Chapter 6:

The Mare in the Moon (and Omnius too!)

(Takes place during Episode 2 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

As you may recall from last time, I had spotted a pie lying on a nearby table and was moving towards it, yelling “Hold still!” to Nightmare Moon. I jumped onto the table, and Sir Isaac Newton took over from there (For every action, there is an equal and opposite RE-action). My makeshift catapult launched the pie into the air-

-Where it hit the wall, approximately ten feet from where Nightmare Moon was standing. The evil being glared at me, and tendrils of darkness started to swirl around her, giving the appearance that a hurricane made out of a moonless night had appeared.

“Uh oh,” Was all I had time to say, before a bolt of lightning shot out from the tip of her horn and nearly burnt me to a crisp. As it was, I managed to roll out of the way, and the bolt hit the table, turning it into a smoldering pile of ashes.

“Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” I heard the mayor call out, and three Pegasus ponies, wearing what reminded me vaguely of Centurion armor, leaped into action and flew at full speed towards Nightmare Moon.

“Stand back you foals!” Nightmare Moon called out, and more lightning flew out of the dark swirl, hitting the Pegasi in mid-air and sending them crashing to the ground. With a sudden flash, she had transformed into a wave of that same energy stuff that made up her mane and was flying out of the now open doors.

“You’ve just pissed off the wrong Mexicolt!” I yelled, and then did what might be the fifth dumbest thing that I’ve done yet: I jumped at her and managed to grab the end of the energy wave thing with my teeth.

As soon as my teeth had latched onto her, I felt a sudden, creeping, chill, seep into my bones. At the same time, I felt something try to force its way into my mind. The presence felt cold, but it somehow managed to burn with jealousy and cruel hatred. This was a being that wanted nothing more than to banish all that was its opposite and revel in the night’s eternal dark glory. At the same time however, I also felt a pale and uncontrollable fear, as if there was something that was being kept prisoner inside of the alien mind. I inhaled suddenly, as I realized that Nightmare Moon was trying to worm her way into my mind, and at the same time, I knew that there was something that she wanted to keep quiet…a separate voice that she desperately wanted gone.

  While Nightmare Moon flew higher and higher into the night sky, I felt myself grow weaker and colder, while my grip slowly loosened. I tried my best to hold on, but almost as soon as she had left the building and flown above Ponyville, my teeth slipped, and I felt myself plummeting to the ground. Too cold to even scream, I wearily watched the ground get closer at an alarming rate, and thought to myself: “This would be the perfect time to cut to a commercial.” Yep. Even when plummeting to what would appear to be my doom, I was thinking of how to best piss off the viewers.

“Omnius!” I heard a familiar voice cry out, and right before I crashed into the ground, somepony wrapped their arms around mine and caught me, halting my plummet. I shook off the last of the horrible cold feeling and looked up to see that Rainbow Dash had stopped me from becoming a street pizza.

“We have got to stop meeting like this. Somepony might think I’m falling for you,” I said, grinning slightly.

“Are you okay?” She asked, setting me on the ground gently and hovering over me.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What about you?” I rubbed my face with my hoof, glad that I could feel some warmth again. To tell you the truth, I had started to feel warmth return as soon as I had accidentally let go of Nightmare Moon, but it took a little bit for it to wear off. Ye Gods, it felt good to not feel that chilling cold.

“What? Why wouldn’t I be fine?” She asked confused, like there wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t be fine. Wait, she just said that.

“Well you did just catch a heavy colt who was falling at a high speed! I would imagine that that would hurt.”

“Nah, it’s nothing. You’re actually not that heavy,” She said, shrugging it off like it was nothing.

“Okay, that’s pretty cool,” I said impressed. I looked over to where the Town hall was and saw Twilight bolt out of it and make a beeline for the library.

“Uh, right. Thanks for the save Rainbow, but I need to get going!” I said, dashing towards Twilight. “Thanks again!” Rainbow frowned and started to say something, but I didn’t stick around to catch it. There was evil afoot! EEEEEEEeeeevil!

I caught up with Twilight just as she unlocked the door to the library. Spike was passed out on her back, and he occasionally muttered in his sleep. I held the door open for Twilight, and she walked in, her horn starting to glow. Using her magic/psychic unicorn powers, (which are awesome) she levitated the small dragon into a basket -like bed, and tucked him in.

“You’ve been up all night Spike! You are a baby dragon after all,” She whispered to him, even though he slept. Looking at them, it became painfully obvious that the small dragon wasn’t just an assistant to her. He was a friend, and a brother. Someone she knew better than almost anyone else, and was family to her.

Smiling at the warm tender scene that lay before me, I almost regretfully said, “Hey, come on Twilight! I said I was gonna help you and I meant it! Now what are we looking for again?”

“We’re looking for a book on the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight said, coming back into focus. She frantically started searching the bookshelves, using her magic to lift books off of the shelves, and I did the same, albeit without the magic, trying to figure out what book would have them.

“Elements, elements, elements!” Twilight let out a gasp of exasperation and quickly scanned another two books (speed reading, thy name is Twilight Sparkle!) “How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?!”

“And just WHAT are the Elements of Harmony?” I heard Rainbow Dash say accusingly. I turned and saw that she had flown into Twilight’s face and was giving her the ‘Talk or else’ sort of interrogation. “And how did YOU know about Nightmare Moon? Huh? HUH?! Are you a spy!?”

“…Really Dash? You’re going to accuse a Pony who was terrified of Nightmare Moon, who was supervising the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration under the Princess’s orders, and who is researching a way to STOP her, of being a spy?” I said loudly. “Does that sound kind of strange to you?”

“Simmer down, both of you! Twilight ain’t no spy!” Applejack said, walking in with Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. I looked at all of them in confusion, and wondered what they were doing here.

“But you do know what’s going on, don’t you Twilight?” Applejack said gently, and six pairs of eyes looked expectantly towards Twilight.

Twilight hung her head, and said, “I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them, I don't even know what they do!” She said the last part angrily and looked out the window in fear.

“Hey, buck up there Twilight!” I said cheerfully, not wanting to see anypony look like that. “So what if we don’t know anything? As long as we don’t give up hope, we’ll be fine! It doesn’t matter how long it takes, I’ll make sure that we can beat Nightmare Moon! Even if it takes us years to find-”

“‘The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide,’” I heard Pinkie say, and turning, I saw that she was staring at a large, leather and gold bound book that had escaped my search.

