The Elements of Randomness

by Razor Blade the Unicron

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sparkler, Limestone Pie, Saffron Masala, Spa Ponies, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Fleetfoot
Length: 21721

Amethyst Star (also known as Sparkler) is a unicorn who lives in Ponyville. She's the librarian for the Golden Oaks Library, and loves to read. But when she reads about the possibility of a huge threat to Equestria, she's not one to just sit idly by.

Amethyst Star (also known as Sparkler) is a unicorn who lives in Ponyville. She's the librarian for the Golden Oaks Library, and loves to read. But when there's a huge threat to Equestria and she knows how to stop it, she isn't just going to sit idly by.

Amethyst needs to make sure the planning for the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration goes by perfectly. After all, they do call her the best organizer in all of Ponyville for a reason. But when things go horribly wrong and Nightmare Moon returns, she needs to find the Elements of Harmony and somehow harness their power against the evil alicorn. But Amethyst isn't alone on her quest for the Elements, as five other ponies are coming with her.

Other Tags: Flitter, Breezies, Nightmare Moon

Published 2017-04-05 21:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-07-22 16:05:09 UTC

Chapter One: Waking

The sun was peaking through the methodically placed clouds as Amethyst Star woke up. She yawned, before getting out of bed and stretching a few times. She quickly ran a brush through her two-tone mane of violet and lavender, and placed it back down next to her bed. The smell of Prench toast (unlike most ponies, she didn't particularly care for pancakes or waffles) wafted up from downstairs made her smile, and she quickly grabbed her to-do list in her light blue magic before walking down the stairs.

"Amy!" called a tiny voice with an unusual accent as she walked past books and towards the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready!"

Amethyst walked into the kitchen with a bright smile, and sat down at the table.

"Good morning, Twirly," she said, placing her list down in a clean area of the kitchen. "Thanks for making breakfast."

Carrying over a plate of two pieces of Prench toast was a breezie with an aquamarine mane and a lemon coat. When Amethyst had been in Canterlot visiting a friend, it had been at the same time as the breezie migration. She had found a breezie who had been separated from the others, but she didn't seem upset. Amethyst ended up bringing her back to Ponyville, and Twirly eventually learned the language (as much as one could if they hadn't been speaking said language their whole life) so she could speak with her. She still wouldn't tell Amethyst how or why she had been separated, but the pink unicorn didn't press for the answer.

"It's no problem!" said Twirly, placing down the Prench toast in front of Amethyst. "I love cooking all of this cool stuff, plus it helps me build my wing strength!"

Breezies were unfortunately some the weakest and most helpless creatures in Equestria. They had to rely on pegasus magic just to get them home safely with their pollen, and they always needed wind to fly any long distance. Twirly couldn't fly very far compared to the ponies around her, and she wasn't very strong, but she was amazingly powerful compared to other breezies.

Amethyst gave her number-one (and only) assistant a nod, and started to butter the Prench toast with her magic.

"We have a lot to do today," she said, pouring a bit of maple syrup over her breakfast. "After all, the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration should be the best one yet!" Amethyst started cutting up her Prench toast into assorted polygons.

"Can't you just do what you normally do?" asked Twirly, placing down a miniature plate with her Prench toast on it.

"Twirly, Princess Celestia herself is coming! We should make it as great and perfect as possible for her!" She finally started to eat. "Besides, there's more to check than usual."

"What?"

"Well, there's this new pony doing the catering, so we need to check in on her. The Wonderbolts are coming to do a show, so the sky needs be cleared at the right time. And there are several ponies who want to set up stands to sell trinkets and such. Other than that, it's just the decorations we need to check on."

"I'm assuming your list includes all of jat."

Amethyst smiled. "You know me so well."

With Twirly on her back holding the list and a breezie-sized pencil (it's amazing what a detailed pony could do with doll toys), Amethyst exited the Golden Oaks Library with a determined look. Most everyone knew that meant she was off to organize something. She organized events quite a bit, actually. Granted, Amethyst only made sure it was the little pieces and such that were organized and not the entire event itself.

"So, where are we off to first?" asked Twirly, as Amethyst didn't put her lists in chronological order, and just kept everything in groups.

"I want to see how the caterer is doing," said Amethyst. "It is quite a bit of food she's making for the celebration."

Twirly quickly turned the list so she was at the correct section. "All set. Let's go see-" She paused to glance at the list. "-Saffron Masala! What kind of food is she making?"

"All I was told was that it's 'exotic'."

"Do you think we'll get to taste any?"

"We just had breakfast!"

"So?"

Amethyst sighed, and stopped in front of a peculiarly decorated building. The caterer (technically new Ponyville resident, as she had actually bought the building a while ago and was just moving in now) had given it a Neighsian style, which was rather logically considering the peculiar, yet delicious, smells that were wafting out. Amethyst knocked on the door a few times, and then waited.

"Come in!" called a voice with a Neighsian accent.

Amethyst walked inside and viewed what look like an empty restaurant in front of her. However, she saw movement in the kitchen and walked over. A unicorn mare with an orange coat that had slight brown tint and deep purple mane was cooking several things at once, with several more bowls placed on the counters.

"Hello," she said, turning around to face Amethyst, but keeping things going with her magic. "What can I do for you?"

"You're Saffron Masala, right?" asked Amethyst, to which she received a nod. "Okay. My name is Amethyst Star, and I'm just here to check on how the food is coming for the celebration."

"Oh, it's going wonderful!" said Saffron with a smile. "It is a bit more difficult to do it by myself, as my father had to be away for the week, but I know I can finish it all on time."

Amethyst smiled. "That's excellent, so-"

"Can I try some?" asked Twirly, interrupting her.

"Twirly!" said Amethyst indignantly.

"What? It smells so good!"

Saffron looked at Twirly in surprise for a moment, before smiling once more and grabbing a bowl in her magic.

"Of course you can try some!" she said, spooning something that looked like seasoned rice into it.

"Are you sure?" asked Amethyst.

"What's the point in making delicious food if you don't share it with anypony else?"

"Well, then thank you." Amethyst gave Twirly a piece of rice with her magic, and got a spoonful for herself. "Wow, this is really good! Everyone's definitely going to love your food!"

"Oh, thank you!"

Twirly scarfed down her piece of rice in seconds, and smiled. "Jat was great! Can I-"

"You can have some more when the celebration actually starts," said Amethyst, before turning back towards Saffron. "Well, I need to go check on a few other things. Hope I didn't waste too much of your time."

"No, it was a pleasure to meet somepony else!" said Saffron.

Amethyst smiled, and gave Saffron a quick goodbye before she went back to cooking. Amethyst went outside and started walking towards her next destination.

"You know what, Twirly?" asked Amethyst. "I think that today is going to be just perfect."

"Me too!"

Chapter Two: Greeting

"Amy, I want more of jat tasty rice!" said Twirly, bouncing up and down on Amethyst's back, which felt like a light tap.

"When we go to the celebration," chastised Amethyst. "Besides, we have more to check."

"Fiiiine. Where are we going next?"

"To the Weather Office. I just want to make sure that somepony is clearing the clouds at the right time."

"Boooooring!"

Amethyst chose to ignore that last comment and continued walking through the busier-than-usual streets of Ponyville. A sparkle of light caught her attention, and she turned to look at it, which ended up causing her to bump into somepony. She was a gray-blue Earth pony with a lighter-colored mane and light-brown hooves, and Amethyst noticed that she had caused her to drop a bag, which appeared to be filled with rocks).

"Oh, sorry!" said Amethyst. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Oh yeah?" asked the Earth pony angrily. "Well, be more careful next time, you-" She cut off abruptly and put a hoof to her forehead. She took a few deep breaths, before bringing her hoof down; she still maintained a slight scowl. "Sorry," she said roughly. "Anger issues."

"Uh, no, it's fine..." Using her magic, she picked up the bag that the Earth pony had dropped and gave it to her. "Here, you dropped this."

"Thanks." She grabbed the bag and held it tightly.

"By the way, what do you have in there? It looks like-"

"A bag of rocks," snapped the Earth pony, sounding rather touchy about it. "And no, I did not just randomly grab these from somewhere to make a bit or two, these rocks are fresh from my family's farm."

"Oh, you work on a rock farm? That's really interesting!"

The Earth pony looked at Amethyst in surprise for a brief moment, before reverting back to her scowl (which seemed to be more of her version of a smile). "You actually know what a rock farm is?"

"Of course! You grow rocks and minerals by turning them, and over time they get larger!"

"That's right. I'm surprised, most ponies don't know what a rock farm is."

Amethyst shrugged. "I read a lot."

The Earth pony nodded. "Anyways, I've got to get my stand set up. It was nice to talk with you. By the way, what's your name?"

"Amethyst Star, but some ponies call me Sparkler."

"Nice to meet you Sparkler. I'm Limestone."

"Nice to meet you, too."

Limestone continued walking towards wherever her stand was going to be. She still seemed to be pretty grumpy, but Amethyst could tell that she wasn't scowling as much as she had been earlier.

"Did I miss something?" asked Twirly. "I took a quick nap."

Amethyst rolled her eyes, and continued walking until she reached the Weather Office. It was a small building similar to most other ones in Ponyville, with the noticeable difference being a cloud above the door. She walked inside to see Flitter at the front desk drinking a cup of hot chocolate.

"Good morning, Flitter," said Amethyst, walking up to the lilac pegasus with her ever-present pink bow in her pale-blue mane.

"Hey, Amy!" said Flitter, slightly slurring her words per usual, placing down her mug. "You here to check on the weather? It's no problem, I'm the one doing it later."

"Dash too busy trying to get into the Wonderbolts, again?" asked Amethyst dully.

Flitter sighed. "Yep. We could get everything done so much quicker if she wasn't..." She paused, and then smiled. "Well, except for the paperwork."

Amethyst giggled a bit at that. "So, you're all set?"

"Yep! I'm going to start in about half an hour. Maybe if I have enough caffeine, I'll go as fast as Dash!"

Amethyst laughed, and then headed out the door. "Bye, Flitter! See you at the celebration!" she called.

"As long as I haven't gone into a sugar crash!" called back Flitter.

Amethyst laughed once more as she headed back out into the sunlight. She had only made it a few metres from the Weather Office when she heard someone call her name.

"Oh, Amethyst!" came a far-too-familiar voice. "You haven't come to check on my decorations yet!"

Amethyst sighed, and turned around to face a smiling unicorn. "I've been checking on other things, Rarity."

"But you must come and see what I have done!" said Rarity. "After all, you have such an eye for detail!"

Amethyst didn't exactly dislike Rarity, but neither did she like the prissy unicorn. As a clothing designer and maker, Rarity needed to have an eye for detail. That, and her use of gems she could find (it was her special talent, after all). One time, Amethyst came over to get a dress for Twirly just so she could have something nice, Rarity had continually insisted on adding gems to the outfit. She had even offered to add them for free. But Amethyst knew that the gems would be far too heavy for a breezie to constantly be dealing with, and denied the use of gems.

Turns out that Rarity really didn't like that.

And once Rarity found out about Amethyst's talent, she would just bring her gem after gem and ask her to appraise them. At first Amethyst had been willing to help her out, but Rarity was constantly trying to bring her whole boxes filled with gems to appraise, which was extremely annoying. Not to mention that she would constantly bring up Amethyst's eye for detail.

"I'll check on the decorations after I make sure everything has arrived for the Wonderbolt's show," said Amethyst, trying her best not to glare at Rarity.

"Well, alright then!" said Rarity with a smile. "But if it turns out the decorations are wrong and I don't have enough time to change them, it certainly won't be my fault!" She turned and walked away. "Ta-ta!"

Amethyst glared at Rarity's retreating figure, and finally stopped using her magic to hold Twirly's mouth shut. It was odd how no one ever seemed to notice her do that from time to time.

"Come on, I really wasn't going to say anything this time!" said Twirly.

"You were trying to yell at her the whole time!" said Amethyst. "Now let's go check on the Wonderbolts. We'd better hurry so Rarity doesn't try anything, though..."

And Amethyst hurried off towards the open field where the Wonderbolts were practicing.

Chapter Three: Speed

The fastest way to get to Amber Field where the Wonderbolts were practicing was to go through Sweet Apple Acres. Amethyst casually trotted through the orchard, but kept an eye out for Applejack.

