"Normal Speech"
'Normal thoughts'
"Power"
"Multiple peoples peaking at the same time."
{Electronic speech}
special/flashback
~locations and transitions~
No Beta Reader
Disclaimer: I don't own my little pony or Danny Phantom
This was originally a story made by Redknight21. He has allowed me to take over since he has chosen to let it go.
Heads up before you read, the MLP characters will be anthropomorphic.
and I have rewritten it in my style
Prologue: A Second Chance
If you were to ask Danny if he was having a good day today, he would look at you as if you were insane.
Like his usual days, he was late to class, which meant that he had less time to do the test that he hadn't even studied for, thanks to all the ghost fights, and got an F for all his efforts. Then the A-listers jumped him since Dash got an F on the same test.
Oh, and then there was the fact that the Ghost King was released from his prison and raging war on Amity Park.
"Look out!"
A group of screaming citizens jumped to the side to allow a volley of Ecto blasts to fly past them and into a group of skeletons.
Danny lands behind them and throws up an ecto shield to block a swarm of arrows that another group of skeletons launched. "Get through the Ghost shield, I'll hold them off!" He shouted over his shoulder to get the people moving.
Things couldn't have looked worse for Amity Park or Danny Phantom.
Apparently, Vlad had the brilliant idea of opening the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep again in the hopes of gaining the Ring of Rage to make himself all-powerful. The egotistical billionaire even found a way to tap into the Crown of Fire's power, boosting his levels of strength far beyond what Danny could imagine or compete with.
But just like last time, he greatly overestimated himself and found himself at the mercy of the Tyrant king's wrath. Finding his existence quickly extinguished.
At least, that is how the Box Ghost said it happened.
Now free and with both of his artifacts in his possession, it was to everyone in Amity Park's surprise that they suddenly ended up in the ghost zone before they could even understand what was going on.
Unfortunately, that was just the start of their problems
In his first invasion, Pariah was pulling his punches for his own amusement, but now he was going full force. The Mad King wanted Amity Park destroyed and Phantom's head on a pike to display to all that all hope was lost.
Danny was able to hold off the skeleton army long enough for his parents to activate the ghost shield to protect the citizens from them. Sending a blast at another group of skeletons, he heard his phone beep before he grabbed it and jumped in the air to avoid an attack from another group. He hit the green phone icon and pressed it to his ear. "Give me some good news, Jazz, I could really use it right about now."
{Everyone In Amity Park made it under the ghost shield, but I don't know how long it will last.} Shouting could be heard in the background before she continued. {The Ghost Skeletons are attacking the shield relentlessly. If this keeps up, it might go down soon, leaving us with one less defense against all this.}
Danny felt a pit in his stomach as he worried about that piece of news. Turning his head toward the large green dome, he took a deep breath through his nose. "Hang tight, I'm on my way." With that, he hung up the phone and rocketed over the dome to head back toward the last line of defense.
Danny had been ushered into his home's basement where all the teenagers and their parents were. He saw his parents handing out Ecto weapons to all those eighteen and older, this meant that he would be staying behind since Danny Fenton was only sixteen. He grew more worried when he heard his parents say that with the constant attacks against the dome, it was only a matter of time before it fell. "This is not good." He muttered to himself as he watched as his parents got to the police officers and handed them blasters. He dropped his head into his hands before he dragged them down his face. "Damn it, Vlad, why the hell did you do something so stupid?" He let out a heavy sigh as he pressed his back on the wall before sliding down and slumped on the ground. Putting his arms on his knees he dropped his head, feeling defeated. "Not only was it stupid, it killed you and now the whole town is close to following."
Jazz saw her brother on the ground, moved closer, and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not over yet, Danny. Can't you beat him again like last time?"
Danny shook his head as he pushed himself off the ground. "Jazz, last time I had the Ecto-armor, something that boosted my powers a hundred times. Even then, I barely beat Pariah during that fight, and it wasn't even me beating him. I just got him in the sarcophagus while it was locked up." His voice portrayed the growing dread as he continued. "But we destroyed the armor when Vlad set us up against each other, which means that I have no advantage against him this time."
Jazz's mood was dropping as Danny brought up the point and dropped her arms in defeat. "So, this is it, huh?" She had a sad smile as she looked at her brother.
Danny leaned back onto the metal wall and gained a hard look when he saw the despair on his sister's face. He tried to think of what he could do against Pariah Dark.
The tyrant king was unlike any ghost he had faced before. He was insanely powerful like his evil future self, as intelligent as Vlad, and he had an army to bolster his overall might.
It was pure luck that Danny won last time by pushing him into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep in time for Vlad to lock it.
If Danny could give this situation a silver lining, it was that both Sam and Tucker were out of town on vacation with their parents. Something that Sam's parents set up so they could get away from the crazy that was the Fenton household. He was sure that Sam's mother was the one who made sure that Danny didn't know about it till they were already gone.
At the same time, Dani, the only other Halfa out there, was still exploring the world without a care.
But even if any of them found out, they would never make it back in time to help. Not to mention that with Amity Park in the ghost zone, they would have to head to Wisconsin to use Vlad's portal, which he wasn't sure would open since he didn't know if Vlad had a security system like his parents' portal.
He was brought out of his musing when the whole lab shook, causing everyone to fall to the ground.
Maddie got up from the ground and stumbled to the computer when the lab shook once more. She stared at the screen with her goggles wide as she saw the reading. "The Shield Dome is at 25%, it's not gonna last much longer!"
"PHANTOM!"
Everyone froze at the sound of Pariah Dark's voice that resonated with power.
"FACE ME, YOU WEAKLING!"
Jack ran over to another console and pressed a few keys before a large screen displayed a security feed showing Pariah Dark at the dome's edge, attacking it with his mace. They watched as the ghost lifted his mace before smashing it on the shield, causing the room the shake once more.
"10%!" Maddie yelled before she tried to divert power from anywhere else in the building to the shield in order to make it hold.
"If that shield goes down the ghosts will flood the city!" was Jack's panicked cry.
Hearing this caused a lot of the families there to hold onto each other, fearing this might be the last time.
Jack pulled out his blaster and looked to the adults. "Everyone, get ready!"
Hearing this, all the adults grabbed whatever weapon they were given and gave one last look to their kids and elderly before they ran with Jack and Maddie Fenton in the lead.
Danny watched as they all left, afraid for them as this had turned out to be the last stand. He turned his head toward the screen on the wall that showed the towering king smashing the dome once more. He knew what the king wanted. He was the one who put him back into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, and the king will not stop till Danny is dead. 'He won't even stop there. He would make sure everyone in Amity Park was dead, meaning no one could stand up to him anymore.'
He couldn't allow that. He had to do something. "Jazz, I need you to-" He turned to his sister but paused when he saw that she was frozen in place. Not moving, not blinking, not even breathing." He looked around and saw that the same thing was happening to the other kids. He felt something around his neck and looked down. That's when it hit Danny hard. "Clockwork." was his shocked whisper.
Behind the halfa was floating the Ghost of Time with a blue portal behind him. "It has been a while, Daniel." A small smile graced his face as he watched Danny turn to face him.
