REVISED A/N: So welcome back to this aggregating rewrite. SO much to change. Had to almost completely rewrite this chapter. That and I get really distracted, really easily, if the slight hiatus period is anything to go by. Finally beat Skyrim. Alduin was kind of a letdown as a boss fight. It was really easy just to do circles around him with my overpowered bow. Been modeling a lot as well and have been thinking about posting screenshots of them on my deviant art, although they aren't textured. I'm HORRIBLE at texturing 3D models. Also Watched How to Train Your Dragon 2, and I liked it so much, I went and watched it again. After a while of searching of HTTYD fics, I stumbled upon a story here on our very own FanFiction site, called Wild Hearts. It's a Feral!Hiccup fic, and I might say simply ingenious. The writer, who's name escapes me at the moment (I think its CuriosityRedux or something like that) does an extraordinary job with all the situations and encounters, and is an excellent writer. My only bad remark is it doesn't update fast enough to satiate my hunger for new chapters.

Well, onto the reason your actually here (hopefully). Here's is part two of The Mare In The Moon.

Disclaimer: I really get why other writers hate this. I mean, c'mon. Who is stupid enough to say 'I OWN 'DIS SHIT!'? I will say I own my OC. I don't own My Little Pony or any Halo related objects. All characters and objects are owned by their respective groups: MLP to Hasbro, Halo related stuff to 343i.

Ch 3: The Mare in the Moon Part 2

UUA First Fleet

FFG-1028

Location: On Unknown Planet

MV Coord Frequency: 18764.97

The sun was beginning to rise, ushering in a new day in Ponyville, a town next to a dense and mysterious forest. At this time of morning, most of the residents were either still asleep or just getting up, not yet on the streets. But there was one being walking along the empty paths and streets that had just exited of the forest, observing everything he saw to familiarize himself with the area.

C'mon. It couldn't have stayed night just a little longer for some recon? I complained to myself as I quietly snuck through the relatively small town, soaking up as much info as I could at the moment, while simultaneously trying to find suitable cover if someone decided to peek outside.

I had decided to keep to whatever shadows there may be and learn about the local residents so I wasn't at a complete loss as to the world I was on. And hell, it was a better idea than just sitting in the pelican for a week waiting for a status update from Fi. Another plus for this was that I could figure out if anyone, or thing, had seen the pelican and where it had crashed. I didn't want anyone dropping in on it or retrieving the equipment from it. Keeping the technology away looked like a good plan too, as all I had seen from this village was some houses of relatively old design, using mostly wood and there was no use of electricity for what I could see.

So, great, stone ages.

Not soon after slipping into the shadows between some buildings, I could hear talking and some doors opening. Steeling myself for whatever could have come out of the doors, I risked a peek to see what kind of intelligent life we were dealing with. No amount of experience and nerves of steel could have prepared me for what walked out that door. Sure, having explored many a dimension, I had seen many things that most people would never see in their lifetime. That included quite a few xeno races. That didn't keep me from almost facepalming hard enough to make a sound. As I continued to watch, even more departed from the houses, each varying in a wide range of colors. I also took notice some had wings or horns. The amount of them, and the lack of other beings coming from the houses, cemented, in my mind, that they are, in fact, the intelligent species here.

"A race of multicolored, pegasi, unicorns, and ponies. Man, what have I gotten myself into," I groaned, rubbing my temples to aleve the slight headache forming. Not soon after, I pulled myself around the corner to exit the back end of the alleyway. "Well, times up I guess."

As soon as I turned to sneak out of the other end of the alley to find a way back to the forest I came from, I noticed something descending from the sky. It wasn't a plane, a drop ship, or fighter, it looked like…..

…. a chariot, pulled by two pegasi….

I sighed as I watched the chariot start to descend not far from my position, peeking around the corner and pulling out my SR04's scope to get a better view of it as it descended.

{-}

Equestria

Above Ponyville

Twilight looked over the edge of the chariot as it descended to the town below, thinking about the Princess's response to her letter.

"I still can't believe this," Twilight continued complaining, the letter from last night still very fresh in her mind.

"Well, maybe she's right. You might just need some time out of the castle, meet new ponies, fresh air and all that," Spike answered, tired of hearing about the reason of the trip constantly and wanting to change the subject.

Twilight was slightly taken aback at Spikes answer, "Who's side are you on? You were there last night, and you read the book too."

Spike just ignored this as he pointed out they were close the ground. As soon as the pegasi had come to a stop, Twilight jumped out and looked around as Spike climbed from the side to Twilight's back.

"Well, let's just-" Twilight started before she just barely noticed a strange figure disappear into one of the alleys between buildings as she took a quick look around.