Unlike Rarity, Amethyst didn't dislike Applejack in the slightest. No, she was scared of Applejack. This was because of one simply reason: Amethyst hated apples. And Applejack seemed to hate her for that one reason. It was odd; the rest of Applejack's family didn't dislike her.

"Howdy, Star," said Applejack, walking up behind her. "What'cha up to?"

Amethyst continued walking without looking behind her. "Just checking on everything for the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Hi, Applejack!" said Twirly, distracting her from Amethyst. "What's up?"

"Apples are up on trees," she replied sharply. "Ah reckon you know that, huh, Star?"

Amethyst never really understood most of the insults Applejack said to her, except for the nickname she gave her. She had many different nicknames. Often Sparkler, sometimes Amy, and rarely Clear Cut. But only Applejack ever called her Star. She called Amethyst "Star" to mean that she thought the unicorn was a special star. No matter how many times Amethyst asked Applejack to stop, she just wouldn't.

"Yes, I'm aware that apples grow on trees," said Amethyst. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm busy."

"Busy walkin' through an apple orchard, huh?" asked Applejack. "That's mighty suspicious for somepony who doesn't eat apples."

"I'm just walking to Amber Fields. I need to make sure that their equipment arrived safely."

"If they're missin' stuff made outta wood, what're ya gonna do?"

Applejack really made no sense to Amethyst. "Find someone who can build more equipment quickly."

"But where are ya gonna get that wood?"

"You mean 'jat'," said Twirly with a small smirk.

"It's 'that'," snapped Applejack.

"Jat, jat, what's the difference? Can you tell me what jat difference is?"

"Would you look at that, we're already here!" said Amethyst, pointing the the field in front of her where the Wonderbolts appeared to be taking a break. "Guess we'll have to cut this conversation short, huh?"

"Sure," said Applejack. "You sure you don't want an apple?" She grabbed an apple from a nearby basket and held it in Amethyst's face

"I'm fine," Amethyst replied, taking a step back. "Bye." She quickly walked away from Applejack and towards the Wonderbolts.

"Are we going to head back the long way when we're done?" asked Twirly.

"Yep."

"Yeah, I thought so."

Amethyst walked through the currently green grass and up to a light-blue pegasus with a white mane. She had her Wonderbolt's uniform on, with the goggles currently hanging around her neck. She was staring up at a singular cloud in the sky.

"Excuse me," said Amethyst, catching her attention. "I'm just here to check if you have all of your equipment and such."

"Yeah, we've got everything," the mare replied with a clear lisp. "By the way, do you know who the kid watching our practice is?" She pointed up at the cloud.

Amethyst looked up and spotted the tip of a rainbow-colored tail peeking over the edge of the cloud. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, since she knew that it was Rainbow Dash.

"She's just a super fan," said Amethyst. "Really wants to get on your team."

"Ah. That make sense. But you think she'd try to be more subtle, huh?"

"I'm not actually sure if she knows what subtle means."

The pegasus nodded and then turned back towards Amethyst. "Oh, by the way, my name's Fleetfoot."

"I'm Amethyst. So, you have everything?"

"Well, you might want to check in with Spitfire, since she's the captain and all."

"Being a captain sounds boring," said Twirly before Amethyst could respond.

"Whoa," Fleetfoot looked at Twirly in surprise. "Hey, you've got some cool wings."

"They'd be cooler if I could anything but glide with 'em."

"Gliding isn't something that comes naturally to pegasi."

Twirly blinked in surprise, and was about to speak once again when a cracking sound caught the attention of all three of them. One of the practice rings appeared to have broken off of its base, and had started falling. Amethyst quickly grabbed it in her magic before it could hit the ground and get dented, and gently placed it down.

"Nice catch," said Fleetfoot.

"I've had to catch far too many objects than I should, so I've had practice," said Amethyst. "Well, I'd better get going to check on the decorations."

"Aren't you going to check in with Spitfire?"

"Everything else looks like it's fine, and it looks like you have all of your equipment. Plus, I've got to go back the long way, so I'd better hurry."

Fleetfoot smirked. "Hey, I can guarantee you that I know a faster way."

Amethyst blinked in confusion. "What is it?"

"Jat was so cool!" said Twirly gleefully.

"Thanks, Fleetfoot..." said Amethyst, dizzily getting off the pegasus. "That sure was really fast."

"No prob'!" she replied with a smile. "But I'd better get before break is over. Bye!"

Fleetfoot zipped away with a stormy contrail behind her, and Amethyst took a deep breath.

"Never want to go that fast again..." she muttered.

"I don't know what you're complaining about!" said Twirly. "It was fun!"

"Said the speed enthusiast."

"It was still fun!"

Amethyst rolled her eyes, and started walking towards Town Hall. "Looks like it's time to go check on the decorations," she grumbled. "How many things do you think Rarity will want me to check?"

"Just use your spell to do it quickly!"

"She'll still want me to look at everything closely."

Twirly simply shrugged. Amethyst walked past several of the stands, and noticed Limestone standing at one of them with her rocks neatly set up. While most ponies would just see them as simple rocks, Amethyst saw pristine rocks that were freshly made. She made a mental note to buy one later. She walked into Town Hall and nearly crashed into Rarity, who had just finished putting up some ribbons.

"Why, hello, Amethyst!" said Rarity with a smile. "Did you decide to check on my decorations first?"

"I went and checked on the Wonderbolts first," said Amethyst. "That's what I said I was doing, after all."

"Did you run both ways?"

"Fleetfoot flew me back." Amethyst walked into the center of the room and her horn glowed light blue. "I'm just going to do a quick check."

"Are you sure? Shouldn't everything be absolutely perfect?"

"Perfect seems rather picky."

A light blue glow of magic covered Amethyst's eyes, and she carefully looked around the room. This was her signature spell; it allowed her to see things in far greater detail than with only her eyes. Everything looked fine, and Amethyst's magic flicked out.

"It looks great, Rarity," she said. "We don't need any more decorations."

"Are you sure?" asked Rarity. "Shouldn't you check more carefully?"

"It's. Fine," she said roughly.

"But are you sure?"

"Rarity, I have other things that I need to do." Amethyst walked towards the door. "See you at the celebration." And she left before Rarity could ask the same question yet again.

Chapter Four: Sparkle

Amethyst took a deep breath of relief as she walked away from town hall. It wasn't even noon yet, and she had managed to finish checking on everything. That had to be a new record, if Amethyst ever bothered to keep track of something like that.

"Wait a second!" said Twirly, looking at the list she was still holding. "We don't have anything else jat we need to do today!"

"That's right," said Amethyst, walking past the stands once more (she saw Limestone's stand once again, but she wasn't there).

"But you told Rarity that we have other stuff to do!"

"And we do!" She smiled. "I'm going to get some scented candles from the spa, and then go read until it's time to go to the celebration!"

"Amy, why don't you go hang out with somepony?"

"I'd rather read."

It wasn't that Amethyst was against making friends or hanging out with other ponies, she would just rather being reading. After all, she did live in a library. Twirly definitely wasn't as much of a bibliophile as her, and much preferred more action. Though, action was difficult considering she was a very delicate creature.

Twirly rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you haven't read through every book yet?"

Amethyst also rolled her eyes. "I just read a lot. I don't read quickly."

Twirly muttered something in Breezan, but then quickly glanced around to make sure that a certain pegasus with a butter-colored coat hadn't heard her.

"Tell you what," said Amethyst. "After I get the candles we'll go visit Fluttershy to see if she's found a good material for your wing enhancers yet. How about that?"

"Better than only books for several hours!" chirped Twirly happily.

About two months ago, Twirly and Amethyst had gone to Rarity (no matter how much Amethyst didn't want to visit her) to see if she could make wing enhancers for Twirly so she could actually fly, or at least be able to glide for longer distances with less wind. However, the fashionista didn't have a light enough fabric that could also catch enough air to use, and they went to ask Fluttershy if she had anything, since she knew about many different materials that could help injured animals to heal while also not completely restricting them from moving. She didn't have anything, but did say that she would try to look for something.

"Hey, look up there!" said Twirly suddenly. "It looks like some sort of chariot!"

Amethyst looked up to see a golden chariot being pulled by three pegasi wearing golden armor. She quickly stepped out of the way of its landing path, and it gently bumped down onto the ground. In the chariot was a unicorn mare (also wearing golden armor) with a purple coat and an indigo mane with two streaks of purple and magenta, who was sitting next to none other than Princess Celestia herself. Several other ponies paused from their activities to look over at the Princess, and bowed as she stepped out of the chariot.

"Princess, may I go check something in the library?" asked the unicorn, automatically following her out of the chariot.

"Of course, Twilight," said Princess Celestia. "Any particular reason why?"

"I just need to be sure of something."

She nodded. "Go right ahead. I'll be waiting at the town hall."

Twilight gave a small smile, and waited briefly as the Princess walked towards the town hall. She then turned and looked around, before catching Amethyst's eye.

"Excuse me," she said, walking up to her. "Could you tell me where the library is?"

"Golden Oaks is right over there," said Amethyst, pointing at the tree. "What book do you need?"

"I can just tell the librarian."

"Uh... I am the librarian."

"Oh!" Twilight blushed with embarrassment. "Well, uh, I need a book about the Mare in the Moon."

"The old legend? Sure. I can grab it for you."

"What about going to Fluttershy's?" asked Twirly.

"Er..." Amethyst paused to check the wind level. "It isn't too windy today. You can go by yourself."

"Really?" She smiled. "Thanks, Amy!"

She quickly flew off (as fast as a breezie), and Amethyst noticed that Twilight was staring at Twirly in surprise.

"Was that a breezie?" asked Twilight.

"Yes, she's my friend, Twirly," replied Amethyst.

"But do you realize how dangerous it is for a lone breezie to be flying around? She could get seriously injured! She needs to be returned to the rest of her group!"

"Twirly has lived with me for several years." Amethyst couldn't help but be a bit annoyed. "And she's only ever gotten injured from her own recklessness."

"Recklessness?"

"She loves to go fast. But breezies aren't built to go fast. So she does whatever possible to go fast."

"But still..." Twilight sighed. "I don't have time for this right now... I just need that book."

"Sure thing."

Both unicorns started towards the Golden Oaks Library, and Amethyst couldn't help but be a bit curious.

"So, why did you come here with Princess Celestia?" asked Amethyst.

"I'm her guard," said Twilight proudly. "She specifically chose me to come with her."

"You must be really talented, huh?"

Twilight smiled, and her horn lit up with a magenta glow. In the air next to her, a shape formed (in the same color as her magic) before splitting into ten other shapes. Five spears and swords appeared, all of which were hovering in the air.

"You can make that many constructs?!?" cried Amethyst in surprise. "That's incredible!"

"I can actually make up to eighteen if I'm concentrating hard." The constructs vanished as Twilight's magic flickered out. "I'm working up to twenty."

"Wow, I wish I could do something like that. The only thing I can do is use my spell."

"What does your spell do?" Twilight seemed to immediately shift from an impatient guard to an excited nerd in seconds.

"It basically enhances my vision so I can see things in greater detail. I mostly use it to help organize things around town."

"How much does it enhance your vision by?"

"Er, I'm not quite sure. I'd say at least... fifty percent."

"That's incredible!" Twilight was very excited. "And does everything stay clear or get a bit blurry?"

"Everything stays clear. The only time I've had things go blurry is when I'm sick."

She nodded eagerly, before pausing. "Oh, I've gotten distracted again..."

Amethyst simply nodded as she opened the library door. "I'll go grab you that book. The Mare in the Moon, you said?"

"Yes."

"This will just take a second to find."

Chapter Five: Concern

It turned out that Twilight often read out loud to herself. Amethyst didn't comment on it, as many ponies read aloud, plus, the legend was actually quite interesting if one knew about it in detail.

"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land," narrated Twilight. "To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.

"One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony.

"Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since. Hmm... Elements of Harmony?" She paused for a moment. "Do you have any books on the Elements of Harmony?"

Amethyst quickly looked through all of the neatly organized books, before gently pulling out one with her magic and setting it in front of Twilight. "Here you go, The Elements of Harmony - A Reference Guide."

"Thanks." Twilight quickly flipped open the book with magic, and started talking out loud once again. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest."