Danny didn't know how to feel seeing the time ghost. One thing he knew was that Clockwork was the most powerful ghost of all existence. The only thing holding the ghost back was the laws of time itself. "So…" He gave a nervous chuckle as he stepped toward the ghost. "Here to give me some last-minute cryptic advice, a warning telling me that I am about to do something stupid?... or maybe here to give me help." He rubbed the back of his neck as he pleadingly looked at the ghost. "Please tell me you are here to help."
Clockwork's smile became sad as he answered. "'Cryptic advice' unfortunately." He watched as Danny dropped his arms before he continued. "You have faced Pariah Dark before while donning the armor, and while your powers were still developing. Now, you face the king of ghosts without the armor but with a better understanding of your powers and new tactics to use." He moved the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've always fought more powerful ghosts and won, not with your power, but with your wit." He brought his hand up and tapped Danny's forehead to emphasize his point. He floated back with a smile on his face. "Remember, Phantom, you are a clever little Halfa. So be clever." With that, he, his portal, and the medallion around Danny's neck disappeared.
Jazz blinked when she saw an instant shift in her brother's demeanor. "Danny….?" She couldn't help but feel more worried as he turned to her.
He smiled at her as he began to walk toward the weapons vault.
Jazz followed, wondering what he was going to do. "Danny, what are you planning?"
Danny made it to the keypad and began to punch in the code. "What I have to do."
"And what's that, Fentoenail?"
Danny and Jazz turned around to see all the kids from his school gathering around and looking at him.
Danny sighed as he turned back and finished putting in the code. "I don't have time for this, Dash. Things are bad and I have to do something to help."
"And what would a loser like you be able to do?" Came Paulina's snarky response, but it was clear that there was a tinge of fear and …..worry.
Danny moved to the vault door as it opened up slowly. He looked up as the arsenal was now in front of him. "What I can."
Dash saw the weapons and smirked as he moved to enter the vault. "Well, I'm sure I can do a better job than whatever it is you think you can do." He took one step into the vault before he was pulled out by the back of his jacket. He was thrown back in time as a blast hit where his foot landed. He looked up to see who threw him and was surprised to see it was Fenton.
"Sorry, but Dad installed a security system that made sure that no one but a Fenton can get inside the vault." He entered the vault before looking around and grabbing a few things.
"Then bring them out so we can have some weapons too."
Danny looked over his shoulder to see Valerie with her hands on her hips and looking at him expectantly. He shook his head as he pulled something off the wall. "No, this is something that I am going to do alone."
Valerie did not like this answer as she moved to the edge of the door. "What kind of idiot are you to say you are going to do something on your own!?"
Danny grabbed the last of what he thought he would need and moved to stand in front of Valerie.
The rest of the kids saw him decked out for battle and couldn't help but wonder when he became the type to stand up to something like this.
He was the wimpy kid of Casper High.
The lab shook once more along with the electronic voice of the computer. {Emergency! Emergency! Power depleted. Ghost shield down!}
Danny stared Valerie in the eye. "I'm the kind of idiot who knows what we are up against and still going out there to stop him." He moved around her but was stopped when she grabbed his arm. "Valerie, you are going to be the last line of defense. If things go bad, your gear will help you in stopping the ghosts."
Valerie's eyes widened when she heard how he emphasized her gear. "...you know?"
Danny looked over his shoulder and smirked at her. "I knew from the start." He continued to walk as she let go.
"Danny!" Jazz ran after her brother as he made it to the stairs. "Are you sure you can do this?"
He looked at his sister and smiled. He stepped down and hugged her. Pulling back he gave her one of his smirks. "Sure." He took two steps up before looking up. "Computer, Code: AstroFenton377, Lock down the lab in two minutes."
{Code confirmed. Lockdown initiated.}
He looked back at his sister and nodded. "Take care of yourself."
"I should be saying that to you." She watched as Danny ran up the stairs, leaving them behind. "Good luck, little brother."
A Steel door dropped down, cutting Danny off from the teens.
Danny ran out the front door onto the street before looking up to see that the green dome was gone. Looking left and right, he saw that he was in the clear as he was sure all the adults had run off to fight the army. "Alright, Fenton, let's hope your luck is on your side this time." Standing firm, he cried. "I'M GOING GHOST!" His transformation rings ran across his body, shifting the gear he had into a more suitable appearance. His eyes glowed green before he bent his knees and launched himself toward where he knew the fight to be.
Pariah Dark stomped down the streets, leaving flaming footprints in his wake, with hordes of his skeleton soldiers behind him, with more scouring the city.
The moment the Ghost shield dropped, Pariah Dark led his army into the human city with the plan of taking any human they came across hostage. The more they had, the sooner Phantom would show himself.
Ever since the ghost king was forced back into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, he had thought of nothing else but the one that trapped him in there once more. The child known as Phantom. Pariah Dark made a vow that if he ever escaped from this prison, he would kill Phantom in front of everyone. No tricks, no allies, just pure combat,
"PHANTOM, COME OUT AND FACE YOUR DEMISE!" The shout was so booming that it shattered the windows of the surrounding buildings.
"Fire!"
The ghost king raised an amused eyebrow as a group of humans started shooting at him with blasters. The moment the first shot was fired, a green ecto shield appeared in front of Pariah Dark blocking the shots. He didn't even need to raise his hand to channel energy into it. "Foolish humans, do you truly believe your weapons can harm the King of all ghosts!?"
"Well, how about these weapons!?"
Before The ghost King could react, a black-and-white blur shattered his shield into pieces before two metal fists slammed into his face, sending the king flying into the army behind him. Pariah Dark screamed in rage as he unleashed a wave of Ecto energy into his arm, destroying them. "WHO DARES!"
"I dare."
Landing hard in front of Pariah Dark was none other than a fully armored Phantom. The boy was wearing black steel armor over his body with his signature DP logo on his chest, a jetpack whirring and ready to activate, and two large metal gauntlets around his fists pulsing with Ecto energy. A large blaster hung on his right side as it was attached to an Ecto belt around his waist. Strapped between his back and the Jetpack was a glowing Ecto katana that had whisps of green energy coming off it.
Pariah Dark grinned at the sight of the boy. "Phantom, finally arrived for your execution." The Mad King straightened up as his ecto energy began to envelop his body. "I had yet to even begin exterminating the humans."
Danny growled as he clenched his fists hard. "How original." He threw his arm to the side as he stared hard into the King's eye. "You did the exact same thing last time you were out, and just like last time, I'm going to take you down!"
Pariah's laugh was filled with arrogant confidence as he brought up his mace to point it at the Halfa. "In our previous battle, I underestimated you. We fought in my castle, allowing you access to that wretched Sarcophagus. Last time, you wore that large armor that empowered you. Now-" He lowered his mace as his grip on it tightened. "- we are on even ground. Once I destroy you, I will conquer both the Ghost Zone and Human realm, destroying any who oppose me."
Danny channeled his energy into his body as he glared at the king. "Not gonna happen!"
So the battle between the Halfa and Demigod begins
Danny grabbed the blaster before instantly charging it with his Ecto energy and sending off a shot at Pariah.
The king put up a stronger shield that blocked the shots with ease.
After a few more shots that did nothing, Danny dropped the gun blaster, before he threw his hands down his sides. They lit up as he charged his energy into them before he activated the jetpack and blasted off the ground at Pariah Dark, pulling his fists back.
The ghost king grinned as he dropped his shield before holding out his hands to catch the metal fists thrown at him.
A shockwave burst from the impact zone, throwing the cars around them back, yet Pariah seemed fine.
