A Boy and his Watch

A Boy and his Watch
By TheAlienBrony22

Friendship is Galactic,
Part 7

[Everfree Forest]

"So, we've been at this for a good few hours. We survived a collapsing cliff, faced a Manticore, and laughed at a bunch of trees. If I had to give this night a score, five out of ten. Too weird, kinda action packed, ended kinda sappy." Dash stated.

"Don't rate it so low so soon, Dash, the night's not over yet, and it may never end if we don't stop Nightmare Moon." Ben remarked, lightly tapping Dash's shoulder with a grin. "Besides, I found it pretty nice to have a couple moments of levity, gets me in the right mood to stop the bad guys. Admit it, you feel a little better."

Dash smiled and rolled her eyes, only for the both of them to nearly trip over their own friends.

"Hey, why'd we stop--" Before Dash could get another word out, the sound of cascading and raging waters was heard, showing the river as it splashed around in a tyrannical manner. It was a rolling mass of white-ish blue water, surging over the banks and casting water high up into the air as waves constantly crept up the coastlines, splashing out at the ponies and the human. Stones broke off and thrashed around in the water. Looking down the river, they only saw more of the same, with a few stray branches getting forced into the ground. It was like chaos in its wettest form. "Oh, that's why."

"Eyup, we're gettin' closer to that castle." Applejack stated.

"At least we found the river... but uh, how do we get across without getting caught in the waves?" Pinkie asked.

"Why is this small river even getting so erratic, anyway? Is it the everfree doing this, or is it something else?" Ben wondered.

"Maybe Fluttershy and I could fly you guys across. Ben could probably make it on his own or could even help get you across, so it'll be worth it... wait, what is that sound?" Dash looked down a little ways of the river, and soon enough, everyone heard the sound of something or someone crying, but it was barely heard over the raging river.

"Whatever or whoever it is, they might need assistance." Ben stated, running towards the sound.

"Leave it to my brother to try and help others. C'mon, let's go." Twilight stated as they followed behind him.

After a bit of moving through bushes, brush, and snapping away a few of the tree branches and vines that got in their way, they eventually came towards the origins of the crying.

A gigantic purple sea serpent thrashed in the center of the river, his massive form was throwing out waves from his body, the turbulent mass of the serpent was the clear source of the rampaging river. Atop his head was a well styled if flamboyant orange pompadour and half a curled mustache sprouted from his muzzle.

"Of all the stranger things I had to encounter tonight... this takes the cake," Ben remarked, surprised.

The serpent wailed and cried as they watched, going on and on about something as the group looked on. "Oh what a world, what a world!?!!?" The serpent wailed, thrashing and causing more chaos in the waves of the river.

"So he's the cause of all this?" Dash mumbled. "And here I thought my parents were known for carrying on."

"Well, he is a Sea Serpent. Most sea-dwelling creatures have a natural tie or two to the many bodies of water all over Equestria, even outside of Equestria's boundaries they roam and have some control over the waves." Twilight explained.

"But why is this feller cryin' his eyes out this much?" Applejack asked bemusedly.

"Well, why don't we ask him?" Fluttershy suggested.

"She's right, after all, sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can stop that psycho alicorn," Ben walked up and took a deep breath. "Hey mister!! Is something wrong?"

The serpent opened his tear-stained eyes and finally took notice of the group, trying to compose himself. "Well I don't know, I was just sitting here minding my own business when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just, whisked past me, and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off." The serpent whined, showing the piece of his stache was indeed hacked off and missing. "And now I look simply horrid!"

Before any of them could respond the serpent fell over into the water wailing, a great wave rising up from the impact and sloshing over the lot of them. The six ponies were slightly less than thrilled about the sudden dunking, but Ben didn't seem to mind that much.

"Well, this is the oddest reason I've ever seen someone have a fit over," Ben remarked, spitting out a bit of river water as he sat under a tree, watching as everything unfolded.

"Never have I been so angry to contemplate on just going home and forgetting about saving the world." Rainbow growled.

"That's why yer havin' such a conniption?! Over a bit of facial hair?" Applejack grumbled.

"Why of course it is, how can you be so insensitive?" Rarity interjected, stepping forward towards the edge of the water the serpent poking his head out to look down at the mare.. Ben raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Aww just look at him, such lovely luminescent scales!"

"Oh I know..." The serpent pouted.

"And your expertly coiffed mane, a daring but confident style!" Rarity continued.

