//------------------------------// // The Reluctant Tag-along // Story: My Little Witch // by PoisonJoker09 //------------------------------// The Reluctant Tag-along I was careless I admit, maybe not so much as others could be, but I was. Taking my attention off the group had allowed Pinkie to sneak up on me, to think such a brightly colored thing could be so stealthy, I shudder to think of what she could do with less than hospitable intentions. But because I was found by the group and in my surprise had drew attention with my shout, I was now currently wrapped in a rope and tied to a tree, while they discussed what to do with me. Again, I was careless, but I suppose this isn't the worse captivity I've went though, the griffin dungeon was surely the top of that list. No, the fact that hurts the most is that I was outwitted by six ponies that haven't had a lick of military experience what-so-ever, I could have easily run, but after being stunned by an annoying oddity, a lasso was thrown around my body and Rainbow Dash, the fast one had looped it around the tree efficiently, if I was observing this happening to someone else I would have praised their teamwork. Now it was just bad luck. "I done greeted this pony barely a dog gone day ago Rainbow, if she was an agent of that Nightmare Moon then she wouldn't be so blooming obvious." Applejack was speaking on my behalf, despite being the one to provide the material for the imprisonment. "Well I don't buy it, some creepy pony appears out of nowhere and apparently was following us the whole way? If she WAS a good one, why was she snooping in the shadows, huh?" I was already aware of the brash manner of Rainbow, but she took it to a new level, exaggerated stories such as being a agent for Nightmare Moon, the name of the Entity I presume. "Look, we have to get the the ruins as quickly as possible to find the elements, we don't have time to sit around talking about some weird pony." You know, I would have been generally hurt by that statement, but currently I was debating on how a bunch of ponies tying up me to a tree was saying I was the weird one, if anything it was strange that they decided to take the fate of the world within their hooves. Ah yes, something I found rather amusing, they had no sense of secrecy and managed to say more about their mission than they had when they didn't know I was here, the gist of it was that Nightmare Moon is planning to make the whole of Equestria fall to eternal night, which would be rather strange considering my view point. There was a great many needs to fulfill when it came to the welfare of a nation, sun was integral to the very survival of a rural species that survived primarily off a herbivore diet, but I suppose powerful entities didn't need either rhyme or reason when it came to their goals. I have heard a great many different plans from people that didn't make sense in the long run. I mean, if she floats she's a witch and sinks she is innocent? What if they needed to check EVERY pony in town, not so clever when your under the mallet. The three arguments placed forward was Applejack for my innocence, Rainbow for my guiltiness, and Twilight being the middle mare who simply wanted to continue with the quest, the others were rather just watching on. The white unicorn know as Rarity did throw in a few comments of my cloak being tacky however. "Honestly it is such a waste for a nice shade of gold, and that hair so, ghastly, if only I had my care products with me dear I would spruce you right up, those different colors could be put to good use." In fact, she seemed to take the time to try and converse with me, the one known as Fluttershy shuffled awkwardly and Pinkie just bounced in place, never tiring despite doing so for five minutes, with a stupid grin on her face. Honestly, my laugh was cute? It was hardly even a chortle or a chuckle. My thoughts were snapped into the current as Twilight stepped up to me. "Look... I'm sorry for treating you like this, but you have to be aware that we are kind of... on edge at the moment." I raised an eyebrow, a 'No really?' look was what I pulled off best, I think that she was more thrown off by my nonchalant attitude than anything else. "Just a clear question, what exactly are you doing out here? Following us?" I sighed deeply, and looked at her, "I was simply investigating a few things that have been off around here lately, and then I overheard from a young group of ponies that there is a terrifying creature that needs to be dealt with walking into here, I decided to follow up a lead and so here I am, tied to a tree." She flinched slightly at the blunt accusation and smiled awkwardly, "S-sorry, after facing a Manticore we kind of decided unanimously to not hesitate." "Yes I saw how well that went, nearly getting swallowed whole when all it had was a thorn in it's paw, have you ever read 'Behavior and Habit's of the Common and Uncommon