"Spike, what was that," Twilight asked, getting a feeling in her gut she didn't particularly like.

"What was what?" Spike asked, not knowing what she was talking about having not been paying attention while trying to climb on Twilights back.

Twilight stood there staring at the spot for a bit before answering, "Nothing, it's nothing." With that, Twilight continued into town to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.

{-}

I stood there, looking at the pony that had stepped out of the chariot, a bit surprised for two reasons. One, the pony seemed to have had an overgrown lizard, or a dragon, on her back, which also seemed to be capable of speech. Two, she noticed me. Not many people have good attention to detail, and, in this case, neither do some ponies. I was surprised at that because all the time lingering so far, none of the ponies seemed to have noticed me.

Way too close.

I then proceeded to break my current cover to follow this pony, getting a feeling that something might happen.

{-}

Twilight had spent all day meeting with most of the ponies working on the preparations, and she was a bit dismayed that she hadn't had any time to do some research in the library she was lodging in. Pinkie Pie, a resident pony of Ponyville had gathered the whole town for a party, right in the library downstairs. Now Twilight was laying on the bed, staring out the window.

I hope the princess is right, that it is just an old pony-tale.

Spike then came through the door, wearing a lampshade with streamers on it. "C'mon Twilight, it's time to watch the sunrise!" Spike exclaimed, rushing back out the door.

Twilight rolled off the bed onto her legs and walked out the door, still hoping she was wrong.

{-}

A can of multi-colored sardines.

That's the first thing that came to mind as I tried to get a glimpse or two into the town hall, as all of the small town's residents seemed to have been on a quest to fit every single one of them in the undersized building. Some of the pegasi had opted out of the idea of being crammed and just hovered over the others' heads, which included a 'colorful' array of ponies, mostly consisting of unicorns and, from what they've been called over the day, earth ponies.

I had spent most of the day following this Twilight around, and was rewarded greatly for it. I had learned a trove of information while following her; including eavesdropping in on what they thought was a private conversation about events that were to happen tonight. Something about a mare, the planet's moon, eternal darkness, and some sort of elements.

Do I smell an evil plot? Probably.

After that, I had broken away from the side of what I was surprised to see was a library IN a still living tree, which I later credited to magic. I had taken upon myself to see town a bit more, while under the cover of night and while most ponies were at the party they were having in the library.

Funny place to hold a party, I thought as I recollected the day. Now I was standing outside, out of sight as best I could around the building, trying to get a glimpse inside without the occupants noticing me. I didn't like the position much, as it did not give a good view of the inside, which was preventing me from keeping an eye on the one called Twilight, who had kept blabbering about something bad going to happen, as she was up front near the stage.

I noticed all the ponies she had met with earlier were there, as I watched them enter a while ago. Their names, if I could remember, where Pinkie, who I could barely make out standing near Twilight at the moment, even with all the jumping around. Applejack was wandering around the crowd, trying to get a better view. The blue one, Rainbow Dash was it, was hovering above the crowd, but not by much. Flounder… no…. Fluttershy was over near the birds, as it would seem that they would be providing an opening hymn or so. And the fashion obsessed one, Rarity, was up on the balcony above the stage holding a rope. I assumed she was to pull back the curtains, revealing this Princess Celestia I've heard so much about.

Overall, nothing seemed wrong, but I was getting this feeling that something was about to go down, which would set a new personal record for me in the 'how long it takes to get into a f-up'd situation in a new world' category.

Seeing Twilight shuffling around nervously reinforced that feeling.

I wonder what she's hiding….

The thought was cut off by the barely audible sound of the what looked like the Mayor giving an opening speech. I half tuned her out to keep track on what was happening inside, more specifically, Twilight. She seemed to have tensed up at something, but I wasn't sure what. My attention was diverted though when I heard the Mayor speak a bit louder.

"….our ruler, Princess Celestia!"

All the ponies looked up to the balcony as I saw Rarity pull the rope pulling back the curtains.

There was some inactivity with the exception of Twilight's constant fidgeting and some whispering. I saw Rarity approach the balcony, saying something none in the building probably wanted to hear.

"She's GONE!"

There was numerous audible gasps and Pinkie saying something, but I couldn't quite hear it through all the gasps and worried chit-chat going on.

Then there was a laugh. Not the happy kind either. I looked up towards the balcony yet again, sighed, and steeled myself the monologue I knew was coming.

I decided to distract myself from the speech the new arrival was giving, still picking up pieces here and there. I tried to keep focused on Twilight who seemed to be answering a question asked to all in attendance.

"You're the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon."

This caught my interest and started to listen in on the whole conversation.

"Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."

