The Phantom in the moonlight

by Fanreader26

There was more to the tale "Mare in the moon", something that Celestia had kept to herself all this time. But as the time of Nightmare Moon's release quickly approached, the secret she held is soon to reveal itself, and a pony no one knew about will come to Equestria's aid. He just came from the last place anypony could think of.

6. Harmony to the Moon

"Normal Speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Power"

"Multiple peoples peaking at the same time."

Singing

special/flashback

~locations and transitions~

No Beta Reader

Disclaimer: I don't own my little pony or Danny phantom

---

Reviews corner

Dan the bluewolf: good timing for you then

HalfmoonSilver80: it's going! Round 2

Guest 1: I was kinda having fun with this one

Guest 2: yeah, I thought the same thing, with how I will be altering things already I don't think I should alter something so integrated and already set in such lore. The reaction will be coming soon

Green223: ok, I already thought about it and figured that adding another element would be out of nowhere. I mean, I could have done it, but that would require more knowledge about the lore than I have and I haven't done enough research for it to make it work well rather than being shoehorned in.

Cyrus the Reader: interesting idea. I could do that and with Danny's nature, it could work for later on.

Nathair1: thanks. He got the growth spurt he always wanted just not in the way he thought. Danny is clueless a bit, gotta keep it :P. From what I researched, she is imprisoned in the moon. I was going to put her in the sun but I wasn't sure if I should. Honestly, when I put the "round two" I was tempted to put "fight" in the end author's notes

zixalZane: glad you like it so much. I hope it continues to make your day when you read or reread it

Cg037: thanks and I will

TheWhiteTitan: I think she would be more surprised at the sight of Danny in general than the detail. Also, in my head, she was at an angle where she couldn't see it, especially with Danny's hair in the way. Yeah, I remember the song but the issue isn't about a bad person becoming good. From what I could tell, Nightmare Moon is the manifestation of dark emotions within Luna, and took her over. almost like a different entity. So it isn't so much as Luna becoming evil then she is taken over by somthing that was created by her. I found a song to use but not sure if it works. See I keep getting mixed info on Derpy/ditzy's name. Some say it's Derpy, and some say it's Ditzy, I think I'm going to make it derpy since that is the one most say is her real name

Jebest4781: I already have thoughts on that set but it will be a while till we get there

Damianthacker13: we will see. Still early in the fic….. Like really early

Valle95: thanks for the suggestion Valle. I went over the fight while listening to the song (I watched the show I love how Garnet sings it, and I actually have an idea for a Steven universe Danny Phantom crossover but that's for later) but it didn't seem to fit. It would work with a straight-up villain but Nightmare Moon isn't just a villain, she is a tragic hero in a way. I am thinking of using the song for a later fight though so it will be used.

Simm36: thanks. To your question, no, I don't think I will add any of Danny's enemies. I kinda have a reason for it but it will be explained in the story later on. But I have an idea for them much later on

Guest 3: lol maybe

Guest 4: sorry for the wait, but I have other stories I'm working on and the chapters take time to think up, write up, and fix as many issues as I can find. Especially with chapters being as long as I make them. Glad you like how I am portraying the characters.

Shadowtalker70: yeah I did research on her and found out that the reason for the eye thing was because of an animation error yet the fans liked her so much that they kept her as such. I don't really see anything wrong with her as it is an aspect of her. And she is funny.

3DJoker: glad you liked it so much. I thought about the new element thing and I don't think I do it. But with what you say, if ever there was an element Danny could be, it could be the element of "Balance"

Timelord2511: that is what I am going for. A slow burn with any of the ponies. Best to build up just platonic relations for now for later builds.

Julimart: glad you like the interactions with the characters and I was very proud of how I had Danny reveal himself. I really like that idea about the comics. I am going to use it later on. ?

Dan the bluewolf: I get the feeling you are going to switch around a lot on the pairing thing

Purpurawolf76: glad you like the bits I put in. and thanks for the info

LordGriffin1000: glad you like it and here is what happens next.

Okami2312: we will see about the sibling rivalry since we don't know how it will go

Chanderx93: yeah, I heard about Princess Cadence and miss Cake and Carrot Cake, I going to make those pairings stay as there isn't anything about them I really don't like so I don't feel like making them not have happiness.

A6spike: yep, round 2. And yeah, RedHeart is going to give it to him. For the image, I'm thinking of drawing a side-by-side between Dany's original look from the first round and his new look from the second round, so people know what the difference is.

ArashiNokitsune: it should be interesting to write

Adrianfilex622: yeah, a lot of reactions will occur thanks to the reveal. The comic book thing is already being worked on. I actually like the ideas I came up with when the comic book thing was brought up. Dani, I am unsure if I will bring her in

Zzz3: not sure if she will

Felisfernus18: glad you liked the new cover. Interesting idea for Spike, I could use that but we will see. Yeah, Redheart is going to have to check on him later.

Some Random Guy: nope, it's still going. And despite my track record of not updating some of my fics in a while, I do plan to finish all of them

Lord of Waffles: yeah, I know but it will also be funny when it gets to that point. Glad you like it

JustAFacelessFan: sorry if you don't like the romantic part of the story but be assured that it won't be the main focus.

Guest 5: we will see about the pairing later on. Merry Christmas

Guest 6: would be funny and a bit of a typical joke. I'll use it at one point. Daring do? Isn't that a character from the book series Rainbow reads? I'm guessing she is an actual character in the series.

Imx1112: thank you

---

Chapter 6: Harmony to the Moon

BOOM*

The sound of the impact was heard by all the ponies still inside the venue, causing them to panic and run around.

"EVERYPONY, STOP!"

The call caused the panic to stop and they all looked at the one that shouted.

The mayor stood at the small stage and tried to regain some semblance of order. "Running around like this won't help the situation. What we need to do is stay calm and hope that Danny is able to handle the threat."

It was the mention of the pony that caused questions to be thrown.

"Who is he?"

"How did he do what he did?"

"Where did he come from?!"

