Corvo didn't waste any time and charged forward, jumping to the balcony where Fluttershy was. She jumped as he grabbed the railing and pushed himself off it, landing on the balcony Nightmare Moon was on. He'd considered using his Blink, but decided to not reveal his magic just yet.

"What did you do with Princess Celestia?" he demanded, taking an fighting stance.

Nightmare looked at him slightly impressed. "My, you are a fast acting stallion. Why don't you join me?" she offered.

"Not on your life," Corvo growled, reaching for his blade. He froze as he remembered Rarity was behind the alicorn. Snorting in frustration, he charged forward. Nightmare Moon fired a beam of magic at him, but he slid under it and passed her. Once on her other side, Corvo picked up Rarity in his forehooves, causing the mare to let out a yelp of surprise. He quickly jumped off of the balcony. Rarity let out a scream as they fell, but Corvo landed perfectly on his hind legs. He gently put her down and turned back toward the alicorn. However, before he could confront her again, Nightmare Moon turned into a cloud of mist again and flew out of the building. 'Dammit,' he cursed.

Turning around he met Twilight's gaze. They nodded to each other and, after grabbing Spike, they ran out of the building and headed to the library.

When they reached their temporary home, Twilight headed upstairs and placed Spike in his basket bed.

As she put him down, he bolted up, "We gotta stop Nightmare..." He then fell back and went to sleep.

"You need to sleep Spike. You've been up all night and you are a baby dragon," Twilight said. She then went downstairs, where Corvo was already looking for a book on the Elements. "We need to find a book about the Elements," she said to herself. After looking through several books, she groaned, "Ugh, how are we supposed to stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?"

Suddenly, Rainbow Blitz barged in and got in Twilight's face, "And just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did the two of you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you two spies?"

He let out shout of surprise when Applejack pulled back on his tail. "Calm down, Blitz. They ain't no spies. But they sure know what's going on. Don't ya, Twilight, Raven?" she questioned. All five of the ponies they had met earlier gave the two of them questioning looks.

Twilight hesitated, then said, "We read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects that are called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that are able to stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!"

Pinkie then spoke up, "Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."

Twilight rushed over to her and looked at the book. "How'd you find this?!" she questioned.

"It was under E~." the party mare said in a sing-song voice.

Twilight blushed slightly, "Oh."

Corvo facehoofed. In their rush to find the book, they didn't look in the most obvious spot.

"There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty and Generosity. 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 the Everfree Forest," Twilight read out. Having a lead, Twilight immediately rushed out of the library.

"Twilight, wait!" the five ponies shouted chasing after her.

Corvo stood there for a minute in confusion, then quickly followed. They all soon reached the edge of a forest with probably the most gnarly looking trees he'd ever seen. The five mares and stallion were standing at the entrance of the forest. As he approached them, Pinkie hopped forward.

"Whee! Let's go!" she said excitedly. She was about to enter before Twilight stopped her.

"Not so fast! Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather if just me and Raven took care of this," Twilight said.

"No can do, sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin' any friends of ours go into that creepy forest by themselves. We are stickin' to y'all like caramel on a candy apple," Applejack said defiantly.

"Especially if there's candy apples in there," Pinkie Pie said happily. Corvo and Twilight looked at the pink mare weirdly. "What? Those things are good." She walked in after the others.

Twilight sighed in defeat. Corvo walked forward and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"I know that you're worried about them, but they might be able to help us," he said.

"Maybe. I just hope they don't get hurt," she said. The two entered the forest and caught up to the others.

After a while of walking, Twilight spoke up, "So none of you have ever been in here?"

Rarity made a look of disgust, "Heaven's no! Just look at it. It's absolutely dreadful."

"And it ain't natural. My ma told me that it doesn't work like the rest of Equestria," Applejack said.

This bit of info intrigued Corvo. 'So, if it doesn't work like Equestria then does that mean it works like my world?' he wondered.

"What did she mean by that?" Twilight asked.

"Nopony knows. You know why?" Rainbow said eerily.

"Blitz, knock it off," Applejack said in annoyance.

He didn't pay her any mind however and continued, "'Cause everypony who's ever entered has never come out!"

Just as he shouted, the ground began to rumble and Corvo instinctively jumped back. The cliff they were standing on crumbled, taking the four earthbound ponies down with it.

"Fluttershy! Quick!" Rainbow exclaimed, taking off after them.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" Fluttershy said fearfully.

Blitz grabbed Pinkie Pie and lifted her up, while Fluttershy grabbed Rarity's tail and stopped her decent. Applejack grabbed an outgrown root and stopped herself. Twilight unfortunately didn't find anything to grab and fell to the edge of a cliff. She held onto the edge, trying to keep herself from falling. Seeing this, Applejack let go of the root and slid down to Twilight. The farm mare then grabbed Twilight's hooves and held onto her.

