Sorry it has taken so long.

I've noticed in some of my reviews that some of you are asking for more conflict in Matt and Twilight's relationship. I understand this and there will be more conflict, but only in future chapters.

Warning: Long chapter.

Chapter 25: Thorn strikes back (part 3)

The two shield discs shot towards Thorn with great speed. As they were about to hit him, Thorn used both his wings to shield himself. The two discs then smashed against his wings.

While he wasn't looking, I flapped my wings harder and shot towards him. As I did, I pulled my hoof back and caught him off guard by punching him hard in the jaw as he removed his wings from his face; sending him flying back and crashing against the throne room doors.

"How did that happen? I didn't hit him that hard." I thought before I looked at my hoof to see it was glowing green. I then looked at the green crystal on my Element to see it too was glowing green.

"Whow, the Element must have some sort of effect on my attacks….cool." I said to myself before I noticed Thorn was getting back up. I then repeatedly created green shield discs in my hooves and threw them at Thorn.

Thorn was quick, he kept using his left wing to block himself from my discs until he got slow and one of them smashed in his face; temporarily blinding him. I took this opportunity and shot towards him with both my arms stuck out in front of me. My hooves started to glow green as I got closer to him.

Thorn's sight returned and his eyes widened at the sight of me flying towards him. He growled as his horn glowed and I felt myself move faster towards him. I stopped flapping my wings but I just kept going. Thorn then stepped out the way and I crashed against the doors.

Meanwhile behind the door, Twilight and the others flinched at the sudden pound against the doors. Twilight galloped up to them and tried to push them open. "I…can't open them…we have to…get in there…and help Matt." She grunted as she pushed harder.

Twilight then accepted that it was no use and stepped away from the doors. She then turned her head to face Princess Celestia. "Princess, can't you do something? Can you teleport us back in there?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

Celestia then closed her eye and her horn glowed, her horn then started flickering and stopped glowing. "Something's wrong, my horn won't work." She said.

Twilight's eyes widened in shock. "What? But that's not possible. Isn't it?"

Celestia turned her head to face Discord. "Discord, can you get us back in there?"

Discord gave her an unsure look. "I'll try." He then snapped his fingers and nothing happened. He then tried again repeatedly but all failed.

Twilight then closed her eyes and her horn glowed only to fail also. "Why is this happening? We can't use our magic." Twilight said as she tapped her horn with her hoof.

Celestia gave her a serious look. "Thorn must have put some sort of hex on the castle when he took over. It must be blocking our magic so we would be powerless to fight him."

Discord walked up beside her. "That would explain why we couldn't get ourselves down from that wall."

Spike then stepped forward. "Then we have to get out of here, maybe your magic will work if were outside then castle.

Luna looked down at him. "Won't Thorn be expecting something like that?"

Celestia walked up to her. We have to try. Come along everypony! There's no time to lose." she then galloped down the hallway.

Spike climbed up onto Twilight's back before she, Discord and Luna followed Celestia with the main 6 following behind. Jeff and Peewee flew onto Fido's shoulders before he, Rover and Spot ran after them.

Meanwhile, Thorn was using his magic to throw me around the room like a rag-doll, slamming me against the walls, ceiling and floor. Thorn smiled evilly as he watched my pain. He then pulled me in front of him and his smile grew before he pushed me away with great force; sending me crashing into the throne before I fell down from it and rolled down to small flock of stairs in front of it.

"This is a poor excuse for a battle, stand up and fight you meddling runt." Thorn ordered in an angered tone.

I grunted as I weakly stood back up and glared at Thorn. Once I got my strength back, I placed both my front hooves together and opened them; creating a green shield disc in both hooves. I then threw them towards Thorn only for them to shoot strait past him.

Thorn then gave me an unimpressed look. "Now that was just pathetic."

I then grinned as the two discs rotated around and smashed against the back of Thorn's head; causing him to face the floor as he yell in pain. He then gave me a sharp glare before he flapped his wings and flew up to the ceiling. I then flapped my wings and flew up until I was at the same level he was.

We then shot towards each other. Once we made contact, we both started throwing punches and kicks at each other while trying to keep ourselves in the air. I got a lucky hit as I punched his in the jaw which caused him to fly backwards a bit before he growled and flew back to me. He then bucked me in the chest with one of his hind-legs; causing me to wrap me arms around my chest while grunting in pain.

As I was trying to shake off the pain, Thorn's horn glowed and a bolt of black lighting shot out of it and hit me; sending me crashing into the wall. Thorn smiled evilly at this.

I shook off the daze and pushed myself off the wall before I shot towards Thorn with my left arm bent back ready to punch. My hoof started to glow green as I got closer to Thorn.

Once close enough, I pushed my glowing hoof out in front of me only to have Thorn grab it with both of his front hooves and start spinning me around in circles. As he spun me around faster and faster, I grabbed his arm with my other hoof before both my front hooves started glowing green.

I then spread my wings out and caught onto the air until I was in control and started spinning Thorn around. We both spun around with great speed before I noticed that Thorn's grip on my hoof was loose, I then forced myself to spin him around faster before I let him go.

Thorn crashed through the window causing it the fall to pieces. I flew up to the smashed window and looked down at the castle grounds to see that Thorn wasn't on there; I flew down and landed on the ground before looked around for him.

Thunder struck from the dark clouds above me as I slowly walked through the dead garden-like area; keeping my guard up for any type of strike. I heard a dark chuckle in the wind which caused me turn my head in different directions to see where it was coming from. It was quiet; the only sound I could hear was the thunder clouds and my heavy breathing.

Suddenly, I heard I loud growl and I turned around fast to see Thorn pounce down onto me and pinned me to the ground by stomping his hoof down on my throat; causing me to choke as he pressed down harder. As I stared to gasp for air, I looked at Thorn's smiling face to see he had a cut on his left cheek which must have come from the broken glass.

It started to get hard to breathe before I whacked one of my hide-legs against Thorn's stomach; causing him to grunt and remove his hoof from my throat. Once free, I threw my hoof up and punched him across the face before I quickly got back up and galloped towards the castle.

Thorn rubbed his cheek as he saw me go and growled in anger. He then galloped after me while flapping his large wings to make himself go faster. As I looked ahead to see a wooden door that lead back inside the castle, I looked behind me to see Thorn galloping towards me fast so I galloped harder.

Once I reached the door, I burst through it and slammed the door behind me just as Thorn was about to reach it. I held myself back against the door as Thorn pounded on it, the door started to crack with each pound that was forced upon it until the pounding stopped.

It was silent for a moment and I rested my head back against the door while panting. Suddenly, Thorn's horn stabbed through part of the door beside me which made me yell out in fright. He pulled his horn out and stabbed it through another part of the door above my head.

He continued to stab his horn through the door until his horn stabbed through a part next to my side which made a big cut on it. "AH, FUCK." I yelled in pain. I don't usually like to swear, but this really hurt.

I pushed myself off the door and held my hoof against my side. I removed my hoof to see the nasty cut on my side, blood started to run down from it and drip on the floor.

Just then, Thorn broke through the door and steam shot out his nostril's as he grunted in anger. As I tried to shake of the pain in my side, Thorn grabbed me behind my neck with his jaws and threw me back outside. I hit the ground hard before I started to pull myself along the ground.

Thorn laughed as he slowly approached me. "Is this it? This is the best you can give me? I've had stronger opponents in my sleep." he said with a snarl.

I picked myself up and turned around to face Thorn. He glared at me as his horn glowed before a bolt of black lightning burst out from it and shot towards me. I stuck my hoof out and a green forcefield formed around me and protected me from the bolt.

Thorn then came closer to me with the lightning still shooting from his horn and it got harder to keep the shield up. As Thorn got closer, the shield started to crack. I knew the shield wasn't going to last so I quickly lowered the shield and jumped out the way of the black bolt.

Thorn growled before he shot another bolt towards me. I quickly created a green shield disc in my hooves and held it up in front of me. The bolt then hit it and reflected back at Thorn.

Thorn went wide-eyed in surprise before the bolt hit him; sending him flying toward the main gates of the castle. He smashed through them and crashed to the ground.

