Ultraman Tiga Chapter 14

A hectic Hearths Warming Eve

Intro Theme: Take me Higher

It was a slow, but dark, cold, and cloudy night. The Town was at rest, with the ponies hunkered down into their warm homes as snow slowly fell from the sky. Reefs were strung up here and there, and Snowponies, and one Snowman, were scattered across the streets. A slight breeze carries the snow flakes, drifting it off from the tops of buildings and small huts. Even a night person like Cory laid on his floor mattress, in a restful sleep.

Tonight however, was different. He tossed and turned in sleep while he dreamed, even throwing a fist into the air. In his dream, he was in an entirely dark Cavern of some sort. He stumbled along it, bumping into jagged rocks, a wicked laughter echoed throughout the cave, as if taunting. "Where am I? Who, whos laughing? Show yourself!" Cory demanded.

"Come now, young hero.. Mhmhhmhmhm, Ahahahaha!"

Suddenly he was surrounded by flames, standing above them were monsters, ones that were all too familiar. Kelbeam, Gudon, Sadora, even Golza and Melba, and the other monsters that he defeated long ago surrounded him, all of them looking down to him, bellowing with rage and hatred. Cory stumbled back, fear stricken as he realized he lacked his Spark lens. They all disappeared and revealed a strange being rising high above him, cackling with laughter.

"Whats wrong, young hero, are you, afraid? Why don't you turn into your little Ultraman to save you?" it mocked.

That's when it showed its face, he had to round eyes with red pupils, two horns on its head, each one different than the other, and a single fang sticking out from his mouth, a gray goatee was on his chin. Too Cory, he seemed cartoonish, and least threatening, but that quickly changed. Slowly this demons face contorted with rage, his eyes glowing red and his teeth barring at him. He lashed out at Cory with his eagle talons.

"Cory! Cory! Wake up!" shouted Twilight, nudging his chest with her hoof. He awoke, jolting up in his floor mattress. He laid back down, relieved to see it was merely a dream, but his chest was still heaving slightly.

"Are you ok?" Twilight asked worryingly, looking into his eyes.

He nodded, wiping the sweat off his brow, "Yeah, it was just a nightmare.. A freaky one at that"

She sighed in relief, "You were just flailing around in your sleep, as if something was attacking you"

"Twilight, let's talk about all this in the morning, ok?" he asked, turning onto his side as he pulled his blanket over him.

"Sure, and if you need to, I can cast you a good dream spell, if you'd like" she smiled.

"I think I'll be alright," he said, "Goodnight"

He awoke to the sounds of Twilights hoof steps on the floor, she walked over to Spike who was waking up as well, "Have you wrapped his from me yet?" she whispered.

Spike rubbed his eyes, "Its your gift for him, you should wrap it"

"Please Spike, I can't wrap for the life of me, you know that" she replied, rolling her eyes.

He hopped out of his bed nudging her leg with his elbow, "It might mean a lot more to him if he knows you did it yourself"

Twilight put her hoof to her chin, thinking. "I suppose your right Spike, I'll try and do it"

"That's my girl. Or should I say, Cory's girl?" he joked.

Twilight brushed it off, "So Spike, don't you have a gift to buy for Rarity?"

"Sweet Celestia, I forgot!" Spike ran out the bedroom full speed.

Twilight giggled to herself, turning around to look at Cory who she thought was sleeping. She quietly walked over to him, noticing his blanket was a bit far down his body. She lightly held the blanket in her mouth, pulled it over him till it reached his chin, "Sleep well, Cory" she whispered, lightly nudging the side of his face with her nose. She slowly turned around and trotted out of the bedroom.

"Ahhh crap.." Cory thought to himself, "How could I forget! How!?" he had not yet gotten Twilight her gift, while she got him one. He immediately got up off the floor, washing off before tossing on his sweater and pants. He ran down the stairs to then sense a familiar smell coming from the kitchen.

He followed the aroma of Gingerbread, surprised to see Twilight cutting the figures of Ponies out of the flattened Ginger bread dough, especially due to the fact she hardly ever cooked, that was mainly Spikes job. This brought back beautiful memories of when he and his birth mother would make them on the first weekend of Christmas, before she passed away.

"You're up! Morning there sleepy head" she winked.

Cory walked towards the counter, "What yah doin?" he asked.

"Oh, just trying to bake. I've never quite done it before, but I've read up a lot on it!" She levitated a cookbook to him. He placed it on the counter as he thought back to the time she tried to bake an Apple Pie that nearly set the whole kitchen on fire.