Not letting up, Danny's eyes glowed brighter before he shot an ecto ray from his eyes into Pariah's eye.
The king screamed in pain as he let go of the fits and grabbed his eye.
This gave Danny the time to jump up at the king, grab him by the throat, flip over the king's head, and throw the tyrant over his shoulder. As the king flew from the throw, Danny charged a large amount of energy into his gauntlets before launching a powerful blast at the airborne king, sending the king further away.
He let out a sigh as he floated in place. Mentally glad that things were working so far, he began to float in the direction he threw the king and saw that he had thrown him over the citizens. 'Whoops, I know that I was in the middle of a fight but that was too close. Glad no one was hurt.' He saw that they were all looking at him in shock and awe. When his eyes landed on his parents, he couldn't help but sigh fondly, which seemed to snap them out of their shock.
They pulled up their blasters and aimed at Phantom. "Freeze, ghos-"
"Are you crazy!?" one of the other adults shouted as he grabbed Jack's blaster. "He's the only one stopping that ghost from tearing us apart!" He shouted as he and a few more adults pulled the blaster from Jack's hands.
"Don't be fooled! All ghosts are a threat!" Maddie shouted stubbornly as her blaster was taken from her as well.
Danny let out a fond huff as he landed in front of the group. He looked up at them thinking of all the troubled times with them. Sure, they may have wanted to capture him but they were still his parents and he loved them. He smiled as he floated up to be at eye level with them. 'Heh, never really thought about how tall they were.'
The Fentons didn't know what he was about to do or why he was smiling at them but what he did next wasn't what they expected. They were brought into a hug with his arms around their neck.
Danny held them tight as he whispered to them. "No matter what happens, I want you guys to know you were the best. And I'm glad to have had you." He pulled back and floated higher into the air. He looked down at them and held out his open palm in a wave. "Love you." With his piece said, his smile dropped into one of determination and blasted off toward where Pariah Dark flew.
No one knew what that was all about and they could only watch as Phantom flew off.
One of the adults asked. "What the hell was that about…?"
For Maddie and Jack something in their hearts felt like it was dying.
And they didn't know why.
A few blocks away, Pariah Dark pulled himself out of the building that he had crashed into, looking more annoyed than harmed. Once he was out, he saw Phantom flying toward him at top speed, gauntlets charged with energy. With a mad grin raised his mace before slamming it to the ground, sending a wave of energy toward the halfa.
Danny saw the oncoming wave and pulled up, barely avoiding it, but didn't notice Pariah Dark throwing the mace at the same time. "ARGH!" The mace hit him dead center of his armor, embedding itself in it and sending him flying upward. He looked down at the mace, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull it out as it was forcing him upward. So focused on the weapon, he didn't see the owner flying toward him till he felt the large hand wrap around his neck tight enough to stop his yelp of shock.
"Very clever, boy." The mad King grinned before he used his free hand to rip the mace out of the armor, taking a piece off, and squeezing the boy's throat. "Not only did you catch me off guard, you were able to push me back." He continued to crush the boy's windpipe. "You did all that despite not having your special armor. You have gained much strength since the last time we battled, Phantom."
Danny glared at the king, struggling in his attempts to breathe, only to remember that he didn't need to do so. Rolling his eyes from the condescending tone the king gave him, he grabbed the large hand crushing his neck with both hands. "I've…. Also learned a few new-" His eyes flashed blue as he brought his right hand to his left. "TRICKS!"
Pariah's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the boy swing his hand at him and found himself being encased in a block of solid ice.
Danny pried himself free before he brought his fists back and punched the ghost king back toward the ground.
After the Frozen king crashed into the ground, green flames burst from his body, freeing him from his ice prison and he glared at the boy as his anger peaked. "Prepare to perish, Phantom!" He raised his hand to his side, summoning his army with Fright Knight at the head. "End him!"
Danny cursed his luck. In order for his plan to work, this fight needed to be one-on-one, not have the army or Fright knight in the way. As he saw the army starting to make their way toward him, he charged his fists with energy to send out an Ecto blast. 'Guess I gotta work harder.' He was ready to fight them off.
Only for a blast of green fire to halt their approach.
He spun around toward where it came from and saw an army of the ghosts that he had met in the past. Ranging from Skulker to Frostbite.
"Great One, we will hold off the army! End the mad King!" Frostbite shouted as he froze a group of the skeleton army.
Ember McClain strummed her guitar, sending an ecto fist at the army. She turned to him and smirked. "You heard him, Babypop, end his ass." She gave him a wink before she turned back and began to go through a solo, sending rapid fire at the army.
Danny smirked at how all his enemies and allies were here to help him when he needed them most. Turning back to face the king, he couldn't help but smirk wider as he saw the angered face of the king who glared at all the ghosts here against him. He flew down, pushing the jetpack to the max, to continue his fight with the king, something that was seen by the black flaming knight.
"You do not have the privilege to face off with the king!" On the ground, the Fright Knight pulled on the reins of his steed, causing it to neigh in preparation to charge. Before he could move, someone else slammed into the ground in front of him.
Standing at her full height and pulling out two swords, Pandora glared down at the dark knight. "Your battle is with me!"
"You dare challenge the herald of the King of all ghosts? Then face your doom!"
The two charged as they swung their swords at each other.
Pariah Dark cemented all those opposing him to memory so that he would destroy them. "Traitors! You shall all perish along with Phantom."
"Don't bet on it, Kingy." Danny shouted as he sent a blue Ecto blast at the king.
Pariah Dark saw the coming blast and hummed in boredom. He brought a hand up and sent out a torrent of Ecot flames to meet the cryonic blast.
The two blasts met, seeming to be equal in power, neither gaining any headway. The major difference was that Danny was using both hands and was clearly struggling to maintain his blast, even with the gauntlets augmenting his power a bit
While Pariah was using only one hand and looking unamused. "This is but a small fraction of my power, Phantom." his face then turned into one of sadistic glee. "Here is half."
Danny's eyes widened in shock as Pariah's attack almost instantly took over his own. On reflex, Danny flew out of the way, barely dodging the attack, and feeling the heat burn his skin. Looking back toward Pariah, he didn't have time to react as the king was in his face and backhanding him into the ground, leaving a trench in his wake. Danny could feel that the Jetpack was now out of commission as sparks flew from the destroyed device.
"I must say, I am disappointed, Phantom." Pariah Dark floated down and landed so he would be standing over the fallen boy. "Oh, you have surprised me with your tenacity. You have caught me off guard and blindsided me several times in this fight. Most ghosts merely dream of doing such to me. But now, you are beaten, like all others that believed they believed they could ever come close to my power."
Danny felt some of his ectoplasm dripping down his chin and some on the side of his head from a gash he had. He pushed himself onto his elbows before he forced himself to throw a punch at the king, only for it to be caught by his large fist.
"Yet, you are not as strong as I had originally thought. I remember seeing you at your weakest when you were with that arrogant blue fool, and compared to then, you are only slightly stronger." He brought up his other hand to catch the second fist the boy threw. "And now, here you are, on your knees, as you should be when facing me." He began to crush the gauntlets, reveling in the screams of pain coming from the boy. He released the fists when he knew he had done enough damage.
Danny's arms dropped to his sides with the gauntlets falling to pieces, revealing his bloody and potentially broken hands. "...Shit…." Danny muttered in pain before looking up at the bored disappointed look on the king's face.
