The first day for Alex and Dark was one filled with anxiety. For Alex it was the fact he had to keep up with the paperwork that the mayor had, for Dark it was the pressure of having an ever ticking time limit, how much of the library's sources for knowledge could he get through before Twilight arrived? Mort on the other hand simply had accepted his job's torturous twists and turns on only the second day. The trio worked long shifts each day, coming back late at night to rest at the farm before rising again in the morning and paying Applejack for the shelter. Throughout his time in the library, Dark was able to gain a grasp on most of the spells that unicorns cast everyday while also picking up some of his own understanding of works in magic. However, on the fifth day of their new jobs, the group would have to face the thing they dreaded the most.

"Damn I don't think I can read another sentence… I guess I was lucky enough to understand what I did." Dark said closing one of the many magical tomes he had happened to find in the building. He levitated his own book into his satchel before heading over to the head librarian's desk to sign out for the day. "Hey! Linda! I'm heading out for today, I'll be back at the same time tomorrow okay?" He yelled to the older mare who was hard of hearing. "You say Tomorrow? Dark did I not tell you? Today is our last day here, Princess Celestia has stationed one of her students to live here starting today." said the librarian. Dark spun around and looked at her "Did you say a student! Here?!" his tension slowly rising "Yep, sorry it means you can't work here anymore, but I'm sure a youngin like yourself will be able to find something to do." she said reassuring him. "I need to go, thanks Linda, goodbye." The grey unicorn raced through the front door and started down the street towards the commercial districts of Ponyville, as he ran he looked to the skies only to have his anxiety increase as he saw two pegasus drawing a chariot into town. "What was it called again? The Saltlick Oatcacke? It has to be somewhere around here." he said looking for Mort's workplace. Luckily he did not need to look far, he quickly spotted the yellow earth pony before coming to a halt beside him. "Dark? Why were you running down the street towards me? Mort asked, concerned. "No time Mort we need to get to Alex quick, then I'll explain." said the unicorn quickly as he started to pick up the pace hoping Mort would follow him.

Meanwhile, Alex's mind was running a mile a minute as he filled out all the paperwork for the coming Summer Sun Celebration speech and party at the Ponyville Pavilion. He was so entrenched in his work and getting the Mayor's schedule cleaned up for her that he didn't notice the door of the town hall opening. Dark made quick strides toward the counter before speaking up suddenly "Alex!" he shouted at the donkey stationed behind the counter. Alex, almost as if encased in stone slowly moved his head to stare at Dark. "Inside voices please" the donkey said as he rubbed his eyes "what do you need? I'm very busy helping the mayor get ready for the Summer Sun Celebration tonight." noticing he had his attention Dark lowered his volume before continuing "Oh really the Summer Sun Celebration… You mean the very event that we have been anxiously waiting for to happen that you failed to mention to either of us?" he pointed out. The jack blinked a few times before realization dawned on his face "Oh… it's that Summer Sun Celebration…" Alex whispered to himself "well shit…" and without another moment he hopped to his hooves and walked over to Dark. "What's the game plan?" Alex asked the unicorn. The trio entered a huddle before Dark spoke to both of his friends "Okay let's be real, not one of us knows why we were suddenly put into this universe but if there is one thing I can be sure of it is what happens now." Dark said, checking his surroundings quickly before continuing "Twilight is here now, which only means one thing… shit is about to get real." He finished in a serious tone. Alex nodded his head and added "As long as we keep the series of events similar, this should end in a happy ending for everyone." Mort simply nodded along with everything the two were saying in an attempt to seem informed… in reality he had no clue what was going on. "That sounds pretty sensible to me… we need to keep an eye out tonight, if anyone sees something out of the ordinary let eachother know." Dark said, giving a rough idea for a plan. Alex simply gives a firm nod, while Mort stammers a quick "y-yeah!" clearly still looking confused.