As this happened, Corvo's mind was going into overdrive. He didn't know what he could do. Stopping time wouldn't do anything because it wouldn't even affect her with the amount of magic Twilight had. Blinking wouldn't do anything except scare Applejack, causing her to drop Twilight. He was really starting to panic as he was unable to think of a way to help his sister. Suddenly a scream echoed out and his blood ran cold as he realized it was Twilight. Looking down, he saw that Applejack wasn't holding on to her anymore. His mind stopped at the sight and he charged forward. He didn't care how, but he was going to save Twilight from falling.

Applejack turned as the sound of hoofsteps reached her ears. Her eyes widened at what she saw and jumped in front of him. When he reached her, she grabbed ahold of him and skidded to a halt. "Whoa, there partner. Ya'll need to calm down," Applejack said.

Corvo kept trying to get passed the farm mare and began to push her back.

'Holy hayseeds, he's strong!' Applejack thought. "Look I know you're worried about Twilight, but I need ya to settle down." His pushing grew weaker, but he still kept at it. "Raven, look me in the eyes." He complied and met her gaze. "Now, what I'm about to tell you is the honest truth. Your sister is fine. I wouldn't just drop her off of the cliff like that. Look over the edge and you'll see what I mean," she instructed, moving out of the way.

Corvo moved to the edge and slowly looked over it. He was both shocked and relieved to see Twilight completely fine and standing with the others.

Applejack spoke up, "Rainbow Blitz and Fluttershy had gotten Pinkie and Rarity to safety and were heading up to help the two of us. However, I was losing mah grip. So instead of just letting her fall and flailing around, making it hard for them to catch her, I told her that if she stayed calm as she fell, then she would be fine."

He turned to Applejack and lowered his head in shame. "Sorry for not trusting you," he apologized.

She smiled comfortingly, "It's alright sugarcube. I would be actin' the same way if it was mah family."

Looking back over the edge, Corvo saw several ledges sticking out of the cliffside. "I see a way for us to get down there," he said pointing at them.

She looked down, "Good eye, Raven."

Jumping from ledge to ledge, the two descended and met up with the others. When they reached the bottom, Corvo rushed forward and wrapped Twilight in a hug.

"Raven?" she questioned.

He stepped back and gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, but your scream really scared me," he said.

"It's fine. Sorry for scaring you," she said smiling.

"Alright enough of the mushy stuff," Rainbow Blitz said. "We have an evil alicorn to stop."

"As rude as that was, he does have a point darlings," Rarity said, glaring slightly at the prismatic pegasus. "Let us continue shall we?"

They continued their journey and as they walked Rainbow Blitz started bragging about what had happened earlier.

"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," he flew above Twilight while spinning and landed next to her.

"Yes, Blitz. I know, I was there and I'm very grateful, but right now we gotta--" She was interrupted by a loud roar. She gasped, "A manticore!"

Corvo was shocked when a large animal suddenly jumped out. It was as large as a blood ox with the body of a lion, a scorpion tail, and dragon-like wings. Something that surprised him was the fact that there appeared to be a scar across it's snout, that something could harm such a beast.

"We need to get past him!" Twilight exclaimed.

Corvo stepped forward and took a fighting stance. "All of you stay back. I'll take care of it," he said.

"Are you crazy!?" Twilight shouted. "You can't take on a manticore by yourself."

He was about to reach for his sword, when he heard a small voice call out.

"Raven, wait."

Turning around, he asked, "Did one of you say something?" Instead of answering they all shrieked in terror, as he heard a roar from behind him. He quickly jumped up, narrowly dodging the manticore's swipe. Doing a backflip, Corvo slammed himself onto the manticore's back, forcing it to the ground. Returning his attention the others, he saw shock and awe on all of their faces. "Now, I'm pretty sure I heard somepony a second ago," he said.

Fluttershy stepped forward, "It was me."

"What was it that you wanted?" he asked.

"To talk to the manticore," she answered. "Would you please let him up?"

Corvo hesitated, but seeing the pleading look in Fluttershy's eyes, he relented. He jumped off of the manticore's back and stood next to the others. It immediately roared and raised it's paw, it's claws extended. The others flinched back and Corvo reached for his crossbow, when something completely unexpected happened.

"Shhh... It's okay," Fluttershy said. She nuzzled it's other paw and it hesitated. The manticore looked at the paw she nuzzled and held it out. To all of their shock, there was a thorn stuck in it's paw. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby."

"Little?" Blitz said, incredulously.

"Now this is going to hurt for just a second," she said. Leaning forward, she bit down on the thorn and pulled it out. The manticore let out a roar and grabbed Fluttershy. The others shouted in fear and Corvo tensed, but the manticore began licking her. She giggled, "Aw, you're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are."

Smiling at Fluttershy, they all began to walk pass the manticore. When Twilight approached them, she asked, "How did you know about the thorn?"

"I didn't. Sometimes we just need to be shown a little kindness," she said. When Corvo started to pass the manticore, it let out a low growl. He jumped back and took a stance. Fluttershy looked back at it and a worried expression crossed her face, "Uh Raven, he said that he wants to settle things with you."

