//------------------------------// // Eternal Night: Here Comes The Sun // Story: Stuck In Equestria // by VaporingRat //------------------------------// I awoke to the feeling that my body was exploding from pain, followed by the sensation that my body was being crushed by something. I kept my eyes closed, squeezing them shut due to the pain, but tears still managed to leak out and slide down my cheeks. I tried to move my arms, to push what was crushing me off, but my arms failed to respond. In fact, I couldn’t feel them at all. Same with my legs. My mind started to panic as thoughts of me having my spine broken, being paralyzed forever, started to flood my head, accompanied by vivid images of me in a wheelchair, not being able to play video games, being fed by someone else, having someone w- “Declan!” My eyes snapped open at the sound of the familiar voice calling out, as hope started to fill my heart. “HELP!” I cried out, hoping that the voice would come and help me. And then Twilight Sparkle filled my vision, her face full of worry. Her horn then powered up and the crushing feeling from whatever was crushing me disappeared, and I could feel myself breathe easily, which made me worry that I didn’t notice my erratic breathing before. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked me, levitating me upright and back on my feet, and I couldn’t help but let out a huge sigh of relief as my feet touched the ground and I regained the feeling in my legs, and a wiggle of my fingers confirmed the same for my arms. “Yeah, I guess so,” I say slowly, looking around. Further back, I could see five familiar ponies looking at me with worry, as well as the DeLorean, which was lying upside down on the ground not too far away. “What’s going on? Why are you all here?” “We’re here to stop Nightmare Moon using the Elephants of Armoury!” Rainbow Dash said triumphantly, flying up to us and emanating a sense of pride and an oversized ego. “The Elements of Harmony!” Twilight corrected sharply. “But nevermind that, what happened here?” “Well, Nightmare Moon showed up and took something from the DeLorean, then she threw it at me... I think. I’m honestly surprised that I’m not dead,” I say, shrugging. “DeLorean...?” Twilight asked quizzically, giving me a confused look. “Oh, it’s that old thing,” I say, pointing to the DeLorean nonchalantly. “Now, what’s this about some elements?” “Ah, yes! The Elements of Harmony are what I’m going to use to stop Nightmare Moon, and are located inside the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters,” Twilight explained, pulling out a book from nowhere and opening it on a page dedicated to the subject. “Waitaminute, are you saying that you’re going in there to stop that evil horse thing by yourself?” I ask sharply. Twilight seemed to fidget as I locked her in a stern gaze, before nodding. “Now hold on a cotton pickin’ minute there, do you even know where this castle is?” “Yes I do, it’s supposed to be in the Everfree Forest,” Twilight explained, pointing to the forest beside us with a hoof. “B-but that’s the Everfree Forest! There’s all sorts of monsters in there and it’s never safe to wander around in the forest during the night...” Fluttershy said meekly, looking terrified that Twilight would even suggest going into the forest. “Well Ah ain’t lettin’ any friend of mine go into that creepy forest alone,” Applejack said, stepping forward to stand next to Twilight, followed by Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and a reluctant Fluttershy. “We’re stickin’ to you like caramel on a candy apple!” “*Sigh*... well if everyone’s going then I might as well go too. That stupid thing stole something from the DeLorean, and I want it back!” I said defiantly, moving over to stand next to the ponies. “Yeah, let’s do this!” Rainbow said, taking the lead into the forest, followed by Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight, with me taking up the rear. We were only two feet into the dark, sinister and lethal forest when a long, drawn out howl echoed throughout the dense foliage, piercing our ears. “... Perhaps we should wait til the sun is up...?” I suggest cautiously to the others, freezing in my tracks. The ponies turned round to face me, all with deadpan expressions. “Or now. Now is good...” I mutter, following them as they walked deeper into the forest. MEANWHILE... “Blast! That should’ve killed him!” Nightmare Moon cursed as she watched that stupid creature Declan shrug off being rammed with his metal wagon so easily from atop of the trees. “And now these pesky ponies are going to get in the way.” She sighed, and turned into mist, before darting off into the forest, calculating the route they were taking. “So... they’re headed straight for the Everfree Castle, which would mean that they’re after the Elements of Harmony!” Then she peered down into the darkness of the forest, and spotted several interesting features of the path. “But, they may never get there if they have a little accident now, heh heh heh...” She chuckled, darting down into the forest. “How far away is this castle?” Fluttershy asked timidly, looking around nervously at their surroundings. "Only a few miles. We should be there for midday," Twilight explained, then realized her mistake. “If there is a midday in eternal darkness...” “Has it ever occurred to anyone that the sun may just be late in rising today?” I suggest. The ponies all turn round to look at me. “... What?” “Princess Celestia ALWAYS raises the sun on time. It’s obvious that Nightmare Moon has done something to her, and it’s our duty as citizens of Equestria to save her,” Twilight said proudly and valiantly, which made me roll my eyes. It’s obvious that this ‘Princess Celestia’ has tricked them all into believing that she controls the sun, like something the Goa’uld would do from Stargate SG-1. I knew there was a catch to this place. “Right, well...” I say, looking around awkwardly. Best not to bring up that subject again until I have more intel. After a few minutes of walking in a fear-induced silence, I decide to break it. “So...” “You guys have never been in here before...?” Twilight asked cautiously, catching on pretty fast to my intentions. “Oh heavens no!” Rarity exclaimed. “Just look at it, it’s dreadful!” “And it ain’t natural,” Applejack added, giving the trees on her left a wary glance. “Folks say it don’t work the same as Equestria.