Ernest Saves Equestria

by Emerald Harp

Battle Above the Clouds

Lurking in the shadows unbeknownst to the trolls was a black cloud of magic. The tiny nimbus hovered above the floor watching the victorious trolls collect their wooden trophies. The cloud momentarily turned its attention to the fallen robot in the center of the room. “Such a waste,” it thought. The Pony of Shadow’s mouth twisted in disgust. With but a thought from the alicorn, the cloud glided to get a better view of the metal guardian. She could have used this steel golem, subverting its will with her own. It would have made a more suitable vessel then these near mindless tree monsters.

The Pony of Shadows considered leaving her barrier up to prevent the more magically inclined trolls from teleporting away from the hospital. She smiled, imagining the looks on their ugly dumb faces. She very much doubted that they had any inclination that she had been watching them this whole time. Channeling her power through her vaporous spy, the Pony of Shadows brought down the black walls of magic surrounding the hospital. Moments later the panicked ponies outside bucked open the doors and stormed down the stairs to see if their children were still protected.

The trolls laughed, their hideous cackling bounced off and through the halls of the hospital’s basement to the ears of the worried parents. The monsters snapped their fingers and they were gone, taking all the foals with them.

Poised over the place of healing like an angel of death the black alicorn summoned the parts of her she had detached to watch the trolls. Like a mother calling her young, the magic returned and her strength grew.

A sonic boom heralded the arrival of her foe. The Pony of Shadows felt the air displacement from her nemesis’s arrival before she heard the sound. Princess Luna shot past her evil twin and dove through one of the closed windows of the hospital. The black alicorn smirked at her sister’s recklessness and looked forward to her heartbreak. She was far too late. It did not take long for the Princess of the Night to reemerge from the basement’s nursery. Luna soared right up to Nightmare Moon until they were but a few inches apart. “Where. Are. They?” The Princess bit off each word like they were the heads of the troll she despised.

Nightmare Moon’s eyebrows rose. “And there it is. There’s the rage that made Equestria quake for many a moon.” She laughed, “Oh, how I’ve missed this. I would tell you how boring it is to be trapped somewhere for a thousand years, but I think you know how it is. We’re the same, after all.”

In reply Luna shot a beam of magic point blank right at the face of her twisted self.

The Pony of Shadows lazily turned her head away from the attack just barely dodging it. Her scarred mug leered at her twin. “Too slow.”

A trace of a grin emerged on Luna’s mouth. “Am I?”

A fresh cut opened on Nightmare Moon’s forehead just above the eye. The wound bled freely, blurring the twisted alicorn’s vision in obsidian blood. The Pony of Shadows licked at the wound with an overly long tongue and savored the flavor. She shuttered, “How long has it been since somepony had wounded us? Nopony better suited for the job than ourselves, eh Luna?”

“Where are the ch---”

“The Tree of Harmony,” answered the Pony of Shadows absently. “Or as I like to call it, the troll works. Dolls go in, trolls drop down, except one gets far far more trolls for the price of a few foals. More bang for the bit as the riff raff would say.”

Luna spread her wings and attempted to fly straight into the heart of the Everfree Forest. But her evil doppelganger blocked her way. “Have you’ve ever considered becoming Nightmare Moon again?”

“Get out of my way!” snarled the Princess. She whirled around and aimed her hind legs to deliver a bone-shattering buck to her dark clone.

The Pony of Shadows created a black shield just in time to keep her breastbone from breaking. Her magic sundered underneath Luna’s hooves, but the dark alicorn recovered quickly. Using ancient words of power, Nightmare Moon’s horn and eyes turned the color of the deepest void. With this dark magic, she conjured shackles that bound the legs and wings of her do-gooding twin. Princess Luna plummeted to the ground, struggling to free herself as she fell. Before she could crash through the unforgiving roof of the hospital, Nightmare Moon encompassed the blue alicorn with her black magic. Slowly, Luna was raised several hundred feet off the ground.

Nightmare Moon grinned at her twin. “You’ve grown strong, Princess. Think of how strong you’ll be once we are united again.”

Luna glared back and for the first time actually took notice of the other alicorn’s burned features. She calmed herself with a deep breath and considered her predicament. Her mind searched and found a solution but she would need an opening. “How did you escape the castle? And what happened to your face?”

