Shark Baitby HasashimiChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4ProloguePrologue 10 years after Nightmare Moon’s fall, she returned now as a pony of her own. The kind heart of Luna no longer corrupts her heart and she is now a much more powerful entity. The Elements of Harmony are unable to stop her reign over Equestria’s balance and is now suffering the curse of eternal night. The impurities of her nature overcame her enemies. After that, Nightmare Moon has made each element go against each other. Their hatred has broken them apart and unable to show their faces again. The once peaceful world is now invaded by war, destruction, and disharmony. As everypony takes action, a few are left behind due to their lack of power. Including a certain cross-eyed pony. Chapter 1Chapter 1 Eyes of a Pony My daughter was prancing around the dark, destroyed room. All the wooden planks were seared from the fire that happened a few days ago. There was no light but that didn’t matter. I couldn’t see anything correctly in the first place. “Mommy?” My daughter, Dinky, suddenly stopped her hyperactivity, “Are you okay? Is it because you can’t help?” I reluctantly shook my head. Ever since Nightmare Moon attacked Equestria, I was unable to fit in with every other pony. I wasn’t capable of fighting along with everypony else. Dinky had sensed as if there was something wrong but began to jump around again to lighten the mood. I covered my eyes, ashamed of my appearance. I’m not able to support my family because of these eyes, even my other daughter, Sparkler, is able to support herself; a daughter supporting her mother, that’s a funny thought. I looked outside the window, trying to keep focus on one particular thing instead of being a chameleon. All I could see was a dark sky filled with clouds and injured pegasi flying around. I’m a Pegasus too, why can’t I be like them? They are coordinated and able to fly straight, unlike me. The dark two-story house was silent and full of grief. Sometimes random explosions of magic could be heard outside. Devious laughs and screams of terror were all that could be heard for the rest of the time. How did the Elements of Harmony lose? Maybe Luna’s heart was helping the last time; I guess Nightmare Moon is just cruel on her own. I heard somepony yell “Black Snooty, Black Snooty!” despite all of the noise. A loud knock was heard downstairs, sooner or later the door went down and other ponies started rushing in. I trotted downstairs to find that Celestia’s royal guards were there. One cleared their throat and started to talk, “Celestia would like to have all ponies that are unable to help report to Canterlot, and she thinks she may have a role for all you useless ponies.” The first thing that caught my attention was “all you useless ponies.” There were others out there? Before I could finish my thought, the guard grabbed my daughter and me and dragged us to the chariot. Before I knew it, some guard whacked us on the head and that’s the last of my memory. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I woke up, my daughter and I were in some strange royal suite. It had obviously been damaged by some magic but it wasn’t too serious. I held my breath for a moment to absorb all the events. I decided to not wake up Dinky and just go find the throne room. I finally found it and it was already occupied by some other ponies. Celestia immediately noticed me and welcomed me with a gesture of her hoof. Everypony looked back to see who this newcomer was and were all disgusted by my eyes. Luna stood right next to her sister and yelled to have everypony’s attention. Luna had started to speak. “Now as all you ponies know my alter ego, Nightmare Moon, has struck Equestria again and has succeeded now. You ponies have been rendered as useless and we may have a very important job for you.” I could feel the delighted feelings in this room, seems like everypony was happy with this. Luna continued. “You will lure out the enemy and make them vulnerable for attack. This is a terrifying job yes but it will serve as a very important role.” Everypony started to mumble. I couldn’t leave my daughters alone. What will they do? “Um excuse me?” I raised my hoof to catch the rulers’ attention, “I have two daughters and I have to take care of them.” “All relatives will be under the care of Luna and me,” Celestia replied. This put my mind at ease but how would we survive? “You are dismissed, please go to the main room and organize your team,” Luna commanded. Everypony grumbles as they turned around. This was a deadly job and they knew it. “Oh and one last thing,” Princess Celestia said in a hopeful voice, “everypony is able to go to the Elements of Harmony for a week to prepare yourselves.” Everypony in the room had ideas rushing into their heads. There seemed to be somepony that was still upset. It was a tall, slender mare. She was like Celestia’s twin. Her pink mane was beautiful and flourishing with life. Her cutie mark was three fleurs perfectly arranged. Even her eyes have beauty in them. She grimaced. I knew that this was not a pony that could be something like a lure for enemies. She was a unicorn though which was rather strange. I saw other ponies but they weren’t clear enough to see due to lack of light. We all just walked next to each other, navigating our way through the large building. The tall white pony seemed to know this place the best so we all followed her. She finally seemed to be satisfied with the destination and welcomed everypony. We all ran into the room and the lights flashed on. One light green unicorn decided to speak up and say “Well then, looks like we’re going to have to do some planning.” Everypony gathered into a circle and decided to try to keep me out of it. A magenta pony decided to welcome me into the group after seeing me be left out. We were making introductions. “I am Fleur de Lis, you may call me Elizabeth,” Celestia’s doppelganger decided to introduce herself first; “I come from Canterlot and have had no reason to learn magic. I am a unicorn with no magic.” Elizabeth was done and a cream colored mare raised her hoof. She had a blue and purple mane and her cutie mark was three wrapped candies. “My name is Bon-Bon,” she began to introduce herself; “I am unable to help with the battle because I’m too affectionate without the care of being able to fight.” The green unicorn nuzzled her and she got back into a sturdy posture. With that, she began to talk, “My name is Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings. I am a musician that plays the lyre and is not needed in the battle.” Lyra had a light green coat with a white and green mane. Her cutie mark was a lyre obviously. The magenta earth pony finally had a chance to introduce herself. “My name is Cherilee. I was a school teacher and obviously, teachers can’t do very much; especially elementary school teachers.” She had 3 flowers as a cutie mark and her mane had two shades of pink. One last blue earth pony stood up proudly and decided to interrupt my thought and began to introduce herself. “I, Photo Finish am here because people don’t need a photographer to capture this dangerous time.” Photo Finish had a strong German accent and had a blue mane which also came with a pair of sunglasses. Her cutie mark wasn’t shown due to her clothes. Cherilee looked at me and said, “It’s your turn!” she gave me a warm smile. Everyone stared at me as if I was some monster. I decided to close my eyes and talk. “My name is Ditzy Doo,” everyone decided to listen, “I’m unable to fly straight and have two daughters. My eyes got like this when I was just a little filly and decided to try flying while my wings weren’t fully grown. I hope I’m able to fit in, even with these eyes.” Everypony decided to give me a smile and welcome me in a friendly way. Now they know that these eyes had a reason. Elizabeth decided to start, “Now everypony needs to see the Elements of Harmony, everypony please consider who you will be seeing. I will be going to Twilight Sparkle and Applejack to raise my magic level and my endurance.” “I’ll also be going to Twilight Sparkle,” Lyra decided. “I’ll be going to Applejack and Pinkie Pie for battle tactics,” Bon-Bon decided to go with the earth ponies. “I’ll go to Fluttershy for medical lessons,” Cherilee wanted to be the nurse. “I will be going to Applejack to be more of a battle pony!” Photo Finish wanted to practice strength as well. “What about you Ditzy?” Elizabeth asked. “I’ll be going to Rarity,” I replied, “I want to do something about my eyes and I also want to go to Rainbow Dash for flying lessons.” Everypony nodded and thought that those were great ideas. “Well then everypony…” Elizabeth decided to say her last word as leader, “We’ll report back in a week!” Here we go, a new world for six ponies! Chapter 2Chapter 2 Training Session For the next 7 days, I must be able to prove myself. I should stop by to see Rarity first. I was thinking that she could get me a blindfold that also allowed me to see through it. The world was dark now. I could see small dancing fires in the distance that seemed to stop instantly. Substances of magic flew around Ponyville. I was surprised that I made it back on chariot. I trotted around Ponyville trying to find where Rarity was and also trying to fly a few feet once in a while. That didn’t work out too well since usually a ball of magic would usually be fired at me whilst I was flying. It was as if Ponyville had shifted or changed its position in some way. Craters were usually found lying around and gaps in the roofs of a house weren’t uncommon. I could hear Nightmare Moon’s cackle in the distance. A purple lightning bolt followed. I felt happy inside that I was actually going to see something like this upfront now instead of my sad window. Another side of me felt danger, every cell in my body was telling me to stop and just relive a peaceful life. I shook my head and wiped those thoughts out of my head. This was my chance to show my true power as a pony! Carousel Boutique stood right before me, damaged beyond repair but still an appropriate shelter. I knocked on the door a few times not really expecting a reply. Before I knew it, the door had opened and Rarity dragged me in. “What are you crazy?” she whispered, “A pony like you can’t be out like this! I heard from Princess Celestia that you were coming here. Why would you need fashion at a time like this?” I was still traumatized by this sudden event but calmed down and took a deep breath. “You see my eyes right now,” I wanted to explain in the easiest way possible; “I was wondering if you had a spell that could put an illusionary blindfold on it so that I could see through it; maybe a raggedy cape as well.” Her face lit up at this point. “Thank you!” Rarity hugged me, “I’ve been waiting for somepony to ask me to make them some sort of outfit. 