ADVENTURES OF THE EQUESTRIAN NINJA

Chapter 41: Radiance within Darkness

Naruto flew erratically in the air while constantly fighting to regain control over his body, but it led to the chakra wings dissipating which led to him falling to the ground with a crash and formed a crater upon impact. The blonde stallion crawled out with his eyes squeezed shut and teeth gritted to depict the struggle.

"Get…out…of my…head!" Naruto barely growled out.

"No! I refuse to be stopped by you!" a darker tone of his own voice refuted.

Naruto opened an eye to see a boulder and galloped over to repeatedly slam his head into it "I…said…get…out!" the constant shift between the colors black and white of his aura eventually remained white but he was losing consciousness, Naruto collapsed to the floor and blacked out but not before hearing the dark voice speak out.

"Tch…this isn't over,"

Elsewhere on the moon, Twilight and the others were taken to the dungeons underneath the castle by the dark forces after being captured by Nightmare Rarity. Each of the mares couldn't help but feel frustrated with everything that's happened to them since the moment they landed on the moon; Rarity is possessed by Nightmare Moon, Luna was persuaded to return to Ponyville to defend it, Spike is missing, Naruto forced himself away to fight against his inner darkness, and now they imprisoned.

"Man, this sucks big time! We came to kick butt and get Rarity back, then all this happens," Rainbow Dash grumbled with her forehooves crossed.

"We just weren't expecting it pardner," said Applejack.

"I'm also worried about Naruto, he was trying to free himself from what Nightmare Rarity did to him and we couldn't help," said Fluttershy with concern for the blonde stallion, she had never seen him that vulnerable since their battle against Discord.

"Me too, it's like the nightmares affected him differently compared to us. But I'm also worried about Spike, he wasn't with us when we were captured," Twilight looked down in depression "Maybe we were in over our heads, I've never felt so useless,"

"Cheer up everybody, everything will be just fine. Next thing you know we'll be out of here, saving Rarity and Naru, finding Spike and having a victory party!" said Pinkie Pie, being ever the optimist.

"I don't know Pinkie, I just don't know,"

Luna was descending towards Ponyville as Celestia's sun rose in the horizon, despite having been told to retreat to prepare the town for the raid, the Alicorn princess could not help but feel guilty. She was supposed to help the ponies who freed her from her darkness to rescue their captured friend and yet was forced back due to her insecurities no matter how much the others say otherwise.

"How could you leave the ponies? Your weakness made you Nightmare Moon once, and now you're weak again…," thought Luna sadly "You will never be strong," she landed on the ground and was met by Celestia and the town residents, particularly Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"Where are the ponies?" asked Celestia.

Sweetie Belle interjected "And my sister, is she okay?"

"They were captured…," Luna answered unhappily.

Scootaloo shook her head in denial "I don't believe it, not my big bro and Rainbow Dash!"

"We know you three mean well, but please stay out of harm's way," said Celestia.

"No offense Princesses, but we can't do that. Our sisters and brother are the ones who need our help this time," said Apple Bloom.

"No, I will not let anymore ponies put their lives at risk!" said Luna sternly.

"Lives, just what happened up there?" asked Scootaloo.

Luna began walking with Celestia keeping pace with her as she spoke "The Nightmare Forces are on their way, they will attack Ponyville,"

"Not to worry sister, we will prepare before they arrive," said Celestia.

"I hope it will be enough, then I can rescue the others from the moon," Luna muttered to herself.

Meanwhile on the landscape of the moon, the sound of pattering feet could be faintly heard and footsteps could be seen being made on the ground but the source is hardly visible. Suddenly there was a shimmer and a figure became visible, revealing to be none other than Spike the dragon who had escaped capture from the nightmare forces.

"Shoot, the Camo Crystal ran out of power. Better be careful not to let anyone see me," Spike sniffed the air a couple of times before facing in a certain direction "He's over there, I'll recognize that ramen smell anywhere!" he skipped through the rocky landscape with the scent getting stronger until he came across the pony sprawled out on the ground unconscious "Naruto!" he ran over to the blonde stallion and began shaking his body to stir him awake "Come on buddy, now's not the time to be sleeping! Wake up!"

