//------------------------------// // Harmony Girls VS Justice Boys // Story: Age of the Alicorns Book One: The Swords of Justice // by HarryBuilder //------------------------------// In her new Castle of Ponyville, Twilight woke up with a yawn. After smacking her lips she went out to her balcony, everything the same as it was yesterday. Everything except for one thing. Near the center of town was the hollow, burned up stump remainder of the Golden Oak Library. Twilight sighed, "The cost of a castle, my library and all my special items." Choosing not to dwell on the loss of her cozy tree Twilight decided to get on with her day as she went to the doors. "Hey Twilight!" The Mane 6 greeted happily once the doors were open. "AAHH!" Twilight yelled and fell on her haunches. "AAHH! To you too!" Pinkie chirped as she helped Twilight up, "But we don't have time for screaming, we gotta go!" Twilight raised a brow of confusion, "Go? Where?" She asked. "Why the Old Castle of course." Rarity told her. "To get new books for your library." Sunset reminded the princess. Twilight looked at them as she gave a small chuckle. “Oh girls, you could’ve just said so instead of startling me.” She said with a small smile. “Where’s the surprise in that?” Pinkie asked cheerfully. “We just like to surprise you with certain things you like. Like books.” Rainbow snorted before Applejack nudged her. “What they’re trying to say is that we saw that you’re still adjusting to the castle for a while and that the castle library is still missing a few books, sugarcube.” Applejack honesty spoke with a smile. “So, we’d figure we’d take a trip to the Old Castle to pick a few books from its library for your castle.” She added. Twilight looked at them in a little thought as she gave a small smile. “Well, the castle library does need some new covers to be placed. And I could go with reading some new old books that are unread that I missed the last time we were there!” She said cheerfully as her wings spread and she tapped her hooves. The girls chuckled at her excitement as Spike spoke. “And she’s in.” He said in a non-surprise tone with a smirk, predicted at how Twilight would react. “Well then come on, darling. We should get a move on if we’re ever gonna get those books.” Rarity insisted as the others nodded in agreement. “I just hope we don’t run into anything scary this time.” Fluttershy said nervously as she shuddered a bit. “Oh don’t worry, Fluttershy.” Sunset said in a calm tone as she placed a hoof around Fluttershy. “There won’t be any surprises this time. We’ve been to the castle plenty of times, it should feel normal to us by now.” She assured the timid pegasus. “And besides, it’s not like there will be any more surprises that the old castle would throw at us.” Rainbow added before giving a look at a certain pink pony. “As long as Pinkie doesn’t mess around with the castle’s organs again.” She added. “I Pinkie Promise that I won’t mess with them this time!” Pinkie promised with a raise of her hoof, having learned her lesson from last time. Fluttershy gave a thought for a moment before she smiled. “Well, that is true.” She said calmly. “Come on, ponies! Let’s go to the castle quickly! Those books aren’t gonna pick themselves!” Twilight excitedly said as she flew ahead of them. The rest of the Mane 7 and Spike look at each other with amusing smiles. “That’s Twilight.” They all said together as they gave a small laugh as they followed after the egghead princess of friendship as they all went into the Everfree Forest, not knowing what was in the castle, or who. At the Old Castle, deep in the Knight’s Catacombs, the sound of Swords clashing and stallions grunting in effort was heard. Midnight, Rocky, Storm, Arbor and Blaze watch from the sidelines as on the training court, Hydro and Volt were training their skills on each other. “They’re really going strong today,” Blaze commented. “Hydro’s accuracy is looking good.” Rocky noted as they saw Hydro time his fencing-like perfectly. “And Volt managed to stay ahead of said strikes.” Arbor added at seeing Volt focus on blocking Hydro’s strikes for this long. “They’re good. But not as good as me.” Storm commented with a smirk as the others sighs from this. “Don’t count your eggs before they hatch, Storm. We all have to stay in shape.” Rocky pointed out with a sigh. “Which is why we have to keep training, brothers.” Midnight spoke as they all turned to him. “These last few days after that whole Tirek fiasco has just proved to us that everyday we’re not ready means somepony out there is going to die.” He pointed out, since they heard about Tirek’s rampage that took place near the castle, that they could actually feel the ground shake, even underground. “We were just lucky Tirek never realized that there were new Swords of Justice being trained under his nose. But next time, we need to be ready.” He finished. Hydro and Volt s stopped their training when they heard Midnight’s speech as Hydro spoke. “He’s right, brothers. We are a long way to even think about challenging an enemy of that strength that we need to be ready the next time a fellow enemy rises. We must be strong and smart enough to take and complete our task