Friendship is Power: The Nightmare Returns

by Aiyonbeam

Chapter 7: Making Progress

Celestia

As I led the new Element bearers to the first Trial Room, I mused over what had happened the previous morning.
I'd just raised the sun when I heard Luna scream from her chambers. When I'd rushed over there, she was staring at her reflection in a mirror by her bed. As I'd looked at her reflection, I'd gasped in shock. Her reflection had turned into Nightmare Moon. It had scared her half to death, seeing as she'd had some strange nightmare just before. I'd calmed her down, and the reflection had changed back into my sister within a matter of minutes.

Whatever this means, it can't be good. As much as Luna might think I don't trust her now, I need to stick with her. She needs my support more than ever.

I was so distracted I hardly noticed when we stopped.

"Ah, yes." I said, looking at the door and nodding. "Here we are. The first Trial Room."

The six of them looked at me, obviously confused.

"Let me show you." I said, opening the door and stepping inside.

I flicked the light switch, and revealed the room I was now standing in.
It was a small room made of tile, with several rather comfortable armchairs dotted about the room. However, this was not the special thing about the room. One wall was comprised of super strong glass, with a door set in the middle, locked and bolted from outside.

Good thing, too, considering what happens in this room.

I thought back to when me and Luna discovered this room. We'd foolishly opened the door in the glass and stepped inside. When we finally came out, we weren't the same. We were stronger, yes, but that strength had come at a price. We'd expected a few days of relaxation to recover, but the dragons had attacked the next day, cutting our rest short.
Luna spoke to the group then, and I started paying attention.

"Beyond this glass wall is the first of three Trial Rooms. Each one has a profound and powerful enchantment placed upon it. When the change happened, many rooms like this were added to Canterlot Castle. There are rooms that can and will kill you if you're not extremely careful - this being one of them - so I urge you not to explore without either me or my sister accompanying you. Do you understand?"

They nodded. I decided to add to the explanation.

"This room has a rather interesting enchantment." I said. "Once you enter, the door locks behind you. Then, the room scans your heart, your mind, your memories; everything about you. Then it finds the person you respect most and creates an apparition of them."

"That apparition then tries its very best to kill you." Luna finished. "The only way out of the room is to defeat the apparition; no small feat, I assure you."

"Now for your first assignment." I said, walking towards the door.

"You are to step through the door and go through the first trial one at a time. In the process of defeating the person you respect most, you will discover the Element you possess."

Luna stepped forward, approaching the group.

"Do not worry; the person you will face is merely an apparition. It is not the real person you respect the most. In addition, the person or people it conjures up is only as strong as you are; by improving your skills and finding your Element, you will surely succeed."

I started unlocking the five latches on the door.

"If you get scared, or start to think that the person you're fighting is the real thing, just look at this wall." I said, rapping the glass a couple of times with my knuckles. "We'll all be right here rooting for you, even though you won't be able to hear us; the room is soundproof." I said.

"Now, which one of you will enter first?" Luna asked.

There was a long pause.

"Well, this is what I signed up for, isn't it?" Scootaloo finally said. "I guess nobody else is going to take the initiative if I don't. I'll go first, seeing as I already know who's going to appear."

She stepped towards the door.

"Thank you, Scootaloo." I said. "Good luck. And don't worry. You're going to do just fine."
She stepped into the room, the door shutting and locking itself behind her.

Good luck, Scootaloo.

Scootaloo

What have I gotten myself into?

As I stepped into the room, I heard the door lock behind me with a 'click.' It had an air of finality to it.
I closed my eyes as I heard some faint noises come from in front of me.

Don't worry. It's just the room finding out who I respect most. It's a good thing I know where she is, otherwise I might start to believe it's actually Rainbow Dash.

Sure enough, when I looked up, she was standing in front of me, arms crossed, with a small smile on her face. She had her iron boots on, and the spikes gleamed dully in the light of the room.

It sure looks like her.

"'Sup, Dash?" I said, mimicking her crossed arms.

"Yo, pipsqueak." It said.

It sounds just like her, too. This must be some spell.

"Are we gonna fight, or what?" I asked, putting on my gloves.

"Sure. You ready?" She replied, slowly floating upwards.

It even has her attitude.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright, then."

She flew at me then, her boots swinging in from the side. I caught them on my right glove, the metal making a ringing sound as it hit my arm.

Ow!

My arm was hurting from the force of that kick.

She's a powerhouse! How am I supposed to beat that?

