Wow! Thirty plus reviews? I'm so overjoyed that people like this! Thank you so very much! You shall all get some cake! *gives cake*

Hi: Thank you so very much for the reviews! Also, if you've played the games, you should know... Well, I won't spoil anything in case you haven't played the games!

Espurr is scary: Thank you for reviewing both this story and my other side project story. Oh, and personally... I'm more of a TwiWhooves shipper... :3

Also, Shiny Xnaut asked if I was going to do the post-game story with the Darkrai story arc as well. I'm happy to say that I will also be adding that part as well. Unfortunately, I will have to skip the part about Manaphy and the Aegis Cave, because I don't know of any characters who could fit those rolls unless I used OCs, which I'd rather not do. Sorry if I sound lazy, but too many OCs will create major confusion in the story.

Anyway... A wild chapter next chapter appeared!

---

Octavia and Vinyl walked back to the main part of the temple. Octavia seemed to be lagging, upset that one of them was no longer here. She didn't talk at all, which didn't surprise Vinyl, since she rarely talked that much anyways.

They both trotted to the hole in the floor. Vinyl took out the relic fragment and carefully slid it into the hole. Upon doing so, the lines of the drawings on the floor lit up with many beautiful colors pulsing from the fragment. They stood there, waiting for some sort of ship to show up. However, the ground beneath their hooves suddenly shifted, lifting them up. It turns out that the piece of floor that they were standing on was the Rainbow Stoneship.

"Cool," Vinyl muttered, "Freaky, but cool."

The Stoneship slowly floated up higher until the temple below them was a small gray dot against the dark landscape. They glanced up, seeing the Tower of Midnight floating just a couple hundred feet above them. In less than a few minutes, they would be standing at its entrance.

They were silent for this whole ride. Octavia was arguing with her conflicting thoughts. She didn't know whether or not to tell Vinyl that she would be going home alone after they stopped Nightmare Moon. She couldn't bring herself to let the unicorn know that she would lose her only friend. Vinyl also wouldn't be on her game if she knew she was going to be without her cello-playing buddy after this and might possibly slip up while fighting. Octavia couldn't afford to fight Nightmare Moon on her own.

So she stayed completely silent about it. Instead, guilt began to build up inside her for not letting Vinyl know what was going to happen.

It's for the best, Octavia insisted to herself, I'll... I'll tell her afterwards. It won't hurt her too much then... Or at least I hope it won't.

The Stoneship continued to soar higher, closer to the tower. Vinyl had sat down at the edge and was now staring out over the ocean longingly, possibly homesick. Poor Vinyl would no longer have a rescue team partner and would have to find a new one. Who would possibly volunteer to go with her? Everyone back at the guild knew she could sometimes be a whiny crybaby and slipped up on more than one occasion. No one liked that and that was why Trixie was a solo rescuer. What if Vinyl ended up working as a fake medic and never saw any action again? It would crush the poor mare's spirit, being her only dream was to be a part of a rescue team.

Octavia shook her thoughts away, because that was when they arrived at the edge of the tower. A long, stone walkway lead up to the entrance of the tower. The tower itself seemed to have taken a heavy beating. It was shifting unsteadily on its platform, leaning to one side or the other, almost about to topple over.

As Vinyl and Octavia walked up the pathway, cracks shot through the tower and broke off massive pieces of stone that quickly plummeted to the ground below. They craned their necks back, looking up at the top of the tower. The maelstrom of red clouds seemed to have grown bigger ever since they had first gotten a look at them. The lightning that occasionally shot out of it changed colors with every strike.

"I guess that's there because of Nightmare Moon's rage." Octavia guessed.

Vinyl gulped, "And I guess we have to go up there right under it."

"We don't have much of a choice." Replied Octavia.

They slowly trotted right up to the entrance of the tower. Inside, they could see rubble crumbling from the floors above, signaling that the tower was getting weaker. Torches blazed with blue fire, lighting the way through the tight corridors.

"Ready?" Octavia asked her companion slowly.

Vinyl replied in a shaky voice, "Nope."

"Good. Neither am I."

---

Back in Ponyville, Lyra, Bonbon, and the rest of the guild were trying their best to keep the panicking Ponyvillains crammed in the underground hideout calm.

