//------------------------------// // 6. The Nightmare's end. // Story: 2/1 Person - A new Perspective // by Feynna //------------------------------// Running back to the library, we all followed the girl who knew who Nightmare Moon was (not counting me, but I didn’t want to admit that to the girls). The encounter with the crazed fallen demigod was everything but pleasant. One villain monologue, two crispy guards, and an almost dead friend later, we faced a conundrum unlike any other. How would this world continue to live with no sunlight at all? How would one go about defeating a being with access to god level tier magic on her own? What were we supposed to do, faced with that? Everything I encountered so far in the forest was something you could bring down if you decided to not run away. But this? No one could hope to match that power, something that could literally bring down the moon on your head. Even having two bodies with access to magic and flight, however underdeveloped they were, wouldn’t help you in this situation. Knowledge and skill could only take you so far, weapons could only help you so much, and friends would only follow you this far. No one was stupid enough to go face a demigod in a fight on this scale. Not without some kind of cheat, and turning back time wouldn’t help much, either. The crazed demigod would escape her prison with or without preparation. Even if I could go back one month in time with one of my three ‘Get out of Jail’ cards, I wasn’t even on this planet then! My weapons would be as helpful as a toothpick in this fight. So, what could I do? I wasn’t prepared for this and certainly not tough enough to be of any use in a sword or bow fight.     I really wished for the first time since coming here and getting chosen for some weird destiny, that I got the skills to get through this from out of my ass. Because this was on a way too high level for me to overcome. It was like you started a fresh brand new game and got told to defeat the end boss from the get-go. Only certain doom lay ahead for me if I decided to do something on my own in a stupid heroic way. And to think all I feared of the Summer Sun Celebration was to get outed as the friggin’ Chosen One. This is way above that.  We found Twilight throwing all the books around in a panic, searching for some solution to make everything better. As if there was an answer for something on this scale to be found in a book. I don’t know what she expected to find, but it would most certainly not... ...come out of a book. Forget what I said, Pinkie was her usual inexplainable self and found just that. And one word popped out to me in an instant. Elements. Something, something Elements something, I heard that word recently, but where? The memory was on the tip of my tongue if that made any sense. But as hard as I tried to, I just couldn’t get it into the forefront of my mind. “The Elements of Harmony, there are five known virtues to empower their might. Five virtues to bring out the light and vanquish the corrupted, all channeled through the sixth unknown one,” Twilight read out loud. We came to a stand around her, looking at a picture of five gems surrounding one in the middle. “These are only usable by someone excelling at the following virtues: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The focus to channel all of them in a synchronicity is a virtue yet not known.” She read on, every word carried clearly across the room. “Guided by light and flame, the spark will make it known.” She ended, looking around at us. We all knew it was our only chance of coming out of this alive. If we truly decided to go through with this, I couldn’t let them do this alone. The Elements needed my help, and I knew these girls were just the right candidates for them. “So, where would we find them Elements?” Applejack asked her. “That is the thing,” Twilight told us, biting her lip. “I couldn’t ask you to come with me on this. It’s too dangerous.” “I know I’m talking for everyone on this, we’re not letting you go on your own, either!” Rainbow said, getting into her face with a grin. No doubt was she too confident to see the danger of trying to find a ‘cheat it all’ weapon while a demigod was running amok on the land. “Their last known location was the Castle of the Royal Sisters in the Everfree Forest,” Twilight answered reluctantly. I just knew it, man. I knew it! I friggin’ knew I would get roped into going in there again. “Well, you girls go ahead, I have to find something,” I told them and dragged Lux out with me before anyone could protest. No way was I going out there with a broken bow and a glowy sword, time to find a smith in this town. Not that I had much money to buy a weapon, but maybe I could convince them to lend me one for a while. Gosh, I was actually going to do this, what is wrong with me? Couldn’t I just leave them to it?  But... that would make me even more guilty. Letting them go into the murdering chaos infested forest on their own without help, that’s just irresponsible of me. I had no help in there and only barely made it out of there, I was the only one that knew how dangerous it could get. At least, I thought so. Fluttershy would maybe have an idea what it was like in there or even Applejack. But they had no weapons, and with Nightmare Moon hot on our heels, that would only lead to certain death.  Moaning about being a Chosen One is all nice and good for a sane person without a deathwish, but when the lives of your friends are on the line, everyone would start to go a bit stupid and foolishly charge towards danger. As much as I wanted to stay here, I just couldn’t. Doesn’t mean I have to show anyone that I was the unwanted hero in this tale, though. I would just have to use ordinary weapons, at least until I had any idea of how to wield these things. The local smith was in the process of shutting himself in like the coward I wanted to be, but I was fast enough to stop him in locking himself completely away. “Stop! Please, I need your help, mister!” I shouted with Lux and Sol, running up to him before he closed the last door. He turned his gruff look to me, glaring with his bushy eyebrows hanging low. “What yer want, lads?” he asked in a deep voice. “I need a weapon, preferably a sword and bow with arrows,” we told him in synch, and let me tell you, he was a bit unnerved by that, but I didn’t care about that. “Why?” his skeptic response was more of a surprised one than a reluctant one. “We’re going into the Everfree Forest to find something that could stop all this, we need your help, please!” I answered him, adding a bit of desperation into my voices. “Well, yer are stupid to go in there, lads. No one ever came out o’ there!” he told me, and I grinned. “We did,” came our response and he looked at us in surprise. “Yer the ones that landed in hospital the other day, ya? Well, if yeh’re that desperate to get back in, dun’t let meh hold yer up,” he said and tried to close the door again, only my hands stopped him before he could. “If we don’t survive this, it’s on your head, old man,” we growled. Threatening people wasn’t something I enjoyed doing, but if it got him to listen, I would do so any day. “Not mah fault, yer stupid gits,” he shot back, stubborn as ever. It was a try worth, but still. I need his help, somehow. “Okay, no weapons, whatever. But could you give me a bowstring at least?” I asked, desperate to get at least my other weapon in working order. Damn Gandalf and giving me a broken bow! “Yeh really wanting to go in there, dun’tcha?” he asked, grudging respect finally showing in his voice. “Dun’t know how a string is gonna be o’ help te yeh, but wait here.” The man left for a minute and came back not with a string, but with a quiver full of arrows and a fully functional bow, together with a shortsword.  “Dun’t care if yeh bring ‘em back, jus’ make the sun rises again, yer hear meh?” he told me and shut the door with a rough shove. Huh, didn’t expect him to actually give them to me. With these I could at least help without having to rely on mystical weapons that would give us away in the night. It had the added bonus of me not having to come out and giving me weapons to practice with after this. If we survive, that is. Let’s hope I don’t just run away at the first sign of danger like the last times. I found the girls at the entrance to the forest, all of them waiting on me. Surprised eyes met the sword and bow in my grips. “What are these for?” Twilight asked me befuddled. My eye twitched at that. Did she really want to go in there without any way to defend herself? How stupid was she?! “Did you really just ask that? In front of the most dangerous forest in this country?” I asked her. She looked away sheepishly, muttering something under her breath. If I didn’t know better, she really wanted to go in there without a weapon to defend the group. Magic could only go so far in an environment steeped in chaos energies.  The forest in question looked even more menacing than before, no doubt due to the challenges that now laid before us. Nightmare Moon wouldn’t make this easy on us, deciding to toy with us along the way and finish us off just before we reached our goal. I doubted our journey wouldn’t be met with resistance. We couldn’t just waltz in there and expect to find ourselves at the castle in no time. Danger lurked ahead, and ready or not, we would have to face it as a group. Gulping my fear down, I followed the girls into the forest I’d vowed to never enter again. The sound of rustling leaves and twigs was eerily absent, making my hairs stand on end. “Never in my life did I ever want to come in here again...” I muttered lowly to the girls. A few of them looked at me in surprise, mainly Twilight and Fluttershy. Both of them I just met, so no wonder there.  “You were in here and came out again?” she asked me and I nodded. I took the lead, while I took the rear with Lux. Best to cover both ends of our group, no idea what would find us first. All of the girls had flashlights with them, but I told them to shut them off. I learned my lesson of too much light in the forest the last time. It only made you a better target. “Stay close,” I said, stopping in the front. My ears strained to listen for the sound I thought I had heard. Waiting a minute, nothing happened, but I didn’t let my guard down. Resuming our pace, we made our way through the thick foliage covering the ground. I dared not cut down the vegetation in front of us, in fear of making loud noises. Everything depended on us getting down the cliff first without getting hunted, or we would have to find a different way to the castle. The forest seemed way more grisly than when I was in here for my first time, and the branches of the trees seemed to hang lower as if they tried reaching down to us. To say this forest was a witchwood before is an understatement. Now it positively radiated the intent to kill us, making everyone jittery. Stopping once more, I was sure I heard something.     “Come on, there is nothing there!” Rainbow grumbled amidst our little group. I clamped a hand over her mouth, shushing her. Counting to ten, I only reached the number six as I heard it again. A snap to my right reached my ears, all of us stood stock still. “Don’t move...” I whispered. Nocking an arrow with Lux, I peered into the darkness. There was movement, alright. Three of them, probably gauging how much of a hassle we would be. The attack came fast, one of my arrows actually finding its target to my surprise. The wolves that pounced out of the brush were different than the ones I encountered. These were more vicious and feral, oozing liquid out of pustules on their bark like a sickly plague. Their eyes had lost their vibrant green and looked unhealthy and their claws were cracked in several places. Fungus grew everywhere on them, making some of their movements jerky. These were more like zombies than living wood. The foul beast I shot at continued its run with an arrow in the head. Cursing, we made a run for it. These beasts would only die by fire, it seemed. Doing my best to keep everyone together in the dark, I fended the zombie wolves off. They weren’t zombies of course, but they reminded me way to much of the things from The Last of Us, if you know what they looked like. And where there were three wolves, the rest of the pack wasn’t far. Howls ripped through the air, carrying a croaky quality to them. “Run, don’t stop!” I shouted at the others, my sword and arrows doing their best to stave off the attacks from the beasts behind us.  A few tried to press us further ahead, but two of my arrows were enough to delay them. Running at them with Sol, I sliced the heads off with a courage I hadn’t known I had. It was like I had a fire lit in me, giving me the necessary will to fight on. Have you ever had a moment in your life, where you felt like you could do anything? This feeling came pretty close to that, if not surpassing it. There was only one thing on my mind at this point, and no matter what, I would see it happening. That one thing was the survival I sought for this group, these girls that welcomed me here in their town, even though I lied about where I came from. Rarity, so generous to look after me. Pinkie, with a smile on her face, only wanting one on my face, even if she was sometimes a nuisance to be around. Rainbow Dash, for all her boasting nature, was a friend you could count on. And although I only met them recently, Applejack, Fluttershy, and even Twilight Sparkle were a delight to be around.  So, that was why I smiled when I got surrounded by the wolves as the others unknowingly left me behind. They wouldn’t have to see me getting ripped apart by these abominations.  