were told nothing but lies about ponies hating weird looking creatures.”

Grogar, the same look from when Discord was pretending as back in Kingdom Hearts 3 2.0, was using the magic from his bell to create his first two Draconequss’. The first Draconequss to appear was Discord and the last one to appear was Cosmos.

“After Grogar created us, he told us how everypony in Equestria accept other creatures but not creatures that have magic that nopony can do and has chaotic magic. It worked on Discord, because he wasn’t at all happy with it and wanted to show everypony that no one disrespects chaotic magic.”

Discord snapped his fingers angrily and disappeared in a flash of light leaving just Cosmo and Grogar in the cave. Cosmos didn’t do anything, except for standing still looking at the goat with a feared look on her face.

Grogar glared angrily at Cosmos and pointed his hoof at the entrance of his cave telling her to get out there and bring chaos to Equestria. Cosmos glared back at Grogar before turning her head away from him with her eyes closed showing that she won’t do it.

“I however refused to what he wanted us to do and didn’t believe everything he had just said. He then called me a creative failure and a traitor before banishing me to the Outlands where all his creations will live as their home.”

Grogar used the magic from his bell to send Cosmos to the Outlands as she screamed in fear while being banished. And there she appeared in a place where the sky was dark purple and everything was floating and flying all around. That was the Outlands where all Grogar’s creations would live.

“And there I remained as an outcast, a traitor, and a failure to Grogar’s plans to take over Equestria. I was all alone, and wanted to become friends with those that aren’t afraid of creatures with weird magic. But after Discord’s chaotic invasion and while I was banished and unable to leave the Outlands, I feared that now nopony would wanna be friends with a Draconequss.”

“But I visited the Outlands when I went to have tea at Discord’s,” said Fluttershy, “How come I didn’t see you?”

“Allies that are banished by Grogar will be unseen from those that enter the Outlands,” answered Cosmos, “However, Discord can see me though since he still lives there. But I remained hidden from him in case he suddenly finds out why I was truly banished and why I refuse to do what he does.”

“Makes sense,” said Fluttershy.

“Does Discord know you’re not like him?” Twilight asked.

“No,” Cosmos answered, “And he can’t know, because I’m worried he might do something horrible to me if he finds out I don’t do what he does and thinks of me as a traitor to the Draconequus’ race, when it’s just me and him.”

“It’s okay, Cosmos,” said Celestia while smiling, “We ain’t gonna tell him. And if you also think we’re gonna send you back to the Outlands, then you don’t have to worry about that either. Because we won’t.”

Cosmos looked at Celestia in surprised after hearing her say she’s not gonna send her back to the Outlands.

“You’re…You’re not?”

“Of course,” she replied, “You told us why you’re not like Discord, and we believe you. Besides, you’re only doing what your heart is telling you to do.”

“And you just want to be a good Draconequus and do the right things,” added Twilight.

“And we don’t see anything wrong with you trying to be like us and not use your chaos magic all the time,” said Fluttershy.

“So, you’re okay with me joining this journey to the Tree of Life?”

“Of course,” said Twilight politely, “You didn’t do anything wrong when we first met, you told us everything and we believe you’re a good guy, and we promise not to tell Discord the truth about you. Plus we do need all the help we can get to protect Lightning.”

“And your chaos magic will definitely come in useful, even doing them without Discord looking and seeing what you’re doing,” added Celestia, “We can help you with that.” She winked at Cosmos.

Cosmos slowly smiled again as she let all those nice words sink into her heart.

“Well, you all believed every word I said about me,” said Cosmos, “And you were so nice to me, I guess I can stay and help.”

“You have made an excellent choice, Cosmos,” said Celestia, “We are grateful for having you help us.”

Cosmos smiled at the white princess. She then looked at Fluttershy before saying, “Don’t you worry, Fluttershy. I’m gonna make sure no one harms your son.”

Fluttershy smiled back at Cosmos while saying, “And we’re gonna make sure no one harms you.”

Cosmos continued to smile at Fluttershy. She was happy she now has friends that believed her origin and wanted to be her friends.

“Come now, my dears,” said Celestia softly, “We must rest now.”

Twilight, Fluttershy and Cosmos nodded their heads at the princess as they all went back into the tent and zipped it shut before going back to their beds and sleeping bags as they went back to sleep.

Author's Note

I made Cosmos a good guy in this universe.

Chapter 21
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 21

A few hours earlier…

At a town, known at Green Hill, lived a sheriff named Thomas and his wife Maddie. There was also a hedgehog named Sonic, a fox named Tails and a Echidna named Knuckles.

Sonic once lived in another world where he was protected by a guardian owl named Longclaw. But had to leave her and move to Green Hill after a group of Echidnas came for him. Shortly after creating a blackout, Sonic was haunted down by an evil doctor named Robotink, who acts like he was a robot for some reason. Sonic met Thomas after being shot by him and losing his rings in San Francisco and the two slowly starting a bond together while travelling to San Francisco to get his rings.

Robotink was defeated and was sent to the Mushroom Planet where he met Knuckles while Sonic was enjoying his new home with his new family. However, while Thomas and Maddie was away, Robotink returned with Knuckles and used him to help him find the Master Emerald with Sonic as the key to find it. Sonic went in search for the Emerald with the help of his new friend Tails.

Knuckles suddenly see that Robotink lied to him and joined Sonic and Tails to defeat Robotink in his big Death Egg Robot he made after absorbing the Emerald’s power and gaining control. The robot was taken down by Sonic in his super form from the emeralds, with Robotink gone missing, and the three were now together as a team and lived in Green Hill with Thomas and Maddie.

Speaking of which, Sonic and his family were relaxing on the green next to the baseball court where they would normally play baseball together. But today was the perfect day to relax after stopping Robotink three days ago.

Sonic sighed happily before saying, “This is the life. Just relaxing, and not an Eggman in sight.”

“You’ve said it, buddy,” agreed Thomas, “I could not agree more.”

Knuckles sat up and looked at Sonic while saying, “This is what relaxing is? Just laying down and doing nothing?”

“Yep,” answered Sonic, “Relaxing, and not worrying about a thing.”

“Mmhmm,” said Tails.

“But what about protecting the Master Emerald? Robotink could still be out there and might try to steal it again. We can’t let it fall into the wrong hands again.”

“Chill out, Knuckles,” said Sonic while getting up on his feet, “Eggman’s nowhere to be seen after our last encounter. He probably just went into hiding till he comes up with a new plan to destroy us. But wherever he is now, we shouldn’t have to worry about him.” Sonic was unaware of a strange man in a black suit was spying on them behind the trees as he ran off.

“Are you sure? You’re not worried about anything else that might happen, like a new villain bringing destruction to our home?” Knuckles asked.

“I’m one hundred percent sure, Knuckles. Nothing bad is gonna happen. Not this time.”

“Sonic’s right, Knuckles,” said Thomas as he sat up, “You lot defeated Robotink a few days ago, it’s unlikely he would come back after falling from his big robot. He’s probably in a hospital somewhere recovering since that was nasty fall.”

“I agree,” said Maddie, “Hopefully it didn’t kill him. I know he’s evil, but wanting bad people to die can be very wrong, even killing is wrong.”

“True, but at least I don’t wish to kill Eggman or want him to die,” said Sonic before laying back down the grass, “I just want him to leave Green Hill alone and stop trying to gain ultimate power to conquer the world.”

“Attaboy, Sonic,” said Thomas while smiling at his friend.

“Well…okay then,” said Knuckles before sitting back down on the grass, “If you say I need to chill out and not to worry so much, then that’s what I’ll do. Chill out, and not worry about a thing.”

Suddenly, a loud explosion from the distance where the town of Green Hill was. Tails and Maddie quickly sat up as all five of them saw smoke from the distance and knowing it was coming from the town.

“And I just had to open my mouth,” said Knuckles in a not amused tone.

“Hurry! To the truck!” Thomas said as he ran to the truck with Maddie following him. Sonic zoomed into the back of the truck with Tails flying in and Knuckles jumping in without breaking it.

Thomas started the engine and the five quickly drove off to the town of Green Hill to see what was happening and what they can do.

At the town of Green Hill, everyone was screaming and running in fear as fire can be seen on some buildings and a few buildings and cars destroyed with the road having destroyed holes in. Thomas’ truck arrived just in time. Thomas stopped his truck on the road and the five got out before looking around to see what has been destroyed and what was on fire.

“Holy chilli dogs!” Sonic said in surprised, “What’s happened here?!”

“It must be Robotink! I knew he would come back!” Said Knuckles crossly.

Just then, a loud crash was seen from near the five as smoke rose and blew towards them. The smoke slowly cleared to where they can see a strange new figure walking out from the smoke. Sonic looked closely and saw who it was in the smoke as he was now in shock.

“What the?” He said shockingly.

The figure stopped walking and stood there with his left fist on his side. The smoke began to fade away to reveal that the figure was a black hedgehog was grinning at the five. Thomas, Maddie and Tails were surprised to see who it was, even Knuckles was surprised too as he thought it was Robotink that was destroying Green Hill.

“Then again, it’s not Robotink this time,” said Knuckles.

“So, it is true then,” said Shadow, “There really is a clone of me. Looks like Darkness was right after all.”

“Clone?” Sonic asked confusedly, “What are you even talking about? More importantly, who are you?”

Shadow suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to Sonic as he slapped him on the back of the head with his fist making Sonic fly forward and slid on the road.

“Sonic!” The four cried worriedly.

Sonic groan in pain while slowly getting up. Shadow started to walk up to Sonic while saying, “Name’s Shadow. I have been frozen for many years now until a man in a black coat unfroze me and told me what has happened during that time. He told me that a clone has taken over my world and given me a bad name, so I went to Earth only to find out he was right. You are making me look like a villain, even after taking Maria away from me, with the help of a pony.”

Sonic was shocked and confused by this. Someone in a black coat just told Shadow that he was a clone of him and given him a bad name and taking a girl named Maria away from him with the help a pony. Was this person trying to frame him, even before he gets to know this mysterious person that freed Shadow?

“What?! What are you even talking about? I’m not a clone, nor did I do anything to make you look like a bad guy! And who’s Maria and this pony you’re on about? I know nothing about them.”

“Darkness told me you would lie to me,” Shadow said, “Just so I can believe you and leave you alone so you can continue with your plan.”

“Who is this “Darkness” person you’re on about? And do you seriously believe every word he said to you?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

Shadow took out a green Chaos Emerald from behind his back and held it in his hand which made Sonic and his family go into shock after seeing what he has in his hand.

“He’s got a Chaos Emerald!” Tails said in shock.

“Where did you get that?!” Sonic asked angrily as he stood back up again, “Hand it over!”

“Like I would do that,” said Shadow, “And like I said, it’s none of your concern. I shall leave you be for now. But don’t think you’ve seen the last of me, faker.” Shadow punches Sonic in the face causing him to fall on the ground. He then hold the emerald in the air and said, “Chaos control!” Shadow disappeared in the flesh leaving Green Hill in ruins.

Sonic tried to get up, but he was in so much pain after getting hit by Shadow twice that he just gave up. He started to black out as he heard his friends and parents echoing his name.

Sonic’s eyes slowly opened as he kept on hearing Knuckles’ voice saying his name.

“Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! Sonic!”

“Knuckles, he’s awake now,” said Tail in annoyed tone.

Knuckles looks at Sonic and sees that Tails was right. Sonic was starting to wake up after being knocked out by Shadow.

“Oh yeah! He is awake!” Knuckles said happily with Tails rolling his eyes unamused.

“You okay, kiddo?” Thomas asked.

Sonic groaned while slowly sitting up and rubbing his sore head only for Maddie to gently moving his hand away from his head knowing it was still sore a bit.

“Try not to touch your head a bit, Sonic,” said Maddie, “It’s still sore a bit after that last punch.”

“Okay. Thanks, Maddie,” said Sonic politely, “And what just happened? Also, where did Shadow go?”

“He disappeared after knocking you out,” answered Tails, “We were planning on stopping him, but we were more worried about you.”

“Did he escape with the Chaos Emerald he had?”

“Unfortunately yes,” said Tails.

“Did he have the other emeralds?” Sonic asked, just to make sure it was just the one emerald Shadow has.

“We didn’t see him have any other Chaos Emeralds, so I think we’re good for now,” answered Thomas.

“Well that’s one less thing to worry about then,” said Sonic all calm now.

Knuckles, however, wasn’t happy to hear him say that. Especially since Shadow has one of the Chaos Emerald.

“What do you mean by that?!” He asked furiously, “Shadow has one of the Chaos Emerald, and you’re acting all calm about it?!”

“Take it easy, Knuckles,” said Sonic while slowly climbing out his bed, “If Shadow just has the one emerald, he can’t do much damage or use a super form since that needs all seven of them.”

“He makes a fair point,” said Maddie.

“But he still has one of them!” Knuckles said crossly, “There’s no telling what he might do next with it!”

“And what can he do with one Chaos Emerald?” Asked Sonic, “Summon a tank from another world? If he wants to turn into a super form, he’s going to need all seven of the emeralds.”

“Don’t say that out loud!” Knuckles said, “He might hear you! There’s no telling what else he can do!”

“How? Hedgehogs can’t hear things from a long distance,” said Sonic.

“But he may have a computer thing to spy on us though,” said Knuckles.

“Oh yeah. Fair point,” said Sonic now realising that Knuckles might be right Shadow hearing every word they’ve said.

“So what do we do now?” Tails asked, “Shadow could be anywhere since he has one of the Chaos Emeralds. And he’s similar to Sonic. He could be framing him in all different worlds by now.”

“The only thing we can do, Tails, is follow him,” said Sonic in a serious tone, “We follow him in every step he makes, see what he’s up to, and stop him no matter how hard it’ll get.”

“How about we just stop him right away when we find him?” Asked Knuckles in a tone that shows he wants to stop Shadow right away and not wait.

“Because we don’t really know how to beat him just yet,” answered the blue hedgehog, “Plus we don’t choose that moment. That moment has to choose us when the time is right.”

Thomas smiled proudly at Sonic as he gently punches him before saying, “Proud of ya, buddy. And I’m coming too.”

“I’m joining too,” said Maddie.

Sonic was surprised by this. His friends, also known as guardians, are coming to help Sonic defeat Shadow without knowing the dangers they will encounter along the way.

“You…you are?”

“Of course,” said Maddie, “We’re family, and we stick together.”

“He made a mistake by thinking you’re the enemy, but he’s made another mistake. He messed with the wrong family,” added Thomas.

“But, what about Green Hill?” Asked Sonic worriedly, “Who’s gonna take of everyone in town and make sure no one’s causing trouble?”

“Oh I’m sure everyone will be okay while I’m gone,” said Thomas, “After all, it’s not the first time I’ve left Green Hill to do something else. And everything was still the same when we got back anyway.”

“Except for the house,” added Maddie.

“But what about Ozzie?” Sonic asked remembering about their pet dog, “Who’s gonna look after him?”

“I’ll just ask one of my pals to pick him up from the vets and look after him till we come home,” Thomas answered.

“Oh well that case then, welcome aboard!” Sonic said earning a chuckle from both Tom and Maddie.

“Aboard? Aboard on what?” Asked Knuckles confusedly.

“It’s just a way of saying they’re on the team,” said Sonic knowing that Knuckles doesn’t really know much on how things work on Earth.

“Yeah, but what are we aboard on? We’re in your bedroom.”

“No, what I mean by that was…Ah, forget it,” Sonic said.

“So what are we going to find Shadow?” Asked Tails, “He did disappear in the flesh with the power of that Emerald he stole.”

“Don’t you still have your tracking device that you used to find me?” Sonic asked.

“Oh yeah! I forgot,” said Tails before pulling out a tiny device from his backpack and started to switch it on. “Okay, it says that he’s somewhere, in a forest.”

“To the forest it is then!” Said Knuckles.

“Hold on,” said Tails, “The forest is apparently somewhere…outside of this world?!”

“What?!” The four asked in surprised. They’ve never been to or heard of a forest that’s outside of their world before, nor have they been outside of their world before.

“Outside of our world?!” Sonic asked, “Like, out out of the world we live on?!”

“That’s what it says,” replied Tails while shrugging his shoulders.

“So where outside of our world?” Tom asked.

“Uhh…” Tails looked back at his device before answering, “Like, really far out of this world.”

“You mean like, somewhere that’s not connected to our world and any other worlds that the rings take us to?” Sonic asked in shock.

Tails nodded his head in response instead of speaking.

“Huh. Well, that’s new,” said Sonic with Thomas nodding in agreement.

“So how exactly do we get there?” Knuckles asked, “Sonic lost all of his rings when we were on the hunt for the Master Emerald. Uh, no offence, Sonic.”

“None taken.”

“Well, luckily, I still have my bag of rings,” said Tails as he takes out a mini brown bag that was filled with golden rings, “Almost forgot I had these with me.”

“How long have you had those?” Asked Sonic confusedly.

“For awhile before coming here,” answered Tails, “I even brought them with me so I can return home after helping you escape and warn you about Knuckles. No offence.”

“None taken,” said Knuckles, “Oh hey, I’m getting good at not taking offence.”

“Well, if it’s okay with you, mind if I take one of the rings so we can find and stop Shadow?” Sonic asked while holding his hand out for one ring from Tails.

“Sure,” said Tails politely as he took one ring from the bag and gave it to Sonic, “I was planning on giving you before you could even ask.”

Sonic smiled at Tails while giving him a thumbs up. He turned to Tom and Maddie who smiled at Sonic and give him a thumbs up as well. Knuckles smiled and gave the blue hedgehog a thumbs up too.

“All right,” said Sonic, “Let’s do this. Next time, the forest out of this world!” Sonic throws the ring away which grew big and opened up a portal way that will lead to the forest where they’ll find Shadow.

Present day…

“And we walked through the portal, and you know the rest,” said Sonic explaining the entire story to everyone in the tent.

“Wow,” said Applejack in surprised, “You lot really have had a rough day, especially when you were enjoying the relaxation.”

“It was,” said Sonic, “But hey, what can you do? It can happen to anyone.”

“Totally,” agreed Rainbow before taking a sip of his apple cider.

“Also, sorry for interrupting your own mission to save your own world,” said Sonic, “But if you don’t mind us staying here for tonight, we can leave tomorrow morning and continue our mission to stop Shadow.”

“Sure,” answered Twilight politely, “We don’t mind you lot staying for the night.” Her friends and son nodded in agreement, “But…”

“But what?” Knuckles asked in confusion.

“Well,” Twilight began, “You did say that Shadow mentioned someone named Darkness, right?”

“Wait, you know who this “Darkness” person is?” Tails asked.

“If it’s the same Darkness we encountered, then yes. We know him, so far,” said Sora.

“He’s the one that’s been causing my baby boy to have horrible nightmares about The Storm King and the events that happened, even before I took him in,” explained Fluttershy.

“Who is this Storm King you’re on about?” Sonic asked in confusion.

“We’ll explain later,” said Oliver with Sonic nodding in understood.

“What are you trying to suggest?” Asked Tom in a nice tone.

“Well, if Darkness is planning to include Shadow in his plans and lied about Sonic and Lightning to him,” said Twilight, “I suggest that we all join forces and stop them together while also trying to get Shadow to understand we’re not the real enemies.”

Sonic and his friends looked at Twilight while putting that suggestion in mind before they all looked at each other. They were gonna need all the help they can get to stop Shadow and show him that he has been lied to. So they decided to accept the offer and help their new friends out.

“Well, we need the help we can get and to clear Sonic’s name,” said Tom with Maddie nodding in agreement.

“And we can also help our new friends get to the Tree of Life to save Lightning and put an end to Darkness’ attack,” added Tails.

“So you’ll help us?” Asked Spike happily.

“Count us in!” Answered Sonic while putting his thumbs up and smiling.

“Awesome!” Cheered Rainbow, “More helpers for the team! And another super fast creature too. Haha!” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“And less room for the tent,” said Discord in annoyed tone with his arms crossed, “What a surprise.”

“Discord!” Celestia said crossly, “Enough with the rudeness already!”

“What? I’m just saying. This tent has barely enough room for all of us stay in.”

“This tent has enough room for all of us, even more,” said Strange, “I’ve checked with Dumbledore.”

“Still believe we can’t have more members in the team, even for this tent.”

“All right, that’s it, Discord!” Shouted Celestia crossly making Discord flinch, “If you’re gonna be rude to our new friends, then you can leave this room and go to another one! Right now!”

Discord scoffed, “Fine.” Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared to another room like Celestia told him to since he was continuing to be rude.

“Ignore him,” said Celestia kindly, “He gets all rude when things don’t go his way and when we do things he’s not happy about.” Sonic and his friends nodded their heads in understood.

Lightning let out a yawn before resting his head on Smolder’s chest.

“Well, I suppose we better all head off to bed now. It’s getting late now,” said Twilight while gently rubbing her nephew’s mane.

“You’re quite right, Twilight, agreed Celestia, “We should all get some shut eye before we continue the journey tomorrow. Goodnight, everyone and my little ponies and creatures.”

“Goodnight, Princess Celestia,” everyone said before they all went to bedroom part of the tent to get some rest.

In the vortex portal, Shadow was flying while screaming. He was unable to use the emerald since the portal won’t allow him to exit the place. He felt like he was ready to give up until a dark corridor opened up as Shadow flew into it and disappeared.

The dark corridor opened in a hall of Darkness’ castle as Shadow flew out of it and landed on his front while the corridor disappeared. Shadow slowly got up while groaning in pain and brushing the dust off his arms. He then saw Grindelwald, Cold Wind, The Warlocks, the hooded pony and three patch of darknesses standing near him.

“Didn’t get the pony he told you to collect?” Mr Warlock asked.

“No, I didn’t,” replied Shadow in annoyance, “I was stopped by that fake hedgehog, a Sorcerer and two ponies before I could get the chance.”

“You were stopped by a bunch of ponies and didn’t even try to get him!” Cold Wind shouted crossly.

“None of that was my fault!” Shadow shouted, “I said I was also stopped by a Sorcerer! He opened a portal that sucked me in and I ended up flying in an endless vortex!”

“A Sorcerer?” Asked Mrs Warlock in confusion.

“Yeah, that’s what I just said. It seems the pony has got a lot of help on his hooves to keep us away from taking him.”

“He better not have a lot of help,” said a male voice from one of the three patches of darkness, “Or else, Darkness won’t be happy about it. He’s pulling a lot of strings to make sure he gets the young colt at all cost.”

“I do hope he’s enjoying his new adventure,” said Mr Warlock, “Perhaps we should locate their next location so we can be ready to try again.”

“Hey, as long as it works in our freedom,” said a female voice from another patch of darkness, “We can let them do what they want for now, then we’ll jump in when the time comes.”

“Those are strong words coming from you,” said another female voice from the third patch of darkness, “Are you saying you’ll volunteer to go after them alone? Hm?”

“What? N-No, you’ve got the wrong bad guy. I’m not comfortable of doing it just yet.”

“Well, I suppose our fun will have to wait then,” said Mr Warlock, “I hope Darkness is keeping his promise. We did get locked away and our lives were ruined, thanks to them. They deserve to suffer what they made us go through over these past few moons.”

“My dear followers.”

Everyone turned and saw Darkness walking towards them. He stood by Shadow and looked at his followers before saying, “The young pony and the hero of the light will soon be continuing their new adventure. Make sure it is one they will remember. Now go, and be ready for them.”

The followers, except for Shadow, walked out of the hall while the three patches of darkness flew away to their locations so they were ready for the heroes to enter.

Darkness looked at Shadow and said, “You may have failed, Shadow. But you will get another chance. Now go and rest. You need it.”

Shadow gave Darkness a nod before leaving the hall and to his room to rest. Darkness crossed his arms behind his back while looking up. “So, the blue hedgehog has jumped the team. This might be a little hard to get the child than I thought.” He placed a hand near his head to think. “Now, what to do?”

Chapter 22
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 22

By the time Princess Luna raised the moon, which Sonic and his friends were taken by surprised, everyone was in their beds and sleeping bags getting some shut eye since they’ve got a big day tomorrow as they were going to continue their journey to the Tree of Life.

Oliver was placing Flurry Heart into her sleeping as she hugged her whammy snail teddy. He was about to get into his sleeping bag, that was next to his sister’s, when he suddenly saw Tempest coming in and going to her sleeping bag.

“I’ll be back, Flurry,” said Oliver, “I just need to do something real quick.”

“Okay,” replied Flurry Heart as Oliver made his way towards Tempest.

Tempest was just taking her black suit off her, revealing her cutie mark which was red and blue firework sparks, and placed it next to her sleeping bag. She unzipped her sleeping bag and was about to climb in until she heard Oliver’s voice.

“Fizzlepop.”

“Huh?” Tempest stopped what she was doing and saw Oliver smiling at her. “Oh hello, Oliver. Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Oliver answered politely, “I just wanted to say thank you for saving Lightning and Flurry from Shadow when I was unable to.”

“Oh. Well, you’re welcome. It was nothing at all, I just wanted to help since we’ve been friends for sometime now. Plus you were badly injured and weren’t able to save your sister and nephew from that hedgehog.”

“True, but I couldn’t just ignore what you did and not say thank you. You’ve been a big help today, Fizzlepop. I appreciate it.”

Tempest smiled and blushed a bit. “Thanks. Guess tagging along was a good idea after all. Well, I suppose we better get some rest now. We have a big day tomorrow anyway.” Tempest climbed into her sleeping bag while still blushing a bit which made Oliver look at her confusedly. “Are you, feeling okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m okay. Why’d you ask?” Tempest replied quickly.

“Are you sure? Because you’re blushing all of a sudden. Are you cold?”

“What? Oh no, no, I’m not cold. Don’t worry. I’m just uh…tired after fighting Shadow. That’s all.” Tempest chuckled nervously.

Oliver was confused by Tempest’s behaviour. But he decided to leave her be and not to ask her anymore. And it is late now, so he should go to sleep now so he has enough energy for the long walk tomorrow.

“Well, okay then,” said Oliver before going back to his sleeping bag, “Have a good night, Fizzlepop.”

“Night,” said Tempest before letting out a calm and quiet sigh of relief before resting her head on the pillow.

Flurry Heart saw the whole thing and started feeling confuse to what was going on with Tempest as well. “Do you really think she’s doing okay?”

Oliver looked at his little sister before answering, “I wish I could say I knew. But I think it’s best we leave her be and let her tell us when she’s ready.”

Flurry wanted to know what was up with Tempest and see if there’s anything they can do for her, but she knew her brother was right. So she decided to leave Tempest be and let her talk when she’s ready.

“Now get some sleep, sis,” said Oliver politely while getting into his sleeping bag, “We’ve got a busy day tomorrow. You’re gonna need all the rest you can get.”

“Okay,” said Flurry Heart, “Goodnight, Olive. Love you!”

“Love you too, Flurry,” said Oliver as he rested his head on the pillow and fell asleep.

Flurry, however, didn’t go to sleep just yet. Instead, she got out of her sleeping bag and went to her brother and carefully kissed him on the cheek, without waking him up, before going back to her sleeping bag and calling it a night.

“I felt that,” Oliver said kindly without opening his eyes.

Flurry chuckled at her brother’s response before laying her head on the pillow and went to sleep with Oliver doing the same. But unknown to them, and everyone else in the tent, they were being watched by Darkness and the hooded pony through the dark purple clouds in the castle.

“With more of them helping Lightning Twister,” said Darkness, “Our chance to capture him will be more difficult than I thought it would be.”

“So how do we get to him now?” Asked the hooded pony, “If we just walk in, they’ll be able to stop us before we can take the pony’s darkness within him.”

“Patience, my boy,” answered Darkness as the dark purple cloud faded away, “Patience is the key to capturing Lightning Twister, even if we have to break him piece by little piece. His darkness is still what I need to gain more power, and be unstoppable. But on the other hand, it does give us enough time to round up more members to help us.”

“More members?”

“Exactly. The more people we have, the easier it’ll be stop them from reaching the Tree of Life or before they could stop the nightmares. In fact, I’ve just asked someone to come and join us, along with his assistant agent. They should be here right…” The doors of the hallway open. “Now.”

Darkness and the hooded pony turned to the door and saw two humans walking into the hallway. One man was wearing a black suit and black tie, that’s Agent Stone. The other man was a little taller than Agent Stone, and was bald. He has a set of goggles on his forehead and a long brown moustache. His shirt was red with a patch of black on the front and back of the shirt and mini black patches on both sides of the arms, and his gloves, trousers and boots are black. That was Doctor Robotink, but we like to call him Eggman, since that’s what Sonic always calls him.

Darkness crossed his arms behind his back before saying, “Doctor Robotink, I take it?”

“At your service,” replied Robotink while bowing before crossing his arms behind his back, “A true honour to be here.”

“Wait, that’s the person that contacted you?” Asked Agent Stone.

“Of course, Agent Stone,” answered Robotink, “He’s the one who asked us to come here for interesting offer that he said I may like.”

“Ah yes, the offer I said I would give you if you help me.” Darkness walked towards Robotink.

“And what can I help you in order to get your offer?” Robotink asked.

“Well, let’s just say it involves a certain little hedgehog, you wish to destroy and take his powers and the emerald he has.”

“You’re on about Sonic and the Master Emerald that he stole from me!”

“That’s right,” said Darkness, “I know you hate that hedgehog, and your revenge didn’t go as you thought it would be. But if I told you I can help you get Sonic if you help me in return.”

Robotink was taking a liking to what Darkness was offering to him. “Go on.”

“You see, there’s this little pony, a colt in better words, named Lightning Twister,” explained Darkness, “And he’s no normal pony you may think he is. He’s the grandson of an evil king called, The Storm King. The mother of Lightning Twister should to work for The Storm King as his daughter, but she later betrayed before Lightning was born. He invaded all lands trying to find her colt while also seeking the magic that will make him stronger. But he wasn’t able to find him, even before his first defeat. And the young colt was found by a Pegasus named Fluttershy. He told her everything about what happened to his mother and what Cold Wind did to him, and she took him in as her son without knowing he’s the Storm Pony. Even he didn’t know he was The Storm King’s grandchild, till The Storm King returned from his stone defeat.”

“I see,” said Robotink, “And what would you like me to do?”

“Well,” began Darkness as he turned to look at Robotink before continuing, “I need your help capturing Lightning Twister and bringing him to me, so I can use his darkness to make me powerful and able to destroy all worlds. I even need your brilliant robots to help as well.”

“Ooohhh, I’m listening!” Said Robotink getting more interested after hearing that.

“And in return, I will help you capture Sonic and…gain power from the Master Emerald once more.”

Robotink began to think about the offer as he tapped his chin with his finger. After a few seconds of thinking, he started to speak his answer, “Well, as you’ve mentioned that blue hedgehog is now with the young pony, which you probably should told me first before asking me to come here. However, what your offer is what I’m most interested in than hearing the first pit about Sonic. So…I’m happy to help!”

“Excellent!” Darkness said proudly, “Welcome aboard! Your room will be down the hallway on your right. And you may find some useful equipment to help you make more machines.”

“Very kind of you. And now, I must go and begin. Come, Agent Stone, we’ve got work to do!”

“Yes, Doctor,” replied Agent Stone as the two made their way out of the room and headed to Robotink’s room.

The hooded pony started to feel unaware of Robotink’s behaviour as he walked towards Darkness before asking, “Are you sure having him on the team is a good idea? What if he tries to backstab you and take the pony’s darkness as well as the emerald?”

“Fear not, my boy,” answered Darkness, “He won’t do such a thing like that. Not if he still wants to defeat Sonic. Besides, he hasn’t met Shadow yet, but I’m sure they’ll get along just fine and work together to destroy the blue hedgehog and help claim the pony.”

The hooded pony said nothing as he understood what Darkness was saying. He then turned to the window of the room and stared at it. Darkness could sense something in the pony’s mind and knew what it was. He gently placed a hand on his shoulder, which made him look at him, as he then said, “You’ll get your chance to destroy the royal sisters, and claim the throne. However, you will need to destroy Twilight Sparkle as well. She’s the next princess to claim the throne, even if they don’t plan to retire at all.”

“I will,” replied the hooded pony with a nod. He knew Darkness was right about Twilight, and she will do anything to protect Lightning from them.

Darkness took his hand from the hooded pony’s shoulder and crossed both hands behind his back before saying, “It is your destiny to rule Equestria, my boy. And that is, the name I now rename you.” He moved his head closer to the pony and said, “Midnight. Midnight Crown.” He moved his head away from the hooded pony, or rather Midnight Crown. “We will go down in history together as we destroy the world, take the darkness, and claim what is rightfully yours.”

Darkness decided that Midnight Crown might need some time to think about that, so without even saying another word to him, he began to walk out of the room leaving Midnight be until he needs to see or speak to him again. Midnight Crown watched Darkness leave the room before turning back to the window he was staring at. His horn began to glow from inside his hood as he angrily made a blast that shot through the window, causing it to break, as the blast hit a mountain and several rock pieces fell.

“Celestia, Luna, Twilight…I’m coming for you,” said Midnight Crown, “Long, live, the king!”

By the time morning came, everyone got up and had some scrambled eggs for breakfast made by Jacob and Fluttershy. They finished packing up the tent and gathering the things they brought before continuing their journey to the Tree of Life now that the shield will allow them to leave and continue on.

The team were now walking through the forest where they walking in a muddy mud pool, which some of the members weren’t happy about.

Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Gallus, Ocellus Silverstream, Smolder, Oliver, Cadence, Flurry Heart and the two sisters didn’t have a problem since they had wings and can fly through the muddy part of the forest. Twilight was giving Xion a ride through the mud which Roxas and Axel didn’t mind, except for Donald. Starlight and Sunset used her magic to help them fly.

Lightning was ready on Silverstream’s back, because his wings were still healing, and so he wouldn’t have to walk through the mud or walk all the way to the Tree of Life, which Discord still find annoying. The young five even offered to take turns of carrying Lightning, like they did during Sora’s first time in Equestria, and Silverstream was okay with it.

Sandbar was riding on Yona’s back, because Yona refused to let Sandbar to walk through the mud by himself, and was worried he might get stuck along the way.

“Ugh! Why is this so muddy?” Knuckles asked in annoyance, “I feel like my shoes are gonna get stuck in!”

“Calm down, Knuckles darling,” said Rarity, “The mud is just fine and won’t get us stuck.”

“And what made you not claim about the mud pool?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, everypony says mud is good for the fur,” answered Rarity, “Also, I wish to focus on helping my precious little nephew than worry about my mane.”

“But once this is all over, you’ll be back to your usual self and back to hating getting dirty and having your mane ruined, right?”

“Nope,” said Rarity proudly, “I’m through with acting like that. For now, I will get dirty if I must on these adventures and will have a shower when we saved the day.”

“Well, that’s new and unexpected,” said Applejack in amazed.

“Not for me!” Donald said crossly, “All this mud are making my feet dirty! And I’m getting stuck almost halfway!”

“Chill out, Donald,” said Sora, “Once we’re out of this mud, the sooner we may be able to clean our feet, shoes, paws, claws and hooves if there’s a clean water pool nearby.”

“He does have a point, Donald,” said Goofy, “And hey, you said you prefer walking than having a ride on some of the ponies’ back.”

Donald was about to argue back, but he quickly realised that Goofy was right. He say he wanted to walk to the Tree of Life and not hitch a ride on one of the ponies’ backs.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Well, while we’re on the subject of walking,” said Discord, “Can I have a carry from someone?”

“No!” Everyone shouted at him in reply.

“Why not? I’m tired and my wings hurt!”

“You’re a draconequus, Discord,” said Fluttershy in annoyance, “You can’t feel hurt.”

“Yeah!” Agreed Rainbow Dash.

“True, but I am tired!”

“Not gonna happen,” said Sunset in annoyance.

“Ugh! Then why does he get to have a piggyback ride?! He can still walk!”

Lightning knew he was talking about him and he looked down in both guilt and sadness. Rainbow Dash noticed this and flew to Silverstream before gently patting her nephew’s shoulder and shook her head showing that none of them were mad at him for not walking like the others were.

“He’s been having rough nights and is very tired,” answered Luna crossly defending the poor colt, “We refuse to make him walk with what he’s going through.”

“But I’m tired too!” Winced Discord with Cosmos looking away so she can roll her eyes in annoyance without her brother seeing her do it.

“But you’re not suffering from bad nightmares,” said Spike crossly.

“Well if I can’t have a piggyback because I’m tired, then he can’t have one either!”

“He deserves more piggyback rides than you, Discord,” said Celestia angrily, “And you’re too old for carries. And another thing, stop treating Lightning Twister badly!”

“Hmph!” Discord crossed his arms and looked away. “No princess gets to tell me what to do and how old I am.”

Princess Celestia flew towards Discord and angrily stared at him, which made him flinch and shake in fear, while saying, “Would you like to repeat that?”

“N-No,” said Discord in a scared tone.

“Good. Now leave him alone!” Celestia shouted before continuing flying next to her sister.

“He’s not gonna stop, is he?” Asked Luna crossly.

“I’m almost losing my patience with him,” said Celestia crossly, “If he continues on, even when we get to the Tree of Life, I’m so gonna send him to the moon.”

“Calm down, sister,” said Luna calmly, “We just have to make sure his words don’t upset young Lightning Twister, or do anything that can harm him. I’m angry at him too, but we can’t let out our anger and do things that we will regret.”

Celestia looked at her sister and then to Lightning Twister. She knew Luna was right. She can’t let out her anger and do something that she believes will shut Discord up, but will regret. She has to focus on helping the poor young colt she had come to known ever since Fluttershy adopted him.

She let out a calm sigh and said, “You’re right, Luna. We need to focus on helping the poor dear. He’s too important.”

Fluttershy flew over to Silverstream to check on her poor son. “Are you doing okay, sweetheart?” She asked while gently stroking Lightning’s mane.

Lightning sadly looked at his mother and asked, “Am I bad for not walking, Momma?”

“No, of course you’re not, baby,” replied Fluttershy softly while gently placing a hoof on Lightning’s cheek, “You’re going through a lot, and you haven’t able to get some peaceful sleep. You don’t have to walk all the way to the Tree of Life. Don’t listen to what Discord says to you.” She glared at Discord, showing that she’s not happy how he’s still treating her child. She looked back to her son and kissed him on the forehead. “You may ride on our backs until we reach the Tree of Life.“

“Okay, but what if I do want to try walking?”

“Then we’ll let you, and you can continue ride on our backs if you want to stop walking,” said Fluttershy.

Lightning gave his mother a small smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, baby.”

“From my point of view, he is one.”

Fluttershy heard that and quickly flew to Discord, which made him shake in fear again, as she angrily said, “Say something like that again, and you may just find yourself in a nightmare of your own! Understand?!”

Discord gulp nervously before quickly nodding his head in response as he was too afraid to even speak.

“Good. Now leave him alone!” Fluttershy flew away from Discord and flew by Twilight.

“Where to now, John?” Axel asked.

“Just straight on ahead. We should be out of this mud after one more mile,” answered Constantine while looking at the magic grasp-style map.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” said Rarity proudly, “More mud on us means perfect coat throughout the journey.”

“Wow,” said Rainbow in surprise, “She really has stopped hating getting all dirty during adventures.”

“No argument here,” agreed Applejack.

And just like that, after one more mile later, the team made their way out of not just the mud river, but also out of the forest and were now on a sand dry ground with a nice clean river and rocks by it. This made Donald very happy as he was glad there was something to help clean his feet.

“Hooray!” He shouted happily, “A nice clean river to help clean my feet!

Donald ran towards the river and began splashing water onto his feet to clean them as he rubbed the mud off with his wet hand. The others, that walked in the mud, began cleaning themselves off as well.

Twilight flew down and let Xion off her back. “Thanks for the ride, Twilight.”

“You’re welcome, Xion.”

“Well, now that we’re out of the mud pool,” said Applejack after cleaning the mud off her hooves, “Which way now, John?”

“Well,” John started to look at the magic grasp-style map, “It says that we need make a straight turn to the left and…” Before he could even finish, John felt a hit on the back of his head. “Ow!” The map magically disappeared from John’s hand as he rubbed the back of his head. “Who did that?!”

“It wasn’t us,” replied Pinkie, “None of us even moved.”

Suddenly, Vincent felt a hit on the back of his head. “Ow! Okay, someone must be following us and playing tricks.”

“Ow!” Even Ventus felt a hit on the back of his head, “Yep, because those hits definitely wasn’t by us.”

The little figure was behind Sora and was flying towards him to hit him as well, until Flurry Heart saw it coming and shouted, “Sora! Behind you!”

Sora turned and saw the figure flying towards him. He summoned his Keyblade and swung at the strange figure as it hit the blade of his Keyblade and spun backwards and landed on the ground showing that it has four hooves.

“Nice swing, Sora,” said Gallus as Sora’s Keyblade magically disappeared before Sora said, “Thank you.”

The team approached the figure to see it was small, shaped like a filly pony and was wearing a black coat. The hooded figure didn’t move another muscle but just stared at them without even saying a single word.

“Now let’s see what this is all about,” said Twilight, “Starting with who you are first.”

The figure removed the hood from its head to reveal a pale light grayish arctic blue and light arctic bluish gray mane and its face shows it has a pink coat with three tiny freckles on each side underneath the eyes, and it was a female.

The female filly looked up at the team while grinning and saying,

“Twilight Sparkle. We meet again.”

Author's Note

:pinkiegasp: Cozy Glow’s back?!

Chapter 23
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 23

Everyone, except for Doctor Strange, the seven Wizarding World people, Cosmos, Team Sonic and Yozora, were all in complete shock. The figure that has been hitting them was none other than Cozy Glow who was back for the fourth time. Lightning jumped off Silverstream’s back and hid behind her talon arms while peeking and shaking in fear.

“Cozy Glow!” Twilight was in shock to see the evil filly again as she glared at her. Everyone else glared at Cozy Glow as well, including the ones that haven’t seen her before. “What are you doing here?” Twilight asked crossly.

“I was about to have some relaxation while enjoying some s’mores,” answered Cozy Glow with a fake innocent smile, “Care to join me?”

“She means, what are you doing out of your prison hold?” Rainbow asked crossly.

“Truth to be told,” began Cozy Glow, “I’m making a better life after my time in that world I was locked in. And after being turned into a creature with body parts of all Equestria creatures, I was being picked on by Chrysalis and Tirek causing me to hurt them, and throw them around to show who’s boss and not to mess with me. But then, a nice fellow in a black coat helped me turn back into my original pony form again and let not just me out, but also Tirek and Chrysalis, and well, here I am.”

“And I take it, this black coat guy was called Darkness?” Asked Gallus.

“That’s right,” answered Cozy Glow, “However, I can still turn into that monster, as well as other creatures. But I can turn back into my old self again after awhile. And in return, and for me to continue having this, all we have to do is bring Lightning Twister to him so he can have the darkness that remains in him. And he also let me take him as my boyfriend once this is all done. Isn’t that exciting?”

“You’re seriously still going with that plan?!” Silverstream asked angrily, “Even after your last defeat?!”

“What can I say? An empress can have an emperor on her side if she wants. And to be honest, that’s what I still want,” said Cozy Glow with an grin.

Lightning was now starting to get annoyed with Cozy Glow still trying to get him to join her and be her boyfriend as well as emperor. He came out from behind Silverstream’s talon arms and said, “When are you even gonna stop and just leave me alone already?! I’m not going to be your boyfriend, and I don’t want to be emperor!”

Cozy Glow’s grin turned into a frown after hearing that.

“Oh for goodness sake, Lightning Twister! You’re the Storm Pony! The grandson of The Storm King! This IS your destiny! Why can’t you just accept who you truly are?!”

“Because it’s not the path I choose to walk on!” Answered Lightning bravely, “The path I choose to walk on, is the path of friendship. And all I ever wanted was to be away from Daddy and be with somepony that won’t hurt me or thinks I’m a freak. I never wanted to kill Daddy or take what I want by force. If I do that, then I’m the bad pony, not Daddy.”

“And you still wish to be friends with those lot?!” Cozy Glow was on about the young six. “Even though five of them are threats and wish to ruin everything for everypony?!”

“They’re not threats! They just didn’t understood or accepted friendship like ponies do, even before the School of Friendship opened! Sure, the Changelings were evil before, but they’ve changed. You’re the one who’s a threat, even to your own kind! You almost made the magic disappear! You trapped Momma, Spike and my aunts in Tartarus and locked Auntie Starlight in a magic bubble before locking my friends in it as well.”

“I couldn’t let them get in my way,” said Cozy Glow, “And they were going to ruin everything I did for the school.”

Lightning wasn’t going to accept those reasons.

“And that day you returned, you tried to get me to join you. You even locked me in the caves beneath the school.”

Cozy Glow glared at the colt while saying, “You’re the one who made me do that! I was only trying to make things easy for you! Becoming empress of friendship is still my goal, and after learning about your past, I still want you as my emperor and so you can have everything you want. What’s wrong with that?”

“Cozy Glow, something happened to you that made you want power and become empress. What exactly happened?” Lightning asked.

“Does it even matter?”

“It does,” answered Lightning, “Everypony has a reason why they chose the wrong path and not accepting friendship. Auntie Sunset and Auntie Starlight were bad ponies before, and they’ve changed after accepting friendship and understanding how magic it is. If they continued wanting revenge and power, they’ll just be the same bad ponies.”

“He does make a good point,” said Sunset with Starlight nodding in agreement.

“We can be like how Sunset and Starlight did it, if that’s what you want,” Cozy Glow suggested.

“I just told you, Cozy Glow. I’m not going to be what The Storm King wants me to be. I get decide what I want to be and I want to be a good pony like Momma is.”

“Don’t you understand? We can’t ignore what our true destiny is,” said Cozy Glow, “Friendship isn’t the way to help us. We both need to follow the path we were might to walk on together.”

“That’s not what I believe,” said Lightning, “I know I’ve been through a lot and everypony was treating me like a nothing, because I couldn’t fly back then, and my Daddy calling me a freak, blaming me for my Momma’s death and scaring me with thunder storms. But I didn’t want to destroy or kill them because of what they did. I just wanted to get away from them and be with somepony that loves me and treats me like I do belong somewhere. And Fluttershy, she was the pony that treated me with kindness and took me in after changing her life and having a special place in her heart.”

Fluttershy smiled happily at her baby boy with tears of happiness appearing in her eyes.

“Plus, I have friends,” Lightning went on, “Friends that wanted me as their friend and treated me like I belong in their friendship.” The young six nodded their heads. “That’s why I chose to walk on the path of friendship, even before knowing I was The Storm King’s grandson, so I can live knowing that I have a real family with my real Momma is still with me. Everypony is free to choose who they are. Not the path they have to walk on, not because of they did that they have to blame others. We get decide who we want to be.”

Cozy Glow became more cross and annoyed by Lightning refusing to accept what his true destiny is. “And you choose to be the son of kindness?”

Lightning stared at the filly before replying, “What I choose, is to be the son of kindness.”

Cozy Glow sadly looked away and closed her eyes.

“Well, to be honest, Lightning, I don’t blame you or Twilight for what I went through.” Cozy angrily stared and pointed at the young six while shouting, “I blame you lot! You guys did all of this to me! It’s always you guys getting in my way!” Her pony form suddenly turned into a big Ursa Minor that was pink all over, Cozy Glow’s cutie mark on her forehead and red eyes. She roared angrily.

“Not this again,” said Tempest in annoyance.

Aurelius swung his wand and made a magic blast hit on the Ursa Cozy Glow causing her to slide back a bit. He slowly started to charge towards her as the ground to crack open with patches of dark smoke rising from the cracks and following Aurelius.

“Everyone, stand back!” Newt said as he and everyone else stood far back from the cracks and allowing Aurelius to charge towards Cozy Glow.

Just then, pieces of rocks and branches from trees, including leaves, started flying into the dark smoke which made it grow bigger and bigger with the cracks from the ground going bigger as parts of the ground flew into the smoke too. Aurelius continued to charge as he used his wand to make the big boulder fly into the air and break into pieces.

“I’m not sure if that’s suppose to be good or bad,” said Axel.

Aurelius made the boulder pieces fly towards Cozy’s Ursa form. The pieces hit her on the face as she covered her face with her paws while the pieces hit her and causing her to slide back even more. Cozy moved her paw away from her face and saw Aurelius was running towards her even faster.

Aurelius screamed angrily while swinging his wand forward making the dark smoke and broken pieces fly towards her. The smoke and pieces hit Cozy in the face as it then made her land on the ground and rolled over to where she was now on her side.

Cozy Glow groaned in pain while trying to get back up again, but it wasn’t any good. The attack from Aurelius made her unable to continue trying to fight. She fell unconscious as her Ursa form changed back into her filly form.

“I forgot he can do that,” said Jacob hinting that he knows what Credence was like before returning to his real family.

Aurelius looked at the unconscious filly while breathing slowly as the dark smoke slowly shrunk and went back into him. He turned to look at the group before saying, “She’ll gain conscious soon. We best leave now.”

“All right, you heard the boy!” Sunset Shimmer said, “Let’s get out of here before she wakes up!”

Discord crossed his arms and rudely said, “And who exactly put you in charge?”

“Shut up, Discord,” said Donald before banging Discord’s head with his staff.

“You said it, Donald,” said Smolder.

Everyone quickly ran out of the area they were in place before Cozy Glow could even wake up and try to do something else. Luckily, the attack from Aurelius made the filly unconscious that she’s probably not gonna wake up just yet.

The group ran and flew as fast as they could until they out of the area with the forest in and in a new area where it was just a dry sanded path with rocks everywhere. They all started to pant after that long run and Lightning laid on Silverstream’s stomach with his head on her chest as she had her arm over him for comfort.

“Everyone okay?” Doctor Strange asked while panting.

“I…think…so,” said Goofy while trying to catch his breath.

“I just wish we knew that the other bad guys we faced would return as well,” said Capper.

“Who exactly was that mean little pony?” Tails asked.

“That was Cozy Glow,” answered Sandbar, “An former student from the School of Friendship and somepony we thought actually wanted to be our friend, but as it turns out, she just didn’t want Twilight to know about the caves beneath the school. She made the magic disappear, trapped Twilight and our teachers in Tartarus while locking Starlight in a magic bubble, took over the school and made everypony think we’re the ones who were behind the magic disappearing.”

“Yeah, before letting us get locked in the magic bubble as well while the students were trying to take us away to tie us up like they did with Neighsay,” said Smolder crossly with her arms crossed.

“Even Lightning Twister?!” Knuckles asked in surprised after hearing the story.

“No, it happened before Fluttershy adopted him and became our new friend,” replied Gallus.

“And thank Celestia he came to the school after the Cozy Glow’s true self incident,” said Ocellus, “There’s no telling what might happen if he was there during the whole thing.”

“Little boy not deserve go through mean pony’s takeover,” added Yona.

“Speaking of Cozy Glow, I think there’s a little colt we need to congratulate,” said Celestia.

“Indeed, sister,” agreed Luna, “We do need to congratulate young Lightning Twister.”

“Huh?” Lightning asked in surprised by what he had just heard from the royal sisters.

“Yes, sweetheart,” said Fluttershy while smiling, “You stood up to Cozy Glow without even hiding behind one of us when she let out her anger and said things that you know weren’t true. That was the bravest thing you’ve ever done.”

“Yeah, we’re proud of you, kid,” said Rainbow proudly.

Lightning, however, frowned and looked away before saying, “But, I made Cozy Glow start blaming my friends after everything I just said to her. I never meant for them to blamed for. I just wanted her to stop trying to get me to be her and understand what she did was bad and my friends had to stop what she was doing.”

“About time he started feeling guilty for one of his actions,” said Discord.

“Shut your mouth, Discord,” said Starlight through clenched teeth angrily.

“Look, kid,” said Gallus, “We’re not mad at you, because Cozy Glow started putting the blame on us. She just start blaming us, because she’s just…well, upset for being locked in Tartarus after what she did.”

“Yeah, the one pony we are mad at though, is Cozy Glow,” said Sandbar, “ She brought the whole evil mess to herself and blamed us for stopping her from doing what was wrong and evil.”

“Yona refused to be mad at little pony friend, but Yona mad at mean pony for blaming friends.”

“Smolder can agree on that,” said Smolder with Yona giggling as she knew she was just playing along with her Yak speaking.

“So, you’re not mad at me?”

“Of course not,” answered Ocellus, “We would never be mad at a friend, no matter what.”

“Nothing will ever make us be mad at you,” said Sandbar.

Lightning looked down and started letting those words and the congratulation into him as he felt a warm happiness inside of him. His friends and family are not really mad at him for making Cozy Glow blame his friends, instead they’re happy at him for standing up to her for the first time.

“Well…if you’re really not mad at me, then…I suppose I’ll accept that I stood up to her and made you all proud.”

“At a boy,” said Oliver happily while gently patting his nephew on the head.

“All right, now that we’ve congratulated Lightning Twister,” said Shining Armor, “There’s something else we need to do before we continue.”

“Arrest Lightning Twister so we can free from this Darkness incident?” Discord asked with a happy smile.

“NO!” Everyone shouted while glaring angrily at Discord. Except for Cosmos. She remained quiet, but did glare at Discord while making sure he doesn’t see her glare.

“Sweet Celestia,” said Rainbow Dash in annoyance, “If he carried on, I am so gonna ask Twilight take away his chaos magic and ask Applejack to tie him up so I can feed him to the Timberwolves.”

“All right, I’m in,” said Twilight.

“I’m down,” added Applejack.

“I meant that magic or power that Credence did back there,” said Shining Armor.

“Oh yes, that’s right,” said Celestia, “What sort of power was that, Credence?”