Twilight dashed over, and pushed Pinkie Pie out of the way. She stared at the book incredulously, and asked, “How did you find that?!”

Pinkie skipped merrily around the room, and said in a sing-song voice, “It was under ‘E’!”

“Wow. I guess that would have been a good place to start searching, in retrospect,” I said, face-hoofing myself.

Twilight magically grabbed the book, and flipped open to a certain page in it, and started to read. “Oh. There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty.” (Go planet!) “The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last known location of the five elements was in the Ancient Castle of The Royal Pony Sisters. It is located in what is now-”

XHXHXHXHXHXHX

Moments later, all seven of us were standing in front of a dark and foreboding forest, where all of us said in perfect synchronization, “The Everfree Forest!”

I then blinked, and said, “Is it just me, or did we all speak in synchronize?” Pinkie Pie looked at me and giggled.

After a moment where we all just stood there and stared at the forest, my attention span had faded, and I decided, “Well, come on now! We’ve got evil butt to kick! Allons-y!”

“Not so fast!” Twilight said, stopping me with a look. “Look, I appreciate the offer, but I’d really rather do this on my own.”

Applejack simply walked forward, and said in that same stubborn tone of hers, “No can do, sugar cube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple.”

“Especially if there's candy apples in there!” Pinkie chirped, earning a WTF!?! look from both me and Twilight. “What? Those things are good.” She trotted gleefully into the forest, leaving me and Twilight as the last ones to enter.

Twilight gave me a questioning look, and I shrugged, saying, “Hey, I promised to help you, and I intend to keep my promises. Now come on, we don’t want to fall too far behind!” I walked into the forest and caught up with the rest of the group.

Twilight sighed, and semi-reluctantly followed.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“So, none of you have ever been in here before?” Twilight asked nervously a few minutes later. I looked around at the trees and noticed that their branches curved like talons. It seemed like they were ready to seize any unwary pony (or Traveler) foolish enough to wander near them.

“Heavens no!” Rarity replied disdainfully, “Just look at it! It’s dreadful!”

Applejack glanced nervously, and said with a slight tremble in her voice, “And it ain't natural. Folk say it don't work the same as Equestria.”

“Really? What, does it have little leprechauns that do the weather instead of Pegasi?” I asked nonchalantly. They gave me the same look I had just given Pinkie, and I said somewhat defensively, “Okay, no Leprechauns. So what is it about the Everfree forest that’s kerskuffled?”

Rainbow Dash flew into a patch of moonlight that had seeped in through the trees and said in an ominous voice, “Nopony knows! You know why?”

Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all cringed in fear, and I stumbled, stopping myself from falling off of a cliff. “Whoa! Good thing I didn’t trip! That would’ve been a long fall.”

“Rainbow, quit it!” Applejack scolded the rainbow maned Pegasus.

Dash continued anyways, saying, “‘Cause everypony who’s come in, has never come OUT!”

“Oh come on Rainbow Dash! It’s just a forest! What could possibly go wrong?” I said dismissively, trying to hide my own fear that had started to creep up on me.

I have got to stop giving the universes openings like that.

As soon as I had finished speaking, the cliff we were all standing on cracked, and suddenly gave out from underneath us.

“Shit!” I managed to yelp, before tumbling down with the rest of the ponies, minus Rainbow and Fluttershy, thanks to their wings.

“Fluttershy quick!” Rainbow Dash called out, springing into action and swiftly grabbing a hold of Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy chanted her own little mantra (“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness”) and managed to clamp her teeth down on Rarity’s tail.

The cliff had fallen apart to reveal a sharply inclined hill with barely any safe foot, I mean, hoof-holds to use, and it ended in a sheer drop of maybe about a hundred feet. As it was, Applejack had managed to stop herself, and was currently the only thing that stood between Twilight and a vertigo inducing drop.

Fluttershy flew over to me, and I waved her away while I desperately grabbed at the dirt to slow my descent. “Go make sure the others get down safely! I’ll be fine!” When she didn’t leave, I shouted out, “Fluttershy, go! Rainbow Dash has already had to stop two ponies from plummeting to their doom already; she might need your help to save the others!”

“But what about y-”

“It’s okay! I’m too pretty to go out like this!” I said, finally reaching a root that stuck out of the side of the hill. I clamped down on it and sighed in relief when it held. “See? I’m fine! Now go help the others!” I called out to Fluttershy. The message was a little garbled, but she finally nodded and flew off.

“Applejack, what do I do?” I heard Twilight call out fearfully, while she hung precariously over the ledge.

Applejack strained, trying to pull her up, and then she spotted Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who were hovering near Twilight. Applejack took a deep breath, and told Twilight, “Let go.”

“Are you CRAZY!?”

“No, I ain’t. I promise you’ll be safe,” Applejack said reassuringly.

“That’s not true!”

“Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe,” Applejack said, her voice filled with sincerity and honesty. Twilight’s eyes widened and she took a deep breath to steady herself. She let go of Applejack’s hooves and started falling.

I gasped and nearly lost my grip on the root. If it weren’t for the fact that I had spotted the two Pegasi already flying in to catch her, I would’ve reverted back to my normal self and reveal that I’d been lying to them all along. What would that have accomplished you ask? It would have allowed me access to some of my other powers that I had learned, and I would be able to save Twilight. Thankfully though, she was safely caught by Rainbow and Fluttershy, and Applejack was already nimbly making her way down.

“Omnius, can you get down?” Applejack called up as soon as she had reached the ground.

“That depends: How many leaves are in that tree on your left?”

“Um…A lot?” Applejack said, confused.

“How many is ‘A Lot?’ You know what? Never mind, that’ll do. Make sure that nopony is standing underneath it!”

“Surely you cannot be serious about what I think you are about to do!” Rarity called out.

“I am serious! And don’t call me Shirley!” I yelled back. Then before they could say anything else, (and before I said something else that no one would get) I let go of the root and slid down the hill.

If you’ve ever slid down a hill that’s completely covered in dirt and small bits of rocks while picking up speed all the while, then you know that it is not fun (okay, maybe a little). Especially when instead of ending on a safe pile of ground, it ends in a sharp outcropping of rock that you plan on using as a ramp.

I want to say that I slid down the hill boldly, that I laughed at the face of danger, did a perfect swan dive through the air, and then gracefully managed to grab a tree branch and land on all fours, smiling and with a witty remark ready.