I was okay with that. They would make it through this, hopefully. Parrying with the bow and stabbing the wolve leaning against Lux, I fought with all I had. Their breath alone wanted to make me gag, trying to bring the content of my stomach back to light. And that almost did happen, were it not for one of them biting me on the leg. The pain pierced through my body, setting my consciousness on fire. Agony like that was the first time I experienced such a thing in all my life, being accustomed to the sheltered lifestyle one had in modern countries. You never had to fight for your life against wildlife in big cities, you wouldn’t know how to get through pain like this without any training. City life was all I knew until this point, having not learned how to survive in the wild, because why would you need to? It was unlikely you ever found yourself cut off from civilization if you never left it in the first place. But primal survival instinct would kick in no matter who you are. These were ingrained so deeply into your DNA, that they would give you the tiny bit of rage from your inner animal to fight with a ferociousness you didn’t believe you could muster. And fight, I did. Time itself slowed to a crawl for myself, my perception focusing on every twitch my opponents made. Ready or not, this would end with either for myself or them. There was no other option, I had to win. If I lost here, they would get back on the hunt for the girls, and that I couldn’t allow.  Gripping my sword tightly, the beasts came at me and I swung for all I was worth. Nocking an arrow, I tried to impair their movements with Lux, seeing that I couldn’t kill them with a shot to the head. They would only stop once they had none, but that didn’t mean the arrows were completely useless, either. More than once I missed my mark, untrained as I was. The ones that hit, though, were enough to cripple them long enough to severe their ugly mugs from their bodies. Fighting for your life was something, alright. Never had I imagined that I would get a thrill from it, but my blood raged through my bodies in a synchronized heartbeat. Every beat of my heart, every breath from my lungs, brought a feral grin to my faces.  This was a hunt, but these beasts forgot who the apex predator here was. Humanity in all its years was notoriously known to bring beasts of any magnitude down to the ground, however fearsome that prey was. Teamwork and tools, that made us to the supreme hunters in times past. We had the advantage of intelligence, even though our bodies seemed weak compared to the animals that became our prey. With the drive to survive no matter what came our way, humans were able to make any place their home, whether it be a hostile climate or the predators roaming the lands. And although these instincts weren’t in use that much nowadays, they would forever remain with us.  The fight didn’t come without injuries, though. Many, many injuries.  Do what I could, I was still a city child and instincts or not, even a mighty apex predator found their limit at some point. All my cunning and teamwork with my bodies only helped that much, but it was enough. Enough to survive for another day to come. “Nrgh...” I groaned, the decapitated wolves lying all around me. I fought hard, but my injuries were too much for me to get back up right now. Breathing was an undertaking, limbs trembled and hearing was strained. I waited for anything to happen at that moment. So sure was I that something would stumble upon me, as I massaged the aching joints, that I was actually left alone by the forest this time.  Yeah, weird, right? It gave me time to get back on my feet, though. The injuries, for all their worth, weren’t running that deep, a simple bandage from a strip of cloth ripped-off of my shirts was enough to stem the worst of it. Although, it left me with tattered clothing once more, barely enough to call myself still decently clothed. Rarity would kill me for this, I was sure. If I didn’t die from some infection caused by the bites first. Whatever came first, I knew not what was preferable. Tracking wasn’t all that hard if the thing leaving the tracks left snapped twigs in their wake everywhere. All the signs left me back at the cliff from the last time I was here. But there was a small detail different now. Just a small thing, really. Where the cliff I encountered the last time was, was now the rubble of the collapsed ground having sunken down to the forest below. Pretty sure that was because of Nightmare Moon seeing a good opportunity to get rid of the girls early on. What else could cause destruction on this scale? Please, let the girls be unharmed from this.  Getting down wasn’t as easy as I wanted it to be, most of it was loose ground. It made it more of a hassle, than a life-threatening drop to your death, though. Thus, a tumble was already bound to occur. Have you ever rolled down a steep hill? It could be fun, but it left you always in a daze. Having two bodies made me puke my guts out even harder because this felt like my stomachs got into the washer on accident and stayed in it for the whole day on maximum setting. Once I tamed my protesting stomachs and ignored the taste left in my mouths, I began my quest on catching up with the girls again. How much would you bet that they thought the wolves actually managed to kill me? Fuck, I would bet all my money, if I wasn’t the one concerning the bet. Frankly, I was surprised I managed to live through that. Maybe I could actually pull this Chosen One crap off. What sounded like fighting ahead got my attention as I went through the foliage. It seemed the girls found trouble again, or I was walking straight towards a territorial fight between two beasts. What were the chances of that, hmm? Either way, if it were the girls, I better hurry up and help them out, before it is too late. And too late it was, but not for them. Fluttershy actually managed to tame the manticore that looked eerily familiar to me. The sickly shade of yellow seemed a bit paler, though. I chalked it up to the nighttime and looked at the rest of the girls. They didn’t seem to have suffered any injuries caused by the landslide. But there was something common in all of them. Although they haven’t suffered physical pain, they did suffer for something. The group seemed solemn, most likely because of my apparent death that never happened. But they didn’t know that. It had the benefit of them being more sneaky, though.  Before I could get back to them, I was cut off by the roots of the tree anchoring me to the ground on my ankles. Wanting to shout for their help, vines wrapped themselves around my throat, leaving me desperately gulping for air. Now even the trees wanted me dead, fucking shit. What could I do?  Every spell I read up on in the library was only simple charms and some illusions, there was nothing I knew of to cut through them and the sword was out of my reach, having fallen out of my grip in the surprise. Should I call upon my armor and weapons? That would have been my first thought, too. Now, if I weren’t restrained by the roots and vines, I could have done so.  