"You're here to… to…" Twilight started, but seemed to scared to finish.

"Remember this day well," the supposed Nightmare Moon started, "for it will be last. From this day on, the night, will last, FOREVER."

Que dramatic show of power, I thought just as lightning bolts seemed to appear from nowhere. At this point I decided to take my leave, not wanting to get caught up in what I assumed was going to be chaos afterwards and to keep another problem off my plate. I started to make my way away from the building, but hearing the commotion inside come closer to the door, I quickly hid myself against the side of the building again. This showed wise as I saw what looked like a purplish mist quickly shot out the door, followed by one Rainbow Dash, though she stopped midair and said something to herself. At that moment, a distressed Twilight ran out and towards the direction of the library, carrying an unconscious Spike on her back, followed by the group of ponies aforementioned shortly after.

I took a moment, weighing whether to follow them or not, before takin off behind the group, staying to the shadows as I went.

The trip proved a quick one, as I looked into one of the windows, eavesdropping in on their conversation. Twilight seemed to be reading off something about the elements of harmony to the other five and that the elements were the only way to defeat Nightmare Moon. At this point I step down to go over my options.

One, I could help them out in whatever it was that they were doing. This would please me greatly to do if not for the rules I myself had set into place. Two, I follow protocol, and just observe unless intervention is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Not a whole lot of options, I thought to myself. The door to the library abruptly opened, and the six mares made their way in the direction of the forest I had crashed in. This made me quickly decide to follow them, if not to help, then to make sure they don't find the crashed pelican and my equipment.

{-}

I should have just stayed back near the pelican crash, I thought to myself.

After successfully diverting the group away from the broken trail that led to the crash, I had decided to follow them, to keep an eye on them just in case.

I'm starting to think I'm too kind for my own good...

After dealing with what one of them described as a manticore and crossing a very rapid river by calming a very self-conscious serpent, they were making pretty good progress. Though I did make a few slip-ups and now they are ever weary of my presence. They yellow one, I believe they said her name was Fluttershy, noticed me once, but I successfully retreated out of sight, the group just thinking it was her over active mind. But not soon later, Twilight caught a glimpse of me and now the group was keeping a look out for their pursuer as they made their way to their destination.

My bad luck seemed to keep coming as the forest cleared up at a ravine with a broken bridge. Hiding myself becoming harder, I hung back and watched from the top of a tree I managed to get myself in. As I got situated on the branch, I noticed Twilight started running straight for the ledge.

Not as observant as she thinks she is, I thought. I would have gone down and stopped her from plummeting to her doom had it not been for the fact I was trying to keep myself hidden and that I had seen Rainbow Dash grab her beforehand. They muttered a few things, and then Dash flew down, grabbed the other end of the bridge, and continued to bring it to the other side. As she landed on the other side, the fog thickened between her and the group, making seeing the other side impossible, even with the IR/NV scope of the SR04. The bridge slacked a bit and there it stayed, motionless for a good 5 minutes. I could see Twilight and the rest of the group shifting nervously and they called out to her. Soon after, the bridge gained some tension and the cyan mare came through the fog, it dispersing as she did.

Yeah, that wasn't natural, I decided, that Nightmare Moon figure probably was behind that.

I saw them proceed across the bridge and decided to shift position to get ready to get down from the tree. Bad idea.

As I shifted my weight the limb I was on protested against the movement and gravity took over. The limb snapped and I tumbled to the ground landing on my back pretty hard. I quickly picked myself up despite the pain and checked if the commotion had gained any attention. Lucky it didn't.

DAMN! That hurt, I exclaimed in my thoughts. I proceeded to follow them, slowly as I tried to relieve some of the pain.

Across the bridge, which seemed decrepit and ignored for ages, was a castle which was in an obviously worse condition than the bridge. I heard voices on the second floor and climbed up the side with some difficulty. As I got a view on the inside, I saw the group gathered around 5 stones talking amongst each other. Twilight said something about Elements of Harmony, a spell, and something after that and the others left the room.

Must have asked the others to leave so she can concentrate on a spell, I assumed as I was proven right, her horn lighting up with a pinkish aura. While she was concentrating, she didn't notice the dark mist come up behind her and start picking up the elements. When she did, she was teleported as the others rushed into the room after hearing Twilight exclaim.

I jumped down from my perch, thinking on what just happened. Looked like a teleportation spell, they couldn't have gotten far. My theory was proven right as I saw some activity in the adjacent tower. I quickly made my way up to a window as Twilight was preparing to charge at Nightmare Moon.

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?"

