Sadness is a word which defines emotional pain that’s either associated with, or characterized by feelings of disadvantage, helplessness, or sorrow. An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw themselves from others. This is precisely what both Princess Celestia and Twilight’s parents were feeling.

Not long after Twilight, Trixie, and Moondancer’s deaths, Phantom had ordered Velvet to be released, as she had served her purpose. Because of Phantom’s control of her mind, Velvet had absolutely no memory of the fight against her daughter. The only thing she knew, was that Phantom had taken away both her children.

Normally the sun would shine, a sign to start a happy day. Obviously and unfortunately, this was not one of those days. Rather, today was a day of absolute sorrow. The clouds covered the sun, blanketing the town of Ponyville. What started as drizzling, soon turned into pouring rain; a fitting setting for a sad day.

On the hill outside of town laid five stones, each carved to remember the fallen: Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight’s cutie marks. Celestia had Fluttershy and Twilight’s body hidden away so neither Phantom nor Nightmare Moon could use them for their twisted games.

It’s been three days since the princess of friendship was announced deceased and ponies began to come to pay their respects. While most of them came from Ponyville, there were a few who came from other places. Some of the ponies who stayed throughout the service were: Mayor Mare, Caramel, Time Tuner, Bulk Biceps, Ma Hooffield and Big Daddy McColt, several member of the Apple family, and Scootaloo. But what shocked ponies the most, was that the mischievous spirit, known as Discord, was there along with Princess Celestia. Both staring down at Twilight’s tombstone in silence; neither saying a single word.

Celestia turned, showing an expression nopony, neither her sister, her son, not even Twilight, has ever seen: pure sorrow, and regret. She looked upon her subjects and did her best to address them properly.

“My fellow ponies,” she began. “I-I,” she choked, as the images of her nightmares began to haunt her once again. At quick glances, she saw both Phantom and Nightmare Moon standing at the far end of the crowd of ponies. When she rub her eyes making sure her vision wasn’t messing with her, the two were gone.

“I’m,” she began again, only this time, both the black alicorn and dragon were accompanied by their victims: Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Big Macintosh, Cheerilee, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Thunderlane, Cadance, Shining Armor, Trixie, and Moondancer. All of their eyes were hollowed out, but she knew there were staring at her, waiting for her to finally tell the truth.

“I-I have lied to you all, my little ponies,” her voice begin to crack. “I lied about Phantom’s past, including the demise of his family. The truth is that I wished to learn more about dragons. So when the dragons were migrating... I ordered my elite guards to exterminate as many as they could, and bring back both their bodies and their eggs.”

Celestia paused, trying to regain her composure, “I conducted experiments on them... horrific, torturous experiments, killing off the hatchlings before even their first breath, but more so to the ones that did.”

The crowd was absolutely speechless. To hear that their beloved Princess Celestia, a pony who others look up to as a goddess, had committed such dreadful deeds, especially to those who didn’t even had a chance to live.

“When the Dragon Lord heard of what I did, he wanted revenge for his fallen brethren and sistren, thus the beginning of the dragon-pony war.”

“Both sides suffered great casualties,” Discord interrupted, giving a more refined explanation of events long past. “But given your royal mages’ knowledge of dragons, the ponies barely had an upper hand. If it was not for a certain mare befriending a baby dragon, the war would have continued until it wiped out both of your kinds.” Discord said solemnly, his eyes still glued to Twilight’s tombstone. “Among Celestia’s so called ‘experiments,’ she kept hold of only one, dead, egg. I’m sure you can put two and two together.”

“To my surprise, a very few number of unicorns were able to revive the egg and keep it in stable condition, but only one was able to hatch it.” Tears begin to roll down her face, but, thanks to the rain, she was able to hide them.

“After Twilight Sparkle hatched the egg, I decided to raise the dragon out of guilt of what I’ve done. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to be a mother. I quickly grew fond of him, I loved him like he truly was my son. After a while however, he started to want to help Twilight, and he left with her. I gave him to her because I sensed a bond between them, a bond that rivaled that of the Elements of Harmony.”

“The magic of friendship,” Discord spoke, interrupting the princess. “It’s hard to believe, I know. However, Phantom was always there for Twilight when she needed him. But what did he get in return? Only glares and shutters of fear, right when he needed her the most.” He clenched his eagle claw, looking as if he wanted to punch something.

“I mean, what does it tell you when she didn’t even invite him to her birthday party? What kind of friend wouldn't invite their supposedly ‘closest friend, almost family,’ I ask you. A brat that believed that he was falsely banish, but did absolutely nothing to stop it. Rather, she only agreed with them to send him away for nothing!”

He turned to the crowd, boiling tears of both rage and sadness flowing freely. “I even told all of them where he was, that includes you, ‘princess.’ But in the end... Pinkie Pie was the only one who didn’t see Phantom as a dragon, or a monster, but as a friend and asked for his forgiveness. And what did the rest of you do? Nothing.”

It was a sight nopony, not even Celestia had ever seen, tears were pouring out of the draconequus eyes. “And yes, I’m crying because it resulted in the lost of a very special friend, but do I blame her? The answer is both yes and no.”

“Discord...” Celestia began, but before she could say another word, she felt the draconequus press his paw against her muzzle.

“I wouldn’t worry about me, princess. I’d be far more concerned about yourself, since it was you who robbed him of his actual family. And without the elements, you won’t be able to stop him.” This realization hit her harder than a ton of bricks. Twilight and the others are dead. Pinkie and her own sister has joined against her.

“Princess,” Braeburn spoke. “Ah can understand why ya did what you did, but we all have a beef with Phantom for what he did. He took out his own rage on our friends and family, all to get after you.”

“Cousin Braeburn is right. Despite his reasons, Phantom must be stopped by any means,” Babs said as she rose to her hooves. “We know what he’s planning, and we can help you get ready for it.”

