Return of the Light

Intro Theme: Take Me Higher

In the Everfree forest, the Manticore slowly lumbered around the swamp. He was in search of prey, and a small deer would not do the trick for his ravenous hunger. Since it was still night, much to his surprise, most prey animals had no choice but to wander out for food, and this made hunting much easier. Coming towards he water’s edge, he slowly lapped at the water. As he quenched his first, suddenly what appeared to be a large, amphibious monster rose from the water, locking its crushing jaws on the smaller predator that roared in agony. The Rubber monster quickly gulped down the unfortunate beast, roaring with satisfaction as he slowly lowered himself back into the water. As Frogos was almost covered in the now mucky water, he heard another roar from behind. The thought of another mon9ster invading his territory angered him, and he quickly rose back up from his mud bath.

He was surpised to see another monster, one that was slightly larger than he was. Garula was of course not looking for a fight, as his controller, NightMare Moon, had much bigger plans than to fight such a simple beast. Frogos bellowed as he fired a weak fire ball at Garula, but the flmaes had no effect on the beast’s impenetrable armor. Garula swung his tail around, swiping Frogos’s face with his rake like tail, each one of the curved ends scratched Frogos’s sensitive hide, making him stumble back and roar quietly in pain.

Frogos managed to grab hold of the tail, keeping a hold of it as he tucked the armored appendage under his arm, but he was flung to the side after Garula spun his body around quickly. As Frogos stood up, he felt the talons on his foes hands lash deep into his soft chest, exposing his cartilaginous bones in his chest as blood poured from the wounds.

Garula rammed his figure into the chest of the amphibian, knocking him onto his back as Garula’s mouth glowed with fire. A concentrated Fire ball fired from his maw, striking Frogos square in the chest. The heat cooked the Amphibians lower chest cavity, and an unknown yellowish fluid slowly poured from his mouth. In a sadistic display, Garula fired even more Fireballs on the dying monster, shding and cooking the pitiful monstersflesh as he wailed in pain, but his cries soon died down as a final fireball reduced him to a charred mush.

NightMare Moon laughed hysterically from within, “Yes, very good, I believe that this body is even better than the last. Well, enough practice, it’s time to take care of a few minor problems…” Garula’s eyes flashed a dark blue, roaring as he turned in the direction of Canterlot. Now, would be the time for NightMare to rid Equestria of her greatest obstacle.

XXX

In Canterlot, Twilight, Cory, and Cadence sat down in the Royal Castle. Shining Armor stood on guard with his soldiers out in the torrential rain that came down. He lifted the visor of his helmet, keeping a good eye on Ponyville that he could barely see through the rain. What he feared was the fact that many monsters were nocturnal, even in Ponyville, most ponies stayed in their homes. Twilight looked through the telescope Celestia would use to check on the stars. She did it now a days, especially due to the constant threat of monsters. She looked pensively at the moon for any sign of her princess, “I don’t see anything…” she sighed with disappointment. Cadence walked over to her, placing a hoof on her back, “Don’t worry Twilight, Celestia will be fine… If Luna can survive being banished to the moon, then I’m sure Celestia can as well.”

Twilights ears flopped down, “I can only hope…” she walked down the Hallways of the castle as she began to sing, “She was my mentor, I was her student, and she watched over me, every moment. But now I see that its up to me, to set our Princess free…”

“But a simple pony like me, cannot perform such a feat, but if I believe I’m sure I could see, a way to bring her back to me… But the city is wrapped in fright, from this eternal night. Tiga himself, he needs our help, he cannot do it on his own. But we shall stand and fight, to end this night, and bring back our beloved sun...”

“Twilight?” Cory placed a hand on her back, “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” she lied, “Just a bit worried.”

“You heard what Cadence said, she’ll be alright” he was doing his best to lift the Unicorns spirits.