He glanced at the manticore. As he looked into his eyes, Corvo could see that there was more to him than just an animal. He may not have the same sentience as the ponies, but he wasn't like the animals of his world. "Very well, but later. We have things to take care of," he said.

The two mares looked at him in shock. "Are you actually saying that you'll fight him?" Twilight asked.

Corvo nodded, "Yeah, I can tell he's not just an animal, so we'll finish this later." He was rather surprised to see the manticore smile. "However," he said, and the smile faded. "I'd rather it not be to death or anything because I have ponies that I've come to care for and I'm sure that Fluttershy wouldn't like anything happening to you. So, instead we'll only fight until one of can't anymore. Deal?"

The manticore gained a thoughtful look and then nodded. He growled again and trudged off.

Fluttershy looked after him and turned to Corvo as they began walking again, "I really don't like the thought of you two fighting, but it's something that he really wants, so I won't say anything. However, there was something strange about how he addressed you Raven."

He glanced at the timid pegasus, "And that is?"

"He seemed to know you. When he wanted to finish things, he wasn't talking about earlier. He was talking about the scar on his snout, but it seemed to be at least a few years old," she told him.

This confused Corvo greatly, "That doesn't make sense, I've only been in Equestria for a couple weeks."

"I don't know, but he said that he'd never forget your scent because of how unusual it was," Fluttershy said. He looked at her questioningly. A nervous expression crossed her face, "He said that you smelled like blood, but only slightly. As if you had ended ponies lives, but you didn't do it all the time."

Twilight tensed, as Corvo chuckled darkly, "Suppose, you can't fool a born predator, huh?"

She looked at him in shock and fear, "You mean you did?"

He nodded, "Yes, but, except for one instance, it was only as a last resort, Fluttershy. I didn't just end peo- ponies lives."

Twilight spoke up, "It's true Fluttershy. He let me look into his memories and he always did all that he could to make sure that he didn't spill any blood."

Corvo smiled and pulled Twilight in for a brief hug, "Thanks, sis."

She smiled back and returned the hug, "No problem, bro."

Fluttershy looked at the two with a small smile. "I trust you two," she said.

"Thank you Fluttershy," Corvo said. As the three caught up with the others, they heard Rarity speak up.

She groaned in disgust, "Ugh. My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." At that moment the light began to fade, leaving them in darkness. "Well, I didn't mean that literally," she said.

"The ancient ruins could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it," Twilight said.

There was a squishing noise. "Hang on, I think I stepped in somethin'," Applejack said. Fluttershy suddenly screamed. "It's just mud," the farm mare said, walking forward. When she faced forward she saw that the tree in front of her had a frightening face.

Everypony began screaming in fright. Except for Corvo, who looked at the ponies, then the trees. 'They aren't serious, are they?' he thought, incredulously.

Suddenly they all heard laughing. Turning around, they saw Pinkie Pie laughing at one of the trees and making faces at it.

"Pinkie, are you crazy?"

'Possibly,' Corvo thought.

"Run!" Twilight yelled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrPte1uijDw

Corvo watched as the five mares and stallion fell to the ground laughing their flanks off. He smiled and glanced to the side seeing one last 'scary' tree. Turning toward it, he said, "Ha, ha, ha." The face immediately disappeared. Returning his attention to the ponies, he saw them get up and start heading through the forest, still laughing. He quickly followed them until they came to a stop. Looking around them, he saw a raging river was blocking their path.

"How do we get passed this?" Pinkie wondered.

They all heard what sounded like crying in the distance. Following the sound, they found a sea serpent was flailing around in the river, causing the rapids in it.

"What a world, what a world," he, at least Corvo assumed it was a he, the voice was rather effeminate, wailed.

Twilight approached him, "Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying? Did something happen?"

He answered rather flamboyantly, "Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, not bothering anyone, 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 just horrid." He fell backward into the river and caused a wave of water to drench everypony.

Rainbow facehoofed and muttered to Corvo, "Is he serious?" He shrugged at the pegasus, but was of mind to agree.

"Is that really what the fuss is about?" Applejack asked.

"Why, of course it is. How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales," Rarity complimented.

The serpent sniffed, "I know."

"And your expertly coiffed mane," she continued.

"Oh, I know, I know," he said.

"Your fabulous manicure," she said.

He gasped, "It's so true."

"All ruined without you beautiful mustache."

"It's true, I look absolutely hideous," the sea serpent wailed.

"I simply cannot let this crime against fabulosity to go uncorrected," Rarity said. She leaned forward and yanked out a scale with her teeth.

He let out a shout of pain, "Ow! What did you do that for?"

"Rarity what are you--?" Twilight began to ask, but she was stunned at what Rarity had done. She used the scale to cut off her tail. She lifted it up and attached it to the serpent's mustache.

When he saw what she had done, a smile spread across his face and he laughed. "Oh, my mustache! How wonderful," he exclaimed.

"You look smashing," Rarity complimented.

Twilight walked up to her, "Oh Rarity, your beautiful tail."

"Oh. It's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season," Rarity said, slightly dismissively. "Besides, it'll grow back."

