//------------------------------// // Full Power! Nightmare Moon vs. Tirek! // Story: These Strange Creatures // by Dramatic Stories //------------------------------// The battle for Equestria had begun as Goku arrived in Canterlot. Below, citizens of the great royal city were running in panic, eager to find a place to seek refuge from the battle a few miles away. Goku focused hard, searching for the signs of Twilight's life force. "It's faint...but I can feel it coming from the castle, with two other weak energies." He quickly flew down, and dove into the broken ceiling of the main hall. There, Twilight, and two other alicorns sat by a throne. Goku looked around him at the windows that had been blown away, along with the hole in the ceiling from which he came in. "What in King Kai's name happened here?" He said aloud, gaining the attention of the three princesses, who seemingly dozed off from exhaustion. "Goku..." Twilight said. "What are you doing here?" "I felt an incredible power from Ponyville and had to come see what was going on. What happened here?" Goku asked. "A magic stealing centaur named Tirek broke free from imprisonment and is laying waste to our land, and people." Celestia explained. "That doesn't sound good. Did he do this?" "No." Twilight replied "Hm...I don't believe we've met before." Goku said as he gave Cadence and Celestia a glance. "My name is Goku!" "Goku...Twilight has mentioned you in her letters. It is with great pleasure to meet you." Celestia spoke, reaching a hoof out. Even in the crosshairs of destruction, Celestia's composure remained solid and incredibly formal. Goku shook her hoof with a smile. "I am Princess Celestia. May I introduce you to Princess Cadence, of the Crystal Empire." "Nice to meet you both. So, what did happen here exactly?" Goku asked. Celestia and Cadence looked at Twilight, gesturing for her to explain. Goku's attention also shifted to her. "Well...an ally of ours betrayed us, and joined Tirek. Tirek, being somebody who gains his power through absorbing magic, wanted our magic. Alicorn magic! The magic of four alicorns would have given him enough power to wipe out Equestria's existence." "This guy is that strong??" Goku rubbed his head. "Also, there's only three of you here and you said four alicorns." "Yes...we all gave our magic to my sister, Princess Luna. She was confident in the form of Nightmare Moon, an old foe, that she could defeat Tirek with the combined powers of our magic." "That must have been what I felt when I woke up!" Goku clenched his fist with a smile. "Did her power up do this? Incredible!" "Yes. She is in combat with Tirek as we speak." Celestia looked out towards the now open window frames. Goku walked over to one, and looked upon the land. Closing his eyes, Goku focused and searched for the battle. "I can feel it." He said aloud, "One is weaker than the other, but not by much. I can't tell who is who though. There's a third one too, but his isn't nearly as high." "Discord..." Celestia added. Goku continued to feel the battle out. Minutes passed in silence as he watched. Suddenly, Goku felt one of the power levels increase. "Hm..." "What is it?" Twilight asked. "The weaker power level just shot above the other one, making that one stronger." He said, "And now I can only feel two of them. The third one vanished!" Goku opened his eyes. "I think that Tirek guy just absorbed somebody, and it made him stronger!" The three alicorns gasped and looked at each other. "Tirek has resorted to stealing Discords magic of chaos. This is not good." Celestia spoke. "Hang on a minute, the other one just shot up too. They feel like they're evenly matched now." "Could it be that Luna was holding back her power up until now?" Cadence suggested. "That's exactly right." Goku said, "She's most likely fighting at full strength now." He climbed up and stood in the window frame. "Shouldn't we go help her?" Goku asked, looking back at the three. They stared at each other in defeat. "Luna has our magic. Without it, we are powerless to do anything." Twilight explained, "All we can really do is sit here and either wait for Luna to return, or for Tirek to come lock us away in tartarus." "Alright then...Are you three going to be okay here?" Goku asked. "Yes. If you plan on joining the battle, now is the time seeing as we haven't got much of it left." Celestia replied. "Right...well, wish me luck, Twilight." Goku put his hand up and waved. "It was great meeting you two!" Goku jumped out of the window frame, and flew toward the battle. Tirek landed on the ground heavily as dust and debris was kicked up. Not far from him, Nightmare Moon also landed and tumbled on the ground. Nightmare, being smaller and more agile, quickly got back on her hooves, and dashed towards Tirek, who swung his hind leg out to counter. Nightmare jumped and backflipped over his leg, bringing her hind leg out in the process. Her hoof struck Tirek's chest with great force, sending him sliding back. Tirek used the momentum from the kick, and rolled on his hooves again, and fired a massive magic blast from his mouth. Nightmare, caught off guard, was hit by the fierce attack, and sent sky high. Before Tirek could pull a follow up attack, she spread her wings and came to a controlled landing. The two stared at each other, panting. "I'll at least acknowledge your great power." Tirek said, "Too bad you could only achieve it through the help of your fellow princesses." "You're one to talk, Tirek. All of your power reigns from the powers of my subjects, and my land!" Nightmare hissed. "Besides, it's quality, not quantity. By my hoof you will fall to your knees and beg for mercy!" Tirek replied with another blast. Nightmare quickly charged, and fired back, stopping his attack in its tracks. The two struggled as their own attacks canceled the other out, forcing them into a battle of stamina. The two blasts mixed colorfully as magic frayed and shot out from the mix, destroying anything it touched. The ground beneath them shook, and cracked as rocks began to float upwards. Finally, the two let off, and dashed toward each other, trading blow after blow. The two were equally matched, and could land a deciding blow. Nightmare, growing tired of the stalemate, looked for advantages to abuse. Using her smaller size and speed advantage, she quickly flew underneath Tirek, and thrusted her horn up, impaling his thick hide with ease. Tirek groaned in agonizing pain as blood dripped from the new wound. In response, he threw himself on the ground, nearly crushing Nightmare Moon underneath him. "Agh!" She cried. "Silly ponies. Always using your dirty trickery!" Tirek picked up Nightmare Moon, raising her high as his arm would allow, and threw her straight down as hard as he could. He then used his magic to heal the wound her horn had inflicted. "You should really learn to pick your fights more wisely!" Nightmare Moon cried in pain as he brought a rain of punches down on her. Blood poured from her open mouth and nose as Tirek picked her up with his magic. Her limp conscious body stared at him with angry eyes. "What happened to all that power? A couple hard hits and suddenly you're down for the count." Tirek laughed, "Not that I'm complaining...now you're magic, and all the alicorn magic will be mine!" "Where are we going Fluttershy?!" Applejack asked frantically as they ran through the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy gathered Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack after Goku had left, ignoring his order to get far away. "Just follow me!" She said quietly. The group now arrived at the chasm that lied between them and the Castle of the Two Sisters. It finally dawned on them what Fluttershy was up to. "We have to get to the Tree of Harmony. There has to be a way we can use the elements!" Fluttershy said as she climbed the stairs that led down to the tree. "But without Twilight, or the last key, we can't get that box open!" Applejack replied. "We have to try!" "Look, I'll go get Twilight. You guys stay here, and for the love of Celestia, please don't die." Rainbow said. With a rainbow trail behind her, she raced towards Canterlot in the distance. "But Rainbow-" Applejack stopped and realized it was hopeless to reason with her at a time like this. "Let's hope she doesn't end up dead either." The group followed Fluttershy down, and stopped at the tree. The box stood with all keys, except one in it. As long as that box remained closed, Equestria was doomed.