Second Nightmare

Canterlot Castle's training grounds

"Hidden Blade!" Luna dashed forward at blinding speeds, leaving after images. As she was about to slice the training dummy in half with her sickle, the Lunar Princess smacked face-first into the courtyard wall. "Ow." Was Luna's only response as she pulled herself out of the wall, which left a face imprint."

"That's the fifth time you've messed that up, you bumbling fool. " Spoke Nightmare Moon, who was still trapped in the sickle.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Quiet, you. Moving at high velocity is no easy task."The Alicorn sat on her haunches, doing her best to catch her breath. It's been over three days since she got off that infernal wheelchair and found her new weapon. During this time, she was able to restore the ancient sickle. Who knew you only needed a bowl of vinegar and a sander? Of course, Nightmare Moon hated every minute of it, and she accused Luna of sadism, which she denied while wearing a smirk.

After restoring the blade, images started appearing in her mind. It was a young human male performing various moves in a fluid motion. It perplexed the monarch how somepony could move so fast with little momentum. Then the answer came in the form of Nightmare Moon telling her the answers; her darker half wasn't entirely sure where she got the answer. Either way, the movements the boy was performing were called Active Skills. And by the Moon, these Skills had hefty mana requirements!

The first time she tried performing a skill, she nearly killed herself. The Skill nearly drained Luna of her Mana, weakening her for the next few hours. Then she decided to take baby steps by performing various exercises with her sickle. After a few hours of vigours training, she came to a startling realization! Her connection over the shadows and the Moon strengthened while wielding this weapon.

If that wasn't all, she could feel the untapped potential in the weapon. Luna could go further with her connection with the shadows or go further with the Moon itself. Still, she had two other choices, as she could feel the tug of untapped power within the sickle. She could look upon the very stars to aid her in battle or call upon the...What was this evil feeling? "Ṱ̴̡̖͕͓̲̼̭̭̰͓̓̒̏̐̉̈́̀͛̌̌͘̕͘̕h̷̛̙̠̼͕̩̠̝̱͓̣̥̗͖̱͗̈̈̈̄͌̍̀ȩ̶͖̲̰̭̰̥̪͉͉́̀͂͠ ̷̡̛̛̞́̋̂̏̋͋͌͌̔͗p̴̡̫̥̖̫̜͚̺̱͐̈́̄̄̀̇̉̉ͅo̶̳̖͔͎̳͇̥̰̦̣̟̲̔̀̾w̶̨̟̳̥̍̉͌̔̄̔͌̆̍͝ę̷̙͇̣͔̻͓̜͖̼͛̌͐̾͊̔̎̈́̓̀̀͑̓r̶̡̖͈̞̱͉̟͖͈̝̉͐̓̇̾͝ ̷͎̞̭̞̫̗̳̦̘̎͗̅̓͒͝ͅt̸̨̞̺͙͕͕̤͖͓̼̲̼̥͊̋̀̿͑̀̒̔̏͑̈õ̷̧̱̪̹͉͈̫̗̟̭̪͖͓̐́ ̶̧̳͚̯̮̍̿̊̒̊̀̀̀̔͘ę̸̨̛̗̬̜̠̯̟̰̠̦̮͓͋͂͒̚͝ç̴̡̫͗̊̈́̌̿̅́̕͠l̸͇̰̮̣̜͐͐̔̍̌̃͘̕̚į̵̢̡͇̮͖̺̩̼̔͊͐̎͂̊̂̽̔͝͠ͅp̷̡͓̙̰͎̳̌̊͐̇͒̉͐̽ṡ̶̨̢̛̛̻̯͔͍̣̱̺̳̯̏̂̀̓̋͒̚ę̶̢̢̩̰̟̤̻͈̜̘̜̒͒̃̔́̐̕͠ ̵̡̰͓̹͙̲͍̟͚̠͂̂͊͠ţ̸͔̀͐̓͋̊̿͛ḥ̸̙̬̯̰̠̗͐͌̕è̷̛͙͚͑̌̎͊̓̉̇͜͝͠ ̸͉̗̦͉̱͎̺̰̘̭̒̈́̀̄͋̔͆̌̈̕̕͘͝ş̴̛̞̺͚͚͔͎̋̈́̊̈́̊͑́ǔ̶̧̘̩͓̟̠̩̈́͂͒̀͛̌̒͂͊̿̕͝ͅn̶̬̙͚͕̩̗͙̣͖̮̊̽͗̋͋̀̄̀̅͝"

The Lunar Alicorn shook herself from these thoughts. At some point, she'll be at a crossroads where she'll have to choose. Will the power she chooses be best for her sister and their kingdom, or will it lead to destruction as she pursues revenge against the ape that humiliated her?

More heavy thoughts began to creep into her mind, and before she fretted over them, her sister's voice brought the Alicorn back to reality. "Lulu, are you alright?" asked a worried Celestia.

