“You know, as much as I hate to admit it, whoever said that we learn more from our failures than our successes had a point,” Sombra said as he reveled in the terror his reappearance had caused. “After dealing with the princesses so many times, I knew that preparing a backup plan was a good idea. And where better to keep a small piece of myself than the shadow of my dear descendant. On a related note, it’s a shame Princess Twilight never mentioned that she’s a prospective member of the family,” Sombra sneered. “If she had, then perhaps we could have come to some sort of…arrangement.” The moment that those words left Sombra’s mouth, a glowing blue hoof slammed into the side of his face with such force that it sent him bouncing across the floor of the cavern until he impacted the far wall.
“I’m going to kill you,” Moonwhisper snarled, his eyes glowing red with pure fury and body encased in his magical armor.
“You hit me! Again!” Sombra replied with a mixture indignation and disbelief. “How is that even possible? I should have been able to discorporate right through…the amulet, of course. It’s keeping my body too stable to transform back and forth between solid flesh and shadow. No matter, I’ll just have to – Gah!” Sombra was forced to abruptly dive to the one side as Moonwhisper charged forward before pivoting around and slamming both rear hooves into the wall behind where Sombra’s head had been moments earlier.
“Well, I hate to get involved in family arguments,” Greater Good said as he watched Moonwhisper continue his assault. “Lieutenants, why don’t we leave these two to hash out their differences while we look into another issue that needs dealing with?” Before either guard could respond, Greater Good enveloped both of them in his aura and swiftly carried them out of the cave.
“What the hay do y’ think yer doin’?” Sharpshooter protested. “The cap’n –”
“Has a better chance of defeating Sombra if you two aren’t around to get in the way,” Greater Good said. “All Sombra would need to do is slap a helmet on one of you and he’d have an instant hostage. In the meantime, we have a much bigger problem to deal with.”
“Bigger problems than a revived King Sombra who has the Alicorn Amulet?” an incredulous Silver Streak asked.
“A revived King Sombra who’s relying on the Alicorn Amulet to maintain a physical form,” Greater Good corrected. “The last time Moonwhisper fought Sombra he couldn’t deal any lasting damage thanks to Sombra’s ability to turn insubstantial and back. Now that Moonwhisper can actually hit him, he might be able to win, and if that’s the case then we need to start focusing on our other set of problems.”
“Yer not seriously suggestin’ the three of us take on Tirek and those other two?” Sharpshooter said.
“Mostly the other two, to be honest,” Greater Good replied. “Tirek might be a bit much at this point, but there’s a real chance we might be able to handle Chrysalis, and I’d hope that a pair of big, strong guards could handle beating up a little filly.”
“You did see the reports confirming that Cozy Glow’s been turned into an alicorn, right?” Silver Streak snorted.
“Alight, an extremely powerful and violently psychotic little filly, granted, but still just a little filly,” Greater Good replied. “The point is, you can come with me and try to be useful, or just sit on your rumps while Sombra and Moonwhisper try to kill each other. Of course, in the latter case, when the fights over you’d either have to deal with Sombra yourselves, or explain to Moonwhisper why you were just sitting around. I’ll let you decide which would be worse.” Sharpshooter and Silver Streak exchanged nervous looks before swallowing in unison.
“Alright,” Silver Streak finally said. “Do you at least have some sort of plan?”
*********
“Ugh, where’s Tirek?” Cozy Glow griped. “He’s supposed to be helping us make sure there isn’t anycreature hiding down here.”
“He’s busy moving those relics he defeated into the cages with the princesses and Twilight’s friends,” Chrysalis said. “Personally, I don’t know why he’s bothering, he already devoured their magic. And do you honestly think we’re going to find some overlooked rescuers down here?”
“No, but did you expect Starlight Glimmer to come ruin everything when you kidnapped Twilight and her annoying friends?” Cozy Glow shot back, earning an annoyed glare from Chrysalis.
“Fair enough,” Chrysalis grudgingly conceded. “I suppose Twilight and her –” Chrysalis paused to make a disgusted gagging noise “-friends do have a frustrating habit of showing up when you least expect them.”
“Aw, do you really think Princess Twilight thinks of me as one of her friends?” Chrysalis and Cozy Glow turned a corner to find Greater Good standing at the other end of a large cavern with a particularly smug grin on his face.
“Who’s this weirdo?” Cozy Glow asked, before noticing Chrysalis taking a defensive stance as she hissed at the unicorn.
“Greater Good,” Chrysalis snarled, not taking her eyes off Greater Good for a moment.