"It's getting really bad out there." Cloudkicker reported to Bonbon, "We had to evacuate all of the Ponyville residence. We're not sure how long it will be before the darkness reaches us."

Bonbon did not appear to be panicking, despite the situation. She remained silent, pacing back and forth in front of the pegasus.

Kicker cocked her head, "Bonbon?"

The cream mare sighed, "Kicker, this whole Nightmare Moon thing has got me worried. If it wasn't because she was jealous of Celestia, she couldn't just get angry for no good reason."

Kicker hesitated, "Are you suggesting some higher power may be at play here?"

"There's no guarantee," Bonbon replied, slowly walking away, "But until this whole fiasco is over, keep the Ponyvillains calm and safe. If the Musical Mares and Whooves succeed, I may have to put in a little investigation to this whole thing."

Kicker nodded before returning to the crowd of panicking ponies. Bonbon in the meantime stared sadly at the floor. Lyra approached her from the mess hall, seeming just as worried as her friend.

"What if they can't do it?" Bonbon asked the mint-green unicorn, "Think of all the lives that will be lost when that tower collapses. I'm worried sick about those three and if they'll even come back at all."

Lyra placed a hoof on Bonbon's shoulder, "Ya know B.B... You're always so pessimistic about everything. I believe they can succeed in stopping Nightmare Moon's rage and healing the Tower of Midnight. They were the only ones brave enough to take the mission. I have put my full faith in them and you should too."

Bonbon seemed unconvinced, "I know Octavia and Vinyl have been with us for a couple months now and that they're a pretty skilled rescue team, but... This seems like too much, even with Whooves on their side."

"Bonbon, Bonbon, Bonbon..." Lyra chided sadly, "When will you ever be positive about stuff? Again, I know that they can do it. You need to believe in them and they will succeed."

"But-" Bonbon began to object. Unfortunately, Lyra placed a silencing hoof over the cream mare's mouth.

"Shush," The unicorn commanded, "No more negatory-ness. Look, you go take a rest and I'll handle all the leader stuff, okay? You're stressed out and I know it."

As Lyra walked away, Bonbon muttered something resentful under her breath. She turned her gaze away from the ponies who had taken shelter in the guild, trying to calm herself.

For Celestia's, my, and everypony else's sake, you three better not fail. She thought to herself.

---

While walking through the corridors of the Tower of Midnight, Octavia was glad she wasn't claustrophobic. It appeared that the passageways had once been larger, but now thanks to the crumbling ceiling, the corridors were tighter than ever. The tower moaned and creaked under strain. Every strike of the lightning shook the tower so violently that both Octavia and Vinyl were thrown off their hooves.

They came to their first set of stairs, which looked very unstable. One was even missing. When Vinyl looked through the hole of the missing stair, a sense of vertigo overcame her. The hole dropped all the way through the tower's platform and to the lower Land of the Night below.

"I'm glad I'm not afraid of heights." Vinyl muttered, though she sounded pretty terrified.

They cautiously ascended the stairs, careful of the loose and missing ones. Luckily, neither of them plummeted to their deaths before making it to the next floor.

"How tall is this thing?" Whined Vinyl.

Octavia looked up at the ceiling, "Twenty, maybe thirty floors."

She waited for that annoying but sweet British voice to correct her. However, she realized it wasn't going to correct her, for the voice's owner was long gone in the future, possibly fighting for his life against King Sombra.

"Something wrong?" Vinyl asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Octavia shook her head, "I'm fine. Let's keep going."

Vinyl wasn't convinced, "It's Whooves, isn't it?"

Octavia's ears laid flat, "Nooo... Um... Just nervous, that's all."

"'taaaaviaaa..." Vinyl scolded.

"Okay okay! I really miss him, okay? Are you happy now?"

"You liked him, didn't you? You like, really really liked him. Like, loved him even."

Octavia blushed crimson, "No no no! What in the world gave you that idea?! Ha! You're funny Vinyl, really you are."

Vinyl scoffed, "Don't give me that. I've seen the way you looked at him. Take it from somepony who has had many crushes on her, you had a crush on him for sure!"

