After that ordeal with the Manticore, we continued our little walk-stroll through The Everfree. Nobody said much, except Pinkie who was humming a tune that was oddly similar to a song I heard when I was on Earth. Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Or hoof, that is.

Rarity shuddered. I though she was cold, so I materialized a my sweater from earlier. But it turns out she was just somewhat disgusted.

"My eyes need a break from all this icky muck." She said. Soon enough, we passed into a darker part of the forest and we could barely see anything. I deleted the sweater, which I had made without suspicion.

"I didn't mean that literately."

"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces, and we wouldn't even know it." Said Twilight.

I raised my visor and it wrapped around my head, activating night vision and making things more clearer. Soon, everyone began bumping into each other and apologizing. I stayed out of the way, but I think they didn't know that.

!

I saw that red blip again, this time it was forming a wall around us. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it.

'Why won't you just save yourself the trouble, Franz. You could join me, and we can rule together. We can be together once more.' Said Nightmare Moon.

I looked around and saw that they were barely moving at all.

"I was wondering when you would show up. I actually have some questions for you." I said, a bit annoyed.

'And I have a proposition for you.' She said, stepping out from behind a tree that looked like it had a face etched into it.

"Alright, now who is th-"

'I will go first, Franz. You hurt me a thousand years ago, And by all means, I should kill you for it. But I have plans for these abilities of yours. She said.

A sudden pang went through my head, as though something just hit me and made me fall on the floor. I clenched my teeth in agony and grabbed my head as I wanted to scream. Nightmare Moon did the same, except to a lesser degree.

Once it passed I got back up and saw Twilight beginning to go faster. I wanted to throw up, but I pushed myself to keep it contained, which made it worse. I glared at Nightmare, only to find she had gone.

I still glared at her spot regardless because I didn't know if she did that or not. It did nothing really, but to made me feel somewhat better.

"Oh wait, I think I stepped on something." I heard Applejack say.

Fluttershy then screamed for some reason. Probably has to do with the slightly glowing faces in the tree.

"It's just mud." She said, unknowingly getting closer to one of the affected trees. When she saw it it made a small growl, which caught me off guard since I didn't expect that.

Soon all of the surrounding trees began snarling and had faces that looked menacing. I was a bit worried what would happen if I got too close to one, but was caught off guard as the girls screamed simultaneously. I quickly got annoyed and activated my energy blade, slashed at the tree and leaving a scorch mark. It burned a little but was quickly extinguished by some unknown force. Probably Nightmare Moon.

I heard laughing come from Pinkie, much to my surprise, along with mocking. I though she would be screaming with the others, but she doesn't seem like the others, does she?

"Franz! Pinkie! What are you doing? Run!"

"Oh girls, don't you see?"

"Tell me she's not."

"She is."

I folded me rest of my helmet on and switched off my helmets audio receiver. I don't know why, but I felt as though I've heard that before. And it wasn't a bad song, it was pleasant, It's just that I felt like I've heard it before many times and didn't feel like hearing it another time.

Pinkie kept singing silently as I followed the girls who began laughing at the trees and making then disappear with a small plume of smoke. Strange, but I'm kinda used to it by now. It ended when I saw all of them on the floor, laughing quietly and it was starting to bug me.

Then they got up and began walking again. I followed and smiled. They really seemed to enjoy the adventure, even though it was a dangerous one. We kept going until we got to a raging river. I felt like we were taking too long and it was starting to bother me.

"How are we gonna cross this?"

We heard someone crying, and my first instinct was to help them. But I managed to suppress that to not sprint after them. Walking at a (Somewhat) reserved pace and crawled through a bush to see who it was.

What we saw didn't quite make sense, at least to me.

It was a giant purple serpent with bright orange hair and a mustache.

Then again, nothing really makes sense recently.

"What a world. What a world!" He cried. It sounded like a he anyways.

"Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?" Asked Twilight. I choked as she spoke. What were you doing asking the upset water snake guy what's wrong!

"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 off half of my beloved mustache clean off." He said, doing various hand motions. Ugh. It was Nightmare Moon. I just knew it was. Though, I didn't think she had a "Tacky" color palette.

"And now look simply horrid!" He cried, being somewhat dramatic and throwing himself in the water.

A large wave was generated and I activated my personal shields, keeping me safe from getting wet.

The same couldn't be said for my companions. I heard Rainbow say something, but didn't quite hear it.

