> Nightmare and Dragon > by alfonso_rd_33 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 - A new World, a New Stage > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, we start our story as we see the figure and familiar rainbow mane of Rainbow "Daring" Dash flying scared as Princess Luna offered karmic retribution at her, electing peals of laughter from those she aimed to prank. "See? I told you all was going to be just fine, Princess. Sometimes a good scare helps beings to upwind." Said the brown Alicorn dressed in a red jacket, a red and white cap on his head reading “Fatal Fury” on the front in the white part and some weird denim clothing covering most of his flank as he looked at his companions for the night: Princess Luna, Spike costumed as, of all things, a dragon and Twilight Sparkle cosplaying as Starswirl the Bearded. "And of course sometimes being scared can be fun, if you let it be of course." Carried on Twilight Sparkle, as Princess Luna looked at the three of them. One, a hopeful soul, full of childlike naivete yet often the straight dragon to the shenanigans of his friends, other, a scholar through and through, as demonstrated by the historically accurate costume of Starswirl and finally the visitor of the other world, he was the easiest to read. He was a warrior, plain and simple, so the Princess said in her new "indoors voice". "So I have seen... You know, it has been hard for us to adapt to your modern world, you ponies are, as I see it, far more complex compared to those who lived before my exile... So I came, to turn this celebration from a party of fear to a joyous occasion, but I wanted to do it the way we used to do it before.” "And you discovered that it wasn't a memory of the suffering you caused, but merely an enjoyable terror time, right Princess?” Said Poncho as he looked at Spike, watching him starting to devour his sweet Nightmare Night treasure trove before saying… “Yeah, Nightmare Night is a happy time even if we all are scared on the day…. And the candy is always delicious." To this, all laughed as noticing the small wisdom the young dragon had imparted, as Poncho kept going… “Yes, Spike… I’ll say, I am impressed by the parallels between your world and the one I come from, I mean, celebrations, places, etc. I will admit from where I come the equivalent of Nightmare Night is not that popular, but this here was perfect… I mean, the costumes… the games… the unscheduled appearance of the Queen of Nightmare Night herself!” To this Princess Luna blushed, basking in the praise she was getting from the otherworldly Alicorn, yet Twilight noticed something strange about the words that he said, and so she pointed it out... "Huh...? How come your country does not celebrate Nightmare Night...? Is it something that was pushed by your leaders...?" "Goodness no Twilight, you see, it has to do with the country that 'civilized' my country... You see, back in the day, there were a bunch of countries 'discovering and civilizing' the world, the differences between them, most often were the religious drive behind the conquests, so for my country, the colonial country was not the same as the country Equestria seems to be more parallel to, still, we got a celebration around the same time Halloween is celebrated in that other country... This reminds me that I need to hunt for a certain chicken to get some help celebrating that other party, so I will be going now... Enjoy the rest of the night..." Said Poncho before bowing before Princess Luna, nodding at Twilight and hoof bumping to Spike, then he started walking away from them as well as doing a chicken call to attract the still costumed Pinkie Pie. Of course, as this was happening in Ponyville, in the ruin of the castle of the two sisters the wild magic of the Everfree Forest started gathering and swirling in a vortex of pure power, the dark and ominous energy threatening a massive explosion as it shifted into a tornado-like appearance. "Heh... Heh heh heh....! I am me again...! The accursed Elements of Harmony might believe that I was destroyed, but no... I am the Nightmare...! And I will not be denied...! " After that statement, the vortex of darkness started dividing itself, into at least ten small parts which started changing, forming themselves into bodies of ponies; pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies and even thestrals were formed from the unrestrained evil power, all the while as the remaining of it coalesced into its new shape, as the tall equine outline had both a horn and a set of pegasi wings… “Now, our age starts…!” > Chapter 2 - Wabbit Season > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAST TIME Of course, as this was happening in Ponyville, in the ruin of the castle of the two sisters the wild magic of the ever free forest started gathering and swirling in a vortex of pure power, the dark and ominous energy threatening a massive explosion as it shifted into a tornado-like appearance. "Heh... Heh heh heh....!  I am me again...!  The accursed Elements of Harmony might believe that I was destroyed, but no...  I am the Nightmare...!  And I will not be denied...! " After that statement, the vortex of darkness started dividing itself, into at least ten small parts which started changing, forming themselves into bodies of ponies… pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies and even thestrals like those guys pulling Princess Luna’s chariot… all the while as the remaining of the dark power coalesced into its new shape, as the tall equine outline had both a horn and a set of pegasi wings. “Now, our age begins… now…!” So, while all the darkness gathered at the old castle Poncho was still roaming over Ponyville, humming a certain song, that is, until he saw some foals with their Nightmare Night candy all ready to be eaten, and, as they passed by him he leaned, saying mischievously. "Be very quiet… I am hunting chicken... " To this, of course, the foals giggled, as it was widely known the Alicorn of Ponyville seemed to favor