and always be vigilant on what comes next.” He said while holding his Rapier in front of him in a fencing stance. “Took the words out of my mouth!” Volt continued with a confident smile. “That’s good and all,” Blaze said while putting a hoof on his chin. “But I’m still wondering who defeated that power hungry Centaur after he got all the magic.” Midnight scoffed, “Twilight Sparkle and friends, duh?” He said it was obvious. “Yes, but how did they manage to beat him if he was that powerful?” Blaze asked again with a raised eyebrow. “Even the three Alicorns couldn’t have matched Tirek with that kind of power. That would’ve been to a standstill.” He pointed out. “Well, Mistress Luna hasn’t said much about this. That’s for sure.” Midnight said while having a thoughtful look. “She was very careful to keep us a secret out in the open for so long that it’s hard for her to keep up in the loop of what’s going on out in Equestria while we train to become the new Swords of Justice.” He added. “Well, the princess is mighty busy. So I wouldn’t blame her.” Rocky added in agreement, understanding how Princess Luna is dealing with her royal problems. “I’m sure that whatever happens next, we will be the ones to handle it.” Storm said confidently. “Even still, we need to keep our guard up and be prepared for anything.” Midnight pointed out. “Even with limited knowledge of what’s going on in Equestria, we gotta stay sharp and stay alert for what comes next.” He finished. The others nodded but before they could continue though, their ears twitched and looked up, “Did you hear that?” Storm asked. “Something’s up there.” Arbor said. Midnight furrowed his brow, “Storm, Blaze, go and take a look and report back.” “Understood.” Both stallions said as they went to the lift and Blaze tapped his hoof on the circle and it slowly rose up. Once up to the throne room the two looked around, “Keep your eyes sharp, we don't know what’s out there.” Blaze as his magic was wrapped around his sword’s hilt. Storm just scoffed. “Come on brother, it was probably just some rats running around,” He said walking to the doors, “If anything I’m sure it’s nothing for us to worry-” As soon as he opened the door however he’s nose was meer inches away from the nose of cyan mare with magenta eyes and rainbow hair. The two blinked at each other in surprise before both leapt back, “WAAHHH!!!” They both screamed as they pointed at each other. Then six more mares and a baby dragon behind her came from a corner. “Rainbow?” The yellow pegasus asked in concern. “What in tarnation are you screaming about?” The orange earth pony asked in confusion. The cyan pegasus then pointed to Storm and Blaze standing behind him, “These two stallions just came at me from out of nowhere!” She accused. Storm flew backwards over to Blaze, who drew his sword, “Us?! You're the ones who are trespassing on our turf!” He retorted. Then the purple mare stepped forward with a hard glare, “This is a sacred place, the former home of my Mentor and her sister.” She before fanning her wing and lighting her horn, “And if you think we’re just going to let you move in and march around like you own the place, think again!” Storm and Blaze saw her features and quickly realized not only were they outnumbered but also had to contend with an alicorn. As the mares and baby dragons stepped towards them threateningly, Storm glanced at Blaze,  “What should we do?” He asked. Blaze then noticed they had backed up onto the lift and got an idea, “We lure them into our turf.” He answered before stomping his hoof down as the lift lowered down. “What the-?!” The amber unicorn gasped in shock. “Hey! Get back here!” The cyan pegasus demanded as she zoomed towards them but the cover of the hole closed just in time. The two sighed in relief as they lost the interlopers for now but knew they’d find a way to them sooner or later. They were brought down as the rest of their brothers-in-hooves were waiting for them, “Well, whaddya see?” Rocky asked. “We’ve got some uninvited guests.” Blaze said. Midnight narrowed his eyes, “How many?” He asked. “Just seven mares, one of them is an Alicorn and a baby dragon” Storm informed. “The kid’s not really a threat. Hardly any trouble, but the seven mares up there is a different story.” He added. “An alicorn?!” Hydro gasped before turning to Midnight, “Well Midnight, you wanted us to be tested then we have our test right at our doorstep.” Midnight looked at his fellow knights in training as he had a feeling that they would want to put their skills into use and for them to draw the eight intruders away as he gave a sigh. “Let’s suit up and get ready,” He said before drawing a small smirk, “After all, we knights gotta be chivalrous towards ladies, right?”  