"That's what all the fuss is about?" Said Applejack, sounding a bit peeved.

"Why of course it is. How can you be so insensitive." Said Rarity, walking up to him.

"Oh just look at him. Such lovely, luminescent scales." She said, now pawing at his chin.

"*sniff* I know."

I took this moment to make a few upgrades and modifications to my armor. Mostly organizing and sorting out all of the stuff I've added to the armor set, such as stronger disks, tougher armor, and dual arc beams for mid to long range attack in my front hooves. I could make it any color I wanted, but left it at the default 'White'. I looked up when I saw Rarity with one of his scales in her mouth. I was confused when she lifted it above her head. Then she swung it at herself.

"Rarity what are you-" Twilight was cut off as we all saw her cut off her own tail in a single swipe. The big guy seemingly fainted and landed in front of us.

Spitting out the scale she levitated her tail with her magic and merged it with his mustache. I raised an eyebrow and now realized something. Several things were beginning to match up and I got a bit giddy. Twilight and Rarity were conversing and I saw the aftermath of Rarity cutting off her tail. It was kinda short, which didn't bother me much. That was until I could see a bit of her "junk" and made a note inside my helmet to walk ahead of Rarity until it grew back. Or avoid her altogether once this is over.

'Good boy, Franz.' I heard echo through my head. I really wished I could strangle her for saying that.

"Look, we can cross now." Said Twilight, wadding through the water. She then yelped as the big serpent guy made himself into a sort of bridge one can jump on.

"Allow me." He said with a bow, then dove in the water to finish the bridge. We all jumped on his scales and crossed the river and thanked him once we crossed. Well, I was forced to. He seemed like an alright guy though, just in touch with his inner gentleman.

We kept walking and I folded back my helmet. Deciding that I should use this time to at least try to talk with the girls. I don't understand why I'm not actively chatting with them. For the most part I've been silent, only talking when they directly ask me something.

Probably has something to do with what happened a thousand years ago. If not that then I must've been temporarily taken over by a confident spirit named 'GigaChad'.

I forgot to make sure to walk in front of Rarity and saw her right there, walking. I think we might be close to the castle, I don't know. I felt like we've been walking for a few hours. Ah! Rarity! Front! Now!

I walked a bit faster and managed to get ahead of her, much to my pleasure and their confusion. Although, I think Rarity is a clever cookie, so she should be able to realize what I just did.

I was now behind Applejack, who seemed to be oblivious, but noticed me behind her and welcomed me with a smile. I returned one along with a nod.

"So, ya'll got someplace to be after all of this? Or ya gonna stay for a while?" She asked when I got close enough.

"Or are ya gonna find your special somepony?" She whispered closely with a smirk.

I thought about it for a bit.

"I think I know where she is now." I said in a hushed tone.

She gave me a small smile and a very light laugh.

"Good. Ya should chase your mare. You seem like a good stallion to me. If ya didn't have a special somepony, then I would chase ya myself." She said a bit louder. I wanted to quiet her, but there wasn't really any point for that.

Still, I was surprised that she would actually say that to my face. On earth, I was kinda like the cool kid, but low budget. Yes, there were cooler people than me, but when I heard my friends say that to me I felt really good about it. So now I try to be as pure as I can with my current mindset. "Make this world a better place and follow you heart!" wrote one of my teachers on my yearbook before I graduated. I know, it pretty cliche, but I was a good kid back then. But now...

Now I don't know where I fit in. With a part of my memory gone, I have no clue what I did and what I should do. Who I hurt, and who I should talk to.

Wait, didn't Twilight mention a second Alicorn sister?

"There it is! The ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony. We made it!" Said Twilight, running towards it.

I saw that the bridge was out and quickly ran after her, along with everyone else. I don't think they saw it either.

"Twilight! Wait for us!" Said Applejack.

"We're almost there."

"Twilight, STOP!" I yelled.

She didn't hear me until she almost fell off, but somehow managed to stop herself. I grabbed her with my wing, somehow, and pulled her back onto the level ground.

"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" Quipped Rainbow. I rolled my eyes and helped her back up.

"*huff* Now what?" Asked Pinkie.

"Duh." Said Rainbow with a quick flicker of her feathers.

"Oh yeah."

Rainbow then jumped up and flew down to retrieve the fallen bridge, grabbing it in a single swoop and landing on the other side. We saw a sudden fog roll in and begin to fall in.