“Ooh, is he a friend of yours?” Cozy Glow asked mockingly.
“Actually, Chryssi and I have never met before, but I’ve been trying to arrange something for years now,” Greater Good said.
“He’s Celestia’s personal assassin,” Chrysalis clarified. “This could actually work to our advantage. If I can destroy him now, I could eliminate one of the last potential threats left to my rein.”
Cozy Glow burst out into peals of laughter at this. “Are you kidding me? You really expect me to believe that Princess Celestia had her own assassin? And that it’s this guy?”
“I know, it’s hilarious, isn’t it?” Greater Good said, laughing right along with Cozy Glow. “And you know what’s even funnier? The fact that Chrysalis knows who I am but doesn’t seem to have realized why I’m here.” Without warning, a glowing object shot out like an arrow from under Greater Good’s cloak straight towards Chrysalis. Reacting more on instinct than anything else, Chrysalis levitated the object nearest to her in front of her face to deflect the attack. Said object turned out to be Cozy Glow, who let out a shriek of protest as she raised a barrier to protect herself, deflecting the attack and sending the weapon, a long bladed dagger, clattering across the cavern floor.
“What the hay do you think you’re doing?” Cozy Glow demanded angrily.
“Oh get over it, it’s not like you were hurt or anything,” Chrysalis sneered. “Besides, you’re the one who’s always whining about how we need to use teamwork more often.”
Cozy Glow let out a growl of irritating as she turned her attention to Greater Good. “And you, was that really our big plan to stop us? A knife?”
To Cozy Glow’s shock and annoyance, Greater Good proceeded to burst out laughing. “Oh, you really are just adorable, aren’t you?”
“Huh?” Cozy Glow replied.
“It’s just what you just said. ‘A knife’,” Greater Good smiled evilly. “As in, knife singular.” This statement was met with brief confusion by Cozy Glow and Chrysalis until they glanced up towards the cavern ceiling. There, dozens upon dozens of pale green lights had begun to flare up, turning the ceiling into a malevolent caricature of the night sky. “Alright then, ladies, shall we begin?”
*********
“Are you really so sure we have to fight? I’ve been watching you these past few months, and I think we actually have a great deal in common,” Sombra said, already preparing to conjure another wall of crystal between himself and Moonwhisper.
“I’m going to rip out your tongue and feed it to the Timberwolves,” Moonwhisper snarled as he prepared to charge at Sombra once again.
“You see, that’s the exact sort of thing I’m talking about. That raw, unbridled thirst to inflict pain and suffering on others. Don’t try to tell me that playing toy soldier for the Princesses can satisfy that,” Sombra said.
“Not on others. Just you.” The ground underneath Moonwhisper’s hooves exploded as he launched himself at Sombra, only for a series of black crystals to erupt out of the ground and block his path. While Moonwhisper simply smashed through the crystals without even breaking stride, he found that Sombra had used the opportunity to circle around him.
“Think about what I’m offering for a moment. You could have your own section of Equestria to rule as you see fit. Your incompetent failure of a father as your personal plaything to torment as you wish. Princess Twilight by your side as your loving concubine. You could have the rest of her friends, too, if you wanted them. All you have to do is say—”
“Go rut yourself sideways with a rusty halberd!” Moonwhisper snapped.
“You insist on making this so difficult,” Sombra sighed as black, crackling energy began sparking out of the crystal fragments that had been left in the wake of Moonwhisper’s charge. “The most frustrating part of all this is I see so much of myself in you, so much power and determination. You just need some proper direction.” As Sombra spoke, the crystalline shards at Moonwhisper’s hooves shot up into the air around him, forming a barrier around him.
“You don’t seriously expect this to hold me, do you?” Moonwhisper snorted after taking moment to inspect the conjured restraints.
“Not for long, no,” Sombra replied with a smirk. “But it should keep you still long enough for…THIS!” Before Moonwhisper could react, one of Sombra’s mind-controlling helmets slammed onto his head and was promptly anchored there by a blast of Sombra’s own magic. “I underestimated your willpower last time. That’s yet another mistake I don’t intend to repeat. Now, let’s see if that insufferable cephalopod’s methods work when used by somepony who actually knows what they’re doing.”
*********
“Blast it! How many of these daggers do you have?” Chrysalis shrieked as she dove and twisted through the air, narrowly dodging the countless blades whizzing around her like angry hornets.
