Last time, as Dustin, Alistair, and their crew were hanging out in Ponyville, the place was suddenly under attack by the serpentine tribes. To make matters worse, Nightfall, while leaving the schoolhouse was confronted by his former evil self now inhabiting his former employee. Will Nightfall escape the clutches of Ebon, and will the warriors and ponies drive the Serpentine out of town? It continues now.
Nightfall continued to stare into the malicious eyes of Ebon, while Cherilee was still being held back by two serpentine, "You..." Nightfall gasped in fright.
"Yes... Me," Ebon smirked, "And I have a new form now."
"This can't be. I seem recall they purified you." Nightfall spoke up.
"Wrong! They didn't purify me. They purified you! I was merely stripped from you." Ebon explained.
Nightfall tried to get away, and like any colt he wanted his mother. Ebon appeared once again blocking him, as Cherilee called, "Nightfall, you have to run!" the two serpentine clamped her muzzle shut.
"Nightfall?" Ebon looked down at the colt, "That's what they're calling you now?"
"Yes." he answered nervously.
Ebon pondered before speaking, "Well, I suppose it could've been worse."
Nightfall tried to use his magic, but when he saw the glow on his horn he got scared. Ebon noticing this, smirked seeing he feared using his own magic for offense, "I see you are capable of using some of your magic, but you choose not too."
"Stay away. I don't want to be you again!" Nightfall ordered him.
Ebon could only laugh, "You presume too much, boy. I don't want you to be me again."
"Then what do you want?" he inquired.
"I'm here to take back what is mine," Ebon began, while Nightfall was confused, "You see when we met our untimely demise, shall we put it? We were separated, mind, body, and power. Ever since then you have possessed a half of our unicorn magic. I need that half in order to regain my full power!"
Nightfall shook his head, in response, "No! I won't give it to you!"
Ebon sighed, "I expected such a response. That's why I'm going to take it!" he grabbed Nightfall by the back of his neck, and held the colt up high from the ground so they were on eye level.
Before Ebon could attempt to do anything, he was suddenly bucked from behind. This resulted in him dropping Nightfall. The dark ruler looked up and saw Muse with Saba next to her, "Get the buck away from my son!" she ordered, as Saba roared.
Ebon got up and smirked, "Ah, Muse. So nice of you to join us."
"She's not the only one!" Wild flew in, and knocked the two Serpentine away from Cherilee.
"And Wildcard too? How fortuitous," Ebon chuckled. Nightfall ran to his mom, as Ebon continued, "I see you've been taking very good care of my former body since you and your friends ruined it!"
As Nightfall clung to Muse, she spoke while glaring at Ebon, "We did not ruin him. We removed the evil and hatred from him born from jealousy."
"In other words you made it weaker!" Ebon frowned.
Wild frowned and spoke up, "Being nice and kind is not weakness! It was such positive qualities that made up the elements of harmony which in turn defeated you!"
"But not permanently." Ebon countered.
"Well, this time's going to be different I assure you." Muse promised, as Saba growled in agreement.
Ebon looked ahead, and saw the others coming, "The cavalry is finally here. But it's hardly worth it."
The ponies minus Pinkie, came to a halt as Twilight called, "Ebon!"
"Ah, it's good to see you all again." he said pleasantly.
"All right bub, last time we were unprepared, but this time we're ready to take the fight to ya!" Rainbow called.
"I wouldn't worry about me right now," he began, "You should worry more about your warrior friends and your pink one."
"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked in confusion.
"The serpentine are already on a war path with them, even as we speak. Oh, that reminds me. I think it's time I joined them. Catch you soon." he vanished in blue flames, while the two serpentine who were with him tunneled into the ground.
Wild spoke knowing the others maybe in trouble, "He's right, we got to get to Pinkie and the others."
"Cherilee, take of Nightfall while we're gone." Muse instructed.
"Of course." she nodded.
Before they left, Nightfall spoke up, " Wait, mom, how is this... Why?" he asked feeling so confused.
Muse spoke to him, "I know you're confused sweetie, but I promise you I'll tell you everything."
"We all will." Twilight added, as Nightfall nodded.
"Come on!" Rainbow called, as they took off for the town square.
Meanwhile, back in the town square, Pinkie, and the warriors were holding off the serpentine. Jade was launching spirit arrows from her spirit bow at some Constrictai soldiers, while Aria and Dustin were close to her using their basic martial arts moves against some Venomari soldiers, "These things are definitely persistant." Aria noted.
"Like we said." Dustin replied, as he fired a spirit gun at a Fangpyre.
