Twilight Sparkle awoke from her magical surge to be in a state of pain. At first, she couldn't figure out from where it had come, but her head was clearing rapidly and she slowly managed to open her eyes. Everything was dusty... Was that a dragon? A green and purple hatchling was sucking on it's tail, in the shattered remains of a cart. She tried slowly to stand, felt dizzy, and closed her eyes again.
The beam of light enveloped her body, and fiery power rushed through her veins, making it difficult to even move. The fires didn't hurt. They almost tickled, but she instinctively knew that it would not continue. She forced back the power to its origins, deep in her heart... and then stars, like a blanket of fog, swirled about her hooves. She blinked, standing. Five frightened, confused faces, that of fillies, stared back at her. Only one was a unicorn, two were earth ponies, and the last two were pegasi. Another important detail was that, like her, all of them were blank flanks.
She could barely open her mouth, but did so. The others had similar difficulties, struggling to hooves and observing the area about them with wonder and growing smiles.
"Oh my. This is a first." The voice made each filly's head turn as if by rehearsal, and all stared at the only princess in their world: Princess Celestia. The tall white alicorn was...almost staring at the six ponies. Her ethereal mane twisted gently in a silent wind, and almost glowed, the pastels were so clean. She smiled suddenly, eyes bright.
"No need to be scared, dears. You aren't hurt, but something special is happening," Celestia said, holding out her wings as if to cover them.
Twilight stared as bright lights pulled from her chest. A sideways glance confirmed the others going through the same process. Then, white lights surrounded her, blocking out everything with gentle heat.
Again, the lavender filly opened her eyes, though she didn't stand. To her shock, there was Princess Celestia again, gently trying to wake her. "Are you alright?" The white alicorn cocked her head to one side. "Do you feel okay?"
The pain had faded to manageable aches, and she slowly nodded, then sat up with the ruler's assistance. Part of her mind was wondering why in Equestria the princess seemed so interested in her, then her back began twitching oddly. Huh?
She looked over her shoulder. Her back shouldn't twitch like that...
"Oh." Mounting screams twisted in her throat, until she saw the two tiny lavender wings, with faint indigo hints at the tips, placed directly behind her withers. Everything froze, before she shot a glance at the suddenly stone-faced princess.
The princess wasn't mean-looking, but she definitely looked curious, though stiff. "I suppose this puts a bind on some life plans, right?" Her tone became tolerantly amused at the filly's features, which assumed a somewhat horrified expression. "But you'll need help to learn how to control those new limbs. How about becoming my student?"
A flabbergasted expression overwhelmed the little filly, who shot glances at her parents (why were there leaves in their manes?), then back towards the princess. Another glance at her parents showed gleeful visages, which was mirrored by the little filly's in seconds. An ear-piercing scream of delight, followed by bouncing and cheering, made the princess grin herself.
"Just one second, Twilight," She gently captured the filly's attention once more, then gestured towards the new alicorn's flank, where a perfect magenta and white star, with five tiny white stars surrounding it, now rested. This time, the princess raised a sound barrier as the filly's delight broke the few windows to survive her magical surge.
Twilight then noticed the baby dragon. It was crying silently, and sucking on the end of its tail. A lavender coat of...well, scales, with jade-green spines down its back, and huge slit green eyes, which ceased crying on seeing her.
She smiled to it. It laughed, and groped for her with its soft little paws. She slowly picked it up, with her hooves when her horn proved too sore for magic. It was shockingly light for its size.
She looked up at the princess with a smile. "May I keep him?"
"It's over, Nightmare! With the Elements of Harmony, you can't stop us from freeing Luna!" Twilight declared this with triumph, not missing the look of panic and horror on the black alicorn's muzzle as she realize she was trapped.
"Thy power is weak and tenuous compared to our collective experience! We shall yet prevail," Bluffed Nightmare Moon. Black-edged turquoise waves pulsed through her horn. Twilight mantled her own magic, a nearly pure white thanks to the mixing of energy from her friends and the Elements. She raised her wings instinctively, feeling the deep bond between her friends and herself.
She pulled the bond closer, observing through memories the moment of its creation. The moment when six fillies who had just witnessed a sonic rainboom ascended to alicorn status the moment they connected to their respective elements.
Nightmare Moon summoned a howling banshee in an attempt to stun the six, but its chaos was dispelled within moments, unable to let off even a whimper before returning to its true form of free wind magic.
"Now!" Twilight yelled, feeling her spell fully form. Instant reactions, in the form of sensations. Rainbow's fiery magic seemed to scorch her mane, while sweet apple scents drifted from Applejack. Rarity's magic was a cool balm, like mint, while Fluttershy's power soothed and healed even the most minute damage. And Pinkie's magic, bubbly and ticklish and positively oozing with happiness, it all sank into and filled Twilight.
Seeing her impending destruction, the demon mare charged a last spell, completely encompassing her horn in black veils. "The Elements cannot destroy," She roared, releasing her mana just as the customary beam of pure Harmony magic brushed her ink-colored coat.
Everything disappeared in a white flash, and the Nightmare's dying scream was accompanied by an agonizing sensation through the Bonds of Harmony.
-____-
Rainbow Dash, fastest alicorn in existence, slowly opened her intense magenta eyes, pupils retracting to slits thanks to her recessive thestral genetics. Pain seemed to ooze through the bonds she held close to her heart, and she sat up, ignoring the rubble and dust wafting from her blue coat.