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask curiously. A forest is a forest, unless you nuke it, then it’s understandable. “Nopony knows...” Rainbow Dash said ominously, hoving in the air and appearing out from the shadows of the trees to fall in line behind me. “You know why?” “Rainbow, quit it!” Applejack scolded Rainbow, noticing that the flying pony was making Fluttershy more nervous, but the rainbow Pegasus continued anyway. “‘Cause everypony who’s ever gone in... has never come...” suddenly, she was in front of me, her face on the same level as mine and staring into my soul with a spooky expression. “OUT!” Just as she shouted the last word to her frightful and short tale, the ground beneath us crumbled and fell away, sending me along with all of the non-Pegasi ponies of our group tumbling down a steep decline that ran off a cliff. Naturally, we all screamed. Rainbow and Fluttershy, who instinctively went airborne when the ground said goodbye, dived down after us, with Rainbow grabbing Pinkie by the waist and Fluttershy saving Rarity by chomping on her tail. Applejack also chomped her way to safety in the form of an exposed tree root, which left me and Twilight to tumble down to the cliff edge. Twilight managed to skid to a halt, with the upper half of her torso pressed flat against the the steep slope, leaving her hind legs to dangle on the side of the cliff. I slid down beside her but instead of stopping, I went straight over the edge. Panicking, my hands went wide to grab something to stop me falling, and by sheer luck, they found something. That something turned out to be Twilight’s tail, whose owner grunted in pain as my left hand grabbed and pulled on it sharply. To assist my left hand, my right came swinging up to join it in grabbing Twilight’s tail for dear life. “Sorry!” I called up to the lavender Unicorn, trying hard not to let go. “Hang on Twi, Ah’m comin’!” Applejack shouted from somewhere above me on the slope, at the same time, my grip on Twilight’s tail was waning. My hands started to slowly slide down, bringing me closer to my doom. “Twilight... I can’t hold on...!” I grunted with effort, as I continued to lose my grip on Twi’s tail. “D-don’t let go!” Twilight grunted in response, both from the pain from her tail and the effort of keeping her self hanging on the edge. “Hurry Applejack... we can’t hold on!” “It’s no good... I’m sorry Twilight...” I say sadly, as my right hand slips off the tip of her tail, followed quickly by my other hand. Twilight cried out as I plummeted down to the ground... MEANWHILE... “Yes! Fall to your doom!” Nightmare Moon said excitedly, watching that biped’s fall to the ground. But then... MEANWHILE MEANWHILE... “Applejack, what do I do?!” Twilight asked, tears streaking down her face at the loss of a friend. “... You let go.” “Are you crazy?!” “No Ah ain’t, Ah promise you’ll be safe,” Applejack said, calm and honest, all while looking into Twilight’s fearful eyes. “That’s not true! If it was the case, then Declan would still...” her voice trailed off, unable to finish the sentence out of greif. “Now listen here,” Applejack said slightly sternly, “what Ah’m sayin’ is the honest truth. Let go, and you’ll be safe.” Twilight stared into Applejack’s eyes, and was met with nothing but a truthful gaze. Her instincts kicked in, telling her to let go and everything will be fine. With a sigh, Twilight released what little purchase on the cliff edge and allowed herself to fall down to her demise... … and to be swept out of it by two, long arms with hands that gripped her stomach tightly., stopping her from falling. “Nice of you to drop in,” Declan told Twilight, a warm smile on his face. -------- “NO! How did he survive?!” Nightmare cursed, stomping a hoof on the ground, before disappearing into her mist form and zoomed off deeper into the forest. -------- “Declan! You’re alive! But how...?” Twilight began, happiness and confusion etched all over her face. “The magic of clichés, dear Twilight. My coat has snagged itself on a tree root conveniently sticking out of the cliff face,” I explained to her in my best Holmes accent. “But that’s impossible! Our combined weight should be enough to either rip your coat and send us falling!” Twilight said, unaware that she had just jinxed it. And with that, my coat was ‘conveniently’ ripped apart by the root, sending us falling to the ground. And into the hooves of two airborne Pegasi. "Phew," Twilight sighed as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy safely placed us on the ground. "And that's why you should never question the physics of chichés," I tell Twilight, relieved to be on solid ground again. "Good heavens Declan, your coat...!" Rarity began, before promptly fainting onto Pinkie's back. Curious, I pull my coat off. Or rather, both parts. My precious coat was torn in two, straight down the middle of the back. It was like it now had a zip for the back as well, but the clothes maker forgot to put the zip on. I held both sides in my hands, looking down sadly at the remains of my beloved coat. “WWWWHHHHYYYYYYY???!!!???” I yell to the night sky, bringing my head back to direct the yell upwards. We had continued walking. Rainbow was continuously boasting about how she and Fluttershy saved all of us. All of us except my dear, beloved coat. I tuned out the conversation, walking along with Rarity, as we both sniffed sadly at the loss of such a fine piece of clothing. “Maybe I could stitch it back together...?” Rarity suggested, but I shook my head. “No, it’s time for this one to go. Besides, it’s lived a good long life, the least we can do is give it a proper farewell,” I say, continuing to look down sadly. “MANTICORE!” The shout startled both me and Rarity and we both looked up to see the ponies running past us in the opposite direction, followed by... a lion? It had the head and body of a lion, the ears and wings of a bat, and a scorpion’s tail. It was also very pissed off. The beast swiped at us with a paw. Rarity ducked just in time, but I wasn’t as lucky. It slammed into my side with tremendous force, sending me flying sideways into the treeline and into a patch of thorns. “Declan, are you okay?!” Twilight called out to me, worried for my well being yet again. “HOME RUN!”I called out rather loudly and deliriously. “Why you-! Take this, you ruffian!” Rarity huffed in anger as she pivoted on her front hooves and bucked the manticore right on the snout in a counter-attack, making it recoil.. The manticore roared right in the fashionista Unicorn’s face in a counter-counter-attack, causing her to wrinkle her nose at the smell and her hair to go messy from the force of the wind. “My hair!” Rarity cried out, noticing her styled mane was now a frazzled mess, and promptly running away to try and curl it back into shape. “Wait!” Fluttershy tried to shout, but it came out quieter than intended. “Yee