And so, Hephaestus Wept

Once the ponies had finished "Giggling at the Ghosties", the group walked further into the dense fog that covered the forestry until...

"Girls? Does anything looks strange to you?" Twilight asked.

"Why whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked.

Twilight hummed as she took stock of the situation and area as she walked, "Well, pardon me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that look like the-" That was when she was face first with a massive beast more muscle than fur.

Pulling back, she was met with the visage of a lion, bat wings on its back and a scorpion's stinger for a tail, "Look out!" Applejack shouted as she roped the unicorn in by the tail as Rainbow flew in and slammed her hind leg against the right side of it's face mid roar.

"Um, girls?" Fluttershy attempted to gain the attention of the group, March's ear twitching.

"Talk to me, Flutter," The half Digimon spoke as the knelt next to the shy pegasus, "What do you need done?"

"That poor manticore has a thorn in it's little paw..." The mare's quiet concern voiced, March put down the serpent's scale and took a breath... Before pushing off, rushing the chimera just as it took a swipe at Applejack, the farm mare having entered the fray.

With a vault just a foot before the beast, March span counter clockwise as he straddled the now flailing beast, "No damage, just put it to sleep!" March shouted as he palmed the creature's scalp. As the beast struggled to maintain alertness, March would nudge the beast on to it's left side as Fluttershy hurried to the beast's pierced paw.

Though initially roaring in pain, the manticore had become calmed by a soothing aura...

"Signature Ability: Moonlight Aura."

Though some of the ponies looked back, Fluttershy watched in awe as the wound had closed, the manticore happily licking the pegasus in thanks.

"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked as Fluttershy pet and cuddled the beast.

"Oh, it wasn't so hard," Fluttershy replied softly, "I noticed he favored his left forepaw and afterwards; I saw the thorn."

As March retrieved the scale once he was sure the beast would be fine, he was confronted by Rainbow Dash, "Hey... Uh... Rabbit thing."

"Just call me March."

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow would look at him quizzically before looking to Fluttershy, "Thanks for... Hearing her out. I feel like crud whenever I don't notice her talking to me."

"I don't blame you, these ears aren't for show after all~" With a one eyed smile, he would go back to infusing the scale with aquatic digital energy, shining it in the light of the moon when able... Until the fog returned.

"They're late," A cold voice would say through the mist.

"This was the only way forward!" Another would chime along with yet another.

"Fear not, that shallow pegasus will fly here in order to salvage the bridge. Then we will entice her mind and heart with the promise of fame and fortune."

"You think Fluttershy is shallow!?" Pinkie shouted, scaring the three voices as a trio of pegasus rush out wearing purple flight suits with a black lightning bolt pattern.

"None of you are supposed to be here!" The leader of the trio shouted.

Fluttershy had looked to Rainbow Dash, the mare huffing out visible puffs of smoke, "Shallow huh? Yeah, maybe I am..." That was when she stepped forward, Pinkie Pie smirking as she handed her a red and aged bandana. With the grace of the calmest wind, the pegasus had affixed the accessory upon her forehead before bursting forward with unimaginable speed. As fog and deadwood dispersed besides her, she struck the leader with an outstretched hoof before spinning in place and allowing her built momentum to be released as kinetic force... Causing the three interlopers to burst into smoke.

"Constructs!" Both March and Twilight shouted, the former kneeling down as he began to finish work on his new "Sword", "You kids go on without me," March continued, "This was just a distraction to keep you all occupied or to get you all killed."

"Ah can tell when a pony's tellin' us a fib, stranger..." Applejack spoke up, "But ya got an honest heart to ya. Y'all a hundred percent sure this here's a trap?"

"Almost certainly!" March declared as he began sharpening the edges, the makings of a handle already having formed at the base of the scale, "Now go! I'll catch up!"

Without another word, the six ponies rushed ahead, the blacksmith sighing, "Lulu, how's the Data infusion going?"

"Womp womp!" She replied happily, "That poor godling really thinks she can match me~ The nerve of some creatures."

"Aw, is the little goddess of the moon feeling petty?" Sato said sarcastically, Lulu making March roll his eyes for her.

"Sato, finishing touches pal."

