//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: The Fight Of Our Lives Part 2 // Story: To Equestria And Beyond (Rewrite In Progress) // by NightFurySpeedey8156 //------------------------------// The clouds had started to darken. Lightning could also be heard. What was once clear reflective crystals became black as smoke. The once dormant evil spirit of King Sombra was active and ready to begin his conquest. "Twilight!" Spike cried out as he saw her surrounded by multiple dark crystals. "Twilight, are you ok?!" Night Fury called out, hoping she didn't get hurt. "I'm fine, where's the Crystal Heart?" She questioned. "It's over here, it rolled over to us when you dropped it." Spike informed her, slowly stepping backwards with Night Fury as smaller dark crystals started to sprout from the floor. "Maybe I can jump in there." Night Fury was about to leap. "Wait no!" Twilight said. He jumped anyway and as he was about to leap in, a crystal stalagmite from the ground was about to expand and pierce his stomach. Twilight teleported him out of the way. "You see?! If you two go near me, you probably won't survive and neither will I!" Twilight warned them. Night Fury and Spike at this point realized how hopeless of a situation they were in. One of the individuals chosen to complete Celestia's test was now locked in a crystalline prison. This just leaves Night Fury to use the crystal heart. Spike was very worried now. "Alright, Night Fury it's up to you with the help of Spike to use the Crystal Heart to defeat Sombra!" "But you need to fulfill the test! What about that?!" Spike asked worriedly. "I know this is tough not just for you, but me Spike, but this has to be done even if it means I have to lose my position as Celestia's Student!" Spike was clearly conflicted for he didn't want his own mentor Twilight to fail this test. Just then a paw was put on his shoulder. "Look kid, sometimes in life you have to cheat in order to do what you have to do! Just like I had to cut class to get that special limited time meat, this is now that moment! Twilight will be fine!" He reassured him. "While I disagree with cutting tests for something as insignificant as meat, Fury is still right! I'll be fine, Spike! Trust me." Twilight looked at him. Roarrrrrrrr! Sombra was still up and active and ready for his reinvasion. "Let's go stop that big gassy blob!" Spike said now with determination. "That's the spirit, ride on my back," the quick feline said. Now the two were jumping on different crystals being ready to place the Crystal Heart where it was meant to be. But the shadowy king was not going to let that happen. Night Fury had to maneuver through a bunch of hostile crystals lunging at them while the black feline was jumping and maneuvering through crystal platforms. "Ah watch out for that one! And that one too! Ahhh, look out!" Spike said. "Okay calm down. I'm well aware! Thank you very much." Fury said sarcastically although admittedly he was glad to have someone spot those traps and hazards. "Ok, just a few more jumps and we'll be at the base of the castle." Night Fury said, continuing to jump from platform to platform. "Look, there's a ramp down to the main strip that leads to the holding place of the Crystal Heart. We can make better time if you race down it!" Spike said. "Thank goodness, let's slide down." Night Fury said with satisfaction. "This should be easier than catching fish in a pond!" As they were sliding the crystal however the bottom of the crystal shattered causing them to fall. "Ahhh!!!" The two yelled. They would both fall to their deaths, but Fury was not going to let him or Spike die from a measly fall. He saw a somewhat thin crystal disc and looked to Spike "Grab on to that crystal, I have an idea!" Fury cried out. Spike used his feet to hold tight onto Fury's back while Fury's claw kept Spike from accidentally falling. Spike reached for the crystal. It was kind of far away so he kept on leaning and forward and Spike had to risk a bit by asking Fury not to restrict his movement. "Are you sure you want to go that far?!" Fury was willing to risk himself but not Spike. "Not really, but it's our best shot at making it out alive! Better than having our bones and innards gushing out!" Spike pointed out. "You make a valid argument. I don't want to be that." He admitted and let go of Spike's feet and Spike finally grabbed the disc. "Whoa whoa whoa…" He said, trying to get a grip. Fury pushed him down to sit on him again. "Good work Spike, now hang on for dear life!" "Wait, why?" Fury put the disc under his feet and used his power to launch himself using the disc as recoil and jump to the next platform. "Ahhhhhhh!" Spike cried out at this insane scheme. "You're insane!" "Well, you have to be a little to be a Speed Shifter warrior." he replied But they finally got onto a much more stable platform. Which was a relief but they now were a long way from getting to Cadence and Shining Armor. "We