"The mustache would have grown back too," Blitz muttered.

Twilight turned toward the river and gasped, "We can cross now! Let's go!" She started walking through the shallow water, when suddenly she was lifted up.

"Allow me," the serpent said. He arched his body to make stepping stones for them all to jump across. For which they gratefully took advantage of.

Once on the other side, five mares and stallion walked forward. Corvo turned back, "Thank you, sir."

"Oh, please, the name's Steven Magnet," he introduced.

"Well, thanks for your help Steven." He glanced back and, seeing the others were far enough away, said, "I'm Corvo Attano."

"I'm glad I could help," he gave Corvo a weird look. "But may I ask why you looked at them before introducing yourself?"

"It's sort of a secret at the moment, but they'll learn it soon enough," he said. "I go by Raven Armor until I introduce myself properly."

"Well, as long as nothing comes of you hiding it," Steven said.

Corvo shook his head, "I doubt many ponies outside of Canterlot even know it." 'Besides Pinkie Pie. Still don't understand how in the Void she found it out.' He turned around and started to catch up with the others. "Hope to see you again Steven!" Corvo shouted back.

"Goodbye, Raven Armor," he called back.

As he rejoined the others, he saw that there was a chasm separating them from the castle.

Pinkie sighed, "Now what?"

Blitz fluttered his wings, "Duh." He took off and glided down to grab the broken bridge that was hanging off the side of the cliff. He then brought the bridge up and started tying it to the posts on the other side. Suddenly, he dropped the rope and began punching the air in front of him.

Even with his enhanced hearing as a pony, Corvo couldn't hear what Rainbow Blitz was talking about or who he was talking to.

Twilight shouted over, "Blitz, what's taking so long?" They then saw three pegasi dressed in outfits similar to the Wonderbolts, except that the outfits they wore were black at the heads and hooves, with purple bodies and a picture of a skull with wings where their cutie marks would be. "Oh no. Blitz don't listen to them," she yelled out.

However, as she called out, the center pegasi's eye's glowed and the fog obscured their view of the pegasi. The others started panicking, but Corvo stayed calm. These ponies had proven themselves time and again that they are very capable. So, he kept his gaze on the fog. As he watched it, he noticed the bridge move slightly. Suddenly, Rainbow Blitz burst through the fog, pushing it away.

"See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'," he said.

As Blitz said this, something clicked in Corvo's mind. The Elements of Harmony consisted of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. All of which these five ponies have exhibited. 'Is this why Princess Celestia told Twilight to make friends? Because her closest friends didn't exhibit these characteristics? I mean, Minuette might have worked with the Element of Laughter, but the others don't really fit any of the Elements. Do these five represent the Elements?'

They all entered the ruins and in the center of the first room they saw a huge pedestal similar to the one in the book with five small boulders on it.

"Whoa," Applejack said. "Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?"

"The Elements of Harmony, we've found them," Twilight exclaimed. Rainbow Blitz and Fluttershy flew up, grabbed the small boulder and brought them down. "Easy, gently," Twilight said, as they placed them on the ground as gently as they could.

Pinkie began counting them, "One, two... There's only five!"

"Why isn't the sixth here?" Blitz asked.

"The book said: when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed," Twilight recited.

Everypony looked at each other in confusion. "What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked.

"I don't really know, but I have an idea. Stand back. There's no telling what will happen," Twilight warned.

"Come on, y'all. She needs to concentrate," Applejack said, heading back outside. The others followed her, but Corvo hesitated. The last time he left Twilight alone, she was foalnapped. "Raven!?" Applejack called.

Against his better judgement he followed the others, however he stayed near the entrance. As he stood there, he heard Twilight start using her magic. Everything seemed fine until the sound of rushing wind reached his ears and he heard Twilight shout in surprise. Corvo was already rushing inside as the other's shouted out Twilight's name in shock. However, he was to late as he saw her jump into a small tornado the same color as Nightmare Moon's smoke transformation.

As the others entered and started calling out, Corvo stomped the ground, breaking part of the floor in frustration and anger. "Dammit!!" he cursed, causing everypony to jump in shock at his outburst. "Not again!"

They all looked at each other in confusion. "Again?" they wondered. Turning back, they saw that he was gone.

"Where in the hay did he go?" Blitz asked.

"I don't know, but look!" Rarity said, pointing out the window. They all saw a flash of light in tower across from where they were.

"Come on, y'all!" Applejack said.

Twilight suddenly appeared in a flash of light, smoke spreading everywhere causing her to cough. She stood up and gasped when she saw Nightmare Moon on the other side of the room, standing above the Elements. Twilight narrowed her eyes and pawed at the ground with her forehoof, magic building up in her horn.

Noticing this, Nightmare Moon condescendingly asked, "You're joking. You're joking, right?"

Twilight kept building magic in her horn and she charged forward. As she ran, Nightmare Moon started charging with her head lowered. When they got near each other, Twilight disappeared, causing Nightmare Moon to slide to a halt. She quickly turned around as Twilight reappeared near the Elements.