haw!” Applejack shouted valiantly, leaping onto the manticore’s back and starting to ride it like a bull. “Get along, little doggie!” But the manticore was having none of it. It tried to buck the orange cowpony off, and succeeding, sending Applejack soaring through the air and past Rainbow Dash. “All yours, partner!” Applejack called to the hovering Pegasus as she flew by, to which Rainbow Dash saluted in acknowledgement and flew off to face the manticore. Meanwhile, I was still lying dazed in the thorn bush, looking confused, murmuring the odd line of gibberish. Back with the action, Rainbow had tried doing a tornado spin on the mismatched beast, but a quick flick of the manticore’s scorpion tail sent her careening into a tree. Twilight’s shout of concern for the multi-color maned pony startled me slightly, snapping me out of my daze and bringing me back to reality. Looking over to where the intense fighting scene was taking place, I saw five of the six pony group line up and prepare to charge, while the manticore did the same. But a sudden shout from an unexpected source made everyone stop instantly. “WWWAAAAAIIITTT!” Fluttershy yelled to the five ponies plus manticore as she dived in the way of the two fighting sides. Coughing and blushing slightly when she noticed that everyone was watching her, she turned and slowly made her way to the manticore, who raised it’s paw in the air in preparation to strike. “Shhh, it’ okay,” she said soothingly to the great beast. She came closer and sniffed at the paw that was still on the ground. The manticore slowly and cautiously lowered it’s other paw and opened the one on the ground to reveal a nasty looking dark purple thorn. “Oh you poor, poor little baby,” the butter yellow Pegasus cooed at the sight of the thorn. “Little?!” Rainbow whispered in disbelief to Applejack. “Now, this might hurt for just a second...” Fluttershy warned as she carefully bit down on the thorn, before pulling it out sharply with a jerk of her head. The mighty beast roared ferociously in her face, making everyone to scream out in alarm, before they saw the manticore start to lick her mane affectionately, purring like an oversized tabby cat. After everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Twilight rescued me from the thorny patch by lifting me out with her magic, and settled me on the ground. I was generally unscathed, apart from a few bruises and deep cuts across my body, but the real injury was that my trousers and t-shirt had been shredded rather severely. They were still wearable for now, but they were unrepairable. I cried over the loss of my Star Trek t-shirt, before Rarity and Applejack comforted me and ushered me on. “How did you know about the thorn?” Twilight asked Fluttershy, who both were walking behind me in the rear. “I didn’t. Sometimes we just have to show a little kindness,” Fluttershy explained with a kind smile. “Gee, it sure is dark. Let me turn on my light on my Ipho- oh wait, I can’t, because SOME MORON used up all the battery life on it so it’s nothing more than a paperweight now!” I hiss to myself angrily, as we entered a part of the forest that seemed to get darker the further we walked. “Battery life...?” Twilight asked me curiously as she walked beside me. “Uhh, I’ll explain later,” I say, shrugging off the question. The Unicorn gave me a suspicious glance, before focusing on the path ahead. “Ugh, my eyes need a break from all this muck,” Rarity groaned as her hoof found another muddy patch. This part of the forest also seemed to be some kind of marsh or swamp land. “Well, I didn’t mean that literally,” she sighed as the forest went from semi darkness to pitch black at a heartbeat. “Uhh, guys, I think I felt something slither past my leg...” I say cautiously, as something did indeed slither past my right leg. Twilight felt it too, as she let out a high pitched squeal and leaped right onto my shoulders. “Don’t let it touch me!” She squealed in fear, looking down fearfully at the ground. I simply rolled my eyes and leaned backwards, making her fall off, while saying "what am I, a snake charmer? Geez..." “Hang on, Ah stepped in somethin’...” Applejack muttered trying to see what she had stepped it through the darkness. Then Fluttershy let out a high pitched scream of terror. “It’s okay, it’s just mud,” Applejack explained, mistaking Fluttershy’s scream to be directed at her. But when she looked up, she let loose a scream of her own. All the other ponies all screamed as the darkness evaporated, revealing trees which had almost lifelike faces on their trunks, with mouths and jagged teeth, and their eyes were made out of knotted parts of their bark. The ponies all continued to scream in fear at the sight of the weird faces on the trees. My reaction to this turn of events. “... Really? They’re just trees,” I sigh, feeling embarrassed. “W-w-with scary faces!” Fluttershy whimpered in fright from behind her pink mane. I glance from the ponies, to the trees, to the ponies, and then the trees. “Rrriiiggghhhttt... you guys don’t get out much, and that’s coming from me,” I sigh again, before turning to face a tree. “I don’t see what the fuss is about, it’s just a dumb old tree.” I kick it to prove my point, and nothing bad whatsoever happened. “See? Just a stupid old tree.” I turn back to the ponies, who all looked on in fear at me. “What?” Then the tree smacked me upside the head, sending me sprawling to the muddy ground. “Killer trees!” Rainbow shouted in panic, trying to fly off but the trees moved their branches to block off the sky and the path, trapping us in a dome of wood. “It’s got me!” I squealed as a branch snagged my leg and hoisted me up high above the ground, right above the mouth of a tree, which was leaning backwards in preparation to devour me whole. Unfortunately, gravity took hold and my hat fell off down into the gnarled tree’s gaping maw. “Hattie, NOOOOOOO!” I cried out with grief, reaching a hand out to my lost headgear. Then sweet innocent laughter filled out ears, making the trees, who had captured all but one of the ponies, halt in the process of devouring their first meal as carnivores. “Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run!” Twilight yelled to the pink pony, but she ignored Twilight and continued to bounce around. “Oh girls, don’t you see? “When I was a little filly and the sun was going down” “Tell me she’s not...” I begin. “The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown” “She is,” Rarity replied with a sigh. “I’d hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw But Granny Pie said that wasn’t the way to deal with fears at all” “Could ya hurry this up? I’m