Chapter Twelve

The explosion sent shudders through the very earth, all the way to the roots of the mountains. Deafening thunder roared. Blinding light filled the square. A shockwave of heat and power expanded in all directions. Changelings and ponies alike were thrown back, those on the ground knocked from their hooves and those in the air sent tumbling to the earth.

Misty Moonrise gasped, the wind knocked clean out of her. She raised her head and squinted through the clearing haze as the brilliant light faded once more to darkness.

A prone form lay where Princess Luna had stood.

A deathly chill settled over Misty as all her worst fears were realized. Frantic, desperate to be wrong, she staggered up and into a wild dash. Each step felt like an eternity. Her breath came in loud, shallow gasps. Her heart pounded like the funereal drum of a black parade. Time did not exist. Canterlot did not exist. All that existed was the still figure of Princess Luna.

Her starlit mane and tail no longer flowed in some unfelt breeze. Patches of soot from the magical battle stained her beautiful coat, obscured part of her cutie mark. One of her wings was caught underneath her, and the other lay fanned behind her. She had lost one of her silver slippers, and her onyx crown lay on its side beside her head. Her eyes, so mysterious and so gentle, were closed, as if she were only sleeping.

Somepony cried out, screaming, wailing. Was it Misty? She couldn’t tell; didn’t care. Hot tears spilled from Misty’s eyes, dripping onto Princess Luna. Misty tried to rouse her mentor, but the Moon Princess did not respond. “Wake up, Princess Luna,” Misty sobbed. “Wake up! We need you… I need you… Princess Luna, please!” Why won’t she wake up?

A warm brown hoof settled on Misty’s and gently drew her back from the princess. Misty Moonrise looked up to find Cloudy Day standing beside her. He appeared to be on the brink of weeping as well, earthy eyes glistening with sadness and compassion. His silver aura came alive, and he took from Misty’s mane the lavender lily he had given her at their first meeting—Misty had forgotten she was still wearing it. Without a word, Cloudy carefully set the lily instead in Princess Luna’s mane.

“What do I do now, Princess Luna?” Misty whispered between sobs.

“We keep going,” Cloudy Day said softly.

Misty Moonrise regarded him with despair. “How? It’s hopeless…”

Cloudy Day shook his head. “No, there is always hope. You are not alone, Misty,” he said, and then gently embraced her.

Slowly, Misty realized that others were there. Not just Cloudy Day, but Steel Shield, Juniper Berry, Lilypad, Nightingale—they were all around her, embracing her and each other. The warmth of their love seemed to thaw something that had been frozen within Misty. She felt… whole.

A tiny sapphire star twinkled in the depths of Misty’s eyes, a spark that ignited a newfound magic unlike any she had ever felt before.

Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends appeared, all of them staring at the fallen Princess of the Night in sorrowful disbelief. Twilight’s brow furrowed in woeful wrath, and she locked frighteningly steady eyes with Misty. “It’s time to end this,” Twilight Sparkle resolved. “Together.”

Misty Moonrise stepped out of her circle of friends, glancing worriedly at Princess Luna.

Princess Celestia, exhausted and battle-worn, had collapsed beside her fallen sister. She softly rested her head upon her sister’s mane, a tear rolling down her cheek. Then Celestia raised her gaze to Misty. “Go. I’ll watch over her.”

Finally meeting Princess Twilight’s level gaze, Misty nodded. “Together.”

Insane laughter rang through the night. “Witness this,” cried Queen Chrysalis, “the end of Equestria! Bow before your new queen, little ponies!” She sent a beam of sickly green magic straight toward them.

As one, Misty and Twilight raised a dome of sapphire and magenta that absorbed the attack in a spray of sparks.

Chrysalis was struck silent, but then she scowled and gathered her dark power once more. “If you will not bow to me, I will make you!” Another bolt of lightning tore from the heavens, striking the magical dome with deadly force. But the dome never wavered.

“We’ll take her from the right,” said Twilight Sparkle, glancing back at Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, all of whom nodded understanding. “Misty, you and the others take the left. On three—one… two… three!”

The dome flashed out of existence as the twelve ponies divided. Twilight and the others dashed across the courtyard, drawing Chrysalis’s attention temporarily. Misty led her own friends around behind the Changeling Queen, stopping only when they stood in a line opposite Twilight and her friends. They had Chrysalis surrounded.

When Queen Chrysalis noticed this, she hissed in fury. Power blazed around her like green fire. “You cannot defeat me!” she bellowed. “Equestria is mine!”

Twilight Sparkle spread her wings and raised her voice. “Equestria is not yours to take, Chrysalis. Your reign of terror ends now.”