She groaned from the magic exertion, but quickly recovered. She then began focusing her magic on the stones, "Come on, just one spark, please." Electricity started jumping from the stones. Nightmare Moon turned to smoke and raced back to the Elements. As she reappeared, a bolt of electricity arched out and struck Twilight, sending her flying backward.

Twilight sat up and looked back at the Elements. She saw the electricity jumping between the stones.

Nightmare Moon looked at them in fear, "No, this can't be!" However, the electricity died away and the stones remained unchanged.

"But, where's the sixth Element?!" Twilight questioned.

Nightmare Moon started cackling and reared up on her hind legs. Twilight watched in horror as the dark alicorn brought her forelegs down, smashing the stones into pieces. "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your Princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!" Nightmare gloated.

Twilight fell to her haunches, completely stunned from what just happened. Just then, she started hearing voices. Turning in the direction the voices were coming from, she saw a flight of stairs and recognized the voices of the ponies she had come to know. As the memories of the five ponies resurfaced in her mind, she felt a warmth in her heart. Her eyes widened as everything fell into place.

Twilight stood up and stared defiantly at Nightmare Moon, "You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here." Just then the others appeared around her, ready to take on the dark alicorn. Suddenly, the shards of stone started to shine and lifted off the ground.

"What?" Nightmare Moon said, in shock.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! And Rainbow Blitz, who could not abandon his friends for his own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!" Twilight finished, as all the shards of stone surrounded each of the five ponies. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through each and every challenge you threw at us."

Nightmare Moon was starting to panic, "None of that matters because the spark didn't work. You don't have the sixth Element."

"That's where you're wrong!' Twilight exclaimed. "It was a different kind of spark." She turned to the others, "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!" A bright light suddenly appeared. Looking up they all saw another stone floating above them. "You see, Nightmare 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!"

The stone began to glow even brighter and started to descend onto Twilight's head. Before it reached however, Nightmare Moon shouted out.

"NO! I will not be stopped by six random ponies from nowhere!" Her horn ignited and she lowered her head. She fired off a cyan beam of magic.

They all closed their eyes and braced themselves for the impact. When it didn't come they slowly opened their eyes and five ponies jaws dropped, while worry spread across Twilight's face. Standing in front of them was a being about as tall as Nightmare Moon, but stood on it's hind legs. It stood in front of them with it's arms crossed, blocking the magical beam from hitting them.

"Corvo!" Twilight shouted in panic. Her hoof flew over her mouth. The other five looked at Twilight in confusion.

His sudden appearance seemed to throw Nightmare Moon off, as her magic faltered for a minute. Taking advantage of her diverted attention, Corvo swung his arms outward and broke the beam of magic, causing the dark alicorn to stagger backwards.

He began panting slightly from the exertion, but kept at the ready in case Nightmare tried anything.

"Corvo, I'm so sorry. I said your name just then," Twilight apologized.

"It's fine Twilight. After seeing this, they were going to find out anyway," he said. He glanced back and saw the necklaces around the other five ponies and a tiara on top of Twilight's head. "Those will probably take some time to charge. I'll deal with Nightmare Moon."

"What!? You can't beat an alicorn," Twilight said.

"I didn't say anything about beating. I'm just going to keep her busy. Get those Elements ready!" he said. He grabbed his sword and charged forward.

"Twilight, who in the hay is that?" Applejack asked.

"He's Raven Armor," Twilight said. Shock spread across all of their faces. "I'll explain later. Right now we need to get the Elements of Harmony ready," she said, staving off any questions.

Once Corvo had reached Nightmare Moon, he swung his sword forward. At that moment, she snapped out of her stupor and swung her head and blocked his strike with her horn. He winced as his muscles were jarred from the impact. He raised his left hand and aimed his wristbow at her legs. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the weapon. Flicking his wrist, he fired a bolt at her. Nightmare Moon quickly changed into smoke, causing the bolt to pass straight through her, and she flew away from him. Corvo immediately took off after her. He jumped up and, when he was directly over the cloud of smoke, he launched a Windblast at her. The spell didn't do any damage, but it pushed her toward the ground. She immediately reformed herself and fired a bolt of electricity at him. Nightmare smirked, thinking she had him because he couldn't dodge while in midair. Her eyes widened in complete shock as Corvo vanished. He reappeared next to her while still in the air and kicked her in the side of the head.

As Nightmare Moon fell to the ground in a daze, Corvo shouted, "Now!"

In that instance, a blinding light started shining from the Element Bearers. They all began to float into the air and Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Blitz, Pinkie Pie and Rarity surrounded Twilight. Suddenly, a rainbow erupted from the Elements of Harmony and flew toward Nightmare Moon. When the rainbow connected, it started swirling around the dark alicorn. As the vortex reached its apex a blinding light shot outward, forcing Corvo to shield his eyes.

When the light died down, he lowered his arm and, seeing everypony on the ground, he made his way over. He hung back, as they woke up and began talking to each other.

"Ugh, that made my head hurt," Blitz complained.

"Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, thank goodness," Rarity said in relief.

"Rarity, it's absolutely lovely," Fluttershy complimented.

"I know I'll never part with it again," Rarity said, flipping her tail.

"Oh, I meant your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark," Fluttershy clarified.

The fashionista looked down at her necklace and gasped. She was right, the necklace had an deep purple gem embedded in it that was shaped like one of the gems of her cutie mark. Looking at Fluttershy's, Rarity said, "So, does yours darling."

She looked down and gasped as well. Her necklace had a pink butterfly shaped gem in it. Applejack's had an orange apple gem, Pinkie's was a light blue balloon, and Rainbow's had a red lightning bolt. Twilight's tiara had a magenta six pointed star on top.

"Gee, Twilight! I thought you were just tryin' to keep her attention off of somethin', but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship," Applejack said.

"Indeed you do," a voice said. Looking out the window, they all saw the sky outside brighten. A light entered through the window and, after a golden flash, Princess Celestia appeared. Everypony immediately bowed to her, as Twilight ran up to her and gave her a hug. "Twilight, my faithful student. I knew you could do it."

"But you said that it was just an old pony tale," Twilight said.

"I told you to make some friends, nothing more," Celestia clarified. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but the Elements of Harmony's power could not be unleashed until a pony let true friendship into their heart," she explained. "And thanks to Corvo, that happened before the signs even began to form." She then turned around, "Now if only another will as well. Princess Luna!"

They all turned to see a small light blue alicorn laying on the ground, surrounded by Nightmare Moon's shattered armor. At the mention of her name, her eyes shot open and she gasped in fear.

Celestia approached slowly approached her. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. It's time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together little sister."

"Sister?" everypony gasped, except for Twilight and Corvo.

Tears appeared in Luna's eyes and she jumped forward. "I'm so sorry, Tia! I missed you so much!"

Celestia sniffed as tears appeared in her eyes as well, "I've missed you too, Lulu."

"I really hate to interrupt, but I don't think we're done," Corvo said, bringing attention to himself.

A serious expression crossed Celestia's face, "You are very correct Corvo." She looked up and everypony followed her gaze, gasping at what they saw. In the air was the cloud of smoke that Nightmare Moon kept turning into. "The Miasma," she said darkly.

"The what?" Twilight questioned, fear in her voice.

"A manifestation of hate and malice. It sensed Luna's discontent and possessed her, creating the being known as Nightmare Moon," Celestia explained.

"It didn't just take control, Celestia. I let it take control," Luna said, her voice filled with regret.

Celestia wrapped a wing around Luna, "It's okay, Luna. We are going to end this." With a determined expression, she addressed the Element Bearers. "My little ponies, I know that you just used the Elements of Harmony and are probably rather exhausted, but it's the only way to rid the world of this evil."

Corvo looked down at his right hand and flexed it. "Perhaps not the only way," he said. They all looked at him in confusion. "Hey, Nightmare!!" he shouted. The cloud turned and 'looked' at him. He smirked as it seemed to bristle at the sight of him, "Yeah, you recognize me don't you? The stallion that just beat your ethereal ass!" At this the Miasma flashed red and launched itself at Corvo. It slammed into Corvo and entered his body, the force of the impact making him close his eyes.

"Corvo!" Twilight shouted in fear.

When his eyes opened, they saw that they had become slits like Nightmare Moon's eyes had been. A sinister smirk spread across his face and he began to chuckle evilly, "I'm no longer Corvo or whatever name that fool of a stallion used. I am now Nightmare Blade!" Just then, Corvo's right hand began to glow brightly, causing Nightmare to flinch. "What!?" it shouted.

One of his eyes suddenly, changed back to normal. "Sorry Nightmare, but you won't be using my body for your sinister purposes. You see, inside of me is a magic probably even more powerful than the Elements."

"What!? Nothing's more powerful than them!" it shouted.

Corvo chuckled, "That's where you're wrong. You've either forgotten or never knew in the first place that there's one more alicorn. One even more powerful than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. With the purest magic I've ever felt." Celestia and Luna's eyes widened and hope filled them, as they realized what he was talking about. He raised his right hand over his chest, "Feel the magic... of Faust!!" His hand began shining brighter and brighter until everypony had to cover their eyes to protect them from the intense light.

An echoing scream erupted from the light, sending chills down everypony's spines. As both the scream and light died down, they all looked at Corvo, who was flat on his back panting hard.

"Corvo!" Twilight exclaimed running forward. When she reached him, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Aside from being rather tired, yeah I'm fine," he said, pushing himself up. His eyes widened in surprise, "Twilight, your bandage is gone." She raised her hoof and felt her left eye. Shock spread across her face as she noticed it was gone. When Corvo saw the scar across her eye, his anger sparked again. However, he pushed it down and asked, "And your eye is fine?"

"Yeah, I can see fine and it doesn't sting at all," she said. "Is something wrong? I thought I saw something in your eyes."