gonna be mulch in a second!” I yell over the singing. “She said ‘Pinke, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears You’ll see that they can’t hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear’” And then Pinkie bounced up to a tree and laughed at it, causing the gnarled face to vanish with a pop. The other trees looked on in fear. “Sooo, giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the creepy” Soon, the ponies were free and began laughing at the trees, making their faces disappear. “Crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy Chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone And if he thinks he can scare you then he’s got another think coming-” At this point, the tree that still had me by the ankle simply shrugged and gave me a look that said “if I’m going down then you’re coming with me, shithead.” And promptly released me to let me fall into it’s open wide jaws. “FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!” “-And the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna...” Pinkie was unable to finish the song just then as she burst out into a fit of giggles, right next to the tree about to eat me making it’s face disappeared with a pop. THUNK! A split second later, my head made contact with solid wood, making me tumble off of the tree trunk and onto the muddy ground. I vaguely remember Pinkie finishing the song, but I was too busy trying to focus on the Stargates that swam within my vision. “Declan, are you okay?” Twilight asked me as she came up close to see if I was alright. “FINLAND.” Was the delirious response. "Y'know, I'm surprised that I haven't suffered any serious brain damage from hitting that tree head on," I tell Twilight as we take up the rear of the group, with Pinkie leading us. "And I'm surprised that Nightmare Moon hasn't swooped down and attack us yet," Twilight tells me as we continue walking. I slowed slightly when I heard a sort of wailing sound, barely audible, coming from the trees around us “Did anyone hear that?” I ask, straining my ears as I listened out for the sound I had heard. “Hear what, sugarcube?” Applejack asked me, looking confused. “I dunno, it sounded like a shout...” I trail off, as the source of the sound remained quiet. “I heard it too,” Fluttershy added, albeit quietly. “It came from over here!” Pinkie called to us, and started bouncing in the general direction of where the sound had come from. We quickly followed, and after a few minutes of traversing the dense forest terrain, we stumbled upon a raging river. And by stumbled, I mean we almost fell in. “Great, now how are we supposed to cross this?” Twilight sighed in exasperation at the sight of the rapids. “Maybe we could ask him...?” Fluttershy suggested, pointing a hoof gently to a long purple creature. It appeared to be reptilian, with scales across all of it’s body. It also had two arms, which were covering it’s head, but the two most disturbing things about it were that it had bright orange hair on it’s head, and that it was crying loudly. “Uhh... Twilight, remember what I said about brain damage?” “Yeah...?” “I’ve changed my mind.” Sighing, I sit down and lean against a tree. “Geez, I need a rest. All this walking is making me hungry.” Twilight sighed as well, and decided to take the initiative by walking up to the crying snake-lizard thing. “Excuse me sir, why are you crying?” Twilight asked the great beast, which paused in it’s wailing to turn and look at her. “Well, I don’t know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off!” the creature exclaimed, turning his head to show us the side of his face without an orange tuft growing from the side, but with a rather sore looking welt in it’s place. “and now, I look simply horrid!” It wailed, flopping in the water as it cried once more, soaking all six ponies and me with water. “That’s what the fuss is all about...?” Applejack said in disbelief, shaking droplets of water from her stetson. “You’ve gotta be kidding me...” Rainbow groaned, also shaking off water droplets, but from her wings. “Why of course it is! How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him,” Rarity cooed as she shouldered her way past Applejack towards the serpent,while Twilight casted her flame-dry spell on our group. “Such lovely luminescent scales,” she complimented the serpent, nodding to his scales. “I know!” The serpent sniffed bashfully. “And your expertly coiffed mane.” Nod to the orange hair on the serpent’s scalp. “Oh, I know, I know!” The serpent blushed slightly, running a clawed appendage around his styled hair. “Your fabulous manicure.” “It’s so true!” The serpent gushed, admiring the claws at the edge of his hands. “All ruined without your beautiful mustache.” “It’s true, I’m hideous!” The serpent wailed, flopping to the ground again and started to cry once more. Geez, remind me to never receive consoling advice from Rarity. “I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!” The white Unicorn stated, walking right up to the serpent, and grabbing one of his scales with her teeth, before swiftly yanking it out. “Ow! What did you do that for?” The serpent asked, slightly confused and a little irked, rubbing the spot where Rarity had ripped a scale out. Meanwhile, Rarity had managed to get a better grip on the scale, and with a swift jerk of her head, brought the sharp edge of the scale down upon herself. Everyone gasped, the serpent swooned, and I winced, as we all witnessed Rarity slash her own tail off. Holding her former tail in the air, she lifted it up to the serpent’s face and with a flash, it had attached itself to the spot where it’s mustache was before. “My mustache! How wonderful!” The serpent cried out in joy, admiring the new addition to his ‘beautiful complextion’. “You look smashing,” Rarity complemented, dropping the scale and smiling up at the serpent. “Oh Rarity, your beautiful tail!” Twilight said with concern at the loss of the fashionista’s styled tail. “Oh... it’s fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season, and besides, it’ll grow back,” Rarity said with a smile that ever so slightly betrayed the sadness of losing her tail, gazing at the spot at her rear where it was before, which is now a stump of purple hair. “So would the mustache...” Rainbow whispered to Twilight. “On the plus side, we can cross now,” I say, getting up and walking to the river, which was as calm as a sleeping baby and as smooth as a piece of glass. I stepped down into the cool water, that flowed halfway above my ankle. The others started to follow, but the sea serpent offered them a drier way by hopping across his back. We all made