the young, then stood up in mock attention and scattered, going to “hunt” the chicken in that same moment, Poncho felt a chill all across his back. "Mmmm… what’s this…? An ill wind on the magical land with climate control…? MOS-tan, are you there...?" “Of course I’m here, where more I would be since I’m the PipBuck you wear on your foreleg…?” Answered the PipBuck as the green holographic mare appeared, which prompted Poncho to continue... "Seems something wrong is happening nearby, any Ideas...?” "Well, now that you mention it, the scanning capabilities of the PipBuck are somewhat limited, but it seems a great amount of Youki is gathered in the Everfree Forest...?” Retorted MOS-Tan, as Poncho looked in the general direction of the Forest just before starting to gallop towards the place as he said… “The Everfree, in Nightmare Night…. That should be a bad omen, right…?” To this, MOS-Tan Did a metaphorical eye roll as she shot back… “Now wait a second…! The Everfree is not an evil place… it only has savage magicks, but those aren’t all evil …!” “I know, but still, you’ll have to give me that even during the day, the Everfree can be terrifying… that’s why we built the house at the other side of town, mirroring Fluttershy’s co… tage… *yay*! Ok, gimme a boost MOS-Tan… if there’s something dangerous in the Everfree, Fluttershy might as well become the first victim if we don’t stop it…” Said Poncho, as strange music poured out of the PipBuck, Poncho silently praying the Darkness he felt wasn’t planning on hurting one of his new friends as he galloped even faster towards the Everfree, and in the Everfree, the darkness in Alicorn form looked at the ruined castle as the rest of her shadows started moving outwards, planning to expand in the quiet of the night... "Yes, my pretties… go forth, and conquer this land, find bodies to possess and consume, so we can survive the Nightmare Night, after that… Equestria will be all but ours…!" "So, That is the plan? Possess and conquer? Isn’t it a bit overused?" Said Poncho as he finally reached the palace of the Two Sisters, looking at the shadow ponies and the shadow Alicorn, regarding them cautiously as he was already reading the blobs of dark magic, seeing just how powerful they were. "Oh…? And who might you be…? I certainly don’t recall Alicorn stallions living in Equestria… go on… answer your Queen..! " Said the shadow Alicorn as she wondered how it was possible that he sneaked up on them since the music that started to die down as her minions started circling the Alicorn before her… who was a certainly suitable skin suit for her to outlast Nightmare Night, yet he seemed… too happy to be there... Something felt wrong, yet her musings got cut short as the Alicorn answered. “Me…? I'm just a passing by Creation Defender and you, you are the Nightmare, Ultimate Corrupter! Now, I was planning on stopping you as is, but it seems a Non-Combat has a better idea.” Then, yet another song sounded out of nowhere as the Alicorn stood on his hind legs, getting his forelegs close to each other as he said. “It’s Morphin’ Time…! Henshin…!” And, after touching the device on his right foreleg, an explosion of power engulfed him, going upwards, becoming visible for miles upon miles. > Chapter 3 - It's Henshin Time! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Ponyville So, while “The Alicorn of Ponyville” was being an ass and overdoing stuff, back in the village Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon were saying their farewells, as Priiiinceeeessss Luna felt it was time to head back to Canterlot, as the Nightmare Night Party was slowly dying... "Very well, Twilight Sparkle We… I mean I am grateful for your help on this day, and of course Alfonso’s… but it is time We… I… get back to Canterlot" “You are welcome, Princess Luna, It was no problem for me or my friends to help you, and you know Ponyville will welcome you always.” Replied Twilight as the sound of an explosion and a column of energy alerted Ponyville of something unknown but dangerous, cutting off spike’s farewell to the Lunar Princess, who rode her chariot and quickly instructed her thestrals… “Follow that light… fast…!” Twilight for her part decided to take Spike back to her Treebrary, so the youngest dragon could get some well-deserved zzzz’s, looking towards the source of the light once, before deciding to round up her friends to go investigate the source of the magical burst, as Twilight knew that was a magical burst, similar to the fabled Sonic Rainboom. Meanwhile, back on the Everfree, as the light show died out, but not by dissipating, but coalescing into a tri-colored Chinese style dragon made of pure, unbridled power; the Alicorn of Ponyville was missing, well, not missing, as he was replaced by a tall and lean green dragon, dressed in a warrior’s armor. "創造は歌い、宇宙は踊る... 無敵の風の要素。 創造の守護者！ ポンチョゴーレン-Dモード… 参上!" During this spiel, Poncho gracefully gyrated once, only to set himself in a battle-ready pose, yet after some more seconds, a new voice called on, breaking all the dramatic tension both the transformation and speech in a foreign language created. "Uh, boss? Have you noticed you are a dragon now? " “Wait, what? Oh, yes, it seems I am a dragon now.” That was the conversation between Poncho, and the newly hidden MOS-Tan, as the PipBuck was no more, as it had changed, integrated into the right armor piece, covering the forearm, wrist, and claw in a metallic blue in the top and white on the bottom with a strip of silver limiting both sides, while the digits of the claws were kept bare, mirroring the style on the left claw, but replacing the blue with yellow. The head was covered with a half helmet in red, with blue googles in the form of two oversized blue orbs, connected with a blue shape where, had he been human, would have been the nose’s bridge, just above it, being a winged number 1, while the chest piece shimmered in metallic colors, going from the edges to the center, with the top being red in between yellow at left and blue at the