gotta hurry." Spike said. Night Fury jumped down some of the platforms and finally made it on the ground. Now Fury could just run on the road to Cadence. But things don't turn out as planned. More crystals emerged and blocked them from running and one crystal showed a sharp toothed unicorn who was now a physical being. "Oh no…" Spike said. "It's-" "Sombra. King Sombra.' He growled to assert he was not afraid of Sombra. But deep down part of him felt like surrendering. "Well well well, what do we have here?" The evil tyrant stared into Spike and Fury. "It seems you two have something that belongs to me. May I kindly ask that you hand it over to me? I won't make your corpses into my trophies otherwise." He said with a wide grin, exposing his sharp teeth. "I'd bite my own skin off my body before I do that, you oversized fart cloud!" Night Fury said with determination. "Yeah what Fury said! Besides, you're not that awesome! I've seen way scarier!" Spike cried out. Sombra simply responded with laughter. "Such confidence! Oh I almost admire it! If it were not so misplaced!" His grin turned to an enraged expression. "I could destroy you both in a few minutes!" Though they were standing up to the monster, they were also quite frightened. Spike felt like he wanted to go home and Fury did too. But they knew they had to fight still. And besides Fury will make sure Sombra's crimes don't go unpunished. For Fury and Spike, while they were standing up to him, were finding a way to escape and get to Cadence. Then, Night Fury had an idea. "Hey Spike, I've got an idea." He whispered, not wanting to give away the secret. "Ok, what have you got?" "You get off my back with the Crystal Heart while I start to back away as I tell him that we give up," He said, Spike nodding along with his plan. "Then, when you get close to giving it to him, I speed past him, pick you up, and we bolt it towards Cadence and save the Empire." "That sounds good, let's do it!" Spike said confidently, the two turning their attention back to Sombra. Night Fury looked determined at Sombra then his expression changed to one of defeat. "Oh, who are we kidding Spike? He's just too powerful even for us. You can have this stupid Crystal Heart! We just want to leave and spend our lives in luxury!" "What?! But Night Fury! We can't just give up! We must defeat the evil unicorn!" he said in a somewhat awkward overly dramatic way as he wasn't as experienced at faking emotion as Night Fury. Fury always used trickery even when sneaking Speed Shifter sweets from his mother. But it was still good enough. "For my lady Rarity's honor! I must smite thee and make sure you know what true horror and misery and…" "Just give the heart to Sombra and I'll give you a bunch of gems." Fury said, cringing at Spike's corny acting. Spike was a little unamused at Fury's disapproval of his acting. Spike got the satchel the Crystal Heart was in off Night Fury's back and walked over to Sombra, who was looking forward to it. He was considering letting them go but he decided he would not kill them for he was still a unicorn of some honor, but he would train Fury to be a warrior. Spike would just let go because Sombra saw him as weak. "Yes, the Crystal Heart… It will be all mine." The dreadful monarch said while licking his lips. "You have chosen wisely, child. You must realize that there is no hope for weaklings like yourselves." "That's where you're wrong!" Fury said dashing quickly towards Sombra at full speed, as he grabbed Spike with the Crystal Heart while throwing some crystal dust in Sombra's eyes, and they made a mad dash away from him. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Sombra cried in agony. After he recovered he was now beyond rage. He swore to murder those two. "INSOLENT KNAVES! YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR DECEPTION! I WILL CRUSH YOUR VERY SOULS!" He said, sinking down into the ground as a shadow and dashed towards Night Fury hoping to impale them, leading to a slow and painful death. "See ya later, smokey! HAHAH!!" Fury said as he was running as quickly as possible. He ran quickly but there was still a lot of distance to cover to get to Cadence plus he lost a lot of stamina from the stress and trauma of the vision Sombra gave him. This was way harder than climbing those stairs. "Keep it up Fury, we'll get to Cadence and Shining in no time! Yahoo! This is fun!" Spike cried out. ROARRRRRRRR "Spike, what was that?" Fury asked, hoping it wasn't Sombra. Spike simply saw a whole bunch of crystals rapidly growing behind them. "Well it looks like we got company. Our favorite tyrant supreme. With a whole bunch of black crystals." Spike said sardonically. "Yeah that's what I figured." Fury said, sweating. "Hang on tight Spike. I'm gonna zig zag to keep him off our trail." The crystals were approaching them rapidly. But before they could touch him, Fury zigzagged back and forth, being sure to avoid Sombra's crystals. "Sorry