" For good or bad, we are here. " Celestia whispered.

The group had sneaked up in castles many times. The castle of Blaze, the castle of Breeze, the castle of Dusk... too many dark castles and this one was no exception. The fact, that servants constantly passed through the rooms, carrying , Celestia knows why ( altough in the case she didn't ) , cheese and wine. When they asked Twister, the one, that knowed the ruler the best, he answered:

" Sabredance is from Prance. He realized he wouldn't suceed there, so he signed up here. From a normal soldier to an officer, from an officer to a general. Eventually he took the throne, using a splinter squad, loyal only to him. They are now his guards, and his enemies are forced either to sign up in the army, or to become his servants, or to get killed. he had a lot of enemies. And he loves cheese with wine. As everypony from Prance, his weaknesses are cheese, wine and pretty mares. "

However, they were now literally on the front door of the prench fencing devils and wondered how to sneak in there without getting noticed. Suddenly, the door opened and revealed the ruler smiling, while eating cheese in his throne. He ever had a fake swirly moustache. There were no guards, but right next to his throne there were the Nightmare Spirits. After he had finished with the cheese, he clapped with hooves. A servant took the dish away, while the king focused on his guests:

" Enter the room, mes amis. I don't want you to catch a fíevre, while standing in my corridor. What will my friends say later: " he let his enemies die in the cold, instead of meeting them in a fair fight. Pas! You will die from the cold of my épée, not from the cold of my couloir. "

Since they had revealed themselves anyway, the group entered the throne room. The door closed behind them. Sabredance' grin became even more annoying, as he continued speaking with french accent and random Prench words:

" Who do we have here? Les Mane 6? Les siegneurs des éléments? La Écarlate Sorciére? Oh, and the Avengers!

L'Union fait la force. So what brings you to my humble abode? "

"The usual. We are here to détrôner you. " Rarity replied.

The grin on the face of the stallion became even more annoying:

" La dame tries to speak Prench... pour moi? "

" Nein. " Forge's interruption was probably a blessing, because it ended the smile of Sabredance:

" Fou, " nein " is in German. " the muzzle of the ruler wrinkled

" Than you'd know what I call der Rüstüng Zerbrecher. "

Forge threw his hammer at the throne. One of the spirits caught it with it's mane. Luckily, the smith suceeded to pull it back, but it became obvious, that it wouldn't be so easy. The pony on the throne smiled and got up from it:

" Let's leave the foreign languages for now. You are probably Horsegard's interdimensional back- up. Honestly, I don't care about this Horsegard or any other one, as long as they don't interrupt in my business. What do you have against me ruling this dimension? "

" Nothing... except that your brutal rule destroyed millions of lifes . " the Prequestrian Loky replied

" Let me guess... Loky. You've been missing from my dead enemies list. We'll add you now. And why don't we add some of your friendly neighbour- dimension Horsegardians too? " the Equestrian Loky fired a blue bolt at the ruler, but he blocked it with one of his swords.

" Funny, but first, I need to give credit to the Nightmare Spirits. " Sabredance clapped and the Nightmare Spirit, that stood next to him, grinned:

" My name... is Darknight. I am the commander of the Lunar Army and the pony, who commands us, when our king and queen are missing. Luckily, they are soon going to be back. " he glared at Rarity and Hase " Perfect. "

The pegasus pulled rarity closer to him and stretched his bow. He was just rewarded with a bigger smile:

" A wepon, perfect for a king. It will victoriously lead us in many battles. "

The dark grey stallion spirit was wearing armour and a sword. Hase' arrow didn't have a hole to pass through, and probably wouldn't of done any damage, so he put the bow back on his back.

" Not so fast, you have a score to settle with me. " Twister split from the pack and got the sword out of it's scabbard. The king looked surprised:

" Twister! Your father wouldn't be happy to see you, colt. Let me spare you the painful death - I promise a quick stab. "

" We'll see who's the better. " the unicorn stepped in the circle carpet. Sabredance grinned even more and stepped into that circle too. Suddenly it raised off the floor and went through the ceiling.

" Magic carpets...Can phase. I hope your friend is good. Sabredance is sure a good swordspony. Not better than me, of course. Now, who wants to taste my sword? " the armoured unicorn stepped forward. Hase stepped forward too. Rarity tried to hold him back, but he ripped off.

" I wouldn't be able to unleash my true power against my future king, but let it be - even holding back I'll win- without our powers, you are weak. " Darknight spoke and got his sword at the ready, holding it with his mane

" Say that again, " Hase' whip levitated in front of him " , I dare you, I double dare you. " he replied, using one of Nick Fury's favourite answers.