“Bah!” spat Chrysalis. “There’s nothing you pathetic ponies can do to stop me! Love cannot save you this time! I have destroyed your precious Harmony! You are powerless before me!”

“No!” Misty Moonrise cut in sharply. “You may have tried to kill the Harmony in Equestria, but you do not have the Elements of Harmony.”

“I don’t need the Elements!” raged Chrysalis. “Your Tree of Harmony will be dead by dawn, and the Elements with it!”

“The Elements of Harmony are everywhere,” declared Twilight, the warmth of rainbow magic rushing for her and her friends. “Without them, you can never know what harmony is, much less destroy it. Only those with friendship and love in their hearts will ever know the true power of the Elements: Laughter…”

Suddenly, pure white light engulfed Pinkie Pie and Juniper Berry. In a flash of rainbows, Pinkie emerged with stars and streaks of bright yellow and blue in her curls, and her hooves were adorned with balloons like the ones of her cutie mark. Simultaneously, Juniper reappeared wearing a golden necklace with an amethyst jewel in the shape of a sprig of juniper berries—just like her cutie mark.

“… Loyalty…”

This time, it was Rainbow Dash and Steel Shield. From a burst of rainbows, Dash spread wings now alive with the same colors as filled her mane, and lightning bolts flashed upon her hooves. At the same time, Steel emerged from the brilliance wearing a golden necklace with an emerald jewel in the shape of a shield—just like his cutie mark.

“… Generosity…”

Rarity and Nightingale were surrounded by light. Rarity emerged resplendent with diamonds and soft yellow and blue streaks in her hair, and diamonds glittered upon her hooves. Nightingale now wore a golden necklace with a blue jewel in the shape of a heart.

“… Honesty…”

Light consumed Applejack and Lilypad. When Applejack was revealed, her mane and tail were streaked with pink and red, and apples danced upon her hooves. Lilypad now wore a golden necklace bearing a pink lily-shaped jewel.

“… Kindness…”

Fluttershy and Cloudy Day emerged from a flash of rainbows next. Butterflies floated upon Fluttershy’s hooves, and her pink mane and tail were streaked with teal, violet, and icy blue. Cloudy Day now wore a golden necklace with a red cloud-shaped jewel.

“… Magic!”

Princess Twilight Sparkle rose in the air as rainbows surrounded her, somehow raising her five friends simultaneously. She emerged in a shower of twinkling stars, her hooves graced with the magical stars of her cutie mark, her already purple-and-magenta-striped hair now also streaked with pale yellow, and her wings were flush with amethyst and magenta.

Misty Moonrise felt herself rise off the ground, felt the warm caresses of magic as light and rainbows enclosed her. Stardust shimmered all around her, coalescing into a silver coronet upon her brow, bearing a jewel whiter than new snow and carved to resemble a full moon. Power such as she had never known surged within her as the light withdrew, gathered into the Element of Magic borne by the coronet. Misty looked to her right and left, and she saw that all of her friends had also been lifted into the air by their Elements of Harmony. Disbelieving, she shifted her gaze to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight smiled knowingly at Misty, and then returned her attention to Chrysalis.

The Changeling Queen stared at the twelve ponies with a mixture of awe and horror. The dark power burning around her began to weaken as utter terror gripped her. For a moment, the purple shadows streaming from Chrysalis’s eyes disappeared, and the black light dimmed to reveal her natural slit-pupil, blue-green irises. But then she visibly hardened her nerve and embraced the terrible power once more, her eyes reverting to the black orbs streaming shadows. Emerald flames leapt high all around her. “You have not the power to defeat me! I’ll finish you once and for all!”

“That’s where you are wrong, Chrysalis. We have the greatest power of all,” proclaimed Twilight Sparkle. “The Magic of Friendship!”

Rainbows burst to life above the twelve ponies, spinning and weaving at blinding speeds. With a force that sent a shudder through the very air, two spiral pillars of color and light surged high into the night sky. The dark clouds recoiled, dispersing, as the two enormous rainbows soared higher and higher, until they seemed to reach to the stars themselves. Suddenly, the rainbows shot together and began to spiral around and around each other, and dove as one for the Queen of the Changelings. Winds swept wildly through the city as if to usher the rainbows on their way.

Queen Chrysalis screamed, rearing up to meet the rainbows as they crashed down upon her. Spinning colors and brilliance swallowed her from all sight and sound. Like a rainbow tornado the whirling magic wrapped around and around itself, rocketing skyward as a single shaft of pure power. It broke upon the sky like waves breaking upon the shore. A pealing note rang true and clear across all Equestria, striking some deep, heart-wrenching chord in the hearts of all who heard it. Light, white and rainbow alike, brilliant and blinding and pure, flooded the world.