I was hoping to get this chapter up in time for Christmas, and then in time for New Years Eve/Day, but complications kept getting in the way. I hope this year turns out to be more productive after only getting three chapters out last year and hope that a fun chapter like this makes for a good start.

As always, please consider supporting my Patreon.

Funnily enough, the most memorable part of this day was the dream I had before awakening. Upon settling in for sleep at the end of the previous day, I found myself floating through what I could only describe as outer space. And yet...not quite outer space. Stars and prismatic colorful shapes drifted through the void far away, giving my surroundings a surprisingly whimsical feel. Drifting in weightlessness clad in only my boxers, it was as if I had passed from my bed into another dimension in this obvious dream realm.

I found I could propel myself with the use of swimming motions, although I really did not have anywhere to go. I was basically stuck and adrift. Thankfully, I could still breathe despite being in what felt like a realm where there should be no atmosphere. Just as I was starting to wonder what to do, I saw it on the horizon. A black object soaring through the void while leaving a trail of ghostly blue in its wake. It suddenly swooped in my direction and began to approach me with impressive speed. The flying being finally came to a stop before me and began to hover in place. The beautiful Princess of Dreams was before me. "Hello, my friend. I trust I am the first to find you?"

Nightmare Moon. Of course she would be there with me. I reached out to her for a welcoming embrace, but I found I could not reach her and I could barely move myself forward. "Yep, it's just you...right... Oh, come on! Just a little...closer..."

My royal friend let out a hearty laugh before she drifted closer to me so I may hold onto her. I threw my arms around her neck, hugging her close while at the same time feeling a bit uneasy. Where were we anyway?

Without a single spot of solid ground to set ourselves down upon, there really was not much we could do. Fortunately, Nightmare Moon was quick to provide a solution. "Well, this won't do. Allow me to conjure up a proper oasis in this void."

And that was exactly what she did. With a flash of her magic, a modest floating oasis of sand, soil, grass, palm trees, and a pristine pond popped up out of nowhere next to us. Nightmare Moon then hovered forward until I could let go and set my feet upon the noticeably warm sand. Even with there being no real gravity in this strange void, the floating patch of land did have its own gravity that kept me from floating away. "Well, that was handy... Say, is Luna showing up tonight?"

"Most likely. I am certain she will be along relatively shortly. For now, it is just us." Nightmare Moon replied while giving my cheek a tender nuzzle. It felt good to spend time with my royal friend. We just do not get to see each other as often as we would like in the real world, so many of our encounters are restricted to the realm of dreams.

I sat by the pond's edge and sank my feet into the clear blue water. Nightmare Moon did the same once she had removed her metal shoes and began to just stir her hoof through the water. I was unsure of what to do to pass the time, nor was I certain of what sort of topic to bring up in order to pass the time until Luna arrived. I did finally think of one once I glanced at Nightmare Moon, a topic that only she would really be able to discuss. "So... How goes the missing person investigation so far?"

Nightmare Moon was about to speak, but then paused while she gave me a playfully stern stare. I held up my hand and said, "Yes, I'll be keeping it under wraps until you say otherwise."

That got a smile out of her. "Thank you, my friend. As for that... Well, once we received aerial confirmation from the Wonderbolts that an unidentified outpost had been detected roughly near the same area where the missing individuals had vanished, a small cadre of guards specially trained in infiltration accompanied me to said location. Indeed, the exact location is far from hidden. That outpost lies out in the open without anything to hide it. If anything, I would say its isolation lends itself to its bare layout and tiny size along with being in such a location where common travel simply does not veer towards it. And from a certain distance, we were able to confirm that it is inhabited."

It sounded like that outpost was set up in such a location either out of sheer luck that it was never discovered by outsiders, or that whoever was behind its construction knew of just the right place to put it. I nodded in understanding and let her continue. "There were no defenses. No walls to keep out intruders. From a glance, it seemed that the outpost had nothing to hide. Even so, we had to be cautious. And after adjusting the looks of one of my men, he was sent in to perform reconnaissance and report back with his findings."

"Change his...look? What, you mean style up his hair differently? And...would that really work? All members of the royal guard have the same color scheme, right?" I asked in confusion, wondering just how well a royal guardsman could hide in plain sight while they all look the same with either blue and white or gray and white color schemes.

Nightmare Moon gazed at me with quite an amused stare. Did I say something funny? "Oh, James... You don't truly believe that every member of the royal guard looks that way naturally, do you? Why do you suppose you never see them when they are off-duty? It's the result of a spell that alters the colorations of their bodies. It's part of their coat of arms. Easy to apply and easy to remove. We basically sent him in without his uniform and how he looks naturally."

Clever. Very clever. I never would have guessed that. I wonder how many people outside the royal guard even know about that. "Seriously?! Well... That answers some questions. So... What did he find?"

Her expression darkened. It was not what I expected. "In the end, he was lucky to have made it out. We waited from afar, hidden among some crags while maintaining a constant vigil as we scoped out the outpost. In the order of events listed from his arrival to his departure, I am glad to say that he found them. Every last one of the missing individuals mentioned in the reports were there, alive and well. He even had the opportunity to ask them their names for confirmation. The entire time, he simply posed as a humble explorer wandering the wilderness for the thrill of adventure. Even so, upon his arrival, they practically swarmed him in welcome. At least until the 'mayor' of their nameless town approached him."

Something about the inflection in her voice gave me a very bad vibe about this person she had just mentioned. "And... Who was this mayor?"

"The only person in the town who had not been reported missing at all. As he claimed... She was a very attractive mare whose voice oozed temptation, like a siren of the sea commanding his attention without effort. A mare who introduced herself as Starlight Glimmer." She explained with a more serious expression. "Furthermore... It was uncanny the way he described it. Everypony's colors seemed more muted than normal and they all had the same disquieting forced smiles. All except for her, a unicorn mare with an alluring gaze and vibrant hues of pink, purple, and cyan. But they all shared the same cutie mark, as impossible as it sounds. An equal sign."

That mention of the sharing of the same cutie mark gave me a sudden chill, causing me to immediately notice some unsettling parallels with another hidden village I have not seen in quite some time. "That sounds...familiar. Do you think that place has anything to do with Sunny Town? You know, the...cursed village in the Everfree Forest where everyone there don't have cutie marks?"

"Oh, please. If they did, I would have known. Luna and I were the ones who placed that curse upon Sunny Town in the first place back when we were still one, after all." Nightmare Moon replied with a dismissive roll of her eyes. She probably was not in the mood to be reminded of that place. "No, this village... My subordinate could not even get a real name about it. And this Starlight Glimmer... I have never once heard of her before. Even after performing a thorough background check once we returned to Canterlot, we found nothing at all."

This was sounding increasingly shady. Like something I could not comprehend hearing about in Equestria. Even so, I continued to listen. "It was almost humorous the way he described how they welcomed him in song. Although the humor quickly died away with his following recounts. He was invited to a feast as per custom, but... He claimed he had never seen such bland food before. Everything tasted the same, and he used that term very loosely. He compared the flavor to...cardboard."

I let out an unexpected snicker upon hearing that. It certainly sounded funny, even though it probably was not. However, the next thing my friend mentioned felt exceptionally ominous. "It was around that time that a few of the locals asked him if they could speak in private, apparently about his cutie mark since it was so different from their own. However, Starlight Glimmer then somehow silenced them with... As he described it, a piercing threatening glare that instantly subdued them. As if she would explode into rage at any second only for her gaze to return to the same alluring stare as before."

I had no words. But it was very clear that something was very wrong with that place. And Starlight Glimmer... Who is she and what is she up to out there? I continued to listen in silence, enraptured with this chilling, yet captivating tale. "It was only then that he began to suspect that something was very wrong. And after the feast, Starlight spoke to him in conversation while bringing up some sort of spectacular ancient artifact. One of thirteen that was once in the possession of Starswirl the Bearded himself."

"Huh, really? How'd she get her hooves on something like that?" I asked, recognizing the prestigious name immediately.

Nightmare Moon's next words caught me by surprise as she turned to look me in the eye. "That's the catch. She didn't. There are only twelve artifacts associated with Starswirl and they are all contained within the Canterlot archives."

Twelve? Not thirteen? This was sounding increasingly creepy, especially if Starlight would bring up something so obviously fishy. "Granted, not any random traveler would know that fact unless they have studied the topic extensively. Thankfully, he knew that too and knew better than to believe such a claim. At least until she offered to show him this... Ugh... Staff of Sameness."

"Really...? Sameness?" I asked while slouching forward at such an unimpressive and unimaginative title. Seriously. Sameness?

Nightmare Moon too slouched forward a bit while letting out an exasperated groan, "Yes, the name makes me want to gag as well. Regardless, he was quick to notice that a number of the villagers had gathered around him while showing those...constant forced grins. His training allowed him to detect that this offer was likely to lead him into a trap, and so he declined. And yet, Starlight Glimmer did not relent. She became increasingly persuasive, making offers to try to sway him. This failed, thankfully. After he declined her offer several times, Starlight Glimmer finally relented and offered him to stay the night. This provided our spy with the opportunity to explore the town and gather intelligence. Not that there was much to gather..."

"Yeah, sounds like that place doesn't have a lot to offer in terms of variety." I added while leaning on one arm towards her.

"Ugh, you have no idea." Nightmare Moon said with a loud sigh. "The houses were the same. The exteriors were the same. The interiors were the same. The villagers activities were the same. It sounded like the most uninteresting location in the entire world. It baffled him as to why all of the inhabitants were living there, yet not bored out of their right minds."

"Considering that they all disappeared, it doesn't sound like they were there by choice." I added while just trying to comprehend such a bland place in my mind. As tolerant as I am of repetition and simple things, this sounded like it went far beyond my comprehension of such matters.

"They were most definitely not. Their leader's charisma and total control over them. The extreme adherence to a specific rule or norm. The uniform lifestyles and obsession over this type of 'equality'... This town is most likely the home of some bizarre cult with this Starlight Glimmer serving as its leader." The Princess of Dreams said while looking increasingly thoughtful. "And yet, she contradicts this focus on equality. Her home is set at the end of the row of houses instead of being part of the rows, her colors are bright and vibrant, and her people cower before her when she looks at them the wrong way. She is clearly above them and therefore not equal."

"Uh... Yeah... But was there more?" I asked while still having a hard time comprehending that this situation was really going on somewhere in Equestria.

She nodded and continued to speak. "Yes, he did more than just that. Our spy took the time to learn who lived in each house and how long they had been there. Each person who had disappeared gave an explanation that matched the dates that they disappeared as indicated in the reports. Some dating back as far as five years ago. And yet, their reasons for not returning home were positive. Or at least that was how it seemed on the surface. He could see it. Just under the surface, they were clearly not happy. And whatever it was that finally made them choose to stay... They were very unwilling to speak of it."

I watched in silence as Nightmare Moon's tone became increasingly frustrated. She finally looked at me with a stern gaze. "They are prisoners, James. My people, abducted and forced to become this cult, unable to return home and to their loved ones."

I could only nod, wanting to hear more. And so Nightmare Moon continued to speak as she gazed at the clear pool before us. "He was given an empty house to use for the night and began to document his findings. Nothing seemed to be amiss for a time. However, it was around the stroke of midnight that something began to go wrong..."