I started flying, rising up just in time to dodge the kick she launched at my legs.
I flew around the room, just barely dodging her savage kicks and occasional punches.

I have to fight back!

I started taking her kicks with my gauntlets, the metal ringing every time the boots and gloves collided. After a while, I noticed there was a pattern forming.

A kick to the left, a kick to the right, a kick with both feet, two punches, and a spinning kick from the right.
I took the first two blows with the gloves, then dodged to the right to avoid the two-footed kick. The second punch hit me in the jaw, but I didn't flinch.

Here it comes. Time to strike.

I ducked under the spinning kick, then flew in close and nailed her with an uppercut to the jaw.
She rose a few inches in the air, then reeled back.

"You're not as pathetic as I thought, kid." she sneered.

Ignore the insults. She's not really Rainbow Dash.

We circled each other, looking for an opening.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or are you just too tired to talk, pinprick?"

She flew at me, flipping at the last second and bringing the heel of her right boot down towards my head.
I grabbed her boot, and flung her towards the glass wall, where she hit it with an audible thud.

"All right, now that you've proven you're not completely useless, I'm going to stop holding back." The fake Rainbow Dash said.
The next few minutes were a blur of crashes and whooshes, of motion and heat and the ring of boot against gauntlet.

I'm not doing too bad, considering this is one of the first time's I've fought.

Then one of Rainbow Dash's boots collided with the side of my head and sent me flying into a wall.

On second thought, maybe I'm not so good...

My head was swimming, and I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.
Another boot collided with my head, sending me to the floor.

This isn't good.

Rainbow Dash landed in front of me and started pummeling me with kick after kick after kick.

"Aww, what's the matter, half-pint? Can't take a couple of hits? Pathetic, that's what you are. Absolutely pathetic."

My back was against a wall now. Rainbow Dash kicked a few times, backed off a few feet to avoid any counterattacks, and repeated, hitting me relentlessly over and over and over and over and over again.

"I can't believe I ever brought you under my wing."

I concentrated on blocking, trying to keep from being caught off guard.

Ignore her. Focus on the fight.

"You'll never be good enough, Scootaloo. You'll never be like me. You'll always just be standing in my shadow, watching as I zoom away."

I was starting to get my strength back, blocking more blows, even punching her once or twice, but the insults, the taunts... They were getting to me. I was fighting a losing battle and I knew it.

"I can't believe you have any friends, pathetic little loser that you are."

I fought back tears at the insults. I knew they weren't coming from the real Rainbow Dash herself, but the room had scanned my memories, my mind, my heart. They carried a grain of truth, and that made them sting all the more painfully.

"Did you seriously think I ever thought of you as a sister?"

I stopped, shocked and hurt. Even if this Rainbow Dash was fake, the words hurt like red-hot needles. Rainbow Dash stopped kicking and punching, and approached me slowly, a satisfied smirk on her face. She calmly grabbed my hands and took off my gauntlets, throwing them to the side, and punched me in the face.
I slumped to the ground, pain exploding in my head.

"Look at you. Absolutely pathetic. I guess you're not what the princesses wanted after all."

Tears came to my eyes.

Rainbow Dash...I-I...I'm sorry.

I looked over at the princesses, behind that glass wall that blocked out any sound, and saw them smiling back at me. Celestia looked at the fake Rainbow Dash and nodded to me.
That one nod was all it took for me to realize how silly I'd been.

Of course I'm the one they wanted. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here.

I looked over at Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. They smiled, and Sweetie belle waved, and said something. I couldn't hear it, but it looked like 'You can do it, Scootaloo!'

No matter what, my friends have got my back. And I'm gonna teach this room a lesson: never mess with me or my friends. Period.

"You're a pathetic little twerp who'll never amou-"

Her next insult was cut off as my gauntlet slammed into her gut. She staggered back, clutching her stomach, and I stood up.

"Whatever you are... However you got those words... I'm going to take them and shove them down your throat." I said, raising my fists.

There was a flickering light in the room now. Something was there. Something new. Something bright.
I looked around the room, trying to find the source of the glowing.
I looked at the fake Rainbow Dash, still struggling to breathe. She was staring at my fists, still clenched in rage.
I looked down at my hands.
They were on fire.
My hands were fine, as far as I could feel. There was something else. They were on fire, but they weren't burning. I felt fine. Great, actually. I felt energized.

"Wha-what are you?" Rainbow Dash asked, finally managing a weak breath.

