I had to change some of the lyrics of the song I used in this chapter.

Chapter 24: Thorn strikes back (part 2)

Luna's castle

"Come on guys! We have to get back to Ponyville before something bad happens." I yelled as we all galloped out the throne room and down the stairs. We decided to leave the dead guards where they were because we didn't have time to bury them.

I was surprised by how Fluttershy took little notice of the bodies. As we galloped past them, she just looked around at them with a devastated look and tried not to react too strongly.

We galloped out the lobby and down the castle grounds until we came back to the broken main gate. Once we reached it, we galloped up to the hot-air balloon and I stopped next to the basket. "Come on! Everypony in the basket, quickly." I ordered.

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy then jumped into the basket before I jumped in with them. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash tied the rope that was still attached to the basket around the waste.

Once she had the rope tied around her, I gave her a nervous look. "Ok Rainbow, just remember to start of slow before yo-WHOW." I yelled as Rainbow Dash once again shot off into the sky with great speed; pulling the balloon with us in it along with her.

Meanwhile: Canterlot castle

As Discord and Celestia were still chained to the wall, Thorn watched from the throne in amusement at the sight of Luna bucking her hind-legs against the black spikey bars of the cage she was in. she then spun around and shot a small beam of dark blue magic from her horn, but it had no effect on the cage bars.

"There's no use in trying to break out Luna, that cage is enchanted with my own special hex. Something I whipped up just for you." Thorn chuckled. Luna looked up at him and growled.

Celestia glared down at him from the wall. "Thorn. As the ruler of Equestria and the Princess of the sun, I demand you to release me, Discord and Luna from these imprisonments and return my castle to its former state." She demanded.

Thorn looked up at her with a devilish smile. "Oh, no need to worry Celestia! I'll let her go….after I claim what's rightfully mine." He said darkly before he got up off the throne and walked towards the centre of the throne room.

As he did, Luna backed up as far as she could until she hit the back of the cage.

Once Thorn was standing in the middle of the room, His horn glowed white and a large round stone table appeared in flash of light front of him. His horn continued to glow until there was a smaller flash and a large purple crystal floating in a glass case appeared in the middle of the stone table.

Thorn then turned his head to face Luna and a large deceitful grin grew on his face. Luna had a wondering look on her face as she looked at the strange crystal.

"Don't be afraid Luna! This won't hurt a bit." Thorn said before his horn glowed again and the glass case lifted off the crystal.

The crystal then shot a purple beam towards Luna and she screamed in pain once it made contact with her. "More like…A LOT. Hahaha." Thorn laughed evilly as Luna continued to scream in pain while Celestia and Discord watched her suffering in horror.

Meanwhile: fields outside Ponyville

After another long flight, we finally made it back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash dove down to the ground while pulling the balloon with us in it down with her.

Once she landed with the balloon landing behind her, we all once again pulled ourselves up from inside the basket with a sick looks on our faces. "Well, there goes my other lung." I said before I climbed out of the basket with Twilight and the others climbing out after me.

Once we all calmed down, I walked up to everypony. "Alright, has everypony taken a breather?" I asked. Pinkie Pie then jumped in front of me. "Silly dilly, I don't need a breather. I can already breath real good." She said before she breathed in and out deeply with her mouth wide open.

I gave her an awkward look. "Ok, not what I meant. But that's not the case here."

Rarity stepped forward. "Yes, we must get to Canterlot castle before that ruffian Thorn and warn Princess Celestia."

I nodded to her. "Exactly, we don't have much time so let's get going." I said. Everypony then nodded before we all galloped into Ponyville.

Ponyville streets

We were all galloping as fast as we could through the streets until I noticed something and slowed down until I came to a stop.

Twilight and the others stopped behind me before Twilight walked up beside me. "Matt, is something wrong?" she asked in concerned voice.

I turned my head to face her. "Yeah, does it seem a bit….quiet to you?" I asked. Twilight and the others then looked around Ponyville to see that there was nopony in sight.

Fluttershy then quivered. "It's so quiet and dark, I don't like it. Where is everypony?"

"Yeah, this town's more deserted then a ghost town." Applejack said as she looked around at the lifeless town.

As we kept looking around for any sign of life, we heard a small voice up ahead. "Twilight, Matthew." It yelled.

We all looked ahead to see a small figure with two others running towards us. After a short while, the figure came more into view until we saw that it was Spike with Jeff and Peewee flying above him.

Once they reached us, Spike put his hands on his knees as he panted hard. Jeff and Peewee landed on the ground and collapsed while panting. "Twilight…Matt…you have to…do something…woo." Spike said between breaths as he wiped the sweat of his forehead.

"Spike, Jeff, Peewee, what's going on? Where is everypony?" I asked in a worried tone.

"Hiding." Peewee answered. "Yeah, we've been stuck inside the library since you guys left. We saw your balloon and flew over here as fast as we could." Jeff added as he continued to lie on the ground.

Fluttershy walked up to Jeff and Peewee and picked them up in her hooves before resting them like babies in her arms. "Oh, you poor things. You must be exhausted!" she said sweetly.

As she held them, Jeff looked at Peewee. "I don't know what's happening right now, but I think I like it." Peewee then nodded in agreement.

I rolled my eyes before I looked back down at Spike. "Spike, what's happened that's caused everypony to hide?"

"That." Spike answered as he pointed up towards Canterlot. We all looked up and gasped in shock at the sight of the city shrouded in darkness and black thunder clouds swirling above it.