Celestia, whose face was still fresh with tears, wondered how they knew of Phantom’s next move. She knew that her ponies, mostly the apples, had formed a small army after the deaths of their kin.

“He’s going to attack the castle by the end of the week,” Babs said.

“Oh, and how can you be sure he’s going to attack?” Discord asked, raising an eyebrow.

The draconequus’ question caused both the stallion and the teenage filly to grin. “We have a spy.”

Within the halls of the Crystal Castle lay, like all castles, a dining hall, complete with a round, clear, diamond-like table. The the seats that once belonged to the late Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, were now occupied by Phantom and Nightmare Moon. Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Emerald Wind, Scarlet Blaze, Snips, Snails, Pipsqueak, Thorax and Ruby Bandit sat next to Phantom, while Flurry Heart, Midnight Blossom, Obsidian, Goldbeck, Cloud Skipper and Zecora, sat beside Nightmare Moon.

In front of them was a very large salad and an assortment of fruits for the ponies, and two steaming hot 64 oz steaks for Phantom and Obsidian. Next to the food were cups filled with wine for the grown ups, and grape soda for Snips, Snails, Pipsqueak, and Flurry Heart.

Unlike Celestia, Velvet and Night Light, the Nightmare Family were all having the time of their lives. In fact, this was the happiest anypony has ever seen Phantom. After all, killing Twilight finally broke the chain that bound him for all these years.

Nightmare Moon couldn’t have been prouder of her student. To see him free of his tormentors. However, she knew that deep within his heart, no matter how much time goes by, there will always be that light reminding him of the bondage of Twilight and her friends.

Nightmare tapped the glass, causing all eyes to turn to her. “I’d like to propose a toast, to the fall of Twilight Sparkle. For years, she had treated a baby dragon like her own personal slave. She has also lied to and betrayed him. But now... because of my teachings, my student was finally able to kill Celestia’s prized student. Let us rejoice and feast, like queens and kings. To Phantom.”

“Here here!” the rest chanted, taking slips from their respective drinks and ate their respective meals.

“Captain, Cloud Skipper,” Midnight began. “What about that thing we talked about three days ago?” the bat pony asked with a wink. Both Phantom and Cloud Skipper’s cheeks turned a dark shade of pink, as they remembered what she was suggesting,

“Why don’t we find some place a little more private?” She then pointed to the queen, who returned her lustful smirk.

“Alright, but my dear Phantom... do not hold back,” the black alicorn whispered seductively. Phantom only nodded and stood, along with Midnight, Nightmare and Cloud Skipper, who all walked out together. When the door closed, Phantom’s tail started to wag, as if he were a happy dog.

Phantom along with Nightmare Moon, Midnight and Cloud Skipper, walked down the hallways of the castle. They passed stained glass windows that depicted some of the great moments of their siege: the crushing of Fluttershy’s legs and the dismemberment of her wings, the demolition of the Apple family house, the literal ripping of Rarity’s heart next to her sister in a pool of her own blood, and finally, the decapitation of Twilight Sparkle.

Unbeknownst to the four, they were being followed by hoofsteps as silent as the night. The figure’s wings were folded back as he hid in the shadows. He was close, and he yearned for vengeance. His actual orders were simply to infiltrate and observe the Nightmare Family’s movements, and report back. However the pony decided to disobey his orders, as Phantom’s guard was down. It was the perfect chance to kill the dragon of nightmares.

Before Phantom could say anything, the pony leaped from the shadows with a dagger in his muzzle. He charged at the dragon, disregarding the others, and thrusted his knife. Unfortunately, the dagger missed its target by a few inches, bouncing off the purple scales of his shoulder.

“Damnit...” that was all the pony had time to say before his face met Phantom’s foot. The impact sent the would be assassin flying to a nearby pillar. Doing so caused the dagger to fly out of the stranger’s mouth and skid across the polished crystal floor, before stopping at Phantom’s feet. Nightmare Moon, like a worried mother, quickly trotted over to check on Phantom.

When the pony got up, he was quickly pinned by Midnight and Cloud, their hooves pressed firmly against his head.

“Two questions you little bastard, who are you, and why did you think it was a good idea to attack the captain?” Midnight asked with venom.

The pony glared at Phantom, whose eyes showed he was wondering the same thing. “You don’t remember me, huh?” he huffed, beginning to struggle, only for Midnight to press harder.

“I guess it’s to be expected since you’re a psychopathic monster and all. I’m Rumble, Thunderlane’s younger brother!” the young, light gray stallion said in a hateful tone. “And I’m here for revenge since you murdered him as well as Fluttershy!” This of course, made Phantom, Nightmare Moon, Midnight and Cloud all laugh hysterically.

“M-Midnight C-Cloud S-S-Skipper, y-y-you can g-get off of him now,” ordered Phantom while laughing. The two immediately complied released Rumble, whose cheeks were red. “Revenge? That’s a good one,” the dragon said, picking up the dagger.

Calming down, Phantom’s tone became serious. “However, me a monster? You got that crap mixed up. You see, before I became Phantom, I was just a peaceful baby dragon. That was until during my first birthday in Ponyville, when I accidentally entered my greed growth and nearly destroyed the entire town.”

Nightmare sympathetically placed her hoof on Phantom’s shoulder. “After that misfortune, nopony wanted to speak with Phantom or even look his direction. Remember how your brother always ignored you in favor of Fluttershy? Imagine suffering the same loneliness from every single pony you’ve ever known, just for having done something you had no control over. That was how Phantom here felt for years on end, living with ponies like your brother. Yet, you have the nerve to intrude our castle, and insult and try to assassinate him.” Nightmare spoke with Phantom twirling the dagger in his claw.