"I'm Scootaloo." I said. "Rainbow Dash's honorary sister. And you're going down."

Just one punch. That's all I need to do. All I need to hit her with to beat her. To end this.
I walked towards her and grabbed her by the neck, raising her into the air. I clenched my fist and prepared to strike her down, the fire making a faint trail as I moved my hand.
I punched.
Rainbow Dash flew into the air with the force of the uppercut I delivered to her jaw. She hit the ceiling with a crack and fell to the ground. Her head was at a weird angle.

No.

I stepped over to her, saw her face.

No. No. This can't... No!

She was dead.

"I-I didn't mean to- I just- I-I..." My voice trailed off as I realized what I'd done.

I just... killed... the fake Rainbow Dash.

I heard footsteps behind me as someone ran into the room.

"Scootaloo! Are you all right?"

It was Princess Celestia. She looked at me, now on my knees, then looked at fake Rainbow Dash.

"Oh..." She said, realizing what'd happened.

She gave a low chuckle as she picked up my gauntlets from where the fake had thrown them.

How can she laugh when I've just...

She half carried, half dragged me out of the room and sat me down on one of the armchairs facing the glass. I could still see her, see her body lying there on the ground, see her face staring at me, all the life drained from it.
I saw the body disappear in a small flash of light, and remembered what they'd said.
I burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry for scaring you guys there." I said, standing up. "I actually thought I'd killed someone, even if it was a fake person. I'm good now, though." I turned to Princess Celestia.

"So, I guess I've got..."

"It would seem so. Congratulations, Scootaloo." She said, turning me to face the others and putting a hand on my shoulder. "You have passed the first trial and have discovered your Element: Fire!"

It was kinda like how I'd imagined getting my cutie mark would be.
I sat back down, utterly drained from the whole experience.

"All right. Who's next?"

Vinyl

This is gonna be an interesting fight.

I'd stood up.

"I'll go. It's time to test my skills." I'd said. "I'm ready to see what I'm made of."

As I stepped into the room the door closing behind me, a million thoughts ran through my head.

Who am I gonna fight? Octavia? The princesses? Twilight or one of her friends? My DJ friends? I can't really think of anyone I respect most out of all the people I've met.

I was so distracted I hadn't noticed the person standing in front of me until she spoke.

"We gonna get on with this or what?"

I looked up.

That answered that question, then. Standing in front of me was... me. She was dressed just like me, down to the headphones on her head and the katana belted at her hip. She grinned.

"This is going to be a very interesting fight." she said, drawing my katana. I did the same. We stood there, staring at each other - or, rather, ourselves - for a few minutes.

the other me charged, and I just managed to raise my katana to block the blow she was aiming at my head. The clone swung several blows, arcing in from many different directions, keeping my on my toes, putting her on the defensive.

Man, I'm a tough fighter.

I dove out of the way of the next attack, the clone's katana slashing through the air where my head had been moments ago.

I'm a ruthless fighter, too.

Several blows pounded on my katana, and a couple slipped past, raking long, shallow, painful cuts down my chest.

I'm gonna kill myself if I keep this up for much longer. I've gotta find an opening somewhere...

As the fight went on, she scored several small hits on me, making painful cuts that made it harder to attack.

What do I do? I can't fight back. She's too fast. unless...

I took another several blows, then jumped to the side just as another blow was going to hit.

Come on, think like I would...

As I'd expected, she turned to face me, blocking any chance of an attack. However, this left an opening for me to leap backwards, out of range.

I started stepping backwards until I was a good ten feet from the other me.

"Wow. How am I such a suckish fighter?" she said.

"Well, I wouldn't beat myself up about it if I were you." I replied.

Then I threw my katana.

The double slashed the katana out of the air with ease, but she was so distracted by the fact that I'd thrown my weapon that she failed to see the uppercut that hit her square in the jaw, sending the clone a few inches into the air.

Just like Scootaloo.

I followed up with some rapid punches and jabs, all of them thudding into the clone's chest and stomach, knocking the wind out of her.
She lay on the ground, disarmed, gasping for breath as I stood over her and picked up my katana from where it'd landed.
I raised my katana, ready to strike.
Out of desperation, the other me picked up her katana from where she'd dropped it and stabbed at me, managing to sink the tip of my katana a few inches into my gut.
I staggered backwards, shocked and in pain.

How... How did I manage to do that? I was winded. I was battered. I was winning.

I got up, brushing myself off as I tried to stem the flow of blood from the wound. The pain was unbearable. I was hurting all over. My arms and legs felt like they were on fire. Sweat was dripping into the wounds, making them hurt twice as much.