"What's happening up there?" Twilight asked as she continued to stare up at Canterlot.

"….We're too late, Thorn's already beat us there." I said while looking up at Canterlot in devastation.

Rainbow Dash walked up beside me. "Well, what are we gonna do Matt?"

I thought for a moment. "We need to know what's going on up there." I said. "How? The castle is all the way up there and we're down here." Applejack said as she stepped forward.

I then looked at Jeff still in Fluttershy's arms. "Jeff."

Jeff looked at me. "What?"

"I need you to fly up there and see what's happening in the castle. Then come back and tell us what you've seen. Alright?" I said to him.

Jeff then stood up in Fluttershy's arms and moaned. "More flyin'? This is more flappin' then I've done all weak." He said before he took off into the air.

"Be careful Jeff." I yelled up to him. He turned his head around while he was still flying. "I'm always carful." He yelled down before he crashed into chimney.

I rolled my eyes as he pushed himself of the chimney and looked down at us. "I'm ok." He yelled down with a sheepish smile before he flew around the chimney and headed up to Canterlot.

We all then looked at each other before we started walking feather down the streets with Peewee now on Fluttershy's back.

A short while later: Canterlot castle

Jeff continued to fly towards the castle until he finally reached it. Once he did, he saw the throne room through a glass window and landed on the stone windowsill outside the castle.

He then looked through the glass to see Princess Celestia and Discord chained up against the wall and Thorn standing next to a large stone table with a large purple crystal in the middle of it. He then noticed that the crystal was shooting a beam at Luna who was curled up on the floor. "Dang, what's he doin' to her?" Jeff asked himself.

While Jeff was watching from outside, Luna was making small grunting noises as the crystal was sucked the magic out of her. Thorn stepped close to the cage. "Relax Luna! The crystal is almost full and then your powers will be gone and you'll be weaker than ever. Then I'll take them for my own." He said before he chuckled devilishly.

"You….won't get away with this Thorn….Matthew, Twilight and their friends….will come and….stop you." Luna said weakly.

Thorn then chuckled slightly. "Oh Princess, you really don't get it do you? I'm hoping Matthew will come. Because once he comes through those doors, he'll be dead before he even gets a chance to flinch." He growled.

"No." Luna said under her breath with a frightened look on her face while Jeff had a shocked look. Thorn laughed slightly at her devastation.

After hearing this, Discord tried to pull himself loose. "When I get a hold of you Thorn." He yelled in anger.

Thorn turned around and looked up a Discord with a smirk on his face. "I'm sooo worried. Hahaha."

Suddenly, Thorn's smirk faded once he heard a strange humming noise from behind him. He turned around slowly to see the beam on the crystal had stopped. The crystal hovered in the middle of the table while glowing black.

Thorn walked over to it and marvelled at it. "This is it….this is it….after years of planning….years of failed attempts…it's mine." He said to himself with a large smile on his face.

The crystal then hovered towards Thorn until it shot into his chest and he closed his eyes as he let out a small yell. He then started to glow black; he glowed darker and darker until his body was completely black. The glow then faded away.

Once it did, Thorn opened his eyes and looked down at his chest to see he was wearing a sliver metal necklace with the dark purple crystal in the middle of it.

Thorn then smiled evilly as he looked at his hoof to see it was glowing purple. "Hahaha, yes…YES…its mine. I can feel the power inside me. It feels magnificent. Hahaha."

Luna, Celestia and Discord were wide-eyed in horror and shock knowing that Thorn was more powerful now.

Thorn's horn then glowed and bolts of black electricity shot around everywhere. "It's mine, it's finally mine. The power…of the night. The power…of the moon. The power…of the DARKNESS." Thorn yelled in delight.

"You…monster." Luna said weakly with a sharp glare.

Thorn's evil smile grew. "The power of the Princess of the night…is mine…all mine." He said darkly before he started to sing.

Thorn: "You may not like my new found power

But I think it's totally hot…

And you may hate the way I use it

But am I concerned?...I'm not…

'Cause the power to create is mine

And the power to change…oh joy…

The power to rearrange all life

And the power to destroooooy, hahahaha….

Now I give the orders and you're gonna take'em

Thing's gonna be the way that I make'em

I'll be the one who gets every break

You gotta love it!...Haaaa-ha

You gotta love it!...

Every day's gonna be a vacation

Now I'm the king of gratification

I'll do whatever I want every day

You gotta love it!...Woo-ho

You gotta love it!...

I'll take aim at any target

I'll stake claim to every wealth…

And I think I'll fill the cup of power

And drink it to my health…

Hey, I wanna wish up every pony

Everything anyone can consume

And thousands of life times all in one room

You gotta love it!...Ha-ha yeah

You gotta love it!...Oooooh

You gotta loooove this pooower of mine!"

As Thorn was singing, more bolts of black lightning shot out of his horn like crazy. One shot towards the window and Jeff ducked down as it shot through the glass and over his head.

He then walked along the windowsill until he was behind a wall; he poked his head around the wall and continued to watch Thorn.

Thorn: "I'll take aim at any target

I'll stake claim to every wealth

And I think I'll fill the cup of power

And drink it to my health…

I wanna wish up every pony

Everything anyone can consume

And thousands of life times all in one room

You gotta love it!...yeah

You gotta love it…Oooh

You gotta love…this pooower…of MIIIIINE!