An idea then popped into the queen’s head and she smiled at her student, who returned the expression. “However, I understand where you’re coming from. I, too would want the head of anyone who dares harm my sister. So here’s your chance.” On que, Phantom tossed the dagger into Rumble’s mouth. “You shall have three tries to kill this, so-called, ‘monster.’ I’ll even give you a handicap.” She turned her attention to Phantom. “Phantom, you are forbidden from using your magic, even your protection spell.”

“I understand, my queen,” Phantom obeyed, setting his arms to his sides. “I wasn’t going to waste a spell on this trash anyway.”

Nightmare’s cheeks turned red from hearing Phantom call her ‘my queen’ again, nevertheless, she was grateful of her student’s cooperation. “Good. Now...” as soon as she said that, Rumble lunged at the dragon with the dagger clenched tightly in his mouth. He was aiming for his eyes, hoping to blind him, this, of course, backfired when he simply moved to the side, causing the dagger to slip from Rumble’s mouth and jab itself into his own leg. Rumble willowed in pain, but he managed to stop himself from bleeding soon after.

“One,” Nightmare counted growing amused. Blushing in embarrassment the teen pull out the dagger, ignoring the pain and the blood pouring out, splattering onto the floor. He snapped his head back and flung it forwards, the dagger flew, but Phantom caught it by its handle.

“That’s two,” Phantom chuckled while tossing the dagger behind him. “Well,” he spread out his arms and wings. “Come on... hit me already,” he said.

Rumble spread his wings and with one powerful flap, he took to the air, only to stop mere inches from the ceiling. Rumble begin to fly in a circle, gaining speed with each rotation. Phantom was in a daze, the teenage stallion dashed down at break neck speed, soon colliding his hoof with the chest of the monster that killed his brother. Only it backfired when Phantom grabbed it, the force of his blow only managing to push him back a few feet.

“Are you done?” he asked before letting out a sigh. “Alright, quick question: do you have a mare and or stallion you like?”

“What’s it to you?” the teen asked, leaking pure hatred as he stared into the dragon’s calm, but rather disappointed eyes.

“Because I need to know who to send the flowers to, of course.”

“I believe our spies told us that he and Scootaloo were a thing,” Midnight stated aloud, causing Phantom to smirk.

“That gives me an even better idea. Anyway, that last attack makes three,” Phantom announced as he cocked his arm back. His smirk turned into a serious frown, and his eyes began to glow sending shivers down Rumble’s spine.

“Now it’s my turn, only I get to kill you in three hits.” When he said that, the arm came forward, hitting the colt square in the muzzle, causing the light gray pegasus to fly back, blood streaming out of said muzzle. “One,” Phantom began to count.

Watching the young stallion recover from the first strike, Phantom flapped his wings, closing the gap between him and Rumble while holding with his fists in the air. “Two,” he said before bringing his fists down with a force that on Rumble’s back, causing the stallion to crash to the hard floor.

Midnight couldn’t help licking her lips in enjoyment as she watched Rumble fall to the floor. After all, she was the one who trained her captain in physical combat. What’s more is that Phantom was simply toying with Rumble in order to prolong his misery. This after all was punishment for his arrogant attempt to assassinate him.

“And three.” Taking a deep breath, Phantom released a jet of his flame, scorching the pony below him. Sadly, Rumble didn’t roll in pain, mostly due to the concussion Phantom delivered mere seconds ago. Phantom watched as the flames to dance away, burning and tearing Rumble’s flesh, and drying the blood as it came forth. If didn’t stop there, the flames would’ve completely destroyed him, leaving nothing but ash to drift in the wind. However for some reason, Phantom snapped his fingers, extinguishing the flames.

“Now, before you go, I have a little message to tell you.” Phantom said as he came up to the barely conscious stallion, only to whisper into his ear, “I’ll be sure to find you again on Friday. If you do manage to live that long, which is very unlikely, I’ll do the same thing to you that I did with Fluttershy, only this time, I’ll be sure to do it in front of your lover.” The stallion quickly turned to ashes and soared from the hall, into the open air, moving swifter than the wind.

Scootaloo, Babs Seed, and Braeburn were all standing around a small round table inside the royal war room, alongside four other royal guards, who were given command of the royal army though Celestia’s royal decree. The seven were discussing the positions and posts for the upcoming invasion, dutifully and strategically placing lines and orders.

They immediately stopped talking as they saw a cloud of green mist appeared before them, spiraling and growing bigger, and bigger, until a pony magical appeared from the mist. His coat was burned clean off, along with his feathers, he was barely breathing. He looked into Scootaloo’s eyes, filled with sadness and disappointment. “A-A-Am sorry,” was all he could mutter before falling into unconsciousness.

Scootaloo quickly wrapped her hooves around him. She lost her two best friends and her older sister to this monster, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself any longer if she were to lose her lover.

“Somepony get a doctor, immediately!” one of the royal guards yelled.

“Don’t die... don’t die... don’t die...” cried the teen with her forehooves wrapped tightly around the colt. When the medical team came, they place the nearly dead pegasus into a stretcher, carrying him to a nearby hospital, with Scootaloo, Babs, and Braeburn following behind them.

At the hospital, the door to the operating room was closed, the light above it was glowing red, and Scootaloo was pacing in front of it, fearing the worst. Almost four hours later, the doctor came out, only to be face-to-face with the orange pegasus.

“How is he?” she asked excitedly.

“He’s in a stable condition right now, he sustained a concussion, a fractured cranium, a shattered maxilla, and third degree burns all over his body. Whatever he was doing, and whatever he planned on doing, will have to wait.

“Oh thank Celestia,” Scootaloo, along with the two earth ponies, sighed in relief.

“Can we see the feller?” asked the country pony.

“Of course,” he said, opening the door. Rumble was in a hospital bed, his body was wrapped in bandages, he couldn’t move or speak, only hear, see, and smell.

