My Little Pony: Wizard of Hope

by darkmagician41

Arise; Sword of Hope! Nightmare Moon Returns!

Eric watched with clenched teeth as he saw Nightmare Moon laugh like a stereotypical villain as her starry night mane and tail flowed above her forming a tornado of night sky. Without thinking, Eric quickly switched Rings to the Connect one as Mayor Mare ordered the Castle Guards to “Seize” Nightmare Moon.

Than turned out to be a bad idea as the Pegasus guards were quickly shot down by bolts of lightning sending them to the ground. Just as the Mare was about to leave she heard Eric’s Hand Author call out.

=Connect; Please!=

She looked down to see the strange creature she had briefly noticed when she appeared, summoning a spell circle and plunge his right “claw” into it only to pull out a strange weapon that reminded her of a crossbow that minotaurs use. The Alicorn mare didn’t even give the strange item a second thought until Eric let loose a few blessed silver bullets at Nightmare Moon which tore into her with surprising ease. This also briefly revealed something that startled the human long enough for Nightmare’s mane/tail to wrap around her, turning her into mist as she quickly made her escape.

Every-pony quickly ran out of the mist's way as it barged through the doors with Eric and Rainbow Dash –after she escaped Applejack’s teeth with a snap- right on her tail. “COME BACK HERE!” the Pegasus mare shouted as the two tried to chase after the villain only to lose her in the eternal night sky.

“Kuso!” Eric shouted with a loud Japanese curse, “We lost her!!!”

Dash had something else on her mind. “Night time forever?” she asked herself out loud with a sad look on her face, “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Eric replied as the WSG transformed back into a basic short sword that was given to him by the town's blacksmith -which was just one of many that he had since even the most well made sword kept on shattering to pieces after one or two Strike Attacks, “But I think there is more to Nightmare Moon then what meets the eye.”

The fastest Pegasus in Ponyville quickly gained a serious look on her face as she asked, “you saw that too?”

“Yep,” was her reply as the human looked back towards the pavilion and saw Twilight galloping out of the building with Spike on her back, “And I have a feeling that she may know what's happening.”

Looking in the same direction as Eric, she saw Twilight racing to where ever she was taking off to and voiced it. “Where is she going?”

“Most likely to the library,” Eric replied before turning to his friend, “Gather the girls and meet me at the library. We’re getting to the bottom of this.”

With that done, Eric quickly took off with Rainbow Dash shooting towards the pavilion. As they did so both of their minds went back to what they saw after the blessed silver bullets hit Nightmare moon revealing what was underneath. An Alicorn mare slightly taller than most ponies with a light phthalo blue coat and a light azure mane, her cyan eyes brimming with tears as she cried out for salvation before she was swallowed up by black/dark purple energy...

After Twilight reached the library and put the sleepy Spike to bed, she quickly began her search for any information about the one thing that could stop Nightmare Moon with Princess Celestia gone... just without her usual care. “Elements, Elements, Elements…UGH! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?!?!”

At that moment, Rainbow Dash quickly shot into the library and in Twilight's face before she began interrogating the poor mare. A few seconds later Eric and Applejack pulled the raging Pegasus away from the frightened unicorn -with the human dropping his sword near the door- as the former of the two scolded his friend.

“I told you already Dash,” he said keeping Rainbow Dash briefly in a modified Half Nelson, “She isn’t a spy. But she does have a clue as to how we can defeat Nightmare Moon.”

Once Dash calmed down and set free, Applejack walked up to Twilight –with the other five mares the unicorn met in the past day behind her- asking, “Is he right Twilight, do you know what’s going on?”

Looking at the small group in shock, Twilight sighed before she began to answer, “I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon’s return. According to what I was able to find, some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her.”

At that part Eric quickly interrupted, “And save the Alicorn Mare trapped within her body.” All of the ponies –minus Rainbow Dash- stared at Eric in shock as he began to explain. “When I shot at Nightmare Moon with my WizardSwordGun, the Silver Bullets tore off some of her body revealing another Alicorn –slightly smaller than Celestia Ojou-sama– underneath her body. I believe that Nightmare Moon might be a demonic parasite of sorts and is using the Alicorn that me and Dash saw as a battery while forming a body on the outside as armor.”

Once she heard that, Twilight suddenly began to piece the puzzle together thanks to this new information. “That’s why the Moon Princess tried to overthrow Princess Celestia; she was taken over by this parasite when her willpower and self-esteem was at their lowest.”

“Just a moment,” Rarity politely interrupted the brainstorming session, “The two of you are saying that we not only have to find these “Elements of Harmony”, but also save a Princess from the hooves of a parasite?” Seeing the nod from the brainstorming duo, the elegant Unicorn mare almost fainted, “Why can it not have been as simple a resealing Nightmare Moon back in the moon???”

“Welcome to the life of a Kamen Rider and their allies,” Eric replied with a sigh, “Where when it comes to fighting the villains, nothing is ever easy.”

“Even with this new knowledge,” Twilight added, “We still don’t know where the Elements are hidden, what they look like, or even what they DO!”

At that moment, the resident Fourth-Wall Breaker chimed in from one of the shelves that Twilight’s magic accidentally skipped over. “The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.”

Not a second later, Twilight slammed Pinkie Pie away from the shelf and stared in astonishment at what the pink pony just found. “How did you find that?!?!” She asked with awe in her voice.

“It was under E~!” Pinkie replied in a sing-song voice as she did a little hop/skip around Twilight, who did not know what to say.

Deciding to shelve her questions for the moment, the Mare from Canterlot used her magic to pull the book out carefully and when she opened it up, she searched through the index before finding the passage she was looking for.

“There are Six Elements of Harmony but only five are known: Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, and Loyalty; the sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last known location of the five identified elements was in the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sister, located in the Everfree Forest.”