'Rarity's being Rarity... why do I feel like this isn't gonna end well?' Ben thought to himself.

"Oh I know, I know! Mare, it takes days to gather the confidence for a serpent like me to have such a wonderful style!" The serpent agreed.

"Your fabulous manicure, Darling!~" Rarity continued to pander as the other ponies continued to try and dry themselves off, and still be confused by what exactly was happening.

"Honey, it's so truuee!!" The serpent stated with a laugh.

"All of that, ruined without your beautiful mustache! While I must say, every look has something pulling it together, your moustache was just another factor!" Rarity concluded.

"It's true I'm hideous!! I could never show my face without my moustache, what can I do?!" The serpent screamed falling back into the water flailing.

"I'm more confused than a prankster during April Fool's day right now." Applejack admitted.

"Rarity's being Rarity, but I feel like that's not gonna last any longer... I haven't the slightest clue as to why though." Ben responded.

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" Rarity proclaimed.

"I'd be mad and very confused right now if I didn't know beforehand that Fabulosity was actually a real word in the Equestrian dictionary." Ben groaned.

The group watched as Rarity suddenly bit the serpent and yanked, tearing free a scale. the serpent wailed as it rubbed where one of its scales was plucked off.

"OUCH!! What was that for!?" The serpent wailed in confusion.

"This!" Rarity stated, holding the scale in her teeth. Rarity then brandished the scale like a blade, lifting it high over her head and bringing it down in a quick slash. Everyone was aghast, especially the serpent, who reared up with a scream, flailing in the air before falling over as if he had just been slain.

The others stared on in shock. Rarity's tail had been cropped short by the impromptu blade. She tossed the scale aside and used her magic to pick up the remains of her tail and brought it over to weave it in with the remains of the serpents mustache again, giving the Sea serpent a matching mustache, only with one side being purple.

The serpent however was clearly overjoyed given his overly loud giggle and flailing about. "My Moustache! It- It looks so much better now! Clearly you're a true fashionista, my little pony! Only someone with a true eye for fashion can know that a normal moustache is fine, but a moustache that has no matching qualities or feel at all, a look that isn't like any other, is a trend-setter!!~ How wonderful!" The serpent laughed, admiring his new moustache.

"You look smashing, darling! And don't flatter me, you're the one who'll be turning heads!" Rarity commented.

"Uh... Rares? Your tail..." Ben commented, wincing at the sight.

"Hmm? Oh! That's nothing, short tails are in this season anyhow..." Rarity placated. "Besides, it'll grow back, and it'll look more fabulous than ever when it does! After all, giving something up isn't like I gave up, it's more like just showing a bit of Generosity."

"So would the mustache, but okay." Rainbow muttered.

"Well we can cross now ah suppose, but now the question is how?" Applejack wondered.

"Alright let's--" Twilight was interrupted by the sudden motions of the serpent.

"Tut tut. Allow me." The serpent then began to shift around, stretching his body straight across the river as he made a bridge with his body. "Come along, don't be shy!~"

Wasting no time the group scrambled across the bridge to the other side. Ben carefully followed as he jumped to dry land and looked back at the serpent. "Thanks, serpent dude! Hope things go well for ya."

"Anytime, and please, call me Steven Magnet! Everyone doooeeess!~" Steven called out in a singsong tone. As the ponies finished waving goodbye to Steven, they made their way back into the woods and back on the path.

As they kept walking, a thought suddenly came to Ben's mind. He wasn't really sure what exactly put this idea into his head, but the more he thought on it, the more he felt uncomfortable with what that insinuated.

"Hey, crazy idea just came to me... You ever get that feeling you're being watched, but you don't know by who... or what?" Ben asked.

"Come tah think of it, ah have been feelin' that since we came into tha forest. Why ya askin'?" Applejack asked curiously.

"Well, think about it. A part of my theory on Nightmare Moon is that while she is an alicorn, she seems very... weak, despite her strength," Ben wondered.

"What're ya talking about, man?" Rainbow asked.

"You ponies nearly faced death a couple times tonight, whether it be by landslide or eaten by manticore. Even overcoming certain obstacles with either a positive outlook or with a more constructive solution," Ben continued, stopping as he thought more and more on everything that happened recently. "Didn't Steven say some kind of weird cloud of smoke was the thing to Knick off a piece of his moustache?"