Zow! Rock and roll…hahaha."

Once Thorn finished singing, Jeff had an worried look on his face. "I Gotta tell Matt." He said under his breath before he stepped on one of the bricks on the windowsill. However once he did, the brick broke off and smash on the ground.

Thorn's ear twitched as he heard the smash and spun his head around to see Jeff behind the window. "Errr….hi." Jeff said as he waved before he laughed sheepishly.

Thorn growled. "Well, if it isn't Matthew's little pet…or should I say…SCOUT. Let's see if you can talk without a beak, shall we?" he said before he shot a bolt of black lightning towards Jeff.

"Time to go." Jeff quickly said before turned around and flew off before the bolt smashed through the window and hit Jeff through his tail feathers. "YOW." He yelled as it did.

As Jeff flew back down to Ponyville, Thorn watched him and a devious smile then crawled on his face. "Hmm, this must mean Matthew and his friends know I'm here. Good, then they'll be coming. And when they do….I will make Matthew suffer greatly before I rip the life out of him." Thorn said darkly before he chuckled again.

Luna couldn't help but let her ears lower as she shed a single tear out of devastation with a worried look on her face.

A short while later: Ponyville streets

We were all sitting in the streets waiting for Jeff to come back and tell us watch he saw up there, me and Twilight were pacing back and forth with concerned looks on our faces.

"He's been up there for too long." I said in a worried tone.

Twilight then walked up to me and placed her hoof on my shoulder. "He'll be ok Matt, he always was one for quick getaways when he got in trouble." She said in a confident tone.

I was still worried. "Yeah, but what if somethin' happened to him? What if he-" I was cut off by the sound of flapping behind me.

I turned around to see Jeff falling to towards us while yelling, Rainbow Dash saw this before she leaped forward and caught him on her back. We all galloped up to them.

"Jeff, what wrong? What did you see up there?" Applejack asked with a concerned tone.

Jeff took a few deep breaths before he jumped off Rainbow Dash's back and started to explain. "Ok, it's definitely Thorn up there and he's got-"

He couldn't finish his sentence as I cut in. "Your tail's on fire." I said as I pointed at his tail feathers.

He looked behind him to see smoke coming up from his tail feathers. He yelled fight before he beat his tail with his wings until it stopped smoking.

Rarity then stepped closer to him. "Wait! You saw Thorn? What's he doing?" Rarity asked.

Jeff then turned his attention to her. "He was in the throne room, he has Luna locked in some sort of cage, Celestia and Discord are chained to the wall, there was this weirdo glowing crystal thingy and for some reason there was some singing." He answered.

"Ew, singing? At this hour?" Pinkie Pie said with a raised eye brow.

"Yeah, but it had a catchy tune to it." Jeff added.

"Alright, singing matter aside. What was he doing?" I asked slightly frustrated.

Jeff then looked up at me. "Oh right, its Luna man. He's finally got her powers over the night and now he's more powerful than ever."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Of cause, Thorn's power must come from the darkness. If he has control over the night, that means the night can last as long as he wants it to. As long as it's dark, he'll be fully powered." She said in a slightly shocked tone.

"Great, it's Nightmare Moon all over again." Rainbow Dash stated in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah, except this guy's way worse." Applejack added.

Twilight turned her head to face me. "So, what's the plan?"

I thought for a moment before I came up with something. "Ok here it is. We have to get up there, get Luna her powers back and free Celestia so she can raise the sun. That might be the only way to weaken Thorn." Everypony then nodded in agreement.

Jeff then flew up in front of me. "No dice dude, he knows you're all comin'. He said the second you step through the throne room doors, you're dead."

We all were stunned by this; I looked up at darkness surrounding Canterlot before I started to walk away. "Where are you going?" Twilight asked curiously.

I stopped and turned my head around to face her. "I'm going up there to stop Thorn, go back to the library with the others! You'll be safe there" I answered.

Twilight eyes widened. "Are you crazy? You're not going up there alone!" she protested.

"I'm the one he wants, Twilight. I can't let you get involved in his revenge against me." I said before I continued to walk away from her.

Twilight's horn glowed and she disappeared and reappeared in front of me in a flash of light. "And I'm not letting go up there to get yourself killed." She argued.

"Twilight, move!" I said in a loud voice. "No." She said back louder.

I then flapped my wings and took off into the air above her, but as I did, I felt something grab my tail and pull my back to the ground. I turned around to see Twilight had a magic hold on my tail.

"Matt. If you go up there, you are going to die." Twilight shouted.

"Better me then you and the Princesses." I shouted as I pulled myself out of her magic hold.

Everypony was wide-eyed in shock at what I just said, especially Twilight. "Matt, how could you say something like that? We love you, I love you." Twilight said.

"I know, I love you too. And that's exactly why I have to go there alone. Thorn wants to make me suffer, and he knows that killing you will make me suffer more than anything. He may be insane but he's smart." I said. Twilight just stared at me in silence.

"I can't lose you Twilight; Thorn tried to hurt you last time, if he sees you there he'll try it again. I'll never forgive myself if you got hurt or worse." I said before I hung my head slightly.

Everypony looked at each other in surprise before they continued to watch us. Twilight then walked up to me before she placed her hoof under my chin and raised my head back up.

We looked into each other's eyes before Twilight pressed her lips against mine. After a few seconds, we broke the kiss and she gave me an understanding look. "I can't lose you ether, Matt. You're the only colt I've ever loved."