I took a few second to catch my breath before I walked towards him. "How's that Thorn? It's not so pointless now, is it?" I yelled over to him.

He got up off the ground and grinned as he held his hoof against his chest. "Maybe not….but you're still just one little pony. And you will die tonight." He said darkly.

"I wouldn't count on it, Twilight and the others will be here any minute. Then we're really gonna kick your ass." I said as I stopped a few feet away from him.

Thorn's grin grew. "We'll see."

At that moment, Twilight and the others appeared at the top of the stairs in the lobby. Twilight looked out the doorway to see me and Thorn. "Matt, over here." she yelled.

I turned around to see her at the top of the stairs. "Twilight, could you lend me a hoof out here?" I yelled back.

Luna then walked up beside Twilight. "Matthew, you must destroy the dark crystal! It holds my powers over the night. If you smash it, maybe the powers will return to me."

I was surprised that it was that easy to get her powers back. "Oh is that it? That sounds easy."

"It's around Thorn's neck." Luna yelled back.

I narrowed my eyes. "Oh, that sounds difficult."

Twilight then noticed Thorn coming up behind me and she went wide-eyed. "Matt, behind you." she yelled.

I turned around to see Thorn leap towards me. Before he reached me, I pulled my hoof back before I pushed it up and punched Thorn in the chin; sending him falling back against the ground.

Twilight and the others galloped down the stairs and headed towards the doorway. Thorn leaned up and noticed this. "Oh no you don't." he growled before his horn glowed white and the main doors slammed shut before Twilight or any of the others could get out.

I looked back at Thorn to see him get back up and glare at me. "Nopony interferes with this fight…or your death." He said darkly before black lightning began to form around his horn which caused me to take a few steps back.

Meanwhile: Castle lobby

Twilight and Luna tried to push the doors open but it wouldn't open and they gave up. "It's no use, we can't open it." Luna stated.

"Well what are we gonna do? We need to get out there before something terrible happens to Matt." Twilight said in a worried tone.

Jeff then flew onto Twilight's back. "I say we ram it down."

Twilight turned her head around to face him. "But this is a royal castle; we can't just go breaking doors down."

Jeff crossed his wings. "You got a better idea?" Twilight and Luna just looked at each other as they thought about it.

Celestia then stepped forward. "As extreme as that sounds, he has a point. We have to get out of the castle." She then looked around and saw a statue of a royal alicorn by the wall. She then looked at the Diamond Dogs. "Dogs, can you lift up that statue over there?"

They looked at the statue before they looked back at Celestia and nodded. "Yes, we can lift up statue. We knock down door for pony Princess." Rover said as he, Spot and Fido walked up to the statue before they pushed it over.

Rover and Fido then walked over to each side of the statue and placed their hands underneath it while Spot grabbed it by the stand. They then lifted the statue up and carried it back to where Celestia was standing before they readied themselves to charge at the door.

"Ready? 1, 2, 3." Rover yelled before they charged towards the door with the top of the statue pointing at the door. They rammed the statue into the door only to make a dent in the doors.

"Try in again." Rarity said. The Diamond Dogs then walked backwards and once again charged at the door. They rammed into the door and made the dent bigger.

They did this 5 more times and the doors still wouldn't open. Suddenly, there was a cold wind and a slight moaning in it which got everypony to look around. "What's that noise?" Spike asked in a frightened tone.

Celestia had a sharp look on her face as she examined the room. "What in Equestria is that?" Applejack asked from across the room. Celestia looked at her to see she was pointing towards a wall.

Celestia looked at the wall to see a large shadow moving down the wall. They all took a few steps back as the shadow moved along the floor and stop in the middle.

Twilight and the others watched in silence as the shadow slowly rose from the floor and formed itself in the shape of an alicorn that was identical to Thorn's appearance with glowing red eyes. Twilight and the others were wide-eyed in shock at the sight of this.

At that moment, two more large shadows moved down the wall and along the floor until they were beside the shadow alicorn. They then did the same thing until they were both in the shape of an alicorn as well.

"What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked in a frightened tone as she hid behind Celestia's legs. Twilight stepped forward while glaring at the shadow alicorns. "We fight our way out."

Everypony looked at each other and nodded before they faced the shadow alicorns with sharp glares before they all charged at them. The three shadow alicorns then charged towards Twilight and the others.

Meanwhile: Canterlot streets

Me and Thorn had taken our fight to the abandoned streets of Canterlot. At this point, I was badly bruised, my mane, tail and feathers were all ruffled and I had a black eye. Thorn had a few bruises and some small cuts on his body. Our fight has caused a lot of damage around Canterlot, buildings had massive holes in them and giant pieces of rubble were everywhere.

I was taking cover behind a large part of rubble while Thorn was shooting bolts of black lightning at me from his horn from down the street. "Stop being a coward boy! Come out and fight me!" Thorn yelled as he shot another bolt of black lightning out his horn.

The blot hit the rubble and I covered my face with my hoof as part of it blew off. I then created a green shield disc in my front hooves and threw it like a Frisbee to the side, it then rotated around and smashed across thorn's face; causing him to stop attacking.

I took this opportunity to jump over the rubble and charge towards Thorn. Once close enough, I punched towards him with one hoof ready to punch. He looked up at me and gasped.

As I threw my hoof forward, Thorn disappeared in a poof of black smoke. I fanned away the smoke in front of my face and I heard a loud poof behind me, I then felt something hard hit me behind my head and I turned around to see another cloud of black smoke. "I don't like where this is going." I said to myself.

Suddenly, Thorn appeared in a poof of black smoke beside me and punched his hoof across my face before he disappeared in another poof of black smoke. He continued to disappear and reappeared all around me and punch me in different parts of my body.

"This is getting ridicules." I yelled before everything went silent and I waited with a sharp look in my eyes. Suddenly, I heard a loud poof behind me and I quickly turned around to see Thorn throw his hoof at me. I dodged his punch and my left hoof glowed green as I threw it up and punched Thorn in the jaw; sending him flying back down the streets and crashing into a building.

I flew up to the hole in the building and tried to see through the cloud of dust inside. Suddenly, a pair of red eyes shot open in the dust cloud and a bolt of black lightning shot out and stuck me in the chest; sending me flying back and crashing into a lamp post causing it to fall over.

Thorn stepped out of the dust cloud and flew towards me while growling. I was lying on my back on the ground before I leaned up and rubbed my head. I then opened my eyes to see Thorn coming towards me; I started pushing myself backwards until I felt one of my front hooves hit something.

I turned my head around to see my hoof next to the stand of the fallen lamp post. I then smirked and rolled over back on my hooves.

I then grabbed the end of the lamp post and grunted as I tried to pick it up. The crystal on my Element started to glow green before both my front hooves started to glow green as well. I felt myself pick up the end of the lamp post and I turned my head around to see Thorn coming closer.

I was waiting for the perfect time to strike until it finally came. "Batter up." I said before I swung the lamp post around and it smacked into Thorn; sending him crashing into a building on the other side of the street. "He's out of there." I yelled as I tossed the lamp post away.

Thorn pushed himself off the wall and landed on his hooves on the ground with his head facing the ground. He then slowly lifted his head up and looked at me with hatred in his eyes. The then walked into the centre of the streets on bared his teeth.

We both glared at each other. "Why are you really fighting me Matthew?...for them?...they don't care about you. They left you here to die, to be killed by me. They've abandoned you." Thorn said darkly.

I stomped my hoof on the ground. "That's a lie, they love me. They're my friends, Twilight is my girlfriend and she loves me more than anypony." I protested.

Thorn laughed. "Hahaha, you little fool. She doesn't love you; she only said that so you wouldn't leave her. Ever since she learned what you truly were, she just wanted around so she could study you….like a rat. Hahaha." He chuckled evilly.

I then looked down at the ground. "All my life I wanted only one thing, to have true friends. Every time I made one, they always ended up moving away or leaving me for someone else. And then I came here…and I thought I found the perfect place where nopony would do that to me."