Carnivore's'? it depicts a clear example of how contradictory that behavior is." She winched slightly before looking curiously at me, "I... don't believe I've heard of that book, who was it written by." I snorted, "Grant Gobbledygook, a griffin if you can believe it, they usually prefer to do chicken scratches on the dirt or INTO animals than write books about them, but I suppose he was a special case." She nodded, "That does sound familiar... did he also write the fictional story 'A Fickle Flight'?" "Yes, he is mainly a informative writer however, usually about his own species and anything that digests meat," I shrugged, "ironically enough, he's a vegetarian." "How do you know that? Seems rather personal." "In fact it WASN'T, he takes a personal style of writing in his books, and mentioned he was more partial to fruit than beef." "Well that is interesting... do you know any other- "LAAAAAAMMMMEEE!" A loud shout from above us, I didn't have to look to know it was Rainbow, who swooped down landed between us, "You remember that thing we were meant to do, you know? The fate of Equestria and the like? Seeing as you two eggheads are caught up in your BORING talk about books." Twilight then took on an interesting tint of red through her coat, "Ah... yes, sorry I rarely get to talk about my interests so easily with other ponies..." She cleared her throat and looked at me directly, "Do you intend to harm anypony if we release you?" I rolled my eyes, "If I intended to harm you, I would have done it when you WEREN'T aware of my presence." She gave a rather dull look, "That isn't really helping your case..." I held my tongue to lash about and took a deep breath, "You have a S-Class level magic reserve and five more ponies to boot, it would be unlikely I would be able to harm any of you anyway." "Again, not helping my idea of letting you out." "I think she's just sayin' it in a round about way Sugarcube," Applejack stepped in with a level look at me, "I think she's sayin' that it would be right stupid to do anythin' bad to us all, and she isn't a stupid one." A rather simple way of saying it, but I acknowledge her reason with a nod. Twilight looked between us before giving a sigh, "Alright then, hold on a second." The ropes glowed a deep purple and then unraveled from around my chest, I picked myself of the ground and scratched the barrel of my chest for the itch that had been bothering me because of the chaffing rope. "Alright, so don't you think that because your free means you've been cleared of all suspicions." Rainbow stared me right in the eyes, and pointed her hoof at her eyes and then straight at me, "I'll be watching you..." "Careful, I might actually be scared." A hard sarcasm had entered my voice, although the childish filly was clearly blessed with the color of her main, she had many problems in her own personality beyond the obvious. "This is so GREAT!" I pulled back again when SHE came into the conversation, it was a needed precaution as would have likely broken her face against mine the speed she was going, and yet, she was still too close for comfort, "HI! Remember me, I was in Sugarcube Corner and you were buying sugar and then when inside and say you I went 'HuaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA!' and flipped backwards and I was going to orginise your party, so I asked around Ponyville where you lived, but nopony knew where you lived, so I went to Mayor Mare to ask where you lived, but SHE didn't know where you lived, and so I decided to find out tomorrow so I could throw you a party and huaaaaaAAAHAHH!" She then got closer, and the space I had attempted to make between us was void as her muzzle pressed against mine, "So what do you like better, toffee or caramel?" I blinked, and drew up a hoof, and placed it against her chest. And pushed her as faraway as the length of my leg could possibly go, and let it drop. She stared at me expectantly. A hoof barely was restrained to slap against my face in frustration, "I don't like sweet food, at all." Her face took on a shocked, near mortified expression. "You... don't like toffee, or caramel?" A familiar frustration build up, "Yes... I don't like- "What about taffy?" She pleaded with that same strange pitiful expression. "I said I don't like- "Pudding? Chocolate? Banana-split? *gasp* ... ice cream?" I now felt a vein in my head, "I don't like any type of swee- "Blancmange? Cake? Doughnut? Eclair? Mousse? Fudge? Knickerbocker Glory? Milkshakes? Lollipops? Roly-Poly? Sherbet? Sponges? Sorbet? Sugar Cube? Syrup? Treacle? Trifle? Tutti-Frutti? Yogurt? Raspberry Rip- "NONE OF THEM!" I finally shouted, she finally pulled back her head and I enjoyed the space I was finally getting from her. I breathed in long, calming breaths. Long... calm... serenity. "... Muffins?" "FOR THE LAST... muffins don't necessarily have sugar." I finished off in a pathetic note, I then really did slap my