The rest of the stallions looked at their leader with a smirk as they nodded in agreement as they grabbed their weapons and suited up with the armors they had that goes from the shoulders and legs. Back where the Mane 7 are, they look at the spot the two stallions just went down as they are trying to figure out how to open it while wondering what’s down there. “Has this thing been in this castle this whole time?” Applejack asked her friends in confusion. “How should I know? This place is full of trap doors and hidden entrances, it is impossible to know what’s gonna come out of the woodworks.” Sunset said and Rainbow struggled to lift the cover of the lift. “That red unicorn did something to make the floor sink and we just gotta figure what he did!” Rainbow grunted. Twilight tapped her chin and thought back, she then remembered the red stallion stomped his hoof on the circular plate before it sank, “I got it! Everypony on the circle.” She told her friends. “What?” Spike asked as the rest of the girls looked at her in confusion. “Just trust me. I think I know how to get in.” Twilight confidently said as they all stepped on the circle spot as Twilight then stomped her hoof down and the spot started to lower them down as they got startled a bit. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” She said with a smile. “Very clever, Twilight.” Applejack said with a smile. “Pfft. I could’ve found the switch sooner.” Rainbow said with her hooves crossed. “If you weren’t trying to lift the hatch, you would’ve found it sooner.” Sunset said with a smirk. “Oh haha. Very funny.” Rainbow grumbled as she looked away. “I wonder where this hidden entrance will take us.” Rarity wondered in curiosity. “Oooh! Maybe there will be treasure! Or sweets! Or treasure sweets!” Pinkie listened excitedly as she hops up on and down. “I hope it isn’t something scary.” Fluttershy hoped as she looked nervous. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. This castle proved to us that there is no threat and that there is no such thing as ghosts. Like that whole pony of Shadow you girls had the last time we were here.” Twilight said with a teasing smirk as the lift finally reached the ground. The mares and dragon walked out as they saw a chamber that, unlike the rest of the castle, looked clean and brand new with polished armor, pictures,  training equipment and even treasures in every direction they looked. “Sweet Celestia!” Rarity said with her eyes sparkling, “I never imagined Celestia managed to spare one part of this castle’s original luster.” Sunset then walked to one of the pillars and felt it, “All this stuff looks brand new, but it should be centuries old at this point? How did this all get here?” She wondered. Twilight then noticed the table and seven chairs surrounding it, reminding her of the throne room of her own castle. Placing a hoof on the table she had a question glare on her face, “No way two stallions like them could do this themselves.” She said, “There are more?” Spike asked as he took some gems for a small snack. “Great, now we'll have even more fun tossing these guys out!” Rainbow said, slamming her hooves together. Rarity scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Honestly Rainbow, violence is not always the answer.” She chided. But then, the sound of laughter filled their ears, “Hahaha! Aww, look, the little ladies are squabbling amongst themselves.” The voice laughed as the Mane 7 and Spike were alarmed. “Heha, yeah I can see that,” Another spoke, sounding like the voice of the stallion they had met upstairs, “It’s actually kind of embarrassing they can’t go anywhere without arguing.” “Even when we’re being trespassed, you feel the need to mock?” An upper class voice questioned as the mares looked around for the source of the voices. “Don’t bother questioning it brother, you know it’s how he is.” Another unknown voice reminded him. “Would ya quiet down already! We’re dealing with a bunch of Homewreakers right now!” A southern accented voice hushed. “Midnight, are you absolutely certain this is the best move?” Another voice asked, uncertainty detected. “Let’s just see if all our training finally paid off.” One last voice said as the girls and baby dragon had their guard up, “Brothers, Reveal yourselves.” Then suddenly all around the girls and Spike, Bolts of Lightning struck everywhere, scaring the cutie marks off of them and along with the clapping of thunder and crashing of lightning, the laughter of the first voice returned, louder than ever. After a while the light faded out as Twilight slowly opened her eyes and looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary until, “BOO!” A voice shouted from behind her. “GYAHHH!!” Twilight screamed and fell face first to the ground. When she got up, the princess and her friends looked behind them to see a pale yellow pegasus with a mane styled like lightning was laughing and kicking the air as he hovered. “HEHEHAHAHA!!” He laughed while clutching his sides and then calmed down with a sigh, “Oh, that never gets old.” He said. And then the unicorn they saw earlier appeared in a spiral of flames he dismissed. “Actually, it got old after the thirteenth time.” He pointed out with a bored expression.  