Thorn's smile grew. I then looked back up at Thorn. "And you know what?...I was right. Ever since I arrived here, I've made many friends and I know for certain that they'll never abandon me for nothing or nopony. I know that Twilight loves me, she doesn't care what I use to be and she never did. I know her better than anypony and she would never use me or anypony like that. She's not the liar Thorn, you are." I said in an angered tone.

Thorn's smiled turned into an angered growl. "You think you're so special, do you boy? You think just because you're an off-worlder and that you're the Element of Bravery, you think you can stand a chance against me and my power. Well…let me show you what true power is!"

Thorn's horn then glowed white and black flames shot out of it like a flamethrower. Thorn rotated his head around and the flames surrounded him until they created a tornado of black fire with him inside.

I tried to look through the flames but I could only see Thorn's silhouette inside. But something was happening, his figure started to grow and his body was shifting as if he was changing into something else. As he grew, so did the fire tornado until it was almost the size of a real one.

Suddenly, a pair of big white glowing eyes shot open inside the fire on looked down at me. The flames then cleared and the fire tornado died down, my eyes widened to see that Thorn had transformed himself into a black one-headed hydra (About the same size as a real on) with glowing white eyes and a white underbelly. "All this talk about friendship and love, it really does bring out the worst in me." Thorn said in a thundering voice before he let out a loud hiss.

My jaw dropped. "Oh….I didn't know you could do that." I said as I looked up at him. Thorn then shot his head down at me with his jaw open wide.

Meanwhile: Castle lobby

The shadow alicorns were tough, no matter how many strikes Twilight or any of the others threw at them they always ended up dodging or blocking them. And their punches were hard; Discord and Rainbow Dash had already been sent crashing against the wall after being hit by them.

Applejack pounced on one of the shadow alicorns from behind and wrapped her arms around its neck as it tried to throw her off. The shadow alicorn then managed to flip Applejack over its head and she hit her back against the ground in front of it.

The shadow alicorn then raised both its front hooves up above Applejack's head to stomp down on her. Applejack saw this and gasped before she rolled over to the side; causing the alicorn to miss and stomp his hooves on the ground.

Applejack then got back on her hooves and bared her teeth at the alicorn before she spun around and bucked it in the side with her hide-hooves. Once her hooves hit the alicorn, it disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and the smoke vanished in the air.

"Hey, it only takes one hit to beat'em." Applejack yelled out for everypony to hear.

Luna turned he head to look in Applejack's direction while a shadow alicorn was walking up to her. "That sounds easy, except they keep avoiding our attacks." She said before she turned her attention to the alicorn in front of her and threw her front hoof forward only for the alicorn to dodge it and pounce on top of Luna.

As Luna tried to push the shadow alicorn off her, Discord noticed her struggling and flew over to help her. Once he reached Luna, Discord swung his tail around and it wrapped around the alicorns neck. He then lifted it off Luna and slammed it against the floor; causing it to vanish in the air.

Discord held his talon hand down to Luna and she grabbed it with her front hoof. Discord then helped her back on her hooves and looked down at her. "Are you alright Luna?"

Luna looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine." She said with a small smile.

"Err…guy's, little help!" a voice said from across the room. Discord and Luna looked in the direction the voice came from to see Spike being chased by the last shadow alicorn.

Spike was too busy looking back at the alicorn to watch where he was running and bumped into something which made him fall back on his butt. He looked up to see the Rover, Spot and Fido each hitting one fists against their other hand.

"You mess with the dragon, you mess with us smoky pony." Rover said while glaring at the alicorn behind Spike. The Diamond Dogs then charged towards the alicorn and once they reached it, Rover threw a punch forward only for the alicorn to dodge it and punch its hoof across Rover's face; causing him fall to the ground.

Fido then came up from behind the shadow alicorn and caught it in a head-lock, the alicorn tried to throw Fido off but he was too strong. The shadow alicorn then spread its wings out and started to flap them before it lifted off the floor with Fido on its back with his arm wrapped around its neck.

Then with one strong flap, the alicorn shot upwards and slammed Fido against the ceiling; causing him to lose his grip and fall off the alicorns back. Fido then fell to the floor with a hard thud and the alicorn lowered itself back down to the floor.

The shadow alicorn then looked down at a quivering Spot with a frightened look on his face in front of it. The alicorn then took one step forward. "I surrender, I surrender." Spot yelled in fright with his hands high in the air.

The alicorns horn glowed white and Spot tensed himself up for whatever was going to come out. At that moment, Celestia walked up from behind the shadow alicorn. "Excuse me!" she said in an angered tone as she tapped it on the shoulder.

The shadow alicorn turned its head around to face Celestia only to receive a hard punch across the face by her hoof; causing it to vanish in the air. Celestia then shook the slight pain off her hoof.

Discord then walked up beside her with a surprised look on his face. "Nice move Celestia."

Celestia turned her head to face him and smiled. "Thank you Discord. Usually, I abhor the use of physical violence. But for these things I had to make an acceptation."

Discord just gave her an understanding smile before Celestia looked down at Spot. She walked up to him and lowered her head down to his level. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Spot looked up at her with wide eye. "Y-You saved me, pony Princess. Why?" He asked as Rover and Fido walked up to his side and looked at Celestia.

Celestia gave him a small smile. "Because I'm the Princess, my duties rely on caring and protecting all creatures. You Diamond Dogs may not be ponies, but this is still your home and you deserve the same amount of respect."

The Diamond Dogs then smiled at her before all three of them bowed their heads to her. "Thank you, pony Princess." They all said.

Celestia smiled and raised her hoof. "Please, call me Princess Celestia!"

The Diamond Dogs looked up to her. "Yes…Princess Celestia." Rover said with a humble smile.

Discord then walked up beside Celestia and looked at The Diamond Dogs. "Did we do good, lord Discord?" Fido asked with a nervous smile.

"Yes, you did good….well; you tried your best at least. But now that those things are gone, can you continue bashing the doors open?" Discord asked as he pointed at the statue lying on the floor next to the door.

The Diamond Dogs looked at it before they looked back up at Discord and nodded. They all then walked ran up to the statue and picked it up again.

Twilight then stepped forward. "Maybe if we all do it together, then maybe we can hit it harder and have a better chance of knocking it down."

"That's good thinkin' there Twilight. Come on ya'all, let's help do this thing." Applejack said as she walked past Twilight and up to The Diamond Dogs holding up the statue. Once she reached them, she stood behind Rover (who was holding up the statue from the side) and stood up on her hide-legs and placed one of her front hooves under the statue and the other on top.

Twilight, the rest of the main 6, Celestia, Luna and Discord then did the same. Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Luna and Fido were holding the statue up on the left side. While Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Celestia, Discord and Rover were holding it up on the right. Fluttershy and Spot were holding it up from the back and Spike was holding it up from underneath.

Jeff and Peewee then landed on the statue as it was being held up by everypony. They then went back as far as they could while pointing the head of the statue at the door. Twilight looked at everypony. "Ready? 1, 2, 3."

They all the charged towards the door with the head of the statue sticking out in front of them. they then rammed it into the door and it worked, the doors cracked and swung wide open.

After see their success, Jeff and Peewee shared a high-wing. "Oh yeah, Thorn's got nothin' on us. Not him or his shadow duplicates, I was gonna throw down on those fools. Too bad there were only three of them right?" Jeff said.

"Emm…excuse me!" Fluttershy said quietly. Everypony then looked at her to see the frightened look on her and Spot's face.

"Fluttershy, what's wrong sweetie?" Rarity asked in a concerned tone. Fluttershy and Spot the pointed at the door way. Everypony then turned their head to looked out the door way and gasped loudly at the sight of a large number of shadow alicorns in the castle grounds.

Twilight and the others were wide-eyed with their mouths hung wide open. There was a moment silence. "Oh…he has way more." Jeff said breaking the silence.

Meanwhile: Canterlot streets

I was flying as fast as I could threw the streets while being chased by Thorn in his new hydra form. I made sharp turns around buildings only to have Thorn take a short cut by smashing his way through the corners of them.

When he got close, he stuck his neck out and snapped his jaws right behind me. I sometimes had to pull my hide-legs in to avoid them being bit off as I flew.