“Rumble!” Scootaloo screamed as she ran towards the teen, wrapping her hooves around the colt’s neck, to which he winced in pain. “You idiot! We told you not to engage Phantom, no matter how defenseless you think he is.” From the sound of her voice, Rumble could hear her cry. Sadly, he could only mumble.

He mumbled loudly, wanting to get the nurse’s attention, which he did. The stallion did some signs, gesturing for something to communicate with. The nurse blinked, but walked out of the room and, after about five minutes or so, the mare returned with a hoof-strap-pen that’s used for patients that can’t use their mouths. She strapped the device around the colt’s hoof, and immediately, he wrote, ‘Phantom and his army will attack friday night, three hours after Celestia lowers the sun. But that’s not all. He knows we’re a couple.’

Both Braeburn and Scootaloo gasped after reading his massage. “We’ve got to hide him! Ah’ll reckon Phantom’ll be looking for him,” the cowpony stallion said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“But the last time we tried that, they found where we hid Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, right before he... he...”

“I know.” As the orange pegasus lowered her head, in remembrance of Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, Rumble began to write once more.

‘Scoots, you know I love you, but we need to think of something before Friday night. From what I know, the Nightmare Guard, if they do fail, have a backup plan: if Phantom were to die, the Crystal Empire won’t be the only ones after our heads.’

“What do you mean?” asked a confused Babs.

“Phantom is the sole survivor of Celestia’s so-called experiments, right? And as we know, the dragons are on a ‘kill on sight,’ basis with any pony they see, with signs saying such all over the badlands, and the dragon’s empire.” explained Scootaloo.

“And if we’re able to kill Phantom, there’s no doubt that his death will trigger another pony-dragon war.”

‘It’s much worse. Nightmare Moon has very strong feelings for Phantom. And if he dies, it may cause the end of us all, because Nightmare Moon may decide to destroy her moon, and the world with it.’

“And you tried to kill him?!” screamed the city pony. “What’s wrong with you?!”

‘He killed my brother, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Ms. Cheerilee...’

“I know, but...”

“Nonetheless, we need to find someplace to hide Rumble.”

“How about the catacombs beneath Canterlot?” Babs suggested.

“That sounds good, but while we’re all here, I want make a proposal to you: why don’t we attack them before they have the chance to attack us? They’re still getting things prepared for the invasion, and 95% of their guards are nocturnal, so we can surprise them during the day while they’re basically defenseless,” Scootaloo suggested.

“That sounds like a plan to me!” shouted Braeburn, clapping his hooves.

“Alright, me and cousin Braeburn will get the army ready. As for you two... just stay together,” Babs instructed as she left the room with the cowpony.

“Do you really think we’ll be able to kill both Nightmare Moon and Phantom?” Scootaloo asked, to which Rumble replied with a nod.

The Crystal Fields; a grassy plain where the winds blew the countless blades of grass before the empire of crystal. The skies were clear, the air was pure, it was a day that a pony could frolic in and fall to the ground to relax. This would be a perfect setting for any planned activities, though, sadly, this wasn’t one of those days, for today was a day of an invasion.

Thanks to the tip, the civilians were peacefully asleep or enjoying the day off in their homes, despite it being such a glorious day, unaware of the ponies coming over the horizon, three hundred ponies: one hundred unicorns, one hundred pegasi, and one hundred earth ponies, clad in Celestia’s golden armor, silently marching through the fields with Braeburn leading them.

Normally, there’d be guards watching the outer city, but for some reason, there were none; no sight of even one Nightmare Guard. It was strange considering there would at least be a few roaming around the area. “Alright men, spit up and surround the empire, you know the plan: Sneak in, secure the base, and eliminate any Nightmare Guard you see, along with Nightmare Moon and Phantom.” The ponies saluted and scattered like flower petals in the wind. A hundred ponies at all each corner of the field, surround the empire.

Slowly, they began to move, only to find that the streets were suspiciously empty, and as they drew closer to the city, not a single soul could be seen or heard. There were no carts, no barrels, nothing. The only things that could be seen between the houses were the poles at each corner of the empire, each with speakers attached on top of them.

Before they could walk even a single step onto the crystallized streets, the Crystal Heart activated, forming a shield around the empire, making entry impossible. When that happened, a lime green light sprang up, making an impenetrable wall. The pegasi spread their wing and flew up, only to be shot down by the same lime green light.

“What the?” Braeburn said as the speakers came on.

‘Twinkle twinkle little star,’ the singing voice of a small filly began to emanate from the speakers. ‘How I wonder what you are.’ Everypony looked confused as to why the song was playing. ‘Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. When the blazing sun is gone, when he nothing shines upon, then you show your little light, Twinkle, twinkle, all the night. Then the traveler in the dark, thanks you for your little spark, he could not see which way he go, if you did not twinkle so.’ The song looped over and over again, each time getting creepier and creepier.

‘When the blazing sun is gone.’ At that moment, something unexpected happened. The moon, which should have been on the other side of the world, moved towards the sun, blocking the light’s rays. ‘When he nothing shines upon.’ With the sun blocked, there was nothing but pure darkness, but at the outer edge which that two disappear. ‘Then you show your little light’. a small light appeared in the sky, which soon turned to thousands of little lights.

The voice soon changed. ‘And you fall upon this world, hitting those with all your might.’ The beautiful singing voice echoing throughout the speakers, belonged to none other than Queen Nightmare Moon. As she continued singing, the stars began getting closer and closer, increasing their speed as they approached Braeburn’s army. One of them slammed into one of the soldier’s helmets with such speed and force that one would think it would have punched through it, but thanks to unicorn magic, it didn’t. Though it did knock the wearer out.