This started to sound scary. I could only listen with intense interest. "He heard a sound outside the window and peeked through the blinds. The entire village had gathered outside his house with Starlight Glimmer leading them. He had locked the door, but she began to pick the lock. They were coming for him. He could no longer remain in the village while staying safe. And so he gathered his supplies and used the teleportation spell from inside a closet to return to our location at the far outskirts. When we watched from afar through our scopes, we confirmed that they intended to gain entry. Starlight Glimmer and a number of the villagers entered, only to emerge a moment later in a panic before they all scattered as if frantically searching for something. Starlight Glimmer seemed to be in a fury, screaming orders to her underlings. Had he not escaped when he did, I fear to know what would have befallen my subordinate. It was at that point that we knew we could stay no longer and retreated. We were not followed."

It certainly sounded like a close call. "You haven't tried again?"

Nightmare Moon shook her head solemnly. "Starlight Glimmer has proven herself to be controlling and cunning. If we attempt to send somepony else in to gather more intelligence, she will likely know that something is amiss. Especially if the same thing happens the following night with our spy escaping the same way. It took us this long just to find those missing citizens. And from what we could tell, she truly does not seem worried about being discovered by the wrong party. If she suspects that the royal guard is onto her, she may flee and we may never find her and her captives again. We will have to proceed carefully in dealing with this mass kidnapping case. For now, rescuing them is out of the question until we have a proper plan. This has proven to be more delicate than I could have ever imagined."

"Uh... Wait, why don't we visit her dreams? Maybe we'll figure out what she's up to there. Or at least get a feel for how her psychology works." I then asked, knowing that Starlight Glimmer was undoubtedly asleep at the time. And she would never know we were there.

However, Nightmare Moon then gave me a sincerely unsettled gaze. "You don't want to do that."

"Why not?" I asked innocently. It seemed like a good idea and no harm would ever come to us.

"I have already done just that. And I almost wish I did not." She solemnly replied while returning her gaze to the pond before us. "At least in nightmares, the dreamer lacks control and is in an unpleasant situation they would rather not be in. This was not the case when I ventured into Starlight Glimmer's dreaming mind. Everypony... Everypony I saw were like her captives in that pathetic village. Muted colors, marks of false equality, dismal identical lifestyles. And she... Reigning as queen over this bleak world. Superiority on a grand scale as everyone else in the world cowered beneath her, trapped in forced equality. Excelling at nothing and being nothing in every possible way while she was everything they were not. And she reveled in it. This mare...is a monster."

Disturbing... It was all I could think. How...in the hell...could one of Equestria's citizens become that twisted entirely on her own? I could expect such a thing from someone with great power and having some sort of supernatural force twist them over a very long stretch of time, much like Nightmare Moon herself and even poor Discord, but an ordinary mare? Even so, I had to ask, "OK, so she's really messed up in the head. What else have you found out about her?"

Nightmare Moon let out a sigh and said, "Very little. And frankly, the fact that we know so little about her only makes her a greater threat. She has proven that she is cunning, intelligent...and very likely powerful and utterly power mad. Possibly even unstable. The fact that she has such absolute control over her captives means she likely possesses incredible magical might on par with or even surpassing that of Twilight Sparkle herself. And if her dreams have proven anything, she is not satisfied with just that village. Given enough time, she just may set her sights on the rest of Equestria. She is dangerous. Very dangerous on a level I have never seen in an ordinary pony before. If left to her devices, I fear what it will mean for Equestria. We will have to act soon."

I remained silent for a moment. This was some heavy stuff. Far heavier than I was ever expecting to come out of this case. "Well... What will you do?"

My royal friend looked my way with a determined gaze. "The royal guard and I are already planning a raid. We shall wait for two months before carrying it out so as to allow Starlight Glimmer time to think that our spy's disappearance was simply the result of him having gotten cold feet and ran away while nopony was watching. If enough time passes without incident, she will likely forget about it and lower her guard. She is intelligent and cunning, but also cocky. I will personally lead this raid to rescue our people and to place Starlight Glimmer under arrest. My presence there along with my former reputation will likely be effective in instilling terror. Until then, I have the Wonderbolts performing daily aerial surveillance to watch for anything that might point to an evacuation. So far, they are staying put."

That gave my spirits a boost. It sounded like Nightmare Moon and the royal guard knew exactly how to go about this problem. However, she then gave me a disappointed or regretful gaze. "Unfortunately... James. Until this crisis has been resolved, I'm afraid I can no longer speak of this to you. I will gladly share with you the outcome of this operation, but as it is now, it has become too delicate to speak of casually. And please, keep what I have told you secret for the time being."

"I understand. Disappearances turning into mass kidnapping and even forced cult recruitment is pretty messed up. Don't want anyone freaking out about it and blowing your cover." I said in understanding while reaching out and stroking my fingers across her jaw. "Everything will turn out fine. I know you'll all get the job done."

She responded with a smile, showing a look of unease, yet hope. I could tell she was afraid. Not for herself, but for the people trapped in that village. A lot could go wrong in this upcoming raid. Even so, she reached out with her wing and draped it over me, pulling me close for a gentle embrace. "Thank you, my friend... I must be brave. Our people look to me for guidance and protection. And I intend to do just that in the coming weeks ahead."

It was right around that time that we both looked up at the sound of what I could only describe as some sort of spell being cast. We scanned the unstable blue void around us and soon saw it. A soaring equine figure with shades of blue in her form. She soon swooped towards us before landing lightly upon the sand. Indeed, the Princess of the Night stood among us. "Good evening. I trust I have not kept you waiting long?"

"Nah, we're good... Wait, are you both supposed to be here?" I asked in return, finding it odd that both Nightmare Moon and Luna would make a point to both schedule a visit into my dream. However, it was only then that I remembered. "Oh, you're here for another session, right?"

"Quite right, my friend. Although... You seem to have chosen a particularly...otherworldly location for it." Luna retorted as she began to survey our surroundings. "We are certainly not within the cosmos... Wavy lines and little shapes floating through the void... Wormholes with a red horizon at the end... And these mirages that drift by... A tropical island... A volcano... A world of metal? Where is this?"

I scanned the horizon around us more thoroughly. The more I looked, the more this vast yet whimsical void jogged my memory. Indeed, it was all coming back to me. "Looks more like... Another...dimension?"

Nightmare Moon then spoke as she stood up and shook the water from her hooves, "It certainly seems that way. Almost as if we are floating between realms. It must surely be of a fictional setting."

"Yeah, it is. Just drawing a few blanks on what it might have come from." I replied while I too stood up and walked to the edge of the floating oasis. Chances are I would just float around aimlessly if I stepped off.

"Is it dangerous?" Luna then asked sincerely while the two sisters of the night looked at me.

"Most likely." I retorted briefly, knowing that fictional settings from my memory often have some forms of danger wandering through them.

"That's all I needed to know." Luna replied heartily before I was engulfed in a bright flash. A quick glance at my body revealed that I was clad in my enchanted armor, complete with helmet on my head and the Lunar Shield affixed to my left arm and the Celestial Sword in my right hand. "Probably a fine opportunity for trial by fire."

"Really, Luna?!" I said loudly before looking myself over some more. Now that I was suited up in gear that put me on par with the royal sisters themselves, I could definitely handle most threats. In fact, if one could pardon the pun, doing so in this situation could make for quite the dream fight. "You know what? This...might actually be a really good idea."

"Now now, not so fast. We're still missing somepony." Nightmare Moon then added while her horn was coated by a deep blue billowing aura. A few seconds later, a rift in space opened beside her to reveal none other than Celestia...wearing a flowing red dress while holding a red rose in her teeth. Arms held high... Was she in some sort of flamenco contest? "Oh my... Sister, over here!"

Celestia then glanced our way and immediately dropped the rose. "Oh! Uh... Be right there!" She then pulled her dress right off and galloped forward and through the rift just before it closed. "Yes? Is there something you..."

It was then that she happened to look at me and immediately became mildly flustered, probably knowing that I had just seen her like that. "Oh... Uh... Good evening, James. How are you tonight?"

I must confess that I was rather perturbed by what I had seen. Not in a bad way, mind you. It was just... Well, my response to her could only be as such. "God, you look hot in red."

Luna and Nightmare Moon just burst into raucous laughter at that response while Celestia could only stand there blushing furiously while biting her lower lip. But once her sisters happened to turn away with eyes pinched shut, she suddenly leaned forward and placed a quick kiss upon my lips before giving me a grateful wink. "Thank you."

I just smiled in return while pretending nothing had happened. It was then that Celestia attempted to calm the situation. "So then... What is it you needed me for, sister?"

Nightmare Moon, the humor having run its course, coughed to clear her throat and regain composure before facing her along with Luna. "Yes... I requested that you join us because it would seem that that this dream James is having would make for an ideal live fire exercise for him to become more acquainted with his gear."

"Oh, of course! Sounds like an adventure! I'm quite curious as to what we may find in such an otherworldly realm." Celestia exclaimed with some excitement. She then turned to me and said, "You lead, James. We shall follow."

"Uh... You sure you want to be along for the ride?" I asked in return, not immediately certain of what we may find out there for the time being.

Luna merely cast me a bit of a smirk. "James, this isn't just about you. We will be pulling our weight as well. This will be a prime opportunity for us to keep our skills sharp alongside yours. Equestria does not provide us with many conflicts that require the use of force, after all."

"Oh... OK then. Well..." I then approached the edge of the oasis with my wings spread. It was time to explore. "Tally ho, then?"

With a jump, I dove off of the oasis sands and began to carry myself through the void on my armor's mighty wings. I then turned myself around and drifted backwards while keeping an eye on the three royal sisters. They did not wait long before also taking to the air and swooping after me. Nightmare Moon then called out in enthusiasm, "Do not tarry, James! Carry on and we will be beside you!"

And so our session began. We just flew along in our own personal flock, marveling at the shifting dreamscape. Even though Luna and Nightmare Moon were not exerting their dream magic in any way, it truly did feel like a place one would only ever expect to find in a dream. A proverbial dream land.

"Almost feels weightless... And yet there is atmosphere to propel ourselves through." Luna remarked while taking the time to perform a rather slow and lazy loop through the air before flying ahead to catch up to us.

Nightmare Moon then remarked as she began to fly upside-down, "Indeed. Perhaps I could work on my backstroke while we are here... Hm? Is there something coming this way?"

I directed my gaze ahead and saw that there was indeed a few spherical beings approaching us on little fluttering wings. They brought to mind parasprites, although much larger to being around maybe a quarter of my size. They had bright yellow oval eyes upon their round purplish bodies that brought to mind the swirling hues of a nebula. They did not seem to pay us much mind and simply fluttered by. Celestia even chuckled a bit and said, "How cute. Are you certain this is a dangerous area, James?"

"Uh... Pretty sure. It's coming back to me now. The bigger versions of those things are a bit meaner." I replied while beginning to remember exactly what those were and what they came from. We were certain to run into some real trouble in a short while. However, we soon saw a towering wall of seemingly liquid yellow mass coming up on the horizon. "Uh oh. Better find the switch."