Suddenly, I saw a thin alley way between two buildings up ahead; I flapped my wings harder to pick up more speed. Thorn was closing in behind me with his mouth open wide until I flew into the alley and Thorn crashed into the buildings.

I looked back and laughed. "Haha, what's the matter Thorn? Too fat to fit through the-UMF." I didn't have time to finish my sentence as I smacked into a wall in the ally. I peeled myself off the wall and rubbed my head.

I opened my eyes to see I hit a dead-end in the alley. I turned around to see Thorn trying to force his head into the alley to reach me, the walls of the buildings crumbled as he pulled his head out and pushed it back in. then for some reason after a small number of tries, he pulled his head out and let out a loud roar before he walked away.

I took this time to take some deep breaths because it looked like he gave up. Suddenly, Thorn reappeared from out of nowhere and stuck his foot out into alley and it headed towards me. His leg was thinner so it could go in further.

Then his foot stopped right in front of me. I pushed myself back as far as I could against the wall as his claws tried to grab me; his claws were almost close enough to scratch against body.

The walls of the alley started to crumble again and Thorn's claw was getting closer to me. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be long until his sharp claws rip me apart until I heard something that sounded like a jet above me.

I looked up to see three lines of smoke in the sky, one of them had lightning in it. Whatever was making them then shot down towards me, I squinted my eyes to see it was three of the Wonderbolts. Once they flew down into the alley, two of them pulled up and flew strait towards Thorn.

Thorn saw this and ducked down before the two Wonderbolt's flew past over his head. Thorn turned his head around to see them fly upwards and let out loud roar. While he was distracted, Me and the other Wonderbolt (who I recognized to be Spitfire) then flew towards Thorn while his head was turned and flew past his head. He then noticed that I was flying away from him and he roared loudly again before he charged after us.

Me and Spitfire then took a sharp turn around another building before we noticed another alley. We then flew into it and held our backs against the wall so Thorn wouldn't see us if he went past. Thorn the came to the corner and looked around.

Thorn growled with a glare in his eyes. "Hide you little runt! I'll find you. Even if I have to tear this entire city apart." He yelled in a thundering voice before he walked around the corner and past the alley.

Me and Spitfire then exhaled before I tuned my head to face her. "Spitfire, you shouldn't be here. What are you doing?" I asked.

Spitfire turned her head to face me and lifted her goggles off her eyes. "Saving your skin, kid. We're gonna get you somewhere safe."

"It doesn't matter where you take me, he'll follow. He's after me; you all need to get out of here before you get hurt." I said with concern in my eyes.

Spitfire shook her head before she put her goggles back on. "No can do, kid. We have a job to do and if this creep's after you then you're in real danger."

I was about to say something before the other two Wonderbolts flew down into the alley and hovered in front of us. I looked at them to see that one of them was a male while the other was a female (I recognized them both as Soarin' and Fleetfoot). "Where's the hydra?" Spitfire asked.

Soarin' came closer to her. "We lost it, it just vanished." he answered.

Spitfire raised her eye brow. "It's a hydra, how could you have lost sight of a hydra? That thing was huge." She said.

"Well, we don't know. We can't find it anywhere." Soarin' argued.

Spitfire and Soarin' then broke out into an argument while me and Fleetfoot just watched; I turned my head to face Fleetfoot. "Are they always like this?" I asked with narrow eyes.

Fleetfoot turned her head to face me and nodded before we both looked back at the arguing pegasi. I then walked towards them. "Alright, that's enough." I said as I stepped between the two.

"How about this? We try and take this guy together." I suggested. Spitfire then rubbed her chin with her hoof while she looked down at the ground before she looked back up to me.

"Ok kid, you can help us. But watch your back! This things most likely to come after you." Spitfire said before she walked over to the alley entrance. "Believe me! I know." I said as I followed her.

Spitfire then stuck her head out the alley way before she looked left and right. She then looked back at us. "Ok, I don't see it. Let's go!" she said before we all walked out of the alley and around the corner. As we continued to walk, it was quiet. We looked in different directions for any sign of Thorn but we couldn't see him.

Spitfire then turned her head to look at me. "So…why's this thing after you? Did you steal its egg or something?" she asked with a smirk.

I turned my head to face her as we kept walking. "Oh...no. to tell the truth, this thing isn't a hydra."

Spitfire raised her eye brow at me. "Ok I admit I haven't seen one like this before, but I think I know a hydra when I see one."

"Oh, he's a hydra now. But he's really a black alicorn who turned into a hydra. He's kinda mad at me for something that happened a while back." I said to her.

"He holds a grudge huh? Well, stick with us kid and we'll have your back." Spitfire said in a confident tone.

Fleetfoot then walked up between us. "Yeah, if we ever find this guy. Otherwise we'll just have to accept that he's long go-" she didn't have time to finish her sentence as we heard a loud crumbling sound behind us.

We turned around to see Thorn smashing his way through one of the buildings on the right side of the street. He then noticed us and growled. "There you are." He said darkly before he charged towards us.

Spitfire then looked at Soarin' and Fleetfoot. "Wonderbolts, let's do this!" she said before they all shot off in the air and headed toward Thorn.

Thorn saw this and grinned evilly before he opened his mouth wide and black fire came shooting out of it. Spitfire gasped in shock. "Spit up!" she yelled before they all went in different directions and the fire hit the ground.

"Oh come on! Hydra's can't breathe fire." I yelled in annoyance.

Spitfire and the others were now flying all around Thorn like a swarm of flies. Thorn tied to smack them away with his claw but he missed every time and he was getting annoyed about it. "I've had just about enough of this nonsense." He growled before he stared breathing black fire at them.

Spitfire and the others then flew up high in the sky above Thorn before they shot down towards him in a small V shape. Thorn then glared his eyes at them and got in a position to strike.

Once the Wonderbolts got close enough, Thorn swung his long tail up and the tip wrapped around the Wonderbolts; holding them in a tight grip. Thorn then brought them closer to his face and he let out a loud hiss in their faces as the grip in his tail got tighter.

I saw this and glared up at Thorn before I created a green shield disc in my front hooves. "Hey Thorn." I yelled before threw the disc up towards Thorn's head.

The disc then smashed against his cheek and he slowly looked down at me. "You want me? Come get me, you son of a bitch." I yelled up to him.

Thorn then growled before he used his tail to toss the Wonderbolts aside; causing them to crash against a wall of a building and fall to the ground; knocking them all unconscious. Thorn then stomped his way towards me.

I felt the ground shake with each step he took. I turned around and tried to fly away but as I started to fly, Thorn grabbed me in his claws and brought me up to his face before he laughed. "Hahaha, you little fool. What did you possibly hope to achieve this night? Did you really believe you could beat the most powerful pony in all of Equestria?" He said in a thundering voice as his grip on me got tighter.

I tried to get loose but he had a really tight grip, I couldn't push myself out or move my legs. "You know boy, it didn't have to be this way. You should've left Ponyville when I gave you the chance, but you came back and humiliated me. It's because of you this has happened, the death of Luna's guards and their captain, Luna's kidnapping and suffering, the destruction of Canterlot, all of it. Everything that's happened tonight is because of you; it's all…your…FAULT. If you hadn't interfered with my plans in the first place, maybe none of this would have happened." Thorn said in a dark voice.

I thought about it and in a way…he was kinda right. He was doing this for revenge against me because of what happened a few weeks ago. But then I thought about what would have happened if I didn't stop him back then, Celestia would probably be gone and he would be on the throne with everypony in Ponyville under his control. I then looked into Thorn's giant glowing white eyes.

"You may be right Thorn, but there's one thing I do know. On the night I stopped you, I made a promise. I said I would protect my home and my friends from ponies like you And I'm not going to go back on that promise now." I said in a determined voice before I created a shield disc in my front hooves and slammed the edge down against Thorn's finger only for it to have no effect.

I did it a number of times and it didn't make a single scratch. Thorn laughed in amusement at my failed attempts to get him to loosen his grip on me. Suddenly, I noticed something glowing under my chin and I looked down to see the green crystal on my Element was glowing.