“I can’t help but worry…”

From outside the Castle, the rain had stopped, and the clouds had cleared, revealing the glowing Moon. Shining Armor kept an eye on it, as if he was trying to find Celestia. While he stared, one of the soldiers caught sight of something that made its way towards the town of Canterlot. He noticed it bulky figure, and he immediately nudged Shing Armor with his elbow, “Captain, I think you might want to have a look at this!”

Shining Armor squinted, and felt chills run down his spine as he saw the monster, Garula, enter Canterlot, “Quickly! We can’t allow it to get any further into the city. Pegasi, bring in some storm clouds, the Unicorns, come with me!” The Pegasi immediately took flight while Shining led the other soldiers down the streets full of screaming and panicking Ponies. Garula used his front hands to topple over a marble castle, crushing the citizens beneath it while he roared with sadistic glee.

Shining Armor narrowed his eyes at the beat, “Alright, everypony in position!? Don’t fire till I say…” Garula finally turned his attention to the Royal Guard. He hardly paid them any heed, what harm could such insignificant creatures do to him? “FIRE!”

Blasts of energy and small beams struck Garula’s thick armor, making small explosions and causing sparks to erupt from his body. The Pegasi also returned with small Clouds, kicking them to release bolts of lightning that rained down upon his body. Their weapons had little to no effect on his body, looking up towards the sky, he released fireballs at the clouds, evaporating them and burning a few Pegasi at the same time. The remaining ones fled, and now he could focus on the ones who stood before him. With his mouth churning with fire, he launched the ball of flames at the Royal Guard, incinerating any of the soldiers that were caught in the blast. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Shining Armor ordered for his troops to retreat. Well, what was left of them at least.

Cadence and Twilight helped other Ponies into the underground Bunker in case of attack, as did Cory. While he helped both the young and the old, he knew what he truly needed to do. Slolwy making his way through the crowd, he ducked down behind a pile of rubble. Quickly, he pulled out his Spark Lens, “We can’t let them down… TIGA!”

Doing a few flips in the air, Tiga landed in front of his new adversary, striking a battle pose as Garula bashed his fists together. Not wasting another moment, Tiga side kicked Garula in his plated chest, landing a chop to the crown of the beast and a punch to where he previously kicked. He received little to no reaction to Garula aside from making him stumble back a little from the kick, but Garula retorted double fold, grabbing hold of Tigas roundhouse kick. He brought down his elbow with crushing force on Tiga’s knee. Garula put Tiga in a strong headlock, but Tiga managed to escape his grasp, crushing the elbow of the monster over his shoulder as he flipped him over his head.

While Cadence helped the remaining citizens into the bunker, she noticed the giant out of her eye, “He’s finally here,” she smiled.

Garula fired a ball of flames at Tiga, but Tiga managed to block it with a light barrier just in time. In retaliation, the warrior fired his light guillotine from his chest armor. The blade struck Garula, but his strong armor managed to withstand the attack. He was wounded, but it was minor. Cory reeled back a little, never had any monster been able to stand such an attack. Regardless, he couldn’t stop now, the fate of the whole city rested on his determination.

Tiga jumped in with another chop to Garula’s head, but immediately felt Garula’s hand lash across his face, knocking his off balance. He then felt the beasts armored tail strike his chest, knocking him into the streets with a crushing thud. Garula slammed his foot into Tiga’s chest with enough force that Tiga yelped in pain. His color timer began to flash as he grabbed hold of his foot, pushing Garula off of him so he could stand up. Quickly, he charged up his Zepellion Ray, firing the beam at the chest of Garula. The beam lasted a few seconds, revealing the little damage it did to his foe’s thick armor.

Now drained of most of his energy, Tiga fell to one knee, another minute of this, and he’d surely be killed. As he breathed heavily, Twilight stepped closer to the hero, feeling the wash of emotions as she witnessed her closest friend and hero slowly lose, “The hope of all Equestria is resting upon you… Don’t give up Tiga!”