"Are we going to be ok?!"

The Mayor sighed as she knew that a panicking crowd would begin to throw out accusations and forget key pieces of information. It was during these times that somepony needed to wrangle them in so they don't cause trouble. "To answer your questions as best I can, he is the same pony that was hurt during that meteor crash on the Sweet Apple Acres. I don't know how he was able to turn into an Alicorn…"

BOOM*

They all gasped and ducked at the building shaking.

The Mayor herself began to feel fear. "...a-a-a *ahem* and I can say that since he is defending us, I can say that he is here to help." when the building shook again, she knew that the battle was too close to them and they needed to evacuate. "Ok, we are going to evacuate the building and head over to my office. It is a good distance from here and is a bit more stable than this one." She began to move the ponies to the back entrance so that they would head out.

Cheerilee was rounding up her students and was doing a head count to make sure she had all of them. "Nine…. Ten….. eleven… WHERE'S DINKY?!"

"Over here!"

Cheerilee looked up to see Derpy carrying Dinky. "Oh, good. Join us, you two, we are going as a group."

Derpy nodded as she moved to be next to the other mare with Dinky on her back.

Another audience gasp came when flashes of green light leaked through the window

The Mayor saw that all the ponies were gathered and ready to go. Nurse

Redheart walked up to her and she spoke to the nurse. "Redheart, I'm going to need you to care for anypony that might get hurt in our moving.

The nurse nodded as it was her job and passion.

The mayor figured that there was nothing else to do but move. "Ok, Everypony, get ready to run!" Seeing them all ready, she nodded and opened the door before calling out. "Head towards my office!"

With that, they all ran out of the building and towards the office.

One thing nopony else noticed was that a group of mares weren't with them and had left in another direction.

---

~Meanwhile~

Both Alicorns slammed their arms with each other's, causing a shockwave to resound through the town under them.

Danny gritted his teeth as her flight had a bit more force to it but he could only guess it was because of how they were flying. But that wasn't going to stop him from beating her.

Before, there was a potential way to save her using those Elements of Harmony. This time, Celestia was nowhere to be found, he didn't have time to find her, he didn't know where the Elements would be, and if he would even be able to use them since he doesn't know magic. So his only choice would be to hope that beating her would do the trick. He pulled back his free hoof and threw it into her face, sending her back.

Nightmare Moon rebalanced herself before she created ethereal swords and sent them flying at Danny.

Danny knew this move already and shifted his body and wings to the side. As the first blade flew past his head, he grabbed it with his teeth and swung it, destroying the other blades as they came. 'Glad that worked.' He felt a tug on his teeth and let go of the blade to have it fly out of his mouth and swing at his head. Ducking under it, he flew lower and blasted it before turning and sending a blast at his opponent.

Nightmare Moon flapped her wings to gain altitude before circling around Danny. She sped up when he sent rapid-fire blasts at her. After a full circuit around him, she stopped mid-air before twirling, causing a small shield to envelope her to block his shot. Once she stopped she sent her own beam at Danny.

Danny threw up a barrier and held fast in blocking the stream. Seeing that she wasn't going to stop, he put his front hooves on the barrier and began to push it forward toward Nightmare moon.

Nightmare Moon's eyes widened at what he was doing but she was too slow to avoid the barrier bashing into her. Stunned, she couldn't block the hoof to her face and the barrage of attacks he sent at her.

Danny's hooves were flying as he continued his onslaught on her. He continued to aim for her head to try and knock her out but she was sturdier than he thought. Not to mention that the helmet she had on was a good defense. He finished his barrage by bringing both hooves up and brought them down onto her, sending her crashing into the ground. He stayed in the air as he waited for the dust to clear to see if she was indeed knocked out. It was as he was looking down that he saw the other ponies running out of the venue. Turning his head, he saw that the Mayor was leading them to her office. "Must be trying to….GAH!" he didn't get to finish as he was blasted from below. Crashing back down, he groaned at the force of the blast. "Ow." He held himself up by his elbows and looked up to see Nightmare Moon fly up into the air and stare down at him with the moon behind her. He layed there gobsmacked not only at the sight of her still conscious, but it looked like she hadn't taken any damage. "How tough is she?!" Looking over his shoulder, he saw that all the ponies were still making their way. "We can't keep fighting in the town." He pushed himself back to his hooves before shaking himself to continue the fight. "Ok, then." He stared up and waited for her to make her move, and he got it after a few seconds. In a knee-jerk reaction, he flew toward her as she sent a stream of magic at him. He twirled around the blast as it tried to shoot him out of the sky.

Nightmare Moon stopped her blast and was about to erect a shield but Danny tackled her, breaking her concentration as they flew away from the town.

Danny pushed his flight speed to make sure he got them a distance away from the town. He was glad that the town was now behind them and only the forest was under. 'Hope that ain't AppleJack's farm.' His good mood was very short-lived when two hooves slammed into his back and down to the ground. He flailed in the air for a bit but was able to land on his feet and with another knee-jerk reaction, flew forward to avoid another stream. "She sure knows how to keep the heat on me." He spun around to fly with his back backward and sent a blast at her.

It became a shoot-out as blast after blast were sent back and forth from each other. Explosions could be seen appearing in the forest for the blasts that missed their target.

Danny noticed this and figured that he should try and avoid doing so much damage. Now instead of dodging, he would intercept as many of her magic blasts with his Ecto rays as he could, causing shockwaves and flashes of the mixed color of the two beams impacting. He flew back to avoid a blast he couldn't block or intercept. He looked over his shoulder to see where it impacted but his eyes went wide when he saw that it hit a tree a bit away from a pony he saw in the forest. He looked back at the other alicorn and saw her send another his way. He was too distracted so he could only bring up a half-built shield. Said shield shattered and sent him flailing closer to the ground, and closer to the pony.

"Dear me, what is happening in the Everfree?!"