This put an uneasy feeling in Cory's stomach, "Uhh, mind if I help you?"

Twilight's eyes lit up, "Sure, if you want"

Cory walked over to the dough, flattening it out with his hands. He took some of it, squishing and morphing it into the form of a man, since the only cutting shapes Twilight had were of Ponies. He plopped it right onto the oven pan with the rest of them. Its funny how in this world, they kept this similar tradition as his home world. But here the Ponies were much more keen on giving gifts than receiving.

Spike wandered into the room with a wrapped gift, "Well, looks my job for the season is done"

"What did you get Spike?" asked Twilight.

Spike went into full ego mode, "Ahhh nothing, just a little something for my lady"

Cory and Twilight just looked at each other, both of them holding back laughing. That was when the smell of burning ginger filled the room.

"Er, Twilight? Your cookies are burning." Spike pointed out.

Twilight whipped her head back to the Oven, immediately pulling then out. She tossed away the pan, forgetting how hot it would be from being in the oven. Apparently she accidently set it to twice the normal temperature it should have been.

The Plate slid to the middle of the floor, carrying the charred cookies with it. As Twilight looked down to Investigate, Cory sprayed the pan with a Fire Extinguisher. When he stopped Twilight raised her head up, her jaw was frosted that gave her the appearance of having a white beard. Cory smiled sheepishly as he tossed the Crimson bottle to the side, "So, why don't we go for a walk?" he suggested. She tossed on her scark as Cory threw on his jacket.

When he opened the door, he as greeted with Granny Smith along with a few small ponies, "We wish you a hearths warming We wish you a hearthswarming We wish you a hearthswarming and a happy new year!" they sang.

Twilight stood by his side, "Hey Everypony, having a good Hearthswarming Eve Granny Smith?" she asked.

"I'm up way to early to be doin this. But these whipper snappers talked me into it. Well, see ya'll around the, aw drat, what do yah call it?" she walked away with the carolers, still mumbling to herself.

Out in the streets, every pony was in the Hearths Warming Eves spirit. Reefs were being hung, lights were wrapped onto lamp posts, and red ribbons decorated the Towns hall building. Rarity levitated a gold star at the top of the Town Square tree carefully, placing it atop gently. She took a few small steps back, pleased with her work. She placed a few more ribbons here and there on it, and adjusted a few of the glass ornaments. "Perfect," she said, pleased with her work.

She examined the large decorated Pine tree, noticing that some of the Candy canes she placed were missing. She levitated a few more onto the missing spaces, but as soon as she did, Pinkie Pie poked her head out from the tree, " Hey! More candy!" she greedily devoured the minty sweet, "Hey Rarity! Your not gonna believe it! This whole tree is full of candy!"

"Pinkie," shouted Rarity, "Those aren't to be eaten! They're for decoration!"

Pinkies mouth hung open, "What!? Let this precious candy go to waste and be used for decorating?" Never!" she gasped. She grabbed another candy as she dived back in the pine tree. Rarity rolled her eyes as she went back to laying ribbons along the trees branches.

Cory and Twilight walked right on by, taking in the views of the beautiful decorations as snow fell from the sky, "Its beautiful, just like how they did it back where I come from" Cory said.

"They celebrate Hearths Warming Eve where you come from as well?" Twilight asked.

Cory wiped the snow from the top of his head, "Well, it's not called that. It's what we call Christmas."

This sparked Twilights interest, "Kris-Mas? She asked, "Tell me more about it."

He went into the story of Jesus Christ being their Savior, and it was the day people of the religion of Christianity celebrated his birth, giving gifts as he was brought many gifts during his birth. In the end he began describing the many religions of his home world, and what "God" was to them. Each detail Twilight absorbed like a Sponge

"Wow, that's amazing. Is that all there is too it?" she asked.

Cory shrugged, "That's pretty much it. Man, seeing all of this stuff really brings back memories of home. The lights, reefs, trees, it's so similar"

Twilight nudged him, "Do you ever miss home?"

Cory thought about it for a few moments, " A little, but you know, there wasn't much goin on there for me at all. Its fair to say I do miss it, but I do like this place a bit better" he smiled.

Twilight smiled when suddenly a Snow Ball barely missed Cory, plowing into the snow behind him. They both looked to see RainbowDash with Derpy pelting them with Snowballs.