right side, while pink covered the lower left part and green the lower right, which ended up to the scaly mid tight. Finally, metallic knee and shin guards were on the proper places, leaving bare toes, while protecting knees, shins and the top of the feet, colored in pink the left one and in green the right one, protecting all of the lower legs, so he shifted to a loose stance brought both claws together, placing the right one above the left one, crouched a bit and said. "Busters Ready… GO…!” Yet as this all happened, back in the air near the Castle of the Two Sisters, the Thestrals (or Pegasi under a glamour spell, not really that sure about that) flew carrying their Mistress, Princess Luna towards the dwindling Pillar of Light signaling the Place where Poncho was, hurrying to fulfill the Night Princess’ orders. “Princess Luna! The light is fading fast…!” Said one of the chariot stallions, placed on the right side as the light started taking a different shape… moving to resemble some draconic being, yet the Princess answered gingerly. “Then be alert, my little ponies, use your ears, as soon strange music will be heard, and it will mark the march of war on our friend…!” Only to be immediately interrupted, as an energy snake skull soared through the air, impacting on the Night Princess’ chariot, and abruptly ending its flight, as the damage broke the enchantments keeping it airborne and plummeted down, pulling the three ponies with it as the Night Princess shouted new orders to her ponies. "Let go of the chariot…! Fly upwards…! The chariot is lost…! Flee and follow your ears, let us find our friend…" "Sorry darling, but I don't think that you should be bothering him now... After all, it has been quite a while since he had a decent fight... " Prompted a voice, causing Princess Luna to look around her,  finally finding the source flying above her and her entourage... Looking at another midnight black and purple Alicorn,  one that, like the Alicorn of Ponyville, only had a regular mane,  a beautiful emerald mane,  but unlike that of both of hers and her sister's, it wasn't an ethereal one,  upon closer examination, the Princess found her cutie mark to be a black bat,  with a red heart inside it... "Really...? And pray do tell why should I not help my friend, oh mysterious one...? " Asked the lunar Princess in a voice dripping with sarcasm and saccharine sweetness as she looked at her chauffeurs/guards, noticing that they were looking flustered as the Alicorn talked, yet the Princess' focus was only on the strange, unknown Alicorn. “Why you ask...? Well, simply because he has been quite a long time without the thrill of a true combat... And for a being like him, that is a form of torture...” Was the Alicorn's answer as she focused on the lunar Princess only, barely registering the already lost in lust entourage of hers, yet Princess Luna then lit her horn, gently pulling her guards out of the lust trance the new Alicorn had, effortlessly placed them, so she carried on. “And, of course, anyone who claims to be his friend would rather have him happy than sad... ” To this, the Alicorn Princess of the night only answered by telling her helpers in a voice that brooked no argument. "Go, look out for Poncho, I will take care of this intruder!" “Oh will you, my little pony…? I must say, I am impressed by how easily you dispelled the effects of my being in your guards.” Said the Strange Alicorn as she moved closer to the Lunar Princess, and whipped her head back, making her horn aim at Princess Luna as she shouted. “Soul Fist!” > Chapter 4 - The Vampire Killer! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RARITY'S P.O.V. After the Nightmare Night festival ended I decided to get Sweetie Belle back to the carrousel so she could get some sleep, then as I was moving to my workroom I heard the sound of some sort of explosion. "Goodness gracious what was that...?" I will admit that I usually don't get distracted by those kinds of things, but that felt like it was important... In fact, it almost felt like it felt the first time I used my gem locating spell, so I decided to go investigate it. Rarity ran across Ponyville as the dying light of magical power faded, her coat shimmering in the moonlight when she saw Twilight running in the streets, horn aglow as she cast a complex spell, also noticed that Rainbow Dash was flying barely in front of Twilight. This convinced her to join her friends in their trot, noticing that Rainbow seemed to be a bit more anxious than usual. "Twilight darling what's going on...?" Asked the posh unicorn as she managed to keep up with​her friends as Rainbow said quickly. "Magical explosion... The Everfree... Fluttershy might be in trouble..." This certainly showed Rainbow's plight, a good, certainly a good possibility, so Rarity offered. "And we will go investigate it, yes...? But what about our other friends... You know, Applejack and Pinkie Pie...? Shouldn't we​gather them too in case we need the extra power...?" TWILIGHT SPARKLE P.O.V.. After I left Spike back at the Treebrary I raced across Ponyville, using my horn to try to locate the residual magical imprint of the violent explosion of power that had just happened around the Everfree Forest. Yet, upon looking skyward I found Rainbow Dash already flying towards the Everfree, or more specifically, towards Fluttershy Cottage, so I decided to call upon her. "Rainbow Dash! Down here! It’s me, Twilight!" I shouted, hoping to get her attention, thankfully I did so and Rainbow slowed down if only to keep up with my speed as she said to me. “Twilight… did you see the strange lights around the Everfree…? I think something bad happened there and Fluttershy is still bunkered in her cottage…! I need to go help her…!” “Calm down Dash, yes I did see the magical explosion around there, think pretty much everypony saw it, but so far I don’t think there’s much to worry, I am tracking the echoes of the explosion, and will investigate it, but of course we will check on Fluttershy first.” I