The ponies stopped and looked at Ben, each one curious as to where the human was going with this. "Before I came barreling down that path and Twilight fell on top of me, I did see some kind of odd cloud thing going the opposite direction of the cliffside that just collapsed. It went ahead of you girls, and moments later, a Manticore has this weirdly spotted thorn in its palm and it attacks us. Then, I could swear there was something in the dark following us before those freaky faces appeared on those trees. Then, there's the incident with Steven Magnet. Call me a skeptic, a nutcase, or a kook, but something isn't lining up and I don't like it."

"Ben, are you insinuating that Nightmare Moon has been toying with us this whole time?!" Twilight asked.

"It's either she's toying with us, or these weird tricks she's pulling are all she can do. Think about it, Two alicorns battle it out a thousand years ago. Celestia came out on top, and Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon for those thousand years. After all that time, it seemed like she was weakened by her time in banishment, and when she came back, she still seemed plenty strong during our first little fight back in town, she knocked me out like it was nothing." Ben remarked.

"So, is she actually toying with us because she finds it more fun this way, or is she just super weak from a thousand year old battle?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't actually know for certain which it might be, but I know for a fact that she's worn out, but not worn out enough to not cause a bit of mischief for seven wayward souls who're trying to stop her," Ben looked to his sister, determined. "Twilight, back me up here. Even an Alicorn can use some pretty basic spells to do some of the things that happened back there, couldn't they? After all, why still have us alive when she could've probably just turned us to ash at any moment?"

Twilight took a long moment to process everything. She was silent, mulling over which possibility it could've been in her head, but while she didn't have that much of an answer, she at least knew Ben was right. Celestia could raise and lower the Sun and Moon, and that was after Nightmare Moon was banished, but if that was the case, why wasn't Celestia here now, helping or even taking the fight to Nightmare Moon herself, let alone send a few guards?

"Remember that dream I had, the one that felt exactly like this? It's even more so, now! I can barely remember what it was about, but this feels too convenient. Celestia's out for the count and missing, Nightmare Moon's on the loose after a thousand years of banishment, something just isn't sitting right with me about all of this..." Ben groaned and rubbed his temples, trying to think on something else that seemed important, but failing to recollect on it. "I feel like there's something else I need to remember, but I need a bit more time to figure that out, just level with me here and keep this in mind for when we eventually face this nightmare head-on."

"Don't worry, Ben, you at least gave it a good shot. Plus, you did have a few fair points on the whole 'Wicked Mare of Darkness' thing, but even if everything you said was true, it seemed like Nightmare Moon had more than just one connection to Celestia. Maybe we'll figure it out as we press onward." Twilight stated, turning around to see the Castle in the near distance. "C'mon everybody, we have a world to save!"

As the heroes moved onward, a dark shadow slipped out of one of the trees, hurrying to catch up with the group. It whipped through the air looking like a purple little star filled cloud before it rushed off into the night after the group.

"I'm not sure I follow. How does someone with such uh... a poor vision condition still get the job to tend to weather control?" Twilight asked.

"Do I have to explain it every time or are you messing with me? I have no idea how she got the job, but she does well at it. Most people with two working eyes can mess up every now and then, even I can mess up from time to time, and time again, but Derpy, her eyes can't physically allow her to look straight at all. If and when we get out of here, I gotta ask her how she does it." Dash explained.

"We're really having this discussion, huh." Ben sighed and rubbed his face. "Dash, cut Derpy a break, sure the mare can't look straight half the time, but you gotta admire how she's willing to take such an important job, and still keep it despite her condition. Despite her name suggesting otherwise, she's got quite the skill to work on the weather like she does."

"I'm aware, and I'm not putting her down because of it, but it's not like I know how to compare when she can do the job, and half the time I can't." Dash remarked.

"Me thinks you got issues, I just don't know which issues. I say talk to her normally, and then subtly bring it up, just don't overwhelm her with questions, I think she's got like a case of mild anxi-- Ahh!!!"

Ben was pulled backwards, seeing that the path came to an end, with a rope bridge being untied and unused, in whoever knows how long. Beyond the other side of where the bridge would be their destination, the castle.

The seven of them gazed out over a mist filled chasm towards a crumbling castle on the other side, looking on in awe. Despite how the castle was in a state of abandonment, ruin, and was also slightly damaged by the passing of time, the mist floated and drifted around the castle, obscuring the other side at times rolling over the area, like an incredibly dense fog, and it just seemed glorious.

"That has to be one of the most awesome, yet most intimidating castles I have ever seen in my life." Ben remarked, smiling at the sight.