"See," A wicked smile crossed his face. "Though I did not receive the satisfying battle I wanted, I will enjoy killing you in front of those who supported you." He turned and took a few steps away from the boy as he looked at the other battles going on. "You will be made an example to all who believe they can defy their king."
Danny glared at the ghost king….before a wicked grin graced his bloody face. "You really shouldn't monologue, asshole." He slowly got to his feet in a slumped position. He saw the king turn back to him as he ignored the pain in his hands and reached up to the blade he still had on his back. "Especially to a halfa." He pulled out the blade as it gave an eerie glow to his face.
Before Pariah Dark could say anything, he felt something cold wrap around his feet. Looking down, the ghost king was shocked to see none other than a grinning phantom staring up at him with glowing blue eyes.
"We tend to be very crafty." was the second Phantom's taunt as he froze the king's feet to the ground.
"What-" Pariah was cut off when two black blurs shot out from the side and grabbed his arms. He was so caught off guard that the third and fourth Phantom were able to pull his arms apart before they froze them up to his shoulder, making it harder to move them.
"Heads up!"
was the call that came from behind the king who felt something kick his crown off his head. "NO!" The sudden loss of power strained his body, making it more difficult to free himself from the duplicates.
A fifth Phantom came up from the ground, catching the crown, and tossing it toward the original.
Danny caught the crown with his left hand as he smirked at the king. "Looks like things are going to be a little different than last time." He put the crown on his head before gripping his sword and flew toward the king, weapon ready to strike.
The ghost king's eyes widened, believing that the boy was aiming to stab him in his core. Even though he knew that he could survive such a strike, it would weaken him to an immense degree. With a roar, he sent out a shot of Ecto fire from his eye, aiming for the boy's head.
Had Danny truly aimed for the king's core, the blast would have had his head blasted off. But thanks to something else being his target and his shifting body to strike his target, the blast only grazed the left side of his face, taking his left eye. Biting down the blinding pain, he continued his attack…taking Pariah's right hand off.
"AAARRGHRRR!" Pariah Dark screamed in pain as he threw off the Phantom copies, resulting in them disappearing and sending their energy back to Danny. "MY HAND!" The king's remaining hand broke free from the ice as it gripped the stump that used to be his right hand. "I WILL DISEMBOWEL YOU FOR THIS, PHANTOM!"
Danny glared with his one good eye as he felt some of his energy return to him from the clones. "I'd like to see you try." the venom in his voice was clear but it was only natural since he was missing an eye and his whole body hurt like a bitch. He quickly sheathed his sword and charged his fists with all the power he had before he slammed them into the King's chest, sending the tyrant skidding back. Now with some more room, he quickly bent down for his real target.
The Ring of Rage
The plan was simple. Make four duplicates of himself and have them lie in wait as he faced Pariah Dark. he would fight the king and lose just enough for the king to lower his guard before the clones got a grip on the tyrant, giving him the chance to get his hands on the items that made the Mad king so powerful.
The Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage were now in his grasp.
He had no clue how these items would react to him or what they would do to him in return, but this was an all-or-nothing fight. No time for second-guessing now.
When Pariah Dark saw what Danny had taken from his severed hand, his face turned to pure shock and horror. "No, you are not worthy to wield that power! Only the King of Ghosts!" He shouted in rage as he used his remaining hand to send a blast at the boy.
Danny flew up to avoid the shot as he moved the ring to his left hand. "Well, looks like there's gonna be a new king, baby!" His cocky voice gave him the courage to do what he was gonna do. He slipped the ring on.
And threw his head back, screaming bloody murder as white-hot pain flowed throughout his body
"YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Danny screamed, bolts of electricity shooting off his body, remaining equipment being blasted off, his eye flashing between neon green and icy blue, jumping from one to the other so fast that they were blurring together.
The scream caused the other battles to pause as they all turned to where it came from
Pandora had her sword locked with Fright Knight's before they turned their heads toward the main battle.
Pariah Dark was surprised by the reaction before he gave a maddening laugh. "Foolish boy, my artifacts are known as the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage! It will destroy your Ice core and obsession within moments!"
Danny could feel that what Pariah Dark said held some truth. As more power coursed through his body, he felt his ice core being assaulted by the Crown of Fire, and his will being attacked by the Ring of Rage, both trying to destroy his very being. Despite this, he persevered. "You….. think a little…. Pain will stop me?!" He clenched his fist as he brought his head forward, determination clear in his one eye. "I…..felt more….pain….. When I died,...when I fought Vortex… Undergrowth…and Nocturne! I will…. Not …bow…. To …..YOU!" He curled up on himself as his eye glowed blue and a blue aura took his body before an implosion sent out a shockwave that threw everyone off their feet.
The shockwave was strong enough to send the king flying, with a few cars crashing onto him. When the dust settled, Pariah Dark pushed the vehicles off himself before pausing in shock at what he saw. "What….. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
As the dust dispersed, Standing in the middle of a crater was Danny, eye glowing a brilliant blue and expressionless. Floating on his head was a crown made from pure blue ice with a frosty mist wafting around it, while on his finger was a white ring with a dark DP symbol. Phantom brought up his left hand to hover over the crown. "The Crown of Ice." He lowered his left hand before bringing up his right to hover over his left eye, showing off the ring. "The Ring of Will."
Those words snapped Pariah out of his shock and he rose to his feet in rage. "You believe you can steal my artifacts and use them as your own?!" His body pulsed with all the power he had despite no longer having his artifacts. "I WILL END YOU, PHANTOM!" He shot off toward Phantom, pulling his mace from his belt and raising it to strike down the boy.
Danny's expressionless face slowly turned into a glare. "It's over, Pariah Dark." Danny turned to fully face the former king and took in a breath before unleashing his strongest attack.
The Ghostly Wail
"OowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOo~"
A powerful wave of blue ecto energy shot out from Danny's mouth, poised to hit Pariah Dark straight on.
The tyrant, though, threw his mace to the ground before bringing his hand up to send his own attack trying to overpower the wail. He was able to slow it down, but Phantom's attack was slowly closing in on him. "Is this truly the end?!" Was his shout, one that was drowned out by the wail. He growled as the blue attack was almost on him, causing him to feel the sheer cold burn his very being. 'Not only will I find my end but to have lost my artifacts, and allow him to obtain the title of "King"? NO, he may have gained what is mine, but he won't live to use them.' Focusing on a specific power he had, he canceled his attack, feeling the full force of the ghostly wail. He fell to his knees and raised one hand toward Phantom, channeled dark red flames, and shot it toward the boy. A sick grin crossed his face as it froze. 'Goodbye, Phantom.'
The flame cut through the wail like a knife through butter and hit Danny in the chest. The result was a large explosion that sent Danny flying upward toward a building and ending the Ghostly Wail.
But it was done. Pariah Dark took the full power of the Ghostly Wail and was unable to handle it. His remaining arm and left leg were gone, the unbroken horn was destroyed, and his ectoplasm was dripping from several parts of his body that didn't have freezer burns.
Yet despite all this, the mad Tyrant had a grin on his face before he crumbled into pieces and the last light of his eye faded.
The second the glow of his eye was gone, a flash of light spread out over all of Amity Park, causing the green skies to be replaced with blue with fluffy white clouds.