Derpy stuck out her tongue in concentration as she made one, "Uh, here you go RainbowDash, Heres a snowball."

"That a cube, Derpy." Dash retorted.

Derpy tried focusing her eyes on her literal snow square, "Oh, my bad! Whoa, lookout Dash!"

"What? Ooof!" a snow ball made contact with her face, knocking her right off of her cloud. She fell face first into a snow drift underneath, only her Rainbow colored tail stuck out.

The grey Pegasus poked her head through the cloud, "You ok RainbowDash?"

Rainbow got up, shaking the snow off her coat, noticing another neatly made snowball in Cory's right hand. She rolled her eyes, brushing the frost from her left wing, "Heh, nice throw, but only cause you caught me off guard.".

Cory thought of a sly comeback, "So Rainbow, was I expecting that one you threw at me?"

"Uh, no?"

He crossed his arms, "Well, pretty much proves that even with my back turned, you couldn't hit me if you tried."

"Uh oh," said Derpy.

RainbowDash came eye to eye with him, "Yeah, well, you, Oh.. You are so on! Meet me before supper, and then we'll find out who's the greatest Snowball thrower."

Cory chuckled, "Alright, sounds good to me."

"See yah then," she said, taking of at full speed.

"Wait up RainbowDash!" shouted Derpy, bumping into a lamp post as she tried to fly after her.

"Well, just look at Mr. Cocky" Twilight said with a wink.

He tossed his snow ball in the air a few times, catching it, "You do realize I'm gonna probably lose right?" he joked.

Twilight tightened her blue stripped scarf, "Hmm, I kinda figured. Hey, why don't we go checkout Town Square one more time? The decorations must be all set up by now!"

Indeed they were, they were all about set up. The lights reflected off of the glitter of the ornaments, and crimson ribbons lined the pine tree decorations. Nearby the tree, the Crusaders were there building yet another snow pony, "It looks awesome AppleBloom!" said Scootaloo.

"What if our Cutie Marks is playing in the snow?" asked Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, "Please Sweetie belle, a snow Cutie Mark, who wants one of those?"

"I think it'd be cool!" she retorted.

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

"Would not!

"Would too!" SPLAT. Their argument was broken from a snowball planting right into Scootaloo's orange snout. Sweetie Belle pointed a hoof laughing before she was hit with one as well. They both looked to see AppleBloom rolling on her back with laughter, "Wow! Ya'll should see yah faces!" Moments later, she was being pelted as well. All three of them threw snow balls back and forth, just laughing.

Cory and Twilight walked by a strange snow pony. Instead of having a horn made of snow, it seemed to be an actual horn. She peered closer at it with suspicion, when it finally moved. Shaking the snow off of his body was Snails, sneezing when he was uncovered.

"Hey, you're not Snips, oh man, I gotta hide somewhere where no one will blow my cover! Better hide." He stuck his head back in the snow, curling up into a protective ball. Twilight rolled her eyes before trotting back to Cory's side, "Well, that was awkward."

When they came back to the town square, the wind suddenly picked up. And from what seemed impossible, a lightning bolt struck the ground, lighting up the whole town. From within, a tall, somewhat slender shape morphed from it, revealing a being that seemed to be made of mixed animal parts. At first, it was hunched over, breathing heavily, "Yesssss, finally, finally!" it laughed. Standing up straight and laughing towards the sky was the Dragonequus, Discord, every pony recoiled in fear at the sight.

"Hello Everypony! What a fine winter day were having, am I right! Ahohoho!"

"Discord," Twilight spat venomously, gritting her teeth.

Cory's eyes widened. There he was, the very one who had taunted him in his dreams, was an actually being in the world. Slowly the demon turned around, making eye contact with him. Discord smiled, the exact same one he gave him in his sleep, "Oh hello. Have we met before?" he asked mockingly. Cory did not know whether to stand up against him, or to feel afraid, but if he did anything drastic he may blow his cover.

"What do you want Discord?" spat Miss Cherilee. A few other Ponies joined in with her.

Discord placed his Lion paw on his chest, "My dear Ponies, I know I may have pulled some tricks on you in the past, and in some instances, they were quite, quite cruel," he materialized a glass of Hot chocolate from his hand, placing it down in front of a little filly. "But can't one change? I see that there is so much more to being kind than, Evil. Please, may we all start over once more? On the day before Hearths Warming day?"