Luna looked up and saw the concerned face of her sister. Feeling slightly embarrassed for staring into space, Luna stood straight and cleared her throat. "I'm fine, sister. I'm just." She paused and thought about it. "How do the younger ponies say it these days? Working up a sweat, yes, that. How is your morning going?"

It was going poorly if her messy hair and bags under her eyes were any indication. "Terrible." She said without the usual motherly tone in her voice. "Where do I begin?" Using her magic, Princess Celestia pulls out a stack of pictures and a letter. "Commander Valkyrie just came back from what was left of that small town near Neighagra falls."The white Alicorn grimaced. "Valkyrie was the only survivor." The mare was screaming bloody murder when she came back. It got to the point where the mare had to be restrained.

Before Princess Luna could ask questions, Celestia pushed the pictures into her sister's magical grip. What Luna saw next left her in horrified silence. Then she looked to the following picture, then the next until she reached the final image showing dead and mutilated foals.

A pool of shadows began to gather at Luna's hooves. Soon, her teeth began to sharpen, and her pupils became slits. She could feel Nightmare Moon's influence take hold of her mind. "Disgusting, wretched creatures!They will know the taste of our blade!" The creatures she saw couldn't be considered ponies, just mockery. They needed to be put down like the animals they were. "Sister, we shall go to this village and slay these barbarians!" She said in a double-tone voice.

"Sister, calm yourself!" Princess Celestia exclaimed. She could completely deny Luna from going, but that would worsen things. Instead, she would use reason and logic to delay the inevitable. Celestia looked directly into Luna's eyes and placed a hoof on her withers. "You. Are. Not. Ready! None of us are!" The dark Alicorn looked like she bit into a lemon and was ready to explode. The solar Alicorn continued quickly. "We need a plan. Running head first into this unknown will get us killed and the ponies under us killed. You remember what happened last time?"

"Yes, sister." Luna gritted out before returning to normal. Letting out a defeated sigh, Luna looked down dejectedly. "What of the Pillars? Will they be sent? And how long are we going to have to wait?"

"Yes, the Pillars are coming with us. They're still in the process of finding their artifacts." The Solar Princess brought her little sister into an embrace while saying this. "We'll retake the town within the next two weeks. During this time, we'll be preparing and planning. And, of course, we'll be asking for the Human's help."

"WHAT?!" Luna pulled away from her sister as if she was slapped. "You can't be bucking serious?!" Princess Luna could see it now, the Human with a smug look on his face. "What could that baboon do for us?"

Princess Celestia had a sheepish smile as she talked. "Well, that brings me to another reason why I wanted to talk." She held up the letter that Cadance sent her. " Raven Maxwell knows the cause of Twilight's affliction, and it might be connected to the creatures we saw in that picture." Luna narrowed her eyes in suspicion but stayed silent. "It was caused by an otherworldy being named Henir." The name itself sent a shiver through the sickle she held and Nightmare Moon. "And if I read the letter correctly, this thing might be orchestrating all of this."

"Are you sure this isn't Discord's doing or the monkey trying to pass off the blame to somepony else?" Luna asked suspiciously.

"No, this isn't like Discord; as mean-spirited as he is, he was never bloodthirsty." The alabaster alicorn still had doubts, and the spirit of chaos not answering their calls was making it worse. "The Human may be trying to shift the blame, and this could be one big coincidence, but we both know that's unlikely. Anyways, It's unlikely that the Human could come since his asking for extra time."

"Excuse me?" Luna deadpanned before taking the letter from her sister's magical grip. "An earth pony performing spells? Nonsense." She mumbled while reading. She sneered in disgust at the discovery of another Changeling Queen and her hive. "Wonderful, more insects." Soon she was relieved that the foals were fine, then enraged by the accusation from the Human. "A Nasod? What in the buck is a Nasod?" Apparently, it was a talking toaster. Then she reached the final part. "Two months!? For what?" She kept reading, and her brow raised in surprise. "Chrysalis's Head." For once, she was pleasantly surprised by the Human. "I could place it on my nightstand."

"Luna," Celestia said sternly.

"What? All we need to do is ask one of those hunter-griffons for a taxidermist," She said with a big smile.

"Luna! Don't joke about that!" The very thought about that practice made her gag. "As much as I dislike Chrysalis, I wouldn't want her dead."

"Well~ It can't be helped if the Human did kill her by accident; you know how clumsy those apes can be," Luna suggested with another eager grin.

"No, Chrysalis is to be brought in alive, and she will be brought to justice. That is final." Celestia stomped her hoof, ending the argument.

Luna sighed. "Fine, if the Human kills Chrysalis, we won't announce that he is" She reread the letter with narrowed eyes."Reformed."