Danny looked over his shoulder to see that he was barely a dozen feet away from her. "Crap!" He looked back and panicked at the blast heading their way. He spun around and tackled the pony out of the way. The two rolled on the ground before the explosion sent them rolling even further. Once they stopped, Danny pushed himself over her as he looked up to see that they were under some heavily forested area and out of sight from the sky. "I would suggest you run away from here. Find a place to hide, I'll try and get the fight further away from here." He looked down to see that the pony he was over was actually a zebra. An exotic-looking zebra who looked very stunned about what happened.

The zebra shook her head before speaking. "Thank you for the save, I shall follow the advice you gave."

Danny nodded before he jumped up and flew in the air. He floated there for a second to make sure she was ok.

The zebra got up once from under him and nodded her thanks to him. Smiling once more, she ran off away from the area.

Danny waited for a second and wondered why she was out here. Not having time to think about it, he flew into the air, went invisible, and phased through the leaves. Once clear of the trees, he saw that she was looking around for him to appear. 'Time for a surprise.'

Nightmare Moon was keeping her eyes open as she still remembered his teleporting trick from before. She was not going to fall for that trick again. "Show yourself!"

"Sorry, I'm shy."

Nightmare Moon was surprised at the suddenness of the voice but before she could look at where it came from, something slammed into her stomach and she was once again flying not of her own power. She looked down to see if she could see what was causing it but there was nothing. But she brought her hoof up before bringing it down in front of her. She was surprised when something blocked it. She was even more surprised when Danny reappeared with one hoof up to block her hit and the other still pushing her, with a cocky smirk on his muzzle. "Invisibility?!"

"I'm full of surprises."

Her nostrils flared before she flapped her wings to fly backward and brought her hoof back to attack him.

Danny continued to fly forward as she flew back as he sent his hoof to match her strike. Once the two hooves impacted each other, he sent another at her with her being the one to intercept this time.

The two began to fight once more with hooves with both dodging, blocking, or taking the hits, all the while still flying in one direction.

---

~meanwhile~

"Come on, girls, we're almost there." Twilight looked ahead as she, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were making their way through the Everfree forest.

They had begun their journey after Twilight found a book about the Elements of Harmony. When she found out that the Elements were stored inside the forest, she set out to retrieve them on her own, but she ended up going with the girls as they would not let her do this on her own. As they made their way, they ran into a few problems.

At the start of their journey, a cliffside they were on crumbled after an explosion from the battle hit close by in the air and the shockwave caused it. It was thanks to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash saving the others and Twilight trusting AppleJack's honesty, that they were able to get past this hurdle.

After that, they had run into a Manticore, or rather, they heard the whimpers of the animal. Despite how the pitiable sounds affected the girls, most of them wanted to get a move on since they were on a time crunch. Yet thanks to the kind heart of Fluttershy, who would not leave an animal to suffer, they followed the noise to find that the Manticore was trapped under a fallen tree. Fluttershy began to comfort the animal as she told the others to try and get the tree off it. Twilight and Rarity used their magic to levitate it as much as they could, Rainbow Dash wrapped a vine around the tree and used her flight to lift as much as she could, and AppleJack bucked the tree away when it was lifted off high enough. Pinkie…..was the cheerleader in this. Once that was done, Fluttershy was paid back with happy licks from the Manticore and they gave the animal a fond farewell as they had a mission to complete.

The next one was because the battle seemed to have gotten closer to them and the shockwaves and aerial explosions caused fear to enter the girls' hearts. It was Pinkie that got them through this as she began to laugh and clap at the attacks, calling them fireworks. After a short song from her, they continued on their journey and were glad when it stopped seeming so close.

Yet the battle had another unforeseen effect. One of the blasts destroyed one-half of a large sea serpent's bird, causing him to weep and thrash around, causing the river they needed to cross to be too treacherous. Rarity was the one to solve the problem as she cut off her own tail in order to replace the missing half of his mustache. In gratitude for her generosity, the sea serpent allowed them to use his long body as a bridge to cross.

The girls were close to arriving where they needed to be.

Rainbow Dash was becoming a little impatient though. "How far away do we still have to go?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm not sure. I've never been there before, nopony has been there in a long time."

The cyan mare sighed as she crossed her hooves. "If I knew where it was I might have gone ahead to see if I can find them."

AppleJack looked at Rainbow Dash with a disapproving look. "Now, yall know that ya wouldn't do something like that."

Rainbow Dash drooped a bit. "Yeah, but we don't know how the fight between Danny and Nightmare Moon is going. We hadn't heard any explosions in the last few minutes."

BOOM*

The sudden boom that was heard caused them to jump a bit with Applejack glaring at the pegasus.

"Eheh, sorry."

Twilight took a breath as they continued to move but paused when the dirt they were just walking on changed. She looked down and saw that it was no longer dirt but concrete. She looked up and saw something that caused her to feel more hope since they were now close. "We're almost there."

The girls continued to walk forward as they looked around the new area. Most of them had no idea where they were but they could tell that it used to be a town, but not one they knew of.

The town looked old and decrepit with a lot of vegetation taking over a lot of it.

As they moved, they looked at crumbling buildings in wonder with them occasionally looking through windows of houses and what looked like stores.

They even had to walk around some holes that were randomly scattered around the ground.

They continued for a bit till they stopped at a fountain with the statue destroyed and its headpiece crumbling next to the fountain bench.

Fluttershy was the one to speak up about her curiosity. "Where is this?"

Twilight looked at the statue's head before looking up at the distance where she could see the castle they were meant to go to. "This….. Is Canterlot."

"WHAT!?" Was the collected exclamation of the other girls.

Twilight realized what her answer could mean so she backtracked a bit. "But not the one we know!" Seeing them calm down but still curious, she continued. "This is old Canterlot. Long ago, this was the town that was just outside of the castle grounds and where many of the ponies would live. But one day, something happened that caused all the ponies to evacuate the area but no one is really sure why. There are many thoughts about what might have been the cause of it, from a unicorn's spell going awry, to an earthquake, to the forest claiming it. No one recorded anything regarding the cause of this town being abandoned but one thing that is known is that the ponies moved to a new area, and that became the Canterlot we know today. They built the New Canterlot where it is now and moved on." She looked around what looked to be the town's center as she felt her need to learn take over. "I would love to explore this town since no one has been here for a very long time… but we have to get moving. We don't know where Danny is or how he is doing in the fight."