A groan was soon heard from Naruto whose eyes opened; his vision was blurred for a bit but it soon cleared for him to see Spike with the young dragon letting out a sigh of relief "Spike…is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Boy am I glad to see that you're doing okay," said Spike.

Naruto tried to get up when he flinched from the pain running throughout his body "I don't think my body agrees with you," Spike quickly helped him up to a sitting position "So what happened?"

"Don't you remember when we came to the moon, that we encountered the Nightmare Forces?"

"Wait, I think it's coming back to me," said Naruto, then the memories slammed into him harder than a freight train. He remembered it all; the revelation of Rarity being possessed by Nightmare Moon, being subjected to his worst nightmares, then he recalled the dark feeling of having lost control of his body and going on a rampage to almost attacking Rarity with the intent to hurt her badly before struggling to regain control and passing out afterwards.

"My Kami, I acted just like Gaara when I first met him at the Chuunin exams, I actually enjoyed hurting others…like a monster," thought Naruto with the tendrils of fear wrapping around his heart.

"Okay right now, we need to sneak into the castle to find Twilight and the others so we can rescue them then figure out a way to save Rarity," said Spike, then he noticed that Naruto wasn't paying attention "What's the matter?"

"I…I don't think I should go Spike," said Naruto reluctantly.

Spike blinked in confusion "What do you mean by that? The others need help and you don't want to go?"

"It's not like that, you saw what happened to me…I might go on a rampage again and hurt everyone around me like before. I'm a danger to myself and others right now, I don't think I can handle the guilt if I-,"

"SHUT UP!"

Naruto was taken aback from the sudden yell from Spike who was glaring at him with gritted teeth.

"What's wrong with you, since when did you become such a coward?! That's not the Naruto I know! The Naruto I know and care about doesn't let fear control him and won't hesitate to do what needs to be done! He went head-to-head against Nightmare Moon, fought dragons, and is always there to help his friends whenever they need him! He's the guy I came to the moon with, not a coward!" Spike turned around towards the castle in the distance "I'm not going to waste any more time here when I should be going to help my friends who need me, see ya,"

Naruto simply sat there and watched as Spike walked away with the dragon's words weighing heavily on his mind, then he heard a voice…his own voice echoing in his mind.

"Upon this wound, I make my pledge! I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me, I will never run away!"

Naruto raised his left forehoof to look it and blinked once to see his human hand which was bloodied, and actually feel the familiar ache before he blinked again to see his hoof "Spike was right, I'm acting like the old me who stood in fear and let Sasuke rescue me that day. I swore an oath of pain; to never run away again!" he looked to see Spike now a fair distance away from him "And I won't let this stupid fear make me abandon my friends either!"

Spike was making his way to the castle with his mind set on rescuing the mares when something suddenly whizzed past him, he looked only to be surprised to see Naruto standing ahead of him before looking over his shoulder with a foxy grin "N-Naruto?"

"I recall your plan being that we sneak into the castle to rescue the girls then find a way to save Rare, I'm sure we can get there faster if you ride on my back," said Naruto.

Spike stood there blankly then he smiled happily upon realizing the true meaning of what he's saying "Yeah, you're right!" he jumped onto Naruto's back and held on "Let's go Naruto!"

"You got it!"

Naruto crouched slightly then took off at high-speed, it didn't take them very long till they arrived at the castle. The duo were scoping out the area when they took note of something occurring at the topmost balcony of the castle, there they saw Nightmare Rarity climb aboard a dark chariot and began her voyage for Ponyville with the Nightmare Forces following after her.

"They're heading for Ponyville, we gotta hurry and go after them," said Spike worriedly.

"I know, luckily this means that there's lesser guards in the castle. No doubt they're put into the dungeons which is at the bottom of the castle," said Naruto.

The blonde stallion channeled chakra to his hooves and began ascending vertically on the castle wall till they reached a window and peered inside, making sure that there were no patrols about before entering. Naruto was about to create some shadow clones to help search for the entryway to the dungeons when he felt something pulling him in a certain direction, seeing no reason to ignore, he let himself be led through the hallways but made sure to be stealthy about it.

"Do you know which way we're going?" asked Spike.