*beep Beep BEEP BEEP BEEP Beep Beep beep*

The girls looked at me while I looked down at my visor. That was... odd.

"Uh, what was that?" Asked Pinkie.

I thought for a second. It sounded like it was something passing by and........ oh shit.

"I think it was Nightmare Moon."

"What?" Asked Applejack.

I saw three beings on the other side of the bridge with Rainbow. Activating one of my beams and waited for an opening.

"I'll go around and try to stop her. Call Rainbow and ask her what's taking so long." I said in a hurry and opening my wings to get a good understanding of them. Strange, It's like I have somewhat developed muscle memory.

"Wait, You're not being serious, are you darling?" Asked Rarity.

"I'd rather do this now than later. And I"ll have the element of surprise if I get her."

"B-be careful, Franz." Said Fluttershy quietly.

"I'll try."

Jumping off several meters above them I flapped my wings as hard as I could, which was a stupid idea as I kept going higher up. I remembered Rainbow doing some sort of hover and tried to copy that with surprising success.

"Rainbow! What's taking so long?"

I used this distraction from Rainbow and aimed my arc beam while creating a bubble shield. I aimed my arm and made a long pointed barrel instead of a simple circular blast. It closely resembled the beam rifle from Halo, but was charcoal, like the color of my armor.

"Rainbow!"

The fog was then flung into their direction as to keep them from talking to her. Twilight managed to shout something, but I couldn't hear her from the fogs density.

I narrowed my sights on the stallion on the left.

Rainbow looked like she was debating on something. I think that they were trying to recruit her in with them, but she denied, and tied the bridge before flying back.

"Firing Main Cannon." I said.

A loud, shrill sound rang out and caught the attention of almost everyone in a long radius.

The stallion that I had shot fell and grabbed the other two's attention. They quickly began flying away and I continued my assault until it overheated and needed to cool down.

Once cooled I continued until it ran out of charge. I didn't hit any of them after, but I think I got the message across.

Gliding down I stopped where the body was. It wasn't there save for some blood boiling and a bit of charred cloth. I thought I had hit him in the head. Or was that not her minions?

"Franz. What was that? I heard you blasting her with your... laser thing." Said Rainbow, circling me and my now retreating nano-weapon.

I saw the others watching me as well. I thought about playing it off as nothing, but I decided to give them a bit of a taste.

"It's a arc beam rifle. That's all you really need to know." I said. They seemed a bit disappointed, until I added a quick remark.

"For now."

"So wait, you have advanced technology such as energy shields and beam weaponry, but you haven't told anypony about it! I know being an Alicorn might give you some leeway, but what are you waiting for!" Asked Twilight, in a more annoyed manner.

"I dunno, better questions I guess." I said, with a small smirk.

"Now I know ya'll are interested in his gizmos, but shouldn't we be focusing on a different subject?" Asked Applejack.

"Like that! C'mon guys, lets get this thing over with." I said, pointing to the castle up ahead of us.

I think they know I'm tired of this at this point. To be honest, the most exciting part of this for me was when I blasted Nightmare Moon (ex at this point?) with my rifle. I think I'm supposed to feel bad, but who cares. Burn me, I burn you back.

I opened the door to the first room and saw a big thing right there. I'm assuming that I'm seeing the reason we did this.

'I give unto you, the source of my power. Use it, bind it, become it.'

What the hell was that! It didn't sound like Nightmare Moon, but when I heard it, I felt at ease for a few seconds, but was scared at the same time. The fuck!

'Harmony flows through your veins, but you must find Chaos. He will teach you, guide you, and help you.'

"Franz, you alright? Ya kinda look tense." Asked Applejack.

"Y-yeah. Just glad we made it." I lied. I wasn't glad, I was terrified, but why?

She scrunched up her nose in disapproval, but thankfully didn't say anything. She then turned to Twilight.

"Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waiting for?" She said.

"The Elements of Harmony. We found them!" Said Twilight as the Rainbow and Fluttershy carried the stones.

I flew up to and picked one of them up with relative ease. They weren't that heavy. Although, that might be my stupidly large strength pool talking.

"One, two, three, four. Uh, there's is only five." Said Pinkie.

"Where's the sixth?" Asked Rainbow.

"Hey Franz, you wouldn't happen to have anything that can show us where the sixth is, right?" Asked Pinkie.

"Oh, no. This is way out of my jurisdiction, pay, and ability." I said simply.