Hearing his name, the youth looked up towards his foe, feeling encouragement and his will rising by the second. Standing up, Tiga ran towards Garula, putting the monster in a tight unbreakable headlock. Using every ounce of strength, Tiga tossed him away, flipping the beast onto his back. As Garula groggily stood up, Tiga landed his heel on his cranium, the force conjured up a few sparks from the impact. Tiga lifted him to his full stance, upper cutting him in the gut with force that cracked his armor and a chop to his head that dazed him for a few seconds. Tiga lifted Garula over his head, tossing the monster into a marble building that shattered under his weight.

Tiga’s chest began to glow with white light as he crossed his forearms over his chest. Quickly spreading them apart, he fired the Zepellion Spark at Garula, landing the attack in the center of his enemy’s chest.

For a few moments, Garula pawed at the air, but his body then went limp, exploding only a few moments later. From the bits of Garula’s body, black smoke seeped from the charred bits of flesh that formed into a small cloud. It grew to a large size that was in proportion with Tiga, “Ahahahahahaha! Ultraman Tiga, do you really think that you could defeat me that easily? Ha! Remember this night Tiga, as the next battle shall be your last!” Tiga could only watch as the mist disappeared from his view, making its way towards the Everfree forest.

Twilight, Shining and Cadence watched as it passed overhead, heading towards the woods just beyond the horizon. Shining Armors eyes narrowed , “So, that’s where she’s hiding…” he placed his helmet back on as he turned to face his wife and sister, “Me and the Royal Guard will search for her out there, we can’t allow her to take the bodies of any more animals and become stronger. This last fight was almost more than Tiga could handle…”

Twilight hugged her brother close, “Be careful, she must a few more tricks on her mind, she won’t give up just because the monster is dead, she will most likely take on the form of a new one.”

XXX

Jumping from a tree branch, a small monkey caught hold of one of the small tree limbs he jumped for. Grabbing hold, he quickly scurried up to the top, calling out to the rest of his group. The others immediately called back, and he swung from a few small vines towards the sound. He stopped on one of the trees he jumped for, grabbing a few nuts that the others had stored there for later. While he greedily ate, the rest of the monkeys had left, sensing the danger he had been oblivious too. NightMare moons mist slithered along the ground, searching for yet another animal. She had tried rodents; she had tried a reptile, but why not choose a creature that’s similar to a humanoid? One that’s just as agile, fast, and strong… There, she saw it. A monkey, digging his hand into a hollowed out part of a tree for food. From behind the small primate, she attacked him, filling his body with the agonizing mist that forced his figure to go through agonizing transformations.

When he landed on his back from falling, his skin became rough, thicker, and almost armor like. Some of his hair receded, and his arms and fists increased in size slightly. His face grew contorted with bitter rage, and the muscle on his upper body, back; torso and legs grew in size, as did his height. He grew to a towering size of 60 meters. The simple primate was now the great simian, Metamorga. He pounded his chest with his fists as he bellowed in rage. Loud enough the woodland critters from miles around scurried away from him.

NightMare Moon laughed on the inside of him, “Yes, now go my monster, let us pay the ones in Ponyville a small visit, shall we?” The eyes of Metamorga glowed Purple instead of blue, signifying the strengthening of NightMare’s growing power.

“Did you hear that?” Shining Armor and his troops stopped dead in their tracks. The assistant Captain glanced around, seeing nothing but the tree tops as they wandered into an open field in the forest. Shining couldn’t see or hear anything, “I don’t hear anything-“ He was interrupted by the sounds of thundering footsteps. Whatever they were, they belonged to something very large. The closer they got, they immediately picked up speed. Leaping into the clearing was the mutated simian, bellowing down at the armored Unicorns and Pegasi as he brought down his fist. A few of them were unfortunate enough to be crushed by his fist, while the Unicorns scattered and began to unleash multiple beams from their horns. They merely caused small explosions on his thick skin, but he suddenly felt an even stronger one strike his chest. The fur was burned away and the armor was singed, but this was easily shakable. Bringing both of his fists down, rock and jagged pieces of earth rose up. Either impaling the guards or tossing them into the fissures, the rest of them retreated along with Shining Armor. Metamorga was about to give chase, but the entity within him told him to continue to their destination. And that place, was PonyVille.