I then noticed that the shield disc in my hoof was glowing as well before small blades appeared around the disc, it then spun around quickly on my hoof until it was like a buzz-saw. I looked at Thorn's finger before I looked back at the green saw-like disc. "Oh, this is gonna get messy." I thought before I lifted the saw as high as I could and slammed it down on Thorn's finger; causing it to cut deep into the side of his finger.

Thorn went wide-eyed and roared in pain as he released me from his grip and I fell to the ground. Before I could hit the ground, I caught the wind in my wings and landed softly on my hooves. I looked up at Thorn to see he had his claw clenched in pain.

He then opened his claw to see a large split in the side of his finger and blood running down from it. He then looked down at me and growled in anger. "You miserable little runt, I'll make you suffer for that." He roared before he breathed black fire down at me.

I closed my eyes and covered my face with my wing as the fire got closed. Suddenly, the green crystal on my Element glowed and a green force-field formed around me. The black fire slammed on top of the force-field but it didn't break it. I opened my eyes to see I was safe as the fire was covering the entire outside of the force-field.

The fire then stopped and Thorn growled in frustration when he saw that I was protected. The force-field disappeared; leaving me standing in the middle of a round clear patch on the ground while all around it was soot covered ground.

Thorn the hissed as he shot his head down towards me with his mouth wide open. I then got ready to jump out the way before and when the time was right, I jumped backwards; causing Thorn to smash his head against the ground and I flew up the back of his neck.

He turned his head around and hissed as I flew above his back. Suddenly as I flew pasted his tail, it flung up and the tip wrapped around my leg before it slammed me to the ground. It then pulled me up and threw me high into the air. As I fell back down, I looked down to see Thorn's wide mouth beneath me.

I yelled in terror as I fell into his mouth and his jaws snapped shut. His tongue was trying to force me down his throat until I saw his uvula. A devious smile then came on my face before I let the tongue push me back and I grabbed onto the uvula.

Thorn then started choking violently as I hit his uvula with my hoof. His mouth opened wide as he choked harder. Then with one strong choke, I was forced off Thorn's uvula and shot out of his mouth. I then slashed against the ground in a ball of saliva.

I leaned up in the large puddle of saliva and lifted my arms up to see strings of Thorn's saliva dripping from them. "Ew…that ain't right." I said in disgust before I stood up and shook it all off.

I then looked up at Thorn to see he was rubbing his throat with his claws with his eyes shut tight. His eyes then shot open and looked down at me in anger before he began to walk towards me. As he did, I started to back away. "I can't keep this up, he's too big. There has to be some way of slowing him down." I thought.

Suddenly, I heard a loud lighting strike behind me. I turned my head around and looked up to the sky to see lightning was shooting from the dark swirling clouds above the castle and striking the metal pole on the tip of the highest tower on the castle. At that moment, I plan formed in my head.

I turned my head back around to face Thorn and flew up into the air. "Come on Thorn! Are you too slow that you can't catch a runt like me?" I yelled to him before I flew off towards the castle. Thorn then roared before he charged after me.

Meanwhile: Castle grounds

It was a struggling battle, no matter how many shadow alicorns Twilight and the others beat, more would just appear. Due to them being outside the castle, Twilight, Celestia and Discord could now use their magic.

Twilight was shooting purple beams out her horn while stand next to Luna who was bucking her hind-legs at any shadow alicorn that came close.

Meanwhile, Celestia and Discord were sanding back-to-back. Celestia was shooting yellow beams from her horn while Discord was shooting yellow lighting from his hands.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity were bucking their hind-legs at any shadow alicorn that came up to them. Fluttershy was curled up behind them with her hooves over her eyes while quivering.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was hopping from one shadow alicorn to the next. Every time she hopped off one, Rainbow Dash shot right through it in the air with great speed; causing each shadow alicorn to vanish in the air.

Meanwhile, the Diamond Dogs were punching any shadow alicorn that came close. Spike was standing next to them while breathing his green fire at the shadow alicorns.

Jeff and Peewee were diving down from the sky towards the alicorns and when they got close, they would pull up and shoot themselves through a small number of alicorns; causing them to vanish in the air.

While Spike was breathing his fire at some incoming shadow alicorns, one came up behind him and it lifted its front hooves up above Spike. Fido noticed this and ran up behind the alicorn before he threw his fist against the back of its head; causing it to vanish in the air. Spike turned around to see the black smoke clear and Fido looking down at him.

Spike smiled up to him. "Thanks." He said. Fido smiled down at him before he picked Spike up and placed him on his shoulders. "Don't mention is, little dragon!" he said before he went back to punching the alicorns while Spike breathed fire at them.

Celestia and Discord were still shooting beams and bolts of lightning at the alicorns as they got closer to the two. Suddenly, one of the alicorns appeared out of the ground in front of Celestia and tried to push her down to the ground but she fought back.

Discord didn't notice this as he was too busy fighting off other shadow alicorns. Suddenly, he noticed one of the shadow alicorns preparing to fire a bolt of black lightning from his horn. But it wasn't pointing at him, it was pointing at Celestia while she was pushing back on the alicorn.

Discord snapped his fingers and he disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared beside Celestia. He then wrapped his arms around her before he snapped his fingers again and in a flash of light, they both disappeared just as the other alicorn shot the bolt out of its horn. It then struck against alicorn that tried to push Celestia down and vanished in the air.

Celestia and Discord then reappeared on the other side of the castle grounds and Discord gave Celestia a concerned look. "Are you alright? Did it hurt you?" he asked.

Celestia then gave him a warm smile. "No, I'm fine." Discord then smiled warmly back at her before they both turned their attention back at the shadow alicorns and resumed shooting their beams and lightning bolts at them.

As Applejack and Rarity bucked away at the alicorns, Fluttershy uncovered her eyes and got up off the ground before she tried to gallop away. She then stopped once she saw a number of shadow alicorns in front of her.

Fluttershy backed away slowly with a frightened look on her face as the shadow alicorns slowly approached her. Suddenly, Fluttershy looked past the alicorns in front of her to see a number of alicorns surrounding Jeff and Peewee.

At that moment, Fluttershy glared at the alicorns before she charged towards them, she then rammed her way through them until she reached the two helpless birds and used her hind-legs to buck every shadow alicorn around them; causing them all to vanish in the air.

The black fog cleared and Fluttershy was breathing heavily with an angered look on her face. "Nopony hurts these poor innocent birds, Nopony." She stated loudly.

Fluttershy's face then turned from an angered one to a dazed one and she placed her hoof on her head. "Oooh…what just happened? I blacked out for a minute there." She said in her quiet voice before she looked down at Jeff and Peewee who were staring at her with wide eyes and their beaks hanging.

"What?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "Nothin'." Jeff and Peewee answered at the same time.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity were still fighting off the shadow alicorns until two of them tackled down Applejack from behind; Rarity noticed that she Applejack was struggling to get them off so she galloped over to her. But before Rarity could reach her, another shadow alicorn tackled her to the ground and tried to force its front hooves down on her while she was trying keep them from stomping down on her face.

Spike was fighting off some shadow alicorns while standing on Fido's back until he heard Rarity struggling. He turned around and saw her lying on her back on the ground with a shadow alicorn on top of her trying to force its hooves past hers. "Hey." He yelled before he jumped of Fido's back and ran towards her.

Once he reached them, he glared at the shadow alicorn before he tapped one of its hind-legs with his finger. The shadow alicorn turned its head around and looked down at the small dragon glaring at it. "Get your filthy foggy hooves off her!" Spike growled before he took a deep breath and released a large amount of green fire at the shadow alicorn; causing it to vanish in the air.

Rarity then got back onto her hooves and walked up to Spike. "Thanks Spike." She said with a thankful smile.

Spike smiled back. "No problem. Come on! Let's beat these guys." He said in a confident voice before Rarity's horn glowed blue. Spike was then levitated off the ground and placed on her back. They smiled at each other before Rarity galloped away to continue fighting with Spike on her back.

After a short while, there was now a large number of shadow alicorns and everypony was finding it difficult to fight them off. Twilight, Celestia, Luna and Discord were surrounded while the others were becoming out numbered. Celestia saw how everypony was struggling and she stepped forward with an angered look on her face. "I've had just about enough of this." She said before her horn glowed brightly yellow.