assured Dash, yet my plan was quite simple for the time being: track the origin of the magical explosion, and hope the girls would feel the need to investigate, thankfully Dash was already on the case if only to make sure ‘Shy was OK, which added an extra layer of worry to the situation alright. “Hey, Twilight… Where are you going…? Did you see the fireworks over the Everfree? I think everyone saw them, and wonder who had set them up because it was a super fun idea and...” And there was Pinkie, bouncing at my right side, at the very same speed I was running, a carefree expression on her face as she kept bouncing and looking at me, her chicken costume long discarded as I had done to my Starswirl outfit, as she kept bouncing, talking and smiling… just what I did not need, Pinkie distracting me from the complex task of tracking the explosion… “Pinkie dear, slow down… don’t you see Twilight is busy trying to follow the… contrail… of the fireworks…? Because those were magical fireworks… and might not even have been fireworks…” Said someone, which happened to be Rarity, as she trotted to my left, a mere pony length behind me, but her words had the intended effect, as Pinkie stopped mid bounce, suspended some moments as she matched Rarity’s stride, and started chatting with her, placing herself behind me, so I decided to ease Rainbow’s and my own worries so I said. “Rainbow, Go on ahead to Fluttershy’s Cottage and make sure She’s OK, we’ll catch up later with you two.” Of course Rainbow didn’t need to be told twice and she zipped away, taking the fastest route to the cottage just as Applejack came from the road leading to Sweet Apple Acres and said something, yet I was so focused on following the trail I did not get what it was but thankfully Rarity and Pinkie got it and soon All of us were on the loop, so the stage 1 of my plan was at least successful, which helped me to slow down, as the trail started to get cold, forcing me to try to find another strand of magical residue. Princess Luna was astonished by the last minutes' events, as she was allowed a quite rare chance to fight against one of the best fighters in creation, of course, the princess wasn't aware of this information, as she contemplated the events leading to her current predicament. She had felt that Poncho was in trouble, so she rushed to help him, as there was something wrong being felt in the night only to find herself stopped by what it seemed to be another Alicorn, one claiming to be Poncho's friend, a theory supported by the fact of her using strange magicks, similar to those used by the Alicorn of Ponyville. "I see you use similar magicks to him, stranger, yet that doesn't mean that I will allow you to hurt my little ponies... “Oh but Princess, you can’t stop me… He himself can barely contain me, and while I admit you are powerful, we are far beyond you…” Was the unknown’s reply, as she swiftly dodged the blast of magic the moon princess threw at her, By slowly and lazily floating to the left, and then countered with another “Soul Fist” which let Luna see how the power shifted to a flaming serpent’s skull before piercing it with another beam of lunar magic. Sadly, this left the moon princess vulnerable, as a strange sound was heard and within moments, the “Alicorn” was before her, Princess Luna barely being able to watch the wings shifting back from the strange contraption the newcomer used to impulse herself, but only for a moment as the stranger started hitting the Princess quickly with her hooves, which suddenly were covered in all manners of spikes and blades, inflicting plenty of pain on Princess Luna. “See what I mean…? You might have great magical reserves, but your world has made you soft, unaccustomed to real combat… so, in the end, that power you have is meaningless…” Continued the now revealed to be a bat-winged unicorn, as Princess Luna fell to the ground, dazed by the combination attack as she crashed into the Everfree, her impact causing a small crater to form as the bat-winged unicorn landed gracefully close to the fallen Princess… "Huff… huff… What do I need to get them to stay down…" Said Poncho as he faced not the same amount of shadow ponies he had fought after his henshin sequence but twice as many, the Shadow Alicorn looking at him amusedly as he stepped back, trying to get some space to plow anew at the Shadow Ponies, only to hear the howl of a Timberwolf in the distance… Which made the Alicorn-turned-Dragon of Ponyville Laugh a disturbingly creepy laugh... “OK, you *yay*s…! If the Eternal Light of the 5 together won’t banish you out, I might need to bust some pro’s skill set to dealing with Tartarus damned abominations like you…!” As a new song was heard starting, the five-colored suit melted down, all traces of its existence gone as a black bodice covered the Dragon, a couple of gauntlets covering his claws, and he then Jumped! Spinning in the air as a pitch-black trench coat fell from the sky, he quickly donning it, catching a circular hat as he landed before placing it on his head, his face obscured save for the blood-red eyes looking at the soulless abominations before him as a metallic whip sprouted from the right gauntlet before the dragon spoke solemnly. "This might not be the real deal, but I will allow you to feel the bite of MY Vampire Killer…!" Said that the Dragon launched himself at the shadow ponies, as 8 giant energy crosses seemed to come out from the top of the overused right gauntlet, spinning around the dragon, obliterating every shadow pony they came in contact with, losing mass after each hit… the poor unfortunate shadow ponies that managed to get past the cross barrier swiftly dissipated by whiplashes aimed surgically at them... "Oh My… what’s going on…?” Said a certain butter coated Pegasus as the sound of heavy impacts was heard even as far as her Nightmare Night fort, located in the safety of under her bed Fluttershy knew that by that time she was comfortably asleep seeing Nightmare Night was almost over, but this night sleep had