What really happened: I let out a girlish shriek, (higher pitched than Twilight’s scream) flew through the air, legs flailing, and then tumbled through the tree branches, managing to hit EVERY. SINGLE. BRANCH. On the last one though, I somehow managed to land on it in the most uncomfortable way possible: Between the rear legs. Fun fact kids, even as a pony, it still brought tears of pain to my eyes.

When I landed on the ground, (rear first) I dimly heard everyone asking if I was alright (and Rainbow Dash calling me an amateur). I stood up shakily, and said in voice that was an octave higher than my normal one, “I’m fine. Still in one piece. Don’t try this at home!”

“Why didn’t you wait for Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy to come and catch you?” Twilight asked patronizingly.

“…Because that’s a good idea, and I only get good ideas after I’ve done something stupid,” I said, grinning sheepishly. Everyone let out a laugh of relief at that, and I managed to ignore the throb of pain that shot through my legs every time I took a step.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

Fifteen minutes later, Rainbow Dash was entertaining us by telling the amazingly unbelievably true story about how she, and a quiet timid Pegasus by the name of Fluttershy, had saved Twilight Sparkle from certain death…for the third time.

“And once Pinkie and Rarity were saved, Whoosh... Me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time!” Rainbow said proudly, holding her head high.

“Yes, Rainbow, I was there, and I'm very grateful, but we gotta-” Twilight gasped, and said fearfully, “A manticore!”

I looked to where Twilight had been looking, and nearly shouted, “A wild Manticore has appeared! Go Charmander!” Thankfully, I managed to control myself and instead analyzed it.

The Manticore was about three times the size of a normal pony and built like a tank. It had huge, bulging muscles and a large red mane that surrounded its lion-like face. Oddly enough, its paws were placed like that of a bull dog, with shorter back paws, and larger front ones, with the front legs ending in something that vaguely reminded me of hands. It had large, red and tan wings on its back and a deadly looking scorpion tail that lashed out violently, instead of a normal lion’s considerably less dangerous tail.

“We’ve got to get past it!” Twilight shouted. I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘No duh Captain Obvious!’

Rarity surprised me by being the first one to attack. She bucked the Manticore right in the kisser, and said triumphantly, “Take that, you Ruffian!” The manticore then gave off an earth rumbling roar, right in Rarity’s face and sent her running (whether from fear of the manticore or fear of her hair getting even poofier, I don’t know.)

As Rarity ran away, I thought I heard Fluttershy try and say something, but I instantly forgot about it when Applejack suddenly leaped onto the Manticore’s head and was currently yee-hawing it up, just like it was an old-fashioned Texan rodeo (with Manticores.) Needless to say, the manticore was pissed, and it wasn’t going down without a fight. With a shake of its mighty head, the Manticore sent Applejack flying into the air, where she screamed at Rainbow Dash, “Whoa! All yours pardner!”

Rainbow Dash saluted and said, “I’m on it!” and then took off, flying around the manticore at near super-sonic speeds, creating another rainbow colored tornado around the Manticore. I honestly thought that for a moment, maybe with that tornado move we had actually beaten the Manticore! Until it suddenly clothes-lined Dash with its tail, and sent her flying towards me.

“Tag me in! Tag me in!” I cried out, and then gave Rainbow a high hoof as she flew over me. Grinning, I charged the Manticore, going over plans in my head.

“Okay, you’re too big to be taken out by sheer force, and smart enough to know how to clothes-line a Pegasus in mid-air. That leaves me with one option!” I said, dodging a swipe of the Manticore’s paws.

When the Manticore opened its mouth to roar its challenge at me, I quickly scooped up some dirt and rocks off of the ground and threw them into its mouth. Its eyes widened and it started making coughing sounds, and I yelled, “What’s the matter? Don’t like rocky road!?”

Apparently not, because it then hacked up the rocks and spat them into my face. While I frantically tried to rub the rocks (and bits of hairball) out of my eyes, the manticore saw the opportunity and smacked me away with a massive paw. I felt a sharp jab that underlined the blow and then went flying. I landed next to Rainbow Dash, and said, “Fancy meeting you here. Did you take the Manticore, or the cliff?”

I got up and offered a hoof to Rainbow Dash. She took it gratefully, and I helped her up off the ground.

“Everypony okay then?” I called out, and got an affirmative from everyone present. “Good. Alright, on the count of three, we all charge that thing! Everyone agree?”

“Um, actually, maybe we should-” Fluttershy started to say, but couldn’t quite get out.

“ONE!” I pawed at the ground and snorted, like a bull getting ready for the charge.

“Wait…” Fluttershy said quietly.

“TWO!” I ignored her and reminded myself to apologize later.

“Wait…” She was a bit louder this time.

“FIVE!”

“Don’t you mean three?” Twilight asked.

“THREE!”

We all charged at the manticore (Well, most of us. Pinkie was skipping into battle) and just before we could attack, Fluttershy flew in front of us, and yelled, no, SHOUTED, “WAIIIIIT!”

I think it was the shock of hearing Fluttershy, of all ponies, shout that stopped all of us. I gazed in disbelief, as she calmly walked to the angry beast, as if it was something she did every day. The Beast roared and prepared to give Fluttershy the biggest bitch-slap anypony had ever seen, and we all cringed in anticipation of the blow…

…And then Fluttershy nuzzled the Manticore’s lowered paw. My jaw dropped, as I watched as the anger disappeared from the beast’s face, and was replaced with the look of a scared kitten. As strange as it sounds, I’m telling you, that’s what happened! The Manticore slowly opened its paw and revealed that a large black thorn had planted itself into its paw.

“Shh…It’s okay,” Fluttershy said gently, looking at the thorn. “Oh, you poor, poor, little baby…”

“Little?” Rainbow Dash whispered in disbelief.

“Baby?” I said, shocked. Ye Gods, but if it…erm, I guess I should stop calling him an “it”, huh? Anyways, if he’s only a baby now, how big would he look fully grown?

“Now this might hurt for just a second,” Fluttershy said sweetly, before biting into the thorn and pulling it out.

The Manticore grasped Fluttershy, bellowed in her face…and started licking her happily, like a kitten does for their mother.

“Aw you're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are,” Fluttershy said in the same tone that someone would use on their favorite pet.

“…Okay, raise your hoof if you didn’t see that coming and agree with me when I say we should listen to Fluttershy more often?” I said after a few moments.

Everypony raised their hoof (Pinkie tried for three hooves in the air at once), and I nodded saying, “Motion carried.”