“It’s a Obscurus,” answered Dumbledore as he gently rubbed his nephew’s shoulder, “It’s a dark parasitic power that can make someone a Obscurial if it absorbs them. It only goes out of control if that person gets upset and treated badly. Grindelwald was after an Obscurial so he can use it to kill me.”

“So Credence is an Obscurial?” Sunset asked.

“Yes,” answered Credence calmly, “My adopted family treated me badly. When I met Grindelwald, he was using me to find an Obscurial and said I was unworthy when he thought the young girl was the Obscurial, when really, I was the Obscurial and tried to calm me down while saying that Newt was going to lock me away instead of taking care of me.”

Lightning felt bad for Credence as he has also been treated bad before Fluttershy adopted him. He looked down in sadness with Fluttershy and Smolder gently rubbing his shoulders in comfort.

“After surviving the attack from the Ministry, I started searching for my real family and know who I truly am,” Credence continued, “Grindelwald told me where I can discover my true identity, which is where he was also gathering his followers. I joined him, because I thought he knew who I was. Half of he said was true, but the other half wasn’t.”

“He lied about the rest of your true identity?” Ocellus asked in shock.

Credence nodded his head in response.

“He told me I was Albus’ brother, and not only did he abandoned me, but was also seeking to destroy me. He also promised that we would go down in history together as we remake the world, before asking me to kill Albus.”

“During his first try, I told him that Grindelwald lied to him,” said Albus, “And he made him grew his anger to use it. After the dual, I told him that he is a Dumbledore, and we didn’t know his pain.”

“When did he find out who he really was in the Dumbledore family?” Spike asked.

“After we stopped Grindelwald from becoming the new leader, taking over the Wizard World and beginning his war with the muggles,” answered Newt, “Albus has a brother called Aberforth. He’s the father of Credence. After defeating Grindelwald, both Credence and Aberforth reunited and went back home together as Credence’s real family.”

Pinkie sighed happily before saying, “I love a happy family reunion.”

“Hope he got punished for trying to kill Albus and listening to Grindelwald,” said Discord.

Everyone, including Cosmos but trying not to been seen, glared at Discord for saying that, especially after what Credence has been through to know what he truly is. Spike flew up to the Lord of Chaos and angrily bit his lion paw.

“OW!” Discord shouted as Spike let go of the lion paw. Discord shook his lion paw before placing it underneath the eagle arm to stop the pain. “What was that for?!”

“Stop saying nasty things to others!” Spike said crossly, “We’re already tired of the way you’re treating Lightning! We don’t need you to doing the same to anyone else!”

Discord stared angrily at the baby dragon before looking at Twilight and asked, “Aren’t you gonna do something about him?”

“I am,” replied Twilight crossly. She smiled at Spike and gently rubbed his head while saying, “Good boy, Spike. Mommy’s proud of you.” Twilight wrapped a hoof around him and pulled him into a hug as Spike smiled.

Discord was in shock to the response Twilight did after Spike bit his paw. He turned to Celestia. “You seriously gonna let her do that, Celestia?!”

“I’ll let her know if she does something I disagree with,” answered Celestia while grinning.

Discord crossed his arms and looked away. He was so not happy with the way he’s being treated, even though he was saying horrible things to Lightning and started saying stuff about Credence’s past actions. So he clearly deserves it.

“Okay, as much as I love to hear more of our own origins stories and shutting Discord up,” said Constantine, “But I think we should keep going before Cozy Glow or anyone else tries to stop us. Plus it will be getting dark soon.”

“John’s right,” said Luna, “The more we stay here, the sooner more threats come and it’ll soon be time for me to raise the moon.”

“Lead the way, John,” said Rainbow Dash.

Constantine walked straight on as he pulled out his hand and made the magic gold grasp map appear on his hand to see where to go next. The others followed behind him as they all continued their quest to the Tree of Life.

Chapter 24
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 24

Cozy Glow was unconscious in the area the group was last at and before they escaped her. She suddenly started to slowly open her eyes as she groaned and got back onto her hooves. The filly look around and saw that Lightning Twister and the others were now gone. She got very angry.

“AAAHHHH!!” She shouted angrily, “Why must this always happen?! And why doesn’t Lightning see that ruling Equestria is his true destiny?! We were meant to be together, not with that orange dragon! He’s the Storm King! The grandson of The Storm King! But yet, he still chooses to be with Fluttershy and believe that “friendship is magic”. Ugh! Darkness is not gonna be happy again, and I bet he doesn’t have these kind of problems before.”

Suddenly, the voice of Darkness was heard as it made Cozy Glow jump in shock.

“Did you just talked with your mouth full?”

Cozy Glow looked around in fear. Just then, a dark corridor appeared in front of her as it disappeared to reveal Darkness while he said, “And it is rude to talk with your mouth full.”

“Darkness!” Cozy Glow began to shook nervously as she said, “W-What a lovely surprise! I was uh…about to return since I wasn’t able to see Twilight or any of those other goodies go by.” She laughed nervously while sweat started rolling down her face.

“Is that so?” Darkness crossed his arms, “Then why did I hear you talking about Lightning Twister still ignoring his true destiny and saying how you think I never have problems like before in the kind of words of you saying you’ve failed to capture the boy?”

“Well, I-I was uh…I was…” Cozy Glow knew she couldn’t fool Darkness with her lies, so she sighed in annoyance before grumpily saying, “Okay fine, you got me. I failed to capture him.”

“And didn’t I tell you not to use your powers after sending you to where you needed to be? Hmmm?”

“That wasn’t even my fault!” Cozy Glow shouted angrily, “They made me do it! And Lightning blamed me for what Sandbar and his friends did that got me kicked out of the school!”

Darkness furiously summoned a knife and angrily points it at the filly making her gasp in fear as her anger look turned into a scared one.

“And I would think twice, if I was you, before using that tone on me,” said Darkness angrily, “Don’t make me send you back where you were imprisoned.”

Cozy Glow knew he was on about the land that was unescapable and was the same place she was banished to, with Chrysalis and Lord Tirek, as she shook in fear while saying, “No! Please, please! Not the desert prison land!”

“Now don’t make this mistake again, and I may keep my promise of giving you the boy once I have his darkness,” said Darkness as he moved the knife away from the filly and made it disappear in a dark grasp.

“Yes, Mr Darkness sir,” said Cozy Glow in a scared tone, “I won’t do it again, Mr Darkness sir.”

“Good. And you better keep it that way, otherwise the deal is over. Now get back to the castle and wait for further instructions, and DON’T think about leaving till I say so!”

Darkness reached his left arm out to the left as a dark corridor opened near them. Cozy Glow did what she was told and walked towards the corridor, but she then stopped close to the corridor before turning to look at Darkness since he didn’t follow.

“Aren’t you coming back too?” She asked.

“Let’s just say I got a little business to sort out first,” answered Darkness, “Business that ONLY involves me.”

“Can I at least know what you’re planning?” Cozy Glow put on a cute face hoping that will get him to explain his business to her.

“No!” He shouted, making her jump in fear, “Now get back to the castle!”

“Okay!” Said Cozy Glow in fear as she zoomed into the corridor.

Once the dark corridor disappeared, Darkness crossed his arms behind his back while looking up ahead to where he knows where Lightning Twister and the others have ran off to.

“They can try and escape from me as much as they want,” he said to himself, “Little do they know, I’m also after another child that has the power I need. The power of anger. His father refused to accept it, but his son might. And the king’s enemies are what I need to help get those boys. But first, the king’s son.”

Darkness walked away to where the king and his son will be to begin feeding the child’s head with nightmares which will make things more difficult for both the king and the heroes from my point of view.

It was soon getting dark after Princess Luna raised the moon, and everyone was now in the tent which was strongly held on a sandy desert where the wind was slowly getting strong during the night. Luckily, Doctor Strange magically made the tent pegs strong enough to stick into the sand without being blown away by the wind.

“Wow, that wind’s getting stronger every second,” said Sonic.

“Guess that’s how the wind works during nighttime at deserts like this one,” said Tom.

“Ugh! Being in another desert remains me how we were all getting hot and sweaty in a desert being finding Klugetown!” Rarity winced causing Rainbow to roll her eyes in annoyance.

“And yet, you were still upset when you saw Klugetown didn’t have a spa there,” said Rainbow while grinning playfully as Twilight and Applejack giggled.

“Well, it was a horrible place filled with bad people, so I don’t argue about not having a lovely spa there.”

“Pfft…whatever.”

The six girls and Spike saw Fluttershy walking towards them.

“How’s Lightning doing?” Twilight asked.

“He was starting to get cold after we put the tent up,” answered Fluttershy, “So I placed over him to keep warm before dinner, but he is doing okay so far.”

“Good,” said Twilight with a happy smile.

“Do you think he’s going to be okay during the night?” Rainbow asked, “I’m worried the wind might turn into a storm if it gets too strong.”

“I’m worried about that too, Rainbow,” said Fluttershy, “Especially with the nightmares still happening. But I’m sure he’ll be okay during the night. Besides, he has us and his friends to help him get through the night.”

“That’s true,” said Rainbow with a smile.

“Speaking of which, what’s for dinner anyway?” Sunset asked, “I’m starting to get hungry.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Pinkie.

“Dumbledore and Celestia are making soup with homemade bread,” answered Twilight.

“What kind of soup?” Starlight asked.

“Tomato.”

“Am I aloud to have gems with my bread and tomato soup, Mom?” Spike asked politely.

Twilight smiled at her child and nodded her head in response which made Spike smile in happiness. The trio made their way to the dining room part of the tent to help set the table up ready for their meal.

In the bedroom part of the tent, the young seven were sitting on the floor and on the beds waiting for dinner to come. Gallus, Sandbar and Yona were playing cards, Ocellus was reading a book, Silverstream was hugging Lightning with the blanket wrapped around him to keep him warm, even though hippogriffs have very warm furs, and Smolder was turning the dial on the radio to listen to some good music.

(All rights belong to Engelbert Humperdinck)

Smolder stopped turning the radio dial before placing her claw on her cheek and her elbow on her knee as she let out a sigh. She looked at her boyfriend who was still being hugged by their hippogriff friend. She saw that Lightning wasn’t feeling happy and had a worried expression on his face. She can tell he was getting more worried about the nightmares and how long it’ll take to get to the Tree of Life to end the nightmares and stop Darkness.

Smolder sadly looked at poor Lightning shivering from the cold and can’t stop worrying about the next upcoming nightmares that await him. She wanted to help her boyfriend feel happy again. The orange dragon then thought of an idea to help the colt stop feeling worried as she got up and flew towards Lightning and Silverstream.

Silverstream saw Smolder coming before Lightning saw her as well. Smolder looked at her boyfriend, while flying, as she reached her claw out to him. Lightning was confused by this, but took his girlfriend’s claw as she gently pulled him from the blanket and Silverstream’s arms. Silverstream smiled as she knew what the dragon was doing.

Lightning’s wings were still healing after Cold Wind broke them, but Smolder was holding him gently as she carefully brushed the colt’s mane from his eyes before holding his hoof again with her other claw holding him behind the back. They were about to dance to stop the worries.

The two moved side to side, while Smolder held on to Lightning gently without hurting his wings, as they spun around. Lightning moved away before pulling himself back to Smolder before moving side to side again.

While playing cards, Yona was the first one to see the two dancing before Sandbar and Gallus saw them as well. Ocellus was halfway through the book until she saw the colt and dragon dancing. The four smiled at the two as the three placed their cards and Ocellus closed her book as she placed it next to her.

Silverstream folded the blanket and placed it next to her before continuing to watch the two dance.

Lightning’s worries started to fade away as he slowly began to smile while still dancing with Smolder. They continued to move side to side before Smolder carefully made Lightning spin underneath her arm and continued to slowly move side to side again. The orange dragon was happy to see her boyfriend smiling again.

Lightning spun underneath Smolder’s arm again before placing the back of his head on the dragon’s shoulder as they moved side by side again.

Smolder slowly started float down to a bed that was right underneath. She slowly moved to where she was now floating down on her back as she carefully placed Lightning on her stomach. Smolder gently landed on the bed. She then placed her claws behind her head with Lightning laying on her stomach with his head resting on her chest.

The young five were amazed by the dance Lightning and Smolder did together, and also thought it was pretty sweet seeing them dance together.

That was so…sweet,” said Silverstream with a happy expression on her face.

“Yona and Sandbar should try that one day,” said Ocellus as she playfully grinned at the pony and yak. Sandbar and Yona smiled while blushing as Yona rubbed the head of her head.

“Do you feel better now, Braveheart?” Smolder asked.

“Yes,” answered Lightning quietly but enough for his girlfriend to hear.

“Good.”

Just then, Rainbow flew into the bedroom.

“Hey guys,” she said, “Princess Celestia says dinner’s ready.”

The young seven nodded their heads as they got up and followed Rainbow to the room where dinner was being held at. Smolder gently carried Lightning to the room.

As they entered the kitchen part of the tent, they all sat around the table and began eating the tomato soup and Celestia’s homemade bread. Discord, however, was sadly eating his soup rudely while glaring at the poor colt who was dipping his slice of bread into the soup before taking a bite. Celestia and Luna saw this as they stared diggers at him causing him flinch and made him look away from Lightning.

After dinner, they all went into the bedroom part of the tent and got into their beds and sleeping bags as Lightning snuggled closer to Smolder with Silverstream’s arms wrapped around them while Smolder’s arms are wrapped around the colt. Then, they all went straight to sleep as their journey continues in the morning.

By the time morning came and everyone had breakfast, they started to continue their journey. They made it past through the desert and past another dry path with a forest and a couple of rocks by it, and they were now in, for some unknown reason, an area that was filled with snow. And I mean like, snow everywhere.

“Sweet apples! How in tarnation is it snowy around here?” Applejack asked.

“It wasn’t me, in case anyone ask,” said Rainbow in hopes nobody thought it was her, “I swear.”

Suddenly, they all heard two bumps on the snow behind them. They turned and saw Sandbar and Lightning Twister laying in the snow while slowly breathing. Lightning started to take a rest from riding on backs and being carried and started doing some walking, which doesn’t seem to go well since he was tired from last night after another nightmare. As for Sandbar, he was tired from walking in the cold snow.

“Sweetheart, are you two okay?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“We’re tired, Momma,” answered Lightning with Sandbar nodding in agreement, “The bad dream woke me up and the snow is making us cold.”

“We don’t blame you, son,” said Capper.

“We can not stop,” said Terra, “We have to keep going if we’re going to stop this Darkness person and save Lightning from the nightmares.”

“As much as I hate to disagree, but Terra’s right. We have to keep going,” said Twilight.

“You’re right, Twi,” said Applejack, “We can’t stop just yet.”

“Yona and Silverstream carry friends?” Yona suggested with Silverstream nodding in agreement.

Sandbar smiled at Yona before saying, “It’s okay, Yona.” He slowly got back up on his hooves.

Lightning was struggling get back up until Silverstream gently picked up and carefully placed him on her back. The colt smiled at the pink hippogriff while saying, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, cutie.”

Suddenly, as Oliver was about to continue the walk, he was hit on the chest by a ghostly force as he moved back a bit while letting out a groan in pain.

“Olive! Are you okay?” Asked Flurry in a worried tone as she rushed to her big brother’s aid.

“Ugh, I think so,” answered Oliver while rubbing his chest, “What was that?”

Vincent felt the ghostly force as it pushed him forward a bit from behind. “Ah! There it goes again!”

The ghostly force made a slap on the back of Donald’s head. “Ow!” He said while rubbing the back of his head, “What is going on?!”

Suddenly, a sound of a leopard growl was from a distance that was close enough for them all to hear. Lightning got scared and started to shake in fear while wrapping his hooves around Silverstream’s neck and hid behind her mane. Flurry quickly hid behind Oliver’s hooves and shook in fear.

“I think we have another company,” said Axel.

Just then, the ghostly force ended up a path, that wasn’t in snow and next to a big boulder, and was revealed to by a female snow leopard. A male leopard appeared from behind the right side of the boulder and a dark green Komodo dragon appeared from behind the left side of the boulder as they went to stand next to the snow leopard and stare at the group.

“Well well well, look what we have here,” said the male leopard, “We don’t get new visitors around here.”

“Who are you?” Ocellus asked.

“Name’s Makucha. And these are my friends, Chuluun and Ora.”

“A snow leopard,” said Twilight, “Of course.”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

“That’s how Oliver, Vincent and Donald felt that ghostly attack,” said Twilight as she started to explain, “Snow leopards have white fur just like the snow. They use the snow as their disguise to help them attack their prey.”

“That makes sense,” said Rainbow.

“So it was you who attacked us!” Said Donald angrily.

“Oh please,” said Chuluun while grinning, “I’m the ghost of this mountain, and I go by my own rules.”

“Ghost?!” Pinkie said in shock.

“Look, we don’t want any more trouble,” said Riku, “We’re just passing through. So we’ll leave you alone and by on our way.”

“Why the rush? We were just getting to know each other,” said Ora, “Plus, our meals have arrived.”

Goofy gulped nervously before whispering to Sora, “Gwarsh. And I thought the hyenas were worst.” Sora nodded in agreement.

“Now these will be interesting meals,” said Chuluun, “A bunch of weird looking apes for breakfast, a couple of strange animals for lunch and a group of children for dinner.”

“Weird looking apes?!” Axel said angrily.

“Well we’re not from their world, Axel,” said Roxas quietly, “It’s quite clear that they would think we’re apes since they don’t know what we really are.”

“Fair point,” said Axel.

“Forget the three day meals!” Said Ora, “Let’s eat them now! And I’m starting with the small one on the pink creature’s back!”

Lightning got even more scared after hearing that, and he knew he was talking about him. He shook even more as he held Silverstream’s mane tightly while whimpering in fear. Silverstream saw this and gently held Lightning’s hoof in comfort. “Shhh…shhh…” she softly whispered.

“Back off, Ora!” Chuluun said angrily, “That kid’s mine!”

Ora glared at Chuluun while saying, “I saw him first!”

“Well I’m more faster and can grab him before he can start running!”

“Are you saying that I’m slow at running and catching my prey?!” Ora felt that insulting.

“Well at least I don’t just bite my enemies so they won’t be able to catch me! That bite can get so annoying since you use it so many times already!”

“Take that back!”

Chuluun got closer to Ora’s face while saying, “Why don’t you make me?!”

“Enough, you two!” Makucha shouted angrily causing them to look at him, “We have enough to go round! And if you two really want to have them now, then fine. Let’s just hurry this along. We’ve got some revenge to seek.”

The group did not know what Makucha meant by revenge to seek, but they knew it was none of their business. So they decided to get involved with it and try to get away from the three as quickly as they could.

“I’m sorry, but we’re off the menus today,” said Oliver making the three stare at him, “So why don’t you three find the nearest exit, and leave us be?”

Makucha chuckled before saying, “You really think you can get off that easily?”

“Oh I do think we can, mate,” said Constantine as he made two gold grasp fire balls appear in his hands, “And let me warn you, you do not wanna mess with any of us.”

“Took those words right out my mouth, John,” said Rainbow with her fists ready to do some punching.

“Oh now this looks like a challenge I’ve been waiting my whole life for,” said Chuluun while grinning and getting ready to attack.

“Well I hope you’re prepared for this challenge, because this will be a challenge you won’t like!” Applejack said while scratching the snow with her hoof hardly ready to charge at the three.

“Especially from me!” Knuckles said as he bumped his fists together.

Makucha did a leopard growl while scratching the snow with his paw hardly. Chuluun and Ora got ready to start attacking the group. The young six glared at the three as they were ready to keep them away from Lightning Twister.

“Don’t worry, kid,” said Gallus, “We’ll protect you.”

“Get them!” Makucha ordered.

Chuluun and Ora charged towards the group with Makucha following behind. Twilight’s horn started to glow as she blasted a purple grasp beam at Chuluun which hit her and made her slide backwards on the snow. Ora jumped onto Doctor Strange and started trying to bite him while Strange grabbed hold of him and pulled him away from him as he tried to claw and bite him. Makucha tried to claw Sonic, but he kept on missing, because Sonic was too quick for him and kept zooming into different spots around the leopard.

Ora suddenly bite Strange’s right arm. “OW!” He shouted in pain as he threw the Komodo dragon on the ground making him slide on the snow on his claws. Doctor Strange looked at his arm checking to see if the bite will do any pain to his arm.

“Over here!” Sonic shouted before zooming off before Makucha could catch him. Sonic was now behind him as he said, “Nope, over here now!” Makucha tried to attack him, but Sonic zoomed off again and appeared on the right side of the leopard. “Here now!” Makucha turned to his right to see Sonic was not there as he was now on the left side of him. “Can’t keep up, can you?” Sonic zoomed off again before Makucha turned to his left.

Chuluun slowly got up while groaning in pain. She glared and growled at the purple alicorn before saying, “You will regret that!” The snow leopard charged towards the princess.

“Auntie Twily, look out!” Flurry Heart cried.

“Don’t worry, little bug,” said Twilight as her horn started to glow again, “I’ve got her.”

“Not this time!” Chuluun said while grinning.

Just as Twilight was about to blast her again, Chuluun jumped really high and landed on Twilight making her fall to her side and slid a bit on the snow while having her paw on her face so she couldn’t move.

“Auntie Twily!”

Twilight groaned while trying get back up and shove Chuluun off her, but it wasn’t any good. Chuluun was too strong for her to push off and her paw was pushing her deep in the snow for her to even continue trying to get her off.

“Mom!” Spike cried worriedly.

Chuluun was taken by surprised after hearing the baby dragon call Twilight “mom”. She looked at Spike in shock and said, “Mom? She’s your mother?!”

“Yes, I am!” Twilight now has the upper hoof and used her horn to make a purple grasp blast at Chuluun causing her to fall off her and slid on her side. Twilight got back on her hooves and glared at the snow leopard before saying, “And nothing is going to stop me being his mother!”

Chuluun got back on her paws while saying, “You don’t even look like what he is!”

“Are you now saying that he can’t call me his mother?” Twilight was so not happy from hearing Chuluun say both her and Spike don’t look the same as her horn started to glow again, “Because if you are…I don’t like those that think Spike can’t call me the one parent he wants in his life!”

Chuluun angrily growled at Twilight before disappearing in the snow so she can attack her easily without her seeing where she is now.

“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight said with gin as she used her magic to grab a bottle of water from one of the bags. She opened the bottle and threw the water out of it as the water landed on Chuluun’s ghostly appearance making it easy for Twilight to see her now.

“Ahh! Water?!”

“Gotcha!” Twilight used her magic to lift the snow leopard up from the snow.

“Hey! Wh-what’s going on?!” Chuluun was getting scared and worried by what was happening.

“Applejack, heads up!” Twilight threw Chuluun towards where Applejack was as the cowgirl saw the snow leopard flying towards her while screaming in terror since she hasn’t flew like this in a long time.

“Ah’m on it, Twi!” Apple turned round and bucked Chuluun in the face which made her fly backwards. She smacked her face on the big rock as she collapsed on the ground that wasn’t covered in it.

“Score!” Spike cheered which made Twilight giggle.

Makucha growled angrily while still trying to catch Sonic, but still wasn’t able to since he was too fast for him. “Grrrr! Hold still!”

Sonic stopped zooming around and stood in front of the leopard while saying, “Only if you say please.”

Makucha growled angry at the hedgehog as he lifted his paw up ready to claw Sonic. But as he swung his paw at Sonic, it went through him instead of clawing his face. Makucha was surprised by this. He had never seen anything like this happen before.

“Huh?” Makucha swung his paw at Sonic again, but it still went through the hedgehog. Sonic suddenly disappeared in a glitch style which made Makucha go into deep shock after seeing what he just saw.

“What?! What even was that?!”

“A hologram,” answered the voice of Tails. Makucha turned round and saw Tails behind him smirking at him while throwing and catching his hologram remote. “Bet you didn’t see that coming since none of this is around your area.”

“And I bet you didn’t know THIS was coming either!” Makucha turned and saw Knuckles pulling his fist back, as they sparked in red, and gave the leopard a big punch in the face which made fall to his right and slide on the face till he was close to the big rock.

“Ha! No match for us!” Knuckles said proudly.

“You are talking about me, you and Sonic, right?”

“Of course! Who else would I talking about?”

“Never mind,” replied Tails in annoyance.

Chuluun slowly got up while groaning before brushing the tiny rocks off her legs. She spotted the young seven and grinned evilly. The snow leopard suddenly jumped into the snowy area and disappeared into it. The young six were looking around making sure none of the three were on to them as Lightning continued to hide under Silverstream’s mane in fear.

“Keep an eye open, everycreature,” said Gallus, “We can’t let any of them hurt the kid.”

“Is he still doing okay?” Ocellus asked.

“I’ll check,” said Silverstream before looking behind her mane only to find Lightning wasn’t hiding behind her no more. She gasped in shock before worriedly saying, “He’s gone!”

“What?!” The young five said in shock.

“Help me!” Cried the voice of Lightning.

The young six turned to the boulder, where Lightning’s voice was coming from, as they gasped in shock to what they were seeing. It was Chuluun holding onto Lightning, by his bandaged wings, on top of the big rock as the colt tried ti break free from her paw, but it wasn’t any good. And worst of all, the hold on his poor wings was hurting him even more.

“Looks like I get you as my meal after all!” Chuluun said before licking her lips making Lightning even more scared than before.

“Lightning!” Fluttershy cried after seeing her son caught by the snow leopard. She glared at her while saying, “Put him down!”

“Oh I’ll put him down,” said the evil snow leopard with a grin, “Down my MOUTH!”

Chuluun lifted Lightning up and opened her mouth as she slowly lowered the colt towards her jaw. Lightning started to scream and cry for help even more while struggling get away from Chuluun’s open mouth. Fluttershy gasped in shock and worriedly, not knowing what was going to happen next. However, just as the colt was almost inside the mouth, a snowball, or rather a snowball with a rock in it, hit Chuluun in the face.

“Ow!” She shouted while pulling Lightning away from her mouth. She then saw the rock, from the snowball, fall to the ground and land next to the snowy area around the boulder.

“Was that a rock?!” Chuluun was angry after seeing that she was hit by a rock from inside a snowball. She started to angrily look around to see who threw it. “Who threw a rock at me?!”

The snow leopard suddenly saw an orange dragon glaring angrily at her while crushing the snow together with her claws to make another snowball that has a rock it.

“Get…your paws…off…my…BOYFRIEND!!!”

Smolder angrily threw the rock snowball at Chuluun making it the strongest throw she has ever done.

“Boyfriend?! He’s your…” Before Chuluun could even finish, the rock snowball hit her in the face which caused her to drop Lightning. And because his wings were still bandaged up, he was unable to fly and stop his fall. Fluttershy gasped in shock while running quickly to catch her falling baby boy.

“MOMMA!” Lightning cried while falling to the ground of snow.

Fluttershy took a big jump while reaching her hooves out and caught Lightning in her hooves before landing and sliding on the snow till they were near the trees by the snowy area. Fluttershy turned over to lay on her back as she gently hugged her son without hurting his wings. Lightning shook in fear while hugging his mother and laying his head on her chest.

“I’ve got you, baby. Shhhh…I’ve got you.”

Chuluun rubbed the cheek, from where the second rock snowball hit her, as she glared and growled angrily at the orange dragon before saying, “You are so going to regret that!”

Chuluun jumped off the big rock and jumped on the snow, and was about to go attack Smolder till she was stopped by Oliver jumping in front of her. He reached his hoof out as it turned into an inky hand and stretched forward to grab Chuluun by the neck and push her to the big rock. “I don’t quite think so.”

Chuluun struggled to break free from the inky hand, but it was too strong for her to even claw herself out of it. She started to get scared as she looked at Oliver while saying, “What…what are you?”

Oliver grinned before saying, “We…” His body started turning into ink with his hooves transforming into inky legs and another inky arm, his tail shrinking into the ink form, a white glove appearing on the right hand, a white bowtie appearing on the inky chest and his head lastly turning into an inky head with two tiny inky and pointy ears as the ink covered the eyes and a huge smile appeared on the inky face with his voice now sounding like an inky demon voice, “…are Bendy.”

Chuluun started to shudder in fear as she’s never seen anyone do that before, and the Ink Demon was the scariest creature she’s ever seen before in her life. The Ink Demon growled while staring closely to the snow leopard. He then let out a roar which made Chuluun shake even more as well as Makucha and Ora as they saw the Ink Demon too.

The Ink Demon threw Chuluun to where Makucha and Ora are as she bumped into them and the three of them bumped into a rock wall. That made some of the snow fall off the edge and land on them which covered them while also trapping them in a pile of snow as they were now unconscious.

The Ink Demon slowly melted back to Oliver’s original form. “Ugh, I sometimes hate it when I roar like that.”

“Is everyone okay?” Newt asked.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” answered Fluttershy while carrying Lightning in her hoof.

“This adventure just keeps getting more difficult as we go,” said Sunburst, “First, Celestia encounters a new enemy that we now know is behind the nightmares. Second, we encounter old faces and new threats from other worlds. Next, we encounter Cozy Glow for the third time! And now, we faced three new villains that must be the enemies from the Tree of Life!”

“I agree,” said Starlight, “So far, it’s been old and new villains every time we continue on. I hope we don’t encounter anymore old faces.”

“Me too,” agreed Roxas hoping that Xemnas isn’t back either.

“Come, my friends,” said Princess Luna, “We must continue on before sundown. And it probably won’t take those three long before they get out of that snow pile.”

Everyone nodded their heads and began to continue their journey through the snow to the rest of the path to the Tree of Life. Fluttershy decided to let Lightning rest on her back as she gently placed him on her back. The little colt rest his head on the back of his mother’s neck. Fluttershy started to walk with her friends and continued on the journey.

However, once they were all out of sight, the big snow pile started to move a bit. Suddenly, Chuluun popped her head from the snow as she crawled her way out of the snow followed by Makucha and Ora. They all stood by the now destroyed snow pile and glared at the group that were now out of sight.

Ora growled angrily before saying, “Just lost them!”

“This is all your fault, Ora!” Chuluun shouted.

“My fault?! I wasn’t the one who tried to eat the little one when there were others to deal with first!”

“Well you’re the one who didn’t even try attack anyone else after being thrown away!”

“You would have done the same!”

“No, I wouldn’t!”

“Enough, you two!” Makucha growled, getting the two’s attention, before glaring at the path the group took, “We shall follow them. They can’t get away that easily.”

But just as they were about to follow them, they were quickly stopped by a male voice, “I wouldn’t do that.”

The three turned and saw Darkness standing near them. “They will be having a lot of protection by the time you reach them.”

“Who are you? And what do you want?” Asked Ora.

“My name is no important right now. But you may call me Darkness. And I have something you three might be interested in.”

Chuluun was the first to feel concern about Darkness as she then said, “And what’s that?”

“It’s not them you want revenge on, you want revenge on the lion who is now king of the Tree of Life.” Darkness points to the right where the group was heading. “That’s where they’re going, and I’m following them. They have a colt that I’m after. And that lion has someone that I’m after as well.” He stops pointing and lowers his hand down. “If you help me get what I’m after, I can help you get revenge on the king. And so much more.”

The trio grinned as they like the sound of that offer. Makucha took a few steps forward before saying in response to the offer, “Lead the way.”

Darkness stepped aside while crossing his hands behind his back as a dark corridor appeared. The trio walked into the corridor with Darkness following behind them. The dark corridor disappeared out of sight.

Chapter 25
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 25

Back in Darkness’s castle, a dark corridor appeared and out came Darkness, along with the trio, as the corridor disappeared. Makucha, Chuluun and Ora looked around the place and were amazed by it since they’ve never seen anything like it before, even back in their world.

“This place seems nice,” said Makucha.

“I’ve seen anything like this before, even back in the mountains,” said Chuluun.

“Well, you have now,” said Ora making Chuluun glare at him in annoyance.

“Make yourselves at home,” said Darkness while taking a few more steps forward with his hands still crossed behind his back, “I shall call you when I need you to make a move.”

“And what sort of move will you be after from us?” Ora asked.

“A move that will slow them down and unable to protect the colt I’m after,” answered Darkness.

Makucha, Chuluun and Ora were now in complete shock after hearing what Darkness had just said. He wants them to attack the group that will make them slow down and unable to protect Lightning Twister from him. They refused to attack them again, especially Oliver as they haven’t forgotten what he turned into.

“Are you kidding?! We’re not going to attack them again!” Chuluun said angrily, “Not after our last attack on them!”

“Relax, my dear. I can assure you, your next attack won’t end up in failure.”

“Who said anything about failure? We’re talking about one of those creatures that ended our attack!” Ora said.

“Those creatures you are on about,” said Darkness, “They are ponies, unicorns, Pegasi and alicorns. The other creatures are a griffon, yak, dragons, Changeling, hippogriff, humans, hedgehog, fox and a Echidna. Unicorns have horns, Pegasi have wings and alicorns have both horns and wings. And I’m sure they’re not that scary if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Those lot we may be able to handle, but one of them won’t be!” Said Makucha, “That “alicorn” ruined our attack, by turning into some sort of, monster that’s all black and have horns on its head.”

Darkness uncrossed his hands, laid them on his sides and just stood there. He knew which alicorn they meant and what kind of creature he turned into. Something he learned before beginning the nightmares. Darkness slowly turned his head round to look at the three and stared at them before asking, “Are you certain?”

“We’ve seen him do it,” said Ora, “We saw him turn into a monster, with our own eyes.”

Darkness stared at them for a few more seconds before looking forward again as a dark corridor appeared in front of him. Darkness crossed his hands behind his back once more and walked into the dark corridor as it disappeared. Makucha, Chuluun and Ora looked at each other confusedly not having a clue on what was going on now.

Suddenly, they saw another dark corridor appear in front of them making them go into shock. The dark corridor slowly started to disappear revealing the person, or rather creature, standing in it, and soon, the three were even in more shock to who was in the corridor.

It was an big alicorn size bug pony, that was as tall as Princess Celestia, who has a very dark gray chitin, a hideous looking dark cerulean mane and tail, a pair of light cerulean insect-like wings, a carapace on her back with a gradient shade of dark arctic blue to moderate green and her eyes were moderate harlequin with dark grayish opal pupils and very deep opal eyeshadow. It was Chrysalis, former queen of the Changelings.

Chrysalis angrily glared at the three as they moved back a bit in completely fear and shock. They have never seen a bug creature this big before, that is, if they have seen bug insects back home.

“W-Whoa,” said Chuluun in a shock and fear tone while shaking a bit.

“Don’t look so shock,” said Chrysalis, “I’ve already know how this goes.”

The evil Changeling approached Makucha, Chuluun and Ora before saying, “Let me ask you from what I heard from Darkness…is it true that you three have encounter the Ink Demon?”

Makucha, Chuluun and Ora were now even more shock to hear what Chrysalis has asked them. They didn’t know, but they figured she might be on about the alicorn that transformed into a monster and fought them before meeting Darkness.

“You know what that monster is?” Makucha asked in shock.

“The Ink Demon was once somepony who was going to be my ultimate weapon to get my revenge on the two ponies that ruined my life. He was also once…my son.”

The three were somewhat confused by this, even after hearing her say that the Ink Demon was also her son when he’s in pony form, as Ora asked, “If he is your son, why isn’t he with you? You said he was your weapon and your child. He should be helping us get what Darkness wants from those lot.”

“HE BETRAYED ME!” Chrysalis shouted angrily, “His own mother. Just like how all the Changelings turned their backs on me with that traitor Thorax!”

“You had others on your side? Well where were they when you needed them to get the boy?” Makucha asked.

“They betrayed me before he was born,” answered Chrysalis before looking at a window, “They all left and joined the friendship, thanks to that Starlight Glimmer. Oliver was going to be the weapon that not any of the Changelings could be. But since he was adopted by Cadence, he still wishes to be on their side. But soon, he will pay. They all pay, including Starlight Glimmer! I will have my revenge on her and show them that no one betrays or messes with me!”

“Even if you must destroy him?” Chuluun asked.

“Yes, even if he still refuses to join me, I will destroy him.”

“Well, you’re looking for a way to get him to join you,” said Makucha, “There is a way to get him to switch sides.”

Chrysalis looked at Makucha in confusion before asking, “And what way might that be?”

“Well…” The leopard approached the evil Changeling, “What if, you told him his future? If you tell him what will happen, he might start feeling worried and distrusting his friends and family. Then, you can easily get him on your side. After all, you might still need him.”

Chrysalis stared at Makucha before slowly growing an evil grin on her face while chuckling evilly. She liked the sound of that idea and believes it might actually work.

By the time night came and Princess Luna raised the moon, the team were now in a dirt ground area with a river next to it and it was time to call it a night before continuing on. Newt and Applejack have finished setting up the campfire while Oliver and Tempest was putting up the tent. However, while Tempest was putting the peg down to help hold the tent up, she couldn’t help but stare at Oliver as he placed the other peg down.

After placing the peg down, Oliver saw Tempest acting strange again. He knew the last he asked, she said she was doing just fine and was just cold. But he knew something was up and he needed to know what it was. So he walked over to the dark purple pony. Tempest was busy sorting the tent out and didn’t notice that Oliver was approaching her until she heard him say, “Fizzlepop, are you doing okay?”

“Huh?” Tempest saw Oliver looking at her as she started to blush uncontrollably again while saying, “Oh yes. Yes, I’m doing okay. Thank you.” She chuckled nervously.

Oliver raised an eyebrow with a not amused look. He knew something was up, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

“Fizzlepop, you haven’t been yourself ever since I thanked you for saving Flurry Heart from Shadow. You said you were just tired from fighting him, but I know something’s wrong.”

“I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me at all. I’m just…exhausted from what’s going on each day, that’s all.”

“I’m not falling for that again,” said Oliver, “There’s something wrong and I want to know what it is, now.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” said Fizzlepop while looking away sadly and in fear.

“Fizzlepop, I can help you. And I will understand, if you just tell me what’s wrong and I can maybe help sort it out.”

Fizzlepop continued to look away before slowly turning her head to look at Oliver before asking, “You really want to know what I’m really hiding?”

“I do.”

“Is that an order?”

“If you want to be given an order from a captain, then yes. That is an order.”

Fizzlepop let out a calm sigh before saying, “Okay. As you wish. But you may not like what I’m about to show you.”

Oliver was now confuse to what she just said to him. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Fizzlepop didn’t answer. Instead she approached him and closed her eyes. And Oliver was now in shock to where Fizzlepop did next. She placed her lips against his lips and started giving him a semi-kiss as both hers and Oliver’s cheeks went bright red. Fizzlepop moved her lips away from Oliver’s lips as she opened her eyes, while blushing, and saw Oliver was now blushing and in shock to what she had just did.

“Fizzlepop…I…”

Fizzlepop started to fear she did something wrong and Oliver was now going to be mad at her. She started to turn and made her way into the tent.

“Fizzlepop, wait!”

But it was too late. Fizzlepop Berrytwist was now inside the tent and unable to hear Oliver’s voice. By the time he realise she won’t be able to hear him now, he started to wonder what was that kiss about and why did she do it. He was still in shock after that kiss as well.

“Did she just kiss me? Does she…does she love me? For how long?”

Everyone was now inside the tent as the adults started preparing the table and dinner while the children stay in the bedroom either reading a book or talking to each other or just relaxing. Lightning, however, was in the bathroom as he needed a wee. After flushing the toilet, he came out the bathroom before letting out a sigh.

Discord appeared in a flash of light before asking rudely, “Why still so down? Shouldn’t you be happy by now?”

“How can I? I’m still having nightmares, we’re still haven’t reached the Tree of Life yet, Cozy Glow and Daddy are back, and new threats keep attacking us. I really thought my life got better now after The Storm King was defeated again. But now, this happened.”

“Well it is your fault this all happened in the first place.”

Lightning looked at Discord and asked, “How is this my fault? I did nothing wrong!”

“Actually, you did,” said Discord, “You made Fluttershy stop seeing me, got her mad at me, took her away from me and made her break her friendship with me after trying to help Twilight and Oliver while having everyone be mad at me.”

“That was on you!” Said Lightning getting angry at the lord of chaos, “You did all that to yourself and blaming me for no reason when we’re all free to have more friends and have a family!”

“Oh please,” said Discord, “Like it’s all my fault Fluttershy broke our friendship. Besides, none of that or this would have happened if you haven’t have showed up at Fluttershy’s cottage that night.”

“I didn’t know what was going to happen after running away from Daddy! I didn’t know Fluttershy was going to find me and treat like me how would my real Momma would treat me if she was still alive! The only reason I wanted her as my Momma was because she was kind to me and she wanted to be my Momma after changing her life! I didn’t force her to become my new family, she chose to take me in! It was her choice as well as my choice for her to be my Momma!“

“Unluckily story. And can I just remind you that you’re the grandson of the evil king that nearly took over Equestria and stole the princesses’ magic?” Discord said.

“I’m nothing like him! And I moved on from that family!”

“Pfft…changing family and name won’t stop the bloodline,” said Discord while crossing his arms, “I don’t even know why I even bother speaking since you can’t admit all this is your fault.”

“Then why did you come? Just to annoy us and make my friends and family more angry?”

“No, of course not. I’m just here to get Fluttershy’s friendship back and be free from my home.”

“Well it hasn’t been going well for you ever since you returned,” said Lightning, “You still thought your plan was a good plan, you upset Spike and me, made Credence feel like he’s a bad guy and still think I’m not part of the friendship circle and can’t be in Momma’s life! And now you’re blaming me for everything when most of it was your fault it happened.”

Discord got very angry as his eyes went on fire. He reached his lion paw out and slapped Lightning across the face very hard giving him a red mark on the cheek. Lightning fell to the ground and slowly got up again before rubbing his cheek where the mark was as tears started to form in his eyes.

“Never speak to me like that again, young pony!” He shouted angrily, “I’ve had Fluttershy in my life long before you were even born! And I’m not going to have you ruining everything again!”

Before Discord could even say anymore, he suddenly saw the young six standing out of the bedroom and staring crossly at him as they knew what he had done. Lightning turned to look at his friends and showed them the mark on his cheek and tears rolling down his face. Lightning ran up to Silverstream as she sat down and opened her arms out to him. The poor colt jumped into the hippogriff’s arms as she pulled him into a warm comfort hug while letting him cry in her chest fur.

“Shhh…I’ve got you, little cutie,” she whispered softly in his ear, “I’ve got you.”

Smolder sadly looked at her boyfriend before glaring angrily at Discord. She flew up to him, grabbed him by the beard and pulled him close to her face and angrily said, “If you EVER lay a claw on my boyfriend again!”

Discord pulling his beard out of Smolder’s hand and glared at her before saying, “He doesn’t know when to stand up to himself.”

“Well let me give you a hint! Wait for him to find the courage in his heart to stand up to his own fears!”

“Fine. And he will.”

The fight between them was soon quickly stopped by Applejack who pushed them away from each other while saying, “All right all right, break it up, you two. Now, what happened?”

Smolder let out a calm sigh before calmly said, “Lightning was feeling down. And Discord decided to make things worst by saying stuffs to him that ain’t true, before slapping him across the face.”

Hearing this made Applejack grow an angry stare at Discord who just stupidly shrugged his shoulders while smiling nervously, but Applejack was having none of that. “You’ve got some serious explaining to do when I tell Fluttershy about this.” Applejack grabbed Discord’s beard and pulled him close to her angry stare and said, “And even when speaking to her as well, I want to hear the truth. The ACTUAL truth!”

Applejack dragged Discord, by the beard, to where Fluttershy and the others were as he slid on the floor since he won’t be able to stand Fluttershy’s anger when he tells her what he had done.

Smolder crossly watched the two walk away with her arms crossed before sadly looking back at Lightning who was still crying in Silverstream’s chest fur while being comforted by her. The hippogriff gently rubbed his back while softly shushing him in his ear. Smolder flew towards the two and carefully placed a claw on his shoulder giving some comfort of her own.

“Is he going to be okay?” Ocellus asked.

“I hope so,” answered Smolder, “That jerk’s making things more worse than the nightmares he’s having. But let’s hope Luna will deal with what nightmare is coming tonight, even though I hope there isn’t going to be another nightmare. He’s suffering through enough.”

Lightning slowly moved his head away from Silverstream’s chest and looked at Smolder with tears still going down his face. “C-Can I still s-sleep w-with you and S-Silverstream?”

“Of course you can, Braveheart,” said Smolder softly, “You can sleep with us as long as you want and need to.”

“Yeah, cutie,” said Silverstream, “Nothing will ever stop us from comforting you during nighttimes. We will always be with you.”

With nothing else left to say, Silverstream continued to hug the poor colt with Smolder gently rubbing his shoulder while the other four stood around them. But knowing by them, the nightmares weren’t going to go away or leave Lightning Twister alone so easily, even by Princess Luna.

Chapter 26
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 26

In the dining room in the tent, Twilight and Starlight were sitting up the table while Jacob and Capper make dinner. Twilight carefully placed the plate on the table with her mouth before using a hoof to make sure it was set right. She then saw Starlight doing the same without using magic as the alicorn smiled at what her friend was doing.

“Well, looks like somepony has finally started setting a table without using magic,” said Twilight while continuing to smile.

Starlight just smiled. “What can I say? Not everything can be solved or be done by using magic.”

Twilight and Starlight laughed.

“Besides,” said Starlight, “For once, I would like to just set a table carefully without using magic, so I can…Look out!”

“Yikes!”

Twilight and Starlight quickly ducked as all the plates, knives, forks and spoons magically flew onto the table in a row. Twilight and Starlight went back up while shockingly looking at the pony who did it. It was Shining Armor as he magically placed the last fork down before smiling at the two ponies who were still looking at him in shock.

“Did he…?! How?! When?! What?!” Both Twilight and Starlight said in unison.

“What?” Shining asked in confusion.

“Shiny, we were setting the table with no magic,” said the purple alicorn, “And Starlight was doing a very good job doing it without using magic.”

“Oh, sorry. I just saw you setting up the table, and I thought I should help out before dinner’s ready.”

“By using magic?” Asked Starlight.

“Yes, why?”

“Well, if you haven’t had used magic to set the table,” began Starlight, “You can say that this plate is Twilight’s head, and this spoon is her heart, and knives…are sharp. You should be very careful with knives.” Knowing that this was going nowhere, Starlight let out a sigh before saying, “It sounds a lot easier when you described it to me.”

Twilight just smiled at Starlight showing that she understood. But that smile didn’t last long as she, along with Starlight and Shining, saw Applejack coming into the room while dragging Discord by the beard.

“All right, where’s Fluttershy? I need to speak with her!”

“I’m here, Applejack,” answered Fluttershy while flying into the room, “Is something wr…?” Before she could even finish, she saw Discord behind the farm pony as he nervously smiled while waving at her. Fluttershy now had a cross look on her face. She knew Discord did something bad again. “What did he do this time?”

Applejack glared at Discord while saying, “Go on, Discord. Tell Fluttershy EXACTLY what you did.”

Discord gulped nervously before shaking in fear. He knew Fluttershy was not going to be happy when he tells her how he upset her baby boy and slapped him in the face. Fluttershy had a face of a mother that don’t like anyone trying their children badly.

“I, uh…um…I, accidentally…dropped and broke your vase,” said Discord while shrugging his shoulders as he laughed nervously.

Fluttershy, however, wasn’t buying it and Applejack knew he was lying just to get out of trouble.

“My vase? I never own a vase. And if I did, I would never take it with me like I don’t trust my animal friends whenever I’m away. Plus I know you’re lying to me, Discord. Your tail is twitching.”

Discord turned and saw that his tail was twitching. And that shows he was lying. Normally it would be eyebrows twitching when someone lies, but with Discord, it may not be his eyebrows that twitch when he lies.

Knowing that he wasn’t tell her what he did, Fluttershy decided to ask Applejack. “Applejack, what did he do?”

“Discord made Lightning Twister upset by saying a bunch of lies about how it was his fault you broke your friendship with him. Then after that, he slapped him very hard across the face.”

Fluttershy was completely in shock after hearing that Lightning Twister got slapped by Discord. She had never heard anyone slap the colt before, except for when Cold Wind did. Her shock look slowly went into anger as her face turned into red. “He did WHAT?!”

Twilight, Applejack, Starlight, Shining and Discord backed up in both shock and fear. They’ve never seen Fluttershy this angry before. Well, except for that time when Cold Wind foalnapped Lightning at the Gala. Now Discord was even more scared to what Fluttershy’s going to do or say to him.

“Kitchen!” Starlight said before quickly zooming off to the kitchen.

“Kitchen!” Twilight said before quickly zooming off to the kitchen.

“Bathroom!” Shining said before quickly zooming off to the bathroom.

Discord shook in great fear as Fluttershy angrily flew closer to him while glaring at him. She then angrily shouted, “HOW DARE YOU CONTINUE UPSETTING MY SON! AND HOW DARE YOU SLAP HIM ACROSS THE FACE! HIS FATHER HAS ALREADY DONE THAT TO HIM, I’M NOT LETTING ANYPONY ELSE DO THAT TO HIM, EVEN FOR STUPID REASONS!”

“B-But Fluttershy, he said it was my fault you broke your friendship with me!”

“And why did he say that to you?”

“Because he thinks he’s better than me!”

“Like I’m going to believe that!” Fluttershy can tell Discord was making that up. “Tell me the actual truth!”

Discord sighed before answering, “Because I told him that he was still the Storm Pony and it was his fault I doomed you all.”

Fluttershy was so not happy after hearing Discord say he told her son he was still the Storm Pony. She hated when someone calls Lightning that, even if they’re trying to get him to embrace the destiny they believe it is his true destiny.

“You also told him he was still the Storm Pony?! What is the matter with you?! Why can’t you just leave him alone?! He’s going through a lot!”

“Well he made you break our friendship and had me banished when I was just trying to help Twilight and Oliver!” Discord argued.

“He didn’t made me break our friendship, YOU did! And you brought the banishment on yourself! If you wanted to help Twilight and Oliver, you could have just supported him like a true friend and give them a task that doesn’t involve threats since tasks are so important to you!”

“But then how would they know they’re ready to take on the princess and royal guard role?”

“With support from their friends and family, they’ll know they’re ready to take on the next steps!” Fluttershy said angrily, “They don’t need threats or stupid tests to see what can happen in their new roles or to know they are ready!”

“But that’s not much of a exam if they don’t have a threat to stop before beginning their new role,” said Discord.

“You think I’m stupid? You only sent a threat to Canterlot, not to test Twilight and Oliver, but to see Twilight panic and fail so you can get Celestia to give you the throne. Pinkie told us everything! She never lies!”

“Well I still think they need a test to see they are ready for their new role,” said Discord crossly, “Besides, my plan to bring those baddies together was the perfect test for them.”

“Even releasing a abusive parent and put an innocent colt in danger?” Fluttershy was talking about Lightning Twister since Discord did break Cold Wind out of Tartarus and foalnapped Lightning from the Gala, again.

“He took you away from me!”

“He didn’t take me from anypony! I took him in, because he changed my life! He lost his real mother during birth and his father blamed him for her death while also hitting him and scaring him with thunder storms! I wanted to become his new mother and he wanted me to be his new mother! He would never take me away from anypony, not even from my friends!”

“Then why haven’t you had your tea time with me or hung out with me when you had him, even after the magic failing incident?!”

“I was just busy!” Fluttershy answered, “I was busy teaching at the School of Friendship and spending time with Lightning since he didn’t have any parents that was always there for him and spend time with him! And besides, you could have just come round and ask for tea time or to hang out! I was always free to do them!”

“Not with that scaredy pony around! He would just hide away from me from the moment I show up!” Discord said.

Fluttershy slapped Discord in the face. “Don’t you dare call my son a scaredy pony again! He can’t help being scared when meeting new ponies and creatures! Cold Wind and the other children treated him like trash before he met me and saw I would never treat the way he was once treated! He’s a young colt, Discord! A colt who has had a hard life and only wanted a family that loves him, like we do!” Fluttershy let out an annoyed sigh. “I don’t know why I even bother arguing with you. You’re just gonna continue saying horrible stuff about him just so you can have me back. But guess what? You’re not going to get my friendship back, or have us agree that your plan for Twilight and Oliver was a good plan. You wanna know why? Because you like doing things that’s done in your own way and you don’t learn anything when you know what you did was wrong! And I’m not going to abandon my son! He’s going to be in my family, and that’s final! Now GET, OUT OF MY SIGHT!”

“But…but, Fluttershy…”

“GET! OUT! OF MY SIGHT! NOW!!!”

With nothing more to say as he was now shaking more in fear, Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light. Fluttershy breathed slowly after that outburst as Applejack walked over to her friend.

“You alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah,” answered Fluttershy calmly, “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? He did made you pretty angry from he said to you about the little fella.”

“I did what any mother would do. He needs to learn that I chose to be Lightning’s new mother and he wanted me to be his new mother. Not everything is about him, what he thinks or what he wants.”

Applejack was going to say something, but decided not as she was afraid it might make things worse and might make Fluttershy even more angry than she was during her talk with Discord.

During dinner, everything was quiet as a mouse as everyone was eating pasta with salad and tomato soup as well as Jacob’s homemade beast bakery bread for dessert. Well not Discord since Dumbledore told him that he won’t be getting any dessert after his behaviour.

While eating her soup, Fluttershy suddenly noticed that Lightning was being all quiet as he ate his beast bakery bread. He didn’t even say a word before he began eating his dinner. She was starting to feel worried that Discord’s words are getting to him or the nightmares are hurting him badly that he’s unable to talk about them, even to his friends and girlfriend.

Even though she was trying to not to worry so much, but she wished Ember was here to help out since she knows how to handle Discord when she was with them during Sora’s first time in Equestria. Capper quickly noticed this and gently rubbed his wife’s shoulder in comfort.

Later on, Silverstream took Lightning to have a bath which she climbs into the bath with him, lays down on her back and gently rests Lightning’s head on her fur chest as she gives him a nice warm wash. She carefully rubbed shampoo on his mane before washing it off with water.