Then appearing when water formed the shape of a pony was a blue unicorn stallion wearing glasses, “Indeed, must you always scare our foes like that?” the blue unicorn asked the pegasus. A rock behind them broke apart and revealed a brown stallion with white legs at the bottom and blaze on his snout “Oh quit ya belly aching, they’re not our foes yet.” He told the unicorn. “To be honest, I don’t think these mares are even worth our time.” The silver stallion from earlier said after appearing from a small tornado. “I’ll be the one who decides that.” The stallions turned to see the shadows forming a purple unicorn stallion and gave them a frown, “I am the leader, remember?” Vines then grew down towards the six and curled together before opening up revealing a Green earth pony stallion, “Don’t worry brother, no one’s forgotten.” He assured them. “Hold on! There are seven of you?!” Rainbow exclaimed in shock. “Yes there are seven of us. And this is coming from a group of seven mares with an overgrown lizard tag-along.” The silver pegasus snarked. Spike frowned in insult, “Hey, Dragon. DRA-GON!” He stressed as he raised his claws before folding his arms, “Not lizard. I don’t do that tongue thing!” He then stuck his tongue out them. “Then what’s your excuse with what you just did now?” The pale yellow pegasus taunted with a smirk. Spike stopped as he saw his tongue as he tugged it back in his mouth as he gave a glare at them. “That doesn’t prove anything!” He called out while crossing his arms. The purple unicorn stallion shook his head as he looked at the mares. “So Storm, Blaze, these are our trespassers you saw?” He asked them. Applejack gave a glare at them. “If ya’ll want to call us that. Yes we are.” She answered with a snarl. “And from the look of things, you’re the ones who are trespassing here, you ruffians.” Rarity pointed out with a look. “This castle is the former home of the two princesses, and you are trespassing on a historical landmark!” She retorted. The Blue stallion then cleared his throat, “Terribly sorry my dear but this part of the castle is very important to us and our history.” He told her as he walked and cleaned his glasses, “And on another note, we prefer to be called Knights, not ruffians.” He corrected quickly. “Knights?” Fluttershy asked in confusion. “You don’t look like knights to me.” She pointed out. “Appearance can be deceiving,” Arbor told her as Fluttershy blinked at the sound of his voice. “So do you have names, or do we just call you ‘Knights’?” Sunset asked with a raised brow. “Of course we have names!” The yellow pegasus told her before drawing a Scimitar, “I am Volt Havoc, the Knight of Lightning!” He introduced them first. The red unicorn pulled out a dadao sword before creating a flame in his off, “I am Blaze Burst, the hottest Knight alive.” “I am Storm Belt, the Knight of the Winds.” The silver pegasus introduced while spinning his cutlass sword. The Brown earth Pony brought a large executioner sword, jabbed it into the ground creating a small short tremor that shook the mares and baby dragon, “I am Rocky Roader, the Knight of the Earth.” He said while bouncing a round rock on his hoof like a ball. “I am Hydro Wave, the Knight of Aquatics.” The blue unicorn spoke next as put back on his glasses and bowed with his rapier in hoof. The green earth pony then scratched the ground beneath him with a Odachi as appearing from the crack was a plant with a hot pink flower, “I am Arbor Greenly, the Knight of Nature’s healing.” He introduced as he sniffed the flower he created. And then the purple unicorn took off his helmet as his horn glowed with a magic Twilight recognized as he brought out a Long Claymore sword. “And I am Midnight Shadow, Knight of the Darkness and leader of this brotherhood.” He introduced as he stopped his horn from glowing. “And together, we are…” He trailed off as he and his brothers posed with their swords raised up. “The Swords of Justice!” The seven stallions called out in unison. The Mane 7 and Spike looked at them with confused looks while being silent for a moment before Sunset spoke, “How many cliches did you guys catch there?” She asked. “I lost count after the silver one started talking.” Pinkie shrugged. Rainbow just scoffed with a grin, “Please, these guys aren’t Knights, just a bunch of posers.” She snarked. Then, in a flash of hot air, Blaze was right in front of Rainbow with his blade close to her next, “How dare you?!” He roared at the shocked Rainbow with blazing eyes as the end of her mane caught fire slightly, “You have a lot of nerve coming into our home, insulting us and thinking you’ll walk out alive!” “Blaze, stand down!” Midnight ordered as Blaze glanced at him before narrowing his eyes and then backing away as Rainbow quickly put out the flame on her mane. “Okay, the fiery dude is really serious.” Rainbow said a little nervously as her mane was smoking a bit and her face was covered in soot. Twilight turned back to the seven and glared at them, “Look, we don’t care who you are, but this place is an important piece of Equestrian history, and you moving in and treating it like it’s your clubhouse is the greatest insult!” She told them. “Excuse me, princess, but we found this place fair and square.” Storm retorted with his wings  folded. “Our Mistress gave us this place to keep.” “Mistress?” Fluttershy asked in confusion. “Who is this ‘Mistress’ you speak of?” Rarity asked. “Sorry, darling. But that's a secure secret.” Hydro answered with a hoof to his muzzle. “It is not nice to keep secrets, fellas.” Applejack called out with a suspicious