XXX

Twilight and Cory stepped down from the train car entrance. Cory waved a farewell back to the conductor as the train left the two behind. Twilight noticed that the whole station was abandoned, not only that, but PonyVille was a dark Ghost town. This put an eerie feeling in the atmosphere as they made their way to the Library, where they could see the faint glow of an oil lamp.

“Where is everypony?” Twilight pondered.

Cory shrugged, quickening his pace the closer the two got to their home, “Hiding?”

When twilight knocked on the door, they heard the sound of shuffling inside as the door then cracked open. From the crack, they could see the familiar face of Fluttershy peeking through, “Oh Twilight,” she opened the door wider, “It’s you, come in quickly, its much to dangerous out there.” Twilight and Cory entered, surprised to see everyone there except for AppleJack, but she was gone for obvious reasons.

Rainbow Dash removed the bucket from her head, “A lot of stuff went down while you guys were gone… A lot of stuff.”

“What do you mean?” Questioned Twilight.

“The whole town went insane. Everypony did. As soon as word that NightMare moon had returned, Everypony panicked. The worst part is that creatures from the Everfree forest are looming around outside since the Sun has not risen to keep them all at bay.”

“Rainbow Dash is right, we don’t want to have any of our lights on too right or else the predators can find us…” Fluttershy whimpered at the thought.

Pinkie Pie popped up from beneath the couch, “The Towns Ponies went crazy! On top of that, a Manticore came into town too and gobbled up one! And Tiga didn’t even come help!”

“There was a monster that attacked Sweet Apple Acres, most of the farm was destroyed, and then another one attacked Canterlot just a few hours ago… And I think NightMare Moon has something to do with every last bit of what’s going on around here…”

There was a knock at the door, “Hello? Twilight? Anypony in there?” It was AppleJack.

Cory opened the door, and sure enough, there stood the Tan colored country Pony. He was surprised to see her there, but let her in nonetheless. “I thought you were repairing the barn at Sweet Apple Acres?” he asked.

She placed her Stetson on the table, “Big Macintosh said he’d try and take care of it, and that it was more important if Ah stayed with ya’ll instead.”

“I see.”

From outside, they heard the screams of Ponies, followed by a few explosions. It had been months since Ponyville had been attacked by a monster, why would it happen again so unexpectedly? The seven of them ran out of the library, and through the smoke, they could see a large, muscular humanoid like monster bringing his fists down onto a small home. The wood splintered and the beams snapped like they were dry twigs, but the worst thing was, the family was still inside of it. While the others weren’t looking Cory slipped away, hiding behind a pile of large trash bags, it was enough to where no one could see him, “Tiga,” he pulled put the relic from his pocket, “Lets end this...!” raising the device above his head, he pressed down on the switch, “TIGAA!”

Metamorga noticed the six Mares, all of them with fear plastered onto their faces. NightMare controlled the beast to destroy them, and so he would. He raised up his fists as they tried to make a get away, but the shock from his hands colliding with the ground would cause fissures that would destroy most of the town. However, his hands never met the ground, as something had put him in a tight arm lock. When the Mane Six stopped running, they smiled with relief as they recognized the giant who restrained the Simian. IN a surge of power, Tiga threw Metamorga onto the ground, waiting for him to stand so they could fight.