My vision started to darken around the edges and I was beginning to panic, starting to bite on the damn things wasn’t helping either. With the struggle for breath clouding my mind, I almost didn’t notice the manticore studying my thrashing bodies in curiosity and hesitation. A muffled plea with tears in my eyes seemed to make up its mind. A swipe with a from its claws and I felt air rushing back into my lungs. The manticore looked at me in contemplation, trying to decide if freeing me was in its best interest or not. I could tell, whatever Fluttershy did with this creature, that it warred internally on what to do. Give in to the urge to gorge itself or show the same kindness that Fluttershy had shown it. Surprise was all that I could focus on as it cut one of my arms free, stepping away from me after I was free to move them. Grudging acceptance and kindness showed itself in the eyes of the beast staring at me. Now that, I didn’t ever expect to come out of this murder forest.  Quickly summoning my sword and armor with Sol, I cut the rest of the vines and roots still trying to crush my bodies. Falling down to the ground, I scrambled away from both the trees and the manticore. Best to not test the wary peace between us, lest it decided to change its mind on getting a quick meal out of me. I grimaced as I looked at the almost empty quiver at my side and banished the armor on Sol back into the bracelet. Better leave the few arrows for dire times and use the bow a melee weapon for now. The bow wouldn’t do much in that regard, but blocking incoming strikes was still a good thing in my opinion. It was sturdy enough for that, at least. Wouldn’t want it to break. The manticore left as I scrambled to catch up with the girls once more. But every time that I came just about into shouting distance with them, some new threat tried to occupy my attention away from them. It was frustrating to deal with, but maybe my ordeal would spare them the misfortune of getting attacked by every beast the forest could muster at us. That left me with fighting for my life and theirs, unknowing as they are of my survival and fighting behind the scenes. It would leave them with a mindset for revenge on my supposed death, though, so I wasn’t complaining about that. As I followed them, I noticed they seemed to walk a different path I had taken. Maybe it was a faster way, though? They were all confronted by challenge after challenge from what seemed to be the interventions of the crazed demigod, while I fended off the more dangerous predators on my own.  Most of them seemed weary of myself, which played the deciding factor in me being able to defeat them more easily. All of them had a thing in common, though. They were all disfigured by the sickly appearance the same as the timberwolves we had encountered earlier. Nightmare Moon was keeping me purposefully on my toes, testing the strength of the group to see if they would be enough of a hazard to her rule. For all her might, she was foolish to not strike them down on the spot. Whatever it was, it would be her downfall in the end. Or, most likely the real reason, she wanted to crush their morale just as they reached their only salvation. A bad feeling in my gut told me, that this would be just the thing a crazed person like her would do.  People with a crushed morale were more unlikely to rise up against you, than people that had enough hope left to bring you down with all their might. Even if the people you oppressed were weak, a tyrant always met their end by the hands of those that endured the harsh rule. As long as they lacked courage, though? They would live a miserable life at the hands of those that sought to use them for their own gain. And that, I couldn’t let happen. This country may not be the rainbow and sunshine one everyone thought it to be, but it didn’t deserve to endure this kind of torment. No country did, for that matter. While I was fighting behind the scenes, the girls came upon the cut-down bridge that had no right to be called a bridge. Not because it was hanging into the abyss currently, mind you.  I winced as Twilight was about to run off in her joy at seeing the majestic ruin of the castle, but let out a breath of relief as I brought down a beast that reminded me of a velociraptor. I’m a bit sorry for the thing, I read it was one of the rarer monsters seen in the Everfree Forest. Not that I would apologize to it for trying to eat me. Finding an opening, I made a dash over the bridge as the girls got into the castle and cut down the other end as more of the running terrors came after me. They sailed down into the mists down below, never to be heard of again.  That was close, had I cut the bridge too late, I would have faced the rest of them with no escape, not without letting them into the castle after the girls. No telling if I could’ve protected them then.     Seeing the pedestal rising from the ground by looking through the window, I let a smile show on my faces. They have found them, a stone dropped from my heart at that sight. But a whole avalanche buried it under rubble a moment later as the girls left Twilight alone and the tell-tale sign of smoke filtering through the cracks of doors alerted me to the danger of her being moments away of getting killed by Nightmare Moon. Fuck it, I thought and crashed through the window, jumping in with Lux after that. The whirlwind of smoke brought all of us into another room, one as long as a ballroom, Twilight lying slightly behind us coughing from the rough teleport, Lux and Sol standing in front of her, weapons held tight in my hands, and Nightmare Moon hovered in the air at the other end of the room. The Elements floated around her, and a moment later they lay shattered on the ground, the laugh of the madwoman ringing through the room. Man, Bellatrix Lestrange had nothing on her. “Get to the Elements, we’ll hold her off as long as we can!” I told her, both my voices in perfect synch. Twilight stared at us in wonder, and for once, ever since this began, I didn’t care about being the Chosen One. I was here to save my friends, and should it come to it, I’d use the bracelet as a last resort. Even if it meant I would be heralded as some idiot on a pedestal because a madman with a beard thought it a great idea to play Merlin, it meant I could at least die as someone that would get remembered for doing one good thing in their life. That’s all I cared about right now. All I cared for, was for my friends to be safe, and if I could ensure that with my sacrifice, I would do this every time. I still hated to be the Chosen One, don’t let my sudden courage fool you. Nightmare Moon sneered at me, displeased that I would dare stand in the way of her prey. I glared back at her, for daring to threaten all my new (and admittedly only) friends. “Are you this foolish to stand at the side of this whelp?” she asked me in a resonating voice. “Do you think you stand a chance?!” “No,” I said, raising my sword and bow, ready for her attack. At least I would be a meatshield for Twilight if it came down to it. “But I’ll stand in your way, anyway.” “So be it, child,” she said, holding her hand out. From the smoke of her hair a scythe emerged, wickedly long and sharp. Charging, the demigod met us at the halfway point and swung her weapon in an arch. Parrying with the sword, I pressed the attack with my bow. Nightmare deflected the swing with her arm, bringing her scythe around once more. Lux rolled on the ground, coming up behind her, while Sol took the hit with braced arms taking the shock of impact. I tried to bring my knee up against her gut, but got kicked away faster than I could blink. Groaning, I got back up, but Lux got a hit by the butt of the scythe just then. Damn it! I wouldn’t be able to hold her off for long, not long enough for Twilight to repair the elements. If she could even do that, in the first place.     