*boom*

Rainbow Dash looked up into the sky before her eyes went wide. "LOOK OUT!" She tackled all of the girls out of the way as something crashed where they were just standing.

*CRASH*

They all got back to their hooves and shook themselves free of the dust that was picked up.

"Ow."

They looked at what had crashed and saw the dust clear up to reveal….

"Danny!"

Said alicorn had gotten to his hooves and was whipping his arm when he heard the exclamation. He looked toward them with a befuddled look. It took his mind a second to realize that he wasn't alone in the forest. "What are you girls doing here?! This isn't the best place to be right now!" He looked in the direction he came from and realized that he was sent flying a great distance. Thinking he had a minute, he looked at the mares. "You need to get out of here! I don't know when she will pop up again but I can't go full out if you are nearby. I haven't been able to use all of my powers since it would put the ponies around in danger!"

Twilight stepped forward to speak up and get him to stop panicking. "But we know how to stop her."

This caused Danny to stop as he looked at her in interest. If they knew how to stop Nightmare Moon, he needed to know what it is. "Ok, you got my attention."

Twilight looked over her shoulder towards the castle and spoke. "We are going to go get the Elements of Harmony. I read that…."

"You know where the Elements of Harmony are?!" He moved closer to them and eyed each of them hopefully. "Please tell me you know where they are."

Applejack stepped forward and nodded. "Well, we don't know exactly where, Twilight here knows really. We are here to help her get them."

Danny's serious look turned into a smile. "If you know where they are, do you know how to use them?!"

Twilight took a step back as she thought he was a bit too close. "Well….. I don't know exactly how to use them but, we have to try something."

Danny felt a bit downtrodden at how Twilight didn't seem sure how to use them but at the moment, beggars can't be choosers. "Well, you probably have a better chance at using them than me." Thinking quick on his feet….. Uh… hooves, he asked. "Where are they exactly?"

Pinkie bounced on her hooves as she pointed toward the castle. "They are in that creepy-looking castle over there."

Danny looked in that direction and could not help but find familiarity with it. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow as he thought to himself. 'Are all castles built like that?' He saw that it was built similarly to Celestia's castle but he figured that the architects were just unimaginative in that aspect since this castle was obviously old. "Ok, head over there and get them ready. I'll lead her over there for you to use the elements." As he thought about what he just told them, something else came to mind. Something that might work but he was very unsure if it even had a chance. But it was worth a shot. "And when I do bring her over there, don't use them until I give you the signal."

Rarity stepped closer with worry on her face. "But should we not use it as soon as possible?"

Danny shook his head. "Yes, but I have an idea that I want to try. Whether it works or not, Twilight still needs to get the Elements ready and wait for my signal."

Fluttershy was worried about all of this. "Are you sure?"

Danny nodded before looking into the distance, over the forest. "Now, get going. I think I made her wait long enough since she is on her way."

The girls looked to where he was facing and they could see the starry flow of Nightmare Moon heading their way.

Twilight panicked as she looked at the girls. "Let's go, girls." They all began to move but each of them paused and looked at Danny still standing strong.

Each of them couldn't help but think, in their own way, how heroic he looked standing there resolutely.

Twilight was the last one to head out as she whispered. "Be careful, Danny." She then followed the girls towards the castle

Danny smirked at the worry they had for him. Reminded him of Sam and tucker when he was about to head out to attack Pariah Dark. He stood his ground and waited till she got closer. It was then he looked around and couldn't help but think. 'Why do I get a sense of deja vu?' Choosing to put that aside, he took a breath. "Ok." As she got closer, he bent his knees before launching himself at her. The clash created another shockwave that caused whatever buildings that still had some structure to collapse fully now.

This time, Danny was able to get the upper hand and the two rolled in the air in the direction Nightmare moon came from. Nightmare moon though was able to regain control and stopped the roll before kicking Danny down and sending a blast at him.

Danny grunted in pain as it hit him in the chest. His back slammed into the ground as she kept her blast going. The size of the beam kept his legs at the side and his head turned as he grit his teeth. 'She's really pulling out all the stops!' Putting more strength in his legs, he brought his arms up and began to hold the beam back. "Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh rrrrrrrrrrr hhhhhhhhhaaaaa" He channeled an immense amount of power into his horn before blasting it at her attack, pushing her's back.

The beams were now equal in power and causing gale-force winds to shred the area apart.

Their eyes met past the beams both of anger and determination but one had something else.

Danny wasn't sure if he was seeing what he was seeing but in her eyes, there was something deep inside. There was also a small whisper that was almost drowned out by the sound of battle, but Danny was almost sure he heard something. He knew that he was grasping at straws, but he liked those straws. 'I'm coming Luna.'

"HHAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!~~"

Both shouted as they sent another pulse of power, causing a sparkling flash as the center of the beams imploded and disappeared for a split second before a massive explosion was seen.

---

The mares were running across a rope bridge as the force of the explosion hit them, sending them flying. Pinkie was able to land on the other side of the bridge but Twilight, AppleJack, and Rarity were not so lucky.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew down and caught them, with Fluttershy catching Rarity and Rainbow Dash catching Twilight.

AppleJack pulled out a rope from her hat before biting one end and lassoing a hoop to go over the cliff edge and grab onto a tree stump. She crashed onto the side of the cliff but held strong on the rope.

Pinkie began to pull the rope up to get AppleJack up.

After a minute, the mares were panting from that little bit of excitement. Once they caught their breath, they galloped towards the castle as they were just at the gates. They made it and now all they had to do was find the Elements of Harmony. Once they were inside, they had another problem.

They didn't know exactly where in the castle the elements were.