While everypony walked off, with smiles on their faces, I stuck back with Twilight, while she asked Fluttershy, “How did you know about the thorn?”

“I didn’t. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness,” Fluttershy said, matter-of-factly. Twilight frowned, and then gave a small smile and followed the others.

“You guys go on, I’ll catch up. I just wanna make sure that this thorn doesn’t get stepped on again,” I called out, picking up said thorn in my mouth.

As soon as I felt that alien presence trying to force its way into my mind, I spat out the thorn, and yelled, “NO! You are not getting in my head!”

The Thorn transformed into the swirl of dark magic that was Nightmare Moon and seemed to laugh at me. My eyes narrowed, and I growled at it, “Alright, I have a feeling that you know who I am and what I can do. So I’ll only warn you once.” I leaned closer to it, and said in a low voice, “Stay away from those ponies, and stay the fuck out of my head.”

Nightmare Moon laughed and flew off, leaving me to glare at the sky. Twilight came back, and said cautiously, “Omnius? Who were you talking to?”

I blinked, and shook my head. “Um, just talking to myself. Sorry, it’s a bad habit. Why don’t we go and catch up with the others?”

“Alright.”

We walked back to the group, where I said cheerfully, “Well, come on now! We ain’t gonna get far just standing here! Let’s go find us some Elements!”

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

We continued our quest and walked deeper into the forest, where the trees got thicker and the path was almost completely overtaken by wild plant life. It was hard for me to take a few steps without tripping over a vine that had snaked its way over the path.

“Eugh. My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck,” Rarity commented, casting a disapproving eye over the gnarled trees.

Suddenly, as if the universe had heard Rarity, the trees became thicker, effectively cutting off the pale moon light that had illuminated our way.

“Wish Granted. You now have two wishes left,” I said sarcastically.

“Well, I didn't mean that literally…”

“The ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn’t even know it!”  Twilight said, a trace of fear in her voice.

“I’ll let you know if I run into it,” I mumbled underneath my breath, stumbling over a rock. I bumped into one of the others and nearly fell on my face for the umpteenth time that day.

“Sorry about that. Can’t see a thing in this mess,” I said apologetically to Rarity.

“Ugh, I think I stepped in somethin’,” Applejack said, stopping to look at her hooves.

Fluttershy let out an ear piercing shriek of fear, and I nearly yelled words that are not fit for pony ears.

“What? It’s just mud,” Applejack said, looking back at both me and Fluttershy. She then noticed what we had noticed a few seconds ago: A tree…with a face…that had teeth. She screamed, and jumped back to join us.

Everywhere we looked, the trees had now acquired soulless, piercing eyes, and their unending gaze felt like it was boring a hole into my skin. Their branches took on the appearance of merciless talons, sharp and thirsty for blood. What had once appeared as simple bird-holes now widened, and transformed into a gaping maw, hungry for anything that would be foalish enough to wander close enough.

I stood, shocked that I was feeling this much fear. Around me, the other ponies had started to scream in fear, and I felt just as terrified as they did. It wasn’t natural, I mean, I’ve literally had to fight beings that were made of nothing but pure fear, and I had managed to taunt them time, and time again! Looking at the others, and seeing their fear, I tried to ignore my fear and say something reassuring, when I heard the last sound I had expected in this situation:

Laughter.

I swallowed, and said nervously, “P-P-Pinkie? What are you doing?”

All of the other ponies had stopped screaming and looked to where Pinkie Pie was laughing her head off, and making faces at the Tree monsters. She kept laughing and for some reason, the sound of her laughter drove the fear I was feeling out of my heart. It may seem unbelievable, but to hear her laughter, all bright and cheerful, after seeing those mind numbingly terrifying faces on the trees, sounded like…Words cannot describe it (I’ll invent a new word for it later. Just remind me!)

“Oh sillies, don’t you see?” Pinkie Pie said, and as if that was her cue, she started singing.

“When I was just a filly and the sun was going down!”

“Tell me she’s not…” Twilight started.

“Please, for the love of all that is good, tell me she’s not singing!” I said, paling a little. Okay, I like musical numbers, don’t get me wrong! But when it’s ME in the musical number, I start to panic a little bit.

“The darkness and the shadows would always make me frown!”

Okay, she just blatantly disregarded the laws of physics and popped in like she was on a cartoon…I LOVE this world!

“She is,” Rarity said simply.

“I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw 

But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all!” 

“Then what is?” I asked, and then cringed, realizing I had just given her more lines to sing.

“She said: Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears 

You'll see that they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear!”

She then gave off a loud, “HA! HA! HA!” at a tree and the face on it poofed out of existence.

Pinkie turned and gave us a happy smile, with a twinkle in her eye.

All of us gasped and looked at each other incredulously. I grinned, and then we all went to separate trees, and started to laugh at them, while Pinkie kept up the background music.

“So, giggle at the ghostly, 

Guffaw at the grossly, 

Crack up at the creepy, 

Whoop it up with the weepy, 

Chortle at the kooky, 

Snortle at the spooky!”

I reached my tree, looked at it, and laughing, said, “I ain’t afraid of no Ghosts!”  With a poof, the faces on all of the trees started to disappear, and then Pinkie got in her last…lyrics?

“And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna... HAHAHAHA...heh...” She stopped to take a breath, and tried to stop her laughing for a moment.

“Laaaaauuuuugh!”

As she finished the song, all seven of us were rolling on the ground, laughing. I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face, and my sides started to hurt. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw that light had started to come down through the leaves again, illuminating the area, and showing us that our fears really were unfounded.

“Okay, come on, before my ribs fall off!” I wheezed out, still chuckling. A few minutes later, all of us had managed to pick ourselves up off the ground, and we were on our way, with our morale higher than ever.

As we went, I couldn’t help but feel ashamed of myself. I had let my fears get the better of me in the forest, and if those had been actual monsters, my new friends would have been torn to pieces. If Pinkie hadn’t managed to keep her wits about her, we all probably would have stayed there, too frightened to move.  I resolved to never let that happen again, and that no matter how scared I would get, I would keep my new friends safe.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

Moments later, still laughing to ourselves, we reached the edge of a raging river. Well, more specifically, Pinkie had been leading the group with her joyful skipping and had stopped suddenly, causing all of us to collide with the pony in front of us. I looked around the seven pony pile-up and spotted the raging river in front of us.

“How are we gonna cross this?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Very carefully,” I replied, looking at the water.

While Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to say something random, I shoved my hoof into her mouth, and shushed her, saying, “Wait, listen!”

All of the ponies went silent, and we heard loud sobbing noises coming from further up the river.

“Let’s go check it out! Somepony might need our help!” I said, already heading towards the heartbroken sobbing.

When we reached the source of the sobbing noises, I had to grab my jaw to keep it from dropping again. I craned my neck, and looked up to where a purple sea serpent, of all things, was sobbing his heart out, and thrashing about violently in the water. Something else I noticed was the fact that he had a very expensive looking hairdo and half of a well groomed mustache on his face.

“Excuse me sir,” Twilight said, trying to get the Serpent’s attention, “Why are you crying?”

The Sea Serpent sniffed, and said sorrowfully, “Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid!” He sobbed even harder and did a melodramatic dive into the water, giving us all an unwanted shower.

I stifled a gasp when he mentioned the purple cloud. Was Nightmare Moon toying with us? Or was she honestly scared we would find the elements? If she was, we needed to be careful. Crazy villains get desperate when they’re frightened.

“Oh gimme a break!” Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

“THAT’S what all this fuss is about?” Applejack asked disbelievingly.

“Why, of course it is,” Rarity suddenly spoke up angrily. “How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales.”

The Sea Serpent sniffed, and set his head down onto the ground next to the river, and said, “I know.”

“And your expertly coiffed mane,” She went on, pouring on the flattery.

The Serpent, with a little more energy, said, “I know, I know!”

“Your fabulous manicure!”

The Sea Serpent gasped and picked himself up, extending his neck up high enough that I had to crane my neck to see his face.

“It’s so TRUE!” He cried out, examining his nails.

“All ruined without your beautiful mustache!” Rarity said sympathetically.

“It’s true! I’m hideous!” The Sea Serpent cried, and then the water works came on full force.

“It’s okay brother… I know how I’d feel if someone tried to shave me,” I said, sniffing a little and fondly rubbing my beard.

“Omnius are you crying?” Applejack said in disbelief.

“No, I just got struck by lightning earlier and it messed up my tear ducts! The point is, I understand your pain dude,” I said, patting his scaled neck.

“I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!” Rarity said passionately. She arched her neck over, and bit off one of the serpent’s scales.

“Ow! What did you do that for?” He asked, a tear springing up in his eye.

“It’s okay! She’s trained in the art of fabulous!” I said, backing up slightly.

Rarity started brandishing the scale like a sword, and Twilight asked, “Rarity, what are you-”

Before she could finish, everyone let out a shocked gasp, and the Serpent straight up fainted for a second, his head crashing into the ground.

The unthinkable had happened: Rarity had cut off her own tail. I’m pretty sure if I didn’t have any dignity left, I would have let out a girly squeal of fear at that. Using her magic, Rarity levitated the tail into the air, and magically grafted the tail onto the remains of the ruined half of the Serpent’s mustache.

“Ohohohoho!” The Serpent laughed gleefully, “My Mustache! How wonderful!” He started doing his own small little poses, and I felt happy for him. Hey, you get a beard and start taking pride in its appearance, and you appreciate other people’s facial hair a bit more!

“You look smashing!” Rarity said happily, looking at the Serpent’s display.

Twilight looked at the remains of Rarity’s once fabulous tail, and said sadly, “Oh Rarity, your beautiful tail…”

“Oh. It's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season,” She said, and then with some forced cheer, added, “Besides, it’ll grow back.”

“So would the mustache,” Rainbow Dash mumbled.

“So would your mane,” I shot back, glancing pointedly at the scale.

Rainbow Dash got the message, and decided not to say anything else about facial hair. Smart Pony.

Twilight gasped, and pointed towards the now calm river, saying, “We can cross now! Let’s go!”

We approached the River, and Twilight started treading the water, only to be lifted by an improvised stepping stone, formed from the back of the Sea Serpent.

“Allow me!” He said, with the air of a gentleman.

“Thanks!” I called out, and then we all hopped across the Serpent’s back, and crossed the river.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

Man, there are a lot of screen wipes!

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

After a few minutes of walking, we came upon a small clearing. Looking ahead, Twilight gained a huge smile on her face, and said joyously, “There it is, the ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony. We made it!”

Ahead of us, there was a large chasm that was connected by an old rope bridge, and on the other side of the mist filled gorge was an old, decrepit looking Castle. In its prime, it must have been quite a sight to see, with flags bearing the royal sister’s coat of arms waving triumphantly in the wind and all of the nobles gathered in the court, waiting to catch a glimpse of their wise and benevolent rulers. Now, it just looked abandoned and lonely, a shadow of its former self. Wait, can a building look lonely? It can now!

We all cheered, and I said, “Lead on, Twilight Sparkle! We’ve got a Princess to save!”

Twilight raced ahead, picking up speed and nearly left us all in the dust.

“Twilight, wait for us!” Applejack laughed.

“We’re almost there!” Twilight said, and then nearly fell off of a cliff, when she failed to notice that the ropes that suspended the bridge had snapped and the bridge was now hugging the cliff.

I quickly snapped my head forward and bit Twilight’s tail, getting a good grip on it. Once again, I failed to account for momentum and nearly fell off with her. Luckily, I had braced my hooves on the old posts that were sticking out of the ground, and Rainbow Dash had grabbed onto MY tail and pulled both of us into safety.

“What is it with you two and cliffs today?”

“I’m a fan of cliff hangers!” I replied, letting go of Twilight’s tail.

Silence.

“Wow, tough crowd,” I mumbled.

“Now what?” Pinkie asked, as we all tried to see the bottom of the gorge.

Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings, and pointedly said, “Duh.”

“Oh yeah!” She gleefully said, as Rainbow Dash flew into the dense fog and then resurfaced, holding an old rope.

“Hey, you know what’s weird?” I asked, looking at the remains of the rope on the post that was on the other side of the ruined bridge. Even at this distance, there was something about it that was bothering me.

“Hm?” Twilight said distractedly.

“Well, if that rope had fallen apart from old age, the ends of the rope would be frayed, right?” I asked, and then continued, saying, “So why does the end of that rope look smooth, and just as new as it did before?”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she looked at the rope that Rainbow had just set on the ground. “You’re right! But that means-”

“Somepony cut it on purpose,” I finished grimly.