it to the other side, and after a brief cast of the drying spell on my legs and a five minute walk, we finally reached the edge of the expanse of trees to an expanse of misty fog in front of us.. “There it is! There’s the castle!” Twilight cried out, pointing with her hoof to the ruins of a large castle that loomed out of the mist and fog not too far away. She instantly started to run in the direction of the castle, and the rest of us had trouble trying to match her pace. “Slow down Twilight, wait for us!” Applejack tried to call to Twilight, but she didn’t listen. As we ran closer, the fog parted to reveal the edge of a cliff right in front of us! Luckily, we all stopped in time. Unluckily though, Twilight didn’t. She tried to stop, but went straight over the edge. Thankfully, Rainbow zoomed on past, and grabbed Twilight’s tail in her mouth before it was too late, and managed to drag her back onto solid ground. “Geez, what is it with you and cliffs today?” Rainbow commented when she had let go of Twilight’s tail. “So how do we get across?” Twilight asked, looking along the edge of the cliff for a way to cross. “We can use this bridge!” Pinkie answered, standing next to an old rickety rope bridge. “I don’t think that bridge is safe to cross,” Fluttershy said with concern. Indeed, the bridge was very old. The ropes were starting to split, and the wood was gnarled and rotten with age. We all looked to the other side, which was shrouded in more mist. “It’s the only way across,” I say, after a glance either side showed no other way over. “Look, I’ll go over first, to see if it’s safe enough,” I say reassuringly to the others. “Oh do be careful darling!” Rarity cautioned, as I started my crossing of the bridge. “Don’t worry, it’s as safe as a house,” I say, continuing to carefully step across the aged planks, holding the ropes for support. But about a quarter of the way across, a plank snapped under the weight of my foot and I suddenly felt my left leg floating in the air. “Shit...” I mutter, pulling my leg out. “Well, it could’ve been worse.” A loud snapping noise echoed throughout the fog, startling everyone, accompanied a split second later when the entire bridge tilted sharply to the right. I grasped the rope rope on the left firmly with both hands, trying to maintain my footing on the planks. Thankfully, I wasn’t too far away from the start of the bridge. “Declan!” Twilight called to me worriedly. “I’m okay, it’s okay. Just need to edge back to you lot..." I say quietly, panic rising as my heart beated faster. "It definitely could've been worse," I sigh as I slowly shuffle back towards the ponies, who were watching on with concern. Another loud snapping noise echoed throughout the foggy expanse, which was also followed a second later by the bridge falling. I clung to it desperately as it swung down, smacking off the side of the wall of the ravine, and causing me to lose my grip on the rope. I fell down the fallen bridge for a few seconds before instinct kicked in once again and I reached out with a hand, managing to snag one of the planks of wood within my grasp and saving my life. Looking up, I noticed that the top of the cliff was obscured by the fog, and a glance below showed that the chasm was so deep, that the bottom was also obscured by the fog. “Hey! A little help please!” I call up, but I received no response. Sighing and looking around worriedly, I decided that hanging around isn’t the best option. And with only the two options of letting go or climbing back up, I went for the latter. Swinging my free hand up, I managed to grab the same plank that was saving my life, before I arched my back and brought my feet up higher and onto another plank. Then, treating the now vertical bridge as a ladder, I began my tedious and cautious ascent. I had gone about a dozen planks up when a blue blur shot past me, making the bridge sway due to air turbulence and making me hold on for dear life once more. Sighing and having a fair idea who had shot past me at speeds rivaling that sandwich someone dropped off of the Empire State Building that one time way back, I was about to continue my climb of survival when the entire bridge jerked suddenly. Then my stomach lurched at the change of gravity when the bridge started to bend and rise very fast, before it snapped horizontally straight and almost throwing me off. My brain managed to catch up with what had happened, when I realised that I was lying flat on my stomach. Somehow, the bridge had been lifted up and made horizontal again. I sighed in relief, content to simply lie on the bridge for now. “Declan, are you alright?” A voice asked me from above, followed by a tingling sensation across my body as I was lifted and tilted 90 degrees until I was standing again, and able to see that Twilight was in front of me. “Yep, I’m fine...” I sigh, looking around. “Who fixed the bridge?” “I did!” Rainbow said from beside me hovering in the air and making me jump. “I’d never leave my friends hanging!” “Funny,” I said, not amused by the pun. “So are we gonna stand around here all day or are we gonna go grab those element-thingies and kick some evil moon butt?” Rainbow asked us impatiently, glancing down the bridge to where the castle was. “Oh, of course! We’re so close now!” Twilight said excitedly, and ushered me along the bridge, until we had all reached the other side. Me, Twilight and the other ponies were now standing in front of and looking at the ruined and clearly ancient castle, whose stone walls were crumbling with decay and age and were covered in moss and other plant life that eroded the stone structure. “Well come on Twilight, isn’t this what you’ve been waitin’ for?” Applejack asked, nudging Twilight in her side to grab her attention. She nodded, and started to walk, leading us into the castle. We followed Twilight for a few minutes, through a courtyard that was littered with debris and rubble from the castle, as well as a few stone statues of the three different types of ponies, as well as creatures that I have never seen before, that had sadly crumbled and fallen apart with age. Ahead of us was the remains of a large hall, with most of it’s ceiling gone and half of it’s walls lying in pieces. In the centre, was a surprisingly intact and untouched stone pedestal, with five stone arms reaching out and five orbs on circular platforms on each end. “The Elements of Harmony... we found them!” Twilight cried out excitedly, staring in excited awe at the stone orbs. She quickly told Rainbow and Fluttershy to bring the orbs over while she consulted her book that she had miraculously managed to keep safe throughout the whole