Celestia's horn then started to glowed brighter causing Twilight, Luna and Discord to shield their eyes with their arms. Suddenly, a large explosion of light burst from her horn and covered the entire castle grounds in light.

The light then faded and Twilight, Luna and Discord removed their arms from their eyes to see that all the shadow alicorns were gone and everypony was looking around with confused faces. Applejack got up back on her hooves and looked at Celestia. "Whow, that was some mighty quick thinkin' there, Princess." She said with a smile.

The Diamond Dogs looked around at the clear castle grounds. "Ooh, pretty light make black ponies go away." Spot said in amazement.

Twilight then noticed Celestia standing still with her body tensed. She walked up beside her. "Princess? Are you ok?"

Celestia didn't look down at her; she just continued to look forward as Discord and Luna walked up behind her. "Yes….I'm just a little…" Celestia couldn't finish her sentence as she stumbled slightly.

Discord caught her in his arms and gave her a concerned look. Everypony noticed this and galloped up to them "Sorry…using that amount of magic…really takes it out of me." Celestia said weakly.

Discord gave her a warm smile. "You did a really good job, Celestia. I'm proud of you." he said sweetly. Celestia then smiled warmly up at him before she got up out of Discord's arms and tried to get her balance back.

Rainbow Dash then leaped forward with a large smile on her face. "That was awesome. You, Discord and Luna with your magic, Spike with his fire breath, me with my awesome flying and did you see Fluttershy when she was protecting Jeff and Peewee? We totally threw down." She said in an excited voice.

Pinkie Pie then hopped up in front of her with a smile. "Yeah we threw down." She said before she and Rainbow Dash shared a high-hoof.

Twilight then gasped once she remembered that they could use their magic now. She then turned her head to face Celestia. "Princess, we can use our magic. Now we can teleport ourselves back to the throne room and help Matt."

Rarity then walked up to her. "I don't think that'll be necessary anymore, Twilight." She said.

Twilight raised her eye brow. "How come?" she asked curiously.

"Because he's right over there." Rarity said as she pointed towards the castle's main gates. Everypony looked at the gate way to see me flying towards them through the streets.

I flew towards the castle while flapping my wings as hard as I could to gain more speed. Once I flew past the gateway, I landed in front of everypony. "Hey….how you all doin'?" I said as I panted.

Twilight then walked up to me and gasped once she saw all the cuts, bruises and black eye. "Matt…what happened to you?" she asked in shock as she gently stroked my wounds.

I then gave her a concerned look. "Twilight, you all have to get out of the castle grounds quickly."

Luna raised her eye brow. "Why? What's wrong?" she asked.

"THAT." I yelled as I pointed back towards the streets. Twilight and the others looked into the streets to see Thorn charging towards the castle.

"Is that a Hydra? But what happened to Thorn?" Twilight asked me with wide eyes.

I turned my head to face her. "Yeah…funny thing about that. Thorn is the Hydra." I answered. "WHAT?" Twilight yelled in shock.

Thorn then smashed his way through the gateway and he let out a loud hiss as he raised his head up high. "Aw, look at that! They're all here together as one. Good, now I can kill you all at the same time and spare me the trouble of coming after you all." He said in a thundering voice.

I then leaned my head closer to Twilight. "Twi, I've got a plan. It's risky but I have to try." I whispered to her without taking my eyes off Thorn.

"What kind of plan?" she whispered back.

"Just be sure to clear the castle grounds before the lightning strikes the tower." I whispered. "Huh?" Twilight said with a confused look on her face.

I didn't answer; instead I flew up along the wall of the castle until I was up higher than Thorn could stretch his neck. "Hey, dick neck." I yelled before I created a green shield disc in my front hooves and threw it down towards Thorn. Thorn looked up only to have the disc smash against his face. However his head was too big to feel any real pain from it.

"Why don't you come and get me if you want me so bad? Unless you're afraid of heights." I yelled down to him before I continued to fly up the castle.

Thorn hissed. "Oh so you want to take this to new heights, do you boy? Very well, I'll play your little game." He said before he walked over to the castle. Twilight and the others cleared the way as Thorn stomped past them and stopped in front of the castle walks.

Thorn then lifted his leg before pressed his foot against the wall and dug his sharp claws into it. He then used his jaw to grab a higher part of the castle so he could lift his other foot up and attach it to the wall. He continued to do this until he was able to climb the rest of the way without the use of his jaw.

Twilight and the others watch me fly up the castle while being chased by Thorn with worried looks on their faces.

As I flew higher up, I looked back to see Thorn was right behind me climbing the castle as fast as he could. Seeing how he only had two legs in his Hydra form, it wasn't very fast but he was still coming. Sometimes part of the ledges crumbled under his foot as he took a step closer and he'd have to hook his foot on to another part of the ledge before he continued to climb after me.

I finally reached the tip of the highest tower on the castle and hovered in mid-air as I looked at the metal pole which was much bigger up close. The wind blew strongly in my face as the dark clouds swirled around above me and I heard them thunder, I looked down the tower to see Thorn starting to climb it. He must have been heavy for the tower to hold because there was a loud cracking sound as he climbed up. The crack went around the tower so it looked like the top half would fall off at any moment.

I looked back up at the clouds. "Come on! COME ON!" I yelled before I looked back down to see Thorn was gone. I turned my head in different directions to catch any sight of him but I couldn't see him anywhere. Suddenly, Thorn's giant tail quickly wrapped around me from behind and it turned me around to see Thorn hiss loudly right in my face.

He climbed to the tip and grabbed the metal pole with one of his feet while the other one was attached onto the lower wall of the tower. His tail grip on me got tighter as Thorn held me up to his face and laughed.

"Hahaha, poor little Matthew. Come so far just to die here." she said darkly. I looked up into the clouds to see lights begin to flash in the clouds.

"You never stood a chance against me, boy. I'm more powerful than Celestia, I'm more powerful than Luna and I'm more powerful than you. You're just a boy living in a world where he doesn't belong. You're weak and useless, I am strong and powerful….so tell me runt!...how are you going to beat me this time?" Thorn asked with an evil smile.

As his grip got tighter, I looked back up at the clouds and saw lightning forming in the centre. I then looked back at Thorn and gave him a devious smile. "I may already have." I said before I created a shield disc in my front hooves and threw it towards Thorn's face. The disc then smash in Thorn's left eye and he closed it as he let out a small yell in pain.

This caused him to loosen his grip on me and I was able to push myself out and fly to a safe distance away from Thorn. Once I did, I turned around and hovered in mid-air before I looked up to the dark clouds. Suddenly, a large bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds and struck the metal pole. The lightning spread down the pole and up Thorn's leg until his entire body was cover in electricity. Thorn yelled loudly in pain as he was powerfully shocked until the metal pole broke off the tip of the tower and the lightning stopped.

Once he stopped feeling the pain of the shock, he looked in his claw to see the broken metal pole before he started to lose his grip on the tower with his other claw. I flew up to his face. "See ya, you overgrown bastard." I said before Thorn finally lost his grip and fell back off the tower. He yelled in terror as he fell.

In the castle grounds, Twilight and the others gasped as they saw Thorn falling down towards them. Celestia then closed her eyes and her horn glowed yellow before she, Twilight and the others disappeared in a flash of light. Once they were gone, Thorn hit the ground with a large crash.

I looked down at the castle grounds to see his unconscious body lying on the smashed ground. Suddenly, I heard a loud cracking sound behind me and I turned around to see the top half of the tower broke and started to tip over. "Holy SHIT." I yelled before I flew out of the way. The top half of the tower then tipped over and fell down past me. I watched as it fell.

Thorn then slowly opened his eyes before they shot open and he yelled in fright at the sight of the tower half fall down towards him. Before he could have the chance to get up, the tower half crash on top of him; burying him in rubble.

I then flew back down to the ground and landed in front of the giant pile of rubble. After a few seconds of waiting, nothing happened and I took a single deep breath as I thought it was over. Suddenly, I heard a rumbling sound and a few rocks from the rubble pile burst in front of me; knocking me down on my back.