This clear sign of Pariah Dark's defeat caused cheers to come from both humans and ghosts alike as the skeleton army dissolved into goo.
Pandora stabbed Fright Knight's sword into a pumpkin made of ice, sealing the knight into another prison. She smiled at her own victory before looking up at the sky. "He has done it once more."
The cheering continued from all who fought against Pariah Dark.
None of which knew at what cost that victory came with
On top of a tall building, Danny Phantom held himself up by one hand against an Air conditioning unit. His head hung down before he pressed his forehead on the cool metal, gulping in any amount of air he could take as his entire body was throbbing in agony with white-hot searing pain focused on his chest. With a shaky hand, he gripped his suit over his logo before ripping it off, revealing his chest. He grimaced at the sight of the wound he had dead-center of his chest.
A black scar that looked like it was splashed on his chest was visible right over his core.
The wound burned as if it was growing in size and he could feel himself growing weaker by the second. He tried to call upon his cryokinesis to ease the burning but he realized that whatever this wound was, it was snuffing out any ice he could muster. He suddenly felt not just the pain but more exhaustion than he ever felt before, bringing him to one conclusion.
He was dying.
With that realization, the arm holding him up lost all strength and he collapsed on the wall before turning around and sliding to the floor. Suddenly, all pain vanished as a clock hand appeared in the air in front of him before turning to make a blue portal and Clockwork came through.
"Well done, Young Phantom. Victory is yours." His expression displayed both pride and sadness.
Danny looked up at Clockwork and stared at the Time ghost for a long second. "...you knew this would happen." It wasn't a question, just a resigned statement.
Clockwork's expression didn't change. "I know everything."
Danny nodded as he leaned his head back on the AC unit before turning his head to the side to look at the setting sun that was frozen in place. As he watched the frozen sun, he thought about what was going to happen to him after this. Would he become a full ghost? Would he simply pass on? Or maybe some miracle will happen that would make everything okay? He knew he could yell at Clockwork for not saving him, not warning him, or even giving him some hint on what might happen. He could be mad at the world for everything he went through that led to this point and calling it unfair.
But he won't, it wouldn't be right.
He had cheated death several times already. When he survived the Ghost portal activation. When he first fought Pariah Dark. When he fought Undergrowth. When he fought his evil future self and saw what he could become. Every one of his fights could have led to his death and yet he survived it all. It only makes sense that his luck would finally run out. At least he was able to save his friends and family.
His eyebrows rose in revelation. "Huh…..is this what they call 'acceptance'?" He gained a small smile committing the sun to memory. "Always above my head, and never did I give the sun as much love as it needed, heh."
Clockwork turned to face the sun as he put his staff's pommel on the ground and leaned on its head. "Any regrets, Phantom?" He knew the answer already, but he wanted the boy to let them out.
"Danny gave a single weak shoulder shrug. "Meh, a few." He admitted, imagining the warmth of the sun. "never got to go into space as an astronaut. Heh heh, can't count the time Technus took over the satellite. Never got to fall in love and have a family. A nice big one would have been nice. Never got to connect with Dani as much as I would have liked. She could have told me all about her trip around the world, she probably would have a lot to tell." He wheezed out a weak chuckle as he pointed at the crown on his head. "I didn't even get the chance to use my new toys." His arms dropped to his side as he turned his head to look at Clockwork. "...tell me, Clockwork,... Was there no other way?"
The Master of Time was silent for a long moment before he answered. "No…..it was either this or Pariah Dark winning before he went out to kill all who stood in his way."
Danny could tell, there were more options but he decided to just trust the Ghost of Time. "So the death of two over the death of thousands." He gave a small hum as he nodded. "I may be bad at math but I can agree with those numbers. Can't undo it all now, can we?" He chuckled weakly at the Time master before looking back at the sun. "Thank you for everything, Clockwork."
Another portal appeared behind the Ghost of Time as he smiled at the boy. "you're Welcome." He turned to float in the portal before.
"Hey, Clockwork…..one more thing." Danny smiled at the departing ghost. "I thought you could only bring others into your time-freeze with your medallion."
Clockwork smiled as he gave one last look to the hero. "The medallion is more of a formality. I can do it whenever I wish." His smile saddened as he spoke one last time. "Goodbye….. Danny Phantom." He turned and entered the portal, allowing time to continue on.
Danny chuckled weakly as he leaned his head back. "And I thought I was cheeky."
Throughout the city, the ghosts that were fighting against the army were throwing their fists in the air, celebrating their victory over the skeletons and Danny Phantom's obvious victory over the tyrant king. They may not have been able to witness it due to the shockwaves blowing them away, but the appearance of the human sky was a clear sign of who won.
The dissolving skeletons was another clue to it.
"He did it!" Poindexter yelled into the sky in excitement. "Danny Phantom won again!"
Phantom's Rouge Gallery had different emotions going through each of them. Some were peeved that their enemy/fighting buddy had beaten the strongest ghost they knew, but no matter how they felt about Phantom, they were happy to know the King was defeated once more.
Princess Dora landed on the ground in her dragon form before she shifted back to normal as she asked. "But where is Sir Phantom?" She looked around in the sky in hopes of seeing a sign of him.
"The whelp must have taken a thrashing from the fallen king." Skulker crossed his arms as he snorted in amusement. "Defeating the king only makes his hide more valuable. His pelt will have more appeal once I obtain it."
Frostbite growled as he glared at the hunter. "You will not lay a hand on the Great one." He flexed his ice claw, to emphasize his point.
Pandora joined him by slamming her spear into the ground.
Before another fight could ensue, Kitty stepped in between all of them. "Ok, we just got out of a major fight and I don't think we need another one right after it!"
The three had to agree as they went through a fight that had exhausted them and the city had already gotten enough damage.
Kitty sighed in relief before she looked around for her boyfriend. She couldn't see him in the group and was about to call him till she heard his voice above them.
"Hey, guys!" Johnny looked down since he was floating over all of them. Seeing that he got their attention, he gestured to where he saw Phantom. "I see the kid….and he doesn't look too hot."
Kitty didn't like how worried her boyfriend sounded. She knew that he and Danny were not the best of friends and if Johnny was worried about Danny, made her worry since Danny was her friend.
Most of the ghosts that knew Danny flew up to join Johnny to move toward where Johnny said Phantom was. When they landed, they were shocked to see the state of the boy.
He was lying on the rooftop covered in wounds and dripping ectoplasm but the thing that caused a lot of them to freeze in shock was the crown and ring he now wore.
"Friend!" Wulf flew toward Danny wanting to help the boy.
All of Danny's enemies and allies were equally worried as they saw how damaged he was, even the sight of him missing an eye. Despite how most of them fought against the boy, they respected him for his tenacity and cleverness he brought in their battles. They knew how powerful he was normally, and with how he held back for their fights to appease them, made their fights more for fun than anything malicious.
Seeing him so broken, uneased them all.
"Great one!" Frostbite flew to the boy's side and knelt down to pick him up. "I shall take you to the Far Frozen in order to heal your wounds!" He reached down to pick him up, only to stop when Danny brought his hand up to stop him.
"Stop…. Frostbite…." He rasped out as it was even starting to hurt to breathe.
The yeti ghost frowned as he knew that he needed to get the boy to get healed quickly. "Great one, this is no time to be stubborn. These wounds are far too severe to allow them to heal on their own. If we don't get you to the Far Frozen quickly, you could-"
"My core is damaged."