Amethyst couldn't help but shudder at the mention of the Everfree Forest. Sure, Zecora the very friendly zebra, lived in it, but she had spells and potions to protect her from the many creatures in it. The only other ponies that had dared to enter it were Rainbow Dash (by mistake, actually) and Fluttershy, due to hearing an animal's cry of pain and wanting to help.

"The Mare in the Moon is myth from olden pony times," continued Twilight. "A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!" Her eyes widened in surprise. "That's today! I need to go tell the Princess!"

Twilight sprinted out of the library without so much as a word to Amethyst, who stared after her in surprise.

"Well, that was abrupt..." she muttered to herself, while picking up the books with her magic. "She can't really think that this old legend is true... Though... I have read several books about the Elements of Harmony, and those seem to be real..." Instead of putting the books away, she gently placed them down on her desk. "I'll keep these out, just in case I need them."

"Hello, Amethyzt!" said an accented voice from the door, catching her attention. "Twirly said zat you vanted some zented candles?"

"Oh, why thank you, Lotus!" said Amethyst to the blue-coated and pink-maned spa pony, who was holding a small bag of said candles. "I was going to go over and grab them myself, but I got a bit distracted."

"It'z no trouble at all. Buizness iz a bit slower on days like today, zo I don't need to hurry or anything."

"What scents are they?" Amethyst carefully took the bag in her magic and opened it up.

"Rose. I though you would like more zan just lavender vuns."

She smiled, and gently set the candles down on her desk next to the books. "Thanks, Lotus."

"You're velcome." She smiled. "I just can't vait for the Summer Sun Celebration! I'm sure you did an excellent job on making sure everything was all set up."

"Hey, I'm just being helpful towards out community."

"Zen you are very helpful towardz our community. See you at the celebration!"

"Bye!" she called as Lotus Blossom walked back towards the spa. "And also, thank you Twirly. Huh, she must be getting faster..."

"That breezie is so slow!" called down a voice from above.

"I'd like to see you fly fast with wings that are designed to remain stationary, Rainbow," said Amethyst sharply.

"It's still true!" replied the pegasus, landing in front of her. "I've seen Fluttershy go faster!"

"You do realize that Fluttershy can fly faster than you when she puts her mind to it, right?"

Rainbow laughed. "Yeah, right!"

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Your top speed is around eighteen point two wing power, but I've seen Fluttershy fly at twenty point seven to go catch a squirrel that had fallen out of a tree."

"Whatever you say, Sparky."

"Sparkler."

"Whatever. Anyways, how come you got to go see the Wonderbolts early?" Rainbow flew right in front of her. "They don't need some random pony like you to watch them! They'd rather have somepony like me to watch them so they can watch me so I can be a Wonderbolt.

"Do you still not realize that I help organize things?" asked Amethyst. "I was checking to make sure they had all of their equipment. Also, if you're going to try to watch them practice without being seen, at least try to be more subtle about it."

"I wasn't watching them! And I was totally subtle!"

"You do realize that those two statements contradict each other, right?"

Rainbow glared at Amethyst, before flying off with her usual rainbow contrail behind her. Amethyst sighed, and walked back into the library. She was going to get her reading done before the Summer Sun Celebration.

Chapter Six: Research

"Amy, I'm back!" called Twirly, coming into the library by slipping underneath a window.

"You were pretty quick," said Amethyst, looking up from the book she and been reading. "Did Fluttershy have anything for you?"

"No, she doesn't have anything yet. But I can be patient! Probably."

Amethyst rolled her eyes, and started reading her book once again. Twirly landed gently on the top of book, tried to read the words upside-down, before looking up at Amethyst.

"What'cha reading about?" she asked.

"The Elements of Harmony." Twirly stared at her blankly. "Mystical items that were used thousands of years ago. Well, at least according to legends."

She carefully lifted up several books in her magic, and flipped them to bookmarked pages. Twirly landed down on Amethyst's desk, and waited to hear the information she had gathered. The breezie was not a bibliophile by any means, nor was she particularly interested in many things other than speed, but Amethyst often was researching odd or interesting things, which ended up being mostly interesting.

"The most recent story of the Elements of Harmony is the legend of the Mare in the Moon," said Amethyst, showing Twirly the drawing of the mare's head on the moon in one of the many books she had. "Also referred to as Nightmare Moon, the Queen of Darkness, or the Lunar Empress. I found one instance of the name 'Princess Lunar', which can be simplified to 'Princess Luna' to match that of Princess Celestia, as her full first name is 'Celestial'. The legend in itself, as you should already know, speaks of an older sister banishing her younger sister to the moon using the power of the Elements of Harmony. From what gathered, those sisters were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna respectively.

"The five known elementals of the six Elements of Harmony can match up with Princess Celestia, as they are Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, and Honesty. The sixth appears to be a funnel for the power of the other Elements, and it needs a 'spark' to be activated. I have been unable to find out that this 'spark' is, since the books I have read cannot agree upon whether the 'spark' is literal or metaphorical."

"Question!" called out Twirly. "How could Princess Celestia have used the Loyalty Element against her own sister?"

"Excellent question!" Amethyst smiled at her attention. "It's very simple, actually: Princess Celestia was being Loyalty towards Equestria by banishing Nightmare Moon to prevent the eternal night. Granted, she most certainly didn't feel good about banishing Princess Luna, but the Elements appear to have a mind of their own on how they are used.

"The second most recent story of the Elements of Harmony dates back to the Discordian Era. Since that era was so long ago, it's much harder to find specific details on it, but I still found some. The being of discord was vanquished by 'two mystical beings' with 'stones of the light'. In another book, these 'stones of light' to be referred to as the 'stones of harmony', as they stopped the disharmony caused by the being of discord. The 'two mystical beings' were referred to as the 'sisters of the light', meaning the sisters of day and night: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"Now, I have no way to prove that any of these stories are true or just legends, but these two different stories are very similar while have being written so many years apart. The only exact connect between them are the Elements of Harmony, as they are described to 'contain the evil and disharmony'. The location of the Elements is actually quite specific, though. They are said to be located in the Castle of the Pony Sisters in the Everfree Forest, which is indeed a real location. This increases the plausibility of the Elements of Harmony and the legend of Nightmare Moon to be real."

"Wait," interjected Twirly. "Doesn't the story of the Mare in the Moon end with a... Er... Prediction..."

"Prophecy."

"Right, prophecy! Doesn't the story end with a prophecy of her returning?"

Amethyst nodded. "It is is said that 'on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape'. Today is the longest day of the year. And it's the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration."

Twirly's eyes widened in realization. "But that means-"

"Nightmare Moon is going to return and try to make eternal night." She frowned nervously. "Which means that somepony is going to need to locate the Elements of Harmony in the Everfree Forest, and use them on her. Unless all of my research is wrong, but right now, I really hope that it is for once."

"Should we make a fail-safe in case she comes back? Like a plan to go after the Elements?"

Amethyst nodded, and finally placed down the books she had been holding in her magic. "Good idea. Let me think... Who do you think it would be the safest to send into the Everfree Forest?"

"Erm... Rainbow Dash?"

"Too reckless."

"Applejack?"

"She would want to stay in Ponyville to make sure everypony's safe."

"Uh... Oh, duh! Princess Celestia can just go get the Elements!"

"I thought about that, but then I realized something about when I saw her earlier today: she looked sad. As if she knew that there was something coming that she can't avoid. It also got me thinking about the unicorn she brought with her. Why would she need a powerful unicorn to come with her to the Summer Sun Celebration: to protect everypony from Nightmare Moon. And why? Because Princess Celestia can't use the Elements of Harmony anymore."

"How do you figure that?"

"If she could, she would have immediately gone to get them to protect everypony. If she brought them here now for somepony to find out how to use them, that would be too great of a risk of Nightmare Moon getting her hooves on them. Likely they have some sort of protection spell on them in the castle in Everfree. So she's doing everything she can to keep everypony safe, without causing a mass panic."

"So we won't have anypony to protect us from Nightmare Moon?"

"The unicorn guard she brought with her is very talented. She's either going to try and protect everypony, or go after the Elements herself."

"So we already have a fail-safe!"

"Fail-safes don't work with only one option." Amethyst glanced outside as the sun began to set. "And there isn't enough time to explain all of this to somepony else..." She hesitated. "I'll be the fail-safe."

Twirly looked at Amethyst in shock. "You mean go into the Everfree Forest yourself?!? Amy, that's way too dangerous!"

"Think about it, Twirly! I already know all about Nightmare Moon and what I need to do to stop her. Plus..." She hesitated once again. "You're the only one she can... use against me, and I can keep you safe here in the library."

"No way I'm letting you go in that forest alone!"

"It will be the safest thing."

Both ponies were silent for a moment, before Twirly spoke. "...Should you pack a saddlebag with any supplies you'll need?"

"Good idea."

Chapter Seven: Celebration

Amethyst carefully placed down her light blue saddlebags (with clasps that matched her cutie mark) near the door to the library in case she had to quickly grab them. She already had a hiding spot for Twirly in case she need to (it was a small trapdoor behind a few books), and quickly double-checked to see if she had everything she needed in her saddlebags. The Elements of Harmony - A Reference Guide? Check. Dangerous and Mysterious Creatures? Check. Flora of the Everfree? Check. Rope? Check. A beautiful light blue diamond? Check- wait, what?

"Twirly, did you put my lucky charm in here?" asked Amethyst.

"If you're going into the Everfree Forest, then you've gotta have all the luck you can get!" said Twirly. "Besides, its not like it's taking up space for anything else."

Amethyst couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Twirly. Though, I am really hoping that my research is wrong this time."

She walked out of the library with Twirly on her back, closing the door with her magic. Everypony was already congregating at Town Hall, and were chatting about the celebration. Amethyst's eyes flicked up towards the moon in the sky, where the distinct image of a mare's head was still imprinted on it.

Please... she thought nervously.

"Hey, Amy!" said Flitter, walking up to her. "You excited for the celebration to start?"

"Uh-huh..." she replied vacantly.

"She in research-mode?" asked Flitter to Twirly.

"Yep," said Twirly, before noticing a table of food. "Sweet, jat tasty rice is over there!"

Excited, she jumped off of Amethyst's back and headed towards the food. Amethyst noticed the tiny weight of her friend leave, and quickly turned around.

"Twirly?" she asked.

"Snack table," replied Flitter with a shrug.

"Thanks, Flitter." She slipped through the crowd and over to Twirly, who was already munching on a piece of rice. "You know, the celebration hasn't even started yet."

"Hey, I'm just eating this while I have the time to!"

"Fair enough. Just don't eat too much or you'll have an awful stomach ache."

"But if you do eat too much, don't start flying 'cause you'll get an cramp that's worse than just having a stomach ache," said Fleetfoot, landing next to Amethyst.

"Oh, hello, Fleetfoot."

"Hello to you too, Amethyst." She paused, and briefly glanced outside. "Okay, is it just me or is it weirdly dark out right now?"

Amethyst looked outside, and she couldn't help but frown. It was far darker than usual outside, especially considering that it was going to be the Summer Sun Celebration. She glanced up at the moon, which, though the greater darkness, was shining even more brightly than just a minute ago.

"Yeah, it's pretty dark out," said Amethyst casually. "Maybe-"

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" started Mayor Mare, causing Amethyst to become quiet. "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" The crowd cheered happily, but Amethyst's gaze slipped up on to the moon, which was shining even more brightly. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land-" The moon's light dimmed, and the face on it vanished. Amethyst's eyes widened in shock. "-the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria... Princess Celestia!"

The curtain on the balcony that Princess Celestia was supposed to be standing on was pulled away, no reveal nopony whatsoever. Ponies started mumbling amongst themselves, when everything suddenly became darker.

"Oh, my beloved subjects," hissed a sinister voice. "It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces." There was a crack of lightning, and a tall alicorn with a midnight black coat, blue armor, and a mane like the night sky appeared on the balcony.

"What did you do with our Princess?!?" yelled Rainbow Dash angrily, as Applejack struggled to keep her from flying at the alicorn.

"Am I not royal enough for you?" asked the alicorn angrily. "Did you not see the signs? Do you even know who I am?"

"Y-you're the Mare in the Moon!" cried out Amethyst blindly, causing all eyes to briefly turn towards her. "You're Nightmare Moon!"