Once Lightning’s mane was washed, Silverstream gently held onto the colt as she carefully climbed out of the bathtub. Since the bathtub was from the wizarding world, the water disappeared. The pink hippogriff grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Lightning to dry him off. With Lightning wrapped in the towel, Silverstream held him in her talon arm and carried him back to the bedroom where the rest of their friends were waiting.

Silverstream sat next to Smolder and gently sat Lightning between her two legs as he rested his head on her fur chest again with her gently wrapping a talon arm round him while the towel was still wrapped around him.

“How was the bath, Braveheart?” Smolder asked.

“It was okay,” answered Lightning quietly but loud enough for his girlfriend to hear.

The young six knew Lightning was still feeling himself ever since Discord made him upset and slapped him across the face. There was something up with him.

“Lightning, is what Discord said bothering you?” Ocellus asked, “You can tell us.”

“Yeah, kid, we won’t judge you,” said Gallus kindly.

“No, i-it’s not that.”

“Little pony worried about nightmares?” Yona asked not trying to make him feel more sad or worried.

Lightning slowly nodded in response while his head was still on Silverstream’s chest.

“Oh cutie,” said Silverstream as she gently pulled the colt close to her for a warm comfort hug.

“It’s okay, Braveheart,” said Smolder softly, “We’ll soon at the Tree of Life, and then those nightmares will leave you alone before the next bad guy tries to stop us.”

“I know. But what if I start having bad dreams of events that happened before I met you guys?”

“Like what, exactly?” Asked Sandbar.

“Like, what if you guys failed to stop Cozy Glow and you, and Auntie Starlight, disappeared with the magic and Cozy succeed and becomes empress?”

“Why would you have a nightmare about that?” Gallus asked.

“Because,” began Lightning, “If that happened, I wouldn’t meet you or Momma, and might become Cozy Glow’s empire in someway since she would have Vanitas’s heart in her.”

“That’s true,” said Yona.

“Or what if I have a bad dream of becoming the Storm Pony and hurting all of you?”

“You mean like The Storm King found you after running away and before attacking Canterlot?” Asked Smolder.

“Or got you to be on his side during his return from stone?” Added Silverstream.

Lightning slowly nodded his head instead of speaking.

“Braveheart, none of that happened,” said Smolder softly while gently placing her claws on his shoulders, “We’re all still here, and the magic is still here. And you’ll never become The Storm Pony. Not then, not now, not never.”

“And you’re not like The Storm King or what Cozy Glow say you are,” said Silverstream, “You’re one of us.”

“And nothing is gonna change that,” added Ocellus.

“Little pony be Yona’s friend forever,” Yona said.

Suddenly, for the first night ever, a small smile slowly appeared on Lightning’s face. He now knew he have such great friends and will always be with him no matter what happens next. Just then, a claw with a glass of chocolate milk appeared next the colt.

“Here,” said a female voice, “You need this.”

Lightning and his friends looked up and saw it was Cosmos offering him the chocolate milk while smiling friendly to them. Lightning decided to was just to take the drink instead of declining it since he was once taught to trust those that may from the same creature species but don’t act like the other creatures.

“T-Thanks,” said Lightning while taking the glass.

“You’re welcome,” replied Cosmos before looking away so she can hide her sad look.

“Hey, are you okay?” Ocellus asked noticing the sad look on Cosmos’s face.

Cosmos sighed sadly before turning back to the young seven. “No, not really. I just…wasn’t really expecting him to actually accept the chocolate milk from me, especially of what I am.”

“What’d you mean?” Sandbar asked in confusion.

“Well, you see, unlike Discord…I don’t like using my chaos a lot.”

“You don’t? But why?” Smolder asked.

“Because, well,” began Cosmos, “I just…don’t want to hurt anyone, especially children. You all look so innocent, and have done nothing wrong to make us look like the bad guys. And Discord was the only one the fell for that lie a long time ago when he first created chaos in Equestria.” She then started explaining how she and Discord was made, how she refused to help Discord bring chaos in Equestria and how she was banished by the real Grogar.

The children were in shock after hearing Cosmos’s story.

“So you’re not really a bad guy,” said Lightning before finishing his chocolate milk as the empty glass magically turned into a beautiful butterfly. The butterfly flew away making the colt giggle a bit.

“Yes,” replied Cosmos, “I just find it wrong to go use my magic against those that did nothing wrong to me, even before they get to know or meet me.”

“Well, if you don’t mind me asking,” said Gallus, “If you’re nothing like Discord, how come you haven’t gone near Lightning during the journey?”

“Because I didn’t want to scare him or make him think I’m going to treat him like he does when he doesn’t deserve to be treated like a nothing,” answered Cosmos, “After hearing what Cold Wind did to him and what happened to his real mother, I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He deserves a better life. I’m better off leaving him be than making things worse for him.”

“Well, I don’t really think you would do that to me,” said Lightning.

Cosmos looked at Lightning in surprise after hearing him say that. “You…you don’t?”

“No,” said the colt politely, “I mean, you didn’t say stuff about me that upset me and you gave me chocolate milk. That shows that you’re a good guy. Plus, Momma told me about you a few minutes ago.”

“She did?”

Lightning nodded in response.

“And after seeing you giving Lightning a drink and telling us everything about you, we don’t think you’re a bad guy either,” said Gallus with the other five nodding in agreement.

“Huh. Guess I should have at least try meeting you all instead of just hiding away in case none of you trust me from the day I came.”

“It’s okay,” said Ocellus, “We all make mistakes sometimes, even towards new friends.”

“True,” said Smolder in agreement.

Cosmos smiled after hearing the word friends. Even though she weren’t friends quite yet, but she felt like maybe it was time for her to actually make some as she had just shown she wasn’t anything like Discord.

“Friends, I like that,” she said happily, “Plus I was already thinking about telling Fluttershy I would help protect you, Lightning. And I know we just got to know each other, I want to start being part of your friendship.”

“Really? I’ve never had a Draconequus as a friend before,” said Lightning.

Cosmos playfully, but in a friendly way, appeared next to Lightning and said, “Well today’s your lucky day, kiddo. Because the fun with me has just begun!” She flew up till she was floating in mid air, “So grab a seat and let our fun begin!”

Cosmos snapped her fingers as music started to play. “Here I go!”

Cosmos snapped her fingers and magically made lights go on and fireworks appear, but safely so it didn’t scare Lightning Twister. The young seven watched in amazed to how Cosmos uses her chaos magic.

Twilight and Fluttershy were about to enter the bedroom to tell the children it’s bedtime until they saw them watching Cosmos while smiling. The two smiled and decided to let them watch as they stood by the entrance of the tent bedroom.

Cosmos floated near Lightning and started singing,

Well, Ali Baba, he had them 40 thieves
Scheherazade had a thousand tales
But, kiddo, you're in luck because up your hooves
You got a brand of magic never fails

You got some power in your corner now
Heavy ammunition in your camp
You got some punch, pizazz, yahoo, and how?
All you gotta do is call my name
And then I'll say

"Lightning Twister
What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, I'll jot it down"
You ain't never had a friend like me

Life is your restaurant
And I'm your maitre d'
Come, whisper to me whatever it is you want
You ain't never had a friend like me

We pride ourselves on service
You the boss, the master, the pony!
Say what you wish, it's yours! True dish
How about a little more apples?

Have some of column A
Try all of column B
I'm in the mood to help you, kid
You ain't never had a friend like me

Oh! Uh!
It's the big part, watch out
It's the big part, oh

Can your friends do this?

Cosmos twisted her body round before twisted her body back to normal.

Can your friends do that?

Cosmos made a bowl of nachos appear next to Sandbar and Yona.

Can your friends pull this?

Cosmos pulled a gem from behind Smolder’s antlers which made her smile as she stared at the yummy gem.

Out their little hat?

Cosmos tossed the gem up and fell into Smolder’s mouth to which she ate.

Can your friends go?

Cosmos flew around the young seven like a friendly snake.

I'm the Cosmos of the lamp
I can sing, rap, dance, if you give me a chance, oh!

Don't sit there buggy-eyed
I'm here to answer all your midday prayers
You got me bona fide, certified
You got a friend for your charge d'affaires

I got a powerful urge to help you out
So what's your wish? I really wanna know
You got a list that's three miles long, no doubt
All you gotta do is call like so

Lightning Twister
One wish or two or three
Well, I'm on the job, you big cutie pie
You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend, you ain't
Never had a friend, never had a friend
You ain't never (never!)
Had a (had a)
Friend (friend)
Like (like)
Me

You ain't never had a friend like me

Once the song was done, Cosmos sat down while smiling proudly at the young seven as she waited for their applause.

“Bravo!” Sandbar shouted while clapping his hooves with the others clapping their hooves and claws as well, “Bravo!”

“Wooo! Your performance! Bravo!” Shouted Gallus while still clapping his claws. The others stopped clapping and shockingly looked at the griffon as they’ve never seen him act like this amaze before. Gallus slowly stopped clapping and looked at his friends. “What? It was a great performance. Can’t act like I didn’t it.”

“Why thank you,” said Cosmos while bowing, “Thank you very much. Glad you all enjoyed that.”

“We enjoyed it too,” said Twilight’s voice.

The young seven and Cosmos turned and saw Twilight and Fluttershy walking into the bedroom.

“Twilight! Fluttershy! How much of that did you see?”

“The whole thing,” answered Fluttershy, “We were about to tell the children it was time for bed until we saw you putting on a show for them, and we just couldn’t come in and stop the whole performance.”

“Yeah, and like Gallus said,” said Twilight, “It was a great performance.”

Cosmos blushed while smiling.

“Well, come on, children,” said Fluttershy softly, “It’s time for bed.”

“Okay, Professor Fluttershy,” said the young six.

Lightning walked towards Fluttershy and hugged her as she hugged him back. “Goodnight, Momma. Love you.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart. Love you too.”

Fluttershy kissed her son on the forehead before Twilight gave him a kiss on the forehead too. Lightning broke the hug and followed Smolder and Silverstream to their bed. Silverstream got in first as Lightning climbed in. Smolder climbed in last and gently wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. Silverstream gently wrapped her talon arms around the two as she started to softly sing her lullaby to the colt with him resting his head on her chest fur and snuggling into it.

Twilight, Fluttershy and Cosmos quietly made their way out of the bedroom, it’s not time for the adults to go to bed just yet, as Fluttershy smiled at Cosmos.

“Thanks for doing that for him, Cosmos,” said Fluttershy.

“No problem, Fluttershy,” said Cosmos happily, “After all, you did tell me how much he’s done through, including the nightmares he’s having. So I figured putting on a friendly show would help cheer him up a bit.”

“And it worked,” said Twilight while smiling, “And not only that, but you also made some more friends. You should be proud.”

“You know what, Twilight? I am,” Cosmos said with a proud smile, “I’m proud that I’ve made some more friends. I feel like my life’s getting better already.”

Twilight and Fluttershy smiled at Cosmos before smiling at each other. They were glad the young seven accepted Cosmos as a good guy and not another bad Draconequus like Discord was before he became good but still do things that gets him into trouble.

Chapter 27
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 27

By the time it was late at night, everyone was now in their sleeping bags and beds and were fast asleep. All except for Oliver. He was struggling to get some sleep. Ever since Tempest kissed him while setting the tent up, he couldn’t help but question why she did it. Did she really love him or something? The more he questions it, the less sleep he was having.

Oliver let out a sigh before quietly saying, “I’ll never sleep while thinking about that kiss. Maybe a glass of water might help.”

Oliver got out of his sleeping bag and quietly made his way to the kitchen of the tent. He used his magic to take out a clean glass from the cupboard and poured some water from the sink tap. He slowly drunk the water before washing the empty glass and placing it back in the cupboard without waking anyone up.

“There,” he said, “Hopefully that’ll work. And I’ll ask Tempest about that kiss when we’re both ready.”

Oliver started to make his way back to the bedroom of the tent so he can try to get some rest. However, when he was out of the kitchen, he was stopped by a mysterious voice that was coming from outside the tent.

“Oliver…”

“Huh?”

“Oliver…”

Oliver didn’t know who was calling him, but he decided to go out and see who it was, without thinking that it could be a trap.

“Oliver…” continued the voice, “Oliver…”

Oliver walked out of the tent and looked around to find where the mysterious voice was coming from, but couldn’t see who it was or where it was at.

“Oliver,” said the voice but more closer to where Oliver was at.

Suddenly, Oliver heard footsteps coming from behind the trees. He turned as the sound of the footsteps got closer and closer. And who came out from behind the trees was Darkness with his hand behind his back. He walked towards the alicorn while he glared at the hooded figure.

“Lord Darkness, I take it?”

“Darkness will do nicely,” said Darkness, accepting the politeness, before standing in front of Oliver, “But it is nice you figured who I am, Oliver Sparkle.”

“You know me,” said Oliver not being so surprised to hear that Darkness knows who he was.

Darkness chuckled before saying, “Of course I do. You’re the only alicorn in Equestria that has magic that no other pony has. Why else would I go through all this trouble just to meet you?”

“Don’t tell me you used Lightning as a way to drag me here!” Oliver said angrily, thinking that Darkness used Lightning as a lure.

“Of course not,” he answered, “I am still after the darkness still remains in him. And besides, Lightning’s one of the ponies you care about. I know you wouldn’t refuse to come along and help him.”

“If it’s me you wanted to see, you could have just encountered me when I’m alone without giving Lightning nightmares.”

“And would all of this happen? I know you’re going to the Tree of Life to help your nephew. I even know much about it since I’ve already been there before trapping Lightning Twister in a dream of nightmares.”

Oliver was about to ask what he was doing at the Tree of Life, but decided not to ask since there was one question he really wanted to know. “What’s this all about? What do you want with me and Lightning? And why are you doing all of this?”

“I’ll explain everything,” answered Darkness as he crossed his arms behind his back before turning round, “You see, like I told you and Sora, I’m after the darkness that still remains in Lightning’s heart. I need it to gain more power so I can my vengeance.”

“So you trapped Lightning in a dream of nightmares to make the darkness stronger and easy for you take,” guessed Oliver.

“Exactly,” answered Darkness, “With his darkness strong enough, I can use it to get my vengeance.”

“And what kind of vengeance are you after?”

“That I cannot say till the time is right for me to say what vengeance I’m after and who I really am.”

“Okay, and why are you also after me?”

“Because you have magic that I’ve never seen before, Oliver,” answered Darkness, “And I wish you were on my side right now.” Darkness turned and walked back towards the alicorn, “With your magic, I can make things more easy between us all. I can make Lightning’s darkness more stronger and more easy to take without them lot getting in the way. Think of all we can achieve together.”

Oliver knew where this was going. Darkness wanted him to become what Chrysalis wanted him to become when she told him she was his real mother and to be on his side. But Oliver wasn’t going to have it or go against his friends and family.

“I know where this is going now. And somepony did something like this to me before, so I think you know what answer I’m going to give you. And get this, we are going to the Tree of Life, save Lightning from your nightmares as well as help the rulers of the Tree of Life, and then you never hurt or torture Lightning Twister or anyone else ever again. Do you understand me?”

“Oh I understand completely, if you need time to think about it,” answered Darkness, “Besides, it’s really your choice. Don’t continue to believe that everyone will still accept your magic. Some might go against and start treating you as a threat, before everyone does. Including your own friends and family.”

Oliver started to get more angry at Darkness.

“I swear to Celestia, if you dare do any harm to my family or any of my friends…”

“Oh don’t worry, I don’t plan to harm anyone you know and love. Like I said, I’m only after you and Lightning.” A dark corridor appeared behind Darkness, “Bye for now, my boy. Remember my offer.” Darkness walked into the dark corridor as it disappeared, leaving just Oliver outside.

“And don’t think I will ever think about accepting your offer, Darkness. I’m happy where I am. And no one ever think of me as a threat because of my magic. Especially my friends and family.”

Oliver made his way back inside the tent as he walked back to the bedroom of the tent. However, deep down, he couldn’t help but started to worry about what Darkness had just said to him. What if someone does treat him as a threat because of his magic and everyone start leaving him? He didn’t know what to do or what to believe in.

“Oliver?” Said another voice. Only this time, it was a female voice.

Oliver stopped and turned to find who was calling him this time. He had a feeling it was someone who was working with Darkness and has entered the tent. “Who’s that?!” He said crossly but quietly, “Are you with Darkness?”

“No.” The voice came from Tempest Shadow as she came out from the other side of the tent, “It’s me.”

“Fizzlepop?” Oliver said in surprise as he started to remain calm, “What are you doing up?”

“I could ask you the same thing since you were up before me.”

Oliver sighed before answering, “Couldn’t sleep very well, so I went to get a glass of water before encountering Darkness.”

“The one that’s giving the kid nightmares? What did he want from you?”

“Oh he wanted me to be on his side and how everyone’s gonna think I’m some kind of monster when they see the strange magic that I have.”

“He wanted you to join him and said how not everyone’s gonna accept you?” Tempest asked in surprised, “What did you say in return?”

“I told him that I will never be on his side,” answered Oliver while looking away, “And after he left, I said that I will never think about his offer or believe that everyone will think of me as threat one day.”

Tempest can tell Oliver was feeling worried about how everyone will start thinking of him as threat in the future, even though she was a threat once when she was with The Storm King and everyone treated her with kindness instead of still thinking of her as a threat. She walked over to the alicorn and gently placed a hoof under his chin.

“Well, to be honest…I don’t think of you as a threat, even with your magic not being like everyone else’s.”

Oliver looked at Tempest. “You don’t?”

“Of course,” Tempest replied while smiling, “Besides, I was a threat once and I was worriedly everyone would still think of me as a threat after joining Twilight. But look at me now. I’m happy, everyone accepted me as a changed unicorn, and I’m now one of Twilight’s royal guards.”

“That’s true.”

“Plus you’ve got a loving family that still loves you, even with your ink demon form. Heck, even your aunt and friends still love you too. There’s no way they’ll start thinking of you as threat, even if you accidentally do something that often happens when villains do it.”

Oliver smiled a bit while looking away and shrugging his shoulders, “Can’t argue with that.” He looked back at Tempest and said, “By the way, Fizzlepop, I’ve been meaning to ask you something?”

“What’s that?”

“That kiss from earlier. What was that all about?”

Tempest started to blush after Oliver mentioned the kiss she did on him earlier. She looked away while trying to hide her nervous look away from him.

“I…” Tempest gulped nervously, “I didn’t mean to do that. It just slipped.”

“Fizzlepop, I know something’s up with you. Please just tell me so I can help.”

Fizzlepop started to sweat nervously. She didn’t know whether to tell him or continue to lie until Oliver decides that there isn’t anything he could do to help. But if she told him the truth, how would he really react? More than that, how will Flurry Heart react when she finds out about her secret?

“Fizzlepop, please. I want to help you.”

While still sweating nervously, Fizzlepop let out a calm sigh and decided to just tell him and see how things go. “The reason, why I kissed you, was because…because…”

“Because what?”

Fizzlepop slowly looked at Oliver before answering, “I kissed you, because I wanted to show that I’m in love with you.”

Oliver was now surprised by what Tempest had just told him. The reason why she kissed him was because she was in love with him. But why? And how long was she keeping this secret?

“You love me? For how long?”

“Since the day we defeated the Legion of Doom,” answered Fizzlepop.

“For that long?” Oliver was more surprised by this, “But why? Why are you in love with me?”

Tempest slowly moved her hoof to his shoulder before answering, “Because of the way you are. You were born by an evil queen, but you didn’t turn to her side when she told you she was your mother. You use your magic for good, and not for evil. Not only that, but you’re also became Twilight’s first guard at her castle. And of course, you are handsome.”

Oliver started to blush at that last comment.

“Okay, I will take that. But why didn’t you tell me in the first place instead of keeping it a secret for so long?”

“Because I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t know how you’ll take my feelings or if you would allow me to love me after what I did to your aunt and mother long ago.” Tempest looked away again in sadness and guilt.

“But Fizzlepop,” said Oliver, “That was moons ago, and I wasn’t around during that invasion. How can I judge you about your actions when I wasn’t there? Plus I understand why you hid your feelings about me for so long.”

Fizzlepop looked at Oliver before asking, “You…you do?”

Oliver nodded his head.

“Yes. And besides, we were busy helping Aunt Twilight out with not just the school, but also being her royal guards, that we couldn’t find the time or the effect to share feelings. But you did say you didn’t know how I would react to you loving me, so that’s honest enough.” Oliver gently wrapped a hoof around Fizzlepop’s neck, “But you know, if you really want to say something to me, you can just say it. We’ve all bottled our feelings to a point where we don’t know how our friends or family members are going to react, but you can just talk to me. Okay?”

Fizzlepop smiled at Oliver before saying, “Thank you, Oliver.”

Oliver smiled back at Fizzlepop. “You’re welcome.”

“So,” said Fizzlepop, “Since you now know my feelings about you, and we’re alone right now, mind if I…you know…”

“Go for it.”

With nothing else to go with that, Fizzlepop moved her head forward and placed her lips against Oliver’s lips and gave him a long kiss. There was a few rubs from Fizzlepop on Oliver’s mane while he had his hoof around Fizzlepop’s neck. The two broke the kiss as they smiled at each other.

“Will your sister be okay with this though?” Fizzlepop asked.

“I’m sure she’ll be okay with this,” answered Oliver, “I’ll have a word with her when I can.”

Fizzlepop nodded her head in understood.

“Come on, let’s get back to sleep.” Oliver and Fizzlepop went back to the bedroom of the tent so they can get some more sleep.

Chapter 28
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 28

Lightning Twister was walking through a dark path that was filled with crystals as he was in the caves that was beneath the School of Friendship. He looking around while walking still and feeling scared since he was all alone.

“Hello?” He called out in fear, “Anypony? Smolder? Silverstream? Gallus? Are you guys here?”

No one answered, and that made Lightning even more scared as he was afraid of the dark and he remembered the last time he was in the caves beneath the school. Ever since Cozy Glow locked him in the caves and seeing the shadow of The Storm King, he hoped he would never go back in the caves again.

Just then, he heard shouting coming the distance. He looked forward and saw pony and creature shadows moving from the light that was coming from the open part of the caves. Not sure what was going next, but Lightning ran to where the light was and entered an area where what he saw next made him go into shock and worried.

There he saw his Auntie Starlight trapped in a bubble with the six items around the circle and the students trying to take the young six away, thinking they were the ones behind the magic failing, as they try to break free but suddenly ended up trapped into the bubble one by one while trying to save each other.

“Guys!” Lightning shouted in fear and worriedly.

Lightning tried to run to save his friends and aunt, but he was blocked by a invisible force field keeping him from entering the scene. He tried to push the field to break through it, but it wasn’t good.

“No!” Lightning said before banging his hooves on the field, “No, no, no!”

Just then, a black hole appeared from beneath the bubble and began to suck the bubble in, with Starlight and the young six trapped inside, as it was the last hour of the magic being gone forever. As for the students, they walked away under Cozy Glow’s order, as she grinned while flying with them, leaving the two ponies and five creatures to disappear with the magic into the black hole.

“No!” Tears of fear started to form in Lightning’s eyes, “Auntie Starlight! Smolder! Silverstream, don’t go! Don’t leave me!”

But it wasn’t any good. They couldn’t hear his voice, and the bubble was now inside the black hole as it closed with the items and the circle disappearing as well leaving nothing but just an empty area.

“No! I-It can’t have happened! This didn’t happened!”

Suddenly, the area started to fade into dark. The dark then turned into a throne room with dark walls and pillars, broken windows and a torn up dark red carpet. Lightning looked around before seeing Vanitas and Cozy Glow, wearing a outfit like Vanitas’s but with a School of Friendship symbol on the chest, sitting on two thrones grinning evilly at the scared colt.

Lightning let out a scream in fear. “N-No! No!”

Cozy Glow got off her throne and walked towards Lightning. “You’re not one of them, Lightning Twister,” she said as it echoed, “You’re one of us!” The evil filly laughed evilly while it echoed everywhere as tears streamed down Lightning’s face. The scared colt covered his face with his hooves not wanting to see or know what’s going to happen next.

Silverstream was asleep until she heard whimpering which made her stir before slowly waking up. Smolder slowly woke up too after hearing whimpering. The two looked at Lightning and saw him whimpering in his sleep with tears rolling down his face. They knew he was having another nightmare.

“H-Help!” Lightning started to toss and turn in his sleep which made Smolder and Silverstream break the bed cuddle, “N-No! No! S-Smolder! Silverstream! A-Auntie S-Starlight!”

“Hey, hey. Shhh…” whispered Smolder softly.

“S-Smolder! S-Silverstream!” Lightning cried as he was now awake but still had his eyes closed and crying.

“It’s okay, cutie,” said Silverstream softly while carefully picking the colt up with her claws, “I’m here. I’ve got you. Let’s calm you down.”

Silverstream sat on the edge of the bed as she gently rested Lightning’s head on her fur chest. She wrapped her talon arms around him and gently rubbed his colt with her claw. Lightning buried his face in Silverstream’s chest while still crying.

“It was just a bad dream, sweetie,” said the pink hippogriff quietly in the colt’s ear.

The scared colt continued to cry with his face still buried in Silverstream’s chest. Silverstream didn’t know how long this was going to be, but she refuses to let her little friend cry and be scared of the nightmare.

“Shhh…Did Cozy Glow scare you again?”

“D-Don’t…don’t l-leave m-me!” Lightning cried.

“We’re not going to leave you, cutie,” said Silverstream softly, “I promise you that. It’s just a bad dream. I’m here.”

“S-Silverstream!”

“I’m here, Lightning.”

Fluttershy was awake and heard the crying coming from her son, but she didn’t turn over on the bed to see what was going on as she frowned from the sound of her baby crying from another nightmare. She was worried about that this may go on even longer if they get to the Tree of Life in time to save Lightning.

Lightning’s crying slowly turned to sobbing as Silverstream continued to comfort him.

“It’s okay, cutie. We’re gonna help get through this. I promise.”

The sobbing slowly turned into sniffles. Lightning still had tears in his eyes, but Silverstream gently brushed them away with her claw before continuing to stroke the colt’s back.

“Do you want me to get somepony?” Silverstream asked softly.

Lightning sniffled before saying, “A-Auntie S-Starlight.”

Silverstream turned to Smolder who gave her a nod to say we better go see Starlight as they got off the bed and went to the bed Sunburst and Starlight were sleeping in.

Starlight was asleep in bed, with Sunburst next to her, until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She stirred before slowly opening her eyes and letting out a yawn. Starlight got up as she sat on the bed with the covers falling off her and landing on her back hooves.

“What…what’s going on?” Asked Starlight tiredly while rubbing her eyes. She turned her head to the left and saw Smolder and Silverstream standing near the bed as she also saw her nephew being held in Silverstream’s talon arm with tears in his eyes. This made her less tired and more worried about the colt. “What happened?”

“Lightning had another nightmare that had us and you in,” explained Smolder, “And he wanted to see if you were still here.”

“Oh honey,” said Starlight sadly. She got off the bed and walked towards Lightning who was reaching her hooves out to her. The unicorn gently picked the colt from Silverstream’s talon arm and hugged her poor nephew with his head resting on her chest. “It’s okay. I’m still here. Nothing has happened to me.”

Lightning sniffled before saying, “B-But you and m-my f-friends were trapped in t-that b-bubble a-and disappeared w-with the magic.”

“Shhh…it was only bad dream, sweetheart,” whispered Starlight softly, “It didn’t happen. Yes we were trapped, but we were free thanks to the Tree of Harmony. She saved your friends and they broke the circle so the magic can return and free me as well.” Starlight gently brushed the remaining tears in Lightning’s eyes, “It’s all going to okay, honey. Nothing like that will happen to us again.”

“P-Promise?”

Starlight smiled softly. “Yes, I promise.”

Lightning slowly started to fall back to sleep. Starlight carefully gave Lightning to Smolder as she wrapped her arms around him and gently resting his head on her chest. Starlight suddenly noticed that Lightning was starting to worry again, so she gently rubbed his mane while softly saying, “It’s okay, honey. Just go back to sleep, and I promise you, when you wake up, I’ll still be around and just fine.”

Lightning heard his auntie’s voice and slowly calmed his worries. Starlight gave her nephew a gentle kiss on the cheek. Smolder and Silverstream went back to bed, with the sleeping colt resting in the dragon’s arms, as Starlight climbed back into bed, magically pulled the covers over her and went back to sleep.

Smolder slowly and carefully climbed into bed, without waking or dropping her boyfriend. Silverstream climbed into bed last as she carefully pulled the covers over them before gently wrapping her talon arms around the dragon and colt to keep him warm and safe.

Lightning nuzzled Smolder’s chest to get more cozy and so he was close to his girlfriend as possible. Smolder and Silverstream each gave Lightning a gentle kiss on the forehead before laying their heads on the pillow and went straight back to sleep.

Lightning was in another nightmare as he was in a dark place that was filled with darkness. Dark smokes flew around him which made shake in fear with tears forming in his eyes.

“N-No! N-Not a-again!” He said in fear.

The poor colt covered his face with his hooves while still shaking in fear with the dark smokes continuing to fly around him. He was scared to see what was going to happen next in the nightmare he was now in.

“P-Please! S-Stop! M-Momma! Princess L-Luna! S-Smolder! S-Silverstream! Anypony h-help m-me!”

The dark smokes continued to flow until it disappeared by a dark blue grasp and made the entire dark area faded into a dreamscape. Lightning still had his face covered and was still shaking in fear, until he heard a familiar voice that sung to him.

Come Little Children
I'll Take Thee Away, Into A Land
Of Enchantment

Come Little Children
The Time's Come To Play
Here In My Garden
Of Shadows

Lightning moved his hooves from his face and stood back up as he started to look around to see where the singing was coming.

Follow Sweet Children
I'll Show Thee the Way
Through All The Pain And
The Sorrow

Weep Not Poor Children
For Life Is This Way
Murdering Beauty And
Passions

Lightning saw Princess Luna appearing in a flash of light as she walked towards the colt while singing softly to him.

Hush Now Dear Children
It Must Be This Way
Too Weary Of Life And
Deceptions

Rest Now My Children
For Soon We'll Away
Into The Calm And
The Quiet

Princess Luna gently placed a wing over Lightning and smiled softly at him. She then used her horn to magically turn the dreamscape into a dream she has made to keep Lightning safe during the night.

The ground turned into soft green grass with colourful flowers and the background turned in a beautiful blue sky with the sun shining.

All of this made Lightning smile again, but what made Lightning smile even more was seeing his friends, girlfriend and family appearing in a flash of light all smiling at him and waiting for him to join in the fun.

Lightning looked at the moon princess who continued to smile at him as she gave him a nod to say he can go enjoy the dream. She lifted her wing and watched the colt run towards the others and enjoying the dream fun.

Come Little Children
I'll Take Thee Away, Into A Land
Of Enchantment
Come Little Children
The Time's Come To Play
Here In My Garden
Of Shadows

Princess Luna continued to watch Lightning happily playing with his friends, girlfriend and family while smiling still.

Outside the dream, Princess Luna was finishing fixing her dream for Lightning as the light beam went into Lightning’s head. Luna smiled at the colt before gently stroking his mane.

“This is all for you, Lightning,” said Princess Luna softly but quietly.

In the throne room of Darkness’s castle, Grindelwald was staring out of the window. He was the only one in the room until he notices someone else was behind him.

“So why are you here?” Grindelwald asked as it was revealed to be Chrysalis who was now in the room with him.

Chrysalis was annoyed by the tone Grindelwald did while asking that question, so she just replied with, “Nice way to greet one of the members of this legion.”

Grindelwald scowled.

“Why did Darkness bring you to the team?” Asked Grindelwald before turning to face the evil changeling, “He must know you and the other two backstabbed Grogar when he had his legion.”

“Darkness doesn’t care about me or Cozy Glow,” answered Chrysalis, “To him, we’re just villains that want revenge on those ones that ruined our lives. He does a point on that. But that Grogar wasn’t even alive to begin with, just so you know. He was just Discord in disguise while the real Grogar is unknown.”

“Yeah,” said a young female voice, “That Lord of Chaos couldn’t keep his disguise on when we took his power. He should have played smart, like I did.”

Chrysalis and Grindelwald turned and saw Cozy Glow walking into the room as she smiled cutely and waved at them. Chrysalis still hated the filly, even when working with her once, so she was well annoyed to see her again.

“What?! You’re not smart! You were literally sent to Tartarus twice!”

“Well, it is true what they all say, I don’t have to be smart too much.”

“Or capable, or likeable, or even attractive. A diamond dog would have made a better member.”

“Whoa, less of the insults now,” said Cozy Glow, “I am everypony’s favourite filly…when I want to be. Which is, always.”

Chrysalis was really starting to get annoyed by Cozy Glow. No wonder Lord Tirek hated her a lot.

“Anyways, why haven’t you gone to stop our enemies yet?”

“Simple, I’m just waiting for my moment,” answered Chrysalis, “And so I don’t get into trouble like you did.”

“Hey!” Shouted Cozy Glow angrily.

“Darkness brought Doctor Robotink on board,” said Grindelwald getting Chrysalis and Cozy Glow’s attention, “He must be planning to use machines that no other wizard, witch or even a muggle have seen before.”

“Metal machines?” Cozy Glow asked confusedly.

“If they are, then hopefully we’ll get a member to take her spot,” said Chrysalis while grinning at the filly.

“Hey!” Cozy said angrily as Chrysalis laughed.

“The machines Robotink is making won’t be anything like us,” said Grindelwald, “They’ll most likely be similar to those that helped me to make the Wizarding World go to war with the muggles.”

“And like the students when I was running the School of Friendship.”

“If Darkness wants more help in getting that colt, then why did he made her a member of this team?” Chrysalis asked while pointing at Cozy Glow which she was not happy about.

“Hey! Pointing is rude!”

“Because,” answered Grindelwald, “He wants you all in for another purpose, that’s different to the one Discord had for you.”

“What? So we can rot away in the badlands?” Said a male voice. A dark corridor appeared and disappeared to reveal Lord Tirek in his medium size form with his body was red, his horns were a little more pointy and his muscles were strong.

“Ugh! You’re still in? What is this? Reunion of doom?” Chrysalis still hated Tirek, even during their last team up.

“I happen to have an important role,” said Tirek, “No one stopped me after going off to stop our enemies.”

“You were listening?” Cozy Glow asked crossly, knowing that he heard she got into trouble with Darkness, “So not nice.”

“Says the filly who lied to a bunch of ponies and blamed everything on one pony and his friends.”

“What role?” Chrysalis asked, “That power from the Lion Guard and Night Pride that Darkness claims it’s real but won’t tell us a thing about?”

“You just have to ask him that.” Tirek turned to Grindelwald, “Now then, Grindelwald, what is this “purpose”? Surely you don’t plan to backstab Darkness when we’re unable to do that to him, even with us.”

“You three are going to learn who Darkness really is,” said the dark wizard, “He asked me to reveal his true identity to you.” Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow looked at Grindelwald in surprised after hearing what he just as he chuckled.

Chapter 29
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 29

It was morning by the time everyone woke up, has breakfast, packed the tent and continued on with their journey to the Tree of Life. Lightning was still tired after waking up last night from a new nightmare, so they decided to let him sleep some more as he was sleeping on Yona’s back, since it was her turn to carry him, with a blanket that Fluttershy covered over him to keep him warm during his sleep.

Silverstream and Smolder flew by the two just in case Lightning starts crying again or has another nightmare.

Fluttershy was flying next to Starlight while staring worriedly at her sleeping son. She couldn’t help but feel like the nightmares are not going to stop, even when they get to the Tree of Life to stop it. They were just getting worst and worst each night.

Discord appeared next to her and said, “You two might as well punish him now.”

Fluttershy and Starlight stared angrily at him as Fluttershy then asked, “Why would we punish him?”

“For what he did last night,” he answered, “He woke both of you up and was crying over a nightmare. Surprised he didn’t wake everyone up.”

“Why would we punish him for doing that? He’s having nightmares, Discord! He’s going through a lot ever since the nightmares first started!”

“And I’ve been woken up by him before from a nightmare,” said Starlight crossly, “I would never punish him for waking me up. I may get tired in the morning, but I still care for him. Plus he wanted me since I was in the nightmare. He’s my nephew, and I wish to be there for him.”

“He’s not even your nephew!” Discord said crossly.

“Like I care!” Shouted Starlight angrily, “I love him ever since I first met him! Adopted or not, he’s family to me!”

“And stop trying to make us go against him, even if it involves punishment for no reason!” Added Fluttershy, “He’s been through a lot before I adopted him! I refuse to do what Cold Wind used to do to him when he did nothing wrong!”

“You sure about that?”

Fluttershy was so not happy from what Discord just asked as she glared at him before saying, “Get out of my sight now!”

Discord gave the Pegasus a cross look before snapping his eagle fingers and disappeared. Fluttershy let out a calm sigh as she felt Capper rubbing her shoulder gently. “I don’t blame you, honey.”

Smolder looked at her boyfriend in a worried look. She couldn’t help but worry that he might be having another nightmare and they might not be able to save him. She really wants this all to end so she can see Lightning smile again with no more nightmares and no threats trying to take him.

Discord appeared near the orange dragon and was about to say something until she glared at him and said, “You think I’m going to break up with Braveheart after last night, you got another thing coming! I love him with all my heart, and he’s going through a lot! I don’t care how much tired I’ll get or how many more nights it’s going to take, I’m going to be there for him no matter! And you’re not going to make me change my mind about it! SO GET LOST!!”

Discord magically disappeared with a snap of his eagle fingers. Smolder let out a huff with a face of annoyance and anger. Yona was annoyed by Discord too.

“Yak wish Ember was here. Dragon Lord can teach chaos jerk respect for poor pony.”

“Something I can agree on,” agreed Smolder.

As they were walking, none of them noticed Midnight Crown was on top of a mountain looking down at them. “Exactly as Darkness said,” he said to himself.

While spying on the heroes, a male voice was heard from the distance. “Answer this.”

“Huh?” Midnight Crown looked behind him as he knew it was coming from behind.

“You’ve survived for so long that you didn’t plan to go after the princesses until Darkness came.” A dark corridor appear and disappeared to reveal it was Shadow who was talking, “What made you go into hiding for so long until now?”

Midnight Crown turned round while still looking at the hedgehog. “Cool, a riddle. Just what I need.”

Shadow crossed his arms before saying, “There are many answers to that question. Perhaps you’re just waiting to be found. Or you’re too weak to fight. Or the princesses are what makes you so scared to fight. I can think of several reasons offhand: guessing…is useless to me.”

The hooded pony wishes for him to go away and to stop going on. So he replied with, “Well, then just follow Darkness’s orders and keep your opinions to yourself, plain and simple.”

Shadow continued to glare at the pony, not buying his chosen words. “Yes. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since I was freed. I followed orders without questioning. However, I sometimes can’t help but sense something going on with the other members of this team.”

“Heh. Ice did a few changes to you?”

“I’m still waiting for an answer,” said Shadow, “Why did you remain hidden until you finally decided to destroy the sisters, even Darkness came?”

“Punishment is not something I wish to face,” he answered, “The things I did is the whole reason why I didn’t go destroy the sisters yet. And I wasn’t ready yet.”

Shadow glared sternly at Midnight Crown. He took out his chaos emerald and disappeared only to reappear near him as he pinned him to the ground while keeping his hand on the side of his hood.

“If you are as powerful as Darkness says you are, why didn’t you use it till now? I believe that you think the sisters know your power, and you need to keep it away from them so they don’t stop you, in order to keep your identity a secret from those around you.” Shadow grinned a bit before glaring while asking, “Midnight Crown, who are you really?”

Midnight Crown growled a bit in anger, knowing that Shadow was onto him. He can sense that he knows who he truly is, or starting to believe he knows who he is. Shadow continued to glare until he grinned again. He figured he was going to get an answer from him. He got off Midnight and walked away from him.

“No matter,” he said, “It doesn’t make a difference anyway. You may keep your secret. I’ll go and do what I was ordered to do.” A dark corridor appeared around Shadow and disappeared taking him along.

Midnight Crown stood back up and glared at the spot where Shadow once stood before saying, “The question is, what really happened to your past, Shadow?”

The heroes were still walking along as Celestia started to feel worried, not just about Lightning, but also about Darkness and that hooded pony they encountered back in Canterlot. She still couldn’t figure out who it was or if it’s somepony new or somepony they knew a long time ago. The more she struggled to think who it could be, the more worried she got.

Luna noticed this and flew over to her sister’s side. “Tia, are you okay?”

“To be honest, Luna, I’m not.”

“Is it about Lightning?”

“Not just that. I am still worried about him. It’s just…something else.”

“What was it, sister? Please tell me.”

Celestia let out a calm sigh before answering, “It’s about that hooded pony we encountered back in Canterlot. I still can’t figure out who it is. I’m not sure if it’s somepony new or somepony we knew a long time ago. It’s making me worried on who it could be.”

“It’s okay, Celestia,” said Luna while gently placing a hoof on her shoulder, “I’m sure we’ll figure out who it is soon.”

“You don’t think…it could him, do you?” Celestia asked worriedly while looking at her sister, “Could it be him? Is he helping Darkness?”

“I really hope it isn’t him,” answered Luna, “But it is him, then he should have attacked us before trying to take the poor colt to Darkness. But let’s not let it get into our heads. Let’s just focus on helping Lightning, and leave that hooded pony identity out until further notice. It’s for the best.”

Celestia looked at Luna before slowly giving her a small smile.

“Yeah, you’re right, Luna. We need to focus on Lightning Twister. He needs us.”

Luna nodded her head in agreement.

But as they walked and flew on, they suddenly surrounded by dark wolves and dark guards in dark armour as they appeared in dark smoke. The dark wolves growled at the heroes while the guards pointed their spears at them to stop them from going any further. Flurry Heart started to shake in fear as she flew to hide underneath her brother. Lightning was already awake by the time the wolves and guards showed up, and he started to get scared too. He flew towards his mother and hid underneath her mane.

Constantine and Doctor Strange got their magic ready in their hands as the wizards and witches got their wands out ready, except for Jacob as he’s a muggle, while the guardians summoned their Keyblades, staff and shield with Yozora summoning his sword and crossbow and Sonic, Tails and Knuckles getting ready to fight.

“First wolves, now guards? Who is behind all of this?!” Axel asked.

“And how come I feel like I’ve seen them before?” Asked the king.

“Wait, you know these things already?” Riku asked his friend.

“Why ask questions now when the fun has just begun?” Asked a familiar female voice from the far distance.

“Wait a second, I recognise that voice!” Oliver said.

Four dark corridors appeared and disappeared one by one to reveal not just Darkness and Midnight Crown, but also Chrysalis and Lord Tirek as well. “Well, so glad that you haven’t forgotten about me after so long,” said the evil queen.

“Chrysalis!” Growled Oliver.

“Lord Tirek?!” Spike said in surprised, “You’re both in Darkness’s group too?!”

“Why of course,” answered Chrysalis, “Why would we ignore someone after helping us escape from the badlands?”

“Because you backstabbed me when I was Grogar and after bringing you lot together,” said Discord.

“Not now, Discord!” Sunset said crossly.

“What? I’m just saying.”

“But to be honest,” said Lord Tirek, “He did say he would help us get revenge on you lot if we help him get the kid. That’s all he wants from us.”

“And you’re seriously okay with that?” Rainbow asked crossly.

“Of course,” answered Chrysalis, “After all, he did say we can go our separate ways after we’re done helping him. And since we’ve managed to caught you all, I say our revenge has come sooner than expected.”

“Calm yourself, Chrysalis,” said Darkness, “You’ll have your revenge once I’m done with the pony. I just need his darkness and they can be all yours.”

Mickey quietly gasped after hearing Darkness’s voice. “That voice. It sounds familiar,” he said in his head, “Could it be…?” Mickey shook his head before glaring at Darkness and said, “Remove your hood! Show us who you really are!”

Darkness looked at Mickey. “You really want me to show you all who I am, don’t you?”

“Yeah, we’re tired of calling you who you want to be called!” Sora answered crossly, “Show us who you really are!”

“And no tricks!” Donald added.

Darkness chuckled before saying, “Very well. I suppose it is time for me to reveal my true self.”

Darkness putted his hands on his hood and slowly pulled it down to reveal his face. Mickey gasped in shock as he knew who it was. The man’s face was male, had white skin and his hair was red-violet. And from inside the black coat, you can just see a red scarf. The man grinned while looking at the heroes.

“Ardyn Izunia?!” Mickey said in shock, “You’re behind all of this?!”

“Wait, you know this guy?” Ventus asked in shock.

“He does, my boy,” answered Ardyn before Mickey could even answer, “However, I am once formally known as Ardyn Lucis Caelum. But Ardyn or Ardyn Izunia will be just fine.”

“Are you the one responsible for giving my son nightmares?!” Fluttershy asked in anger.

“My dear, you really should learn to calm your anger,” said Ardyn making the yellow Pegasus more angry, “But yes, I am the one who’s been giving him those nightmares.”

“Not to mention bringing villains along to help you,” said Jacob.

“Well, one can really handle these things alone, now can they?”

“But the last time I heard about you,” said Mickey, “Noctis destroyed you and you disappeared!”

“Well, I didn’t stay disappeared forever,” replied Ardyn, “Why should I? You see, it’s not revenge I seek anymore. I only wish to become the rightful king and punish the Crystal that cost me aside in favour of that fool.”

“And that’s why you need Lightning’s darkness, isn’t it?” Sora said while glaring at Ardyn, “To help you achieve your goal!”

Ardyn smiled at Sora.

“My, you are becoming a quick learner, aren’t you?” Ardyn took a few steps forward, “Yes, Lightning’s darkness is what I need to become the rightful king. I did originally have my eyes set on Twilight Sparkle when I learned about her past. However, she refused to let her anger get the best of her when she showed her true feelings to her friends, brother and teacher. So I did what the Keyblade would do, and move down the list. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer. Now you two were worthy candidates. But, you two learned from your past actions, and returned to the good side. And lastly, Tempest Shadow, her goal was to get her horn by using the magic The Storm King needed from the four princesses, even without knowing she was being used. Thanks to Twilight Sparkle, I learned she wasn’t worthy anymore after she let go of her darkness. But, I managed to find the one that will serve me. And now, Lightning Twister, the grandson of The Storm King, is who I need. His darkness is more stronger than which I have ever since.”

Lightning whimpered in fear as Smolder gently picked him and hugged him to protect him while glaring at the evil man.

Ardyn suddenly saw Oliver glaring at him with his wings ready to start fighting in case he does try and attack.

“Oliver Sparkle. Oh I almost forgotten you were still with them.” Ardyn walked up to him, “Standing like a true guard, trying to protect those you care about.”

“I protect those that I care about and those that are unable to protect themselves,” growled Oliver, “It’s not just friends and family I help and protect.”

Ardyn chuckled before saying, “So I see.”

“Olive, how does he know you?” Flurry asked.

“I met him last night,” he answered, “He called me and tried to get me to join him while saying stuff about how you guys will turn on me because of my magic.”

“Oh, so you didn’t think it was all a dream then.”

“Like I would believe I was asleep when you echoed my name,” said Oliver, “And since you’re here, I can tell you’re not just here to take Lightning, but to see if I did change my mind so you can use my magic to stop those getting in your way and Chrysalis can play puppet master.”

“Clever boy,” said Ardyn, “After hearing about your magic and that you’re Chrysalis’s son, I knew you would be the perfect guard to help me and serve Chrysalis.”

“Agreed,” said Chrysalis, “And now, come back to your real family and help your true mother.”

“Never!” Oliver shouted, “I already chosen my side! And I wish to be with my family! My TRUE family! The one that loves me and doesn’t plan to use me as their warrior for revenge!”

“Come now, my boy,” said Ardyn, “Do you honesty think they’ll be your true family forever? I can sense your feelings when you discovered your real mother was Chrysalis, and you wanted to destroy her for making you a monster.”

“That may be true, but I didn’t let my anger out and tried to destroy her,” said Oliver, “Because that won’t fix anything, and I’m happy where I am now. With my true family, and my true destiny.”

Chrysalis started to glare at his ex-son. “Your destiny, is with me. Your magic belongs to me. You belong in darkness. Bow to it. Bow to darkness, bow to Ardyn. And to me!”

Oliver growled at Chrysalis before saying, “That’s not going to happen!”

“Only the darkness can guide you to your true destiny,” said Ardyn, “Where your magic needs to be.”

“Wrong!” Shouted Sora, “His magic may be born from darkness, but he gets to decide who he is, where he belongs and where his true destiny is! Lightning Twister was the same when he discovered The Storm King was his grandfather!”

“Yeah! And there’s no way we’re gonna let you take him!” Smolder said while protecting her boyfriend in her arms, “No matter how many nightmares you give him!”

“Now now, my dear dragon,” said Ardyn turning to her which made the dragon growl angrily at him, “My plan isn’t to give him enough nightmares for you all to abandon his little pain, but to make his darkness strong enough for me to take.” He looked at the colt hiding his face in his girlfriend’s chest, “He’s certainly taking his sweet time letting the fears get the best of him, though.” Ardyn summoned a knife as he got a little angry, “Would there be a way to expedite the process!” Ardyn threw the knife at Smolder and Lightning. Smolder quickly ducked down, while holding her boyfriend, as the knife landed in a tree.

“Hey!” Smolder shouted angrily.

Fluttershy glared angrily at Ardyn Izunia. She was so not happy with him trying to hurt not only her son, but also his girlfriend, by throwing a knife at them. “How DARE YOU!” Fluttershy flew towards Ardyn and punched him in the fave really hard which caused him to move back and fall on his back.

Everyone, including Constantine and the four princesses, were in shock after seeing Fluttershy punch Ardyn in the face. They’ve never seen her do anything like that, except for when she was beating up Cold Wind after foalnapping Lightning at the Gala.

“Remind me to never get on her bad side, ever,” said Rainbow to Applejack.

“Will do,” replied Applejack.

Ardyn got back onto his feet before growling angrily at the heroes. He pointed at them and shouted, “Get them!” Chrysalis, Tirek, Midnight Crown, the knights and wolves charged towards the heroes. “And bring me that pony too!” He ordered.

“Smolder, you and the others keep Lightning safe!” Twilight said.

“We’re on it!” Smolder replied as she and the other five ran off to hide somewhere while she carried the poor colt safely in her arms.

Sonic was about to charge at the enemies, but he was stopped by a hard punch in the face which made him fall to the ground and slid on the ground.

“Sonic!” Tails and Tom shouted worriedly.

Sonic tried to get back up, but he was pushed back down by a foot on his face. He looked up and saw it was Shadow who was stopping him. He stared at the hedgehog before saying, “Don’t even try and help. That pony is getting what he deserves.”

“I can’t let you do this, Shadow!” Groaned Sonic, “You’re on the wrong side!”

“Do you really think I would believe that? I know when I’m on the wrong side.”

Knuckles ran towards Shadow and punched him in the back to make him get off Sonic as he groaned in pain and flew to the ground by Sonic’s head. “Get off him!” Knuckles shouted.

Sonic got back up on his feet before saying, “Thanks.”

The two saw Shadow getting back up as he glared at them with red sparks flashing on him showing he was ready to attack them really hard.

“Sonic! Knuckles! He’s going to do his move again!” Tails warned his two friends.

“Ha! I’m ready for what he throws at me!” Said Knuckles putting his fists up ready.

But then, Shadow did his speed punch on Knuckles as he zoomed pasted him several times while punching him which made go up in mid air. Shadow quickly appeared above Knuckles and did a double hard punch on him as he fell and landed hard on the ground causing the ground to break with dust floating.

Knuckles groaned in pain while also coughing as well. He tried to get back up, but he was in so much pain after Shadow’s attack that he was unable to continue fighting.

As Knuckles coughed, he slowly turned his head to Sonic and weakly said, “Nope. I wasn’t ready for that. Tag in, Sonic.”

Sonic glared at Shadow as he charged towards him. Shadow, however, was still too quick on his feet and zoomed away with Sonic chasing him. The two zoomed around, back and forth across the area while banging into each other after a couple of minutes of chasing.

As for the others, Newt and Theseus were shooting tiny light blue spell balls at the dark wolves with their wands as they keep on reappearing and charging towards them. Tina and Queenie were doing the same on their half while also protecting Jacob as he stood behind the two witches.

The girls and Sunburst were shooting magic grasp beams as well as punching and kicking the dark wolves with Capper punching them and throwing to a nearby tree which made him disappear in dark smoke.

Doctor Strange and Constantine were working together and using their magic to fight Lord Tirek as he kept on blocking their magic attacks with his arms. Lord Tirek shot a fire beam from between his horns at the two humans. Strange used his magic to make a orange sparkly portal appear and flew through them making them disappear and then reappear behind Tirek.

Oliver was fighting Chrysalis as he flew around her and shooting magic grasp beams at Chrysalis. The evil queen was using her magic to shield herself from Oliver’s magic beam attacks as well as shooting magic grasp beams of her own at him. Oliver flew towards Chrysalis and the two clashed their horns together while glaring at each other and trying to push each other back.

“Stop resisting what you truly are!” Chrysalis said, “You’re not like them! You’re a creature made by me!”

“I know who I am!” Said Oliver, “And being with them is the path I chose!”

Chrysalis growled angrily before pushing Oliver back. Oliver flew around and landed safely on his hooves. “That was a mistake.” He said before charging towards her.

Meanwhile, the young six were running through the forest, with Lightning still being held by Smolder, as they tried to find a good spot or area to hide in until it was over. After running through some more bushes, they found a perfect area to hide in for awhile. They entered the area and took their time to catch their breath. Smolder lid down on the ground and let her boyfriend rest on her belly with her arms wrapped around him in comfort.