He smirked, "You've become pretty good at reading me huh?" She blushed, and Corvo chuckled briefly before his smile turned sad, "It's just that you have a scar across your eye and my anger sparked again."

Twilight rubbed the spot, "Oh, it does?"

Corvo reached out and lifted her head, "Hey, you're still a beautiful and wonderful mare. Don't let this get you down, okay?"

She smiled, "Thanks, Corvo."

"Corvo?" somepony called out. Turning around, he saw Celestia and Luna standing next to him with hope filled eyes. "Is it true? Was that our mother's magic?"

"Mother!?" everypony exclaimed.

He smiled, "Why don't you ask her yourself?" Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, another flash of light appeared, this one a light blue. As the light faded, in it's place stood a snow white alicorn with a red mane. "Hello, Faust."

She turned to him and smiled warmly, "Hello, Corvo. Thank you so much for your help with this."

He shrugged and gestured at the Element Bearers, "I didn't really do much. It was these six that saved her."

Faust turned to the six ponies and bowed her head, "Thank you very much, my little ponies." They all stood in shock over what was transpiring. She turned back to Corvo, "You shouldn't sell yourself short Corvo. You rid the world of the Miasma. For which I will always be grateful." She then turned to her daughters and smiled sadly, "My little girls." She approached them and pain spread across her face. "Luna, I am so sorry for not helping you with what you were dealing with. And Celestia, I'm so sorry for disappearing, but after not even helping Luna with what happened and practically forcing you to banish her, I just couldn't face you." Tears sprung from eyes, as she began crying.

The two sisters immediately hugged their mother. Faust's eyes snapped open and she looked at them in shock.

"I never blamed you mom. If you were able to, I know you would have saved Luna from the Miasma. I later found that it was because I wasn't able to fully wield the power of the Elements, that Luna was banished instead of freed from it's grasp," Celestia told her.

"It wasn't your fault mother. I was too stubborn to listen anypony. I didn't even fight the Miasma, I let it take over," Luna said, tears in her eyes. She looked up, with pleading eyes, "You aren't going to leave are you?"

Faust wrapped her wings around her daughters and smiled, "I'm not going anywhere."

Corvo watched the scene in front of him with a large smile on his face. He felt a nudge on his arm and looked over to see Twilight standing next to him, smiling with tears in her own eyes. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a sideways hug. Hearing sniffing behind him, he turned and saw that the other five ponies had tears in their eyes as well.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a lovely reunion," came a sudden voice.

Everypony whirled around to the sound of the voice and were shocked at what they saw.

The three alicorns separated. "Outsider," Faust said.

"Hello, there Faust. I must say, I'm impressed you were able to copy the magical pattern for my magic and gave Corvo more magical abilities," he said, condescendingly. He turned his attention to the six ponies and Luna who, except for Twilight, were looking up at him in shock. "The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the banished Princess. All very interesting ponies."

Luna hid behind Celestia, who lowered a wing to block her. Faust was about to say something, but Corvo stepped forward.

"You do anything to them and I swear I will find a why to make it to where I can kick your ass!" he threatened, glaring at the Outsider.

He turned his attention to Corvo, "Threatening me, Corvo? My this world has effected you a good deal hasn't it?" Corvo continued to glare at him. "Don't worry, I didn't plan on doing anything to them."

Suspicion spread across Corvo's face, "You aren't going to do anything?"

"Not at all. Giving them something in addition to what they can already do would make things so boring," the Outsider said. "I just thought I would introduce myself to the Element Bearers and the Princess." After that he disappeared, leaving everypony confused.

Shaking herself, Faust approached Corvo, "Thank you for standing up for us." She then gave him a stern look, "Now, as much as I appreciate how you helped and that you protected everypony from Nightmare Moon, you really shouldn't have blocked that blast of magic with your arms."

"Why not?" Corvo asked.

"You know exactly why," she said. She used her magic to pull his sleeves up and everypony gasped. His arms were covered in cuts and scrapes. "You're lucky you were wearing those special clothes that Fine Point and Heated Blade made or you'd be much worse off," she reprimanded.

Blitz walked up to Corvo. "Are you saying that you fought Nightmare Moon, an alicorn, with injured arms and still came out on top?" he questioned.

"Well, it only happened because I was able to catch her off guard with the fact that I could use magic," he said.

"Yeah, and how in the hay could you use magic?" Applejack asked. "Earth ponies aren't able to use that kind of magic."

"That has to do with the Outsider. I'll explain everything to you all, but how about we get out of here first?" Corvo suggested.

"Good idea, Corvo," Faust said. Her horn lit up and she began to charge her magic. However, she paused as she looked around, "Hold on, are we missing somepony?"

Everypony looked around and noticed that a certain pink pony wasn't there anymore.

"Pinkie seems to have disappeared. Don't worry Your Highness, she probably left ahead of us," Applejack said.

"You don't have to call me that Applejack. I'm not the ruler of Equestria, my daughters are," Faust said. "Why would she leave though?"

"I'm sure we'll find out when we get back," Blitz said.