Nightmare gave an ominous grin. "Well, at least somepony besides my sister and her silly guardspony knows about me. I guess that know also know what I'm going to do?"

She gulped, and her ears flattened down in fear. "You're going to... to cause eternal night..."

She cackled, and there was another crack of lightning. Rainbow finally broke away from Applejack's grip, and flew straight at Nightmare. She got up to a metre away from Nightmare, before she was grabbed in a dark blue magic aura.

"Hey!" cried Rainbow in surprise.

"You dare to stand up to me, your new Empress?" asked Nightmare. "Than perhaps you need to see a better choice." Her horn flared brightly, and Rainbow was engulfed in an orb of magic. A moment later, it vanished, leaving Rainbow hovering in the air with a dark purple outfit and matching goggles.

"Ponies, say hello to the first Shadowbolt," said Nightmare with a grin. "She is loyal to me, and will show you how to also be."

"We'll never be loyal to you!" yelled out Limestone angrily.

Rainbow abruptly flew down at her, and Limestone had to duck to dodge her.

"You will all accept me eventually!" yelled Nightmare. "There is no point in avoiding it! But for those who do resist, you will face not just my Shadowbolt, but my Midnight Warrior!"

A unicorn with armor that matched Nightmare's walked out beside her on the balcony. Amethyst froze when she realized that it was Twilight, and nervously started backing towards the door.

"Show them the consequences of resisting," said Nightmare.

Twilight's horn flared up in a dark magenta aura, and her construct spears and swords began to appear. At that point, everypony broke out into a panic, and Amethyst quickly sprinted out of the building towards the library. She needed to go after the Elements.

Chapter Eight: Quest

Amethyst ran into the library, quickly grabbing her saddlebags in her magic. She moved a few books on the shelf out of the way, and opened up the small trapdoor. Twirly slipped inside, and turned around to face Amethyst with a nervous frown.

"Amy, please be careful," she said nervously.

"I will be," she replied, gently closing the trapdoor and placing the books back on the shelf. "You stay safe."

She then turned and ran out of the library towards Everfree, tightening the straps of saddlebags with her magic. She hesitated, before continuing towards the forest.

I really don't want to go in there... she thought. But there's no other option.

Just as she took another step, Fleetfoot skidded to an abrupt stop in front of her, with her goggles swinging on her neck.

"Okay," she started. "I have no idea what going on, but you seem to know. Mind explaining why you're running into that forest after that Nightmare thing has just shown up?"

"I don't have time to explain!" cried Amethyst.

"Well, it's not like there's any daylight to burn though," said Flitter, landing gently next to Fleetfoot. "And I'd like to know what's going on."

"Same here," added Limestone, walking up from behind Amethyst.

"Did you all follow me or something?" asked Amethyst.

"That Nightmare thing is trying to mind control everypony that so much as takes a step near her, so I thought it'd be best to get out before she got me. And you seem to have a plan."

"But..." she trailed off as Lotus and Saffron also walked up to the four of them, and sighed. "Okay, I need to get the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare Moon from causing eternal night, but they're hidden in a castle in the Everfree Forest."

"Isn't the Everfree Forest cursed or something?" asked Saffron.

"It's one the most dangerous locations in Equestria."

"You were going into that place alone?" asked Limestone. "That's like a death wish!"

"But so is letting eternal night happen!"

"Arguing izn't going to help," interrupted Aloe. "You said zat the Elementz can stop Nightmare Moon?"

"Yes."

"Then we'd better go get them," said Flitter.

Amethyst was going to object once again, but decided against it. It would be much safer to go into the Everfree with others, as opposed to going alone.

"So, are we all going?" she asked, which was greeted with a nod from everypony. "Alright, then."

The six ponies set off towards the Everfree Forest, with Amethyst in the lead and Fleetfoot flying above them.

"Amy, where's Twirly?" asked Flitter.

"Some place safe," said Amethyst firmly. "I don't want her to get hurt."

Flitter nodded, and they resumed walking in silence. However, none of them noticed the small whips hiding among the trees that was identical to Nightmare's mane. The wisp sneaked ahead of the group, and came upon a cockatrice that was pecking at a tree. The wisp wrapped around the cockatrice, and it became angry. It heard the sounds of hooves, and quickly ran over towards them.

"So what exactly are the Elements of Harmony?" asked Saffron to Amethyst.

"Magical items that once banished Nightmare Moon," she replied. "I'm not exactly sure what they are, but they seem to be some sort of stones. Though, they could be gemst-"

The cockatrice burst out from between the trees, and ran towards the six ponies. Amethyst's eyes widened in shock, and she quickly averted her eyes from it.

"What is that?!?" cried Flitter.

"It's a cockatrice!" cried Amethyst. "Don't look at its eyes, or you'll be turned into stone!"

"Into st-" started Limestone, before she accidentally caught the cockatrice's eye, and instantly turned into stone.

Amethyst's eyes widened in fear, and she quickly yanked out her book on creatures. She flipped it to the page on cockatrices, as Flitter also turned to stone.

"Is now really the best time for books?" asked Fleetfoot, making sure to keep she eyes shut.

"I'm trying to figure out how to make it stop!" said Amethyst.

"I can try to keeps its eyes shut with magic!" said Saffron, her horn lighting up purple.

"Wait, don't-" Amethyst cut off as Saffron was turned to stone. "Their eyes are resistant to magic..." She frantically flipped read down the page in her book, as the beard the cockatrice walk closer to her. "Come on, there's got to be something..."

"Amethyzt, watch out!" cried Lotus, quickly running in front of her to block the cockatrice, and subsequently turning into stone.

"Turn ponies into stone..." muttered Amethyst nervously. "If angered, even more dangerous... Ah-ha! It's powers can be blocked if the following spell is used on a semitransparent blindfold or glasses!" She looked over at Fleetfoot's goggles, and her horn flared up. She quickly cast the spell on her goggles, and slipped them up on her eyes. "Fleetfoot, I enchanted your goggles to be resistant, you need to-" She cut off as the cockatrice landed in front of her, and she was also turned to stone.

"Amethyst?" asked Fleetfoot nervously. "Aw, shoot, you're stone aren't you..." She hesitated, before opening her eyes to see the cockatrice right in front of her. "At least your spell still works..."

The cockatrice angrily pecked at Fleetfoot, who flew into the air to get away from it.

"Leave me alone, you chicken-lizard!"

Why not just fly away to safety? taunted a voice in her head. Its going to pull your goggles off sooner or later, and you don't even know how to reverse the stoneification. Just go back and you and your team can go look for the Elements without these nuisances.

Fleetfoot hovered in the air for a moment, before shaking her head. "I'm not just leaving them here!"

She flew at the cockatrice, and dodged out of the way of its tail as it slashed towards her. She then pinned it down by its tail, and glared angrily at the cockatrice.

"You'd better change them all back to normal," she said as the cockatrice tried to yank off her goggles once again. "Because I'm not gonna let you go until you do."

The cockatrice furiously lashed out at Fleetfoot, who pressed down harder on its tail.

"Change them back."

It let out a cry of anger, before closing glaring at Fleetfoot once more.

"Change." She pressed harder. "Them." Even harder. "Back." The cockatrice screamed in anger, and there was an abrupt flash of light.

Fleetfoot blinked in surprise, and realized that the cockatrice was gone. She looked behind to see the five other ponies standing dazed, and no longer stone.

"What just happened?" asked Limestone.

"The cockatrice destoneified us," said Amethyst, looking over at Fleetfoot. "You didn't run away?"

"Why would I?" she asked. "I'm not just gonna ditch you guys 'cause it's better for me. What kinda teammate would I be then?"

Amethyst smiled, and put her book back away in her saddlebags. "Well, then thank you."

"What are friends for?"

And she simply blinked in surprise.

"So, you think you can get the Elements to stop me?" asked Nightmare Moon as she watched the six ponies continue through the forest by the use of her magic. "As if. There's no chance you'll make it. Especially if I have a little... extra motivation. Now... Who is this Twirly?"

Chapter Nine: Danger

The glow on Amethyst's horn wavered slightly as the group continued through the Everfree Forest. She had been using her spell to keep an eye out for any danger, but was yet to spot anything. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Aren't you getting tired from using your spell for so long?" asked Saffron.

"No, it's my signature," replied Amethyst.

"Signature?" asked Limestone. "What's that?"

"The specific spell that goes with a cutie mark, or the specific ability that goes with anypony's cutie mark, to be precise. Such as if as if a pony's cutie mark was balloons, it could mean that they are talented with things party related, yet they have a certain affinity with balloons."

"Huh. That does make a lot of sense..."

"Whoa," said Fleetfoot. "When did we get up on a cliff?"

Amethyst paused from speaking as saw that there was a large cliff in front of them, and carefully walked out on it. She looked down at the rest of the forest, still using her spell, until she spotted a castle spire in the distance.

"That's where the Elements are," she said, pointing her hoof over at the spire. "Does anypony see a way to get down this cl-"

She cut off as the cliff suddenly broke away from the rest of the rock it was attached to, and she and everyone else started to fall (except for Fleetfoot and Flitter, as they were pegasi). Fleetfoot reacted first by flying over and grabbing both Lotus and Saffron, with Flitter helping her to try and keep them airborne. Amethyst had managed to grab onto a ledge formed by the cliff breaking off, but there was dangerous chunks of rock and other debris falling past her.

"Sparkler!" called Limestone from above her, though Amethyst couldn't see her. "You okay?"

"I grabbed onto a ledge, I'm fine!" she called back, gripping on tightly.

She looked over at Fleetfoot and Flitter, who were barely managing to dodge out of the way of the falling rocks. A particularly large one fell towards them, and Amethyst reacted by grabbing it in her magic. The heft of the boulder, it's momentum from falling, and the rocks hitting her blazing horn all made it far more difficult than she would have liked, but Amethyst managed to bring the boulder to a halt.

"Going down is safer!" called Fleetfoot to Flitter. "Just keep holding on while we descend!"

"Got it!" replied Flitter

"Sparkler, watch out!" yelled Limestone abruptly, and Amethyst barely managed to dodge out of the way of another rock. "You keep holding on, I'll jump down and grab you!"

"Are you crazy?!?" cried Amethyst. "There's no place for you to land!"

"There's ground! Come on, Sparkler, please! I need to jump now!"

Above her, Amethyst saw Limestone jump off the edge of the cliff (how had she managed to not fall?), and gritted her teeth with nervousness. Just as Limestone came close enough, she stuck out one of her hooves, and Limestone grabbed it, pulling both of them towards the ground.

"Hang on!" called Limestone, to which Amethyst quickly wrapped her hooves around the Earth pony's neck.

The ground approached quickly, where there was rocks and debris littered everywhere. Limestone fell towards the largest portion of rock she could find, and slammed into it with her forehooves. Cracks formed throughout the boulder, absorbing Limestone's fall. She took a few deep breaths of relief, before jumping down to move her and Amethyst away from the rest of the avalanche of rocks.

"You okay?" she asked Amethyst.

"Y-yeah," she replied, carefully letting go of Limestone and slipping into the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I've had to hit things harder before."

At that point, Fleetfoot and Flitter managed to land safely with Lotus and Saffron.

"Everypony okay?" asked Fleetfoot. "We all got through that injury free?"

"I think we're all good," said Amethyst, ignoring the pain in her horn. "But I wonder... Cliffs don't just break like that. Do you think it was Nightmare Moon?"

"I thought she was still in Ponyville..." said Saffron.

"But she knows that the Elements are here, and knows that they're her only weakness. It makes sense that she would be trying to stop anyone who's after them..."

"Then ve should hurry," said Lotus.

Amethyst nodded, and carefully lit up her horn to use her spell once again. However, she flinched in pain, and her magic quickly sparked out.

"Did overexert yourself?" asked Saffron nervously.

"Probably," said Amethyst. "Didn't help that I kept getting hit... But it won't last very long, and I'll be able to use my magic again, soon."

Saffron frowned with worry, but simply nodded. "If you say so..."

"We'd better hurry before Nightmare tries somethings else while we're just standing here..."

Nightmare Moon was furious, to say the least. That group of untrained, random ponies should not have even been able to get by the cockatrice! And it was because of that blasted unicorn! She had already been prepared to go after the Elements!