At that everyone from Ponyville gasped in shock or groaned in distress. “The Everfree Forest,” the groaner –Eric- said, “why did it have to be in that god forsaken forest?”

Twilight just looked at the group with a small sweat-drop running down the side of her face until a footnote caught her eye. “What is this?” Quickly turning to the page number in the footnote Twilight read what was there only to gasp in shock, “The SEVENTH Element of Harmony?!?!”

The Ponyville Group –who were discussing the latest snag in their adventure quickly turned to Twilight as they shouted, “WHAT?!?!”

The Scholarly unicorn mare just continue reading out loud, “When the Elements of Harmony were last used by Princess Celestia to seal Nightmare Moon into her namesake; something appeared beside them just as the sealing was about to fail. It is believed by many to be nothing more than a representation of Princess Celestia’s will power revealing itself during the final step in sealing Nightmare Moon.”

“But there are some that believe a Seventh Element appeared before the other six giving its power to Princess Celestia just as she was about to run out of magic. The scholars that believe this theory speculate that this ‘Element’ is similar to the five known Elements as it represents an emotion all ponies have but are unable to properly harness. Whether or not this Element truly exists remains to be seen; but no pony can deny that it gave Princess Celestia the last push she needed to seal Nightmare Moon.”

A few seconds passed until the stunned silence was broken by a familiar voice, “Whee, let’s go!”

That stunned Twilight as she absently put the book back in its correct spot while turning to the group, “What?! Not so fast!” Everyone turned to Twilight as she decided to head off that particular thought quickly, “I’m grateful that all of you want to help me and appreciate it… but I really rather do this on my own.”

“No can do sugarcube,” Applejack replied for all of the Ponyville residents, “We sure ain’t letting any friend of ours going into that creepy place alone.” This just made Twilight cringe with worry and a bit of pain as the cowpony said that.

“Besides,” Eric added as she used his connect ring to summon his Bug Out Bag to him along with his sword’s sheath which he put on his back, “I already promised you that I would help you defeat Nightmare Moon when you told me about why you were here.”

“Face it Twilight,” Applejack continued as the group walked out of the Library and towards the Everfree Forest, “We’re sticking to you caramel on a candy apple.”

Pinkie’s face lit up when AJ said that and added her two bits/cents in, “Especially if there’s Candy Apples in there.” At Twilight stunned look the pink earth pony mare explained herself, “What? Those things are good!”

With a sigh of defeat, Twilight followed behind the group slowly wondering if this was a good idea. Unknown to them, a part of Nightmare Moon’s mane had hid itself underneath one of the library’s windows and heard everything that was spoken. With speed that bellied it appearance, the wisp quickly went back to its mistress to report its findings then get its next assignment.

Back with the group; the six ponies and one teen –after about thirty minutes of walking- finally started to enter the forest prompting Eric to start digging into his B.O.B. bag as he complemented Rarity. “I cannot thank you enough Hime-chan for putting those spells on my bag,” He said while pulling out a modified Maglite flashlight.

“It was not a problem at all placing the Unbreakable Expansion spell as well as the Featherweight one, Eric,” Rarity replied with a smile, “It’s the least I could do after you saved me from the griffon ruffians and that stallion that would not take no for an answer.”

As the elegant mare finished with a “huff”, Twilight turned her head towards Eric –who was walking beside her at the front of the group- with a bit of shock while asking, “You’re the one that saved Ponyville from those rogue griffons?”

“Sure did sugarcube,” Applejack added as she walked up to the front of the group with a smile, “He also helps keep some of the more orany of Everfree Forest’s critters away from Ponyville.” She shivered involuntarily as she looked deep into the wild and dangerous forest, “I tell you this place ain’t natural. Folks say it don’t work the same as Equestria.”

“W-what do you mean?” Twilight asked with a bit of a stutter.

Rainbow Dash thought this was the perfect time to pull a prank and gave her voice a creepy tone as she said, “No~ pony knows. You know why~?”

“Not now Dash,” Eric ordered as they reached a path that overlooked a slightly steep cliff. At the same time, the wisp that Nightmare Moon had following them discreetly decided to act by burrowing itself beneath the pony's and human’s feet.

The athletic Pegasus ignored the warnings as she slowly crept up to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie, continuing her story telling, “Because every pony who’s ever come in has…never…come…OUT!”

At that moment, the wisp broke apart the cliff path the heroes were on, sending all but the two Pegasus ponies sliding down the impromptu rockslide screaming.

“FLUTTERSHY, QUICK!” Rainbow dash ordered as she swooped down and picked up Pinkie.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness…” the animal lover said softly and quickly as she hurried as fast as she could to Rarity, gently took the fashionista's tail, and began slowing her down.

Eric reached into his bag and quickly pulled out a large hunting knife before thrusting it –blade first- into the cliff slowing his fall down to a stop as Applejack did the same but used her mouth to grab a conveniently root. Twilight was not so lucky and began to reach the part of the slide that was a complete fifty foot drop to the ground before she was able to stop herself at the cliff edge…with her back legs hang in midair.

Seeing Applejack let go of her branch and slowly slid down to Twilight, Eric reluctantly allowed Rainbow Dash to help him to the ground. He barely landed before the sky blue Pegasus quickly shot back up towards the sky and –with the help of Fluttershy- caught the Canterlot mare when Applejack convinced her to fall. He rushed over to his employer/friend as she used some rocks that were jutting out of the sheer cliff face to jump down and land with ease.

“Nice going boss.” Eric congratulated Applejack with a smile.

“Awe shucks Eric,” Applejack replied with a light blush on her face while pulling her hat down some to hide it.

As that was going on, the wisp –seeing that its plan had failed- steathfully shot off towards its next target as the group unknowingly followed right behind it. They continued on through the forest of death with Rainbow Dash retelling what happened despite everyone there having lived through it. The hidden Rider could not help but chuckle as he watched Dash do her story telling as he and Twilight lead the group once more, his flashlight leading the way.