Twilight snorted through her nose, "There's no tricking us Discord, we all know what you're up too"

He popped up right next to her, putting an arm around her neck, "My dear twilight Sparkle, accept my apology, I know what I tried to do with your beautiful Friendship was terrible. Now, is there anything I can do, to make it up to you?"

"I, uhh, wait, what?" Twilight was completely lost.

Discord flew back over to the middle of the crowd, "Listen to me now, citizens of Ponyville. From this day on, I Discord am no longer an evil Demon, but a creature that looks to earn your love and affection. What do you say?"

The crowd of Ponies slowly began to cheer, all of them except for the Main six and Cory. They all left as Discord materialized gifts from the icy air, giving them to the Ponies. "He's up to something," said Twilight, "and it can't be good."

Rarity nodded in agreement, "He definitely has something up his sleeve, its suspicious for some pony that was turned to stone to just come back and ask for our forgiveness."

When they walked away, Discord watched them, his eyes glowed red for a moment while he grinned, "So, my hunch was right. The hero truly does live once again. I think I shall give him a Hearths warming eve, they'll all never forget." He thought.

Back at the library, the Mane six conversed about the day's events. RainbowDash flared her wings, " But how did he break free? We turned him to stone over a year ago!"

AppleJack placed her hat on the table, "Probably the same way all of these other monsters got loose."

"Do you think he was being serious about changing?" Fluttershy asked.

"I doubt it," said Twilight, "I'm sure he's got another trick up his sleeve."

Rarity brushed her hair away from her eyes, sipping her hot tea, "It could be possible. He most likely knows about the elements being gone, meaning if he truly was evil, then he would have taken us out then and there."

Twilight looked down, "Maybe.." she thought.

There was a sudden knock on the door, "May I come in?" they asked. Twilight opened the door, to see Discord, standing right there at threshold, "Do you all mind if we talk?" he asked.

Twilight glared at him, "Don't try anything you'll regret Discord,"

"Ahahaha! My dear Twilight, have you not heard? I'm just here to show you that I have turned a leaf. "

Cory sat back in his chair, extremely confused. Why would this creature, who had just recently taunted him in his dreams appear and then want to become friends? Could he trust this being? Was what he was dreaming just a coincidence? Or was it a message. He didn't know, and having this demon apologizing to his friends didn't make it any easier.

"And who are you?" Discord asked him, bringing Cory back into reality, "Have we met before?" he asked again, smiling.

Before Cory could answer, Discord spoke once more, "Ahh yes, I saw you with the rest of the Ponies in the Town Square. My mistake."

Discord looked over them, they all had a serious expression plastered onto their faces. Discord rolled his eyes, stepping back into the door way, "I'll leave you all to decide. In the mean time, I'll be spreading some Holiday cheer!"

"Give me a break," Cory muttered to himself. He stood out of his chair, "I'm gonna go for a walk."

"Can I get a hug?" asked Twilight. He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her as she stood on her hind legs, wrapping her forelegs around him. She leaned back slightly, looking up at him, "Be back soon" she smiled.

"Don't worry, I will" he said, patting her on the back.

At the door Rarity wrapped a scarf around his neck, "Be sure to put on the sweater I knitted darling, it's quite nippy outdoors". As he was about to depart, AppleJacks dog Winona pawed the back of his leg, "Hey, you wanna go for a walk too?" he asked her, eliciting a bark from the small dog.

He set out into the icy streets; the snow had paused for the time being. Whie he stood there while Winona sniffed a lamp post, he noticed that for some odd reason, the streets were empty. Decorations were still up, lights still shined, but there was not a soul in sight. He felt someone tap his shoulder, turning around to see the Dragoniquus standing behind him, "Shall we talk?" he asked, an evil grin forming amongst his features.

Cory took a few steps back, going into a fighting stance if things got physical, and Winona growled at him, barring her teeth, but Discord rolled his eyes, "Now, let's not get physical, to be honest, that would not end so well for you."

Discord slithered up next to him , "Hmm, that form.. It reminds me of someone.. You know, I see a lot of things, even while incased in stone. You know, monsters popping up, beings coming from different dimensions.."

Cory glared at him, "What do you want Discord?"

Discord covered his eyes, pointing at the youth, "Bahahaha! You should see your face! Confusion, anger."

Cory shot him a look, quickening his pace.

Discord kept up, putting his arm around him, "So tell me, how's, sleeping been for you these past few nights?"