tone. “So unless you want us to buck ya out this place, tell us who this Mistress lady of yours is!” “You’re in no place to threaten us, cowgirl.” Rocky called out with narrowed eyes. “This place is our birthright! It was our ancestors’ and now it’s ours.” He said while gesturing to their base. “Really? Is it or you’re just making this up?” Rainbow sarcastically asked. “How can we make up something in a place where you eight never knew about?” Volt asked with a small smile. “You know, he got a point there.” Pinkie said in understanding. “You can’t make something up in this place since we just found out about it today.” She added with a smile. “Right?” Volt asked in agreement. “Enough! Both of you!” Midnight firmly spoke as the two ponies were silent as he turned to the Mane 7. “Now, I think it would be best if you eight leave this place and let us be. Or else.” He sternly said with a glare. “Oh, you don’t get to give us orders just like that, pal.” Rainbow said with a glare. “We only listen to Twilight.” “Yeah, she is a princess after all.” Sunset said in agreement. “Is that so?” Midnight asked with a raised eyebrow before turning to Twilight. “Well then, your highness, how about you tell your friends that it’s time to leave?” He suggested firmly. “First off, don’t speak to me in that tone.” Twilight spoke firmly while giving a firm look at Midnight for giving her that tone. “Second, if one of us is leaving, it’s you and your friends, and if not…” The mares then stood battle ready, as the message was clear. Midnight narrowed his eyes, “So be it.” He said as he and the others raised their swords up. “Hey pal, in case you’ve been living under a rock, we faced a lot worse than seven ponies.” Rainbow boasted as she zoomed towards them. But then, with one swing of his cutlass, Storm sent Rainbow Dash flying into a wall, “So have we.” Storm said as Rainbow crashed into the wall painfully. The other six turned to Storm in shock, “Wow!” Pinkie gasped. Rainbow groaned as she fell to the floor on her belly as she stood up with a glare. “Lucky shot.” She grunted. “Not luck, just skill.” Storm corrected as Rainbow flew at him again, but Storm did a side step and kicked her in the back to the otherside of the room as Rainbow hit a wall face first again. “Is she always this hard headed?” He teased with a smirk. Applejack then glared and scratched at the ground preparing for a charge, “Alright, no more horsing around!” She said, charging at Storm. But then a rock pillar appeared as Applejack screeched to halt, preventing herself from crashing into it as she looked behind the rock and saw Rocky had his hoof down. “Your opponent will be me, little lady.” He told, shouldering his sword. Applejack looked at Rocky for a moment before she narrowed her eyes. “Fine by me.” She said determinedly as she charged at Rocky as the earth pony stallion went into a ready stance as Applejack was about to buck him. But then Rocky grabbed one of her hoove’s with his own as he stopped her kick, which shocked Applejack as Rocky looked at her with a smirk. “Nice buck. But, it needs more work.” He taunted as Applejack growled, which gave Rocky enough time to flip her over as Applejack landed on her back with a groan. “And try to think of a plan instead of charging in thoughtless, partner. It will  save yer flank in the long run.” He then charged at him. “Applejack!” Rarity cried as she tried to rush to her friend to find a needle-like blade pointed at her, keeping her from moving. She looked up and saw Hydro looking at her formerly, “Terribly my lady, but Rocky is taking care of your friend, so I believe your dance partner is me.” He said politely. “You?” Rarity asked in disbelief before she gave a scoff. “Please, you wouldn’t hurt a lady, would you?” She questioned. “Have you seen how my brothers are taking care of your sisters right now?” Hydro pointed out with a raised eyebrow at what happened to Applejack and Rainbow earlier. Rarity blinked for a moment before it hit her. “Oh. I see.” She then realized what he said, “Wait, did you just call Applejack and Rainbow my si-EEK!” Rarity ducked under a thrust from Hydro’s sword as he thrusted it again as she tried to avoid his strikes. “Oh! How rude to interrupt me!” Rarity called out in anger. “Apologies, m’lady. But once a trespasser enters our sanctum, they must pay the price.” Hydro said as he kept thrusting his sword at Rarity. Rarity dodge them as best she could as she ducks them. “Well it’s a good thing I’m not just a lady. HI-YAA!” She called out as she did a karate kick at Hydro, which he dodge as he looked at her in surprise. “You take defense classes?” Hydro asked. “A lady gotta defend herself from ruffians.” Rarity answered as she fixed her mane before she yelped and dodge another thrust. “Well, I’m no ruffian I assure you.” Hydro pointed out while adjusting his glasses. Pinkie watched her friends go curiously, “Hey, Cotton Candy!” Pinkie turned to Volt who raised his sword to him, “You're my opponent.” “Really?” Pinkie asked in confusion. “Are we supposed to fight or something?” “Good question.” Volt replied before drawing his Scimitar, “Yes!” He charged at Pinkie as fast as lightning.  “Oh, okay.” Pinkie simply answered, completely oblivious about what was coming at her as Vol tackled Pinkie to the ground as she screamed in startled as they rolled across the floor before Volt kicked Pinkie to a wall. “Owie. I’m gonna feel that tomorrow.” She groaned as she slid off the wall, flat as a pancake. “Trust me. I wouldn’t have to do this, but it goes with the code.” Volt stated as he swiped his weapon at Pinkie, who simply ducked as she disappeared all of suddenly as he looked around. “What the?” He asked in shock. “Surprise!” Pinkie appears before Volt and hoofs him a present and then it opens and she pops up with cupcake in hoof, “DOUBLE SURPRISE!” She threw another cupcake from appearing on the other side of him before disappearing again. And then when Volt got the frosting off his eyes, he saw Pinkie throwing more and more cupcakes like a machine gun while laughing insanely. Volt covered his head as he was being bombarded by many frosting sweets as he growled in annoyance before he smirked, “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” He called out as he channeled some lightning into his Scimitar. “A challenge that’s worth my time and fun!” He yelled out as he then raised his sword and zapped Pinkie with electricity. Pinkie yelled as she got zapped as her skeletons were showing. Once it stopped, her mane was frizzed out as she stood there as she gave a small laugh. “Oh wow! That was pretty shocking!” She joked as she laughed hard as her mane was backed into its poofy place. Volt looked at Pinkie strangely while covered in frosting. “You are a strange mare. I like that.” He said with a smile as he then picked some frosting from his face and ate some as he licked his lips. “Mmm, pretty good.” He complimented. “Fresh from the oven, I’m a pro at them!” Pinkie said cheerily before she got zapped again and was thrown back. “But you are still my opponent either way.” Volt commented before tasting the frosting on him again. “But still, this is pretty good. You are a good baker.” He complimented. “Thanks!” Pinkie called out from the otherside as Volt trotted towards her. Arbor and Fluttershy faced each other as they did not know whether to fight each other or not as they gave nervous or unsure looks. “Um, we don’t have to fight.” Fluttershy said timidly. “I know. And I don’t wanna harm you either.” Arbor said as he stomped his hoof to the ground, as vines grew around him and pointed at Fluttershy. He then pointed his sword at the timid pegasus and startled her as the vines launched at her wrapped around her hooves and wings pinning her to the ground as she tried to break free, but couldn’t. “So I will merely contain you. So no harm will come to you.” He added. Fluttershy grunted as she tried to break free from the vines, but she couldn’t even get loose as she just gave up and layed there. “Well, at least it’s better than being violence.” She said in slight satisfaction before she saw Arbor sitting down in a meditative stance. “What are you doing?” She asked him. “There is no facing an opponent who has no desire to fight,” He answered contently, “I will simply wait till my brothers are done and then release you once your friends are defeated.” He explained. Fluttershy looked at her friends fighting as the stallions were having the upper hoof as she went wide eyes. “But they could get hurt!” She called out in concern. “A necessary evil to ensure they are contained.” Arbor explained calmly. “I don’t condone violence but it has to be done. I’m sorry.” He said in slight sympathy. Fluttershy then looked at him in shock before she gave a slight glare at him as she began to pull herself harder. “Let me go! I have to help them!” She grunted. Arbor sighed in pity, “Dear, please-” He said as looked at her but was surprised to see her pulling against the vines as they were becoming strained, “What’s this?” “I won’t let my friend be hurt by a bunch of, big, dumb, MEANIES!” Fluttershy roared as she broke free and charged at Arbor as he quickly leaped out the way. Fluttershy skidded across the ground as she looked at him with anger. But rather than being intimidated, Arbor was intrigued, “Well now, this should be interesting,” He said before assuming a kendo stance.. Fluttrershy then flew straight towards Arbor in anger as the stallion did a step back as Fluttershy flew pass him, but not before he grabbed her tail, which cause her to get tugged back in surprise as Arbor summons what look like a leaf tornado around Fluttershy, which caused the timid pegasus to spin around in it very fast as she starts screaming. Seeing that she had enough, Arbor canceled the leaf tornado as Fluttershy fell to the ground on her belly as she looked dizzy. Once she shook off her dizziness she looked up. Arbor looked down at her as he gave a small smile. “For a shy mare, you have a heart of courage in you.” He complimented as he offered her his hoof. Fluttershy gave a slight blush from that as she looked at his hoof as she gave a slight chuckle and looked away a bit in embarrassment. “When it comes to my friends' safety, I tend to get serious when it’s necessary.” She said as she accepted his hoof. Arbor then leapt back and assumed his battle