Without any command the unicorn and the pegasus jumped at each other. The remaining Nightmare Spirits attacked the group. The Prequestrians rushed to the stairs to aid Twister. So Darknight and Hase were surrounded by a living wall of enemies and allies. The unicorn was good with the sword. Without any effort he hurt both Hase'knee and his neck. Using normal magic he healed. Than he threw a ball of dark energy at his adversary. The Nightmare Spirit blocked it with his blade and replied smiling:

" We've never had a Chaotic king untill now. Those Weapons, the power of the Void, united with the power of a Nightmare Spirit... you would be invincible! Why giving invincibility away? "

"  Invincible and evil. Not a good combo. " Hase answered, leaving a burning mark on Darknight's front hooves. They filled up with smoke and healed too. Exploiting his confusion, the unicorn pushed him on the ground and tried to hit him with the sword like if it was a bat. But the pegasus jumped back on his hooves and the strike of the spirit missed, leaving a part of his skin on his left shoulder exposed. The son of Vortex hit him in it, but it just healed again. His enemy turned around, slashing with his sword. The pegasus ducked and tried to keep distance with his whip. Whenever the knight tried to attack, he was blocked by the whip. It worked for a minute, untill the unicorn jumped over and hit Hase in the back. It was time to switch weapons.

The group's fight wasn't much easier. They were constantly protecting Rarity from the Spirits, who tossed around the Spirit of their queen like a volleyball and tried to find a way to get it closer to their target. One of the spirits, a sprit mare of honour nearly got close enough, but Thorse hit her with Mjolnir and she fell 10 feet away.

Another one and another one. The first was eliminated by Hawk's steady aim, and Pony Stark fed a repulsor to the second. The light made a group of spirits circle him. Parts of the shoulders of the Iron Stallion opened, revealing at least 20 miniature missiles. They fired and several spirits fell on the ground incapacitated.  Meanwhile several other tried to sneak behind Rarity, but the Black Widow and Loky were hard to get over. Natasha Romanoff jumped at the first, pretending she was going to kick him in the chest. The spirit immeadietly covered his chest with a part of his mane, which, whenever the spirits wanted, was hard as a shield. But a second before she landed she punched him in the face, leaving him unconcious. The second one was surrounded by Loky's ghost copies. he hit again and again, untill finally he was hit in the head from the real Loky's scepter.

Tornado hit two of them into the wall. Breeze nodded at Hydro and Glace, who, before the two Spirits could realize what happens, freezed them to a nearby pillar. They struggled to get away, but they didn't succed. Nearby another three were protecting themselves from the flame stream of Blaze. Unfortunately for them, that was a trap. They bumped in the wall and 20 feet high crystals closed them. They grew, untill they reached the ceiling.

" High hoof! " Landrock and Blaze celebrated

The Light and Darkness twins were running in circle very fast, leaving a trail of light and darkness behind them. Eventually the circle exploded in black- white, which let the nearby attackers, who tried to assault the brothers as soon as they stopped spinning, with spinning eyes, on the floor.

Dash and Applejack were fighting back - to - back. One Spirit attacked. AJ's shield bounced of him, but he striked again. The two mares switched positions and the Iron Patriot's pulse turret fired fiercly at the enemy. The spirit fell on the ground stunned. Meanwhile one of the Spirits jumped on the War Marechine's back and tried to rip off her turret. Captain Equestria saw this and hit the unaware attacker in the back.

Only holding for the cannon, the Spirit spun and ended directly in front of Dash' face. He was knocked out by an iron pummel. The mare turned around to thank Applejack, because Rainbow Dash loved her turret, but currently she was busy throwing shields. Dash decided to thank later. Captain Equestria threw her shield at one of the mares of honour, making her to fall. When the shield returned, Applejack slammed the mare of honour' s face with it. She whispered :

" Oh, my! How rude! " and fell unconcious.

' An' wah do they bring meah' a' hona in the battle anyway? ' the farmer wondered, before she returned to smacking spirits.

Thor and the Iron Stallion were surrounded. The moon knights swiped with their swords. The duo managed to dodge the attacks and even knocked out two or three, but the next attack was going to hurt them. Luckily, there was no next attack:

" SHYUUUULK SMAAAAASH! " the Shyulk jumped from the other side of the room and stomped the danger.

" TINPONY GOOD? HAMMER GOOD? "  she asked Thor and Pony, after she hit her hooves against each other, a sign, that a lot of smashing awaited the Nightmare Spirits.