Cory stopped right in his tracks, taking a few steps back, glaring at the demon.

Discord chuckled, "Oh, did I strike a nerve? Mr, what's your name again, young hero? Or should I say.."

"Don't say it!" Cory thought, clenching his fists.

"Ultraman Tiga?"

He had enough. He swung at the Dragonequus, but he swiftly dodged it, wrapping his tail around Cory's ankles before hoisting him into the air. "Ha, you're just as hopeless as these Ponies. Then again, that would be a lie, you obtain more power than any of them combined. Now, do you mind if we go somewhere a bit more, secluded to discuss these matters?" Discord snapped his fingers, and the three of them vanished from the icy streets, even Winona went with them.

Hours went by, and the Main six were beginning to grow worried, Cory had been gone for a while. Twilight stood there, looking out the window into the streets, in hopes he would soon show up. "Its been 3 hours, where could he be?" she asked.

AppleJack layed sprawled out on the floor, "Prob just went shopping. That or Winona has got them both in a fix. That crazy dog"

"I do hope he comes back soon, its so cold out there" said Fluttershy worryingly.

Twilight peered up into the clouded sky, "I just hope he's alright…"

He had no idea how long he was out of it, it could have been days for all he knew. Cory sat up from inside the cave, staring off into darkness. He finally stood up, stumbling and almost tripping in the pitch black cavern, "Where, where am I- Discord! Where are you!? Get me out of here!" he yelled. He stood up, feeling around for an entrance, that was when he brushed up against something smooth rock, like a stone statue. He blindly walked away from it, still feeling around for an exit.

"Need some light?" asked that familiar mischievous voice.

The whole cavern illuminated from a bright Aura in the middle of the room. There stood Discord, leaning up against the wall of the dark cave, "Sleep well this time?" he mockingly asked. Winona barked at Discord, but still remained close to Cory's side. Instead of staring up at Discord, he looked at what was behind him. There were two giant statues; one resembled what seemed to be a being that resembled Tiga, the other appeared to be a large monster, but the strange thing was, that it had a color timer.

"Hmm, you seem surprised Cory, are you alright?" asked Discord, leaning up against the petrified warrior of light. "You know, I feel that me and these beings have a lot in common, being turned to stone and what not."

Cory had had enough of this, he reached into his pocket to yank out his Spark Lens, only to find, it was no longer there. He checked the other one, soon he was patting himself frantically for his relic, he was beginning to sweat profusely. Discord laughed at the human, "Looking for this?" he asked.

Cory glanced up, and his body trembled in fear. Here was Discord, holding his relic of light. "Looking for something?"

"Give it back Discord!" he yelled, gritting his teeth. Winona ran towards Discord, but as soon as she started to climb up the platform he stood on top of, currents of electricity flowed through her body, shocking her for a few seconds before killing her. "Winona!" shouted Cory, running up to the pitiful animal. He held her close as he stared at Discord with deep hate, "You bastard!"

"Ahahahaha! You should see the look on your face! To be honest, I never expected to get this much of a laugh out this! I mean your expression, its Priceless!"

Discord took the lens, placing it in the middle of the small Platform. "Now, I've tried usuing the orginal Spark lens to become Tiga, but all twas in vain. So, I created this thing, that'll turn me into light." He teleported right in front of Cory, eye to eye with him, "With that, I will be able to become a being of light myself. It's the perfect plan, become a warrior of light, and give Ultraman Tiga a bad name at the same time! The perfect plan!"

"Stop Discord, you don't know what you're doing with that! If you become a warrior of light with impure intentions, who knows what you'll turn into!"

"Shhhhh!... We'll see if I'm right or wrong," He crawled back to next to the light relic, smiling, "And now, all I have to do is just flip this switch, and the power of the warrior of light, will be mine!" He placed his hand over a gem to the machine, bolts of energy surged from his fingertips as he fired up the gizmo, the two poles that looked like lightning rods sent bolt after bolt of energy into the horns on his head, making energy wash over his body, and his eye began to glow.

"Don't do it!" shouted the human, dashing up the side of the rocky platform before he felt the force field of electricity tear through his body. He screamed in pain as he fell back, coughing up traces of blood.