But it was worth a try. Swinging my sword down against her, she intercepted the weapon with the staff of the scythe and pushed back. I did the same, trying to stop her from using her own weapon against me again. Nocking an arrow in place, I stood behind her fully intending to cheat my way through this fight, and in that moment I didn’t care if I fought dirty.      But a shield spell was the answer to that from Nightmare. Said madwoman smirked at me, showing her fangs with glee. Grunting, I lost ground on her as she used all her strength against me. “Don’t you see?!” she shouted at me, her deranged look making me more afraid of her. “There is no light! Only darkness will be the last thing left in the world! Don’t struggle against it!” “You sound like some stupid villain out of a video game produced by a little kid, lady!” I shouted back, going down to my knees as I struggled to keep my weapon up against her. My bow groaned in protest as I hammered away on it, two arrows left and the one I shot on her got disintegrated by the shield. Her barrier didn’t even begin to crack, how much could this thing take?!  “Your efforts are futile, none shall stand against Us!” her voice echoed, taking on a more demonic quality. “Cease your attempts at standing against Us, mortal!” “We’ll see about that, bitch!” I shot back, rolling to the side and deflecting the blade of the scythe a second later. Lux took a hit as Nightmare’s weapon came around, leaving a gash on my shoulder. I jumped back from her as she tried to take out Lux first, struggling to stay out of reach, the scythe coming nearer and nearer with each swing against me. Damn, she was herding me into the corner on her! Why couldn’t she just stay focused on Sol?! And each time I tried to attack her with my male half, she was either faster at dodging the strike, or parrying with the other end of her weapon. A glance back at Twilight told me she wasn’t faring better with the Elements. I needed another advantage on her if I wanted to buy Twilight enough time. So, I summoned my wings and tried using them for a speed boost against Nightmare Moon. Only for her to flip my body through the room. I crashed against the wall in a daze, struggling to stop the room from spinning around me. Focusing more on Lux, I dodged another blow from her and took a knee to my stomach for my efforts. Wheezing on the ground, I glared up at her. She stood there with her scythe inches away from me. “Surrender now, worm,” Nightmare ordered me, glancing down on her nose towards me. Arrogance radiated off of her, so sure was she of her victory. “And We may yet spare you of your fate.” If I got this right, I could perhaps get out of this situation and continue to fight. I would’ve to be fast, though. Concentrating on the feeling of mana, I rushed it down to my fingertips. Nightmare kicked me into my stomach again, disrupting the flow momentarily for a moment. It would have to do, I thought desperately. “Do you take Us for a fool?” she asked me. I spit my bloodied saliva at her in defiance. “You know, We commended your courage before, but now We see all but a pest before Us.” “A shame you would die by Our hands, you would have made for a great lieutenant in Our army. Together, we could’ve taken the world in Our name!” she said, bringing down her scythe.  “No!” Twilight cried out as she saw the event happen. Looking over, I saw the image of Lux, lying there, impaled on the end of the blade. Then, a moment later, the image dissolved in light. Going back a few moments, just before she was able to disrupt my magic with her kick, I rolled away, leaving an illusion of myself as I placed a ‘Notice-me-not’ spell on myself. It took all my mana and more, drawing from the ley lines what I needed, to fool her into thinking I was still there. Had the movement not looked as fluid as it did, I doubt I would’ve managed to do that. Studying spells really paid off, even if it left my veins on fire now. “What?!” Nightmare shouted in rage, looking around. In the time she was fooled by my afterimage, I found my way back to Sol’s side with Lux. “You dare defy Us? You can’t even begin to understand the folly of your actions, whelps!” she told us, bringing her hand up into the air. “Now, witness Our might!” Her fingertips began to glow in a blinding light, and as she brought them down, several shooting sparks flew after us from her hand. I tried to dodge as best as I could, but more and more found their mark, going straight through my muscles. Falling down to the ground, I couldn’t move my legs and arms on Sol anymore, while only the legs on Lux were out of working condition. She stood behind my male half as the sparks meant for her arms hit him instead. Not that that would help me now, anyway. Twilight was left without defense, but Nightmare Moon readied her next spell to finish us off. Down from below we heard the footsteps of the girls coming closer, and I cried my tears in full view of my opponent. What good was I, if I couldn’t stop her from slaughtering my friends? I wasn’t a good friend, in the end. Not even protecting someone from their death with my own I could do. What a pathetic conclusion of this fight. “Fret not, my champion,” a voice from my right said, everything around me frozen in time. The dust in the air hung there in my view, only my eyes were left that were able to move as I heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps.  There, the Creator of all Blessings stood. Her smile was gentle as she leaned her head down to my eye level. Her lips did not move as she spoke, her eyes seemed to invigorate me and her hoof came up to my face taking a tear away from my cheek. “Let your light be the guiding arrow in this night, my child. Don’t let the fire in your heart die out, please,” my deity told me, and then she was gone. “Your end has come, mortals!” Nightmare Moon cackled in glee. In one swift motion, I raised my bow just enough to take aim. And I let loose. “How?” Nightmare whispered in shock. We all glanced at the arrow having pierced her hand, as she cried out in rage.  