As I tried to get up, I felt something push me back down and I opened my eyes to see Thorn back in his alicorn form with one of his front hooves on top of my chest. He grunted in anger with his teeth baring, the black and white flames in his fiery mane were large like wild fire and he had some more bruises on his body.

"I'll admit Matthew, you had me pretty fooled leading me up there into that little trap of yours. Very clever, I like that in a miserable little colt like you." Thorn said as he placed his other hoof on my throat and pushed down on it. "But your luck is about to run out, boy. I still control the night, the power is mine, the castle is mine, this entire city is mine. I am the alicorn of darkness, I am king, do you hear me? KING." He yelled as he pushed down harder.

It got harder to breathe before I glared up at Thorn. "Yeah…a false king." I said before threw one of my front hooves up and it punched Thorn in his snout; causing him to stumble slightly and raise his hoof off my throat. I then pushed his other hoof off my chest and rolled over back on my hooves before I took off into the sky.

Thorn saw this and growled before he took off after me. I flapped my wings as hard and fast as I could until I was high in the sky above Canterlot. I looked back to see Thorn was still after me but he was further down. I then stopped and hovered in mid-air getting ready to face him.

Thorn noticed this and stopped where he was. Even though we were a long distance away, we still glared at each other. "The game ends here, Matthew." Thorn yelled up to me before raised his wings before made one hard flap and shot up towards me. I then made one hard flap before I dove down towards him.

As we got closer, my eye watered with the wind pushing against my face. I stuck my front hooves out in front of me as I got dove faster. Suddenly, I felt as though I was breaking through the wind and I felt like I was going to explode in the speed. "Little runt." Thorn growled to himself.

"Bastard." I said to myself before I was diving down faster than ever before. I then heard a loud humming sound and before I knew it, BOOM. I shot down like a bullet creating green sonic wave which spread out across the sky, I looked behind me to see I was leaving a green trail behind me. I then turned my attention back to Thorn and I closed my eyes with my front hooves still sticking out in front of me.

Thorn came to a sudden stop and his eyes widened as I shot down towards him. "Oh no." he said to himself before I rammed right into his chest and we both shot down back towards Canterlot while still leaving a green trail behind me. After a fast fall, we both crashed landed like a comet in the Canterlot Sculpture Gardens.

I slowly opened my eyes and stood up slowly from the small crater that I was in, my legs were shaking from the intense speed I just experienced. I tried to spread out my wings but I felt a shooting pain in my left one. I looked at it to see it was bent slightly, I then realized it was broken.

I suddenly heard the sound of racks moving and I looked forward to see Thorn raised up from another small crater while small rocks rolled off his back. "You….will not…win…boy….I won't allow it." He said in an angered tone as he stumbled out of the crater. He then heard a cracking sound and he looked down at the purple crystal on his silver metal necklace and it fell apart to the ground.

"No…my power…my power." Thorn said in despair as he tried to gather all the pieces of the broke crystal as they started to glow black. He then realized it was useless before he gave me a hatful look with his eyes burning with rage. He then yelled in anger as he galloped towards me before he pounced.

Meanwhile: Castle grounds

Twilight and the others returned to the castle grounds to see the giant pile of rubble. "Where are they?" Spike asked.

"I don't know Spike, we didn't see." Twilight answered as she looked around for any sign of me.

Celestia looked around in devastation at the sight of her half destroyed city before she hung her head. She then felt a hand touch her shoulder and she looked up to see Discord with a concerned look on his face. Celestia then buried her head into his chest before Discord wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.

Twilight noticed this and was about to go over to them until she noticed something about Luna. "Princess Luna…you're…glowing."

Celestia then pulled her head out of Discord's chest and looked at Luna to see she was glowing dark blue. "Sister…what's…what's happening to me?" Luna asked curiously.

Everypony then walked up to Luna as they wondered what was happening. "He did it, he smashed the crystal. This must be your magic returning to you." Celestia said.

Twilight smiled. "That means you can lower than moon so Princess Celestia can raise the sun."

Celestia nodded. "Yes Twilight. Come sister! We must hurry. Everypony stand back." She said before Twilight and the others took a few steps back.

Celestia and Luna then walked up to each other and closed their eyes before they flapped their wings and lifted off the ground. They then stopped in mid-air and connected the tips of their horns together before they started to glow. Celestia and Luna then opened their eyes to reveal they were glowing white. The two Princesses then started to glow brightly which caused Twilight and the others to shield their eyes.

Meanwhile: Canterlot Sculpture Gardens

I grunted loudly as Thorn threw me against one of the statues in the garden. Thorn slowly approached me with a sharp killing glare in his eyes. As I tried to stand back up, his horn glowed white and I felt a sharp stinging pain in my head; caused me to drop to the ground. Suddenly, black chains burst out of both sides of the statue and wrapped themselves around me before they pulled me up against the statue.

Thorn then smiled evilly as he came closer. A black chain then slivered down the statue and wrapped itself around my snout before I pull it up; forcing my head to face upwards. I then noticed the night sky was lighting up and then I saw the sun rise beyond in the horizon.

Once he reached me, Thorn pointed the sharp tip of his horn at my neck and slowly moved it closer. Thorn chuckled darkly with a demented look in his eyes as he moved his horn closer to my throat. He was too caught up in his demented state to notice the land becoming brighter or the fact that his body was smoking while making a sizzling sound.

"Any last words?...runt." Thorn asked with the tip of his horn touching my throat. I looked up at the sky to see the sun was now high up in the sky before I gave Thorn a smirk. "Yeah…good morning." I said.

"Huh?" Thorn said with a confused look on his face. The confusion caused him to snap out of his demented state and notice the bright lands around him. He then turned around and looked at the sky to see the sun and after a few seconds, he let out a few painful grunts as he became weaker. As he did, the black chains around me turned into black smoke and I fell down from the statue and landed on my hooves. I then looked up at the top of the castle to see the black clouds disappear.

Thorn tried to make his horn glow but at this point, he was too weak and he stumbled slightly. He then turned back around only to receive a hard punch across the face by my hoof. "That was for Luna's guards and Midnight." I said while glaring at him.

Thorn rubbed his face with his hoof before he looked at me. "What…do you hope…to accomplish here?...what do you…hope to prove anyway?" he said between grunts.

"Is that what you think this is about Thorn? To prove you're wrong about me? Well I have news for you, you are wrong. Because I'm not doing this to prove anything, I'm doing this because it's right." I said before he tried to punch me with his hoof only to miss and receive another punch in the face. "That was for Luna."

At this point, Thorn was now kneeling on the ground panting as more smoke escaped from his body. I then grabbed him by the horn and forced him to look up at me. "And this…is because I just don't like you." I said before I spun around and bucked him in the face with my hind-legs; causing him to fall backwards and land on his back. I looked at him to see he wasn't moving.

I breathed heavily as I started to walk away. Suddenly, I heard a loud yell behind me and I spun around to see Thorn throwing his hoof towards me. By his surprised, I grabbed his hoof in mine and glared at him. "Y-You…can't defeat me…you're nothing but a pathetic human." Thorn said weakly.

"…not anymore." I said before the green crystal on my Element started to glow and I lifted off the ground without the use of my wings. I closed my eyes as I floated in front of Thorn with his hoof still in my grasp, there was a small humming sound coming from the green crystal before the humming got louder. My eyes then shot open revealing them to be glowing white before a large green beam shot out from the crystal on my Element and struck right into Thorn; causing him to shoot across the gardens as he yelled in terror.

The beam continued to shoot out of my Element as it pushed Thorn further away. He was now heading towards a statue of a pony with a stone spear in it hooves.

The beam then stopped but Thorn kept going until the stone spear stabbed into his back and out through his armoured chest. Thorn let out a loud grunt before he gasped in horror and pain. He tried to pull himself off the spear but he couldn't.

I was wide-eyed as I saw him in this state. Blood started to drip from his mouth and run from his wound until it was dripping from his leg. Thorn looked at me with wide-eyes as he let out a few small gasps before his eyes closed and his head and limbs hung as he died on the spear. Suddenly, Thorn's flesh started to dissolve like acid until he was nothing but bones.

