The Dark Coming

by LordLogan

Part 13

"So who are you, the orange pony's boyfriend? Or just another one of Celestia's soldiers that thinks he's stallion enough to take on IRON WILL!?" The blue minotaur proclaimed in his mighty and intimidating voice.

"Nope", was all the red stallion had to say.

"No matter, I'll be through with you and finish the job that needs to be done so that Iron Will can get his payday!" Iron Will charged with his sharp horns towards Big Mac. Big Mac dove to the side and bucked the minotaur in the side of the face without having to even lose the hay straw from his mouth.

"Now Ah don't say this sort of thing to anyone but you are much too obvious. Your strength is nothing unless you have the speed tah match."

"Hey! Lecturing ponies is what Iron Will does."

"Well Ah sure feel sorry for the suckers that you conned money from but you should find ah real job, something that puts those underused muscles to the test."

"Iron Will's workshops ARE a real job! I make ponies tough and aggressive so they can't be pushed around anymore! And it makes loads of bits at the same time! How much better can it get!?"

"Nope, you're wrong. All you do is destroy and remove the kindness from ponies and for what, just so that everypony argues and fights to claim dominance over one another? You should feel ashamed of yourself for trying to cause such chaos. You really are fit to be an avatar for Discord."

"Iron Will needs to make a living too and no pony is going to stop me from doing that!" Iron Will tackled the red stallion and tumbled with him, then lifted Big Mac into the air to only pile drive him into the ground. Big Mac yelped but fought back by shoving his front hooves in Iron Will's stomach. Iron Will let out a gasped but then punched Big Mac in the face. Big Mac turned to try and buck Iron Will but the minotaur grabbed his legs and threw the stallion in the air. As Big Mac came hurtling down, Iron Will punched the stallion in the stomach. "Ya see, Iron Will is the mightiest!"

"Nope. Its…true your *cough* strong but you…are not *cough* the mightiest."

"Why you stupid…" Iron Will lifted his hoof to crush Big Mac's skull but was interrupted by a bolt of magic energy causing Iron Will to fall back. Both the red stallion and Iron Will looked towards where the shot had been fired, only to find a unicorn as mighty as Big Mac. He stood tall and strong and had a clean white coat and went by the name, Shining Armor.

"I'm here to help sir, are you alright?" Big Mac struggled to get to his feet but still managed.

"Eeyup. Let's face him together."

---

"Hey AJ…"

"Yea Sugarcube…?"

"Why…why does it hurt…knowing what I did when…she was so cruel…?" The cyan pony sobbed more into the farm pony's fur.

"Aw sweetie, it is because you're taking the burden for what she did and that's not good Rainbow. Her friendship gave you great memories and great challenges that have made you who you are. A pony that is sompony to be honored. This was the final test Gilda had to offer and you passed."

"Test? What kind…of test?" The pegasus looked up into Applejack's eyes.

"A test of will that you will always do what is right over wrong, no matter the stakes. Gilda had always been your best friend but for some reason, she followed the wrong path and that is what led to her demise. She was strong but you, Sugarcube, were stronger."

"I…was…stronger…?" Rainbow's tears came to a stop in their flow as she looked deep into Applejack's eyes as Applejack looked down back at her eyes.

"Yes Rainbow, as Ah said, you are a very special…mmphf!" Before the earth pony could finish her sentence Rainbow planted a passionate kiss upon Applejack's lips. She was surprised at first but then closed her eyes and returned the kiss. It felt like the war had melted away. That chaos, order, good and evil did not exist and all that mattered, all that Applejack wanted, was the kiss. Her heart thumped rapidly as she tasted Rainbow's sweet lips. Rainbow, too, had no regrets as her way of thinking change. She thought she liked only males however this felt more right than any of her crushes. She tasted sweet apples with a feeling of comfort as she remembered the pony she was kissing was not only her close friend but the Element of Honesty herself.
After what felt like an eternity the kiss was broken and the two looked upon each other. "Rainbow Dash…"

"Yea…?"

"Ever since our race for the Autumn Festival Ah…Ah loved you."