hoof to my face, "I don't like sugar, I don't like sweets, and that is the END, of this conversation." She looked at me for a second, before regaining her smile, like none of her grief was real in the first place. "Okie-Dokie-Loki! So we're going to have muffins at the party!" I couldn't help but realize a deep groan that was trapped inside my chest, there was none of the previous genius and bravery i thought I saw as she stared right into a fear spell, there was only a bubblegum-brained idiot who increasingly made me want to leave this expedition. "Okay... so shouldn't we move forward now." I actually held in a slight jump when Twilight spoke up, because of the annoying conversation with the pink menace, I had nearly forgotten everypony else there. "Yes... we should." I answered back shortly, and then turned towards the direction threat they were proceeding before down the path. "Sorry, Scry correct? I think we should lead, just because, well, we don't really know you and- I merely gestured to her to go ahead. "Ah... yes, of course." One by one they moved ahead, Twilight gave me a nervous nod, Applejack a tipped hat in greeting, Rainbow simply glared again, Rarity looked at me with a certain expression of 'we'll meet later' and Pinkie a dumb smile, Fluttershy was the last and simply avoided my eyes entirely. With that, I follow the conga line towards out destination, all the while surprised at the nativity of keeping a previous suspicious pong in the back of the line without anyone clearly watching her, I could run, take the weak one hostage, yet they are so very oblivious of this fact. They wouldn't survive a second in the real world. "So how are we going to get past this?" Indeed, it did present a rather troubling issue, the river was wildly out of control and it was unlikely we would be able to cross it safely. My question about ow exactly a river had gotten out of control this quickly were rather moot at this point. Nightmare Moon as she is known as, likely influenced the water currents to block our way forward... however, it seems more like a stalling method than anything, I doubt that she could keep it going this fast throughout the... night? With it being eternal night right now, would that mean a lot more if I were to say one single long night?" I digress. Of course, I had my answer a minute afterwards, with a crying water serpent. Of course it was... I think this powerful entity is toying with us. The cliff was a sure sign to kill, as well as the Manticore, but now it was devolving from the harsh tactics and giving us pitiful obstacles, weren't ponies supposed to escalate when their enemy is getting closer to their goal? Of course, I've said before not to question what powerful entity's dabble in, but there is limit in poor planning. "...that was when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just wisped past me and tore half of my beloved mustache off!" Yes, this was just poor, poor planning. "What a world, WHAT A WORLD!" He then proceeded to slam into the lake in a dramatic fall, which promptly soaked us. "... I may not be the one to talk about facial hair, but it isn't something to cry over isn't it?" I questioned seriously. "That's what all this fuss is about?" "Why of COURSE is is, how can you be so insensitive?" Rarity questioned us, with a shake of her head, her hair bounced back to it's flawless shape again and strutted closer to the serpent, "Oh just look at him, such lovely luminescent scales!" "*sniff* ... I know" He agreed as he snapped out of his crying fit. "Your EXCELLENTLY cropped mane!" "Oh I know I KNOW!" He then smoothed down his hair with a content expression. Alright, so he has a lot of pride in his looks, don't know why exactly, did this river lead out of the forest to other female sea serpents? "Your fabulous manicure!" "It's so TRUE!" Yet again, he might just be very vain. "All ruined by the loss of your beautiful mustache!" "It's TRUE I'm hideous!" he screamed out in tears again. "I simply cannot yet such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" And with that, she pried a scale off of the sea serpents stomach, causing a cry of pain. She then turned her head, and a quick chop made her tail fall off. Which in turn, made the serpent fall dramatically to the riverbank. ... I had no idea how these events were connected. Rarity's tail then floated off the ground and drifted towards the snout of the serpent, and would itself around and around the stub of his old torn mustache, and affixing it on to the side of his snout. "OH! OHohohoho! My MUSTACHE! How WONDERFUL!" He cried out happily, I couldn't help but stare in utter disbelief. "You look smashing." Rarity smiled up at him, I merely looked on with the others, not comprehending exactly why it was any better than before. "But Rarity, your beautiful tail..." "It's alright dear, short tails are in this season. And... it'll grow back." She smiled