journey. “Hang on, there’s only five of the doohickeys,” I point out, when Rainbow carried the final one over. “Aren’t there supposed to be six of them?” “There are, but the book says that when five of them are present, a spark will cause the sixth one to appear,” Twilight explained, reading from her book, before putting it to one side and lowering her horn to the orbs. “I’m going to try and induce a magical spark to hopefully ignite them.” “Shouldn’t we wait until Nightmare Moon’s here so we can use them on her in case it’s one of those one time use only deals?” I suggest, as Twilight’s horn started to glow purple with her fancy powers and tried to use them on the orbs. “He has a point you know. You wouldn’t want to waste your only chance of stopping me now, would you?” Nightmare Moon said quizzically from beside me, tilting her head in curiosity at Twilight. “See? Even Nightmare Moon agrees with me!” I say, waving in Nightmare’s general direction to help prove my point, before the penny dropped. “Waitaminute...” I turn slowly to face Nightmare, who was looking at me with a toothy smile, showing off her fanged dentures. “AHHHHHH! SPARK THEM NOW!” I scream, backing away from her quickly out of fear. Twilight concentrated harder on the orbs, trying to make them do something. Meanwhile, Nightmare swirled herself into her purple mist form and quickly wrapped round me in a tornado, before darting quickly to the Elements, swallowing them and Twilight before disappearing in a white flash, leaving Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie confused and taken aback at the sudden course of events. “Ugh... my head hurts... like I’ve drunk a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster...” I groan frm the floor, which was very comfortable right now. Twilight was nearby, slowly picking herself off of the cracked stone floor, and I followed suit. Looking around, I noticed that our location had changed. We were in a room that still had a ceiling, with intact walls line with windows that still had some shards of glass within their panes. At the far side of the room ahead of us, Nightmare Moon stood on a raised platform, with the five stone orbs surrounding her at her hooves. “Now what do we do?” I ask Twilight. “I don’t know...” she replied, looking ahead with worry. “Well now, I’m guessing that you’re wondering why you two are here, hmm?” She asked us, to which we both nodded. Nightmare smiled at our response. “You see, Equestrian lore has painted me as a monster. An evil pony who wants nothing more than the destruction of Equestria via bringing around Eternal Night, and has such degraded over time to become a foal’s bedtime story, and eventually forgotten.” She started to pace around the Elements, giving us the occasional glance out of the corner of her eye. “I am not a monster. Your precious princess has had me written down as a great evil, and I bet you don’t even know why...” “Is it because that the victors of a battle are the ones who dictate how history shall remember what they did?” I suggest, making Nightmare to look at me with mild surprise. “Why Declan, you’re smarter than you look,” She said, her smile returning as she continued pacing. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” “You should. Dear Princess Celestia has slandered my name, made the world fear me. I am not a bad pony, I just want what is best for Equestria-” “Liar!” Twilight called out in mild anger, snorting and glaring at the pitch black pony. “Twilight, don’t insult the powerful goddess with the weapons of mass destruction!” I hiss at her, but she ignores me. “Princess Celestia would never lie! You were an evil pony a thousand years ago for trying to force Equestria into Eternal Night, and you are an evil pony now!” She said aggressively and accusingly at Nightmare Moon, scraping a hoof at the ground in preparation for a charge. “And I’ll stop you from doing it again!” Then she charged at Nightmare, full speed ahead. Nightmare raised an eyebrow and looked on with a deadpan expression that said “you’re kidding, right?” But when it became clear that Twilight meant it, Nightmare snorted and began her own charge, lowering her horn in preparation to strike. I cringed, as were seconds from ramming each other. But at the last second, Twilight disappeared in a white flash, and appeared in a similar flash next to the Elements, leaving a dumbfounded Nightmare Moon to stumble to a halt. “C’mon, just one small spark...” Twilight muttered desperately, trying make the orbs react, but failing. Nightmare turned and snorted in frustration, before using her dark blue aura to grab Twilight by her horn and launched her four feet into the air, while also bringing the Elements up to form a circle around her. I watched with horror as Nightmare’s coat bristled, her mane and tail darkened alarmingly and her blue aura turned pitch black. “Stupid foal, didst thou honestly think that would work? That thou could stop Us with thine precious Elements?” Nightmare’s black aura surrounding the Elements began suddenly collapsed inward, crushing the five stones. Twilight watched helplessly as Nightmare let the powdery remains fall to the floor. “We have a power even greater than the Elements! And with this power, We shall bring Equestria into the age of darkness from the solar tyrant!” The dark aura holding the petrified Twilight by the horn slowly slid downwards until it had wrapped itself around her neck, before squeezing it. Twilight gasped, her eyes bulging as she tried desperately to breathe. “Pathetic. Thou mortals and thine filthy needs for air and sustenance. Thou makes us sick.” The grip around the lavender Unicorn’s neck constricted even further, making Twilight’s eyes start to roll and her coat around her face to turn blue. “Stop it.” “Hmm? Hast thou found the courage to durst me?” Nightmare taunted me, not even bothering to turn and face me. “I said stop it!” Nightmare turned and opened her mouth to taunt me again but instead she had found that I was now standing right next to her. With all the strength I could muster and more, I swung my fist in an uppercut movement, right into the bottom of her lower jaw, which was still hanging open, and slammed it shut, forcing her head backwards. She lost her hold on Twilight’s neck and let the Unicorn fall to the ground, as she recovered and turned to face me. She powered up her horn to retaliate, but I launched myself at her, scoring another punch to the side of her head, then grabbing her horn before bringing a knee up and smashing it against her chin. Nightmare retaliated by igniting her horn with black flames that ensnared my hand, which made me lose