"Not really, but I'm sure we're going to where we need to be," said Naruto with a growing smile, he felt warmer as he drew closer, going through a door with a spiraling staircase leading down to the dungeons. Through the dark hallway, they saw a beautiful light of the colors of a rainbow glowing through one of the doorways, Naruto's body radiated with a white magical aura "They're over there, we must be resonating with each other through our bond," they hastened towards the light but stopped upon seeing a nightmare guarding the entrance.

"Of course, they left a guard here," said Spike.

"Then we just need to be creative in sneaking past him, there's a gap underneath for us to crawl through," Naruto placed Spike on the ground and performed the Transformation jutsu to turn into a mouse, they silently crawled past and went inside to find the mares locked in separate cells and Naruto undid the jutsu to revert to his normal self.

"Naruto! Spike! You're both okay!" said Twilight in relief, with the same going for the others.

"We were really worried about you two!" said Applejack.

"I was able to get away thanks to the Camo Crystal Naruto gave to me," said Spike.

"I wasn't too okay at first, the nightmares and that sudden rampage really shook me up. It took Spike yelling at me for being a coward to snap out of it," said Naruto apologetically.

"That's cool and all, but can you get us out of here," said Rainbow Dash "You got a key on you right?"

"Uh, we didn't find any on our way here," said Spike sheepishly.

"Then we'll do this the old-fashioned way," said Naruto with multiple chakra arms emerging from his back.

Pinkie Pie then spoke up "Oh yeah, I totally forgot! No sweat, my Pegasisters, Pony Bro and Dragon boy," she began wiggling her body much to the confusion of Naruto and Spike and exasperation of a few mares.

"Darlin' that's sweet and all, but dancing ain't gonna free us all," said Applejack.

"Oh ye of little faith," something flew out of Pinkie's mane and fell onto the ground with a metallic clink, revealing to be a black key "Well the dingus wiggled right into me and the key fell out of his pocket! What's a filly to do?"

Naruto chuckled when Pinkie winked at them "That's just like you Pinks, as unpredictable as your Pinkie Sense," he took the key with his tail and began unlocking the cells "We need to get a move on, the Nightmare Forces and Rare are headed for Ponyville,"

Rainbow Dash bumped her fists together "Then let's go already!"

"Not so fast!" everyone turned to see that the guard had woken up and was in their way.

"Hey there, had a nice nap?" asked Naruto with a smirk, ready to swing into action.

"You can't escape from me! I'll stop you and finally get the attention I deserve!" said the shadow.

"You really want to be friends with those guys? They're mean to you," Applejack pointed out.

"Friends? We don't need friends! Friends are unimportant!"

"Are you loco? Friends are everything that is nice, fluffy, and wonderful!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Do they even know your name? We haven't heard it since we met," asked Twilight.

"No, no they don't, Lar-I mean Shadowfright said that names are the most important element for being scary. But he doesn't even know mine," said the shadow sadly.

"Awww, you poor thing," Fluttershy couldn't help but sympathize with it.

"Yeah man, I've been there before. Had to struggle for as long I want to remember to be acknowledged," said Naruto, recalling his past in his original world.

"I know…I mean No! Friendship has no power and means nothing!" the shadow turned away from them with its smoky arms crossed "And there's nothing you can do to escape my clutches!"

"Well today's your lucky day," the shadow turned around and was surprised to see the ponies radiating magical auras of colors representing their Elements of Harmony as Naruto spoke with a smirk "You're about to experience firsthand the power of friendship,"

Meanwhile in Ponyville, everypony positioned themselves at the ready as the Nightmare Forces approached menacingly. Celestia has called upon the Royal Guards with Luce coming along to help upon hearing that Naruto was captured but strangely didn't appear all that worried and the Wonderbolts were also called upon to help. Luna stood at the forefront while garbed in golden armor but she couldn't help but feel tense at all this.

Celestia approached her with concern "Is something the matter sister? We need to focus if we are to lead,"

Luna steeled herself at those words "It is nothing, I will protect these ponies…no matter what!" her horn glowed with cobalt blue magical energy before firing a large powerful beam only Nightmare Rarity to raise an armored forehoof to deflect it with hardly any effort.

"Really? Must we go through all this again? Once is entertaining enough for me," said Nightmare Rarity with a bored look on her face "Still fighting back your anger and fear. Give into the darkness and join the party!"

"I refuse, I'll defeat you on my own!" Luna responded in defiance.