Room after room, they poked their head in to find nothing…..or rather, not what they wanted to find but of some interest.

Rarity poked her head into a dressing room and she wanted to faint at the sight of destroyed clothing. Sure, nopony would be able to tell they used to be clothes, but Rarity being a designer, knew clothes when she saw them. The rags were just a crime against the natural way of life for her. Shaking her head, she continued on.

AppleJack looked into what used to be the kitchen. But she had to pull her head out since the smell, which was apparently still wafting inside, was of rotten food. She felt sick and made her way away from the room to try and get some fresh air.

Pinkie pie looked into what looked like a ballroom. Her mind went straight into one of the biggest parties that could be done but with how the room was now, it was too dangerous to use. Partygoer and planner she may be, but she was not one to get ponies into situations that may hurt them. She is smarter than other ponies think.

But that's for another time.

Fluttershy looked into a room that was taken over by the forest as there was a tree in the middle of the room. She couldn't help but frown as she saw there was a bird's nest on one of the branches. But that wasn't what made her frown per se, it was the fact that the branch was too weak to hold it much longer. Looking behind her, she saw the others still looking and she probably had a minute to do this. She flew up and packed up the nest and move it to a stronger branch. Despite how it was stronger, it was still not the best place for the birds to set home. She would have told the birds to find another place but they were there at the moment and she had a more important task at the moment. She flew out of the room to join the others

Twilight nearly cried at the room she came into. Hundreds of books, on shelves that were taller than the ones she was used to. But each and every book was destroyed by age and what looked like burns. Each. and. Every. Book! "So much knowledge…..lost~!" She let out a whimper but her mind got back to the task at hand and left the tragedy.

With a bit more searching they finally found the room that held the elements.

They all walked further into the room as their eyes were on the stones that they were looking for.

AppleJack asked. "Are those…?"

Twilight nodded. "The Elements of Harmony."

The pegasi flew up and grabbed each of the stones and put them on the ground in front of the group. It was when all of them were gathered that they realized that there was one missing.

Rarity was the one to point this out.

Twilight shook her head. "It was said that when a spark is found, the final element will show itself with the other elements. I think that magic is needed in order to activate the elements."

*BOOM*

AppleJack looked out the window to see flashes of the two alicorns. "Hate to rush ya, but you should probably get that magic spark going."

The purple unicorn nodded as she activated her magic

The others took a step back to watch. They would leave her to do it but with how close the fight seemed to be, they weren't going to leave their new friend alone.

Twilight focused on the elements as she poured her magic into them. The orbs began to glow with the magic and then levitated into the air. The girls were watching in awe and Twilight was smiling wide as she figured it was working.

Suddenly a small spark of lightning shot out of the elements and struck Twilight and sending her rolling away.

The others gathered around the unicorn, helping her up as they watched the orbs with looks of hope.

Yet to their horror, the elements shattered.

"No."

---

Sparks of power were lighting the sky as the alicorns were now horn to horn and glaring into each others' eyes.

"This time, I will make sure nothing of you is left!"

Danny huffed through his nose. "You aren't the first one to say that to me and so far, you haven't shown me anything that can do that to me." He could hear that sound again in his head and wished it was clearer. But the gith had gone on long enough. 'Hope you girls have the Elements ready, 'cause here we come!' Danny then went intangible, causing Nightmare Moon to yelp in shock and fall forward but she didn't fall far as Danny bit on her tail before swinging her over his head and throwing her down towards the castle. He then launched himself at her and tackled her in the back and crashed through the hole that was in the ceiling. Once they were inside, he brought his feet up and kicked her further into the ground. He looked around and saw the six mares standing in the same room. "Good, we're here. Did you get the elements?"

Twilight's ears flattened and looked at the shards scattered on the floor. "Yes, but…. They shattered."

"What?!"

"hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lightning was seen as Nightmare moon stood from her spot. "It would seem that your last hope has been destroyed. Now nothing can stop me. Even you, who have done nothing but defy me do not have the power to destroy me! Now all shall kneel before me or be destroyed."

Danny looked at the shards on the ground and figured that their best bet was now gone. 'Just my luck.' he stood in front of Twilight and faced Nightmare moon. "You girls get out of here. This is now a different kind of fight."

"We ain't done yet."

Danny looked over his shoulder to see the girls stand tall.

Twilight looked to her sides to see the other mares walk up to form a line with her in the center.

AppleJack continued her statement. "We may not have the elements but we sure as heck won't just stand by and let our friends be hurt."

Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof in the air. "Yeah, Danny's not the only one that is going to stop you!"

Rarity flipped her hair as she looked at Danny. "Honestly, Darling, doing all this roughhousing alone is just unwise."

Fluttershy stood her ground. "Twilight was the one that wanted to fight, too. But we won't let her do it alone. We won't let either of you do it alone."

Twilight's eyes widened as her friends stood by her side. A twinkle was seen in her eyes as something in her mind spoke to her.

"You are the spark."

Then knowledge came to her and her smile returned before it turned into a smirk. She looked toward Nightmare Moon and spoke. "The elements of Harmony are still with us!"

"But how? I see the shard of them scattered on the ground!"

Twilight shook her head. "No, those are not the elements anymore. The elements of Harmony…. Are right here!"

The shards on the ground began to quiver as she continued

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of… honesty!"

A set of shards flew over to the Cowpony and spun around her in a ring.

"Fluttershy, who aided the Manticore in its time of need and show compassion when needed…. Represents the spirit of…. Kindness!"

Fluttershy flew a bit back in shock as another set of shards flew around her.

"Pinkie Pie, who helped us laugh through the fear we had from the battle, represents the spirit of….. Laughter!"

Pinkie bounced a few times as she giggled at the ring of shards she gained.

"Rarity, who calmed the serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of….. Generosity!"

Rarity smiled at the shards as she could not help but think they looked beautiful.

"Rainbow Dash, who stands by her friends in the face of any danger, represents the spirit of…. Loyalty."