“Well, if you’d hold still for a bit you’ll find out,” Greater Good shot back as he used a set of knives under his hooves to levitate himself out of the way of a retaliatory energy blast from Chrysalis. The assassin deftly came to rest next to Cozy Glow, who was watching the entire spectacle from inside a crimson bubble of protective magic. “So, do you plan on actually doing anything?” Greater Good asked.
“I am doing something; I’m providing moral support,” Cozy Glow replied before turning her attention back to Chrysalis. “Come on, Chrysalis! You can do it! Dodge those daggers!”
“I hate you! I hate you both so much!”
“See? I’m an invaluable part of Team Evil,” Cozy Glow said. “Besides, if I did anything that made me lower this shield those knives would be coming after me too, wouldn’t they?”
“Oh, absolutely. You know, it’s a shame you decided to go full evil, you’d have made a great recruit.” Greater Good said.
“Eh, what can I say? I prefer being my own boss,” Cozy Glow replied as she watched Chrysalis go through a particularly impressive series of loops and dives.
“Mmhm. By the way, that barrier’s air permeable, right? So, how’s it do at filtering out particulate matter?” As Greater Good spoke, he raised his hoof to Cozy Glow’s barrier while pulling a thread hidden in his collar, spraying out a blast of dust from his sleeve. For a brief moment, Cozy Glow stared at Greater Good in confusion before she began to cough as her barrier started to falter. “Evidently, your barrier’s fairly decent at it. Not perfect, but decent,” Greater Good said as he watched Cozy Glow’s barrier disintegrate as she collapsed to the floor, wheezing and gasping for air. “You know, everpony pays so much attention to the wings and horn, they always seem to forget you alicorns get earth pony endurance too. Between that and the barrier that does probably won’t be nearly lethal, but it should take the fight out of you for at least a little while. Or, at least long enough for me to do my job,” Greater Good said as he levitated one of his daggers out from under his hoof. “Nothing personal, but you’re just too dangerous for me not to deal with.”
“T-Tireck…” Cozy Glow gasped out as she lay on the floor.
“Sorry, but as much as a pain as he’ll be to deal with, I wouldn’t be able to trust you to help and, let’s face it, Tirek isn’t the type to be bothered by a hostage.” Just as Greater Good was about to strike, however, a stream of his magic was lifted out from his horn into the maw of the behemoth behind him. “How the hay did you manage to sneak up on me?” Greater Good asked unsteadily as his knives and daggers clattered to the cavern floor. Any further conversation was preempted by a guttural scream from Chrysalis as she lunged at Greater Good and pinned him to the ground.
“The suffering I have in store for you is going to be legendary!” Chrysalis snarled as she encased Greater Good in a green cocoon much to Tirek’s disgust.
“Is that really necessary? I’ve already drained his magic, he’s harmless,” Tirek said as he recoiled from the sight.
“Harmless? Hardly,” Chrysalis scoffed before gesturing towards Cozy Glow, still wheezing for air. “Why don’t you ask her how harmless he is without his magic.”
“He…he was really going…to kill me,” Cozy Glow gasped as she unsteadily rose to her hooves.
“I know, it’s amazing. It’s almost as though he’s an assassin or something,” Chrysalis mocked.
“I’m honestly a little surprised Celestia would keep somepony like him around, I didn’t think she had it in her. For now, we should lock him and the other two up with the rest of the prisoners. You can do whatever it is you want to do with him after we’ve finally secured our victory,” Tirek said.
“What do you mean ‘the other two’?” Chrysalis said.
“These,” Tirek said as he tossed the battered and unconscious bodies of Silver Streak and Sharpshooter onto the ground. “I caught them trying to sneak in and release our prisoners. They were probably hoping we’d be too distracted by the assassin to stop them.”
“Hold on a…minute,” Cozy Glow wheezed. “I…recognize these two. They’re the…stooges that work for…what’s-his-name…Twilight’s coltfriend or something.”
“Moonwhisper?” Chrysalis hissed. “Of course, why wouldn’t he be here as well?”
“What’s the big deal? We already beat Twilight and her stupid friends, and the princesses, and Celestia’s crazy assassin-guy. How bad could this guy be?” Cozy Glow asked, having finally caught her breath.
“I’m tempted to agree, myself,” Tirek added. “But I’ve been caught off-guard enough times to know better than to dismiss a potential threat. I say we lock up these fools first and them make sure these caves aren’t hiding anymore surprises.”