"Yesss!" cried Discord, "Turn me, into Liiigggghhhtt!" he raised his arms into the air as his body glowed, hebegan to break apart into particles of light that floated up towards the giants color timer, filling his stone body with energy once again. The giant's body glowed for a few moments before dissipating into light, giving Cory the idea that he had teleported away. Which meant, that he was most likely going for PonyVille, "I must, get back, my Spark..Lens…"

As Ponies continued with their holiday shopping, they all could see a orb of purple light descend from the sky, landing in the heart of the city. This new giant, however, did not have Ultraman's Silver, blue, and crimson colorations, but had Silver, black, red and orange. His eyes did not glow with white light, but were dark, and lifeless. Evil Tiga stood there for a few moments as Ponies looked up towards their "Protector". Some of them were confused, why would he be thee? There weren't any monsters, or at least ones that they could see. Their answers were soon to be answered, as the Warrior of Darkness shot forth a bolt of blue energy at the town hall, blowing the building to pieces as Ponies screamed, but were lucky to not get enveloped in the explosion.

Twilight and her friends gazed in disbelief and fear at what they saw. Twilight closed her eyes as she lowered her head, "But. Why? Why would he be doing this!?"

AppleJack had her doubts about this being, "Hold on there sugar cube, I don't think this is our Tiga."

"Yeah, look, his colors are different!" pointed out RainbowDash.

"But, where is the real Tiga?" whimpered Fluttershy.

Back in the cavern, Cory laid there, sprawled on the floor. He looked over to Winona, the once happy, energetic sheep dog laid there in a heap. Her fur was scorched in some places, the sight of her body like that fueled his need of revenge. He crawled over to her, his body still in pain from the shock. He laid his hand on her head, tears formed in his eyes as he scratched the back of her ear, "In the end, I really am powerless."

He drew his hand back as the canines body began to glow a bright yellow as well, slowly dissolving into particles that flowed up towards the other statue, giving the little monster life. A blue light formed on the beast's chest as it shook its head, looking down towards Cory as it whimpered, tongue lolling out as it panted.

"You.. You must have been Ultraman Tigas friend, or, pet?" he asked. Gardi nodded in agreement, her tongue hanging from his mouth as he panted.

"Please" he mustered to say, "You have to stop Discord, before it's too late, Winona.." that was when he blacked out, leaving Gardi to go fend off this new evil.

Evil Tiga released a second blast from his hand, a shower of sparks erupted from the ground as Ponies fled from him. He laughed as they fleed, but his attention was suddenly caught by something else. Waddling from the forest was the small monster, Gardi, her tail swinging back and forth as she slowly approached the city.

Fluttershy cupped her hooves over her face, "Oh no, another monster!"

"Wait," said Twilight, "This monster, something feels different about it…"

Gardi caught sight of Evil Tiga, she perked up as she waddled faster towards whom he thought to be the real Tiga. She embraced the dark giant, tears of joy streamed down her face as she hugged her "Master" once more. Evil Tiga took a bit to see what was going on, before he finally slammed his fist into Gardi, the friendly monster yelped in pain as Evil Tiga unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks upon her, each one brought out a yelp of pain from the monster. Gardi raised her hand to the dark warrior, quietly barking at him. Evil Tiga shook his head, clenching his fists. Gardi waved her hand at him, talking in a language only they could understand.

"I think, the monster is trying to talk to that Ultraman." Said Twilight.

Evil Tiga did not care to conversate, the Discord within him commanded him to do nothing more than destroy all of Equetria. He jumped into the air, landing a drop kick onto Gardi , the force was enough to send Gardi falling onto her back, and she whimpered in sadness. Evil Tiga turned to a crowd of fleeing Ponies, his fist charged with purple energy once again as he was about to fire it, but felt Gardi grab hold of his arm, restraining him. Gardi cried as she tried to convince her "Master" to stop, She stared into his cold, purple eyes, in hopes he would stop his rampage.

"It's, crying." Twilight said, heartbroken at the scene.

Rarity wiped her eyes, "That poor thing, it must think that giant is Ultraman Tiga."

Twilight bit her lip, "Ultraman, where are you?"

Cory finally awoke, his body was still in pain, but he was at least able to stand. He tried a third time to retrieve his Spark Lens, the energy ripped through his body like a thousand daggers were being dug into him. He screamed as he fell onto his back, nearly vomiting. He laid there, his memories of his friends, flashing through his mind. He remembered that day he came to Equestria for the first time, the Ponies that accepted him, and gave him a place to call home. And he going to just lie there on the ground while they get killed? He used all his strength to stand up, nearly falling over. Since he could hardly stand, crawling would be his best bet, and so up the platform he went.