30 years of fashion will allow me to make you a permanent illusionary blindfold my dear. I’m pretty sure a raggedy cape would make you look adventurous as well.” To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting this kind of response. Rarity began to look around for supplies. Her previous white coat had become gray from soot and some of her fur was no longer on her flank. Not even her hair and cutie mark were a sight to behold anymore. “Aha!” looks like she found something, “I had learned illusionary spells from Zecora, I think this red blindfold would do with a special knot.” A strong blue aura began to surround the strip of fabric, it began to fade and reappear and then…POOF! It was a see-through blindfold. “Do not worry my dear. To everyone else this is a normal blindfold.” She placed it on my head and ran off to look for a raggedy cape. I was exploding on the inside. My eyes won’t slow me down anymore! A brown, tarnished fabric suddenly wrapped around me to create a cape and a hood. “Now Ditzy,” I was surprised she knew my name, “I must have you practice a great battle pose so this outfit would have some sort of essence in it.” I stomped one front hoof in front of me and whipped off my hood. I growled a bit to show some aggressiveness. I slid one of my back hooves away from my body just slightly. Rarity was obviously happy about this to the point where she jumped up and clapped. “Ditzy!” she called out, “That’s perfect! Now go out and train with Rainbow Dash dear. I’m pretty sure that cape can handle wings as well.” To show my enthusiasm, I snapped into a happy expression and ran out of the dress shop; now to find Cloudsdale. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was right there in the sky, raining its shadows over me. I was sure that I could fly straight up without getting off track. I started to flap my wings and hovered towards Cloudsdale. I was successful and surprised at the same time. After breaking the cloud, I was able to look at Cloudsdale as a town now. It was literally a cloud supporting wreck and rubble. You could see some ponies flying around searching for the city they once had. I was surprised that I saw Rainbow Dash here as well. She was just flying laps around the dystopia. “Excuse me,” I tried to get her attention, “I was sent here for you to assist me with flying…” She stopped in her tracks and looked at my peeping head in my cloud. “Hey there pipsqueak,” She walked over to my floating head, “I heard that you were coming. Get yourself onto this giant cloud would ya’?” She gave me a helping hoof and dragged me up. “Nice attire,” Rainbow Dash pointed at my cape, “enough with fashion. Now let me see your problem with flying! You need to be up to date in this war.” She looked at Cloudsdale with a sad expression for a split second. I started to flap my wings and try to fly straight. That was a failure in the making, I zig zigzagged through the air and just ended up with my face flattened by a giant pole. You could hear Rainbow Dash swallowing her laugh in the background. She flew over to me and helped me get back into posture. “I see now,” her laugh started to make its way back up; “let’s practice with coordination. The best thing to do is to go at full power and have the air wrap around your body. Focus your mind on one point, it’s hard to get down but it’ll be your only hope.” For the next few days, I just did that over and over again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I flew around Cloudsdale’s obstacle course with ease. I guess embarrassment was just a wall between tons of practice. I was able to fly straight and quickly now without looking like a complete idiot. Rainbow Dash cheered me on and called me over. “Well Ditzy,” she said, “it’s the end of your week and you’ve gotten farther than any other pony I’m seen. I know you’ll be a great pony in the battle; even if you are shark bait. Now go make me proud.” I flew off as fast as I could and started to make my way to Canterlot. It was a difficult task due to the sky being an imaginary battlefield. Magic flew left and right along with some lightning. I found it easy to weave through the attacks that I could see but sometimes, the lightning was just striking down in front of me. Eventually, Canterlot was in my line of sight and I swerved down towards it. Through the window I could already see some of my team talking. The door was wide open and I flew in making a great entrance. I landed on my back hooves first then rested my front hooves and rested my wings. Everypony had wide eyes but Elizabeth was the first to snap back to her sentence. “Everypony, conversation over,” she announced, “Ditzy Doo will be the team leader!” The team cheered and praised me. I was still unaware of what had just happened. “Guys,” I said, “what’s going on?” “Well Ditz,” Lyra cleared her throat, “we were wondering who could be our leader and with that epic entrance, we made up our minds in an instant.” Everypony nodded in agreement. “We think you’ve changed the most.” Cherilee said, “We all just learned magic and power but you learned how to cover your defect and fly straight after 25 years of being a klutz. We’re all proud of your development Ditzy Doo, we’re sorry we didn’t accept you before. Besides, I’m pretty sure the enemies will shiver with a leader like you.” I transitioned from my surprised expression and gave them all a big smile. “Thank you all!” I was grateful; “I’m so happy! I can’t believe I could grow so much potential. All I did was work my hardest and try to prove myself.” “And you did prove yourself!” Photo Finish said, “I admit, you would be a perfect model but not right now. Your posture and grashful body ish perfect!” I blushed a bit and everypony hugged me. “Now everypony,” I said, “I’m pretty sure we will get commands from the princesses and be living in the suites we woke up in.” Elizabeth nodded in agreement; she seemed to have spoken to her already. “Let’s begin our life as a pony with a point!” Everypony cheered and laughed in triumph. It’s time for us to shine. Chapter 3Chapter 3 Taking Action I woke up after an 8 hour long sleeping session (because a good night’s sleep wouldn’t be appropriate to say) and I had to go to the throne room. She told me that we needed to show off our skills so we could make techniques. After that, we had to go out and lure out Nightmare Moon’s demon guards. I suppose we could have 3 hours showing off skills and creating plans and then put them to the test. When I had gotten to the main room, everypony was already awake and eating breakfast. They all welcomed me to a seat with my meal of carrots and apples sitting there. I decided to start eating and catch up with the others. “Princess Celestia spoke to me,” time to break the news; “she said that we needed to show our power and then create techniques. After that, we head straight to the battle and lure Nightmare Moon’s demon guards.” Everypony mumbled and nodded. We all finished our breakfast and we were off into the fields practicing. We decided to have Elizabeth show her magic first. “I have learned from Twilight Sparkle,” she introduced, “Twilight has taught me about the ways to levitate items and also use fabrication magic.” Her horn began to glow and a bouquet of flowers appeared; suddenly transforming into a brick. She levitated it and flung it at a dead tree which had seemed to have made a decent amount of damage to it. Everypony clapped and Elizabeth bowed. Next up was Cherilee, for her presentation there had to be an injured pony. Elizabeth decided to drop the brick on herself as a sacrifice. Cherilee took action. In her medical saddle bag, she brought out some magic potions. She started to pour the mysterious substance onto Elizabeth and all the pain disappeared from her face. She poured a light blue potion onto her and all the cuts had run away as well. “You could say I learned alchemy.” Everypony was surprised that Fluttershy even knew of those things. Living near Zecora must be a virtue. Lyra jumped in for an entrance and began to speak in an enthusiastic tone, “Now everypony! I learned how to use my lyre as an actual weapon against dangerous forces in the world!” She whipped out her lyre and began to play it. Suddenly a green aura surrounded Bon-Bon and she was doing a really weird dance. Some ponies were unsure of what was happening. “I’m not doing this on my own!” Bon-Bon screamed, “Lyra what did you do?!” Everypony now understood her magic. It was mine control magic but we all knew that it wasn’t powerful enough to last forever. Lyra stopped playing her lyre and put Bon-Bon down. She left the spotlight and welcomed Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon brushed herself off and cleared her throat, “Now I went to Applejack and Pinkie pie for speed and power. That leaves me quite weak in defenses though.” She began to run around some trees as her demonstration of agility and then started to buck them. They all cracked and fell. Some even caught some air time. Everypony was surprised that a lover pony could be so powerful. Photo Finish was next and she put on hoof on her chest. “I have only been to Applejack! I am strong and defensive but unable to run fast!” She bucked the rest of the trees and they all flew at least 1 foot away. For her defense presentation, she jumped high and threw herself on the ground several times. Despite being busy, she felt no pain and bowed. “It’s your turn Ditzy Doo!” Cherilee called out. After all of this, I wondered if I was good enough to be their leader. I introduced myself, “I went to Rarity first to get this illusionary blindfold to hide my eyes and a cape to match it. Then I went to Rainbow Dash to learn how to fly straight. I’m speedy and able to dodge obstacles. I’m rather strong when at full speed and able to resist attacks.” I prepared myself and flew around all the upcoming magic attacks. I weaved through them with ease which was too simple. I let one of them hit me so I could demonstrate defense. Last but not least, I went head to head at some magic and succeeded. Everypony cheered and agreed that I was definitely fit to be their leader. I was surprised, after all these other performances, I seemed to be approved. “Now everypony, after we’ve seen all that we need to make a plan,” I said, “I can lure out the guards if I’m able to distract them. I’ll fly as fast as I can whilst everypony else attacks them. Cherilee will heal injured soldiers. Lyra you try to play the lyre and mind control one of the guards. Elizabeth and Photo Finish will attack the earth guards and Bon-Bon will be the one taunting them.” It was a simple plan but I haven’t been able to see their true power. Everypony knew that it wasn’t the best and just accepted it. “Now let’s get into that action!” Lyra yelled. We all cheered and ran off to the battle field. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So this is what the battlefield was like. Cherilee would be a big help here. There was the war and the safe zone. The warzone didn’t even look like Ponyville anymore. The houses were rubble, the ground was like a gigantic crater, and there were injured and dead ponies everywhere. Magic may have been the main attacker but guns were certainly something that was used. Nightmare Moon was in the sky, a group of guards surrounded her in the air and on the ground. Every once and a while she would send down a lightning bolt. I could sense fear in my team but I decided to step up to the plate. “Hey guards!” I taunted them, “Is your princess too weak to protect herself?!” Nightmare Moon was annoyed. “Guards!” she commanded, “Get that weakling!” They all started to fly towards me in a line. They were faster than I thought but now she was defenseless. “Elizabeth, Lyra!” I called out, “It’s your turn!” Lyra’s lyre began to play and in my surprise, it controlled all of them and they fell to the ground. Photo Finish and Bon-Bon came to take advantage of that. Elizabeth used her bricks and her flowers to do the rest. Lyra concentrated on playing the lyre and keeping them pinned to the ground. I could tell it was getting easier for her. They were getting weak but they could still flail around. You could see some black liquid excreting from the guards which was a bit weird. A group of earth pony guards were sneaking up behind them silently. That was my cue. I flew towards them and started put speed and power into the tips of my hooves. Unlike Rainbow Dash, the air didn’t bend around me and it didn’t make a giant rainbow but it was still quite speedy and powerful. I weaved around the guards to confuse them and smacked them all down in a circle. They stayed on the ground for a while with some blood running down their body. They weren’t dead, but they weren’t very alive either. I could see Cherilee running around and pouring her magic potions. A demon guard snuck up behind me. One of them must have been released from control. I fell to the ground and got back up quickly and charged at him. The guard was fast and dodged my attack but I didn’t let that bring me down, I did a U-turn and attacked him from behind. He didn’t fall to the ground but I knew he was in pain. I had to admit, I’m starting to fall. The guard, bewildered of my approach, flew at me quicker than I would have thought. He opened his mouth full of fangs and almost bit me. Luckily I moved to the side but I could tell he’s wanted to do the same dirty cheat I did so I twirled around and started to fly headfirst at him. Lightning crackled in the sky as we headed towards each other. I tried to fly faster but my wings were getting weak. I could tell the demon was starting to grow weak as well. Nightmare Moon’s cackle distracted me a bit but I returned to my original state of concentration. *BOOM* Lightning crackled near me. I decided to use it to my advantage. I swirled around the lightning bolt to absorb the energy and suddenly I felt so much faster and much more powerful. I headed towards the shocked guard and tackled him with electricity and power. He was fired towards the ground and created a crater. The guard disappeared with a pile of dust. On the other side of things, the controlled guards were also dead. Lyra was tired and was taking potions from Cherilee. The rest of the crew was off fighting some earth guards. Photo Finish seemed fine from here but the rest were damaged in some form. Elizabeth’s clean white coat was covered with blood from her and her rivals. Bon-Bon was much slower than usual. We’d have to be shark bait for the rest of the “day.” The team was shark bait but also seemed to do a lot of the fighting. Maybe shark bait isn’t our only role. I must admit though, we were luring them more than we were attacking. Everypony else usually charged at the lured enemies. We were doing a great job at taunting, especially Lyra. Nightmare Moon stared at me. She was aware of how well the newcomers were doing and she wanted to get rid of them. “Guys!” I called out, “I think we’ve done enough! We’re going back!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I felt bad for retreating; I just didn’t want Nightmare Moon to lash out some real power against us. Cherilee was healing us all after that long battle. It was already 6:00 and it was time for dinner. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walked in to visit us. “Now my little ponies,” Celestia said, “I’m surprised at the amount of power you all hold. I guess saying weak ponies wasn’t appropriate. I’m sorry you must keep this job, I might present you all another job sooner or later. Luna?” Princess Luna used some magic to heal us all. We felt rejuvenated and ready for battle again but it was already late. “Sweet dreams,” she said sweetly. We all ate our dinner and went to bed to get ready to do that again tomorrow. It wasn’t as bad but it wasn’t a dream life either. Sooner or later I drifted off into a deep sleep and dreamt of Equestria in the past. I dreamt of perfection. Chapter 4Chapter 4 Shark Killer It’s been 2 months since Princess Celestia has assigned us as shark bait. She told us to meet her in the throne room today for an upgrade in our jobs. She says that we would have a far more important job than before. I feel glad that our group has made it so far. We’ve become stronger than most other ponies because of this. Even Elizabeth isn’t very neat anymore. She’s now a magical warrior. Cherilee has made more potions and Lyra has a stronger mind control spell. Bon-Bon has higher defense and Photo Finish seemed to have grown faster as well. We all reported to the throne room and awaited our commands. Celestia sighed and said, “My little ponies, you have grown a lot over the course of two months. I’d hate to ask you this but Equestria depends on this. You must go to New Fillydelphia and enter the time machine there. It will send you to the past; Nightmare Moon’s past. If you are able to obtain her memories you can stop her. Nightmare Moon is a soul, not a pony; she was never a bad mare though. She only grew bad due to jealousy, that’s how she was attracted to Luna.” Everypony was shocked at this and Luna grimaced. “You must defeat this envious soul,” Princess Luna announced, “She is weakened by her past. She used to be a very happy pony that had friends but was soon overtaken by loneliness and jealousy. If you can bring the present Nightmare Moon happy memories, she might stop. The chariot will only take you out of Canterlot and to the wastelands, that’s when you have to get to New Fillydelphia. How you get the memories are for you all to figure out. There are dangerous ponies out there, they might be from Nightmare Moon or they could have snapped. Please be careful. You all are dismissed; you may leave today or tomorrow.” We all left the throne room, some were happy and some were anxious. “Oh boy,” Lyra cheered, “A new adventure!” Everypony knew that this would be a long journey and a dangerous one at that. I knew that we were all capable of freeing Nightmare Moon from her cage but traveling there is the problem of getting there. We all decided to go to the Elements of Harmony and thank them for their training. I made my way to Rarity and everyone else went their separate ways. It was a normal easy fly there now since I could fly faster than normal. Carousel Boutique was the same as always with Rarity inside working away. I knocked on the door a few times was welcomed with Rarity’s smiling face. “Hello my dear!” Rarity exclaimed, “How are you my blindfolded friend? You look very well done.” I explained to her about my journey and how I wanted to thank her. She was proud of me for getting this far and as a souvenir, she gave me a necklace. It was made out of metal colored gold and it had a heart. There was a pair of wings on each side of the heart which pretty much made it a flying heart. I thanked her one last time and went off to find Rainbow Dash. In my high flying, I found her taking a nap in an apple tree (it wasn’t really a tree anymore). The goodbyes faired the same way as it did with Rarity. I wondered if this would be the last time I saw them. Would I make it back? The loss of one pony is less than Equestria; I had to accept my fate for this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everypony was already back in Canterlot and ready for the adventure. We all packed our saddlebags and said farewell to our home. The chariot gave us a ride to the danger zone and that’s where our battle begins. We could already feel the different air. It was musky and filled with evil. Everypony knew what dangers had awaited them in this wasteland; bandits, minions, insane ponies, and every other imaginable threat that you could think of. However, we also knew that the fate of Equestria rested on our shoulders. We all just stood there for a while in order to absorb the atmosphere. The whole land was dark without the moon. It was simply a black void that had Elizabeth’s and Lyra’s horn illuminating a small area. I wore my hood and put a hoof up front. “Let’s go,” I mumbled, “We know Equestria depends on us, might as well hurry up and face whatever comes. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.” I raised my hoof up high and lightning crackled in the distance. The team mustered up as much courage as they could and stood beside me. We were ready to take on the world. I flew upwards to try and find New Fillydelphia. I could see a small city in the distance and pointed towards it. All of my friends got the message and started to run towards it. I flew alongside them trying not to fly too fast. Sooner or later, somepony tackled me. It was a bandit. The rest of his group came out. They all had the same gray look with masks covering their mouths. “Give us your possessions,” the leader commanded, “you can either die or surrender in peace.” Elizabeth smacked them on the head with a rock. “Don’t mess with us silly ponies,” she sneered. The bandits were frustrated and got out their weapons. Most had knives, others had chains, and the leader had a gun. “You chose the hard way!” the leader boomed. He commanded the bandits with knives to attack first. Photo Finish and Bon-Bon knocked them down with ease only suffering a few cuts; Photo Finish had a rather deep cut but was unaffected by it. Despite the long bucking session and the amount of bloodshed, they were okay. Cherilee went over to heal them and they went to rest in a protective shield made by a potion. Next up were the ponies with chains as their weapons. Elizabeth and Lyra knew it was their turn on the field. Lyra began to play her lyre with much more power than before while Elizabeth started to try some other kind of magic. She levitated all of the bandits and sent magic knives through them. Blood was everywhere. Elizabeth lowered them and smiled. Lyra and the others were shocked at how much Elizabeth changed, she wasn’t elegant nor was she weak. Lyra and Elizabeth went into the shield to protect themselves from the leader. It was my turn, leader versus leader. The leader was a unicorn and raised his gun and aimed me. I knew that I would never be able to dodge a bullet but maybe I would be able to confuse him. I started to fly around him so that he’d have to shoot randomly to hit me. I could tell that he was angered by this. The leader jumped (higher than I thought he could) and grabbed my wings. He used one of the chains from the fallen bandit and tied my wings up. Great, how was I supposed to be him now? Sure I was quick but not on my own four hooves! It’s my first real battle and I’m already losing. The leader was aware of this and smiled. “Silly pony,” he picked me up with his magic and squeezed me, “I told you not to mess with us and give us what you have! That’s a very pretty necklace you have there, looks like I have to kill you to get it.” He put the gun right next to my stomach. Good-bye Equ- I’ve got it! I probably still have some energy from lightning after collecting it all in my flights. I screamed and released my energy. This had released his magical grip and me and released the chains. The bandit fell to the ground and I flew up high. I would fall to him like a meteorite. I still had some electricity left and I would gather up enough heat from the speed. I began to fly towards his weakened body that was trying to get up. Electricity crackled and the air on my hooves was hot. This was no sonic rainboom but it definitely was something. Our bodies collided and we both knew who the winner was. An explosion of heat, electricity, and smoke blocked the audience’s view on what was happening. I flew up high to show my victorious title while the leader was lying there with strangely twisted limbs. This battle was hard enough and this was probably the easiest. My friends praised me once more for the great way of defeating such a powerful enemy. We all began to walk the path to New Phillydelphia once again. It was different this time, Elizabeth was actually carrying a dagger. Chapter 4 Shark Killer It’s been 2 months since Princess Celestia has assigned us as shark bait. She told us to meet her in the throne room today for an upgrade in our jobs. She says that we would have a far more important job than before. I feel glad that our group has made it so far. We’ve become stronger than most other ponies because of this. Even Elizabeth isn’t very neat anymore. She’s now a magical warrior. Cherilee has made more potions and Lyra has a stronger mind control spell. Bon-Bon has higher defense and Photo Finish seemed to have grown faster as well. We all reported to the throne room and awaited our commands. Celestia sighed and said, “My little ponies, you have grown a lot over the course of two months. I’d hate to ask you this but Equestria depends on this. You must go to New Fillydelphia and enter the time machine there. It will send you to the past; Nightmare Moon’s past. If you are able to obtain her memories you can stop her. Nightmare Moon is a soul, not a pony; she was never a bad mare though. She only grew bad due to jealousy, that’s how she was attracted to Luna.” Everypony was shocked at this and Luna grimaced. “You must defeat this envious soul,” Princess Luna announced, “She is weakened by her past. She used to be a very happy pony that had friends but was soon overtaken by loneliness and jealousy. If you can bring the present Nightmare Moon happy memories, she might stop. The chariot will only take you out of Canterlot and to the wastelands, that’s when you have to get to New Fillydelphia. How you get the memories are for you all to figure out. There are dangerous ponies out there, they might be from Nightmare Moon or they could have snapped. Please be careful. You all are dismissed; you may leave today or tomorrow.” We all left the throne room, some were happy and some were anxious. “Oh boy,” Lyra cheered, “A new adventure!” Everypony knew that this would be a long journey and a dangerous one at that. I knew that we were all capable of freeing Nightmare Moon from her cage but traveling there is the problem of getting there. We all decided to go to the Elements of Harmony and thank them for their training. I made my way to Rarity and everyone else went their separate ways. It was a normal easy fly there now since I could fly faster than normal. Carousel Boutique was the same as always with Rarity inside working away. I knocked on the door a few times was welcomed with Rarity’s smiling face. “Hello my dear!” Rarity exclaimed, “How are you my blindfolded friend? You look very well done.” I explained to her about my journey and how I wanted to thank her. She was proud of me for getting this far and as a souvenir, she gave me a necklace. It was made out of metal colored gold and it had a heart. There was a pair of wings on each side of the heart which pretty much made it a flying heart. I thanked her one last time and went off to find Rainbow Dash. In my high flying, I found her taking a nap in an apple tree (it wasn’t really a tree anymore). The goodbyes faired the same way as it did with Rarity. I wondered if this would be the last time I saw them. Would I make it back? The loss of one pony is less than Equestria; I had to accept my fate for this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everypony was already back in Canterlot and ready for the adventure. We all packed our saddlebags and said farewell to our home. The chariot gave us a ride to the danger zone and that’s where our battle begins. We could already feel the different air. It was musky and filled with evil. Everypony knew what dangers had awaited them in this wasteland; bandits, minions, insane ponies, and every other imaginable threat that you could think of. However, we also knew that the fate of Equestria rested on our shoulders. We all just stood there for a while in order to absorb the atmosphere. The whole land was dark without the moon. It was simply a black void that had Elizabeth’s and Lyra’s horn illuminating a small area. I wore my hood and put a hoof up front. “Let’s go,” I mumbled, “We know Equestria depends on us, might as well hurry up and face whatever comes. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.” I raised my hoof up high and lightning crackled in the distance. The team mustered up as much courage as they could and stood beside me. We were ready to take on the world. I flew upwards to try and find New Fillydelphia. I could see a small city in the distance and pointed towards it. All of my friends got the message and started to run towards it. I flew alongside them trying not to fly too fast. Sooner or later, somepony tackled me. It was a bandit. The rest of his group came out. They all had the same gray look with masks covering their mouths. “Give us your possessions,” the leader commanded, “you can either die or surrender in peace.” Elizabeth smacked them on the head with a rock. “Don’t mess with us silly ponies,” she sneered. The bandits were frustrated and got out their weapons. Most had knives, others had chains, and the leader had a gun. “You chose the hard way!” the leader boomed. He commanded the bandits with knives to attack first. Photo Finish and Bon-Bon knocked them down with ease only suffering a few cuts; Photo Finish had a rather deep cut but was unaffected by it. Despite the long bucking session and the amount of bloodshed, they were okay. Cherilee went over to heal them and they went to rest in a protective shield made by a potion. Next up were the ponies with chains as their weapons. Elizabeth and Lyra knew it was their turn on the field. Lyra began to play her lyre with much more power than before while Elizabeth started to try some other kind of magic. She levitated all of the bandits and sent magic knives through them. Blood was everywhere. Elizabeth lowered them and smiled. Lyra and the others were shocked at how much Elizabeth changed, she wasn’t elegant nor was she weak. Lyra and Elizabeth went into the shield to protect themselves from the leader. It was my turn, leader versus leader. The leader was a unicorn and raised his gun and aimed me. I knew that I would never be able to dodge a bullet but maybe I would be able to confuse him. I started to fly around him so that he’d have to shoot randomly to hit me. I could tell that he was angered by this. The leader jumped (higher than I thought he could) and grabbed my wings. He used one of the chains from the fallen bandit and tied my wings up. Great, how was I supposed to be him now? Sure I was quick but not on my own four hooves! It’s my first real battle and I’m already losing. The leader was aware of this and smiled. “Silly pony,” he picked me up with his magic and squeezed me, “I told you not to mess with us and give us what you have! That’s a very pretty necklace you have there, looks like I have to kill you to get it.” He put the gun right next to my stomach. Good-bye Equ- I’ve got it! I probably still have some energy from lightning after collecting it all in my flights. I screamed and released my energy. This had released his magical grip and me and released the chains. The bandit fell to the ground and I flew up high. I would fall to him like a meteorite. I still had some electricity left and I would gather up enough heat from the speed. I began to fly towards his weakened body that was trying to get up. Electricity crackled and the air on my hooves was hot. This was no sonic rainboom but it definitely was something. Our bodies collided and we both knew who the winner was. An explosion of heat, electricity, and smoke blocked the audience’s view on what was happening. I flew up high to show my victorious title while the leader was lying there with strangely twisted limbs. This battle was hard enough and this was probably the easiest. My friends praised me once more for the great way of defeating such a powerful enemy. We all began to walk the path to New Phillydelphia once again. It was different this time, Elizabeth was actually carrying a dagger.