Rainbow Dash puffed her chest as the shards flew around her

She looked at each of the mares with a fond smile on her face. "The spirit of these five ponies had gotten us to this point and we will defeat you."

Nightmare Moon glared at her as she condescended her statement. "But you still lack the final element. The spark was never found."

"But it was. I felt it when all of you stood by me, helped me, and are here with me. How happy I am to call you all… my friends!" a flash of light was seen above them and she looked up to see another sphere come down over them. "When the elements are ignited by the spark, the spark that can be found in all of us, it creates the sixth element. The Element of…. Magic!"

Danny watched in awe as the shards began to reshape themselves on each of the mares becoming decorative chest pieces. Yet the one Twilight was a crown-like piece with a jewel held on the top. He immediately recognized it as the star piece of the elements of Harmony Celestia used. "Well, at least we know that you have the elements." He turned back to the other Alicorn as he spoke to the girls. "Wait for my signal. Time to see if my plan will work." He scraped one hoof on the ground before he lifted his front hoofs, flailed them a bit, and galloped at Nightmare moon.

Nightmare Moon did the same as she galloped at him.

Danny smirked at this as she did exactly what he wanted. He channeled his energy into his horn. His eyes flashed blue before a blue beam was shot at the female Alicorn.

Nightmare moon was shocked at the action and tried to stop but the beam hit her chest and soon, she felt cold. Looking down, she saw that her body was being encased in ice. "What?!" Hearing the clopping of Danny, she looked back up to see that he handed stopped.

"Here we go!" Going intangible, he jumped at Nightmare Moon and phased into her

"Danny!"

---

Danny opened his eyes and saw that he was in a black void. He looked around to see nothing around him. "Ok, not what I expected." he noticed that his voice went back to his normal echo instead of a bellow.

Danny was now his normal size but still an alicorn. His mane was now back to normal length, no longer waving, his height was now back to his normal, his wings were now smaller, and his horn was back to its normal length.

In other words, he was in his alicorn form from when he first fought Nightmare moon.

He looked down and tapped the tip of his hoof on the ground, even if he couldn't even see it. "Guess I just walk." And so he did. He didn't have any set destination but he kinda had an idea of what he had to find. He didn't know how long he had been walking but he soon heard somthing in a distance. It was something that was somewhat familiar to him.

The sound of crying.

Danny moved faster toward the sound and he felt that the closer he got, the more…wrong it felt. Ignoring the feeling, he got close and soon saw what it was. Or rather, who it was.

Luna was curled up in the middle of the void and crying.

"Luna!" he moved closer to her while looking around since the feeling he had was worse as he got closer. Not seeing anything, he spoke to her. "Luna, you ok?"

"Go away, Danny." was her soft plea. "Leave me. I don't deserve to be in your presence after what I did. I attacked my ponies, I destroyed their homes, I harmed you, and caused your imprisonment."

Danny shook his head as he stepped closer. "You didn't do any of that. Nightmare Moon did. You and here are different ponies, I should know, I talked to you and I fought her. All that happened was that you were taken over and I'm here to help you back."

"I don't deserve your kindness. You shouldn't try to save me…. I don't deserve to be around anypony."

Danny had to jump back as a shadowy wisp encircled Luna as if blocking him from stopping her. He glared at it as he let his power surge. "You can't stop me from saving her. Now get out of here." the thing didn't have any eyes but he was sure that it narrowed its eyes at him. He looked back to Luna and spoke to her. "I'm not leaving you like this. You're a friend and I ain't gonna let a friend stay here. He instinctively used his wing to cover his face as the aura sent out a gust at him. He was pushed back a bit but he still held strong. Closing his eyes, he took a breath as he stepped forward. It was then that he felt something inside him come out and he found himself opening his mouth.

~Play "Not Alone" by Red~

Slowly fading away

You're lost and so afraid

Where is the hope, in a world so cold?

Danny stepped forward, ignoring the aura that tried to stop him.

Luna hiccuped as she lifted her head to see Danny still coming toward her

Looking for a distant light

Someone who can save a life

Living in fear that no one will hear your cry

Luna lifted up a hoof and reached for him. Letting her voice sing with his, she called out: Can you save me now~?

Danny's hoof wrapped around hers as they stilled

I am with you~

I will carry you through~ it all~

I won't leave you, I will catch you~

When you feel like letting go~

Danny pulled her up to her hoofs with her now looking down at him.

'Cause you're not, you're not alone

He let her hoof go and began to walk while gesturing with his head to follow him. They moved at a slow pace as Luna was still distraught.

Your heart is full of broken dreams

Just a fading memory

And everything's gone but the pain carries on

Windows of memories appeared at their sides as they walked, each showing memories of ponies ignoring her and praising Celestia, and some showing her actions as Nightmare moon

Lost in the rain again

When will it ever end?

The arms of relief seem so out of reach

But I,

Danny moved ahead and turned around to look her in the eye.

I am here

Then a twinkle appeared before it burst into the dark void, lighting it till it became a beautiful star-spangled infinite with visible galaxies.

Danny then walked backward with her following him

I am with you

I will carry you through it all

I won't leave you, I will catch you

When you feel like letting go

'Cause you're not, you're not alone

The next windows they passed changed to happy memories.

A filly Celestia and Filly Luna playing together

Celestia tucking Luna into bed

Celestia holding Luna the day their parents passed away

Ponies smiling up at her as she ruled along with her sister

Danny and her sitting on a roof, pointing up at the stars as she told her the story of the constellations

And she will be your hope when you feel like it's over

And she will pick you up when your whole world shatters

And when you're finally her arms

You'll look up and see, love has a face

They stopped walking as the windows circled around them in a dome formation

We are with you

We will carry you through it all

We won't leave you, we will catch you

When you feel like letting go

'Cause you're not, you're not alone

And she will be your hope (you're not alone)

And I will pick you up

And we will be your hope

And we will be your hope

The memories began to fade away, leaving the two ponies in the starry expanse.

Slowly fading away

You're lost and so afraid

Where is the hope, in a world so cold?