" Yes thanks, Shyulk, we are OK. " Pony replied, after a Unibeam cleared a row of ponies, that were heading for Rarity.

" It's always nice to have some brave old- school fist fighters. " obviously, the Spirits didn't appreciate Horsegardian humor and eventually the Thunder God had to summon thunder to clear them all. A huge lightning bolt breached the roof and made the attacking spirits look like a bad barbecue.

" SHYULK SMASHES FOR FRIENDS! FRIENDS NEED SHYULK! " the transformed Fluttershy jumped to the other end of the room, where Twilight and Pinkie were guarding Rarity. One of the Spirits let the Queen and she flew towards Rarity, but mid- air she faced an unbreachable wall - Shyulk's hoof.

The unlucky ball of darkness bounced back at the pony, who threw it. The green smasher roared, horrifying the nearby spirits. The ones, that didn't make a step back, were hit by the green hoof, which smacked them agaist the wall. Than Shyulk clapped with hooves and the shockwave made the rest of the Spirits, who surrounded the to unicorns and the party mare, crash in the other wall and make a deep hole in it. Shyulk smiled and jumped in another direction for more smashing.

Meanwhile, back in the center, Hase was using his mace to block the swishes and trusts of Darknight's sword. This proved challenging, since the mace was heavier than the sword, and blocking all attacks was impossible. Because the battle was too intense, the pegasus wasn't able to heal. His wounds bled every time he did some harder move. This was weakening him. But as he realized, none of the other weapons would of worked: the Whip couldn't block the attacks, in the fury of the fight an arrow from the Bow of Vengeance might of hit an ally, the Spirits were obviously immune to the effects of the Robe of Illusions and the Shield of Horror.

Once again, he wished, that the Armour of Extinction also protected his limbs. His magic energy was nearly drained from the multiple magic attacks. He now only depended on the Mace, the Spear and his Chaotic skills. Though now the Mace proved too slow, so he put it on his back and got out the Spear. The multiple bags on his back constantly slowed him down. Suddenly, he got a blessing. The stallion commanded the weapons to dissapear. This only took a spark of his energy, but the Weapons of Destruction dissapeared from his back. He still felt them connected to his mind, so he could of summonned them again at any time, but his speed increased, which played his enemy a bad joke.

Hase quickly dodged one of his swipes, jumped over his head and hit him in the neck. Electricity flowed through the spear and the pony's body, making him fall unconcious. An ancient electrical tazer. The pegasus grinned, but his smile melted, as he saw a Spirit near Rarity from behind. It took half a second for him to summon the bow and fire, but the Spirit was faster. An arrow hit him in the head, but it was too late. Hase made both of his weapon dissapear and got ready for the worst.

After the Queen Spirit engulfed her, Rarity screamed in horror, but these screams soon turned to a victorious laugh, as the smoke revealed the mane of Nightmare Rarity, flowing like a waterfall upside down. Sadly, soon a golden helmet covered it magically and the only thing, that resembled Rarity in her evil copy vanished. The horn of the unicorn shone, throwing the group behind Hase and drawing all of the Spirits next to her. They quickly awakened and smirked, looking at their Queen.

" Holy moly... " Applejack whispered

" Well, I wouldn't say it's nice to meet you again, " the hypnotic voice of the royalty echoed through the hall " , weaklings, not even having a sence of fashion. "

" Evil was modern last year! " Pinkie yelled at the Spirits

" Indeed it was, but it's still modern even now... or at least I am! " Nightmare Rarity replied

A blue magic bolt flew at her, but with a strand of her mane the Queen easily dodged it.

" Seriously, Luna? " the unicorn grinned " You think a small bolt of your ancient magic will remove me from your way? No. I admit, last time I just craved for the dramatic effect, but it wasn't the truth. Let me say it now... Rarity isn't gone, my little ponies, I am Rarity! "

" You're not our Rarity! " Pinkie threw a baloon at the Spirits, but the royalty just grinned again:

" I guess that's your favourite phrase... but it's such a cliché. Like those Elements of harmony! You have to use them all the time? Huh! How annoying! Anyway, this time you won't be able to use them... for the second time. But I see, you're expanding your Circus Equestrié. How original! But don't think your technocrates, gods or whatever you have in mind will stop me! There's no such power... "

" There is. " Hase interrupted her.

" What do you have in mind, Cursed One? " Nightmare Rarity smirked

" Good one, boss. " somepony whispered

" Tribute. " Hase ignored Nightmare rarity's reply " If I volunteer to be your king, would you let Rarity go? "

" What? You wouldn't... " at first Nightmare Rarity was worried, but then Daeknight blinked with one eye and her smile returned:

" Very well. Step forward. "

" Hase, thes' spirits neva' tell da truth! Ya shouldn't trust 'em! " Applejack stopped Hase from making the first step.