"Really?" Nightmare Moon replied snidely while adjusting her flight path. She then few ahead of us, but then veered to the side to simply fly around the obstruction.

This got quite a laugh out of me as I came to understand we were not restricted in our movements. Celestia and Luna just gave me some funny looks while we flew past the obstacle "Of course... The joys of not being confined to a two-dimensional plane."

As we flew along, we had to make our ways around some floating obstacles. Beautiful prismatic spherical crystals covered in stubby spikes drifted through the void while both alarming and dazzling us. They proved impervious to our spells and my blade. Luna even attempted to have some fun by flying circles around their massive forms.

Before long, we were greeted by a small swarm of the same spherical entities that we had passed before. However, they were roughly double the size of the earlier ones and had smaller and angrier yellow eyes while they fluttered forward. Celestia then asked, "Those seemed a bit perturbed, don't they?"

"Yep! Heads up!" I replied as something similar to mouths opened on their bodies and launched orbs of the same red nebulous substance that their bodies were composed of. While rather slow, they did end up colliding with my shield without much force behind them while my three royal companions weaved around them.

"Pests! Begone, all of you!" Nightmare Moon shouted before returning fire, her horn firing off a volley of blue magic beams. The barrage obliterated the fluttering wisps in a burst of their nebulous essence. "Hardly a threat. Are you certain this is truly a dangerous realm?"

She had me there. Maybe I did overestimate the local fauna, at least when compared to beings with our capabilities. "Uh... Maybe the small fry aren't that big a deal. But there's bound to be one big guy somewhere out there."

I did not go long before being proven wrong. From our left, two much larger creatures with a pink hue and four purple and gray striped lumps sticking out on parallel angles spun ahead of us before slowly floating our way with fanged mouths agape and with very angry yellow eyes. Celestia then said, "Those look like trouble."

As if on cue, the floating creatures' mouths closed entirely for just a second and opened again to launch very large projectile orbs at us in a clear form of attack. My friends were quick to swoop out of the way while I simply tanked one shot with my shield. Luna then called out while we all returned fire with bursts of magic bolts, "Begone, you cretins!"

It only took a few strikes to obliterate each one. However, we were in for a surprise upon each one bursting into nothing. The four lumps set around the edges of their bodies were then launched at us upon destruction. Nightmare Moon shrieked while we performed evasive maneuvers to swoop around them, "Heavens! Vengeful beasts, aren't they?"

We just continued on like that for a short while, shooting down any of the space-faring creatures that dared shoot at us first and merely ignoring the little ones that did not, and flying around any bizarre or prismatic masses that passed us by. It almost felt like we were merely partaking in some sort of obstacle course in outer space. And it was proving to be somewhat entertaining. After a while, we began to simply fly through a vast and open section of the void without any signs of life or obstacles drifting towards us. Luna then spoke up and said, "Well, I certainly hope there is more to this dream than... Wait one moment. Who is that?!"

Just ahead of us, we got a surprise. Out of nowhere, a masked figure just flashed up out of nowhere and floated ahead of us. The body seemed to just be a billowed mass, almost like a far more fiery version of Nightmare Moon's mane, that was a vibrant red at the top and center while becoming a deep blue as it neared the edges while giving off a number of sparkles. At the top of this mass of billowing...whatever it was sat a thick white cloth collar with a purple belt wrapping around it. The face of the entity was largely featureless above the half that the collar covered, being a shade of dark brown with a pair of rather cute orange ovals that served as eyes. Sitting atop its head was clearly a golden crown with an aquamarine gem of sorts set into the front with what looked like three golden talons reaching down the front and sides of the wearer's face or maybe even part of some sort of headwear, likely to help secure it in place. Weirdly enough, a pair of indigo or purple curved horns ending in white points were sticking out of the sides and strangely brought to mind a jester's hat. The crown would also wiggle occasionally as if it were made of softer materials that was alive. Lastly, the hands. The hands seemed to be clad in white gloves and were completely separate from the body with no arms. And just past the wrists was a single runic circle consisting of pale purple light along with six little triangles bordering each. Upon seeing this silent being floating ahead of us while being all too aware of our presence, I felt a twinge of excitement. "Oh yeah, it's all really coming back to me now! That guy is trouble!"

Nightmare Moon was quick to respond while we drifted along, wings flapping to keep us in place. "You there! Identify yourself! What do you want from us?"

The cloaked figure ahead of us provided no vocal response. It just floated there with hands outstretched. But we soon did get a reply of some sort. The masked being raised its hands high for a moment and shook them as if preparing to exert himself. At least I am pretty sure the entity was male. It then pointed its outstretched fingers at us while the six triangle glyphs around the wrists moved farther away for a second before twirling around the circular glyphs and returning to place. The instant they did, a very large bright white light in the vague shape of a star appeared between us and the mage. Celestia voiced some concern as she said, "This doesn't bode well... Is something there?"

A moment later, the light faded as the star shape became a rift in space that was filled with a rainbow of colors that brought to mind the sight of oil on water. And from that rift came a ship drifting on the unseen currents of air. Or was it? It clearly bore a look reminiscent of a seafaring vessel, and yet it was not. It bore a red, dark gray, and dark gold paint job as glowing patterns of circuitry lined its hull. A single orange star emblem rested upon the front of the bow, which gave me the impression of a primary weapon system. There were also six waggling oars attached to the hull with three on each side. The cockpit dome that sat upon the back of the stern seemed to be mostly an orb covered in a shifting orange nebula display while a topsail stood atop it, a strange orange aura passing up it periodically. At the sides of the aft section were a pair of hardened white wing-like decorations, but I would never know if they served to actually stabilize the ship in any way. While the design was whimsical and even cute, the color scheme greatly radiated a sense of danger. A point that Nightmare Moon was quick to bring up. "Hmmm... Not certain if adorable or dangerous... Should we attack?"

As the rift closed behind the ship, it proceeded to perform a backwards flip while its summoner quickly warped to a location in the far distance to watch the ensuing conflict from safety. Actually, not quite. I would soon notice through a few glances that the wild movements of his hands dictated the ship's movements and actions. He was serving as a puppeteer and the ship as his weapon. Needless to say, I knew better than to think this ship's arrival was a friendly hello. I then pointed the Celestial Sword at the starship and called out, "Yeah, this one's trouble. Battle stations, ladies. The main course is here."

I was expecting it to start shooting at us in some way. Instead, the bow sharply dipped forward. A second later, it suddenly did a quick backflip and launched its stern's portside wing at us in a vertical arc like a whirling boomerang blade. We were quick to evade by simply moving to the sides, allowing the wing to pass by harmlessly before watching it return effortlessly to its resting spot on the ship's stern. We did not have long to think before the ship did the exact same thing with its starboard wing, hurling it in another sweeping boomerang toss. However, it seemed that its pilot misjudged distance since its range was even less than the first one. This actually got a few laughs out of my friends while they watched the wing fly up ahead of them before it returned to the ship's stern. Luna then asked, "Oh my goodness... Is it even trying?"

"I guess it thinks our movements are restricted to a two-dimensional plane..." I replied with a bit of a smirk. However, my eyes were then drawn to the floating puppeteer in the far distance. He began to move his hands past each other in a manner where one would cross their arms across their chest. I quickly suspected that he was going to suddenly move both hands back out to the sides. Which when telegraphed to the ship... "Uh oh... Quick! Ascend!"

My suspicions proved correct. The masked puppeteer did just that. The instant he swung his hands outward, the ship did a sudden horizontal spin to the point of nearly capsizing. And when it did, both of its boomerang wings were flung at us on a wide sweeping lateral angle. My royal friends shrieked in shock before rushing upwards with me to evade the boomerang wings, which then quickly returned to their resting places at the ship's stern while it quickly righted itself. I grumbled to myself while glancing at the ship's pilot in the distance. "Clever bastard. Guess he's smart enough to adapt. I suppose this means it isn't just a game anymore."

"You sound as if you have seen these two before. Do you know what they are, exactly?" Luna then asked during a moment of respite. I suppose the ship's pilot was also taking the time to think up a way to deal with four opponents who can evade any attack it threw at us.

I frowned, wondering whether or not I should mention names. Still... Considering that avoiding the use of proper nouns is going to get old after a while, I see no reason to withhold them. I then pointed my sword at the ship before pointing it to its masked controller. "Yeah, I do. That thing down there is the Lor Starcutter and that guy over there is called Magolor. We take out the Lor and then go after its pilot."

"Well, why wait for the latter?" Nightmare Moon said with a determined scowl. With a flap of her wings, she rushed towards Magolor even as the Lor conjured up a number of large red energy spheres behind it from what was likely a projector on the backside of the stern. "You won't escape me!"

"I don't think that's gonna... Hey!" I tried calling out to Nightmare Moon before being reminded that we were under attack. Luna and Celestia flew their separate ways while I did a quick dive to escape the red orbs that launched one after the other. They seemed to be focusing on the spot where we had been just before they started to move, making them easy to dodge in spite of being roughly half the size of the Lor itself. I kept glancing over at Nightmare Moon, who kept trying to bombard Magolor with magic beams and even bursts of magic lightning. It got amusing very quick as Magolor simply floated away from his pursuer to stay out of range and bobbed up and down without any sign of alarm. All the while, he kept moving his hands to manipulate the Lor into pulling off further attacks.

"You think we should let her know that isn't going to work?" Celestia called out to me while she and Luna in the distance began to casually bombard the Lor with magic bolts even as it tried to launch straight-flying blue orbs at us. They were even less likely to hit us since they flew on a set path.

I decided to join in and began to channel the magic in my right gauntlet through the Celestial Sword itself and began to fire golden yellow bolts of magic at the Lor from the tip of the blade. "Nah! This thing just isn't designed for these kinds of situations! Just keep blasting it and this'll be a cakewalk!"

The Lor constantly shook from our magic shots slamming into it, but did not seemed fazed in the slightest. It returned fire by bobbing around while firing off dark red star shapes in sets of three from the star emblem on the front of the bow and even sending its six oars flying at us like javelins before returning to their proper places. Growing tired of just shooting at it, I swooped in and landed on its deck. "How's this?!"

With the Lor having no means to shoot at something that was actually standing on it, I was able to attack without resistance. I slashed and struck at the hull with my sword, sparks flying the entire time as bolts of magic slammed into the Lor around me. But after barely a dozen strikes, I was suddenly thrown clear of the Lor as a grid-like spherical barrier suddenly engulfed it. It seemed to have a colorful rainbow effect over it, but not enough to obscure its natural colors. It lazily drifted about while facing me, myself mildly rattled by getting launched so forcefully before I could regain control of myself. Celestia and Luna's magic bolts were failing to pierce the barrier, although I knew its function was far from being purely defensive. It suddenly went into an aileron roll while backing up before it came rocketing towards me in an attempt to ram me.

"Nope!" I shouted while managing to propel myself away from the Lor's flight path. I then turned around to keep a close eye on it. Sure enough, one pass was not enough as it soon made a swooping turn and came rocketing back towards me, narrowly missing me again. It came to a stop in the far distance with the barrier dropping as well.

