It was morning by the time everyone woke up, has breakfast, packed the tent and continued on with their journey to the Tree of Life. Lightning was still tired after waking up last night from a new nightmare, so they decided to let him sleep some more as he was sleeping on Yona’s back, since it was her turn to carry him, with a blanket that Fluttershy covered over him to keep him warm during his sleep.
Silverstream and Smolder flew by the two just in case Lightning starts crying again or has another nightmare.
Fluttershy was flying next to Starlight while staring worriedly at her sleeping son. She couldn’t help but feel like the nightmares are not going to stop, even when they get to the Tree of Life to stop it. They were just getting worst and worst each night.
Discord appeared next to her and said, “You two might as well punish him now.”
Fluttershy and Starlight stared angrily at him as Fluttershy then asked, “Why would we punish him?”
“For what he did last night,” he answered, “He woke both of you up and was crying over a nightmare. Surprised he didn’t wake everyone up.”
“Why would we punish him for doing that? He’s having nightmares, Discord! He’s going through a lot ever since the nightmares first started!”
“And I’ve been woken up by him before from a nightmare,” said Starlight crossly, “I would never punish him for waking me up. I may get tired in the morning, but I still care for him. Plus he wanted me since I was in the nightmare. He’s my nephew, and I wish to be there for him.”
“He’s not even your nephew!” Discord said crossly.
“Like I care!” Shouted Starlight angrily, “I love him ever since I first met him! Adopted or not, he’s family to me!”
“And stop trying to make us go against him, even if it involves punishment for no reason!” Added Fluttershy, “He’s been through a lot before I adopted him! I refuse to do what Cold Wind used to do to him when he did nothing wrong!”
“You sure about that?”
Fluttershy was so not happy from what Discord just asked as she glared at him before saying, “Get out of my sight now!”
Discord gave the Pegasus a cross look before snapping his eagle fingers and disappeared. Fluttershy let out a calm sigh as she felt Capper rubbing her shoulder gently. “I don’t blame you, honey.”
Smolder looked at her boyfriend in a worried look. She couldn’t help but worry that he might be having another nightmare and they might not be able to save him. She really wants this all to end so she can see Lightning smile again with no more nightmares and no threats trying to take him.
Discord appeared near the orange dragon and was about to say something until she glared at him and said, “You think I’m going to break up with Braveheart after last night, you got another thing coming! I love him with all my heart, and he’s going through a lot! I don’t care how much tired I’ll get or how many more nights it’s going to take, I’m going to be there for him no matter! And you’re not going to make me change my mind about it! SO GET LOST!!”
Discord magically disappeared with a snap of his eagle fingers. Smolder let out a huff with a face of annoyance and anger. Yona was annoyed by Discord too.
“Yak wish Ember was here. Dragon Lord can teach chaos jerk respect for poor pony.”
“Something I can agree on,” agreed Smolder.
As they were walking, none of them noticed Midnight Crown was on top of a mountain looking down at them. “Exactly as Darkness said,” he said to himself.
While spying on the heroes, a male voice was heard from the distance. “Answer this.”
“Huh?” Midnight Crown looked behind him as he knew it was coming from behind.
“You’ve survived for so long that you didn’t plan to go after the princesses until Darkness came.” A dark corridor appear and disappeared to reveal it was Shadow who was talking, “What made you go into hiding for so long until now?”
Midnight Crown turned round while still looking at the hedgehog. “Cool, a riddle. Just what I need.”
Shadow crossed his arms before saying, “There are many answers to that question. Perhaps you’re just waiting to be found. Or you’re too weak to fight. Or the princesses are what makes you so scared to fight. I can think of several reasons offhand: guessing…is useless to me.”
The hooded pony wishes for him to go away and to stop going on. So he replied with, “Well, then just follow Darkness’s orders and keep your opinions to yourself, plain and simple.”
Shadow continued to glare at the pony, not buying his chosen words. “Yes. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since I was freed. I followed orders without questioning. However, I sometimes can’t help but sense something going on with the other members of this team.”
“Heh. Ice did a few changes to you?”
“I’m still waiting for an answer,” said Shadow, “Why did you remain hidden until you finally decided to destroy the sisters, even Darkness came?”
“Punishment is not something I wish to face,” he answered, “The things I did is the whole reason why I didn’t go destroy the sisters yet. And I wasn’t ready yet.”
Shadow glared sternly at Midnight Crown. He took out his chaos emerald and disappeared only to reappear near him as he pinned him to the ground while keeping his hand on the side of his hood.