That familiar agony ripped through his body, torrents of it. He pushed himself, trying to brace himself for the electrical currents that channeled through him, sending jolt after jolt after jolt of pain through him. If it had gone on for another several seconds, he would have surely died. But there, then and now, his Spark lens was in reach. He reached up for it, grabbing hold of his relic, and immediately pressed the switch.

Back in PonyVille, Tiga laid down a barrage of kicks on the dog monster, knocking her back before leaping on top, pummeling the pitiful beast into the ground. All the little beast could do was whimper and cover her face, tears streaming from her eyes. The Mane six could not watch the innocent monster be slowly killed, especially Fluttershy who covered her ears.

"Stop it!" cried Twilight, her horn glowed Purple as a small laser beam shot from it, striking the dark warrior in his back. He yelped in pain as he turned around to see the group of Mares, an evil laugh echoed from his never moving lips. They six of them stepped back as the being got closer. His hand charged with dark energy as he laughed, but before he could fire his attack, a blue bolt of energy struck his chest, sending him plummeting into the ground.

The Mane cheered as Ultraman landed right in front of them, squaring off to his downed foe. Evil Tiga groggily got back up, clenching his fists in rage. However, the Warrior of Darkness wasn't the only one who noticed the presence of the real Tiga. Gardi, who lied there on the ground, slowly returned to her stance. Her eyes went wide as she saw her real owner, and she wagged her tail in happiness. She waddled over to him, opening up her arms. Sadly, she did not embrace her friend, but only felt a powerful bolt of Purple energy strike her head in the chest, mortally wounding her.

Tiga rushed over to his dying pet as the Mane six watched with teary eyes as he held the hand of his best friend, his breathes suddenly became raspy and deep. Gardi whimpered as she felt the light in her slip away, the blinking light on her chest slowly stopping. She whimpered one last time as her body went limp, showing she was now truly gone. Her owner slowly stood up, squaring off to his Dark copy, hatred burning from his white eyes.

The two of them punched at each other, Ultraman Tiga's fists were blocked by Evil Tiga over and over before feeling his enemies shin make contact with his side. Tiga tried to retaliate the attack, his kicks were also blocked by Evil Tiga, but a managed to get at least one punch into the dark giants chest, invoking a cry from the evil Ultra. Evil Tiga grabbed hold of Ultraman's neck, landing a few powerful chops to Ultraman's shoulder in a fit of rage. Ultraman grabbed hold of Evil Tiga's wrist, pulling it off his neck before twisting it, kicking the evil being in the side a few times before tossing him over his head.

Evil Tiga kicked at Ultraman, but he swiftly dodged it, and back kicked Evil Tiga in the back of his shoulder, knocking him off balance for a few moments. When he turned around, he began charging up for his Dark Zepellion Ray, as did the real Tiga. The two Titans unleashed their finishers upon each other, both of them were equally matched in power. After a few moments of the beams clashing, there was a small explosion between them, knocking both of the giants onto the earth.

Evil Tiga jumped back on his feet, turning around and firing off a quick energy blasts from his hand, all of them were blocked by Ultraman's light Barrier, but this only made him shoot more. Ultraman tried to keep his energy shield up, despite how much of his energy it would cost him. In one swift movement, he absorbed the following energy blasts into the shield before tossing the medium sized orb of light energy at his adversary, causing a shower of sparks to erupt from Evil Tiga's chest as he fell back, Smoke billowing from the injury on his chest.

Evil Tiga knelt there, his color timer began to blink as did Ultraman's, the two giants knew they had to end it soon. Evil Tiga leaped into the air as did Ultraman, the two of them came closer together as Tiga landed a powerful chop to Evil Tigas neck, but not before he felt his enemies kick strike his side, both of their attacks knocking them out of coordination. The two of the plummeted to the ground, snow flew into the air from the force of impact. The two laid there for a few moments with the real Tiga being first to get up. Evil Tiga tried to, but due to his injury and lack of strength, all he could do was watch as Ultraman charged up for his Zepellion Ray, the powerful energies struck him dead in the chest, slowly dissolving him, and the being Discord into nothing but particles of light that dissipated into the air.

Ultraman turned his attention back to Gardi, the brave little beast lied there on the ground, her body growing cold from the chilly temperatures. Tiga held her head close to his head, lightly petting his beloved pet. Some of the surrounding Ponies cried as well, surprised to see theur hero in such a state.