" I know, AJ. " the pegasus replied " But no magic, suit of armour or lightning bolt would defeat these Spirits. The Elements of Harmony are your only hope... "

" Wha did ya say " yah only hope? " " Applejack got even more worried

" According to my father, the King spirit builds a far more powerful connection with the host, than the Queen. I probably won't survive the separation. "

" Than ya shouldn' t go! Maybe if we all unite... "

" AJ, look me in the eyes and say I ain't honest. " the stallion smiled and took the step foraward. The group's mood fell to the ground. They retreated to the door and nervously watched.

" Begin! " Nightmare Rarity commanded. A dark ball of smoke with twice the size of the unformed Quuen Spirit, flew towards Hase. Just before it touched his forehead, it suddenly stopped in mid- air about an inch from Hase' face. The Spirits looked confused. The stallion laughed:

" You don't think I'll just let you possess me before you do as I wished, do you? "

" You are a fool, Hase Vortexson! We would never let our Queen go! The King would eventually find it's way to you! No normal magic or chaotic magic can stop him forever! " Darknight laughed.

" Alright than. " suddenly the smoke surrounded and covered Hase, but his voice was still to be heard. But it now was more powerful, more echoing, something like his version of the Royal Canterlot Voice. " Give all of your power... to meee! "

Dark aura surrounded all of the Spirits. A vortex opened in the smoke, surroundidng Hase, and sucked this aura into itself. As a spirit's aura slowly vanished, their coats lightened and they looked more like normal ponies.

" Ah... what's the magician's show all about? " Pony was confused

" Yes, really, what is he doing? " Celestia was even more confused

Vortex' eyes filled with tears and his mane became black.

" I've never seen anything like it before. Hase is taking the whole Essence of Death for himself... he is sacroficing himself for the whole nation of the moon ponies. "

" What? " Twilight was horrified

" Hey, that isn't right! There are only about a dozen of those moon ponies! " Dash noticed

" Magic always finds a way. " Vortex became even more sad " Look! "

Between the Spirits, a huge portal has opened. dark aura flowed through it, right into the smoke vortex. As Rarity slowly regained her white colour, Twilight noticed something strange: Rarity wasn't shrinking, her mane didn't stop flowing in the air and her coat began to shine... like the moon.

Eventually, the portal closed and all of the dark aura was into the smoke. The confused Spirits used- to -bes were walking around, wondering what had happened, crying, laughing or using strange moon phrases like " Holy crater! " , " What the rock! " and etc.

Rarity had some height problems and was constantly falling. Luckily, the former Darknight was helping her getting back on her unusually long hooves. When they neared, the group heard their conversation:

" It feels strange. Isn't there a couch nearby? "

When he heard that, the knight reacted immeadietly:

" Right away, my queen! Guards! Bring her Shining Highness a throne! And do it quickly! "

Two of the guards ran scared and tried to move Sabredance' throne. Rarity blushed and replied:

" The fact, that I am a fashion queen doesn't mean, that I am your queen. "

" I protest, my queen, you are now the Moon Queen and those lazy as crater slug royal guards should better move their flanks or I'll take their swords and melt them...  "

" I, I need a little help here, girls... wow. You're low. Celestia, Luna, Vortex... they are as tall as I am? What the ruby happens here? " the unicorn was really confused and  fell. Luckily, the " lazy as crater slug " guards had ripped the throne off the floor and Rarity fell on the pillows.

" Rarity... you might want to look at a mirror. " Dash's voice was heard from the Iron Patriot

" What darling? Ah... a mirror. Hey, you, what was your name again? " Rarity turned to the unicorn, who constantly followed her.

" It's Light Warrior, my queen. "

" Well, Light Warrior, I'll be grateful if a mirror is present? " Rarity tried to get off the throne, but didn't do well.

" Immeadietly my queen! A crystal mirror for the Queen, move, move, move! " Light Warrior commanded. The guards looked at each other. One of them obviously got over his fears:

" No crystal mirrors are present, sir. "

The unicorn with the short floating mane frowned:

" A silver one? "

" No, sir. "

The unicorn hit his hoof against his forehead and asked again:

" A ... glass one? "

" Is present, sir, yes, sir! "

Light smiled. Two of the guards moved the mirror in front of the throne. Rarity wasn't paying attention, but when she accidentally glared upon the mirror, her pupils widened and she jumped in the air:

" Holy Celestia! "

Indeed it was a surprising look. Rarity looked like a Princess. The gold armour, that once covered Nightmare rarity's chest was now silver. The medalion of Generocity had grown to a big necklace with many saphires. The whole coat of the mare shone and a beatiful helmet covered Rarity's head. Sparks appeared in the unicorn's eyes and from excitement she fell back on the throne.

