The Music of Harmony

She rubbed her eyes and blinked. It was a crazy dream, but she knew it was real. Princess Luna only appeared in dreams if she wanted to. But it didn't make any sense. What had Luna meant when she said Octavia had power? She was nothing more than a musician, and she seriously doubted that she could fight the most powerful pony in Equestria by playing the cello.

It was all a big mess. Just when she was starting to relax, the princess threw the fate of the world in her hooves.

However, she did say that I wouldn't be alone, that there would be several other ponies to help me. One of them is Vinyl Scratch. I should probably talk to her and see if we can get things straightened around, she reasoned.

Octavia trotted downstairs to find her roommate. There she was, in the kitchen cooking. She was making eggs and toast, which was normal. The part that was not normal was the fact that she wasn't wearing her sunglasses. This made Octavia nervous. The only time Vinyl Scratch would neglect her sunglasses was when she was being serious, which was rare.

"Vinyl, something really bad just happened. I heard so in a dream," she said.

Vinyl didn't act surprised. She set her cooking aside and looked over.

"Your dream didn't happen to have Princess Luna in it, did it?" she asked.

Octavia was taken aback. "Yes, actually it did. Did you have the same dream as me?"

"I think so. It was about Princess Celestia turning evil, right?"

"Yes. That was it. We're chosen for something important, you know."

"I know. It's pretty insane. Princess Luna wants us to save Equestria! Can you imagine it?”

Vinyl finished cooking and set the food on the table.

"I just wonder who else is a part of it. We can't be the only ones," Octavia said.

"I don't know, but we can't really worry about it. Luna said she would tell us more when it's time. We're going to have to wait."

Octavia was surprised. Usually, Vinyl was not the patient one.

"In the meantime, we can enjoy ourselves," Vinyl said as she scraped some eggs onto her plate.

She put her sunglasses back on, signaling that the seriousness was over.

Princess Luna was awfully tired. Appearing in dreams took a ton of energy, even for her. But she couldn't give up. Not yet. There were more dreams to visit. She would have to fight through the pain to make her plan work. Tonight was even more important than the last. She just hoped it wasn't too late. She cast the dream spell and waited patiently.

Shortly after, a lavender alicorn appeared in front of her. The spell had worked.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. I need to talk to you. We are all in great danger," she said.

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Luna. How dare you show your face here. Get out of my dream now. I mean it," she said aggressively.

Luna was shocked. This wasn't the kind of response she was expecting. Especially not from a pony as kind as Twilight Sparkle.

"Please, Twilight. You need to listen to me. This is important."

Twilight turned away. "I already heard quite enough from Celestia."

"Whatever my sister said, it's not true. Something is very wrong. I need to help her. She is corrupting you and everypony else. Please. I can't do it alone," she pleaded.

"You have some nerve, you know that?" Twilight shouted. "First you run away saying you're going to return to take over Equestria, and now you're lying to me and insulting the Princess!"

"No! I told you. I didn't-"

Twilight cut her off. "I'm sorry, Luna, but I can't believe that."

She stomped a hoof on the ground and disappeared.

Luna was stunned. She didn't expect it to go that way at all.

I was too late, she thought. Celestia had obviously got to her first and told her lies. Not only that, I just lost my chance to divide the Elements of Harmony.

One extremely important fact about the Elements is that it has very little to do with actual things. The Elements are only usable if they are attached to a pony or group of ponies.The Elements of Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic were tied to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle. Luna's goal was to get at least one of those ponies to join her side, but that was over now. Twilight would tell her friends and they would all fight for Celestia. Her sister had her in perfect position. It was almost checkmate.

Luna couldn't give up. She had to win. If she didn't, well, she tried not to think about that.

She sat there in her cave, brainstorming plans and drawing diagrams in the dirt with a stick. Let's see. I have two allies right now. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, she pondered. Celestia has thousands of allies and the Elements of Harmony.

Luna stopped drawing. Math wasn't her favorite subject, but the numbers were definitely not in her favor.

If what Celestia says is correct, then there is no way for me to stop the Elements. Of course, unless I kill one of Twilight's friends.

She shook her head. Murder was not a good way to handle this. The less lives lost, the better. She cast the idea aside.

We'll try to avoid that plan.

Luna closed her eyes and thought harder. She needed ideas.

There has to be more to the Elements than what Celestia is telling me. No weapon is unstoppable. It has to have some weakness, but what?

She stopped to ponder this thought. If she could find the weakness of the Elements, she would win. Luna did some more doodles, and thought until her head started to hurt. Still, she had nothing.

Okay, I need to slow down. There's got to be a pattern here. The Elements represent friendship, so that means...

She set down her stick. She knew what to do now. This plan would work, Luna was sure of it. She would no longer need a thousand allies, only six. Two were already with her. For the first time in days, she had an opportunity to save her sister, and she was determined not to let it go. But first, she had some dreams to visit.