Those words hit all of them hard and they stood there in shock. Dora put her hands over her mouth in shock as her eyes watered, Wulf dropped his arms to the side before he howled into the sky in sadness, Kitty held onto Johnny's arm who lowered his head while his shadow drooped, Pandora's demeanor saddened before she pulled out her sword and held it downward with her lower arms in a sign of warriors respect. Frostbite pressed his fist to the round to try and hold himself together.
They had a hard time believing this. Phantom had taken on the strongest ghosts that existed and was able to find a way to get out of them victorious, so to hear his core was damaged just sounded impossible.
Dora floated over to his head before sitting on her knees and gently lifted his head to lay it on her lap. "Are you in pain, Phantom?"
Danny took as deep a breath as he could and forced himself to smile up at her. "It's mostly numb now."
A heavy silence took the group as his breaths became shallower and shallower. There was only one thing they could do now.
Wait.
Danny's vision began to fade and wasn't sure if he felt something fall on his face or if it was his imagination. He heard Dora ask him something, and it sounded like she was crying.
"Is there anything we can do for you, Sir Phantom?" Her tears continued to fall as she wept for her fallen knight. She cupped his face in order to clean his face from both his blood and her tears.
Danny thought about what he could ask them and figured they would be the best ones to do this new task. "Tell… tell my family and friends….they were the best thing to ever happen to me." he gave a small chuckle. "Even if they have their own weird quirks." His smile became serious as he turned his head toward the large white blur he knew to be Frostbite. "And, Frostbite…..Dora… Pandora…I have a favor to ask."
Frostbite nodded as he spoke. "Anything, Great one."
Pandora nodded as she placed her upper right fist on her chest. "Ask and I shall see it done."
Dora hummed in acknowledgment as she waited for him to speak as she cupped his cheek.
Danny smiled in appreciation. "There …there's another Halfa." He heard some shocked gasps but continued. "She is younger than me….. And she hasn't unlocked all of her powers yet. Please…. Train her…. Protect her….guide her…. Till she is strong enough to be independent." He smiled fondly as he gave his clone's usual introduction. "Her name…. Her name is Dani Phantom, that's Dani with an 'i'" He chuckled as he imagined some of the raised eyebrows on everyone's faces. "Tell her….. Tell her I'm sorry for not spending more time with her. Please protect her, not because she will be the last Halfa…but because I love her and want her to live her life to the fullest she can."
Frostbite smiled as he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We will fulfill your final wish, Phantom."
Danny smiled before he turned his head to look into the sky. "And Skulker …..don't you dare try and hunt her like you did me."
Skulker huffed as he crossed his arms. "I make no promises."
Danny smiled at his answer as he knew what he meant. "Thank you." With that, he closed his eyes.
And took his last breath.
"Stop."
Clockwork stared at the frozen image of Danny's last moment displayed on the screen. He let out a sad sigh as Danny was one of the few beings that he interacted with and grew quite fond of the boy.
The time master had saved the halfa from disaster and saved his friends and family, including the slightly negligent teacher. But there are backlashes to ending a bad timeline. In stopping the evil Phantom timeline, other events took place.
Freakshow getting the reality gauntlet.
Vortex being freed
Undergrowth coming to earth
Nocturne setting his sights on Amity Park
And Pariah Dark waging war once more against Phantom.
Yet in all of them, Phantom came out on top, with the help from his friends and family. But now, Phantom's luck had run out with Pariah Dark.
Clockwork knew the outcomes of this battle but it wasn't until certain points that he knew which ending would come.
Had Pariah Dark won, there would have been an extended war claiming the lives of both humans and ghosts. It would only be years of war afterward when Dani Phanom would use an improved Ecto suit made by the Fentons to finally end the Tyrant and avenge Danny Phantom.
If Danny had survived the battle, he would become the new king of the Ghost zone, making Dani his daughter and taking a wife…. Or wives, in some timelines that would have aided him in improving the Ghost zone. He would place his efforts in building a bridge between the Ghost Zone and the human world, trying to bring them together. Things wouldn't be perfect and there would be those who resisted the notion and do whatever they could to start a war to destroy the other side, but Phantom would once again come out on top. Making both worlds better for all.
But in this timeline, both fell by the hands of the other. There will be tears shed, anger shown, regret, and so much more. But like humans and ghosts, they move on.
Dani would take up the mantle of Phantom and protect Amity Park and later on the world from rogue ghosts after she was trained by Dora, Frostbite, and Pandora, as they promised. With the sacrifice made by Danny, new attempts at peace would be tried.
Sam would be devastated by the loss of her crush and best friend but after a few years, she would finally move on and find a lover. Who shockingly ended up being Paulina. It was a case of opposites attract and Paulina found that she took issue with the goth being so depressed. Sam would push for better relations for both the human world and the Ghost zone, making things better, even if she had to drag everyone into it kicking and screaming.
Tucker and the Fentons would take over the GIW, shutting down all departments that had to deal with ghost dissection and experimentation, turning the organization into law enforcement for ghosts that handle spectral citizens around the world.
Jazz would continue her studies into the understanding of the ghost psyche so she could help balance their obsessions and make better choices for their afterlives.
This future wasn't perfect, with lives being lost on both sides, but it was a bright future regardless.
Clockwork faced the frozen image of Danny once more. Despite the Time master knowing that the future was in good hands, he wished Daniel could have experienced all the things he wanted. But his hands were tied in this matter. Phantom's death was a fixed point now and since Clockwork had already saved the boy so close to this period in time, any more interference would cause the timeline to collapse. He couldn't save Danny any more than now.
Or could he?
The Time Master's mind raced through everything he knew as he tried to think of what he could do for Danny at this point. His death was a fixed point, that is true, but that is only in this world. If Danny were to be moved into a different world…. The boy could have a chance at a second life.
Reincarnation has been done before, hundreds of times, and Clockwork was more than powerful enough to instigate this with a person's soul. The main problem with this is that Danny would not be able to return to his own world, his time here is over. So the only solution now was to reincarnate in another world.
Clockwork may be the master of time but he knew someone who could aid him in space.
Bringing up another screen, Clockwork focused on shifting his view to many different worlds that he could send Danny to. Thousands upon thousands of worlds, and Clockwork could not help but find them all interesting for how Danny's life would be like within them. But he wanted to look for one that would be perfect for this Danny.
So many different dimensions and timelines within those dimensions. Worlds that went to space but were at war, worlds that were stuck in the past with monsters, worlds with incredibly powerful beings but filled with so many problems that there was no way Danny could find lasting happiness.
His eyes instantly caught sight of a world that has alternates of itself. It was an… interesting world, a little strange and had its own problems but overall it was peaceful and full of life. He saw that there were other versions of Danny who were in the other versions of this world and he could see the boy finding happiness. Choosing one of the versions that could work, he chuckled as he saw what his future entailed if he was to be sent here. "Perfect." He turned to the screen that showed the fallen Halfa. "I am sorry for not being able to save you a second time, Daniel, but I will give you a second chance at life."
He turned around and held his staff in his hand as he called upon the one who would aid him in this matter. "Infina."