"Yup, this is it, the back side of the castle. Coulda sworn this path led to the front, but beggars can't be choosers, especially right now." Applejack said. "Falls are what's making all the mist, the river plunges down into the gorge that's around the other side of the castle. Now, where in tarnation is the bridge?"

"I see it, Applejack! Looks like it fell." Pinkie pointed down into the mist.

"It looks undamaged... either someone was dedicated enough to go down there and repair the bridge, or there's some kind of enchantment on it. I know Canterlot had enchantments on every single building once they found out it was me behind the alien crusades I used to do, so that way, nothing got broke anymore by me, or required fixing, just required reinforcing." Ben guessed.

Twilight's horn glowed for a few moments, then died down. "Ben guessed right, there's an enchantment on the bridge. There's another enchantment on what might be a door leading into the castle, but we can worry about that till we get across." Twilight concluded.

"But why would the bridge collapse now if it had an enchantment on it?" Fluttershy asked.

"My theory's starting to hold more water with instances like this. Could be Nightmare Moon's doing, sabotaging any further attempts to get closer so we can stop her plans." Ben theorized, looking at the thick wooden poles that held the bridge up in suspension, seeing a couple cut marks on the ropes. "Yep, definitely sabotage. Classic villain technique, and Twilight thought comic books wouldn't teach me anything. If it taught me anything, look for the finer details, this is a classic villain's modus operandi."

"...You read Mom's novels once, didn't you?" Twilight asked with a sly grin.

"Anyways!" Ben stated sternly, his face getting a bit red with a nervous smile. "What I'm saying is, someone's gonna have to go down there and somehow re-suspend the bridge so we can get across and end this nightmarish night once and for all."

"Oh, that's what you meant. Don't worry, I got this!" Rainbow Dash then leapt off the side of the ledge, spreading her wings as she dove into the mist.

"Be careful, Dash!" Futtershy yelled quietly.

After what felt like an hour, Rainbow Dash quickly flies back up into view, pulling up the other end of the rope bridge lifting it up to the other side of the chasm. She looped one section around the stone before flying back across the chasm to the group. "Hey AJ, can you lend me your rope? I wanna make sure this is on nice and tight!"

"Sure thing," AJ tossed the bunched up rope. "Hows it look? Was it sabotage, or was it just gettin' old?"

"Oh, it was definitely cut. Ben called it, so we might wanna be careful of any other nasty surprises." Dash smirked as she darted back to the other side.

"Just don't take too long, otherwise I'm coming over there! That's a Promise!" Ben shouted.

The group watched as Rainbow Dash managed to secure part of the bridge before she stopped and turned to something behind her.

"What is she doing?" Pinkie asked as Ben dialed in one of his forms.

"Something risky. Faust damn it, Dash." Ben groaned under his breath. The fog was starting to get thicker and denser, to the point where they almost couldn't see the pegasus.

"Y-You don't think that--" Twilight was blinded by a flash of green light.

"That Nightmare Moon would try to pick one of us off for easy pickings, in hopes of deterring us from stopping her? Yes, yes I do think that. Now give me some room, I'm gonna get risky." A new voice called out. As the green light died down, a familiar form stood in Ben's place.

Standing at nine feet tall, was Ben's dragon form. Clad in dark teal-violet scales, the fleshy part of his body being a deeper and fluorescent magenta color. The dragon's yellow-green eyes snapped open, the pupils becoming slit, and a couple scaley spines grew from the dragon's back. The fins on his head, were more like a maroon kind of red, and the Omnitrix's emblem formed on the same black and white armor guard that had formed on the dragon's shoulder.

"I'm going over there, and whatever's going on, I'm gonna stop it." Shinzilla gritted through his fangs. The dragon leapt off the ledge and dug its claws into the rocky wall of the other side, stopping his descent as he climbed his way up.

"Rainbow..."

"Who's there? Come out, now!" Rainbow Dash demanded, hearing something, or someone the roiling mist calling her name. "I'm warning you, buster, I'm not scared of you, so show yourself!"

"We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flier in Equestria." the voice stated, oozing with charm.

"Who? You're obviously not talking about me," Rainbow Dash blinked.

"Indeed, we are." The voice inclined.

"Look, flattery and compliments can only get you so far, but if you were to tell that to the Wonderbolts, I wouldn't exactly mind," Rainbow smirked at the idea, but remembered why she was here. "but I got a long ways to go before I'm the best flier. Now if you'll excuse me,"

"No Rainbow Dash, you misunderstand," There was a sound of hooves as a trio of dark forms galloped out of the mist. Rainbow was astonished by the costumes they wore, the black and purple uniforms the trio were wearing, though the gold goggles seemed a bit pretentious and creepy, but still, the outfits looked fantastic. "We are the Shadowbolts, Rainbow Dash, and we want you... to join us."