my grip and stare in pain and fear at my blackened hand. The pain was unbearable, like someone had chopped off said appendage, but I didn’t have time to focus as something pierced my stomach and drove through straight to the other side. I looked down, and gasped in total horror. Nightmare Moon had stabbed me with her horn, clean through my torso. I looked away, unable to believe what had happened. My gaze fell over to Twilight, who was trying to regain her breath, not noticing my predicament. Slowly, Nightmare withdrew her horn from within me. I watched as the the entire horn was pulled out, covered in a crimson red liquid. She raised her head to it’s proper level, the blood dripping onto her coat, and I stared into her eyes. They weren’t the eyes of Nightmare Moon who had thrown the DeLorean at me, nor the Nightmare Moon who had tried to kill Twilight, but instead, they were normal blue pupils, with normal circular irises. Using her aura, which was now a midnight blue, she lifted me over to the side of the room and leaned me against the wall in a sitting position. I stared at her dumbly, my mouth hanging open as she lowered her blood soaked horn and touched my head. A bright flash of light filled my vision, making me close them. When the flash had receded, I opened them to find myself looking across a grey, dusty landscape, with stars and a familiar looking blue and green orb in the sky above me. “I’m sorry.” I turned to look at the source of the voice, and found a blue pony looking at me sadly, with wings and a horn, light blue mane and tail that hung limply around her, and a black splotch of fur at her flank, with the crescent moon within the centre, like the tattoos the other ponies had. I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. I looked at her in despair. “I’m sorry, but I had to. I didn’t want to kill, I never wanted anypony to die. I just wanted to return home, to be forgiven by my sister, to be loved again. “I didn’t want to be here, alone, forever. I wanted ponies to appreciate me, to love the night sky I laid for them. But they rejected the night. They slept through it to worship the day. They shunned me, and before I knew it, I was being forgotten, in favor for my sister...” the pony looked down sadly, a single tear slipping from her eye and falling slowly to the ground. “I tried to talk to her about it, but she ignored me. My dear sister, my flesh and blood, shoved me aside. So I turned to the power of dark magic by his blessing, and it corrupted me. It replaced me, and now it has caused all this..” the pony sighed, before looking back up to me. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this...?” I nod slowly, the movement feeling sluggish and foreign. “It’s because that you deserve to know why the corruption has done what it has done. I’m so sorry...” there was a second flash, but this one was more gradual. Once it had passed, I was back in the room, with Nightmare Moon leaning over me. She backed away, her eyes back to her normal draconic look. She moved away, cleaning herself of my blood with her dark magic, before moving back to the raised platform where she had stood when I arrived in this room. I watched, unable to move or speak as the other ponies arrived, and made the powdered remains of the five stone orbs turn into gold necklaces, and after that, the sixth one appeared, in the form of a tiara that rested on Twilight’s head. They used the Elements, launching a beam of light in the colours of the rainbow at Nightmare Moon. It wrapped around her, and with a blinding light, Nightmare Moon was no more. Twilight and the others fell to the ground, unconscious from using the Elements, and in the spot of where Nightmare Moon had been, there was now a different pony, the same one that connected to me telepathically. However, she was conscious and looked up from her lying position on the floor, first at the six ponies that had defeated Nightmare Moon and had saved the day, then at me. The look she gave me was not one of recognition, but of fear. For some reason, I knew that I was going to die any time now, my body was feeling cold, and my breathing was slowing. I opened my mouth and tried to speak, I had to tell her before I go. She noticed my attempt at speaking, pricking her ears up and focusing on me. With one last determined act, I managed to saw the three words that needed to be said. “I forgive you.” Then I just stopped. My heart stopped, my lungs stopped, the flow of blood from my fatal wound stopped, my senses ceased all function. It’s true, about how your brain remains functioning for up to six hours after you die, because I could still think, knowing that I have died, and it wasn’t even heroic too. My mother and father, along with the rest of my family, will never know that I’ve died. As far as they’re aware, I have disappeared off of the face of the Earth, never to be seen again. I would never see my mum’s smiling face, never see my friends laugh, never to be able to play Minecraft or watch Star Trek ever again. This was it. I could feel my thoughts fading away. I ceased the last thoughts of my mind as I finally accept death’s open arms. The end. ... ... Why am I still here? I should be dead, yet I can feel a warmth around me. Is this truly heaven? Wait, I can hear a voice. Soft and gentle, like a summer’s breeze, but warm and kind, like the rays of the Sun. It’s talking to me. Maybe it’s an angel, welcoming me to heaven perhaps? The voice is getting clearer, I can hear what she is saying... “... Please stay focused, it is not your time to go just yet. Hang on, for me... please...” I blink as my vision returns to me, and see that it is filled with whiteness. As my vision focuses and clears, the whiteness shapes itself into the head of a large pony looking down at me, through large pink eyes that warmed my soul. This pony had a long horn, and had a golden tiara on her head, with a mane of blue, pink green and light purple, which seemed to flow in a non-existent breeze. With a gasp, the pony looked down at me in surprise, before sweeping me into a gentle and loving hug. “Welcome back to the living, my dear,” she informed me, as I blinked in confusion. My brain restarted itself, and and began to piece together what was going on with past events to try and make some sense, and formulated a reasonable response. “Why? Did I go somewhere?” I ask innocently, to which the white pony chuckled lightly, before releasing me. She used her powers, which were golden coloured, to help me stand up on my two slightly unbalanced feet. “I would like to fill in the gaps, as you are aware about what has mostly taken place, but some ponies