“I, think…we lost…them,” said Sandbar while breathing.

“Good,” said Yona as she already caught her breath.

“You okay, kid?” Gallus asked politely.

Lightning nodded her head instead of speaking. Silverstream gently picked him up and cradled close to her as Smolder got back up to her feet.

“Silverstream, I don’t want them to take me,” said the scared colt, “Please don’t let them!”

“Shhh…it’s okay, cutie,” said Silverstream softly, “You’re safe now. They won’t take you away as long we’re around to protect you.”

“Protect him from us?” Said a mysterious voice from a far distance, “Ha! Okay, but who will protect him, AND you lot, from us?”

The young seven looked around to see where that voice was coming from, but couldn’t see anyone anywhere. Silverstream kept Lightning close to her to make sure nothing happens to him. Just then, a dark corridor appeared in front of them as Robotink and Agent Stone walked out of it before it closed behind them.

“It’s a school day, kids!” Robotink said, “I’m gonna have to take you all in!”

Back to the adults, and of course Flurry Heart since she’s hiding behind a boulder, they were still fighting Ardyn and his team, but were struggling to continue because of the wolves reappearing after destroying them and the knights were very hard to defeat.

Ardyn swung his sword at Amore as she used her magic to teleport herself behind him. She made a big magic beam at him. Ardyn hit the ground before flipping over and sliding backwards on his feet. He looked at the princess and said, “ My. You really do still know your skills after being prisoned by your king for a long time.”

“Sombra was never my king,” growled Amore, “He used me to gain more power, and took over Crystal Empire before Cadence came.”

“Ah yes, he needed enough anger and nightmares to see his true self and destiny in order to take over your Empire. He did inspire me to do the same to Lightning Twister so I can take his darkness easily.”

“You leave young Lightning Twister alone!” Shouted Amore angrily as her horn started to glow. She then charged towards Ardyn and fought him again.

Meanwhile, Midnight Crown was shooting magic blast at the two sisters as they flew around him dodging his attacks. Celestia’s horn started to glow. She flew towards the hooded pony as the two clashed their horns together.

“Who…who are you?” Celestia asked.

Midnight growled before answering, “Somepony from the dark, and the past.”

After the two broke the clash, Midnight jumped back a bit. Luna flew to the ground and landed next to her sister. “You’re not Sombra, are you?”

“Wrong. The Sombra you know was destroyed moons ago. I, however, am a pony that wants what’s rightfully mine!”

Midnight charged towards the two. Celestia and Luna quickly flew away just as Midnight stopped at their spot. He turned and watched them landed on the ground to where they were a few metres away from him.

Midnight stared at the alicorns before spotting a pony watching them. Celestia and Luna also saw who was watching them fight the hooded pony. It was Twilight, and she was both confused and shocked by what was going on between the three.

“So, this is the pony who became a fourth princess,” said Midnight realising who she was. He started to walk towards the purple alicorn.

“DON’T YOU DARE!” Celestia shouted angrily before quickly shooting a magic blast at Midnight.

Midnight stopped while seeing the magic blast flying towards him really fast. The blast hit him causing him slide backwards with his hood coming off by the wind. Midnight glared at Celestia while showing his identity he was hiding in his hood. He had white fur and his mane was dark. “Ardyn told me how powerful you two have become since we last fought. Looks like he wasn’t wrong.”

Celestia and Luna were both in deep shock to who Midnight Crown truly was under the hood as Celestia shocking said,

“Solar?!”

Chapter 30
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 30

Author's Note

There’s a Moon Knight reference in this chapter.

Chapter 30

“Solar?!”

Both Celestia and Luna could not believe who was underneath the hood. It was their long lost brother, Solar Eclipse. Not only that, but Twilight was also in shock to see it was the sisters’ brother that was wearing the coat.

“I was Solar Eclipse. Now I got a new name…Midnight Crown. Get used to it.”

“Solar,” began Celestia in a worried tone, “What’s happened to you?”

“YOU what happened,” answered Solar angrily, “You turned your backs on me. And didn’t think to continue searching for me when I disappeared long ago.”

“Solar, don’t do this to us,” said Luna, “You don’t wanna do this.”

“Oh but I do. I deserve exactly what I should have gotten a long time ago.”

“Please, we can help you,” said Celestia, “We can make this right.”

“Oh like how you helped me moons ago?!” Solar asked angrily, “After turning against me?!”

Luna started to get angrily at her brother as she then said, “You have done that yourself!”

“Don’t speak of how this is my fault,” said Solar, “I may have killed our family, but it was for the throne. And soon, I will have my rightful place on the throne, thanks to my new master.”

Celestia and Luna were not just confused, but also surprised to hear what their brother had just said. Even Twilight was the same before saying, “Your new master?”

Solar looked at Twilight and grinned.

“You’re welcome to join me.”

Twilight knew what he was planning on trying to do with her, but she refuse to become what Solar Eclipse is now. She may be a princess and haven’t took the throne with the two sisters yet, but she refuses to become an evil princess.

She glared at him before saying, “No, Solar. I may not have taken the throne by Celestia and Luna’s side yet, but I refuse to become a princess that wants to rule the WRONG WAY!”

Solar was disappointed to Twilight’s response. He then said, “If you’re not with me, then you are my enemy.”

“I get that a lot,” said Twilight hinting that many foes she encounter have made her their enemy, “But I will do what I must to protect everypony.”

Solar grinned at the purple alicorn. “You will try.” The evil pony started to run towards Twilight.

“Solar, don’t!” Celestia shouted worriedly, knowing he was gonna fight Twilight.

Solar charged towards Twilight as his horn starts to glow. Twilight used her magic to teleport away and reappear in the air as she flapped her wings to help her fly in mid-air.

Solar saw Twilight flying in mid-air which left him in shock. “What?! How were you able to do that trick?!” He asked.

“Practice, and a lot of patience when learning it,” answered Twilight proudly.

Celestia smiled proudly at her student.

Solar growled angrily as his horn started to glow again. Twilight saw this and figured that she may be able to try and reason with him before it was too late.

“Look, Solar…”

But before she could say anything else, Solar shot a magic beam at Twilight which she managed to dodge by teleporting with her magic and reappearing after the beam was gone. Celestia was getting more and more worried about Twilight after Solar tried to shoot a beam at her.

“Solar Eclipse is gone!” Solar shouted, “There is only Midnight Crown! And there’s no way you can save Equestria or anywhere you can hide, Twilight Sparkle! Not from me, and not from Ardyn!”

“I would listen to him, Princess.”

Twilight saw Ardyn walked towards them. Ardyn stood by Solar before saying, “No matter where you go, where you try to hide or try to stop me, I’ll always be back. Until I have what I want.”

Twilight flew back to the ground while glaring at Ardyn.

“I don’t care what it is you’re doing. But whatever it is, leave Lightning Twister out of it! He’s got nothing to do with you or the darkness you want!”

“Oh I’m afraid he does,” said Ardyn, “Like I said, his darkness is what I need to become the rightful king. You all thought it was gone after defeating The Storm King a second time, but unfortunately…you can’t get rid of the darkness.”

Suddenly, they all heard a buzzing sound coming from the distance. They turned and saw Robotink and Agent Stone flying in a egg-holder shape pod with a net hanging at the bottom with the Young Six trapped in it. They were all struggling to break free, even Smolder tried to break the net with her teeth.

“Good day, sir,” said Robotink playfully, “I believe I have found your child.”

The evil doctor shows them Lightning in Agent Stone’s right hand as he struggled to break free from his hand. But it wasn’t any good.

Twilight gasped in shock before shouting worriedly, “Lightning!”

“Auntie Twilight!” Lightning shouted in fear, “Help us!”

Gallus groaned while struggling in the net before saying, “Let us and our friend go, Egghead!”

“My name’s not Egghead!” Robotink shouted angrily, “It’s Doctor Robotink! Why doesn’t anybody get that?!”

“Because you have no hair and you’re flying in a pod that looks like an egg holder, Eggman!” Sonic said as he zoomed into the area with Tails and Knuckles following, “And you better let them go! All of them!”

“Or else what, Sonic?”

“I’ll…I don’t really know,” said Sonic.

“Exactly! You don’t know what to do this time! For the first time ever! Hahahaha! And once Ardyn Izunia has this pony’s darkness, he’s going to give us exactly what we want! For me, to destroy you, take your powers, and now, take over this Equestria place and turn it into my empire!”

“Y-You can’t do that!” Lightning said.

“Oh really?” Robotink asked while turning and grinning at Lightning, “And why not?”

“B-Because…because it’ll m-make e-everycreature sad.”

“Aww…sad?” Robotink said mockingly, “And what are you going to do about it?”

Lightning got more scared of Robotink and the way he was speaking to him, like how his father used to speak to him before Fluttershy took him in. “I…I-I don’t k-know.”

“And you know why? Because you’re a dumb, little, crybaby pony!”

That so triggered Smolder as her face got so angry that smoke came out of her nose. She used her claws to cut the net open. The net got lose making Sandbar and Yona fall to the ground, but Yona landed softly on her back with Sandbar landing softly on the yak’s belly. Gallus, Ocellus and Silverstream flapped their wings to keep them from falling.

“Huh?!” Robotink saw what just happened to his net holding the students.

Smolder angrily flew from underneath the pod, got close to Robotink and grabbed him by the suit before dragging him to close to her face showing him how angry she was.

“Hey hey hey, chill!” Said Robotink putting his hands up, “These take hours to make! I can’t replace them!”

“LIKE I CARE ABOUT YOUR OUTFIT!” Smolder shouted angrily, “HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT MY BOYFRIEND! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HE’S BEEN THROUGH?!”

“Oh he’s your boyfriend? Oh how lovely! I do apologise for saying that to him. By the way, if he does sleep with you, does he often smell your breath while you’re both sleeping? I don’t really know much about dragons, but I bet it smells of bad cooking in there.”

Smolder growled before pulling the doctor our from his pod and holding him in mid air. “Let’s see if you can float without your pod.” She growled.

“Smolder, don’t!” Twilight called.

“Doctor!” Agent Stone cried worriedly.

“Don’t do anything, Stone,” said Robotink, “I wanna see how this goes.” He grins at the orange dragon, “Now look, I know you’re angry, but I’ll make this easy for you. You put me back in my pod, I’ll let your boyfriend go and talk to Ardyn about this. However, if you drop me, Agent Stone will lock him in a cage and make things easy for Ardyn.”

Smolder glared at Robotink before looking at her boyfriend. She can see how scared he was due to him shaking in fear and tears foaming in his eyes.

“So, dragon, what will it be?” Robotink asked while smiling playfully, “You’re gonna do the right thing and save your boyfriend? Hm?”

Smolder looked back at Robotink. She let out a calm sigh before saying, “All right.” She placed Robotink back in his pod while he said, “Oh good girl! Such a good girl! They taught you well!”

“Now let him go,” said Smolder.

“Yeah, about that…I kept my fingers crossed!” Robotink showed Smolder his crossed fingers, he was hiding behind his back. He laughed while Smolder let out a gasp to what she just saw. “You actually fell for it! And I didn’t think you would!” He continued to laugh. Lightning suddenly bit Agent Stone’s hand. He yelled in pain before throwing him out of the pod.

“No!” Smolder shouted worriedly before flying as she quickly as she could. She managed to catch him before he could reach the ground even further. “Gotcha!”

“Stone, what have you done?! You let him go and dropped him!”

“Well he bit me!” Agent Stone said crossly.

“And that’s what you get for holding us as hostages!” Smolder called.

“And this is for saying those horrible stuff about our friend!” Shouted Ocellus while turning into a bugbear.

She used her bee size tail to dang against Robotink’s pod as it went flying away while spinning with Robotink and Agent Stone screaming. “I’m blasting off again!” The doctor shouted.

Ardyn glared at what happened to Robotink. He snapped his fingers which made all the dark wolves disappear as Rainbow crashed into a tree as she was just about to punch the one she was fighting. The dark soldiers marched back to Ardyn making the heroes confused to what was going on. Shadow, Chrysalis and Lord Tirek went over to Ardyn.

“Let’s go,” he said to his followers, “We’re leaving.”

“Not before I show them who is the true prince for the throne!” Solar said angrily while pointing at the sisters.

“You’ll get your chance, I promise,” said Ardyn while making a big purple circle around them all, including Solar. The pony glared at his ex-sisters as big purple flames popped up and faded away revealing that Ardyn and his legion were now gone.

Smolder flew back down to the ground while gently holding her boyfriend as their friends went over to them with Ocellus turning back into her normal changeling form. Everyone else rushed over to them to make sure they were all okay after being captured by Robotink.

“Are you lot okay?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” answered Sandbar, “Sorry for landing on your belly, Yona.”

“No need to apologise. Yona love boyfriend and friends landing safely on belly!” Yona smiled.

Fluttershy gently took Lightning out of Smolder’s arms and carefully cradled him close to her. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

“I-I think so,” the poor colt replied while shaking a bit, “He d-dropped m-me. A-And my wings s-still h-hurt. I-I could h-have hurt m-myself.”

“Oh little bug,” said Twilight softly while gently stroking his mane, “It’ll be okay. Your wings will be better soon, and you’re safe now.”

Lightning rested his head on his mother’s chest and nuzzled it. Fluttershy gently gave her son a kiss on the mane as she continued to hold her son. This gave Twilight time to talk to Celestia and Luna about Solar before they can all continue on.

“Celestia, Luna, is it true that the pony we just faced was Solar Eclipse?”

“I’m afraid so, Twilight,” said Luna, “But it seems he’s in more anger than ever.”

“And filled with a lot of darkness,” added Celestia, “Something I hoped to never happen to him after disappearing.”

Discord appeared near the princess of the sun while saying, “Well, you two did refused to accept what he did for all three of you. And you did gave up looking for him to try and help him become what he is now.”

Celestia stared angrily at Discord as she gave him a massive punch in the face which made he fall to the ground and made everyone, including Luna and Doctor Strange, look at her in shock.

“Tia!” Luna said in shock.

“He had it coming.”

“Fair point.”

“Come on,” said Constantine while summoning the golden grasp map in his hand, “We’re not that far from the Tree of Life. We should keep going before it gets dark.”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Fluttershy gently placed Lightning on Silverstream’s back as she carefully kissed him on the forehead. They all began making their way forward to where the map said to go, with Discord flying by them while rubbing his cheek after that punch.

Back at the Ardyn’s castle, the purple flames popped up as Ardyn and his followers walked out of the flames before they disappeared to the ground. Ardyn angrily snapped his fingers making Robotink and Agent Stone appear from the pod as they fell to the ground.

Agent Stone groaned while slowly getting up before helping Robotink up. “You okay, doctor?”

“Get your hands off me, Stone,” said Robotink while slapping Agent Stone’s hands so he can get them off him, “Scientists don’t need help from humans.”

“Actually, Robotink, you do need help,” said Ardyn making both Robotink and Agent Stone turn and saw him walking angrily to him, “Because I, for one, am not a normal human!” He summoned a knife and points it at Robotink.

“This is not going to go well for him,” said Chrysalis.

“You’re next!” Ardyn said to her, which made her scared and nervous, before turning back to Robotink, “We’ve could have that colt right here by now! But instead, your agent dropped him and letting that teenage dragon save him, but also, letting that changeling send you flying away!”

“I did say he bit me!”

“Shut up!” Ardyn shouted.

“How do you know she’s a teenager?” Lord Tirek asked, “She could have been a young adult.”

“She was around sixteen years old,” said Ardyn while annoyingly looking at Lord Tirek.

“Still looked like a young adult,” said Chrysalis.

“Shut up, Chrysalis!” Shouted Ardyn angrily making Chrysalis step back a bit.

“Ouch.”

Ardyn turned back to Robotink and asked, “You didn’t think to just take only Lightning Twister and put him in a cage or something?”

“I wasn’t told that,” answered the doctor, “I was only told to just capture him and bring him to you unharmed and alive.”

“Along with those creatures that are his friends?”

“Well, they could have done something and stop me from bringing the pony to you,” replied Robotink, “I was just thinking we could hold them as prisoners.”

“Don’t you know anything about prisoners? If you keep someone as prisoner, they can find a way to break out and stop you,” said Lord Tirek.

“Yeah, that…that never happened,” said Chrysalis while nervously moving her eyes left to right, hoping none of the other villains know that she’s been there.

Ardyn glared back at Robotink as he made his knife disappear in purple smoke before saying, “Seeing as we are losing much time here, how long will it take for you lot to actually get your acts together and bring me that colt?! Chrysalis, you’re good at this sort of thing! How come you couldn’t have just taken him instead of fighting your son?!”

“I have a thing where I get angry when someone betrays me,” replied Chrysalis, “Plus I was only good at capturing ponies when I had all of my changelings with me.”

“So capturing Luna and Cadence wasn’t done by yourself then?”

“Well that was easy for me to do alone since they didn’t put the shield up before knowing there was an invasion going on, and Luna was going to get in the way at some point.”

“And you did not think to even try to do it alone since you don’t have them on your side anymore?” Lord Tirek asked.

Chrysalis glared at Tirek and was just asked to say something when Ardyn shouted, “Enough!” The two turned back to him and saw he had an angry look on his face. “I still need that child, and if you can’t help me no matter what you can do, then I’ll just send you back where you were before and put an end to our deal!”

“No!” Chrysalis said quickly in fear, “Not there! Anywhere but there! I refuse to go back there!”

“Please don’t send us back!” Lord Tirek begged, “I can’t stand it there, and Cozy Glow is so annoying when we were all there!”

“Are you going to actually help this time?”

“Yes!” The two answered in fear.

“You better, because I won’t have anymore mistakes or anymore excuses to why you can’t do this or that. Those lot can ruin everything by the time they save Lightning Twister. Not only that, but Kion’s son, the future king and leader of the Night Pride, is the next lion to have the roar of the past rulers! He can use it to stop us! And if he does uses the roar on one of us, we’ll be taking them out one villain down!”

“Roar of the past rulers?” Agent Stone asked.

“It’s similar to the roar of the elders but more stronger, and can defeat any threat that harms the Tree of Life or the Circle of Life,” answered Ardyn, “Now I suggest you will get ready for when we next attack while I go and figure out what to do next. Midnight, Shadow, with me.”

Ardyn walked out of the room with Midnight and Shadow following him. The doors close behind them leaving just Chrysalis, Tirek, Robotink and Agent Stone looking worriedly at each other. If what Ardyn just said to them about the roar was true, then not only will they lose Ardyn’s deal, but end up back to where they were before the deal.

Chrysalis gulped nervously while sweating in fear.

The heroes managed to continue on walking to the Tree of Life as the sun was still in the sky. They were walking through the forest without knowing that the further they went past the trees, some started to have a pit of snow on the branches and leaves. And without even noticing or hearing anything, a white owl was spying on them before flying away.

As they went through the last bunch of trees, they saw a big brown mountain up ahead which had some patches of snow on edge mini cliff sides and on top of it.

“Is this it?” Asked Tails, “Are we close to the Tree of Life?”

“According to the map, we should be here,” said John before making his magic grasp map disappear.

They all looked around the area and saw no tree, no kingdom or no leaders, but just the mountain, the trees behind them and lots of snow around them.

“You sure this is it?” Asked Rainbow, “Doesn’t look anything like a Tree of Life kingdom to me.”

“Yeah,” agreed Pinkie, “Where’s the big tree? Where’s the rulers?”

“Also, why is there snow around here?” Asked Tom, “Have we been going around in circles?”

“Better not,” said Jacob, “Not sure how long I can take with all this walking.”

“Look, everyone,” said John, “I can assure you, the map said this is where the Tree of Life is. I can promise you that. We just need to find where the leaders are. That’s how we know we’re in the right place.”

Suddenly, they all heard tiny rocks falling of the mountain and landing in the snow making them look up at the mountain. They started looking around the place, seeing what it was that made the rocks fell, until they saw a shadow running up on the mountain and disappearing. Flurry Heart started to get scared as she hugged her brother’s hoof for protection.

Lightning shook in fear while hugging Silverstream’s neck, not wanting to be separated from her. “S-Silverstream, I’m s-scared!”

“Shhh…it’s okay, little cutie,” said Silverstream softly while gently rubbing the colt’s mane, “I’ve got you. Nothing’s gonna hurt you.”

Just then, a sound of growling was heard as it echoed from the distance on top of the mountain. Silverstream and Ocellus slowly walked backwards with Lightning hiding in the hippogriff’s mane in fear. While still looking forwards and walking backwards, they didn’t know what was behind them until they bumped into something that felt like…a muzzle.

With a worriedly expression on their faces, while Lightning had a scared expression on his face, both him, Silverstream and Ocellus slowly turned round to see what was behind them. And what was behind them made Silverstream, Ocellus and Lightning go into shock.

There, standing in front of them, was a large grey hippo with a tiny dark grey mane on his head. He stared at the three for a few seconds before smiling at them while saying, “Hi.”

Silverstream, Ocellus and Lightning screamed in fear.

Chapter 31
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 31

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Chapter 32
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 32

Just on the clean dirt path, Rani was taking the children and nine of the guardians on a tour of the Tree of Life. They were following behind her, while Lightning rode on Silverstream’s back, as Rani started to sing to them.

Welcome to the Tree of Life

A wondrous mystic place

We're living life in harmony

It's what we all embrace

So, if you need healing

Shelter free of sorrow and strife

You will be welcome

Welcome to the Tree of Life

Desert, forest, tundra, plain

Are brought together here

So, animals from near and far

Live in peace and without fear

So, if you need healing

Shelter free of sorrow and strife

You will be welcome

Welcome to the Tree of Life

Respect for fellow animals

Is all you need to stay (All you need to stay)

But, no one living here

Would want it any other way

So, if you need healing

Shelter free of sorrow and strife

Know you are welcome

Welcome to the Tree of Life

You know you are welcome

Welcome to the Tree of Life

The young seven, Spike and Flurry Heart looked down from a big hill and see the big tree down below. They have never seen anything so beautiful in their entire life. Even Smolder found it beautiful, especially since she likes silly cute stuff.

“It looks so beautiful from up here,” said Ocellus.

“Yona wish to live here.”

“When you get used to being here, you’ll all be wishing to live here,” said Rani jokingly. She suddenly noticed Lightning’s bandaged wings. “How long has he had those on for?”

“For a few days now,” answered Sandbar.

“Yeah, his father broke them when we were on our way here,” explained Smolder, “But not Capper. He’s the good father, and took the father role after Fluttershy adopted Lightning. I mean the father as the one that abused him a lot.”

“Wait…his father abused him before Fluttershy and Capper adopted him?” Rani asked shockingly.

“Yep,” answered Gallus while nodding his head.

“But, what about his real mother? Wasn’t she around to keep him away from him?”

Lightning frowned a bit before answering, “No. She died after giving birth to me. Daddy said it was my fault she died. He hits me and scares me with thunder storms.” A tear rolled down his face as Smolder gently placed her hands on his shoulders in comfort.

Rani felt bad for the colt, especially since she lost her mother too as well as her father. She couldn’t help but feel bad for mentioning it or sorry for what he has been through.

She walked towards Lightning and sadly said, “Lightning, I am so sorry for what you’ve been through. And I’m also sorry for bringing it up.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“And to be honest, I know how you feel,” said Rani, “I lost my mother too, including my father. Losing them was very hard for me and my family.”

Lightning looked at the lioness in shock and sadness, “I’m sorry, Rani.”

“It’s alright, Lightning. I’m okay now. And I always know they’re still with me. In here.” She placed a paw on her chest where her heart. That made Lightning remember what Fluttershy told him that night before the day she adopted him. She said that no matter how far apart him and his mother are, she would always be with him in his heart.

“Momma told me something like that before she adopted me,” he said.

“So you also know that your mother will always be with you in your heart, do you?” Rani said softly to the young colt.

Lightning nodded his head in response.

“Good.” She smiled at Lightning before thinking of something, “Well, shall we continue with the tour?” The children nodded their heads as Rani led the way with them and the guardians following her.

In the cave, which is like Kion and Rani’s throne and place to sleep in, the rest of the guardians, the groups and the Tree of Life group was standing where Kion’s son was resting on the rock. He was a young cub, that looks almost like Kion, and his tiny patch of head fur and tail was red on one side and brown on the other side.

“Well, here he is,” said Kion, “This is my son. Meet Roni.”

Discord scoffed, “Roni? What a lazy name. You just used Rani’s name, but replaced the a with an o.”

“Shut your mouth!” Celestia said angrily through clenched teeth.

“Awww, he’s so cute!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Quite adorable I would say,” said Cadence.

Constantine walked towards the cub and carefully placed his hand on Roni’s head as it glowed in golden grasp.

“What do you feel, John?” Oliver asked.

“A lot of nightmare suffering, mate,” answered Constantine before moving his hand away from Roni’s head with the golden grasp fading away, “Unlike Lightning’s nightmares, however, they’re more painful and more worse than any nightmare we’ve faced.”

“How bad are Lightning’s nightmares?” Asked Kion.

“Really bad from what I’ve seen,” answered Princess Luna, “Ardyn planted a lot if nightmares into young Lightning Twister just so he can get the Storm King’s darkness that still, somehow, rest within the colt.”

“But why is Ardyn after Roni as well?” Surak asked, “He doesn’t have the type of darkness you’re talking about.”

“Let me have a think,” said Doctor Strange placing a hand on his chin, “Kion, were there any old enemies you faced before coming here?”

“Well, aside from Makucha and his group,” Kiom explained, “There was this evil lion called Scar. But me and my friends faced him when he was a firing spirit. After defeating him, his cobra bit me and gave me this scar.”

“I was wondering how he got that scar on his eye,” said Rainbow Dash earning a glare from Rarity who wasn’t happy by that.

“However, after I got this scar, it made things difficult for me while me and my friends were journeying to the Tree of Life.”

“How so?” Asked Amore.

“Well,” began Kion, “On the way, my scar was giving me pain that I started letting my anger out on my friends. It was making me become evil, and Scar said that we were the same before his defeat. And no matter how much they tried to help me or take over for me on the way here, I still treated them like they were now against me and my anger was getting worst.”

“Can scars do that?” Asked Applejack.

“Only if you’ve been bitten by a cobra and you live in the Pride Lands, yes.” Kion suddenly realise something that may be the reason why Ardyn is also after his son. “Wait. You don’t think that…”

“I think it could be, Kion,” said Doctor Strange, “The evil from that scar must have somehow went into Roni.”

“What?!” Fuli and Bunga said in shock and unison.

“But how?” Baylio asked in shock, “He doesn’t have a scar, nor has he ever faced Scar before!”

“From what I can gather, and similar to how Lightning is related to The Storm King after his mother died,” said Constantine, “After Kion got his scar healed and became king, the evil must have somehow went into Roni when he was a baby.”

“You mean when Rani was pregnant with him?” Binga asked in shock.

“Hey hey hey now! Let’s not go too far on that!” Pinkie said crossly.

“Huh?” Fuli asked confusedly.

“Don’t ask,” said Rainbow, “Trust me, you have no idea what she’s talking like we do, sometimes?”

“What do you m…?”

“Just, don’t ask. It’s hard to explain, and will be confusing to you all. So please, just don’t ask.”

“Okay then, if you say so.”

“So the evil just went into someone else that’s related to the lion that refused to let it take over?” Baylio asked in shock.

“Possibly true, mate,” said Constantine.

“But that’s impossible!” Bunga said.

“I’m afraid it’s not, Bunga,” said Doctor Strange, “Whenever someone defeats the evil trying to take hold of them, they always find a way to take over their child.”

“But that’s just wrong and cruel!” Pinkie said.

“I agree,” said Cadence, “Especially for an innocent child.”

“We’re back!” Rani called happily.

Everyone turned and saw Rani walking in with the guardians, Spike, Flurry Heart and the young seven following her while Lightning still riding on Silverstream’s back. And, to make things good for him, his wings were now better as the bandages were now off and he doesn’t feel pain anymore.

Fluttershy flew towards her son and softly asked, “Did you enjoy the tour, baby?”

“Yes I did, Momma,” answered Lightning happily before showing his wings to her, “And look. My wings are all better now.”

Fluttershy gasped happily before gently hugging her son in joy and happiness.

“That’s so wonderful to hear, my little pony,” said Celestia happily.

“We are grateful your wings are better again,” added Luna.

“I knew having Fizzlepop come with us was a good idea,” said Twilight happily.

“And I’m glad she came along,” said Starlight while smiling.

While hugging his mother, Lightning noticed a young cub sleeping on the flat rock which was like a throne for Kion and Rani to sit on but also a place for both them and Roni to sleep on. He looked at Rani before asking, “Is that him, Rani?“

“Yes, kiddo,” answered Rani politely, “That’s my son I was talking about before the tour. His name is Roni.”

“Roni? That’s a nice name,” said Ocellus.

“Yeah, it suits him,” added Gallus.

“Roni’s a cute name for young lion,” said Yona which made Rani smile at their nice comments about her son’s name.

“Still think she could give him a better name,” said Discord rudely.

Everyone, including Cosmos secretly, gave Discord a glare. Luna flew up to him and gave him a big smack on the back of the head. “Ow!” He shouted while rubbing the back of his head with his lion paw. “Stop being so mean to the young cub!” Said Luna crossly.

Just then, Roni started to stir in his sleep as he was about to wake up. Everyone saw this as Kion and Rani walked over to their cub. Roni slowly opened his eyes and saw his parents walking over to him.

“Hey buddy,” said Kion, “How do you feel?”

“I still feel bad,” Roni answered weakly and started feeling ashamed for it.

“Hey hey, it’s okay, sweetie,” said Rani softly while gently stroking her son’s head, “We’re not mad at you for still feeling bad. None of this is your fault. We’re going to help you get through this. I promise.”

Roni noticed a group of humans and creatures with the others and the rest of his friends. “Who are they?” He asked.

“They’re our new friends,” answered Rani, “They came to help us and we’re also gonna help them, because they also have someone who is suffering from nightmares.” That’s when Roni saw Lightning waving at him, to show she meant him, as he waved at him back.

Discord magically popped near the three while saying, “And don’t mind me. I’m here for the chaos.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight said crossly, “No chaos! Not from you or watching us cause chaos when something goes wrong and we go into panic.”

“I agree,” said Celestia, “We’ve got too much to deal with right now.”

“And we don’t need you to make things go worse for us all!” Added Luna.

“Oh come on, what’s wrong with a bit of chaos happening? I mean, it’s fun and enjoyable. It can help teach you something and can also…”

“We don’t care what you say or think about chaos,” said Oliver crossly, “No matter how much you love it or because you’re good at it while we can’t. We have to stop these nightmares from hurting Lightning and Roni while also stopping Ardyn from getting what he wants from them. And the longer we keep waiting, the stronger the nightmares will get. That’s what he wants.”

“Well tonight’s not the night for sorting that out,” said Surak, “It’s getting late, and none of us have a plan yet.”

Everyone looked at the pathway, that leads to outside, and saw it was beginning to get dark with the sun setting down and the moon rising.

“He’s right, everyone,” said Twilight, “We best get some rest and think of some ideas tomorrow.”

“You’re right, Twi,” agreed Applejack, “Plus I think the little fella and the students are getting tired already.”

And she was right, because the young seven all now starting to feel tired and some were slowly closing and opening their eyes. Lightning let out a yawn before saying, “Momma, I’m tired.”

“I know you are, baby,” said Fluttershy softly while gently stroking her son’s mane, “Come on, let’s get you all to bed.”

“I’ll go set up the tent,” said Newt.

“I’ll help,” said Sunset as she and Newt walked out of the throne cave to set up the tent outside.

But unknowingly to them, they were being watched by Ardyn as he looked at them through his dark cloud in the throne room of his castle. Makucha, Chuluun and Ora were there watching after telling him everything.

“So it is true. They’ve made it.” Ardyn snapped his fingers which made the dark cloud fade away.

“Shall we begin the attack?” Chuluun asked.

“No. They’re resting now. We mustn’t rush things if we are to get what we all want. Go, get some rest yourselves. We’ll attack in the morning.” Ardyn made his way out of the throne room while the three bow to him before watching him away.

Chapter 33
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 33

Once morning came and everyone had their breakfast, it was time for help Lightning Twister and Roni before Ardyn’s nightmares get even more worse. Nirmala had taken care of helping the two while the others try to think of a way to stop Ardyn and his legion.

Lightning and Roni were resting on their backs in the river with their eyes close while Nirmala laid on her front watching them. This was part of helping them get through the fears they had in the nightmares and making sure less nightmares affect them.

The young six was sitting next to Nirmala to also keep an eye on Lightning. They refuse to leave his side while he heals from the nightmares, especially since Smolder’s his girlfriend and Silverstream shares a bond with him.

The others, including the rest of the Night Pride and the Lion Guard, were standing and sitting by the cave that leads to Kion and Rani’s throne rock, all trying to figure a way to stop Ardyn and his legion before they can succeed.

“So that’s it? We’re out of ideas,” said Rainbow in annoyance after giving up.

“Ideas don’t just grow on trees, Rainbow,” said Applejack.

“I’m not always good at these kinds of things,” said Flurry Heart feeling guilty for not thinking of any good ideas to help. Cadence gently rubbed her daughter’s shoulder to show she’s not in trouble for having no good ideas.

“He disappeared, along Eggman and those other villains, after our first fight,” said Sonic while pacing up and down, “And we figured he wasn’t done with the nightmares after explaining his plan. So he must have gone somewhere to continue the nightmare run. But where?”

“I don’t know, Sonic,” said Bayilo, “But we gotta figure this out soon. Who knows how many more nightmares he’s gonna pull before the darkness and evil become his! Nice necklace by the way, Sora.”

“Thank you.”

“Any ideas, Credence?” Starlight asked.

Credence just looked at Starlight and shrugged his shoulders, showing that he can’t think of any ideas that can help.

“Everyone!” Called Jacob, “Come look at this!”

Everyone went to where Jacob was standing and saw what he was on about. There they saw smoke coming from the top of the snowy mountain that was close to the Tree of Life. It was almost like there was a fire going on at a place where ice beats heat.

“That can’t be right,” said Kion, “Fires don’t always happen in the snow.”

“Yeah, especially up there and in the snow,” said Rani.

“Do you think someone’s up there doing something they shouldn’t or trying to signal us?” Asked Spike.

“Can’t be,” replied Bayilo, “That place was abandoned ever since Mom and Dad died.”

“I bet that’s where Ardyn or his legion of losers are hiding,” said Rainbow while punching her hoof in her hoof.

“Well there’s only one way to find,” said Applejack, “Let’s go catch those rotten apples.” Applejack was about to head on first, but she was stopped by Twilight’s hoof. “It’s best we let Kion and his friends and family go first. They know the way since this is still our first time here.”

“She has a point there,” agreed Rainbow.

Applejack wanted to say something, but she was worried it might turn into an argument. Plus she knew Twilight was right. Kion and his friends and family know the Tree of Life better than them and they should go first so they can lead to the snowy mountain. So she just smiled at her alicorn friend and said, “Quite right, sugarcube.”

“Follow us,” said Kion as he and his friends and family started making their way to the snowy mountain. Everyone else followed them from behind.

Back to the young seven, Nirmala and Roni, the two were still resting in the river with the lioness and the six friends watching over them. It’s been over fifteen minutes, and things were looking okay so far.

“How many more minutes do they have left?” Asked Ocellus.

“Let’s give them a few minutes before we move on to the next test of healing,” answered Nirmala.

“I hope they’re doing okay,” said Smolder worriedly, “If this doesn’t work and Ardyn does drain the darkness while hurting Braveheart, I won’t be easy to stop when I get my claws on him.”

“Relax, my dear, they’re doing just fine. And please do save your fight for Ardyn. Right now, you need to focus on your boyfriend. He needs you. After all, you still love him, don’t you?”

Smolder smiled at Nirmala while blushing. She nodded her head and said, “Yes, I still love him. And I will do anything to protect him.”

Nirmala smiled softly at the orange dragon before saying, “I know you will.”

Just then, while Roni was still relaxing in the river, Lightning started to toss and turn making splashes as his hooves hit the water. Nirmala and the young six quickly saw this and was shocked to see what was happening to the poor colt.

“No, no no!” Smolder said worried as she quickly got up and run to him. She carefully picked him up and held him close to her chest in her arms.

“I’ve got you, Braveheart! It’s okay, shhh…”

The other five and Nirmala rushed over to them as Roni slowly woke up from his relaxation and sat up while remaining in the river. He then saw Lightning in Smolder’s arms and asked, “Wha…what’s going on? What’s happened?”

“Little pony was tossing in river!” Yona answered in a panic tone.

“And strange too,” added Nirmala, “That’s never happened to anyone before.”

“Are you okay, cutie?” Asked Silverstream while gently stroking her friend’s mane, “What happened?”

Lightning slowly opened his eyes and worriedly looked at the hippogriff before asking, “Where’s Momma?”

Back on the snowy mountain, the heroes walked amongst the snow to where the smoke was coming. They have been walking for miles, even though it wasn’t that far from the kingdom, as Rainbow was getting tired from flying and decided to walk instead.

“Getting tired already, darling?” Asked Rarity, “And I thought you never get tired from flying that much.”

“Now’s not the time, Rarity. This is important.”

Once they reached to where it was close to the top of the mountain, they saw a patch of dirt on the snow showing a bit of green grass while smoke continued to rose into the sky. But strangely, there was no one near the dirt and no sign of anything that they may have used to start the fire.

“Well, that’s weird,” said Pinkie, “The fire may be out, but there’s no one around.”

“Yeah, I feel like this was some kind of trap just to keep us away from the kingdom,” said Axel.

Oliver and Kion expected the dirt as Oliver sniffed it before picking some up with his hoof to take a closer look.

“Hmmm…strange,” said the alicorn.

“What do you mean?” Kion asked.

“This fire was started, but also, put out minutes ago,” answered Oliver, “So Axel could be right. Someone must have done this to keep us away from the kingdom.”

“Like some sort of trap that Axel just mentioned?” Bunga asked.

“Exactly.” Oliver looked at Doctor Strange and said, “Doctor Strange, do you think you could…?”

Before he could finish, they all heard a familiar voice coming towards them.

“Momma! Momma!”

“Lightning?” Fluttershy turned, with everyone else turning around as well, as they all saw Nirmala, Roni and the young seven running towards them as fast as their hooves, claws and paws can carry them.

“Mom! Dad!” Roni shouted, “It’s a trap!”

“What?” Rani asked.

Nirmala, Roni and the young seven stopped near the groups as Roni shouted again, “It’s a trap!”

Before anyone could say anything else, a bunch of dark shadowy wolves appeared around them all, trapping them in a circle. They growled at them causing Flurry Heart to hide underneath her mother. Donald crossed his arms and looked away with an annoyed look on his face and said, “Of course it is.”

“Well well well, look what we have here,” said a familiar male voice.

“Makucha!” Kion growled, recognising that voice.

“And he’s not alone,” said a familiar female voice.

“Chrysalis?!” Twilight and Oliver said in unison.

And just after saying her name, Makucha appeared from behind a snowy boulder while Chrysalis crawled on top of the boulder on her back.

“Surprised to see me again? Oh I’m so fluttered,” said Chrysalis while twisting her head round and grinning at everyone.

“Seems like the plan actually worked,” said Makucha, “And it looks like the children made it in time as well.”

Lightning and Roni knew they were on about them as the young lion hid underneath Nirmala while the colt hid underneath Silverstream’s mane. Twilight could tell the two were scared to what Chrysalis and Makucha might do to them. She glared at them before saying, “I swear, if either of you put one claw or hoof on them…!”

“Oh don’t worry, Princess,” interrupted Makucha, “We don’t plan to hurt them. We just need them to come with us nice and calmly, and none of their friends and family will get hurt.” He stared at Fluttershy, “Starting with her!”

Chrysalis used her changeling slime to trap Fluttershy in the snow as her hooves were now stuck in changeling slime and it was strong enough to stick to the snow.

“Momma!” Cried Lightning worriedly.

“Don’t worry about me, baby,” said Fluttershy, “I’ll be fine. Don’t do what they tell you.”

Everyone tried to help Fluttershy, but the wolves jumped in front of them to stop them and growled at them, signalling them not to get any ideas. Rainbow and Sonic were about to fight them to get them out of their way until Twilight flew in front of them to stop them before they could get hurt.

“Wait!”

“But Twilight, Fluttershy’s in…!”

“I know, I know, Rainbow! But we can’t! If we try and fight them, we will be making things easier for them!”

“I would listen to Twilight,” said Chrysalis while grinning, “You know she’s telling the truth.” She turned to Twilight who was glaring her. “You were wise to stop your friends from approaching. The wolves can really cause you more pain we ever can.”

Twilight sighed calmly before saying, “Look, Chrysalis. It’s me you really want. Let Fluttershy go and leave Lightning and Roni out of it.”

“Twilight, no! Don’t!” Pinkie said worriedly.

Chrysalis chuckled, “So brave of you to risk your own life to save the lives of Starlight, your friends, a young lion and your nephew. However, my revenge on you and, of course, Starlight will be coming a bit later. Just as soon we deliver the children to Ardyn.”

“Like that’s ever gonna happen!” Sonic said while charging up.

“Don’t even try,” said Shadow as he dropped from the sky and landed on his feet making a couple of snow fly up to where his head was.

“Shadow!” Growled Sonic.

“Not happy to see me again? I’m so hurt,” said Shadow while grinning.

“Don’t make me do this to you,” growled Sonic.

“Why waste your time in doing so? You know you can’t beat me, faker.”

Sonic started to get really angry after being called “faker” again. The blue sparks start to go haywire on him, showing that he was now triggered. “I…am not…A FAKE!!” He suddenly zoomed towards the bad hedgehog.

“Sonic, wait!” Tom shouted.

But it was too late. Sonic was already now fighting Shadow as he zoomed past him while punching in the face, the stomach, the back and the sides. He then punched him in the face several times in a quick speed before kicking him hard which made him fly into the air. Sonic jumped high up and gave Sonic a big punch down and made Shadow crush into the snow.

However, Shadow didn’t break a sweat, even after all that punching, kicking and being punched to the snow. He does have some bruises on him, but he still didn’t felt a thing.

Sonic landed back on the snow and walked towards Shadow. He breathed heavily while glaring at the hedgehog before asking, “Had enough yet, faker?!”

Shadow slowly got up and stared at the blue hedgehog.

“That was a mistake.”

Shadow disappeared in the flesh before reappearing next to Sonic while backwards kicking him on the side. He fell to the snow and slid backwards as he banged his head on a boulder.

“Sonic!” Cried Tails and Knuckles.

Tom was about to run up to his friend, but Maddie stopped him from even getting a little close to the two hedgehogs.

Shadow walked towards the hedgehog and picked him up by the spikes. He held him tight which was hurting Sonic. Flurry Heart was scared to even imagine what will happen next. She quickly looked around to see if there was anything that could help until she saw a boulder that was small enough to be used. She used her magic to lift the boulder up and make fly towards Shadow. But unknowingly, that boulder was holding the snow from falling from the top of the highest mountain.

“Now you will pay for what you did to Maria!” Shadow said angrily while pulling his fist back, as it charged with red sparks, ready to punch Sonic.

But before he could deliver the punch, he was smacked on the back of his head with a boulder. The red sparks on his fist faded away as he just stood there feeling the pain while letting go of Sonic.

“Ow,” he said slowly. He then fell into the snow and passed out.

Sonic slowly tried to get up while moaning in pain. Tails, Knuckles, Tom and Maddie ran to his acid as Tails and Tom helped him up.

“Sonic, are you okay?” Asked Maddie worriedly.

“I think so,” answered Sonic before seeing Shadow passed out in the snow, “What just happened?”

“I uh…I threw a boulder at his head,” replied Flurry Heart in a nervous tone.

“Flurry Heart, you threw a boulder at his head?” Cadence asked her daughter in surprised.

“He was going to hurt him really bad, Mama!” Flurry explained in a worried and panic tone, “I couldn’t let him get even more than he already is, so I…!”

Before Flurry could finish her sentence, they all heard a loud rumbling sound that shook the area and was close to them all. It also made the dark wolves vanish into thin air.

“Was that your stomach growling, Goofy?” Donald asked worriedly.

“Nope, it wasn’t me,” answered Goofy.

“Then wha…uh-oh,” said Donald as he started to realise what that rumbling sound actually was.

The wizard and everyone else, including Chrysalis and Makucha, but not Shadow since he’s still passed out, all looked up to where the top of the mountain was and saw snowy dust from above. It got closer and closer as a giant pile of snow came running down the hill. It was a snow avalanche. And it was a big one too.

“Oh that’s not good,” said Sunburst.

“AVALANCHE!” Pinkie cried.

“Run!” Rani shouted as they all ran as fast as they could to get away from the avalanche. Twilight and Cadence worked together to help Fluttershy break free from the slime. The three quickly flew away to catch up with the others.

“Quick! Grab Shadow and let’s get out of here!” Chrysalis said.

“But what about the pony and lion?” Makucha asked.

“Oh forget about them, we got to save ourselves!” Shouted Chrysalis, “Come on! Hurry!”

Makucha quickly ran to where Shadow was and placed him on his back. Chrysalis flew towards them as a dark corridor quickly appears and took them away before the avalanche could even get to them.

The heroes were running and flying as fast as they can as the avalanche was getting more and more closer to them. They were running out of breath and the strength to run even more. Lightning was even struggling to keep a hold on Silverstream as she was flying quickly while trying not to let Lightning fall off her.

While breathing heavily and still running, Bunga shouted, “The avalanche is going even faster than we are!”

“Just stop talking and run!” Sandbar shouted as he ran past Bunga.

With the avalanche getting closer and closer by the second, it managed to scoop up everyone that was running and flying away from it. They all screamed as the avalanche continued to run while making them disappear into the snow. At last, the avalanche came to stop as it stopped by a bunch if trees on a nice green grass part from the Tree of Life with some pits of the snow sticking to the tree logs and around them.

Everyone was okay, aside from having some snow on their heads, manes and tails while some have their heads and fronts stuck in the snow. They were all not happy with what just happened just now, including Flurry Heart, Cosmos and Newt.

All except for Bunga and Binga who jumped from underneath from the snow and cheered, “Wow! Woo!” Bunga fist bumped Capper on the arm and said, “Yeah! Who’s up for round two?!”

Everyone, including Capper, Yozora and Cosmos, but except for those that had their fronts stuck in the snow, gave Bunga and Binga a not amused face showing that what just happened wasn’t fun at all.

“No thank you!” Sora shouted crossly.

Donald and Goofy got up and brushed the snow off their clothes and hats.

“Remind me to book a holiday that doesn’t involve snow when we get the chance,” said Goofy to Donald.

“With pleasure.”

Smolder got out from the snow before coughing some snow out of her mouth. She brushed some snow off her body, tail, antlers and wings. After she cleaned the snow off her, she looked around and noticed someone, or rather somepony, was missing.

“Braveheart? Braveheart! Lightning, where are you?! Can you hear me?!”

Before she could get even mire about her boyfriend, she saw something trying to get out from the snow nearby. The snow bursted up to reveal Lightning Twister who started coughing out some of the snow that managed to get into his mouth.

“Braveheart!” Smolder quickly ran to the little colt and carefully picked him up. She gently hugged him, letting him rest his head on her shoulder and slowly rubbed his back. Lightning continued to cough the last remaining snow in his mouth as Fluttershy and Capper came to check on him.

“Lightning sweetheart, are you okay?!” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“I think so, Momma,” answered Lightning after coughing one more time, “But I got a bit of snow stuck to my tail.”

“Oh dear, let me have a look,” said Fluttershy as she started checking the snow that was stuck to her son’s tail.

“What in tarnation just happened?” Asked Applejack while cleaning the snow from her hat, “None of us has yelled to cause that avalanche to happen.”

“The avalanche wasn’t caused by yelling,” said Rani, “The boulder was the one that made it happened.”

“It was? How?” Rarity asked.

“After Kion and Rani became king and queen,” began Surak, “We discovered the snow on top of the mountain was building up to cause a huge ambulance that could hurt everyone. The boulder was the only thing that was keeping the snow from building from the inside.”

“So the boulder was holding the snow from the inside to stop it from building that avalanche?” Cadence asked which led to Surak nodding his head for a yes.

Shining started to get very cross as he turned to where Flurry Heart was. She was just cleaning off the bits of snow that was on her mane until she heard her father’s voice.

“FLURRY HEART!”

Flurry jumped in surprised. She saw her father walking towards her with a cross look on his face. She started to get scared as to what Shining is going to say to her.

“Do you have any idea how much damage you caused back up there?!”

“Huh? Wh-what do you mean?” Flurry asked in a scared tone.

“The avalanche that just happened!” Shining snapped, “You removed a boulder that was keep the snowing from getting larger to make a big bunch of snow fall!”

“But…but I didn’t know that was gonna happen. I was just trying to save Sonic.”

“So you decided to use a boulder?!”

“I just said I didn’t know that was gonna happen! Rani didn’t tell us about it during the tour!”

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me, young filly! And that should be a lesson to you! You should ask if there’s anything you need to know before you even think about doing it!”

“Stop shouting at me! We only had a tour around the Tree of Life, not up there as well!” Flurry shouted, “Why are you mad at me for doing something I didn’t mean to do?! You always get mad at me when I do something wrong, even if it was just a small mistake! And you treat me like I’m still the baby that destroyed the Crystal Heart and nearly doomed everypony in the Crystal Empire!”

“That’s because you ARE!” Shining yelled.

Flurry was now in shock from the outburst her father did as her expression turned into a sad look. Shining’s anger suddenly turned into a shock expression as to what he just did. Everyone, including Yozora and Doctor Strange, all had shock expressions after seeing what Shining just did. Lightning got scared from Shining’s outburst and hid his face in his girlfriend’s chest.

A small tear started to roll down Flurry Heart’s face. She couldn’t hold in anymore. She let her tears run free as she shouted, “You don’t want me to be the next princess?! Fine, I won’t be the next princess! I’ll just become a normal alicorn living with other ponies! And if they ask me why I’m not ruling the Crystal Empire, I’ll just tell them that my dad thinks I’m just a Crystal Heart destroyer and I was a mistake to be born as an alicorn and not a unicorn!”

Flurry started to cry and run past Shining. But instead of crying to her mother, aunt or brother, or even Spike, she ran to Rani and cried into her chest fur. Rani was taken by surprised while wrapping her paws around the poor filly. But she then glared at the white stallion while pulling Flurry Heart close to her in comfort.

Everyone else, including Dumbledore, Credence, Cadence, Yozora, Axel, Kairi and Xion, glared crossly at Shining for yelling at Flurry Heart for a small mistake she did. Donald and Goofy saw that Sora wasn’t very happy with Shining either as the two stared crossly at the stallion as well with Donald crossing his arms and Goofy placing his fists on his hips.

Shining started to feel ashamed and guilty for what he just did. He then saw his wife coming towards him, and boy, was she not very happy with him. When she got close to him, she showed him her angry expression once more, like what happened in Canterlot, as she said to him in a very angry tone,

“Get your rear end, in the cave, NOW!!!”

Chapter 34
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 34

Back at Ardyn’s castle, Shadow was laying on his bed still passed out after that hit from the boulder Flurry Heart did on him. Ardyn ordered Chrysalis and Makucha to put him in his room for him to rest till he wakes up.

But unknowingly to them all, while he still passed out, he was having a blurry vision. A vision that was showing his past. The TRUE past before he was frozen for so long.

There he saw a beautiful young girl with blond hair, white skin and a lovely blue dress. It was Maria. She smiled at Shadow while saying his name as it echoed.

“Shadow…Shadow…Shadow.”

But then, her happy tone turned a scared tone.

“Shadow! Do not help him! Do not let him win! Please!”

Shadow’s vision started to glitch making him unable to see properly as he saw a strange figure appearing behind Maria. The glitch made the figure get closer and closer to the girl. When the glitching had stopped, he saw Maria laying on the ground. She was dead.

“MARIA!” He shouted.

Shadow tried to reach out to his friend, but he was ambushed by that strange figure who, in clear view, was wearing a black rubber trench coat, pinstripe trousers, a red scarf and a hooded gray and white flower-print mantle. And on his left hand was a blade knife while his right hand had a dark purple grasp around it.

“Maria!” Shadow shouted while quickly waking up. He looked around and saw he was now in his room of the castle. He then looked at his left hand. “Sonic didn’t kill Maria or made me look like I’m the bad guy,” he said to himself. He then got angry while turning his left hand into a fist.

“He did.”

In the main castle room, Chrysalis and Makucha was there looking pretty scared as Ardyn glared at them angrily. Ardyn ditched the black coat and was now back to wearing his black rubber trench coat, pinstripe trousers, a red scarf and a hooded gray and white flower-print mantle as well as his black fedora.

“What do you mean you didn’t managed to get them?! How hard was it to do one single task?! Collect the cub and the pony, that’s all you had to do!”

“Ardyn, you must understand,” said Chrysalis in fear, “We tried to make them come with us without bringing harm to the ones they love. Plus, a-an avalanche happened. There wasn’t anything we could do.” Makucha nodded his head.

“WRONG!” Ardyn shouted angrily, “You should have built a wall or made a shield to stop it! Or better yet, just grab the two before it even started! Do you have any idea how close we are to losing time?! By the time they stopped the nightmares, the darkness within them will fade away and I won’t be able to grow more powerful to become the true king! How many more failures do you need to do before you actually succeed for once?!”

Suddenly, the doors swung open, crashing against the walls, as Robotink and Agent Stone were flying backwards. They hit the ground on the backs before passing out. Ardyn, Chrysalis and Makucha saw this.

“What the?” Said Ardyn.