you gloomy cloud, But this ain't over yet!" Fury proclaimed. "I will make and you will leave these people, and you will pay for the suffering you have caused!" He gave such an epic speech. He was starting to feel a bit more confident now. "Ha ha ha ha. We will see about that, you little shrimp!" Sombra said although even the dark lord himself had to admit he was going faster than he would have liked. I have to find another way to stop those two. Hmmm, let's see. Ah there we go. Sombra saw a congregation of Crystal Ponies running in panic, they were close to Sombra's route. He had an awful idea. Let's see how much your pathetic virtue and compassion for these weaklings are. He formed crystals in front of the panicking ponies and in back of them. He was about to impale them. "We're gonna die!" one crystal pony stallion. "Mommy I'm scared." said a crystal colt. "Prepare yourself for your doom, my former slaves." Sombra said as he was about to destroy them. When all of a sudden… BOOM A burst of red light burst through one of the crystals forming a gateway for everyone. "Everybody get out now!" Fury cried out at the panicking ponies, even roaring at them. All the crystal ponies fled through the hole. "This fight is between us, Sombra! Civilians have no place in this conflict! I thought even you would have some code of honor!" Fury said with rage. "Oh please, I knew you were going to save them. I need them for my slave labor!" Sombra shrugged at him. "Excuses. If I didn't come here, you would have happily skewered them." "Enough of this." he said annoyed. "What matters young one, is you fell right into my trap and now I will retrieve that Crystal Heart of yours!" Sombra used his magic to get the satchel that he saw Spike put the Crystal Heart in, Fury tried to resist, but at that close range he was too strong. Retrieving the bag he laughed. "And now the power is mine!!!! Wait what? It's not here!!!!" Sombra cried out. "Wait a second, that scaly runt isn't with you!" "Yeah, you aren't too smart or handsome apparently. His name is Spike by the way and he is going to send the Crystal Heart to defeat you!" He smirked. "You mad, your highness? How about we settle this unicorn to feline!?" "Curse you!" Sombra had now realized he didn't think this through. Sombra was about to make Fury pay but he realized he had to hurry and retrieve the Crystal Heart. And without saying anything he sped up as fast as he could to Spike. "This is it," Fury said. It's time for a battle and race with Sombra. "Just like my father used to teach me! It's also where I failed… No, this will be different!" He said with determination as he charged his power and was rammed into the king, throwing him against a tower briefly. "How adorable." Sombra said. "Let me show you how a real warrior does it!" Sombra shoved Fury hard into another tower but more successfully than Fury. "Ow, that's gonna leave a mark." He said as he lunged back at Sombra racing by. What can I do to delay him? Ah ha! He saw a giant crystal skyscraper in front of them and he lunged at the skyscraper. BOOM The skyscraper tipped over and hit Sombra right on the head. "Owwww!" "That was even more adorable. Does your mommy need to give you a band aid and candy with that?" Fury trash talked the lord of shadows as he stood his ground, taking advantage of this delay to catch his breath and recover a bit. And then the crystal exploded, letting out a whole bunch of shards of crystal going towards Fury. "Oh no!" Fury proceeded to dodge the flying crystals. They were going so fast that some of them pierced his legs and stomach, causing blood to start to show. "Ahhhhh!" Fury cried out. "That's really gonna leave me a mark. I hope Luna won't find that too ugly." He said trying to bring some levity for him to forget the pain. Fury had no time to dwell on the pain he was feeling, because Sombra was lunging right at him. Fury made a leap away from Sombra but his injury just made him barely dodge Sombra's attack and Sombra even managed to make a dent on one of the feline's claws. "Ow!" Fury said, trying to hide his pain this time. Sombra was now still speeding up going toward Spike. At that point Sombra used that time to catch up to Spike. Fury was too far away now. Fury wondered if a building couldn't damage him that much. What could? If only I had some magic to stop him. Unless… He looked at one of the large shards of crystal. He remembered a technique with these crystals from his father's tales. His father told him how going quickly enough would allow the crystals to be used as a sort of magic missile. Even a partly incorporeal being like Sombra would probably be affected by the magic. And so Night Fury ran once again with the shards toward Sombra but before he got to him he went around in a circle and another and another and the crystal seemed to charge up and then he threw it at the king causing great pain from the tyrant. "Ahhhhhh!" He fell down with a burning pain