I then gave her a warm smile before we shared a loving hug. "And you're the only girl I've ever loved." I said quietly as I hugged her.

There was a moment silence before Applejack tapped her chin. "Well…maybe we don't have'ta go through the throne room doors, why don't we'all just go through the window or somethin'?"

Jeff turned his head to face her. "Nah, he saw me watching through the window before I left. He'll probably be expecting somethin' like that now."

"And even if we tried, he'll see us coming a mile away. We'll never even reach the castle without him knowing." Rainbow Dash added as she hovered in the air.

"Oh, we can't go through the castle, we can't go through the window. What else can we do?" Fluttershy asked.

Rarity stepped forward. "I dare say we're in quite the big jamb. No matter what we do, he'll always be one step ahead of us." she said with her ears low.

Me and Twilight then separated and looked at the worried looks on our friends faces. I looked down at the ground as I tried to come up with an idea until I came up with one. "If we can't get to the throne room by going into the castle, why don't we going into the throne room from underneath the castle?"

Everypony then looked at me with confused faces. "What? You mean we should dig our way into the throne room?" Twilight asked with a raised eye brow.

Rarity walked up to me. "But digging is so….filthy." she said with an uncomfortable look.

"I know where you're goin' with this, sugar cube. But tunnel diggin' isn't really our speciality, ya know!" Applejack added.

I then gave her a smirk. "Who said we were the ones who were gonna dig? We need experts on digging tunnels, ones that'll dig a thousand tunnels just to get what they want….and I think I know just the guys." I said before I galloped past between Applejack and Rarity.

"Where're you going?" Twilight asked with a confused look on her face.

I turned my head around to see her. "To get us some help from very unlikely sources." I answered as I continued to gallop down the streets until I was out of sight.

A short time later: Dirt lands near Ponyville

After a short gallop, I finally reached the dirt lands. I walked along the grassless dirt looking around for any sign of life and for what I was looking for.

After looking around a bit, I finally found what I was looking for. A large deep hole in the ground. I walked up to it and looked down it to see nothing but darkness.

I gulped hard. "Right then." I said to myself before I closed my eyes, jumped down the hole and slid down the tunnel.

After a long slide, I finally hit the bottom with a hard thud. "Ah, so much for a soft landing." I groaned before I got up off the ground rubbing my head with my hoof.

After that, I looked around to see a large number of tunnels in front of me. "Hello? Diamond Dogs? Anypony here?" I called out.

I waited for an answer but there was only silence. Suddenly, I heard a noise above me and I felt a small amount of dirt fall on my head. I looked up and a Diamond Dag guard fell down from the dirt ceiling and landed on my back before he pulled a rope reins with a muzzle around my snout.

"Hey, get off!" I yelled as I started bucking around trying to throw the guard off. At that moment, another guard fell down in front of me with a spear in its hands.

The guard pointed the sharp end of his spear in front of my face and I went wide-eyed. "Ok, ok…you win. Listen! I'm looking for three Dogs; one of them is slightly tall, green eyes and wears a small gem around his neck. While the other two are his friends and followers."

The two guards remained silent before the one with the spear pulled the spear away from me, turned around and started walking towards one of the tunnels. I then felt the guard on my back kick me in the side; telling me to start moving, so I gave the guard a sharp glare before I started following the other guard down the tunnel.

After a while of forced walking, we finally arrived in a large room-like part of the tunnel. I looked around and recognized it as the same place where forced Rarity to mine for gems.

I then noticed the three original Diamond Dogs standing with their backs turned in the middle of the room. They heard us coming and turned around. Rover then walked up to the guard with the spear. "Dog, why have you brought this pony here? Don't you remember what happened last time we brought a pony down here?" he said before he shivered with a slightly frightened look on his face.

"We found him in the caves, he says he wants to talk to you." the guard answered. Rover then looked at me and walked up in front of me. The other guard then climbed off me and took the muzzle off my snout.

Rover then leaned down to my face and rubbed his chin. "Hmmm, don't I know you? You look familiar." He asked with a suspicious look.

I then smiled sheepishly. "Errr…yeah, you see…you probably don't remember me, but there was this book store and I was-"

Rover's eyes then widened slightly. "You, you're that crazy green pony that hurt us." he said with a small glare in his eyes.

"AHH, he's come to finish the job." Spot yelled in fear before he hid behind Fido. "Don't let him near us." Fido yelled.

I held my hoof up. "Alright, let's all just calm down for a minute. Yes, I'm the pony that beat you up. No, I'm not here to finish the job."

"Then why are you here?" Rover asked with a raised eye brow.

I looked up at him. "I need you and those other three to help me and my friends dig into Canterlot castle."

Rover was silent for a moment before he, Spot and Fido burst out into laughing. "Hahaha, do you hear that, Dogs? The pony needs our help to break into the pony Princess' castle." Rover said before he laughed again.

Spot stepped forward. "Yes, the pony is looking for some serious trouble if he's wanting to break into her castle."

"Ok, we don't want to break in. we want to sneak in. and right now, the only pony who's in trouble is Celestia." I said.

Fido walked up beside Rover. "How is the pony Princess in trouble?" he asked.

I looked at him. "There's an alicorn called Thorn up in the castle right now and he's keeping her captive. We need your digging skills to save her."

Rover glared down at me. "And what makes you think we're going to help you after what you did to us?"