We were all silent for a moment, and we waited for Rainbow Dash to tie off the rope so we could cross the bridge. I got bored and decided to try an experiment: I leaned my head over the gorge and spit into it. Rarity gave me a disgusted look, and I merely shrugged and strained my ears, trying to hear the inevitable ‘plunk’ sound.

“Rainbow, what’s taking so long?” Twilight called out, voicing what was on all of our minds.

I looked up from my experiment, and my eyes widened in shock. Rainbow Dash had already landed on the other side of the gorge and was talking to three sickly pale Pegasi. Each of them wore a strange purple and black costume, resembling the same costumes that the Wonderbolts wore. Instead of the lightning bolt symbol though, they had a pony skull with wings on it.

“Oh no,” I cursed, desperately wishing that I had been put into a Pegasus body instead of an Earth pony body.

Twilight had noticed the dark Pegasi as well, and she tried to get Rainbow’s attention by yelling, “Rainbow! Don't listen to them!”

What must have been the leader of the trio glared at us, her eyes glowing with a sinister energy, and the fog thickened, cutting off our view of our friend and leaving us guessing as to what was happening.

“Damn it!” I swore, forgetting in my anger that the ponies had probably never heard that word before.

We watched the bridge nervously, and I could feel my helplessness and fear rising. If something happened to Rainbow Dash…

Before I could finish that thought, the fog parted, and Rainbow Dash flew through it and landed in a triumphant pose, while we all cheered wildly.

“See? I'd never leave my friends hanging!” Rainbow said proudly, flying next to us.

We marched across the bridge, and since I was the last one, I figured that I should do something random (Pinkie Pie will not out-random me dammit!), and did a ponified version of a moonwalk. Naturally, I stumbled and ended up doing a backwards somersault.

“I meant to do that!” I called out, as I got up shakily. I looked up and saw the doors to the ancient ruins.

“Allow me, ladies,” I said, opening them with a kick and bowing with exaggerated poise.

“Thank you sir!” Rarity said as she walked past me.

We walked into the castle, and I felt that same overwhelming sense of abandonment permeating the air. The floors were covered with dust, and the once proud pillars were now covered with moss and small vines and webbed with small cracks. There were gaping holes in the walls, revealing the night sky, and the windows were gone, cracked, or covered with cobwebs.

“Wow, I gotta say, they got the spooky decor down pretty nicely,” I commented, kicking up a small puff of dust.

In the center of the room was a large pedestal, and on top of it was a large grey sphere, resting on a base that connected to five other small spheres, each with a shape like a triangle or a diamond carved out onto them.

“Are those…?” I trailed off, looking at the dusty spheres.

“The Elements of Harmony! We’ve found them!” Twilight said ecstatically, looking like she had just gotten the best Christmas present ever.

“I can’t reach!” I said, standing on my back hooves and extending my front hooves up as high as I could. A small coughing sound from Rainbow Dash made me face-hoof myself, and I backed away, letting the Pegasus ponies do the work.

“Careful, careful!” Twilight said anxiously, as they set them on the ground.

“One, two, three, four…there’s only five!” Pinkie Pie said, and then looked around, like the sixth element was playing Hide-and-seek.

“The book said: when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed,” Twilight pointed out, setting herself down next to the elements.

“What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Applejack asked, a hint of irritation entering her voice.

While they were busy talking about that, I glimpsed what looked like writing set into the main pedestal, and had went closer to read it. The writing was curved, like the old fashioned elegant script that was popular during medieval times, and flowed easily. Somehow the moss and overgrowth hadn’t even tried to cover it up, leaving the words exposed for all who had come here to see.

I adjusted my glasses, and started reading it out loud.

“When the Evil Star releases Equestria’s greatest fear, six will become seven, and The Eternal Traveler will bring with him an eternal hope.”

I blinked, and re-read the inscription three more times, to make sure that I didn’t read it wrong. Three things stuck out to me.

1) This was a hidden part of the prophecy that foretold the return of Nightmare Moon.

2) The ‘Evil Star’ must have had something to do with the power of the stars that released Nightmare Moon in the first place.

3) While there are three Travelers that can’t die, and will exist for forever and beyond that, there’s only one with the word, ‘Eternal’ in their title.

Swallowing, I backed away slowly, and called out to the other ponies, “Girls? You might want to see this.”

The others walked over, and silently read the inscription I had just seen. They all looked confused, and started to talk all at once.

“Evil star?”

“Six becomes seven?”

“Eternal Traveler?”

“Cupcakes!”

“Girls!” I finally shouted, getting them to be quiet. “Sorry, but let’s not worry about that right now. We should focus on getting that sixth element, right?”

They all nodded, and I turned to Twilight, and asked, “So, any good ideas?”

“Just one. Stand back, I don’t know what will happen,” Twilight said, setting herself down in front of the ring of spheres.

“Come on y’all, she needs to concentrate,” Applejack said, leading the others outside. She looked questioningly at me, and I waved at her to go outside. She shrugged, and went with the others. Walking silently, so as not to disturb Twilight, I went over to the inscription, and read it again. Nothing had changed, even though a part of me desperately wished that it would.

Shaking my head, I turned to watch Twilight work her magic. Her horn was glowing, and steadily becoming brighter, and her face was beaded with sweat, as she concentrated, and started building up magical energy.

My eyes widened as the stones started to rise into the air, and started floating in a circle. I opened my mouth to tell Twilight she was certainly doing something, when the circling stones picked up speed, and started to form a dark blue, twinkling, tornado…dark…blue…Ye Gods.

“Twilight! Run!” I called out, and she opened her eyes and let out a small shriek. Everypony who was outside called out Twilight’s name, worried for her safety.

“The Elements!” Twilight cried, and then, in an attempt to upstage me for dumbest thing done today, she jumped into the tornado, with me close behind her.

Instead of getting violently tossed around inside of the tornado, like I expected, there was a flash of bright light, and I was standing next to Twilight inside of what I presumed to be another room in the castle.

I took a brief moment to observe my surroundings. It was built exactly like an audience chamber, wide, circular, and with a place of honor for the princesses. My legs stiffened, and I saw that Nightmare Moon was standing there, her own personal lightning storm surrounding her and the Elements that were levitating around her.

Nightmare Moon laughed evilly, reveling in what she surely thought was her greatest victory. Hearing her laugh, like she had won after all we had gone through to get this far…it pissed me off.

“Twilight, do you think that if you could get to those elements, you might be able to get that ‘spark’ going?” I whispered, eyeing Nightmare Moon.

