//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Cause and Effect Part1 
// Story: A New World, And A Better Way 
// by Recteik Shade 
//------------------------------//






'Oh this is bad!' The Doctor thought to himself as he watched the moon reach its zenith in the late afternoon sky.  'Oh that's very not good!'  He had already pieced together exactly what was happening and judging from the look on Derpy and the Pink Ones face they had figured it out too.  Dinky, such a clever little filly, was cowering behind her mother but watching the moon as it slid between the sun and the planet below with some fascination.  The Pokemon present however were clueless to the ominous nature of the celestial event, "We should get back in the T.A.R.D.I.S."  Derpy and the Pink One were already easing back towards the the doors even as Allen and his two Pokemon moved closer to the palace walls.

The Doctor was already at the doors when the mass of the moon blotted out the sun painting the space around it with the stars corona and then slowed to match the stars passage across the sky.   The change in the satellites speed didn't go unnoticed by the Pokemon, Nova was the first to see it, "Allen?  Shouldn't the moon have started moving past the sun by now?  The last eclipse we saw didn't lasted nearly this long."

"We're on another freaking planet charcoal-brain."  Loki sneered not looking away from the black mass of the moon and its fiery halo.

"No, Nova is right," the Rapidash turned away in time to see the Doctor push Ditzy and Dinky into the T.A.R.D.I.S.  "Doctor what is this?  What's goin on?"

The Earth Stallion didn’t have a chance to respond before the roof of what had once been the Throne room(1) was ripped open by a massive blast.  All eyes turned to watch as an ivory white alicorn winged her way into the sky, she said something but her words were lost to the wind and distance between her and the rattled time travelers.  When the dust over the destroyed roof thinned they watched, some in terror others is confusion as another alicorn rose into the sky.  She hovered suspended on wings as black as ebony and wrapped in armour of blued steel(2), her mane was like staring into the milky way on a mountain top.  She was terrifying and beautiful at once, Sparkler gasped and stumbled back, "Nightmare Moon!"

The Doctor only nodded as the Nightmare pumped her wings and streaked towards her ivory sister unleashing a blast of eldritch energy.  Celestia tucked in a wing and spiraled to evade the the attack, striking out with her own golden magic as she leveled out.  Nightmare dodged the gold-coloured blast with minimal effort as she flapped her way higher into the sky in an attempt to take a preferable position.  Celestia's magic had continued on to destroy much of a nearby tower.  From her elevated position, Nightmare rained down a volley of smaller but no less destructive magic missiles. Forcing Celestia to bob and weave her way between the explosive bolts as the garden below was reduced to a burned and pock-marked wasteland.  Allen and Nova flinched as the force of the multiple blasts cracked the masonry of the outer rampart in several places.

Celestia, having dodged the volley of eldritch magic without a scratch, rocketed into the air her horn shining brightly as she unleashed a counter attack that mimicked the technique that Nightmare had just employed.  Again, Nightmare evaded with only a slight adjustment of her wings and cackled as the volley of golden magic shot passed her, never coming closer than a yard.  The attack continued and destroyed the lower floor of another tower sending it toppling over like an ancient redwood.  Nightmare Moon, focused as she was on her sister, never saw the mass of stone as it swung towards her, with very unintimidating yelp the dark alicorn was slammed into the ground with several tons of splintered wood and cracked stone on top of her.  

The stones of the tower were still shifting into a stable pile as a few tendrils of violet mist rolled out of the rubble and into the sky, twisting together to form Nightmare without a scratch, a hateful scowl twisting her face.

Allen could only watch the battle in a weighty mixture of awe and confusion.  Sparkler and Starshine had told him a little about the Princesses, so he assumed that the white Alicorn was Celestia.  However, he had no idea who this dark pony was; he had heard Sparkler call her ‘Nightmare Moon,’ but that didn't really answer any of his questions.  Why were these two fighting and why were the ponies so afraid of her?  

However, the thing that had him absolutely baffled was how one-sided this battle was.  Allen had been a Trainer for well over a decade, and in those years he had learned how to read a combatant’s posture; from what he was seeing, Nightmare was the only one trying to win this fight and she was clearly striking to kill.  Celestia on the other hoof was barely able to evade the dark alicorn and any strike she made was more out of reflex and had no real intent behind it.  To Allen it looked as though the princess was trying not to fight the ebony mare.