"We can worry about that later. Right now, we need information. I'll send these pictures and a letter to Cadance and the others." Celestia conjured parchment and an inkwell. "Also, I'll send a letter to Scootaloo, as her parents were identified as one of many deceased in the pictures."

Princess Luna grimaced at the mention of the orange filly. "No, let me be the one to break the news to her."The Princess of the night entered the young pegasus's dream not too long ago. And seeing how Rainbow Dash isn't here, it'd be best if she broke the news to her. "I'll see if she has any other family members. Now if you'll excuse me, I must continue my training." She had another hour at best before she headed for bed and got ready for night court.

As she turned back to the training dummy, Celestia called for her once more. "Luna, are you sure training with that weapon is the best course of action? I'm worried." She wasn't thrilled when Luna brought her the old and rusty weapon. A weapon one of her guards found five hundred years ago washed up near Las Pegasus. A useless weapon with hidden potential. Celestia kept it around, hoping to find a way to use it. And, of course, Luna is the one who can get the weapon working.

" Yes, I need to do this. If what the mon-" She stopped and took a deep breath. "If what Raven said is true, this is only the beginning. Even if I have to use a Human weapon and their magic to protect our little ponies." Luna looked back at her sister with a determined look. " I suggest you brush up on your skills as well. Hidden Blade!" Luna dashed forward again and sliced the training dummy in half.

Celestia stared at her sister in awe...When did her little Lulu grow up so fast? "I see. You're right, Luna. I'll see if I can fit it into my schedule." Of course, she needed to deal with the diplomats and leaders who still wanted answers. Then she also had to send letters to the deceased's families. "We have a long journey ahead," Celestia said tiredly.

Henir's Time and Space

Somewhere between reality and the endless space that made up Henir's dimension lay Discord, who was bloody and broken. His muzzle was broken and limp; both legs were twisted in painful angles. The noodle-like body that comprised the Draconequus's body was covered in multiple puncture wounds. His talon hand was nothing more than a stump, like his wings. The only thing left untouched was his Lion's paw, an act of mercy on Glave's part.

Discord lifted his Lion's paw with one painful movement and snapped his finger. He blinked out of existence for one second and was brought back not long after. The draconequus stood there fully healed as if nothing ever happened. The scowl on his face said otherwise. "That cheater! Fading in and out of existence so he wouldn't get hit! And the way he copied my moves!" Discord fumed, then his expression softened. "I should have thought of that... Now, how do I get out of here? I don't see any cracks I can use to slip out." In other words, finding a gap in this dimension.

Before he could dwell on it further, four flashes of light from behind brought him out of his thoughts. Discord's neck did a 180 to see the new arrivals, and what he saw made his stomach drop. "Oh no."

"Looks like we're at the final stage, and Woah, look at our opponent; looks like he'll keep us entertained!" Said a Human male no older than eighteen. He had shoulder-length ruby-red hair, while a small patch on his left side was black as night. He wore Skin tight black shirt with armored black leggings. He carried two massive swords, one red and the other black. "Names, Elsword!"

"Ew~, You're so not cute!" It came from a Human female who looked slightly older than Elsword. She had long lavender-colored hair that tied into twin pigtails. She wore a white magical girl outfit with royal purple highlights. She carried around a white staff with a golden-shaped heart and gem at the end of it. She looked more like an Idol than a fighter. "My name is Aisha, and I'll defeat you with the power of cuteness!" She struck a pose and winked.

"..." The elven woman had nothing to say to this creature. She looked to be in her twenties. While her light green hair was short, it was all tied into one long braid. The elf wore a green and black leotard that accentuated her curves. She also wore a black hooded cloak made from feathers and didn't wear any shoes, making her footsteps silent. She carried a black crossbow in one hand while in the other, she carried a dagger with a red gem embedded in it. "Rena." She said.

"Hmph, Aisha, Elsword, don't underestimate our opponent." This came from an olive skin man with a scar across his chest. He had black hair that reached his back and a single red highlight on one of his bangs. He wore a black dress shirt; over it was a black blazer with red insides. He wore black pants, along with black armored leggings. The man's weapon of choice was a single-handed sword with a bullet magazine attached. His other weapon of choice was a black Nasod arm; the palm of it glowed bright and hot. And if anyone touched it, it would burn them. "My name is Raven Cronwell. I'll make this quick. BURNING BUSTER!" Raven uses his claw to create murder crows and send them flying at Discord. The others take this as their cue to start as well.

All Discord could think was. "Fiddlesticks!" So the battle began!

[Elsword(Immortal)]

[Aisha(Metamorphy)]

[Rena(Twilight)]

[Raven(Nova Imperator)]

Author's Note

Alright, I Got another chapter out! Hope you like it!

Also let me say this again, these characters are just cameos thats it. they won't show up in the main story. They're just fanserivce.

Also Raven's canon last name is Cronwell, I only changed it because I liked maxwell more.

Ps. Discord dies!(Not really.)