"I see what you tried to do, Celestia," hissed Nightmare angrily. "You made me think that little guardspony was the one you were sending after the Elements. You tricked me with her magical abilities. But you can't fool me any longer, sister. I know that unicorn is the one you've sent. Perhaps a student of your's."

She slammed her hoof into the ground of the castle, leaving a large dent in the stone. Her Shadowbolt was stationed in Ponyville to prevent them from trying anything. Her Midnight Warrior was waiting at the front of the castle as defense.

"But no pony is without weaknesses," she said, a malicious grin starting to form. "And I can tell that they all have weaknesses. Especially the unicorn. Oh, she may be able to stop physical confrontations, but she will be no match when dealing with one of emotions." Her horn began to glow dark blue. "And once the strong falls... The rest will follow."

Chapter Ten: Fear

Amethyst's head was pounding, but she tried her best to ignore it. It wasn't very safe for a unicorn to use magic if their horn was hit during the use of it. A cheap tactic used in magic duels would often be to hit the opponents horn while they were charging up their next move.

"You zure you're okay?" asked Lotus with concern.

Amethyst nodded, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She automatically went to use her spell, but flinched when she felt a spark of pain.

"Is something wrong?" asked Saffron nervously.

"I saw something moving," said Amethyst, putting her hoof on her horn. "And it looked like it-"

She cut off when there was an abrupt flash of dark blue light, and flinched at the abrupt light. She opened her eyes to see that she was standing at the entrance to the Everfree Forest, with Ponyville right behind her.

"What?" asked Amethyst out loud. "Did she teleport me back? But the others are still in the forest, and-"

"Amethyst!" came Twirly's voice from above her suddenly. "Amy, help!"

She looked up to see Twirly held in a small cage in the air, directly next to Nightmare Moon. Her eyes widened in fear, and she took a step back.

"Is something wrong?" asked Nightmare mockingly. "Do I have something of importance to you?"

"Amy!" cried Twirly once more, before she was teleported away by Nightmare.

"G-give her back!" yelled Amethyst, taking a nervous step towards Nightmare.

Nightmare slammed down on the ground in front of Amethyst, and gave a sinister grin. "Oh, do not worry. I have sent her to a... special place. And as for you..." She yanked Amethyst closer with her magic. "You will be my second Midnight Warrior."

Amethyst quickly blasted of a thin beam of light at Nightmare's eyes, and broke away from her magic. She started to run, before crashing into Nightmare once more.

"I gave you a chance after your foolish attempt to resist..." hissed Nightmare. "But you have refused it. There are consequences to denying me!"

She teleported a picture frame into view, and held it up to Amethyst.

"But instead of you... I'll take this little pony!"

She slammed the picture on to the group, shattering the frame. Amethyst grabbed the picture in her magic, even though it still hurt, and quickly stepped back from Nightmare.

"I won't let you take my sister!" she yelled, her eyes briefly flicking over to the picture of herself next to another unicorn with a pink coat and purple mane. "I won't let you keep Twirly from me! And I will never be a Midnight Warrior for you!"

Nightmare cackled, and Amethyst quickly turned and ran back into the Everfree Forest.

"You cannot run from me!" yelled Nightmare as it became darker and darker. "Try as you might, but I will reign supreme!"

Amethyst just continued running.

Limestone blinked, and found herself standing outside of her family's rock farm. She blinked in confusion, before scowling.

"That stupid Nightmare teleported me away!" she yelled angrily. "Oh, when I get my hooves on her I'll-"

"Limey!" cried a voice from behind her. "Limey, help!"

She turned around to see her sisters, Marble and Pinkie Pie trapped underneath a gigantic boulder that her older sister, Maud, was just barely managing to hold up herself.

"Pinkie! Marble!" cried Limestone, quickly running over to help Maud. "What happened?!?"

"Limey, the scary blue alicorn came to find you!" cried Pinkie, her mane flat as opposed to at its usual bounciness. "And she said that she was going to do something awful if we didn't tell her where you were! But we didn't so-"

The ground underneath Pinkie and Marble suddenly fell away, and both cried out as they plummeted. Maud tried to reach out and grab them, but also fell into the newly formed pit.

"Maud!" cried Limestone, just barely missing her hoof as she fell. "Pinkie! Marble! NO!" She tried to jump in after them, but the pit was suddenly covered by a layer of dark blue magic. "NO!"

"This is what you get for resisting." said Nightmare from behind her with terrifying glee.

"You- you- YOU MONSTER!" screamed Limestone, whipping around and trying to punch Nightmare, just as she vanished. "NO!"

Lotus blinked, and found herself standing in her beloved spa. She looked around in confusion, before speaking out loud.

"Vat happened?"

"Zister!" cried out an upset voice from behind her. "Where have you been?"

She turned around to see Aloe with a large frown.

"Zister!" said Lotus in surprise. "I'm so glad zat you are safe! Has Nightmare-"

"Vhy did you just leave me all alone?" asked Aloe, stamping her hoof on the ground. "Do you really care so little about me zat you just decided to run off into ze forest because you could?"

"No, no, zister! I was helping Amethyzt to locate zomething to stop Nightmare Moon!"

"Iz helping her more important zan staying here vith me?"

She blinked in surprise as Aloe started to cry. "Of courze you are important to me, sister! But I-"

"Zat izn't vhat I asked!" She took a step back from Lotus. "You can come talk vith me vunce you care about me again!"

She sprinted outside, and Lotus quickly ran after her. "Zister, please, wait!"

Just as she made it outside, Nightmare landed on the ground in front of Aloe, and blasted her with a beam of magic.

"Why, thank you for a new subject!" said Nightmare to Lotus with a grin. "It's so easy to take control of ponies who have been badly hurt!"

"Aloe?" asked Lotus nervously, before her sister turned to her with emotionless eyes.

"I am a Darkness Catcher at your zervice, Nightmare Moon," said Aloe, her voice as emotionless as her eyes.

"No, zister!" cried Lotus, as a ring of magic surrounded her.

"Say farewell to your sister, forever," said Nightmare with a grin, her horn flaring up with magic.

Fleetfoot opened her eyes, and found herself standing at the field she and the other Wonderbolts had been practicing at before the celebration. She looked around in confusion, before hearing somepony call out her name.

"Fleetfoot!" yelled Spitfire, flying over to her. "Where in Equestria have you been?"

"I-" she started, before Spitfire interrupted her.

"Never mind, there's no time for that. Nightmare Moon is trying to hypnotize everypony! We need to help them!"

Her eyes widened in shock. "Of course! What do you need me to do?"

"You-"

"Spitfire!" cried Misty Fly, landing next to her with several other teammates. "Run!"

"What do you mean?"

There was a crack of lightning, and Nightmare landed next to the Wonderbolts, grabbing everypony except Fleetfoot in her magic.

"No!" cried Fleetfoot, trying to fly over to grab them, but she was yanked away by Nightmare's magic.

"Why are you even trying?" asked Nightmare. "You already gave up on them once to go run around in the forest, so why bother again?"

"I don't give up on my teammates or my friends!"

"Oh, really? Because you just fled at the first sign of danger to go with that unicorn. You didn't even consider going to get the rest of your so-called team."

"But I-"

"Oh, thanks a lot, Fleetfoot," snapped Soarin', causing her to flinch at the words.

"You're a fool," said Nightmare, vanishing from sight as a ring of magic surrounded the Wonderbolts.

"Guys, no!" cried Fleetfoot.

Saffron opened her eyes, and found herself standing in front of her restaurant in Ponyville. She blinked in confusion, before hearing a cackle from behind her.

"Did you really think you could get past me?" asked Nightmare. "I am an alicorn, fool! I will do as I please with you!"

"B-but what about the others?" asked Saffron nervously.

"Oh, you needn't worry about them. It's not like you were even helping them anyways."

"What?!?"

"All you've done is create more trouble! Those pegasi probably could have caught the other unicorn if you hadn't been in the way!"

"But-"

"Here, why don't you have some less trouble to deal with?"

Nightmare's horn flared up, and she blasted a beam of magic at Saffron's restaurant. It exploded into pieces, leaving her standing wordlessly in shock.

"Much better," said Nightmare, vanishing with a grin.

"Saffron?" she turned around to see her father, Coriander Cumin staring at their once-beautiful restaurant in shock. "What have you done to our restaurant?"

"Father!" she cried in surprise. "What wasn't my fault, it was-"

"I don't appreciate you lying to me, Saffron."

She flinched at his harsh voice. "W-what? But it really wasn't! It was-"

"Oh, let me guess: it was that scary alicorn. As if she would ever care about our tiny restaurant! Now tell me the truth: what did you do?"

"Father, I swear it wasn't me!"

He scowled at Saffron, who wilted under his gaze.

"Saffron, I am very disappointed in you."

Flitter opened her eyes and found herself lying down on a single cloud above Ponyville. She looked down without saying a single word, and just stared in confusion.

"Flitter!" cried a familiar voice from behind her. "What the hay are you doing?"

"Hey, sis," she said to Cloudchaser. "I'm trying to figure out how Nightmare teleported me here."

"Uh-huh. Sure. You were just napping, weren't you?"

"Uh, no, I wasn't."

"You can't take anything seriously, can you?" She looked behind her to see Cloudchaser glaring at her. "I'm flying around trying to protect everypony from that Shadow Rainbow Dash, and you're just taking a nap like it's just another ordinary day!"

"Yeesh, you're jumping to conclusions awfully fast. Not as fast as Dash, though."

Cloudchaser scowled. "Flitter! Take something seriously for once! I was going to tell you to help, but I guess that's too much work for you, isn't it?"

"Cloudchaser, I-"

"Save it, you useless pegasus. I don't think I even want to talk with you anymore after this."

Chapter Eleven: Resistance

"Amethyst!" cried out a faint voice, causing her to skid to halt in the darkening forest. "Amy!"

"Sis!" cried Amethyst. "Where are you?!?"

"Amethyst!" her voice became fainter. "Clear Cut! Help! He-" She was abruptly cut off, and all Amethyst could her was Nightmare cackling.

"No!" cried Amethyst, tears pouring down her cheeks. "No, no!"

"And you'll never see her again," whispered Nightmare's voice in her ear.

"Twirly!" yelled Amethyst, collapsing on the ground in tears. "SUGAR!"

Lotus tried to escape the ring of magic, but was unable to. Every time she went near the edge, the magic would spike up like a barrier, completely blocking her in.

"Aloe!" she cried. "Zister, you can fight it!"

"I don't vant to," replied Aloe hollowly. "And I don't care to."

"No!"

"She's said she doesn't care about you any more..." hissed Nightmare's voice to her. "Why do you think you can get through to her?"

The magic around Lotus began to close into a dome, and she nervously backed into the center.

"And no one can get through to you."

"Spitfire!" cried Fleetfoot as her teammates were surrounded in an orb of dark magic. "Misty! Soarin'! Surprise! Rapid Fire!"

The orb dissapeared, leaving all of them wearing Shadowbolts' uniforms. The Shadowbolt with the rainbow mane landed in front of them, and grinned at Fleetfoot.

"Guess that I'll have to be you now," she said. "Except better. Leader of the Shadowbolts. Without forgettable Fleetfoot in the way."

"You stop that mind control right now!" yelled Fleetfoot "Or I'll-"

"Hurt your teammates?" whispered Nightmare's mocking voice. "You don't want to hurt them, I can tell. But I can make them tell you the truth."

"You drag us all down," said Spitfire harshly.

"All you do is get in the way," added Surprise.

"I don't believe you!" yelled Fleetfoot. "You're only saying those things because of Nightmare!"

"Worthless," said Misty Fly.

"A waste of time," said Soarin'.

"Stupid," said Rapid Fire.

"I'm not listening!" screamed Fleetfoot.

"Sticks and stones can't break your bones," hissed Nightmare. "But words are easy to hurt you."

"I'M NOT LISTENING!"

"Father, I'm sorry!" cried Saffron.

"Saffron, this time you have ruined everything!" snapped Cumin. "Don't you understand?"

"I know, but please forgive me!"

"I will not forgive you until you make for what you have done!"

"But-" She suddenly couldn't talk.

"Oh, giving me the silent treatment? I expect better from you, Saffron."

Cumin walked away, leaving Saffron standing alone.

"You can't apologize when you've ruined everything," whispered Nightmare. "Your apology will never be accepted, so why should get to?"