Octavia averted the subject, "Crushes? Name one stallion who had a crush on you."

"That's not the point! What is the point as that you are in love. I say as soon as we finish this, we get Whooves back from the future so you can confess your feelings for him. Okay?"

Octavia felt the guilt stirring in her, "Yeeeaaah... About that..."

"No arguing!" Vinyl commanded, "We'll get him back Octavia, I can promise you that! No friend of mine is going to lose her true love!"

Octavia didn't say anything, but her heart was aching from the truth she was keeping from her best friend. When she was just about to open her mouth and say something, she shook her head and just continued to stare at the crumbly floor.

Not yet... Her conscious echoed back, Now is not the time.

They ascended what felt like millions of staircases, each one more dangerous than the last. They both were getting exhausted from climbing the stairs as well as face planting into the hard stone whenever the tower was struck. They sat down for a moment, nervousness boiling inside of them from just how close they were to the top of the tower.

Octavia looked up at the ceiling, "Probably one more floor and we'll be there."

Vinyl was shivering, "Octavia, I wouldn't admit this in front of Whooves but... I'm really really scared. Actually no, I'm terrified."

Octavia stared sympathetically at the shuddering unicorn, "We... We have nothing to be afraid of. As long as we believe in ourselves, we can do it. I know it sounds corny but... It's the truth."

"'tavia, Nightmare Moon is one of the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria," Vinyl said, "Like Blac-... Sombra said, there's many creatures out there that make even the changelings look pathetic. Look at us! We're just two average mares on the streets who are delusional enough to think that they can save the world! How can we ever hope to do that?!"

"What did I tell you?" Scolded Octavia, "You shouldn't think down on yourself, or you will fail at everything. Vinyl, look at just how far we've come. If it wasn't for us, Whooves would have never revealed who Black Thunder was, we would have never found out about the Tower of Midnight's collapse... We wouldn't know anything had we not become a rescue team, and Equestria would have perished. At least now we have the chance to stop that; to save the world from eternal darkness and chaos." She forced Vinyl to turn and look at her, "Vinyl, it's not just that either. You are not some mare off the streets. You are my best friend and my companion for the past few months. You have always been by my side no matter what crazy things we get into. It was you who helped me through my amnesia and helped me find the truth about my life. It was you who stood by my side when we first faced Team Vengeance. It was you who was with me when we were admitted as a rescue team. It was you, you Vinyl Scratch, who fought alongside me when we faced Thorn, the timberwolves, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra... And by Celestia's blazing sunlight, Vinyl Scratch, it's going to be you who fights Nightmare Moon with me, and it's going to be us who wins! You got that?"

Vinyl nodded nervously while saluting, "Yes ma'am!"

Octavia smiled, "Good. No backing out or hiding behind me when we confront Nightmare, okay?"

Vinyl saluted again, "Yes ma'am!"

"Stop that."

Vinyl nodded instead, "Yes ma'a-...! Er... Yeah sure."

Octavia laughed a little, "You certainly know how to lighten a mood, Vinyl."

Vinyl blushed a little. Together they stood up, turning to the final staircase.

"Let's go." Octavia said to her friend, determination filling her and her companion's eyes.

---

Arriving at the top of the tower, Vinyl and Octavia noticed that it was much more ruined than the other parts of the tower. The swirling red clouds above them released loud booms of thunder and violent flashes of lightning every few minutes. They could see all of the Land of the Night, and even the shore of Equestria lying just on the western horizon. In front of them on a raised platform stood a black, crumpled wall. There were six, gear-shaped holes in the wall, clearly where they were supposed to place the Gears of Harmony. There was no sign of Nightmare Moon, but Vinyl and Octavia had a sneaking suspicion that she was watching them.

Octavia and Vinyl began to advance towards the wall. However, they were stopped when a cloud of purple magic appeared in front of them, blocking their ability to get to the wall. Out of the smog came a tall black Alicorn, with a flowing mane of stars, bright blue reptilian eyes and armor on her head, chest, and hooves. She glanced between them, rage clearly showing in her features.

"You dare enter my domain?" She snarled, "And after you tried to destroy it?"