She has got to be kidding, I thought as Twilight rushed towards Nightmare Moon. Apparently not…

Nightmare started charging towards her as I began to start making decisions. Ok, she doesn't seem to have a different plan, no magic. One, I jump in and save her so she can do whatever she needs to do and get out. Two, I let this continue on and have to deal with this eventually. They were getting really close at this moment. Aw screw it.

At that moment, I broke the one most important protocol I set in place with one simple insult.

"HEY YOU UGLY HAG!"

{-}

Twilight readied herself for the impact. She hoped she could daze Nightmare Moon long enough to get to the Elements, and charging at her head on was what came to mind. She was having second thoughts as she neared, but steadied herself knowing it was too late to change her plan.

Then something happened that completely caught her and obviously Nightmare Moon off guard.

"HEY YOU UGLY HAG!"

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a some sort of bipedal creature ram into Nightmare's side, knocking her to the ground. As she stood there, she realized it looked a lot like the figure from when she arrived in Ponyville, and what she had glimpsed at in the forest. She was astonished to say the least. She was even more astonished as this 'unknown' started talking to her.

"Well, what are you just standing there for!"

{-}

You would figure that given the opening, anyone sensible would have taken this opportunity to do whatever they needed to be doing. But no, instead of doing this all-important task that she was so bent on doing, she just stood there, mouth agape. This unnerved me a bit.

"Well, what are you just sitting there for!? Do what you need to do, I'll keep miss Eternal Darkness over here busy."

She still just stood there.

"Well, GO!"

She snapped out of her amazement and continued on to the 5 stones on the other side of the room as Nightmare began to pick herself back up.

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME," Nightmare yelled. Her anger was quickly replaced with slight confusion as she looked me over with what looked like intrigue and some of the anger from before. "What sort of creature are you? Some sort of hairless diamond dog?"

What the hell is a diamond dog, I asked myself. I don't even know what that is and I feel offended. "Well, you see," I said, starting to pull the magnum from its holster, chambering a round as I continued. "I guess I could tell you, seeing as I've broken at least a dozen rules and regulations already, most of which I probably put into place myself. Unfortunately for you, I'm not feeling too generous about information tonight, so I guess you're out of luck."

She apparently didn't take well with the answer I gave her, that assumption quickly verified by her answer back, "NO MATTER. I WILL END YOUR PITIFUL LI-"

*BANG*

The sound of the magnum firing cut her short, as well as the bullet piercing through her front left leg, which had her making a new noise, a yell of pain.

Whoops, I thought, cringing at the yells of pain. Meant to hit the ground beside her.

While I was thinking this, I didn't really notice her regaining herself, and that she was staring at me with murderous intent. "YOU FOOL!"

At this statement I found myself lifted off the ground, surrounded in a dark aura. This isn't going to end we-. Before I could finish the thought, I was thrown across the room into a wall, my magnum getting thrown across the room. DAMN THAT HURTS! , I thought, feeling myself loose consciousness. As I shook my head in a vain attempt to stay awake, I looked up towards Twilight, noticing her FINALLY getting to where these elements were. As my vision faded black, I could hear the others of the group coming.

{-}

Twilight sat in the lobby of the hallway of the Ponyville hospital. Not long before, they had beaten Nightmare Moon, freeing Princess Luna, retrieved the wounded creature, the object it carried (which now resided in the library for further study), and brought it to Ponyville Hospital. No-pony had any idea what it was. Even Fluttershy, with all her expertise on animals, didn't know what it was.

So no-pony knew what it was and, more importantly to Twilight, why it was following them in the Everfree Forest or why it had helped. They were all waiting there, including both princesses, for the doctor to come out and tell them its condition. After another 15 minutes of waiting, Nurse Redheart came out to the lobby.

"So, what's the situation?" Twilight inquired.

"Well," Nurse Redheart began, " seeing as we have no clue of what it is, we weren't able to really accurately diagnose any major problems. The best we could do was to treat it anatomically like a diamond dog, as that's the closest we could come to something of its body structure. Though we couldn't tell if there was any internal bleeding, it just seemed to be badly bruised and some cracked bones, which we were able to fix. Other than a mild concussion, I'd say it'll be just fine. It's asleep right now."

"Can we see it," Twilight asked, wanting to see if she could gleam anything out of it through observation.

"Of course, it's right in this room over here."

Twilight and the rest followed the nurse over to one of the rooms, hoping to question this creature and thank it. Much to the surprise of the whole group, though, the room was empty and the window open, the mystery being no-where to be seen.

REVISED A/N: Well. That's it. Like I said, this was a pain to rewrite as all of the changes needing to be made and the distractions of real life. Can't promise when the next revised chap will be up, but hopefully sooner than this one was, as I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. That's it for now, so I'll see you guys next time! Arwingmaster1, out.