"Are you well?!" Luna called out while she drew near with Celestia. With the Lor being so far away now, it would be difficult for us to blast it without it managing to dodge them.

I just waved the Celestial Sword at them in greeting since my hand was occupied. "Yeah, I'm good. Except we should probably get closer and finish this up, right?"

Celestia smirked and faced the Lor before leading the charge. "Indeed. Let's close the gap!"

The three of us swooped towards the Lor while staying close to each other. However, this ended up being a bad idea. Before I could even notice that something was up with the Lor's sail, a howling funnel of swirling wind burst forth from it and sucked us all up! I lamented not seeing this coming while we found ourselves tumbling helplessly in this lateral tornado. "Crap! Forgot about that one!"

My royal friends shrieked and yelled while they tried to maintain control of themselves in the cyclone, but we could do nothing. But even as we were tumbling, I thought I noticed a swirling blue tornado of sorts rushing towards the Lor. I was not too far off. While doing everything I could to right myself and stop the tumbling, I saw it. A swirling deep blue whirlwind slammed into the side of the Lor with such force that it interrupted the attack and sent the ship reeling from how much damage that one hit did. Celestia and Luna quickly regained control of their movements as we watched the whirlwind dissipate to reveal Nightmare Moon proudly hovering in place. "It would seem your forgot about somepony!"

"Ha! Nice one!" I yelled in delight, utterly amazed that Nightmare Moon had come to our rescue right when the ship's puppeteer had forgotten about her. She must have given up on chasing him down and waited for the right time to strike.

"Did that do it?" Celestia asked while we noticed that the Lor was beginning to shudder and list from side to side, arcing red electricity coursing over its hull. It began to look like the starcutter had been disabled.

Unfortunately, we were not so lucky. A moment later, a purple aura akin to fire engulfed the Lor even as the crackling red electricity continued to spark all over its hull. Its movements returned to normal, indicating that it was still functioning fine. I grumbled while a scowl crossed my face. "Of course... There's always a second phase."

The four of us watched, the Lor just floating there without doing anything. I suspected that its pilot was trying to determine exactly how to deal with us since we had proven so good at evading its attacks so far. The response was far more than I was expecting. The oars once again detached and floated above the deck, ready to fly at us. The wings on the stern detached and began to whirl wildly while waiting to be launched. The star emblem on the bow began to glow. A full dozen of large energy orbs emerged from behind the Lor, but were yellow instead of blue or red. And a swirling bit of wind began to form at the front of the sail. Clearly worried, Luna then asked, "Am I the only one who feels this does not bode well?"

I cringed as I realized exactly what the Lor was about to do. And I had no idea of how to properly counter it. "Well... This isn't gonna end well. It looks like he's about to dump the Lor's entire arsenal at us! Move!"

And that is exactly what happened. A tornado howled, oars flew, energy sphere's floated away only to attempt to blindside us, boomerang blades spun, and explosive star projectiles were fired off every which way as the Lor slowly rotated to maximize its attack range. It was an utter storm of firepower that taxed our senses to the point of being unable to truly keep track of everything that was flying through the void. Its star bullets and whirling boomerang blades would even intercept some of our shots to make it harder for us to actually damage the thing. I got hit several times by...lord knows what. Thank goodness my armor held up. My royal friends had to resort to generating magic barriers around themselves at times. We were barely able to get a shot in with how focused we had to be on evasion.

At one point, I noticed Celestia retreat to the far distance. I hoped she had a plan. And sure enough, she did. While so far away, the Lor could barely focus any of its attacks on her. A bright shine began to come from her direction. Luna and Nightmare Moon began to notice it too since they began to fly away from the Lor. I soon saw why. A bright white comet composed of scorching solar magic was hurtling towards the Lor!

Knowing just how explosive that magic is, I quickly retreated out of range even as the Lor continued to launch its arsenal every which way. But it could not stop the incoming compact supernova. The instant that blast hit, the Lor was engulfed in a massive blast of white fire more than ten times its size. And when the blast faded, it was over. The Lor's pieces were all back in their proper places while sparks and smoke rose from the hull. Still in one piece, but out of commission as it slowly descended down into the void. With just that one overpowered shot, Celestia had sunk the starcutter. Although I was mildly annoyed by this myself. "Dang... Why didn't I think of that?"

With the Lor slowly sinking into the void below us, Magolor made his frustration known by raising and clenching his disembodied hands. He then teleported twice, moving himself closer to us each time, before suddenly rushing away from us with a colorful blur of an afterimage being left in his wake. Nightmare Moon, clearly frustrated with this wily foe, let out a shout as she swooped ahead of us. "Oh, no you don't!"

Together, we all took off in pursuit of our cloaked assailant. As we pursued, the space around began to distort to the point where it seemed that we were moving much faster than we really were, the colorful blue void around us becoming something akin to a tunnel. Magolor did everything he could to stay ahead of us, even while insuring he was still facing us. Finally, he returned fire as a pair of pulsing light blue orbs began to form in his hands just before launching them right at us. Nightmare Moon, who was at the front of our group, simply shot them down with one bolt of magic lightning for each of them. "Ha! You'll have to do much better than that!"

Magolor responded to the challenge in pretty much the only way I expected. He crossed his hands before his chest as two much larger purple orbs began to pulse and spark in his palms before he flung them at us, only to have them immediately separate into many more projectiles. Nightmare Moon seemed amused by this response and said, "Hm! Good answer!"

It was at this point that we all resorted to evasive maneuvers, dodging, dipping, and spiraling around the many purple orbs of magical power. But as the seconds went by, Magolor only increased the sheer volume of projectiles coming our way. We did just fine at first, but it soon became a wall of orbs coming at us. One by one, my royal friends were struck from the sky and plummeted to whatever was below, although Nightmare Moon held out a little longer by intercepting some of the orbs with her magic. In the end, my senses were so overwhelmed by the storm of purple orbs that I just held up my shield to tank the attacks. It worked for a moment, although the sheer force of having so many magic orbs exploding against my shield eventually threw my arm to the side only to have the very next orb burst right in my face, knocking me out of the sky and falling into the void below.

I soon regained my senses as I fell towards what might have been the only consistent location in this entire dimensional rift. Surrounded by a number of thin glowing planetary rings was a bright light blue circular field with a very dark blue dome in the very center. I was not that worried. I knew I was in no danger for the moment. And very soon, I caught up to my three royal friends as they regained their composure and hovered in the air so I could catch up to them. Luna called out, "He got you too?! Are you all right, James?"

"Yeah, I'm good! And don't worry, we've got solid ground below." I replied while they allowed themselves to descend with me. I kept my wings spread wide to serve as a makeshift parachute to control my descent.

Celestia did not seem so sure about the glowing field below. Not that I could blame her. From up close, it looked like a field of blue flames. "I know you say that this setting is familiar to you, but..."

"Have faith in him, sister. We are simply along for the ride, after all. Lead on, Sir James." Nightmare Moon responded with a confident smirk before flashing me a wink. She knew that I would not lead them into danger.

After a minute, we gently set down in the field of blue fire. Or at least that is how it looked. We felt no heat even as we stood in it, even though it was hard to tell exactly where the floor was. Luna even gingerly poked at the invisible ground to check if it was perfectly leveled. "How surreal... I can scarcely tell if this is even fire or solid mass."

"This whole setting is built on surrealism. You're gonna see lots of weird, yet whimsical stuff in this world, Luna." I replied while beginning to walk along. Just because Magolor had shot us down did not mean he was going to leave us alone.

There was very little sound in the area. Just a sea of billowing blue flames with various shapes drifting below them. Various swirling white lines moved about over the horizon at great speed, strongly bringing to mind Rainbow Dash and the rainbow vapor trails she tends to leave in her wake. My three friends stayed close to me without saying a word, constantly on guard for signs of trouble. It would not be long now.

Eventually, Celestia broke the silence with a wary gaze watching her surroundings. "Are you certain we aren't out of danger? Wasn't he trying to escape from us? He certainly went out of his way to repel us."

"Nah, he's still around." I retorted while still walking along. I remembered everything from where I had originally seen this fictional character before. "He'll be along soon. I guess we just need to keep looking until... Hello!"

I jumped back as a few large purple orbs exploded into the floor before us. We all then glanced up to the cloaked Magolor looming overhead with his hands held out. Luna snorted in some minor irritation and shouted, "Well, that didn't take long! I hope you know exactly who it is you are trifling with, mage!"

Magolor said nothing, although I suspected he understood what Luna just said to him since he then proceeded to show a display of his own power to challenge her. He raised his left hand as three purple magic orbs sparking in crackling magic lightning began to swirl around him only for him to clench his hands into fists and cross them before his chest. With a sudden flash of white light, he then raised his hands out to the sides as the orbs suddenly shot up and rained down around us even as he summoned more to do the same. I knew that this was his battle cry and raised my sword to him. "Oh yeah, it's on now!"

I was actually quite psyched for this. A chance to test myself against a mighty foe from fiction. A true dream fight indeed. My three royal friends quickly jumped to my sides as their horns became coated in their magic auras, ready for battle. Nightmare Moon then called out as Magolor began to strafe us, leaving that blur of an afterimage in his wake like before. "So be it! Have at thee!"

Magolor was quick to evade our opening shots of magic bolts by suddenly teleporting over to our left, only to teleport again before conjuring up several more orbs and launching us in a scattershot fashion. They were hardly a threat and easy to evade due to our ability to fly, but he was hardly flinching from our shots. Celestia displayed some irritation to this fact and shouted, "Are our attacks even doing anything?!"

Small star-shaped rifts in space began to pepper the floor around us while appearing to be lead to the prismatic dimension Magolor had summoned the Lor from a short while earlier. Creepily, they seemed to bubble as if composed of liquid. I then replied, "Yeah, don't get discouraged. We're chipping away at him bit by bit. Now heads up! Don't stand over those!"

My friends were only narrowly able to ease themselves between the cracks just before Magolor unleashed his attack. Towering whip-like vines or spires covered in thorns that seemed to consist of the dimensional rifts themselves suddenly shot up at frightful speed before retracting back to whence they came, the rifts closing soon afterward. Luna cringed as they faded away and muttered, "I dread to imagine what the result of one of those impaling us would have been..."

"Stay focused, sister! He's coming!" Nightmare Moon shouted as Magolor began to perform his next attack for quite a distance away. He placed one hand on the back of the other as a large fiery orange hexagonal glyph began to flash before him. Said glyph began to fire off volleys of swirling fireballs in sets of three.

My friends proceeded to evade them with quick flight, but I had a better idea. Fed up with Magolor constantly teleporting away from us, I decided to use the teleportation spell to close the distance and put myself right behind him. "Two can play at this game!"

Magolor had no time to react before I plunged my sword right into his back. He let out some sort of groan or roar of pain as the Celestial Sword sunk deep, although it was hard to say if I even really hit anything. He squirmed and tried to reach for me, but could not. It was during that lull in Magolor's assault that my three royal friends made their move. In unison, they launched three elemental spells, sending orbs of fire, lightning, and ice hurtling towards us. That was my cue to get away. "Whoops! Gotta go!"