Twilight on the other hand/hoof wasn’t as amused. “Yes Rainbow, I was there,” she said in a deadpan voice before turning to the Pegasus, who landed beside her, “and I’m very grateful but we…”

Whatever she was going to say died on her lips as something jumped out of the brush suddenly and tried to pounce on her…or it would have if Eric didn’t swing around and slam a magic powered roundhouse kick to the thing’s face sending it flying back a few feet only for it to jump back on its paws and skid to a stop. As it entered the moonlight, it revealed itself to be a large lion shaped being with bat like wings/ears and a scorpion tail.

“A Manticore!” Twilight gasped in shock as it roared out a challenge rearing up on its back legs. “We got to get passed it!”

Fluttershy could only stare in shock as she saw the monster try to pounce once more, only for Rarity to duck under its paws and buck it in the face. “TAKE THAT YOU RUFFIAN!” She shouted only for the Manticore to roar in her face messing her hair up and sending her flying. "MY HAIR!!!"

"Wait."

Before the monster could take off after the scared mare, Applejack somehow jumped onto it’s head. “YEEHAW!” she shouted as the Manticore began to try and buck the cowpony off, “Get along little doggy!” After a while, the monster succeeded, sending Applejack flying. As passed Rainbow Dash –who was hovering in midair- the cowpony said, “All yours partner,” before she landed right into Eric’s arms.

"Wait."

“I’m on it!” Rainbow Dash replied with a salute before she shot forward and began circling around the Manticore so fast it created a rainbow tornado, confusing the monster. At least until its tail came out of nowhere and slammed into her side, sending her airborne once more and nearly into the ground if Eric didn’t catch her after he set Applejack down.

"Wait."

“We can’t defeat him separately,” Eric pointed out as he gently set Dash down before turning to the Manticore and reached for his sword, “We need to work together.”

"Wait."

Bolstered by the words, five of the six mares quickly ran to Eric’s side as they stared down the Manticore before charging forward with the monster doing the same. Before the two sides could met, Fluttershy –who was trying to get everyone’s attention since the fight started- suddenly appeared in the middle of it all and shouted, “WAIT!!!”

Once the ponies and human skid to stop in shock, the shy Pegasus turned to the Manticore and slowly began to approach it. When the monster reared up to take a swipe at the bare mare, Eric quickly grabbed his sword once more… only to stop as Fluttershy gently sniffed its left forepaw softly saying, “Shush, it okay…”

Looking at the paw the Pegasus had sniffed, the Manticore turned it up revealing that it had a rather large purple thorn stuck in the middle of it. “Oh you poor, poor little baby,” Fluttershy said causing her friends to look at her strangely. “Now this might hurt for ju~st a second,” she continued as she gently took the thorn in her mouth and swiftly pulled it out. With a roar the Manticore grabbed Fluttershy…and began to softly licking her face in thanks for what she did while purring getting giggles out of the mare. With the Manticore occupied, Eric made a sneaking motion to the other girls who got the basic idea and began to do just that.

"Awe, you're just a little old baby kitty aren't you," Fluttershy cooed to the Manticore as her friends walked around it, "Yes you are, Yes you are~."

After about a minute Fluttershy was let go and quickly caught up to the others, her hair slicked back with saliva. Thankfully Rarity was prepared and quickly began to fix the shy but brave mare’s mane as Twilight asked a question that was on her mind.

“How did you know about that thorn stuck in its paw?”

“I didn’t,” Fluttershy simply said as her mane was styled back to its original shape, “Sometimes we all need to be shown a little kindness.’

Eric just chuckled as he heard that, “That’s Fluttershy for you. Kind, cute as a button, and one of the best that I know of when it comes to animals.”

Fluttershy’s blush could have substituted for Eric’s flashlight with how brightly it glowed before the group took off once more. Back over at the thorn that once pierced the Manticore’s paw, the things suddenly began to spin around and transformed into the wisp that had been unknowingly plaguing the group ever since they entered the forest.

Almost half an hour passed since the group had dealt with the Manticore as they continued on closer to their destination. Rarity on the other hand just wished that they were there already.

“Ugh,” she said with disgust in her voice as Eric and Twilight continued leading the herd, “My eyes need a rest from all of this icky muck.” Rarity got her wish as the moon’s light was quickly lost behind the dense canopy. “Well I didn’t mean that literally,” the fashionista whispered wishing she could take back her words.

As the group continued onwards -with only Eric’s light leading the way- the wisp slowly slithered around their feet/hooves and entered one of the trees. But not before messing with Eric’s flashlight briefly when he looked away.

“Kuso,” The human said as the light went out while the mares behind him began to talk rapidly as they pushed against one another unknowingly. A few seconds later, as Applejack commented about stepping in something, Eric heard Fluttershy start screaming along with the others causing him to look up…right into a tree that was warped by the wisp making it look like a monster.

With a “JESUS CHRIST!!! ,” Eric jumped back quickly putting his flashlight away while pulling out his sword. ‘Are we in the Crimson Forest?!?!’ he thought taking a brief look around to see that all of the tree had been transformed into monsters with the girls screaming in fear…Except for one.

“Huh?” the five screamers and one untransformed Rider asked and looked to see Pinkie near one of the trees laughing at it. She made a few strange faces at the monster trees before going back to her laughing.

“Pinkie what are you doing?!?!” Twilight asked in shock, “RUN!!!”

Suddenly a light music began to come out of nowhere as Pinkie said, “Oh girls don’t you see…” And then to the astonishment of all…Began to sing.

After about a minute of singing, the entire grove of monster trees was gone thanks to the group's laughter as they laid there on the ground having fun thanks to Pinkie’s song. Once he caught his breath, Eric slowly stood up, his sword back in its sheath as he pulled out his light.

“I never laughed so hard before,” he said out of breath trying the light again and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was working once more.

