//------------------------------// // An Enemy Rises // Story: Soren the Alicorn Part 1: New Beginnings // by KingNyroc15 //------------------------------// ------------------ The Next Day ------------------ Soren, Luna, Spike, Twilight, and the rest of the gang were walking through town at night heading towards Club Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch, aka DJ PON-3, was hosting a party to celebrate the arrival of a popular traveling pair of singers. The party started half an hour ago at seven, but Soren and his friends didn't mind arriving a little late. Club Vinyl was decent sized for a club; it was definitely big enough to have a good amount of ponies in it. From the front doors, there was a big stage on the opposite side of the building. On the left side of the room was a lounge of sorts where ponies could sit down, have a drink, and just hang out. On the right side of the room was the bar itself. The shelves of the bar had too many drinks to name, and only some of them were alcohol. When Soren and his friends walked in, they were immediately greeted by the sight of a crowd going crazy. Beyond the cheering crowd, they could hear music and singing. Soren, followed by his friends, edged through the crowd to get a good look at these new singers. Soren was the first to see them, even though he wasn't in the front row near the stage. There were two stallions onstage having the time of their lives. One of the most interesting things about the duo was that they were twins. They were both light blue pegasi with deep green manes, although one was shorter in height than the other. Surprisingly enough, their cutie marks created a picture together. The taller pegasus had a mark that resembled a microphone with a cord that was cut out, and the shorter had the other half of the cord which led to a stereo. The other most interesting thing was the songs they sang. Their genre of music wasn't for kids to say the least (if one paid attention to the lyrics anyway). The music was fun and upbeat, so most of the audience danced to it. The lyrics weren't completely for mature audiences, it just had more mature words than most songs did, which was fine for the ponies listening; they were having a great time. Suddenly, a voice broke Soren's train of thought. "Ehh they're not so good, compared to you anyway, Soren." Rainbow Dash playfully nudged him with a smile. Soren smiled back and continued to watch and listen to the singers continue their song. "You really think so?" Soren asked. Dash nodded. "I bet you could wipe the floor with these guys." Suddenly it got very quiet; the song ended right before Dash's comment. Soren and Dash looked around to see almost the entire crowd, including the performers, staring at them. Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously and backed away. Soren was about to do that as well, except the singers onstage spoke to him. "So you think you're a good singer?" The taller twin had a deep-ish voice, so Soren found this easy to figure out who was who. "If you're so good, then why don't you prove it? You against us. Let's see who's the better singer." Beyond the seriousness of that challenge, Soren guessed that it was all good fun, so he accepted the challenge. As Soren was walking onstage, Vinyl Scratch decided to announce the challenge. "Ladies and gentlecolts! We have a special event for you all tonight. We have a sing-off happenin' right before your very eyes! It's the famous Pega-Singers versus the rising star, Soren!" Cheers echoed throughout the club. Soren was honestly a little nervous; he probably had only five or so songs to sing. Who knew how many songs the Pega-Singers knew? "Fellas, start when ready!" Soren and the Pega-Singers conversed on who will sing first. It was decided that the duo will go first. The two pegasi were very skilled in their performance. They danced a little, sung from their hearts (even though some of their music is silly and comedic), and they easily played the crowd. It was a pretty impressive sight. Soren went next and decided to sing the first song he ever sang: Undiscolsed Desires. The crowd recognized the song and was almost instantly mesmorized. By the time the song ended, the crowd was already cheering Soren's name. The Pega-Singers were slightly impressed, but they knew that the competition had only just begun. The Pega-Singers sang a song, then Soren sang a song. Then the Singers sang again, then Soren sang after them. After the Pega-Singers' fourth song, the crowd was in anticipation to see who would win. Soren was about to walk back onstage when the shorter of the Singers shouted: "This one has to be a duet. That's all we've been doing, so now it's your turn." Soren felt a bead of sweat go down his neck. I don't have any duets! I've never made one! Onstage, Soren was quickly trying to think of something he could do. When the crowd started mumbling to each other, a figure soon stepped onstage with Soren. "Luna?!" He was shocked beyond belief as he stared at the princess, as was everypony else. Their own Princess of the Night can sing? Luna leaned towards Soren and whispered, "Follow my lead. My magic will help." Luna's horn glowed dimly