The smile on the black pony’s face melted into a frown. “It appears troll saliva takes a long time to heal. Courtesy of Rotnart, if you must know. I do so hope I get another chance to end his miserable life before somepony else does.” The Pony of Shadows looked thoughtfully at Luna. “I’d say that we would both find common ground in wanting that troll gone. But I’d probably be mistaken since he released you from your wooden prison.”

Luna’s face remained impassive but mentally she cursed herself for a fool. Nightmare Moon had spies everywhere. The princess shrugged as much as her bindings would allow. “Rotnart knows which way the winds of fate are blowing. He has realized that the troll empire of the Old World will not be resurrected this night.”

Nightmare Moon chuckled exposing her canine teeth. “That is where we disagree, sweet sister. Judging from the mewling and wailing of our subjects, the trolls have made off with just about all the foals left in this town. Let us say they ran off with no more than twenty sweet innocent children. How many trolls do you think that would make? The Tree of Harmony managed to produce about a hundred mutant hell-spawn with three dolls, Discord, and a young squirrel.”

The dark blue alicorn’s eyes widened ever so slightly. She had wondered about Discord’s whereabouts; things had been far too quite recently. Now she knew why. She could feel something dark and uncomfortable at the outskirts of her psyche, slowly worming its way forward through her mind. She knew the risk involved in summoning her familiar into the material plane, but it had to be done. One way or another there would be one ruler of the night still standing when the sun rose.

The Pony of Shadows continued. “As for how I, the remnant of your true self escaped that wretched castle, I had some help. You see when Rotnart’s brother started the process of corrupting the Tree of Harmony into what it is now, he released every evil spirit, ghost, and ghoul for miles and miles around, including yours truly. But unfortunately those phantoms did not have enough of a physical presence in the material plane to keep from getting swept up and used to power and change the tree. Can’t you feel it, sister? The air is charged with the souls of long dead miscreants, most of them are being pulled to the Tree of Harmony like lambs to the slaughter.”

Luna winced not at her doppelgangers words but at the splitting migraine tearing through her skull. The Tantibus could taste its freedom after being imprisoned for so long. It could not escape through the Princess’s horn so it was now seeking other ways of egress. A cold sweat broke out on the Night Ruler’s brow. She blinked and took a deep breath. “What do you mean most of them are being pulled to the Tree of Harmony? What’s happening to the others?”

Nightmare Moon eyed her twin curiously. “Come now, sister, how do you think I am able to best and imprison you like this? The trolls are not the only ones who can capture ghosts. All I have to do is enter the dream world and . . . how do the riff-raff put it? Chow down.”

The princess groaned in agony. Black blood dripped from her nose onto her shackled hooves.

“What is the meaning of this?” asked The Pony of Shadows. “Are you unwell, sister?”

Luna couldn’t answer. The Tantibus was breaking free, crashing its way through the alicorn’s body. The captured pony wept blackness from her eyes, ears, and mouth. The Night Princess convulsed and gagged as best as her shackles would allow.

The Pony of Shadows was unsettled by the display of agony. She backed away from her twin. “What is happening?” asked the evil pony.

With a violent final heave the Tantibus was vomited forth. The creature easily pierced the gossamer thin veil encircling Luna and absorbed the magically constructed shackles binding the pony’s hooves and wings. The Tantibus was just a ball of black space highlighted by shining stars, but soon Luna’s familiar took a more well known shape after consuming the concentrated magic.

The Princess barely had the energy to flap her cramped wings to keep her airborne. She grimly watched her tormenter who had plagued her for so many nights transform into another copy of herself.

For a moment the trinity of alicorns stared at each other in fascination. In spite of the dreadful events that had happened in the hospital short moments ago, the mourning townsfolk took note of what was happening above them. The pegasi flew to Luna’s side to help their Princess, but the dark blue alicorn shook off their concerns and questions. “Stay back, my faithful subjects. This is my battle and mine alone.”

The Tantibus fixed The Pony of Shadows with a predator’s stare and moments later turned that eyeless gaze on Luna. Briefly the monster considered the many pegasi that flew with their Princess. The construct snorted derisively and let out a monstrous screech. The creature made its choice when it charged straight at Luna’s evil twin.