There, an arrow enhanced by of hardened moonlight got stuck halfway into her appendage, the glowing string on my bow disappearing. The arrow in her hand reverted back to its normal appearance, but the damage was done. No more spells for you, bitch! Nightmare raised her scythe back into the air with a growl and strode in a deadly grace towards us, intent on doing what she was denied of doing with her magic. As she got nearer, I feared I would be dead within the next seconds. I couldn’t draw another arrow this fast, let alone muster enough mana for it. Fire roared in my muscles as Sol brought his sword up despite the torn muscles, the metal of the blade glowing like it just came out of the forge. Sparks flew everywhere as her scythe met my last defense.  I don’t know what Horse God did to me, but for the last precious moments of my life, there wouldn’t be a thing I would do differently, if it meant my friends could win this fight.  “Stop right there, Nightmare!” Twilight called out.  We all turned our gazes towards Twilight, the girls at her side. They all looked frightened for my wellbeing, but stood there in a confidence I was glad to see. That meant they had found some way to use the Elements! “It was the spark of friendship, guided by the flame of courage and the light of hope, that led us to this very moment. Together, we are able to use these!” Twilight called out, shards floating off the ground around them, as she called out the attributes of each of the girls. My hairs stood on end at the display, the energy of the magic drowning all my senses out. All but for one: sight. I watched as she confronted the demigod, floating there in the air with her friends. Her eyes radiated a brilliant white glow, a ribbon of primal magic connecting all of them in harmony.  The rainbow was a bit over the top, though. The cascade of magic came washing down on us, encircling Nightmare Moon with god-level tier magic. All schools of magic compromised a part of the cleansing rainbow that ensnared the woman. Necromancy took the evil spirit out of the body of Princess Luna. Chaos bound it in the air. Order ensured it could not escape. Nature healed the abused body of the innocent host. Divine Magic judged the actions of the spirit that possessed her. Arcane Might decided the punishment. Dark Magic provided the means to enact it. Destruction Magic powered the spell. The Primal Unaligned Aspect of Magic finished the spell and focused every other Aspect to work fluidly with each other. Everything that was left of the former spirit, was the armor lying on the ground, still smoking. The magic of the rainbow worked itself through my body next, judging my worth as it mended my injuries. The magic caressed my exhausted mind in a loving touch and retreated. Darkness claimed me after it left. So.. my first real fight, huh? It was sloppy as hell on my part but had Nightmare Moon not held back in her perceived notion of superiority, I would be dead now. No doubts there. And of course, I got to relive the last moments from before I lost consciousness in my dream. More than twenty times did I fail before even getting to the point of the castle, even more times did I meet my end once I got to that part. Every time I found my way back at the castle in my dream, Nightmare would find a different way to prematurely kill me. Fuck, she even killed me with a chicken once, to my everlasting confusion. Well, dreams can be weird sometimes. After I lost count of how many times I endured my latest nightmare of fighting Nightmare, I lost the will to play by the rules of my mind tormenting me. At that point I was lucky I got a reprieve in the form of the black void. Although, this time, there was no Horse God there. No, I was completely alone. For some reason, I felt this was an even worse punishment on myself. It felt like I failed in some way. I don’t know what, though. Did I fail in rescuing the world? Almost. Did I fail my friends? The answer to that was also almost. Did I fail by becoming a hero, even if it wasn’t because of my being a Chosen One? Well, I kinda was alright with that now, I guess. It didn’t mean I wouldn’t tell everyone I told them so when I inevitably failed to save the world or some other shit that was expected of me. Man, I’m the most boring hero, ever, aren’t I? It would be their fault for placing me into that role from the beginning. Of the history of every hero ever imagined, I might possibly be the most unworthy one. Whatever I did to get the attention of Horse God, I certainly didn’t know what that was. If you imagined a hero, you would never imagine them to be a complaining bitch. And yet... here I am. When I wake up, I have to be ready to face two of the people that could notice what I truly am. Was it really right of me to hide this from them? Why couldn’t I just be honest and come out with it, was I really that much of a coward? Truthfully, I have to say that I am. Cowardice and courage raged a war within me, but the doubt of failing everyone was too strong, and so cowardice won the battle. I couldn’t do it, the little voice in my mind whispered, why should I fight someone else’s battle? But a flicker of courage whispered back, and the battle started anew. No matter what I would decide on in the end, I would protect my friends from any danger that found them, this I told myself with absolute certainty. Celestia and Luna were a different matter on the other hand. I wondered what I would say to them, as I looked aimlessly through the void around me. Everything felt so hopeless here, but anger and frustration wouldn’t get me far. That would only make me look like I was having a tantrum. Angry words would sound pathetic to boot, blaming them for something that would’ve happened either way, what with Horse God ordering me to get these damn things if I hadn’t already. Did I blame Horse God? No... I could never bring myself to do so. She was just looking out for her people, I couldn’t hold my problems above that. Whom did I blame in that case? Myself mostly, I guess. For being a little child and not get over it, but any sane person would struggle with a burden like this one. I just don’t know anymore. On the one hand, I kinda felt okay with having to do this, but on the other, I did not. Perhaps I should just play this on a day by day basis. The future may hold dark things ahead of me, but for now, I shouldn’t worry that much. Fate may bring me where I needed to be, courage and cowardice may fight the entire time with every step I take, destiny may have a cruel reward for my at the end of my journey, but I had hope. Hope, my destiny would reward me with happiness instead. Hope, fate may let me come through this without making mistakes. Hope... my courage would never falter in the face of adversity. With this final thought, the void around me lifted from a heavy and oppressing feeling in the darkness to a light and welcoming whiteness. A few dark and grey blotches persisted, still. The quiet before the storm, I guess. My heart didn’t feel as burdened as before anymore, with the decision to give in to fate and destiny having lifted my spirit a great deal. Most of my misgivings persisted even now, though, but they weren’t on the forefront of my mind any longer.  