Twilight also got back on her hooves as she looked at Pinkie seeing the pink earth pony in a new light. She wasn’t weird or crazy as she once thought Pinkie to be…But rather very exuberant and always ready to put a smile on any pony’s face. Once everyone caught their breath –still chuckling and giggling once in awhile- the group took off immediately for the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

As they left, the wisp slowly crept out of the tree it had ‘infected’ very low on power but strong enough for one last attempt. And with as much speed as it could muster, took off once again.

The group of heroes continued to trot/jog through the forest; their spirits renewed thanks to Pinkie Pie who had taken the lead with Eric beside her. As the rounded a bush heading for a nearby river, the party mare suddenly stopped causing all of her friends behind her to slam into her.

“Why are you stopping?” Eric asked as he looked back at the mares…only to fall into a rough churning river.

Once the idiot was fished out and dried thanks to his Flame Ring, Pinkie asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “How are we going to get across this???”

A second later, they all started to hear someone cry and when they investigated, the curiosity turned into shock. There in the middle of the river was a large purple sea serpent with an orange mane/hair and a moustache that reminded Eric of a Fu Manchu, if it wasn’t for one side that had been ripped clean off. The serpent was wailing and crying “What a world,” as his tail thrashed about causing the river to churn violently.

“Excuse me sir,” Twilight began to ask with all the ponies beside her while Eric hung back as he looked through his B.O.B. to assess the damage, “Why are you crying?”

“Well I don’t know!” The serpent replied in a voice that had a feminine tone to it despite him being male, “I was just sitting here minding my own business when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked passed me and tore half of my beloved moustache clean off!”

At that moment Eric instantly froze when he heard that as it helped kick start a couple of memories he had push to the back of his mind as unimportant to the forefront. And both memories contained a picture of a strange wisp similar to the one the sea serpent had described. The dots further connected when he remembered the color of the thorn that was in the Manticore’s paw.

Unfortunately they were pushed to the side briefly when he heard Rarity say something about correcting a crime and looked up just in time to see her bring the sea serpent down to her level before using one of his scales to cut off a large portion of own tail! Then she used her magic to seamlessly fuse her clipped tail into the serpent’s torn moustache making it whole once more.

“My Moustache!” the serpent cried with glee as his tail quit flailing about, calming the river as he posed for a moment, “How Wonderful!”

“You look smashing,” Rarity replied with a slightly pained smile.

“Oh Rarity,” Twilight said sadly as she looked at the stump that was left over, “Your beautiful tail.”

“Oh, it's fine, my dear.” The fashionista replied as she turned to the stunned group, “Short tails are in this season. Besides... it'll grow back.”

Eric just walked over to the slightly upset mare and gave her a quick hug knowing how much she put into her looks thanks to accidentally ruining it one time and helping her get it back to normal. Rarity smiled at the kind human until Twilight gasped as she saw the clam river.

“We can cross now!” she said happily and began to do so until the Serpent rose up from under her.

“Allow me,” he said with a bow before coiled his body up to allow the ponies and human to use his body as a stepping stone. Quick thanks to the serpent –whose name was Steven surprisingly- and they were off once more.

As our merry group of heroes/heroines continued on their way to Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, Nightmare Moon was watching through the ‘eyes’ of her wisp extremely pissed off.

“HOW DO THESE PONIES KEEP ESCAPING ALL OF THE TRAPS I LAY OUT FOR THEM?!?!” she shouted with hatred, slamming the water basin she was using as a scrying mirror to the side, spilling its contents.

‘Thou shall not escape thy punishment Nightmare Moon,’ a voice, younger than Nightmare Moon’s, sounded from a part of her mind; ‘Our sister’s chosen will spell thy doom!’

“And will you quit using that old English of your!!!” Nightmare Moon shouted to the voice, “Face it Princess Luna. You are fated to be nothing more than a battery since for some reason I cannot eat your soul.”

‘Thou shall not win Horror! Thy sins shall lead you to Tartarus and eternal damnation!’ Princess Luna replied with renewed fire and hope.

“We shall see Princess, We shall see.” The Horror known as Nightmare Moon replied with a sneer as she used her magic to replace/refill the water basin. “But first one final trap for these heroes before I enter the stage.”

Using her stolen magic once more, the Demonic Alicorn cast a spell to empower the wisp even further than it already was. “Let’s see if this Makai Knight replica can handle the power of a being similar to myself,” Nightmare Moon added before she began to laugh evilly once more.

As Nightmare Moon’s final plan got underway, our heroes continued their trek through the Everfree Forest. Soon the trees parted and the remains of a ruined castle appeared in their sight.

‘There it is!” Twilight shouted in glee, ‘The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters!”

With that she began to gallop towards the castle with her new friends behind her as Applejack shouted, “Twilight! Wait for us!”

“We’re almost there!” Twilight shouted back over her shoulder…only to fall as the fog between in front of her parted to reveal a large ravine. Hanging only by her back hooves, the Canterlot mare tried to scramble back before Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed her tail and pulled back.

“What’s with you and falling off cliffs today?” the Pegasus mare joked as the rest of the group quickly caught up.

Everyone gathered where Twilight nearly fell and saw that a rope bridge –which would have allowed them passage over the ravine- had been cut down on the other side. Pinkie could only ask, “Now what?” as they tried to figure out a way over.

“Duh,” Dash replied giving her wings a little shake before jumping over the edge, grabbing the end of the bridge, and pulling it to the other side.

Suddenly, Eric began to get a bad feeling about all this, which was confirmed when he saw his friend look around before standing up on her hind legs and kick/punch the air with her fore hoofs as a purple wisp crawled across the ground.

“Shimata!” Eric suddenly cursed startling the ponies on his side.

“What’s wrong Eric?” Fluttershy asked in her usually quiet voice.