Luna gave a teary smile at Danny as she nodded to him. "I think I know where."

Danny nodded back as he smiled brightly at her. "It's time to go home, Luna."

Luna stood more resolutely and nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, the shadowy entity appeared behind Luna to reclaim her.

But Luna did not move.

Danny smirked as he got what he came for. "Gotcha." He jumped forward, grabbed the entity, and flew upward.

Luna watched him leave as she faded away.

---

The six mares were worried when they saw Dany disappear into NightMare moon, they wanted to use the elements immediately but they trusted Danny's word.

It was seconds later that they heard Danny's voice sing while inside of Nightmare moon. This told them that he was still ok. They weren't sure what the song was for or who it was for but they listened to it and awaited his signal.

It was when the song ended that Danny shot out of Nightmare moon and he shouted at them

"Now! Fire at me now!"

Due to the suddenness and command of it, they did as they were told and aimed the blast at him. They were enveloped in magic power and sent a rainbow blast at Danny who was hovering in the air.

It was then that they noticed that he was holding onto something that was trying to get away.

The beam came crashing down on him as he smirked up at it. He pushed it forward as they were stuck and could see it be destroyed by the Elements' attack. All the while, he felt nothing affect him. Soon the entity faded away and Danny dropped down to the ground. He shook himself as the fight was now over. "Not the hardest fight I've been in but it sure was interesting." He then brought a hoof to his throat as he wondered out loud. "Since when have I been able to sing….. And why did I sing at all?" it was then that he saw the mares on the ground and unconscious. He made his way over to them and asked. "Hey, are you girls, alright?"

Said Mares ground as they stirred. One by one they got up and saw that the battle must be over since Danny was standing over them.

Twilight was the one that asked. "Is it over?" she smiled when he nodded.

The mares looked themselves over and were glad that they weren't hurt that much.

Rarity was ecstatic for another reason. "Oh, glorious!"

Fluttershy looked at Rarity and her eyes went to the necklace she had. "Why, Rarity, it's lovely."

Rarity was too focused on the tail she had gotten back. She twirled her tail in the air before bringing it to her cheek and nuzzling it. "Oh, I know, I'll never part with it again."

Fluttershy smiled fondly at how Rarity was acting but she had to elaborate. "No, your necklace. It looks just like your cutey mark."

Rarity looked at her flank to see her cutey mark and compared it to the gem embedded in her necklace. She gasped as she thought it looked beautiful. She then noticed the one that Fluttershy had. "So does yours."

It was then that the others started to look at the necklaces they had

Danny looked at each and thought that each of them were the gems that Celestis used but reshaped into these. The only one that he saw looked the same was the one that Twilight had on her head. But now wasn't the time for such things. He turned around and looked at the ice block that he left Nightmare Moon in. To his surprise, it was empty. He walked towards it but paused when he heard AppleJack speak.

"You know, Twilight, I thought you had knocked something loose when you said we were representations of the elements but turns out… that we do represent them."

"Indeed, you do."

Danny immediately got into a defensive stance when he heard an unfamiliar voice.

Coming through the window was another entity but this time it was made of a blinding light. Once it landed inside in front of the group, it reformed itself into Celestia.

At the sight of the princess, the mares bowed down to their princess.

Danny on the other hand, since he didn't have the mares in his sight, was still defensive. "Who are you?" Was his stern question which apparently drowned out Twilight's happy exclamation from reaching his ears. When he saw her run up to the newcomer, he lowered his stance. It was then he got a better look at her. Something about her was blaringly familiar. He knew he should know this pony but his brain was just not clicking. The color of her coat, the waving hair, the fact that she was an alicorn, but there was only one other alicorn he knew of and she had a pink mane and tail, not a rainbow. It was then his eyes landed on her cutey Mark. 'wait….'

Celestia was talking to Twilight as she explained how she already knew about the coming of Nightmare Moon. "...that is why I entrusted you to do this and I was right. You were able to complete this task, find the new representations of the elements of harmony, and let true friendship into your heart."

"Celestia?"

The mares looked to Danny as he walked closer to the princess with a confused expression.

The mares then bowed down once more as they now had two alicorns standing in front of them.

Celestia smiled at Danny as he stopped in front of her. "It has been a long time, Danny."

Danny's eyes widened as that just confirmed it for him. "What the?! How… what….. When…. who…. !?" He pointed a hoof at her and moved it up and down to refer to how she had changed a lot since the last time he saw her.

She let out a giggle at his befuddled look. Something she didn't know she missed, seeing him befuddled with how things were done. "I supposed I have changed since the last time you saw me, but the same could be said about you."

Danny looked down at himself and could not argue the fact but still. "Yeah, I changed and I don't know why this form is bigger than before but I can figure that out later. I didn't know you could make yourself look… bigger. Is that a magic thing or an alicorn thing or what?" It was then he noticed that the mares were bowing to them. "And why are you all bowing so much?"

Celestia smiled as she brought up a hoof and pointed it at him. "Well, to elaborate on my change, it has been…"

*Achoo*

Everypony looked to where the sneeze came from but saw nothing but the block of ice Danny made.

Danny saw something moving inside the block and focused on his cryokinesis. He willed the ice to melt and reveal the pony inside. "What the…?"

Celestia walked toward the shivering pony.

The pony was a smaller alicorn that had a soft blueish purple coat, short soft sky blue mane, and a familiar cutey mark.

"Wait… Luna?" He followed Celestia toward the new mare.

"It has been many eons since I have seen you like this."

Luna looked up from her curled-up position, still shivering. "Th-th-that it has, s-s-sister."

"'Sister'?!" was the exclamation of the other six mares

Danny shook his head as he asked in exasperation. "Is everypony I know going to go through a sudden appearance change."

Celestia layed down in front of Luna as she gave a theory. "I suppose this might be due to a good amount of her power having weakened from her time being Nightmare Moon. Her form had regressed to her younger years to compensate. She should be back to normal after some rest."