delaying him once again. But this time for longer. It had an effect on Sombra because Fury could see he bled. Fury finally caught up to him. "You thought you were so tough? Huh?" He said with deep breaths as he was exhausted. However despite his attempt at a confident smile, he appeared nervous. He could now see that Spike was halfway to Cadence, he still had a ways to go. And Fury tried to hide this but ramming into all those buildings was taking a toll on his abilities. Which is why he was not able to dodge Sombra after Fury rammed into the skyscraper. Fury was focused right at Sombra. Sombra almost felt defeated at first seeing how Spike was far away and how Sombra was damaged. No. I cannot let them make a mockery of me. Not again! "What is your name, young one?" "That would be Night Fury, your Highness. Just an average fun loving Speed Shifter. And of course a clever warrior as you can see from your bruises." He smirked at him. "You have a lot of confidence. I like that." Sombra admitted. "Or so it seems." Fury tried to not give an expression of fear. "Nah I'm very confident my friends and I could beat you up." Sombra was getting back up. "Then why do you look so nervous? That smile seems to be hiding something. Let me guess it is the fact you are heavily injured. Or is it the fact that you probably have used up most of that speed of yours? Heh heh heh heh." Sombra laughed slowly. "Well even if I was. It wouldn't matter. You're too far away from Spike to get the Crystal Heart because I would just do another thing to delay you. How about you just lay down and accept your fate, you fool. And ask for forgiveness so when you die after all you did, you can at least have some comfort acknowledging your evil deeds." Fury said with a mix of righteous fury from his father and compassion that he got from his mother. "Nonsense. I don't apologize for what I don't feel sorry about. My kingdom was taken away and I want it back." Sombra now looked no longer passive but went back to his aggressive state. "You assume that I don't have any tricks up my sleeve. But I can see in your eyes fear and memory. It's almost as if this scenario was familiar to you. Am I right?" Sombra smiled knowingly. "You don't know anything about me!" Fury stated. "Oh I know enough. I know that you once tried to protect someone you loved but failed entirely. And they probably died because of your failure! But it would be alright if there was nothing you could do. But you could have tried harder to save them and you know it! And you beat yourself over it!" Sombra said. "Was it your… parents?" "Shut up!!!!" Fury said crying. "Well maybe I can help you relive your memories!" Sombra shot a dark cloud at Fury. Night Fury remembered that dreadful night. When he just became an adult. It was supposed to be a lovely vacation away from the hard work of the village. They were having a picnic and it was delightful. "Son, you'd better stop eating so much steak! You'll get fat from this!" his mother scolded him. "Oh let him eat, a growing boy has to get some muscle. And you are growing up quite a lot, son!" "Aw dad, I'm still not the best. I can run. But I still am subpar when it comes to fighting. Everybody can fight better than me, all I can do is run." the younger Fury said with disappointment. "For now boy, but in time you will be a great warrior when the time comes and you must be. I am sure of it." "Your father is right. Don't worry about it. You'll be a great warrior one day." His mother comforted. "Aw thanks." "That was Night Fury," Sombra finally spoke. "You would be great when the time was right. But you were not for that one moment, were you? That one moment that changed everything." Sombra then gave Night Fury another vision. It was now night. And instead of a jovial atmosphere, it was filled with the feeling of terror. It turned out Fury's tribe was betrayed by another tribe who was raiding and was out to get Fury's father. So far they have been successful in getting away. But Fury was separated from his parents. Fury tried to find them. He was desperate to see them. He was so scared for their safety. He finally heard some sounds. And it turned out the rival tribe tied the two up. He overheard them. "You two think you are so great huh? Well great ones, you will now know our great wrath!" This Speed Shifter said as he got out his claws. He seemed like he was ready to slit their throats. Night Fury had to run in and save them! But the others seemed so strong. He knew he could be annihilated if a rookie like himself did battle with them. He scrambled in his head thinking for ways to save them. But as he was thinking he stepped on a branch and alerted the guards. "Ah ha there is your cowardly son! Hiding instead of acting like a real warrior!" "Son, get out of here!" The father said. "We'll be fine! Get help from the village!" "No I'm not gonna leave you guys. As for the rest of you, you'd b-better leave this instant or I'll make