Saffron tried to run after her father, but was blocked by a magical barrier.

"Nothing that you can do or say will ever make it up."

Limestone furiously slammed her hooves down on the magical barrier covering the pit. She didn't say anything. She just kept at it.

"You're just not strong enough for them," said Nightmare softly. "You never will be."

"Shut up!" yelled Limestone, slamming down harder and harder on the barrier.

"You never have been."

"SHUT UP!"

"And they will always think that you gave up on them."

Limestone continued to attack the barrier, her teeth gritted in complete fury.

"Thanks a lot, sis," said Cloudchaser angrily. "Just thanks. Playing around during a national crisis."

"I wasn't playing around," said Flitter.

"Yeah, sure." She rolled her eyes, and flew into the sky. "I'm going to actually help. Don't bother coming. I know you'll just treat everything like it's just a joke."

Flitter frowned. "But I won't..." she said softly.

"Your sister doesn't believe you," hissed Nightmare. "She's not going to believe you. This is what you get for thinking ridiculous thoughts."

"I don't want to lose you!"

"Please try to resist it!"

"I won't let you get to me!"

"Please forgive me!"

"I'm not going to stop trying to get to you!"

Laughter rang out across the sky.

"What are you doing?" asked Nightmare to Flitter, who was lying on the ground and laughing. "Have you gone mad?"

"Nightmare!" yelled Flitter between laughs. "It's a nightmare! That's a good one!"

"You knew?" hissed Nightmare angrily.

She smiled. "Not until you told me!" She burst into laughter once more. "But I don't even care right now! Just the thought of everything just going wrong... It was awful!" Flitter continued laughing. "The worse experience ever! But then I realized how ridiculous that was! Even if it was true!"

Flitter opened her eyes, and found herself lying on the ground in the Everfree Forest. She was still laughing, and she heard the others around her wake up.

"What the hay just happened?" asked Limestone angrily.

"Just some nightmare scenarios from Nightmare Moon," said Flitter, smiling broadly.

"Those were just nightmares?" asked Fleetfoot. "But they felt so real..."

"Aw, don't worry about those! We're gonna give Nightmare her own when we find the Elements!"

"How did you overcome your nightmare?" asked Amethyst, wiping away the tears in her eyes.

"'Cause it was ridiculous!" she said, getting stares from the others. "What, I'm not gonna let something awful get me down! I'll be laughing 'til I can't!"

There was a moment of silence, before Limestone gave an unexpected smile. "You sound just like my sister."

Flitter beamed happily, and her happiness seemed to be infectious, since soon they had all put the nightamre's behind them. Amethyst started leading the group once again, but then paused.

"What's wrong?" asked Lotus.

"Nightmare knows where Twirly is..." she said softly to herself, before taking off into the forest at a sprint, with the others quickly following.

"You let me out of this cage right now!" yelled Twirly angrily.

"Be QUIET!" yelled Nightmare angrily, causing the breezie to flinch. "Listen here, you little breezie, if I hadn't used up my mind control magic on that unicorn guard, I would have already used it on you!"

"Yeah, that sounds more like a you problem. Let me ouuuuuuuut!"

Nightmare slammed her hoof on the ground, cracking the stone underneath. "Midnight Warrior! Come here!"

The mind controlled Twilight walked into the room, and bowed to Nightmare. "What is it, Empress Nightmare?" she asked emotionlessly.

"Go wait for if they show up. I want you to deal with all of them except the unicorn with the diamond cutie mark. She's for me to handle."

"Yes, Empress."

"Considering that you're spying on them, have you really not figured out their names?"

"I can crush you with my bare hoof," hissed Nightmare to Twirly.

"Yeah, whatever."

Chapter Twelve: Unrelenting

"Let me go!" yelled Rainbow Dash angrily.

"We'll let 'cha go once the mind magic on ya goes away," said Applejack to the tied up pegasus.

Rainbow scowled, and continued to try and break free of the many ropes that Applejack had tied around her.

"Are you sure that isn't excessive?" asked Rarity, walking up to her.

"It's better than havin' her flyin' around an' yellin' about followin' Empress Nightmare Moon."

"She'll smite you all!" yelled Rainbow.

"Whatever you say, sugar."

"Excuse me," said Mayor Mare, walking up to them. "But have either of you seem Amethyst anywhere? She would normally be trying to organize everypony, but I haven't seen her anywhere..."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her either," said Rarity. "Which is very out of character for her."

"Maybe Star's just hidin' in her library," said Applejack.

"Applejack, darling, I know that you don't particularly like Amethyst, but can't you give her he benefit of the doubt at least once?"

"Fine. She's probably in her library lookin' for a solution for this situation. And her little breezie friend is probably helpin' her."

Amethyst slowed down her running once her head started to pound once again. The others ran up to her, with everypony except for Fleetfoot and Limestone looking rather tired from the sudden run. Amethyst was about to say something to them, when she flinched in pain, and put her hoof to her horn.

"Are you alright?" asked Saffron. "You haven't over exerted yourself?"

"I'm... fine..." muttered Amethyst as sparks of magic flickered around her horn.

"Uh, no, you're not fine," said Limestone. "I don't know many unicorns, but I can tell that your horn sparking out isn't good sign."

Amethyst vacantly nodded, when a low growl caught her attention. She automatically used her spell, and ignoring the pain, located the source.

"Are you even listening to me?" asked Limestone.

"There's a timber wolf over there..." muttered Amethyst as the awful smell of its breath wafted over.

"A what?" asked Fleetfoot, just as the timber wolf lunged out from its hiding place with its jaws open wide.

Amethyst quickly gathered moonlight on the tip of her horn, and blasted a beam of magic off at the timber wolf, sending sprawling across the ground. It quickly got back up, before Limestone kicked a nearby stone into it, breaking it into pieces.

"Well that was underwhelming," she said, before the timber wolf reformed. "Or not.."

Amethyst didn't even need to check her book on how to deal with the timber wolf. She had dealt with one before when she and Twirly had gone to visit Fluttershy. The timber wolf had chased after the poor pegasus, who had just been trying to comfort it, but Amethyst managed to scare it off by continually shining beams of light into its eyes. But that had been with sunlight. Moonlight was generally used for more of a blast of light as opposed to a beam.

She gathered more moonlight on her horn, and managed to focus it into a beam on the timber wolf. It growled angrily, but Amethyst continued holding the beam. The smell of burning wood began to waft off the timber wolf, and it turned and sprinted away. Amethyst's horn flickered out, before she simply fainted onto the ground.

"Shoot..." said Limestone.

"Uh, anypony know how to make Amy less unconscious?" asked Flitter.

"I think I might," said Saffron. "I think the issue is that Amethyst has just used too much of her magic while under strain. So she just needs some magic."

"Like a potion?" asked Lotus.

"That would work... Expect I think that out of all of us, Amethyst is the only one who knows how to make a magic replenishing potion." Everypony fell silent for a moment. "I could give her some of my magic directly."

"What?" asked Fleetfoot.

Saffron didn't respond, and her horn lit up with deep purple magic. A small stream of magic moved through the air from her horn, before connecting with Amethyst's horn. Saffron closed her eyes and gritted her teeth while her magic flowed freely into Amethyst.

"Saff, don't strain yourself," said Flitter nervously, just as Saffron's magic winked out.

"Did it work?" she asked groggily.

"Hey, Sparkler, I'm gonna rip this book page if you don't get up," said Limestone, reaching over towards one of Amethyst's books.

"What?" asked Amethyst, quickly sitting up.

"It worked."

"Did I miss something?" She looked over at Saffron, who gently put her hoof to horn. "Wait, did you give me some of your magic?"

"Yes," said Saffron with a gentle nod. "I wasn't really using it anyways."

"But that's like using a magic drain on yourself!"

"Uh, I'm lost," said Fleetfoot.

"A direct magic transfer hurts!" said Amethyst. "And it severely drains your own magic levels!"

"You needed it more," said Saffron, lowering her hoof. "And I'm fine. It didn't hurt that much."

"But-"

"It already happened, so let's get moving!" said Limestone. "Nightmare needs her flank to get kicked!"

She walked forward, with everypony else soon following. Amethyst looked over at Saffron again, who gently placed her hoof on her horn once again.

"Thanks," said Amethyst. "But you really didn't need to give me that much."

"It's no trouble for a friend," said Saffron with a smile.

Nightmare Moon's magic was strong. Twilight knew that it was strong. After all, she was an alicorn with enough power to raise and lower both the sun and the moon. She was strong enough to trap Celestia in the sun. She was strong enough to escape from the moon after the Elements of Harmony had imprisoned her there.

So it was really awful being under her mind control spell. It didn't exactly make Twilight think certain thoughts, it just forced those thoughts into her mind over and over again. Nightmare was in control of her, and she was fighting as hard as possible to break free. She didn't know who was coming to stop Nightmare, but as sure as Celestia loved cake, she didn't want to stop them.

But who was the unicorn Nightmare was talking about? Sure, Twilight was also curious of who the other ponies were, but Nightmare specifically wanted to deal with this unicorn herself. Plus, she had some sort of captive in the other room. Whoever it was had sounded so quiet with a specific accent...

Who else knows about the Elements? thought Twilight through the stream of words being fed to her. Princess Celestia for sure, but she's trapped on the sun. I know, but I don't remember talking to anypony else except for the Princess...

"BE QUIET, YOU LITTLE BUTTERFLY!" yelled Nightmare from the other room.

A butterfly? Why would Nightmare have captured a butterfly? Unless butterfly was meant to be some sort of insult. But why would Nightmare call a pegasus a butterfly-

A breezie! She's yelling at a breezie! And that unicorn at the library, the breezie was her assistant! But I didn't tell her about Nightmare Moon... Was I reading out loud again? And does she have enough magical prowess to create the spark to find the sixth Element?

If she could have, Twilight would have sighed. Hopefully she could break free of Nightmare's mind control, or that unicorn would have to be able to stand up to Nightmare alone.

Chapter Thirteen: Worry

"Have you finished yet?" asked Cloudchaser, nervously tugging at her spiky blue and white mane.

Rarity gave a small sigh and turned to face the pegasus. "Now, darling, I know that you're worried, but I can't do this efficiently if you keep interrupting me."

"Sorry..." Her eyes flicked over towards the paperclip Rarity was holding in her magic. "But have you counted her yet?"

Rarity shook her head. "I'm sure she's just lost somewhere in the crowd. After all, I'm not the one who would normally do this sort of thing."

"Rainbow Dash!" cried Applejack's voice from a small distance away. "Knock it off!"

"I will serve the Empress as she requests!" yelled back Rainbow.

Choosing to ignore them, Rarity continued her list of everypony in town. At least, those that could be found. It was rather difficult, considering that there were more unfamiliar ponies that had come for the celebration. Currently there were four ponies who were clearly missing. Cloudchaser and Aloe were both on verge of panic due to the fact that they couldn't find their sisters, Flitter and Lotus. The more obvious to see missing was Amethyst and Twirly. Amethyst would typically be doing what Rarity was doing right now, and Twirly would be right by her side. However, nopony even had a clue of where they were.

"Hey!" called a voice from above her.

Rarity looked up to see Spitfire fly down next to her, and her eyes widened in surprise. She may not have been a fan of sports of anything of the like, but celebrities were still celebrities.

"Have you counted any of the Wonderbolts yet?" she asked nervously.

"Yes." She looked over at the clipboard. "I've counted five of you. Quite easy to see in your uniforms."

"Five?" Spitfire's face fell, and she became even more nervous. "Please tell me if you find Fleetfoot anywhere." She quickly zipped off, leaving Rarity yet another pony to keep her eyes peeled for.

"My goodness..." muttered Rarity as she continued counting ponies. "Where have all those ponies gone?"

Amethyst, along with everypony else, nervously looked through the trees and other plants in hopes to find even a glimpse of the castle, to no avail. The current lack of anything happening was causing their anxiety of something actually happening to increase.

Nightmare's wisp of magic that had been following the group was snaking through the trees to stay out of their sight. If it was seen, the group would be more on-guard for attacks from Nightmare. The wisp floated ahead of them, back towards Nightmare.

"There!" Fleetfoot pointed at a spot through the trees. "I can see some sort of structure!"

Amethyst's horn lit up as she activated her signature, and looked where Fleetfoot was pointing. She could see a far more detailed structure than any of the others, and it closely resembled that of a castle.