“I can accept that,” Chrysalis said as she levitated the cocooned Greater Good, her mind already furiously plotting. “Even if that oaf Tirek drains Moonwhisper’s magic, I should still be able to feed on his love,” Chrysalis silently thought to herself. “I may have only had a brief chance to taste it before Starlight Glimmer ruined everything, but Moonwhisper’s love for Twilight may have been as potent as Shining Armor’s love for Cadance, maybe even more so. If I can harness it, then I’ll be able to easily overthrow these two simpletons once Equestria is completely ours. Now, the only challenge will be capturing him.”
*********
Moonwhisper stood in the hallway of Castle Umbra, staring straight ahead as Penumbral Dusk hobbled by. The usually foul-tempered unicorn must have been in a particularly good mood that morning, as Penumbral Dusk merely muttered an acknowledgement as he went past, forgoing the usual swipe with his crutch entirely.
This reprieve from Penumbral Dusk’s malice was all too brief, however, as moments later the sounds of Penumbral Dusk’s crutch impacting flesh echoed out from down the hall. Moonwhisper numbly turned to see his mother sprawled out on the floor at Penumbral Dusk’s hooves while Penumbral Dusk readied another strike. Before the blow could land, however, the shadows of the hallway suddenly seemed to come alive, reaching out and grabbing at Penumbral Dusk like the tentacles of some jet-black cephalopod. Panicking, Penumbral Dusk tried to break away, wildly swinging his crutch to ward off the tendrils, but this quickly proved to be a futile effort. In mere moments, the shadows had pulled Penumbral Dusk to the floor, where he was left to flail about in a blind panic as he was dragged into the darkness. As Penumbral Dusk vanished into the shadows, a new stallion stepped forth from the abyss to take his place.
“There now,” Sombra cooed as he extended a hoof to help Moonwhisper’s mother up from the floor. “He’ll never be able to hurt either of you ever again, you have my word.” Not bothering to wait for Moonwhisper’s mother to respond, Sombra turned to address Moonwhisper himself. “Come now, I’m not your enemy, surely you can see that now? Join me.” Entwined in Sombra’s words were a multitude of promises. Promises of a life free of shame and self-loathing. A life unshackled by constant guilt. A life that Moonwhisper had always believed would be forever outside his grasp…
Until Twilight.
Hesitantly, Moonwhisper began stepping forward as Sombra beamed with joy and reached out to embrace his descendant. It wasn’t until Moonwhisper had gotten withing hooves length that Sombra noticed the glint in Moonwhisper’s eye, but by then it was too late. Like a coiled snake striking at its prey, Moonwhisper launched himself at Sombra headfirst, driving his horn into the base of Sombra’s throat before viciously jerking his head to one side. Moonwhisper watched with cold satisfaction as Sombra staggered backwards, dissolving into shadow as he hit the floor. As Sombra vanished, the world around Moonwhisper swiftly melted away, leaving him once again standing in the caverns beneath Canterlot, Sombra standing several feet away as he coughed up wisps of inky darkness with an outraged expression on his face.
“You…how? How did you do that? You couldn’t resist my magic like that last time!” Sombra sputtered, to which Moonwhisper smiled.
“You’re not the only one who’s able to learn from their failures,” Moonwhisper said as he stepped forward. “Now then, as I recall when we left off I was embedding my hoof somewhere between your liver and small intestines. Let’s pick up there, shall we?”
*********
“Ugh, today has been so annoying,” Cozy Glow groaned as she fluttered through the caves. “First that crazy knife guy shows up, and now all of Twilight’s stupid friends have got away. This would all be going to much smoother if those blockheads would just put me in charge.” Suddenly, the sounds of shouting and smashing rocks filled the cavern, forcing Cozy Glow to pause her grumbling. “What the hay was that? Well, whatever it is, I’d better deal with it before it causes any more trouble.”
I didn’t take Cozy Glow long to find the source of the commotion, namely Moonwhisper and Sombra’s battle. Moonwhisper’s renewed attack had forced Sombra onto the defensive, desperately throwing up walls of crystal in an effort to keep Moonwhisper at bay. These efforts appeared increasingly futile, however, as each fresh assault by Moonwhisper came closer to reaching his target.
“…You know what? Chrysalis was the one who really wanted Moonwhisper captured. I’m just going to let her know when he is and let her deal with this whole…thing, while I help Tirek round up the prisoners.”
*********
“Damn you, this can’t be happening!” Sombra snarled as he tried to recover from dodging another of Moonwhisper’s blows. “I won’t allow myself to be defeated like this, not when I’m so close!”