you r-regret it." He said trying to look brave. The enemies just laughed at this timid young feline. "Actually what if I killed you in front of your parents!" The giant scarred Speed Shifter lunged at him. The two were engaged in a tussle with each other. Each one going far away then ramming each other up close with their claws. "Come on this can't be all your brave father managed to make what is?" Fury was about to fail but then a rock was thrown at the scarred feline. It was his mother who used her foot to throw one at him. This gave Fury time to cut his parents free. But then when he was about to get to them, he noticed a bunch of tough guards in front. And part of him thought "I can't beat these guys!" So he was going slower than usual and almost froze up. And then it happened. The guards slit his father's stomach and his mother's! "Nooooooo!!!!!" Fury wanted to fight back. But at that point the scarred guard lunged at him and brought him to the ground. Fury wanted to fight back but he felt too scared. Luckily at the last moment the guards from Fury's tribe finally caught up and the raiders had to retreat leaving Fury alive and his parents with their last breaths. "So as you can see this failure of yours is quite obvious." Sombra told him "And you still are afraid deep down that you will fail your parents again. It is inevitable that you will fail again. Look at you, you are damaged. You have no energy left. If you were stronger and braver you would have saved your parents. And now you will see your friends die!!!" Fury felt like he was in a hopeless situation. Sombra after all was still well enough to go by quickly and Fury was completely injured. Would this be the end? "Night Fury!" A voice called out, the king and the black feline turned towards the sound to see Cadence, Spike, Twilight and a crowd of crystal ponies gathering around them. "G-g-guys?" Fury said as he heard some voices from the shadows. "Snap out of it! You can still beat this guy!" Spike called out to him. "You have the power of love to propel you to win!" "What if I don't have that power?!" Fury asked with despair. "That's okay! Even if you fail, even if you make a mistake, we can die knowing you fought so hard for us! But you should not give up! I didn't give up when we were in that dark pit from Chrysalis or when I felt like I couldn't beat Discord. But I kept on going. Please if you can go on a little further." Twilight pleaded. Then Night Fury had a new memory. It was his father speaking. It was as if his father was speaking to him. It was the memory Sombra didn't show Fury. "But what if I fail at the end. What if I don't give my hardest when it counts?" "Then you'll try again and again and again! Trying your hardest is a skill too and the fact you are struggling with those things instead of you just accepting is commendable." His father told him. "I am currently very proud of you, my boy. You will make mistakes and you have made mistakes, some very annoying but you always get back up from every time. And that is something to be proud of." The feline smiled at him. "Don't give up no matter what. No matter what regrets or mistakes you made. Don't think about what could have happened. Just focus on what you can do now." And then Fury got out of his haze. And finally saw the Crystal Empire again. He was back in the real world! But he saw Sombra was dashing closer and closer to Cadence and the others. It seems so far away. I'll never catch up to him. It seems hopeless. "Never give up!" His father's voice rang through his ears. No! I have to try. Even if I don't make it I have to give everything I have! And he gave another sprint. It felt painful trying to catch up to Sombra. But he was starting to do so. "Haven't you given in already?!" Sombra yelled. "No way you big ball of gas! I still have some stuff within me! You made me think I could never make up for my weaknesses." He turned from a dark black to a bright red. "What's going on? He changed color!'' Spike said. "You made me think I was a weakling and always will be!" Fury then ran faster than ever. Sombra was sweating now. "You made me doubt my own worth and made me think my parents hated me! BUT YOU ARE WRONG!!!!!" Fury now looked like a ball of fire now, electric pulses firing off of him. "What have you become, you knave?! Don't you know it's futile?!" Sombra said now desperate. "My friends reminded me no matter what regrets you have you can get back up from them." He said as rammed into Sombra. "You could have done so too. But you didn't. And now you will pay for that." "You weakling! Stop with your sentimental platitudes!" "Very well. The time has come for me to do what I've been meant to do…" "And what is that?" Night Fury's face turned into a crooked smile, his eyes turning into reptile-like slits as he spoke once more in a demonic voice… "KILL YOU!!" Before grabbing Sombra by his front legs and plunging his fangs into the side of his face, Sombra