"It's the castle!" she said gleefully. "We can finally get the Elements!"

As the six ponies all turned to head towards the castle, there was a sudden rumble, and a huge figure exploded out of the ground. It was a giant ornament flytraps, except distinctly more monstrous. The frills had changed into sharp fangs, and something dark purple dripped out from between them. Everypony automatically took a step back, before it lunged towards them.

They all sprung into action, as if simultaneously agreeing to fight. Amethyst's horn flared up, and she yanked the mouth upward using her magic. Fleetfoot punched it back down from the air, and Limestone was about to kick it when Lotus suddenly interrupted her.

"Oh, pleaze don't!" she cried out, catching Limestone off-guard and causing her kick to miss.

"Are you crazy?!?" asked Limestone, ducking out of the way of the ornament flytrap as it lunged at her.

Lotus moved out of the way of the ornament flytrap as it tried to bite her, and reacted by gently placing her hoof on top of it, and gently stroking it. Everypony just froze at the unexpected action, and the ornament flytrap gently laid down on the ground.

"You don't vant to hurt uz, do you?" asked Lotus. "Are you just scared becauze ve interrupted your nap?" The ornament flytrap seemed to nod. "Go back to zleep, and ve'll leave you alone."

The ornament flytrap slowly moved back from where it had come, and hid underneath the dirt. Lotus signaled for the others to move away from it, and the group quickly moved away to another area of the forest.

"How did you do that?" asked Amethyst in surprise.

"I vas just calming it down," said Lotus.

"But it was in the middle of attacking us!" said Limestone. "How did you know what to do?"

She shrugged. "I didn't. I vas just kind to it. Just being nice to somevun can zlove the problem." She looked over in the direction of the now clear-to-see castle. "Ve should get going."

With a unanimous nod, the group continued on towards the castle.

The wisp of magic zipped into the castle, past where the mind-controlled Twilight Sparkle was hiding in the corner, waiting on Nightmare's command against her will. The wisp moved around the protective barrier surrounding the Elements of Harmony, and went into the throne room. Twirly was lying upside-down in her tiny cage that had been shoved off to the side, so Nightmare could have the glory of her throne all to herself.

The wisp rejoined into the rest of Nightmare's mane, and her eyes narrowed in anger. The six ponies were going to arrive soon, and all of her efforts had merely stalled them. She was growing weary of having to maintain control of her Midnight Warrior, as she seemed to be very skilled in resisting her. Her Shadowbolt had been captured by the townsponies, so she relented her control on her, and placed that new energy into the Midnight Warrior.

"Oh, Celestia!" called out Nightmare, her horn lighting up. "I have a few things I'd like to say to you!"

A ring of magic formed in front of her, and Celestia's weak voice echoed out of the glowing whiteness.

"Luna..." she whispered.

"I am not Luna!" boomed Nightmare. "I am a Nightmare! Now tell me, Celestia... Did you really think that you could fool me with your guard?" Silence. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice that other unicorn you sent after the Elements?"

"Other unicorn...?" Celestia was confused. "I don't know what you mean, Luna..."

"I am NOT Luna!" she yelled again. "And don't think that you can fool me! I know that unicorn is coming under your command! She was the only other pony besides your guard to even know who I was! I know that she's your back-up plan!"

"Sister, please... I don't understand... I didn't send anypony after the Elements... Twilight figured out that you were coming..." She paused. "Please don't tell me that you've hurt her or anypony else..."

"I'm not your sister," she spat angrily. "And stop lying to me." Her voice softened. "Oh, but you don't need to worry about your guard. She's under my control right now. And I'm going to use her to deal with the other unicorn's companions while I battle her myself! How do you feel about that, Celestia?"

"Please don't hurt anypony... Pleas-" Nightmare closed the ring before Celestia could finish.

"I am the Empress," said Nightmare out loud. "And nopony can stop me!"

She burst out cackling, her voice echoing throughout the castle. But she didn't notice the tiny breezie barely slipping out between the bars on her cage, and zipping outside. Twirly needed to warn Amethyst as soon as possible.

Chapter Fifteen: Magic

Amethyst cautiously peeked into the seemingly lifeless castle, all of her senses waiting for something to react to. She continued looking around, before she finally noticed two clashing magical sources in the corner. Twilight was standing there, completely still. Her eyes refused to leave the ground, meaning that she wanted to stay away from confrontation as long as possible. Amethyst took a step back so she was now outside, and turned to face the others.

"Nightmare has Twilight- her Midnight Warrior -stationed in there," she said softly, as so only the five other could hear her. "She's likely guarding the Elements, so we'll have to try and stop Twilight from attacking first."

"How are we going to do that?" asked Flitter, nervously tugging at her bow.

"If I hit precisely the tip of her horn with a moonbeam, it should prevent her from attacking for a bit. Don't forget, she doesn't want to be fighting us."

"Know how strong she is?" asked Limestone. "I might be able to hold her still for you."

"All I know is that she's very magically inclined. She can make up to eighteen magic constructs at a time, those being swords and spears."

"Yikes," Fleetfoot frowned nervously. "No wonder Nightmare decided to mind control her."

Amethyst nodded. "And why Celestia decided to bring her. Alright, here's the plan: Flitter and Fleetfoot, you two should fly in from the sides to catch her off-guard, and try to strike her horn to lower the amount of constructs she has. Saffron and Lotus, you two should grab some of the broken shards of glass to deflect any other spells she tries to use, and be on the lookout for if anypony is going to get hit by something.

"Limestone and I will head towards her and off to the sides to she'll have to pick a target. I'll try to draw in her attention so you can try and hold her down for me. Once that's done, we'll have to just improvise." She paused to check over what she had said. "Just try not to hurt Twilight too much. She can't control what she's doing."

Everypony nodded in agreement, and split off to where they needed to be. Fleetfoot and Flitter where peeking in through the crumbling walls at the entrance where the other four where standing. Amethyst's horn flared up, and they all jumped in at the same time. Twilight's horn flared up in a magenta glow, the aura flicking as she tried to fight Nightmare's control.

Bring me the unicorn! yelled Nightmare's voice in Twilight's head. Get her close enough, and I'll take care of the rest!

Her magenta constructs began fading in existence, as she jumped out of the way of Flitter and Fleetfoot as they dove down at her. Nightmare eagerly honed her in on Amethyst, hardly noticing Limestone split to the other side. Saffron and Lotus had already gathered up a small pile of glass fragment and, since they weren't as suited for direct combat, had switched to trying to fling Twilight's constructs back at her.

Twilight flung three swords towards Amethyst, who skewed their angles with her magic. They barely sailed past her, due to the fact that she was only using minimum amount of energy in case she needed to fight again afterwards. Twilight just looked so sad as she fought against the five ponies, and it only increased Amethyst's determination.

Limestone yanked Twilight's right rear leg to pull to down to the ground, as she had managed to sneak up on her. She tried to hold down the unicorn in place, but there were small spikes on her dark armor that none of them has seen earlier. She gritted her teeth and held through the pain, while Amethyst started launching off moonbeams to try and hit Twilights's horn. Even if she was precise, the furious movement made anticipating her next location difficult.

Three of her constructs suddenly snapped away as she grabbed Amethyst in her magic, and fling her across the room before she could break away. She crashed to the ground, with Lotus already moving towards her to see if she needed help. But she was unexpected grabbed in a dark blue aura, and yanked forcefully into the next room. Her eyes widened fearful in realization, just as she came crashing down on the ground once more, but this time also slamming into the wall on at the end of the room. The clasp of her saddlebags broke, sending the contents messily across the area.

"How nice of you to visit," said Nightmare, standing next to a pedestal holding five stones on it. A barrier of her magic covered the entryway between the two rooms. "Shame that will have to end so quickly."

Amethyst, panicked by her current situation, tried to back away from the alicorn. But instead she was grabbed in her magic once again, and thrown across to the other side of the room.

"Let me see if you are any match for the new Empress!" Nightmare cried in cruel joy as Amethyst slammed into the wall once more. "Just try to touch me, foal!"

Amethyst barely managed to dive out of the way as Nightmare fired a beam of magic at her, smashing through the wall in barely a moment. The area of possible escape was blocked off by a smaller magic barrier.

"What, is this a bit above your league?" asked Nightmare with mock pity. "Such as shame. I would have enjoyed at least some fight." Her horn flared brightly.

But Amethyst had acted while she had been talking. She had grabbed the rope that she had brought in her magic, and quickly whipped the end around Nightmare's horn. She yanked the other end with the use of her magic, causing Nightmare's blast of magic to completely miss. She blasted through the wall, and covered it up with another barrier. She disintegrated the rope in her magic.

"Well, didn't that do you much help," said Nightmare. "Now did it?"

Amethyst smacked one of her books into Nightmare's head, causing another beam of magic to miss. She filled in the hole once more, and tore up the book.

"So weak, said Nightmare harshly. "To think that I actually thought you might have been a threat." Her horn glowed even brighter.

Amethyst still had two more books, and both smacked into Nightmare. Her beam missed for the third time. Amethyst started to think rationally about the situation.

"Desperation," spat Nightmare like it were an insult, while Amethyst activated her signature once more. "You're humiliatingly weak." The unicorn focused her gaze on the stone pedestal behind the alicorn, and her eyes widened in realization. "And so scared that you won't even speak."

She blasted off yet another beam of magic, which Amethyst ran straight at. She dove underneath it at the last second, and slid past Nightmare to where the pedestal was. Amethyst went freely through the magically barrier protecting the Elements of Harmony, but Nightmare was stopped.

"Why you little-" Nightmare began throwing out bursts of magic at the barrier. "You're not even strong enough to create a spark, foal!"

Amethyst's horn glowed more brightly, as she enveloped the five stones in her magic. She concentrated, trying to create the spark for the sixth Element.

"Please..." she whispered nervously. "Please..."

Chapter Sixteen: Strength

As soon as Nightmare's barrier came up, a panic started to overtake the five others still fighting Twilight. They didn't have a back-up plan for if the unicorn was yanked away from the fight, especially not by Nightmare Moon herself.

Limestone was forced to release her hold on Twilight, and broke away to where Saffron and Lotus where using the rubble from the castle as shields against the constructs. Flitter and Fleetfoot soon joined them, the latter having a scratch on her hoof from pushing the former out of the way of a spear.

"Vhat are ve suppozed to do now?" asked Lotus nervously.

"We need to go help Amethyst soon!" said Saffron, smacking away a sword. "If we're barely handling it against Twilight, then she's in deep troubling fighting Nightmare!"

"Duck!" yelled a accented voice from above that they had each heard at least once before.

The five managed to move out of the way of a thin stream of lightning bolts that launches above them. Twirly quickly floated down to join them, her face fearful.

"Get me close to Twilight," she said with determination. "I know how I can disable her magic."

Amethyst strained to create a spark with her magic, when she finally managed to make at least a flicker. But the glow on her horn died out, and the sixth Element did not appear. The barrier around the Elements fell, and her eyes widened in fear.

"No!" she cried out, as Nightmare simply threw her away from the Elements.

"So much for your only hope," said Nightmare with an eager grin. "Celestia should have sent somepony who actually had magic powers."

She held the Elements in her magic, and then slammed them forcefully against the ground. They shattered into pieces, and Amethyst froze in horror. Nightmare let out a gleeful laugh.

"Now the night will truly last forever!" she cried, before breaking into a cackle. "Forever!"

"No..." whispered Amethyst fearfully. "No!"

"Did you really think that you could defeat me?" asked Nightmare tauntingly. "I am the most powerful pony in all of Equestria! Nopony can face me!" Her horn flared up. "Farewell, little unicorn. This is for your foalish idea of beating me."

Amethyst panicked as Nightmare held her in place using her magic, and then blasted out a final beam of magic at her. She looked around the area to try and find something to block the beam, her gaze falling on her lucky diamond.

Gemstones can hold magic in them, so I hope mine can hold enough! she thought quickly.

She quickly snatched up the diamond in her magic and, using her signature to place it correctly in the air so it could absorb magic, flung it in front of herself. Nightmare's beam of magic slammed into the gem, and Amethyst closed her eyes in fear.

"WHAT?!?" cried Nightmare angrily.