"Remember what we told you about these snakes, and their abilities!" Alistair called, as he fired a shadow shot attack at a Hypnobrai.
"Right, Constrictai have strong grips," Ralph began, as he dodged some of the said snakes, "But I can grip harder!" he used his spirit energy to increase the muscles in his arms and hands. He grabbed two Constrictai soldiers and threw them into a wall, making the two snakes leave behind body imprints.
Three Venomari soldiers started spitting their acid for Alice and Alicia, "Venomari's venom can cause you to hallucinate." Alice noted.
Alicia nodded, as the twins avoided the venom before throwing their fists back, "Shotgun double barrel!" they called, as they blasted the snakes.
Topher, Elroy, Jethro, and Dean were jumping around some Fangpyres, who were trying to bite them, "And you turn into a snake if these Fangpyres bite you!" Elroy called, as he delivered a spin kick to one of the Fangpyres.
Topher saw one was about to bite him, until he reached down and picked up a boulder and held it out for the Fangpyre to bite. The snake cried in pain, as he felt his fangs fall to pieces, "Ooh! Hope you know a good dentist." the dark warrior cringed, while chuckling.
"And finally the Hypnobrai..." Dustin began, as Zimmer who was fighting four of the tribe members finished.
"Can hypnotize ya just by looking into your eyes!" he summoned his spirit sais, and started fighting back while avoiding eye contact.
"You all got it right. A+!" Pinkie cheered, as she was jumping around the snakes, or onto their heads.
As the group continued fighting the snakes, a blast of blue fire almost got them, but they jumped out of the way, "What the..." Jethro gasped, as Ebon stood.
"Hey, guys." he greeted them.
"Felix!" Dustin called, but remembered, "I mean, Ebon!"
"Correct," he confirmed, "I guess the girls and Wild already told you about me?"
"Got that right." Dean nodded.
"I can't believe you're using Felix to house your spirit." Eu stated.
"What can I say? It was either that or wait to assimilate more energy, and I sure as Tartarus wasn't going to go through that again." he answered.
"We may not have completely destroyed you the first time, but this time we'll finish you off for good!" Dustin warned him.
"I'd like to see you try." Ebon challenged them.
"Let's get him!" Alistair ordered, until Alice spoke.
"But what about the snakes?"
"Leave them to us!" Twilight called, as she and the rest of the group appeared.
"You made it!" Pinkie cheered.
"But where were you?" Eu asked them.
"Ebon here was after Nightfall." Wild explained.
"Why?" they asked.
"We'll tell ya later!" Applejack answered, reminding them of their situation.
They nodded, and the warriors went at it with Ebon, while the ponies started fighting the snakes. As Dustin, Alistair, and their group attacked Ebon, the dark ruler using all of of Felix's moves combined with his strategic maneuvering was taking all of them out one by one. Dustin and Alistair rolled across the ground as the spirit warrior spoke, "He's a lot harder to defeat now that he's got Felix's powers as well."
"Well, we can't give in!" Alistair reminded him, as they got up and went on the attack again.
Ebon kept blocking and intercepting their attacks, while thinking, 'These kids. When they fight together are almost too much for me. I better do something before I lose my edge.'
He finally released a burst of blue flames knocking the warriors off him, "Oh, that's gonna leave a mark." Dean groaned.
Aria got up seeing Ebon, and her pony friends taking on the serpentine. She frowned and spoke, "I'll fix them!" she pulled out her violin and bow, "Hey, Ebon, serpentine!" she called, grabbing their attention, "Let me play you a little Aria classic!" she concentrated her spirit energy into her bow and violin and began playing like a pro.
As she played, her violin started releasing a vibration of spirit energy that was starting to irritate the snakes and Ebon, as they started clutching their heads and covering their ears, "STOP IT!" a Hypnobrai cried in pain.
"STOP IT! I CAN'T STAND IT!" A Constrictai shouted.
"MY EARS!" a Fangpyre cried.
"The sound is getting to them. Keep it up!" Twilight called to Aria, who continued playing.
Ebon was growling in frustration, as he desperately plugged his ears, "STOP THAT INFERNAL RACKET!"
"We're getting out of here!" A Venomari cried, as the snakes burrowed into the ground.
Ebon frowned at the group, "I'll be back!" he vanished in blue flames.
Seeing their enemies gone, Aria ceased her violin playing and took some breaths, "Thank God for playing with an orchestra for so many years."
The town's ponies came out of hiding, and saw the snakes were gone. They cheered that they were saved by their eight favorite ponies, as well as their human friends. The group started surrounding Aria as Dustin spoke, "That's using your instrument, Aria."