ProloguePrologue 10 years after Nightmare Moon’s fall, she returned now as a pony of her own. The kind heart of Luna no longer corrupts her heart and she is now a much more powerful entity. The Elements of Harmony are unable to stop her reign over Equestria’s balance and is now suffering the curse of eternal night. The impurities of her nature overcame her enemies. After that, Nightmare Moon has made each element go against each other. Their hatred has broken them apart and unable to show their faces again. The once peaceful world is now invaded by war, destruction, and disharmony. As everypony takes action, a few are left behind due to their lack of power. Including a certain cross-eyed pony.
Chapter 1Chapter 1 Eyes of a Pony My daughter was prancing around the dark, destroyed room. All the wooden planks were seared from the fire that happened a few days ago. There was no light but that didn’t matter. I couldn’t see anything correctly in the first place. “Mommy?” My daughter, Dinky, suddenly stopped her hyperactivity, “Are you okay? Is it because you can’t help?” I reluctantly shook my head. Ever since Nightmare Moon attacked Equestria, I was unable to fit in with every other pony. I wasn’t capable of fighting along with everypony else. Dinky had sensed as if there was something wrong but began to jump around again to lighten the mood. I covered my eyes, ashamed of my appearance. I’m not able to support my family because of these eyes, even my other daughter, Sparkler, is able to support herself; a daughter supporting her mother, that’s a funny thought. I looked outside the window, trying to keep focus on one particular thing instead of being a chameleon. All I could see was a dark sky filled with clouds and injured pegasi flying around. I’m a Pegasus too, why can’t I be like them? They are coordinated and able to fly straight, unlike me. The dark two-story house was silent and full of grief. Sometimes random explosions of magic could be heard outside. Devious laughs and screams of terror were all that could be heard for the rest of the time. How did the Elements of Harmony lose? Maybe Luna’s heart was helping the last time; I guess Nightmare Moon is just cruel on her own. I heard somepony yell “Black Snooty, Black Snooty!” despite all of the noise. A loud knock was heard downstairs, sooner or later the door went down and other ponies started rushing in. I trotted downstairs to find that Celestia’s royal guards were there. One cleared their throat and started to talk, “Celestia would like to have all ponies that are unable to help report to Canterlot, and she thinks she may have a role for all you useless ponies.” The first thing that caught my attention was “all you useless ponies.” There were others out there? Before I could finish my thought, the guard grabbed my daughter and me and dragged us to the chariot. Before I knew it, some guard whacked us on the head and that’s the last of my memory. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I woke up, my daughter and I were in some strange royal suite. It had obviously been damaged by some magic but it wasn’t too serious. I held my breath for a moment to absorb all the events. I decided to not wake up Dinky and just go find the throne room. I finally found it and it was already occupied by some other ponies. Celestia immediately noticed me and welcomed me with a gesture of her hoof. Everypony looked back to see who this newcomer was and were all disgusted by my eyes. Luna stood right next to her sister and yelled to have everypony’s attention. Luna had started to speak. “Now as all you ponies know my alter ego, Nightmare Moon, has struck Equestria again and has succeeded now. You ponies have been rendered as useless and we may have a very important job for you.” I could feel the delighted feelings in this room, seems like everypony was happy with this. Luna continued. “You will lure out the enemy and make them vulnerable for attack. This is a terrifying job yes but it will serve as a very important role.” Everypony started to mumble. I couldn’t leave my daughters alone. What will they do? “Um excuse me?” I raised my hoof to catch the rulers’ attention, “I have two daughters and I have to take care of them.” “All relatives will be under the care of Luna and me,” Celestia replied. This put my mind at ease but how would we survive? “You are dismissed, please go to the main room and organize your team,” Luna commanded. Everypony grumbles as they turned around. This was a deadly job and they knew it. “Oh and one last thing,” Princess Celestia said in a hopeful voice, “everypony is able to go to the Elements of Harmony for a week to prepare yourselves.” Everypony in the room had ideas rushing into their heads. There seemed to be somepony that was still upset. It was a tall, slender mare. She was like Celestia’s twin. Her pink mane was beautiful and flourishing with life. Her cutie mark was three fleurs perfectly arranged. Even her eyes have beauty in them. She grimaced. I knew that this was not a pony that could be something like a lure for enemies. She was a unicorn though which was rather strange. I saw other ponies but they weren’t clear enough to see due to lack of light. We all just walked next to each other, navigating our way through the large building. The tall white pony seemed to know this place the best so we all followed her. She finally seemed to be satisfied with the destination and welcomed everypony. We all ran into the room and the lights flashed on. One light green unicorn decided to speak up and say “Well then, looks like we’re going to have to do some planning.” Everypony gathered into a circle and decided to try to keep me out of it. A magenta pony decided to welcome me into the group after seeing me be left out. We were making introductions. “I am Fleur de Lis, you may call me Elizabeth,” Celestia’s doppelganger decided to introduce herself first; “I come from Canterlot and have had no reason to learn magic. I am a unicorn with no magic.” Elizabeth was done and a cream colored mare raised her hoof. She had a blue and purple mane and her cutie mark was three wrapped candies. “My name is Bon-Bon,” she began to introduce herself; “I am unable to help with the battle because I’m too affectionate without the care of being able to fight.” The green unicorn nuzzled her and she got back into a sturdy posture. With that, she began to talk, “My name is Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings. I am a musician that plays the lyre and is not needed in the battle.” Lyra had a light green coat with a white and green mane. Her cutie mark was a lyre obviously. The magenta earth pony finally had a chance to introduce herself. “My name is Cherilee. I was a school teacher and obviously, teachers can’t do very much; especially elementary school teachers.” She had 3 flowers as a cutie mark and her mane had two shades of pink. One last blue earth pony stood up proudly and decided to interrupt my thought and began to introduce herself. “I, Photo Finish am here because people don’t need a photographer to capture this dangerous time.” Photo Finish had a strong German accent and had a blue mane which also came with a pair of sunglasses. Her cutie mark wasn’t shown due to her clothes. Cherilee looked at me and said, “It’s your turn!” she gave me a warm smile. Everyone stared at me as if I was some monster. I decided to close my eyes and talk. “My name is Ditzy Doo,” everyone decided to listen, “I’m unable to fly straight and have two daughters. My eyes got like this when I was just a little filly and decided to try flying while my wings weren’t fully grown. I hope I’m able to fit in, even with these eyes.” Everypony decided to give me a smile and welcome me in a friendly way. Now they know that these eyes had a reason. Elizabeth decided to start, “Now everypony needs to see the Elements of Harmony, everypony please consider who you will be seeing. I will be going to Twilight Sparkle and Applejack to raise my magic level and my endurance.” “I’ll also be going to Twilight Sparkle,” Lyra decided. “I’ll be going to Applejack and Pinkie Pie for battle tactics,” Bon-Bon decided to go with the earth ponies. “I’ll go to Fluttershy for medical lessons,” Cherilee wanted to be the nurse. “I will be going to Applejack to be more of a battle pony!” Photo Finish wanted to practice strength as well. “What about you Ditzy?” Elizabeth asked. “I’ll be going to Rarity,” I replied, “I want to do something about my eyes and I also want to go to Rainbow Dash for flying lessons.” Everypony nodded and thought that those were great ideas. “Well then everypony…” Elizabeth decided to say her last word as leader, “We’ll report back in a week!” Here we go, a new world for six ponies!
Chapter 2Chapter 2 Training Session For the next 7 days, I must be able to prove myself. I should stop by to see Rarity first. I was thinking that she could get me a blindfold that also allowed me to see through it. The world was dark now. I could see small dancing fires in the distance that seemed to stop instantly. Substances of magic flew around Ponyville. I was surprised that I made it back on chariot. I trotted around Ponyville trying to find where Rarity was and also trying to fly a few feet once in a while. That didn’t work out too well since usually a ball of magic would usually be fired at me whilst I was flying. It was as if Ponyville had shifted or changed its position in some way. Craters were usually found lying around and gaps in the roofs of a house weren’t uncommon. I could hear Nightmare Moon’s cackle in the distance. A purple lightning bolt followed. I felt happy inside that I was actually going to see something like this upfront now instead of my sad window. Another side of me felt danger, every cell in my body was telling me to stop and just relive a peaceful life. I shook my head and wiped those thoughts out of my head. This was my chance to show my true power as a pony! Carousel Boutique stood right before me, damaged beyond repair but still an appropriate shelter. I knocked on the door a few times not really expecting a reply. Before I knew it, the door had opened and Rarity dragged me in. “What are you crazy?” she whispered, “A pony like you can’t be out like this! I heard from Princess Celestia that you were coming here. Why would you need fashion at a time like this?” I was still traumatized by this sudden event but calmed down and took a deep breath. “You see my eyes right now,” I wanted to explain in the easiest way possible; “I was wondering if you had a spell that could put an illusionary blindfold on it so that I could see through it; maybe a raggedy cape as well.” Her face lit up at this point. “Thank you!” Rarity hugged me, “I’ve been waiting for somepony to ask me to make them some sort of outfit. 