She narrowed her eyes, and said in a determined voice, “Yes, I just need enough time to build up enough magic.”

“Then go! I’ll hold off Nightmare Buffoon over there.”

“But she’s too strong! You can’t beat her! You saw what she did to the Royal Guards!”

“Yeah, but I don’t have to beat her,” I said, pawi-er, I mean, hoofing (?) the ground. “I just have to make sure you can get that sixth element.”

“Omnius-”

“FOR PONY!” I yelled, and then charged, full speed, at Nightmare Moon. Twilight’s eyes widened and then she quickly replaced it with the look of someone who’s on a mission and can’t fail as she charged alongside me.

“You’re kidding. You’re kidding right?” Nightmare Moon said arrogantly. When we didn’t stop our charge, she ran out to meet us halfway. Before I reached the tyrannical beast, Twilight had suddenly teleported (Damn, that’s cool) and had landed in the circle of spheres, gathering as much magic as she could, leaving me to hold off the Horrible Night.

I jumped at the last possible moment, planted both of my front hooves on Nightmare Moon’s head and yelled, “Hoof to the head!”

She rolled with the blow, and took the opportunity to brush me aside with one of her wings. I twisted in the air, managed to land on my hooves, and charged at her again. This time however, she was ready, and she started jabbing at me with her horn, laughing while I dodged. She kept up the attack, stabbing at me with her horn like an expert fencer, and it took all of my focus to not get impaled on that sharp implement.

“Oh, this is rich!” She said scornfully, when she had grazed my flank. “Torrentican told me that you were supposed to be an incredible warrior, yet here you are, struggling to dodge even the simplest of attacks!”

My eyes widened, and she laughed again. “Oh yes, I know all about you, Traveler! You see, it was thanks to Torrentican that I managed to escape my prison, and he told me of your unique abilities!”

She jabbed at me again, and this time she gave me a shallow cut along my ribs. I gasped at the sudden, stinging pain. This time though, I was ready. While her horn was lowered, it also meant her head was lowered. Seeing the opening, I leaned my head back, and then brought it down, full force, onto the right side of her face.

There was a loud, CRACK, as our heads collided, and I gleefully said, “HA! You ain’t got nothing on apple trees!”

While I said my witty one liner, she then hit me with one of her wings, sending me crashing into a wall. While I struggled to get up, Nightmare Moon quickly moved to where I was, and she stabbed her horn through my front left leg. I cried out in pain, and just to spite me, she sent a wave of electricity through her horn, hurting me even more.

“Omnius!” I heard Twilight scream, while I struggled to get up. My wounded leg refused to support my weight though, and I kept falling every time I tried to stand.

Nightmare Moon looked to where Twilight was and had to shield her eyes from the brightness of her horn. Finally realizing what Twilight was attempting to do, Nightmare transformed herself into a swirl of dark magic and warped inside of the circle of stones. With a blinding flash and a crackle of electricity, Twilight released the magic, the force of which sent her flying away.

“No, NO!” Nightmare Moon called out in fear, watching the stones as they started to glow…and then do absolutely nothing.

Twilight gasped, and asked anxiously, “But, where’s the sixth element?!”

Her evil smile returning, she laughed triumphantly and then reared back, lifting up her hooves…

…and then she brought them down, crushing the elements and reducing them to shards.

As we watched, she grinned, with her dark storm reappearing, and said triumphantly, “You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!”

Watching all of this, I looked over to see Twilight looking on in horror. As Nightmare Moon spoke, I could see the fear on her face, and it was clear that she was starting to give up hope…

…hope…

Setting my teeth in a determined grimace, I slowly summoned all of my remaining strength and managed to stand up, holding my injured leg off of the ground. I started to make my way towards Nightmare Moon, and seeing my pitiful attempt at walking she cackled madly.

“Do you honestly believe that you can still defeat me? You really believe that you have a single hope of victory? You, who have absolutely no idea of who or what you are?” I think she threw in that last piece on purpose, mocking what I had used as an excuse so I wouldn’t have to tell anypony the truth.

Panting in pain, I said in a low voice, “I may not know who I am, and you may be incredibly powerful, but I know that you’re wrong. As long as there are stars in the night sky, and as long as there is somepony willing to go on, there is always hope! Besides, I promised that I wouldn’t let any evil-godlike being hurt my friends, and I intend to keep that promise!”

Twilight looked up, a sparkle in her eye, as she remembered me saying that too her earlier that day.

The sparkle in her eyes got even brighter, as all three of us heard the others, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, calling our names and telling us not to worry, that they would be there soon.

“You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that?” Twilight asked, her tone confident and heroic. “Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here!”

The others had finally found us and were currently standing next to Twilight. I managed to stay standing as I gave Nightmare Moon my best, ‘you sir, are screwed,’ look. Suddenly, the fragments of the elements started to glow different colors, and they floated into the air, suspended by magic.

“Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty!” Twilight called out, and the shards that were glowing with an orange light started to circle her, almost rejoicing, if that makes any sense.

“Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness!” This time, the shards that had a pink light surrounding them flew around the gentle Pegasus, bathing her in their soft light.

“Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter!” Okay, you can guess what happened now. I shouldn’t have to describe it.

“Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of... generosity!” More shards, more circles around ponies.

“And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!” Twilight said, and I felt a moment of pride for these six ponies that I was lucky enough to call friends. “The spirits of these six ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!”

“Six?” Nightmare Moon repeated.

“I was there too!” I said weakly.

“You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!” Nightmare Moon said desperately.

“But it did! A different kind of spark,” Twilight said, and then she turned to the others and continued, saying, “I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all. Are my friends!” She then turned back to the frightened monster, and said in a clear voice, “You see, Night Mare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the Element of...Magic!”

With that, a sixth orb had appeared, giving off a brilliant, pure light. With that bright light, the broken shards started combining to form a necklace on each pony, each with a gemstone set into them. The new orb however, transformed completely, and Twilight gained a small tiara, with a purple crystal shaped like a six-pointed star set into it.

“Hey Nightmare Moon…” I wheezed, walking forward. The true Elements of Harmony started to glow, and the room was bathed in a multitude of multi-colored lights. As Twilight’s eyes started to glow with an inner light, a massive rainbow shot out of the ring of friends and headed towards Nightmare Moon.

“Taste the rainb- YE GODS!” I cried out, as the rainbow blast suddenly diverted its course and flew around its new target…ME!