Deep within a large elegant castle was an extremely beautiful woman who sat on a golden throne
This woman had pure white unblemished skin that had a soft hue of color reflecting her surroundings, and violet eyes that showed wisdom, power, and kindness. She had a very long mane and tail colored in blue, aquamarine, violet, and pink set in a rainbow pattern and flowing as if it was perpetually in water. She wore a pure white open-back cocktail dress that also exposed a good amount of her well-endowed breasts and the slit of the dress showed that her legs were digitigrade with hooves instead of feet. On her head was a golden tiara that was adorned with purple gems and a large necklace around her neck with the same design but she had no other jewelry on her wrists or hands. A pair of pure white soft wings as large as her body came from her back, a long pointed horn coming from her forehead, poking out of her mane, and on her exposed thigh was an image of a blazing sun. And despite how she was sitting on her throne, it was clear that she was much taller, and if you were to ask some of the male ponies; more curvaceous than any of the other ponies.
This was Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, the magical land of ponies.
There were three types of ponies that lived within these lands
Earth ponies, are those with a natural talent with the earth and are able to grow agriculture with ease, break rockets with little effort, and are most commonly known to be the most physically strong compared to the other types of ponies.
Unicorns were the ponies most adept with the magical arts, able to use magic such as telekinesis, conjuration, teleporting, and many other magical feats.
Pegasus or pegasi were known for their ability to fly through the skies at high speeds and were talented in controlling the weather.
But ponies were not the only ones that lived in this world. Griffons, Zebras, Diamond dogs, Buffalos, dragons, and many more different species.
Celestia, though, was none of the previously mentioned ponies. She was an alicorn. A special kind of pony that had the attributes of the others and was far more powerful than any of them could imagine.
And since Alicorns were so powerful, there were very very few in existence.
Celestia gave a quiet sigh as she maintained a stoic expression on her muzzle. She was listening to one of her advisors go about some matters that required her input. Despite her outward expression, deep down, she was sad.
Or rather, she was lonely.
Today, her mood was soured as her mind went to her sister, Luna. Luna was the only one that she could confide in whenever she needed to vent her frustrations. As her sister was one of the only few immortals that existed, they could talk to each other about anything they wanted as they would understand the other's troubles and were always there for for comfort. Yet, there was an incident that led to Celestia having to send Luna away after she had become Nightmare Moon, forcing Celestia to take up the rule of Equestria by herself, raising both her Sun and her sister's Moon.
And such loneliness was something she could not share with other ponies. They could not understand.
"There is also the matter of fixing the train tracks a few miles south of here. Now, if we want to get them done in a timely manner, we may have to divert taxes for a time till they are ..."
Celestia listened to one of her many advisors, an earth pony, as he went on in a bland voice that almost made Celestia wish she could drop this matter and go to her room to try some of the sweets she stashed away.
"There is also the matter of guard rotation for the castle's west-"
The advisor was cut off when the doors to the throne room burst open and a pegasus guard rushed in. "Princess Celestia!" He ran to the throne before taking a knee at the proper distance. "There is a matter that needs your attention!"
She instantly sat up straighter and gave her guard her full attention. Unlike her advisors, Celestia's guards only came to her if a serious matter arose. Matters that required her power. "Rise." She spoke with authority, causing the guard to stand up from his kneeling position. "What is the emergency?"
The guard stood straight as he reported. "A pack of Timberwolves has been spotted outside of Canterlot. It is assumed that they have established a den in that area." the gravity of what he was saying could be seen on his muzzle. "Normally this would be something that the guards would handle themselves, but our unicorns have detected high concentrations of magic coming from the same area. Powerful magic." He soon became worried as he continued. "When we attempted to close in on the den, we were overpowered by the Timberwolves. They are stronger than normal, and it was assumed that something is empowering them."
That caused Celestia's eyes to narrow.
Timberwolves were dangerous enough as they were, being practically invulnerable to all forms of attack other than fire. If something was empowering them to the point her unicorns couldn't handle them, they could become a serious threat to her ponies. She stood from her throne, spreading her wings to show that she was taking this seriously, and threw her hand forward to give her order to the guard."Take me to them, immediately." Once she saw the guard nod and turn to fly out of the throne room, she flapped her wings to levitate off the ground before flying after him.
After five minutes of flight, she found herself outside of Canterlot with a group of her guards at her side. Despite being the princess, she was no stranger to fighting. As they made their way through the forest, she saw a group of unicorns and earth ponies standing at the ready and she could feel the source of magic they must have reported. But it was odd. As she flew closer, she could tell that the magic felt cold. Not as if it was evil but more like she stepped into a snowy landscape with a soft gentle breeze brushing on her face. Once close enough, she landed with her pegasus guards landing behind her. She moved forward to join the unicorns and earth ponies in time to see a group of Timberwolves jump forward to face them. "Betas." She scanned the pack as she didn't see what she was feeling. "Pegasi, distract the wolves! Earth ponies, when you see a chance, knock the wolves down! Unicorns, once they are down, destroy them with fire!"
Like a well-oiled machine, they followed her orders with the pegasi flying overhead and grabbing the wolves' attention before the Earth ponies attacked them and knocked them into a pile before the unicorns blasted them with fire. Celestia would aid them if there was a stray wolf attacking one of her ponies, by lifting them into the air and throwing them into the pile.
Celestia stared at the piles of burning wood with a hard expression. She could tell that these Timberwolves were empowered by something as they were faster than normal and seemed to be slightly bigger in size. Not only that, they seemed to continue to move even after they were set on fire, till their bodies could no longer hold and fell apart. But something ran through her mind as she noticed something. "Where is the Alpha?"
No sooner had she said those words, was a large growl heard coming from the tree's edge.
All the ponies looked toward where the sound came from and saw a large pair of red eyes peering at them. They watched as a large Timberwolf stalked out from the shadows.
The Alpha timberwolf was three times larger than the betas and it was clearly much stronger. It was actually a bit taller than Celestia, who was the largest pony there.
Celestia could feel the power coming off this Timberwolf and she focused on it to find out where this power was coming from. Her eyes landed on its chest and her eyes widened as she saw something, something that shouldn't be there. "Hold!"
All the guards paused as they were about to charge the beast and looked toward their princess as she walked forward to stand in front of them.
One of the guards asked. "Princess?"
She kept her eyes on the Timberwolf as she spoke. "Prepare your magic and wait for my signal." She focused her magic, causing her horn and eyes to light up as she walked forward. She watched as the timber wolf growled at her before lunging at her. She instantly raised her hand, causing the Alpha to stop midair inches away from her palm. Regardless of how much power a Timberwolf was to receive, it would never be a match for her power. She pulled her palm back before thrusting it forward, sending the wolf flying.
The Alpha rolled on the ground before crashing into a tree. Growling in frustration and pain, he moved to stand once more on its feet and face the pony that threw him.
But Celestia had flown at great speeds toward the wolf and the second it was on its feet, she plunged her hands into its chest, staring into the wolf's shocked eyes. Getting a grip of what she saw, she flapped her wings hard, yanking out the object causing the wolf to cry out in pain, doing a soft flip in the air as she held the object protectively in her arms, and landed behind her ponies. "Now!"
The Unicorns launched fire magic at the wounded Alpha, causing it to howl in pain as it burned to ash.
The Princess let out a sigh before looking down at the object in her arms. It was a pitch-black object with speckles and spots of white on the top of it. It was about the size of a football and the most shocking thing was that Celestia could feel magic pulsing off of it.