“Remember those few times we got into trouble on this ‘quest’ of ours?” The Rider replied, getting nods in return. “Well a couple of times I thought I saw a purple wisp of sorts following us but assumed that it was my imagination playing tricks on me.”

Twilight quickly pieced the puzzle I was picturing together, “you mean like the one Steven told us about.”

“That’s what tipped me off,” Eric confirmed, “If what I saw wasn’t an illusion but an actual wisp, then Nightmare Moon might have been spying us with the wisp in hopes of slowing us down. And I have a bad feeling that it might be trying for one last push before we face the big boss herself.”

Everyone looked at Rainbow Dash wishing her luck until they saw three Pegasus ponies dressed in a darker version of the Wonderbolts uniform.

With wide eyes Twilight decided to shout out to her …friend/ally? “Rainbow! Don’t listen to them!!! They’re magical constructs!” Unfortunately only part of her message got through as Dash –who briefly turned to them- was forced to look back at the ‘leader’ as he discreetly thickened the fog beyond normal means.

“Come on Dash,” Eric whispered to himself, “I know that your dream is to join the Wonderbolts; but remember who you truly are on the inside.”

Over with Rainbow Dash; the Pegasus mare was conflicted about the decision given to her by the Shadow Bolt’s leader: go with them and finally live out her dream, or stay and maybe never get another chance to reach her life goal while helping her friend. To her, the decision was anything but complicated.

“Thank you,” she said causing the ‘Shadow Bolts’ to grin only to turn to shock when she continued her answer, “For the offer I mean; but I’m afraid I have to say no.”

With that she tried to continue tying the bridge back up when she was almost pushed off the edge by a strong force. She looked behind her and gasped when she saw the three Pegasi turning into purple mist which quickly formed together and create a being similar to Eric but with Pegasus like features/armor similar to the Shadow Bolts uniform.

“I believe that you should rethink our offer,” the Pegasus like monster replied in a rough female voice as she brought a sickly purple rapier up to bear.

Rainbow Dash quickly got into an aggressive stance, ready to fight with all she got; but thankfully she had a guardian angel watching out for her…or rather, a Guardian Kamen Rider

[Blessed Wind by Rider Clips; Kamen Rider Wizard Hurricane Style Theme]

=HURRICANE; PLEASE! FUU... FUU... FUU, FUU, FUU~!=

Suddenly the fog parted as silver bullets pelted the monster revealing Kamen Rider Wizard; arriving to save the day…err night. He flew over the ravine via a green tinted tornado surrounding his body with the WSG in gun mode shooting at the Kaijin.

“Are you okay Dash?” Wizard asked as he landed in front of the Pegasus transforming his WSG into sword mode and held it in a reverse grip.

“I’m okay,” Dash replied glaring at the Kaijin, “Tried to reject their gracious offer but they would not take no for an answer.”

“Well, get that bridge up quickly,” Eric ordered, flipping the tails of his coat back, “I’ll take on ugly here.”

And with that the Rider charged forward with the Pegasus Kaijin replying in kind. A second later both of them jumped into the air, Wizard via his wind powers while the Kaijin formed wings of energy to take flight. Sparks flew as their swords clashed in midair before they broke off and tried again. Each attack was perfectly countered until Wizard found an opening, letting loose with a few slices sending sparks into the air and bringing the Kaijin back to the ground.

“Your sword play is excellent, Makai Knight,” the Kaijin commented, “But it will not help you in the end.”

‘Makai Knight?!?!’ Eric thought in shock before he was forced to defend against a barrage of thrusting attacks. ‘Think later, fight now!’ Was his mental reply before he twisted around another thrust shifting the WSG into gun mode and letting loose a salvo of silver bullets into the Kaijin’s gut.

With room to think, Eric shifted the WSG back to sword mode and the two started to go at it again. As they did, Rainbow Dash finished tying the bridge back to its posts allowing her friends to quickly cross as they congratulated her for her choice. “See,” The boastful Pegasus said, “I never leave my friends hanging!”

Before anyone could reply, they heard Eric shout, “Rider-Ryu: Dai Kaiten Madan!” and looked up to see their human friend spinning like a top in mid air via an emerald tinted tornado with his blade out to the side.

They watched with awe as the spinning blade cut through the Kaijin’s sword before biting into the monster itself several times, sending it flying backwards. Both fighters landed before taking off into the air again with the Pegasus Kaijin trying to punch Wizard who performed a wind powered drop kick to its gut sending it flying once more.

“Damn you Makai Knight!” the Kaijin cursed loudly as he landed with a crash before trying to take to the air to escape.

Wizard just followed the Kaijin until it landed on a small balcony that was still standing and declared, “I’m not a knight of the light fighting in the darkness!” A few strikes to the chest and the Rider pushed the WSG’s blade into the Kaijin’s gut sending them both falling to the ground as he added, “I’m a warrior of justice protecting the hopes of human and ponies everywhere!” with that they hit the cold hard steps leading into the castle

With a, “Hup,” Wizard jumped off the Kaijin and landed a few feet away spinning the WSG by its trigger guard before turning towards the wisp. “I’m Kamen Rider Wizard,” he finished as he pulled the thumb on the WSG’s Hand Author causing it to sing.

=C’MON SLASH, SHAKE HANDS! C’MON SLASH, SHAKE HANDS! =

And with a grin behind his helmet Eric finished with, “And It’s time to end the first act,” Before shaking the WSG’s hand.

=HURRICANE; SLASH STRIKE! FUU, FUU, FUU~! FUU, FUU, FUU~! =

Emerald colored wind began to gather around the WSG’s blade as spell/rune circles also formed around it, concentrating Wizard’s mana into a final attack. The next second, the Rider spun around slashing at the Kaijin which created a tornado of wind that quickly captured it.

“Rider Ougi!” Wizard whispered which everyone could hear before slashing forward and up as he release a large discus made of emerald wind that look faintly like a shuriken shouting, “TENKU NO MAI!”