The three then saw it was Shadow who did it as he stood in the doorway while breathing heavily and staring angrily at Ardyn.

“Shadow? You’re awake already?” Asked Ardyn in surprised, “But why would you attack Robotink and Stone like that?”

“You lied to me,” growled Shadow while walking towards Ardyn.

“Excuse me?”

Chrysalis and Makucha walked back as they didn’t want Shadow to do what he was going to do to Ardyn.

“I said, you lied to me.”

Ardyn could tell he was now on to him. He must have learned what really happened in his past that he killed his friend after he was frozen and woke him years later just to tell him a bunch of lies about Sonic and make him the bad guy.

“I…I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about,” said Shadow, “You’re the reason Maria’s dead! You killed her before waking me up after years of being frozen just to get me to stop Sonic when he had nothing to do with my past in the first place!”

“Oh come now, Shadow,” said Ardyn with an innocent smile, “I only did sweet Maria a favour. She was close to dying before she froze you.”

“By killing her?! They would have found a way to save her if her grandfather wasn’t arrested and before I was frozen! She could have unfroze me when it was time for me to come back!”

Ardyn’s smile slowly changed to a glare as he said, “Everything I did was to make you become who you are now.”

“And what was it I was suppose to become? A murderer? An out of control hedgehog? An evil version of Sonic? I may look like him, but I’m completely different to him! I’m an android! I was built to protect Maria and those that are innocent! You turned me into a villain and made me hurt innocent lives while ignoring every single truth Sonic told me! And not only that, you made me try to capture two innocent kids! How many more lies were you going to tell me?! Were you planning on telling me you’ve found a way to bring Maria back only for Midnight Crown to eliminate me behind my back?!”

“Hmmm…not quite,” said Ardyn, “I do plan to have Midnight Crown eliminate you, but you missed out the part where I lie to him about making more powerful than his ex-sisters only to eliminate him when I no longer need any use of him.”

“You plan to eliminate me?!” said the voice of Midnight Crown.

Ardyn, Shadow, Chrysalis and Makucha looked towards the doorway and saw Midnight Crown standing there in shock after hearing he was going to be eliminated once Ardyn no longer needs him.

“Midnight, how much did you hear?” Ardyn asked now feeling worried.

“All of it,” growled Midnight before making his way towards the evil man, “The part where you lied about how Maria died, you tricked Shadow, and how you plan to use me to eliminate him before you eliminate me! I thought you were going to help me become the king I was supposed to become! But as it turns out, you lied and have been using me since we first met!”

“Come now, Midnight, look at the bright side. At least you’ll still get revenge on the two sisters that ruined your life.”

“YOU ruined my life,” said Midnight, “Before I heard everything else, I had vision. And you know what was in that vision? You sneaking into the castle and placed darkness into me, when I was little, which caused me to hate my royal role and go against my family. Which means, I killed my mother and aunt, because of YOU!”

“Wow,” said Chrysalis in surprised, “And I thought I was insane when doing bad stuff.”

“Tell me about it,” agreed Makucha.

“Was this your plan all along?! To make us become threats to our worlds, to kill and destroy the wrong enemies and to eliminate us after you gain the darkness from those kids?!”

“Well now you’ll have to think of a new plan,” said Shadow crossly, “Because whatever it is you want to do to Roni and Lightning Twister, you can do it alone.”

“What are you saying?” Ardyn asked crossly.

“I’m saying, I’m leaving. And I plan to take the kid along if he wants to tag along.”

Ardyn was so not happy that Shadow was now planning on leaving him after he had learnt everything. He got so angry that his face started to turn white with purple marks cracking onto his face, revealing his true form.

“No one betrays me! NO ONE!” He shouted angrily as a whole bunch of swords and knives appeared around him all pointing at Shadow.

“I think we better stand back,” said Chrysalis in fear.

“Agreed,” said Makucha as the two shakingly stood back.

Ardyn raised his right hand forward and made all his knives and swords fly towards Shadow. But Shadow was quick on his feet and slide away while dodging the knives that hit the wall instead of him. Shadow disappeared and reappeared in different spots several times making the knives and swords hit the wall and floor. He even quickly grabbed some of them and threw them through the windows.

“HOLD STILL!” Ardyn shouted.

Shadow appeared behind Ardyn and punched him across the back of his head. The white skin and purple marks disappeared, to Ardyn’s original skin, as he collapsed to the ground with his fedora coming off his head.

“I don’t take orders from you anymore.”

Shadow disappeared and reappeared behind Chrysalis and Makucha as he kicked them behind their heads. They both collapsed down while rubbing the back of their heads. Shadow landed next to Midnight. He took out his chaos emerald and looked at the pony.

“Solar.” Shadow raised his hand out to Midnight. “Come with me.”

Solar nodded his head before grabbing Shadow’s hand. Shadow raised the emerald up and shouted, “Chaos control!” Both Shadow and Solar disappeared in a flesh of green light.

“Hey, they’re getting away!” Chrysalis said.

Makucha growled in anger before asking, “Shall we go after them?”

“No,” answered Ardyn as he got up and put his fedora back on, “Let them go. I’ll deal with them later. They’ll regret discovering the truth and betraying me.” He then glared at Chrysalis and Makucha. “And don’t you two dare think about betraying me either!” The Changeling and leopard shook in fear.

“Now, get ready,” he ordered before leaving the room, “Our attack will begin soon.”

Chrysalis and Makucha looked at each other in fear.

Back at the Tree of Life, everyone was cleaning the snow after that avalanche. Cadence had just took Shining to the cave after yelling at Flurry Heart. The others offered to help Kion and his friends and family clean out the snow, even the young seven helped too.

Flurry Heart, however, was still feeling down after that fight with her father earlier while cleaning out the snow. She couldn’t help but feel guilty after causing that avalanche and that she thinks her father was right on how she was the baby that nearly doomed the Crystal Empire. And now she thinks she’s also the filly that almost destroyed the Tree of Life.

She sadly looked at Rani who was helping Twilight clear out the snow from the two trees. She didn’t know if she was mad at her for causing that avalanche and that her aunt wasn’t happy with her not thinking before actually doing something.

Flurry let out a sad sigh before walking over to the queen.

After cleaning some snow from the grass, Rani saw Flurry Heart coming towards her. She could tell she had a sad but also guilt look on her face.

“Rani,” said Flurry Heart in a sad but guilt tone, “I-I’m sorry for causing that avalanche to happen. I didn’t know it was going to happen.”

Rani frowned at the sad filly and said, “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you. I know you didn’t mean to do it.”

“But I removed the boulder that was holding the avalanche. I’m nothing but a filly that almost dooms everycreature.”

“Now that’s not true, Flurry Heart,” said Twilight as she walked towards her niece, “What your father did was wrong. He had no right to treat you like that after The Crystalling problem, and he had no right to point out that you were right about what you said you were.”

“I dunno,” said Discord, “From the way I see it, she does look like the type of alicorn that likes destroying things and bringing doom to everyone.”

Twilight and Rani stared crossly at Discord and both shouted in unison, “Shut up, Discord! And get lost!”

Discord got frightened from the two’s shouting as he snapped his fingers to disappear in a flesh of light.

“Besides,” continued Twilight, “What you did moons ago was just an accident. You were only a baby and had no control over your magic. Especially since you were the first pony to be born as an alicorn.”

“But why do you forgive me for destroying the Crystal Heart and not mad at me for nearly dooming the Crystal Empire?” Asked the young filly.

“Because you’re my niece and I love you,” answered Twilight, “Besides, I was busy worrying about the Crystal Empire and finding a Crystaller for you to even be a little mad at you.”

“So you’re not really mad at me?”

“Of course not, little bug,” answered Twilight softly while gently placing a hoof on Flurry Heart’s shoulder, “None of us are mad at you for removing that boulder. It was an accident, and you just wanted to help and save Sonic. After all, mistakes happen and we all make them.”

“Twilight’s right,” said Kion while walking to the three, “It’s not your fault the avalanche happened. It was just an accident, and mistakes don’t count as a bad thing, even when you didn’t mean to do it.”

“Although, Ardyn will be making a huge mistake if he tries to attack us,” said Oliver who was approaching the four, “And that mistake will count as a bad thing. Though, I’m unsure if he’ll make a huge mistake when he puts Lightning’s darkness and the evil from Roni together, even if placing them together might lead to something worse.”

“It will,” said Doctor Strange.

The four saw Doctor Strange walking towards them as he then said, “While you lot were clearing the snow, I checked to see what will happen if Lightning’s darkness and the evil within Roni merge together and the resources are shocking. Here, I’ll show you.”

Doctor Strange waved his two fingers around to create a big orange grasp screen to show everyone the resources. On the screen was a dark smoke for Lightning’s darkness and the dark red fire for the evil within Roni. The smoke and fire flew together and flew around together like an angry tornado as it turned into a big patch of fiery darkness which started to cover and burn not just the Tree of Life but also the Pride Lands and all of Equestria.

This made everyone, including Flurry Heart and Cosmos, go into shock after seeing what will happen. Lightning got scared after seeing the resources as Silverstream picked him up and held him in her left talon arm in comfort.

The orange grasp screen fades away before Strange said, “It could drown everything and every world into darkness. It’ll be unstoppable.”

“Dad, you can’t let this happen!” Roni said in fear, “I don’t want everything to drown in darkness.”

“Don’t worry, son,” said Kion, “We won’t let Ardyn get you or Lightning, and let everything drown in darkness. We will do everything we can to protect you both, no matter how long it’ll take.” Rani nodded her head in agreement.

Constantine suddenly noticed something behind Roni’s left ear. “Hey kid, what’s that behind your ear?” He asked before gently taking it from the cub’s ear to take a better look at it. It was a piece of a rubber trench coat.

“A piece of a rubber clothing?”

“How long did I have that behind my ear?” Roni asked, “And how come I didn’t felt it?”

“Plus how did it get behind your ear?” Ono asked.

“The only way to figure that out is to use a spell to see who had that kind of clothing,” said Sunburst, “But unfortunately, none of us have that sort magic to cast it or know that spell.”

“Wait, John, don’t you know a spell that could see who had that type of clothing and what he was doing?” Oliver asked.

“I sure do, mate. Why?” Constantine suddenly realised what he was on about as he grinned while saying, “Wait, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yeah,” answered Oliver while grinning proudly and raising an eyebrow.

Author's Note

The next chapter will show how Ardyn really got to Equestria.

Chapter 35
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 35

In the caves, where Kion and Rani’s throne was, Cadence was giving Shining Armor a good talking to. She was still not happy with the way he yelled at Flurry Heart and the way he has been treating her ever since she started growing up.

And boy, was Shining afraid of Cadence’s anger. You can tell he was scared of his wife’s angry expression due to the scared look on his face and the sweat pouring down his face to his hooves.

“I can’t believe you would yell at her like that!” Cadence said crossly, “Especially after one simple mistake!”

“She caused an avalanche to happen!” Shining said.

“Which she didn’t know it was gonna happen!” The princess shouted, “You even admitted that she was a baby that destroyed the Crystal Heart and nearly doomed everypony in the Crystal Empire!”

“Well it did cause a big snow storm!”

“And how was Flurry Heart suppose to know that was going to happen?! She was just a baby when it happened!”

“A baby that was born an alicorn and couldn’t control her magic!”

“She couldn’t help it!” Cadence shouted, “Babies do things that they didn’t mean to do! She was a hoofful of mischief during her Crystalling! Sure I was not happy with her destroying the Heart, but I still love her!”

“I love her too!” Shouted Shining.

“Didn’t stopped you from hiding your disappointment of her “dooming” the Crystal Empire and trying using her magic properly when she became a filly! And for those times when she used her magic for good, she was just trying to help! But you still had a go at her when most of them wasn’t her fault!”

“She could have hurt somepony!” Shining said crossly, “I couldn’t just let her off the hook by being pleased with her showing she was trying to help!”

“Well you should have! She was just showing how much she’s trying to prove on her magic!”

“And all she does for me to shout me back when I tell her off!”

“You are very hard on her.”

“I’m her father. It’s my job.”

“Oh, so your job is to yell at our daughter for the things she was trying to help with, the mistakes she didn’t mean to do and all because she destroyed the Crystal Heart which was MOONS AGO?! How is she suppose to become a princess now?!”

“By not destroying things that protect us or shouting back at me.”

“Well you had that coming from her!” Said Cadence crossly, “And not only that, but you’re doing exactly what you did to Twilight during that rehearsal!”

“Are you seriously bringing that up?!”

“Yes, I am! Because the way you’re treating Flurry Heart is exactly how you treated Twilight when she was just trying to save you! And since Flurry Heart was only trying to help and didn’t mean cause an avalanche to happen, are you going to tell her she can forget being your daughter and to not show up at our anniversary day?”

“No!” Shining answered, “I love her, and every family member deserves to attend our anniversary day!”

“Didn’t stop you from kicking Twilight out of the wedding and telling her she was no longer your best mare.”

“Cadence!”

“No, I am seriously going there!” Cadence said angrily, “Because Flurry Heart is supposed to become the new princess to rule the Crystal Empire! But now, thanks to your father type behaviour, she thinks she’s not worthy to take the throne after me, even if something happens to me! And if she continues to believe that, the Crystal Empire will be in great danger by the time an evil king or something vanishes us to the unknown leaving no pony to protect our ponies from that threat! And I don’t have a faithful student! I don’t plan to run a school since Twilight and Aunt Celestia are better teachers than I am!”

“You can always go and look for anypony that could be worthy to become the next princess,” said Shining Armor.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have anypony that’s worthy to become the next captain!”

Shining knew that Cadence was right about that. Cadence doesn’t have a faithful student since she doesn’t plan to open a school of her own and Shining Armor doesn’t have a guard that’s worthy to become the next captain after he retires.

“I really want Flurry Heart to become a good princess and to take the throne when I give it to her! But I can’t now, because of what you did! You better find a way to make things right with her, because if she runs away or finds a way to remove her wings, that’s on you! Do I make myself clear?!”

Shining sadly and guiltily nodded his head.

“Yes, Cadence,” he replied in a guilt tone, “I’ll find a way to make things right with Flurry Heart.”

“Yeah, you better. I refuse to see my daughter believe she isn’t worthy to rule the Crystal Empire after me.”

“Mom! Dad!” Shouted the voice of Oliver.

Cadence and Shining turned to the entrance of the cave and saw Oliver and everyone else running into the throne cave. Shining saw Flurry Heart next to Twilight. He was about to say something to her, but she looked away as she was still upset with him after being shouted at. This made Shining even more sad and guilty as he hung his head down in shame.

“What is it, Oliver?” Cadence asked with interest, “Did you find a way to stop Ardyn already?”

“Well, not quite,” answered Oliver, “But we did managed to find something that could help us figure out how Ardyn got into Equestria.”

Constantine showed Cadence the rubber clothing piece which Cadence look at it in confusion.

“A piece of clothing?”

“It may not seem much,” said John, “But we’ve found it behind Roni’s ear. We figured this could belong to Ardyn and may show us how he got to Lightning.”

Cadence’s confusion turned into a happy smile.

“In that case then, let’s have a look, shall we?”

“Uhh…maybe it’s best we shouldn’t,” said Discord nervously.

“And why?” Rainbow asked with her hooves crossed and raising an eyebrow.

“Well, uhh…because uhh…it would be rude to invade someone’s past,” said Discord nervously while shrugging his shoulders.

Rainbow was not amused by Discord’s dumb excuse to not see if the piece of clothing was Ardyn and see how he got into Equestria in the first place.

“Discord, we literally look into every villain’s past every time we face them,” said Rainbow, “And doing that is the only way to know why they’re doing all of it, to understand how they became a villain and how we can get them to turn good again.”

“And looking into this clothing piece is the only way to see if it does belong to Ardyn so we can see how he got into Equestria and the Tree of Life,” added Sunset.

“I’m sure we can find some other way to see how he got here and Equestria,” said Discord.

“There isn’t another way, Discord,” said Princess Luna, “And we haven’t got all day.”

“Luna’s right. It has to be done.” Celestia turns to Constantine. “Whenever you’re ready, John.”

Discord gulped nervously as Constantine gave Celestia a nod. He placed the clothing piece in his hand and closes it. He then whispered a magical spell in a different language as his hand started to glow in a dark golden grasp.

Constantine opened his hand and let the piece fly in mid air. It zoomed towards a rocky wall of the cave and started to glowing in a dark golden grasp. Next, a big dark golden grasp screen appeared with the clothing piece on top and in the middle of the line.

“Ooooohh,” said Sora, Donald and Goofy in unison.

The screen then showed a flashback of when it was nighttime at the Tree of Life and Kion, Rani and Roni were fast asleep in their throne cave with Roni under Rani’s paw with his head on his mother’s chest. Twilight and Fluttershy found it really cute, especially since Lightning does it to Fluttershy as well. Rani blushed while smiling.

Back to the screen, they saw a dark corridor appear and disappear to reveal Ardyn Izunia as he approached the cub.

“There you are,” said Constantine, “Now then, let’s see how you really got here, shall we?”

Discord started to sweat nervously as John waved his hand around to make the screen rewind back to the beginning to when Ardyn began his nightmare mayhem. Once it was back to the beginning, they saw a dark corridor appear and disappear to reveal Ardyn as he was in a area with a purple sky. This made Fluttershy concerned since she once saw a purple sky like that before.

“Why does that purple sky look familiar?” She asked.

Discord gulped nervously again as he started to sweat even more.

Back to the screen, they suddenly saw Discord floating towards Ardyn with a piece of paper and a black coat in his paw and claw.

“What the?” Terra said in concern.

“Discord, what are you doing?” Asked Rarity.

On the screen, Discord gave Ardyn the black coat before handing him the piece of paper with had a picture of Lightning Twister on with information about him on as well. The video ended as the dark golden grasp screen fades away with the clothing piece falling to the ground.

Everyone, including Cosmos but except for Discord, was now in complete shock to what they have just saw. They now know how Ardyn got into Equestria in the first place, and possibly figured how he got into the Tree of Life as well. It was all because of Discord.

“You brought Ardyn Izunia to make our sons suffer in nightmares?!” Fluttershy shouted angrily with everyone else, including Cosmos in secret, glare angrily at the lord of chaos.

Discord was now scared and nervous to what will happen next for him. So he decided to make a fake excuse to leave before he can get told off again.

“Oh, look at the time. Gotta go to my piano lessons.”

Discord tiptoed out of the throne cave with tippy toe sounds going on. Rani was so angry with Discord that she chased after him.

Cadence was also very angry with Discord as she looked at her son and said, “Get him.”

Oliver angrily chased after Discord while turning into his ink demon form to help him catch the idiot of chaos. That proves Cadence wasn’t joking about hurting Discord if he messed up big time again and doomed everything.

Discord was flying away as fast as he could, knowing that they would be after him. He looked from behind and saw Rani and the Ink Demon angrily running after him. “Hold it right there!” Rani shouted angrily. Discord screamed in fear as he flew a bit faster.

Discord made his way out of the cave and headed towards the area where the snow was. He turned round and saw Rani and the Ink Demon slid on the ground for a stop as they glared at him with the Ink Demon letting out an angry growl.

“DISCORD! GET BACK HERE!” Rani yelled angrily as she and the Ink Demon started to run towards him again.

Discord panicky looked around to find something to help him get away from the lioness and demon. He shrugged and snapped his eagle fingers to create an invisible shield which stopped the two from coming close to him. He grinned proudly at them.

“Remove this thing at once, you creep!” Rani shouted angrily while banging on the invisible shield with her paw.

“Oh sorry. Can’t hear you,” teased Discord before laughing. He then started dancing as he shook his tail at the lioness.

But little does Discord know that Oliver can actually get through the shield without even having to break it. The Ink Demon slid through under the shield as he was now an inky puddle going under. Rani saw what he was doing and grinned at Discord who was still dancing and not knowing that the Ink Demon was appearing behind him.

When he saw Rani grinning, he stopped dancing and looked at her in confusion. The lioness pointed at him to tell him to look behind him. Discord turned round and saw the Ink Demon standing near him with his fists on his hips.

Discord screamed in fear as the Ink Demon roared at him while reaching his hand out towards him making everything go into pitch black.

Author's Note

Boy, I’ve been wanting to write this chapter for a long time now!

One part from the argument was an idea from GoebelTron’s comment from chapter 33 when he did a Avatar 2 reference. So credit goes to him for that idea.

Chapter 36
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 36

The Ink Demon dragged Discord back into the throne cave by pulling his antlers and with Rani walking next to them while glaring angrily at Discord.

Once they were back in the cave, the Ink Demon threw Discord forward before he turned back into Oliver’s normal alicorn form as he glared at the idiot.

“Ow!” Discord said as he stood up while rubbing his antlers, “Oliver, you pulled my antlers too hard!”

“And you had that coming!” Said the voice of an angry Twilight Sparkle.

Discord looked around and saw that everyone, including Yozora and the young six, was glaring angrily at him for what he had just done. Cosmos was also mad at him, but she kept her glare away from him so he doesn’t see that she was actually on their side as a good guy. Lightning was hiding underneath Silverstream while hugging her talon arm as he was afraid what he might do next that could including hurting him.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Discord!” Said Princess Celestia in an angry tone, “Starting with the reason you brought Ardyn to Lightning Twister!”

“Yeah, why in Equestria would you tell Ardyn where Lightning is and give him those nightmares?!” Princess Luna asked furious, “Was that another one of your fake tasks for Twilight and Oliver? Didn’t your last one proven how much you messed up?!”

Discord shook in fear while saying, “N-No, not really. It was for Lightning Twister.”

“What?!” Everyone shouted in unison.

“What do you mean it was for Lightning?” Fluttershy asked. But then, she started to realise what he meant by that. And boy, was she angry now. “You were setting up a test for him!”

“Well, yes,” said Discord in a nervous and fear tone, “It was a test for him.”

“For what reason?!” She asked angrily, “What sort of test did you have planned for him?!”

“I planned to have him face through nightmares of his fears so he could face them so he wouldn’t be such a scaredy pony anymore.”

“By sending someone who is unstoppable and wants his darkness?! You could have gotten him killed if you didn’t see what he truly wants! And how dare you call my son that! He can’t help being scared after what Cold Wind did to him!”

“I bet this was to make Lightning leave Fluttershy after he faced his fears so he wouldn’t need her anymore,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, that is correct,” admitted Discord, “I plan to have Lightning face his fears so that he can show he’s ready to leave and I can get back to hanging out with Fluttershy again.”

Fluttershy gasped before glaring at him even more.

“You did all that just so he can leave me and you can hang out me?! How could you?!”

“I don’t want to leave Momma yet,” said Lightning Twister, “I want to still be with her and Papa Capper.”

“Stay out of this!” Discord shouted causing Lightning hide his face in Silverstream’s talon arm.

“Don’t you dare shout at my son like that!” Fluttershy said crossly.

“He’s not even your son!”

“I don’t care! Adopted or not, I love him ever since I found him! And he’s allowed to stay with me and Capper as long as he wants! He can leave when he’s old enough and believe he is ready!”

“And not only that you put her son in danger,” said Kion angrily, “You also put our son in danger too!”

“He wasn’t supposed to be part of this,” said Discord, “He was only meant to give Lightning nightmares to make him face his fears, but he just went after the evil inside of your cub like he just wants more darkness. But it isn’t really that all bad.”

“How is it not that bad?” Gallus asked crossly, “What could be more good than an evil king wanting the darkness from our friend and the evil from Roni?”

“Well, think about it,” said Discord, “With someone who is just after Lightning and Roni, they can both work together to take him. Then they’ll be able to let go of their fears once they’ve taken down the one that gave them the nightmares.”

“How is that good?!” Rainbow asked angrily, “You’re not only putting their lives in danger, but everyone else’s! And they’re just children!”

“Not if they work together to defeat him, they won’t be.”

“They don’t know how to fight like we do!” Sunburst said crossly.

“It’s true,” said Roni, “I still haven’t learned how to protect everyone or fight bad animals like a Night Pride yet.”

“And I’m scared of what Daddy would do if he takes me away again,” said Lightning in fear as Smolder gently stroked his mane in comfort.

“See?! Not only did you brought in a most dangerous being in the world, but you also made them even more scared!” Said Donald angrily.

“And you also let him bring in threats that know nothing of them or their world!” Added Doctor Strange.

“And Grindelwald holds the most powerful wand than any of ours!” Theseus said.

“And since Makucha and his two friends are with him, you’ve also brought our new friends here as their next dinner!” Baliyo said.

“That’s it! You’re off the team!” Bunga said crossly while pointing at Discord.

“I’m sorry,” said Discord.

Twilight angrily pinned Discord to the cave wall while saying, “No, you’re not! Not yet!”

Discord was struggling to break from Twilight’s magic grasp as he said, “Princess Celestia, tell her to let me go! Please!”

“You brought this on yourself, Discord,” said the sun princess crossly, “Don’t try and make me stop her and make the same mistake I did to her long ago.”

“Pinkie?”

“Nope,” said Pinkie while looking at her hoof, “Not gonna make the same mistake either. Especially after you put my cute nephew in GRAVE DANGER!”

Discord looked around to see any of the others would help. But seeing as they were all mad at him, he can tell he wasn’t going to get any help from any of them, including Fluttershy. But then, he remembered someone who was also a draconequus and can help him. He turned to Cosmos and said, “Cosmos, quick! Use your chaos to set me free and we can get out of here!”

Cosmos worriedly looked at Discord before looking at her true friends, including Lightning Twister. She didn’t want to betray them or show Discord her true self and see what he’ll do to her if he discovers what she’s been hiding from him this whole time.

“Come on, sis! Help your brother out!”

Cosmos continued to look at her brother in a worried way. She didn’t know what to do. She closed her eyes and shook her fist until she decided what she was going to do. She opened her eyes and stared crossly at Discord while saying, “No.”

Discord was surprised by her response.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, no! I will not help you! Not after what you did to poor Lightning and Roni, and to everyone else!”

Everyone was surprised by what Cosmos was doing, except for Twilight, Fluttershy, Celestia and the young seven since they knew already. They couldn’t believe that Cosmos was actually disobeying Discord like she wasn’t anything like him.

“What? But why? Why won’t you help me after what they did to us in the past?”

“You mean what YOU did to yourself in the past? These ponies did nothing to make us look like we’re the bad guys!”

Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared from Twilight’s grasp. He reappeared in front of Cosmos and said, “But you heard what Grogar said! They think we’re freaks and threats to their land!”

“That’s because you made them think that when you started spreading chaos in Ponyville!” Said Cosmos angrily, “Grogar lied to you! I was the only one that saw he was lying to us from the moment he created us!”

“Wait, he was lying to you?” Sunburst asked.

Cosmos turned to Sunburst and nodded her head.

“Yes. All Grogar ever wanted was to rule Equestria. But with Princess Celestia and Luna becoming the new rulers, he knew they would get in his way. That’s why he created me and Discord so we can get rid of them with chaos. I, however, knew he was lying about you ponies thinking we’re nothing but freaks and evil. You lot won’t never think to judge other creatures before you meet them and get to know them. Though, I did hear some of you did think a zebra named Zecora was evil once. And I have to admit, that was racist. Even with that quick but confusing song that would have hurt her feelings.”

“Hey!” Pinkie said.

Twilight and Celestia couldn’t help but laugh at what Cosmos said about Pinkie’s song about Zecora.

“We really shouldn’t be laughing, but it is funny from what Cosmos said,” chuckled Twilight.

“That I can agree on,” chuckled Celestia.

“So, you’re a good Draconequus?” Princess Luna asked earning a nod from Cosmos in response.

“But how come we’ve never seen you before?” Pinkie asked.

“After refusing to spread chaos in Ponyville, Grogar banished me so I could never leave or even escape my prison,” answered Cosmos.

“That explains it,” said Pinkie.

“Why couldn’t you just secretly teleport away from Grogar and tell the princesses that you’re not evil?” Asked Applejack.

“Because of what Discord did,” answered Rainbow, “If she did that, the princesses would have thought she was part of the attack or trying to continue what Discord started.”

“What? No, no we wouldn’t,” said Princess Celestia nervously.

The sun princess saw Twilight tapping her hoof while raising an eyebrow. Princess Luna raised an eyebrow as well.

“No, you’re right. We would have.”

“You see, the truth is, I don’t want to be a mistress of chaos or use chaos to solve problems when they’re not the answer to anything,” said Cosmos which made Discord gasp in shock, “I just want to be a good Draconequus, be friends with everyone, and only use chaos if really needed. That’s why I didn’t do what Discord did and said to Lightning Twister, because he did nothing wrong and I have no reason to treat him badly.”

“It’s true,” said Fluttershy, “She told us everything when we still journeying our way here.”

“And to us as well,” added Ocellus.

“Yona still enjoyed nice Draconequus’s singing,” said Yona kindly.

“So all this time, you weren’t finding the right time to treat Lightning badly, you were just trying to protect him without Discord knowing,” said Sunset.

“Yes,” said Cosmos, “I didn’t know what Discord would do if he saw I was nothing like him. And I didn’t want Fluttershy to lose Lightning. He’s been through enough to be treated so badly when he did nothing wrong.”

“Well, you did a pretty good job doing that,” said Gallus while smiling.

“Yeah,” said Smolder, “You made Lightning happy after singing that song and offering him that chocolate milk.”

“Not only that, but you also kept your promise for Fluttershy,” said Twilight.

“As for that, you deserve to be part of the team!” Pinkie said happily.

Cosmos was about to smile at everyone who believed her until Discord angrily shouted, “OH NO, SHE DOESN’T!”

Everyone saw Discord was now glaring at Cosmos while breathing heavily and his eyes were burning like mad. This made Lightning very scared as he climbed onto Silverstream’s back and hid behind her mane.

“HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME! AND HOW DARE YOU BETRAY YOUR OWN RACE! YOU’RE A DRACONEQUUS! YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO USE CHAOS FOR EVERYTHING AND WANT TO BECOME THE NEXT RULER! AND AFTER ALL THIS TIME, YOU’VE BEEN LYING BEHIND MY BACK FROM THE START?! OH YOU ARE SO GONNA GET IT NOW, SISTER!”

Discord raised his lion paw up ready to slap Cosmos in the face. But just as he was about to slap her, his paw was stopped by a golden magic grasp. Discord tried to break his paw free, but wasn’t able to. He turned and saw an angry sun princess glaring at him with her horn glowing to show that she was the one who stopped him.

“Don’t you dare, Discord!” She shouted angrily, “Cosmos may have betrayed you, but she chose who she wants to be! That was her decision, not yours! She has every right to become good and use her chaos whenever it is needed!”

“And you’ll be the one getting punish once this is over!” Princess Luna said crossly, “But thanks to you, we don’t know how to defeat Ardyn! And he’s probably getting more powerful by now!”

“You’re right, he is,” said a familiar male voice, “Even before he has Lightning’s darkness and the evil within Roni.”

Everyone turned to the entrance of the throne cave and saw Shadow walking towards them. Sonic and Knuckles started to glare at the hedgehog, thinking that he’s here for the two kids Ardyn was after.

“You again?!” Knuckles said as he and Sonic started to charge up, “You just don’t know when to quit!”

Rainbow was ready to charge and attack Shadow, thinking he was still coming after him as well as Roni. Shadow can tell they think he’s here for Lightning and Roni. So he calmly said, “Wait. This is not what you think it is. I’m not here for Lightning and Roni.”

“Wait,” said Twilight calmly while placing a hoof in front of Rainbow before she could even start to attack Shadow.

“Listen, I’m not here to fight,” said Shadow, “I’m here to talk. I know I did try to hurt you all and try to take Lightning Twister away, but please just to hear me out for what I need to say.”

“Should we hear him out?” Asked Bunga.

“Even though he did try to bring harm to us, we should at least hear what he needs to say,” answered Kion.

“Thank you,” said Shadow, “Look, I know I tried to hurt you guys, take the two kids away and tried to kill Sonic. But after being knocked out, I saw a vision that showed me everything. Sonic, you were right. You had nothing to do with Maria’s death or trying to ruin my life. Ardyn was the one that killed her. He did it, so that I would easily help him before he backstabs me when he has the colt and cub. I have seen the error of my ways, and I wish to be on your side now. And you are right about Ardyn. He’s getting too strong and won’t be so easy to defeat. You have to trust me.”

“Trust you?! Why in the name of Mufasa would we trust you?!” Surak asked angrily.

Shadow looked at Surak before saying, “Because I’m your only chance.”

Everyone looked at Shadow, while letting his words sink into their heads, and realised he was telling the truth. Sonic and Tom looked at each other and both agreed to give him a chance and let him help them.

Author's Note

Looks like Shadow is on their side now.

Chapter 37
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 37

It didn’t take them all long to accept Shadow’s change of heart and decided to let him join them and help them defeat Ardyn and his allies. But in order to defeat them, they have to do what Shadow says and follow his plan since he knows a way to defeat the most dangerous being in the universe.

So in order to defeat him and his team of villains, they have to split up into groups, because Ardyn would have also sent his allies, wolves and guards into groups as well.

Oliver and Tempest will go up the snowy mountain to deal with Makucha, Chuluun and Ora. The three princesses, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart and Amore will stay on guard outside the throne cave. The mane eight, Spike, Capper and Sunburst will stay on guard outside the Tree of Life and deal with Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow and Cold Wind. The wizards, witches, Credence and Jacob will keep a watch around the Tree of Life and deal with Grindelwald. Doctor Strange, Tom, Maddie, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow will keep a watch on top of the mountain where the throne cave was as well as dealing with Robotink. And the guardians, Yozora, the Lion Guard and the Night Pride will be in different areas throughout the Tree of Life to make sure no wolves or guards try to take Roni or Lightning.

Constantine used his magic to form a giant dark golden grasp shield around the Tree of Life, hoping it will keep the villains out for as long as he can hold them, with Vincent standing guard next to him.

The young six remained in the throne cave, with Lightning, so they can protect him from Ardyn, his allies and his nightmares. Lightning was in Silverstream’s talon arms with his head resting on her fur chest while the hippogriff gently stroked his back.

As for Roni, he remained with his mother and father so they can protect him. He was hiding underneath Rani, and moved with her to remain hidden.

For Cosmos, she was staying on guard too, next to where Doctor Strange and his teammates are. She was also making sure Discord didn’t try anymore of his tricks, so she used her chaos to tie him up which he was struggling to break free of, even with his own chaos.

While staying on guard, Shining couldn’t help but look at her daughter in a sad and guilty way. He still feels guilty for how he treated her after the avalanche, and now wishes to take back all the yelling he did to her.

Flurry Heart looked down in sadness. She was still upset from her father’s yelling and admitting she was a baby that nearly doomed the Crystal Empire after destroying the Crystal Heart.

She let out a sad sigh and now wished she’d never came on this journey.

The captain couldn’t take it anymore. He wants to set things right with her daughter, and he was going to do so, no matter how long it’ll take for her to forgive him. He went over to the filly and sat next to her. Flurry Heart didn’t turn to see her father coming or even look at him after he sat down.

“Flurry Heart,” he said, “Can I speak with you?”

Flurry Heart said nothing and continued to look away from him. This made Shining feel pain in his heart.

“Flurry, please. I want to make things right with you.”

“After what you did to me?! I was just trying to help, and that’s how you treat me after doing something that I didn’t know what was going to happen next?! You made me feel bad after the avalanche and also feel like I shouldn’t be part of the family anymore!”

“Flurry, you are part of the family,” said Shining, “I know what I did was wrong, and I’m sorry. I really want to make it up to you. I really don’t want it to go like this. Me, being angry at you over nothing, punishing you when you were just trying to help. That’s how I nearly lost your aunt and real mother when Chrysalis invaded. I don’t want to repeat that mistake.”

“I don’t want to go through it either,” said Flurry Heart, “But what you did, broke my heart. And it reminded me of how everypony treated me at school.”

Shining was now in shock after hearing what his daughter had just said.

“During my first day of school, after introducing myself, nopony played with me or wanted to sit next to me during lessons or lunch,” said Flurry Heart, “And every day, they kept on saying how I nearly doomed the Crystal Empire and asked how long you and Mama were going to keep me before kicking me out or locking me up.”

This made Shining remember the times Flurry Heart cried in Cadence’s chest while explaining what has happened during her days at school as she would comfort her. This has happened every single school day, and nothing changed since.

A tear rolled down Flurry Heart’s cheek as she said, “I didn’t have any friends during the days at school. The only friends I have are Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi. But no friends that are ponies. Nopony wants to friends with me for what I did as a baby.”

Shining not only started to feel more guilty for his actions, but also sorry for what Flurry Heart has been through. And worst of all, he didn’t even do anything to help stop it or even comfort her own daughter. He just let Cadence do all the comforting and didn’t think to go to her school and put an end to it.

“Flurry, I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Well, don’t be! If you really were sorry, you would have done something instead of standing and looking at me like I deserve it. But you didn’t. So if you want to talk to Mama about taking the future princess role from me, do it. Because now I wish I never came on this journey.”

Flurry Heart looks away and let more tears roll down her face. Shining tried to say something to her, but didn’t. Instead, he turned away and looked down in shame as he felt his heart break into two pieces after feeling the damage he has done.

Cadence placed a hoof on her husband’s shoulder and told him to give Flurry Heart some time. He didn’t know how long it’ll take for her to forgive him, but he can’t force her to forgive.

Cosmos was using her binoculars to help her see closer in case any wolves, guards or villains are near by and were on their way to the throne cave, and in case any of her friends are in danger. She was happy to be part of the team and to also help them defeat Ardyn and protect Lightning and Roni.

“Look, Cosmos,” said Discord, “I know I was mad at you for lying to me and refusing to be like me. But if you untie me now, I can put the punishment aside and help you.”

Cosmos moved her binoculars away from her eyes before giving Discord an annoyed look and said, “Save it, Discord. I’m trying to do my job here. You put innocent lives in danger, and I’m not just talking about Lightning and Roni.”

“Oh come on, I didn’t mean to go that far. It was only to help Lightning step up to his fear so he can go live on his own. I was trying to help him. And I can help you use chaos for better use if you let me go. You can be in a better place with my lessons.”

“I’m happy where I am, and I want to use my chaos for emergencies and when it is needed. Now shut up and let me do my job!” Cosmos placed her binoculars near her eyes and continued to keep a look out.

“Oh come on, sister! Don’t be like that! We’re the creatures of chaos, and we were born to use…”

Cosmos snapped her fingers and Discord’s mouth was zipped up by an actual zip. He tried snapping his fingers to unzip his mouth, but it didn’t work. Cosmos’s chaos was way too strong for him to undo. All Discord could do now, with being tied up and his mouth zipped, was muffled.

Cosmos let out an annoyed sigh and said, “He is getting so mean and annoying every single time. And he should really learn to support others instead of setting up stupid tasks for them, and stop involving threats in them.”

“Finally, a draconequus I can agree with,” said Princess Luna as she could hear Cosmos from the top.

Outside the Tree of Life, the Equestria group continued to keep a look out from the group and in the air to make sure no one was around and if someone was coming.

“See anything yet?” Rainbow asked.

“Nothing,” answered Sunset and Starlight in unison.

“How’s Fluttershy doing?” Sunburst asked.

“She’s doing okay, I believe,” answered Capper.

Poor Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel worried about Lightning ever since they started the lookout and doing Shadow’s plan. The colt means a lot to her, and she couldn’t bare to let her son get foalnapped or hurt ever again. And since Chrysalis was with Ardyn, there’s no telling if she has already snuck into the Tree of Life while pretending to be someone in the team.

Twilight noticed this and went to comfort her friend.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay, Fluttershy,” said Twilight softly while gently placing a wing over Fluttershy, “Lightning will be safe. We’ll protect him no matter what, and he’s in good hooves and claws.”

“I know, Twilight. But I just help but worry about him,” said Fluttershy as she then started to go into panic tone, “He may be under protection by his friends, but what if some those dark wolves managed to sneak in and are about to go after him? And worst of all, Chrysalis is still helping Ardyn! And what if she’s already pretending to be one of us?!” She gasped before worriedly saying, “What if I’M Chrysalis in disguise?!”

“Now calm down, sugarcube,” said Applejack, “Nothing like that is gonna happen. And if any of us was Chrysalis in disguise, we would know since she doesn’t know us and how we all know each other.”

“Wait, shouldn’t we be protecting Starlight as well?” Pinkie asked, “Chrysalis still wants revenge on her and Twilight.”

“Gee, thanks, Pinkie,” said Starlight in annoyed tone with Twilight rolling her eyes in annoyance.

“Starlight is a grown pony, Pinkie,” said Sunset, “I’m sure she’ll be able to look after herself.”

“And we certainly don’t need another pony treating her like she’s still a filly,” added Sunburst as he remembers how Firelight still treated Starlight as a young filly during The Parent Map, “It can be annoying treating somepony like they’re still a young pony when they’re all grown up now.”

“Thanks, Sunburst and Sunset,” said Starlight.

“And I doubt she would be in the Tree of Life already,” said Rainbow Dash, “If she were, she would have taken care of us before dealing with the others.”

“Why would she take care of us first?” Applejack asked in confusion.

“Because we’re guarding the outside of the Tree of Life,” answered Rainbow, “If she wants to go in, she’ll have to deal with us first before dealing with the others.”

“Okay, now I get what you mean.”

“But still, she be still be amongst us!” Fluttershy went on, “What if she’s disguised herself as a rock? Or maybe she’s a snow leopard like Chuluun?! Or worst…” she gasped in shock, “What if I’M Chrysalis in disguise?!”

“Oh come now, darling,” said Rarity softly, “If you were Chrysalis in disguise, you would have been acting Fluttershy’s worry side the wrong style. Plus Chrysalis would often lie while pretending to be somepony, so if you were her, Applejack would know you were telling lies since she can sense a liar.”

“Plus if you were her, you wouldn’t have glaring at Starlight and standing away from me since she hates us the most,” added Twilight.

Fluttershy looked at Twilight and then at her hooves before looking at her friend again and saying, “That’s true.”

“See?” Spike said while giving Fluttershy a gentle elbow to the hoof, “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Suddenly, a sound of angry growl of a wolf was heard from the distance. The girls and the boys looked around until they saw a group of seven dark wolves approaching them.

“Except for them!” Spike shouted while pointing a shaking finger at the wolves.

“Get ready, everyone!” Twilight said with her horn glowing, “We can’t let them get through!”

“You got it, Twilight!” Replied Rainbow while cracking her hoof in her other hoof ready to fight.

The dark wolves charged towards the ponies, dragon and cat as Twilight flew up into the air and used her magic to laser two of the wolves while Applejack and Rainbow worked together to buck two of them with their hooves.

Sunset, Starlight and Sunburst worked together to use their magic to shoot the last remaining three wolves that were left charging towards them.

Rainbow brushed her hooves while saying, “Another job well done.”

“You said it,” said Pinkie.

“Wait, hold on for just a second,” said Twilight, “They let us defeat them so easily. They didn’t even try to dodge our attacks or attack before we did.”

“You’re right, Twi,” said Applejack, “I didn’t even see one of them try to fight us after taking out one or three of them.”

“Yeah, they didn’t try to put up a fight,” added Rainbow.

“Do you think it could be a trap to fool us?” Spike asked, “Like to draw us away so they can get in without us knowing?”

“I’m not sure, Spike,” answered Twilight, “But if it is a trap to draw us away, there could be more already in the Tree of Life ready to do the same to the others.”

“You’re right, Twilight! We better go and warn them!” Rainbow suggested.

“But what about our job? Shouldn’t we stay here in case more come or any of those meanies come?”

“Relax, Pinkie,” said Applejack, “We’ll be back here before more decide to come. We’ll be quick as an apple cider sale.”

“Come on, we best hurry before they do the same to the others,” said Twilight.

The girls, Spike, Capper and Oliver all rushed back into the Tree of Life to go check on the others and warn them about what just happened. But what they didn’t notice was that a medium size rock started to shake. Suddenly, it went up in green frames as it was revealed to Chrysalis disguised as a rock.

Chrysalis watched her enemies run into the Tree of Life while grinning. She let out a chuckle before saying, “Still never could catch me out.”

Chrysalis flew into the Tree of Life without any of the ponies or creatures hearing or seeing her come in.

Chapter 38
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 38

The mane eight, Spike, Capper and Sunburst were running and flying as quickly as they could to find some of their friends and warn them about the dark wolf attack they encountered. As they were running, they saw Solar Eclipse running towards them. They quickly stopped and just as they were about to react, Solar stopped while calmly saying,

“Hey. Hey, Shadow sent me. Don’t worry, I’m on your side.”

Everyone just stared at Solar before they all saw a dark wolf and two guards charging towards them. Solar used his magic to blast magic grasp lasers and shoot the wolf and the guards one by one as they all faded away in dark smoke.

Once they were defeated, Solar turned back to the group and said, “See?”

Twilight started to believe that Solar was telling the truth and he was now on their side. She nodded her head while saying, “Yep, that proves you are on our side.”

“Agreed,” said Applejack.

“Good,” said Solar happily, “Well now that you know I’m no longer helping Ardyn, what’s going on?”

“A few dark wolves attacked us, but didn’t quite really attack us,” answered Pinkie which confused Solar.

“What she’s trying to say is the dark wolves just let us attack them for some reason,” said Rainbow.

“Which is why we need to warn the others before the same thing happens to them,” added Sunburst.

“Then we better go find them,” said Solar, “There’s no telling what Ardyn might send out next.”

“Let’s go,” said Spike as they started to run to find their friends with Solar following behind. But none of them noticed an evil bug queen flying above them and was heading towards the throne cave.

Back at the snowy mountain, Oliver and Tempest were searching Makucha, Chuluun and Ora, but couldn’t find or see them anywhere. But they weren’t gonna give that easily since they knew the three might be trying to fool them so they can get to Lightning and Roni so easily.

However, while searching for the three evil animals, Oliver continued help but feel worried about his little sister. Ever since Shining yelled at Flurry and made her feel like she’s not worthy to be the next Crystal Empire princess, he was worried that she might still think that and refused to take the throne when her time comes. Or worse, she could run away once or while this was happening.

Tempest noticed this and went over to her boyfriend’s side.

“Hey, you okay?” Tempest asked softly, “You worried about your nephew and Kion’s son?”

“A bit. But I’m also worried about Flurry Heart. After my father yelled at her, I can’t help but think she’s gonna do something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Oliver began, “Ever since she started school, nopony wanted to be her friend or even play with her, all because she almost doomed the Crystal Empire after destroying the Crystal Heart when she was a baby, like she refuse to let it go already. And almost every day, she feels like she’s not wanted at the Crystal Empire and she is not worthy of becoming the next princess anymore.”

Tempest gasped in shock.

“You don’t think she’s planning on not accepting the princess role when Cadence retires, do you?”

“That’s what I’m worried about the most,” he answered, “Mother said she’s the only pony in the family we trust to protect the Crystal Empire. But now, thanks to those students and my father, she may just refuse the role. She’s talking about doing it ever since her second school day. She only has me and Aunt Twilight to play with, whenever we’re not busy. When she’s with us, she’s happy and doesn’t talk about refusing the role.”

“She’s very lucky to have you and the princess in her family then,” said Tempest while smiling.

“Yeah. And let’s not forget Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi. They’re like the greatest friends she ever had before she started school.”

“Can’t argue on that.”

“But still, I just wish those children would learn to let the past events go, mistakes happen and Flurry didn’t mean to do it.”

“I’m sure they will one day,” Tempest said softly, “Perhaps they just don’t know when to understand that not everyone meant to let bad things happen to their hometown.”

Oliver looked at his girlfriend and gave her a small smile.

“Yeah, you’re right. But maybe I should go into her school, once this is over, and have a word with the headmare about what’s been going on.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Tempest, “But now, it’s best you go quickly check on your sister. Just to see if she’s okay.”

Oliver was surprised by what Tempest just said to him.

“Really? But what about finding Makucha, Chuluun and Ora? I can’t leave you here to find them alone.”

“Relax. I can handle them myself till you come back. I used to be a commander, remember?”

“Point taken,” said Oliver.

“Now go to her,” said Tempest, “She’ll need comforting by her big brother.”

“Okay, I’m on it.” Oliver began making his way back to the Tree of Life to check on her little sister. But before he could go any further, something ghostly pushed him aside and made him to fall to the snow on his side.

“Oliver!” Tempest said worriedly.

She was about to run up to help him, but something, or rather someONE, bit her one of her hooves. She yelled in pain before falling on the snow. Tempest started groaned in pain from her hoof as she saw it was Ora that bit her.

“You,” she hissed while glaring at the Komodo dragon.

“Not just him,” said the voice of Makucha as Tempest saw the leopard appearing from the snowy patch boulder. “But me as well.”

“And me,” said Chuluun as she jumped onto the non-snowy ground revealing herself from her disguise.

“Should known you three might find us first,” said Oliver while getting back up.

“And yet, you still couldn’t see me through my disguise,” said Chuluun while grinning, “And you never will.”

“Oh I don’t think so.”

Oliver’s magic started to glow as he shot out a puddle of ink towards the snow leopard. The ink landed on Chuluun and covered her fur from head to tail and down to her paws.

“Ew! What is this stuff?!” Chulunna asked in disgust while trying to shake the ink off her.

“It’s called ink,” answered the male alicorn, “And I’ve just covered you in some.”

Chuluun growled angrily before saying, “You’re so gonna regret doing that!” She leaped into the air and was about to jump on Oliver, but she was suddenly caught by his magic as he grinned at her before saying, “Yeah, doubt it.”

Oliver used his magic to throw Chuluun to the ground as she slip on her side. She got up and glared at Oliver while growling before charging at him. However, before she could even attack him as she got to him, Oliver turned into his ink demon form and punched the snow leopard causing her to fly and hit a boulder on her side.

“How?!” Chuluun asked while getting back up, “You can’t see me through my disguise!”

The Ink Demon melted away turning Oliver back into his normal self as he grinned at Chuluun and said, “Why’d you think I’ve covered you with ink for?”

Chuluun growled at Oliver again. She glared at Ora and angrily said, “Well?! Are you just gonna stand there and let me do everything?! Get over there and kill him!”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Ora growled, “No one tells me what to do!”

“Stop it already, you two!” Makucha said angrily, “You two can argue about this later!”

Before the three could say or do anything else, they felt themselves being put on ice. That’s where Oliver used both his ink magic and bits of snow to freeze Makucha, Chuluun and Ora. The ice slowly rose from their paws and claws all the way up to their heads.

“Probably till the sun decides to break the ice,” said Oliver.

Oliver walks over to Tempest, who was still feeling pain from Ora’s bite on her hoof. She was struggle stand back on her hooves as the pain was hurting. She saw Oliver approaching her as he said, “That’ll hold them for awhile.” He carefully helped Tempest up and placed her hoof behind his neck so he can help her walk. “Come on, let’s get you to Nirmala. She’ll be able to help.”

Tempest nodded her head. The two began to make their way back to the Tree of Life with Oliver helping Tempest walk. They were walking slowly due to the bite on Tempest’s hoof.

“I hope the others are okay,” said Tempest, “I feel like we won’t be the ones to be ambushed.”

“I feel the same thing too,” said Oliver, “I just hope Lightning and Roni are okay and haven’t been taken.”

Lightning was still in the throne cave with his friends and was still being held by Silverstream with his head resting on her fur chest while she gently stroked his head in comfort. Lightning started to whimper in fear a bit. He was scared that Ardyn and his followers were going to succeed in capturing both him and Roni, especially by his father.

Silverstream saw this and softly hushed the poor colt.

“Shhhh…it’s okay, cutie. You’re safe. We’ve got you. No one’s gonna hurt or take you as long as we’re around.”

Lightning slowly looked at Silverstream, showing the small tears in his eyes.

“I…I-I just want e-everything t-to be back to n-normal. I want to have a-a normal life. N-No one a-after me, n-no Storm monsters, n-no d-darkness, a-and no D-daddy.”

“We all do, Braveheart,” said Smolder while gently stroking her boyfriend’s shoulder, “But it’s going to be okay. Your mother, our teachers and new friends will make sure Ardyn doesn’t lay a single finger on you or Roni, and we’ll make sure none of his followers take either of you away. Especially Cozy Glow and your father.”

“B-But I c-can’t h-help, but feel like t-this is a-all m-my f-fault,” said Lightning, “I-If I h-haven’t b-been b-born, n-none of this would h-have happened.”

“Lightning, none of this is your fault,” said Sandbar, “Including the other dangers we went through in the past.”

“Yeah, kid, don’t say it like that,” said Gallus, “If you haven’t been born, then none of our lives would have been better if we haven’t had met you.”

“It wouldn’t?” Asked Lightning.

“Of course not,” replied the blue griffon, “If you haven’t had to come to our school and became part of Fluttershy’s family, none of us would have been more happier than we were before. I mean, Fluttershy’s life wouldn’t have been much better if she didn’t find you, Silverstream wouldn’t be much happier to have somepony cute in the circle and Smolder wouldn’t be much happier if she didn’t have you as her boyfriend.”

“That’s true,” said Smolder.

“And we really still love having you as our friend, whether you’re The Storm King’s grandson or not,” added Ocellus.

“Yeah,” said Gallus, “You’re like the opposite of him, and we don’t like him. I mean, he’s all “rule everything and make everyone fear me”. But you, you refused to be like him, even before discovering you’re related to him. You’re kind, polite and smart.”

“And adorable too,” added Yona.

“And that’s why we still love you, cutie,” said Silverstream, “And nothing is going to stop us from caring about you.”

“You…you guys really mean it?”

“Of course we do,” answered Smolder, “Even though we can’t stop threats from happening or stuff, like this, from continuing again and again, we still love you, no matter what we discover.”

“And not to mention we’re nice and safe in Kion and Rani’s throne cave with none of Ardyn’s followers harming us,” said Sandbar.