"You had me going there. I thought I was a goner for a second. But it's all over now."

I have to do something!

I dropped my katana, using both hands to hold my stomach as the clone started walking towards me, a grim smile on my face as she prepared for the final blow.

It can't end like this. But it hurts... It hurts really bad. I need to push past it. Fight. I need to fight back!

I stopped holding my stomach and tackled the doppelganger, landing on top of her. However, she quickly regained her wits, rolled over, and started pummeling me, savagely beating me in the face over and over again.

I thought I'd caught myself off guard. Is this it? Am I dead?

"No."

My arm shot out, almost of its own accord, and grabbed one of the katanas that'd dropped nearby. Bringing my arm in front of me, I slammed the hilt of the blade into the clone's face.
She fell backwards, blood dripping from her nose, and started crawling backwards as fast as she could.

"I'm not gonna let some clone kick my butt." I said, staggering forward, katana in hand. "If I'm going down, I'm going down fighting." I raised my katana to fight myself, and saw that my katana was enveloped by a black aura, flickering like dark fire.

What's up with my katana? What Element does this mean I have?

I continued staggering towards the imitation me, my katana ablaze with black flames, and lowered the tip of it until it was pointing at her.
I saw the fear in her - no, this wasn't a clone anymore now that I was an Element user - its eyes, and out of all the things I could've felt at that exact moment, I felt pity. Pity for this...this whatever-it-was that was just doing what it was made for.
"You know, as much as I want to," I said. "I can't kill you."
I thrust, the katana burying itself to the hilt in the wall next to Vinyl 1.0, and kicked it in the face as hard as I could. It slumped to the ground, its head hitting the tile, and it was over. The katana disappeared in a flash of light, as did the thing.

Huh. I guess I picked up her katana, not mine. Well, I've defeated myself. What now?

I heard a click as the door unlocked, and I half limped, half staggered in, still bleeding from dozens of cuts, not to mention the pretty big wound in my stomach, and looked at my friends and the princesses. To my surprise, it wasn't Celestia but Luna who walked towards me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Congratulations, Vinyl." she said, looking down at me with a smile. "You have passed the first trial and discovered your Element: Shadow."
Then the world spun, everything went dark, and I think I fell down.

Time Turner

We took a small break while the princesses patched up the wounds Vinyl'd made in herself, and we returned to the room 49 minutes and 36 seconds later.

"Well, so far we've discovered that I've got Shadow and Scootaloo's got Fire." Vinyl said, wincing as she sat down in one of the chairs. "So who's up next?"

I wonder which Element I've got? Light, maybe? Earth seems a bit too... violent to fit me. Maybe Lightning? I don't exactly know what they entail. Maybe I've got Ice. Who knows?

"I guess I'll go next," I said, walking towards the door. "But I don't have a weapon, and I can't fight hand-to-hand like Scootaloo."

Luna unlocked it, and as I stepped inside, Celestia said, "Good luck, Time Turner. I am sure you'll find a way to win without fighting."

I stepped into the middle of the room, and waited. After 1 minute and 33 seconds, two figures appeared in front of me.

I hope she's right, because right now, I'm screwed.

Celestia and Luna drew their weapons.
I gulped.
They charged.

Luna

I was walking to sit on an armchair when I heard the others gasp in shock.

"What is the matter?"

I turned around to see the people that had appeared in the room.

That is not good. Very, very definitely not good.

"It appears we have made a mistake in bringing him here." I said. "Even as untrained as we are, we're still alicorns. He will not make it out alive, I'm afraid."

"I guess he respected you two a whole lot." Sweetie Belle put in. "And equally, too."

Celestia looked over at me and smiled slightly.

"Well, that's awfully nice of him." she said. "Believe it or not, there's a chance he could win this. Like Luna said earlier, they're only as strong as the person inside the room is. If he's smart..."

"And careful." Vinyl added.

"And really, really lucky." Octavia said.

"He might make it out alive." Celestia finished.

I took a seat next to Vinyl.

"Hey, Luna, what's that on the far wall?" she asked me, pointing to said wall, which had a round door set in the center.

"Scootaloo pointed it out to me when we came back in."

"Ah. You two can see it? Then I was right." I said, turning to her. "As far as we can tell, the door only appears to those who have completed the first trial. Celestia can see it too. It leads to the next Trial Room."

"Do you know what's in there?"