I quickly pulled my sword from Magolor's back and used the teleportation spell to rush back to my friends' sides. With him reeling from the pain, Magolor had no time to react to the incoming attack and was caught in the resulting combined blast of elemental energies. It was spectacular to watch, a flash of sparks, flames, and frost engulfing the near horizon. When it cleared, we saw Magolor still floating in the air, though clearly dazed as he was hunched forward with his hands hanging low. Luna let out a cheer of delight. "Huzzah! We've triumphed!"

"Not quite..." I muttered as the world began to quiver around us even as Magolor began to shakily raise his hands. "I think we've just finally ticked him off. Here's where things get tricky."

Magolor raised his hands high as he was engulfed by a purplish aura. Even more striking was that his face had undergone a change to clearly make him more menacing. His brown skin had become nearly black and his cute oval eyes had become a much more sinister shape akin to one evilly glaring at us while also taking on a red hue. If he seemed harmless before, he most certainly was not like that now.

He did not wait before demonstrating more of his magical might. Magolor raised his hands and put them together before pulling them apart and revealing a glowing line between them. He then lowered his hands forward, revealing that he had created another glyph that was identical to the ones that were around his wrists. The only difference was that it was roughly his size. He then vanished as the glyph began to rotate clockwise. Nightmare Moon cocked her head to one side while it seemed to be doing nothing at all. "For being the start of his second wind, this hardly seems like a threat... Wait..."

We only just then noticed it. We were starting to gradually slide towards the glyph, as if being pulled along by an invisible rope. The world was beginning to quake as well. It was only then that I remembered what this signified. "Oh man... Run! Get away from it!"

No sooner had we turned and began to run, the glyph suddenly produced a giant black star-shaped pinwheel black hole that immediately began to create a vortex to suck us all into the dimensional rift. It was uncanny! Even while running as fast as we could, we were still being drawn backwards as if running on ice while having a rope tied around our waists! When I glanced over my shoulder while fearful of what would happen to me once drawn in, I received a shock. Luna had unfortunately started to run a bit later than we did and was drawing dangerously close to the howling vortex.

I quickly debated on what to do. Should I wait and hope that the vortex burned itself out before Luna could get sucked inside? Or should I try and rescue her myself? With the hectic situation proving difficult to focus on using the levitation spell on Luna to pull her closer to me, I decided to go for the latter and stopped running so that I may turn around. However, due to the gravitational pull of the vortex, I was not expecting the speed of approach I would take. I went hurtling right at Luna, practically crashing right into her and sending us both into the rift before it closed right behind us.

We tumbled helplessly through the darkly colored dimension pocket, unable to see or hear Celestia or Nightmare Moon. Luna called out, "What just happened?! Where are we?!"

"I don't..." That was all I was able to say before we were suddenly and repeatedly rocked by magical explosions from all directions while we tumbled helplessly. I cannot even properly describe the experience. It was just a clamor of jolting vibrations, noise, and even some pain before we suddenly got dropped right out of the rift and back onto the battlefield with quite a hard crash. I was dazed, trying to find my senses while rolling over onto my front. My armor had a number of dents from the force of the explosions, but was still fully intact. Luna was not so lucky. She looked quite roughed up with feathers singed and ruffled and her coat singed. "Luna...?"

"What the...devil was that...?" Luna groaned as she struggled to find her footing. However, we were not out of danger. Right below us, a large mostly green rift opened and began to bubble with liquid. A sense of panic began to set in. We were about to be skewered!

Thankfully, Celestia and Nightmare Moon were quick to respond. They suddenly descended over us with their wings draping across our bodies. With a quick use of the teleportation spell, we suddenly found ourselves nearby and watched as an entire forest of distorted barbed vines shot up from the rift. I cringed at the thought of what that would have done to use and muttered, "Holy hell, Magolor... When did you get THIS hardcore?"

Celestia lowered her head to her wounded sister and asked, "Luna, are you well?"

The scathed Princess of the Night groaned while very slowly climbing to her feet, "It's...only fleeting, sister... I'll be just fine once this dream ends." With a sudden flash of her magic, Luna's battered form returned to pristine condition. "Or rather right now. This mage may be powerful, but he is nothing against a weaver of dreams."

Nightmare Moon seconded that while I climbed to my feet. "Indeed. Seems you picked a ripe one for this training session, James. We just may have to put in some effort after all."

"Heh... Yeah, maybe. What about you girls? Wanna take a whack at him?" I asked while seeing Magolor having returned to our field of view, his hand conjuring up a small star-shaped rift leading to that colorful dimension he had called the Lor from earlier. Seconds later, a swarm of strange orb-like winged silver creatures swooped forth.

Celestia responded with a smirk while she stepped forward, her horn's magic aura suddenly bursting into an aura of magic fire. "My turn. It's been a long while since I've truly had to step into the fray."

I looked on in surprise. Her eyes were filled with a white glow. And then... Man, it still makes me tingle in suspense remembering it. Celestia's mane and tail exploded into flames as her entire body was engulfed in a fire aura. Celestia rushed forward on her wings, her blazing form blasting right through the silver creatures and would have struck Magolor too had he not teleported away at the last second. This did not deter her as the Princess of the Dawn spiraling through the air and back at the furious mage.

"Ha! She's got him on the run! You go, Celestia!" I shouted while getting quite a kick of Celestia pressuring our enemy with such fiery bravado. However, I then noticed Magolor put his hands together and began to quiver as another oversized glyph matching those that summoned that previous vortex appeared before him. However, this one was rapidly spinning as it gave off light. And Celestia was hurtling right at him. "Oh man... Please, tank this one..."

Just when it looked like Celestia was seconds away from ramming him, Magolor put his move into play. A shrieking wave of black energy filled with white particles rushed forth from the glyph like a cannon, engulfing Celestia as her approach was slowed to a crawl. Her fiery aura seemed to be protecting her from the attack, but it was clearly tiring her out. When that attack finally ran its course, Celestia ended up being blown back while her fiery appearance burned itself out. No harm done, but she began to hover in the air while looking noticeably out of breath.

"That's it, I'm sick of this guy!" I shouted before rushing forward with a flap of my wings. Using the levitation magic in my left gauntlet, I detached the Lunar Shield from my arm and launched it at Magolor. It slammed into his head with a loud clank, noticeably making him flinching. I manipulated its movements to slam into him over and over before he turned around and restrained it in both hands. Taking advantage of his distraction, I slipped behind the mage and started to hack away at his billowing body with my sword.

Unlike the shield, my sword did not make him flinch much. In fact, he repelled me in quite an unexpected fashion. In response to my attacks, Magolor turned to face me and used the momentum to literally slap me away from him with my own shield! It quite humiliating, to be honest. Especially with how much it actually jarred me to get hit with something that big and hard. "Ow! That one actually hurt!"

"Then perhaps this will too!" I heard Luna call out before glancing upwards. In a matter of seconds, dozens of ice spikes filled the sky above us. Before Magolor could even properly react, they all rained down on him in rapid succession, stunning him with their sheer numbers while all shattering against him.

It did not end there. In a flash of light, Nightmare Moon appeared before me with magic lightning sparking around her horn. Magolor let out a groan akin to a roar rumbling through a cave as he stared her down, his hand dropping my shield. "And now, the coup de grace!"

With those words, the Princess of Dreams unleashed a massive wave of electrical energy at him. Magolor was engulfed much like how Celestia had been swallowed by his previous attack, pushed back far away over the sea of blue flames. Once the attack had run its course, I could see him hunkered over in exhaustion. Celestia then spurned me on as I returned the Lunar Shield to my left arm. "He's all yours, James."

"Got it!" I said with a smirk before swooping towards the dazed mage, blade ready to finish him off. However, he was not quite done yet. Just as I was closing in, he straightened himself up and began to move his hands about. And... Just as I swung my sword down, I hit something hard that caused my blade to just glance off. "What the?!"

A last stand. Magolor had thrust his hands out and conjured up a barrier consisting of five segments that resembled a star with exaggerated long points, a golden glow surrounding the edges of the transparent masses while each contained a solid white star shape. It was even larger than him. I let out a growl of frustration while futilely swinging my sword against the solid barrier. "Oh, come on! Not this again!"

Magolor quickly teleported away from me despite the fact that he was now untouchable. My three royal friends rushed to my side, having witnessed everything. Nightmare Moon spoke loudly, "The Celestial Sword failed?! How?! It should be able to cleave through most things with ease!"

"Apparently that barrier is one of the few things it cannot pierce. James, are you certain it's indestructible?" Luna then asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

I felt myself calm a bit since I knew that victory was almost ours, but still felt frustrated that we lacked the firepower and the natural capabilities to acquire it in order to smash through this last line of defense. "Well... The good news is that the fact he's using that means we've got him against the ropes. The bad news is... Well, if the Celestial Sword can't get through it, then I'm out of ideas. Anyone here packing some artillery?"

Truly, we were going to have to improvise to deal with this new defense. It was Celestia who spoke first. "Well... Perhaps some solar magic might be able to crack it."

"Solar...? Oh, right. You sunk the Lor with that stuff. Maybe..." I replied while holding up the Celestial Sword. I tried to focus some solar magic of my own into the blade, but still feared the incredibly volatile properties to be tricky of maintain. Maybe I could have done it at the time, but I was lacking the confidence to try it without risking blowing us all up and cutting the dream short. "Um... I don't think I'm the best candidate for this. You wanna do this, Celestia?"

"Gladly. Just give me some distance and keep him occupied for a bit and I'll conjure up the proper concentration. And please try to keep him from evading it." Celestia replied as her golden yellow magic aura engulfed her horn.

"Will do. Onward!" Luna called out as she and Nightmare Moon soared towards the distant Magolor while I followed. Celestia kept her distance remaining still while gathering the magic necessary to blow that barrier apart. The two sisters of the night began to circle Magolor while he tried to bombard them with more explosive purple orbs. Strangely, even though the barrier was facing me, their magic shots just bounced off of him. And it certainly stood up to all of my attacks too. Perhaps it was just an optical illusion and really covered him from all angles while the visual form follows your eyes.

About fifteen seconds later, Celestia made her move. A fiery orb of white flames shot forth from her while Nightmare Moon and Luna retreated away. Unfortunately, Magolor saw it coming and teleported closer to Celestia as the orb of solar magic flew right through the space where he had once been. With some quick thinking, I managed to help correct Celestia's miss while holding out my left hand. "Oh, no you don't!"

With the levitation spell, I managed to grab hold of the explosive fire and made it slingshot around the battlefield and right back towards Magolor as he tried to bombard Celestia with his newly simplified arsenal. Celestia was quick to see her spell coming back towards them and quickly put some distance between her and Magolor with the teleportation spell. I could not help letting out a laugh as Magolor turned around just in time to see Celestia's spell slam into his face. The blast radius was big, but nowhere near as big as the one that sunk the Lor. And when the flash faded, I saw a rattled Magolor hiding behind what was left of the star barrier. I let out a shout of elation when I noticed that one of the five segments was missing. "Ha! That did it!"

"Bravo! We're making progress!" Luna called out with gusto, the situation going from tense to optimistic in an instant.