Later that day at the Ponyville pavilion many ponies of all ages were piled inside to take part in the Summer Sun Celebration, Dark and Mort had decided to come in a slight while after the guest had begun conversing with each other while Alex was with Mayor Mare in the planning area helping set up and get her ready for her speech to everyone. After a short while Alex met up with the others in an area far away from the mane six. "Alright, here we go… let's hope this all works out." the donkey said after taking a seat next to his friends. As the spotlight came down onto Mayor Mare she began her speech "Fillies and Gentlecolts as mayor of Ponyville it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration, in just a few moments our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this the longest day of the year and now it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and everyday. The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria… Princess Celestia!" But when she gestured to reveal the princess, nobody came. "Remain calm everypony there must be a reasonable explanation." As the scene played out normally the trio would have looked out of place as they didn't seem all too surprised at the turn of events, although one of them did notice something odd. Dark watched as the mane six ran out of the pavilion, everything was as it should he thought to himself, but that was when he noticed something very wrong about his observation. The unicorn nudged both of his friends "That. Is definitely different" he said to them raising his hoof toward a twisted shadowy figure which followed in the footsteps of the mane six. Alex was only barely able to catch a glimpse of the figure as both it and the mane six left the Ponyville pavilion. "Yeah, that doesn't seem right. *sigh* Alright let's go make sure that's not a problem." Alex reluctantly said as he led the charge after the dark figure.

The trio had been keeping check over the dark mass which they had seen above the mane six, but were forced to keep hidden behind a building when it followed the six into the treehouse. "It looks like it's just following them… but why?" Alex whispered to his other companions. "No idea, but I intend to see, they should be heading to the forest soon, if it's still on them on the way there then we better be prepared." Dark answered, the donkey nodded in agreement. "Wait, neither of you even know what that thing is?!" Mort said. Unfortunately the earth pony didn't get his answer as the door to the treehouse opened once again and six ponies with a dark shadow in pursuit started rushing toward Everfree Forest. "Alright, let's try to keep our distance. We don't want either party noticing us." the jack said to the group. At the speed they were moving it didn't take long for the six tailed by the trio to reach the entrance of the forest, the three spectators waited for the mane six to get some distance into the forest before entering themselves. "We need to keep on their trail… I'll light the way, Mort you can keep an eye on the tracks for us and Alex I'd like you to keep on guard for threats while we go." Dark said to the others. "I doubt anything will be out here trying to stop us with what's happening right now" Alex whispered to himself as he kept a look out during the trek. What Alex said had been true during the journey, the trio following the trail of the mane six had been met with a relatively easy time because many of the problems had already been dealt with.

When the three of them arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters, they noticed a thunderstorm had picked up and that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had barely made it into the courtyard where Twilight was confronted by Nightmare Moon. Alex was quick to point something out "hang on a minute, where's Rarity? She should have been right behind the others… something's not right." Dark saw the flaw Alex had pointed out "Damn it, I don't know what the hell happened but we need to do something!" he said frantically. "Let's go!" The trio didn't have much choice but to run in after the others through broken rooms and down a spiral staircase which lead into one of the main chambers. As the group finally made it to the room they could overhear Twilight's speech "Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of...w-wait!" Twilight looked back in disbelief in finding that the unicorn was missing. "Where did she go?" multiple of the mane six exclaimed to each other. As they started to panic the quiet Nightmare Moon had now started to cackle to herself. "Oh, it seems you're missing an element of yours. How unfortunate for you!" and with glee the Alicorn pointed her horn toward the mane six and created a bolt of lightning that arced toward the purple unicorn with four other bolts of electricity that leapt from Twilight to the others, knocking them out cold. "A shame that you won't be awake to see your doom. What a pity!" and with that Nightmare Moon charged another powerful lightning bolt to finish the ponies off. "Ah shit, we need to move!" Alex exclaimed to Dark as together they ran toward the incoming spell.

Dark wasn't sure he'd make it in time as he shouted "Shield!" his horn glowed bright and summoned forth a small magical barrier in front of the unconscious ponies. However when the alicorn magic made contact with it the electric attack started to redirect itself toward him. Just as Dark realized what was happening, and just before the attack could make contact, the donkey was able to step into the path of the lightning bolt. A bright flash could be seen as it struck him and pushed him into Dark, but he was able to stay on his feet. "Oh my god… that hurt, that hurt real bad…" Alex said as he sounded like the wind was knocked out of him and smoke rose from his coat. "Mort! Get the others now!" Dark yelled. The earth pony sprinted towards the six ponies quickly grabbing two of them and yanking them away as quick as he could. "No you don't!" exclaimed Nightmare Moon as she unleashed a powerful telekinetic blast toward Mort, but once again was redirected toward Dark and again blocked by Alex. As the force hit the Donkey he was once again pushed into Dark and both had slid toward the wall, with the path their hooves had taken carved into the stone floor. "Oh jeez, that's definitely gonna bruise…" the jack said as he panted heavily and his legs violently shook. "Shit… I think I made a spell magnet, Alex are you still with me?" the unicorn said, still concentrating. "Yeah, but jeez does she hit like a truck…" the donkey said as he was able to somewhat catch his breath.