eluded her, and she was quite frightened, that is, until the sound of an explosion was heard, after that, she felt not the usual Nightmare Night fright, which convinced her to go check when it seemed the heavy impacts were more knocks on her door knocks that weren’t stopping… “I’m coming!” Was the simple answer to the unknown knocking, only to gasp at her surprise as, in her front door, hundreds of animals, known and unknown, coming from the Everfree were chittering anxiously. “Now, now everypony, calm down. I can’t understand what you all are saying if everyone tells me at once.” Said Fluttershy, any fear that she had pushed to the back of her mind, her animals needed her to be strong, and the animals from the Everfree seemed panicked, so she moved her focus to a manticore, the same one that she had helped back when she and the girls found the Elements of Harmony, said manticore growled something as it saw Fluttershy looking at it. "Monsters in the Everfree? Shadow Ponies? A… A DRAGON!?" Asked Fluttershy as she deciphered the language of the manticore, the fear slowly returning to her, almost panicking when she was told a Dragon appeared moments later after the Shadow ponies manifested. To Fluttershy, this was bad, she was terrified of Dragons, and the prospect of facing one terrified her to no end, especially alone, thankfully, before she could mull on the idea a cyan and rainbow blur lifted her off her hooves. "Fluttershy! Are you OK, no one hurt you, right? Please tell me you are OK." “Um… Rainbow Dash… I’m Okay…” Whispered the butter coated pony, looking at her oldest friend, whose face was etched with concern. That was one of the things she found more endearing of Rainbow, she might appear tough as nails on the outside, but on the inside, she was the sweetest pony ever. "Are you sure? I mean, I saw the Magical Explosion and..." Thankfully for Rainbow Daring Dash, the arrival of her friends saves her of being extra mushy for longer than necessary, quickly rebuilding her tough exterior as Fluttershy says. “Oh, girls… you came… I’m so glad everypony is safe… the animals of the Everfree were just telling me about monsters, shadow ponies and a Dragon deep in the Everfree.” This, of course, caused the girls to look on confused, as Fluttershy looked at them before Twilight said. “Oh? And how come you aren’t sealed in your cottage, Fluttershy? I mean, I’m glad you’re OK but I know you practically barricade yourself at home during this night.” To this, Fluttershy looked at Twilight and gently said. "I honestly don’t know… I was with my Animal friends in our fort, but then I heard some sort of explosion… and afterward... the night didn’t seem as scary as before…" “Well, then I guess if you wouldn’t mind, I think we should go investigate that thing of monsters and shadow ponies and the dragon, don’t you agree, darling? Let us take advantage of the night seeming friendlier than usual.” Princess Luna was tired, the strange unicorn before her had been fighting her, pushing her to her limits, and worse of all, she had been laughing all the fight, yet the Princess knew she had hurt the stranger, who only looked to the equally beaten Princess before saying. “Well, it seems the fun is over… he’s had enough fun for a night, so I have no reason to delay you any longer, Lunar Princess” This said, the strange Pony seemingly melted on the floor, as a portal appeared beneath her hooves, carrying her down, giving the Moon Princess a parting gift… “Fighting you was fun Princess Luna… I hope we fight more in the future…” > Chapter 5 - Rose In The Darkness > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, while “The Alicorn of Ponyville” was being an ass and overdoing stuff again, the girls outside Fluttershy’s cottage started to march towards their destiny, any fear they had seriously diminished, so they started talking animatedly as they went towards the Castle of the Two (Best) Sisters. "Are you sure your animal friends told you that the problem was at the Castle, Fluttershy…?" Was the question Twilight Sparkle voiced as the group kept moving, with both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovering around their grounded friends, those friends were walking side by side on the road, with Twilight and Rarity in the center, with AppleJack and Pinkie Pie on the sides… that is until another massive explosion of power grabs their attention. “I think we found the place where the monsters are, come on girls!” Was Twilight’s request as the girls started rushing towards the danger… “Crap…! It almost feels like for every single one I destroy she creates 7 more… I will have to step up my game if I want to clean this mess up…!” Was the Alicorn turned dragon train of thought as he took a combat-ready stance while watching the horde of Shadow Ponies before him, then he created a small light circle and thrust his right claw into it, retrieving a metallic block colored red and black… “OK ladies… I have done a lot and you still stand…? Well, it's over… now you get back to whatever hole you came from…!” Twirling after the speech, Poncho somehow turned the block into a scythe, yet as the form of Crescent Rose changed Poncho noticed the weapon had somehow become heavier, which made handling it more difficult. "*Yay* it Crescent Rose! Move…! I don't intend to get absorbed just because you are being a *yay*!” Said Poncho as a certain song started resounding through the Evergreen, creating a Beacon for all to see when Poncho roared to the skies. Meanwhile, with Moonbutt Princess, she was lazily gliding after losing the trail of the power burst, so when the unfamiliar, cold song resonated within the forest she thanked her stars, and purposely flew towards it. "Hang on Friend… I am coming... " And so, while the Moon Princess flew to Poncho, the girls on land plus Rainbow Dash moved with purpose, that's it until a black blur crashed unto the fastest pegasus alive. “Woah! What gives?” Cried Rainbow as she rose from the crater she made, looking how the thestrals (or