As soon as he did, Tiga did a flip in the air, landing his heel into the chest of Metamorga as he landed. The Simian backed away a little, pounding his chest as he charged at Tiga. Tiga propelled himself forwards with his left leg, but belt the foot of the ape strike him in the chest. While Tiga stumbled back, Metamorga wrapped his hands around Tiga’s neck, attempting to strangle the warrior, but felt Tiga’s knee strike his torso, making him release Tiga as he doubled over in pain. Tiga fired a hand slash at his foe, stunning him just in time to charge up for his Calming Ray. If he could get a direct hit, he could finally cleanse NightMare Moon and the monster he was fighting. However, time was not something Tiga had, as Metamorga was already up and ready for another battle. It’d have to wait, Tiga thought, so now was the time to make sure the town was safe. Tiga went into his battle stance as Metamorga roared with fury.

Tiga jumped into the air, landing behind Metamorga and back kicking him in his trapezius, but Metamorgas thick hide easily shook it off. Spinning around, the ape tackled Tiga, bringing the bulk of his weight down onto the hero, the force being enough that small fissures formed in the ground. Tiga managed to punch the best away from him, making enough distance that way he could regain his stance. Metamonga cartwheeled towards Cory, only to have his legs grabbed and his body flung away.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t even fazed. Metamonga bashed the ground with his fists again, challenging Tiga to fight again. This best was not going down easily, and Ultraman knew this. Upping the game, Tiga switched into his Power Mode as Metamonga was already making his way towards him. Tiga spun around, kicking his Simian foe in the gut with enough force that he was sent crashing to the ground. Tiga lifted Metamorga back to his feet before he sent a silver fist crashing into the jaw of the great Ape. Tiga grabbed hold of him, falling onto his back and kicking him off with his right leg.

Despite the brutal beating, Metamorga was not about to give in. Suddenly, his eyes glowed a Dark Blue, and his pores leaked black sparkling mist. The mist took the shape of the upper-half of an Alicorn, with tendrils of dark energy still remaining attached to Metamorga. The Alicorn mist dashed towards Tiga, impaling him with her horn that sent jolt after jolt of energy into him. Tiga groaned in pain as he fell to his back, feeling his energy start to slowly drain from him.

From above metamorga, the dark image of NightMare moon towered over him, “Ultraman Tiga, how dare to try and rise up against the endless night. No longer will you be in the way of my plans, for the night shall last, forever!” The dark Alicorn dashed towards Tiga yet again, but he rolled away just as the horn his in spitting distance. His color time was blinking, faster and faster as time went by. He knew that there was only one way to calm his adversary, and the innocence trapped in her soul.

Tiga stood up, reaching out towards Luna, “Luna, can you hear me in there? Wake up, you’re not supposed to be doing this. Without the sun, there shall be no balance, there shall be no-“ A lightning bolt struck his chest, knocking him back into the dirt road. Cory couldn’t give up now, he wouldn’t give up, and he had to convince her to stop. He switched back into his Omni form, charging up his Cell calming ray which he encased both Metamorga, and NightMare Moon within.

“If there isn’t any sun, we’ll all perish.. And then what will you have to rule over? Nothing but an empty, desolate Equestria… We need the sun, just as much as we need the day! Without either of them, there would be no sunlight to make us grow, or any night for us to sleep peacefully in… The night is just as beautiful as the day, we all know this. Live Luna, live again as our beloved Princess of the night!”

Metamorga shrunk down to his normal size, but NightMare screamed inside the orb of cleansing energy. She should have been able to escape, but from within, Princess Luna fought back upon hearing Cory’s beautiful words. The Blue Armor on Nightmares body dissolved, and her eyes that were once Snake like, reverted back to the beautiful shade of blue. The Darkness that was left in her soul was destroyed, and her once evil counterpart, NightMare Moon, was no more. The unconscious Mare was slowly brought down to the ground, and the sphere of light she was in dissolved into nothing more than just a few particles of light.