awkwardly. "... So would the mustache." I deadpanned, Rainbow following not far behind, I restrained a smirk on my lips as she glared at me angrily for 'stealing her line', "And he does know that the sides are asymmetrical correct?" "I do darling." The serpent said from above us, still widely smiling, "But for such a lovely young mare to present a gift of her own sacrifice in my time of NEED? I couldn't complain at all, I can make a few dyes from some coral I can find anyway, so it isn't a problem." With that, the river calmed and we were able to get across, helped along by the serpent. But I stopped slightly and looked back at him, and he looked inquiringly back. "Look... I might have something that can help the mustache..." I tilted my head a little, "But it is a rather hard to obtain brew, so would you donate a few of your unneeded scales in exchange?" "Really darling? I shouldn't impose because some FABULOUS dyes can really put a dent in a serpents funds..." With my confirmation, he scooped up a hand of his shed scales, saying that he commonly went out of sight from other serpents in order not to be seen in such a compromising position. And in exchange, I took out a clear bottle. "Please can you take one strand of your hair and give it to me?" He reluctantly, and VERY slowly plucked out one hair, and whimpered slightly like he was having a post-dramatic flashback. I took the strand, and thread it through the neck of the bottle, I had too cut it short because it was several feet long, and put the cork back on, a couple of shakes and the brew now how a deep orange tint. "There, just mix with into your hair with some water and leave it to dry for five minutes." I was lying about the five minutes part, just to keep it realistic. "Oh THANK you again dear, you saved me the ICKY job of scraping barnacles out of my nails." He then quickly slavered the mixture on Rarity's substitute tail and mixed it with a few drops of the lake, I didn't bother watching the procedure and gathered a number of the scales that were in excellent condition. I rejoined the group, and Twilight gave me a look, "Uh, why do you want scales anyway?" "I've an interest into aquatic ingredients." I answered back. "I don't think I've heard of a scales cake before, I've heard of diamond cakes, cloud cakes, rock cakes, rainbow cakes, sprinkie- "Not for a cake." I interrupted quickly, "I a soup maker, you can be surprised how many unusual things can be used to make a delectable stew." "Now that doesn' sound righ'..." Applejack interjected, a slight frown on her face. "Don't we have a world to save?" I answered rhetorically. She kept her stare on me, and I waited... "Twilight?" "Oh, uh yes, lets move on girls." She then lead the group again, and I followed on behind. It seems that Applejack was an expert in body language, there are some things that not even the aura of the world can tell us. I should be careful what I say around her... "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" Rainbow snarked as she pulled Twilight back from her potential death, the fog was rather hard to see through, and of course, an undercurrent of sinister energy crackled around it, the fog is likely being concentrated into one place and limiting out vision, was it her plan to kill us through falling off the cliff? No, seems too much up to chance. "So what do we do now?" A smug grin found itself on the cyan blue pegasus's face, and flapped her wing pointedly, "Duh." With a quick takeoff, she went down under the misty landscape, and right back up again with the ropes to the bridge grasped in her mouth. Out vision was obscured however when she disappeared to the other side. "Ah... so that's her game." "What'cha mean?" I nearly jumped from the voice next to my ear and scowled at the blue eyes curiously looking at me. A irritable flick in my ear was the only inner signs of frustration and exasperation I had toward her. After several seconds I realized she wanted an answer. "... I was curious to why a thick mist such as this had suddenly rolled out of nowhere, it seems to be the work of that Nightmare Moon from before." "Before?" I gave a deadpan look, "There has been several signs by now, the cliff suddenly collapsing on itself, the Manticore getting agitated, "She seems to be trying to stop out progress, perhaps she finally got wise and started separating us." "You... don't actually think that do you?" Twilight had been eavesdropping, great... "An evil entity who wishes to plunge the world into darkness, there is few things I wouldn't accuse her of." I rolled my shoulders casually, "Like getting a sun tan." "PFFFFF! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Again, I felt my face strain as the loud voice beside me laughed loudly, "That was a GOOD one! Ooo Ooo! Me next, what holds up the moon? Moonbeams!" I again put a hoof on the loudspeaker she calls a mouth and pushed her out of my space again. I caught sight of something, "Ah... now she has resorted to asking us to join the dark side." "Snrk! Oh man where do you get all these zingers! Alright me now, when is the moon not hungry? When it's FULL!" "Would ya'll quit it with the jokes? This is a serious problem right now." "No seriously, look." I pointed thought the fog which had thinned out, and it showed Rainbow surrounded by several dark costumed ponies, their presence certainly suggested that they were in fact constructs of some kind. "Rainbow! Don't listen to them!" Twilight shouted in fear, it was all in vain as the fog thickened instantly, and cut off our view. "Oh... my..." Fluttershy uttered in worry, I myself simply looked on in boredom. "Aren't you in the least bit worried!" Applejack rounded on me, "You seem awfully calm in this kind of situation..." I simply looked on in the wispy thick clouds, "For all her brashness, I doubt your pegasus friend's need to be recognized overrides her logic... most of the time, seriously, this Nightmare Moon has been going into a downwards spiral with all these obstacles, I expect the next will be a key under the doormat when we get to the castle." "You were really just following behind us the whole time... I am really questionin' who you are Scry, ponies don't just pop out of nowhere with little to no reason explained." "Have you considered that not every pony wears their heart on their hoof?" I drawled, and fixed her with a look, "I can tell you are a very forward one, don't much care for beating around the bush and hiding a few secrets, but in the REAL world, there are ponies that just don't wish to give their life story to everypony who has the time and ears to listen." At that time, nothing else existed, there was only me and Applejack, our conflicted opinions causing us to scan each others faces, for a sign of weakness or indication of what we were both thinking, I didn't rightfully know. But as quickly as it started, the fog parted, and the cyan blue feathered figure of Rainbow landed gracefully. "Bridge is up!" She cheerfully reported, and looked between us all, "Uh... did I miss something?" "Just having a healthy chat is all." I turned away from the orange pony and made my way across the bridge, "Hope you don't mind if I test if first, the thing looks awfully unstable." It was a lie of course, despite how much disrepair it could have been under, it looked alright, despite it having been lying at the bottom of a hole. No one complained however, and so I took the lead, I suppose with the castle is sight, I could hardly mislead them as such. "The Elements of Harmony! We've found them!" Twilight exclaimed as the stone shapes were lifted off their respective pedestals and placed on the ground with assistance from Fluttershy and Rainbow, after so much work, I found the discovery of such 'legendary' powers rather... lackluster. There was certainly something present in the rock, but it was near empty, like drops of water from a carelessly emptied bottle, it certainly held potential for power, but it has been a long time since it ever held onto such. "There's only five!" "Where's the sixth one?" Pinkie and Rainbow asked respectively, I likewise was curious, things such as elements were rather out of my area of expertise, numbers were within my field however. "It is said, that once all five elements are present, that a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed." Ah, so a concentration of the powers hmm? From what I gather, the Elements were a set of qualities long since revered in Equestria. Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity and Kindness, other than that, not much else into suspected folklore and stories. But again, a simple spark would not be able to ignite any power, it would be like setting fire to an empty pot, perhaps we are looking at this wrong. "Seems rather strange such a simple phrase could unlock the power hmm?" I commented, stretching my senses to look around the area in depth, great power much have walked these halls some time ago, it leaves behind a distinctive footprint. "What do you mean Scry?" Twilight had a small edge to her voice, looks like trust was a quickly depleting commodity here. "Twilight Sparkle, I have lived a well traveled life, so I know what a Unicorn would think of a tree, and a pegasus around a mirror, and an Earth pony about the clouds, you just learn several perspectives of the world as a whole." I brushed the gathered dust off a groove, a switch was underneath, better keep this in mind for later. Covering it up again, I turned to look at the group, "After so many years being dormant, a 'spark', would indicate something on the unicorns expertise, a powerful spark or resonance maybe, I am surprised that no other unicorn has attempted to find and activate these elements for themselves..." "Then maybe it isn't something strictly to do with magic..." Twilight nodded at my words thoughtfully, "I