pegasus under glamour spells, never knew which one it was) zipped around knocking down her face, leaving them not only hurt but separated. "Girls…! Hang on I’m coming…!” Meanwhile, the girls slowly rose up from their own attacks and scrambled to reunite with their friends. “Ohhh… what was that…?” Asked Applejack as she rose back up, looking at the field, trying to locate her friends… only to hear Rainbow Dash flying to their attackers, only to see the thestrals dodging her charges while getting hit by pies, which made her look to her left, witnessing how Pinkie Pie’s Party Cannon smoking. “Well done guys, but we need to hurry!” This said she added her own to the effort by conjuring force bolts of magic before resuming. "Let's try to corner them off one by one, girls they seem to be not in control of themselves, so, Rarity with me…" Then both unicorns started shooting magic bolts in a way that, combined with the volley of pies and rocks, courtesy of the Apple Pie effectively caged the thestrals, as every time they tried to fly upwards there was a Rainbow Dash to cut the escape route, the strategy paid moments later, as Twilight finally got to hit one of them, falling to the floor before the bookworm eased his fall gently, noticing how a whisp of black smoke flew out of him. "Oh yeah! One down, one to go!" Hollered Rainbow Dash as the last thestral lunged towards her, only to get hit by two force bolts, a cherry pie, and a baseball-sized rock, falling down as Twilight eased his fall. "Quick! Follow that smoke…!" And then she started to race following the whisp of smoke that got out of the fallen thestral her friends galloping to catch up to her. ”Huff… huff… dagnabbit… what do I need to clean up this mess…?” Said Poncho as he breathed hard, exertion evident as he held the line, then, without warning, the creature that was the Nightmare said in an amused tone. “Oh, what's this…? It would seem that my… previous host is coming, not that it matters anyway, but I guess it will be poetic if she was a witness of my Ascension... ” And in that precise moment, the figure of Princess  Luna entered the clearing. "Poncho...! What is the meaning of this…?" Said the lunar princess as she looked at the Nightmare and the hordes of shadow ponies she conjured… but the weirdest thing was the form Poncho had...yet the princess, being who she was, just took notice and stood tall next to the dragon she called friend, facing the Nightmare with infinite bravery. “So, you're back… very well, I will have the opportunity to repay you for the years of suffering…!” Yet, before anyone could move Twilight and her friends arrived, causing the Nightmare to scowl with unbridled fury. “YOU…!” > Chapter 6 - How To Train Your Dragon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "YOU...!" The Nightmare roared as she saw with infinite hatred the six mares that arrived, while the Alicorn turned dragon observed the interaction. "Apparently my conquest is desirable for the universe, seeing that my worst Enemies and my old, inferior body are here to be destroyed... " At that moment the Nightmare decided that the moment to destroy her enemies was "now", so she threw a magic bolt at them, only to be stopped by the dragon using a metal shield, the circular shield with three concentric bars in red, green and red with a white center, inside this a stylized drawing of an eagle devouring a snake. "Oh hey girls, what brings you over here...? " Said the dragon, which made Fluttershy see it and say in a whisper. "Poncho?" "The one and only, Shy. I assume you came to investigate the commotion that was in the Everfree, Right?" Answered Poncho while using his dragon claws to vanish one of the Nightmare's creatures. "Well, now you know, here before you the parasite that corrupted Princess Luna... Here's the Nightmare... However, apparently we are missing one... " Poncho continued, but his voice sounded different, thicker, more regal, and before anyone could react he opened a portal and pulled something. What pulled, of course, was Spike Dragon. "Huh…! What's going on...? " Asked the newcomer dragon while Twilight Sparkle looked angrily at Poncho, silently scolding him for bringing and waking up Spike. "Ho! Hello friend Spike! Let me show you how real dragons have fun and protect their hoards." The change of voice surprised all the girls and Spike, causing the until then confused Nightmare to riposte and indicate its shadows forwards. "STOP IGNORING ME!" The Nightmare screamed as she threw a magic bolt, which was, of course, blocked by Princess Luna. "My friends, I do not want to be a bother, but should not we stop the Nightmare?" Luna said, making Poncho answer in his normal voice. "Right. Very well this is the plan: Luna and I will distract the Nightmare and its accessories while you all prepare to attack with the Elements of Harmony." Offered Poncho, while Twilight Sparkle and her friends seemed sad, to which Twilight said. "The problem, Poncho, is that we do not have the Elements of Harmony, they are in Canterlot, Princess Celestia is taking care of them..." "Oh humbug! Look, Twilight, personally never I've seen the Elements of Harmony in action, at best I have seen the memories of several non-combatant versions of how they represented them in their universes." Answered Poncho, while Princess Luna, noticing how the creatures of the Nightmare grew bolder in their advance, launched herself to intercept them using her magic to slow them down a little. “Whatever you're going to do could you do it quickly? These things don't give up." The Princess of the Night urged, to which Poncho only saw her for a few moments before He addressed the girls again. "Right, right. What I mean girls, is that you are the Elements of Harmony, the gems are only accessories and supports, so trust me, you can use the power of the Elements, when they are ready just think about it, I will know... " To which the girls seemed to be happy, which was when Applejack said. "Very good sugarcube, we will try to do it, but we will