The stars continued to rain down upon the grassy field, most were, if not all, lucky to avoid them as they fell, though a few were not as fortunate. One of them managed to hit a few pegasi wings, blowing them away from their bodies, who fell to the ground, only to be caught by their teammates while some got hit, but managed to keep moving on their own. The unicorns put up a shield around their units, to protect them.

This is what Phantom wanted: for all the unicorns to put up their shield spells, trying to protect each other, along with their commander while the meteor shower kept the pegasi at bay, if they decided to try and fly. A bright blue light appeared on the ground beneath their hooves, and slithered up each and every unicorn’s leg. The light wrapped around them, covering their horn before disappearing, unnoticed by them until they tried to use their magic again, only to find that it didn’t work. The song changed again.

‘Ring around the rosie, a pocketful of posies.’ With Flurry Heart’s childlike voice and the ambiance playing in the background, it was becoming much creeper. ‘Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.’

Braeburn’s ears perked up after hearing the word ashes. Then it dawned on him, Phantom was going to set this field on fire, with them in it! “EVERYPONY RETREAT!!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, now figuring out the trap. Unfortunately, with the green walls of light, escape was impossible.

‘Ring around the rosie. What do you suppose you can do to fight the darkness in which we drown.’ The ponies scrambled, each of them hitting and banging against the wall of light. The area was beginning to warm up.

‘Ring the round the rosie.’ The next part of the music started to get louder, alongside with the heat. ‘This evil thing, it knows you. Lost ones, around you.’ After that, the music not only played louder, but it also distorted itself, adding to the distressing situation. All the ponies were panicking. They began to sweat; the heat rising higher with each passing second.

‘You all burn down.’ With that, the field suddenly burst into flames. The screams and cries of the ponies burning was heard far over the mountains. Their coats, tails, feathers, and manes slowly singed away, along with their flesh. Each pony did whatever they could to to stop the flames: some stopped, dropped, and rolled, others used what remaining feathers they had to blow away the flames, but their effects were fruitless.

Amongst the chaos, Phantom, wearing an elegant black robe with the Nightmare Guard’s symbol, walked over to barrier, only to stop at the foot of it, watching the burning ponies on the other side, screaming in pain and agony. The sound was music to his ears: the screams of the torment and torture of ponies. Despite being naked, and the metal armor now glued to the skin, Braeburn charged up and hit the barrier, which did nothing other than amuse Phantom.

“So, I’m guessing you didn’t get the hint when there was nopony in my empire, huh? Of course not. Those dumbass inbreed minds of yours were too fixated on killing me and Nightmare.” Phantom tapped the barrier. “It’s such a shame too. I really enjoyed this field, it was so beautiful. Fortunately, it will grow back in time, with help from the ashes of all the ponies you brought.”

The dragon let out a small yawn. “Oh, and by the way, I know you brought one more, with you. The only reason I let him live is because I want him to tell Celestia, herself, that her army couldn’t enter my empire, or even touch a single member of my precious family.”

Phantom turned and walked away. “Make sure to pay attention to your precious cousin Apple-Jerk, as well as the rest of your relatives as they lecture you in the next world. Goodbye, Gayburn.” Having said that, Phantom spread his wings and flew off to the castle, leaving the cowpony and the his soldier army to their graves.

Celestia was on the balcony of her castle, struggling to lower the moon. She took notice of the stars that were falling in the distance, but with her sister putting up a fight, she couldn’t do very much to stop them, or do much of anything to aid the ponies trying to retake the Crystal Empire. But then, it suddenly stopped.

Sweat dropped from Celestia’s forehead as her horn shined stronger, but the moon still wouldn’t budge. The ponies below her, look up in confusion; some knew that a solar eclipse was scheduled to happen a couple of months from now, but none thought it would happen this early. Something was up, and it worried the ponies. Could one of the cities be under attack? Are we at war?

During the confusion, a lone pegasus could been seen off the distance, and from the looks of it, he was in a hurry. Believing she had won the fight, Celestia focused on lowering the moon, brightening up the skies once more. It didn’t take long for the pegasus to land in front of the princess, exhausted from his ordeal.

“P-P-Princess...” he said, coughing. “O-O-Our soldiers... i-i-it was a trap...” the stallion said, trying to stand. “H-He knew we were coming...”

“How is this possible? Are the ponies okay?” the princess asked worriedly.

“T-They’re all dead... Phantom t-trapped them in the fields, and s-s-set them on fire...”

“Rest, my little pony,” she said, teleporting him to her room. The white alicorn then walked into the hallway. “I should’ve done this when he returned,” she said softly, walking passed her assistant, Inkwell.

“Inkwell... get me Scootaloo and Babs Seed, I’ll be in the armory.” The white coated, black maned pony nodded and left, and after about five minutes, Inkwell did as she was told, walking into the armory with both teens in toll. “Ink Well, this will be my final order. I want you to take whatever personal items you have, and leave the city. Do not return here after Sunday.”

“May I ask why, princess?” the mare asked with the two teens looking on in confusion.

“Phantom will be here tomorrow night, and he’ll be looking for blood.” Celestia said as Inkwell bowed and left, leaving the three alone.

“Tomorrow... what do you mean tomorrow? I thought he said Friday?” Both teens looked shocked from the news. “What happen to the ponies we sent to retake the empire?”

“Phantom... won’t honor his word. This is a tactic I’m familiar with. He knew that my army was too numerous for a full on frontal assault, so he stage a trap. A trap I should’ve seen coming.” As she explained, the door opened, revealing an array of spears, arrows, and metal armor. Walking in, the two were shocked to hear that the three hundred stallions, including Braeburn, had died in Phantom’s trap, almost causing Babs to cry.

“N-No... It can’t be.” Babs began to quiver... was there any way to stop something you know nothing about?

“Fear not, my little ponies, for I’m going to give you, and the remaining militia, a very special supply of armor and weapons. Ones that can do harm to even the most powerful dragons.”

The three stopped at a pure white and gold vault, to which the princess used her magic, undoing the spells protecting its contents. What the saw inside was quite similar to the outside, only they were made from dragon scales and bone. “We discovered that dragons are weak against each other, bones, scales, even their blood. We forged the armors out of them, and they were pretty resistant to the elements, back in the war. ”

“Woah... why don’t you show us this before now?” questioned the orange pegasus.

“Simple; there’s only enough armor here for a small army of a hundred, and that I hoped they could’ve taken out Phantom and Nightmare while they slept, but I was wrong.”

“So, with this, we can take out the Nightmare Family?”

“Probably. This armor is stronger than normal armor, but magical objects can still cut through it. I want you and ninety-eight guards to wear this armor, and be prepared. For tomorrow night... all of our lives will be on the line.”

Phantom said that he and his army would arrive three hours after sunset. It was sunset now, and Celestia had her army ready, because she knew Phantom, she knew he will come the moment the sun was gone. Ponies, including Fancy Pants, have already evacuated the city, it was better for her to not have her ponies becoming part of the collateral damage.

Buildings were abandoned, paper and other items littered the streets, unicorns lining the walls, armed with spears and armor of all different colored scales, earth ponies on the rooftops, ready with arrows ready to fire, and pegasi lined up, ready to do battle in the sky. The sun lowered to the horizon, with only a minute left before the battle.

As Phantom’s spies had reported, The Wonderbolts are fighting alongside Celestia with Spitfire and Soarin along with Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger bearing personal hatred towards the dragon. Not once since the death Rainbow Dash, and Princess Twilight Sparkle have they forgotten their grudge against Phantom.

The two stood high in the clouds above the city with the rest of the five hundred wonderbolts waiting for the time to strike.

“So, you think we can take him?” asked one stallion, looking up at the sky.

“Well, the commander gave half of us this dragon armor. So, yea... we can take them,” replied another guard.

As the sun moved over to the horizon, the sounds of flapping could be heard. Thirty of Nightmare Guards and twenty have arrived, with Phantom leading the pack. “Wait, only Phantom... and the flyers... what.” One stallion said before having several spear jetting out of his shadow and impale him in sarvel angles with a couple going through some major organs, thus killing the armor stallion.

“BE CAREFUL OF THE SHADOWS!!” yelled Babs, but it was too late. Several soldiers creep up from the shadows, under which the ground forces stood, and lunge there spears, pricing their sides and necks.

The first blood had been spilled.

Phantom along with several of his flyer which included Thorax, Midnight, Goldbeck, Obsidian and several other members took off to the skies. While Nightmare along with Starlight, Pinkie, and the others approached Canterlot though a magical portal thanks to Sunburst, Starlight, and Nightmare.

“LET’S SHOW THEM THE POWER OF OUR FAMILY!!” Midnight shouted as their soldiers soared in front of her captain with others following.

The fight has begun.

In range, the Wonderbolts leaped down to intercept the Nightmare Family’s ariel team. Soon Spitfire was clashing with Midnight, while Sorian fought Goldbeck.

On the ground, four Crystal Guard were shot down, however the Royal Guard responsible was quickly punched down by Ruby Bandit who encased her hooves in a magical aura. Bandit then morphed the aura to take the appearance of tiger heads and rushed forward.

Snips was wielding a giant pair of scissors conjured from his magic. Though not as good as close combat as Midnight’s team, the green unicorn could still hold his own.

While Emerald fought alongside Scarlet Blaze, Fleur dis Lee made sure to stay close to Obsidian.

During the fight, one of the guard stab the black dragon in the shoulder with a dagger which cause him to scream in pain. Taking the dagger out the stallion holding it was ready to jam it into the dragon’s head but was blasted with a beam of blue and pink magic. Starlight and Fleur rushed over to Obsidian, only to be stopped but a few more guards. Their spears headed toward their necks.

In a quick act, Starlight created a barrier, only for them to pierce through the force field. Both unicorns were able to avoid the fatal blow, since the barrier luckily slowed the speed of the spears.

In retaliation, Starlight casted a spell, causing sharp crystals to rise from underneath the soldiers. They coughed out blood as the crystals pierced straight through their stomachs.

“Obsidian, are you okay dear?” Fleur asked, inspecting the black dragon’s injury.

“I’m fine,” Obsidian assured with a smile before a look of seriousness returned. “Be careful, there’s something odd about these weapons.”

The aerial unit, with Phantom at its head, flew right into the pegasi, colliding with them. Phantom grabbed one of the pegasus’ wings and ripped it off before giving another a hard punch to the ground. With Phantom punching and kicking, he failed to notice the arrow that was heading towards him. Fortunately, it missed his heart, but it did reach his shoulder.

The Nightmare captain grunted as the arrow pierced through his dark purple arming and though his armor-like scales. Phantom pulled the arrow out to take a look at it. The moment he looked at the bloody tip which was cover in pink scales after cleaning his blood off it. It wasn’t an lizard scales, but dragon scales. One of the few items that could cut through dragon scales.

Then it suddenly dawned on him.

Phantom folded his wings, only to open them, letting a roar that shook the entire mountain. As the dragon roared in rage, he began gathering magical energy around his mouth.

Phantom unleashed a beam of green light towards the ground, moving it up toward the castle tower and leaving a line of fire in its wake, with a few pony who was in the path, both sides being reduced to ashes before the dragon’s wrath.

‘Phantom, calm down,’ the voice of his mentor echoed through Phantom’s mind. ‘I understand you’re furious for them using your family’s bodies against you, but you need to save it for Celestia.’

“Where is she?” he asked darkly as the ponies in the sky dove straight towards him. Sadly, that didn’t work as the soldiers were all shot down by Starlight and Sunburst.

‘Try the throne room,’ Nightmare instructed.

“Anyone using a dragon weapon or any dragon scale armor...” he paused as his veins popped out.“IS GOING TO HAVE THEIR FUCKING HEADS SKEWERED ON A PIKE!”

“Okie dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said, firing her party cannon towards one of the ground forces. After hearing and conforming that the ponies were using dragon armor and weaponry, the dragons went on a rampage. Buildings were set on fire, along with a few armored ponies, forcing some of the Nightmare Guard to retreat.

As for the Wonderbolts, Spitfire crashed to the ground having taken quite a beating from Midnight.

Soarin tried to interfere, but was held back by Goldbeck. “Get out of my way old timer, or else-” he was cut off as the elderly griffon’s powerful fist made contact with his jaw, causing the stallion to fly back, but soon recover.

“We won’t let you get in the young master’s way!” Goldbeck yelled as he continued beating the grey pegasus.

Seeing that his army had things under control especially with the dragons going on a rampage, Phantom flapped his wing, and flew towards the castle with Nightmare Moon following behind.

‘It’s time to settle this you fucking fatso!’

Celestia’s violet eyes were glued to the giant double doors as she waited for her enemies to show up. She was clad in light violet scaled armor with a dark purple helmet that had streaks on the sides. There were no guards at her side, but there were some standing outside her door. She smirked, hearing Phantom’s roars of anger. Despite his age, he was still hot-tempered, and even if he’s as powerful as Twilight was before becoming a princess, he still won’t be able to defeat her.

Phantom, at this point, was in full rage mode. Seeing the scales of his fallen kin use as battle gear was dishonorable. With each guard he passed, he either teared off there heads with his wind magic, or teared them to shreds with his raw strength, each one making his anger grow stronger.

‘Damn, I should’ve anticipated this,’ Nightmare mentally scolded herself. She knew that even if she tried to calm Phantom down, it most likely wouldn’t work, due to the state he’s in. ‘If this keeps going, Phantom might end up killing us all..’

After about five minutes of bloodshed and destruction, Phantom was in front of the royal doors, and wasting no time, he kicked them so hard that they broke off and fell over. Phantom looked in front of him and glared at the alicorn responsible for so much misery to his kind.

Two individuals, both of who embrace the darkness, their battle begins here.

“About time you showed up, my little fire starter.” Celestia stood from her throne and walked down the regal carpeted stairs. The only thing she heard was the growls of a pissed off dragon. “And Luna,” the princess stopped with a smirk. “What’s the matter... my son? No witty retorts?”

“Infuriating a rampaging dragon even further isn’t wise, sister,” Nightmare stated as she came from Phantom’s shadow.

“Oh, why not? Oh, don’t you like what mommy is wearing? I guess you could say it was a... ‘gift,’ from your parents, Spikey.”

Phantom stopped growling, as his eyes widened along with his mentor’s. Naturally, they were both were horrified to see what became of the teen dragon’s mother and father.

Enjoying their shock, Celestia flashed a sadistic smile. “Oh Spike, you should’ve seen their faces, especially your mother when they took you away along with the rest of your siblings.”

Phantom had enough, and, with his speed, dashed towards the princess, wrapping his claw around her neck before tossing her towards one of the pillars. Celestia shifted her body and landed hoof-first on the pillar, though she wasn’t expecting a beam of raw magic to head straight towards her.

Her horn glowed, then she disappeared in a flash of light, avoiding the deadly beam that blasted through both the marble pillar and stained glass behind it. The moment she reappeared, the white alicorn fired a golden ray towards the dragon, only to be block by Nightmare’s midnight blue shield. When the shield faded, Phantom, out of anger, rushed towards the white alicorn.

“Phantom, calm down!” Nightmare yelled, but with Phantom’s state of rage, it was impossible. This is what Celestia wanted: for him to be angry, and with his anger, he’ll be sure to make mistakes.

Phantom let out a ray of pure magic towards Celestia, which she expelled one in return, causing a small explosion. Quickly, Nightmare used her magic to pull Phantom into the shadows before he got himself killed. Once there, she sent her hoof across the dragon’s face several times.

‘Phantom, you have to calm down! This is what Celestia wants! For you to get mad! You’re falling into her trap!’

Phantom was at a loss for words. He was indeed furious, but Nightmare was right.

‘Yes, I know what she did, and I know how egregious it is, but in order to avenge them, you must think calmly. Otherwise, you will give her opportunities neither of us want her to have.’

“Oh Spiiikeeey... Luuuluuu... where aaare youuu? Don’t tell me you’ve retreated after you’ve come so far. I’m right here!” Her voice sounded playful and mocking as she trotted around the room. “Oh, please don’t tell me you don’t want to play, anymore.”

“Celly,” a soft voice echoed into the alicorn’s head. “Celly,” the voice repeated, it sounded so... familiar. It was almost like Fluttershy’s soft and gentle voice, possibly even more so.

“My sweet daystar.” Those words instantly hit the white alicorn like a ton a bricks.

“M-Mother?” she asked, turning around to see two unicorns standing before the entrance. One with a coat of pure white and violet mane, while the other was a blackish shade of blue with a crimson mane. “Father?” the alicorn asked, her eyes widened. How many millennia have passed since she last saw her parents?

“W-W-What are you doing here?”

“Well, Tia. We’ve been watching both you and your sister for quite some time, now.”

“More like, ever since the two of you turned to alicorns and outlived us,” the stallion said, correcting his wife.

“We were so proud of the both of both of you, sweetie,” the white unicorn said, walking up to the smiling princess. But what Celestia missed was the key word ‘were’. Her smile turned to shock when she felt a hoof smack her across her face.

“How could you?” The sweet tone of the mare soon changed. “We raise you better than this, Celly.”

“W-What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ your mother, young filly... you know what you did.”

“You’ve killed innocent dragons, Tia... why? They did nothing to you, or your country.”

“B-but...” she began but she was cut off before she could even think of an excuse.

“We’re very disappointed in you, Tia.” the two said before fading away, leaving her all alone.

“Where were you, princess?” another voice echoed throughout the room. “Where were you when Spike attacked us?” more voices cried out. “Why didn't you come and save us?”

“We believed in you. I believed in you,” an all too familiar echoed through her head. Celestia turned and saw the head of her beloved student sitting there. Her dead, purple eyes staring down at her. “Why?” was all she said before flashing a white light, blinding her.

“Mommy... mommy, where are you?”

“No... not that. Please, anything but that...” she begged with terror in her voice. What she saw next, was a frail and shivering baby dragon, walking around with a teddy bear in one claw, and a blanket in the other.

“Mommy, I’m scared. It’s really scary, mommy. Please make the bad things go away,” the young dragon pleaded helplessly. The dragon stopped and hugged the teddy tightly. “Mommy?” he said in a whisper.

“Spikey, it’s okay! Mommy’s here!” the princess cried out, only to have it fall on deaf ears. She ran towards the infant, but he moved away, slowly fading into the darkness.

“Mommy! Where are you!” The dragon began to cry as Celestia wrapped her arms around something. She didn’t know what, but she held on, hoping it was her baby boy.

“Just like I told Twilight, the Spike you know is dead. He died seven years ago... after you banished him,” Celestia heard a voice speak before she felt her horn being grabbed.

“You killed your own son for what? A crime you KNOW he didn’t commit?” A moment of silence passed, but it was broken when the alicorn heard a loud snap. Soon, the pain rushed into her head, blood pouring out... from her now missing horn.

Celestia then felt something hitting her face with enough force to shatter bone. The princess flew into the air and skidded across the floor. Her vision was blurry, but she could see two scaly, purple feet walking towards her. She then felt the figure grab her wings, and what happened next was something she wished she never felt. The ripping of her wings.

Phantom tore the flesh and bone off the now powerless princess’ back. Blood spattered across his face, as a pool of crimson soon formed below them.

Nightmare watched everything from behind her student and licked her lips. ‘That’s it Phantom. That’s what I wanted to see...’ she thought.

Phantom leaned down and smacked Celestia hard across the face. “The day of my banishment was the worst day of my life. You knew very well I didn’t murder anyone. I begged you not to send me away. And what did you say to me?!”

I have no obligation to help you, nor do I see any reason to raise you either. You are a danger to Equestria!

Phantom clenched his fists so hard, blood began to pour from where his claws dug in. “Deep down inside, I knew you weren’t my real mother, but I treated you as my biological parent and never questioned my origins. Hearing those words come out of your mouth completely destroyed me!”

‘I-I can’t believe it! How could I of all ponies lose to this brat?!’ Celestia thought. However she was unaware that Nightmare Moon was using telepathy to read her mind. The black alicorn caught her sister’s attention as she began to giggle.

“For these last seven years, Phantom has received incredible training both physically and mentally. His skills at observation even surpass yours, sister. While you were insulting him, you didn’t notice as Phantom casted an illusion on you, causing you to see our parents as well as his younger self. Overcome by sadness, Phantom took the chance to cut off your horn.”

Celestia couldn’t believe how foolish she was.

“Because of the defensive of that dragon armor, you underestimated and overlooked Phantom’s other abilities, thereby allowing yourself to fall under the spell. Your arrogance is what led to your defeat.”

Celestia glared at Phantom and Nightmare, who returned with mocking smirks. Without her horn, even she was defenseless and she didn’t intend to find out what they were going to do with her.

Turning around, Celestia ran out. Phantom had a nasty smile as he watched her exit. He intentionally gave her a head start to make her believe she had some hope of escaping. With the great loss of blood, the white alicorn wasn’t going to get far.

In the hallways, Celestia left a trail of blood as she limped out. As Phantom predicted, the loss of blood quickly caused her to slow down. And without her magic, she could no longer teleport.

Phantom was walking behind her, taking his sweet time. His eyes glowed as he the distance between him and the alicorn responsible for massacring his family continued to decrease.

Celestia finally collapsed, exhausted. She tried to stand back up, but Phantom placed his foot firmly on her back, holding her in place. A few seconds later, Celestia finally stopped struggling.

“After everything you’ve done, death is far too good for you, ‘mother,’” he spat at the word while pressing his foot harder. Celestia groaned as she could feel Phantom’s toe claws dig into her.

“I assure you, your torment is only just beginning, but first I think your army deserves to see the state of their defeated princess.” With that, Phantom roughly grabbed Celestia by the mane and began to drag her out of the castle. Celestia didn’t even try to fight back, having accepted the fact that it was all over.

Outside, despite the dragon weapons being used against them, the Nightmare Guard was winning the war, only suffering a few castries. Midnight had a broken wing, Thorax had some broken hooves, and several of the Nightmare Guard including a couple of dragons who died during the fight.

Even though they were obviously fighting a losing battle, the Royal Guard refused to back down. They believed as long as their princess could fight, they had a chance of claiming victory. However as the castle doors opened, everypony was in for quite a surprise.

There stood Phantom and Nightmare Moon, but what really caught everypony’s attention was the condition of their princess as Phantom held her by her mane. Celestia didn’t dare look up at the reactions of her fellow soldiers, too ashamed of what they thought of her defeat.

Seeing that the princess of the sun was both incapable of flying or using magic, the Royal Guards dropped their weapons, having accepted that defeat is inevitable. Phantom noticed that some were even crying.

The Nightmare Family’s four elite commanders as well as the twelve Zodiacs all joined Phantom and Nightmare Moon’s side.

This war is over.