"Because…if you don't, you won't get your reward." I said with a smirk growing on my face.

They then had a look of curiosity on their faces. "Reward? What kind of reward?" Fido asked curiously.

I smirked at him. "Well, the Princess is rich and I'm very popular with her. If you help, I could throw in a good word for you and she may be generous enough to say….give you as many gems as you can fit in your pockets." I said in a sly voice.

Spot then shot up in front of me with an excited look on his face. "GEMS? Just for digging one tunnel?"

I nodded. "Yep, I heard she has a whole vault filled with gems, diamonds, you name it! It's in there." Spot and Fido then looked at each other's with large smiles on their faces.

Rover then grabbed them by their tails and pulled them back to him. "We already dig for gems. And why would the pony Princess give us her gems anyway? We don't do anything for her." He snarled.

I stepped forward. "Yeah, but I'm sure she would give you something to show her gratitude. I mean, if you do this, you won't just be saving her life; you'll be saving the lives of Discord and her sister Luna." I explained.

Rover, Spot and Fido then had surprised looks on their faces. "Did you say….Discord?" Rover asked curiously.

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?" I asked curiously with a raised eye brow.

"Back where we came from, Discord was one of our idols." Fido answered.

"We worshiped him like a god, but now you say he's in the castle being held captive?" Rover asked.

I then thought up a sly idea. "Yeah, he is…but, you already said you didn't want to help so I think I'll just go and find somepony else to dig for us." I said before I turned around and walked away from the three Diamond dogs.

As I did, I looked back through the corner of my eye and grinned. "3, 2, 1." I counted under my breath before I heard Rover from behind me. "PONY." He yelled.

I then wiped the grin off my face and turned around to face him. "Did you call me?" I asked knowing that he did.

Rover walked up to me. "If we agree to help you, we want something in return." He stated.

"Name it!" I said. Rover then walked closer to me. "If we help, we want those gems you mentioned AND an audience with Discord." Rover stated.

The smirk returned to my face. "I think that can be arranged."

A delighted smile then appeared on Rover's face. "Yes, we finally get to meet the spirit of chaos and disharmony." He said to himself.

I raised my hoof. "Errr…ex-spirit of chaos and disharmony. He's not technically a spirit anymore."

Rover's smiled then turned into a shocked frown "What? How?" Fido asked in a shocked tone.

"He was stripped of his name by that Thorn guy I mentioned before. Now he has no name and only half his magic." I explained.

After hearing this, Rover's shocked face turned into an angered one. "This is unacceptable, nopony out masters lord Discord. Nopony." He yelled in anger.

Spot and Fido then walked up beside him. "Yes, nopony messes with Discord and gets away with it." Fido stated.

"So does this mean we have a deal?" I asked with a hopeful smile.

They all looked at each other and nodded before they looked back at me. "Deal." They all said.

I stuck my hoof out in front of Rover. "Trues?"

Rover then grabbed my hoof and shook it up and down. "Trues." He repeated.

We then let each other go. "Right then, we have to get to the surface and regroup with Twilight and the others." I said. The Diamond Dogs then nodded before we I galloped back into the tunnel with the Diamond Dogs following behind.

After a short while, we came to the tunnel that I fell down through and I flew back up it with the Diamond Dogs climbing behind me. I was surprised by how quick they could climb up a long tunnel.

After which, we finally made it to the surface and I looked at my coat to see I was covered in dirt. I then shook myself and all the dirt came off me like dust. I then turned my head around to the Diamond Dogs. "Come on! We have to hurry." I said. They then nodded before we all headed towards Ponyville.

Ponyville streets

After a short gallop, I looked ahead to see Twilight with Jeff on her back and the others waiting for me in the streets. Once I saw them, I galloped fast towards then.

Twilight then noticed me and she galloped up to me with the others behind her. "Hey guys, miss me?" I asked in a playful tone.

"Matt, where'd you go? Canterlot's getting darker by the minute." Twilight said with a worried look on her face.

"I know, but don't worry! I got us some help." I said before I stepped to the side to reveal the Diamond Dogs standing a few feet behind me.

Everypony then gasped in shock. "Matt, don't you know who those guys are. They're those dog things that kidnapped Rarity one time." Spike said in a shocked tone.

Once they heard that name, the Diamond Dogs turned their heads to see Rarity looking at them in shock. "AHHH, it's the winey pony." Rover yelled in terror.

"Ahh, keep her away! Keep her away!" Fido yelled as he took a few steps back.

"This is just a nightmare, any minute now I'll wake up on my rocks next to my stuffed bear Mr Nuggles." Spot cried with his hands over his eyes.

Rover and Fido then looked down at him with confused looks before looking back at us. "You never said SHE would be here. We're not doing this if she's involved." Rover stated with a small glare.

I stepped closer to them. "Oh come on! Can't you just let it go?" I asked in a frustrated tone.

"No, she's too much trouble to be around." Fido stated.

I then let out an annoyed sigh before I turned my head to Rarity. "Rarity, can you help me here?" she then nodded and walked up to the Diamond Dogs.

Once she did, she was silent for a moment before she pretended to frown. "Awww, why won't you help us? Do you hate us? We really need you're heeeelp. Please, please, pleeeease dig for us. We can't do it without you, PLEEEESE." Rarity wined loudly.

Rover, Spot and Fido had their hands to their ears as Rarity continued wining until Rover couldn't take it anymore. "ENOUGH, alright, alright we'll help you. Just make her stop." He yelled.