The shuriken shaped discus slammed into the Kaijin cutting him over a thousand times before exploding in a fiery blaze which thankfully burned up all of its blood.

With the monster gone, all of the ponies there quickly raced up to the Kamen Rider congratulating him on defeating the monster.

Back with Nightmare Moon, the demonic Alicorn raged as she saw her minion defeated and once again threw the water basin to the side in rage. “DAMN THAT KNIGHT!!!” she shouted as Princess Luna chuckled inside her head increasing her anger. “Fine then,” she said as calmly as she could with thunder still in her eyes, “to defeat that knight and stop those ponies from gaining the elements, I will need to enter the fray myself.”

And with that, Nightmare’s mane/tail wrapped around her as she transformed into smoke before quickly dashing to the Ancient Castle. As she did, Luna sent a small pray to her mother that her sister’s chosen and friends will free her from the prison she was in.

As Nightmare moon rushed to our heroes, Twilight was commenting on what they saw. “I never seen a monster like that before,” she said as Eric switched his Hurricane Ring for the Flame one.

“If I’m sadly right,” Wizard replied as he reset the Hand Author to Transformation mode, “Then our fight may have gotten much more complicated.”

“Huh?” was Applejack’s reply, “What cha mean by that?”

=FLAME, PLEASE! HI. HI. HI, HI, HI! =

“What I mean,” The Rider continued after transforming into Flame Style, “Is that we are not dealing with a demon but something worse.”

That stunned all of the ponies as Rarity asked, “What in the world could be worse than a demon?!?!”

“A Horror,” was her reply. “A Horror is a being created from darkness whose main food is the body and soul of a human –and probably any sentient being.” Hearing the girls’ gasp he trudged on not wanting to taint their minds with more information but also not wanting to lie to them, “They are unable to live in sunlight and have to inhabit objects to stay alive until they find a host. Then they will entice the poor fool into releasing it before devouring their soul and taking resident in the body making it into a meat puppet in a sense.”

Both Rarity and Fluttershy fainted when they heard that while the other girls’ went white with terror and disbelief –even Pinkie Pie’s mane/tail deflated when she heard that. Twilight on the other hand tried to be a bit positive.

“Is there a way to save the Moon Princess?” she asked hoping beyond hope that there was.

A sad sigh was a prelude to her answer, “I would not bet on it since it is extremely rare for a soul to survive being devoured by a Horror and if they do, they rarely last for more than a few minutes before dying.” Seeing the looks of despair in their face, Wizard tried to lift their spirits. “That is what normally happened, but since the one being controlled is an Alicorn there may be a chance to save her. She’s even more likely to survive if we use the Elements of Harmony to burn out the Horror while healing the Moon Princess.”

That quickly got everyone’s mood back up as Twilight's eyes took on a determined shine. “Then that’s our plan. Find the Elements of Harmony, figure out how to use them, and save the Moon Princess from the Horror.”

All of the ponies, including Rarity and Fluttershy –after they had be roused- nodded in agreement with the same determination in their eyes as well. With that, Wizard and Applejack marched over to the castle door and with a great heave, opened them wide. As the moonlight entered the room, every-pony/one could only marvel at the sight before them. Despite the Main Hall of the castle being overrun by vines, moss and the weather, it was still mostly intact; about eighty percent or so. Even some of the stained glass windows were still intact or mostly intact.

“Unbelievable,” Wizard whispered as he walked through the hall.

“This castle has seen over a thousand years of weather, and other phenomenons,” Twilight whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear, “Yet it seems like it’s only been overrun just recently.”

After a bit more sightseeing, everyone decided to get back to work, “Alright, since we don’t know what the Elements look like so we’ll need to split up. Since we have an uneven number, I can go by myself while the rest of you split up. Sound good?”

“I don’t like this Eric,” Rainbow Dash replied with a slight scowl, “You're the only one that can hold off Nightmare Moon fs she appears before we get the Elements.”

“I know; but we'll be able to find clues quicker if we split up,” The Rider reasoned causing the ponies to nod reluctantly before they split up. Twilight paired up with Applejack and Fluttershy, while Rainbow Dash went with Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and Wizard went in his own direction.

A couple of minutes had passed since the group split up and the Kamen Rider rookie was starting to get worried. He had searched as best he could for any clues to the Elements of Harmony but had come up empty. As he was about to check another hallway, a small beam of light caught his eye and he went to investigate. Behind a partly opened door was an extremely beautiful sword that reminded him of a few blades his had seen in an Anime Otaku but different. The blade was shaped to look like a Unicorn’s horn colored in a soft white while the cross-guard molded to look like sky blue wings. The grip on the other hand had tiny countless green vines stamped into the grip while a holographic rainbow colored sphere was nestled into the pommel.

And let’s not forget the room, which seemed untouched by time or the elements. Behind the sword –which was partly embedded into a stone pedestal like the Master Sword- were three stained glass windows. The left window held a picture of a white Alicorn with a pink mane, a yellow sun above her as if she was raising it towards the heavens while the right one had a dark blue Alicorn pointed towards the earth with a crescent moon she seemed to be setting.

While those windows were nice looking, it was the middle one that caught Wizard’s attention the most. It held two figures in it, one small figure standing in front of a larger one, with the smaller figure wearing some kind of red or crimson clothing and silver hair, holding the sword in front of themselves by the handle as if saluting someone. The larger figure looked similar to a samurai wearing full armor that was colored in light black, yellow, and crimson with hints of gray at the elbows, knees, and neck. In it’s right hand –resting on the same shoulder- was a HUGE sword that reminded the Rider of the anime famous Zanbato.

After staring at the window for some time –since he felt a sense of familiarity to the figures somehow- he went back to the sword and slowly began to walk towards it. As he did so, the Flame and Hurricane Rings began to glow along with the Hand Author which the Rider ignored, focused entirely on the sword. At least until Rainbow Dash’s voice broke him out of his trance.