suppose if Princess Celestia could not unlock them... maybe you're onto to something." I looked up at the sky, despite it being hours, there was not a single stretch of yellow sky to be seen, "It would be wise not to use all possible interpretations however, we may have all night, but it is a long night." "I think I can try something... just an idea, step back, I'm not sure what could happen..." Her horn glowed a purple aura, and her eyes closed in concentration. It was clear she was connecting to the vessels, but they were still dull and without power. "C'mon ya'll, she needs to concentrate." With that, the others started to leave the ruins, I suppose it was a wise choice, something this experimental and uncertain would need every ounce of focus. "I will stay, it is best we do not split about once again." Applejack gave a reluctant look, but nodded and walked slowly out. To think she took my side before. I sat opposite of the circle of stones, watching the powerful unicorn do her best to feel something with the inert elements, I could feel her reach stretching in many ways, and testing each and every possible trigger point. Magic... was defined by many categories, there is said to be the best example, unicorns with their spells, pegasi with their weather manipulation, and Earth ponies with their natural connection to the earth. Many other forms exist beyond that however, chaos, order bound, granted by higher beings, bound my hellish scum, and each and every one was unique, to my senses, Twilight radiated an unending power, which unknowingly poked and prodded everything in it's immediate vicinity like a curious child. It showed she was a knowledgeable mare of course, but it also shows she has much to learn. If I plan to stay in this town at all, it would be better to keep tabs on her. Of course, after becoming an obvious participant in the events transpiring I might find myself more known throughout the world than I would appear. It is rather a shame, after all I already was settling into my new home, and it took a lot of work to move everything where I wanted to. Perhaps I need to disappear once all of this is done, not stick around for the celebration after it is all said and don- I eyes snapped open when another presence made it's way to my senses, I swung my head to the right, and saw nothing... But I knew that just because one couldn't see in the dark, didn't mean monsters were not creeping inside of it. It just meant they were creeping up from- Suddenly, I felt something impact with my back and I suppressed a yelp as I flew through the air, I quickly tried to adjust myself as I flew, and managed a sloppy roll on the ground for my troubles. I looked back towards Twilight and the stone elements, and saw the same shapes of night sky and stars suddenly merging itself with the elements, and suddenly they moved under her power, spinning like a tornado. Without wasting anytime, I stood up my tail went into my bag like a reflex, pulling out a vial from my bag, but as I turned back to the powerful being, Twilight was jumping after her, and they disappeared a second after. "Buck..." I cursed out, and placed the potion into my saddle again, and instead took out a pair of goggles. I ignored to exclamations of the others as they ran back inside, likely from the commotion, and instead placed the gear over my eyes, and started looking around, soon enough, a distinguishable line made it's way and pointed out of the window, towards a tower in plain sight. I pushed them up my head and started galloping towards the entrance, where a orange mare stood in my way. "Now hold on there, what are you- I didn't answer, time was of the essence, so I simply leaped over her head in the same stride and landed on the other side, outside into the woods I went. Taking a sharp turn right, I went straight towards the abandoned castle with my steps fast and sure, soon enough, luminescent glowing purple lights made its way out the holes of the construction, I grit my teeth, and simply soldiered on, hoping I was not too late. "Now hold on a minute!" I turned head briefly to see the rest following quickly behind me, Rainbow was leading the pack with an above average speed but didn't go faster, likely to let the others keep up, again I question exactly the well-being of these ponies, if they have any chance of living after whatever Nightmare Moon decides to do. I don't dwell on it however, and simply sprint even faster. I skipped each and every step, the others were still far below, and I looked into the room where the power was originating. There, stood Twilight as she stood her ground in front of a powerful foe, it glared at her with equal contempt, her body had the traits of a unicorn and pegasi, which meant she was an Alicorn, if I remember right that is a status of legends and gods. I growled and my tail swung into what I had in inventory, a flask of ice blue appeared and I