Magolor did not take kindly to that. In an act of vengeful frustration, he summoned a number of star-shaped rifts in the ground around us from which numerous volatile purple orbs shot up from and dispersed n random directions. We were easily able to deflect them with magic barriers, but it seemed even he was getting tired. It was only then that I noticed Magolor bring his hands together as another large glyph began to spin before him. "Yep, he's mad now! Scatter!"

We took off in multiple directions as Magolor unleashed another howling wave of dark energy, but slowly moved his hands to follow our movements. He ultimately tried going after Nightmare Moon, veering the attack away from Celestia and myself. While on the run, Celestia moved closer to me and spoke up. "You know, if you're unsure about using solar magic for attack, you can channel it into your sword instead. It will be much more stable if it's focused into the blade as a medium."

"You don't say?" I replied before trying to do just that. And she was right. With the necessary focus to craft the fiery white magical energies, I saw the blade of the Celestial Sword become engulfed in the scorching hot white flames. It felt stable. Contained. Like my magic was engulfing the sword's blade alone and staying there. "Hey, that's actually working! No problem at all! Lemme take a shot at him."

With the use of the teleportation spell, I ended up right behind Magolor. And while he was busy trying to blast Nightmare Moon out of the sky, I proceeded to deliver a quick slash to his back. "Peekaboo!"

The instant the flaming Celestial Sword slammed into the barrier, there was a noisy crash as Magolor was rocked by the blow, the other bottom segment of the barrier disappearing in a flash of golden bursts. Magolor then quickly teleported away before practically clapping his hands together to suddenly send out a giant expanding glyph that shot past us. It was... Well, it is difficult to describe. It was like a sudden jolt to my senses that even made me jump. My friends seemed to feel it too and it left them baffled as they rushed to my side. Nightmare Moon shook her head and asked, "What was that?!"

"Um... Not sure. I don't think that should've even really done anything to us." I retorted before glancing at my sword. I was quick to notice that the fiery white solar flames engulfing the blade were gone. "Huh? I wonder..."

"Regardless, I think we need to only score three more hits before we're done here." Celestia replied before she began to prepare another solar blast in her horn. I did the same, channeling my right gauntlet's solar magic into the Celestial Sword. But before we could even really do anything, Magolor did it again! Another giant glyph rushed past us and basically startled us. Celestia was then quick to notice that her horn was no longer coated in her golden yellow magic aura, as was my gauntlet. "Wha... My magic?! Why did it..."

Luna then cast Magolor a quick scowl. "That scoundrel. That technique disrupts our focus when using our magic! He's learned which spells are potent enough to pierce his defenses and knows how to prevent us from casting them!"

She had a point. Only solar magic was proving to be effective in smashing through that barrier. With magic being out of the question, we were stuck in a stalemate. I let out a frustrated sigh and turned to my friends. "Well... What now?"

Strangely enough, Celestia and Luna looked at each other in silence. As if engaging in a wordless conversation, they merely gazed at each other and seldom blinked. Nightmare Moon seemed to understand what they were up to and promptly excused herself. "I shall draw his attention in the meantime. Feel free to join me once you are prepared."

The Princess of Dreams soared towards Magolor as they began to exchange bursts of lightning and bombardments of purple magic orbs. Finally, Luna and Celestia nodded to each other before the Princess of the Night turned to face me. "Well... I was hoping we would not have to reveal this to you so soon. However, considering the circumstances..."

Their horns became coated in their respective magic auras, as did the Celestial Sword and Lunar Shield. The sword floated out of my hand while the shield detached from my arm. Celestia then said, "Allow us to borrow these for just a few moments."

"Uh... OK?" I replied, having now idea what was going on as my weapons began to radiate yellow and blue glows. They then shot up into the sky while spinning around each other. Just when they were on the verge of being too high up to see, I think... I think they merged together, if that is even possible. There was a bright flash of white light before I saw what I thought was the Celestial Sword falling back towards the ground with its blade spinning through the air while leaving a white light trail in its wake. But when its blade struck the ground and became stuck, I was left awestruck at what I was seeing. It was not the Celestial Sword at all, but...something else. "Whoa... What's this?"

The length and increased width of the blade combined with the significantly longer hilt was unmistakably that of a greatsword. The pommel and crossguard remained unchanged, although there was a noticeable difference in the center. Over the middle of sun shape that matched Celestia's cutie mark was a white crescent moon with a dark blue patch set in the moon's 'mouth'. It was clearly from Luna's cutie mark. And the blade... It was long, but only the edge itself remained purest white and continued to give off a bright glow. Up the very middle, it was as black as the night sky complete with twinkling sparkles lining its length like stars. Only one word came to mind as I grasped the hilt just below the crossguard. "Eclipse...?"

I took the sword in both hands, finding its increased size and weight to be nothing my armor's enchantments could not handle. It was just as easy to wield as the previous greatsword I had trained with, my hands guiding the great blade's movements through the air as I swung and twirled it. I quickly became enthralled with this beautiful sword as I exclaimed, "Oh man... Forget the Flamberge and Soul Calibur! I'll take this baby any day!"

"Uh... The what now?" Luna asked, clearly not getting it at all. Not that she would. Hell, no one in the world will.

"Heh, don't worry about it. Just a little something from my past hobbies." I retorted before hoisting the great blade of my sword to my pauldron. "So, this sucker can probably bust through that barrier of his?"

Celestia got me a confident smile and said, "It should. There is no mightier weapon in all of Equestria than that. Use it well."

"Got it." I then turned to face the distant mage, still hard at work trying to shoot down Nightmare Moon. "OK, here goes."

I took the mighty sword in both hands and adjusted my grip along the hilt to get a proper feel. It really was quite different from a typical longsword. Still, I had a good idea of what I was doing with the greatsword being a far more technical weapon. I watched and began to focus my magic in my right gauntlet while beginning to raise my sword. A few second later, I cast the teleportation spell and found myself right above and behind Magolor. I then swung my sword right down and dropped down on him. "Heads up!"

There was another mighty crash and flashes of golden light as another chunk of that star shield vanished, my blade having effortlessly smashed through it. Magolor had no idea what even hit him and teleported to the far reaches of the battlefield to get his bearings. I must have really knocked him for a loop that time. Nightmare Moon could only look as I rose to my feet and responded in shock upon seeing the mighty blade in my hands. "By the stars! Is that...?"

"Lemme guess! No mentioning names just yet, right?" I replied while pointing my sword up at her. I still could not believe how easy it was to lift in just one hand. But I then turned my gaze towards the distant Magolor. Only two segments of that barrier remained. "Hold on! Almost done!"

With a flap of my armor's wings, I rushed towards Magolor with sword in hand. He could see me coming and soon sent spiraling fireballs at me like before, each burst consisting of three. I managed to weave around each and managed to land a passing one-handed strike as I streaked by him, taking out another of the barrier's segments in a loud crash. Only one remained.

I came to a sliding halt as my feet touched the unseen ground. But when I turned around, Magolor once more sent a sudden shockwave-like glyph that engulfed the entire battlefield. Rather than disrupt my focus on anything, it sent the sword flying out of my hands! It did not go far, only landing a few dozen paces away with its blade getting stuck in the ground. This was just a minor nuisance while I cast Magolor a mildly irritated glare. "Really? That's it?"

Without ceremony, I extended my hand towards my sword and promptly cast the teleportation spell on it, summoning it to my hand. In a flash, I was grasping the mighty blade once more. I then glanced at the mage and smirked. "Sorry, big guy. This is one Super Ability you're not gonna get rid of!"

What followed from there is kind of embarrassing to admit, really. I propelled myself with a flap of my wings and tried to lash out with a leaping chop, only for Magolor to teleport out of the way once I was in the process of swinging. It was like a game of teleporting whack-a-mole. This just kept going on for maybe half a minute, maybe as an attempt to tire me out, until I heard Nightmare Moon let out a shout from nearby. "Oh, for goodness sake!"

I got quite a surprise. Before I could even charge Magolor, he was suddenly engulfed in what was clearly Nightmare Moon's magic aura. He let out some sort of startled groan before suddenly getting his face slammed into the floor over and over! The last piece of the barrier prevented him from actually making direct contact, but he still was getting slammed against it like a rag doll! And when she finally let him go, he even had stars swirling around his head! It was impossible for me to not laugh at this.

Being that dazed gave me a huge window of opportunity to deal the last strike. In no hurry, I walked up to Magolor while he propped himself up on his hands. In what was an all too comical reaction, he suddenly looked right down at my armored greaves before slowly looking up at me. I had my sword hoisted over my shoulder while I looked at him with the smuggest smirk I could muster. And so I gave my parting words. "Hello! And goodbye."

With nothing else to say, I dropped my great blade onto him. Like the previous four times, there was a crash and many golden flashes as the last chunk of his barrier was destroyed. This snapped Magolor back to his senses before he suddenly teleported to a great distance away. At that moment, my three royal friends swooped over to me with Celestia speaking first. "Did that do it?!"

"Not quite! The barrier's down, but he's still holding on by a thread!" I replied while noticing that Magolor was starting to glow as he crossed his hands over his body, the circular glyphs around his wrists spinning rapidly. I knew what he was up to and had to act quickly. "Not this time!"

With the levitation spell, I threw my sword through the air, the blade spinning rapidly while it was about to go over him. However, I quickly used the levitation spell to bridge the distance, placing myself above Magolor and insuring that my sword's hilt would land right into my hand. Raising my sword high, I dropped down on the desperate mage for the final blow.

Magolor knew I was coming. With a groan, he managed to cross his hands and generated a rapidly spinning glyph that seemed to double as a barrier, desperately trying to hold off the blade. He even began to push back, my wings trying to push myself down onto him. I knew he was against the wall, but he was putting up some surprising resistance with all things considered.

"Dang it... Come on... Come OOOOONNNNN!!!!" I yelled as frustration took hold. My right gauntlet was coated in its magic aura as a surging aura of white solar magic engulfed the already deadly blade! This began to add even more cutting power to it as I began to make some headway. After maybe only five more seconds of pushing, I suddenly felt all resistance give way as I flew right by Magolor and narrowly managed to make a safe landing on the ground below.

I paused. That blow had definitely cleaved right through him. The air was filled with a tense silence as the white hot magic plasma faded from my sword's glowing blade. I turned and looked up at the floating mage, who just hovered motionlessly in the air. A moment passed before the three royal sisters hurried to my side as well. Luna then asked, "Was that it?"

A sigh escaped my lips while I hoisted my sword to my shoulder in triumph. "Wait for it..."

The response was sudden. With a flash and bang, Magolor let out a discernible yell as his body was engulfed in bursting splashes of purple and dark blue energies while flashes of white filled the area. Just as bolts of purple lightning seemed to begin being drawn to him from nowhere, one final bright flash of light engulfed everything, leaving us sightless.

It became eerily quiet. Not a sound filled the air. We literally could not see anything other than white in a truly surreal moment. I heard Nightmare Moon speak from nearby. "Is it finally over?"

A moment later, we got an answer. A crash not unlike thunder filled the air once, then twice as a black shape faded in and out of the light. That long wide form... I felt myself cringe as I realized that we were not facing what I was expecting. "Oh no... Why that one?"