"Another room quite like this one. Me and my sister have not taken the second trial yet. We have decided it would be better if we were stronger."

"But what if it's like this room," she said, looking at me. "Where whoever or whatever appears is just as strong as you are?"

I had not thought of that. I shall have to ask Celestia about that when I get the chance.

We sat in silence and watched the fight.

Time Turner

This isn't going too well.

I dodged a slicing katana for what must have been the hundredth time. I was too distracted trying to stay alive to keep precise track of time, but I knew it must have been about 5 minutes in. I'd escaped a few sticky situations where they'd nearly cornered me, but I'd managed to maneuver my way around them, taking minor injuries every time.

I've gotta find some way to beat them!

"Look at this, sis." Celestia's clone said. "He's so pathetic I don't even need my katana to beat him."

"I know, sister." the fake Luna said. "All he can do is run away."

They both sheathed their katanas and advanced towards me.

I might have a chance here.

"You're right." I said, hanging my head. "I can't fight. I'm not good with a blade, or any other kind of weapon."

They were advancing more slowly now, both of them smirking.

A little closer...

"In fact, I'm not good at much besides fixing dusty old clocks and watches and hourglasses." I continued. "I don't even know why I'm here. I'm not a hero. I'm nothing special. I'm just me."

They were in front of me now, laughing cruelly as I degraded myself for their amusement.

Now!

I leaped into action, grabbing Luna's katana from its sheath and activating my anklets, jumping over their heads - giving them a small kick as I did so - and landing on the other side of the room.

Let's hope I can remember some of what I saw Vinyl do in that session with Octavia.

"But I'm very, very clever." I finished.

They charged at me, Celestia drawing her katana, and I smiled despite it all.
I managed to hold my own with a katana despite no prior knowledge or training, but it wouldn't last very long, and I knew it. Celestia was attacking from every conceivable direction, and it was all I could do to block her without Luna adding punches and kicks every so often.

Time's running out, Turner. Think. Use that clever little brain of yours.

An idea struck. A stupid idea. A completely idiotic, absolutely crazy idea made of two parts adrenaline and several parts desperation.
I dropped the katana, the metal ringing against the tile floor.

"I give up. Kill me."

They stopped attacking, surprised at my sudden surrender.

Now!

I tackled the fake Celestia, the katana clattering to the floor as we slammed to the tiles. I heard Luna shout, and heard footsteps near where I'd dropped her katana

Let's just hope I'm strong enough for this...

I activated my anklets, flying slowly upwards before Luna could get to us. Celestia struggled in my arms, trying to break my grip on her, but I kept holding on until I was at the ceiling.

"Put me down!" she yelled, still trying to wriggle free. Then she realized what she'd said. "No, No. Wait. Don't put me down. Don't put me down!"

Sorry, Celestia.

"Too late!" I said, rushing towards the ground and dropping the struggling princess clone as I did so.

I hope she doesn't remember that she can fly too...

She didn't remember, or if she did, she didn't remember in time. She slammed into the ground headfirst, her neck making a cracking sound as it hit the tile.

That's one down. Now for-

My thoughts were cut off as a katana sliced towards my head. I quickly ducked under it and ran the other way, Luna chasing me around the room. It would've looked comical had I not been the one being chased. It was going well - as far as being chased by an angry fake princess whose sister you've just killed goes - when I tripped over Celestia.
I flew to the ground, and when I tried to get up, there was a foot on my chest. I looked up at Luna, who was standing over me, katana poised to strike.

This is it, I guess.
I concentrated, closing my eyes. I sensed Luna standing over me, katana raised. I tried to do something, anything that would get me out of this. I sensed something happen. A flash, or a pulse, a large burst of power, then nothing.

Just hurry up and kill me already!

Luna was certainly taking her sweet time finishing me off. I opened one eye, and both of them opened wide in shock.
She was standing perfectly still, like she was frozen. She was frozen! I looked at the katana mere inches from my chest.

Looks like whatever happened couldn't have happened at a better time.

I looked over at the glass. The others were frozen, too. Vinyl had a scared look on her face. The younger ones looked horrified. The real princesses and Octavia all looked worried.
Then something even weirder happened. Celestia started moving. It was hard to notice at first, but her chest was moving up and down. She was breathing. Then I saw her eyes move, then the rest of her. I checked to see if any of the others were moving. No, it seemed to be just the princess. She moved extremely slowly at first, then faster, and she turned to look at me and the fake Luna.
She tilted her head towards Luna's clone and mouthed something.

