Loyal Defender

(How the crscent moon was formed.) “I knew it. Now...there’s just one other order of business...and I get the feeling it might not go smoothly..” *half an hour later* I knocked on the door of the room I knew my father was staying in. If both parents were there, I’d have to explain myself rather well. And….looking back on the times I’d been in trouble, there was one main thing in common – they didn’t ever ban me from anything, because I was more of an outside pony. “Mom? Dad? Are you in there?” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(I'm holding onto that moon joke, damn it! XD) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Pleasure to meet you as well.” I looked up at the sky, up at the moon, as it was becoming evening. “Seems like he’s never coming back down. Equestria is safe, I’m alive and well, and….” I turned to Twilight. Just one other thing to ensure. “You believed in me all this time, right? I might’ve been imagining it, but you left me behind because of my complaining about how I didn’t know how to deal with Layol.” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Huh...well, that’s a relief. Now, have we actually MET before?” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(I’m going to bed. G'night! ^-^) “Speaking of, I’m sure Chrysalis will be rising up again soon...and by ‘again’ I mean she tried teaming up with Layol. Didn’t turn out too well for her.” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Princess Whatshername. I love it XD) “Do you not remember? You acted like Starlight knew you were acting like a jerk to me, and...” Three...two...one...*click*. “Oh, wait a minute..I forgot those were Changelings….okay, sorry, my mistake. Seems Changelings left me with a bad taste in my mouth. They were impersonating you and Starlight, and….or was that just the darkness’ illusion…..ugh, this is confusing...now, is everyone alright? Layol seemed pretty out for himself.” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Surely the cheering proved you’ve changed her ways after pulling that one trick on me...making me look like a sap for nothing back at the Sweet Shoppe. Of course chewing you out had to wait until AFTER the world was saved." _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I reverted back to my normal Alicorn form, weakly opening my eyes just in time to see the darkness dispel, patching any damage the darkness did, saving me hours of repairs. I extended a hoof out to push myself up, seeing another hoof offered to me. Looking up, I found myself looking up at Princess Twilight. With a gentle smile, I said, “Heh..I knewyou’d never give up on me...that's what a real friend is all about." Seeing Starlight near me made me happy, but not as happy to see Trixie. "Uhm...what's SHE doing here?" (he momentarily forgot Trix is Trix now, hopefully) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Uh..” rang out a random Ponyvillian. “I know we should all be recovering from almost being destroyed by an evil being of whoever he is, but, uhh….SHOULDN’T YOU BE CATCHING HIM?!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Oh, they're finally here, too? NICE! All we have to do now is win. Come on! With everyone cheering us on, our friends are weakened, we face a threat not one of us could stand against. Yet still we stand! Still we fight! We’re not alone; their hope, their faith, the flames of their souls giving us the power to stand on our own two feet, we fight on anyway, our soul burning brighter than ever. Come, villain, with our friends you’ll be struck down no matter how much power you obtain! - NakaTeeli) Starlight….Trixie? They really were supporting me. Everypony was counting on me! I would NOT lose! “What…?! IMPOSSIBLE! You’re supposed to be DYING! But no matter! I’LL OUTSHINE YOU ALL, AND OUTSHINE THIS WORLD IF I HAVE TO! HAHAHAHAHA!” His beam began pushing down farther. That was it for me. “No….with all the friendship’s I’ve obtained, I’ve grown much stronger. Everypony’s been supporting me all this time! They’ve just had to get through to me. You’re nothing, Layol. You’re just somepony who’s been holding me back. And it’s time that changed!” “My friends all means so much to me, Like glue and glitter we stick together. Through thick and thin, From my heart within, We’re all close family forever!” I pushed back with all of my might, feeling a renewed sense of energy, pushing back farther and farther. “No….stop...what are you DOING?! YOU NEED ME!” “The only thing you need, Layol, is to go to Tartarus….now climb back into the hole whence you came, AND STAY THERE!” Finally, using the last ounce of my strength, I shoved the beam back at him, crushing into him. “No…..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” It slammed into him, sending him flying upwards into the sky, and upwards into the moon, slamming into one side of his, his shadowy body spreading across one side of it, creating a crescent shape in it. (And that's how the moon got a crescent shape in it! :D) Meanwhile, I began falling towards the earth, having expended all of my energy, now unconscious.