I then walked up beside Rarity. "Alright Rarity, you can stop now." I said while facing her. She then stopped wining and Rover, Spot and Fido removed their hands from their ears.

I then took a step forward. "OK, so you're gonna dig under the castle and into the throne room with no funny business, right?" the three dogs then nodded fast.

I nodded back. "Good, then let's all get to the train station to catch a train Canterlot. Thorn might not be expecting that."

Pinkie Pie then walked up beside me. "But, I thought you said that the trains won't run in this amount of darkness." She said with a raised eye brow.

I turned my head to face her. "Well, we're just gonna have to drive it ourselves." I said in a slight confident tone.

Everypony then looked at me in surprise. I then turned around to Twilight and the rest of the main 6. "Alright, let's go!" I said before I started walking down the street with before Twilight, the rest of the main 6, Spike and the Diamond Dogs began to follow behind me.

As we got closer to the train station, Twilight walked up beside me as we continued to walk. "How did you get the Diamond Dogs to agree to help us anyway?" she asked curiously.

I turned my head to face her. "Oh…I just said that they would probably get a big reward if they helped us."

Twilight raised her eye brow. "And what kind of reward would that be?"

"Errr…you know!...gems and…an audience with Discord." I said nervously.

Twilight then had a slight confused look on her face. "I understand the gems part, but why would they want to meet Discord?" she asked.

"Ah, something about him being their idol once and worshiping him like a god. But that's not important, what is important is the fact that their actually helping us. Trust me Twi; this is all going to work out." I said giving her a confident smile.

She then smiled back at me. "OK, Matt. I trust you." she said sweetly.

We then continued to walk until we finally reached the train station to see it was abandoned too. There wasn't anypony in sight.

We saw the Friendship Express on the tracks and we all got into the front cart. While everypony sat down on the seats, Me, Twilight and Applejack walked into the engine room and I looked at the controls while rubbing my chin.

"You do know how to start this thing, right sugar cube?" Applejack asked with a nervous look on her face.

I turned my head to face her. "Errr…yeah…you just…twist this thing…and then press that…and then…pull down on this thing." I said before I pull down on a chain and a loud whistle blew which caused us all to cover our ears in pain.

Once the whistle stopped, Twilight and Applejack looked at me with annoyed faces and I smiled sheepishly. Fido then came into the engine room. "What was that?" he asked annoyed tone.

I turned around to face him. "Sorry, just trying start the train."

Fido then rolled his eyes. "That was the whistle, move aside pony! You have the train intelligents of a gerbil." He said before he pushed me aside and pulled back on a lever. The train then started to move forward up the tracks.

We were now going faster up the mountain towards Canterlot. I looked up at Fido. "How do you know how a train works?" I asked curiously.

Fido looked down at me. "When you've worked in a mine you entire life, you learn a few things about engines."

Me, Twilight and Applejack then looked at each other before we walked into the front cart to regroup with the others and leave Fido to drive the train.

We then sat down on the seats. I couldn't shake the thought of what might happen when we get to Canterlot. Now that Thorn has Luna's magic, who knows what he can do. He could be watching us right now, learning our plan and preparing for it. The whole thought made my face pale with slight fear.

Rover then noticed my worried look. "Errr…pony, your face is white. Why is this?" he asked curiously.

I snapped out of my thought and turned my head to him. "Huh? Oh, I'm just worried about what'll happen when we get there. And my names Matthew by the way."

Spot then turned his head to me and gave me a confused look. "Matthew? That's a weird name."

I narrowed in annoyance my eyes. "So I've heard." I said before I looked back at the floor.

"Rover." I heard a voice say.

I looked back up to look at Rover. "What was that?" I asked him with a raised eye brow.

"That's my name, Rover. And this is Spot and that's Fido." Rover said as he pointed to Spot who was sitting next to him and Fido in the engine room.

I gave him a small smile. "Ok Rover, so are you and your friends getting ready to dig that tunnel? Because you need to dig fast."

Rover nodded. "Yes, we're ready. We'll teach this Thorn guy not to mess with lord Discord."

I then gave him a proud nod before I leaned back on my seat and waited for us to stop in Canterlot.

Canterlot: Train station

After a long train ride, we finally made it to Canterlot. We all galloped out the train and headed towards the castle.

As we did, we noticed something and came to a stop. We looked around the city to see that there was nopony in sight, just like Ponyville. "Wow, I've never see these streets so empty." I said.

Spot looked around at the city. "So this is the pony city? It's so big, so colourful with so much air. How can you ponies stand to live here?" he asked with an inconvertible look.

Applejack turned her head to face him. "You get used to it." She said with her eyes narrow.

We then noticed a pair of high class ponies walk by with suitcases in their mouths. I then walked up to them. "Excuse me! Where are you going?" I asked.

The male high class pony placed his suitcase on the ground before he spoke to me. "Where do you think? We're getting out of here while we're still alive."

The female high class pony then placed her suitcase on the ground before she spoke. "Everypony in Canterlot is leaving, the castle's been overrun. We don't want to be around for whatever's going to happen here."

The male high class pony then turned his head to her. "Come along dear, we have to go NOW." He yelled before he and the female high class pony grabbed their suitcases and galloped away.

I then looked ahead to see the castle gates up the road. "The castles right over there, come on! We're nearly there." I said before I galloped towards the gates with the others following.