“If you are as powerful as Darkness says you are, why didn’t you use it till now? I believe that you think the sisters know your power, and you need to keep it away from them so they don’t stop you, in order to keep your identity a secret from those around you.” Shadow grinned a bit before glaring while asking, “Midnight Crown, who are you really?”
Midnight Crown growled a bit in anger, knowing that Shadow was onto him. He can sense that he knows who he truly is, or starting to believe he knows who he is. Shadow continued to glare until he grinned again. He figured he was going to get an answer from him. He got off Midnight and walked away from him.
“No matter,” he said, “It doesn’t make a difference anyway. You may keep your secret. I’ll go and do what I was ordered to do.” A dark corridor appeared around Shadow and disappeared taking him along.
Midnight Crown stood back up and glared at the spot where Shadow once stood before saying, “The question is, what really happened to your past, Shadow?”
The heroes were still walking along as Celestia started to feel worried, not just about Lightning, but also about Darkness and that hooded pony they encountered back in Canterlot. She still couldn’t figure out who it was or if it’s somepony new or somepony they knew a long time ago. The more she struggled to think who it could be, the more worried she got.
Luna noticed this and flew over to her sister’s side. “Tia, are you okay?”
“To be honest, Luna, I’m not.”
“Is it about Lightning?”
“Not just that. I am still worried about him. It’s just…something else.”
“What was it, sister? Please tell me.”
Celestia let out a calm sigh before answering, “It’s about that hooded pony we encountered back in Canterlot. I still can’t figure out who it is. I’m not sure if it’s somepony new or somepony we knew a long time ago. It’s making me worried on who it could be.”
“It’s okay, Celestia,” said Luna while gently placing a hoof on her shoulder, “I’m sure we’ll figure out who it is soon.”
“You don’t think…it could him, do you?” Celestia asked worriedly while looking at her sister, “Could it be him? Is he helping Darkness?”
“I really hope it isn’t him,” answered Luna, “But it is him, then he should have attacked us before trying to take the poor colt to Darkness. But let’s not let it get into our heads. Let’s just focus on helping Lightning, and leave that hooded pony identity out until further notice. It’s for the best.”
Celestia looked at Luna before slowly giving her a small smile.
“Yeah, you’re right, Luna. We need to focus on Lightning Twister. He needs us.”
Luna nodded her head in agreement.
But as they walked and flew on, they suddenly surrounded by dark wolves and dark guards in dark armour as they appeared in dark smoke. The dark wolves growled at the heroes while the guards pointed their spears at them to stop them from going any further. Flurry Heart started to shake in fear as she flew to hide underneath her brother. Lightning was already awake by the time the wolves and guards showed up, and he started to get scared too. He flew towards his mother and hid underneath her mane.
Constantine and Doctor Strange got their magic ready in their hands as the wizards and witches got their wands out ready, except for Jacob as he’s a muggle, while the guardians summoned their Keyblades, staff and shield with Yozora summoning his sword and crossbow and Sonic, Tails and Knuckles getting ready to fight.
“First wolves, now guards? Who is behind all of this?!” Axel asked.
“And how come I feel like I’ve seen them before?” Asked the king.
“Wait, you know these things already?” Riku asked his friend.
“Why ask questions now when the fun has just begun?” Asked a familiar female voice from the far distance.
“Wait a second, I recognise that voice!” Oliver said.
Four dark corridors appeared and disappeared one by one to reveal not just Darkness and Midnight Crown, but also Chrysalis and Lord Tirek as well. “Well, so glad that you haven’t forgotten about me after so long,” said the evil queen.
“Chrysalis!” Growled Oliver.
“Lord Tirek?!” Spike said in surprised, “You’re both in Darkness’s group too?!”
“Why of course,” answered Chrysalis, “Why would we ignore someone after helping us escape from the badlands?”
“Because you backstabbed me when I was Grogar and after bringing you lot together,” said Discord.
“Not now, Discord!” Sunset said crossly.
“What? I’m just saying.”
“But to be honest,” said Lord Tirek, “He did say he would help us get revenge on you lot if we help him get the kid. That’s all he wants from us.”
“And you’re seriously okay with that?” Rainbow asked crossly.
“Of course,” answered Chrysalis, “After all, he did say we can go our separate ways after we’re done helping him. And since we’ve managed to caught you all, I say our revenge has come sooner than expected.”
“Calm yourself, Chrysalis,” said Darkness, “You’ll have your revenge once I’m done with the pony. I just need his darkness and they can be all yours.”
Mickey quietly gasped after hearing Darkness’s voice. “That voice. It sounds familiar,” he said in his head, “Could it be…?” Mickey shook his head before glaring at Darkness and said, “Remove your hood! Show us who you really are!”