stance, “Then let’s see some of that bravery in action.” He said as Fluttershy nodded and assumed a confident stance as the two ponies stared at each other, waiting for them to make the first move. Sunset was then charging her magic at Blaze, who dodge the blasts as he used his swords to deflect each one as he gave a slight smirk of amusement as Sunset kept blasting him. “Your magic reflex is a little slow.” Blaze teased as he simply moved his head from another magic blast as he gave a slight chuckle. “Hey, when was the last time you used your magic? I’ve seen little fillies do better than you.” He taunted as he jumped up from another blast that nearly hit him in the hooves. “Hey, cut me some slack! I’m a little rusty on my magic, it’s been a while!” Sunset retorted as she focused hard as she blasted another magic at Blaze. The knight unicorn dodge another one as he charged at Sunset. “Then you should really get back into practice!” Blaze called out as he then swiped his sword at Sunset, but she disappeared from him as he looked around. “Oh boy.” He muttered. Sunset then appeared from behind him as she gave a buck to his back, which made him tumble forward before he landed on his hooves and reentered his sword stance as he held up his Dadao sword. “I may be out of shape magically, but I can still teleport!” Sunset taunted with a smirk. “Clever.” Blaze admitted with a smirk before he lit up his Dadao sword in flames before he moved it in a circular motion creating flaming, ethereal swords. “But you need to be at your best, to fight me!” He called out as he pointed his sword as the blazing ones all launched towards Sunset. Sunset looked at flying swords with wide eyes. “This is gonna hurt.” She muttered as she quickly dodge the rain of fire before narrowly missing a fiery swipe from Blaze as she tried to stay clear from his fiery battle style. Twilight and Midnight stared each other down, waiting for the first one to make a move, “Well, is this a fight or a staring contest?” Midnight question as he gestured to Twilight to make the first move, “Come and get some!” “Well, you asked for it.” Twilight answered as she charged up her horn with a powerful laser as she shot it at Midnight, but when it came towards Midnight, he simply stood there as he charged up his horn with dark magic and shot it back at Twilight’s laser as they collided with each other to a standstill. “What?!” She asked in shock. “You really have no idea what you're dealing with, are you?” Midnight questioned as he moved forward white still using his dark magic laser as he pushed Twilight’s back. Twilight moved back a bit as she struggled to push back. “That’s impossible! Nopony would have that kind of power! Especially if it’s overpowering an Alicorn!” She pointed out as she started sweating in effort. “Don’t think you're the only one who’s trained hard to get where they are today!” Midnight said as he poured in more power in his laser. Twilight started straining as she tried to push Midnight back as she was sweating even more as she was being pushed back to a wall as Midnight drew closer to her as he wasn’t letting up.  As Twilight looked at Midnight’s eyes, something at the back of her mind clawed at her, her vision grew static as for a moment in place of Midnight she saw a larger figure of black and red, with blood red eyes boring into her. “Fear me, Fear me.” A deep and malevolent voice said in almost a whisper as the sounds of crying filled her ears too for a brief moment. This flash caused her to falter even more as she was pushed further back. From hiding behind a pillar from the battle, Spike been watching his friends getting their flanks kicked as he can tell that the stallions were winning: Rainbow was thrown into the wall again as Storm caught her in a small tornado that spun her around, Applejack then suddenly got her legs wedged into the ground as she couldn’t move as Rocky raised his sword to strike, Rarity was trapped in a large ball of water with Hydro pointing his sword at her to keep her from moving, Pinkie kept getting zap by lightning over and over again by Volt, but she somehow kept laughing about it, Fluttershy was wrapped up in vines again but they were a lot stronger this time, Sunset kept dodging the fiery swords until she was surrounded by them as they domed around her, and then he saw Twilight up against the wall as she tried to push Midnight’s magic back, but couldn’t even move as she was about to collapse soon. Spike started to panic as he held his head. “Oh man! This has gone from bad to worse!” He cried out as he brought out a scroll and a quill as he quickly started writing down a message. But then before he could send it, “ENOUGH!” Everypony then turned to lift of the room and saw both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing there. The Princess of the Night then looked at the stallions, “Storm Belt. Rocky Roader, Hydro Wave, Volt Havoc, Arbor Greenly, Blaze Burst, Midnight Shadow, stand down!” She ordered. The seven immediately ceased they’re attacks and with their swords to the ground, they bowed to her, “Yes Mistress.” They said in unison. The Mane 7 got their bearings as they looked between the seven stallions