Mort had already begun his second run as he went to save two more of the main six leaving Twilight to be last. "Enough of these games!" and with frustration on her face, Nightmare Moon unleashed a powerful stream of raw magic toward Twilight, but just as the other two spells, it was drawn toward Dark and directly into Alex. The donkey could do nothing but grit his teeth and let out a muffled grunt. The stream of magic pushed Alex and Dark straight into the wall of the castle, which pinned them both. "I can't draw this in much longer!" Dark yelled sweating profusely. Luckily Mort had already grabbed Twilight and was dragging her away. Nightmare Moon made an audible grunt of annoyance as she gave her attack a small surge of effort, which was all it needed. The extra magical force behind the attack was enough to bring down the jack. A loud snap of bone echoed through the courtyard as Alex fell face first onto the floor, unconscious. "Alex!" The unicorn quickly dropped his spell and rolled to the side as he saw his friend fall before him. "You may have lasted longer than most, but it was inevitable that you would fall before me!" Nightmare Moon said commending the defeated donkey.

Dark's breathing was uneven, his so-called 'Shield' had taken a huge chunk of his stamina to create and maintain. He felt like he only had another one good spell on him. Nightmare Moon turned her gaze from the unconscious jack to the Unicorn in front of her. "You certainly are an oddity, I've never seen such a spell before, but regardless you are an obstacle to me, and so you too will fall before me." the alicorn said with cold intent. Dark knew it was now or never, he had to either attack or defend before the alicorn got the chance to take him out of the fight completely. Dark mustered up the last of his magical essence to use the latest spell he developed. Dark's horn began to glow ever changing colors of light that followed the elements that randomly generated from his horn. Nightmare Moon saw this spell and decided to let the Unicorn to cast his spell, if nothing else just to show inconsequential his effort was. Dark's horn finally stopped on the color dark blue "Bolt!" the unicorn shouted, causing electricity to surge from his horn as he hurled an undulating, warbling mass of lightning toward the alicorn. As the attack flew through the air it was captured by Nightmare Moon's telekinesis. Dark was on the edge of consciousness from the amount of magic he's used, but the sight of his attack being so easily captured didn't help his situation. With a sideways glance, Nightmare Moon crushed the spell into nothing with her telekinesis. "You certainly are quite the little wizard aren't you? Sadly your days of learning ends here." and with a callus expression she unleashed a telekinetic blast onto the Unicorn.

Dark being hit by the power of the alicorn's magic was thrown through the stone wall behind him, the unicorn's body went limp as he was knocked unconscious from the impact. Just before he could fall into the chasm below, Mort was able to catch and bite down on Dark's hair. Mort was relieved to find it easy to haul his friend back into the castle with little issue, but while doing so Nightmare Moon's evil laughter flooded the room. "Now all I have to do is eliminate the wielders of elements of harmony and no one will be able to stop me! Not even my sister!" Mort looked defeated as the alicorn charged up another attack for the Mane Six. Without Dark or Alex there was no way Mort could block or divert the attack, and he wasn't fast enough to move them… When another blast of lightning was let loose from her horn a bright light illuminated the room and blocked the attack with a magical barrier. "Enough." a stern feminie voice rang out to all. Nightmare Moon's expression was undeterred when Celestia teleported in front of her. "Ah sister! It seems you finally show yourself. I knew you wanted to avoid fighting me, but it was inevitable. Your so-called element bearers could not stop me, and now you must salvage their incompetence." Celestia simply stared at Nightmare Moon with reluctance in her eyes, it was clear she did not want to fight but was forced into this situation. "No response to your dear sister? The one you locked away for one thousand years!" The alicorn shouted at the princess of the sun. "Fine then, not sure what I expected from somepony like you!"