“Hey Eric; We Found The Elements!!!”

Shaking himself back to reality, Wizard quickly raced towards the Main Hall where the checkpoint was set, pushing the sword and room to the side for the moment. After a minute of running, the Rider finally reached the place just as Twilight knelt down in front of a set of bowling ball sized stone orbs with gems cut into it. As he entered the hall, a dark blue and purple mist suddenly appeared and started circling the Elements! Twilight cried out in shock when she saw that quickly getting the attention of the other ponies who decided to wait outside as the Canterlot Mare tried to awaken the Five Elements and bring forth the Sixth one.

Without even thinking, both Twilight and Wizard jumped into the tornado of magical mist just as the rest of the gang reentered the main hall.

“Twilight/Eric!” They shouted as the two vanished right in front of their eyes.

“Where did they go?!?!” Rainbow Dash asked/shouted as all five ponies began to search any clues as to their friends' disappearance. It wasn’t until they heard a loud explosion that they ran outside and saw smoke/fire coming out of a newly made hole in one of the towers.

“Come on!” Applejack ordered and they all started to haul flank to the tower hoping they got there in time.

As Twilight and Wizard rode the portal, both magic users landed with a burst of smoke and light causing the Canterlot mare to cough a few times as she landed on her belly while the Rider to a knee to keep stable. Both of them looked up and gasped when they saw Nightmare Moon standing a few yards away on a slightly raised circular platform; the Elements hovering in her mane’s grip.

Standing up, both magic users looked at each other before nodding then glared at the villain. Twilight began to paw the ground, ready to charge while the Rider summoned his sword once more.

“You’re kidding…” Nightmare asked in a deadpan voice as she lowered the only weapons to her defeat down, “You’re kidding right?”

Neither hero said anything as Twilight's horn began to glow with magical energy before they charged as one. Nightmare Moon decided to answer them by returning the charge, just as planned. As they were feet away from clashing, Twilight instantly vanished stunning the Horror possessed Alicorn long enough for Wizard to slam a roundhouse kick to her face sending her flying to the side.

“I’ll keep her busy Twilight!” he shouted to the unicorn mare that reappeared in the circle of Elements, “You try to awaken the Elements.”

Unfortunately Twilight didn’t get time to answer since Wizard was suddenly put on the defense as Nightmare Moon fired some magic missiles at him. Rolling to the side, the Rider returned the volley with one of his own courtesy of the WSG forcing the Horror to dodge as well, not wanting to get hit by the bullets again.

"What kind of Makai Knight are you, using guns to defeat me?” Nightmare asked as she summoned and fire more missiles at the warrior who dodged.

“I’m not a Makai Knight,” Wizard replied with a roar as he opened up the hand on the WSG causing it to sing.

=C’MON SHOOTING! SHAKE HANDS!=

“I’m a Kamen Rider!” He finished as he powered up the WSG once again with his Flame Ring.

=FLAME; SHOOTING STRIKE! HI, HI, HI! HI, HI, HI!=

Multiple rune circles began to appear at the end of the WSG’s barrel, gathering heat into as Wizard quickly took aim, and fired shouting, “RIDER-RYU: ENDAN!”

A second later Wizard let loose a giant fireball almost point blank on Nightmare who barely dodged it. As it flew past her, it burned off a good chunk of her armor/body revealing the Alicorn Mare underneath before it hit the wall, exploding violently. Suddenly, WSG shattered as the sword it came from could not handle two Strike Attacks in such a short period of time.

This gave the Horror the opening she needed to heal then quickly teleported to Twilight who was close to awakening the Elements before she was knocked away. Wizard quickly jumped, catching the young unicorn before she landed and the two watched as the Elements started to spark with power.

“NO!!!” Nightmare shouted in shock while her prisoner mentally cheered.

Suddenly the aura around the Element vanished stunning both heroes and the Alicorn prisoner along with the Horror. Soon Nightmare began to chuckle before a quickly turned to evil laughter. A second later she rose up on her hind legs and slammed her front hooves into the ground shattering the elements to the astonishment of the heroes.

“You little foals,” she sneered gleefully, “Thinking you could defeat me! Now you will never see your princess or your sun. The night will last FOREVER! And soon I will summon my brethren into this world and we shall feast on all the souls in Equestria and beyond! No one will be able to stop us!!!”

“URUSAI!!!” Wizard shouted in rage as he placed Twilight down and stood defiantly in front of Nightmare Moon, “I will not allow you to do as you please to this world!!!”

 “Please,” the Horror scoffed, “what can you do? You yourself admitted that you are not a Makai Knight and your only weapons against me have been destroyed!”

“Even if I don’t have my WizardSwordGun, I can still fight you.” The Rider countered, “As long as my soul burns brightly, and my heart cries out for justice I will continue to fight to the bitter end! I will be this planet’s last hope as long as there are beings who cry out for help! That is my oath both as a Ring Mage AND A KAMEN RIDER!!!”

Not a second later Wizard’s Connect Ring began to shine brightly startling everyone. With a shaking hand, the Rider took off the D-On ring and slid the shining ring on before setting the WizarDriver to Spell Mode. Then, with hope in his heart, he scanned the ring.

=CONNECT; PLEASE!=

The Rune Circle appeared beside Wizard as normal before the Rider plunged his hand into the portal, grasping whatever was on the other side and began to pull. For a second, whatever was on the other side would not budge until, with a loud roar, the Rider put all of his magic, heart, and soul into pulling out the object which finally gave way. He twisted around on his heels before coming to a stop facing the Horror while holding the sword he found just a few minutes ago out in front of him in a salute.

“Wow,” Twilight whispered in awe at the beautifully crafted weapon despite knowing virtually nothing about swords.

“What in the Messiah’s name is that?!?!” Nightmare Moon shouted in shock as she did all she could not to stumble back feeling the pure energies surrounding the blade.