growling in pain. "Ahhhhh! You can't do this to me!!! I am King Sombraaaa!" "Well king, prepare for your funeral!!!" He said as he pierced further into his skull, blood poured from his face like a fountain Fury's sharp teeth dug into the bone and flesh. At this point Sombra was glowing bright white. "This can't be the end! I have spent centuries waiting for my return! How dare you…..! BOOM A shockwave went throughout the whole empire. All the dark crystals have disappeared. All the dark clouds and the brown sky was replaced by glimmering clear crystals. The Crystal Empire was at last free for the first time in millennia. It seems Sombra had now disappeared into the aether. At that point Fury was still in his new state. He had finally slain the dreadful tyrant. "What… just… happened?" Spike asked. "I… have… no idea!" Twilight said. "I think I have an idea," Cadence said. "It seems like his heart was filled with doubt at first. I could tell by his eyes which turned green. Sombra was getting to him. But when we encouraged him. He started to be brave again. The love he had for his friends made him grow back his confidence and that combined with his righteous Fury made him finally destroy the dreadful King Sombra." Cadence smiled. "I can tell that the young feline has grown from this encounter. I don't know what troubled him. But he seems to have overcome it." "I think we have an idea." Twilight said, smiling. Her smile soon turned to a concerned look as Night Fury pulled his blood covered face up from where he had Sombra. His teeth were covered in the rechid king's life force as he smiled, satisfied with his victory. The ponies around him began to mutter in shock as they saw the glowing, blood soaked Night Fury lick his teeth clean of blood and actually swallow it, almost as if it tasted good to him. "Although I didn't quite expect him to be in this state after it was all over." Cadence admitted. "What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked. "I hope we can bring him back to normal now." "Someone needs to talk to him." Cadence said, looking at Twilight and Spike. Spike and Twilight gulped and slowly walked to the animalistic, bloody feline. "Night Fury, are you feeling alright?" Twilight asked. Night Fury's head snapped to her voice, making both her and Spike jump back slightly. "You kidding me, I'm great! I've never felt so alive, feeling his blood soak my teeth, his cries for mercy filling my ears, biting down on his face and hearing his skull crack… I've never… felt… better." He said in a creepy way, stepping closer to his friends as he listed off the 'delightful' sensations of putting Sombra down. "Night Fury, this has gone on long enough, you have already slain Sombra. You have done your job. Now we want you back to normal!" Twilight demanded of him. "Your behavior is unbecoming. It is one thing to feel satisfied about justice but reveling in blood is another thing!" "Oh hush up, egghead, this is what my kind is like! We always revel in our enemies blood, I was gonna change back anyway. And besides, I've had my fun tearing the flesh from that unicorn's face. He deserves to feel what true pain feels like." Fury said, returning to his black coat color and smiling at her. The others were quite tense at his appearance but they felt some relief when they saw Night Fury change back to normal. "Night Fury? You're back to normal, r-right?" Spike asked, a bit scared. "Don't worry guys, I'm back. Sorry about that. I got a little carried away there. We Speed Shifters have some very predatory instincts. And it can be useful in combat but we do have to control them every so often. I guess this is the first time I really felt predatory. I always felt like there was something holding me from unleashing my true potential. And I finally unleashed it." He said with some relief. "Well that's great news!" Twilight said. "I don't know what was in your head but you managed to break through. We're all proud of you. Just try to keep that instinct of yours a little more in line." "Don't worry. I'll try not to… at least not too much." He gave a mild chuckle. Which made Rainbow laugh and Fluttershy giggle nervously. And Cadence simply smiled calmly. "Well, what do you want to do now?! How about we party!" Spike said. Twilight looked down with some worry. "What?" Spike wondered why they looked so disappointed. "We failed the test." Twilight said somberly "Woah woah woah, who said we?" Night Fury said. "I mean, my test was to see if I could hold myself to my oath as ambassador. I passed my test, who said anything about the Crystal Heart being my problem?" "Fury!!" Everypony called out. Night Fury blushed as he realized what he said. "Oops, sorry Twi. Heh, my bad." He said with a nervous chuckle. He was getting a little cocky because of his victory. But he turned empathetic and put a paw on Twilight's shoulder. "Listen Twilight I know you're worried about the test. But you did a great job leading us. If