Nightmare Rarity scoffed and glanced sideways towards her dark army "Amuse yourselves," the shadows swiftly flew past her and towards the ponies with looks of glee.

Everypony were fighting the enemy with everything they've got and utilizing their talents to the maximum. The Cakes were certainly proving that they could do more than bake a mean muffin with Mr. Cake bashing several shadows over the head with a rolling pin, Mrs. Cake slung pies in support to keep them at bay.

Scootaloo was riding her scooter as fast as she could and glanced back to see the shadows gaining "I'd like to see you catch me!" she drifted round a corner and rode into an alleyway only to skid to a stop due to being blocked by wooden crates, the shadows gradually approached with nonvisible smirks on their face.

"You've got nowhere to run now that you're trapped, little pony…why are you smiling?" the shadow asked due to the filly's current expression.

"Cause you're the one that fell into a trap! Cutie Mark Crusaders, fire away!" Scootaloo called out, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom appeared over the crates with slingshots and launched crystals which unleashed powerful magical bursts to send the shadows fleeing in pain "That was for our brother and sisters!"

"Do you think we'll get cutie marks for bashing shadows?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"If this doesn't, then I don't know what will," Apple Bloom responded.

"I'll go and lure in more bad guys, so be sure to reload before I get back," Scootaloo hopped onto her scooter with the others doing just that.

Vinyl Scratch was facing her own share of shadows, glaring at them through her shades "Time to find out if you can handle the beat! Release sound system!" her medallion glowed before white orbs emerged from it and transformed into two giant loudspeakers and she stood behind her sound console, Vinyl inserted a disc into the console and pushed the volume to the max "Here's a musical number!" she hit the play button and-

*BOOOM*

The loudspeakers unleashed a concussive blast of sound to send the shadows flying with them feeling as if they were struck by a stampede of bison "Finally get to use the Bass Cannons, and Octavia is too busy to stop me this time. Carpe Diem like they always say,"

"Time for you all to face the prowess of the Mighty but Humble Trixie!" said Trixie, donning her cloak and hat while her horn radiated with blue magic "Magic Binding!" a large blue summoning circle appeared beneath her feet then multiple strands of mystical ropes shot out and wrapped around the shadows, holding them in place.

"What's this?! I can't get free!" said one of the shadows.

"This magic spell was created together by my friends and I, friends you had captured. Here's another, Magic Hailstorm!" Trixie conjures a giant sphere of magic then fires a blast of magic from her horn to knock it into the air where it rains down smaller magic orbs all around, pelting the shadows with its barrage "And Trixie's got a lot more where that came from!"

"Speed Star!" Luce was galloping while enshrouded in a white aura radiating from his body like a comet at high-speed was ricocheting of the shadows with every collision before somersaulting in midair to unleash a barrage of aerial spinning kicks around him before landing on the ground, he saw the enemy lash out with their smoky arms to grab him and so channeled magic through his horns for a magic spell "Circumstellar Disk!" a ring-shaped accumulation of stone debris swirled around Luce to knock them back and took to the offensive once more "Stellar Wind!" a star appeared overhead before a powerful gust of starry wind burst from it to send them flying far from him "He'd better come back soon or he's gonna miss out,"

Luna was engaging Nightmare Rarity on her own in an aerial battle whilst firing powerful blasts of magic but her opponent effortlessly deflects the incoming attacks with hardly focus at all which frustrated and inwardly frightened her. That was when Nightmare Rarity called out to her in arrogance.

"I can feel your bitterness, Luna! You can't deny it so give in already!" said Nightmare Rarity, Luna flinched at the statement and that moment of distraction cost her as she got shot with a beam of dark magic and crashed to the ground with her helmet slipping off.

Celestia gasped in horror "Luna, no!"

"Princess Luna!" the residents galloped over to see if she was alright, Nightmare Rarity landed nearby with a look of apathy.

"Time for a white flag anyone? Now might be a good time before someone got really hurt…oh wait, Luna did!" said Nightmare Rarity, she took note of Celestia and everyone else standing around the hurt princess protectively and glaring at her in defiance "How quaint, you're still going to protect her after she betrayed you and let your town be destroyed?"

"Yes we will, forever!" Sweetie Belle proclaimed, everypony nodded in complete agreement.