"We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree, soon we will be the best in all Equestria, if there wasn't a small problem with our plan." the smoke colored mare spoke. "We need a new captain, and we want you to be that captain."

"As tempting as that is, if it means I have to see you smile everyday, then not interested. Plus, I'm already trying to get on a better team, and my friends come first. Thanks for the offer, but my final answer's no." Dash explained.

"What a shame... you would've made a great captain, Rainbow Dash..." The smoke colored mare lamented, bringing a slight smile to Rainbow's face, "But, I know something else you'll be great at being... A Corpse! Kill her-- AAAGGHHH!!!!"

Before the mare could even finish her command, a stream of shimmering yellow-green flames enveloped the mare, turning her into a misty dark smoke cloud that began to retreat to the castle. The other two ponies turned around, seeing a wingless dragon, towering over them. They began to cower at the sheer stature of the dragon.

"G'day, mates. I'm feelin' like some Shadowbolts, kebab style tonight!" Shinzilla gruffed in a low-toned thick Australian accent, then letting out a loud, echoing roar, only to then fire a few fireballs at the ponies. They dodged the attacks and Dash scrambled to get to the dragon's side, noticing the Omnitrix's emblem being worn by it.

"Huh, Dragons too? Just how many guys can you turn into, anyway?" Dash asked.

"Not the time, Dashie, get the rope tied and I'll keep these buggers off yer tail!" The dragon spoke out. Dash smiled and continued to tie up the rope while the other ponies rushed forward.

Shinzilla swiped his claws at one of them, scarring them a fair bit, then swatted them to the ground with his tail, turning it into another one of those strange smoke clouds that retreated to the castle. Shinzilla took a deep breath, and as soon as the last Shadowbolt stood still, Shinzilla unleashed a powerful torrent of fire, incinerating the pony as it turned into the same smoke cloud and ran off to the castle.

"Rainbow! Are you alright?" Twilight called out, running towards the pegasus and squeezing her in a hug.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Though, I might not have been any longer, if Ben didn't come out of nowhere and turned those guys into a barbeque," Dash looked at the dragon, who smiled, showing off his sharp fangs. "Man, how did you keep A Unicorn and a Dragon form from us for this long!?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise, you would've seen Warlock Trot firsthand at the celebration when I did a Potential Reading booth, but unfortunately, we wouldn't be out 'ere if somethin' didn't go horribly wrong," Shinzilla explained, "As for Shinzilla, I was gonna show this scaley bugger off durin' the aftermath of the celebration, but of course, nothin' ever goes to plan."

"I must say, I'm surprised at how... well, ferocious you were, what was that about?" Rarity asked.

"Natural Dragon instincts. Gotta show that stupid alicorn yutz who's the baddest one 'ere somehow." Shinzilla stated, tapping the Omnitrix as Ben was returned to normal in a flash of red light.

"So, what did those ponies even want?" Applejack asked.

"They wanted me to be their new captain, but I declined. My friends came first, and I'm already trying to join the Wonderbolts, what's the point in joining some blatant rip-off team? It definitely didn't help their case that they tried to kill me, but again, good thing Ben stepped in before they could try." Dash explained.

"You refused to join their team, for us? I'm glad you did, but I'm also kinda surprised, myself." Applejack wondered.

"Don't hurt yourself, AJ, I did it for all of us. I couldn't just leave you guys hanging like that, I know where my Loyalty lies." Dash remarked.

"Everytime I roasted them like Hearth's Warming dinner, they turned into that same weird smoke cloud, and by this point, I think it's confirmed that Nightmare Moon is worn out from her fight with not just Celestia from a thousand years ago, but from her recent fight with me," Ben cracked his knuckles and looked towards the mares. "If she was trying to kill one of us now, she's getting desperate, hope this doesn't end in destruction, or eradication. Who's ready to face the final boss?"

"We're as ready as we gotta be. No more messing around, the day shall rise again! Let's do this!!" Twilight said with a confident smile.

"It's time to kick flank and chew gum, and I wasn't prepared enough to bring any for us, but I'm still ready!" Pinkie cheered.

The mares and the human looked towards the dilapidated castle, and began to move forward.

'Let's see if my theory's correct.'