Thorn's bones then fell off the spear as they turned to dust and blew away in the wind. All that was left of him was his metal armoured vest and metal greaves lying on the ground in front of the statue.

I was stunned by what I just saw until I felt light headed from exhaustion. I then lost all feeling in my body and I collapsed to the ground as I became unconscious. Meanwhile, the last three silhouetted alicorns watch everything from the roofs of the castle.

They stood there for a second before two of them disappeared in bolts of dark purple and red fire. The last one growled with its teeth bared before it disappeared in a bolt of green fire.

2 days later: Ponyville hospital

I opened my eyes to the sound of a loud beeping noise and I rubbed my head as I leaned up slightly. I looked around to see I was in a bed in what looked like a medical room. I then saw that the loud beeping was a heat meter wired up to me. I then heard the door open and I looked to see a doctor pony walk in.

"Oh good, you're awake Mr…Matthew, is it?" The doctor asked as he held his clipboard up to his face with his magic. "Yeah…that's me, ahh." I said as I tried to lean up more.

The doctor then placed his hoof on me and gently placed me back down on the bed. "Slow down, Matthew! You're still in quite a bad state." He said.

I then looked around my body to see I had bandages in some places like my broken wing. "I don't know what exactly happened up there in Canterlot, but whatever it was it must have been bad." The doctor said as he adjusted his glasses with his hoof.

"Worse." I said as I rubbed my head again. "Yes. In fact, a young pony named Twilight Sparkle has been very worried about you. She's spent every night here since you arrived and she said she wouldn't leave until she knew you were ok." The doctor said.

I was touched that Twilight would actually do something like that. "Really? Is she here?" I asked.

"Yes. She, some others and surprising enough, Princess Celestia and Luna are here too. Would you like me to send them in?" the doctor asked with a small smile.

I smiled back. "Yes, thank you." I said kindly before he left the room. After a few minutes, Twilight, the rest of the main 6, Celestia, Luna, Discord, Spike, Jeff and Peewee and the Diamond Dogs all came in to the room.

Twilight walked up beside the bed and I was confused by the angry look she was giving me. "What?" I asked.

"That was a really stupid thing you did up there Matt, you could've died. You had me worried sick." Twilight said in an angered voice.

"Sorry Twilight, it seemed like the best thing to do at the time. I couldn't think of another way." I said with a nervous look.

Twilight then let out a small sigh before she gently wrapped her arms around my neck until we were sharing a small hug. "The guards found you in the Sculpture Gardens. When they brought you back, I thought you were dead…. While I was staying here…I had a nightmare. That your heart meter went flat and…" she couldn't finish her sentence as she started to softly cry in my shoulder.

I ignored the pain as I hugged her tighter. "It's ok Twi…shhh…its ok, I'm here…the nightmare's over." I said softly.

"But what about Thorn?" Luna asked curiously.

Me and Twilight broke the hug and my ears lowered. "He's…I think he's…"

"Dead." Celestia said cutting me off. Everypony looked at her in shock. "Thorn's dead. We don't have to worry about him anymore." She finished.

"Princess…I…I didn't mean to…I mean, I didn't know that statue was-" I couldn't finish my sentence as Celestia cutted in.

"It's alright Matthew; I know it was an accident. But to be honest, I didn't see any other way to beat him." Celestia said in an honest voice.

"But what about Canterlot? Your castle?" I said in a concerned voice.

Celestia raised her hoof. "All taken care of, the castle returned to normal and its being repaired along with all of Canterlot. Everything is back to the way it was before." She said with a smile. I smiled back.

We then heard the door open again and we all looked to see Spitfire, Soarin' and Fleet Foot. Rainbow Dash gasped in excitement. "Hey kid, you're looking good. Well…not good but better." Spitfire said.

I smiled at her. "Thanks, are you guys ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. Just a few bruises but nothing we can't take. Anyway after that guy took us out, we woke up just in time to see you pull off that cool Sonic Rainboom." Spitfire said.

Rainbow Dash looked at me in amazement. "You did a Sonic Rainboom?"

"He sure did, and we were just wondering if you'd like to hang with us some time." Spitfire said.

I was slightly shocked by this offer. I looked at Rainbow Dash to see her nodding her head fast before I looked back at Spitfire. "Can I bring a friend?" I asked. Rainbow Dash's jaw then dropped in surprise.

"Sure." Spitfire answered. "Then I'm there and so is Rainbow Dash." I said.

Rainbow Dash then shot up to the bed and hugged me tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." she said repeatedly in excitement.

"OW, OW, OW." I yelled in pain by her hug. She then let me go and gave me a sheepish smile. "Sorry." She said.

At that moment, the doctor pony came back into the room with a nurse pony. "Alright everypony, Matthew needs to get his sleep now. Nurse, please give the patient his sleeping pills!"

The nurse then nodded before she used her magic to hover two small pills and a glass of water in front of me. I opened my mouth so the pill would go in and then I grabbed the glass in my hooves and drunk the water with the pill going down with it. The doctor and nurse then left the room.

"Come on ya'all! Let's let the poor guy rest!" Applejack said before she, the rest of the main 6, Spike, Jeff, Peewee and the Wonderbolts left the room.

"Get well soon Matt." Rarity said as she left.

The Diamond Dogs then started to follow them. Rover then turned around to me. "By the way, Lord Discord saw us put in a lot of strong effort in fighting those shadow ponies and he says we can become his personal assistants in the castle, that's better than any amount of gems."

"That's good, but doesn't that mean you'll have to stay in Canterlot?" I asked.

Rover, Spot and Fido's smiles then faded. "Oh horse feathers." Spot exclaimed to himself as he, Rover and Fido left the room.

"Don't worry Matthew! You'll be back on your hooves in no time." Celestia said before she turned and walked out the door. "And don't worry about Canterlot Matthew! We'll take care of it; you just worry about getting better." Discord said before he followed Celestia.

I then turned my head to face Twilight as I started to feel the pills effects. She gave me a small kiss on the lips. "I'll be back tomorrow to check on you, ok?" she said with a sweet smile.

I nodded slowly before I closed my eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep. "Sleep well Matt! I love you." Twilight said quietly before she and Luna walked out of the room and Twilight used her magic to shut the door behind them.

After a minute, Luna poked her head through the door and quietly walked up to the bed. She smiled warmly down at me as I slept. "You came when I needed help the most, you brought my magic back to me and you saved Canterlot from a terrible fate." She said quietly.

Luna then looked back at the door to check if anypony was there. Once she was sure there wasn't, she looked back down at me and planted a small kiss on my cheek.

"You're my hero, Matthew." Luna whispered before she walked towards the door. Once she walked through doorway, she used her magic to shut the door behind her; leaving me to sleep in peace.

Meanwhile: Far away dark mountains

One of the silhouetted alicorns sat on his throne while the other two stood in front of the thrones looking up at him. "Thorn's death was….unfortunate…but we must move on. Our brother would not want us to waste our time grieving over him while we could be doing so much more…Like planning a way to deal with the one responsible for his demise." The alicorn on the throne said in a dark voice.

"Yes brother." The two other alicorns said at the same time.

"Good, now go. I have an important matter to attend to." The dark voice said before the other two alicorns bowed and walked out of the throne room.

The alicorn on the throne then got up and walked towards the throne at the end of the row. The throne which was completely black.

"Your death may have been unexpected, Thorn. But that doesn't mean it wasn't caused by your own foolishness." The alicorn said before his horn glowed green and a green lightning bolt shot out and struck Thorn's throne; causing it to fall to pieces.

The alicorn the walked down from the thrones and up to the large green pool. He looked into the water and saw me sleeping in the hospital bed.

"We will not be bested by somepony like you…you have made yourself a very powerful enemy, young Matthew." The alicorn growled before he raised his front hooves up and slammed them down in the water; creating a loud splash and destroying the vision of me in the water.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope there was enough action for you.

To those who are confused about Thorn's Hydra form, in the show Hydra's have no arms. Just two legs. This would explain why he was grabbing things with his feet.

I'm going to take a small break from wrighting but don't worry! This story will continue.

Please remember to review!

Next chapter will be up next month.