Nightmare Moon summoned as much energy as she could. She hastily aimed her horn at this new enemy and fired. Her magic struck home against the creature’s chest but the monster kept coming. Not only did Luna’s construct absorb the magic, it now looked bigger and stronger. The Pony of Shadows had barely enough time to dodge the monster’s attack. The wings of the creature had transformed into keen razors in the blink of an eye. If she had been any slower, she would have been staring up at her flapping torso from her severed head. The twisted alicorn took a second to look at Luna in terror. The other alicorn stared back without remorse or pity. The Pony of Shadows in her wildest dream would not have thought her weaker self able to conjure something so diabolical. But in that moment she realized just how horribly wrong she was.

The Pony of Shadows turned and fled into the night sky as fast as she could. The Tantibus was there waiting for her. She banked, dove, and climbed as fast as she could, but no matter what she did she could not lose the monster that stalked her. At last the Pony of Shadows stopped and unleashed her magic in all directions, trying to hit the beast. Ponies in the air and on the ground dove out the way of the fragmented magic but none came close to damaging the Tantibus.

The small sliver of Nightmare Moon looked all around her and could not see her foe until she looked up. The twisted alicorn had enough time to draw breath but not enough to scream.

********************************************************************************************************

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pip slowly made their way down the dark streets of Ponyville. Moving from cover to cover the four little ponies took refuge at the mouth of an alleyway.

“Do y’all see anything?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Nope,” said Scootaloo.

“Uh-uh,” declared Sweetie Belle.

“Narp,” answered Pipsqueak.

“Okay, we’re almost there. Just a few more blocks and . . .” A loud crash echoed behind the little ponies before the country filly could finish talking.

The four ponies whirled around and trained their weapons on whatever was trying to sneak up on them.

Illuminated in the street light was a wooden troll frozen in the act of kicking a garbage can. The creature looked unsure whether to pick the can up or to keep moving.

Scootaloo let out an exasperated sigh and lowered her weapon. “What the hay, Rotnart? Are you going to do that all night?” hissed the small Pegasus. Her wings fluttered angrily as she spoke. “The goal is to get to the hospital without every stupid troll trying to find us.”

Rotnart gave the pony an annoyed look as he clumsily made his way over to hide near the girls. The wooden golem hunkered down behind a dimly lit park bench and waited.

“Hey, take it easy on him,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “He’s on our side now.”

Scootaloo sighed, “I know, I know.” The orange pony turned her attention to the roiling skies above the hospital. A massive storm brewed in the heavens and every so often the Pegasus could see a flash of lightning illuminating the shadows of two great ponies locked in combat. “I’m just worried about the Princess.”

“Aye, you’re not the only one,” Pipsqueak said mournfully. “But if anyone can beat the Pony of Shadows, it’s her.”

The Crusaders nodded.

“Let’s keep moving,” ordered the earth pony. “Rotnart, why don’t you stay in the middle? Scootaloo and I will go first and Sweetie Belle and Pipsqueak will bring up the rear.”

The troll shrugged his wooden shoulders and nodded.

The alley was wide enough for the small ponies to walk two abreast. The two fillies upfront cautiously made their way down the narrow street, their hoof-falls echoing off the tall residential hovels. When they were far enough ahead of the clumsy troll, Scootaloo leaned over to Applebloom and asked. “What are we going to do with Rotnart? We can’t just bring him to the hospital where everypony else is, can we?”

Applebloom looked over her shoulder at the gangly troll. Whatever Rotnart had done to free Princess Luna had not only cost him his body but his ability to speak. In spite of him being the cause of the mess Ponyville was in, the little Earth Pony felt sorry for the troll. The filly rolled her friend’s question around in her mind and could not find any good options. “I don’t know. We probably should have left him back at the library, but . . .”

“It didn’t feel right,” finished Scootaloo. “I know.”

The pair of armed ponies silently passed the dark windows of the apartments. Applebloom nervously gazed up at the glass panes. It was not hard for her to imagine a leering troll behind each window ready to pounce. She kept her fears to herself, but a few steps later she heard Scootaloo whisper, “Oh great, what’s he doing now?” She looked behind to see Rotnart staring into one of the buildings. The earth pony bit back her angry words, but it took some effort. This was not a good place to stop. The ponies gathered around him.

“What’s up?” asked Applebloom.

The troll pointed into the building.

“Is something in there?” asked Sweetie Belle.