“You might want to rephrase that, dear,” said a familiar female voice.

“That voice…” said Ocellus until she suddenly knew whose voice it belongs to as her eyes went into wide eyed shock, “Chrysalis?!”

They looked up and saw two green eyes in the shadows above as a body twisted round with joints cracking. The villain in the shadows hovered down to reveal it was Chrysalis. She landed near where the exit of the cave was and grinned at the students.

“Surprised to me again? Did you honestly thought our last meeting lasted long?”

“If you’re here for my boyfriend, then you can’t forget it!” Smolder growled, “We won’t let you touch him!”

“Oh really? And just how are you going to stop me? Hmm?” Chrysalis asked.

“Not what we’re going to do, but what I’M going to do!” Said Ocellus angrily before flying towards the evil changeling as she pushed her straight outside the cave.

“Ocellus!” Lightning cried worriedly.

“We have to go after them!” Said Sandbar, “There’s no telling what Chrysalis can do to her!”

“After them!” Yona shouted.

Silverstream gently placed Lightning on her back and the six ran out of the cave to find and help Ocellus.

The lion guard, the night pride and Roni were still keeping an eye out on their side of the Tree of Life, when suddenly they all heard a loud bang to the ground just a few miles near them.

“What was that?” Fuli asked.

“It came from there,” said Azaad while pointing to where the sound came.

“Do you think it’s one of Ardyn’s followers?” Roni asked in fear.

“I’m not sure, sweetie,” said Rani as she gently hugged her child, “But if it is one of them, we won’t let them take you. I promise.”

“I’ll go check it out,” said Beshte, “You stay here and protect Roni.”

“Okay,” said Kion, “Call us if you need any help.”

“Will do,” said the friendly hippo before running to where that loud noise came from.

Ocellus had pushed Chrysalis as far as she could, so she was away from the throne cave, and two crashed onto the grass. Ocellus flip jumped off the evil changeling and landed near her as she glared at her.

Chrysalis twisted herself back onto her hooves and glared back at Ocellus and said, “How dare you try to hurt me! How dare you defy your queen!”

“I have no queen. And you are no queen! I am a free changeling who can live in peace and harmony! And I will save Lightning and my friends, and keep you away from them!”

Chrysalis growled before shooting a green grasp beam at Ocellus, but she quickly dodged the beam by flying to her right. Chrysalis tried again, but the young Changeling kept on flying to the left and to right while dodging the attacks.

“Hold still!” Chrysalis shouted while shooting again.

Ocellus dodged the beam before blowing a raspberry at Chrysalis and said while grinning, “Make me.”

Chrysalis yelled in anger before shooting more beams at her. Ocellus flew around, dodging the beams, but one beam managed to hit as she yelled in pain. Ocellus fell to the ground and landed on her side. She tried to get up, but quickly fell unconscious. Chrysalis walked over to Ocellus and grinned evilly at her.

“Got ya.”

A dark corridor appeared as Chrysalis used her magic to levitate up Ocellus before carrying her into the corridor. However, little did she know that a hippo saw what has happened and followed her into the corridor before it disappeared.

Chapter 39
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 39

After hearing no response from Beshte or even a sound of him returning, Kion went off to check on him as well as see what was that loud sound. He ran back to the others, but with no hippo friend with him.

“Did you manage to find him?” Asked Baylio.

“I can’t seem to find him anywhere,” answered Kion, “He wasn’t even there when I went to.”

“It’s not like him to just simply disappear or wander off like that,” Bunga said.

“I don’t think he would wander off like that, Bunga,” said Anga as she and Ulla flew down to their friends, “Me and Ulla looked the whole Tree of Life, and Beshte doesn’t seem be here.”

“Not even at the snowy mountain?” Roni asked worriedly.

“I’m afraid not, honey,” answered Ulla sadly, “He wasn’t there when I checked.”

“So if he’s not here, where could he be?” Baylio asked.

“I don’t know, brother,” answered Rani worriedly, “But I got a feeling Ardyn or one of his followers might have something to do with his disappearance.”

“Well let’s hope none of them did anything to him,” said Kion, “Because I’m already worried about our child and Fluttershy’s son.”

“Me too, Kion,” said Rani before letting Roni rest his head underneath her chin, “Me too.”

“Kion!” Cried the voice of Twilight.

The animals turned and saw the girls, Spike, Capper, Sunburst and Solar running towards them as Twilight shouted, “Kion! Everyone all right?!”

“Twilight, what’s going on?” Kion asked, “What’s happened?”

“And what’s he doing here?” Bunga asked while glaring at Solar.

Solar started to flinch after seeing Bunga’s glare. He can tell that they thought he was here to try and harm them by himself and possibly try to take Lightning and Roni back to Ardyn.

“Whoa, it’s okay, Bunga!” Pinkie said, “He’s not with them anymore! He’s a good guy now! Shadow sent him!”

“He did?” Azaad asked in confusion.

“I did.”

Everyone sees Shadow skiing towards them on his air shoes. He stops by Kion and said, “Ardyn was planning on betraying him too. He was using him as well. So I offered him to come with me after escaping Ardyn.”

“And he went with you just like that?” Asked Binga.

“Yeah, he wanted to change his ways and set things right. So I told him how he can help and told him to find Princess Twilight.”

“In that case, ignore what I said,” said Bunga, “You’re on our side now, so you’re good.”

Solar let out a sigh of relief. Even he was happy most of them believed he was a good pony now, he was still worried about the others, including his sisters.

“Nirmala!” cried Oliver, “Nirmala, we need you!”

Everyone saw Oliver carrying an injured Tempest towards them. Twilight gasped in shock. “Sweet Celestia! What happened?!” Twilight rushed over to help carry Tempest over to Nirmala without hurting her hoof.

“We were ambushed by Makucha and his friends,” answered Oliver, “I managed to freeze them to buy us some time to escape, but Tempest got bitten by Ora.”

“Let me see,” said Nirmala, “Carefully place her on her side.”

Oliver and Twilight did what she said and carefully placed Tempest down on her side. Nirmala took a closer look at Tempest’s hoof to inspect the damage. “Your hoof should be fine in a few seconds,” she said to the unicorn, “The bite won’t do any harm, but I would suggest resting till the bite goes.”

“I’ll do that, Nirmala,” said Tempest while nodding in understood, “Thank you.”

Oliver saw Solar with the others.

“Is he with us now?”

“Yes, so don’t worry,” said Twilight, “Shadow told us he was being used too, and he wants to set things right.”

“Fair enough,” said Oliver, “If you say he’s with us now, then I believe he’s a good pony now.”

“Same here,” added Tempest.

“Oliver, you okay, mate?!”

Constantine, Vincent, Amore, the Crystal Empire family, the sisters, Doctor Strange, Sonic’s team, the guardians, Yozora and the wizardy world people were running towards the creatures.

“Yeah, I’m okay, John,” answered Oliver.

Flurry suddenly saw Tempest’s injured hoof and gasped in shock.

“Oh my gosh! Tempest!”

The filly rushed over to the dark purple pony and worriedly said, “Tempest, are you all right?! Are you going to be okay?!”

“Don’t worry, little one,” said Tempest softly, “I’m going to be just fine. I just need to rest while my hoof heals.”

“She was bitten by Ora,” said Nirmala, “But the bite won’t do any harm to her.”

“Whew!” Flurry said in relief.

Fluttershy suddenly realised that not everyone was with them. The young seven were not here yet. “Wait, where are the students?” She gasped before adding, “And where’s my son?!”

“Momma!”

Fluttershy stopped worrying after her child’s voice. They all saw the young five running and flying towards them with Lightning riding on Silverstream’s back with his hooves wrapped around her neck.

Fluttershy sighed in relief.

Once the young six were with the entire team, Lightning jumped off Silverstream’s back and ran towards his mother with tears starting to form in his eyes. Fluttershy could see he wants her, so she opened her hooves ready to hug him as he jumped into her hooves and hugged her. She wrapped her hooves around his body and gently stroked his mane.

Lightning let his tears run down his cheeks as Fluttershy softly whispered, “Shhh, shh shhh shh…Momma’s got you, baby. Momma’s got you.”

Applejack was the first one to see that every creature was here with the students and her nephew.

“Fellas, where’s Ocellus?” She asked.

“We don’t know,” answered Sandbar calmly, but was worried in between, “One minute Chrysalis was in the cave with us and then Ocellus pushed her outside before they both disappeared somehow.”

“Wait, hold up, Chrysalis was there?!” Starlight asked in shock.

“Yeah, and Ocellus bravely pushed her out of the cave and just vanished!” Said Silverstream.

“Yona proud of changeling friend! But Yona worried about changeling friend the most.”

“Not that it has nothing to do with Ocellus, but did you see Beshte on your way here?” Fuli asked.

“No, we didn’t see anywhere while searching for Ocellus or finding you guys,” answered Smolder.

“Oh dear, where can they be?” Rarity asked in a worried tone.

“They’ve been captured,” said Cosmos before appearing in a flash of light with Discord next to her, “Chrysalis took Ocellus away with Beshte following behind her, and they’re heading back to Ardyn’s castle.”

“You mean, Chrysalis and Ardyn are now holding two of our friends as prisoners?!” Rani said in a shock and worried tone.

“I’m afraid so.”

Lightning started to cry even more after hearing his friend and Beshte got captured by the evil Changeling. He started to feel like this was all his fault it happened, but he also wants to save them.

“W-We got t-to s-save t-them! We’ve g-got t-to! T-This i-is all m-my f-fault.”

Discord was so happy after hearing that as he said, “You hear that? He finally admits it!”

“Doesn’t make it a good thing, Discord,” said Tina while staring crossly at Discord, “Especially if you wanted to hear him to say it.”

“Well from your point of view, maybe. But to me, it is a good thing. Because now, Fluttershy can leave him and come back to spending time with yours truly.” A bunch of eagle claws appear and points at Discord while he smiled with joy.

Fluttershy was so not happy with Discord agreeing this is all Lightning’s fault and what he just said as she glared at him and shouted, “You still think I would go back to hanging out with you?! After the way you’ve been treating my son, thinking he took me away from you, believing you’re the only one aloud to be my friend, and controlling what I can and can’t have?! And it’s not his fault all of this happened! IT WAS YOURS!”

Discord’s smile turned into a frown as the eagle hands disappear.

“You seriously still gonna let him be your son? After everything that has happened and what he’s done?! The early leave from the Gala, the bad night at the Crystal Empire, the legion of doom attack, The Storm King’s return and Ardyn Izunia attacking?!”

“None of us knew that was gonna happen! And the legion of doom and Ardyn madness was all YOUR doing! None of them was his fault! You did it all just to get rid of him so I can be with you again and to make Celestia change her mind about giving Twilight the throne and princess title!”

“But it was to also push Twilight and Oliver to accept their upcoming roles! Why can’t you all see that?! Shouldn’t they have a final exam before their new roles come?! Is it a crime not to have one?!”

“It is, if you have it in a way that can put innocent lives in danger!” Celestia said angrily, “Now do us a favour, and SHUT UP!” Celestia’s anger turned back to being calm as she looked at Lightning who was still crying in his mother’s chest fur.

Celestia sadly stared at the poor colt, feeling sorry for what he’s going through and how he truly believes it’s all his fault. She walked over to the two ponies and asked, “Fluttershy, may I?”

Fluttershy nodded her head and gently placed her son in the princess’s right hoof. Lightning wasn’t scared to who was now holding him, since he was still crying, as he can recognise the voice to who was asking his mother to hold him. Celestia gently pulled Lightning close to her and let him rest his head on her chest fur.

Lightning hugged Celestia’s chest as tears started to soak in her fur, but Celestia didn’t care if her chest fur was soaked with tears or not. What’s more important to her was the sad little colt that’s going through Tartarus and needs the comfort.

“Shhh…it’s all going to be okay, my little pony,” whispered Celestia softly, “None of this is your fault. You didn’t know this was gonna happen. And neither did we. But we will protect no matter what.”

Lightning slowly looked at Celestia, showing the tears in his eyes. This made Celestia feel even sad for the colt with her heart aching from the suffering he was going through.

“P-Please! W-We h-have to s-save them!”

“We will, dear. We will save them. I promise.”

“The only problem is, we don’t know where she has taken them to,” said Fuli.

“Yeah,” agreed Ono, “They could be anywhere.”

“I think I know where they might be,” said Solar, “But it will be impossible to get in.”

“Where do you think they are, Solar darling?” Rarity asked, “And what do you mean by impossible to get in?”

Solar let out a calm sigh before answering, “There’s a small chance, that she has taken them back to Ardyn’s castle.”

“Ardyn has his own castle?” Asked Ven.

“Yes,” answered Solar, “And it’s where me and the others have been hiding in for quite some time. And it’s impossible to get in, even without him or any of his followers knowing.”

“What do you mean?” Axel asked.

“Well, there’s a huge amount of shadow wolves hidden around the path to the castle entrance, the hallways are held with darkness, and the doors to Ardyn’s throne is guarded by two of his guards.”

“Okay yeah. That place, does sound impossible and dangerous,” said Baliyo.

“Yeah, and it sounds like we can’t get in either,” said Bunga.

Sunset and Starlight looked each other in confusion after hearing what Bunga had just said as Sunset let out a “tut” while rolling her eyes.

“How do you know all of that?” Sunburst asked, “I mean, we all know you’ve been used by him, but did he tell you about the protected spots or did you see for yourself?”

“Shadow actually spotted them before we left Ardyn,” answered Solar.

“I had to make sure if Ardyn had his castle protected before using my chaos emerald to escape. And after discovering he has the whole castle protected, I knew I had to use the emerald to get us out.”

“Yikes. Not even my powers can help me get into the castle,” said Sonic.

“Was that a guess or you just know?” Terra asked.

“A guess,” answered Sonic, “But there’s no way I’m going to do it to find out.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” said Tom.

“So how do we get into the castle without getting captured or killed?” Donald asked.

“I can use my emerald to teleport us all to a spot where we can get in without being caught,” said Shadow, “I’ve managed to find it before leaving Ardyn’s side. However, the emerald can’t take every single one of us. So some of you will have to hide in someone that can hold you until we get that.”

“Hide in someone?” Gallus slowly looked at the lions and lionesses before frowning and saying, “Oh dear.”

Inside the room that was filled with dark crystal walls and a spiked crystal throne, a dark corridor appear with Chrysalis walking out of it while holding Ocellus in her grasp. She then placed the young changeling down on her side. Ocellus groaned before slowly waking up.

“What…what just happened?”

“You’ve lost to me. That’s what happened.”

“Chrysalis?!” Ocellus quickly got back on her hooves, “Where am I? Where have you taken me?!”

“Don’t recognise this place? This was my throne before Starlight Glimmer and Thorax destroyed it, and took everything from me!”

“You did that to yourself! Starlight wanted to help you, but you just think that feeding love from others was the only way to live!”

“Silence!” Chrysalis shouted, “Say all you want about what happened, but it won’t work! Starlight and Twilight ruined my life, but soon, I will ruin theirs and take everything they love!”

“I don’t think so!”

“Huh?” Chrysalis saw Beshte running out of the dark corridor, before it disappeared, as he used his belly to bump the evil changeling away from Ocellus. She hit the wall and fell to the ground. She slowly got up and growled at the hippo before saying, “How dare you followed me here and hit me with your fat belly!”

“Okay, first of all, it’s rude to say that someone when it’s just their appearance and can’t help it,” said Ocellus before glaring while continuing, “Second of all, there’s no way you’re holding us captured so you can take back the hive and rule as a queen again!”

Chrysalis’s glare turned into a grin as she chuckled before asking, “You honesty think I’m doing this just to take back the hive and the changelings?”

“Well, I did. Right before you chuckled, and now I’m starting to think you’re doing this for a different reason.”

“Exactly!” Chrysalis said to Ocellus’s face making her scared, “Once Ardyn has the colt and cub, he’s going to help me create a new and improve changeling army. One that will not fail me and can not turn against me, not even a new “friendly” changeling will have them changing sides. Ardyn will make sure of that. And when I have that army, even that traitor Thorax will bow before the real ruler of the changelings.”

“Well, someone has been following orders for real this time.” Ocellus got really nervous.

“First, I’ve been told I needed enough love to make a new army with some of Ardyn’s darkness. And you’re gonna give it to me.”

“Never! I will not betray my friends or help you get all the love you need!”

Chrysalis chuckled once more.

“Oh Ocellus. You poor little child. I’m not after the love from your friends and family. The love I need is already here, and right where I need it.”

Ocellus quickly realised what she meant by that. It was the love from her that she needed. She glared at the evil queen while saying, “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Won’t I? Just watch me. And just so your hippo friend doesn’t get any funny ideas.”

Chrysalis placed some strong Changeling slime on Beshte’s feet so he couldn’t move. “Hey!” Beshte tried to break free from the slime, but it wasn’t any good. The slime in Ardyn’s castle was way too strong for anyone to break from.

“Don’t bother,” said Chrysalis, “It’ll just make it worse. My slime is more powerful here in this castle.” She turned to Ocellus, “Now, let us begin!”

Chrysalis levitated Ocellus up in her aura. Ocellus looked into her eerie green eyes with the feeling of both fear and nervous for what was coming next, until she yelped in pain as Chrysalis squeezed her tightly and then she felt herself being draining as the queen drained the love that was inside of her.

After she was done, Chrysalis dropped Ocellus to the ground. The poor Changeling felt so weak that she was unable to move and get up. She groaned in great pain as she gave up and collapsed before falling unconscious.

Chrysalis licked her lips. “Delicious!”

“What did you do to her?!” Beshte asked angrily.

“What Changelings were born to do! I drained all the love that was inside of her. The love I need to build a new Changeling army and take my revenge!”

Beshte tried to break free once more saying, “You won’t get away with this!”

“Oh, really? And just what are you going to do to stop us?” Chrysalis didn’t realise she was close to Beshte’s mouth as he was able to smack her with it, sending her flying to her throne. She fell on her seat before getting up and glaring at the hippo. “That was a mistake.”

Chrysalis’s horn started to glow as she shot a dark green grasp laser beam at Beshte, breaking his feet from the slime and sending him flying as he slid on his side and fell unconscious. Chrysalis started wrapping him and Ocellus one by one in buntings made of changeling slime and then hung them up in changeling cocoons. “This ought to keep you both out of trouble for now,” Chrysalis said, as she flew away with an evil cackle.

Chapter 40
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 40

Outside Ardyn’s castle, which is like a few miles away, a green light flashed as it faded to reveal Shadow and everyone else. Kion, Rani, Baliyo and Nirmala’s cheeks were puffed, but they were struggling a bit to try and hold it like that till they can stop.

Shadow placed his emerald away before saying, “Okay, we’re here, and no one can see us. You can let them out now.”

“Finally!” Mumbled Rani.

Kion, Rani, Baliyo and Nirmala all spat out the young six and Roni. The children all groaned while slowly getting up before wiping the mouth wet on them. The two lions and lionesses all coughed after having the children inside their mouths during the teleportation.

“Ew!” Sandbar said while wiping the wet off his mane.

“Are you kids okay?” Rani asked politely.

“Think so,” answered Gallus as he brush the wet off his tail.

After cleaning her tail, Smolder said, “We are so not doing that again.”

“Agreed,” said Yona.

“And what did you have, Uncle Baliyo?” Roni asked, “Your breath really stinks.”

“Oh come on, kid. My breath doesn’t smell that bad.” Baliyo suddenly caught a smell of his breath as he cringed before holding his nose, “No, never mind. It does smell bad.”

“So what’s the plan?” Knuckles asked, “How do we get in?”

“The secret entrance is just round that corner,” answered Shadow, “However, it will take us only to the inside of the main hall, meaning we will need to be prepared in case they’re ready for us.”

“You got it!” Donald saluted.

“And it’s best you keep the boys close to you as possible. There’s no telling what they might pull on us to get them.”

“We’re on it!” Silverstream said.

“Roni, stay close to us as possible, okay?” Rani said softly to her son, “You can hide under me for protection if you want to.”

“Okay,” said Roni.

The little cub went underneath his mother while Silverstream gently placed Lightning on her back as she hid him underneath her mane so he can hide and be safe.

“Don’t worry, little cutie,” said the pink hippogriff softly, “You’ll be safe.”

“Right, follow me,” said Shadow as he led the heroes to where the secret entrance was that Ardyn doesn’t even know about.

Back in Chrysalis’s hive room, Beshte and Ocellus were twitching while opening and closing their eyes inside the cocoons. They were in there for seven minutes after Chrysalis left, and poor Ocellus was feeling more weak than ever.

However, due to Beshte being the heaviest animal in the Circle of Life, the slime holding his cocoon was slowly starting to lose hold. It suddenly snapped and the cocoon fell down as it cracked open freeing the hippo. Beshte slowly got up, as bits of Changeling slime was still on his hair, muzzle and back.

Beshte groaned before saying, “Oh, my head. What happened?” He then saw the broken cocoon he was just in. “Was I just in that?” He saw the slime on his muzzle, showing that he was in it. Beshte shook the slime off him as he said, “That queen is so gross.”

Beshte suddenly saw Ocellus in her cocoon still as he gasped in shock.

“Ocellus! Hold on, I’ll get you down!”

Beshte used his belly to bump against the wall to make the cocoon fall and cracked open on the ground to free the changeling. Ocellus groaned in weak pain as she tried to get up, but it wasn’t any good. The draining from Chrysalis has made her so weak to even move a single hoof. She collapsed and laid on her front.

Beshte rushed over to Ocellus’s aid.

“Ocellus, are you okay?”

Ocellus groaned once more before looking at the hippo weakly.

“I’m…so…weak. I can’t, move.”

Beshte sadly looked at the poor changeling before saying, “I’ve got to get you out of here.”

Just then, they both a buzzing sound and an evil cackle from Chrysalis coming from the far distance outside the room. “She’s coming back,” said Ocellus in a worried and weak tone. She knew she was after more love from her.

Beshte can tell Chrysalis was coming back for more, and he wasn’t gonna let her have it. He bent down to Ocellus and whispered to her, “Okay, don’t make any sound. Hide inside my mouth if you want to live.”

Ocellus weakly looked at the hippo before saying, “I’ll do anything to get out of here right now.”

“Okay, hold on.” Beshte slowly opened his mouth and carefully picked Ocellus up with it. He gently pulled her to where she was now laying on his tongue as he closes his mouth.

Once the changeling was nice and safe in his mouth, he quickly left the hive room before Chrysalis could come back in time and without accidentally swallowing Ocellus. He wasn’t sure how long he could hold her, but he still needed to get her away from the queen.

By the time Beshte was out of the room, which he took the doorway that was the left, Chrysalis came out of the doorway, that was on the right, as she was humming while dancing a bit.

“Oh I can’t wait to have my revenge,” she sang, “I may not have an army, but soon I’ll have a new one. It’ll be stronger than the old one. And I’ll be queen onc…”

Chrysalis gasped in shock and surprised as she saw two cocoons all broken on the ground. She can tell that her prisoners have escaped.

“No no no no no NO!” She flew over to the broken cocoons. “They’ve escaped! But how?! Ugh! Why does this always happen?! I can’t let them escape! I need that Changeling!”

Chrysalis angrily flew out of the right side doorway in search for the hippo and changeling. However, she didn’t think to go through the doorway on the left instead of going through the one on the right.

Inside the hallway of Ardyn’s castle, that was a big rock, that was covering an open hole between the wall and the floor, as dust and tiny rocks started to fall. It was then revealed to be Shadow who was doing it as his hand reached out from inside the tunnel. He quietly and carefully moved the boulder to one side making an open.

Riku and Mickey came out first, with their Keyblades, and searched for any guards, wolves or villains around waiting for them to arrive.

After doubling checking the area, they gave each other a nod as their Keyblades magically disappeared. Riku motioned with his hand to everyone as a signal saying the coast is clear. Everyone came out of the tunnel one by one, with Lightning still hiding behind Silverstream’s mane and Roni hiding underneath Rani. Shadow and Knuckles worked together to push the boulder back to hide the secret tunnel.

“All right, what’s the next step of the plan?” Asked Jacob.

“The next step is to find our missing friends,” answered Doctor Strange, “Then find Ardyn and his followers, put an end to his doing and put everything right so we can all go home.”

“Right,” said Rainbow, “But how do we find them all in here? Ardyn sure has a big castle, and Chrysalis could be holding Beshte and Ocellus anywhere.”

“I suggest that we split up into groups and we take down his followers separately,” suggest Celestia, “Me, Twilight, Spike, Luna, Doctor Strange, Kion, Rani and Roni will go find Beshte and Ocellus while the rest you take a guardian and a wizard or witch and stop the other villains before we deal with Ardyn. But make sure Lightning Twister is safe.”

They all gave Celestia a nod in response.

“And Cosmos,” continued Celestia, “If Cold Wind or any of Ardyn’s followers dare try to take Lightning away, use a lot of chaos on them as you can.”

“As you wish, princess,” saluted Cosmos.

“All right, let’s do this,” said Twilight, “It’s time to put an end to this nightmare once and for all.”

“Wait,” said Knuckles, “Before we split up, there’s something I need to do first.”

Knuckles went over to Discord and punched him very hard in the stomach. Discord groaned in pain while hugging his hurtful stomach as he fell to his knees. This caused Smolder and Lightning to chuckle a bit.

“Okay, now I’m ready.”

With that said, the heroes went into six different groups and went in separated ways.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Riku, Mickey and Terra was group one.

Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Capper, Sunburst, the young six, Cosmos, Sora, Donald and Goofy was group two.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Tom, Maddie, Roxas, Xion and Axel was group three.

The rest of the Lion Guard and the Night Pride, Ventus, Aqua, Newt, Theseus and Tina was group four.

Yozora, Queenie, Jacob, Oliver, Flurry Heart, Tempest Shadow, Amore, Solar Eclipse, Shining Armor, Cadence, Constantine, Vincent, Dumbledore and Credence was group five.

Discord, still feeling pain in his stomach, was were the second group so both Cosmos and Fluttershy can keep an close eye on him in case he tries to do anything stupid.

Twilight, Spike, Celestia, Luna, Doctor Strange, Kion and Rani were walking down the hallway, with Roni hiding underneath his father, while trying to find Beshte and Ocellus before they can deal with Ardyn. But so far, they couldn’t find them.

“I feel like we’ve going in circles or been going down this path forever,” said Spike, “And I’m starting to feel more worried about Beshte and Ocellus. I hope they’re okay.”

“Don’t worry, Spike,” said Twilight calmly, “I’m sure they’re okay. We just have be calm and hope they have already escaped Chrysalis.”

“Twilight’s right,” said Kion, “And knowing Beshte, he always find a way to escape, even to save a friend.”

“I agree,” said Luna, “As soon as we find them, we’ll know that they are safe.”

“Wait, I see something up ahead,” said Rani.

They all stopped and looked forward as they saw a big shadow coming up on the wall from the distance. None of them know what or who it could be.

“Spike, get underneath me,” whispered Twilight as Spike did what he was told and hid underneath his mother while hugging her hoof.

The shadow came closer and bigger as it suddenly went down till it became a shape of a hippo. There they saw Beshte coming out of the distance, showing that it was just him and no one else. Kion, Rani and Roni were so happy to see that their friend was okay. However, they didn’t noticed the puffy cheeks on the hippo.

“Beshte!” Kion said happily.

Kion, Rani and Roni all ran up to Beshte as Spike came out from beneath Twilight and smiled at the hippo. The two lions and lioness hugged Beshte.

“We were so worried about you,” said Roni as they broke the hug.

“We’re glad you’re okay,” said Kion.

Twilight suddenly realised that someone wasn’t with Beshte. “Wait, where’s Ocellus? Is she okay?”

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” mumbled Beshte, “She’s safe.”

Everyone was confused to what Beshte said and why was he talking like that.

“Uh, sorry, what did you say?” Rani asked confusedly.

“Hold on,” mumbled Beshte again. He then spat out Ocellus before coughing after having her in his mouth for who knows how long. “I said, don’t worry, she’s safe. I had to keep her away from Chrysalis, so I hid her in my mouth. Thank Mufasa I didn’t swallowed her.”

Ocellus groaned as Twilight quickly went over and checked on the changeling. She can tell she was feeling weak and unable to move by herself. She looked at the hippo and asked, “What happened to her?”

“Chrysalis drained the love from her. She said she needed it to build a new changeling army. Not sure how, but it looked like she drained almost all of her love.”

Celestia carefully held Ocellus in her hooves and looked at her poor weak body. She got angry and said, “This, is definitely Chrysalis’s doing!” She gently placed the changeling back on the ground. “Just you wait till I get her! Wait until I get my hooves around her disgusting bug style neck! I’ll…!”

“Sister, calm down! I know you’re angry at what Chrysalis did, but you must calm yourself. Otherwise, you’ll end up like how I let my anger get a hold of me.”

Celestia let out a calm sigh.

“You’re right, Luna. I’m sorry. I just, can’t help but get furious whenever Chrysalis does something to our friends and family.” She looked at poor Ocellus. “And what she did to our little changeling, is the last straw.” She looked at Kion. “Kion, you and your friends and family take Ocellus and find the others. Doctor Strange, go with them. Twilight, Luna, Spike, come with me.”

“Where are we going?” Spike asked.

Celestia glared at the path where Chrysalis’s hive room is while saying, “To finish what I should have done, a long time ago.”

Chapter 41
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 41

Yozora, Queenie, Jacob, Oliver, Flurry Heart, Tempest Shadow, Amore, Solar Eclipse, Shining Armor, Cadence, Constantine, Vincent, Dumbledore and Credence walking through down the hallway keeping an eye out for any of their enemies before they can down Ardyn.

Flurry Heart was walking next to her brother as she was still upset of how her father treated her back at the Tree of Life. Shining, on the over hoof, couldn’t help but stare guiltily at his daughter. He still wanted to make things right with her. He knew it may take some time, but he was worried he might not win Flurry’s trust back.

Solar Eclipse remained quiet as he was still feeling guiltily for the things he did and wanting to figure out a way to make up for his actions and return to his sisters’ side.

Suddenly, as they walking down the hallway, they stopped and saw two pony shadows from the left side of another hallway. Oliver recognised the shadows and know who they belong to.

“The Warlocks,” he said quietly.

Flurry quickly hid underneath her big brother.

“They must on the guard in case we enter the castle,” said Solar, “Ardyn must have figured out we would show up.”

“What should we do?” Credence asked.

“You lot go on ahead,” said Oliver, “I’ll deal with them.”

“What? No, you can’t!” Flurry said worriedly while coming out from beneath Oliver, “They’ll hurt you!”

“I need to. I couldn’t stand up to them when I was a colt, now it’s time for me to face my fear. It’s the only way to stop this. You lot need to go on ahead, I’ll catch up once those two are sorted out.”

Flurry Heart frowned in sadness while sitting down and saying, “But…I can’t. I miss things up. I mean, I tried to do what you and Auntie Twily do to save the day, but I just can’t. I’m not like you.”

Shining felt more guilt in him after hearing her daughter say that. Now he wished he haven’t had yelled at her earlier or treated her like she was no future princess when she became a filly.

Oliver frowned at his sister. He can tell she wasn’t taking this well. He sat down and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Flurry, when I started living with Aunt Twilight, I was scared about not being good at what our family does. I was even scared that everypony would think of me as a monster. But here’s what I learned not so long ago. Brave or not, monster or no monster, it doesn’t really matter. You will always find a way to save the day, even without help. And deep down, inside of you, there is a princess waiting for you. And she’s telling you right now, don’t listen to what everypony thinks of you. Do what your heart saids, and you’ll know what you plan to do is what you believe is right.”

Flurry looked at her big brother after those words. He smiled at her before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

“Here I go,” he said quietly to her.

Oliver stood back up and ran towards the hallway on the left to deal with the abusive orphanage owners. Flurry Heart watched her big brother go. She placed a hoof on her chest and felt her heart beating calmly. She knew what Oliver meant from everything he had said to her.

“Princess,” she said quietly.

Cadence smiled at her son as a tear of joy rolled her face. She sniffled proudly before saying, “My son’s all grown up.”

“Proud of you, mate,” said John proudly, “You’ve come a long way.”

Chrysalis was pacing back and forth angrily near her throne as she was unable to find Beshte and Ocellus. She search all around the castle for them, but couldn’t find them anywhere.

“Ugh! How can I not find them?! I search everywhere! How can one big creature manage to escape imprisonment and hide away from me with that good for nothing changeling?!”

“Probably knows how to keep their friends away from threats like you,” said the voice of Celestia.

“Huh?!”

Chrysalis turned and saw not only Celestia, but also Luna, Twilight and Spike enter the hive room. And boy, did they have angry looks on their faces.

“As for escaping your imprisonment. Let’s just say that hippos are stronger like dragons and yaks are,” the sun princess said.

Chrysalis’s anger turned into an evil grin as she said, “Well, well, I was wondering when you lot would invade the castle. Where’s Starlight Glimmer?”

“Probably already fighting one of your friends,” answered Spike, “Kind of like what we’re gonna do with you.”

Celestia stopped Spike from going any further by placing a wing in front of him. Spike stared confusedly at the princess as she said, “No. I’ll deal with her myself. I’m ending this.”

Celestia started to make her way to towards the evil changeling. Luna wasn’t liking the feeling she was having. She can tell this was going to go badly, and from the looks on her sister’s face, she knew what she meant by ending this.

“Tia, no! You’re not thinking straight!”

Luna flew as quickly as she could to stop Celestia. Celestia, however, used her magic to create a golden grasp shield around Luna, Twilight and Spike to stop them from coming any further and from getting in her way.

“Celestia, what are you doing?!”

“Making sure she doesn’t harm any of us ever again,” Celestia answered while glaring at Chrysalis.

Chrysalis grinned at the sun princess.

“Oh? You want another fight with me? Very well. But let’s face it. You’re just gonna lose like last time.”

“I don’t care what you say. I’ve been weak to often. But now, I will do what I should have done during your first attack.”

Princess Celestia started to flew in mid-air as she continued to glare at Chrysalis with her horn starting to glow.

“Princess Celestia, don’t!” Cried Spike worriedly.

But it wasn’t any good. Celestia was already firing a magic grasp beam at the evil changeling, and her shield was too strong for Twilight, Spike and Luna for them to break. All they can do is watch and try to call out to Celestia.

Oliver grabbed a small stone with his hoof. He looked at the two ponies and shouted, “Hey, jerks!”

“Ow!” They both said one by one as they rubbed their forehead.

“Sorry, I was aiming for the abusers that nearly ruined my life,” lied Oliver with a fake smile.

After rubbing their heads, Mr and Mrs Warlock glared at the alicorn.

“You are so gonna pay for that, and having us arrested all those moons ago!” Mrs Warlock said angrily.

“Oh am I? Yeah, I think you find you’re wrong. I believe you’ll be regretting escaping prison and helping Ardyn out.”

“We’ve been inside that cell for far too long!” Mr Warlock said, “Ardyn did us a favour. And now, we’re finally gonna give you the biggest punishment we’ve ever done!”

Oliver frowned in annoyance to the two ex-orphanage owners.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been facing my fear of you lot over these past few moons.” Oliver’s horn started to glow as ink floated from it, “And such a shame that you wish to still go against friendship!”

Oliver used his magic to turn the floor into a flood of ink but steady enough for him and the Warlocks to float on. The Warlocks looked the ground in shock and worried. They turned to Oliver who was glaring at them with his wings out and slowly forming ink on them.

“I’ll make sure you’ll regret treating me like a monster!”

Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Capper, Sunburst, the young six, Cosmos, Sora, Donald and Goofy walked down the hall with Lightning riding on Silverstream’s back and hiding underneath her mane. Discord was still with them and was walking behind them with Cosmos looking at him every minute to be sure he was still with them and not doing anything stupid.

This annoyed Discord as his face slowly turned cross.

“Will you stop looking at me every single minute?! It’s getting annoying!”

“Well it’s not my fault a poor young colt is suffering from nightmares and being treated like he doesn’t belong with us!”

“At least I tried to give him a good lesson on how to be a grown pony!”

That’s when everyone stopped and glared at Discord, except for Lightning, as Fluttershy angrily said, “Tried? Tired?! You didn’t even tried to help him overcome his fears! And it wasn’t even a lesson or a good one! It was just for me to get rid of him! And more importantly, he’s still a colt!”

“A colt that should start becoming a big pony now.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to do all that to him!” Fluttershy said crossly.

“Well it should!” Said Discord, “He needs to start facing his fears and start acting like a grown pony!”

“That doesn’t mean he has to start now!” Sora said crossly, “He will stand up to his fears when he’s ready!”

“Yeah!” Agreed Donald.

“And what about acting like a grown pony?” Discord asked while crossing his arms.

“Who said anything about him needing to start acting like a grown pony now?” Capper asked crossly.

“Momma, do I need to start acting like a big pony now?” Lightning asked worriedly.

“No, sweetheart,” said Fluttershy softly while gently stroking her son’s mane, “You don’t need to. You’re still a young colt. You can start acting like a grown pony when you’re old enough to look after yourself. There’s no rush.”

“Yeah, kiddo,” said Capper, “Never do what someone says you need to do straight away. Do it in your own time and when you’re ready.”

“Hmph. Some parenting that was.”

“Ugh! Why do you have to such things like that?! Fluttershy’s doing so well with looking after Lightning!” Starlight said angrily, “And you’re the only one that’s always trying to get rid of the one pony that changed her life! You’re literally still against Fluttershy adopting a young child or having a new friend! Not only that, but this stupid plan of yours has…has been…” She let out a calm sigh before looking at her husband as he looked at her back. “You want to say it or should I?”

“I’ll say it,” said Sunburst, “This has been your worst and stupidest idea ever!”

“Oh please,” said Discord rolling his eyes, “Like you lot would have thought of something better for the colt.”

“We would have just supported our friend and nephew instead of thinking of a plan that might harm Lightning!” Sunset said, “Because we all know that plans, like this one, will fail while putting innocent lives in danger including ours!”

“I had a plan that wouldn’t fail or put us all in danger! It just…it…it just…”

“It just what?” Gallus asked crossly.

“It…it…it went wrong!”

“Oh it just went wrong, did it now?” Cosmos asked crossly while crossing her arms.

“Yes, it did!”

“You’re an idiot, Discord! Do you honestly think we would believe you and say you were trying to help?!”

“Shut up, Cosmos! I only wanted to have Fluttershy back and to show that the tasks I make actually proves they needed them!”

“Yeah and look how that turned out! Two of our friends have been captured, a poor colt has been suffering from a bunch of nightmares, and a young cub has been put in danger! I don’t call that a good task since Roni wasn’t supposed to be part of it and you let a very dangerous villain into our homelands when you knew what he wanted from the start!”

“My,” said a familiar voice, “You really are not like your brother. I misjudge you.”

Everyone turned and saw Ardyn Izunia standing near them with a smile on his face. Sora summoned his Keyblade with Donald and Goofy summoning their staff and shield as they stood in front of their friends ready to fight whatever Ardyn throws at them.

“Come now, is that anyway to treat the owner of the castle. I mean after all, you are our guests.”

“We are not your guests,” said Sora crossly, “We’re here to stop you hurting Lightning and Roni, save the worlds and to save our two friends! And don’t try to act nice! We know that was a trick!”

“Wasn’t trying to trick you.”

“Yes, you were.”

“Yeah okay, I was,” admitted Ardyn, “It was worth a try anyway. But I already had enough fun and games now. Although, I did enjoy this little adventure we all had. You lot going to the Tree of Life, meeting new friends, facing new enemies, guessing who I was. Did you like how I used the coat to hide my face? Bet that remind you how Riku hid his face from you while he was using Ansem’s body.”

“Like I care if I liked you wearing the coat or this adventure,” said Sora, “Lightning and Roni have been suffering from a lot of nightmares.”

“That’s what nightmares DO!!” That last word echoed in the castle.

“Do you have any idea how long I waited for this moment?! For years, I waited in the shadows waiting for the perfect darkness to make me stronger, powerful and become whole again! That colt and cub had what I needed. The darkness of The Storm King, and the evil from Scar. And you brought them right to me.”

“Nice job,” said Discord in a annoyed tone.

“This is really your fault, Discord,” said Sandbar crossly, “You knew what he wanted and you set him free so you can get it.”

“I quite agree,” said Ardyn, “Though it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have discovered where I can find what I need and who has them. Even though Roni was the easiest, but Discord helped with finding Lightning Twister.”

“Thanks a lot, idiot,” said Smolder crossly while glaring at Discord and crossing her arms.

“I did try to make things go for easy, but you just wouldn’t give me what I asked for.”

“Make things go easy?! You sent some of our enemies, and other enemies, to capture the kid!” Gallus said crossly.

“Yeah, and you made him dream about how we hate him because he’s the grandson of The Storm King when we really don’t,” added Sandbar.

“Not all them were about you hating him, my dear,” said Ardyn, “One of them was telling him what his mother did long ago that there was a talk about it before coming to the Tree of Life. Am I correct, Lightning Twister?”

Lightning started to flinch. He knew that he meant the night he learned about what his mother and aunts did. Fluttershy flinched as well. She figured that Ardyn was talking about the talk about what she and the girls did at the rehearsal.

“Oh? You didn’t tell her? Probably should have before all you went through.”

“Lightning? You…you’ve heard what I did?”

“I…I-I didn’t mean to keep it a secret, Momma! I just didn’t want you to think that I think you’re a bad pony for what you did to Auntie Twilight! But Nightmare Moon, in the dream, told me everything! I tried to wish it wasn’t true, but I couldn’t help it!”

“Nightmare Moon told you?!” Fluttershy asked in surprised.

“Not the real one, no,” answered Ardyn, “But a bit of creation from my darkness.”

“So it was really YOU that told him what I did!“

“Nothing harmful, just a little boast to help fill up the darkness,” said Ardyn, “However, it didn’t quite worked the way I thought it would be. But since you now know he knows what you did, I can feel the darkness rising within him. And just at the moment.” A patch of darkness cloud appeared in Ardyn’s right hand. “Your darkness, shall be MINE!!”

Ardyn throws the dark cloud at Lightning. Lightning let out a gasp of fear as he watched the cloud flew towards him.

“NO!” Cosmos shouted before using her chaos to create a purple glass shield to stop the cloud from hitting the colt.

Ardyn saw his dark cloud vanish to thin air after hitting the shield. He then saw it was Cosmos that created the shield as she snapped her fingers to make the shield disappear.

“My, you lot certainly have become fast friends,” said Ardyn.

Ardyn made another dark cloud appear in his hand. Just then, a patch of darkness struck on Cosmos causing her to yell and fall back. She collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.

“Cosmos!” Yona cried worriedly.

“Don’t you worry, my dear,” said Ardyn, “You will all be joining her soon!”

Ardyn summoned a big cloud of darkness. He reached his hand out and made the dark cloud flew towards the others. Sora, Donald and Goofy stood in front of their friends and Discord and used their weapons to block the dark cloud as much as they could. The cloud was strong for them to block, but they were trying their best to stop it.

“I…can’t…hold it…for much, longer,” said Sora struggling to block the cloud.

“Me, either,” said Goofy.

“Lightning, get out of here as quick as you can,” said Fluttershy, “We’ll hold him off as long as we can.”

“What? No, I-I’m not leaving you!”

“It’s you and Roni he wants, Braveheart,” said Smolder, “You need to get out of here. Find Roni and get out of here. We’ll do our best to keep him away from following you.”

“Son,” said Capper, “It’s only the way to save you both. Trust me.”

Lightning looked at his father and decided to do what they told him to do. He jumped off Silverstream’s back and ran off as quickly as he could as tears of fear started to stream down his face.

Sunset, Starlight and Sunburst used their magic to help Sora, Donald and Goofy block the dark cloud. They all moaned as they continued to do their best to stop the cloud from hurting them all and getting to Lightning.

“You’re not gonna hurt or take Lightning Twister!” Donald shouted, “No way!”

Ardyn grinned as his face suddenly turned pale with purple cracks appearing followed by his eyes turning dark purple.

“Just watch me.”

Chapter 42
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 42

Princess Celestia was shooting yellow magic grasp beams at Chrysalis as she used her own magic to block the beams and shoot some of her own while the alicorn flew and teleported away to dodge them. Twilight, Spike and Luna continued to watch in fear while trying to call out to Celestia and breaking down her shield.

“Tia, stop!” Cried Luna.

“This is not the way to fix everything!” Twilight shouted.

Spike tried to break the shield with his fists, but it wasn’t any good. Celestia’s magic was far too strong for him to break. “It’s no good! I can’t break it down!”

“It’s okay, Spike. At least you tried,” said Twilight.

Chrysalis shot a dark green beam at Celestia, but she flew under the beam. She glared at the evil bug and shot a very hard beam at Chrysalis which managed to hit her as she yelled before sliding on her side.

Chrysalis moaned as she weakly saw an angry Celestia approaching her with her horn glowing. She gasped in fear before backing up against the wall. She knew what was coming next. Celestia stood near Chrysalis and continued to glare at her as her horn was ready to blast the evil queen to pieces.

“This time, I’m going to finish this…for good.”

Chrysalis covered her face with her hooves while closing her eyes and looking away in great fear. Twilight couldn’t take it anymore and knew she had to stop Celestia before she makes a huge mistake. She used her magic to teleport out of the shield and appear in front of the princess with her wings opened.

“Celestia, STOP!” She shouted.

“Out of my way, Twilight.”

“No. I can’t let you do this.”

“Are you saving her now?”

“No! Even if I want to, at least, try to get her turn good like Starlight tried to last time, I’m not saving her. I’m only stopping you from destroying her. The Celestia I know wouldn’t cross that line.”

“After everything she’s done up until now, you’re going to let her live?” Celestia asked angrily, “She brought too much harm to Equestria and everypony! She made me turn my back on you!”

“I know, and I let out my true feelings about it days ago!” Twilight said crossly, “And yes, I want her gone too. Every day and every night, I can’t stop thinking of everything Chrysalis has done to us all. All the innocent lives she tortured, capturing us, encasing us in cocoons, and not knowing what she would do to us next once her plan was completed. But I can’t destroy her, even if I wanted to. Because if I do that…I’ll be gone forever. I may not be the princess on the throne just yet, but I can still stop you from making a huge mistake! And if I have to banish you to the moon if you do destroy her, then so be it! It isn’t something I want to do, but you will leave me with no other choice! I’m asking you, Princess Celestia, to stand down. Now.”

Celestia’s glare slowly turned into a frown as she looked at Twilight in both sadness and fear. She knew she was right. If she destroyed Chrysalis, she would the Celestia everypony knows and loves anymore, and she would be banished to the moon if she continues to try and destroy the queen.

A tear rolled in her face as her horn stopped glowing. She fell to her knees and continued to look sadly at the purple alicorn.

“You’re…you’re right, Twilight. I can’t do it. Chrysalis may be a threat to Equestria, but destroying her won’t solve or fix everything. And…I can’t lose you if I do it.”

Twilight frowned at her mentor before walking up to her and hugged her around the neck. Celestia rested her head on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Once this is all over, we’ll send her and the others back to the badlands,” said Celestia, “Then we shall never see them again.”

“That’s all I wanted,” said Twilight, “To send them back there, where they can hurt any of us or our friends and family anymore.”

Celestia’s shield faded away allowing Luna and Spike to enter and stand by the two princesses.

Chrysalis worriedly but slowly opened her eyes and saw she was even hurt, not even a single blast burnt on her. She moved her hooves away from her face before seeing three alicorns and a dragon glaring at her. She stood back up and stared confusedly and worriedly at Twilight.

“You stopped her from destroying me? But why? Why did you do that?”

“As much as I want you gone after everything you did, not just to me, but to everypony, I would rather see you back in the badlands or in Tartarus rather than destroy you,” answered Twilight, “That’s the only punishment I want for you.”

Chrysalis slowly smiled before going up to Twilight and bending down to the alicorn’s hooves.

“Oh thank you, Twilight! Thank you so much! That’s all I want from you! To be banished to that place! Your teacher has taught you well! You’re really kind!” Her smile suddenly turned into an evil grin as she stared at Twilight. “But still FOOLISH!”

Chrysalis shot a big blast at the three alicorns and the dragon as they yelled before falling on their sides. They tried to get up, but Chrysalis stopped them by using her changeling slime to pin them to the ground.

“If you think I’m going back there, think again!” She said as she approached Twilight, “I have waited for far too long for my revenge, and to finally build my new changeling army!” She got close to Twilight’s face, “I may not have Starlight Glimmer yet, but at least I can finally have my revenge on you first.” She moved away before lifting her prisoners up. “But in the meantime, there’s a darkness seeker waiting for me to bring some of the enemies to him.” Chrysalis walked out of her hive room while carrying the three ponies and dragon with her.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Tom, Maddie, Roxas, Xion and Axel were walking down the hallway searching for Beshte and Ocellus, and for Ardyn or any of his allies.

“I can’t see Beshte or Ocellus or any of Ardyn’s helpers anywhere,” said Tails.

“They’ve got to be around here somewhere,” said Maddie, “Unless they managed to escape and are now trying to find a way out of this place.”

“In which case, we go out and see if they’re there,” said Knuckles.

“I don’t think they would be outside now,” said Axel, “They’re probably still inside trying to find a way to get outside the castle.”

“Ah, now it makes sense,” said Knuckles while Sonic and Tom rolled their eyes in annoyance.

“I just hope Spike is doing okay,” said Xion worriedly, “Especially with Ardyn having dangerous darkness that’s more worst than Xehanort’s.”

“Hey, don’t worry, Xion,” said Axel, “Spike’s a brave dragon, and he’s with his mother and the two princesses. I’m sure he’ll be just fine. Besides, no one messes with Spike. Got it memorized?”

Xion smiled at her friend and gave him a nod for a yes.

“Oh I’m sure she’s got it memorized!” Said a familiar voice, “Even if it’s the last thing she’ll ever remember!”

They suddenly saw Robotnik flying towards them in his egg mobile. He grinned at them all, knowing that his trap for them is gonna work and they don’t even know it.

“Eggman!” Sonic said angrily.

“Hello, hedgehog. Happy to see me again? No?” Robotnik let out a tsk, “Didn’t quite think so. But, at least you brought some of your friends along before I came.”

“And we ain’t happy to see you again either, Doctor Robotnik,” said Roxas crossly.

Robotnik was surprised to hear Roxas say his real name. After being called Eggman for a long time, someone has actually used the name he likes to be called. He smiled with happiness.

“Yes! Finally! Thank you! Almost makes me want to spare your life.”

“Roxas has an extra life?” Knuckles asked, “I didn’t know we have more than just one.”

Tails sighed in annoyance.

“No, he meant letting him go free without hurting him.”

“Well why did he say spare his life instead of that then?”

“Ugh! I just give up. I can’t with him. I just can’t.”

“Is it okay if I stay out of that and just focus on defeating Eggman?” Sonic asked.

“Yep,” answered Tom.

“Oh focus on defeating me all you want,” said Robotnik while grinning, “But you won’t be able to defeat me this time. None of you will. Not when I say…Now, Agent Stone!”

“Stone?” Axel asked confusedly and worriedly.

“Yes, Doctor!”

Agent Stone points his rope launcher at the group and shoots a rope out which quickly tied them up before they could even run or summon the Keyblades. They were now trapped.

“Hey!” They all shouted in unison.

Robotnik leaned over his egg mobile as he looked at the tied up group in surprised. He wasn’t expecting his plan to actually work since most of the time he tried to capture Sonic, he always quickly finds a way to escape before he even has the chance.

“I was not expecting that to actually happen. But, then again, Ardyn did help me upgrade my gadgets and traps. So it doesn’t count.”

Robotnik hovered his egg mobile to where he was above the group. The hatch from beneath the mobile opened and a claw lowered down as it picked up the tied up group. It lifted them up.

“Come, Stone. We’ve got a delivery to do.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Agent Stone began to make his way to Ardyn’s throne room with Robotnik following behind in his egg mobile and carrying his tied up prisoners.

Doctor Strange, Kion, Rani, Roni and Beshte were walking down the hallway, with poor Ocellus lying on Beshte’s back, as they continued to try and find some of their friends.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by Makucha, Chuluun, Ora and a few shadow wolves as they stood around them in a circle stopping them from going any further.

“Makucha,” growled Kion.

“Hello again, Kion,” said Makucha with an evil grin, “Glad to see you and your friends and family have made here in one piece, just so we can do it.”

Doctor Strange got ready to start fighting them all, but he was attacked by three shadow wolves as they pinned him to the ground making him struggle to break free and get back up again, even without using his magic.

“Doctor Strange!” Roni said worriedly.

Kion tried to run up to Strange to help him, but he was stopped by two shadow wolves that was blocking his way and growling at him.

“I wouldn’t try,” said Makucha, “One move and you’ll have another scar on you.”

“Run, Roni! Run!” Rani said.

Roni did what his mother said and ran off as he went through underneath Chuluun. “Hey!” She shouted while seeing jump over the two shadow wolves and in the distance of the castle.

“Get him!” Chulunn said as she and Ora were about go after him, but was stopped by Makucha.

“No. We’ve been given orders to bring them and everyone else to Ardyn. He wants the cub and colt to come to him. Now bring the prisoners to his throne.”

“Yes, Makucha,” said Chuluun.

Makucha, Chuluun and Ora stood near Kion, Rani, Beshte and Ocellus, to make sure they try anything to escape, as they went on ahead to Ardyn’s throne with the shadow wolves dragging Doctor Strange along by his cape.

Yozora, Queenie, Jacob, Flurry Heart, Tempest Shadow, Amore, Solar Eclipse, Shining Armor, Cadence, Constantine, Vincent, Dumbledore and Credence were walking down in the hallway before they were suddenly ambushed by dark guards.