"Princess," one of the guards called out, grabbing the princess's attention. "Thank you again for aiding us in this matter. All Timberwolves have been accounted for. And forgive us for disturbing you."
Celestia gave the guard a smile that seemed to make him blush. "There is no need to thank me. I am your princess and I will always help in any way I can."
The guard nodded as he cleared his throat to get rid of his blush and was about to turn to the others till he noticed that she was holding something. "Princess, what is that?"
Celestia looked down at the object in her arms as she smiled. "This… is a dragon's egg."
Everyone there turned to her as they were surprised to hear this.
After returning to the castle, Celestia called all the castle's doctors, scribes, and advisors to the throne room with the black dragon egg in her arms.
The egg was placed on a cushioned pedestal with all of those called examining the egg.
Celestia stood a few feet away with worry on her face. After a few minutes, she saw the doctor pick up the egg and smile at her.
"I am happy to say that the egg is in perfect health and has no damage anywhere. Even the shells of dragon eggs are sturdy from what I can see." the Unicorn doctor said, making Celestia give a sigh of relief. "In fact, I would say that it is ready to hatch. It just needs extreme heat or a spark of magic." She said as she moved to put into a basket bassinet.
Celestia smiled at that news. "That is a relief." she turned to her scribes and asked. "What can you tell me about the egg?"
The scribes gathered around the egg, murmuring to themselves as a few of them looked into their books. After a few more minutes, the scribes turned to the princess with one of them speaking up.
"We can conclude that the egg was born not that long ago." He looked at the egg as he continued. "A few months at best. How it got into the 'hands' of the Timberwolves is a mystery. Unfortunately, that is all we can tell you, Princess. The dragons are not very interested in sharing knowledge of their species." He felt ashamed that he could not give any more information.
Celestia nodded and waved off his shame. "It is quite alright, you have done what I asked, thank you."
The scribes smiled as a unicorn mare with gray fur, black mane, and green eyes stepped forward. "Um…princess, as we were inspecting the egg, I noticed something."
Celestia looked to the scribe and gave a small nod for her to continue. "What did you notice?"
The mare hesitantly glanced at the egg before clearing her throat. "While ...while I was scanning it, I found….. I felt magic inside the egg."
One of the older scribes who did only a preliminary exam scoffed. "Preposterous, dragons are unable to use magic."
"I felt the same thing." Celestia's statement caused them all to turn to her with shocked expressions. "Dragons having magic is very uncommon but it is not impossible either. The Dragon overlord himself can use powerful magic that could rival my own." That made the shock grow in all of the ponies. "But it has been a very long time since I have heard of a dragon being born with the ability to use magic, let alone seeing one." She turned her head to the egg and smiled at it.
"Then what should we do with it?" can the inquiry of one of the surprised advisors. "Dragons are extremely dangerous creatures and I believe that it would be best to lock it away or get….rid …. of…" He slowly lost his voice as he saw everyone there staring at him in anger or shock with the doctor standing in front of the egg protectively. But what really got him shaking in his hooves was the glare that he was receiving from the princess.
"Were you just about to suggest that we lock up a baby that has done nothing wrong?" Her voice was calm but all of them could feel the anger radiating from her, causing the pony to almost piss himself. "Leave. Now."
The stallion ran out of the room so fast that a dust cloud in the shape of his body was left behind.
Celestia let out a sigh as her anger died down. "Anyone else have a better suggestion?" she asked, warning them to not give a suggestion related to the previous one.
One of the other advisors spoke up, being careful with his words. "What if we use the egg in a test at your school, Princess? Hatching a dragon egg is no small feat and the dragon could learn alongside the ponies."
Celestia liked that idea much more than the previous one, but before she could voice her agreement to that idea, the doctor spoke up.
"I'd advise against that." She looked at all that gave her attention. "The egg is ready to hatch now. We could wait a few days, a week at most, but any longer than that, and the egg…..will go bad." the implications were heavy, and told them that the idea wouldn't work. "And if what the princess said about the egg having magic, it would take an extraordinary amount of power to hatch it. Which makes me think a simple fire won't be enough either."
Celestia gained a thoughtful look at this new piece of information. The dragon egg had a lot of raw power and not many ponies could just force the egg open without hurting the baby. There was only one pony in this castle that could easily hatch the egg. "I'll hatch it."
The words shocked everyone in the room as they watched as she picked up the egg from the bassinet and held it in her arms. No one said anything as they saw her horn begin to light up and the egg began to glow the same color as her magic.
Celestia struggled pouring her power into the egg and could see how no normal pony could produce as much magic into the egg to hatch it. There was no way a child from her school would be able to do it. She on the other hand had more than enough power to hatch it. There was a point where it felt that her power was not enough and she channeled more to push past this. Her wings spread out as her whole body lit up in brilliant light.
*crack*
The sound was heard by all in the room as cracks began to crawl around the whole egg. Then, the egg shattered, revealing the baby inside.
In Celestia's arms was a small baby dragon.
From the looks of it was male. The baby had white scales with black fins running down his back to the tip of his tail and a black underbelly. He had a head of hair that jutted forward and fell over his right eye and two black horns were coming out of it that curved backward almost blending with his hair.
When the baby opened his eyes, Celestia's heart melted as she gazed into innocent blue eyes. "Hello, Little one, I'm Celestia."
The baby reached up, touching her muzzle in fascination, with claws too blunted to cut her. He made a baby gurgle as he ran his claws over her muzzle.
"He seems to be healthy." Was the doctor's observation. "Would you mind if I examine him?"
"Of course." The Princess gently lowered the baby for the doctor to take.
Only for the baby to start crying.
On instinct, Celestia pulled back the baby, causing him to calm down.
"He seems to have imprinted you as his mother." One of the scribes said with worry in his voice.
Celestia was shocked to hear this as this was unexpected.
"This isn't good." the doctor looked up at the princess as she continued. "If we take him away from you, he could become traumatized to the point of not being able to function normally."
Celestia thought about what she could do now. And the only thing she could think of was. "Then I shall raise him."
This shocked everyone there with one of them speaking out his worry.
"But, princess, you are the ruler of Equestria! To take care of a child-"
"I have made my choice." The tone of finality cut off any more arguments. She looked back at the baby with a loving smile.
All who watched her could see that there was no changing her mind. And with the look she was giving the baby, she had fallen in love with the baby as well.
The doctor let out a fond sigh of defeat. Clearing her throat, she spoke to the princess. "He's going to need a name."
Celestia looked at the giggling baby in her arms as she thought about what his new name should be. White, black, and blue were his colors. He was found in the dead of night and could barely see him inside the Timberwolf. He was as mysterious and unseen, like a…. "Phantom." She smiled wider as the baby began to laugh more at the name, clearly liking it. "I will name you Phantom/" she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
The baby enjoyed the kiss as his eyes became drowsy and he gurgled before falling asleep, snuggling into the breast of his mother.
End of chapter
I'd like to thank my parents for this award- whoops, wrong speech
I want to thank Redknight21 for allowing me to take up this story. This does not mean he no longer has anything to do with this story as despite how I am taking this to make it my own, I asked him if he could take up an advisory role since it was originally his story.
As for the fans of the original, you can see that it still holds the original chapter idea but with a bit more added and changed to be more in my writing style. Hope you like it.
This will be a more mature fic compared to my others (possibly, hard to change styles after all.)
I hope you will enjoy this story
Hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to how we build the story more
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