Darkness looked at Mickey. “You really want me to show you all who I am, don’t you?”
“Yeah, we’re tired of calling you who you want to be called!” Sora answered crossly, “Show us who you really are!”
“And no tricks!” Donald added.
Darkness chuckled before saying, “Very well. I suppose it is time for me to reveal my true self.”
Darkness putted his hands on his hood and slowly pulled it down to reveal his face. Mickey gasped in shock as he knew who it was. The man’s face was male, had white skin and his hair was red-violet. And from inside the black coat, you can just see a red scarf. The man grinned while looking at the heroes.
“Ardyn Izunia?!” Mickey said in shock, “You’re behind all of this?!”
“Wait, you know this guy?” Ventus asked in shock.
“He does, my boy,” answered Ardyn before Mickey could even answer, “However, I am once formally known as Ardyn Lucis Caelum. But Ardyn or Ardyn Izunia will be just fine.”
“Are you the one responsible for giving my son nightmares?!” Fluttershy asked in anger.
“My dear, you really should learn to calm your anger,” said Ardyn making the yellow Pegasus more angry, “But yes, I am the one who’s been giving him those nightmares.”
“Not to mention bringing villains along to help you,” said Jacob.
“Well, one can really handle these things alone, now can they?”
“But the last time I heard about you,” said Mickey, “Noctis destroyed you and you disappeared!”
“Well, I didn’t stay disappeared forever,” replied Ardyn, “Why should I? You see, it’s not revenge I seek anymore. I only wish to become the rightful king and punish the Crystal that cost me aside in favour of that fool.”
“And that’s why you need Lightning’s darkness, isn’t it?” Sora said while glaring at Ardyn, “To help you achieve your goal!”
Ardyn smiled at Sora.
“My, you are becoming a quick learner, aren’t you?” Ardyn took a few steps forward, “Yes, Lightning’s darkness is what I need to become the rightful king. I did originally have my eyes set on Twilight Sparkle when I learned about her past. However, she refused to let her anger get the best of her when she showed her true feelings to her friends, brother and teacher. So I did what the Keyblade would do, and move down the list. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer. Now you two were worthy candidates. But, you two learned from your past actions, and returned to the good side. And lastly, Tempest Shadow, her goal was to get her horn by using the magic The Storm King needed from the four princesses, even without knowing she was being used. Thanks to Twilight Sparkle, I learned she wasn’t worthy anymore after she let go of her darkness. But, I managed to find the one that will serve me. And now, Lightning Twister, the grandson of The Storm King, is who I need. His darkness is more stronger than which I have ever since.”
Lightning whimpered in fear as Smolder gently picked him and hugged him to protect him while glaring at the evil man.
Ardyn suddenly saw Oliver glaring at him with his wings ready to start fighting in case he does try and attack.
“Oliver Sparkle. Oh I almost forgotten you were still with them.” Ardyn walked up to him, “Standing like a true guard, trying to protect those you care about.”
“I protect those that I care about and those that are unable to protect themselves,” growled Oliver, “It’s not just friends and family I help and protect.”
Ardyn chuckled before saying, “So I see.”
“Olive, how does he know you?” Flurry asked.
“I met him last night,” he answered, “He called me and tried to get me to join him while saying stuff about how you guys will turn on me because of my magic.”
“Oh, so you didn’t think it was all a dream then.”
“Like I would believe I was asleep when you echoed my name,” said Oliver, “And since you’re here, I can tell you’re not just here to take Lightning, but to see if I did change my mind so you can use my magic to stop those getting in your way and Chrysalis can play puppet master.”
“Clever boy,” said Ardyn, “After hearing about your magic and that you’re Chrysalis’s son, I knew you would be the perfect guard to help me and serve Chrysalis.”
“Agreed,” said Chrysalis, “And now, come back to your real family and help your true mother.”
“Never!” Oliver shouted, “I already chosen my side! And I wish to be with my family! My TRUE family! The one that loves me and doesn’t plan to use me as their warrior for revenge!”
“Come now, my boy,” said Ardyn, “Do you honesty think they’ll be your true family forever? I can sense your feelings when you discovered your real mother was Chrysalis, and you wanted to destroy her for making you a monster.”
“That may be true, but I didn’t let my anger out and tried to destroy her,” said Oliver, “Because that won’t fix anything, and I’m happy where I am now. With my true family, and my true destiny.”
Chrysalis started to glare at his ex-son. “Your destiny, is with me. Your magic belongs to me. You belong in darkness. Bow to it. Bow to darkness, bow to Ardyn. And to me!”