“You won’t allow yourself to be defeated?” Moonwhisper replied with utter comtempt. “You don’t get any say in the matter.” Before Sombra could respond, a faintly luminous, dark blue chain shot through the air and wrapped itself around his neck. Once secured, the chain violently yanked Sombra off of his hooves, pulling him through the air straight into a double-hooved buck from Moonwhisper. The force of the blow sent Sombra flying backwards, only for the chain still wrapped around his neck to yank him back into another attack. This repeated several more times, Sombra being smashed and jerked back and forth through the air like a paddleball, until finally Moonwhisper sent Sombra crashing into the far wall.
“Do you really think that any of this will be enough to stop me?” Sombra panted as he climbed back to his hooves. Moonwhisper responded to this by bolting forward and smashing Sombra’s head into the wall with his forehoof.
“Maybe no, but it’s a good start,” Moonwhisper hissed. Not waiting for Sombra to respond, Moonwhisper proceeded to dash forward as he held Sombra’s head to the wall, grinding Sombra’s face into the stone as he went.
*********
“Useless little brat,” Chrysalis grumbled as she made her way through the caves according to Cozy Glow’s directions. “If Moonwhisper was right there, then why didn’t she capture him? Instead, I have to do all the work, as usual. Sometimes I think I’d have been better off with those treacherous, incompetent clones.” Chrysalis abruptly stopped in her tracks, the unmistakable taste of rage and bloodlust practically saturated the air, along with a healthy dose of dawning fear. “Well well well, so Cozy Glow was right about Moonwhisper fighting somepony else down here. That explains why he wasn’t there to assist Greater Good. This is perfect, I’ll grab Moonwhisper while he’s to distracted to defend himself, and then I’ll be free to feed on him until I’m unstoppable!” Cackling quietly to herself, Chrysalis swiftly crept through the tunnels until she reached the opening to the cavern where Moonwhisper and Sombra were fighting.
“You! Will! Never! Huirt! Any! Pony! Ever! Again!” By this point, Moonwhisper had pinned Sombra to the ground and was pummeling him with his front hooves, punctuating his every word with another blow to Sombra’s face.
“Actually, no that I think about it, this seems more like a job for Tirek,” Chrysalis said to herself as she slowly backed away. “Tirek’s certainly going to want to devour Moonwhisper’s magic again, anyway. And, since I still need his assistance to secure my rule, I really should indulge him.”
*********
“You know you can’t defeat me, not like this,” Sombra gasped out defiantly as Moonwhisper briefly paused his assault to catch his breath. “It doesn’t matter how strong you are, or how many times you strike me, eventually I’ll get back up again. Face it, for all your power and self-righteous fury, you’re not Twilight Sparkle.”
“I’ll admit, you’re right. About one thing, at least,” Moonwhisper said calmly as his conjured armor began to glow. “I’m not Twilight Sparkle, I can’t solve problems with the power of friendship. At least, not in the magical rainbow laser sense, anyway. But, luckily for me, you’re not a friendship problem. And if hitting you isn’t working, all that says to me is I just need to hit you even harder!” Moonwhisper reared back on his hind legs as his armor erupted in brilliant light. “This is for everything you did to the Crystal Empire!” The entire cavern shook as Moonwhisper brought his hoof down onto Sombra’s face. “And this is for saddling me with a legacy that made me ashamed of even existing!” Moonwhisper reared up and brought his hoof down once again, this time causing the ground underneath them to partly give way, leaving them at the bottom of a crater. “And this,” Moonwhisper snarled as he reared up once more, this time adjusting his target slightly. “This is for all the pain you inflicted on Twilight.”
“What are you…NO! WAIT! DON’T!” Sombra’s panicked cries fell on deaf ears as Moonwhisper brought his hoof down directly onto the Alicorn Amulet. For a brief moment, Moonwhisper’s hoof seemed to hover directly over the amulet, its power blocking the force of Moonwhisper’s attack. This resistance proved fleeting however, and Moonwhisper’s hoof smashed through the amulet’s defense before crashing down and shattering it like glass. As the fragments of the destroyed amulet flew through the air Sombra let out a horrified scream, his body fracturing just as the amulet had. Movements later, Sombra himself shattered just as the amulet had, and the fragments of his form rapidly dissolved to wisps of shadow before vanishing entirely.
“Good riddance, if you ask me. That one was always so full of himself; he was completely insufferable.” Moonwhisper didn’t even have time to turn his head before his armor started disintegrating and floating away with the rest of his magic into Tirek’s waiting maw. “Delicious. Now, we both know there’s no hope of you defeating me, so why don’t you just come quietly?”