In the white void, I could see the shape fade back into view as a mere black form. It was wide, long, and spindly while giving off quite an ominous presence. The entire void around us suddenly faded to black as a burst of dark purple mist burst from it, bluish flames billowing under the claw-like talons of what was clearly the remains of the crown Magolor had been wearing. Only now the crown had gone from looking like an actual golden crown fit for royalty to something truly ghastly. The blue gem on the front had become an alarming red while the gold frame had become white as bone and a ghostly silver, stretched and twisted into two sets of horns while more crooked spires stuck up above the gem. Rays of blue light burst out of the billowing bluish energy in the crown's grasp as Luna whispered loudly, "James... What sort of nightmare have you dragged us into?"

"The really dangerous kind. That thing's not done yet." I replied while my grasp on the sword's hilt tightened. I knew of the sort of danger this foe's true face would provide.

With a sudden flash of pink and purple energy, something burst forth from the billowing bluish flames that quickly took on a consistent form. How do I describe what I was seeing... Well, Celestia certainly had something to say about it. "What...sort of abomination is this?"

Much like Magolor before it, the twisted crown firmly clung to the entity's round body with constantly shifting greenish blue hues, four more talon-like claws wrapped under the mass's bottom side like a grasping hand. Two thick appendages which could have been mistaken for arms, legs, or horns stuck out of the sides that were of a very faded purple color with shimmering bone-white bands of metal matching parts of the crown coiled around them with very dark green spikes lining the tops. A pair of wings extended from the backside consisting of the same billowing dark bluish green matter the central mass was made up of. Lining the tops was more of the same malleable bone white metal with spines not unlike one would see on a dragon lining the tops that consisted of the same dark green as the spikes mentioned above. It was then that a pair of white oval spots seemed to open like eyes on the central mass's front, briefly lending it an almost cute appearance. But then it opened its mouth to smile to reveal that instead of an actual mouth, a sinister red eye glared at us. Finally, two disembodied dark green hands emerged from behind it with two translucent hexagonal shapes around where the wrists were be while much simpler in design and lacking the glyphs that lined Magolor's. It then let out a hissing shriek of sorts at us while the central eye opened even wider, prompting my three friends to reel in horror while Nightmare Moon shouted, "What the devil is this hell spawn?!"

With a sudden clap of its hands, it sent another jarring expanding glyph at us in a possible attempt to disarm me. It startled us, but I managed to keep a grip on my sword. But the abomination then proceeded to move its hands in a manner that caused them to cross over each other. As it did so, a freakish phenomenon began to occur as the entire world around us began to slowly stretch and distort as it began to spiral in on itself. And yet, we were left unaffected as if it was just a mirage. I narrowly managed to remember what this meant and turned to run. "Get away from the center!"

Seconds later, the creature vanished only for the same star-shaped rift from before to suddenly open and try to drag us all in. My royal friends let out a startled shriek as they tried to fly away only for us to start to get pulled towards it as the entire world seemed to be spiraling into the vortex. It was thankfully short-lived, the world suddenly returning to normal the instant the void closed as the abomination suddenly teleported back to where the void had been. Nightmare Moon let out a frustrated growl as we all turned to face this new threat. "Well, that was quite the intro! What's next?!"

Celestia instead tried to smile a bit. "What a frightful demon... Truly a challenge for the likes of us. But we can surely overcome it, can't we?"

Rattled as I was, I knew the end was near. We were more than capable of taking it down now due to sheer numbers. "Yeah... Once we take this thing out, we're done here. Ready, ladies?"

Luna showed a surprisingly confident smirk while she stepped forward. "Indeed. Let's put this nightmare down, sisters. We've faced worse!"

I was not going to challenge that claim. Lord knows what they have had to deal with in the distant past. With a wave of its hands, the demon made its next move. A number of small star-shaped rifts bearing the multicolored appearance of the portals that summoned those thorny vines from earlier opened up around us, but we quickly removed ourselves from the immediate area with flaps of our wings. My three friends went on a strafing run while bombarding the large winged abomination with magic bolts while I charged right at it with sword ready. "You're gonna have to do better than that! You're not staying out of range this time!"

The demon seemed surprisingly lax in terms of awareness to danger. It made no attempt to evade our magic shots and still did not flinch. Definitely more powerful than Magolor, but noticeably less intelligent. But it did let out a roar as I swooped by it and cleaved the mighty blade of my sword through its central mass. Responding properly to being in danger, it opened a very large star-shaped rift above itself and spiraled up into it and out of sight just before it closed.

"OK, where'd you go..." I muttered as I hovered in place. Very soon, two identical rifts opened up that led to very colorful voids. Rays of light lined the edges as I could hear something coming. I propelled myself a bit higher so as to be above the rifts and then swung my blade downward to strike the incoming spiraling demon as it tried to ram me, coming out of one void and into another. My blow hit home, but then the voids closed only to open again around me to set up another collision course. However, I then noticed a bright white orb of solar magic heading towards me. "OK! It's all yours, Celestia!"

With a quick use of the teleportation spell, I got myself out of the way and watched from a safe distance. Celestia's timing was right on the money as the creature came hurtling out of one of the voids and right into the fiery orb of solar magic as they crossed paths! The resulting explosion was huge and rattling with the clearly shaken nightmare reeling through the air as the portals closed. I could hear the three royal sisters howling in laughter even as I did the same. For as powerful and dangerous as this thing was, our coordination and power was proving superior!

With a growl, the abomination regained its composure and raised its hands to its sides. Another portal opened before it as a spot of some sort of black void began to form before it while beams of light were drawn into it. Was it preparing something? It was roughly what I expected. It then thrust its hands forward while a large glyph spun around its hands as it launched the same kind of concentrated beam attack that Magolor had used before. Only it went right into the portal before it closed once the attack ceased. Luna then just happened to fly up to me and asked, "What is it doing? Where did that spell go just now?"

I then noticed two more rifts open near us while facing each other. I immediately knew what was coming next. "Everywhere! Keep moving!"

The nightmare had us on the move. The beam attack shot from portal to portal only for them to rapidly close and open all over the place. It quickly became disorienting with us having little time to react. Finally, I noticed a bright flash come from the demon as Nightmare Moon teleported right above it. Before it even knew she was there, the Princess of Dreams placed her hoof upon its crown and teleported it and herself between the newest set of portals before quickly flying away. The demon's colossal red eye seemed to glance around in momentary confusion before it let out a scream as it was engulfed by its own attack!

How in the world did a clash against such a nightmarish foe suddenly become so fun and entertaining? We were all laughing as that last blow sent the nightmare reeling backwards as the eye in its body darted around dizzily in its body. However, it then righted itself as it seemed to roar at us in frustration. We had gotten it down to the halfway point. I then called out, "We better wrap this up quick. Things are gonna get really nasty if this goes on for much longer!"

A massive glyph appeared over the nightmare just before a colossal mallet made of ice descended from it and into the abomination's waiting hands. Despite that thing likely being far too heavy to possibly swing, the creature lifted it high and slammed it hard into the shifting floor. A visible shockwave was sent out along the floor in all direction, but the real danger was massive falling icicles that seemed to have been summoned from nowhere.

Once that ice storm faded, the nightmare suddenly reached below itself into another glyph that soon faded, revealing two massive ice swords in each hand with upward-curved barbs lining the edges. But what came next was a bit of a shock. I was expecting a gradual approach while it struggled to swing one sword in a broad arc. Instead, it flapped its wings to hurl itself at me and lash out on the run!

"Good lord!" I yelled while just narrowly avoiding the swing by flapping my wings hard to take flight. I proceeded to fly away and get some distance, but the abomination immediately pursued me until we were flying beside each other. I was forced to face it as this segment of the battle became a duel of blades while we soared through the sky. Its swords were much larger, but mine was more powerful by far. "OK, bring it!"

The beast lashed out with a swing faster than I would expect, trying to strike me from below while I lashed out at its hand and missed after performing a quick evasive loop. It then used the momentum from said swing to bring its other sword towards me while I swung my own sword to parry it. Even with so much more weight behind that strike than what I was packing, the sheer power of my sword was enough to repel it. It then tried to catch me in a whirlwind of blades as it went into a spiral, lashing out with its huge blades like a spinning fan.

This proved to be dangerous, forcing me to ascend just enough to get above the swords as they tried to dice me up. I grew irritated as I channeled the solar magic in my right gauntlet into my sword's great blade, setting it ablaze with unnaturally hot white fire. With a downward swing, my blade intercepted one of the nightmare's swords and utterly shattered it from the intense heat. This sudden loss of a weapon caused my enemy to come out of its spin and take its remaining sword in both hands and tried to cleave me out of the air. The flames faded from my sword as its glowing blade clashed with the demon's ice sword, the two of use still soaring through the air. It almost felt magical despite the danger, the two of us locked in trading blows with our swords while just careening through the sky.

After a moment of no progress, we were both dealt a surprise when Luna and Nightmare Moon suddenly flew up beside me with their horns engulfed in sparking blue electricity. Luna called out as our enemy paused and let out a hiss of surprise, "Stand aside, James!"

I did as I was told and descended. While close together, the two night sisters combined their magical energies into a single point and unleashed a massive orb of lightning magic at the nightmare. It grasped the upper portion of its blade with one hand and stood its ground, trying to block the blast with its sword. But it was too much. The massive blade cracked and finally shattered before the magical burst slammed into it and pushed it far to the ground below before exploding in countless arcs of magic electricity. Nightmare Moon then glanced at me and spoke briefly, "Go! Finish it!"

"Gladly!" I replied before going into a dive to build speed. I managed to pull out of it before I could collide with the ground, sending myself rushing towards the weakened nightmare on my wings. It saw me coming as I made my final charge and began to throw everything it could at me in a frantic attempt to keep me away. Countless small colorful voids opened ahead of me over and over as equally colorful barbed vines tried to impale or obstruct my path. Larger portals began to open and close as its own beam attack from earlier burst forth to try and intercept me repeatedly. It even began to wave its hands to summon blue fire serpents to try and grab me from multiple directions. But I would not be hindered. I weaved and twirled around these many obstacles, not slowing down at all. When I finally came within range, I suddenly ascended and grazed the beast with my sword's edge on the way up. This forced it to look upward while I spread my wings wide to slow down. Time for the final blow.

Taking my sword in both hands, I felt myself stop ascending and began to fall back towards the abomination with the sword pointing straight down in a reverse grip. The beast could not stop me. With one final strike, I plunged the blade directly into the nightmare's single red eye.

That was it. Mere seconds later, it let out a hissing scream as flashes of light engulfed the world even as a burst of black mist blew me and my blade from its body. It began to writhe and flail as I landed nearby, dark mist bursting from its grotesque form even as billowing bluish green flames engulfed its steadily shrinking form. My three royal friends soon landed beside me while we watched the abomination in its death throes. It hands waved and grasped until they too shrunk away to nothing. Once the black mist and creepy flames finally faded, only its ghastly white and silver crown remained. It floated there for maybe just five seconds until it suddenly shattered into glistening dust that blew away to nothing.

"So... That's it then?" Celestia asked in quiet concern. The vast area had become nearly soundless in the presence of our victory.

A tremor in the ground answered Celestia's question. The blue flames that engulfed the ground and horizon began to fade away as I let out a sigh. "Almost... Just need to get outta here now."