(Fluttershy's secon moment of legit cheers) “Goodbye old world, HELLO, NEW!” Layol shot his beam downward at the land, while I was rocketing up so fast, I made a beam of pure yellow-reddish energy. Energy or fury? You decide. But it was a now or never! I had to push it back with all my might! I could hear everypony cheering me on….my mom..my dad….the Ponyvillians below….Twilight….Luna… “YOU’RE…...NEVER…...GONNA…...WIN!” I shouted amidst all the commotion. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Luna at least knows. She’s dealt with something SHE made that made hell for others ) I could hear everypony cheering me on….I had to do it….I had to make them proud. “It’s time to rid this world of its hope and light once and for all.” Layol declared, and began gathering a large energy beam...once which he would use to cover the world in darkness, turning it into his own land. I didn’t have much time. I had to get up, NOW. I looked up, seeing how he was about to destroy a world full of hope and love. Seeing the ponies around me, was I about to let him destroy that very world? Abso-hecking-lutely NOT! I struggled, pushing myself upward, furious that he would do such a thing. “No….” I told myself, feeling my spirit burning powerfully. “NO…..” ….this was it. “FOR THE THIRD TIME, NO!” I shot up, straight up towards Layol. I was NOT about to let him win!

I followed after him, following him out above Ponyville. That’s when things got intense. He began firing orbs and lasers at me. The orbs I deflected, the lasers I dodged. “You can’t win, Loyal! I’m much stronger than you!” I shot beams and lasers back at him, trying to knock him down, but unfortunately, he was stronger than I thought, and was rather tough to get some hits in. I managed to fight him for a few decent minutes, until.. He finally shot both a laser and orb both at once, knocking me down, slamming me into the ground, where a group of ponies gathered round. Had they seen me fighting for their lives? I was...somehow too weak to get up. Had I really taken that much of a beating without noticing it? I strained to get up, but I had used all my adrenaline...I couldn’t do it… (cheer him on or something, give him the fiery inspiration to keep going. Remember, he still has friends who haven’t turned on him to cheer him on. Luna, Rarity, Fluttershy, anypony. Even break his illusion if you have to, and make Twilight be there to support him)

(Oh my God I didn't notice that XD) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “You know, this field is much too small for me...let’s go somewhere more open..” He shot up, flaring through the ground, tearing a hole in it, no problem. “You all stay here, and I swear to Celestia if any of you try anything, I will beat you all into senseless pulps!” With a flash, I was gone. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(LOL nope) “Face it, Layol. You might think you’re stronger than me, but you’ll never have friendslike me.” “Psh! Who needs them anyway? They all ditched you!” “No….that was an illusion. If they truly didn’t care for me, they wouldn’t have given me everything they had.” “Maybe it’s better if I take that all away!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“No way...I know we can win. He’s fighting himself...his own darkside. Darkness ALWAYS wins.” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“No….I know now he only wanted me to use it to hurt others….when in reality I must use it to hurt MYSELF!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(nice chant!) He charged at me again, but I grabbed him, hurling him into Chrysalis. “The stronger they are, the harder they’re vanquished!” I commented, standing up, knees slightly wobbly. “You and I are the same entity, Layol! We’re both one pony, but entirely different!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He began to charge at me, full speed. I dodged out of the way, letting him ram into the wall, knocking it over. “Hope that was insured!” He taunted. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“WHAT?! B-BUT...the darkness was supposed to make you go mad with power!” “I am mad. And I am full of power. But I’m not going to take it out on my friends. You’ve been using my fears to hold me back. But that’s going to change, NOW.” Layol got up, spitting what was supposed to be blood (but was just black stuff) from his mouth, a tooth missing. “Oh, so you wanna play that game, hm?” “…..W E ‘ L L P L A Y T H A T G A M E . “ He lifted me up, and slammed me around into the walls and ceiling, bruising me all over, throwing me into the ground and slamming into me. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I crashed into the hive, right on top of the Changeling (he’ll be fine). “Oh-ho, my rival returns! Come to join the dark side? I knew you’d want to. After all, we’re both the sa--” BLLLZMMM! I threw Layol into a wall, darkness surging through me. “No,” I answered. “I’ve come to eliminate you.” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

…. Wait a minute. How could I have been so blind?! This is exactly what Layol WANTED! He wanted me to lash out at everypony, not realizing the destruction I was causing! This had to have all been an illusion! After everything Princess Twilight and her friends had done for me, I wasn’t going to let Layol win!” Roaring in anger, I bolted into the sky and back out towards th Changeling Hive. I had a sense of direction telling me where it was. I found it soon enough, and began slamming through the ground. Thud… Thud… Thud…. … THUD. A Changeling perked his ears up. “Um…..my Queen? You DID stabilize the upper hive levels, right?” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm aware we haven't gotten to know you that much yet, so I'll go with a simpler question - do you think we can ever become good friends?