It remains to be seen if this was a wise choice or not. An eternity later, I found myself wakening from the confines of my mind. While the Elements did heal me, it didn’t leave me without any aches. Groaning, I screwed my eyes shut tightly, the familiar feeling of the headache having returned grating on my nerves.  The others seemed to be on the rise, too. At least, judging from all the groans around me. Not a minute later, the first rays of the sun poked over the horizon through the windows and miraculously (or not) directly onto my closed eyelids. No sense in holding this off, I thought and opened them slowly. Rarity and the rest of the girls were inspecting their new necklaces as I watched the newly cleansed Princess Luna rise on her knees. Poor girl was reduced to a teenager a bit younger than Pinkie Pie, said eldritch horror was bouncing around the group in delight. I hissed as I tried to sit up against the wall. My muscles felt like they were on fire all over, making every position I tried worse than the last. I was left a panting mess on both Sol and Lux as the fabled Princess Celestia appeared in a flash. “It is so good to see you all succeded where I failed,” she told our little group, walking towards her sister on the ground. We all watched as she knelt beside Luna, her hand placed on the shoulder of the younger sister. “I feared I would never get to say this,” Celestia began, “I’m so sorry, little sister. Had I not been blinded by my own sun in the sky, this would’ve never happened to you.” Tears streamed down her face as she smothered Luna in her embrace, unheard sobs rocking her body back and forth. A heartfelt sight, to be sure. Luna was momentarily confused by what was happening around her, still not used by being in control of her own body, I mused, but she returned her hug and whispered her own apologies to her. My friends looked at the pair with their own confusion, ignorant of who this person was in the arms of their ruler. But I smiled, seeing a long-overdue reunion happening right in front of me. This made the hero business all the more bearable to me. Helping reunite family, defend helpless people, and avenge those that were wronged by the claws of evil. You know, watching the snot running down the face of a demigod made them look just like normal people, with their own problems to face. My problems paled in comparison to that. She had to live for a millennium without her sister, constantly reminded of her failure by the very moon in the sky. Celestia composed herself after a few minutes, everyone staring around awkwardly in silence, not knowing what to do from here. So... I stood up and went up to them. Giving the little princess a hug for comfort, both on her and my part, showing her I forgave her for, quite frankly, trying to kill me. Then I punched Celestia full-on in the face, knocking her back down on the ground, and with her arms around her sister, she too fell down. Ups.  Pretty sure you foresaw this beforehand, but damn, I needed to have a few choice words with this idiot of a demigod. Ruler of this nation or not, she shouldn’t have let that happen in the first place. Everyone behind me gasped in shock, but I didn’t care. She had it coming for her. “A fucking thousand years!? Are you out of your mind, lady?!” I shouted at her, as she held her hand up to her nose in confusion. Whether or not I stood there wobbling on my feet, I continued. “She is your sister, for Mother’s sake!” I told her, ignoring how everyone behind me whispered around themselves. “And for everything good in this world, don’t make that face there! Seriously, you had it coming.” My righteous fury made her flinch back. Yeah, all the guilt in the world wouldn’t have spared you my wrath if you couldn’t have found a better way to care for your little sister, man. Only the old crazy Gandalf knock-off put this to shame, not thinking before putting the only key out of a trap on a pedestal. I may have come to terms with my situation somewhat, but that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it. Luna was right, they should’ve checked if their intended Chosen One was ready for the task before putting them into the stone. “I’m... sorry?” she asked me in that voice you would get when some stranger tried to talk to you for whatever reason and you were like ‘What’s going on?’. “Yeah, yeah... I’m sorry, too. I’m just letting out a bit of pent-up frustration.” I said, with Lux nodding to that. It feels kinda cheap to use my other body like that. Like patting yourself on the back for something you did. “If Mother wouldn’t have told me to look out for these girls, I would still have done so with no hesitation. For that matter, why am I saying Mother when I mean Mother?” My eyelid twitched as I just repeated the word again. “Mother,” I say on Lux, then again and again, until I get that I couldn’t change the word to God. Or even Horse God, for good measure. What the hell did that pony do to me?! Freedom of speech getting censored for this stupid reason was a bit much, I have to say. Why wouldn’t she want to be called for what she is? Whatever maybe she is just humble, or something.  “You know what? Forget I ever said that.” I said, shaking my head. “Oh, by the way, she says sorry. Whatever that was meant for.” “Um... thanks?” Celestia took my hand and Luna the one I offered with Lux, so I could help them back up.  “Don’t thank me. I don’t even know why Mother wants me to say that to you. Now, I’m sure we all have a thousand questions, but could that wait until we get back to Ponyville? I don’t fancy staying here after dark,” I tell them, rounding up the other girls to begin the track back towards the village. Only to feel a lurch to the side as we appeared just outside of town. Was this what teleportation felt like? Gosh, this feels like your cat took a dive into your stomach and decided to go crazy with their claws. “No need for that,” Celestia said, smiling at me in that serene way that left me feeling like I wanted to punch her again, just to wipe it off her face. “We’ll have a talk after I reassure the citizens. Twilight? If you would be so kind as to meet us at the library later?” “Aw, no party?!” Pinkie interjected. All of us gave her a reprimanding look. We just came back from defeating a demon in an innocent host, she couldn’t really want to throw a party so soon after that? I’m not sure Luna would even appreciate the idea of being paraded around so soon after the incident, what with everyone still having her cackling self in mind and whatnot. “I’ll make sure everything is ready for you, Princess!” Twilight said, throwing me a