A truly surreal sight began to play out in front of us. Almost like a mirror, the very space maybe twenty feet ahead of us began to break apart into many large shards. The void that was revealed behind them was practically identical to the vacuum of space. And like space, the gravity in the area began to disappear while we began to lightly float off of the shattering ground. Nightmare Moon seemed especially alarmed as she glanced around. "The dreamscape is collapsing!"

"No, it's a dimensional collapse! We... Hello!" I replied before noticing a form approaching us from between the cracks of the shattered horizon.

"Is that... The Lor?! But it's...less intimidating than before." Luna called out. Indeed, the Lor was flying towards us. Only by then, its antagonistic paint job had been replaced with more inviting shades of blue.

Just as it was about to pass us, I pointed out to it. "There's our ticket outta here! Follow that Starcutter!"

With flaps of our wings, we soared alongside the majestic starship as it seemed to be guiding us out of the collapsing dimension. Indeed, the very space behind us was being erased by an encroaching wall of pinkish light. Before long, the yellow star shape on the bow glowed and fired a beam of light ahead that seemed to open a portal. We did not take any mind of where it seemed to lead or what it even looked like. We all rushed through it in quick succession before the Lor followed immediately after us.

We quickly set down upon what felt like lush grass. The air was warm as a soft breeze blew through the area. Luna looked around and muttered, "Well, this certainly makes for a sudden shift of tone after all that..."

The landscape we found ourselves in was truly not entirely unlike of a vast meadow you would likely find in Equestria. Vast fields of grass with a few dirt paths lined with flowers bordered by a vast lake. Cliffs resembling blocks of Swiss cheese dotted the lake while waterfalls spilled down their sides. A massive tree with a strange windmill-like top wit three huge leaves spinning towered in the distance while a trail of rainbow swept and looped through the air as if Rainbow Dash was making her rounds. Nightmare Moon then asked, "James... Where are we now?"

I almost laughed as I delayed myself from speaking the name. It was truly fitting. "Welcome to Dream Land, your majesties."

They all laughed at that, probably not taking me serious in the slightest. However, Celestia soon stopped when she happened to glance up. "Oh! You're still here?"

We all looked skyward to see what she was speaking to and found none other than the Lor hovering over us with its oars stirring the air. It was as if it was waiting for a command or a word of thanks. And so I did just that and raised my left hand to wave at it. "We're good now! Thanks for the assist!"

That seemed to satisfy it. The floating Starcutter then turned around as its engines on the back of the stern began to flare up. And once it created another portal to another location, it shot forward through the rift in space and was gone just before the portal closed behind it. Nightmare Moon then cast me a smile and said, "A surprisingly cordial vessel, wouldn't you say?"

I nodded, not entirely surprised that Magolor had been manipulating it during our previous clash. "Yeah, it's a helpful machine. Must have a pretty friendly AI."

Luna then stepped past me and asked, "So... What's next? That was the end of the danger, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess. This would be the part when the credits roll. Maybe they're rolling somewhere above us right now." I replied while trying to mess with them as much as possible. They would never get what I meant at all.

Nightmare Moon snorted in mild amusement. "Yes... Credits... Anyway, it seems we still have some time before you awaken. Shall we just explore?"

I nodded and extended my arm towards the field behind me. "Be my guest. I think we could all use some relaxation after that one. But first..." I then thrust my sword's blade into the ground to prop it up due to the lack of a fitting scabbard. "How about getting this armor off? I think I'm done with it for now."

Luna smirked before her horn was briefly coated in her blue magic aura. An instant later, I was engulfed in a flash of light only to find myself completely without my armor and clad in sandals, a green t-shirt, and blue jeans. Perfect for summer. "Done."

Moments later, I strolled through the area alone while my three friends took off in different directions to explore this world for themselves with what little time they still had left before I woke up. It was utterly pleasant, all too fitting of the title 'Dream Land' with how idyllic and calm it was. I did pass a few of the land's strange fauna, but they seemed docile enough. Before long, I thought I could see Luna galloping in my direction somewhere far down dirt path ahead of me. "Looks like she found something interesting... Hey there, Luna! Whatcha find this time? Another netch?"

She certainly seemed excited and very delighted about something. "No, not this time! But I did find such a charming little creature! Do you see him?"

When she came to a stop before me, I leaned to the left to see something peeking out from behind her. It was a pretty rotund creature with two adorable oval eyes that had two stubby arms and feet while only coming up to my knee. Its body was orange, but its face was largely featureless and light tan while its feet were a golden yellow. What, did you think I was going to say it was pink instead?

"Seems you stumbled upon one of the natives. And yeah, they don't get much more peaceful than these little guys." I said while crossing my arms. It seemed to have followed her quite willfully and appeared fond of her.

Luna rubbed her hoof over the top of its head and said with a smile, "They certainly act the part. Just so adorable!"

As I stepped around her, my foot just happened to brush past a flower that seemed to be not quite in bloom. Upon making contact, it burst into full bloom and somehow produced something from its face. The... I am not a botanist, but... You know. The center of the flower's petals. You know what I mean. Anyway, it seemed to expel something. A hotdog on a bun. "What the... Oh, right. They're supposed to do that sometime."

The Princess of the Night noticed as well and cocked her head to one side, eyeing the steaming stick of meat on a bun. It was even still warm! "Hm? What's this? It...smells mouthwatering."

"Uh... That's a hotdog. It's a type of food you don't find in Equestria, from what I know. I don't think you would care for it. It's strictly for carnivores and omnivores." I explained while still mildly amused by what I had just seen. We would never have to worry about going hungry again if we had those flowers all over Equestria.

"A type of meat, hm?" Luna muttered while she held the hotdog on her upturned hoof. However, she then eyed her little friend and smiled before holding the hotdog out to its face. "Are you hungry? I think you might like this."

I could not help smirking at Luna's coddling of the little creature. Of course, there was no way that the little guy could even eat the thing due to the complete lack of a mouth. "I don't think that's gonna work, Luna. The guy doesn't even have a mou..."

I was suddenly cut off as I witnessed a startling sight. The hotdog suddenly got sucked into the creature's face while also appearing to get shrunken down in less than a second. It even startled Luna since she suddenly pulled her hoof away. "Heavens! How did... Where is..."

We both took a closer look at the little fellow as it clearly seemed to be chewing something despite the lack of a mouth. The hotdog got in there somewhere. And it seemed satisfied with the snack. Once the chewing stopped, the little creature waved one of its stubby arms at us in farewell and waddled back down the path from whence it came. Luna raised an eyebrow while she muttered, "Well, that suddenly got spooky..."

I crossed my arms while cocking my head to one side as I watched the little creature walk away. "Huh... Didn't see that coming. Now we just need to find a fat bird king in a red coat that talks like a raging Texan and we'll have the entire Dream Land experience."

"I'm going to pretend I know what you're talking about." Luna dryly replied. Not that I expected her to understand what I was getting at. Before anything else could happen, a shadow passed over us. A glance upward revealed Celestia swooping back towards us as she came in for a landing. Luna then called out, "See any interesting locales, sister?"

The Princess of the Dawn came to a trotting halt before us while looking rather perplexed. "I suppose you can say that. I found an impressive stone castle on a cliffside overlooking the ocean and went to investigate. I barely set down on a balcony before I was chased off by a...blue penguin in a red robe and cap swinging a large wooden mallet and yelling at me like a drunken rodeo contestant from Appleloosa. I swear I'm not making this up!"

Luna and I could only stare blankly at Celestia for a few seconds before Luna looked at me with a very dry expression and said, "I thought you were joking when you mentioned a bird in a red coat."

"I thought I was too! I just didn't know we were in THAT Dream Land!" I replied loudly while trying very hard to not laugh and failing miserably. But it was then that I noticed Celestia looking in my direction with a very amused expression. Too amused to be entertained by my response. "Huh? What's up?"

"Don't look now, but... I think our sister has an interesting tale to tell us." She replied before Luna and I turned to look down the other end of the path. I all but snickered when I saw Nightmare Moon approaching us with a very dull expression as a large red apple roughly the size of my head sat perfectly skewered on her horn. She came to a stop in front of us and just...stared in silent irritation. Celestia then asked, "Sooo...? What happened?"

Nightmare Moon's response was short and to the point. "Don't ask."

And so I did just that. I did not ask. I told instead. "You walked into the Whispy Woods, came across a giant tree with a face, picked a fight with it, and had the tree drop an apple right on your horn. Am I right?"

Her expression changed to one of genuine shock and even some embarrassment. "Word for word. How did you know?"

"It's a recurring element." I replied with a smirk while her sisters burst into laughter. Nightmare Moon let out a frustrated equine snort before channeling her magic through her horn and unleashing a burst of lightning magic to the sky, obliterating the apple in a shower of moist chunks.

It was right around then that I felt something familiar. The world quivered just slightly. I then asked, "Is it almost time?"

My three friends looked around, seeing the horizon and sky ripple occasionally. Nightmare Moon looked my way and nodded. "It would seem so. It is time to wake up."

Celestia then flashed me a warm smile and said, "I must say... This dream was quite the adventure for all of us. We should do this from time to time. Now I can only wonder where your dreams will take us next."

I grinned myself, very surprised that my dream took us on such a wild ride. "Well, don't be surprised if we end up doing something crazy. I've seen many walks of fiction from interactive entertainment."

"That's a fancy term for video games, my friend. Still, we'll be certain to visit. Have a good day, James." Luna replied with a bit of a wink. However, I then turned my gaze towards the top of the hill where we had found ourselves immediately after escaping that collapsing dimension. That beautiful sword was still sticking out of the ground where I left it. "Something catch your eye?"

I glanced at the three sisters after eyeing my sword for a moment. "That sword you merged my gear into. Will I ever be able to use that in the real world? And what is it anyway?"

They all gave me a calm smile while Nightmare Moon provided a response, though not the response what I was hoping for. "In due time, my friend."

Those three sure like to keep me guessing. I knew I would not get a more transparent answer out of them, so I dropped the subject there. Several minutes later after spending a bit more time savoring my final moments with my royal friends, I found myself awakening to the aroma of breakfast being cooked downstairs. Feeling strangely relaxed and rested despite going through such an ordeal, I pulled myself out of bed and hurried into the bathroom for a quick shower to start my day.

For once, I am doing all this writing during the afternoon. Sundays tend to be slow and uneventful, especially in the dead of winter. The clothes drier is making the room feel nice and steamy while I type away. Although Fluttershy did let me know that she and Rainbow Dash would like me to stop by somewhere after work on Saturday. Something they have been planning? I guess I will find out in several days.

Although... Right, almost forgot about the earliest part. Need to put this entry away and out of sight for a while until this whole mess with that Starlight Glimmer character finally blows over. I do not know what could possibly be going on out there, but if Nightmare Moon's inquiries into how that mare's mind works is anything to go by, this incident is not going to end well. Best to just go about my business and leave this problem to the royal guard.

Well, I would say I am done here for the day. That dream has been the most interesting thing to happen today so far. Now I better put finish this up. Scootaloo wants me to help her make a snowcolt before the sun goes down. I wonder where my dreams will take me and the royal sisters next.