The troll raised his shoulders and hands in the universal gesture for “I have no clue.”

“But you bloody well saw something, didn’t ya?” asked Pipsqueak.

The troll nodded.

Applebloom squinted into the windows of the apartment in question. She shook her head and turned away. “We can’t stay here. We’ll come back for . . .”

From the other side of the alley came the sound of shattering glass. From the corner of her eye the earth pony saw a small monster smash its way head first through the hopper windows of the apartment behind them. The troll was flying at her like one of Scootaloo’s rockets. Time slowed. It was like Applebloom was moving through molasses as she fumbled to bring her weapon to bear on the maniacal troll. Her lips quivered in dread; she knew that the troll would be on top of her before she could shoot. Before the troll could lay its black finger nails on the pony, a wooden barrier interposed itself between the hunter and its prey. Applebloom heard the thunk of the troll hitting her shield quickly followed by a thud when the concussed troll hit the ground. Pipsqueak was ready and delivered the coup de grâce to the stunned troll.

Before the earth pony could fully comprehend what had just happened, other trolls were making their presence known. Many of the larger trolls whooped and howled as they dove off the three-story rooftops to land in the pony’s midst. The Crusaders turned and shot some of the falling monsters into piles of goo before their feet could touch the ground. Applebloom got a hold of herself and took hasty potshots at the raining creatures. But all the while the image of Rotnart saving her from a wooden fate would not leave her mind. From the doorway of the apartment she and her friends were investigating moments before, another of the smaller trolls appeared. The snarling creature snapped its fingers. The next thing the filly knew she was squeezing a tube of toothpaste. She looked around to see Scootaloo fling her bottle of moisturizer at the nearest troll and yell, “Let’s get the hay out of here!”

The Crusaders didn’t need any more encouragement. The four ponies dashed down the alleyway, but someone was missing from their group. Applebloom skidded to a halt. She whirled around to see Rotnart staring down the squad of ambushing trolls.

“Rotnart!” cried Appleboom.

Some of the larger trolls tried to get around their former king, but the wooden golem stood firm and lashed out at anyone that tried to get past him. Many of the trolls stared dumb-founded at their wooden kin, not believing their eyes. Their shared memory said that this was their missing king, brother of Rabuf, heir of Rotnart. Why was he helping the ponies and why did he bear the wood curse? One of the trolls shook his head and shouted a savage war cry. The roar broke the trolls from their stunned reprieve. As one, they charged Rotnart overwhelming the king with weight of numbers until he disappeared underneath a pile of muscle, mucus, and madness.

Applebloom turned her head away from the sight and stifled a whimper. The other Crusaders grabbed the faltering earth pony and half carried her down the narrow road. Some of the more observant trolls bounded after them. Four little ponies was too good of a quarry to just let slip away.

Applebloom shook off the hooves of the others and ran. She could almost feel the hot breath of their pursuers on her neck. They were almost out of the alley. Just another hop, skip, and a jump as Pinkie Pie would have said. She kept running until five figures silhouetted by a street lamp blocked the exit. One of the dark newcomers was much taller than the others. He stood on two legs where his companions were on all fours. As Applebloom got closer she could spot that the tall creature was wearing blue jeans, a denim vest, and sporting a plain-looking twill cap. The pony’s heart caught in her throat when she recognized who it was.

A familiar voice echoed down the alley, “Friends, Romans, ponyfolk lend me your milk.”

The air was filled with dairy of all kinds. Milk, butter, and ice-cream whizzed by the ears of the ponies.

The earth pony’s smile nearly reached her ears as she stared up at the tall human. “Ernest!” she cried.

Comments

[StarzGecko]

Yay new chapter!!

[HIEfan]

Ernest has enterd the fray, prepare to feel his milky wrath evil doers!

[Emerald Harp]

10651307
Yep with more to come.

10651373
Thanks.

10653482
Indeed.

[StarzGecko]

10654002

Oh wow the story is almost 7 years old

[DullDragon2070]

Rejoice, Equestria!

The Great Redneck Hope has returned!

Ernest can help turn the tide against the trolls, but how will he fare against the Tantibus?

[Emerald Harp]

10654063
Time flys when you're having fun.

10654100
Good question.

[I aint no damn brownie]

Great chapter, as always.

[Emerald Harp]

10681778
Thanks, bud