Battle Music: Heartache - Undertale

With Celestia refusing to respond to Nightmare Moon, the two alicorns charged up their magic, allowing it to pool to their horns. Finally in a split instant they let loose two powerful blasts of magic at each other. The two attacks collided and illuminated the entire building's interior as if it was daylight. Mort stood in awe as he saw the battle play out. The two alicorns fought for dominance between the clash of magic, both exerting an immense amount of energy. Electricity began to fly out from Nightmare Moon's horn and carving away the rock it made contact with, this caused Celestia recoil away from its path. However this proved detrimental when Nightmare Moon instantly surged her magic, causing it to overtake her sister's attack. With a swift motion Nightmare Moon swatted away her sister's energy and then used her telekinetic magic to seize her sister's body. "What's wrong sister! I know you're stronger than this! Are you weakened? Perhaps you feel guilt?" Nightmare Moon said tauntingly as Celestia gritted her teeth. "Ha! As if somepony like you could feel guilt!" with that comment Nightmare Moon flung her sister through the wall of the castle and into the cliffside nearby. Celestia's mane came undone, as she pulled herself from the cliff and took to flight. Nightmare Moon simply smiled as she followed her sister into the sky outside of the castle.

Mort was like a deer in headlights, his body was frozen with fear and cold adrenaline poured into his veins. His heart pounded hard against his chest and was the only thing he could really focus on until another voice was heard. "Oh my! What happened?!" a posh feminine voice said as she walked down the spiral staircase into the room. Mort turned toward the source and found Rarity rushing over to the other Mane Six. Mort was still in fight-or-flight mode, and failed to keep his emotions in check, and yelled at Rarity "Where were you! We could have died!" The white unicorn was caught off guard at both the sight of her friends and Mort's hostility. "I-I was knocked unconscious when we all ran outside to find Twilight, the large double doors were slammed into my beautify face, and the next thing I remember was Celestia-" a loud thundering sound rang outside the castle, followed by the manic laughter of Nightmare Moon. Mort ran over to the large hole in the castle to view the battle. Celestia once again hit the ground due to Nightmare Moon's magical assault, though as she rose from the attack her once hesitant expression became one of agitation and anger accompanying her now bruised and scratched form. Celestia quickly teleported herself mid-flight in front of Nightmare Moon and the two collided and pushed against each other horns. As the two pushed against each other, the ground shook from the amount of magic being released. Mort nearly jumped when he heard the sound of the mane six waking up. "Oh man… what hit me?" Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed her head. "Whoa, nelly! Does it hurt to move!" Applejack said slowly sitting up right. "Finally!" Mort exclaimed, "You two need to get the others up and do whatever the hell you're supposed to do right now!" ordering them into action.

"Even when face to face with me, you still can't even speak to me!" Nightmare Moon no longer had her cocky attitude, instead was an almost desperate and angry tone of voice. "You've never respected me as your equal! You're praised by everyone in the light, while I was hoarded away, alone in the dark!" Celestia tried to keep an even-face but her frustration was visible to all. The Princess of light glanced back at the castle to see the Mane Six up and donning their Elements of Harmony. Celestia knew what she had to do, she quickly unleashed a sudden outpouring of magic, which caused the two to be blasted apart. Just as Nightmare Moon tried to get her bearings, Celestia teleported behind her and bit down hard onto her sister's mane. At full speed and strength Celestia tossed Nightmare Moon, causing her to skid across the mountain side and through the castle wall. The now disoriented and hurt alicorn tried to get to her feet when her attention was dragged toward the glowing light before her. The bright light let knitted together into a multi-colored blast of energy which caught Nightmare Moon off guard, and it engulfed her in its light. When the battle had come to a halt and the ponies rejoiced Mort ran over to them "Please come quick, we need to help Alex and Dark, they look in horrible condition." Applejack convinces Rainbow Dash into carrying the two unconscious creatures with her and together the mane six with princess in tow exit the forgotten ruins of the old castle.

Author's Note (GreyFang): Alright, finally now that all the boring set up and other shit is done with, we can finally get into the meat and potatoes of the story. For those interested in a more visual representation of Dark and Alex just add /a/CvijaOr to end of imgur dot com.