Yozora summoned his weapons with Queenie, Jacob, Dumbledore and Credence took out their wands ready to fight them followed by Constantine getting his dark gold grasp ready and Tempest charging her broken horn up.

But before they can use any spell on them, they saw Grindelwald entering the scene with his hands behind his back.

“I wouldn’t try,” he said, “Ardyn’s guards are way too strong for any spell you put on them. Even if they were his wolves. So I suggest you lower your weapons, wands, magic and broken spell and follow me, before things starts going worse for you all.”

They really wanted to ignore him and just fight already, but they knew he was right. So they did what he said and lowered their wands with Constantine’s grasp fading away and Tempest’s broken horn calming down followed by Yozora’s weapons disappearing.

“Very good,” said Grindelwald with a small smile, “I knew you would believe me, Dumbledore.” He turned to Queenie and Credence, “And you two. I am so disappointed in both of you. I could have given you exactly what you wanted. And Credence, I helped you. I showed you who you truly are.”

“You used me,” said Credence, “And you lied to me. Yes, I am a Dumbledore. But he wasn’t my brother. His brother, is my father. And you kept that away from me, just so I can just kill your friend.”

“It was the only way to get me to end all Muggles,” said Grindelwald, “I couldn’t let him get in my way. But no matter now, things are now changing. And this time, the war with the Muggles will begin.” He turned round and walked away while saying, “Take them to the throne room, and ignore that other pony. He’ll be joining us soon.”

Flurry gasped as she knew who he meant.

“Olive!” She said worriedly.

Mrs Warlock was trying her best to dodge the attacks Oliver was doing in his ink demon form. He tried punching and kicking her one move at a time, but she kept dodging the attacks by moving one side to another and running off.

However, she was still scared of him.

At last, Oliver managed to make Mrs Warlock trip over by kicking her back hoof which caused her fall on her front and slid a bit.

Mrs Warlock groaned and tried to get back up, but instead, she backed up in fear as she saw the ink demon approaching her. She started to shake. Ink Bendy grabbed her by the hooves and brought her close to his face while growling.

“This could have all been avoided!” He shouted crossly, “None of this would happen if you two just treated me better and didn’t abused me! But if you haven’t had done it, I would never have met my better family and use the Ink Demon for good use rather being a monster!”

“Does that mean we can go free?” Mrs Warlock asked while shaking in fear.

“No! You still need to pay for your actions and all the things you did to me!”

Mrs Warlock got even more scared as she looked away in fear with her eyes closed while saying, “Please, don’t! Don’t kill me! I may have treated you like trash, but please don’t do it! I’ll do anything! Anything!”

Ink Bendy placed Mrs Warlock back to the ground before turning back into Oliver’s normal alicorn self. “You may have almost ruined my life when I was a colt,” he said, “But I would rather see you and Mr Warlock in prison than ending it all. That’s not how to fix things.”

Mrs Warlock smiled in relief, but was still scared, as she hugged Oliver’s forelegs. “Oh thank you!” She said, “Thank you, thank you! That’s all I want as punishment! You’re such a good boy! Your family has taught you well!”

“They have,” he said.

Suddenly, Oliver felt a big whack on the back of his head. He fell unconscious and collapsed to the ground to reveal it was Mr Warlock that whacked him with a pipe. Mrs Warlock grinned evilly at the unconscious alicorn as she finally got back up to her hooves.

“But not quick enough,” she said to him.

Mr Warlock grabbed Oliver’s tail and dragged him to Ardyn’s throne room with Mrs Warlock following behind holding the pipe to make sure he stays unconscious till they get to the throne.

As for the other groups, they were all captured as well.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Riku, Mickey and Terra was caught by Ardyn’s guards and The rest of the Lion Guard and the Night Pride with Ventus, Aqua, Newt, Theseus and Tina was surrounded by shadow wolves as they pinned the Lion Guard and the Night Pride members to the ground.

Newt, Theseus and Tina tried to use their wands to fight the wolves, but Cold Wind quickly flew in and grabbed their wands before the wolves jumped on them and pinned them to the ground too.

Riku, Mickey, Terra, Ven and Aqua were about to summon their Keyblades, but Lord Tirek grabbed hold of Ventus and Aqua while Riku, Mickey and Terra were tackled by the guards.

They all struggled to break free, but Tirek and the wolves were too strong for them to handle without their wands and unable to summon their Keyblades as they took them to Ardyn’s throne room.

Somewhere in the far end of the castle, Lightning was running on one side while Roni was running on the other side. They suddenly saw each other and quickly picked up the pace towards each other.

“Lightning, are you okay?! What happened?! Where are the others?!”

“Momma told me get away as far as I could,” answered the colt, “I don’t know where the others are. I’m worried Ardyn might have them all captured.”

“That’s what I’m about worried about too,” said Roni, “Especially after Mom told me to run.”

“I really want to save them, but I can’t,” said Lightning worriedly, “Ardyn’s too scary and Daddy’s with him. And it’s us he wants.”

“And he’s not gonna stop until he has what he wants,” said Roni, “With your grandfather’s darkness and Scar’s anger inside of me, he’s gonna continue hunting us down.”

“And he has something that I didn’t know about him.”

“Huh? And what’s that?”

“Before running off, I saw something inside of Ardyn when he tried to harm us with darkness.”

“What did you see?” Roni asked.

“I saw…a soul. And it belonged, to my grandfather. Ardyn has The Storm King’s soul.”

Roni gasped in surprised. He was shocked to hear about Ardyn has the soul of The Storm King, and no one knew he had it from the start.

“That’s how he was able to give me bad dreams wherever I was, and how Princess Luna was struggling to help me,” said Lightning, “He had my grandfather’s soul. And since his blood runs inside me, he was able to haunt my mind and give me bad dreams whether I’m in Equestria or at the Tree of Life.”

“And with enough darkness like that, he was able to haunt my mind,” added Roni, “Did you see Scar’s soul in him as well?”

“No, only The Storm King’s,” he answered, “But he must have used enough darkness to find you as well and give you bad dreams too before we came.”

“And none of our parents or friends knew about it when he first started haunting us.”

“And with them all captured, there’s no telling what he might do to them before finding us.” Lightning looked away in fear and sadness as a tear rolled down his face.

Roni looked away in sadness as well. But then, something hit him in his mind. Something being a thought. A thought being a way to defeating Ardyn while saving their friends and family, and giving him what he wants. Roni looked at Lightning and said, “We have to go to him.”

“What?!” Lightning looked at the cub in both fear and surprised, “Are you crazy?! That’s going to make things easy for him, even asking him to let our friends and family go!”

“Yes, we do have what he wants,” said Roni, “But there’s one thing he doesn’t know about, and will put an end to his madness when we give him your darkness and Scar’s anger inside me.”

Lightning was confused by what Roni just said.

“And what’s that?”

“I’ll explain on the here. Come on, we’ve go to hurry.”

Lightning and Roni ran towards Ardyn’s throne as fast as their hooves and paws can carry them.

Author's Note

What could Roni mean by that?

Find out, next year! Because I’m not going to write the next chapter during Christmas break.

Chapter 43
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 43

In Ardyn’s throne room, the groups were all chained to the floor with dark purple ropes holding. They were all struggling to break free, some even tried to use their magic to set them free, but Ardyn’s darkness was too strong for their magic to break it.

Ocellus, however, was still feeling weak from Chrysalis draining all the love within her. So she was lying on the floor, with the dark rope holding her, as she groaned in great pain while opening and closing her eyes every few seconds.

Flurry Heart was tied up to her mother’s leg.

Ardyn was standing in front of his throne as his followers came out from each dark corridor one by one and stood beside him while staring at their defeated enemies.

“Struggling all you want,” said Ardyn, “There’s no escape. Not this time.”

Ventus groaned while struggling to break free until he stopped to glare at Ardyn while saying, “You won’t get away with this!”

Ardyn chuckled before saying, “Oh Ventus, how many times have you lot said that to every enemy you faced?” He started to walk up closer to the groups, “You should know by now that I already have. I can not lose. Not again. And not this time. The darkness and anger will soon be mine. And I can live, as whole once more.”

“You’re wrong,” said Twilight angrily, “You will never have them. Lightning and Roni will find ways to hide away from you. The Storm King wasn’t able to have Lightning Twister, and neither will you.”

“I’m aware of that, Twilight,” said Ardyn, “And I know The Storm King failed to have his grandson in his grasp since…his soul rests within me.”

Twilight gasped in shock.

“Yes. That’s how I was able to give him nightmares no matter he was during your adventure, and how Princess Luna wasn’t able to help him during the nightmares. I had his grandfather’s soul from the very beginning. I have been every voice *Vanitas’ voice* he has ever heard *The Storm King’s voice* inside his head.”

“And I take it you have Scar’s soul as well so you were able to do the same thing to Roni, right?” Kion asked crossly.

“Scar was not worthy for being part of me,” answered Ardyn, “His anger was far too strong in his soul. He would eventually take over me along with The Storm King’s soul. Plus he wouldn’t be able to become part of me if you haven’t had defeated his spirit long ago before gave you that scar.”

“So we did defeat Scar and made him unable to return,” said Bunga.

“But what about the anger you want from Roni?” Fuli asked, “Wouldn’t that take over you?”

“Not quite,” answered Ardyn, “The anger inside him isn’t as strong as Scar’s, which will allow Lightning’s darkness to form together nicely and flow into me.”

“And you lot are okay with him doing it and completing what you all failed to do?!” Sunset asked to the other villains.

“Well, if it means getting revenge on you lot and having Lightning Twister as my boyfriend, then yes,” answered Cozy Glow.

“I’m in Tartarus,” said Chrysalis in her head since she’s still annoyed by the evil filly going on about having Lightning by her side.

“We all know it won’t kill them once he has the darkness and anger,” said Makucha, “It’ll just make them weak.”

“Which gives us a chance to harm your child as our revenge on you, Kion!” Chuluun added.

Kion growled angrily at his enemies.

“You monsters!” Rarity shouted angrily.

“We were born as them,” said Lord Tirek, “But not the kind of monsters once we’ve dealt with you lot first!”

“What?” Twilight said furiously.

“In order for them to come back to me, they need to feel pain from those that are close to them,” said Ardyn, “It’s the only for them to return and, perhaps, let you all live while you still can.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” said Sandbar in fear.

“Yona don’t like it either,” said Yona in a scared but calm tone as she held one of Sandbar’s hooves in comfort.

“But first,” Ardyn summons a darkness cloud around his right hand, “Which one of you shall be the first to make them feel the pain? The two parents? The aunts that sung to their nephew and protected him at the Crystal Empire? The girlfriend? The big sister figure? The not evil mistress of chaos?”

But just as Ardyn was about to choose, a familiar male voice was heard from the other side of the doors.

“Stop, Ardyn!”

“Huh? Roni?” Kion said in both shock and confusion.

They all turned to the doors and saw it burst open to reveal Roni and Lightning running into the room and towards Ardyn.

“Lightning?! No!” Cosmos said in shock and fear, “What are you two doing here?!”

“Quiet!” Grindelwald said.

“Your fight is with us!” Roni said angrily, “It’s us you really want! You want the darkness and anger that remains in us! You can have them! Just let them all go, and we’ll stay! We’ll stay so you can have what you want! Just take us instead!”

“No, no, Braveheart, you can’t!” Smolder said in fear, “He’ll destroy you both!”

Lightning looked at his girlfriend and said, “You’ve all saved me. Now it’s my turn. Trust me.”

Smolder wanted to stop him from sacrificing his life to save them all, but she can feel her heart telling her to trust him and let him do what he needs to do. So she sadly stared at him to show she trusts him.

Lightning looked back at Ardyn. He may be scared to what’s going to happen next, but he was willing to be brave and save the ones he loved ever since the night Fluttershy found him.

“Ardyn,” he said, “Let them go. All of them. We’ll stay with you till you have enough darkness and anger from us. Take us instead.”

Ardyn smiled at the two boys. Not because his plan for bringing back worked, but because they were willing to stay and let him have what he wants from them.

“As you wish,” he said to them, “You two are willing to give your lives to save your friends and family. I respect that.”

Ardyn snapped his fingers and released all of the hostages as Gallus and Silverstream helped Ocellus as she was still suffer from the draining Chrysalis did to her. However, he did not release Discord as he was still chained up. Lightning noticed this and said to Ardyn, “All of them.”

“Even the one that treated you like trash and said you weren’t allowed in Fluttershy’s life?”

“He said, release him,” said Roni crossly.

“Very well.” Ardyn snapped his fingers once more to release Discord. Everyone was completely shocked to see Lightning telling Ardyn to set Discord free, after all the horrible things he did to him and caused all of this to happen.

“I must say, even though he treated him horribly, his heart is still in the right place,” said Princess Luna.

“I quite agree with you, Lulu,” said Princess Celestia.

Fluttershy smiled at her son as tears rolled down her face.

“Proud of you, baby.”

Ardyn spread his hands out one by one as each of them had a darkness cloud summoned around them. Lightning and Roni started to get more scared of what was coming next, but they had to be brave and do it in order to save their friends and family.

“Now, time to make me whole again! Let’s make some, DARKNESS!!”

Darkness started form around Ardyn before doing the same with Lightning and Roni. Suddenly, darkness cloud began to flow from the two boys, causing them to moan in great pain, as it flew into Ardyn.

Ardyn groan with great joy as he felt the darkness and anger filling his empty soul and making him complete again.

“Yes…yes. The power. The absolute, POWER!!!”

Ardyn’s skin started to go pale as purple cracks slowly appeared on his face. This made everyone flinch. They’ve never seen anything like that before, not even Sora has from all the adventures he had.

“Now that’s messed up,” said Donald in a fear tone while pointing a shaky finger at Ardyn.

“I better not have this memorized,” said Axel.

Darkness started to fly around Ardyn giving him more power and darkness to make him whole again.

“Soon the world will be mine to command! And every universe will be mine, TO CONTROL!”

He bursted out an evil laughter, making the other villains feel uncomfortable and scared to what was happening right now.

“I’m really in Tartarus,” said Chrysalis in a scared tone.

Suddenly, Ardyn felt something in his body. It wasn’t the amount of darkness or how much anger he pulled in, it was something else. Something that felt like pain.

“Huh? What…what is this I’m feeli…?”

He suddenly yelled in pain as it started to hurt his body. He fell to his knees and lend forward while wrapping his arm around him chest. The darkness, flying around him, started to float away and disappeared out of existence.

The heroes and creatures were surprised to what was happening to Ardyn right now.

Ardyn moaned in pain as he tried to get up, but it wasn’t any good. The pain was keeping him from getting up and trying to fight back.

“Wha…what’s happening? What is this?!”

“You were right at the start,” said Roni as he and Lightning wasn’t feeling the pain anymore, “The darkness was still in Lightning, and the anger was resting inside of me. But there was one thing that was keeping them away from our hearts and what you didn’t know from the beginning. The magic of friendship, and love from all our family and friends!”

“WHAT?!”

“You may not have seen it at first, but it was hiding inside of us so you wouldn’t be able to see it,” said Roni, “And since villains, like you, don’t like this kind of love, it’s what you would call a sickness to all villains. And YOU just drained some of it! So it’s now slowly affecting your body, causing you to feel nothing but pain. And that’s what some sickness does. Causing pain in everyone’s bodies, and making them unable to move properly.”

“No! NO! It can’t! This is impossible!”

“Mom, Dad! Now’s your chance!” Roni called, “Take out the other villains! Me and Lightning have got this!”

Kion gave his son a nod before turning to the others while saying, “All right, you heard the boys! Everyone, get those villains!”

Fluttershy and Starlight ran over to Cold Wind pinned him to the ground. Fluttershy stood on top of him with pinning his hooves to the ground while Starlight used her magic to pin his wings down so he couldn’t get any clever ideas.

Celestia, Luna and Twilight flew around Chrysalis as she tried to blast them with her magic, but the three keeps on dodging her attacks.

Makucha, Chuluun and Ora glared at Roni before charging towards him.

“Keep them away from the boys!” Rani said.

Surak, Baliyo and Fuli ran towards the three enemies and stood in front of them. Makucha tried to claw Fuli, but she dodged the attack. Ora tried to bite Surak, but he slapped him away. Baliyo slapped Chuluun before pouncing on her.

Shining Armor, Cadence, Amore and Constantine shot magic grasp balls at Lord Tirek. He blocked the attacks by shielding his face with his arms while groaning every time he gets hit.

Robotink snapped his fingers and in came his pod as it flew through the opened doorway and towards him. He jumped in and flew up in mid air.

“All right, team, it’s go time!” Sonic said, “Tails, you go and disarm Eggman’s pod, I’ll distract him and, Knuckles…smash the sides of his pod.”

Knuckles grinned proudly. The trio started to make their way towards Robotink and his pod.

“Go get em, Sonic!” Maddie said.

Sonic zoomed around Robotink’s pod making him go all dizzy while watching him go while Tails flew behind the pod and took out a few parts and wires. Knuckles jumped onto the side of the pod and started punching holes into it making the pod unable to fly steady.

“Whoa!” Robotink said while struggling to stay balanced in his pod, “Agent Stone! Stop them!”

Agent Stone was about to run up to help his boss, but he was quickly stopped by Tom as he grabbed his arms and placed them behind Stone’s back.

“Uh-uh,” Tom said to the agent.

After all the wires were taken out and Knuckles punched enough holes, the pod was unable to move properly, even with Robotink controlling it, and wasn’t able to shoot rockets at anyone.

Sonic stopped running and took out a ring from his bag. He threw it towards the back of Robotink and it grew big as it showed an island that was out in the middle of the ocean.

“Not again!” Robotink shouted.

“Shadow, now!” Sonic called.

Shadow skied towards the pod while taking out his emerald before shouting, “Chaos, control!”

Shadow’s emerald glowed and made the pod break into separated pieces. Robotink felt like he was about to fall to the ground, but like his first defeat, he got sucked into the ring with his pod pieces. Tom threw Agent Stone into the ring as it shrunk down and disappeared.

Grindelwald took out his wand and shot a dark green grasp beam at Theseus, but he was saved by Newt as he used his wand to magically create an invisible force field to block the killing spell.

Dumbledore, Credence and the two witches each shot a silver magic grasp at Grindelwald with Newt and Theseus joining in as the evil wizard did the same. Jacob hid behind the door so he couldn’t get killed since he’s not a wizard.

Mr and Mrs Warlock ran towards the groups, but was stopped by the ink demon as he stood in front of them while growling at them.

“I don’t think so,” he growled, “Not this time.”

Suddenly, the Warlocks felt a magical chain wrapping around them as it squished them tied making them unable to break free. Doctor Strange flew down to reveal he was the one who tied them up. The ink demon transformed back into Oliver’s normal pony body.

“Thanks, Doctor Strange,” said Oliver.

“You’re welcome,” replied Strange.

Cozy Glow watched all the villains fighting and getting defeated by their enemies with Ardyn still struggling to fight the pain from the power of love and friendship. She growled in frustration before seeing the young five running up to her. She started to panic as she tried to fly away from them. But she didn’t go far as she was stopped by a yellow magic grasp wrapping her entire body.

“Hey! What the?!”

The filly turned and saw it was Flurry Heart who stopped her as she used her magic to drag her back before tying her up with a rope and placing her next to the door.

“Auntie Twily’s not the only one that can magic like that,” said Flurry Heart, “And I’ve learned that by watching her and reading books on magic we are allowed to do.”

“That’s my girl!” Shining said proudly.

Flurry looked at her father as a happy smile grew on her face with tears of happiness rolled down her face. She has done something that made Shining Armor proud.

Chrysalis was struggling to continue shooting at the three princesses as they kept on dodging her attacks and getting good aims at her. Celestia managed to shoot her right hoof while Luna got her back one. Twilight took care of the other two hooves as Chrysalis started to collapse to the ground and unable to get up or continue fighting.

The three stood around the queen to keep her from escaping. Twilight used her magic to gently lift Ocellus before doing the same to Chrysalis as she placed the two by each other in mid air.

“Now, give Ocellus back her strength, now!” Twilight said.

Chrysalis’s horn started to glow before Ocellus’s horn did the same. “No. No! No!” Chrysalis said worriedly as she knew what was going to happen next.

Suddenly, a beam of pink grasp came out of Chrysalis’s horn and went into Ocellus’s horn. Chrysalis tried to bring it back into her, but it was too strong for her to take back as she yelled in pain and fear. Ocellus slowly started to open her eyes and doesn’t feel weak anymore.

After the last bit of the pink grasp went into Ocellus, she started to feel much better again as she glowed with light. The young five was very happy to see their changeling friend was okay again. Ocellus slowly landed on her hooves and smiled as she was hugged by her friends.

Lord Tirek was struggling to block the attacks any longer as one magic grasp ball hit him in the face. He yelled in pain before falling to his knees. His head landed on the side. Constantine’s hands were glowing in dark golden grasp as he waved them around while casting a spell in a different.

Dark golden grasp started to form around Tirek as it slowly took away his ultimate strength making him shrink down to the size of a normal size pony while making his horns gone and his red skin turning back into a dark greyish red.

Once the grasp disappeared, Tirek looked at his body in fear before seeing Shining walking up towards him. He smiled nervously before saying, “Hi.”

“This is for destroying my sister’s library and locking my wife in Tartarus,” said Shining before giving Tirek a huge punch to the face which made him collapse to the ground and fall unconscious.

The wizards, witches and Grindelwald continued to shoot magically silver grasp balls at each other that Grindelwald was struggling to keep it up and was losing control of the Elder Wand.

Once the shooting was over, Grindelwald shot a dark green beam from the wand as it was aimed towards Newt. However, Dumbledore quickly stood in front of Newt and shot a dark orange beam from his wand as it clashed with the green beam.

Grindelwald tried to push the beam even further to kill Dumbledore, but due to losing control of the wand, he was struggling to make the beam stronger as the orange beam was getting more closer and stronger. The beam clash ended as Dumbledore made a huge powerful magic attack and shot a red magic grasp beam at Grindelwald’s hand where he was holding the Elder Wand.

The beam hit Grindelwald’s hand causing him to let go of the Elder Wand as it spun in the air and landing in Dumbledore’s hand which makes his wand now.

Before Grindelwald could do anything, he felt something wrapping around him. He looked around him and saw magically chains trapping him so he couldn’t escape or do anything. He then saw Theseus walking up towards him with his wand out showing he was the one who chained him up.

He looked at Theseus and asked, “Do you really think you can hold me this time?”

“You threatened us with that before,” said Theseus, “But this time, we’ll be able to.” He then gave Grindelwald a huge punch in the face, “That was for Leta.”

Ardyn was still struggling to break free from the strong magic that his skin was getting more pale and dark purple smoke was coming out of the cracks on his face. The magic draining ended with Lightning and Roni collapsing to the ground, but was able to get back up again as they couldn’t feel any pain anymore.

Ardyn moaned in great pain as he slowly collapsed to the floor and started breathing heavily and painful at the same time.

“Please! Stop this!” He said weakly, “I’ll…I’ll give you anything you want! I’ll give her back to you, Lightning Twister! I can take you to her!”

“If you’re talking about Momma, Smolder or Silverstream, then you won’t be able to, because I already got them back,” said Lightning, “You freed them.”

“No! I mean, your mother! The one you’ve lost after your birth!”

Lightning gasped in shock and surprised after hearing what Ardyn actually meant by giving her back to him. He was talking about bringing back his real mother back if he stopped the pain that was slowly weakening him.

“No, sweetheart! Don’t do it!” Fluttershy said worriedly, “He’s trying to trick you! He’s lying just so he can continue his plan!”

“You can be happy again!” Ardyn said, “You’ll have two mothers to care for you! I can give it to you!”

Lightning looked at Ardyn in fear before looking at his mother who was smiling softly at him as she said, “Baby, remember what I told you that night. No matter how far away you are or what happens, your mother will always be with you.“ She placed her hoof on her chest, “In here.”

Lightning continued to look at Fluttershy before placing his hoof on his chest. He can feel his heart beat, telling him that his real mother is still with him. And she’s telling him that Ardyn was lying to him.

“Lightning, please let me live. Please end this, and you can have her back.”

Lightning slowly stared crossly at Ardyn.

“I’ve already got her back.” He placed a hoof on his chest again, “In here. In my heart, where she has always been.”

Ardyn let out a gasp of fear as he crawled back a bit.

“Sora, now!” Lightning called.

Sora gave Lightning a nod in response before glaring at Ardyn as the other Guardians of Light standing with him along with Yozora. They all summoned their Keyblades one by one with Yozora summoning his sword and blaster.

“Oh not good,” said Cozy Glow in fear.

The guardians pointed their Keyblades at Ardyn, while Yozora pointed his sword at him, as a beam of light shot out from the end of the blades with a red laser beam shooting out of the sword. The red beam joined with the light beam. It both went straight into Ardyn, causing him to groan in pain. He tried to fight it, but it wasn’t any good. He was too weak from the friendship and love to fight it.

Sora continued to glare at Ardyn while saying, “Friendship…is magic!”

The beam of light, with red in between, became bigger and brighter causing it to cover Ardyn. The purple cracks on him became bigger with light shining out of them. Ardyn yelled in pain and defeat as he vanished from existence.

The light slowly faded away to reveal only the good group, six Equestria villains and the three Tree of Life villains remaining in the room. The Keyblades magically disappeared with Yozora’s sword and blaster faded away.

“Is it…is it over now?” Ocellus asked.

Riku smiled at her before saying, “Yes. It’s all over now.”

Ocellus smiled in return.

With Cold Wind trapped in Starlight’s grasped rope, Fluttershy ran up to Lightning and hugged him as he hugged her back. Tears of happiness rolled down her face as she said, “Oh Lightning, that was so brave of you! Momma’s so proud of you!”

Lightning smiled and said, “Thank you, Momma.” He then suddenly remembered something before trying to escape from Ardyn. He sadly looked at his mother and said, “Momma, I’m sorry for keeping that bad dream from you.”

“Oh no no no no,” said Fluttershy softly, “I understand why you and Luna did it. You did it so I didn’t have to worry that you would hate me for what me and the girls did moons ago. You don’t need to be sorry.“ She kissed him on the forehead which made him smile again.

The Equestria group all smiled at the sight, causing Luna to tear up a bit as she brushed her tears away. Rainbow Dash then smirked playfully at Pinkie before saying, “So what was that you said before, Pinkie? About Twilight breaking her promise again? Hmm?”

Pinkie suddenly remembered she said that on the day before they all left to the Tree of Life. She chuckled nervously before looking at Twilight, who was smirking playfully as well, and said to her, “You did so well, Twilight. Well done. I shouldn’t have doubted you during the adventure.”

“Thanks. Wait, you doubted me during the adventure?” Twilight raised an eyebrow with Rainbow frowning in annoyance at the pink pony as she shrugged her shoulders nervously.

Shining looked at Flurry Heart as he frowned in guilt since he still feels horrible for what he did to her. Flurry saw her father staring at her. She frowned sadly before looking away from him. Shining could tell she thinks he was still mad at her, so he walked up to her which made her look at him again.

“Dad, I…I’m sorry for…” she was then cut by Shining gently placing a hoof on her shoulder.

“No, Flurry,” he said sadly, “You don’t need to be sorry for what happened. I’m the one who needs to be sorry. Really sorry. You were right. I was treating you like a baby that destroyed the Crystal Heart, when I should have treated you like my daughter. I was so mad inside after that day that I should have realised it wasn’t your fault. I made a mistake in the past but to your Aunt Twily, and I did it again. And I refuse to make those mistakes again. I just hope you can forgive me for what I did. I have already said it, and I want to say it again. I am truly sorry, sweetie.”

Flurry’s frown slowly into a small shock as tears started to form in her eyes. Everything her father just said was true. He was truly sorry for how he treated her. She gave him a small smile before hugging his chest.

“I forgive you, Daddy.”

Shining smiled as tears rolled down his face. He hugged his daughter in return. He then moved his head to her ear and whispered, “I’m also proud of you for saving Sonic. I take it all back. You did nothing wrong.”

Flurry said nothing and continued to the hug. Cadence smiled at her husband, as he smiled at her, before giving him a wink.

Kion and Rani proudly nuzzled Roni for his bravery before the two glared at Makucha, Chuluun and Ora who were now starting to be more scared as to what was to come next for them as punishment.

“Uhh, no hard feelings, Kion?” Ora asked before laughing nervously hoping he would let them go easily.

But it didn’t.

“Nice try,” said Kion crossly.

Kion roared with the roar of the elders which made wind blow at the three. It then made them fly backwards through the wall of the castle and into the distance. Kion stopped the roar as he looked at the direction to where the roar had sent the three.

Suddenly, the castle started to collapse since the hole in the wall couldn’t hold the castle still. The wall started to fall backwards with the roof breaking into pieces and fell to the floor without hitting any of the heroes or the Equestria villains.

Doctor Strange and Constantine worked together to create a force shield to protect them all from the falling pieces.

After the last piece hit the ground, the force shield faded away as everyone looked at the now destroyed but now gone castle. Kion and Rani shockingly looked at each other, but then smiled as Kion said, “Let’s, go home.”

Rani nodded her head in agreement.

Author's Note

One last chapter to go!

Chapter 44
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The Darkness Shard

Chapter 44

Everyone was now back at the Tree of Life, with things back to the way it was now, as they were all ready to send the Equestria villains back to the badlands and all go back home and to their universes. Celestia, Luna and Twilight agreed they should send Cold Wind and the Warlocks there as well as their actions are unsuitable for Tartarus or prison and they refused to let Cold Wind hurt Lightning again.

With the help of Doctor Strange, he opened a portal to the badlands as Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow walked in first since they all knew this was coming and refused to try to escape or do anything else to defeat their enemies.

“We should have never agreed to join Ardyn,” said Cozy Glow, “This was a mistake.”

“For once, I agree with you,” said Chrysalis.

“Finally, something we call agree with,” added Lord Tirek.

As for Cold Wind, Fluttershy was worried that he might try to hurt or foalnap Lightning as well as say horrible things to him on the way back and when sending him to the badlands. So Starlight made sure he was tied up properly and also placed a cloth around his mouth to keep him quiet.

And speaking of Cold Wind, Starlight used her magic to place him through the portal and into the badlands. He was struggling to break free, but he was tied up real good that he couldn’t escape or take the cloth off his mouth. He was then dropped on the ground that was away from the portal in case he tried to jump or crawl his way out.

The Warlocks weren’t happy that they were being sent to the badlands instead of prison this time. Mrs Warlock was on her knees as she pleaded Oliver to not send them to where the other four villains are.

“Please, Oliver! Don’t send us there with them!” Mrs Warlock pleaded, “I’m begging you! We won’t be able to survive there with them! Please, just send us back to prison! Please!”

“Sorry, Mrs Warlock, but you brought this on yourself,” said Oliver crossly, “You wanted to treat me bad, and this is what you get.”

“Oh Oliver, please!” Mrs Warlock continued to beg, “It was my husband’s fault! He made me become a bad pony for only treating you at the orphanage! I only wanted to treat you better from the start!”

Oliver wasn’t going to believe that.

“Nice try, but you were on board with treating me as a slave and a monster, my mother caught you trying to take me back when I was a colt, so you can stop with the lies.”

“No! None of this is my fault!” Mrs Warlock shouted in fear before pulling Oliver to her face, “Please let me go! I can’t go the badlands! I’m too young to suffer there!”

“She has gone mad,” said Flurry Heart.

“I agree with you, sweetie,” said Shining.

“Get off me!” Oliver said crossly as he shoved Mrs Warlock away from him, “You brought this on yourself! Your actions and the way you treated me is unforgivable! This is the punishment you get! The both of you!”

Celestia used her magic to lift both Mr and Mrs Warlock up and threw them through the portal and into the badlands as they hit the ground. They both got up and looked through the portal in fear.

“Please! Don’t leave us in here! Please!” Begged Mrs Warlock once more.

“Trust me, I don’t like it here either,” said Lord Tirek, “But we rather be in here than being turned to stone or banished to the moon.”

“I’m with Tirek on that,” said Chrysalis.

“SHUT UP!” Shouted Princess Luna making the villains jump in shock and fear, “I’m already getting tired of your wincing about your punishment! Yours too, little brat.”

Doctor Strange closed the portal locking the villains up. The four, including Cold Wind who was still tied up, turned to look at Cozy Glow in fear as they saw she was starting to get very angry. “Did you hear Princess Luna say what I just heard her say?” She then let out the biggest outburst she could ever let out, “I AM NOT A LITTLE BRAT!!”

Back at the Tree of Life, Doctor Strange and the Wizarding World people were ready to return back to their own worlds. Grindelwald was still tied up as Theseus was pointing his wand at him in case he gets any ideas and try to escape.

“So I guess you’re now going him then?” Sandbar asked.

“Afraid so,” answered Doctor Strange, “We can’t all live in the same world. With Ardyn now gone and the villains either arrested or somewhere away from us, we must now return to our own worlds before anything happens to this world.”

“Well it was nice to have you lot helping us,” said Twilight politely, “And thanks for all your help.”

“And thanks for letting me see all the creatures you look after, Newt,” said Fluttershy. Newt actually let her see the creatures he looks after in his briefcase when they got back at the Tree of Life since he needed to do take care of them and feed them before returning home. He also let her help since she loves helping take care of animals and creatures.

“You’re welcome, Fluttershy,” said Newt while smiling, “And thanks for helping me with them. You did a good job with them.”

Fluttershy blushed while smiling. “Thanks, and you’re welcome.”

Doctor Strange opened up a portal and both him and the Wizarding World people walked through as everyone waved and shouted goodbye to them while Jacob waved goodbye to them in return before the portal closed.

“So I take it you’re leaving too then?” Rainbow asked while looking at Sonic.

“Yep,” answered Sonic, “And like Doctor Strange, we can’t stay in this world forever since there’s no telling what will happen next. And besides, Green Hill still needs us and since Eggman is now far away again, it should be easy and relaxing while looking after our home this time.”

“And I need to go back to being frozen again,” said Shadow causing everyone to stare at him in shock and surprise.

“You…you want to go back to being frozen?” Sunburst asked in shock.

“Yes,” answered Shadow, “I’ve done lots of horrible things, and fought the wrong person who wasn’t my enemy. I decided to go back to being frozen until I awaken in the right present and at the right time.

“Are you sure, Shadow?” Sonic asked, “I’m sure we can help you fix all those mistakes and find you a home in Green Hill to stay at.”

Tom was confused by that. After Tails and Knuckles entered Green Hill, he and Maddie allowed both of them to stay at their place since Sonic’s living with them, but this was like the first time he heard Sonic say find a new home for their new friends.

“What do you mean, Sonic? Why can’t he live at our house like you, Tails and Knuckles do?”

“Well we are running out of room in the room me, Tails and Knucks sleep in,” answered Sonic.

“Okay yeah, that’s a fair point. I totally understand now and agree with you, Sonic.”

“Thanks, Sonic,” said Shadow, “I appreciate the offer, but it is for the best. I wish to be unfrozen when I’m in the right time in the year we’re in now or soon.”

Sonic nodded his head before saying, “I understand. But hey, when you do wake up again but at the right time, you won’t have to worry about Eggman or anyone using you anymore.”

“That’s true.”

“Well shall we get going?” Tails asked politely, “We’ve got a town to fix and to make sure everyone’s alright while we were gone.”

“Right behind you, Tails!” Sonic said happily before taking a ring out of his bag.

Sonic threw the ring forward as it grew big and opened up a portal that leads to Green Hill. Tom and Maddie were the first ones to go through before Knuckles, Shadow and Tails followed. Sonic was the last one to go through, but he was stopped by Rainbow’s voice.

“Hey, Sonic!”

Sonic turned to look at Rainbow who was smiling at him as she said, “Next time you come to visit, I want a race to see how fast you are compare to how fast I am.”

“I’ll be waiting,” said Sonic while smirking playfully. The two fist bumped each other. Sonic walked through the portal as it shrunk down and disappeared.

“Well, we might as well head home too,” said Sora while placing his hands behind his head, “I think our work is now done, and hopefully the last.”

“And let’s hope the next time you return, nothing bad will happen,” said Gallus.

Sora gave the blue griffon a thumps up and a wink.

“Thanks for your help again, Sora,” said Lightning, “I really hope we get to see you again soon.”

“You will, buddy,” said Sora while gently rubbing Lightning’s mane, “And no need to thank us. We’re friends. We help each other no matter what.” Lightning just smiled at Sora and nodded his head.

Xion and Spike were hugging each other.

“See you soon, Spike,” said Xion, “Be good for your mother.” She kissed him on the cheek which made him chuckle and blush.

“Don’t worry, Xion,” said Twilight softly, “I know he will always be a good dragon for me.” She pulled the baby dragon towards her for a hug of her own as he returned the hug. Xion smiled at them.

“All right, everyone,” said Mickey happily, “Time to go home.”

“Ready when you are, Donald!” Goofy said.

“Oh boy!” Said Donald happily as he summoned his staff.

Donald magically made a bright light appear above them as it grew brighter ready to take the guardians and Yozora back home. They all smiled and waved to their friends as they did the same. They all disappeared into the light before it faded away leaving just the Equestria group and members of the Tree of Life.

“So it looks like you’re leaving too then,” said Bunga.

“Afraid so,” said Twilight, “ But this isn’t really goodbye. We will meet again soon. And hopefully when it’s not a bad time.”

“Twilight’s right,” said Applejack, “We will see each other again no matter what happens next. And we do have some things to take care of back home.”

“I agree,” said Solar Eclipse, “I’ve got some making up to, and to fix everything I have done before falling for Ardyn’s trick, even if I was forced by him from the beginning.”

“We shall help you, brother,” said Celestia as she and Luna approached him, “You shouldn’t fix everything alone, even if you were forced to make them happen.”

“Yes,” agreed Luna, “You are still our brother no matter what you did, forced or not.”

Solar smiled as the three hugged each other like a happy family once again.

“And when we get back to the Crystal Empire, I’ve got some fixing to do of my own,” said Shining, “Starting with the bullies that treated my daughter badly.”

Flurry Heart gasped before smiling happily at her father while saying, “You are?!”

“Of course,” he replied while smiling softly, “After all, you are the future princess of the Crystal Empire.” He pulled Flurry Heart close to him for a hug, “And they need to learn to let go of the past, especially since what happened wasn’t your fault.” Flurry smiled as Shining nuzzled her on the cheek while she did the same with him.

“Well, looks like things are starting to go back to the way they were and also beginning to feel better,” said Oliver, “But I think we’ve all learned something during the fight and rescue mission.”

“Yeah, don’t listen or bring Discord on these trips ever again,” said Sunset.

“It was not, my fault, Sunset,” said Discord.

“No, no it definitely was,” said Sunset crossly.

“One hundred percent,” added Rainbow with Rarity nodding her head in agreement.

“Yeah well who decided to let me tag along?” Discord asked while placing his fists on his sides.

“I did, because I refused to hear you begging me about returning to Equestria,” said Celestia crossly.

“And we were more focus on helping Lightning rather than argue with Celestia about letting you back,” said Twilight.

“And some of us actually thought you were gonna change and treat Lightning better!” Pinkie said crossly.

“Yeah, literally nothing you did proves you wanted to make up for what you did in the past, Discord,” said Capper.

“I…had a plan originally, but Ardyn just went…” he was interrupted by Starlight, “If you say you had a plan one more time, Discord, I might actually hurt you. I might pour a lot of that snow on you with tiny rocks.”

“I did!”

“NO, YOU DID NOT!” Fluttershy shouted angrily making Discord flinch, “YOU DID NOT HAVE A PLAN AT ALL! YOU DID THIS! YOU WANTED ME TO SEND MY SON AWAY! BUT GUESS WHAT?! IT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!“

“As punishment for all those hurtful things you said to Lightning Twister and Spike, freed a most dangerous threat in all worlds and caused all of this to happen, you are to spend three months in prison while doing community service and your chaos will be taken away,” said Celestia.

Discord was in shock after hearing what his punishment was. “What?! You can’t do that to me and I can’t spend that long in prison or do community service! I’m the lord of chaos!”

Celestia stomped her hoof down to the ground which made DIscord flinch again as he shook in fear. Celestia angrily said, “You may be the lord of chaos, but you are not in anyway more powerful than I am! Now you can either do the punishment or me and Luna can find another way of banishing you to the moon for a thousand moons without needing the elements! Which one do you prefer?”

Discord didn’t like the other option of being sent to the moon for a thousand moons. He knew that the sisters will definitely find a way to send there if he refuses to do option one of his punishment.

“Okay! Okay, I’ll do option one!” He said in fear, “I’ll do prison and the community service! Just please don’t send me to the moon! Please!”

“That’s what I thought.”

Luna levitated a magical crystal ball from her bag with her magic and used it to drain all the chaos from Discord and locked them away just so he doesn’t get any funny ideas, even before going home.

“Serves him right,” said Cadence crossly.

“Now then,” said Celestia before looking at Cosmos, “As for you, Cosmos.”

Cosmos sighed before saying, “Don’t worry, I was planning on leaving anyway. Don’t think Equestria needs another Draconequus around.”

“Oh don’t worry, I wasn’t going to tell you to never return to Equestria,” said Celestia with a smile on her face.

“Huh?” Cosmos asked in shock and confusion.

“Yes,” said Luna, “Since you’re not really evil and after all the help you’ve done, we were gonna ask if you would to visit Equestria whenever you want.”

Cosmos gasped in happiness. “Really?! Oh ahem, I mean, yes please, your majesties. On one condition.”

“Name it,” said Luna politely.

“I would like to be part of Lightning Twister’s family as one of his aunties.”

“Does that mean, I can call you Auntie Cosmos?” Lightning asked happily.

“Yes, it does,” answered Cosmos softly while smiling, “Now come and give your Auntie Cosmos a hug.”

Lightning smiled with joy as he ran up to Cosmos and hugged her around him. Cosmos hugged him with tears of happiness in her eyes. Everyone else smiled at the two. Fluttershy flew up to Cosmos and said, “Welcome to the family, Cosmos.”

Cosmos smiled at Fluttershy and said, “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

Discord, however, was not happy from what he has heard and seen.

“But that’s not fair! Why does she get to return to Equestria but I don’t?! She’s a Draconequus, like me! She does cha…!” He was stopped by a magical zip on the mouth by Cosmos. He tried to unzip it, but thanks to Cosmos’s strong chaos, he was unable to continue talking.

“You might wanna keep that on him in case he still winces when we get home,” said Cosmos.

“Good idea,” said Luna.

The Equestria group, Constantine and Vincent all turned to the Tree of Life group.

“Well, we best be going,” said Twilight, “Thanks for helping us save Lightning and defeat Ardyn.”

“No worries,” said Kion, “And thanks for helping us save Roni. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Feel free to come back anytime you want,” said Rani.

“We shall do that,” said Celestia softly.

“Hey Lightning,” said Roni, “I just wanted to say thank you for all your help. You were amazing.”

Lightning smiled at the cub as Cosmos gently placed him down the ground and in front of Roni.

“Thanks. And thanks for helping me out as well. You’re a real amazing cub.”

Lightning and Roni hoof and paw bumped each other while smiling still.

“See you around, Lightning.”

“See you around, Roni.”

The two waved goodbye to each other as Lightning went back to the group. Everyone else waved goodbye to the Tree of Life team while they waved goodbye back to them. Constantine used his magic to teleport them all back to Equestria as a dark golden magical grasp ball formed around them and shrunk into a tiny ball before flying into the sky.

The Tree of Life team watched the ball disappear into the sky.

“Bye, new friends!” Binga said while still waving. Everyone was still waving goodbye while smiling as they stopped waving.

“Shame we didn’t get the chance to get to know each other before facing Ardyn,” said Makini.

“Yeah,” agreed Bunga.

“Well, there’s always next time,” said Kion while smiling, “Besides, everything’s back to the way it was, Ardyn’s gone and we don’t have to worry about Makucha or his allies for a long time. And our new friends are back home now where they belong.”

“And similar to what you said, Kion, time for us to go back to where we belong,” said Rani happily.

Kion gave Rani a nod in agreement as they all went back to the cave of the Tree of Life and start cleaning up the mess that the villains caused.

Back in Equestria, everyone was at Twilight’s castle as Pinkie Pie was throwing a huge party to celebrate their victory of defeating Ardyn and saving Lightning Twister and Roni from his nightmares. Twilight wanted to throw one and asked Pinkie to help. Celestia, Luna and Solar Eclipse was there after putting Discord in prison to begin his punishment. They plan on sorting his first community service later as they want to be at the party as well.

Cosmos was asked if she would like to sing at the party which she accepted the offer as she was singing a reprise of the song she sung to Lightning and his friends a few days back.

Can your friends do this?

Cosmos twisted her body round before twisted her body back to normal.

Can your friends do that?

Cosmos made more balloons appear in the room.

Can your friends pull this?

Cosmos pulled a cupcake from Pinkie’s mane.

Out their little hat?

Cosmos tossed the cupcake up and fell into Pinkie’s mouth to which she ate.

Lightning was standing near a table eating a chocolate cupcake while happily watching his new aunt sing. Fluttershy, Capper and Twilight walked towards him and stood by him.

“You feeling more better now, sweetheart?”

“Yes, Momma,” answered Lightning politely, “And with Daddy gone, I don’t feel worried about him coming after me again or anymore nightmares happening.”

Fluttershy smiled proudly at her son and said, “I’m proud of you, baby.”

“Besides, if anything like that happens again, I’ll always know I’ll have my friends and family around to help me.” He looked at Twilight, “While the magic of friendship grows.” Twilight nodded her head at him as Cosmos finished her song.

You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend, you ain't
Never had a friend, never had a friend
You ain't never (never!)
Had a (had a)
Friend (friend)
Like (like)
Me

You ain't never had a friend like me

The end

Cast:
Ashleigh Ball - Applejack, Rainbow Dash & Nurse Redheart

Kathleen Barr - Chrysalis

Shannon Chan-Kent - Smolder

Devyn Dalton - Ocellus

John de Lancie - Discord

Taye Diggs - Capper

Andrew Francis - Shining Armor

Ian Hanlin - Sunburst

Lauren Jackson - Silverstream

Gavin Langelo - Gallus

Andrea Libman - Fluttershy & Pinkie Pie

Britt McKillip - Princess Cadence

Nicole Oliver - Princess Celestia

Katrina Salisbury - Yona

Kelly Sheridan - Starlight Glimmer

Rebecca Shoichet - Sunset Shimmer

Tabitha St. Germain - Rarity, Princess Luna, Nightmare Moon & Lightning Twister

Tara Strong - Twilight Sparkle

Vincent Tong - Sandbar

Cathy Weseluck - Spike

Mark Acheson - Lord Tirek

Sunni Westbrook - Cozy Glow

Emily Blunt - Tempest Shadow

Liev Schreiber - Storm King

Vivien Lyra Blair - Flurry Heart (young)

Haley Joel Osment - Sora & Vanitas

David Gallagher - Riku

Willa Holland - Aqua

Alyson Stoner - Kairi & Xion

Bret Iwan - Mickey Mouse

Tony Anselmo - Donald Duck

Bill Farmer - Goofy

Quinton Flynn - Axel

Jason Dohring - Terra

Jesse McCartney - Ventus & Roxas

Corey Burton - Yen Sid

Dylan Sprouse - Yozora

Oliver Churchill - Oliver Sparkle

Matt Ryan - John Constantine

Jenna Coleman - Princess Amore

Awkwafina - Cosmos

David Harbour - Solar Eclipse/Midnight Crown

Burt Ward - Vincent the Purple Guard

C. Thomas Howell - Mr Warlock

Jennifer Hale - Mrs Warlock

Patrick Fabian - Cold Wind

Max Charles - Kion

Joshua Rush - Bunga

Diamond White - Fuli

Atticus Shaffer - Ono

Dusan Brown - Beshte

Landry Bender - Makini

Bryana Salaz - Anga

Steve Blum - Makucha

Kimiko Glenn - Chuluun

Andrew Kishino - Ora

Peyton Elizabeth Lee - Rani

Miki Yamashita - Nirmala

Hudson Yang - Baliyo

Lou Diamond Phillips - Surak

Vyvan Pham - Ullu

Behzad Dabu - Azaad

Fiona Riley - Binga

Grant Feely - Roni

Benedict Cumberbatch - Doctor Strange

Tika Sumpter - Maddie Wachowski

Jim Carrey - Robotink

Ben Schwartz - Sonic

James Marsden - Tom Wachowski

Idris Elba - Knuckles

Colleen O’Shaughnessey - Tails

Lee Majdoub - Agent Stone

Keanu Reeves - Shadow

Darin De Paul - Ardyn Izunia

Mads Mikkelsen - Gellert Grindelwald

Eddie Redmayne - Newt Scamander

Jude Law - Albus Dumbledore

Dan Fogler - Jacob Kowalski

Ezra Miller - Credence Barebone

Alison Sudol - Queenie Goldstein

Callum Turner - Theseus Scamander

Katherine Waterson - Tina Goldstein

Author's Note

That’s all folks!

Chapter 1
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 1

It was a strange and peaceful day in Ponyville, Lightning was flying towards the friendship castle. He wanted to see his Auntie Twilight for the day and maybe learn some things even before the next friendship lessons come after the summer break.

Lightning arrived at Twilight’s castle as he gently knocked on the door and after four seconds, Twilight answered the door. She saw her little nephew and smiled at him.

“Good morning, Lightning,” said Twilight softly.

“Morning, Auntie Twilight. Can I spend some time with you for the day?”

“Of course you can, little one,” she answered, “I was even expecting you to come here today.”

Lightning was now confused by this.

“Huh? You, were?” He asked.

“Of course, who else would I expect to come visit me except for my favourite little nephew?” Twilight stepped aside to let the colt in, “Come in, sweetheart. We can spend some time in the library.”

“Uh…okay.”

Lightning walked into the castle and headed towards the library as Twilight watched him. However, Lightning didn’t notice that Twilight’s eyes started to glow yellow before turning back into her purple eyes. The princess started to follow the colt to the library.

Once they were inside the library room, Lightning stopped by the doorway as Twilight continued walking a bit till she was at her chair.

“So, what should we do first?” Lightning asked.

“Hmm…I’m not sure,” Twilight answered, “Perhaps maybe…”

Twilight’s horn to glow as she magically made the library door slam shut behind Lightning making him jump a bit.

“Auntie Twilight, are you okay?” Asked Lightning now feeling worried about his aunt.

“Of course I’m feeling okay, Lightning,” replied Twilight while turning round to look at Lightning, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you slammed the door very hardly like something has happened to you.”

“Possibly something I read before falling out of the wrong side of the bed this morning,” said Twilight, “Or maybe it’s because…I’m talking to a traitor.”

“T-Traitor?” Lightning started feeling scared while still feeling worried as well, “W-what do you mean? I’m not a traitor, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Silence!” Twilight shouted angrily as she stomped her hoof on the ground making the colt shake in fear now, “You are a traitor! You betrayed your own grandfather, and let him die again!”

Lightning was completed scared and shocked to what Twilight just said. She just called him a traitor and said he killed The Storm King who as she called him his grandfather.

“B-b-but The Storm King wasn’t my grandfather! H-he was e-evil and was j-just t-trying to use me! W-why are you acting like this?”

“Still haven’t figured it out yet,” said Twilight cruelly as her voice suddenly turned in a familiar male voice, “Maybe this will.”

Suddenly, a dark corridor appeared around Twilight as it then disappeared to reveal that Twilight was actually Vanitas.

Lightning began to shake in fear even more.

“V-Vanitas?!”

“Miss me?” Vanitas asked with an evil grin, “Because I’m so not done with you.”

Vanitas summoned his Keyblade before walking towards the colt as he backed up against the closed door while still shaking in fear.

“You ruined everything. You let Sora and the guardians defeat me, Cozy Glow, the unversed and the Tempest Warriors. And you let The Storm King die again! And he was your grandfather!”

Lightning was struggling to brave as he then said, “B-but it w-wasn’t m-my fault! He was t-trying t-to make l-like him! And h-he was trying to m-make Momma l-like him!”

Vanitas pointed his Keyblade at Lightning making shake even more while saying, “It’s STILL your fault it happened!”

Tears of fear started to roll down Lightning’s face.

“I may not be able to hurt you on the outside,” said Vanitas, “But I can hurt you, on the INSIDE!” Vanitas slowly moved his Keyblade up in the air ready to slash Lightning Twister with it.

“N-n-no!” Lightning screamed in great fear while covering his face with his hooves knowing that there’s no way of escaping now.

Vanitas swung his Keyblade to the left as a loud clash sound was heard.

Lightning shot up while letting out a scared scream before breathing heavily and sweating. The whole thing was a nightmare. The colt looked around the place seeing that he was still in his bedroom.

Just then, his bedroom door began to open. Lightning quickly hid underneath the covers and shook in fear as Fluttershy and Capper entered the bedroom. They woke up after hearing their son screaming and got out to see if he was okay.

“Lightning sweetie, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked softly.

Lightning recognise his mother’s voice and slowly came out of the covers to look at his parents as they saw he was scared half to death with tears started to run down his face.

“Lightning, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy went over to the bed, “What happened? Did you have a bad dream?”

Lightning started to whimper while tears continued to roll down his face as he nodded his head instead of saying.

“Oh my poor baby,” said Fluttershy sadly before gently picking her son up and held him in her hooves, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Lightning hugged his mother and buried his face in Fluttershy’s chest while shaking in his head for a no.

Fluttershy wanted to know what the bad dream and so did Capper, but they decided not to force him and only let him talk about it when he’s ready.

“Okay,” said Fluttershy before asking, “Do you want to sleep with us?”

Lightning sniffed and said, “P-Please.”