need a little time..." To which Poncho only smiled before launching to attack the creatures of the Nightmare, leaving behind a group of determined mares and a confused dragon. "Iztaak!" Was the scream that was heard while the dragon that was Poncho slipped to the nearest creature, its claw right electricity cover in a sphere. "Alright, let's do it, girls!" So while the girls concentrated to unleash the power of the Elements of Harmony, Spike observed the strange dragon that fought the strange shadow creatures of the Nightmare saying. "Uh, Twilight... Can you tell me what's going on...?" Unfortunately for Spike, the girls were focused on the task of releasing the power of the Elements without using them physically, so they could not answer him. So he decided to observe the strange dragon that took him to that battlefield, observing how the smile on his face almost shone, noticing how he seemed to dance too, how he stopped the pegasi with his knees, fell on top of the Earth Ponies and even threw the unicorns to bathe them in electricity, each movement impressing the young dragon who watched intently. "Poncho! We are ready!" It was the united thought of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, which made Poncho see the still fighting Princess Luna and call her attention saying. "Luna ... We need to make a path... NOW! Wind Clone Technique! " And where before there was a dragon four appeared in a flurry of air all in line while the Princess stood next to them and cast a magic beam while the Ponchos moved to make their movements. "Quetzalcoatl...!" Shouted the one in the center as he threw himself covered in electricity, disintegrating the Nightmare Shadows upon contact, sliding almost to the side of Luna's magic. "Kame... Hame... Ha...!" Shouted another, while gathering energy in his hands, only to throw it in a ray of power that destroyed each Shadow, which together with the other attacks cleared a direct path to the Nightmare, Who only smiled sadistically. "Oh? Does my new body come to me? How considerate!" To which the Poncho a few meters from her just smiled saying. "I'm sorry but not. Now girls!" And, without warning, a giant death ray of rainbow harmony surged from the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, heading straight to the Nightmare as Poncho vanished in a poof of smoke, a log replacing him before the Nightmare, who could only watch in horror as the purifying magic washed over her. “What? NOOOOOO…!” > Chapter 7 - Mindful Planning... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PREVIOUSLY IN SMASH. "Kame... Hame... Ha...!" Shouted another, while gathering energy in his hands, only to throw it in a ray of power that destroyed each Shadow, which together with the other attacks cleared a direct path to the Nightmare, Who only smiled sadistically. "Oh? Does my new body come to me? How considerate!" To which the Poncho a few meters from her just smiled saying. "I'm sorry but not. Now girls!" And, without warning, a giant death ray of rainbow harmony surged from the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, heading straight to the Nightmare as Poncho vanished in a poof of smoke, a log replacing him before the Nightmare, who could only watch in horror as the purifying magic washed over her. “What? NOOOOOO…!” Everyone watched in amazement as Magic bathed the Nightmare, hoping it would purify her, perhaps creating a new pony. " GRRRRYAAAHHH... !!!!! " Roared the Nightmare as she dissipated the magic covering her, showing her enemies her strength. "Fools... Did you think I was going to be defeated by you in this, my night...?" And after commanding her legions to keep advancing she launched a magical beam, which was stopped by Poncho’s wind clones, who vanished in the process. "Poncho! What do we do now?" Asked the girls as they were forced to defend themselves from the assault of the Nightmare shadows. "Unnhh, give me a moment to think about a new plan because it seems that I'm wrong and really need the Elements for maximum effectiveness." Poncho replied while using his claws to vanish the shadows, muttering as he did it. "We need a magical artifact to amplify the power of the Elements, it has to be able to resist pure harmonic magic and increase it exponentially to combat the power gain of the Nightmare." Meanwhile, Princess Luna was still attacking the shadows, now supported by the bearers of the Elements of Harmony except for Kindness. "Personally I can not recommend any artifact with those characteristics, much less anything that we have it on hoof at this moment." Twilight Sparkle commented while dodging the magic of a shadow in the shape of a unicorn, seeing the rest of her friends out of the corner of her eye, noticing how Applejack bucked the shadows into nonexistence, Rarity using her exceptional telekinesis to attack the shadows with fallen branches, impaling those who dared to approach. "It's like Twilight Sparkle says, relics and magical artifacts do exist, but we don’t have access to them right now." Corroborated Luna who, coordinated with Rainbow Dash, dive-bombed to attack the shadows at high speeds, carefully dodging the attacks of the pegasus shadows that avoided the wave of pies shot from the Pinkie Pie party cannon. "I got it! Luna, help me entertain these annoying shadows a little more, girls, prepare another attack of the Elements." To which the princess of the moon snorted annoyed, looking at the dragon as if to say "Are you kidding?" Of course, the princess of the night wasn’t so upset, but it was obvious she was tired of fighting uselessly mere shadows. "Fools! Do you think you can beat me with that pathetic power? My victory is assured and, at the risk of sounding like a cliché, DARKNESS WILL REIGN FOREVER! " The Nightmare boasted as a new song started and both Poncho and Princess Luna moved to attack the shadows, Poncho using movements based on stomping and hand movements to the rhythm of the music, raising unicorn shadows and earth ponies with each movement using