Once we reached them, I rammed right through them; swinging them wide open. Twilight and the others followed.

We then looked at the castle to see it in its dark state. It wasn't as colourful as it used to be and there were cracks and dead plants everywhere. The Diamond Dogs look at the castle in fright. "We're…going to go in there? In that creepy dark castle?" Spot asked quivering slightly.

Jeff turned his head to face him. "Trust me, it's worse on the inside. Especially with Thorn in there, the guy so evil he can bite your head off."

The Diamond Dogs then gulped hard. I looked down at Jeff. "Jeff, no helping."

He looked up at me. "Not lying." Was his only response.

I rolled my eyes before walked in up in front of everypony to get their attention. Once I had it, I explain the plan. "Ok, we all know the plan. We dig a tunnel under the castle and come up through the throne room floor. Once we do, I'll use the Element of Bravery to break Luna out then I'll break Celestia and Discord free. Then we'll get Luna her magic so she can lower the moon and Celestia can raise the sun; weakening Thorn and giving us the chance to catch him. Any questions?"

Everypony was silent before Fido raised his hand. "Yes Fido?" I said pointing at him.

"Errr…do I have time to pee?" Fido asked sheepishly.

I face-hooved myself in frustration. "Oh for the love of…fine, go! But be quick." I said in annoyance before he shot of and dove into a nearby bush.

I then turned my head to the others. "Ok while he's doing that. Rover and Spot, start digging!" I ordered.

Rover and Spot then walked up to where I was standing and started digging through the ground. Rainbow Dash then walked up beside me. "But, what about Thorn? He'll be waiting for us in the throne room. What if he sees us coming through the floor?"

My eyes then widened. "CRAP, you're right. We need to get him out of the throne room before we dig our way in!"

Applejack then stepped forward. "How in the hay are we gonna do that?" she asked with a raised eye brow.

"We're gonna need a distraction, something they'll keep him out of the throne room until we free the Princesses and Discord." Twilight said.

"But what kind of distraction?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

At that moment, Fido came back and stood next to the hole Rover and Spot made. Rover and Spot then poked their heads up from inside the hole. "I think I know a way to distract him." Rover said.

I looked down at him curiously. "Really? How?" I asked.

Rover then looked at Spot and Fido with a devious smile. They gave him nervous looks. "Errr…why are you looking at us like that?" Fido asked.

A short time later: Canterlot castle lobby

Thorn was standing in front of a large Green ball of fire hovering in the middle of the lobby.

"Yes brother, I now possess Princess Luna's magic over the night itself. I feel more powerful than ever before. And soon my rule with shroud Equestria in eternal chaos." Thorn said evilly.

"Your rule Thorn? Surly, you mean mine. Remember who your superior is!" A dark male voice said inside the fire.

Thorn's evil smile faded. "O-of cause…brother. And after I kill Celestia I'll-" Thorn was cut off by the dark voice.

"You will do no such thing Thorn, I am the one who will kill Celestia. Understand?" The voice said loudly as the flames on the fire grew larger.

Thorn took a few steps back with a slightly frightened look on his face. "Y-yes brother, Celestia will not be harmed until you arrive."

The flames then lowered. "Good…and what of Matthew? Has he showed up yet?" the voice growled.

"No sign of him yet, but I know he's coming. And when he does, I will personally take care of him myself. He'll pay for what he did to me." Thorn said in an angered tone.

"Don't underestimate him Thorn! He may be a pathetic little creature, but he's proven himself to be a worthy opponent. Especially now he has control of the Element of Bravery." The voice said.

Thorn growled. "That doesn't matter to me; I will kill Matthew and destroy that useless Element along with him."

"You had better Thorn! Otherwise don't bother coming back here…or else I'll kill you myself." The voice said darkly before the floating fire ball died down until there was nothing left.

Once the green fire ball was gone, Thorn growled in anger. "Pompous windbag, thinking he can order me around. I the magic over the night now, I should be the one making the orders, not him."

Thorn's angered look turned into a deceitful smile. "No matter. Once I've dealt with Matthew and his friends, I'll go after him next and take his throne for myself." He then chuckled darkly.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the main double doors. Thorn looked at them in frustration. "What? Who dares interrupt me?" he then walked up to the doors and used his magic to pull them wide open.

Thorn looked down to see Spot and Fido standing in front of him with nervous looks on their faces. "Who or what are you?" he growled.

"Oh, we're Diamond Dogs and we're here to serve you as our new master. Hahaha." Fido laughed nervously.

"Yes, we're definitely not here to distract you or anything." Spot said before Fido smacked him across the head.

Thorn raised his eye brow. "Hmmm…I could use some servants. But what makes you worthy to serve me?"

Fido then thought fast. "Oh, we do lots of things. Stealing, rampaging, kidnapping, stealing."

"You said stealing twist." Thorn pointed out.

Fido and Spot shifted their eyes at each other before looking back at Thorn. "We…like stealing." Spot said.

Thorn was silent before an impressed smile came on his face. "Interesting, maybe you are useful to me."

Fido and Spot nodded fast. "Yes, and we're good at digging." Fido added.

"Yes, especially when we're digging a tunnel under a castle." Spot said before Fido smacked him across the head again.

Thorn then gave then suspicious looks while they smiled nervously and started to sweat.

Meanwhile: Throne room

After a while of digging, we finally reached the surface under the throne room, but there was a stone tile blocking the way up. I slowly lifted it up I looked through the gap to see that Thorn wasn't there.