baleful glance. Oh, come on! Does she really want to hold this over me, after everything? Sure, I punched her teacher, but I had the right to do so, right? Right? I feel like I’m losing an argument with myself here, but I’ll stand by my point. Not that it would save me from a lecture. As soon as we got to the library, little miss ‘I’m a teacher’s pet’ whirled on my with angered balled fists at her sides. For a moment there, I thought I would be on the receiving end of a fist to the face. She wouldn’t do that, I’m sure. Probably. You know what, I’ll just stand a bit further away from her. “What was that?!” she asked me with a furious voice. I winced as I watched smoke wafting off of her hair. She really knew how to, pardon the pun, burn off excess mana. I guess she had one too many surges in her lifetime to resort to something like that. Now, before we get to the juicy bits here in a moment, let me explain how surges work to you a bit. I’m pretty sure all of you want to know that way more than the next part, so I’ll just tell you about that. No, I’m not doing this on purpose, shut up! Surges, in general, are rare to experience after childhood, seeing that most people have grown the pathways for mana at that point. But once in a while, someone is born with something called an overflow. An overflow is just that, your body takes mana from the leylines more easily than the average person. That more often than not leads to surges. To circumvent this conundrum, one has to learn how to burn off excess mana in a reliable way. Now, who wants to learn about something called mana burn? No? No one? You all want to hear what happened next? Fine... I’m not proud to tell this next part, but it happened although I stood out of arm's reach from Twilight. Never say something like ‘Your teacher deserved that’ to her face and mean it because it leads to way more pain and a bruised ego than you would ever want to admit to anyone. She kicked me in the nuts. Yeah, that happened. At least nobody noticed the pained squeak I made with Lux as I cried my tears out on Sol. Funny thing is, Celestia just pretended not to notice my puffy eyes as she came in with Luna twenty minutes later.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, my sarcastic side told me I totally deserved that for being disrespectful of a demigod. “Sol and Lux, I take it?” Celestia asked as we all got comfortable in the lounge room. I took the slightly beat-up armchair with Sol and leaned over the top with Lux, Rarity and Fluttershy took a seat to my left on a couch, while the others found some seats on beanbag chairs and the like. Celestia and Luna had a couch directly in front of me to themselves, too. “Yes, that’s us,” I told her, nodding with Lux at the same time. Multitasking got a lot easier all of a sudden, like some broken part in me was suddenly fixed up. Maybe that was because of the Elements of Harmony? Or it could just be because of my sudden change of heart. Whatever it was, I was glad for this small boon at least. “Curious choice of weaponry, I have to say.” Celestia hinted, but I didn’t take the bait. I could play these games too, missy!  “I guess. We couldn’t have gone into that forest unprotected, could we?” “No, I’m glad at least some of you decided to have that much foresight. I trust that you’ll continue to look after the girls?” she asked me, her eyes losing that searching look, having apparently not found what she was looking for. Or she did but decided to amuse my notion of trying to hide that fact from her. “As much as I would look after my sister,” I said, pointing up. Sure, Lux wasn’t really my sister, seeing that I am her, but it was the story I spun, so I stuck to it. Celestia accepted my response with that same smile from earlier and us to our own questions. And questions we asked. The girls mostly wanted to know who Luna was, what happened so long ago, and whatnot. As it turned out, Luna was actually the one that handled the monster-hunting back in the day. It goes to show how powerful she was if she could take down something called a star beast. On a whim I decided to ask her if she could train me, but sadly that wasn’t possible. She had her own things to work through, after all. It didn’t surprise me, but she offered me a small lesson for the next week to help me get a bit better with my preferred choice of weapons. To my everlasting surprise, I learned that both of the sisters had a penchant for mischief from time to time. Their castle in the Everfree Forest was actually rigged up with secret mechanisms and such, allowing them to have the occasional fun on their guards back in the day. Nowadays, Celestia resorted to more subtler pranks, and her castle in the capital wasn’t as rigged up as her old one. It was a fun time just talking casually with the two sisters, that evening came by pretty fast. Twilight, Spike and I told our goodbyes to the girls, while the princesses got ready to depart. “I’m thankful that I get to stay here, Princess. But I’m going to miss all our lessons together,” Twilight said, hugging her teacher with a fervor. “You’ll have to learn to trust in them to teach you a different lesson I can’t offer you in the same way, my dear student,” Celestia told her, smiling fondly down on her. I gave a supportive smile in her direction as Twilight gave me a glance. Whether or not she kicked me in the jewels, I wouldn’t hold it against her. Not after I punched her mentor, I guess that was a bit much from me. They separated and Celestia gave a nod to the man holding the door open of their carriage. She turned to look at me as she ushered her sister in. I gave a small finger salute, and despite everything so far, she earned my respect for holding onto her sanity for a thousand years being cut off from her family. “Keep these necklaces safe, they are very dear to me and my sister, young Sol. These will be in the right hands, I feel,” she told me in a whisper only meant for me to hear. “It seems peculiar that you were able to lift them out of their case. Watch over them, we made them with our heart and souls.” With that, they were gone in their horse-drawn carriage. It was a strange sight to behold as the seemingly normal horses began to lift off of the ground without any wings. Pegasus-blessed and their unique magic, man.  Obviously, the horses weren’t the ones making the carriage fly, but the ones empowering the animals with their gift. It was easy to forget that this was actually a thing here. “Shall we get back inside?” I asked Twilight and Spike, turning around to them. We had watched as they disappeared in the distance, and all the while I fingered the familiar weight hanging from my neck. What did Celestia mean by that, I wonder? “Yes,” Twilight said and so the very first adventure of our group concluded that day. I remembered darkly about the warning Horse God gave me, my mood souring a bit at the thought. No time to slack off now, there was training to be done!