Weakened by the loss of his magic and exhausted from his battle with Sombra, Moonwhisper pondered Tirek’s offer for a moment. Moonwhisper then lowered his head and charged at Tirk, horn first.
*********
“Finally, I think that’s the last one of them,” Cozy Glow said as she roughly tossed Somnambula back into her cage. “This would have been a lot easier if Tirek had been here to help the whole time.”
“He’s busy dealing with Moonwhisper, in case you’ve forgotten. I couldn’t help notice that you weren’t exactly eager to capture the captain yourself and instead left it to us,” Chrysalis hissed.
“The same could be said of yourself, Chrysalis.” Both Cozy Glow and Chrysalis promptly turned to see Tirek walk back into the cavern holding Moonwhisper in the air at arm’s length, one hand holding the back of his neck and the other holding his tail. “What are you two staring at? Hurry up and open one of those cages so I can throw him in there.”
“Don’t you think you’re being just a little overdramatic?” Chrysalis asked as she watched Tirek hold the still struggling Moonwhisper. “I mean, you did drain his magic, right? He’s hardly a threat at this point.”
“Oh, is that so? Well, if he’s so harmless then you deal with him!” Tirek promptly tossed Moonwhisper towards Chrysalis, who eagerly pounced on him the moment he hit the floor.
“Hah! Whine all you want, Tirek, but once I cocoon Twilight’s precious guard and dangle him in front of her, she’ll—” As Chrysalis gloated over her impending victory, Moonwhisper took the opportunity to turn his head and clamp his teeth down onto her left fetlock. Chrysalis promptly let out a scream of pain and tried to pull away, which gave Moonwhisper the opportunity to grab her front right leg and spun around onto her back, painfully pulling leg behind her back as he went. “Gah! One of you, do something! Quickly! Before he breaks my leg!” Chrysalis cried out in agony.
“Oh? Surely you’re not saying you need help dealing with him After all, he’s hardly a threat at this point now that I’ve drained his magic, isn’t that right?” Tirek mocked. Cozy Glow, meanwhile, was too busy laughing hysterically at Chrysalis’ misfortune to say or do much of anything.
“Stop joking around and blast him alre – AGH !” Chrysalis let out a scream as Moonwhisper jerked her leg back even further.
“Fine,” Tirek said, letting out a sigh. “Just remember, you asked me to do this.” Tirek obligingly unleashed a powerful blast of magical energy directly at Moonwhisper. Moonwhisper, however, simply flipped back onto the floor, placing Chrysalis directly into the path of Tirek’s attack. The sheer force of the blast tore Chrysalis from Moonwhisper’s grip and slammed her into the wall of the cavern, and before Moonwhisper could stand back up he was surrounded by a crimson magical aura and tossed into a cage with the other prisoners.
“You did that on purpose,” Chrysalis accused as she unsteadily extracted herself from the indent she had left in the wall.
“I tried to warn you he was still dangerous, but you didn’t want to listen. In any event, he’s in the cage now so we can deal with him at any time. For now we have much bigger problems to deal with,” Tirek said.
*********
“And the other griffons really listened to you?” a fully healed and restored Moonwhisper said as Gallus finished recounting his part in Equestria’s victory.
“Well, a few of them did,” Gallus admitted. “After I gave my big friendship speech, I also pointed out how letting Equestria get destroyed probably wouldn’t be too great for business, and that really got everygriff’s attention.”
Moonwhisper simply shrugged. “Well, however you motivated them, the fact remains that your actions still helped save Equestria and beyond from certain destruction.”
“Pretty impressive, huh? Do you think our teachers are going to give us any extra credit for this?” Gallus asked with a smirk.
“Possibly, but you’d have to ask them about that. In any event, you should be proud of what you accomplished today. I know I’m proud of you,” Moonwhisper said.
“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Gallus said as he waved Moonwhisper off. Once Moonwhisper had turned to leave, however, Gallus let out a barely contained squeal of joy, much to the amusement of his friends.
*********
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Twilight asked as Moonwhisper finished debriefing her on where he had been during the whole ordeal.
“Actually, believe it or not I feel excellent, all things considered,” Moonwhisper replied. “Beating what was essentially the physical embodiment of a great deal of my emotional issues into the ground, at one point quite literally, was unimaginably cathartic. This is going to make fore one hay of a session with my therapist.”
Twilight let out a brief laugh. “I don’t know about that, but my friends are you to grab some averted-apocalypse donuts. Do you want to come with us?”
“Yes,” Moonwhisper replied. “I think I’d like that.”