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

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?"

"I not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don't know what will happen." Said Twilight, getting on her stomach to get a closer look.

"Come on, now, y'all. She needs to concentrate." Said Applejack.

'No. Something isn't right. Why do I feel a building pressure in the room?'

I saw that everyone was leaving, and I reluctantly followed. Something was definitely wrong. I stayed in the doorway to keep an eye on her. After a minute of nothing happening, I joined the others.

"AAH!" I heard the second I looked away.

I burst through the door like Shrek coming out of the outhouse and saw that the Elements were spinning in a small tornado. I saw Twilight jump in as soon as it shrunk and disappeared in a flash of light.

Everyone began panicking while I flew in the air as soon as she was gone. I pulled up my visor for any areas of interest or heat signatures. Even night vision.

I picked up some flashing lights in a building and immediately made a dive bomb for it. I punched through the brick wall and plowed into the ground in a loud crash. I immediately re-bounded off the ground and dashed after the closest being, which was Twilight, and activated the bubble shield I had ready from earlier to cover her.

I plowed into Nightmare Moon, who was taken by surprise by my entrance and knocked her to the ground.

"RAAAH!" I screamed as I made a heavy right hook to her head.

It made contact and crumbled the ground beneath us, along with the armor plating on her head and on my hoof. It seemingly knocked her down for a bit, but I wasn't taking any chances.

I deftly shot all of my available disks at her limbs and body to keep her down. Then created a nano-tech trap to wrap around her limbs and sink pikes into the ground to keep her contained. It was over within several moments, and Twilight hadn't the slightest clue on what just happened.

"That's what you get for throwing me out a window, asshole!" I screamed, adrenaline pumping throughout my body. Man, what a rush! I couldn't manage to rid myself of the smile that had erected on my face.

"Twilight!" I heard the others call as they surrounded her. The bubble shield popped already, so they wouldn't be affected.

"Girls! Oh am I glad to see you." Said Twilight, giving in to a group hug.

I laughed at the situation. The others just tilted their heads in concern.

"Franz, you're worrying us. What's so funny?" Asked Rainbow Dash. Almost everyone had worried or concerned looks on their muzzles.

"Oh, sorry. It's just that we spent almost an entire night looking for The Elements of Harmony, when I could have stopped this in the Town Hall." I said, trying to get rid of the smile by biting my lip.

"That and the adrenaline rush I'm getting right now." I added quickly.

"Oh. Did she hit you?" She asked. What?

"What?" I asked.

"Oh! Franz, your nose is bleeding!" Said Fluttershy, trotting over to me.

Touching my nose I saw a bit of blood trailing down my chin. I don't even remember her hitting me back. Did she?

I then felt something take over, and blacked out.

Oh no. Franz was bleeding from his nose and I forgot to bring my first-aid kit. Maybe he has something to help. Or maybe Twilight knows a quick healing spell.

"Franz, darling, don't touch it. You might get it on your coat." Said Rarity. She really seems bothered by this.

He didn't move at all. He was just staring at his hoof silently. Oh, it's worse that I thought! Maybe he has a concussion!

"Franz. You okay?" Asked Twilight.

"Hey Fluttershy, is he okay?" Asked Pinkie.

Franz then moved away from me and over to Nightmare Moon, with his blank look still there. His silence was beginning to scare me.

"F-Franz?" I muttered.

He stuck his foreleg out and dropped one of the shields. Then the next. Applejack and Rainbow both tried to pull him away, but he ignored them and dropped all her restraints and cuffs.

"Franz! No! Stop!" Everypony shouted. I was getting scared. Why would he do this?

A sudden blast of magic was shot at him from Nightmare Moon.

I wanted to cry, and I did as I curled up in a ball to try to hide myself. Franz was never our friend. Never my friend.

I grunted as I hit the wall, crashing through it with a sharp pain all throughout my back.

I felt another blast of whatever the fuck was shooting me hit the small crater I was forced into. Rubble fell onto me, and I groaned in pain.

"Aaagh!" I heard Rainbow scream. I tried to push off the rubble I was caught under, but was grabbed and flung into another wall.

Grunting in pain I made a low growl before I got up and saw a long sword several inches from my face. Time must've slowed for me.

I let it hit the spot where I would have been if I didn't move and saw another blast of white energy coming my way. Jesus! Who was attacking me!