flipped open the cap. I then paused in hesitation, revealing my talents was always a last resort, of course the safety of the world depended on this moment, but I couldn't help but freeze up. I hated myself, and instead charged in inside, bringing attention to me as I came into sight. "My... another foolish mare who tried to usurp my beautiful night? All of you ponies are so... meddling" The entity known as Nightmare Night glowered at us, I merely breathed a little harder and placed the flask of blue back into my saddle, and instead took out three spheres. "Well... I wouldn't say usurp, more like, strongly disagree with the arrangements of the current living environment." I tapped my chin in thought, "Protest perhaps?" "Well aren't you an insolent one..." She muttered darkly, "However, you do feel different from the regular pony, feels rather... familiar." I being that is a millennium old has likely met a few witches, maybe made a pact, or they passed her by one day. I don't really care as I tilted my head towards Twilight, "Any ideas?" "I don't know... she destroyed the elements, I don't know what could be done now..." She looked devastated, and her fast paced breathing wasn't helping matters. "First, we need to stall for time, regroup or something of that nature." "Do you think I can't hear you from here?" Nightmare Moon interjected, a wicked grin spread across her features, "Listening into a conversation is the least an immortal being such as myself can achieve!" "And a braggart, you know out of all the bad qualities you have, I think that is the worst to show for." Stretch. Twist. Aim... Her eyes took on a dark tint of anger. "How DARE you- RELEASE! My tail launched forward as I lowered my head to launch its artillery towards her, they impacted the barrel of her chest and face, and exploded into an angry shade of red sparks, she shook and twitched and her body took on every body spasm possible, her teeth chattered within her head as her body tilted and tipped in the new found imbalance she had to deal with. "We should make our exit, now." I say, and Twilight nods in numb disbelief, and we quickly turn towards the exit... Which soon became a problem as a dark cloud blocked us halfway there. "YOU! INSOLENT FOUL LESSER BEING!" Nightmare shook her face furiously, her eyes blinking rapidly and not within sync with one another, "You shall FEAR ME YOU- I threw my hip forward, and another glass ball shot out of my pack, it impact right under her nostril and exploded into an explosion of green gas. "GO LEFT!" I shout to Twilight as I took the right, she immediately complied as we circled the powerful being you was coughing and choking on the new air that surrounded her, the neon gas was interrupting her thought process, making any multitasking impossible, and by that, I meant not being able to breath and walk at the same time. She will be fine... as long as she stops coming after us. Twilight and me met again on the other side, her eyes looked at me in gratitude. "Thank you... I didn't even think you cared about us." I tossed my mane irritably as we kept on running to put distance between us and the entity, "To be caring is not part of the question, it is more to the level of what creature would I be if I shut my eyes during the bad times and pretended they didn't exist, I WILL face these threats, and I will drag them back from Tautarus if need be, to help others along the way is simply natural." A small whisper in the air made me pause mentally, what was that? But just as quickly as it spoke, it was interrupted- I felt a pulse of dark energy build up and quickly grabbed Twilight around her neck, bringing her to the ground. A blast of sound erupted around us, and the walls shook and broke apart as the frustrating shrieks of the dark mare filled the room. "NO MORE OF YOU'RE TRICKS!" I felt myself lift off the ground, and quickly brushed my tail over the medallion on attached to the right corner of my bag, it glowed a deep azure, and I bent my knees as the ground came back to me again. I tried to throw another vial out my bag, but then I looked up to see the dark eyes of Nightmare- I heard a crunch, and I flew back, and heard another crunch as I stopped, and then I found myself facing the floor. "SCRY!" My eyes... they are blurry... I feel numb... "Twilight!" "Are you there Sparkle?!" "TWILIGHT!" Need... to get... up... I tipped into my back, even the hair of my tail felt painful, and found it's way into my medicine bag. A round vial of crimson red, I pushed it as far in front of me as I could, and my hoofs pitifully grasped it to move in front. I felt a spasm as my neck tried to tilt my head back, I ignored it and tipped the bottle as far back as it could go. The soothing taste of healing made it's way down my body. It mixed and churned and multiplied, soon enough smaller slurps and pops came into my ears, my skeleton was putting itself back together again. I