"Such a shame those snakes couldn't appreciate such a talent." Rarity noted.
"Guess their ears were too sensitive." Dean suggested, and they chuckled.
Suddenly Muse gasped, "Guys, we got to get back to Nightfall!" The others hearing how serious she was in her tone, nodded and followed her.
They arrived back at the schoolhouse, where Cherilee was comforting Nightfall who was still shocked at what happened to him moments ago, "Nightfall!" Muse called.
"Mom!" Nightfall cried, as he galloped over to her and she comforted him.
"It's ok, sweetie, I'm here." she nuzzled him.
"He looks really out of it." Jethro noted.
"You would to if you obviously saw your former evil self before you." Alicia noted, and Jethro nodded.
Nightfall looked up to his mother feeling hurt, "Mom, how long did you know?"
"Nightfall, we also didn't know until a few days ago." she answered.
Nightfall started realizing why she and the rest of the group were summoned to Canterlot that one day, "Why didn't you tell me when you found out?"
"I wanted to, but I wasn't sure if you'd be able to handle it right away." she tried reasoning.
"Well, you sure took too long to decide when on letting me know!" he cried.
"Kid, we had no idea he would even think of coming after you." Wild explained.
"But he is!" Nightfall responded.
"What does he want with Nightfall?" Rainbow asked the two, as everyone else was concerned as well.
Nightfall answered, "Apparently when I was purified, his spirit was forced out of me, but half of our unicorn magic resides within me, while he retains the other half. I've always felt I had a very powerful magic force inside me, but I've always been afraid using it, fearing I'd hurt others close to me."
"Now Ebon's looking to assimilate that magic from within you to make his magic full again." Jethro concluded, as Nightfall nodded.
"And if he gains all his magic powers, then he really will be nearly impossible to defeat." Twilight feared.
Muse looked down at her colt sensing he still felt betrayed, but held him close, "Son, I know you are beyond the levels of disappointed in me for hiding this secret from you, but a parent always looks out for their child. I thought by not telling you about Ebon I'd be protecting you from the memories of your past life. But believe me when I say I am truly sorry." she shed a tear.
Nightfall seeing how his mother felt just as hurt as he was, couldn't bring himself to be any further disappointed in her. He wiped away her tear, and spoke, "I understand you were trying to protect me. But I can face these nightmares. I may not be King Ebon anymore, but I still have courage enough to face whatever truth is told to me from you or him."
Muse smiled seeing how brave he was and answered, "I know, son. I promise I won't hide anything from you no matter how painful it might be."
"That's all I ask, mom, and thanks for looking out for me." the two hugged.
"Aw!" the mares and girls smiled.
Topher turned to the guys, "Sorta gets ya doesn't it? Right here." he patted his heart and they nodded.
Twilight spoke up, "Well, now that we know what Ebon's truly after. I should report this to the princess to let her know as well."
"Right." Muse nodded.
Dustin and Alistair turned to their friends, as the dark warrior spoke, "So guys what'd ya think of fighting the serpentine?"
"Well it was challenging." Jade admitted.
"Those snakes were definitely not like shadow soldiers." Thatch noted.
"But they gave us quite the work out." Ralph added.
"I sure as hell can't wait to fight them some more." Dean said, in excitement.
"Well, you'll be getting' yer wish there, sugarcube." Applejack replied, as they all nodded knowing it wasn't over by a long shot.
Meanwhile, back at the former castle of the pony sisters, the serpentine were recovering from having to endure an ear splitting sound. Ebon meanwhile was pacing around in frustration, before growling, "Those meddlesome humans will stop at nothing from keeping me from accomplishing my plan."
"King Ebon!" a Fangpyre cried, "It's so horrible, look what they did to my teeth!" he showed them his two fangs that fell out of his mouth having been the Fangpyre who was tricked into sinking his teeth into rock. Ebon sighed as he used his magic to restore the Fangpyre's fangs, "Oh thank you, your highness."
Ebon scowled, "Next time you will do well to not sink your teeth into solid material!"
"Yes, your excellency." The Fangpyre nodded, while feeling sheepish before joining the snakes again.
Ebon sighed as he started walking through the halls of the ruined castle, "If I'm going to assimilate the magic left inside my former body, I have to come up with a real plan to get close to Nightfall without alerting the others," he wandered into the old library seeing it was cluttered with books dating back during Celestia's and Luna's earlier years, "Perhaps I can find something useful in these archives." he suggested to himself.