enough so that the audience couldn't see it, and then touched her horn to Soren's. The second the two horns came in contact, Soren received every bit of info about the song he was going to sing with Luna. He knew the words, the instruments used, and the name of the song. "Don't Be Fooled" was a rough translation of the old Equestrian language. He knew that the song was old but when it played in his head, it didn't sound old. Within seconds, the music started, and the two alicorns started singing together simultaneously. We don't have to be honest We could say we're fine But there's no use lying Don't be fooled while the rain is drying If we stay there'll be more just like it The storm will find it If we hide it, hide it We don't have to be honest We could say we're fine But there's no use lying Don't be fooled while the rain is drying If we stay there'll be more just like it We don't have to keep running We could stay inside But there's no use hiding Don't be fooled while the sun is shining Don't pretend we can learn to fight it The storm will find it If we hide it, hide it About half way through the duet, the crowd was more mesmorized than ever before. They absolutely loved it! Soren and Luna had the same exact lyrics so they sang as one. The princess' and Soren's words fused together so perfectly that one could picture a single pony with two voices. We don't have to be honest We could say we're fine But there's no use lying Don't be fooled while the rain is drying If we stay there'll be more just like it We don't have to keep running We could stay inside But there's no use hiding Don't be fooled while the sun is shining Don't pretend we can learn to fight it When song ended, the crowd started cheering and whistling loudly. Soren even heard applause coming from the Pega-Singers. The Singers stepped onstage to talk to Soren after the crowd quieted down. "You were fantastic, kid," the taller said. "You'll be an amazing performer one day. Wish we could stay and chat, but we arrived in town kind of late so we're pretty tired, especially now after the performance. Nice meeting you though." The Pega-Singers and the crowd started leaving soon after. Soren and his friends would've left too but Vinyl insisted that they all stay and hang out with her and Octavia. "Ya'll just want us to help clean up, don't ya?" Applejack accused. Vinyl nodded, still having a wide grin, even though she was caught in the act. Everypony sighed, or groaned, yet agreed to help. After a few minutes of cleaning, Luna told everypony she had to leave for the night. Vinyl didn't mind, so she simply smiled and nodded. Luna walked up to Soren. "We were most pleased with your performance, and we also enjoyed our duet." Luna hugged Soren. Their hug lasted longer than either of them expected but they eventually broke away and stared into each other's eyes once again. Luna saw that feeling once more. Everypony noticed the two alicorns and looked at them. Very soon after, they all saw Luna kiss Soren's cheek and leave. Everypony there shared the same thought: Luna likes Soren?! Soren saw all of their shocked expressions and smiled sheepishly at them. However, he soon lost that expression when a scream pierced the night. The mares and boys ran out the door. Pretty soon after, they were introduced to a shocking sight: Luna was being held in a magical, floating cage. Soren saw who was casting the spell. There was a disguised unicorn, whose entire body was wrapped in cloth save for its bright yellow eyes. "Why doesn't she just break out?" one of the mares asked. Soren began to worry; if an alicorn goddess can be trapped that easily, how will the rest of them stop that pony? Twilight pointed a hoof at Luna's horn; it had a black lightning aura surrounding it. "A Horn-Lock Spell," whispered Twilight fearfully. "A very advanced spell. It's impossible for the unicorn to use magic when it's cast on them." As his purple friend explained the spell, Soren was getting a better look at the attacker. It was wearing purple armor on top of the cloth. The attacker looked at Soren and at the others then prepared itself. The only thing that can be heard were the screams of panicking ponies as they ran for cover. I need to get this pony away from town, Soren thought. "C'mon, everyone, we can take her," Twilight said. It was too late. She heard a crack in the air and looked to where Soren was; he was gone. She looked towards the attacker; also gone. Luna landed on the ground with a thud. Twilight and her friends ran up to Luna but the princess put a hoof in the air to silence them. "We need to track Soren, now!" she proclaimed with urgency. ------------ Soren and the attacker fell with a thud far from each other. Soren teleported them to a random field in the outskirts of Ponyville. The alicorn and the assailant got up, looked at each other, and readied themselves. "Why were you after Luna?" Soren shouted. To answer its opponent, the attacker used magic to remove the piece of clocloth covering its mouth. The first thing Soren saw was a smile full of sharp teeth. The attacker chuckled and stepped forward a few steps. "I need her," said a feminine voice. "I need the princess so I can