//------------------------------// // Return of a Nightmare // Story: Blooming Talent // by Griffin Productions //------------------------------// "Ok, Apple Bloom, this is the last day we'll be spending in here, and tomorrow we go back to Earth." Goku announced. "Show me your best Kamehameha. Give it everything; every ounce of sweat and blood in you." After a quick nod from Goten, Apple Bloom stepped forward; her face bore a look of confidence she hadn't been able to wear for a long time. It was good to feel in control again. She took up a wide stance as she cupped her hands together, bending slightly at the knees and twisting her torso to the side. As she readied herself, she tried to imagine Sapphic on the other end of the blast she was about to unleash; picturing him laughing at his near victory over Equestria, and being cocky in general. "Ka..." A blue orb of energy appeared between her palms. "..me..." The energy around the area grew thickened as the air pressure began to rise. "...ha..." The white aura of her unlocked abilities surrounded her, making the area around her nearly impossible to breathe in. She ignored this, and continued to raise her power. "..me..." Once again, she pictured Sapphic laughing at her from a distance, just begging to be blown apart. She reached her "100%" power, and let loose. "..HA!!!" As she thrust her hands forward, the beam that came form her was massive; her body was nearly a child's size compared to it as it flew across the void of white, and eventually dipping down enough to hit the "ground", exploding violently and shaking the entire Chamber, it seemed. She turned back, smiling to Goku, who smiled and gave big thumbs up. She leaped into the air, which ended up being an eight foot leap, and gave a celebratory cheer. She'd done it; she'd mastered all of he moves Goku hadtaught her. After so long, she was in full control of her abilities. The feeling was overwhelming almost, as she kept repeating in her head; "I did it! I did it! I did it!" Goten ran over and picked her up in a tight hug which she more than happily returned, and sealed with a quick kiss. This got her even more excited, because she realized she had conquered all the obstacles; training, love, and control. Every hurdle had been cleared; all but one. But with all the power she felt flowing through her veins, she knew that obstacle would be no problem, and Equestria would be saved. She would finally be able to protect those she cared for. Goku laughed as he watched his son and Apple Bloom dance around like twitterpated school children, excited for the end of the year. Indeed, tomorrow was the final day of the year inside the Time Chamber; they'd trained hard, and both Goten and Apple Bloom had become much, much stronger for it. His smile faultered a little as he thought on about the final stage of the plan. He had full confidence that they could succeed with what he had planned for them, but he just had an itching feeling in the back of his mind that not everything was as good as it seemed to be. His mind flashed back to the day they had sensed all that massive energy; he hadn't recognized the signature, and it vanished just as quickly as it appeared, and never came back again in all the last few months they trained. This unknown factor in his plan worried him. He was snapped out of these thoughts by his son's voice. "Dad? You ok?" "Oh, me? Yeah, just fine!" He nervously chuckled before getting back to normal. "I'm very proud of both of you. You've come a long way since we came in here, and now look at you; a couple of butt kicking, bug squashing champions! Sapphic won't even know what hit him." "Yeah, with Apple Bloom as powerful as she is, Sapphic's gonna be begging for mercy at her feet in no time!" Goten exclaimed excitedly, holding the anthropomorphic mare close to him. "Well, technically, it won't be Apple Bloom who fights Sapphic." Goku interjected. The two young fighters were thrown off by that statement, and looked to the saiyan with confused expressions. "Whatdaya mean it won't technically be me who takes on that bug-brain?" Apple Bloom asked, hoping to clear the sudden confusion up. "I'll explain more tomorrow before we exit the Chamber." Goku said, an apologetic smile on his lips. "But for now, let's just say it will be you, but not you. It'll also be Goten...but not Goten..." This only made the two of them manage to look even more puzzled than a few seconds before; what the heck was Goku talking about? "Heh, try not to think to hard on it. Like I said, I'll explain more tomorrow." With that, the mighty saiyan raised on Earth walked off, humming a little tune. Goten and Apple Bloom looked at each other, but just shrugged; they were happy to be in each other's company for the time being. If things were to be revealed the next day, then why worry? "This'll be our last night before the big fight, Apple Bloom." Goten said, just a little serious. "Are you ready?" "I'm ready as I'll ever be." The anthropomorphic southern mare answered. "But, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep knowing that..." "I know what you mean.." Goten agreed. "I doubt sparring will do much more than get us even more pumped for it. What can we do?" Apple Bloom pondered a few things, and then blushed hard when her little mind brought up one way to burn night energy. She didn't know if she would be any good at it, but both her mind and her body told her she just had to try it; besides, this could be the last chance the would get, her and he. "I...I think I know one way..." She shyly stated, putting a finger between her teeth. * * * Luna and Sapphic continued to bounce blow after blow off of each other as they furiously battled in the royal courtyard, or rather, what remained of it. Walkways torn asunder, flowers burning and dying; the place looked like a fallout zone. The rest of Canerlot looked no better as blood from both sides stained the streets, and bodies piled up all over. Sapphic glanced at Celestia; the regal alicorn had just been standing there, her horn tilted up with her head as if she were a snobby statue. What in the world was she doing? Healing herself? Little use that would be. Luna had always been the tougher of the two; Celestia's pride must ave made her say that she was more important than Luna, and sent the younger alicorn to hold him off. In that fleeting moment, he felt for the dark blue goddess. But it was just that; a fleeting moment. Luna charged forward again, and Sapphic smacked her to the side. Se rolled a ways, but got back on her footing quickly. The two stared at each other, and Luna tried to stop shaking so violently. Her poor body wasn't doing so well under the times three Kaioken; it was tearing her apart to keep it active so long, and the changeling prince figured she was going to kill herself if she kept the aura up too much longer. He dropped his fighting stance for a moment, and looked the princess of the night in the eyes. "You know, Luna," He started. "it's a shame that your sister thinks of you as no more than a distraction to save her from immediate death. She knows I will kill you, and she's using that time that we're fighting to save her own selfish rump." "You...do not....speak...of..our....sister..." Luna breathlessly spat back. "She...does...what is...needed for...all of...Equestria..." "So using you as a scapegoat is best? Please." The disfigured tyrant scoffed. "This just proves how low she'll stoop to keep herself in power. If she were smart, she'd take the fall while you, the warrior of the two, healed. Yet, here you are tearing yourself up for her. Pity." Luna's eye flashed white again as he began to stir her ire; the lies h was trying to use against her were not working, but they were upsetting her. Nopony could insult her elder sister and get away with it. "You...have...no idea...what she does...or is doing..." The dark alicorn retorted as her legs nearly collapsed under her. "I know she's using you." Sapphic said bluntly. "Trust me, I now. I used those six dopes back on Earth to try and gather the Dragon Balls for me. They served their purpose, at least most of them, and then I had no further use for them. I guess Goku helped with the discarding part." "Wha--?" "Nothing. Point is, I'm a user, and I now users. She's using you as nothing more than a tool for her survival. Trust me..." She didn't trust him; she wouldn't rust him. She knew Celestia was building energy for the Spirit Bomb, and Luna was doing this of her own free will. She swore, though, if the grotesque monster before her said what he was leading up to-- "Just kill her, and then we can have a true battle." That was it. With a defiant yell, a massive upsurge in black magic suddenly came out of nowhere. Sapphic actually flinched a little, not expecting this turn of events; what even was happening? The dark matter swirled around the princess of the night, and became an orb of pitch black nothingness. It sat like an eggshell around Luna, and when it hatched, Sapphic actually dropped into a defensive stance. The legends were true afterall; Luna really was Nightmare Moon. Nightmare landed gracefully, no longer shaking form the effects of Kaioken x3. She was practically in a new body; one much thinner, taller, and noticeably more powerful than her normal one. The black magic he sensed within her was enormous, and just to look into her soul scorching eyes was enough to make the changeling tyrant take an involuntary step back. Celestia watched on from her place as she gathered energy; her expression showing just how desperately she was trying to build up the bomb. "Ponies all over Equestria, if you can hear me, I need you to raise your hooves to the sky and give me some of your energy!" She could feel it coming in waves nearly right away, but to draw more from the plants and animals would take time; time she prayed Luna would have. Her subconscious mind reminded her that that was not Luna before her; it was Nightmare Moon. "Now then," The frightening mare of darkness challenged. "let's see how the would-be king handles me! The Mare in the Moon; Nightmare Moon! Kaioken x4!!"