I saw the bodies of the girls sprawled out with various slashes and deep cuts where tendons would be across their bodies. My stomach dropped and I didn't have time to dodge a magic blast and I was hit head on.

Anger jump-started my senses and I saw more blasts headed my way.

"I gave you a chance Franz! Now you have the blood of these innocents on your hooves." Screamed Nightmare Moon maniacally.

I was infuriated. She hurt them, for no good reason, because of me. I dodged another volley of swords and blasts with speed and agility being the main benefactor for me.

"You come to our land, and betray me with Celestia! For what! For your kind's sick games!" She shouted, intensifying her attack patterns.

"If you tell me what did, I'll make up for it!" I said, trying to keep myself from getting murdered by her and keeping a clear head.

"You'll pay with your blood!" She screamed, flying into the air to charge a large blast on her horn.

'Oh shit.'

A massive blast of energy was sent my way, slightly blinding my from the intensity of the burst.

I barely managed to create another bubble shield, it only having half a second to develop it's hexagon patterns for optimum protection. I looked up at the blast that was pounding at the bubble, large energy wisps falling off the sides. I could see small cracks split the shield and the ground.

"RRRAAAAAAAA!" She yelled as she intensified the attack.

I quickly ran out of the shield and took to the skies. I turned and saw that the shield had popped and she was pissed, murder clear as day in those hate filled eyes of hers.

I flew up to the ceiling and out the large hole I made on entry. I flew back, trying to get some distance between us so I could think.

A blast flew by, nearly hitting me head on, but missing as I ducked down to avoid taking damage.

"Sunset Overdrive!" I called. My armor quickly folded over my skin and fur, creating a airtight seal and providing moderate protection.

Acknowledged

My Heads Up Display (HUD) lit up and my shields began charging up. I felt my excitement flare and for a second, nearly gave in to my inner nerd.

It was quickly snuffed out as a sword came flying in a spinning motion, almost like a tomahawk. I didn't have time to dodge and it hit me straight in the chest.

My shields were quick to stop the blade form further damage, but it took them out momentarily, a loud clang and an electric shock made my limbs lock up. I saw warnings for my shields, but paid no mind to the incessant beeping.

Nearly falling to my doom I swooped up and saw that she was preparing an attack. I quickly charged up my arc reactor beam for a continuous charge, using the power from my Disks to keep the power strong. We were about several dozen meters away, and she let her attack go, and I did the same.

Our blasts collided, blinding whoever could see. Magic against Technology. My Disks had the same output as my energy blade and shields. I thought of additional power cells from my personal shields to be added into my arc beams, and they were immediately installed.

Caution! Utilizing Multiple Power Cells May Result In Catastrophic Injury. Activate: Yes-No

I quickly tapped into them, pouring all of their power for another push. I was going to quickly overpower her, and I got cocky.

"Take this!" I yelled as I pulled back and dumped everything into one final push.

"RAAAAH!" I screamed. This was it. I was going to win.

She suddenly made a barrel roll, charging her power from her horn for another blast. I gasped as my power surged, a large beam destroying the forest for what looked like several miles across, the power digging into the soil with relative ease.

I hadn't had the chance to think about the repercussions to the forest when she was upon me.

Unable to stop, I just cut the power to everything. Which was a mistake.

My arc reactors instantly blew their fuse, blowing up in my face and destroying themselves in the process. I felt the pins and needles of shrapnel in my hooves.

Warning! Warning! Arc Reactors Destroyed. Deploying Bio-foam.

Warning! Shields Offline. Unable To Restart.

With no defense of offense, along with burns that I couldn't see yet, she pulled another sword and smacked me out of the air with the flat side. I brought up my right hoof for a block, but missed.

I crashed into another part of the castle, parts of my armor taking the beating full force and shattering like glass as the nano-mesh was torn apart.

Multiple Contusions Detected.

I saw a large beam of magic coming my way, and I struggled to get out of my crater. The blast didn't hit me directly, but it had an area of damage, and I was thrown a good few meters away. We were in the place with the girls. I saw Fluttershy stare at me. Was she watching the whole time?

I didn't get an answer as Nightmare Moon crashed into my back with her hooves, breaking more of my armor off and possibly snapping my spine. I felt the shock wave and promptly lost my vision for a bit.

I was losing, and she knew it.

Or I had already lost, and she was enjoying this.

Fuck schedules

Edit: AAAAAAA! YES! FUCK THE SCHEDULES! Not literately! Looking at you r34 peeps.