"AJ, you've always been by my side since we met and I was foolish to not think about me as a fillyfooler but I know now that this is what I want. If we fail today, I want to know that I died with some success in my life. Applejack, will you be… my marefriend?" It was the farm pony's turn to have tears in her eyes only, these were tears of joy.

"Oh Rainbow, yes! I'd love to be with you!" Applejack kissed her one more time only to break it soon after, "Shoot! We have to go help our friends!"

"Oh right! I'll fly us over!" The pegasus grabbed hold of her new marefriend and took to the sky once again.

---

"Twilight darling, what do we do now?!" The white unicorn proclaimed with stress.

"I…I don't know. I'm not sure which one is the real one!"

"Well of course we are the real one!" Both Luna's said at the same time. Pinkie Pie interjected,

"Wait…we? So the real Luna and fake think both are real? How does that make sense?"

"Um…no Pinkie you see… Princess Luna still speaks in the language of old times since she was gone in exile for…um…so long." The timid yellow pegasus squeaked.

"So only the real Luna thinks they are both the real one? I'm so confused!"

"Um…no my darling you see, when the real one says 'we' she is only referring to herself. The fake one who is Queen Chrysalis is copying the language that Princess Luna speaks to disguise herself."

"Oooooh. Oki doki loki."

"Your cute when you say that Pinkie." The yellow pegasus nuzzled her.

"Aww Fluttershy, you're too kind, cute and sweet. Like candy!" The pink pony nuzzled back.

"Ladies if you would please focus on the problem at hand it would be much appreciated if you could allow Twilight to think." Rarity exclaimed.

"Thank you…ah, Rarity. I came up with one option of asking questions that only the real Princess would know!"

"We will meet the challenge for we are the real Princess of the Night."

"Nay villain for it is only we that will succeed in this bout."

'Yes Twilight, I knew you'd find a way. You are too smart for anything. You'll always find a way but, how will I?' Rarity thought to herself, finding it hard to focus on the situation while the lavender genius she admired was outwitting every problem they faced.

"Ok, first question: The real Princess Luna was exiled for becoming Nightmare Moon. What caused her to become Nightmare Moon in the first place?" The Luna on the left grinned,

"From our jealousy!" She spurtted out as fast as she could. The other Luna spoke soon after,

"Aye, we were jealous that the ponies never did much during the night. They only slept until our sister's day; when they'd have fun." She looked towards the ground, with a sad face of shame.

"I see…next question. The white mare here is named Rarity." Rarity blushed as Twilight brought attention upon her but was also curious as to how she is wrapped into the next question. "She is one of the Elements of Harmony that freed Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon. What is she the Element of…?"

The Luna on the right spoke first this time, "We believe your friend there is the Element of Generosity."

The left Luna on stumbled upon her words, "err yes! Of course I…err we know all of our subjects!"

"Is that so, Chrysalis?"

"Wha…what did you say, lavender pony?!" The left Luna's anger grew.

"I know you are the fake for many reasons. One, you were quick to blurt out an answer for the first question when the other Princess had an answer that was not only more specific but had a tone of hurt and sorrow. The second question you only copied the real Luna's answer as you had no idea of any of our Elements since you never got to see them at the wedding as well as messing up the 'we' instead you said 'I' first.. Finally, the real Luna ALWAYS refers to me by my full name, Twilight Sparkle."

"The left Luna started changing back to Queen Chrysalis, "No matter you fool, it appears that help is already here." Down dove the red dragon to snatch up Pinkie and Rarity with its claws.

"How dare you changeling Queen! We will make you pay!" The Night Goddess darted towards the Queen tackling her into the air.

"Princess, wait!" Twilight tried to speak but it was no use.

"Pi…Pinkie! Nooo!" The yellow pony shouted louder than ever heard before.

"Don't worry Fluttershy, we'll go save them." Before they made their move, down descended Rainbow with Applejack.

"Hey guys, what's going on? Where's Rarity and Pinkie?"

"They…well…just got taken by a dragon."

"By a what!?" The farm pony shouted.

"Yea so we have to go get them. The Princess should be ok until then but either way we have to be quick."

All the ponies nodded their heads, "Right!" And into the sky flew Rainbow and Fluttershy carrying the earth pony and unicorn.