Luna painfully sat up "My anger and bitterness turned me into Nightmare Moon once, I fear it could happen again. It is my burden,"

"You don't have to bear the burden alone, my dear sister," said Celestia with great care in her voice.

"She's right, we won't let that happen. You're one of us now," said Scootaloo.

"I'm…one of you?" Luna looked around everyone in confusion.

"Yes you are, you're as much part of Ponyville as the Cakes, Joe and everyone else," said Apple Bloom.

Luna struggled to her feet "With all of you beside me, maybe I don't need to fear my past…or future,"

"Whatever comes, we'll face them like a big ol' family does," said Granny Smith assuredly.

Luna felt warm from all the caring looks by everyone around her "My friends, if I am to fight together with you then I must be honest. I have been hiding my fear and past from you all, but no more and I cannot handle it alone," she gestured to the shadows before them "If you can forgive me, I swear to never abandon you like I did to the denizens of the moon. I will never let the fear of becoming Nightmare Moon stop me from defending you,"

"Everypony deserves a second chance, Trixie knows that best," said Trixie with a smile.

"It's like big bro often says; those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worst than trash. We won't ever abandon you," said Scootaloo.

"You will always be Princess Luna, now and forever," said Celestia.

Never before has Luna felt so happy and relieved that she felt something building up from within her heart and burst out with her body glowing brightly before dissipating to reveal that she had changed greatly in appearance. Her coat has taken on a darker shade of blue and her mane has become longer, partially translucent while rippling and sparkling like Celestia's but resembling that of the starry night sky. Luna has regained her true form and her powers are fully restored.

"Together, we will defeat the nightmare energy and it will never hurt anyone ever again!" Luna proclaimed confidently with everypony cheering for her.

No longer sensing the fear and bitterness within Luna, Nightmare Rarity was outraged "You're all fools! Love! Trust! Friendship!? *Bleh* Try Power! Fear and Darkness!"

"You can't be Rarity! She would never say something so awful! But why do you feel like her?" Sweetie Belle demanded.

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity's true voice echoed in the mind of the possessed unicorn but was quickly suppressed "Can't you all see? You have nothing left, I've even captured you so-called Element Bearers and that annoying stallion is nowhere to be found!"

"Ya sure about that?" a familiar voice spoke up from above, everyone looked up to see Naruto descending to the ground while enshrouded in a white magical aura with Twilight and the other mares soon following with magic auras of their own "Sorry we're late, but good guys always show up the last moment to save the day or rather night,"

"Ya got that right!" said Rainbow Dash.

Luna flew over to the group with a look of relief "You're all okay!"

"Of course we are, we're that good!"

"And we made a new friend too!" Pinkie Pie pointed at a creature behind which did not appear smoky like the Nightmare army. Shadowfright recognized who it is and growled in anger.

"You dingus!" said Shadowfright.

"I am not a dingus, my name is Jerome and you better not forget that like my new friends won't!" said the creature in defiance.

"Think you can give these fellas a wakeup call?" asked Applejack.

"Most certainly, along with your help," Luna channeled magic into her horn and strands of magic from the ponies flowed to it before releasing a radial burst of magic with the appearance of a rainbow, the shadows were enveloped with the magical energy and revealed to be creatures possessing features similar to animals.

"I'm…me?" Shadowfright looked at himself, bearing resemblance to birds.

"That takes care of them," Twilight turned to face Nightmare Rarity "Now to take care of the reason this all started,"

The ponies stood before the dark being with looks of confidence, then Applejack spoke up "We're only going to say this once, give Rarity back to us!"

Nightmare Rarity scowled in defiance "I refuse!"

"Don't say we didn't warn ya!" said Rainbow Dash,

They all fired their magical auras towards her in unison with the force enough to knock the helmet off, Luna approached to connect the tip of her horn with the unicorn's and stared straight into her eyes without blinking.

"Your darkness cannot survive in the light, release your hold on generous Rarity's and let her speak!" said Luna, the nightmare was forced to comply and soon everyone heard Rarity's voice call out to them.

"My friends! You came for me! You didn't forget about me!" they could hear the relief in her voice.

"Geeze, those things really sucked on your brains. Can't blame ya since I was in the same boat too," said Rainbow Dash.

"You didn't replace me with an ill-fashioned pony with braces?"

"Now why would we do that?" asked Fluttershy.