resurrect Nightmare Moon." Soren faltered a little at this info. Nightmare Moon? But I thought she was gone for good. The mare became more serious as she continued. "You're a pain in my side as of now, so I hope you can put up a fight." Within the second, an explosion hit Soren and lit up the night. The blast sent him stumbling back. Explosive magic? This isn't good... ---------------- "Luna, which way to Soren?" Rainbow Dash asked the princess. Dash, Luna, and the rest of her friends were tracking Soren using magic. Luna was on the trail, but strong magic in the distance interfered with the trace, so she lost it. Luna still had a faint trace of Soren's magic, so she decided to lead the mares in that general direction. Within a few minutes, they eventually found Soren. He was fighting with the assailant in an open field...and it looked like he was losing. Soren had marks and scratches all over his body, and they realized what caused such damage as another explosion blast hit him. "Soren!" Luna shouted. Soren's ears perked at the sound but he couldn't lose concentration or he just might die. The mysterious mare quickly looked at the princess then back to Soren. "Well, well, well, it looks like when I'm through with you, I'll be able to grab the princess again." Soren sent another magic bolt her way but she easily dodged it. The mare was barely damaged from the fight. Soren had been sending a few spells her way, but she dodged most of them. Those that did hit weren't very strong since he hasn't been studying offensive spells for very long. It was looking very grim for Soren, but then an idea popped into his head. "Look at you hiding behind all your spells," Soren mocked the mare. "You may have strong spells but I bet you're weak when it comes to hoof-to-hoof combat." Just need her to be overconfident, he thought. The spells stopped. The mare looked at him questioningly. "Do you honestly want to die in a slower fashion?" Soren's determined expression answered her question. "Very well...but first..." The mare's horn glowed very bright, and she cast a spell that surrounded the area around her and Soren with a magical dome. "Just so your friends don't interfere," she explained. And just like that, Soren and the mare were fighting with hooves only. Soren dodged her first sneak attack. He was able to put up much more of a fight this time, and the mare could see that. This sneaky alicorn thinks he tricked me, she chuckled to herself. But I can still win. Hooves were flying everywhere. The two fighters were barely getting hit in their little dance. It was a strangely wonderful sight to see. All of that soon ended, though, when both fighters landed a great blow to the other's face. The fighters stumbled away from each other; they both looked like they were going to fall. The mare fixed herself, but Soren collapsed. The mare chuckled darkly and slowly walked over to him. "Soren!" the mares shouted. All of them were shouting at Soren, but Princess Luna, having the Royal Canterlot Voice, was the loudest. "GET UP! GET UP! YOU HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING!" It was no use. Soren was still on the ground, refusing to stand up. He was still conscious, but he was too weak to do anything. Soren didn't know if it was the next sentence that triggered the next event or if it something else, but it helped him nonetheless. Luna shouted, "Fight for us...fight for me!" Just then, Soren slowly got up as the attacking mare was halfway to him. He could feel something—something powerful—flowing through him. Soren's eyes started turning pure white with magic, and when the mare saw this, she glanced angrily at his friends. During her quick glance, she was too busy to see the explosion bolt soar at her head. The mare yelped and was sent back a couple of feet, but regained herself. When she looked back, she saw Soren sending bolt after bolt of explosive magic at her, while he was calmly advancing. Within the next minute, the mare was being struck by as many bolts that she hit Soren with. Over time, pieces of the mare's costume faded way with every explosive hit. Eventually, her costume went away all together to reveal what she truly looked like. Soren stopped and stared, shocked beyond belief. The unicorn mare had pitch black fur, her mane was hidden behind a helmet, her eyes were serpent-like, and she had wings! Nightmare Moon... Soren thought. Luna saw the Guardian appear and shouted at Soren. "She's not Nightmare Moon, Soren! She's the Nightmare Guardian!" Noticing that the spells stopped, the Nightmare Guardian took this opportunity to leave, but not before she said some last words. Her spell was already occuring as she spoke. "Listen to me, you fools. I'll return. I'll return to capture Luna and use her to resurrect Nightmare Moon once again. And if any of you get in my way, you'll die by my hooves." With that said, she teleported away, and then, seconds later, a random burst of air blasted away any magical residue left behind. "Now we can't track her," was all Soren heard before collapsing into unconsciousness. His friends rushed over to help him, but Luna just stood where she was, shocked. The Nightmare Guardian has awoken...