"I guess, even ones such as Ultraman, have feelings of love, as well" said Rarity, wiping her eyes. AppleJack removed her Stetson as the others looked on with sadness.

Tiga's body began to dissolve into light along with hers, taking her to a different place, into a world where there was no fighting, a place where her soul could finally be at peace. The snow began to fall once more as the last bits of his body disappeared, leaving behind a few stray particles of light that soon. Through the tight crowd of Ponies, Cory managed to catch up with his close friends, all of them grateful to see he was unharmed.

"Where were you?" asked Twilight, raising her eye brow as she hugged him.

"Discord kept me captive in a cave somewhere, it took me a long while to find my way back…Why is everyone else, teary eyed?"

Twilight shook her head, "Its nothing." She said, smiling up at him.

"Wheres Winona?" asked AppleJack.

The teenager let out a deep breathe, trying to find the words, "AppleJack, I'm, sorry to tell you but, Discord, he, he killed Winona."

She gasped, tears began to form in her eyes, "You, you don't mea-" she choked out that much before losing it.

"I'm sorry!" he said, "I should have done something to protect her, there had to be something I could do but, I failed." He also realized he could have done something to save her the second time.

AppleJack sobbed, "Its alright Sugarcube, Discord got his, so everythins alright. Don't yah worry about it." She hugged him tightly, letting him know he was forgiven. From behind, both AppleJack and Cory felt snowballs pelt them, as did the others. They looked up to see RainbowDash tossing snowball after snowball at them, pelting them with ice.

"Hmph" said Rarity, "I refuse to engage in such, childish games. I am a Mare, not some fellow schoo-" she was cut off when one connected right with her face. She turned red from anger, the snow quickly melting off, "It..Is.. ON!" Soon the seven off them were pelting each other with snow, laughing the whole time. It all turned out to be an alright Hearths Warming Eve after all.

Later that night, Every pony were indoors around the fire, either singing songs or enjoying their dinners. Rarity tucked in Sweetie Belle, she could not wait to see her facial expression when she revealed the new makeup kit she got for her. Pinkie Pie devoured loads of Ginberbead ponies, and was passed out on the Bakery floor. Mr. and Mrs. Cake pulled a blanket over the Pink Party Pony, before heading off towards their bedrooms. Fluttershy stuffed the many stockings she had for her animals with treats, and placed a candied carrot right next to Angels bed, ready for him in the morning. AppleJack slept as Big Macintosh carried her new present, a German Shepard puppy, down towards the Christmas tree, laying the sleeping pup under the tree. Up in the clouds over PonyVille, RainbowDash laid on top of her cloud, covered in a blanket as she quietly snored.

But back at the library, Twilight laid on her couch, watching the fire slowly burn as Spike slept close to it, wearing his small Santa Claus hat. Her attention was stolen as she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Cory walking up to her slowly, the song " The first Noel" played on her old record player quietly. He sat down next to her, the two of them smiled at each other.

"Hey" said Twilight, sitting closer to him as he sat down.

"Hey, Merry Hearths warming Eve" he smiled.

Twilight laid her head on his shoulder, exhaling slowly, "It's a wonderful night, the snow outside is just beautiful."

Cory ran a finger through her Mane, "So it is.. Hey, I got you something"

Twilight blushed, "You didn't have to, I mean I-"

He cut her off by handing the Purple Unicorn her gift; she held it with her magic, slowly unwrapping her gift. It was a medium sized jewelry case; Twilight overlooked it, wondering what would be inside of it.

"Don't just stare at it" Cory chuckled, "Open it"

She slowly opened it, gasping as she placed a hoof over her mouth. Cory took hold the box as he removed the Violet Jewel encrusted necklace, one that Twilight had wanted for some time now. Of course, she was lost with words at the moment.

"Well? What do you think?" he asked.

She placed a hoof on her chest, tears forming in her eyes, "Its.. Its.. But, how?"

He turned his pockets inside out, "It costed me every last bit I had, but it was worth it to me"

He placed the Necklace around her neck, snapping the clip together. He wiped her eyes as she embraced his in a tight hug, her forelegs hooked onto his shoulders, "Thank you" she said, more water welling in her eyes.

He could also feel her embrace tighten, "You're welcome, Twilight. Merry Hearths warming Eve"

Ultraman Tiga chapter 14, End

Ending theme: Brave Love Tiga

Next Chapter: Chapter 15: An Unexpected Field Trip Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 19 Minutes