"We don't replace the ones we care about, Rare. You're irreplaceable," said Naruto.

"I thought that you'd forget about me if I stopped being fabulous…I want to help…always!" Rarity's voice was getting fainter, much to the worry of the ponies "Please no! I don't want to go back! It was so cold and lonely-and I wasn't helping anypony! I was hurting them, help!"

"Rarity, hang in there!" Twilight called out to her, but there was an explosion of dark energy, knocking everyone back and disrupting their attempt with Nightmare Rarity regaining control and sneered at them.

"Bwahahaha! There is no power that can stop me now, your body is mine! You will be remembered, Rarity…but as the darkest and cruelest ruler ever known!" said Nightmare Rarity arrogantly.

Naruto's head lowered with his front bangs shadowing his eyes and muttered lowly "How dare you...,"

"Do you have something to say, little pony?" asked the dark unicorn.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO RARITY?!"

Naruto snapped to his head up to look at Nightmare Rarity with eyes full of rage, surprising everypony "Ever since I was born, I've always been alone with no parents…no siblings…no family…nothing. No one wanted to acknowledge me, even denied my very existence all because of something out of my control. It felt like I had no worth in the world and I hated that feeling of not being wanted. It is the kind of feeling I and a few wouldn't wish it on anyone else," everyone listened as he continued to talk, finding his origin hard to believe from the time spent with him save the ones who know his true past "For as long as I've known Rarity, she loves nothing more other than making clothes than to help ponies. We all love her very much and treasure every moment spent together, which is why I will never forgive for what you did to her!"

"Big talk from a pony, whose nightmares left him a sniveling mess and stands before me with half of his power lost!" said the dark unicorn, Luna looked at Naruto in concern since he must have been exposed to the nightmare mist when she left.

"Even so, I won't let that stop me. I won't quit until Rare is safe!"

"Be silent, little foal!" Nightmare Rarity fired a large beam of powerful dark energy towards Naruto who simply stood there and was enveloped in the brutal attack much to the horror of everyone watching.

"Naruto!" everyone cried out to him, Scootaloo's eyes brimmed with tears at the thought of Naruto's possible demise.

"Hmph, he was nothing but all talk and if anymore predictable," said Nightmare Rarity.

"Ya sure about that?"

Not expecting a response from a familiar voice, everyone turned towards the dust cloud resulted from the magic attack where they could see a black silhouette within it and felt hope of who it would be. The dust finally settled down to reveal Naruto standing before them and donning a red samurai armor (an; Kirin Katana Kachi - Samurai Guardians by Lionel23 on DeviantArt) with hardly a scorch mark from the previous attack.

"How is this possible?!" Nightmare Rarity yelled out in confusion.

"My determination and willingness to endure anything for those close to my heart enabled me to access a new gear change of the Hoshi no Ha; the Armor gear," Naruto responded, he glanced at Twilight who got an idea of what he's planning and galloped over to Applejack and the others. The armored stallion gradually approached Nightmare Rarity who stared into his eyes, those accursed eyes which told her point-blank that they didn't fear her and capable of instilling bravery into others around them.

"I hate you Uzumaki!" she fired a blast at Naruto for it to push him back slightly upon impact but continued to walk forward without a scorch mark on the armor still. Refusing to give in, she continues to fire blast after blast at him but with hardly any visible effect, which made her feel frustrated and frightened for it made her remember their first battle "Why won't you be destroyed?!"

Twilight was speaking to the others about the plan "Everypony listen up, Rarity is scared of being forgotten. We must remember her or she'll be lost to the nightmare energy forever!"

"What should we do?" asked Fluttershy.

"Close your eyes and remember something…anything you love about her," Twilight quickly instructed.

The mares sat and did as told, Pinkie Pie recalled the embarrassing moment Rarity had with her when they were taking a bubble bath at the spa, Applejack remembered when Rarity came over to help her at the farm and even helped fixed a bird's nest too, Rainbow Dash thought of when Rarity fix her Wonderbolt outfit and was ever grateful for it, Fluttershy remembered the cute outfit Rarity made for Angel Bunny which she absolutely adored, and Twilight remembered the day Rarity tended to her when she was in bed with the flu. Reacting to their thoughts, the auras surged stronger than before and converged to one point.