30 years of fashion will allow me to make you a permanent illusionary blindfold my dear. I’m pretty sure a raggedy cape would make you look adventurous as well.” To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting this kind of response. Rarity began to look around for supplies. Her previous white coat had become gray from soot and some of her fur was no longer on her flank. Not even her hair and cutie mark were a sight to behold anymore. “Aha!” looks like she found something, “I had learned illusionary spells from Zecora, I think this red blindfold would do with a special knot.” A strong blue aura began to surround the strip of fabric, it began to fade and reappear and then…POOF! It was a see-through blindfold. “Do not worry my dear. To everyone else this is a normal blindfold.” She placed it on my head and ran off to look for a raggedy cape. I was exploding on the inside. My eyes won’t slow me down anymore! A brown, tarnished fabric suddenly wrapped around me to create a cape and a hood. “Now Ditzy,” I was surprised she knew my name, “I must have you practice a great battle pose so this outfit would have some sort of essence in it.” I stomped one front hoof in front of me and whipped off my hood. I growled a bit to show some aggressiveness. I slid one of my back hooves away from my body just slightly. Rarity was obviously happy about this to the point where she jumped up and clapped. “Ditzy!” she called out, “That’s perfect! Now go out and train with Rainbow Dash dear. I’m pretty sure that cape can handle wings as well.” To show my enthusiasm, I snapped into a happy expression and ran out of the dress shop; now to find Cloudsdale. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was right there in the sky, raining its shadows over me. I was sure that I could fly straight up without getting off track. I started to flap my wings and hovered towards Cloudsdale. I was successful and surprised at the same time. After breaking the cloud, I was able to look at Cloudsdale as a town now. It was literally a cloud supporting wreck and rubble. You could see some ponies flying around searching for the city they once had. I was surprised that I saw Rainbow Dash here as well. She was just flying laps around the dystopia. “Excuse me,” I tried to get her attention, “I was sent here for you to assist me with flying…” She stopped in her tracks and looked at my peeping head in my cloud. “Hey there pipsqueak,” She walked over to my floating head, “I heard that you were coming. Get yourself onto this giant cloud would ya’?” She gave me a helping hoof and dragged me up. “Nice attire,” Rainbow Dash pointed at my cape, “enough with fashion. Now let me see your problem with flying! You need to be up to date in this war.” She looked at Cloudsdale with a sad expression for a split second. I started to flap my wings and try to fly straight. That was a failure in the making, I zig zigzagged through the air and just ended up with my face flattened by a giant pole. You could hear Rainbow Dash swallowing her laugh in the background. She flew over to me and helped me get back into posture. “I see now,” her laugh started to make its way back up; “let’s practice with coordination. The best thing to do is to go at full power and have the air wrap around your body. Focus your mind on one point, it’s hard to get down but it’ll be your only hope.” For the next few days, I just did that over and over again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I flew around Cloudsdale’s obstacle course with ease. I guess embarrassment was just a wall between tons of practice. I was able to fly straight and quickly now without looking like a complete idiot. Rainbow Dash cheered me on and called me over. “Well Ditzy,” she said, “it’s the end of your week and you’ve gotten farther than any other pony I’m seen. I know you’ll be a great pony in the battle; even if you are shark bait. Now go make me proud.” I flew off as fast as I could and started to make my way to Canterlot. It was a difficult task due to the sky being an imaginary battlefield. Magic flew left and right along with some lightning. I found it easy to weave through the attacks that I could see but sometimes, the lightning was just striking down in front of me. Eventually, Canterlot was in my line of sight and I swerved down towards it. Through the window I could already see some of my team talking. The door was wide open and I flew in making a great entrance. I landed on my back hooves first then rested my front hooves and rested my wings. Everypony had wide eyes but Elizabeth was the first to snap back to her sentence. “Everypony, conversation over,” she announced, “Ditzy Doo will be the team leader!” The team cheered and praised me. I was still unaware of what had just happened. “Guys,” I said, “what’s going on?” “Well Ditz,” Lyra cleared her throat, “we were wondering who could be our leader and with that epic entrance, we made up our minds in an instant.” Everypony nodded in agreement. “We think you’ve changed the most.” Cherilee said, “We all just learned magic and power but you learned how to cover your defect and fly straight after 25 years of being a klutz. We’re all proud of your development Ditzy Doo, we’re sorry we didn’t accept you before. Besides, I’m pretty sure the enemies will shiver with a leader like you.” I transitioned from my surprised expression and gave them all a big smile. “Thank you all!” I was grateful; “I’m so happy! I can’t believe I could grow so much potential. All I did was work my hardest and try to prove myself.” “And you did prove yourself!” Photo Finish said, “I admit, you would be a perfect model but not right now. Your posture and grashful body ish perfect!” I blushed a bit and everypony hugged me. “Now everypony,” I said, “I’m pretty sure we will get commands from the princesses and be living in the suites we woke up in.” Elizabeth nodded in agreement; she seemed to have spoken to her already. “Let’s begin our life as a pony with a point!” Everypony cheered and laughed in triumph. It’s time for us to shine.
Chapter 3Chapter 3 Taking Action I woke up after an 8 hour long sleeping session (because a good night’s sleep wouldn’t be appropriate to say) and I had to go to the throne room. She told me that we needed to show off our skills so we could make techniques. After that, we had to go out and lure out Nightmare Moon’s demon guards. I suppose we could have 3 hours showing off skills and creating plans and then put them to the test. When I had gotten to the main room, everypony was already awake and eating breakfast. They all welcomed me to a seat with my meal of carrots and apples sitting there. I decided to start eating and catch up with the others. “Princess Celestia spoke to me,” time to break the news; “she said that we needed to show our power and then create techniques. After that, we head straight to the battle and lure Nightmare Moon’s demon guards.” Everypony mumbled and nodded. We all finished our breakfast and we were off into the fields practicing. We decided to have Elizabeth show her magic first. “I have learned from Twilight Sparkle,” she introduced, “Twilight has taught me about the ways to levitate items and also use fabrication magic.” Her horn began to glow and a bouquet of flowers appeared; suddenly transforming into a brick. She levitated it and flung it at a dead tree which had seemed to have made a decent amount of damage to it. Everypony clapped and Elizabeth bowed. Next up was Cherilee, for her presentation there had to be an injured pony. Elizabeth decided to drop the brick on herself as a sacrifice. Cherilee took action. In her medical saddle bag, she brought out some magic potions. She started to pour the mysterious substance onto Elizabeth and all the pain disappeared from her face. She poured a light blue potion onto her and all the cuts had run away as well. “You could say I learned alchemy.” Everypony was surprised that Fluttershy even knew of those things. Living near Zecora must be a virtue. Lyra jumped in for an entrance and began to speak in an enthusiastic tone, “Now everypony! I learned how to use my lyre as an actual weapon against dangerous forces in the world!” She whipped out her lyre and began to play it. Suddenly a green aura surrounded Bon-Bon and she was doing a really weird dance. Some ponies were unsure of what was happening. “I’m not doing this on my own!” Bon-Bon screamed, “Lyra what did you do?!” Everypony now understood her magic. It was mine control magic but we all knew that it wasn’t powerful enough to last forever. Lyra stopped playing her lyre and put Bon-Bon down. She left the spotlight and welcomed Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon brushed herself off and cleared her throat, “Now I went to Applejack and Pinkie pie for speed and power. That leaves me quite weak in defenses though.” She began to run around some trees as her demonstration of agility and then started to buck them. They all cracked and fell. Some even caught some air time. Everypony was surprised that a lover pony could be so powerful. Photo Finish was next and she put on hoof on her chest. “I have only been to Applejack! I am strong and defensive but unable to run fast!” She bucked the rest of the trees and they all flew at least 1 foot away. For her defense presentation, she jumped high and threw herself on the ground several times. Despite being busy, she felt no pain and bowed. “It’s your turn Ditzy Doo!” Cherilee called out. After all of this, I wondered if I was good enough to be their leader. I introduced myself, “I went to Rarity first to get this illusionary blindfold to hide my eyes and a cape to match it. Then I went to Rainbow Dash to learn how to fly straight. I’m speedy and able to dodge obstacles. I’m rather strong when at full speed and able to resist attacks.” I prepared myself and flew around all the upcoming magic attacks. I weaved through them with ease which was too simple. I let one of them hit me so I could demonstrate defense. Last but not least, I went head to head at some magic and succeeded. Everypony cheered and agreed that I was definitely fit to be their leader. I was surprised, after all these other performances, I seemed to be approved. “Now everypony, after we’ve seen all that we need to make a plan,” I said, “I can lure out the guards if I’m able to distract them. I’ll fly as fast as I can whilst everypony else attacks them. Cherilee will heal injured soldiers. Lyra you try to play the lyre and mind control one of the guards. Elizabeth and Photo Finish will attack the earth guards and Bon-Bon will be the one taunting them.” It was a simple plan but I haven’t been able to see their true power. Everypony knew that it wasn’t the best and just accepted it. “Now let’s get into that action!” Lyra yelled. We all cheered and ran off to the battle field. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So this is what the battlefield was like. Cherilee would be a big help here. There was the war and the safe zone. The warzone didn’t even look like Ponyville anymore. The houses were rubble, the ground was like a gigantic crater, and there were injured and dead ponies everywhere. Magic may have been the main attacker but guns were certainly something that was used. Nightmare Moon was in the sky, a group of guards surrounded her in the air and on the ground. Every once and a while she would send down a lightning bolt. I could sense fear in my team but I decided to step up to the plate. “Hey guards!” I taunted them, “Is your princess too weak to protect herself?!” Nightmare Moon was annoyed. “Guards!” she commanded, “Get that weakling!” They all started to fly towards me in a line. They were faster than I thought but now she was defenseless. “Elizabeth, Lyra!” I called out, “It’s your turn!” Lyra’s lyre began to play and in my surprise, it controlled all of them and they fell to the ground. Photo Finish and Bon-Bon came to take advantage of that. Elizabeth used her bricks and her flowers to do the rest. Lyra concentrated on playing the lyre and keeping them pinned to the ground. I could tell it was getting easier for her. They were getting weak but they could still flail around. You could see some black liquid excreting from the guards which was a bit weird. A group of earth pony guards were sneaking up behind them silently. That was my cue. I flew towards them and started put speed and power into the tips of my hooves. Unlike Rainbow Dash, the air didn’t bend around me and it didn’t make a giant rainbow but it was still quite speedy and powerful. I weaved around the guards to confuse them and smacked them all down in a circle. They stayed on the ground for a while with some blood running down their body. They weren’t dead, but they weren’t very alive either. I could see Cherilee running around and pouring her magic potions. A demon guard snuck up behind me. One of them must have been released from control. I fell to the ground and got back up quickly and charged at him. The guard was fast and dodged my attack but I didn’t let that bring me down, I did a U-turn and attacked him from behind. He didn’t fall to the ground but I knew he was in pain. I had to admit, I’m starting to fall. The guard, bewildered of my approach, flew at me quicker than I would have thought. He opened his mouth full of fangs and almost bit me. Luckily I moved to the side but I could tell he’s wanted to do the same dirty cheat I did so I twirled around and started to fly headfirst at him. Lightning crackled in the sky as we headed towards each other. I tried to fly faster but my wings were getting weak. I could tell the demon was starting to grow weak as well. Nightmare Moon’s cackle distracted me a bit but I returned to my original state of concentration. *BOOM* Lightning crackled near me. I decided to use it to my advantage. I swirled around the lightning bolt to absorb the energy and suddenly I felt so much faster and much more powerful. I headed towards the shocked guard and tackled him with electricity and power. He was fired towards the ground and created a crater. The guard disappeared with a pile of dust. On the other side of things, the controlled guards were also dead. Lyra was tired and was taking potions from Cherilee. The rest of the crew was off fighting some earth guards. Photo Finish seemed fine from here but the rest were damaged in some form. Elizabeth’s clean white coat was covered with blood from her and her rivals. Bon-Bon was much slower than usual. We’d have to be shark bait for the rest of the “day.” The team was shark bait but also seemed to do a lot of the fighting. Maybe shark bait isn’t our only role. I must admit though, we were luring them more than we were attacking. Everypony else usually charged at the lured enemies. We were doing a great job at taunting, especially Lyra. Nightmare Moon stared at me. She was aware of how well the newcomers were doing and she wanted to get rid of them. “Guys!” I called out, “I think we’ve done enough! We’re going back!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I felt bad for retreating; I just didn’t want Nightmare Moon to lash out some real power against us. Cherilee was healing us all after that long battle. It was already 6:00 and it was time for dinner. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walked in to visit us. “Now my little ponies,” Celestia said, “I’m surprised at the amount of power you all hold. I guess saying weak ponies wasn’t appropriate. I’m sorry you must keep this job, I might present you all another job sooner or later. Luna?” Princess Luna used some magic to heal us all. We felt rejuvenated and ready for battle again but it was already late. “Sweet dreams,” she said sweetly. We all ate our dinner and went to bed to get ready to do that again tomorrow. It wasn’t as bad but it wasn’t a dream life either. Sooner or later I drifted off into a deep sleep and dreamt of Equestria in the past. I dreamt of perfection.
Chapter 4Chapter 4 Shark Killer It’s been 2 months since Princess Celestia has assigned us as shark bait. She told us to meet her in the throne room today for an upgrade in our jobs. She says that we would have a far more important job than before. I feel glad that our group has made it so far. We’ve become stronger than most other ponies because of this. Even Elizabeth isn’t very neat anymore. She’s now a magical warrior. Cherilee has made more potions and Lyra has a stronger mind control spell. Bon-Bon has higher defense and Photo Finish seemed to have grown faster as well. We all reported to the throne room and awaited our commands. Celestia sighed and said, “My little ponies, you have grown a lot over the course of two months. I’d hate to ask you this but Equestria depends on this. You must go to New Fillydelphia and enter the time machine there. It will send you to the past; Nightmare Moon’s past. If you are able to obtain her memories you can stop her. Nightmare Moon is a soul, not a pony; she was never a bad mare though. She only grew bad due to jealousy, that’s how she was attracted to Luna.” Everypony was shocked at this and Luna grimaced. “You must defeat this envious soul,” Princess Luna announced, “She is weakened by her past. She used to be a very happy pony that had friends but was soon overtaken by loneliness and jealousy. If you can bring the present Nightmare Moon happy memories, she might stop. The chariot will only take you out of Canterlot and to the wastelands, that’s when you have to get to New Fillydelphia. How you get the memories are for you all to figure out. There are dangerous ponies out there, they might be from Nightmare Moon or they could have snapped. Please be careful. You all are dismissed; you may leave today or tomorrow.” We all left the throne room, some were happy and some were anxious. “Oh boy,” Lyra cheered, “A new adventure!” Everypony knew that this would be a long journey and a dangerous one at that. I knew that we were all capable of freeing Nightmare Moon from her cage but traveling there is the problem of getting there. We all decided to go to the Elements of Harmony and thank them for their training. I made my way to Rarity and everyone else went their separate ways. It was a normal easy fly there now since I could fly faster than normal. Carousel Boutique was the same as always with Rarity inside working away. I knocked on the door a few times was welcomed with Rarity’s smiling face. “Hello my dear!” Rarity exclaimed, “How are you my blindfolded friend? You look very well done.” I explained to her about my journey and how I wanted to thank her. She was proud of me for getting this far and as a souvenir, she gave me a necklace. It was made out of metal colored gold and it had a heart. There was a pair of wings on each side of the heart which pretty much made it a flying heart. I thanked her one last time and went off to find Rainbow Dash. In my high flying, I found her taking a nap in an apple tree (it wasn’t really a tree anymore). The goodbyes faired the same way as it did with Rarity. I wondered if this would be the last time I saw them. Would I make it back? The loss of one pony is less than Equestria; I had to accept my fate for this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everypony was already back in Canterlot and ready for the adventure. We all packed our saddlebags and said farewell to our home. The chariot gave us a ride to the danger zone and that’s where our battle begins. We could already feel the different air. It was musky and filled with evil. Everypony knew what dangers had awaited them in this wasteland; bandits, minions, insane ponies, and every other imaginable threat that you could think of. However, we also knew that the fate of Equestria rested on our shoulders. We all just stood there for a while in order to absorb the atmosphere. The whole land was dark without the moon. It was simply a black void that had Elizabeth’s and Lyra’s horn illuminating a small area. I wore my hood and put a hoof up front. “Let’s go,” I mumbled, “We know Equestria depends on us, might as well hurry up and face whatever comes. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.” I raised my hoof up high and lightning crackled in the distance. The team mustered up as much courage as they could and stood beside me. We were ready to take on the world. I flew upwards to try and find New Fillydelphia. I could see a small city in the distance and pointed towards it. All of my friends got the message and started to run towards it. I flew alongside them trying not to fly too fast. Sooner or later, somepony tackled me. It was a bandit. The rest of his group came out. They all had the same gray look with masks covering their mouths. “Give us your possessions,” the leader commanded, “you can either die or surrender in peace.” Elizabeth smacked them on the head with a rock. “Don’t mess with us silly ponies,” she sneered. The bandits were frustrated and got out their weapons. Most had knives, others had chains, and the leader had a gun. “You chose the hard way!” the leader boomed. He commanded the bandits with knives to attack first. Photo Finish and Bon-Bon knocked them down with ease only suffering a few cuts; Photo Finish had a rather deep cut but was unaffected by it. Despite the long bucking session and the amount of bloodshed, they were okay. Cherilee went over to heal them and they went to rest in a protective shield made by a potion. Next up were the ponies with chains as their weapons. Elizabeth and Lyra knew it was their turn on the field. Lyra began to play her lyre with much more power than before while Elizabeth started to try some other kind of magic. She levitated all of the bandits and sent magic knives through them. Blood was everywhere. Elizabeth lowered them and smiled. Lyra and the others were shocked at how much Elizabeth changed, she wasn’t elegant nor was she weak. Lyra and Elizabeth went into the shield to protect themselves from the leader. It was my turn, leader versus leader. The leader was a unicorn and raised his gun and aimed me. I knew that I would never be able to dodge a bullet but maybe I would be able to confuse him. I started to fly around him so that he’d have to shoot randomly to hit me. I could tell that he was angered by this. The leader jumped (higher than I thought he could) and grabbed my wings. He used one of the chains from the fallen bandit and tied my wings up. Great, how was I supposed to be him now? Sure I was quick but not on my own four hooves! It’s my first real battle and I’m already losing. The leader was aware of this and smiled. “Silly pony,” he picked me up with his magic and squeezed me, “I told you not to mess with us and give us what you have! That’s a very pretty necklace you have there, looks like I have to kill you to get it.” He put the gun right next to my stomach. Good-bye Equ- I’ve got it! I probably still have some energy from lightning after collecting it all in my flights. I screamed and released my energy. This had released his magical grip and me and released the chains. The bandit fell to the ground and I flew up high. I would fall to him like a meteorite. I still had some electricity left and I would gather up enough heat from the speed. I began to fly towards his weakened body that was trying to get up. Electricity crackled and the air on my hooves was hot. This was no sonic rainboom but it definitely was something. Our bodies collided and we both knew who the winner was. An explosion of heat, electricity, and smoke blocked the audience’s view on what was happening. I flew up high to show my victorious title while the leader was lying there with strangely twisted limbs. This battle was hard enough and this was probably the easiest. My friends praised me once more for the great way of defeating such a powerful enemy. We all began to walk the path to New Phillydelphia once again. It was different this time, Elizabeth was actually carrying a dagger. Chapter 4 Shark Killer It’s been 2 months since Princess Celestia has assigned us as shark bait. She told us to meet her in the throne room today for an upgrade in our jobs. She says that we would have a far more important job than before. I feel glad that our group has made it so far. We’ve become stronger than most other ponies because of this. Even Elizabeth isn’t very neat anymore. She’s now a magical warrior. Cherilee has made more potions and Lyra has a stronger mind control spell. Bon-Bon has higher defense and Photo Finish seemed to have grown faster as well. We all reported to the throne room and awaited our commands. Celestia sighed and said, “My little ponies, you have grown a lot over the course of two months. I’d hate to ask you this but Equestria depends on this. You must go to New Fillydelphia and enter the time machine there. It will send you to the past; Nightmare Moon’s past. If you are able to obtain her memories you can stop her. Nightmare Moon is a soul, not a pony; she was never a bad mare though. She only grew bad due to jealousy, that’s how she was attracted to Luna.” Everypony was shocked at this and Luna grimaced. “You must defeat this envious soul,” Princess Luna announced, “She is weakened by her past. She used to be a very happy pony that had friends but was soon overtaken by loneliness and jealousy. If you can bring the present Nightmare Moon happy memories, she might stop. The chariot will only take you out of Canterlot and to the wastelands, that’s when you have to get to New Fillydelphia. How you get the memories are for you all to figure out. There are dangerous ponies out there, they might be from Nightmare Moon or they could have snapped. Please be careful. You all are dismissed; you may leave today or tomorrow.” We all left the throne room, some were happy and some were anxious. “Oh boy,” Lyra cheered, “A new adventure!” Everypony knew that this would be a long journey and a dangerous one at that. I knew that we were all capable of freeing Nightmare Moon from her cage but traveling there is the problem of getting there. We all decided to go to the Elements of Harmony and thank them for their training. I made my way to Rarity and everyone else went their separate ways. It was a normal easy fly there now since I could fly faster than normal. Carousel Boutique was the same as always with Rarity inside working away. I knocked on the door a few times was welcomed with Rarity’s smiling face. “Hello my dear!” Rarity exclaimed, “How are you my blindfolded friend? You look very well done.” I explained to her about my journey and how I wanted to thank her. She was proud of me for getting this far and as a souvenir, she gave me a necklace. It was made out of metal colored gold and it had a heart. There was a pair of wings on each side of the heart which pretty much made it a flying heart. I thanked her one last time and went off to find Rainbow Dash. In my high flying, I found her taking a nap in an apple tree (it wasn’t really a tree anymore). The goodbyes faired the same way as it did with Rarity. I wondered if this would be the last time I saw them. Would I make it back? The loss of one pony is less than Equestria; I had to accept my fate for this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everypony was already back in Canterlot and ready for the adventure. We all packed our saddlebags and said farewell to our home. The chariot gave us a ride to the danger zone and that’s where our battle begins. We could already feel the different air. It was musky and filled with evil. Everypony knew what dangers had awaited them in this wasteland; bandits, minions, insane ponies, and every other imaginable threat that you could think of. However, we also knew that the fate of Equestria rested on our shoulders. We all just stood there for a while in order to absorb the atmosphere. The whole land was dark without the moon. It was simply a black void that had Elizabeth’s and Lyra’s horn illuminating a small area. I wore my hood and put a hoof up front. “Let’s go,” I mumbled, “We know Equestria depends on us, might as well hurry up and face whatever comes. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.” I raised my hoof up high and lightning crackled in the distance. The team mustered up as much courage as they could and stood beside me. We were ready to take on the world. I flew upwards to try and find New Fillydelphia. I could see a small city in the distance and pointed towards it. All of my friends got the message and started to run towards it. I flew alongside them trying not to fly too fast. Sooner or later, somepony tackled me. It was a bandit. The rest of his group came out. They all had the same gray look with masks covering their mouths. “Give us your possessions,” the leader commanded, “you can either die or surrender in peace.” Elizabeth smacked them on the head with a rock. “Don’t mess with us silly ponies,” she sneered. The bandits were frustrated and got out their weapons. Most had knives, others had chains, and the leader had a gun. “You chose the hard way!” the leader boomed. He commanded the bandits with knives to attack first. Photo Finish and Bon-Bon knocked them down with ease only suffering a few cuts; Photo Finish had a rather deep cut but was unaffected by it. Despite the long bucking session and the amount of bloodshed, they were okay. Cherilee went over to heal them and they went to rest in a protective shield made by a potion. Next up were the ponies with chains as their weapons. Elizabeth and Lyra knew it was their turn on the field. Lyra began to play her lyre with much more power than before while Elizabeth started to try some other kind of magic. She levitated all of the bandits and sent magic knives through them. Blood was everywhere. Elizabeth lowered them and smiled. Lyra and the others were shocked at how much Elizabeth changed, she wasn’t elegant nor was she weak. Lyra and Elizabeth went into the shield to protect themselves from the leader. It was my turn, leader versus leader. The leader was a unicorn and raised his gun and aimed me. I knew that I would never be able to dodge a bullet but maybe I would be able to confuse him. I started to fly around him so that he’d have to shoot randomly to hit me. I could tell that he was angered by this. The leader jumped (higher than I thought he could) and grabbed my wings. He used one of the chains from the fallen bandit and tied my wings up. Great, how was I supposed to be him now? Sure I was quick but not on my own four hooves! It’s my first real battle and I’m already losing. The leader was aware of this and smiled. “Silly pony,” he picked me up with his magic and squeezed me, “I told you not to mess with us and give us what you have! That’s a very pretty necklace you have there, looks like I have to kill you to get it.” He put the gun right next to my stomach. Good-bye Equ- I’ve got it! I probably still have some energy from lightning after collecting it all in my flights. I screamed and released my energy. This had released his magical grip and me and released the chains. The bandit fell to the ground and I flew up high. I would fall to him like a meteorite. I still had some electricity left and I would gather up enough heat from the speed. I began to fly towards his weakened body that was trying to get up. Electricity crackled and the air on my hooves was hot. This was no sonic rainboom but it definitely was something. Our bodies collided and we both knew who the winner was. An explosion of heat, electricity, and smoke blocked the audience’s view on what was happening. I flew up high to show my victorious title while the leader was lying there with strangely twisted limbs. This battle was hard enough and this was probably the easiest. My friends praised me once more for the great way of defeating such a powerful enemy. We all began to walk the path to New Phillydelphia once again. It was different this time, Elizabeth was actually carrying a dagger.