had feeling back into my legs again, and stood up, my eyes finally adjusting and looking at... well... Wow... My aura senses were filled to the brim with indescribable essences, there were so many connections, so much in the making... it was rather empowering. There stood the six I had come here with, there were shards making their way around them. "And with the, spark, it creates the SIXTH element, the element of, magic!" Twilight shouts in victory, and the power doubled, tripled, so much so that I had to shut my 'eyes' to the hidden world to not be blinded by it all, I watched on as the shards condensed and turned into necklaces for them all, watched as they came together and the ever shining beacon of light glowed. Nightmare was a sharp contrast to her previous authority, in fact, she was about to run, already turning to try and escape the threat- And she was faced with me. "Night night Nightmare." I intone, and from the folds of my mane I took out a glowing yellow charm, it pulsed as I ran a hoof along its edges, and yellow lightning shot out and paralyzed her legs in place. She could only look at me in deep shock as I walked out of the blast radius. "THAT'S for interrupting my sleep." It was the last thing she heard before she was engulfed in a swirling rainbow spectrum, I didn't even pay it any mind and made my way to the exit, I knew when a situation was over and done with. Maybe I'll come back here later, there is usually interesting things to be found in such strange places. It was morning as I walked out the Everfree, a small sactual filled with numerous herbs and plants I gathered on the way, it will be interesting what I can cook up with this. I heard a lot of noise and cheering from a little away, and looked to see indeed, a celebration was being made for the defeat of Nightmare. From the current distance, I could already feel the familiar power from Twilight and a ever GREATER entity, only this one was not malicious, so I suppose it must have been the other goddess, Celestia? Not my problem rightfully enough, I turned my back towards it and simply made my way towards my home. I wonder how long they will look for me until they give up? A number of failures were brought up with the ingredients I brewed, every now and then I would get a favorable result, but this test and taste ordeal with become tiring sooner rather than later, i wonder if there are any books detailing the specific qualities of the plants here... Again, that would require going back into town, I would prefer to wait until everything has cleared up, of course, if the six ponies had told the town about me... I might need to leave again. ... Again, I am looking to much into the future, if they know ABOUT me, then it is best to wait until they DISCOVER something before thinking of escaping. I looked out of the window once again, the bright sky was a welcome change due to the events of before, i wouldn't be surprised that ponies would be nervous when night falls again for the next few nights. And speaking of the events, that whisper, it was not from Nightmare, it was something much more intimate and personal, as well as having a specific connection to a point. It is something to look into once I get the time to investigate, from what I could tell from what the six pony friends were saying, the Everfree is rarely ever entered so it would be alright to visit as such. I would need some scrying tools of course, as well as some form of enhancement to my natural senses, after all, it was a rather subtle connection. Hopefully it isn't ill or something else, I have had enough for this week thankfully- KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK! I blinked, and turned my head towards the door... KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK! ... I coached low, hid from the windows, and kept as quiet as possible, and made my way to the neon green liquid I had in a tall thin glass, a quick sip and I blinked towards the door again. Outside was a headache, a very big headache. "Hey Scry-Scry! I know your in there because when we looking for you we asked ponies in town and I found the assistant of Mayor Mare and SHE sad she sold you a house and I was like 'YAY!' because now I could throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party but I thought you didn't like surprises and didn't come out enough to make a surprise party in your house so I thought, I WOULD SURPRISE YOU AT THE DOOR!" I paid attention to the wagon, filled with party hats, cakes, balloons and an assortment of items. I debated this very annoying and complex issue in my head, bu naturally, I sigh as only one thing comes to mind, first, take away all the unnatural ingredients. All the glowing potions and so on and so forth. Hide them in the small cellar I have. Go towards the door, where she was waited patiently, and optionally, heave a sigh. Open the door, results not determined afterwards.