Oliver growled at Chrysalis before saying, “That’s not going to happen!”
“Only the darkness can guide you to your true destiny,” said Ardyn, “Where your magic needs to be.”
“Wrong!” Shouted Sora, “His magic may be born from darkness, but he gets to decide who he is, where he belongs and where his true destiny is! Lightning Twister was the same when he discovered The Storm King was his grandfather!”
“Yeah! And there’s no way we’re gonna let you take him!” Smolder said while protecting her boyfriend in her arms, “No matter how many nightmares you give him!”
“Now now, my dear dragon,” said Ardyn turning to her which made the dragon growl angrily at him, “My plan isn’t to give him enough nightmares for you all to abandon his little pain, but to make his darkness strong enough for me to take.” He looked at the colt hiding his face in his girlfriend’s chest, “He’s certainly taking his sweet time letting the fears get the best of him, though.” Ardyn summoned a knife as he got a little angry, “Would there be a way to expedite the process!” Ardyn threw the knife at Smolder and Lightning. Smolder quickly ducked down, while holding her boyfriend, as the knife landed in a tree.
“Hey!” Smolder shouted angrily.
Fluttershy glared angrily at Ardyn Izunia. She was so not happy with him trying to hurt not only her son, but also his girlfriend, by throwing a knife at them. “How DARE YOU!” Fluttershy flew towards Ardyn and punched him in the fave really hard which caused him to move back and fall on his back.
Everyone, including Constantine and the four princesses, were in shock after seeing Fluttershy punch Ardyn in the face. They’ve never seen her do anything like that, except for when she was beating up Cold Wind after foalnapping Lightning at the Gala.
“Remind me to never get on her bad side, ever,” said Rainbow to Applejack.
“Will do,” replied Applejack.
Ardyn got back onto his feet before growling angrily at the heroes. He pointed at them and shouted, “Get them!” Chrysalis, Tirek, Midnight Crown, the knights and wolves charged towards the heroes. “And bring me that pony too!” He ordered.
“Smolder, you and the others keep Lightning safe!” Twilight said.
“We’re on it!” Smolder replied as she and the other five ran off to hide somewhere while she carried the poor colt safely in her arms.
Sonic was about to charge at the enemies, but he was stopped by a hard punch in the face which made him fall to the ground and slid on the ground.
“Sonic!” Tails and Tom shouted worriedly.
Sonic tried to get back up, but he was pushed back down by a foot on his face. He looked up and saw it was Shadow who was stopping him. He stared at the hedgehog before saying, “Don’t even try and help. That pony is getting what he deserves.”
“I can’t let you do this, Shadow!” Groaned Sonic, “You’re on the wrong side!”
“Do you really think I would believe that? I know when I’m on the wrong side.”
Knuckles ran towards Shadow and punched him in the back to make him get off Sonic as he groaned in pain and flew to the ground by Sonic’s head. “Get off him!” Knuckles shouted.
Sonic got back up on his feet before saying, “Thanks.”
The two saw Shadow getting back up as he glared at them with red sparks flashing on him showing he was ready to attack them really hard.
“Sonic! Knuckles! He’s going to do his move again!” Tails warned his two friends.
“Ha! I’m ready for what he throws at me!” Said Knuckles putting his fists up ready.
But then, Shadow did his speed punch on Knuckles as he zoomed pasted him several times while punching him which made go up in mid air. Shadow quickly appeared above Knuckles and did a double hard punch on him as he fell and landed hard on the ground causing the ground to break with dust floating.
Knuckles groaned in pain while also coughing as well. He tried to get back up, but he was in so much pain after Shadow’s attack that he was unable to continue fighting.
As Knuckles coughed, he slowly turned his head to Sonic and weakly said, “Nope. I wasn’t ready for that. Tag in, Sonic.”
Sonic glared at Shadow as he charged towards him. Shadow, however, was still too quick on his feet and zoomed away with Sonic chasing him. The two zoomed around, back and forth across the area while banging into each other after a couple of minutes of chasing.
As for the others, Newt and Theseus were shooting tiny light blue spell balls at the dark wolves with their wands as they keep on reappearing and charging towards them. Tina and Queenie were doing the same on their half while also protecting Jacob as he stood behind the two witches.
The girls and Sunburst were shooting magic grasp beams as well as punching and kicking the dark wolves with Capper punching them and throwing to a nearby tree which made him disappear in dark smoke.