From the horizon, Tiga noticed something, a faint, glow. It was the beautiful glow of Sunlight that grew brighter every few seconds. Tiga nodded with satisfaction as the beautiful light began to stretch over Ponyville. Families of Ponies opened their doors, amazed to see the sunlight bathe their town, and Equestria once more. The Mane six approached the motionless Alicorn of the night that lay there on the ground. As Twilight opened her mouth to speak, a blinding light glowed from the sun, forming a single beam that landed on the opposite side of Luna. After a few moments of the blinding sun beam, their Princess, Celestia, in all her glory, stood right before them. She smiled at her subjects as she folded her magnificent wings to her side.

“Princess Celestia!” cried Twilight, rushing to the side of her mentor. Celestia wrapped a foreleg around Twilight, but mainly kept her focus on her sister. When Twilight slowly broke away, Celestia’s horn began to glow white with energy. Slolwy, she touched the head of her sister, awakening her from her sleep. Groggily, she stood on four legs, shaking her head, “I’m, Celestia? You’re, what’s happening?”

“Beloved sister, are you alright?” Celestia wore a somewhat worried, and yet stern expression.

“Yes, I believe so… I don’t know what happened, the hatred within me, that I tried to hold back for so long within me, just, just…” She embraced her sister as tears rolled down her face, “I’m so sorry, I just,” She sobbed, “I just don’t know what came over me… I still felt that no pony cared for my night, that the only ways they’d learn to appreciate it was if it lasted. But I knew it was wrong, but something, something just overtook me and I-“ she was silenced by Celestia’s hoof, “It is alright, beloved sister. Do not worry.”

Luna wiped the tears from her eyes, turning to face the purple and red giant that stood tall, “Thank you, Tiga…” she smiled, “Thou has ridden me of my inner hatred. If only there was a way I could repay thee…”

Tiga nodded to her, standing up, he jumped into the now sunny skies, leaving a trail of light behind him. Twilight and the others smiled as their protector departed, without him, the sun would have never risen. They also noticed Cory walk from behind one of the buildings. They all called his name as he rejoined them, and to his surprise, Luna wrapped her forelegs around him in a tight hug, “Thank you, if it wasn’t for thou, I would have never been awoken from within NightMare Moon. You reminded me that there were others who loved the night, just as much as I did.”

“Of course, “ he smiled, “The night is just as important as the day. Without the night, we would not be able to appreciate the day, and without the day, how can we appreciate the night?”

“Cory is right.” Celestia stepped closer to the too, “Beloved sister, we are meant to rule together. Neither of us should receive more praise than the other.”

Twilight nodded, “She’s right, and I speak for all of Equestria when I say that we couldn’t have any better Princesses.”

Celestia looked at her sister, “Come everypony, I believe that this deserves a proper celebration. For having NightMare Moon gone and that now light can return to Equestria.”

Everypony and Cory could easily agree on that.

XXX

The Royal castle was full of ponies that waited on the guests of honor. Slowly, the great doors opened, and Twilight, Cory, and the others made their way down the red carpet towards Celestia and Luna. The crowds cheered as they walked down the aisle, all of them having slightly humble smiles, even Rainbow Dash did. Applejack made sure her Stetson was on right while Rarity fumbled with her mane. When they reached the top, a few of the Royal Guard soldiers bowed to them, even Celestia knelt down.

Celestia beckoned with her hoof for the other guests to be quiet, “We are here today, to thank the bravery of these seven heroes, who were able to defeat the evil NightMare Moon, and fee Equestria from eternal Darkness. We owe the seven of them and Ultraman Tiga, our complete gratitude. And for now on, we shall no longer fear the lack of balance, between night and day!”

Sure, it was not an easy feat, but thanks to his unconquerable will, Cory was able to overcome the forces of evil. The battle was far from over, they all knew that, but he would always be there for them. Whether it was Cory.

Or Ultraman Tiga.

Ending Theme: Brave Love Tiga

Next Chapter: Chapter 22: The brave little Monster, Deban Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes