I was taken out of the beautifull sightseeing by Twilight, wich clearly didn’t take time to look around before making a beeline for the castle.
‘’Woah!’’ She almost fell down a high distance from the ground. Everybody could’ve clearly noticed the two broken pikes that used to hold a wooden bridge. Thankfully, AppleJack dashed to Twilight and bit her tail before she could fall, pulling her back on the safe ground.
‘’What’s with you falling down cliffs today?’’, the southern horse asked with a tint of irony in her voice. Twilight gave her a sheepish smile in answer.
I looked down, trying to find some way to cross. Maye we could slide down and hitch-hike the other side? But we didn’t have any hitches.
Twilight voiced my concerns. Rainbow looked at her and shuffled her wings. ‘’I can fly, duh!’’
She went off without wasting any time, and we could see the fog closing her from view and earshot. Earshot? My mind raced. Please don’t let it be another demon…
I tried to throw a spell at the fog, and it blocked it somehow. The energy dissipated in a cascade of bluish light. The perfect lighting to express the look of pure terror on my face.
You see, there were a few creatures that used fog to separate it’s enemies into smaller group, easing the job of killing them subtely. The fog they produced blocked light, sound, and was as thick as red bean soup. All of theses characteristics could be demonstrated by the fog in front of us. And, most of all, such demons couldn’t be fought alone; and only some powerfull third vision could break it’s wall of fog illusion. The only shot we had at this was to regroup ASAP.
And no one, except the scared-of-her-ass pegasus, could cross the bridge-lacking gap. Note that she wasn’t afraid, like be, by the demoniac fog. No, she was scared of the creepy silence around of us. No one dared to talk, as we looked at our surroundings.
It was way too silent. The eerie moonlight made it all worst. As i walked to place myself in the middle of the group, my hooves could be heard from miles away.
I tried to look down the path we came from, but nothing could be seen. The overgrowing uneasy feeling that took me then almost made me throw up.
Until, all of a sudden- ‘’Hey guys!’’
I jumped a mile in the air, almost having an heart attack, my blade shining as i leaped towards the source of the sound- and wished i haven’t done so. A familiar Cyan pegasus was there, flshing the rope holding a bridge.
I swiftly spat my blade, and barrel-rolled to the left in my leap. Leading me to a long fall.
Yup. I dodged the bridge.
A whizzing sound approached. As the ground. Was it me, or it was growing pretty close?
And was it me, or the world seemed to have stopped right now? Adrenaline went away, and i felt a gentle pull on my tail.
I craned my neck. Even though i almost killed her- thanks to my lightning fast reflexes, Rainbow Dash came to save me. Though, i must’ve been heavy, for her face wasn’t a pale shade of cyan, wich perfectly accentuated her magenta eyes, but beet red.
‘’You can drop me, Rainbow. I’ll find a way to meet y’all up there by myself, don’t overwork yourself.’’ I said that not only for her, but also because she wasn’t doing a lot of progress. The ground was still inches from my face.
‘’No way, Featherweight! I’ll get you up there in a jiffy! I never leave my friends hanging! Just you see!’’
I shook my head, craning my head so our eyes could meet. ‘’Rainbow. Don’t strain yourself. I appreciate the gesture, but you’ll only hurt yourself. I’m pretty heavy with all of my weapons and armor. The weight of my mail shirt is almost yours, let alone my muscle mass. Trust me, i’ll meet you all in front of the castle in ten miinutes.’’
With a grunt, she let me fall on my back, the solid ground welcomed with a sigh. ‘’No. I’ll stick with you, thanks. We still haven’t raced, and I want you to fulfill your promise.’’
I sighed again. ‘’Alright. But you’ll drop the idea of the race if you try to keep up with me. See the angle of that hedge, here? I’ll bet you ten dollars i can run on the wall and hold onto it.’’
The hedge was in fact a small plateau, about an hundred meters above. She looked at it, and laughed. ‘’And i bet you Ten bits you’ll just hurt yourself and fall again. Alright, y’a got a deal.’’
I smirked. ‘’First to lend a hoof on the hedge wins. Three, two, one-‘’ I Dashed on the rocky wall, and shifted my intern gravity to hold on the wall without having to actually hold myself on it. The look on her face was priceless. She lifted herself off the ground as runes started to glow on my hooves. She was about to drop on the plateau as i seemed to appear from thin air on it. The speed spell i used could let me create tornadoes if i tried to run in circles, though it only permitted me to run forward.
She looked at me with such eyes, i couldn’t keep a hold of myself anymore. I laughed my ass off.
She sushed me with a shake of her tail. ‘’No biggie. I was going slowly to give you a chance, and i didn’t expect you to use your weird magic. You clearly cheated.’’
I calmed myself enough to answer, between breaths, ‘’Yeah, i cheated. I started a bit before you- so here’s your winning money, Art Project.’’ I threw her a ten dollars bill, wich she caught with her teeth, before spitting it in her hooves.
‘’What’s that? It ain’t even money. Where are my bits?’’
I threw her a puzzled look. ‘’Are you blind or what? It’s a canadian ten dollars bill. It equals something like 9’30$ american dollars, or a bit less. It’s in bills so it’s easier to carry around.’’
She forwned at it, and lifted her eyes, letting her magenta irises shine in the moonlight. ‘’It ain’t valuable here. Keep your money. We’ll do a rematch later, and we’ll bet REAL money then.’’
I chuckled. ‘’As you wish. I’ll be fair on the next race, then. And i’ll get you something nive for my loss today. Deal?’’
Her face eased into a little smirk. ‘’We’ll get smoothies later. Your treat. That is, if you can’t win the next race.’’
I shook my head. ‘’Nevertheless, can’t i treat i cute girl once in a while?’’
She blushed a bit, visibly silently agreeing. I didn’t leave her time to answer, as my dashing spell was ready again. I went to the rocky wall and went higher, reaching the others in a few moments.
They all appeared as happy as worried to see me. Twilight tackled me in an awkward hug, ‘’Why di dit took you so long? I thought you died out there!’’ She took a few steps backwards. ‘’Though, you clearly aren’t as kind as i thought. You almost killed Rainbow when she came back! What’s your problem!?’’
I lowered my head at her remark. My expression darkened. Of course i was dangerous to them! I couldn’t blend in with humans, how could i with a people as soft and peacefull as technicolor ponies? ‘’She surprised me a bit, that’s all. I’m afraid i’ve grew a bit softer since i arrived her. My mistake, sorry. ‘Won’t happen again, just don’t jumpscare me, and it’ll be fine.’’
Pinkie tackled me in a hug, ‘’You’re excused if you turn that frownie upside-downie! And happy to see you alive again!’’
I couldn’t help but smile. ‘’Thanks, Pinkie. I promise I’ll keep you all safe from now on. Don’t you get afraid of me anymore.’’
The group silently agreed to Pinkie’s statement, and they were all smiles again. Rainbow appeared behind me, hovering over the cliff.
‘’See girls? I never leave my friends hangin’.’’
We all nodded at that. And the others, seeing Rainbow unscathed, instantly heated up towards me. It’s as if they thought i’d have hurt her or something. At least, from now on, i seemed to have gained their confience.
I perked my head up, smiling widely. ‘’Come one girls, don’t you have some artifacts to find? Let’s go already!’’
They all cheered, and we went running towards the castle.
*
The castle was kind of impressive once you looked at it this close. Really, it’s splendor must’ve been renowned, in it’s former glory.
Though, now, it just looked like old, dusty, decrepit ruins. It’s unfamiliar magic seemed dark, though, so it had the merit of being slightly scary. Maybe was it Haunted? Yay, spirit hunt time!
Twilight and the others went in, and we were greeted with a huge pedestral holding five volley-ball sized stones with gem inscriptions on it.
‘’The elements! We made it, Girls!’’ Twilight ran towards the stone-made altar.
I stopped her, shoving myself in front of her. ‘’Wait! This must be a trap! Never in history ha dit been so easy! Just think about it! Something as powerfull as this must be protected by some guarians, and at least deeper in the castle!’’
Pinkie bounced to the first stone sphere, oblivious to my warning. Twilight moved past me like nothing ever came out of my mouth, and instructed the others to take the other spheres down.
Rarity, not having been instructed to do anything, walked to me. ‘’Trust me, they ain’t going to listen to you. They’ve found their thing, and Twilight is as stubborn as a mule. And it seems safe, see?’’
Twilight counted them down. ‘’One, two, three, four, five… Where the sixth?’’
Fluttershy shrugged, ‘’I don’t know Twilight. But you did said earlier that the sixth was unknow, and only a spark would reveal it…’’
Twilight seemed to be filled with confidence, ‘’You’re right. I think i know just what to do, then. Stand back.’’
Applejack had a better idea coming. ‘’Come on y’all, let’s leave her alone. She needs to concentrate.’’
The others all went outside, but i stayed in. I looked at Twilight, having kneeled to the stones and focusing on a revealing spell on all of them. I could feel it in the energies she used.
Our magic wasn’t that different, after all. Though, the ponies needed their horn as a catalyzor, while us Angels were ‘made’ in very Arcana. So, you could consider our whole bodies catalizors.
A spark emanated from her horn, as some dark smoke appeared between them. She gasped, and i ran to her. ‘’Something the matter, Twili-‘’ I was stopped by an evil Laugh. A good one at that, might i add.
The stones rose from the ground, and were thrown into a small portal. Twilight ran after the stones, while I focused my magic on the said portal. I could feel the presence of something on the other side, wich was way more powerfull as a mage, and as a night’s user, than me. Wich only meant one thing.
‘’Twilight, don’t you dare-‘’
It was too late, she was already on the other side. And the portal just vanished. Great.
I looked through a broken window, trying to see the other ponies. I couldn’t help but see the light coming from the east tower of the castle. I ran to the stairs, and threw a magic missile In the room. Hopefully, the others will be alarmed enough to come in, and they’ll hopefully see the lights above. I simply didn’t have the time to tell them, explain everything and make a plan. It was time to fight.
*
I finally arrived at the top of the stairs, and I could hear a cacophony of hooves at the base of the staircase. Good. Taking a second to catch my breath, I kicked open the doors, and trampled inside.
‘’Stop all of this, Night’s apprentice! As Angel of the Night, I commend you to release your hold on your power, and to stay humble towards our eternal master!’’
Twilight simply turned her head towards me, and half-smiled, half-frowned. Did she have the situation under control? Did I just messed up some kind of plan she had? Anyways. It was my job now. It just got personal.
Then I saw her. A grand, slender, and ephereal pony. Her hair wasn’t anymore; passing through her silver regalia and helmet, it was made of the pure shadows of the night itself. And her coat, it could’ve been darkness itself for all I knew.
The tall pony’s voice was as loud as thunder, heard from the clouds, and could shake mountains. Though, it was really definite, just like a precise footstep from a thief who tries to stay silent, while being somehow gracefull. If it wasn’t evil, I would’ve followed it’s commands merrily unil the end of times. ‘’You’re way too late, puny night servant. For I am the Night! And I command you to stay still while I butcher your little friend here!’’
I shook my head. ‘’No. You are but someone who dared to take it’s power without the Night’s consent. You are the evil, and I shall burn you for your crimes. Nocte, Necat!’’
The night appeared besides me, rising from the ground. She was clearly pissed- it could be felt through the entire castle, I’m sure. She rose a forehoof towards the dark pony, ‘’Kneel before me, Traitor. You do not deserve to taste the coldness of my shadows anymore; the moon wasn’t to be used for your pleasure. Repent, and I will spare you. Fight, and I’ll never forgive you for your crimes.’’
The girls arrived behind me. I could feel their presence at the edge of the staircase- we didn’t have any second to waste.
Twilight jumped in front of the night. ‘’No! We can still save her, no need to fight! Please!’’ She then turned to the dark pony. ‘’Nightmare Moon, please, reason yourself! You can’t just-‘’
Oh, she was called nightmare? Just like the mythical horse? Funny. I shoved Twilight aside gently. ‘’No need, Twilight. Find the elements. I’ll keep her busy.’’
The girls re-opened the doors behind me, All of them yelling Twilight’s name. And… mine?
Twilight stood up, and once again turned towards Nightmare. She looked pretyy confident- maybe she had some bluff prepared? ‘’No need, Noxiel, for I now found the elements. Nightmare Moon! You might have destroyed the stones representing the elements, though they’re still right here! I thought I was looking for some weapons. But I was missing them all along. Theses ponies are the elements of Harmony.’’
They all stood behind us, and Pinkie somehow shoved the night away, only to lean on my side while making a pose. I didn’t care.
‘’Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the element of Honesty!’’
Wait, I could feel some magic around us. What the hell? I looked at Applejack with my cornered vision, to see her slightly floating with a golden necklace now at the base of her neck. I still couldn’t understand.
‘’Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the element of Kindness!’’
The same with Fluttershy. And I guess…
‘’Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the element of Laughter!’’
I knew it. Pinkie floated from my side, her hooves millimeters from the ground. Will she name us all?
‘’Rarity, who calmed a sorrowfull serpent with a meaningfull gift represents the element of Generosity!’’
‘’Rainbow Dash, who couldn’t abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire represents the element of Loyalty!’’
‘’The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us.’’
‘’You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!’’, said a now pretty nervous Nightmare Moon Horsie.
She turned towards us. ‘’But it did! A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you.’’ She locked eyes with me. ‘’And you, Noxiel. Nothing could’ve been possible without your help.’’ She turned towards Nightmare again. ‘’The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends! You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic!’’
The ponies surrounding me all rose in the air, and glowed in an heartwarming light. My heart literally melted, and I softened a bit. Twilight, eyes now ablazed in a pure white light, slightly nodded her head, and a colorfull ray of light was launched at Nightmare moon. It was a fuckin’ rainbow. A Rainbow! The dark pony squirmed and yelled under the powerfull light, until it blinded all of us. I almost fell, but found support next to me- some kind of helmet.
I looked at the former Nightmare, now one of the cutest ponies in the world, and smiled. The light that filled the room right now was from the sun. They did it.
I turned tail and walked to the stairs. My job was done here. I’d just have to go and wait at the library- and hopefully get an hour or two of sleep. Until…
‘’Wait. Please, don’t leave. They will be looking for you once they come to their senses again.’’
That voice. It was almost as soothing as Michael’s, almost as understanding as my former master. And… As loving as hers. I turned around to see what an Angel should’ve looked like here. Tall, pure white in coat, and her hair ethereal forms that float in an non-existant reeze, the colors of a sunset. Or dawn. ‘’You… Are you from the council?’’
She tilted her head. ‘’No, young colt. I am but the ruler of this land. I suppose you’re not from here, then?’’
I shook my head. ‘’You won, ma’am. I’m from the purgatory. Sent here by the council about your syntethic soul problem. Name’s Noxiel, title Is the Night. Ready to receive orders.’’
Her look got more and more puzzled. ‘’Wait, what are you talking about? Are you well?’’
I smiled. ‘’More than I used to be. Maybe we should discuss it later, in private. But one of this land’s ruler’s prayers have reached God, and he sent me. That’s all you need to know at the moment- I am but your servant, your tool, here.’’
She nodded, as the others woke up. I invoked the night while they were all talking, about girly stuff I presume. I could catch the words ‘tail’, ‘necklace’, and ‘friendship’. That was enough for now.
‘’Nox Quaerentes Te Modo Appearat. What will happen with that one who took control over you?’’
She shook her head. ‘’I will personally make sure that the night of this realm does it’s job next time. Or I’ll kill it and name another one. Our rules are strict.’’
I put an hoof on her back. ‘’What if she wasn’t lying? What if that pony indeed was the night?’’
She locked eyes with me. ‘’Then, I’ll make sure no one will ever be able to take control of theses powers again. The shadows are too dangerous for living creatures. You do know what happens to one who takes control, right?’’
I nodded. ‘’Let’s go back to the others. I leave you with that job, and I’ll take care of the synthetic soul. Come back when you’re done.’’
She nodded and vanished. I sighed and turned around. The tall white pony was kneeling to the leaning dark pony, enveloping her in a tight embrace. The dark one was choking tears away. ‘’I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!’’
All of the other ponies where either shocked, or cried along with the ex-nightmare. Does that mean her name was now Good Dreams Moon? I would laugh at that, even if she would be royalty.
Pinkie pie blew her nose and cried like a literal fountain, loud enough to take me out of my daydream. Until she suddenly stopped and smiled. ‘’Hey, d’you know what this calls for? A Party!’’
*
In the matter of a few minutes, thanks for the magic users, we were in the town square, and the entire village was there to party. I was sick of it already- while it’s true they just saved the day, pun non-intended, we still had much work to do. To avoid another such mistake, mesures must be took. The tall white horse, wich introduced herself later on as Princess Celestia, resumed the problem to me a bit earlier- the spell wasn’t a hundred percent efficient. Was she really relying on something that fail-bound from the start? I’ll have to show her how our magic worked. It was way better than theirs. Though, it was more combat-centered than anything… Anyways. It would be better for them to know them spells, must something happen. Like a dark princess coming back to take control of the land.
Anyways. Twilight was looking a bit gloomy. Disappointement; the sentiment is disappointing itself.
Celestia walked to her, ignoring the cheers of the crowd behind her. ‘’Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?
Twilight shook her head, and looked at the five other ponies surrounding her. ‘’That's just it. Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them.’’
Cellestia smiled, and gestured to a small, purple lizard. ‘’Spike, take a note, please.’’
The small lizard took a note and a quill, and looked at her expectantly. ‘’I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.’’
The crowd cheered. Why cheer? It doesn’t even evolve you? Why is every pony so happy and fangirling the princess? Was she that famous? Back in our world, ponies hated nobles. I just had to understand how they ruled now, it could change our whole perception of history to change just a few things in the early 1175, back on purgato- earth.
Anyways. Twilight was crying happily, the day was saved, and I had a job to do. And a promise to fulfill, as I just remembered. That freaking race with Art Project.
I looked around, slightly pissed. But then I remembered the land whence I came, and I couldn’t help but let out a smile. ‘’It sure is warmer than earth, though…’’