and then at Princess Luna. “Wait, wait wait wait!” Rainbow called out as she got up as she cringed a bit. “What did they just call her?!” She questioned in shock. “They called her Mistress, silly!” Pinkie answered cheerfully as she still felt some electric charge as she shook a bit before she realized what she just said. “They called her Mistress?!” She asked again in shock. Twilight approached Princess Luna and looked at her like her mane turned pink, “P-Princess Luna, you know these guys?!” She sputtered in shock. “As a matter of fact, I do.” Luna answered as she gave a sigh. Celestia looks at her sister with a raised eyebrow. “So these are who you wanted to introduce me to, sister?” She asked. Luna sighed as she turned to her sister with a small smile, “Celestia, meet my Faithful Students.” She introduced as the Seven stallion stood side by side behind Luna.. The Mane 7, Celestia and Spike were surprised by this as Spike broke the silence. “WHAT?!” Spike called out in shock. “These seven knight wannabes are your students!?” Rainbow questioned before Rocky gave a back hoofed punch to the snout, “OW!” She cried while holding her nose. She uncovered it to show it was red and throbbing as her eyes watered and covered it again. “I’d mind that tone if I were you, partner.” Rocky firmly said with a look at Rainbow. “Rocky, enough.” Luna said firmly to the earth pony stallion as Rocky lowered his head. “Sorry, Mistress.” Rocky apologized. Rainbow snickered smugly before Luna prompted zapped her with her magic, and right on her poor snout, “OWWW!!!” Rainbow cried. “And Lady Dash, mind your language around my students while I’m here.” Luna said strictly. “Yes, Princess.” Rainbow whimpered as she rubbed her snout from the pain it endured twice already as some tears fell off as Fluttershy came over to help her old friend. “Was that really necessary, Luna?” Celestia asked her sister with a look. Luna raised her brow, “Had Lady Dash insulted Princess Twilight or Lady Shimmer, would not react the same, sister?” She asked. Celestia gives a thoughtful look for a second before she gives a sigh. “Okay, you got me there. But perhaps utilize it in a less painful way next time, please?” She suggested. “I’ll try. But no promises.” Luna said with a shrug as Celestia shook her head at her sister. “Will somepony please explain to us what tarnation is going on?!” Applejack called out as she and the others approached as well. Luna looked at the younger ponies and dragon and turned to Celestia. They both nodded and turned back to them, “Come with us everypony, there is much to discuss.”She called out to them as she flew up. “Yes, Mistress.” The Seven stallions all said as they walked up to the lift as they stopped and turned to the Mane 7 and Spike. “Well, what are you eight waiting for? Come on.” Midnight spoke out. Twilight still looked suspicious before she turned to her former mentor. Celestia simply smiled and nodded in assurance. “Let’s go girls.” Twilight said. “Wait, we’re just gonna follow them, just like that?” Rainbow asked in surprise. “If Princess Celestia is assured that they’re okay, then we will follow her words.” Twilight pointed out as she walked up to the lift. “Princess Celestia trusts them, so we could at least trust her.” Sunset added as she followed after Twilight. The Mane 5 and Spike looked at each other, before nodding in agreement and walked to the lift. Before Twilight did however, she thought back to the flash she saw and rubbed her head in confusion, thinking back to the words she heard. “Fear me, fear me.” “You okay, Twilight?” Fluttershy’s voice spoke as Twilight was snapped back into reality as she turned to her timid pegasus friend as she looked in concern. “You were zoneout for a minute.” She added in concern. Twilight blinked before smiling, “I’m fine. Just tired from the fight.” She assured as she shook her head. “That Midnight stallion definitely is powerful, for a dark magic user.” She added while giving Midnight a look. “Wait, dark magic?” Applejack asked in surprise. “Isn’t that a bad thing to use?” She questioned. “It is, but for some reason, he can control it better than when Trixie was corrupted by the Alicorn Amulet.” Twilight explained. “Was he as powerful as Starlight, darling?” Rarity asked in curiosity. “Way pass then what Starlight not long ago.” Twilight revealed as she rubbed her horn. “Even Starlight wasn’t that powerful to face and it still matches mine.” She added, since they had a cutie mark mission to stop Starlight and her ‘equality’ plot and gave an entire village their Cutie Marks back before she escaped into the unknown parts of Equestria. “Really? That's strong?” Sunset asked in surprise. “Yes, that’s strong.” Twilight confirmed. “I’ve never seen anypony use dark magic that strong before, other than Sombra and Tirek, but nopony else.” She added. “But where did he learn to do that? And those other guys?” Spike wondered as they stepped onto the lift, “I’ve thought stuff like that only happened in comic books.” “I don’t know Spike,” Twilight said as she looked at Luna, “But I have a feeling this changes everything.” She said as they raised up and the group rode it to leave for Canterlot.