I then lifted the stone tile and placed it aside before I climbed out the tunnel with Rover climbing out behind me. I then saw Twilight climbing up after him and I helped her up.

After that, I looked around the throne room and saw Luna sitting in the middle of a black spikey gage with her head hanging. I walked up to the cage and tapped the bars with my hoof.

She looked up and a surprised look came on her face. "Matthew, what are you doing here?"

"We're busting you out of there and stopping Thorn." I said in a confident tone before I noticed something about her. "Luna, did he give you that black eye?"

She nodded and I felt anger boil inside me. "I'm gonna punch him in the throat." I growled before I started pulling on the bars.

Luna walked up to the bars and gave me a worried look. "Matthew, you shouldn't be here. Thorn's going to kill you if he sees you."

"Don't worry! We've got him distracted. Hopefully those Diamond Dogs can keep him occupied." I said as I pulled harder on the bars. I then lost my grip and as I fell back, one of the spikes scratched my arm.

After I fell back, I held onto my arm in pain. "Ah, shit." I yelled before I looked at my arm to see it was bleeding slightly. Twilight walked up to me with a concerned look on her face "Are you ok?"

I turned my head to face her. "Don't worry Twi, it's just a scratch." I then shook off the pain and closed my eyes.

Suddenly, I could see a light through my eye lids and when the light faded, I opened my eyes and looked down at my chest to see I was wearing the Element of Bravery.

I then walked up to the cage. "Ok Luna, stand back!" I said before Luna took a few steps back. I then placed my front hooves together and a green shield disc appeared in between my hooves as I opened them.

I then held the disc in one hoof and quickly sliced right through the bars. After a second, the bars fell off the cage and Luna walked out. She then smiled warmly at me. "…Thank you Matthew."

I smiled back. "Don't mention it."

As Twilight and Rover walked up beside me, the rest of the main 6, Spike, Jeff and Peewee came up through the tunnel and noticed us. "Yee-haa, ya'all did it. Ya freed the Princess." Applejack cheered.

"But where's Princess Celestia and Discord?" Rarity asked.

Jeff then landed in front of her. "Up there." He said as he pointed to the wall. We all looked up and gasped at the sight of Celestia and Discord chained up against the wall.

Twilight galloped up close to them. "Princess Celestia, are you alright?" she yelled up to her.

"Twilight, you need to get us down! Quickly." Celestia said as she tried to push herself loose. I then walked up beside Twilight and made two shield discs in my front hooves before I threw them up towards Celestia and Discord.

The discs then hit the chains; cutting through them. And Celestia and Discord fell to the floor and landed on their feet. They both took deep breaths before they finally calmed down. "Thank you Matthew, I was starting to cramp up there." Discord said as he stretched his arms out.

Rover then walked up to Discord with a large smile on his face. "Oooh, lord Discord. It is an honour to finally meet you." he then bowed repeatedly at Discord's feet.

Discord gave him a confused look. "Errr…who's the dog?"

I held my hoof up. "I'll explain later, right now we need to get you three out of here." I said. Celestia and Discord then looked at each other before they looked back at me and nodded in agreement.

We all then regrouped with the others by Luna's cage and as we were about to walk towards the doors, Twilight gasped loudly and tackled me to the ground before a bolt of black lightning shot past above us.

Me and Twilight got up and looked where the bolt came from to see Thorn standing in the doorway with an angered look on his face and Spot and Fido hovering beside him. "I should have known you would try something as devious as this. But seriously Matthew, Diamond Dogs? Tunnels? You disappoint me." Thorn said before he threw Spot and Fido towards us and they crashed to the floor in front of us.

I then glared at Thorn. "Give it up Thorn! There's 16 of us and only one of you."

Thorn then grinned evilly as he walked closer to us. "Then I'll just have to fix that, won't I?" his horn then glowed white and Twilight, the rest of the main 6, Spike, Jeff, Peewee, Celestia, Discord, Luna and the Diamond Dogs disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared behind the throne room doors.

"WHAT THE?" Twilight yelled in surprise before Thorn's horn glowed again and the throne room doors slammed shut. Thorn then used his black lightning to weld the doors shut before he shot his head around to me.

As I took a few steps back, I looked at the tunnel and leaped towards it but a bolt of black lighting shot into me; sending me flying back and crashing into the wall.

Thorn then walked up to the hole and his horn glowed. Suddenly, black thorny vines covered up the hole; blocking the tunnel.

After I picked myself up, I looked at Thorn who was giving me a devilish smile. I then glared at him before I created two shield discs in my two front hooves.

Thorn raised his eye brow. "Oh…so it's a fight you want huh? Well then…let's see if your precious Element con withstand the full power of the darkness." He then flapped his wings and hovered in mid-air in the middle of the room.

"Prepare to die, runt!" Thorn growled as black lightning began to form around his horn.

I then flapped my wings and shot towards him before I threw both discs at him; beginning the battle.

To be continued

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

The song used in the chapter is called you gotta love it from the cartoon movie Swan Princess 2. I do not own anything.

To Mike101, I would like to apologize for any annoyance that I may have placed upon you during our PM talks. I hope you can forgive me.

To my readers, I would like to recommend a story for you to read and review. It's called MLP: Nightmare Unicorns by the FanFic author Najee. It's a good story.

Please remember to review.

Next chapter will be up soon.