“What’s going on!? The evil thingy is OVER THERE!” I shouted, and then realized that all of my wounds had suddenly healed, and my energy was being restored. I felt newfound energy flowing throughout my body, giving me newfound strength.

“Okay, that’s not what I expected,” I murmured, as I suddenly felt myself…growing?

[Right now, I'd suggest listening to "The Ecstasy of Gold~The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"]

There was no mistaking it. My limbs were extending, and I could feel a brief, but sharp, lance of pain shoot through my head and back, as if something were growing there. I glanced at my coat and noticed that it was slowly lightening, from the tan color I had grown used to, to a pure, blinding white color. I looked at my flank and saw that my cutie-mark had started to glow, and it was shimmering like the northern lights but with more colors. My tail turned into a shimmering golden color, and every time it shifted, a brief flash of colors would fly through it.

What was even more surprising was that this was an Aura of mine, one that I could rarely, if ever, summon myself. So far, the only time I’ve ever been able to summon it myself, without any magical or technological assistance, was…well, that’s another story for another day. Anyways, this aura was easily the most powerful one of the bunch, enhancing virtually every one of my powers, and it granted me access to some of the powers that I hadn’t even mastered yet. But like I mentioned before, I couldn’t ever summon it at will, unless the situation was truly dire. Because of that, I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of its potential.

Of course, an epic aura like that had to have an epic name. Unfortunately, the best I had come up with was Super Aura. I am determined to get a better name for it. Okay, back to the fight.

“…Okay, I’m never gonna get another chance to say this: By your powers combined, I am CAPTAIN EQUESTRIA!” I cried out, my voice echoing slightly.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened and she stumbled backwards, saying, “No! This is impossible! You’re not- You can’t- He told me-”

A beam of rainbow colored magic shot out from my head, and connected to Nightmare Moon’s pitch black horn, and I felt my mind come into violent contact with hers. I remembered what I had felt every time she had tried to breach my mind and realized that the Elements had not only granted me this power, but something else as well, something that was more important than power:

A chance to save somepony (Yes, I do mean PONY, if I’m correct.)

For a brief moment, I saw myself through Nightmare Moon’s mind and kept going, skimming over her thoughts. Probing into her mind, I reached deeper, searching for the fear that I had felt her trying to contain. I knew that I couldn’t have gotten this far into her mind without some sort of power boost, and I briefly wondered if it was the Elements that were giving me power.

Sifting through her conscience, I could still feel the Hatred and Anger that Nightmare Moon felt, but they were quieter, as if something was muting them. After a few seconds, I found what I was searching for, and focused my attention on it.

Picture a cold, damp cell. No windows, no light, just a simple barren, gray walled area, sealed off by an iron door that had lost its sheen long ago. It’s small, cramped, and just looking at it seems to suck out all of the happiness you’ve ever felt in your life.

That’s where the fear that I felt from Nightmare Moon was kept imprisoned. All of my instincts screamed at me to tear down the door and free the terrified victim inside of it. Being this close to the mental prison, I could also feel other emotions, like sorrow, and regret.

Outside of the mind, my body called out in a loud and powerful voice, “Nightmare Moon, you have committed one of the most atrocious crimes ever conceived: The binding and enslaving of another to your will. Whether it was willingly done, or whether you were created from the negative emotions of this pony’s heart and then took control does not matter!”

A dent appeared in the door of the prison.

“Because of this, you have caused suffering to many innocent creatures, and you gleefully rejoiced in their pain!” The words flowed from my mouth, and I don’t even remember thinking of it. I was reacting purely on instinct.

The dent grew larger and the walls shuddered with the force of the blow.

“But worst of all, you have done something that is fundamentally wrong on all levels of existence: You have imprisoned a Goddess of Good!”

Cracks appeared in the walls as the door finally fell apart from the force of the blow.

“Therefore, with the power of the Elements of Harmony, I hereby banish you from her heart, mind, and soul!” I cried out, my voice echoing, and causing small bits of the roof to fall.

With a blinding flash of light, the prison disintegrated, and I could feel the pain that the light caused the Nightmare. With a final pulse of light, she finally left the body she had stolen over a thousand years ago. Without a body, it was just a cloud of sickly looking purple smoke that struggled to hold itself together.

I bared my teeth, and snarled, “Be gone bitch!”

A small breeze blew away the cloud, taking it away from the castle.

“Omnius?” I heard a small voice ask tentatively, and I turned, still in my Super Aura, to see that all six of the ponies had gotten up, and were looking at me with a mixture of awe, fear, and joy.

“Don’t worry, it’s still me,” I said, grinning.

“But you look so…” Applejack started, but seemed at a loss for words.

“Different?” I supplied.

“Well, I suppose that works,” she replied, blinking.

“Yeah. Don’t worry; I just gotta…get some…” I trailed off, and then felt a wave of exhaustion pour over me. I looked at my coat and noticed that it was dulling to its original dark tan color, and my limbs were shrinking back to their normal size (Ah crap, I’m starting to say that looking like a pony is normal now! Oh well, I guess that’s not a bad thing). As my limbs shrank, I felt another brief headache and backache, making me think that something was growing back into me.

After I had reverted back to my normal pony form, I staggered suddenly and would have fallen if not for Twilight rushing forward to catch me.

“Nice Tiara,” I commented through numb lips, feeling completely drained.

“Nice necklace,” She replied, looking at my neck with a strange expression on her face.

“Huh?” I wittily replied, and then looked down.

Indeed, like Twilight said, there was an orb of green crystal set into a simple circle of gold. Unlike the thick gold bands that made up the other necklaces however, mine was merely a thin golden chain that wrapped around my neck loosely.

“What is…?” I struggled to stay awake, and leaned heavily on Twilight.

“‘Six will become seven,’” Twilight quoted grimly, and the realization of this gave me a bit of energy, and I lifted the gemstone gently in my hoof.

“You mean this is…?”

Warm sunlight suddenly washed through the windows, and I heard a noble, yet gentle voice call out, “Yes Traveler. Your unique strengths have proven that The Elements of Harmony were missing something, something that is needed by all creatures, no matter who or what they are.”

I tried to turn and look, but the light shined into my eyes, and the voice spoke softly, like that of a mother to a hurt child, “Sleep Omnius. You have earned it.”

“Who…are you?”

Before she could answer, I passed out from exhaustion and fell asleep.

Next Chapter: Confessions of an Eternal Traveler Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 28 Minutes