'You've got to escape. This won't last too long.'

'What's happening?' I mouthed back. 'What Element is this? How are you moving? Did I-'

'No time. Later. Escape. Beat her. We'll talk afterwards.'

I looked at the fake Luna.

How do I get out from under her?

I tried moving, and she moved surprisingly easily, as if she was just standing there. Then again, she was just standing there, but she'd looked - I don't know - heavier somehow now that she was frozen.

Now, how to beat her while everything's frozen? Somehow I don't think punching and kicking her will work. At least not without unfreezing her...

There was no other way around it. I had to kill her to leave.

Sorry, Luna.

I strode over to where the fake Celestia's katana was lying, and picked it up, heading back towards the fake Luna. She looked almost like she was taking a step, one foot in the air, a grimace on her face, katana raised to stab at where I used to be.

I looked at the real Celestia, and mouthed 'I'm sorry about this.'

I was behind Luna now, katana in hand. I located her heart.

Just one clean, quick stab.

The blade had just sunk into her back when everything started moving again. Luna didn't have time to register what'd happened before the blade pierced her heart. Everyone behind the wall except Celestia jumped, staring at me as Luna's clone slumped to the floor, dead.
The door unlocked, and I walked towards it, just as confused as the others.

Did I just stop time? What Element lets you stop time?

I stood there, exhausted, as Celestia walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Congratulations, Time Turner. You have passed the first trial and discovered your Element: Lightning!"

Lightning? What does that have to do with stopping time?

I looked at Celestia.

She looked at me, and whispered; "I'll explain everything later."

I slumped into one of the armchairs.

"Well, I'm glad that's over. Who wants to go next?" I said.

There was a long silence.

"I will." Applebloom volunteered.

"Well, we should stop for now." Celestia said. "It's getting late, and we should rest up and gather our strength. When you have all discovered your Element, we will begin training."

Celestia

So, that's three down.

Vinyl had Shadow, demonstrated by the aura that'd appeared around her sword, Scootaloo had Fire, as shown by her hands, and Time Turner had Lightning, as demonstrated by one of the unique abilities that Lightning users have. A time stop, in a way. I used this ability now as we stepped out of the Trial Room. I felt electricity course through me, increasing my reactions and moving me at speeds so fast that time seemed to stand still.

It's tiring, this power. I need to rest soon.

I made sure not to move while using the time stop, so when I unfroze time and walked with them, then didn't notice anything amiss. Luna stopped near the door to our chambers, and stood next to me, looking out the window over Canterlot as I used my magic to set the sun.

"He stopped time, didn't he?" She asked.

"It appears so."

"Such power so early... We'll have to watch him closely."

"Vinyl, too. Shadow is not to be taken lightly. If used wrong..." I shuddered.

Luna looked at me accusingly.

"Do you honestly think I'd ever believe you could let it get the best of you?" I said, nudging her with my elbow. "You're my sister. You're too stubborn for that."

She chuckled.

"What I wouldn't give to stop time." She said. "The things we could do together..."

She's starting to adjust. Maybe soon I can introduce her to the arcade in the west wing... We could have fun, like real sisters do.

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself, Luna. I might be able to stop time, but it takes a lot out of me." I said, wrapping an arm around her. "Besides, I can't teleport like you can."

"I guess." She said, smiling. "Good night, Celestia."

"Good night, Luna." I said as I opened the door to my room.

I heard her say, more quietly, "I love you."

"I love you too." I whispered as her necklace stated to glow as she raised the moon.

I fell asleep soon after, my thoughts on Luna and the new Element bearers.

It's night.
I'm standing in the courtyard, katana drawn, and it's raining. I look behind me to see five people standing there, weapons drawn and breathing heavily.

Wait a second... Gauntlets, Mace, Dagger, Bow, and Nothing... Where's Vinyl?

My thoughts are interrupted by a cruel-sounding laugh from in front of me.

"Ah, sister. So glad you could make it." the voice says. "I thought you might like to see me kill your precious students before I take your life."

I look to see Luna standing there, katana drawn. There's something different about her. Something familiar.

Nightmare Moon!

Author's Note:

Here's where stuff goes down, folks. It's probably gonna be the longest chapter in the fic, but hey! Three fight scenes! Woo! Here we go!

Comments

[reader238]

vinyl vs vinyl how do they know who wins?

[Aiyonbeam]

1883647
The one that won was the real Vinyl because only the real Vinyl can use shadow powers.