Fluttershy nodded her head and blow out the candle as she and Capper left the bedroom while Fluttershy carefully carried the poor scared colt into their bedroom.

Capper got into bed first as Fluttershy gently placed Lightning in the bed before getting into bed herself. Capper pulled the covers over them. The two parents carefully wrapped their arms and hooves around their child before they all fell asleep.

However, outside of the cottage, a man in a black coat with his hood up was looking at the window of Fluttershy’s bedroom as he heard everything.

“And so it begins,” he said to himself

A dark corridor appeared near the mysterious figure as he went into it before the corridor disappeared taking him along.

Author's Note

Oh dear. Let’s hope The Storm King and Cozy Glow don’t start appearing in his next nightmares.

Chapter 2
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 2

It was now morning as the sun shone across Equestria and at Fluttershy’s cottage. The three were still asleep in bed cuddling up together. Fluttershy was the first one to slowly open her eyes before Capper did. The cat and pony smiled at each other as Capper gave Fluttershy a morning kiss on the cheek.

“Morning, honey,” he said softly to her.

“Morning, kitty cat,” replied Fluttershy softly before giving her husband a morning kiss on the cheek.

The two looked down at their son who was sleeping throughout the rest of the night thanks the loving embrace from his parents.

Fluttershy didn’t want to wake him up after the nightmare he had last night, but she did wanted to know what it was about. However, she wasn’t gonna push it too much, not until she brings her friends over to help him out a bit. Except for Twilight though, she and Spike were away in Canterlot for a business meeting with the sisters.

The Pegasus carefully kissed the colt on the forehead before gently nuzzling his cheek and saying, “Lightning, it’s time to wake up, sweetheart.”

Lightning slowly opened his eyes before letting out a yawn and rubbed his eyes with his hoof as he looked at Fluttershy who was smiling softly at him.

“Morning, Momma.” Lightning gently hugged his mother as she returned the hug and replied, “Morning, sweetie.”

Lightning looked at Capper and said, “Morning, Papa Capper.”

“Morning, kiddo,” Capper replied before gently rubbing his son’s mane with his paw, “Did you sleep okay?”

Lightning nodded his head in response.

“Lightning, are you sure you don’t wanna talk about that bad dream last night?” Asked Fluttershy, “Because I can talk to Luna about it if it’s bothering you.”

Lightning knew that she was right and he felt like the nightmares have only just started, but he didn’t want to talk about it or make his parents feel worried. So he decided not to tell them about it.

“I still don’t wanna talk about it.”

Fluttershy gave Lightning a sad smile, she wanted to know about the nightmare and try to help him. But she still respected his choice.

“Okay,” she replied, “Why don’t we go and have some breakfast? I need to go out for something anyway.”

The two nodded their heads in response as they all got out of the bed, made their way downstairs and headed straight into the kitchen. Capper made them and himself some scrambled eggs and they ate the breakfast. After breakfast, Fluttershy said goodbye to her husband and son before heading off to do whatever she needed to do leaving Capper and Lightning to feed her animals while she was away.

While feeding the birds, Capper noticed that Lightning was feeling himself as he gave the squirrels their acorns. He was still scared from that nightmare last night and was worried he might have another one tonight. Capper knew it had something to do with the bad dream and wanted to know what it was so he and Fluttershy can help him, but he refuses to force his son to tell him. So he decided to let him tell him when he’s ready.

Once all the animals have been fed, the two headed back inside the cottage and rested until Fluttershy comes back. Capper and Lightning sat on the couch as the cat saw that his son was still feeling down.

“Lightning, are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Capper asked worriedly.

Lightning continued to say nothing and nodded his head in response to his father’s question.

“Are you still scared from that bad dream last night?” He asked politely but still worried, “You can tell me, I won’t be mad if you are. I am your papa after all.”

“I know,” he replied sadly, “But, it’s just that…”

Before he could finish, they both heard the cottage door was heard opening as they saw it was Fluttershy who has returned.

“I’m back!” Fluttershy said happily, “Well, actually, WE’RE back.”

The three looked at the door and saw Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst and Oliver walking into the cottage as Oliver closed the door behind him since he was the last one in.

“Momma, why is my aunties and uncles here?” Lightning asked in a nice way, “And where’s Auntie Twilight?”

“Aunt Twilight and Spike are in Canterlot for an important business,” answered Oliver, “I don’t know what it is really since it’s for a royal princess business and I’m the captain of the royal guards, not a royal prince.”

“I asked them to come here, Lightning sweetheart,” said Fluttershy, “Because I wanted them to help support you in telling us about the nightmare you had last night.”

Lightning started to feel worried as he frowned at his mother. He can tell that she’ll get way more worried that he was if he tells her about the nightmare.

“Lightning,” Fluttershy began to speak again but in a calm and soft tone, “I know you’re scared, and it has something to do with the nightmare. If you tell us what it was about, we can help you get over it.”

“We won’t be mad at you, kiddo,” added Rainbow politely, “You only have to tell us what the nightmare was about, and then we can help you.”

“So tell us, honey,” Sunset said softly, “What happened in your nightmare?”

Lightning looked to the left in fear.

“N-Nothing.”

“Nopony has a nightmare about nothing,” said Applejack, “Come on, sugarcube. What did you dream about?”

“I-I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Why not?” Asked Starlight worriedly.

“Because…because, I…”

Before Lightning could continue, he looked back at his family as he saw something that made he gasp in fear. His aunts and uncles all turned into unversed floods one by one while Fluttershy and Capper turned into Cozy Glow and The Storm King as the evil filly chuckled evilly and grinned at the colt.

Lightning started to shake in fear while stepping back a bit.

“U-Unversed?! C-Cozy G-Glow?! S-Storm K-King?!”

The ponies and the cat were surprised, but also confused, by what Lightning just said.

“What are you talking about, darling?” Rarity asked, “We’re not unversed, Cozy Glow or The Storm King. We’re your family.”

Lightning, however, continued to shake in great fear as he took a few steps back while his eyes continue to make him see The Storm King, Cozy Glow and the unversed.

“Lightning, what’s the matter?” Pinkie asked in a worried tone.

Fluttershy walked up towards her son and tried to touch him, but he quickly moved back a bit before hiding his face in his hooves. “N-No! L-Leave m-me alone, C-Cozy!”

“Lightning sweetheart, Cozy Glow is not here,” said Fluttershy softly but still worried, “It’s me, your Momma.”

Lightning said nothing and continued to hide in his hooves with tears of fear starting to flow down his face as the ponies and Capper slowly walked up to him with worried expressions on their faces.

“Lightning buddy, it’s us!” Sunburst said.

Lightning poked his head from his hooves, while still shaking, as he saw the yeti, filly and the Floods coming up towards him with the king and evil pony laughing evilly.

“Lightning!” The ponies and Capper shouted worriedly making a bright light appear and then disappeared after a second making Lightning’s eye sight go back to normal as he saw his aunts, uncles, mother and father staring at him with worried looks.

Lightning’s tears of fear started turning into tears of sadness as he planted his face in his hooves again and cried. Starlight walked up to her nephew and carefully picked him up before pulling him into a warm comfort hug.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.” Starlight gently rubbed Lightning’s back with her hoof. “I know. The invasion of The Storm King and the unversed was the scariest threat we’ve ever encountered, but nothing like that will happen again. I promise.”

Lightning cried in Starlight’s chest as he started saying, “D-don’t leave m-me! D-don’t leave me, p-please!”

“We’re not gonna leave you, sweetheart,” said Starlight softly, “Never have, never will.”

Fluttershy walked over to the two before saying softly to her son, “Lightning sweetheart, can you please tell us about your nightmare last night?”

Lightning sniffled before looking at his mother and saying, “O-Okay.”

“I may not be able to hurt you on the outside,” said Vanitas, “But I can hurt you, on the INSIDE!” Vanitas slowly moved his Keyblade up in the air ready to slash Lightning Twister with it.

“N-n-no!” Lightning screamed in great fear while covering his face with his hooves knowing that there’s no way of escaping now.

Vanitas swung his Keyblade to the left as a loud clash sound was heard.

Lightning’s parents, aunts and uncles were in complete shock after hearing about the colt’s nightmare. He was dreaming about the ruler of the unversed telling him that it was his fault The Storm King died again and he can still hurt him on the inside. But there was one thing he didn’t understand, why did he have a nightmare about Vanitas after the day he was defeated along with The Storm King and Cozy Glow?

“But darling,” began Rarity, “That was months ago when Cozy Glow and Vanitas tried to make you like The Storm King, how come you’ve started having a nightmare after that long?”

Lightning sadly looked down before slowly shaking his head as another batch of tears rolled down his face. “I d-don’t k-know. B-But it still s-scares me. T-The n-nightmare.”

“Oh baby,” said Fluttershy sadly as she gently stroked her son’s mane.

Just then, there was a knock on the cottage door.

“Who could that be?” Applejack asked in confusion.

The cowgirl pony walked up to the door and opened it. Her face went into shock as she saw Twilight, Spike, Celestia and Luna standing there.

“Tw-Twilight?! What are you, Spike, Celestia and Luna doing here? I thought you had business to do in Canterlot.”

“We did,” answered Twilight politely, “But then we heard that Lightning wasn’t…feeling himself from last night, so we came to see him.”

“We’ve cancelled all of the meetings so Twilight can focus on helping the poor colt,” said Celestia.

“We came along to help too,” added Luna, “We care about young Lightning just like you do too.”

“Well, he’s right here,” said Applejack as she stepped aside to let the princesses and the baby dragon enter the cottage.

Twilight walked up to her poor upset nephew, sat on her haunches and smiled at Lightning while saying softly, “Hello, Lightning sweetheart. I’ve come to see you.”

Lightning looked at his Auntie Twilight, but he then quietly gasped in fear as his eyes started playing up again. He saw Twilight smiling at him before a quick flash of light turned her into Vanitas who was grinning at him and then turned back into the smiling Princess of Friendship.

The scared colt let out a small scream before running upstairs and headed towards his bedroom leaving the ponies, princesses, dragon and cat in complete shock.

“What was that all about?” Rainbow asked.

“Don’t know,” said Pinkie Pie, “Might be something he saw that made him scared before running to his room.”

“Could have something to do with the nightmare he had?” Asked Applejack.

“I sure hope not,” replied Sunset feeling more worried about Lightning.

“Fluttershy, can I go talk to Lightning please? Twilight asked politely.

Fluttershy was a bit hesitant. She didn’t know how Lightning would react after what just happened. Fluttershy however decided to let Twilight talk to her little colt. Fluttershy nodded and Twilight began to make her way upstairs towards Lightning’s bedroom.

Lightning was hiding underneath his bed covers shaking in fear while holding his Bendy plushie. His eye sight was getting more worst all thanks to that nightmare from last night. Now he doesn’t know what was real and just a nightmare illusion.

Lightning saw Twilight’s shadow hovering over the bed as he nervously poked his head and hooves out and saw the princess walking up towards him. Twilight carefully reached her hoof out to stroke the colt causing him to lower his head beneath the blanket. But he then felt Twilight gently stroking his mane which made him come out. Twilight smiled at her nephew like she always does. But Lightning started to cry again, so Twilight gently picked Lightning up and pulled him into a warm comfort embrace.

“Shh, shhh…it’s okay, Lightning sweetheart. It’s alright. I’m here.”

Outside Fluttershy’s cottage, the young six was making their way towards the cottage. They wanted to see if Lightning wanted to come out and hang out with them.

“I sure hope Lightning’s in,” said Ocellus, “It wouldn’t be much fun without him hanging out with us.”

“Well, there’s only way to find out,” said Gallus as they approached the door of the cottage.

Meanwhile back inside the cottage, the ponies, sisters, Spike and Capper were still in the living room wondering why did Lightning run up to his room after seeing Twilight. They were starting to get more worried about the poor colt.

“I do hope my baby boy’s doing okay,” said Fluttershy worryingly, “Whatever’s happened to him must have also scared him in the nightmare he told us about.”

“Don’t worry, love,” said Capper softly as he gently hugged his wife, “I’m sure he’s doing okay now that Twilight’s comforting him.”

Just then, another knock on the door was heard.

“Again?” Applejack asked before walking up to the door again and opened to see it was the six friendship students who knocked as they smiled at the farm professor.

“Well howdy there, young fellow students,” said Applejack while smiling at the students, “What brings you all here?”

“We just came by to see if Lightning can come and hang out with us,” answered Sandbar politely, “Is he in?”

“Well…” Applejack started to rub the back of her neck, “You may wanna come in. There’s something you lot should know.”

Applejack stepped aside to let the students in as she closed the door behind them. Fluttershy started explaining to the six about what happened to Lightning last night as well as the nightmare he had. This made the six friends feel bad but also worried about their little friend. Smolder felt worried about Lightning the most since he is her boyfriend.

“Oh dear,” said Ocellus as she covered her mouth with her hoof in shock and worry.

“Poor little pony,” said Yona worryingly.

“We have to go see him!” Smolder said in a worried tone, “He needs us!”

With that said, they all went upstairs and entered Lightning’s bedroom as they saw the poor child crying in Twilight’s chest with her hugging him in comfort.

“Braveheart!” Smolder called worryingly but not too loud, “Braveheart, it’s us!”

Lightning slowly moved his face from Twilight’s chest, showing the tears running down his face, as he saw his five friends and special somedragon looking at him with worried looks on their faces.

“G-Guys…” Lightning said while still crying.

Silverstream ran up to the colt. Twilight carefully placed Lightning in Silverstrwam’s arms as she gently pulled him into a warm sisterly comfort hug.

“Shh…shhhh…it’s okay, cutie,” the hippogriff whispered softly in the colt’s ear, “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”

Twilight walked over to the group as they all looked at Lightning crying in Silverstream’s chest fur with sad and worried looks on their faces.

“Lightning dear, did something else happened in your nightmare?” Celestia asked.

Lightning sniffled before looking at the princess of the sun and answering, “Y-Yes, princess. V-Vanitas didn’t just a-appear in the castle l-library. He w-was p-pretending to be…y-you, Auntie T-Twilight.”

Everyone gasped in shock as Twilight could not believe what else Vanitas did in his nightmare.

“Me?” Twilight said in shock, “Vanitas was pretending to be me?”

Lightning nodded his head as he was now about to cry again.

“I-I’m s-sorry, A-Auntie Twilight! I-I didn’t mean t-to r-run a-away from you! I-It just s-scared m-me!”

Lightning cried in Silverstream’s fur chest as Twilight walked over to them and gently stroked her little nephew’s back.

“Hey hey hey, it’s okay,” she said softly, “I’m not angry. Shhh, shhh…”

Twilight started to hum a soft melody in Lightning’s ear, like she did the night she first met him and the night they rescued him from Cold Wind at the gala, as Lightning’s crying turned into sniffles before falling asleep with Twilight finishing off her humming.

Twilight carefully took Lightning out of Silverstream’s arms and placed him in his bed before pulling the covers on him and gently giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“Get some more rest, little one,” whispered Twilight softly to the colt before returning to the group.

“I really don’t get it, guys,” said Rainbow, “Lightning was perfectly fine after we defeated The Storm King, Vanitas and Cozy Glow as well as destroying the yeti’s castle. So how come the nightmares of that event are happening now?”

“I fear that the events may not have effected him until upon this moment,” said Celestia, “I don’t know if something has made Lightning start to have nightmares of The Storm King’s return or someone is making him have them. But either way, it’s hurting the poor dear.”

“Do you think he may have more, sister?” Luna asked worryingly.

“I believe so, Luna,” answered Celestia sadly, “And whoever is giving Lightning these nightmares of The Storm King’s return, they want something to do with him.”

“What are we going to do?” Ocellus asked in a worried tone.

Celestia sadly looked at Lightning, who was still asleep, before closing her eyes. She reopened them and looked at her sister and everycreature in the room before saying, “We must take him to Canterlot.”

Chapter 4
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 4

The train stopped at the Canterlot station as everypony got out of the coaches as well as the mane eight, the royal sisters, Spike, Capper, Sunburst and the young seven. Lightning was riding on Fluttershy’s back while gently hugging his mother’s neck and sobbing a bit with the blanket on him.

“When we get to the castle, I’ll write a letter to Cadence about the nightmares,” said Celestia, “You lot go put Lightning to bed and make sure he tries to have a better nap.”

The mane eight, the three boys, the young six and Luna nodded their heads at Celestia in understood.

“Hang in there, cutie,” said Silverstream softly while gently stroking the colt’s mane, “You’ll be sleeping in a warm bed and we’ll be there for you if more nightmares come.”

Lightning sniffled a bit. The ponies and creatures began to make their way to the castle of Canterlot as the poor colt continued to ride on his mother’s back while gently hugging her neck.

They made to the castle as the two royal guards opened the doors for them and they walked into the room while the two guards closed the doors and went back to guarding them.

“I’ll start writing to Cadence about the nightmares,” said Celestia, “You lot take Lightning to one of the guest bedrooms and make sure he’s sleeping okay.”

The friendship group nodded their heads in understood before Celestia and Luna made their way to Celestia’s room to write Cadence a letter about the situation Lightning’s in right now.

“Let’s get you in a warm bed, honey,” said Starlight softly to her poor nephew.

Fluttershy gently took Lightning off her back and held him in her left hoof while making sure the blanket was still around him. The ponies and creatures started to make their way up the stairs and onto the right to the hallway where the guest bedrooms are.

They walked through the hallways until they found a guest bedroom to put Lightning in.

“This one shall do nicely,” said Fluttershy.

They all entered the room as Fluttershy walked to the bed, pulled the covers, gently placed Lightning on the bed while removing the blanket off him and slowly placed the covers over him to keep him warm. Fluttershy gently kissed her son on the forehead before whispering, “Sweet dreams, sweetheart. We love you. We’ll take care of getting rid of the nightmares.”

Fluttershy gave her son one more kiss on the forehead before returning to the group as she and the others, including Spike, looked at the young six.

“We’re gonna go join with Celestia and Luna so we can think about how we can stop the nightmares from hurting Lightning and find out who’s behind all of this,” said Twilight, “We need you lot to stay here and make sure Lightning’s sleeping okay until further notice.”

“You got it, Headmare Twilight,” said Gallus quietly but loud enough for Twilight to hear, “We’ll take great care of our friend.”

Twilight looked at Smolder and Silverstream.

“Smolder, I trust you and Silverstream know what to do if he does have a nightmare but wants more sleep.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” said Silverstream, “Our girlfriend and big sister love for the little cutie will stay with us for as long as it takes to end the nightmares.”

“Good,” said Twilight happily before turning to her friends, son and nephew, “Let’s go, everyone. We better start helping Celestia and Luna out with stopping the nightmares.”

They gave the Friendship Princess a nod in response. Twilight walked out of the guest room with everyone else following her. Oliver, being the last one out, quietly closed the door behind him leaving only the young seven in the room.

Silverstream was the first to walk up to the bed and looked at Lightning just to make sure he was sleeping and doing okay.

Lightning started to whimper again in his sleep, but Silverstream began to slowly and gently stroked his mane to calm him down while whispering softly in his ear, “Shh…shhhh…”

That worked, because Lightning was starting to calm down a bit while feeling Silverstream stroking his mane in comfort.

Silverstream continued to gently stroke the colt’s mane as Smolder carefully flew onto the bed and laid beside her boyfriend before gently holding his hoof with her claw to comfort him as well.

“Don’t worry, Braveheart,” whispered Smolder softly to Lightning, “We’re here for you.”

Sandbar, Gallus, Yona and Ocellus walked towards the bed and stood by it while looking sadly and worriedly at their poor friend. But they’re going to do whatever it takes help him and stay by his side no matter what.

At the Crystal Empire, everything was looking okay as normal. Princess Amore was looking after Flurry Heart while Shining Armor and Cadence were doing their captain and princess duties. The two were in Flurry’s bedroom playing chess with Flurry Heart using the Crystal blue chess pieces and Amore using the Crystal pink chess pieces.

Flurry Heart isn’t so little anymore as she was now all grown up. Well, not all grown up, she’s still a filly and the same age as the cutie mark crusaders were. She also has her cutie mark, which was a the Crystal Heart with three pink hearts around it.

Things was looking just fine, until Shining Armor and Cadence ran into their daughter’s room with a letter in Cadence’s magical grasp. Amore looked at them in shock and worried while Flurry Heart looked at them in confusion.

“Sorry to disturb you two,” said Cadence while she and Shining was catching their breath, “But we’ve just received a letter from Aunt Celestia. She says Lightning Twister is suffering from very horrible nightmares that based on what happened with The Storm King and his darkness.”

Amore was now in deep shock and more worried after hearing that as she placed a hoof on her mouth while Flurry Heart started to feel worried as she was now worried about Lightning Twister.

“Oh dear,” said Amore sadly and worriedly, “The poor dear.”

“Celestia wants us to come to Canterlot so we can help stop the nightmares and to support Lightning,” said Shining while Cadence went over to Flurry Heart to comfort her, “They need all the help they can get to help Lightning.”

“Then we must head to Canterlot straight away,” said Amore, “Who knows when new nightmares will strike next.”

“I’ll stay here and take care of Flurry Heart,” said Cadence while hugging her little daughter in her hoof, “You two go pack our things. I can tell we might be at Canterlot for more than just a week or so.”

Shining and Amore gave Cadence a nod in understood before walking out of Flurry’s bedroom to go pack everything they need. Flurry Heart was still feeling worried about Lightning as she buried her face into her mother’s chest and hugged Cadence’s chest with her hooves.

“Momma, is Lightning gonna be okay?” She asked worriedly.

“Shhh…it’s gonna be alright, baby,” cooed Cadence softly, “We’re gonna sort those nightmares out, I’m sure Lightning’s doing okay so far.”

While comforting her filly, Cadence looking at the bedroom window with a worried look on her face while trying not to let Flurry Heart see it. She couldn’t help but worry on how much poor Lightning Twister is suffering from the Storm Darkness nightmares. Cadence can only hope they can put an end to it and help Lightning before it gets worse.

Back in Canterlot, Celestia and Luna came out of Celestia’s bedroom and decided to go check on the others. They were halfway there when they saw the wielders of Harmony, Sunburst, Oliver and Capper coming up towards them.

“How’s he doing?” Luna asked.

“He’s sleeping okay now,” answered Sunset, “We told the students to stay with him, in case he does have nightmares, while we figure out how to stop the nightmares from continuing.”

“Good,” said Celestia, “We’ve sent a letter to Cadence about the situation. Hopefully they’ll be able to come and help.”

“I hope so too,” said Twilight, “But we need to focus on helping Lightning and stop the nightmares. Cadence and the others will come when they can.”

“You’re right, Twilight,” said Celestia while giving the Friendship princess a nod, “The poor colt needs help from us more than ever, and waiting for more support won’t make things go faster.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy began to feel worried again, “I do hope we can stop these nightmares before they get even more worse. I hate seeing my baby go through something like this, especially if the past events are part of a new problem.” Capper hugged Fluttershy in comfort.

Just then, a familiar voice was heard.

“Oh Fluttershy, please don’t be sad.”

Suddenly, a flash light appeared in the middle of the two groups as it disappeared to reveal the Lord of Chaos, Discord.

“It hurts my heart seeing you sad.”

Everyone, included Fluttershy, stared crossly at Discord as Capper and Spike’s arms were now crossed. They still weren’t happy with him after forming the Legion of Doom together and being mean to Lightning Twister over nothing.

“What are you doing here, Discord?” Asked Celestia in a calm yet angry tone, “Didn’t I make it clear that you are not to return to Equestria unless I say you can?”

“Oh come now, Celestia,” said Discord with an innocent smile, “Surely you still can’t be mad at me for what happened years ago.”

“Oh we’re STILL mad at you alright,” said Rainbow Dash angrily, “You grouped Chrysalis, Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow together just to make Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the next step, as well as adding Cold Wind, Xehanort and Aqualight together, when there was no need for a threat to help prove they’re ready and it wasn’t an exam either!”

“And you foalnapped poor Lightning Twister, when you know Cold Wind abuses him, and let Cozy Glow try to make him love her so they can rule Equestria as emperor and empress of friendship!” Added Sunset angrily.

“And you didn’t just do all of that just to help Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the princess and captain role when a threat wasn’t needed to prove they are ready!” Pinkie said angrily, “You did it, because you were jealous of Twilight becoming a princess and becoming the next ruler of Equestria!”

“Jealous?!” The ponies, creatures and princesses said in shock while looking at the pink pony.

“Oh right.” Pinkie suddenly realise that they didn’t know Discord was jealous of Twilight becoming a princess from the very start, except for her. So she said, “You see, after Twilight got her wings after fixing one of Star Swirl’s spell and became a new princess, Discord became jealous of her since he’s the Lord of the Chaos and wants to be ruler whether he was good or not quite. So he set up those fake tasks just so Twilight might fail them and for Celestia to change her mind about who should become a new ruler on her side with Luna and Cadence. And when Celestia said that Twilight was to become the next ruler of Equestria, he let all that jealousy grow even more and set up the Grogar task with also including helping her and Oliver see they are ready to become the new ruler and captain.”

“Even when he made the fake friendship mission and I was put in charge to run the School of Friendship?” Starlight asked.

“Yep,” answered Pinkie Pie, “He wanted to run the school while we were away on that fake mission but Twilight chose you instead since she trusts you. So he decided to just run it with teachers that gave our teachings a bad name, ruined Trixie’s magic show and made the students continue with the sports lesson when they were told they can have a rest. Then during the Spell-venger Hunt, he scared the students away from the artifacts as a ghost while collecting them so he can win. He did those things I said all because he felt left out and wanted to help out but refuses to ask if he can help since he thinks asking if he can help out is the dumbest thing to do.”

“Oh, is that right?” Twilight said while glaring at Discord again before the others did.

“So that’s more than just one thing we should be mad at you about,” said Celestia crossly.

“But at least you’ve all learned something from my actions, right?” Discord asked, “Plus, you all managed to complete them and save the day. Remember all that? The friendship success?”

“That’s still no excuse to why we should appreciate your way of trying to help Twilight and Oliver!” Sunburst said crossly.

“Your fake tasks nearly doomed Equestria and all of us!” Spike said crossly.

“And instead of supporting Twilight to help her see she is worthy of being a princess and becoming the next ruler, you got jealous and let all that jealously sink into you before taking actions into your own paw and claw!” Luna said angrily.

“And I could have died in the realm of darkness!” Oliver said angrily.

“But I didn’t mean to let that all happen!” Discord said, “I only wanted to help Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the next step! Plus I’m the Lord of Chaos, I should be aloud to rule again on a throne and make tasks of my own for future captains, princesses and rulers.”

“Not while we’re still standing you’re not!” The princess of the sun said angrily as she stomped her hoof the ground making Discord scared than before, “Just because you’re the Lord of Chaos, doesn’t mean you can jump in and act like we’ll choose you for the next ruler on the throne since you’ll just spread chaos across Equestria and used chaos to solve all problems when it DOESN’T! And you don’t get make your own tasks for the next rulers and captains since those tasks can lead to villains dooming Equestria and putting others in great danger! And you should know by now that villains can easily trick us, especially after what happened with you stopping Lord Tirek for us!”

“You fell for Lord Tirek’s lie like your lying detector has been switched off since you can tell if someone’s lying or not!” Said the angry dragon, “And we all know Applejack can tell a lair when she sees one without turning it off, and she’s the Element of Honesty.” Applejack smiled at Spike for that comment.

Discord sat on his knees as he placed his paw and claw together before pleading to them.

“Oh please let me enter Equestria for once! It was boring at home all alone and I really wanna come back!” Discord looked at Fluttershy who was still mad at him, “Please, Fluttershy! Please tell them that they should let me come back! I mean…we’re friends after all.”

“Friends?” Fluttershy didn’t like that, “Friends?! That didn’t stop you from lying to us, setting fake tasks for us, betraying us, continuing what you do before you stopped being evil, act like a new friend of mine is replacing you, treated me like I’m not old enough to make my own decisions and choices, putting our friends and family in grave danger, letting my son get captured by an evil filly and an abusive father! That’s NOT what friends do! They respect their choices, support them, let them have other friends and let them decide for themselves! And I have every right to make Lightning Twister as my son, have more than just one friend and I can make my own choices without anyone making choices for me!”

“Especially since she’s a year older than me!” Pinkie said crossly before Fluttershy gave her an annoyed look.

Discord gave Fluttershy a sad and guilty look before looking back at Celestia, who was still glaring angrily at him, as he gave her the pleading look again.

“Oh please, Celestia!” Discord begged the princess once more, “Let me visit here just this once! I really missed here! Let me stay! Please!”

Celestia looked at Discord with anger and now annoyed look on her face. She knew Discord was up to something bad since he thinks he can do whatever he wants and nearly doomed Equestria twice which the second one got him into deep trouble. But at least, she rolled her eyes in annoyance and let out an annoyed sigh before saying, “Alright, fine. You can stay.”

Discord smiled happily after that response. But it later turned into a scared look as Celestia glared closely at him and said, “BUT, if we hear any trouble from you or you’re upsetting Lightning Twister like you did before, then you’re going straight home and NEVER come back unless we DO say so! That poor colt is going through a hard time right now, and you’re not going to make it worse. Do I make myself clear?”

“Oh yes,” said Discord happily while standing back on his feet, “And I promise I won’t do a thing that will hurt the boy or do anything wrong.” Twilight and Applejack looked at each other with confusion, they know Discord is up to something after saying that. And they know Discord is never good at keeping promises, being good or telling the truth.

“Well,” Discord placed his paw and claw together while continuing, “Better head back and get my things. Could be a long week sorting this situation out. See you in a bit!” Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light.

Luna was worried about Celestia letting Discord enter Equestria again during the Storm nightmare situation. She knew Discord can’t always be trusted, and he was definitely on to something since he tried to get them to say he can come back now. Luna walked up to her sister and said, “Sister, are you sure this is okay? I mean, Discord isn’t that trust worthy most of the time and there’s no telling what he’s gonna do. And what would Shining and Cadence say when they see him?”

Celestia looked at her sister while calmly saying, “I know, Luna. But fear not. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him at all times. I don’t trust him one bit either. I’m more worried about Lightning getting hurt by Discord after saying he can stay.”

Luna nodded her head.

“Then we best make sure he stays away from the colt while making he’s doing okay and stopping the nightmares from continuing,” she said which made Tia smile at her.

Twilight let out a sigh before looking at her friends, son and nephew. “Might as well go tell the students and Lightning about Discord. I can already tell they’re not gonna be happy with him around, especially Smolder.”

The girls, Spike, Capper, Sunburst and Oliver gave the friendship princess a nod in response.

“It’s okay, Twilight,” said Celestia softly, “I’ll go tell them.”

“You sure?” Fluttershy asked worriedly, “It’s not a problem. We can do it.”

Celestia gently placed a hoof underneath Fluttershy’s chin while saying, “It’s alright, my little pony. I’m okay with checking on him for you. I actually wanna make sure he’s okay as well before we move on to finding the cure to end the nightmares.”

Fluttershy softly smiled at the princess as she moved her hoof away so the yellow pegasus can give her a nod in understood. Celestia smiled back at Fluttershy before making her way to the guest room the young seven were in.

“I’ll be back soon,” she said while still walking her way to the room.

Fluttershy was starting to feel worried again but about not finding a cure to help her son. Luckily, Capper was there to hug his wife again in comfort.

“Do you think we’ll be able to help him, Capper?” Fluttershy asked, “I don’t want him going through something bad again.”

“Don’t worry, honey,” replied Capper, “We’ll find a way. I promise.”

Chapter 20
View Online

The Darkness Shard

Chapter 20

By the time morning came, everyone had some of Celestia’s delicious pancakes for breakfast. However, they weren’t able to leave and continue their journey just yet, because before going to bed, Doctor Strange, Dumbledore and the royal sisters placed an invisible barrier around the area of the forest they were in to make sure no one or anything comes in and tries to attack them during the night and it only goes down till the next day. They even made sure it was wide enough to move around in and for only them to leave and come through the barrier.

So they decided to spend the rest of the day trying to do something to past the time till they can leave and continue on to the Tree of Life tomorrow.

Most of the Equestria group, as well as Dumbledore’s Army and some of the guardians, went out to make sure no one was spying on them or even planning to attack once the barrier is down. But to also collect some more firewood to make lunch.

Lightning was asleep on Silverstream’s lap with a blanket on him and his head resting on her pink soft fur chest along with her talon arms gently wrapped around him as she slowly stroked his back to comfort him during his sleep. After having another nightmare last night, everyone decided it was best for him to rest some more and try to get some better sleep. Fluttershy, Capper, Starlight, Luna and the young five were there to help make sure he’s sleeping again and nothing bad is gonna happen.

Lightning was sleeping okay before shaking a bit, but was stopped by the hippogriff softly hushing him in his ear to help him calm down. Smolder started to slowly and gently stroke his mane in comfort while Silverstream continued to rub his back.

Fluttershy started to feel more and more worried for her baby boy as Capper gently rubbed his wife’s shoulder in comfort.

Meanwhile, outside the tent, Flurry Heart was happily jumping in the leaves with Oliver watching her. It wasn’t overprotecting her or anything like that, she just wanted her big brother by her in case something or someone tries to hurt or harm her while the adults were out doing important things.

Doctor Strange, who was wearing dark blue jeans, a dark blue jacket with his hands in its pockets, a light blue shirt underneath the jacket and a dark red scarf, walked towards Oliver and stood by him while watching the little filly playing in the leaves.

He smiled at Flurry before saying, “She looks like she’s having fun.”

“She enjoys jumping in leaves,” said Oliver while smiling at her sister playing, “Whatever she does that makes her happy, it makes us happy.”

“Yay!” Flurry Heart said happily while jumping in more leaves.

The two continued to watch the happy filly play in the leaves until Oliver asked, “You wanted to speak to me about something?”

“I did, actually,” replied Strange as they walked amongst the area of leaves with Flurry Heart following them, “What do you know about the dark Equestria magic?”

“The dark Equestria magic?”

“Hm,” answered Strange with a small nod as well.

“Princess Celestia had her theories,” began Oliver, “She said that the dark magic in Equestria can get into those that are unable to see a better way to fix their problems, those that can get jealous easily, and those that have no sense in being good. And that it’s the most dangerous magic in Equestria, nopony or creature should use it, even those that wanted their life to be better again as it was before.”

“What about the one that you control?” Strange asked.

“It’s a different kind of dark magic,” answered Oliver, “A kind that not even my Aunt Twilight seen before.”

“What’d you mean?”

“Before my new family took me in, I didn’t know much about the magic I have, even while living in that orphanage. Constantine didn’t know either. But after learning how to control it, we’ve moved on from figuring out what kind of magic it was. Well, until Discord’s stupid Grogar move came and Chrysalis revealing everything about my magic.”

“Chrysalis?” Strange asked getting more confused but interested into what Equestria has that he’s never seen, heard or faced before.

“She’s a Changeling, like Ocellus, only before they turned good at the end,” explained Oliver, “You see, back when all the Changelings were evil, there was a Changeling named Thorax, who wasn’t anything like Chrysalis or the other Changelings.”

“So he’s like a good Changeling,” said Doctor Strange.

“Yes, he escaped the hive and ended up at the Crystal Empire where he become friends with Spike and helped him to prove to everypony that he wasn’t a bad guy. But when Chrysalis returned, she drained all the love from Thorax. Luckily, Starlight Glimmer was there to help him and told him to give it all to her which changed him into a colourful Changeling and a new king of the Changelings after all the Changelings changed as well.”

“And he’s still handsome and friendly!” Flurry Heart added before giggling.

“And what about Chrysalis?” Strange asked, “What happened to her?”

“Starlight tried to get her to become good as well and not to go down the path she took when she was a bad pony. But she ignored her and swore revenge at her before flying off somewhere. Then when Discord did the whole Grogar thing, Chrysalis tried to get me to join her while revealing that…she’s my real mother.”

“Your mother?”

“Yes,” Oliver said, “She tricked my real father into making me which made him leave her and brought me to that orphanage where my life started terrible until I ran away from Mr and Mrs Warlock, met John Constantine and became part of the Crystal Empire.”

“And he’s been the greatest big brother I’d ever have!” Flurry said happily.

Oliver smiled at his little sister for saying that.

“And I take it you refused to join her and remain as who you are now, right?”

“Yes, I didn’t join her after hearing my backstory before I was raised in that orphanage,” replied Oliver, “I may have dark magic that nopony has ever seen or heard of before, but I’ve been using it for good, and I have friends and a family. That’s enough to make me happy. Besides, if you had unknown dark magic but use it for good and it makes you happy, don’t you wanna continue doing it?”

Doctor Strange smiled at the grey alicorn as the two stopped walking while Flurry Heart continued to jump in the leaves.

“I think I can agree on that,” said Strange happily, “It was your choice what to do with your new life and magic, and you wanted to continue being good rather than start using your magic for evil. You’ve made a good choice staying who you are now.”

“And I’m glad I did. Besides, I like this life better and the family I now have.”

Suddenly, a new strange male voice was heard echoing from the distance.

“Then it’s a shame you disappointed your mother after discovering the truth.”

Flurry Heart became terrified of that voice and ran underneath her big brother while Oliver and Doctor Strange looked around to find where that voice was coming from.

“Who’s there?” Oliver asked, “Show yourself!”

Just then, they heard the sound of a dark corridor appearing behind them as they turned round and saw one a few metres away from them but thankfully not anywhere close to the tent.

“What the?” Strange said in shock before magically changing his clothes to his sorcerer outfit, “How did that get in here? The barriers were strong enough to take them out.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m the only one who can get through the barriers so easily,” said the voice again.

Just then, a pair of feet walked out of the corridor to reveal a black creature, which looked like a hedgehog, with a black nose, a tan muzzle and small triangular ears with tan canals and has red stripes on his six quills, around the edge of his eyes and arms with a patch of white fur on his chest. He has two spines on his back and a short, pointy tail. He was wearing white gloves with black cuffs, red tongues and a Inhibitor Ring on each wrist. He also was wearing air shoes that was white and have black cuffs and red tongues followed by a Inhibitor Ring on each ankle.

The new guy glared at Oliver, Strange and Flurry Heart as he stopped walking and crossed his arms while the dark corridor disappeared behind him. Flurry shook in fear of the creature and hugged Oliver’s hoof tightly as possible.

Oliver glared back at the creature while saying, “Who are you? And what do you want?”

“My name is Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog. I have been frozen for many years now, only to be released and found out that my home has been destroyed by a young boy who is the grandchild of a king that died years ago. So to answer to your other question, I want to find that boy and make him pay for what he has done to my life.”

“And who told you about this young boy that destroyed your home?” Asked Oliver calmly, but deep down, he was worried that Shadow might be referring to Lightning Twister.

“A man named Darkness,” answered Shadow, “He told me everything he did. He even asked me to find and bring the boy to him. He plans to lock him up for the crimes he’s committed and the people he hurt during my time being frozen before Darkness freed me and…” Before Shadow could continue, Doctor Strange interrupted him.

“I’m sorry, but the boy you’re looking for is not here,” he said, defending the innocent colt, “So you need to pack up, and leave us be.”

Shadow looked at Oliver and asked, “Young captain, does this sorcerer speak for you?”

“Certainly not, like him, I speak for myself,” replied Oliver while taking a few steps forward with his horn glowing in dark ink grasp, “You’re trespassing and invading our own mission.”

Doctor Strange made two orange sorcerer rings appear around each arm and got ready to fight Shadow before saying, “You need to get lost, Saix.”

Shadow grinned while chuckling before saying, “If that’s the way you want…so be it.” He then took out a green diamond and held it in his right hand. It was a Chaos Emerald.

“What’s that?” Flurry Heart asked as she stared at the diamond Shadow was holding.

Shadow held the Chaos Emerald in the air and shouted, “Chaos control!” He suddenly disappeared in the flesh.

Oliver, Doctor Strange and Flurry Heart shockingly looked around for Shadow, but couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Where’d he go?” Oliver asked confusedly while still looking for the hedgehog.

Suddenly, Shadow appeared behind Oliver and punched him on the back of the head causing him to fall forward and slid on the ground with Flurry Heart letting go of his hoof and fall to the ground too. Shadow kicked Doctor Strange on the back of his legs which made him fall forward, but he spun forward and landed safely on his feet.

Shadow walked towards Oliver as he slowly got up and moaned in pain after that punch.

“If your magic is dark, shouldn’t you use it to fight me?” Shadow asked, “You should know that by now since you were in darkness.”

Oliver felt insulted by that and glared angrily at Shadow with his horn glowing in dark ink grasp again. “I’ll show you darkness, Shadow.” He said in his Ink Demon voice before transforming into his Ink Demon form.

Ink Bendy tried punching Shadow, but he quickly moved back dodging his attacks. Shadow tried kicking and punching Ink Bendy, but he blocked his attacks with his arms covering his face. Ink Bendy grabbed Shadow by the quills and throw him towards a tree which he crashed through as it landed on top of him.

Shadow angrily moved the tree off him and stood back up again only to glare angrily at the Ink Demon and breathing heavily.

“Good enough for you?” Ink Bendy asked.

“You’ve just made a big mistake,” replied Shadow angrily while shaking his fists and crushing him tightly.

Shadow zoomed towards Ink Bendy and punched him really hard which caused him to fall backwards and hit the ground several times before landing on his front and unable to move after that attack.

“Olive!” Flurry Heart shouted worriedly.

Ink Bendy transformed back into Oliver as he moaned in pain and struggled to get back up again. Shadow walked towards him while saying, “If Chrysalis called you weak after you refused to join her, then she does make a good point about you. You don’t even try to embrace your dark magic and use it for what your real mother wanted you to do.”

Oliver was still struggling to get up, because of the pain he was given by Shadow, but he was able to look at Shadow before saying, “Because I’m not like her. She feeds off love from everypony and creature, and treats them like they’re nothing.”

“Heh. Still being the pony that chose the path when he was young. You really are weak like I was told about you.”

“He’s not weak!” Flurry Heart said crossly making Shadow turn to her, “He chose to use his dark magic for good, because it was his decision and he’s his own pony! He gets to decide who he wants to be!”

Shadow grinned at the little alicorn. “Defending a pony who isn’t really your brother. How pathetic.”

“He IS my brother! I don’t care if he’s adopted or not, he’s still family! You’re just saying those things, because you’re a jerk and listening to a bunch of lies from someone who you shouldn’t be trusting!”

Shadow’s grin slowly turned into an angry look after hearing Flurry Heart calling him a jerk and saying he’s been listening to lies from Darkness and how he shouldn’t be trusting him.

“You dare insult me,” he said angrily before matching over to Flurry Heart which made her more scared than before as she didn’t know what to do or what he’s going to do.

“No! Leave her alone!” Oliver shouted, but still struggling to get back up again.

Shadow looked at the grey alicorn and said, “I’ll deal with you later. Right after I’m done with her.” He continued to walk towards Flurry to where he was standing right in front of her.

Shadow stared at Flurry Heart, but his angry stare suddenly turned into a frown as he continued to look at the filly. While staring at Flurry Heart, his vision changed to where he can see a young sad girl, with blond hair and a white blue dress, looking at Shadow with sad puppy blue eyes.

Shadow was surprised by this as he remembers that girl he was seeing while Flurry Heart started to stare at Shadow confusedly as she didn’t know what was going.

“Ma…Maria?” Shadow asked.

“Who?” Asked Flurry Heart while raising an eyebrow in confusion.

While Shadow was seeing things, a new portal appeared in a shape of a giant golden ring which catches the attention of both Oliver, Flurry Heart, Shadow and even Doctor Strange himself. Suddenly, a blue furry spiny ball rushed out of the ring portal and punched Shadow causing him fall to the right and slid on the ground before hitting a tree.

“Oh for God sake!” Doctor Strange said in annoyance, “Is the barrier broken or something?!”

Shadow slowly got up and saw who it was that punched him. Standing a few miles in front of him was another hedgehog but in the colour blue all over him but with tan muzzle and belly with a black nose and blue eyes. He was wearing white shoes with red and white shoes covering them. The blue hedgehog glared angrily at Shadow.

Shadow grinned before saying, “Well, look who’s back for more.”

“I’ve been searching for your location after we last fought,” said the blue hedgehog, “And I’m not gonna let you leave after what you did.”

“What I did? You’re the one who was trying to make me look like a bad guy and ruin everything I had before I was frozen!”

“You did that to yourself! And I didn’t do anything to you, that was a lie!”

“I didn’t chose to be frozen! And I refuse to believe that I was being lied to!“ Shadow shouted.

“And I didn’t ruin everything for you! I’m not a fake!” Shouted the angry blue hedgehog.

“Fake or not, I’m still gonna destroy you and make you pay for ruining my life,” said Shadow as a red light appeared around him with red sparks sparkling on him, “And like I said, you’re never gonna get my power.”

“Do I look like I’m after your power?” The blue hedgehog asked crossly as he started shining in a blue light with blue sparks sparkling on him.

The hedgehog got ready to run towards Shadow as he speeded towards him fast in a blue light and smashed the black hedgehog making him fall back a bit, but he was able to stand on his feet still. Shadow started getting more enrage with the other hedgehog and started zooming in a red light and fought the blue hedgehog as they zoomed pass each other and banged into each other while zooming pass each other.

Just then, four more figures came from the big ring portal as the ring portal shrunk down and disappeared. Two figures were a man and a woman while the other two were like the two hedgehogs but different creatures.

One was a orange fox with two tails, white muzzle, black nose, white stomach, white gloves and white shoes with white and red shoes. He was also wearing a yellow backpack. The other was a red echidna with a tan muzzle, black nose, tiny white fur on his chest in a shape of a V, white gloves with two tiny spikes on each glove and look like boxing gloves, green socks and red and yellow shoes with six dots on a tiny grey square on each shoe.

The man had pink skin, brown hair and was wearing a green shirt, brown leather jacket, blue jeans and black shoes. The woman had black skin and hair, and was wearing a black shirt, blue jacket, black trousers and white shoes.

“There they are!” Said the echidna while pointing to the hedgehogs fighting in blue and red light style.

While watching the fight, the woman suddenly saw Flurry Heart trying to help Oliver up as he was still injured after his fight with Shadow.

“Tom!” Said the woman in a worried and shock tone as she pointed at the two ponies with Tom looking at what she was pointing and saw Oliver injured.

“Hurry!” Tom said while running towards the two ponies with the other three following him.

Oliver was groaning in great pain and coughing a bit while struggling to move a bit as Flurry Heart tried to help him up. Doctor Strange, Tom and the other three rushed over to Oliver’s aid.

“You okay?” Strange asked while helping the alicorn up.

“I think so,” answered Oliver.

“Try not to move so much,” said the woman, “The pain will get even worse, but it will slowly go if you take it easy.”

“Thanks. And you lot are…?”

“Oh I’m Thomas Wachowski, the sheriff of Green Hills. You may call me Tom. That blue hedgehog that’s fighting the other hedgehog, he’s called Sonic. And this is Maddie, my wife.”

“I’m Knuckles.”

“And I’m Tails. You’re probably wondering why I’m called that.”

“Let me guess. Because of the extra tail?” Oliver asked.

“That’s right!” Tails answered happily while showing his two tails to the two alicorns, “Everyone else got that answer as well.”

“That’s cool. Also, what is going on?!” Flurry Heart asked, “Someone’s giving Lightning nightmares, villains from other worlds appearing, Cold Wind and the Warlocks are back, and why is that evil hedgehog from the past here after being frozen for so long?”

“Oh that’s Shadow, but he probably already told you his name,” said Tails, “He’s here, because someone told him that Sonic was a fake version of him and both him and a little pony has ruined his home while he was frozen.”

“Little pony?” Oliver suddenly let out a small gasp of shock. He now knows what little pony both Tails and Shadow were on about. “Lightning Twister.”

The two hedgehogs crashed down to the ground together causing dust to flow around as it slowly disappear to show Sonic and Shadow standing near in front of each other while glaring and slowly breathing heavily.

“You’ve gotten in my way for the last time, Sonic,” said Shadow before taking out the chaos emerald, “And I still have justice to serve.”

“I don’t care what justice you wish to serve, I can’t let you or your mysterious friend hurt anyone else or this little pony,” said Sonic, “And that chaos emerald doesn’t belong to you! Give it to me!”

Shadow grinned at Sonic while saying, “You want it? Come and get it.”

Sonic growled angrily as he was shining blue again. He charged towards the black hedgehog, but he was still quick on his feet. Shadow held the chaos emerald in the air and said, “Chaos control!”

Shadow disappeared in the flesh before Sonic could even hit. Sonic stood in the spot Shadow was standing and started to looking for the evil hedgehog, but couldn’t see him. “Where did he go now?”

Suddenly, a flash of light was shone from inside of the tent. Luckily, Doctor Strange, the two ponies and Sonic’s family were close enough to the tent to hear and see the flash of light knowing that Shadow was now in the tent.

“Sonic!” Thomas called getting Sonic’s attention. He then pointed to the tent showing that Shadow was now in there.

“On it!” Sonic zoomed into the tent.

“You two go help him. We’ll take care of the ponies,” said Maddie to Tails and Knuckles.

Tails and Knuckles gave Tom and Maddie a nod in understood before running into the tent to help Sonic.

Inside the tent, Shadow placed the chaos emerald away behind him before seeing Fluttershy, Starlight, Luna and the young six, with Lightning Twister awake now, staring at him. He suddenly saw the pony sitting on Silverstream’s lap as he grinned.

“At least,” he said before approaching the colt, “Justice is mine.”

Shadow was about to grab Lightning, but another hand grabbed his hand as Sonic’s voice was heard, “Hands off the kid.”

Shadow got angry again and turned his head to glare at Sonic who was staring angry at him.

“You may want to have justice and I respect that, but I can’t let you hurt that little pony! He’s innocent!”

Before Sonic could say or do anything else, Shadow angrily punched him in the face really hard causing Sonic to let go of Shadow’s arm and collapsed to the mini stairs of the tent as Tails and Knuckles came into the tent and quickly rushed to Sonic’s aid.

“Take that, faker!” Shadow shouted crossly.

Knuckles glared at the evil hedgehog while saying, “Hey! No one does that to my friend!”

Knuckles charged at Shadow only to be punched aside as he bumped into the wall of the tent and collapsed to the floor. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t due to the pain he was given by that punch.

“Pathetic warrior,” said Shadow.

Princess Luna stared crossly at Shadow and bravely approached him while saying, “Enough! Tell us who you are and what do you want!”

Shadow turned to look at the princess before answering, “My name is Shadow. And I’m here for that pony. Hand him over!”

“Never!” Starlight Glimmer said while she and Fluttershy glared at the hedgehog.

Shadow glared at the two ponies.

“Then leave me with no other choice.” Shadow took out the chaos emerald as it started to glow green.

“Watch out! He’s using the chaos emerald again!” Tails warned.

“The what?” Gallus asked confusedly.

“Chaos cont…” Before he could finish his sentence, he was suddenly hit by a rock making him drop the emerald. He groaned before rubbing his head, where the rock hit, and seeing who threw it at him. It was Flurry Heart, who was standing on top of the mini stairs and glaring at him.

“That was for my brother!”

Shadow glared very angrily at Flurry Heart while keeping up the emerald and putting it away.

“That’s it!” Shadow shouted angrily before approaching the little alicorn as she backed up against the tent wall in fear, “I’ve had enough of this! I’m gonna do what I should have done before that clone showed up! And this time, no more distractions!”

Shadow moved his fist back ready to actually hurt Flurry Heart. The filly got more scared and covered her face with her wings. But before Shadow could actually hurt her this time, he was kicked really hard making him fly out of the tent and slide on the ground. That kick was done by none other than Tempest Shadow herself as she glared at Shadow. Flurry Heart moved her wings from her face and saw Tempest walking out of the tent and towards Shadow.

Shadow groaned in pain once more before slowly getting up and brushing the dust off him with his hand. He saw Tempest Shadow approaching him as she glared at him still.

Shadow glared back at the pony before saying, “You should know better than to mess with me. You are so gonna regret doing that to me.” He then saw that Tempest has a broken horn on her head. “And I see your horn is broken. How are you going to fight me with your magic?”

“I don’t need magic to stop you!” Tempest answered before her horn started to spark. She then zapped Shadow causing him to yell in pain. She stopped zapping the hedgehog as he breathed heavily.

Shadow glared at the unicorn as he took out the chaos emerald and said, “You’ve asked for it now.” He held the emerald in the air and said, “Chaos c…” But before he could finish, a orange sparkling ring shaped portal opened behind him. Shadow turned behind him to see it before seeing Doctor Strange was the one that opened it as his hands where glowing in orange grasp sparks.

“Not this time,” said Strange.

Tempest turned round and kicked Shadow making fall into the portal fly into the distance as he screamed. Doctor Strange quickly made the portal disappear before Shadow could even try to escape. Flurry Heart walked out of the tent and saw that Shadow was gone, but she still wanted to thank the pony that saved her.

“Thanks for saving me, Fizzlepop,” she said politely.

“You’re welcome, kiddo,” said Tempest while smiling.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Fluttershy, Starlight, Luna and the young seven walked out of the tent, with Lightning in Fluttershy’s hoof, as they saw Thomas, Maddie and Oliver walked towards them as Oliver’s painful body started to get better.

Just then, they all saw the rest of the Equestria group, as well as Dumbledore’s Army and some of the guardians returning with the firewood they needed to make lunch.

“Hey guys,” said Sora while carrying a pile of firewood, “We’re back with some firewood, and there’s no one spying on…” Before he could continue, he and the others saw the mess around the tent area as well as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Tom and Maddie looking at them. “Uhh…what exactly happened while we were gone?”

“And who are they?” Axel asked.

“It’s, kind of a long story, to be honest,” answered Oliver.

“A very long story since we’re including our story,” added Sonic with Thomas nodding in agreement.