Choosing to just accept that, Danny lowered his head and gave a cheeky smile as he brought his hoof up. "Aw, she's so cute~" He ruffled her mane a bit before she waved her own hoof to knock his away.

"D-d-do not t-t-treat us as if we are some f-f-f-filly. And d-didst thou need to k-keep us in the ice?"

Danny stood up again and smirked. "Yep, that's Luna alright."

Celestia smiled at that before it turned into a frown as she looked at Luna. "Sister, can you forgive me for what I have done to you?"

Luna let out a breath to try and warm herself as she looked up at Celestia. "You don't need to ask me for forgiveness, sister. I understand why you did it and I do not blame you for it."

Celestia lowered her head to hug Luna, ignoring the cold around her. Once done she looked to Danny. "Danny…"

"If you're going to ask me to forgive you, you don't have to. I was the one that told you to take the shot and you did it. It was a nice nap but the wake-up call could have been better."

Celestia stood up and sighed. "Yes, but imprisoning you for a thousand years is a punishment that I did not want to put you two through."

Danny shrugged as if it was nothing. "Meh, like I said, you don't have to beat yourself up for it." His smile seemed to freeze as something she said seemed to do a U-turn and get back into his head. "Wait… how long was I up there?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow as she wondered why he was acting like this. "A thousand years."

The gears in his head were turning, connecting with other gears, and getting the lightbulbs in his head to click on. "...Cely~…."

Celestia was wary about the name he used. Usually, she didn't mind the nickname and she had missed hearing it, but the way he said it was what she learned to be when he was about to let loose. "Yes?"

"Please confirm that you said 'a thousand years'..." He said with an almost dead expression.

Oh, she knew that look. She guessed that was how he would react. In the time she had spent with him, she had learned a lot about him since he is very open about his emotions and actions. She figured that this was something else that came with the return of her friend. "Yes."

The bearers of the elements of harmony were shocked to see this sight, that they could never imagine. They gasped as they saw Danny grab Princess Celestia's face with his hooves and began to shake her violently.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'A THOUSAND YEARS'? YOU NEVER SAID THAT THE IMPRISONMENT IN THE MOON THING WOULD BE THAT LONG!"

"I-I-I-I-I-I di-i-i-i-i-idn't haaaaave the chaaaance tooooo!"

"YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO TELL ME WHEN YOU TOLD ME THE BACKUP PLAN! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!?"

Despite the shouting, there was no anger in his voice. Just shear panic and surprise

The other mares could only watch as Danny shook their princess.

Not how they would think royalty would act.

Luna….. Could not help but smile at the sight. To see her sister and closest friend again filled her heart with warmth after being frozen on the moon for so long

Danny paused his shaking of Princess Celestia's head. "...wait…." Something else clicked in his head before he started shaking the mare again. "I WAS ON THE MOON FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO ENJOY IT!"

Luna let out a tear. "...I'm home."

---

End of chapter

Well, that is the end of this chapter and the end of the starting arc. Now, let's…

Pinkie Pie: wasn't that exciting, I mean I was excited and I couldn't believe what happened but I kinda did since I was in this but I didn't know what Fanreader would do but now…

pushes Pinkie through the cartoon hole that she came from* Pinkie, don't break the fourth wall and interrupt me.

Pinkie: but I wanna hear what you have to say and what might happen next!"

pointing into the hole.* there is a party going on in Ponyville right now and you are going to miss it."

Pinkie Pie: *GAAAAASSSSSP* *disappears into the hole*

Now, sorry about that, Pinkie is a handful but she means well. Anyway, Luna is back home but smaller than usual. I did this since the Luna from the pilot episode does not look like the Luna from later on in the series. So I gave an explanation for it

I had trouble coming up with alternatives to the trials the girls went through since Nightmare moon was a bit busy through the whole thing, fighting Danny. I hope you like what I did but I will be coming back later to add the full scenes themselves. Rainbow Dash was the hardest to do since I couldn't think of any other way to show loyalty.

I hope you like how I set up Old Canterlot since I felt like smacking myself for not considering the thousand-year time skip and castle of two sisters. I don't know if there is any real lore about that castle so I came up with something.

I added Dinky, since I like the parental aspect of that fan idea. And I am going to set her name as Derpy since most say that is her real name

Now, I hope you MLP fans won't get mad at me because I am going to alter the characters a bit. I will still have them as they normally are (as best I can) but I want to add more character to them.

Also, I will be skipping episodes here and there if I can get away with them, or I will make a focused chapter that happens at the same time as the episode but focused on Danny. Or I can add Danny to the episode itself. Like the grand galloping gala, I can have Danny be part of the episode, or I can have him doing his own thing while Twilight handles her friend's insistence about going. But that will be in a few chapters since the next chapter will be about the aftermath of this whole event

I had the idea of having Danny become an alicorn in both forms but I am scrapping that idea since I don't like it. I might make him an alicorn in both forms later on but that will be much later. For now, his "human form" will remain a unicorn.

Danny did get an ability from staying inside the crystal made of harmony energy, and it was shown in this chapter but only hinted. It is more of an extra ability that can be done without the other elements and it will not affect the elements either.

Now I scoured the internet for a song that I could use for during the fight but I couldn't find anything. I then had to scrap that idea till I found the song I used. But instead of during the fight, I made it so it helped Luna. I hope you like how I did it. Now the issue is that I am sure that many will see it as a romantic gesture but I am doing it as a close bond gesture. Not saying she doesn't have a chance but I just want to keep it open for as long as I can and build relations gradually.

Hope you liked it

Anyway, this is a Christmas gift of sorts as this is one of three different updates I am doing this day. (would have been uploaded earlier but was busy. I will be trying to crunch out some more chapters for other fics in this last week of the year

Hope you all had a Very Happy Christmas or Holiday….. Or day.

Flames will be ignored.

Criticism is accepted

Ideas are taken into account and considered

Positive reviews are appreciated

Favs and Follows are motivation

And your enjoyment in reading this is the goal

So please read, Favorite, follow, and review