As if proving him right, Celestia launched another magical blast which missed her opponent by a wide margin, striking the ground behind Nightmare and sending out another shockwave that cracked the mortar of the palace's masonry.  Several walls collapsed exposing posh furnishings and fine artwork to the elements.

As the once picturesque castle fell to pieces Allen heard Nightmare laugh, it was a haughty pompous sound, one that spoke her opinions of the ivory mare flying opposite her far greater than words could.  "Whatever is the matter!?" she called to Celestia.  "We had believed you capable of striking us if nothing else!  T'would seem we have overestimated your abilities."  The mare’s self-righteous tone shifted to one of thoughtful remorse, "Truly a shame, t'was no simple task to craft this armour.  We had hoped to test the enchantments that had been laid upon it."

It was a thinly veiled attempt to goat Celestia into reacting but the only effect it had was to enrage Nightmare, who loosed another volley of explosive magic, when Celestia failed to take the bait.  Celestia twisted and turned, performing an elaborate aerial ballet, which was followed by another series of thunderous explosions that tore at the palace behind her and blowing out the outer rampart near Allen, Nova and, Loki giving them a clear view of the ruined courtyard.

"She can't keep this up much longer" Nova growled.  "She's starting to slow down."  

Allen had noticed this as well; Nightmare was clearly the stronger of the two, the overwhelming level of destruction she had wreaked already was a testament to that.  Yet Sparkler had told him about Princess Celestia and how she rules Equestria as head of it's Royal Family.  How could she be losing this fight?  Allen was about to turn to Sparkler, who was still watching with a look that was mix of interest and absolute terror, like someone watching a car wreck but who can't look away.  However, just as he turned heard Celestia scream in pain, he spun his head back to the battle in time to see the princess plummet through a shale roof while Nightmare cackled victoriously.  

"We have to help her!" 

Allen barely had time to process the words as Nova sprinted towards the fallen wall.  "Nova!  Wait!"  His words were ignored and Allen galloped after the Fire-type easily leaping over the stone rubble.

As the pair ran towards the cackling madmare, Loki glanced at Sparkler.  "He was fun.  I might actually miss him."







A thousand years away in the Hall of Legends, Arceus had just returned from the first day of the the World Summit.  Meeting the leaders of Equus had been an ordeal in itself, Golden Horn was going to be a major problem unless something was done.  However, right now Arceus was more concerned with unwinding; his not-so-little outburst where he shown the summit the world he and his Pokemon had come from, both the good and bad, had left him emotionally drained.  Mew thought it was a good thing, actually, saying "It wasn't healthy to carry all that around."  Maybe she was right; he did feel a little better, but mostly he just felt empty.(3)  

He was pulled from his musings as he felt a distortion in the fabric of Space-Time. Turning to his left, Arceus watched as his son Dialga stepped out of a temporal fissure which sealed itself behind him.  Dialga nodded, "Father."

Arceus smiled, family was exactly what he wanted right now even if it meant there was a problem.  And judging from the look on his son's face there was definitely something eating at him.   "Is everything alright Dialga?  You look troubled."

Dialga frowned and nodded, "Yes actually, both Celebi and I have felt something odd in the history of this world."  

Arceus raised an eyebrow at this.  It must be something serious if Celebi felt it, as her sensitivity to temporal anomalies was not as developed as Dialga’s.  "What would that be?"

The Legendary of Time sighed and hung his head a little, "I am not entirely certain.  Though I believe Time is being rewritten."

Arceus frowned, he knew first hoof how bad meddling with history could be.  "Look into it.  Let me know what you find."

Dialga nodded and bowed slightly, "Of course Father."