Nightmare Rarity was quick to notice "Whatever you have planned, I won't let it succeed!" she fired a beam of dark magic towards them but another beam intercepted it to cancel each other out then Luna before them protectively "You interfere with me Luna?"

"I won't let you hurt my friends!" said Luna.

"I feel you should be more worried about something else," Naruto spoke up, practically three steps away from her, she made to move but Naruto swooped in and wrapped his forehooves around her, holding her in place. At that moment, the combined aura enveloped them both with the memories flowing into their minds and Nightmare Rarity's struggles were getting weaker by the second then Naruto leaned forward to whisper into her ear "Rarity…remember that day when we were making scarves?"

Naruto's memory showed him entering the boutique and saw Rarity at work, making scarves and offered to help with her accepting. Opalescence showed up and grabbed on of the longer scarves to shred with her claws which led into a chase, next thing that happened was Naruto and Rarity being wrapped up in the scarf with their faces very close enough to stare into each other's eyes which left them flustered. It took some time to get themselves unwrapped, it most definitely had them feeling something about it.

"Please Rare, let our bond light up a path that would lead you back to us…" said Naruto.

At those words, the nightmare energy was expelled from Rarity's body and she was back to her normal self, much to the joy of everyone around. Rarity opened her eyes and gasped in surprise upon finding herself in Naruto's embrace.

"N-Naruto?" Rarity barely stammered out.

Naruto smiled in response "Welcome back Rare,"

"Rarity!" they were soon joined by Twilight and the others to form a group hug and laughing together.

"How could I have been so foolish, I believed their lies and let insecurity get the best of me. Me, of all ponies!" said Rarity amidst tears.

"It could happen to anypony, we're just glad to have you back with us!" said Applejack.

Pinkie Pie nodded rapidly "I'll plan a big party…after a nap!"

"I'm so happy to see you're okay Rarity!" said an overjoyed Spike.

Rarity also went to hug Luna "Thank you for reminding me-"

"Reminding us," Luna corrected with a smile.

"Reminding us that everypony is irreplaceable to their truest friends!"

"I'm glad-" suddenly the armor disappeared and Naruto went down on his knees, panting for breath, worrying the ponies around him.

"What's the matter big bro?" asked Scootaloo.

Naruto tiredly replied "*Pant pant* The armor has the ability to negate motion-based attacks but it places a great strain on my body and I can only keep it on for no longer than five minutes or if the damage is too overwhelming for me to endure,"

"Total bummer," Rainbow Dash.

"But it was worth it,"

Later that night, everypony were at the hills seeing Luna off as she was about to escort the creatures now known as Nyx back to the moon.

"Now that the moon is safe, we'll be seeing you soon. Right, Princess Luna?" asked Twilight.

"Yes you will, after I've escorted these beautiful creatures back home on the moon," Luna affirmed.

"Hope to see you soon, Luna-chan," said Naruto albeit bandaged due to the fight at the moon.

"Sleep well tonight, my pony friends,"

"I will because of all of you, you saved me from my nightmare," said Rarity with Sweetie Belle hugging her tightly.

Everypony on the hill to watch as Luna transported the Nyx to the moon in its true stellar radiance, Naruto felt someone lean on his shoulder and turned to see that it was Rarity who smiled at him softly; causing the stallion to blush and shyly look away while unaware of the blush appearing on her cheeks as well. Rarity remembered when she was guided by the memories of her friends and was following Naruto's voice back to them, she heard him say something which shocked her greatly and then made her feel warm inside her heart.

"Please Rare, let our bond light up a path that would lead you back to us…" then he whispered "…my Beauteous Gemstone,"

Rarity let a deep sigh "Just like in the fairy tales I used to read; a princess being saved by a hero in shining armor along with his allies. Never thought it would have happened to me, but I'm glad it did and you are my hero Naruto…," she fell asleep with a smile on her face with dreams of her dressed like a princess and Naruto next to her in his armor as they walked in a field of flowers.

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, we finally come to an end of the Nightmare Rarity arc from the comics and now we return to the episodes or OC chapters before Naruto's next dimensional adventure. The new Stellar gear possesses a stronger defense compared to the shield but places a greater strain on Naruto along with a fixed limit. Naruto's feelings continue to grow for the mares, how will this affect him as time goes?

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out.