" You should officially say " Holy me! " from now on, my queen! " Light Warrior noted.

Rarity nodded, but suddenly stared at the mirror again. She removed the helmet from her head and her long mane flowed in the air.

" Get rid of it. " Rarity dropped the helmet on the floor. " This mane should never be hidden. "

" Ah... what happened? " Twilight was confused

" Let me explain, my queen. " Light Warrior asked for permission. His queen nodded.

" So, listen up, girl... I mean your highness. " Light Warrior got a bit upset, after he saw Twilight's wings and horn" I am Light Warrior, commander of the Royal Guard of the Moon and the Lunar Army. First, you need to know something. The kings and queens of the moon were elected by their crowns. The crowns were magical artefacts, that only chose the right ones. This ability has passed to the Nightmare Royal Spirits too. The Nightmare Royal Spirit will give much more power to the right host. That's why it was harder to defeat Nightmare Rarity, than to defeat Nightmare Moon... no offence, Princess Luna. "

" None taken. " Luna replied, cheered

" Thank you. Rarity is chosen to be our new queen. As I see, there might be some delays about the king, but the king is clear too. " the worried commander looked at the cloud of darkness, that gathered in a spheric form in the center of the room. " The crowns don't distinct ponies by their race, they judge by their personality. By a day or two, the Moon Queen's crown will appear on her head. "

" How often do you switch your kings and quens? And how to keep this manecut after that? " Rarity asked

" If the bearer becomes unworthy, the crown falls of his or her head. But this had happened only once. Our first king died mysteriously and his son wanted the throne. He got it, but the crown constantly fell off his head, Eventually, we dethroned him and a pony from the folk got the crown. We had only three kings, after all. You are our first Queen since the destruction of the old Equestria, my queen. So don't worry about your manecut." Light Warrior smiled.

" Let's don't forget the main attraction, shall we? " a voice, resembling the one of Hase, spoke. The group turned around.

A tall pegasus stood in front of them. His height was the same as Vortex' , Luna's, Celestia's and Rarity's. His wing span was 12 feet. His eye ring was dark purple, his eyes emitted hatred. An armour, probably the Dragon Armour, covered not only his torso, but also his hooves. A robe, the Robe of Illusions covered his back, carefully going around his wings. Under it a quiver could of been recognized. The Spear of Hatred and the Berserker Mace levitated in the air around him.

A helmet of dark metal covered his head, but most of his mane got out, instead of shifting colours as it floated in the air, slowly gaining a permanent colour - dark violet. His coat was darker than the darkest of nights. His eyes with dark purple eye rings left trails with the same colour behind them.

" Greetings, celestial and non- celestial friends. My name is Hase...  Sounds good, doesn't it? Tartarus, way better than Nightmare Moon. " the creepy voice echoed again.

" You are not... "

" Not your Hase? " Hase interrupted Pinkie " No, of course not. I am the real Hase, the way I was ment to be. "

" What do you mean under " ment to be " ? " Twiight asked

A grin appeared on the muzzle of the pegasus, his pearly white teeth in full contrast with his coat:

" I'll leave that surprise for later. As you probably know from my appearance, I don't root for the good guys anymore. I emit evil, don't I? I'm sure I look pretty evil. And eventually, everything ended bad, right, Twi? " Twilight lowered her head

" But I'm not just evil, right daddy - o? This helmet... come on, remind them. "

Vortex stared at his son and spoke with a sad voice:

" The Helmet of Supremacy would only reveal it's true form on the head of the most evil pony, that had existed, exists and will exist in this universe. "

" Voalá! " Hase grinned " The most evil of them all. I'll ruin the surprise, but anyway... spoiler alert! Ask Chrysalis."

" Chrysalis?!? " Dash's voice sounded angry.

" You'll have the chance to ask her... personally. " a portal opened behind the group and the group barely managed to hold on the nearest objects.

" Where.... are you sending us? " Twilight yelled, because the air being sucked into the vortex was pretty loud.

" More like when. " Hase replied and a dark magic blew up the objects the ponies where holding for. The group was sucked into the portal and the last thing they heard was their former friend's haunting laugh.

                                                            To be continued...