The alicorns looked at each other and shrugged. Faust cast her spell and teleported them all back to Ponyville. They were all shocked to see a party waiting for them. The ponies of Ponyville started to rush forward, but faltered when they saw Corvo.

Pinkie bounced up to him, "Hey, Corvo."

"Hey, Pinkie. How in the hay did you get here before us and set this all up?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked.

He began to say something, when he felt a tug on his coat. Looking down he saw Rarity standing there.

"It's better you don't question it darling," she said.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Right, I forgot about that."

"You know about Pinkie?" Blitz asked, suspicion in his voice.

"I met Octavia and Vinyl, who told me about her," Corvo answered.

"Oh, how are they?" Rarity asked.

"They are perfectly fine. Almost got jumped by five unicorn thugs, but they're fine," he said.

"They were assaulted?" Rarity asked, aghast.

"Almost, Rarity. I took them out before they could do anything," Corvo told her.

"You took out five unicorns?" Blitz questioned. "You used your magic against them didn't you or were you in this form?"

"Neither," he said. "I didn't need an advantage to take down five overconfident thugs."

"Cool," Rainbow Blitz said, impressed.

"Hang on," Applejack spoke up. "Y'all left before us, so how in tarnation did we beat you to where Twilight was?"

Corvo smiled sheepishly, "Because something I tried to do had unexpected results."

"What did you try to do?" Rarity asked.

"I tried to combine my Dark Vision with the Enhanced Vision that Faust gave me," he told them. "The result was that it blinded me for several minutes. Needless to say I couldn't do anything until it wore off."

"Suppose you won't be trying to mix powers again huh?" Celestia said.

"I don't really have any other spells that I could mix, but yeah, I'm not doing that again," he said. He turned to the party pony, "So what exactly is this for?"

She bounced up and down, "It's a 'Welcome back to Equestria Princess Luna and Faust' party, as well as a 'Glad your family is back together' party."

"You threw this for us?" Luna asked in surprise.

"Duh!" Pinkie said as though it was obvious. The other ponies gasped at her blunt answer, but Faust just laughed.

"Thank you Pinkie Pie, but unfortunately we can't stay here very long. Can't leave Canterlot unattended for too long," she said. She glanced over and saw that Twilight had a gloomy expression on her face. She nudged Celestia and whispered, "I think your student needs you."

Celestia walked over to Twilight, "What's wrong my, faithful student? Aren't you happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"

"That's just it. I made such wonderful friends here and now I have to leave them. I still have a lot to learn about friendship, and I just feel like they would be able to help," Twilight said.

Celestia smiled, "It's good to listen to your feelings Twilight. Spike, take a note, please." The drake pulled out a quill and parchment and began writing as Celestia spoke, "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."

A grin spread across Twilight's face, "Thank you Princess. I'll study more than ever." Then she slowly frowned, "What should I tell my other friends?"

Corvo spoke up, "Explain to them what it is that you're feeling Twilight. I'm sure they'll understand. Besides, you can always visit them any time."

"You're right, Corvo. Thanks," she said.

Celestia looked around at the ponies gathered and, gesturing at Corvo, said, "My little ponies, I'm sure that you're all wondering about the stallion here." Several of the ponies nodded their heads. "This is Corvo Attano. He is from a different world than ours," the town gasped at this. "However, despite this he has protected the ponies of this world as he would anyone else. He is also the Lieutenant of the newly established Crow Guard." Everypony's eyes widened at this. "He will be staying in the library with Twilight and I wish that everypony treat him like you would any pony else."

Once that was said, Faust teleported the three of them away. More than likely back to Canterlot and hopefully they were going spend some time together as a family.

Corvo quickly changed back to his pony form causing the town gasped.

"That was so cool! How did you do that?" Pinkie questioned.

"Princess Celestia enchanted a bracelet that let's me change between how I actually look and this."

"Are you going to explain yourself to us?" Blitz asked.

Corvo sighed, "Yes, but I don't want the whole town knowing everything about me. If you all don't mind waiting a little while, I want to try and find some way to make it easier to explain everything."

"I suppose that's a good idea. If it makes things to where we can better understand it, that would be for the best," Applejack said.

"Hopefully I can find something and if you want Applejack, you can bring your family," he said. Then remembering the size of her family, he quickly amended, "And I don't mean all of them."

"I know what you mean sugarcube," Applejack said, with a slight smile.

"If you do bring them, I wouldn't bring Apple Bloom. A lot of it isn't happy and is definitely not for a filly to hear about," he told her. She nodded. "Now I don't know about all of you, but as much as I want enjoy this party I'm pretty beat, so I'm going to head back to the library and rest," he said.

"I'm rather tired myself, I think I'll head back too," Twilight said. "You can stay Spike, but be sure to not stay out all day, okay?"

Spike smiled brightly and nodded happily.

The two started heading back to their new home. Once back, they headed to their rooms and were out like lights as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

Author's Notes:

I don't like doing this, but this story is going to be put on hold. At least until I get some help with the next chapter. I've put up what I need help with here.