giant stone pillars while Luna destroyed them with magical rays. "Girls, are you there, can you hear me...? " Heard the carriers of the Elements of Harmony in their minds, their bodies showing no reaction since they were again gathering magic to attack the Nightmare. " It's okay it’s me, Poncho, I'm talking directly to your minds to keep the Nightmare from discovering our new plan... " "Poncho, dear I don't want to be rude, but this is extremely inappropriate... anyone would have expected better manners from you, just look how scared poor Fluttershy is." Rarity said, as she watched to where a terrified Fluttershy struggled to become as small as possible before turning to the strange bipedal creature who claimed to be Poncho, who approached Shy, just to be confronted by Rainbow Dash. "Come on, come on Dashie, nothing bad is happening, even though you had never seen me as I really am, the figure you see before you, that's a human being..." And Rainbow saw the figure, very similar to a Minotaur, but without the bulkhead nor fur, of dark brown color, the same tone of the coat of the so-called "Alicorn of Ponyville" and in the head, the black hair denoted the mane of said Alicorn, thanks to this familiarities, she relaxed a bit, but still stood tensed. "Look, I'll prove it, once you kicked the snout of a dragon, which Shy had to educate after he almost hurt you along with the rest of your friends." Offered Poncho in his mind, while his body stopped attacking the enemies directly, flowing with the rhythm of the new song and replacing the columns of earth with gusts of wind, which facilitated the conversation with the girls, finally approaching and caressing the mane of Fluttershy. "Now, Now, we are all friends here, and we must stop the Nightmare, sorry to scare you." Of course, during the interaction Rainbow Dash tried to interfere, fortunately, her friends stopped her, Rarity even scolding her, while Applejack, being the voice of reason said. "Enough Rainbow Dash! And Poncho, Ah don't want to be rude, but we're running out of time, so if you have any plans please tell us. " Meanwhile, Fluttershy knew the pleasure of the human fingers in her mane, exhaling happily as she said in almost a sigh. "Okay, but you must admit that having someone else in your mind is terrifying, not having privacy, that someone else knows all your secrets." To which Poncho only nodded, while saying. "Of course, and I assure you that I have only created this mental space, and only to be able to tell you the plan without the Nightmare finding out." And, of course, the girls showed several degrees of acceptance, nodding to the reasoning of the human turned into a pony. turned into a dragon, in the end, Poncho just kept explaining his new plan. "OK, let's cut to the chase, the plan is simple: I want you to use the power of the Elements of Harmony again, but instead of attacking the Nightmare I want you to direct the power at me. I will try to amplify it to attack the Nightmare." The plan's reveal made the girls look at him in shock, the idea was crazy not to mention that it was dangerous, he could be banished to the moon or succeed or anything else. "B... but... That's crazy! Do you have any idea what could happen to you? You could be banished to the moon or worse." It was the united thought of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Poncho smiling at the concern of his friends. "Of course girls, we have calculated all the plausibilities, but it is more than obvious that we need, a means to amplify the power you can generate as Elements of Harmony in the absence of those, and my skills as the Zen no Ban'nin could help us do just that." Poncho's reasoning seemed logical to the girls especially for Twilight and Rarity, with whom Poncho has worked constantly, so all nodded, admitting the plan, so Poncho continued. "Okay girls, let's end this chat then, just holler when you are ready." To which, surprisingly Fluttershy he said gently. "Actually, Poncho I think we should continue using this power, at least until we finish this. if you don't mind." "...What ?! But… Fluttershy, you said yourself that this power is weird, Why do you want him to keep doing it?" Rainbow Dash said as she watched Fluttershy, evident reproach in her eyes, which made Shy cringe a little more as she answered gently. “As long as he doesn't read our minds and use it only to communicate it’s fine I guess." At this Poncho just smiled saying. "Of course Shy, I would be offended if you didn't ask, in fact, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in Pinkie's eye." And, without warning, a cupcake appeared in his right hand, then Poncho smashed it in Pinkie Pie's right eye, which caused the rest of the girls to gasp. "What...? I don't intend to stick a cake in my eye, and Pinkie Pie is the originator of the promise so!" So the girls laughed while Pinke licked the cupcake on her face before Twilight called out. "Uh, guys, I don't want to be rude but the Harmonic power is restless." "Alright, you know the plan, shoot whenever you want." Said Poncho, cutting the communication, turning to see the girls, who were already floating surrounded by the power of the Elements of Harmony. "Luna, be careful, let's attack quickly, so I suggest you remain in the air." That said, Poncho was surprised as a new Harmony Death Ray hit him. "SANTA MADRE DE MAYO, THE POWER...! " Poncho moaned, his draconic form shining with the power it contained, crouching and falling to one knee, clearly struggling to control the power as the girls descended gently. “PONCHO!” “Let it out, darling, it’s too much power!” Said both Princess Luna and Rarity at the same time, as everypony saw the dragon fight to contain the power, Rainbow Dash gasping as she saw how his face seemingly disintegrated slowly. “GRRR!! RRRRAAAGGHHH!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” Shouted Poncho as he managed to rise up, extending his arms to violently expel the power into a rainbow explosion that moved in, to blanket the whole zone...