would like to see you,” she explained, turning around and nodding at the seven ponies in the room, who were all watching me intently, six of them relieved and the seventh looking on cautiously. “Thank Celestia you’re alive!” I flinch as I get glomped by a purple blur travelling at warp speed. I blink and slowly pat Twilight on the back as she hugged me tightly, probably afraid to let go in case I snuff it again. “Y’know, you’re the second person to tell me that,” I say casually, as Twilight eventually released me from her hug and allowed me to stand again. “I’m sorry, I’m just so happy that you’re alive!” Twilight told me, tears brimming in her eyes as she smiled at me, which I returned with a smile of my own. “We’re all glad to see that yer still alive and kickin’,” Applejack told me with a small smile of her own. “Indeed, oh it would be dreadful if the princess hadn’t been able to revive you,” Rarity said, shuddering at the grim thought. “Hey, Declan’s tough! He fought off Nightmare Moon and won! Death wouldn’t be able to stop him!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew over to me and gave me a light bump on the shoulder. “Oh, I was so worried when we saw you and you weren’t moving... if the princess hadn’t been here, then...” Fluttershy trailed off with a small squeak, fearful of the possible outcome that never was. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I’m still here, and I wouldn’t go without seeing all your cute animal friends first,” I say to her reassuringly, making her smile and blush slightly. “I’m happy that you didn’t die too Decky! If you had perished, then we wouldn’t have been able to play together or attend parties together or travel the world together or eat food together or travel back in time together or-” Pinkie’s rambling was halted when Applejack put her hoof in the pink party pony’s mouth. “Ah think he get’s it Pinkie,”Applejack told Pinkie, removing her hoof when the pink pony had calmed down. “Thanks guys, it means alot to hear it all from you, but who are you though?” I ask the white pony, who I noticed also had a set of large and white feathery wings, with a gold engraved breastplate with a purple jewel encrusted in the centre, accompanied by four golden slippers on her hooves and a tattoo of a sun with wiggly lines as it’s rays of light. “Declan I’d like to introduce my mentor and ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia!” Twilight informed me happily, like she was introducing two friends to each other. “So you’re Princess Celestia?” I ask the white pony in wonder, to which she nodded in confirmation. If she is the same Princess that raises the Sun everyday, and had the power to bring me back from the dead, then that would make her a God... Or an equivalent of one anyway. “Then that must make you her sister, if I am right. Luna, is it?” I ask the blue pony from earlier. “H-how didst thou know...?” She asked me timidly, giving me a wary look. “Luna is actually you name? Wow, I can’t believed that I randomly guessed that!” I said in astonishment, making b the blue pony known as Luna confused. “Hey, you know what this call for?” Pinkie asked us all in general, bouncing around excitedly. “A journey back home?” Applejack ventured. “A nice hot bath?” Rarity put forward. “A sing-a-long?” Fluttershy offered. “Breakfast?” I suggest. “Nope, none of the above!” “Aww...” we all sighed sadly, with me adding “I’m ever so hungry...” “A PARTY!” Pinkie finally said to us, jumping up in the air gleefully, before rambling on and on and on about the party and how it would go down. “But first, we need to sort out a new set of clothes for you Declan dear,”Rarity said, gesturing to my ruined clothes that were barely hanging on. My t-shirt, trousers and coat were unsalvageable, completely torn apart and soaked with blood, and it was all made worse without my precious hat. “Actually, that’s a capital idea. It’s getting rather chilly in here...” The journey back was quick and enjoyable. We were all talking about the adventure we had and I was filled in on how the Elements were summoned, how they woke up to see Princess Celestia and how they had found my... body. It was on that note that Rarity changed the conversation to talk about the new set of clothes she was going to make me, and wanted my opinions, to which I replied “I think I know what I want...” with a sly smile. Somehow, Pinkie had managed to run ahead and prep the party before we arrived, and when we did, we were treated to a hero’s welcome, even treating Luna as the guest of honour. It wasn’t until well into the party that things got interesting... “Hey Twi, why so glum? We came, we kicked butt, we fought death and made it back in time for lunch. Why are you acting like the world’s gonna end?” I ask, slurping from my lemonade cup. “Well, now that we’ve done all that, I have to go back to Canterlot now to continue my studies...” she said sadly, looking down at her cupcake she didn’t feel like eating. “Isn’t that a good thing?” I ask curiously. “Well kinda, but it means leaving you and my other friends here, when I have just discovered the magic of friendship...” she sighed, and I felt a pang of pity for the bookish Unicorn. “I believe I can fix that,” Princess Celestia said from behind us, making both me and Twilight jump. “Spike, come and take a letter please,” the Princess called over to Spike, who hurried over with a quill and paper. “I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the Unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship, and must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.” Celestia stated, as Spike wrote word for word. When she had finished, the crowd that had gathered suddenly all cheered, and I glanced over at Twilight so see that she couldn’t be happier. “Oh thank you Princess Celestia, I’ll study harder than ever before!” Twilight exclaimed happily, sharing a nuzzle with her mentor. “Whelp, all’s well that ends well...” I say contently, looking around at the ponies enjoying the celebration. Of course, this isn’t the end for me, there’s a lot of work that needs doing, but for now, everything is going to be fine, just fine... MEANWHILE..... The pony was confused. It had not long woken up in a barren wasteland, the skies darkened with a storm that raged far above. There was nothing across the cracked landscape for miles, apart from herself, a weird gem, and a battered blue helm. However, no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t recall ever getting here, wherever here is, or anything before waking up here. But one thought echoed throughout her mind, filling her with warmth and pride. I am free.