"I didn't start the tower's collapse," Octavia argued, bravely stepping up to the enraged Alicorn and hoping to talk some sense into her, "Neither did Whooves. Someone is deceiving you, Luna, you have to fight it-"

"SILENCE!" Nightmare suddenly snapped, rearing up and bringing her hooves down violently. Where they came down left very large cracks that traveled towards the two mares, nearly causing them to fall through the floor.

"Uh..." Whimpered Vinyl, "Tell me again how you dragged me into this?"

Nightmare stepped closer to them, teeth bared and wings outstretched, "You are the ones responsible for this! It is you who has caused all this damage to my beautiful night! Now, I must destroy you to ensure you will never cause this destruction again!"

"Are you sure we can't talk this over a cup of coffee or something?" Vinyl asked nervously. Nightmare answered her question, shooting a beam of magic at the unicorn. Vinyl luckily jumped out of the way, but it left a huge crater where she was once standing.

"If you're not a coffee fan, you coulda just told me!" Shouted the white unicorn.

Octavia gulped, "Vinyl, there's no getting to her. She's blinded with rage. It's up to us to fight her and get her to see the light."

Vinyl whimpered, "This girl's in a very very dark tunnel, and it's going to take a very long time to get her out!"

Bravely, Octavia and Vinyl stepped towards the Alicorn. Octavia showed no trace of fear as she drew out her bow, crouching into a battle stance. Vinyl however, was much more timid in expanding her bass cannon.

"We are prepared to fight in order to protect our home," Said the cellist mare, "If you refuse to listen to us, we don't have a choice."

Nightmare snarled, "You fools! I shall crush you under my very hooves to restore what is properly mine!"

"Does she mean that, like, literally?" Vinyl asked her friend timidly, "Thaaaaat's... Going to hurt."

"Very well then!" Nightmare interrupted, stamping her armored hoof against the craggy ground, "If you are to fight me, then I will return the favor! Come meet your doom!"

The Alicorn whipped her head around, firing a blade of magic at the two mares. They moved out of the way quickly, but Vinyl's hind leg was nicked by the blast. She toppled head over hoof, slamming against the edging of the tower. Nightmare approached her, rage blazing in her blue snakelike eyes. Clearly she could sense Vinyl's fear and decided to go for her first. Octavia however, was right on her heels. She threw her cello bow, hitting the Alicorn in the back of the head. It didn't do much, except make her even angrier and making her aim all that rage on Octavia.

This time, Nightmare fired two beams that crossed over each other and headed straight to Octavia. When she attempted to jump out of the way of one beam, the other turned suddenly and hit her in the stomach, blowing her across the floor. Luckily, Vinyl was back on her hooves, expanding her bass cannon. With a press of a button, she fired a blast of dubstep at Nightmare, hoping to damaged and disorientate her. Unfortunately, the Alicorn teleported out of the way and the blast ended up hitting a pillar. The pillar began to topple over onto Octavia who was currently trying to recover. However, She quickly moved out of the way before the pillar smashed against the floor, falling straight through it and all the way down to the ground floor.

It was already difficult enough to fight Nightmare Moon alone. What added to it was the fact that the battle field was very unstable. If Octavia or Vinyl landed too hard, the floor would crack and almost cause them to fall through it. If Nightmare's magic or Vinyl's bass cannon blasts went haywire, they usually ended up hitting a pillar that would soon topple over, nearly killing them in the process. To add insult to the injury, it seemed as though the angry red storm clouds above them were assisting Nightmare. Whenever Vinyl or Octavia managed to land a hit on the Alicorn, a bolt of lightning would fire from the cloud and at them, nearly frying them on the spot.

The fight continued on. Octavia lost count of how many times she had been tricked by Nightmare's duo blasts. She had taken so many hits to the stomach, her lunch felt as though it was about to come up. Vinyl wasn't doing so good either. Her bass cannon had taken some major hits and now looked as though it had literally been out through the wringer. Vinyl herself was covered in burns and cuts from where Nightmare had struck her with magic, or where she had fallen and skinned various parts of her body. Half of her mane was missing, the ends of it appeared to have been charred.