Nightmare watched with a boundless sense of glee as Celestia fell, smoke trailing from the burnt feathers of her wings; the sound of her sister’s agonized scream was the sweetest music to her ears.  At last she had struck a blow against her foe; though not fatal, it would be several minutes before Celestia would get up from it, not that Nightmare planned to allow her such a respite.  It was so easy now, one well aimed shot to the head or heart on a target that was not even conscious, "Tis almost too easy."  Setting her wings the dark mare slowly drifted towards the newest of the the gaping holes in the roof and her unsuspecting prey.   However, she was soon denied of her prize; a brilliant flash of ruby light flared to her right, barely giving her the time to back-wing out of the path of a massive gout of crimson flame.

Nightmare twisted to glower at whomever would be so foolish as to attack her, only to gawk at the sight before her.  A unicorn, at least that was what she thought at first; the longer she looked the stallion over the less certain she felt.  He was tall, perhaps even matching herself in stature, with a pale yellowish coat and a fiery azure-blue mane and tail.  'He is Rage-Shifted!'(4) she exclaimed internally, a theory which was supported by the angry glare the strange stallion fixed at her, but stranger still was the blazing beast that stood with him.  It was like nothing she had ever seen or even imagined; the majority of its fur was a similar colour to the unicorn’s, though the top of its scalp and its back were a dark shade of red, and an intense orange and yellow fire blazed upon its back and shoulders.  'Some manner of dragon perhaps, or a familiar' she reasoned as she once again began to glare at the fiery pair.  "You dare to strike at us!?  Do you know whom we are!?  We are Nightmare Moon!  And you shall pay for such insolence!"

The stallion snorted, "Nova, use Flamethrower again!"

The creature complied and unleashed another torrent of ruby flames.  Nightmare tried to back-wing but she was not fast enough; the flames licked at her wings and coat, singeing her feathers and causing the skin along her neck to blister and crack, the fur itself having been reduced to ash.  Screaming, she tucked her wings in and dropped out of the sky desperate to get away from the searing flames.  A feet feet from smashing into the ground she snapped her smoldering wings open and flapped away, groaning from the pain as her burnt and blistered skin cracked open.

As she flew away from the enraged unicorn and his fire breathing 'not dragon' familiar, she felt her mana being pulled on while at the same time the bulk of her pain began to fade out.  Nightmare's smoldering feathers itched for a moment before being returned to their previous condition, and the bleeding cracks in her over-cooked skin knit themselves shut as the blisters receded into smooth unblemished flesh before the bare skin was quickly shaded a lustrous ebony black as her fur returned like it had never been gone.  The dark mare couldn't help but smile to herself as the healing spells she had embedded into the Mythril armour repaired all the damage the flames had caused, though burns were not the manner of harm she had expected to endure.  

Flying back to her newest opponents she stopped short, now more than aware that the blazing familiar was capable of ranged attacks.  "Impressive if nothing else.  We had not expected such power, however our armour will protect us from such things."  She turned her gaze to Allen and smiled.  "You are quite gifted to command the obedience of such a beast, mayhaps you would consider fighting for us and our Eternal Night?"

"That's what this is?" Nightmare was shocked to hear the blazing familiar speak and it's condescending tone put her on edge.  "You want to rule the world with ever-lasting night?  All you want is to be queen of a frozen wasteland?  How petty!"  Nova literally spat at Nightmare.

"You dare mock us!?"  Nightmare roared.

Allen grinned, "I'd mock anyone who uses the word 'mock.'"(5)

"You shall learn to fear us!"  Nightmare lit-up her horn, ready to blast the insolence out of the Pokemon before her.

She never had the chance to strike.  While she had been screaming at them, Allen had given Nova a new command, "Use Blast Burn, don't hold anything back."  The dark mare had lit her horn in preparation to use magic, but Nova was quicker and she had no way to counter what was coming.  The air around Nova combusted, flashing out and racing towards Nightmare faster than she could react, let alone evade.  The white hot flames blasted out with the intensity of a high-yield bomb, carving a deep trench into the ground directly in front of Nova for several hundred yards.

Nightmare could only scream as she was launched back by the force of what was arguably the most powerful of fire-type moves.  While most of the force was aimed at the dark alicorn, Allen had been forced to brace himself against the shockwave that rolled off the overwhelming force of the attack.  As the bulk of the flames died down a few white flames flicked off of Nova who was panting from channeling such an attack, at Nova's feet a huge furrow had been cut, or rather burned, deep into the ground.