With a devil's cackle, red energy would be replaced with a sickly green, Sato's core energizing itself.

"Slide Warp Digivolution! Lekismon Digivolve to!"

With the fog dispersed and the path clear, the six ponies ran directly to and into the aged and derelict visage of what was the castle of the Two Sisters.

Fear and worry gripped the hearts of the many, mild frustration gripping two, "Just stop starin' at the darn things and I won't... Hafta hog tie ya away!" Applejack grunted as Rarity had started to muss with a set of destroyed tapestries.

"Just one! Just one! I can fix at least one!" Rarity pleaded.

"The world comes first," Twilight declared with purpose, the others looking at her as she began to scatter her magic throughout the hall they found themselves in. With a further push, she would begin to map out the inner workings of the castle before reeling immediately, "So... So many moving parts..."

Fluttershy and Pinkie had rushed to the unicorn's side, one immediately massaging their scalp and the other having produced a cupcake from her mane. Once Twilight was more or less over the initial discomfort, she would close her eyes and focus again.

"Thanks girls, I needed-" She had found what she was looking for, the Throne Room and it's hidden secret. Unfortunately, her problems were now twofold. From behind; a burst of magic so inherently violent it almost caused all in range to wretch from fear induced disgust. Before them; the mechanism hiding the Elements of Harmony had been activated... Revealing them to Nightmare Moon.

"We... Have to hurry..." Twilight groaned as she pushed forward.

"I don't want... To know what's back there..." Rarity continued as she steadied herself.

"But... Mr. Rabbit is still out there..." Fluttershy spoke as audibly as possible despite her internal need to flee for her life.

"He said to... Move!" Rainbow declared as she trot forward, heavy hoof fall after heavy hoof fall.

"Then let's!" Twilight shouted as her magic flared, the girls now directly before Nightmare Moon in a magenta burst of magic.

Nightmare Moon held a look of surprise, but smiled slyly before cackling madly, "Hm? What's this? More heroes who believe they can stop me?"

The girls took a step back in unison, Nightmare Moon grazing a stone sphere stamped with the image of a protruding gemstone, "However, as you can all see clearly~" With a mighty stamp, the aged stone became dust, the ponies crying out in horror as with a discharge of mana from her horn the dark princess shattered the remaining stones.

"Now bow before your new-"

The aura of fear and loathing had returned in full, a masculine cackle so heavy with the threat of violence shaking the souls of all but Nightmare Moon, the dark princess only becoming defensive as a mass of void gathered and condensed into a giant, purple of skin and garbed in metals of silver and emerald.

A green hood covered most of their head, their bog green face grinning with malice as crimson wings spread behind them, a tail half their size at ten feet slithered slowly in the air and a polished purple blade resting in their right hand.

"That... March had that..." Pinkie whispered as her mane lost its form, her colors darkening by several tones.

"Stand down, demon of Tartarus, this world is mine to conquer!" Nightmare Moon declared, charging a beam of concentrated shadow touched mana before firing at the "Demon".

"Child's play..." The Demon replied lazily as the angled the blade, cathing the beam along it's polished surface as it reflected harmlessly upwards, "Girls, I'll hold her off. You six find out how to beat her. Preferably before I have to unalive her."

"M-March?" Twilight asked, hope rekindling within her and her grieved friends.

"Who else would it be?" Looking back, March would lift his left hand, snagging Nightmare Moon by the throat as she teleported directly before him, "Again, this close to killing her."

"R-right! Girls... Huddle."

As Twilight rallied her allies, March had chosen to play with his opponent, "You may have had the upper hand on the moon," Letting go, he would spin a full three hundred sixty degrees to his left and angled his tail down so as to slam Nightmare Moon to the hard stone.

"You... The warden of my ever sleeping prison..." Nightmare grunted, dark energy eating away at the metal of her regalia, "You did not have this demonic form before..."

"That's because I don't need to," Sato would reply through March, "I only turn into Murmurkusmon when I need to teach some upstart godling brat a very valuable lesson."

"And what lesson would that be?" Nightmare asked as they took to their hooves and charged her mana upon the tip of her horn.

"Stalling's a bitch."

And with that, all the world was a rainbow.