As Octavia laid there, trying to recover from another hit, she was terrified to accept the truth. They couldn't keep going like this. They had to have been fighting for at least an hour, if not more, and Octavia was exhausted. Both she and Vinyl had taken a serious beating and Nightmare Moon was not even breaking a sweat. The poor cellist had tried everything she knew of to stop the raging Alicorn, but nothing had worked.

Octavia felt something slam against the wall next to her. She turned, seeing that Vinyl had been tossed right next to her, now beaten and almost to the point of being dead. Nightmare approached, looking quite satisfied that she was about to dispose of the two trespassers. Her horn lit up, about to charge with one final blast that would end it all.

Octavia faced the facts; they were doomed, and so was Equestria.

"I wanted Sombra to kill you so I wouldn't have to do this," Growled Nightmare, "But I see now that I will enjoy it! Goodbye, and may the night prosper without you!"

Octavia shut her eyes, joining Vinyl in a hug. They held each other tight, waiting for Nightmare's impact. In each passing second, Octavia's Dimensional Scream was acting up again when she hugged Vinyl. What it showed surprised her. It was all the things she and Vinyl had done together, from meeting on the beach, all the way up to what was happening right now. All of the memories of her and Vinyl were the heartwarming and funny ones that made Octavia feel fuzzy inside, despite the fact that they were about to die. What was even more surprising was the visions she didn't recognize of her and Vinyl. They both appeared to be older and more mature. The visions showed them growing older and older and still very much best friends until the bitter end of both of them being placed in coffins and lowered into the ground.

Are we really going to be friends forever? Octavia wondered to herself, Is our friendship truly that strong to last?

After the visions cut, it appeared that only a millisecond had passed. Nightmare Moon was still standing over them, charging up the final blast to end them both. A couple second passed, and to their surprise, it never came. Octavia cracked an eye open, and was more surprised at what she saw than ever before.

Her cello had gained a mind of its own and was now balancing itself directly in front of her. A purple glow surrounded it, throwing up a force field around the two. Vinyl's bass cannon had gained the same motives, also seeming to be protecting her and her companion. A blue glow surrounded it, joining Octavia's cello in the making of the protective force field. Nightmare had backed up, muttering something under her breath. She actually looked quite scared of the glowing instruments, for she refused to approach any closer to them.

"The heck?" Vinyl murmured. She stood up, Octavia following her. They stood behind their instruments, which suddenly began to hum, as if coaxing them to play them.

"What is this witchcraft?" Nightmare asked, stamping a hoof in aggravation.

Octavia thought about her vision for just a second, and her cello seemed to glow brighter. She continued to think about all of the amazing adventures she had with Vinyl and both the cello and the bass cannon responded.

"I'm with N double M on this one," Vinyl said, "What the heck is going on?"

"Our friendship." Octavia suddenly said.

"What?" Vinyl asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Our friendship," Repeated Octavia, "It's what has given us the strength to persevere and win at every challenge ever thrown at us," She turned to Vinyl, a smile on her face, "Vinyl, don't you see? We were meant to be friends from the very beginning. We were meant to be a rescue team and to save the world from destruction. It was meant for you to find me when I washed up on the beach just a few months back!"

"What does this have to to with the possessed instruments?" Vinyl asked sarcastically.

"Everything!" Exclaimed the earth mare, "I know it sounds corny, but the magic of friendship itself wanted us to become friends. It's just like the Guardians who save Equestria ten times over from even the most powerful enemies. You know how they did it?"

Vinyl hesitated, "Uh..."

Octavia rolled her eyes, "The powers of friendship! That, Vinyl Scratch is how we're going to defeat Nightmare Moon and save the world!"

Nightmare was getting impatient, "What is this? Stop it at once!"

Octavia turned to the black Alicorn, taking the cello in her hooves. The purple glow suddenly surrounded her, healing her burns, bruises, and scratches. An invisible wind caused her mane to start flowing and become laced with purple light. She glanced at Vinyl, her violet eyes glowing with pure magic.

"Friendship, Vinyl," She said seriously, "It's what made us an amazing rescue team, and it's the same thing that's going to save the world."

"Cool!" Vinyl cheered, looking over the newly empowered Octavia, "I'm on board with this whole... Glowy coolness!"

"Did you even hear a word I just said?" Octavia asked, a scowl appearing on her face.