it weren't for your leadership, the city would have been covered in shadow! But you helped me and Spike to get to the place where we needed to be. I doubt Celestia would mind that." Twilight was still nervous but she appreciated the compliments. "Thanks Fury, I guess we'll have to see when we get back now." "Wait, we gotta leave now?" Fury and Spike both asked. "Can't we enjoy the festivities?!" "Later! Come on guys, we have to report to the princess right now!" Twilight said, magically pulling them. "Nooooo!!!" Spike cried at not having a crystal ice cream supreme "Wait a minute!" Fury called out, everypony turned their attention to him. "If we're going through with this, who said we can't have a little fun?" "And how exactly are we going to do that?" Twilight questioned him. "Like this…" He trailed off as he raced in front of Twilight and used his power to burn out in front of everypony, covering them in smoke. "See you at the train station, slowpokes!" He said, taking off towards the train station while leaving a cloud of smoke and skid marks behind him as he laughed loudly. "Is that a speed challenge I hear?" Rainbow asked, getting ready to fly. "Bring it on!" "Wow, those two are sure obsessed with speed, I tell ya what." Applejack chucked. Twilight simply rolled her eyes with a smile. "Well what are we waiting for?" Twilight asked, feeling strangely competitive. "We can't be late to Celestia especially before them. Let's go!" They then also proceeded to run to the train. "Thanks for everything!" Cadence cried out. "Take care of that big feline goof, Twilight!" "I sure will!" Twilight cried out. And while they were racing, Fury even gave Spike his exotic crystal ice cream supreme. It was a fun race. And when they finally made it to the train they were all worn out with Rainbow and Fury arguing who got there first. Twilight felt great. Even if Celestia did fail Twilight, she still would feel great from them times with Night Fury, her friends and Spike. She would be brave just like Fury was in the face of his fears. Later… "It is quite beautiful, is it not?" Celestia asked as she looked out at the beauty out there. "Yes Princess, it is." Twilight said softly worried about what she would say. "Princess before you say anything, I just want you to know Twilight did so much to help us. She risked her own reputation to save the Crystal Empire. And she even brought me out of some hard times that I went through in that journey without her and Spike would never have defeated King Sombra." "I understand-" "And if you kick her out then I want to be kicked out too. She deserves complete respect." "Yes-" "She is a hero so please I beg you keep her-" "WILL YOU LET ME TALK ALREADY?!?!" "Sorry sorry." Night Fury said, frightened by her voice. "Thank you. As I was saying, everything Night Fury said, is my opinion too. Twilight you went with the greater principle of my commander instead of the letter of the law. If you would have kept the heart for yourself, I would have instantly failed you. But you were more responsible and selfless than that. I am so proud of you, my pupil." She gave Twilight an embrace. "Thank you princess." "Okay, so uh what about me? I did a lot too!" Fury pouted, feeling a little jealous. "Oh you shall be rewarded." Luna said walking in. "You shall be rewarded with a feast of fish and steak! We have multitudes of crystal artifacts for you. You shall be granted these." Luna proclaimed in the Royal Voice. "Sweet mother of all things holy, that sounds amazing, Let the feast be bountiful and delicious!" He said in a mock Royal Voice. He used his hyper speed to run out the door to taste that food. "Uh, where will we eat that food?" Fury asked, blushing at his impulsive decision. "It will be by the river," Celestia said. "And after the party is over, you and Luna will talk to each other, privately." "What?!" Luna and Fury asked. "Sister, you didn't tell me that!" "Why would I get rid of all the fun?" Celestia winked. Luna and Fury both felt annoyed at the princess's invasiveness and messing with their minds, but they both felt happy deep down especially to both relax after everything that had happened. "Very well Princess," he said, composing himself. "I shall see you at the party. Well, until then, have a great time!" As he was walking to the door, he saw a mirror. And in it he realized he looked a lot like his father and to a lesser extent his mother. He still has no idea what happened to them. He always beat himself up over those events. But now he knows his parents would still be proud of him. "Mom, Dad, if you're still out there I will find you I promise. And thank you guys for never giving up on me. I wouldn't have made it without your guidance. I'll live every day trying to get better and better." He said softly. And now he has to get to the river quickly for some delicious meat and fish. He just hopes there won't be any pranks that anyone has for him before he pranks them.