Doctor Strange and Constantine were working together and using their magic to fight Lord Tirek as he kept on blocking their magic attacks with his arms. Lord Tirek shot a fire beam from between his horns at the two humans. Strange used his magic to make a orange sparkly portal appear and flew through them making them disappear and then reappear behind Tirek.
Oliver was fighting Chrysalis as he flew around her and shooting magic grasp beams at Chrysalis. The evil queen was using her magic to shield herself from Oliver’s magic beam attacks as well as shooting magic grasp beams of her own at him. Oliver flew towards Chrysalis and the two clashed their horns together while glaring at each other and trying to push each other back.
“Stop resisting what you truly are!” Chrysalis said, “You’re not like them! You’re a creature made by me!”
“I know who I am!” Said Oliver, “And being with them is the path I chose!”
Chrysalis growled angrily before pushing Oliver back. Oliver flew around and landed safely on his hooves. “That was a mistake.” He said before charging towards her.
Meanwhile, the young six were running through the forest, with Lightning still being held by Smolder, as they tried to find a good spot or area to hide in until it was over. After running through some more bushes, they found a perfect area to hide in for awhile. They entered the area and took their time to catch their breath. Smolder lid down on the ground and let her boyfriend rest on her belly with her arms wrapped around him in comfort.
“I, think…we lost…them,” said Sandbar while breathing.
“Good,” said Yona as she already caught her breath.
“You okay, kid?” Gallus asked politely.
Lightning nodded her head instead of speaking. Silverstream gently picked him up and cradled close to her as Smolder got back up to her feet.
“Silverstream, I don’t want them to take me,” said the scared colt, “Please don’t let them!”
“Shhh…it’s okay, cutie,” said Silverstream softly, “You’re safe now. They won’t take you away as long we’re around to protect you.”
“Protect him from us?” Said a mysterious voice from a far distance, “Ha! Okay, but who will protect him, AND you lot, from us?”
The young seven looked around to see where that voice was coming from, but couldn’t see anyone anywhere. Silverstream kept Lightning close to her to make sure nothing happens to him. Just then, a dark corridor appeared in front of them as Robotink and Agent Stone walked out of it before it closed behind them.
“It’s a school day, kids!” Robotink said, “I’m gonna have to take you all in!”
Back to the adults, and of course Flurry Heart since she’s hiding behind a boulder, they were still fighting Ardyn and his team, but were struggling to continue because of the wolves reappearing after destroying them and the knights were very hard to defeat.
Ardyn swung his sword at Amore as she used her magic to teleport herself behind him. She made a big magic beam at him. Ardyn hit the ground before flipping over and sliding backwards on his feet. He looked at the princess and said, “ My. You really do still know your skills after being prisoned by your king for a long time.”
“Sombra was never my king,” growled Amore, “He used me to gain more power, and took over Crystal Empire before Cadence came.”
“Ah yes, he needed enough anger and nightmares to see his true self and destiny in order to take over your Empire. He did inspire me to do the same to Lightning Twister so I can take his darkness easily.”
“You leave young Lightning Twister alone!” Shouted Amore angrily as her horn started to glow. She then charged towards Ardyn and fought him again.
Meanwhile, Midnight Crown was shooting magic blast at the two sisters as they flew around him dodging his attacks. Celestia’s horn started to glow. She flew towards the hooded pony as the two clashed their horns together.
“Who…who are you?” Celestia asked.
Midnight growled before answering, “Somepony from the dark, and the past.”
After the two broke the clash, Midnight jumped back a bit. Luna flew to the ground and landed next to her sister. “You’re not Sombra, are you?”
“Wrong. The Sombra you know was destroyed moons ago. I, however, am a pony that wants what’s rightfully mine!”
Midnight charged towards the two. Celestia and Luna quickly flew away just as Midnight stopped at their spot. He turned and watched them landed on the ground to where they were a few metres away from him.
Midnight stared at the alicorns before spotting a pony watching them. Celestia and Luna also saw who was watching them fight the hooded pony. It was Twilight, and she was both confused and shocked by what was going on between the three.
“So, this is the pony who became a fourth princess,” said Midnight realising who she was. He started to walk towards the purple alicorn.
“DON’T YOU DARE!” Celestia shouted angrily before quickly shooting a magic blast at Midnight.
Midnight stopped while seeing the magic blast flying towards him really fast. The blast hit him causing him slide backwards with his hood coming off by the wind. Midnight glared at Celestia while showing his identity he was hiding in his hood. He had white fur and his mane was dark. “Ardyn told me how powerful you two have become since we last fought. Looks like he wasn’t wrong.”
Celestia and Luna were both in deep shock to who Midnight Crown truly was under the hood as Celestia shocking said,
“Solar?!”