The Princess inside of the Horror was just as shocked as her sister’s chosen but for an entirely different reason. ‘Big Brother’s sword; UniTenKo!!!’ She thought with her own jaw on the floor in shock.

Wizard was just a shocked as Twilight was but quickly recovered, spinning the sword around in his hands before taking a stance. A second later both heroes began to hear a few familiar voices calling out to them.

“Hang on Eric, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the stairs behind Twilight.

“Don’t worry, we’re coming!” Applejack hollered up as she raced towards her friends along with the other mares.

“Time to act like a bunch of Big Damn Heroes!” Pinkie added.

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she heard their voices coming up the stairs…and a spark ran through her body as her mind finally pieced the last part of the puzzle together.

With courage that stemmed not only from her friends, but also from the Kamen Rider beside her, Twilight began to stand up to the Horror as her friends quickly stepped up to her and Eric’s side. "You think you can defeat the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well you're wrong! Cause the Elements of Harmony, are right here!"

Suddenly, as if triggered by Twilight’s words, the shards that were once the Elements –or rather the Artifacts connected to them- began to glow, rising up as they hover around the scared Horror.

"Applejack,” Twilight started as her friends looked at her in shock –except for Eric who was focused on the Horror-, “who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the Element of Honesty!" Suddenly the fragments of the Stone of Honesty began to glow orange before flying over to Applejack, circling around her like a planet’s moons.

"Fluttershy,” the Canterlot Mare continued, “Who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the Element of Kindness!" Next the Stone of Kindness’ shards glow a light magenta as they fluttered around Fluttershy who looked a little nervous but stayed strong nonetheless for her friends.

"Pinkie Pie, who vanquished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the Element of Laughter!" The sky blue Shards of Laughter hovered around Pinkie Pie who hopped excitedly a few times before taking her own stance.

"Rarity, who comforted a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the Element of Generosity!" Purple Shards of Generosity began to float around the elegant mare as a brief look of sadness cross her eyes before glaring at the now worried Nightmare Moon.

"And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her owns heart’s desire, represents the Element of Loyalty!" finally the crimson Shards of Loyalty glided around the speedy Pegasus who smiled and looked with pride at Nightmare Moon, now in a small state of panic.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us Horror!” Twilight finished as the seven friends ready themselves for a fight to free Equestria and the Moon Princess from their respective prisons.

"You still don't have the Sixth Element!” Nightmare Moon countered, as she tried her best to keep her cool despite the worry that gnawed at her soul, “The spark didn't work!"

"Oh, but it did; just was not a spark of magic that was needed," Twilight replied as she turned towards the other ponies and Kamen Rider as she confessed, "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, saw how much you cared about me despite only knowing me for less than a day… and how much I care about you in return.” With that, Twilight turned back towards Nightmare Moon as she spoke with a tone of finality, “The spark that ignited inside me when I realized you are all my friends, was the one needed to unlock the Elements of Harmony!!!”

Suddenly, a bright light began to shine above Twilight which dimmed to reveal the final Artifact of Harmony, waiting for its Element to guide it. “You see Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the spark of friendship that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element: the Element... of Magic!"

With those words, the Artifacts began to shine brightly in their new colors as they changed. The Shards gathered round the necks of the five Ponyville ponies forming gold necklaces around their necks each with a gem the same color as their aura and shaped like a part of the ponies’ Cutie Marks. Twilight’s Artifact also transformed but instead of a necklace it turned into a beautiful tiara with the large rose colored six point star on the top.

As the Artifacts changed, Eric’s Rings and Wizard Driver began to glow crimson red before the sword he was hold also glowed then transformed into the WizardSwordGun to the Rider’s shock. Twilight on the other hand knew what was going on thanks to her Artifact.

“And another thing Nightmare Moon,” She added as all the ponies felt the powers of the Artifacts run through their bodies, “there is one more Element that few ponies know about; an Element that Eric knows very well.”

Wizard’s eyes widen behind his helmet before they hardened as he held his left fist up high, Flame Ring pointed to sky. A second later, the Elements of Harmony released a large Rainbow of Energy up into the heavens before curving down and towards the Rider. It hit the Flame Ring which began to absorb it as Eric explained.

“The Seventh Element of Harmony…” the Rider stated as his body began to glow with a Rainbow Aura, “the one that binds the Six Elements together, and lends them its power when they are at their lowest. The Element that can only be wielded by someone who has faced the darkest depths of their own despair head on and won...”

“The Seventh Element of Harmony,” the Rider started, changing the WSG to Gun mode as he roared out, “IS THE ELEMENT OF HOPE!!!” with that he pulled the thumb on the new WSG’s Hand Author as it began to sing.

=C’MON SHOOTING! SHAKE HANDS!=

“Prepare yourself Horror!” Wizard shouted as she shook the WSG’s hand, “CAUSE IT’S TIME FOR THE FINALE!!!”

=HARMONY; SHOOTING STRIKE! HI, HI, HI! HI, HI, HI!=

With a growl, Wizard aimed the WSG at Nightmare Moon as the small rune circle reappeared but now in a rainbow color with similar colored flames gathering at the tip of the barrel. The Horror tried to escape but Princess Luna used the last of the magic under her control to hold the Kaijin in place as the Rider roared out his newest attack…

“RIDER OUGI: NANAIRO BAKUNETSU SHOOT!!!!”

Pulling the trigger, Wizard released a huge column of rainbow colored flames as it quickly ate up the distance between the heroes and Horror. Before she knew it, the Rainbow Fire hit Nightmare Moon and began to tear her off of the Moon Princess which healed the Alicorn at the same time. Nightmare tried to latch back onto her unwilling host or anything for that matter; but the Holy Flames of Harmony disallowed that and soon the monster parasite was burned to ashes as a bright light shined with its destruction, knocking everyone out.