Shock hit her as she took in the scene. The roof of the great stone room had been blown clean off, exposing the inky night sky and full moon, imprinted with a familiar mark Rainbow had hoped never to see again.
Looking back inside the room, she saw Fluttershy staggering to her hooves already, wobbling unsteadily towards a slumping wisteria form Rainbow knew almost as well as her. Horror pierced the loyal alicorn's features as she saw a distinct lack of a horn. Even worse, she now recognized the pain echoes as Twilight's bond.
"Twi!" She slid over the floor, unable to regain the balance which let her stand on the top point of Canterlot Castle without a wobble. But she, and the rest of her friends, managed, each adding quiet, insistent pleas for Twilight to return.
Wake up
Can you hear me
Please Please Please oh no no
Cant go away return to us
Back up! Fluttershy briefly dominated the bond and forced her way through the circle, examining Twilight's shattered horn. She inspected it, masking emotions through both face and bond, instead forcing her soothing aura of Kindness over the fractured group in an attempt to calm them.
A movement behind Rainbow, on the dais where Nightmare Moon had been, alerted her that their attack might have been in vain. She turned and lunged towards the raised stage where a black and blue cloud, like an angry bruise, hung over a long-limbed sleeping navy alicorn. Rainbow skidded slightly, nearly face-planting, as she noticed the crackles of white lightning, faint and soundless, whenever the cloud tried to touch the alicorn.
The cloud eventually spun away, disappearing against the midnight sky. Rainbow prowled towards the mare, observing the silvery-blue mane, matted with grey dust and tangled by small rocky chunks, how thin and anemic the mare's body was, her supposed black dapples bleached white and her white moon cutie mark black as pitch. The wings, the top of the limb coated in black tinted feathers, the rest being of thestral webs tattered to near uselessness by time, halted her.
Brief horror echoed within Rainbow, drawing Applejack's attention.
"Thestral webs shed on their own, Dash. With food, water, and rest an alicorn can heal from even that," The honest mare said.
"If she dies, Celestia will as well. You know how tired she is most of the time. Hay, the Princess has a whole legion of ponies whose only job is to share magic with her." Rainbow paused as her voice cracked, feeling suddenly drained.
Fluttershy pinged them through the bond, as if she had bounced a marble of emotion against their minds. Both mares turned. The healer-trained alicorn smiled slightly.
"It's not as bad as it looks. Twilight's magic dissolved just before Nightmare's spell hit her. That was an old one, designed to backfire any spell a pony uses. But her horn will regrow with time, and be a lot stronger for it."
All gathered sighed or cheered as was their nature. Fluttershy walked over to the slumbering blue alicorn, and checked her over with a brief spell. Rarity quickly bolstered her flagging magic reserves through the bond, before the rest even sensed it.
Rarity stepped forth and used her magic to pull clean water from the air, and carefully inserted it into the Princess's mouth, gentle and precise. Fluttershy let her, but held up a hoof when she decided enough was enough, and then very carefully lifted the moon mare's body, arranging it in a more comfortable posture. She suddenly shrieked as the mare jerked awake, lashing out with hooves in a useless matter that was still intimidating with its precision.
"Release me!" The mare hissed, voice weak and cracking, but turquoise eyes hard as diamonds. Fluttershy did so, setting her down on her hooves but using her pink magic to support the mare without restricting her. "Who are you?"
"We are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. We rescued you from Nightmare Moon," Applejack said easily, her accent briefly hidden as she tried to sooth the mare. She started to hold out a hoof, but stopped upon remembering Fluttershy's magic.
The mare stiffened, looking over herself and flinching briefly at the state of her body. "We see." Her use of royal pronouns was not encouraging. "We are named Luna Dreamwalker, or Princess Luna to our subordinates." She sagged in Fluttershy's aura, which sparkled turquoise as it tried to instinctively heal her many, many wounds.
" Pleased to meet you, Princess Luna," Applejack responded. She raised a hoof to gesture. "Our names are Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and myself, Applejack."
Luna's eyes were dulling from exhaustion, but they sharpened as the orange alicorn spoke. "There is truth to thy words, yet thou art not speaking as is thy nature."
Applejack smiled with closed lips. "My accent's a mite difficult to understand when you are already acquainted with modern grammar. I did not want to confuse you."
Luna briefly bridled at the possible implications, but relaxed against Fluttershy's magic again. She sighed, and sank to the dusty floor. "Ah, tis truth. While... the Nightmare could see Equestria, anywhere the moonlight touched, she did not care for the advances of language, so only spoke in what seems is now archaic syntax."
She turned towards Twilight's crumpled figure. "What hast my demon wrought?"
Rainbow spoke this time. "Nightmare Moon blew her horn up!" Anger seeped into her bond, clouding the others' attempts to calm her. "What was that black cloud that flew away? Do you know how Twilight will react when she wakes up!? She loves magic! I'm going to-
She halted, suddenly staggering. "To...fix..." She slumped to the floor, stopped from face-planting by a magic pillow construct via Rarity.
Fluttershy shrank only slightly under the gazes of her friends. "I can't have her disturbing either patient. They need. Their. Rest." Her quiet voice punctuated each word to give it more weight.
Applejack glanced at Luna, in time to see the mare's eyes slip closed, into a more natural sleep than before.