Somewhere towards the far end of the trench a small river was emptying itself into the altered landscape, about forty yards away Allen saw the burnt and mangled form of Nightmare Moon laying in the dirt at the bottom of the trench.  Her blued steel armour was spotless but anywhere the magic metal did not cover had been reduced to withered leather, he could see the blacked mass moving but he doubted anything could survive such extensive injuries without medical treatment.  "I guess ponies are just as frail as Humans in that regard."  Allen muttered to himself.

"Damn, Charcoal Brain!  I think ya got her!"  Loki sneered as he phased into sight by the two Fire-types, while looking at the twitching mass of overcooked pony.  "And then some."

"I may have overdone it," Nova admitted more to himself than the Ghost-type, "but her schemes were nothing but pure madness."

"Where are the Doctor and Sparkler, Loki?" Allen asked, suddenly aware that he had lost track of the ponies by charging off after Nova.

"Horse-boy is standing guard by his box and your girlfriend is over there looking like she's about to have a panic attack." Loki grinned and pointed to the ruins of the far wall behind him.

"Shut up Loki." Allen snapped.  "Really wish I had a Pokeball to cram you into."  He turned to the fallen wall to Sparkler staring wide eyed at the destroyed landscape.

"Well you don't got one!  So you can't."  Loki shot back and blowing a Raspberry.

"You’re an idiot." Nova said flatly as he dropped onto all fours, white embers still flicking off him every few seconds as his body wound down from the effects of using such a powerful technique.

The trio slowly began making their way back to Sparkler and the T.A.R.D.I.S., Nova's progress was the slowest, a side effect of Blast Burn.  Allen stayed close but glad that they had managed to avert disaster, while Loki just drifted through the air in his usual lazy fashion.

They were only ten yards from the pile of rubble that had once been the palace rampart when Sparkler screamed "BEHIND YOU! LOOK OUT!"  

Allen barely had time to register her words before a loud concussive blast tore apart the ground next to him, diving the air from his lung and causing his knees to buckle.   Dazed and in pain, he looked to his left at the small crater where Nova had been milliseconds earlier.  'No!'  Panicking, Allen forced himself to his feet hooves, twisting his head in every direction, desperate for any sign of the Fire-type.  What he found was not good.

Nova lay on his side, his back to Allen.  The coarse dark red fur on the Volcano Pokemon's back was gone and covering his naked back were several ragged gashes that slowly oozed blood.  From what could be seen of his face, Allen saw blood seeping out of his ears as well.  He stared at the scene for several seconds, unable to even think until he heard the manic cackle from behind him.  In that instant something snapped.  To Allen, nothing was worse than seeing his team hurt; even Loki, as annoying as he was, was precious to Allen.  
He turned and looked at the twisted form of Nightmare Moon standing at the crest of the trench.  She was still in horrid condition, her wings were mostly gone but he could see the bones reorient themselves while the flesh of her body and limbs mended itself.  She giggled almost playfully, as though she were finally having fun, "Let us see what you are capable of without your familiar."

Allen grit his teeth and pulled his lips back into a vicious snarl, the fiery aspect of his mane and tail suddenly surged as small azure blue embers danced around his body.  He glared at the dark mare with more hatred than he had ever felt for any living thing before; more than Teams Aqua and Magma for causing the cataclysm that killed his father, more the Team Plasma for abducting and abusing Nova, even more than the burglar that had killed his grandfather while robbing him.  His hatred and anger were a raging inferno and it had only one focus point.  He hissed through clenched teeth "YOU BITCH!"

The small embers burst into a flashing cloak of sapphire that was closer to charged plasma than true flame.  On some level Allen's rational mind knew what was happening he was using a move, one of the strongest a Rapidash could learn, but Allen was slipping into instinct now.  Flexing his legs, he took up a crouched battle stance as his muscles coiled, tense and ready to snap back like a steel trap.  Rapidash were strong and fast, and while Allen was still unfamiliar with his new body, the body itself knew what to do.  The words slipped out of his lips as he lunged forward aiming to slam into the alicorn with every ounce of might his strong body could muster, "FLARE BLITZ!"