"Huh?"

"Just get the bass cannon."

Vinyl obeyed without another word. Grabbing onto the bass cannon, she too was healed of her injuries and gained the "glowy coolness". Her mane was instead laced with blue light, flowing from the invisible wind.

"I am totally down with the magic of friendship," Laughed Vinyl, "This is awesome!" She stared at her glowing body, "Wait, now what?"

"We play," Octavia replied, grabbing her cello bow, "We play like never before; together."

Vinyl nodded, a smile growing across her face as she turned to Nightmare Moon, "Yeah, let's do this!"

Octavia began playing her cello, slowly at first. The music seemed to soothe the angry spirit of Nightmare Moon, who suddenly didn't look as though she wanted to kill them. Vinyl joined in, adding some simple electronic sounds to Octavia's gentle playing. It wasn't anything special, but Octavia began playing faster and faster until her hooves were moving across the strings at light speed. Vinyl was building up her part, also speeding up the rate of which she pulled the switches and pressed buttons on the bass cannon.

Nightmare still wasn't impressed. She bared her teeth, angry with whatever was happening. She started to shout something, but the music was growing louder and drowned her out. The blue and purple light fused together, bringing the two mares closer until they were back-to-back, playing at incredible speeds. They grab each other's hooves, holding onto their instruments with the other.

"Ready?" Octavia asked with a triumphed smile on her face.

"Let's drop some bass." Vinyl replied with a nod.

They turned, their instruments magically fusing together to create something new. Their new instrument was a golden and silver cello with two electronic speakers behind the strings. Electronic switches ran along the sides of the half cello-half bass, and the bow which Octavia held was laced with gold and silver.

That was when the bass dropped, hard.

From the cello-bass came two beams. A blue beam came from the top speaker and went after Nightmare Moon. She tried to avoid it, but it caught her and made her unable to move. A purple beam came from the bottom speaker, crossing over the blue beam before joining to together and hitting the helpless Alicorn who was now enveloped in the blinding light.

All the while, ear-piercing dubstep music played from the cello-bass, as well as the sound of a skillfully played cello that was just as loud as the electronic music. Octavia and Vinyl held onto each sides of the cello-bass, their manes and tails flowing behind them. The light surrounding their bodies blinded their enemy and caused her to fall to her knees, her frightening aura falling apart and being replaced with something new.

The music played on until eventually the cello-bass broke apart and became a normal cello and bass cannon once again. The light surrounding Octavia and Vinyl faded as they fell to the ground, exhausted from the blast. Octavia was the first to stand, seeing her cello and Vinyl bass cannon sitting right in front of her as if the whole thing had never happened. Vinyl was laying next to her, completely knocked out. When Octavia stood, she noticed Nightmare Moon was gone. In her place was a tiny, dark blue Alicorn with a light blue mane, still sparking with the recent hit she had suffered. Octavia assumed this was Princess Luna, guardian of the Tower of Midnight, now back to proper control of her own body.

Vinyl woke up, noticing what had happened. She jumped up, a huge smile on her face as she ran to hug Octavia, "We did it! We stopped Nightmare Moon! We did it we did it we did it!"

Octavia smiled, currently having her ribs crushed by the over-zealous unicorn, "Vinyl, you're crushing me again..."

"Oh." Vinyl stopped with her hugging, "I can't believe it. Just our friendship did that? I should make friends more often."

Octavia nodded, "Equestria runs on the magic of friendship. It's the most Poweful source of magic there is. Through our powerful friendship, we defeated our enemy and overcame the challenge. Vinyl, we just did something that nopony else was willing to do; we saved the world."

Vinyl smiled, "Whaddaya know? We did! Who would of thought?" She narrowed her eyes at the mare, "Wait, how do you know all that?"

Octavia looked at her hooves, "Honestly? I have no clue."

Just then, the tower shook and nearly threw the two mare's off balance. A huge amount of the tower's edging broke off just a couple feet away from them, forcing them to jump out of the way. The red storm clouds rumbled in protest, shooting out more lightning and striking the tower even more periodically.

"The tower!" Vinyl exclaimed, "Oh my Celestia, we totally forgot about the tower itself!"