Amethyst's eyes flickered open to see that her diamond was still floating in front of her, glowing blue with Nightmare's magic. She had been released from Nightmare's hold from her shock.

"That is impossible!" yelled Nightmare, slamming her hoof into the ground in anger. "A mere gem cannot contain that much power!"

She snatched the diamond in her magic, and yanked in towards the ground to try and shatter it. However, Amethyst pulled it upwards to prevent that, and then pulled the diamond over to herself.

I can use Nightmare's own power against her!

Amethyst started to pull out Nightmare's magic from the diamond, gathering the energy on her horn like with moonbeams and sunbeams. Nightmare abruptly yanked the diamond away from her. She hadn't been paying enough attention.

"Why do you keep trying to fight?" asked Nightmare in annoyance. "Your chance of winning has been destroyed!" She pointed down at the Element shards. "Your companions are of no use! I even have your little breezie!" She pointed at the cage, not bothering to actually look.

But Amethyst noticed that Twirly was gone. A sharp cry from the other room caught her attention, and she turned to see magenta sparks of magic flying, as well as five other ponies diving to the ground to avoid them.

"Twirly, are you sure this is safe?" came Flitter's muffled voice through the barrier.

She must have been too quiet for her to hear, as Amethyst didn't get the breezie's response. She quickly turned back towards Nightmare, just as her diamond was slammed into the ground, causing blue sparks of magic to go flying across the room.

"Just give in!" said Nightmare as she prepared for another beam of magic at the unicorn. "Your resistance is futile!"

Amethyst quickly grabbed the shards of diamond in her magic, and reformed them into the shape. She hardly registered the fact that the diamond was in pieces as she blocked Nightmare's magic.

"I'd suggest you dodge next time!" yelled Nightmare. "Too bad that you'll never have a next time!"

"Consider using your eyes!" called back Amethyst, much to the alicorn's surprise.

"Those shards can't be doing that!" Nightmare was furious. This unicorn should not still be standing! "Nothing can hold together like that!"

That's it! Amethyst's eyes widned in realization.

As Nightmare was forced to stop throwing her magic at Amethyst, the unicorn quickly yanked out as much magic as possible from the gem. She quickly turned around from Nightmare, and instead used the alicorn's magic to destroy the barrier she had placed between the two rooms.

As soon as the barrier fell, the five ponies quickly ran into the room. With a chorus of: "Amethyst!", "Sparkler!", and "Amy!", they quickly ran up to her, flinching at Nightmare's presence.

"Is that was you've decided to do?" asked Nightmare. "You must be more of a foal that I thought. You really think that the six of you worthless ponies can stand up against me without the Elements of Harmony? I will destroy you like I destroyed them!" Her horn flared up.

"The Elements aren't destroyed!" called out Amethyst.

"Oh, spare me your fruitless hope!"

Amethyst pulled over the Element shards using her magic, and spoke not to Nightmare, but the five ponies around her.

"These are the Elements of Harmony," she said simply. "Nightmare shattered them into pieces. But we don't need them." She couldn't help but smile. "Since the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are all right here."

"The what?" asked Limestone, just as the shards began to glow, and hover in the air of her own accord. "Whoa!"

"Think about it," said Amethyst, still ignoring Nightmare, who was staring in complete shock. "Why would the Elements all have specific features? Because that's what gives them power. And we have those features."

She continued. "Fleetfoot, you didn't leave any of us when we were petrified by the cockatrice. You didn't have to stay with us, or even make sure that we changed back. But you did. And that's why you're the Loyalty Element."

Some of the shards glowed pale yellow, the color of Fleetfoot's cutie mark, and then reformed into the sphere they had been before. It floated above the pegasus, who stared up at it as threads of magic began stretching out across the room.

"Limestone, you got me to trust you in a dire situation, though I had no reason to. You knew that you could get me to safety. And that was you being truthful. You're the Honesty Element."

As with Fleetfoot, more shards glowed, this time lime green. Limestone smiled as the sphere floated over her.

"Flitter, you stayed strong when confronting a heart-breaking experience. But it wasn't because you ignored it, but instead remained cheerful and happy. You are the Laughter Element."

The shards glowed pale purple this time, and the pegasus beamed with glee.

"Saffron, you gave your magic so I could have strength without even a second thought. That doesn't mean that you helped out thoughtlessly, but instead fully knowing what your were doing and allowing it anyways. You are the Generosity Element."

The shards glowed orange, and she gave a shy grin.

"Lotus, you weren't just nice to all of us, but even to the creature that attacked us when you were given the chance. You showed compassion to the ornament flytrap while we treated it as a beast. You are the Kindness Element."

The remaining shards glowed pink, and everypony except for Amethyst had an Element floating above them. The five strings of magic had spread across the room, making it so Nightmare had no escape.

"You still don't have the sixth Element!" cried out Nightmare, some fear in her voice. "The spark didn't work!"

"It's not the spark that you're thinking of." Amethyst finally spoke towards Nightmare. "It was never a spark of magic that was needed to activate the Elements of Harmony. It was one of realization. I knew from the moment I started to fight you that I was no match by myself. But I finally figured it out when you mentioned togetherness." She smiled even more brightly. "We didn't overcome your challenges individually. We faced them all together. And together, we overcame all of them. Together." She turned towards the other five ponies. "And now I know that you five aren't some other ponies who decided to come with me on this quest. You're much more than that. You're my friends."

Nightmare frantically blasted off a beam of magic at Amethyst, but she was protected by the Elements.

"These are called the Elements of Harmony because that is what they create. And for there to be harmony, you need the five Elements that everypony already knows. But you need the sixth Element for it to be complete. For it's Unity that brings these all together, creating friendship and harmony."

There was a flash of light as the last Element appeared above Amethyst. She turned back towards Nightmare, and her horn glowed in the same color as her Element, activating all six of them. The six friends were all lifted into the air, as the Elements manifested their power. A rainbow blasted down at Nightmare of the colors they had been glowing, and the alicorn cried out as her power was stripped away.

Epilogue

Amethyst gently touched down on the ground, taking in a deep breath of relief. Just a moment after that, somepony small crashed into the side of her face with minimal momentum.

"Amy, you're okay!" cried Twirly, happy to be reunited with the unicorn. "I was so worried about you!"

"I was even more worried about you!" said Amethyst, gleeful to see that the breezie was okay. "Did you get hurt at all?"

"Just a singed tail from that other unicorn's magic." She flicked her tail forward to show a small black spot at the end. "I just remembered how you deal with magic when it's on the fritz and used my hooves in place of magic!"

Amethyst grinned. "You clever little breezie." But then her face fell. "Is Twilight okay?"

She got her response when the unicorn, now back in her gold armor, peeked in from the other room. She looked very tired, but happy none the less.

Amethyst hurried over to her. "Are you alright?"

"Now that Nightmare's control is gone," Twilight replied. "The Elements really were the only thing needed to stop her."

Amethyst grinned. "I wouldn't say that it was just the Elements."

Her gaze shifted towards her five friends, who were now all wearing silver necklaces with gemstones on them. After a closer looked, the gems were in the shape of their cutie marks, and in the colors that the Element shards had been glowing. Amethyst's eyes flicked down to see that she wasn't wearing a necklace, but, as she looked up, a silver tiara with a gemstone that resembled her cutie mark.

"Zey are beautiful!" said Lotus, admiring her necklace.

"I guess we really are the Elements of Harmony!" said Flitter.

"Indeed you are."

Everypony looked up for who had said that, just as the sun rose in the sky. A ball of light descended from the sky, and landed at one of the numerous holes in the wall. Princess Celestia appeared from the light, and everypony automatically bowed, except for Twilight, who quickly ran up to her.

"Princess Celestia!" she said with relief. "Are you okay?"

The Princess smiled. "Do not worry, my soldier. I am unharmed." Her gaze fell on the six other ponies (and one breezie). "And I can see that Equestria now has other ponies to treat as saviors."

Her gaze fell specifically on Amethyst, as she walked up to her. "You must be the unicorn Luna was speaking about. Did she hurt you at all?"

"N-no." Amethyst felt very anxious speaking to the Princess. "She didn't manage to hurt any of us." Except maybe emotionally. Her sister flashed into her mind.

Celestia smiled with relief. "I, as well as the rest of Equestria, thank you for stopping Nightmare Moon. The power of friendship is strong." She turned towards where Nightmare had been standing. "Now just one must remember that."

She walked over to where a smaller purple alicorn was lying on the ground, the shattered remains of a blue helmet surrounding her. The tips of her blue mane were wet with tears, as well as her aquamarine eyes. As soon as Celestia spoke, she looked up fearfully.

"Princess Luna, it has been a thousand years." She sat down next to her. "Please, let us put our differences aside little sister. We can rule together once again."

"Tia..." Luna trailed off, more tears falling.

"I forgive you, Luna. And I just want my sister back."

She looked up at Celestia, and then grabbed her in a hug. "I missed you so much, big sister!" She started crying even harder. "I missed you so much..."

The nine ponies and one breezie stepped out of the Everfree Forest, to be greeted by a cheering crowd from Ponyville. Luna shyed away from the happy ponies by hiding behind Celestia, who pulled the younger alicorn beside her with her wing. Though it was clear enough that Luna was the one they had all been in fear of just earlier that day, the joy of the crowd was not lowered. As they walked away from the forest, three distinct voices came out from the crowd.

"Fleetfoot!"

"Flitter!"

"Lotus!"

Spitfire, Cloudchaser, and Aloe ran up to the various ponies they had called in a mixture of panic and excitement. Amethyst, Saffron, and Limestone stepped away to give the sibling and teammates some space, in time for the other four Wonderbolts to fly over to Fleetfoot.

The Summer Sun Celebration resumed, or, more accurately, began surprisingly quickly considering what had occurred, but the six new friends didn't particularly mind. Considering what they had just went through, the seemingly endless happiness was really making them feel better. They all kept their Elements on, as there was currently no secure place to put them.

Amethyst was talking with Rainbow Dash about what had happened with Nightmare, as she knew most of what had occurred until her mind control was cancelled by the alicorn.

"Mare, I wish that I could've seen Nightmare get her flank whooped by a magical rainbow lazer!" said Rainbow. "That sounds like it was awesome!"

"More relieving, I'd say," replied Amethyst. "Just being in Everfree was bad enough, but having to face Nightmare head-on was terrifying!"

"You've got guts, Sparkler. I don't think I would've even stepped into that forest, let alone fight an alicorn!"

Amethyst smiled at hearing Rainbow call her Sparkler instead of Sparky. She was going to reply to the pegasus when a sudden explosion of pink onto the nearby Limestone caught her off guard.

"Key!" cried an excited pink Earth pony with a poofy mane. "You're okay!"

"Nice to see you too, Pinkie," said Limestone, trying to break away from the mare's tight hug.

"My Pinkie Sense was telling me that a family member was in danger, so I zipped off to the rock farm to make sure that everypony was okay, and they were so I came to Ponyville to make sure that you were okay, and I'm glad that you are, and- ooh! You have a silver necklace, and the gem looks like your cutie mark! Where did you get it?"

Both Amethyst and Rainbow stared in shock at the energetic pink pony as the words seemed to flow endlessly out of her mouth. Limestone put a hoof over her muzzle before she could ask any more questions, and finally broke away from the hug.

"Slow down, Pinkie," she said. "I'll tell you happened if you just give a moment to speak, okay?" She recieved a nod. "Good. Now don't start asking me more questions once I take my hoof away." Another nod, and she released Pinkie's mouth from her hold.

"You have such a way of getting that mare to calm down," said a white unicorn with a spiky blue mane, violet glasses, and blue headphones, walking up to Limestone.

"Hello, Vinyl," said Limestone. "Did my sister drag you along with her?"

"Nah, I wanted to come with. Anyways, Stone, what'cha been up to?"

"As I was about to tell Pinkie..." she started explaining what had happened, while Amethyst and Rainbow finally turned their attention away.

"She's sisters with DJ Pon-3's assistant?!?" said Rainbow in surprise.

"Learn something new everyday, I suppose," said Amethyst, feeling a sudden tap on her shoulder.

She turned around to see Luna, who looked very nervous. "Um... May I speak with you, Unity?" she asked.

Amethyst glanced over at Rainbow, who was still staring in shock, and nodded. "Sure thing, Princess. Is something wrong?"

"I came to apologize to you for what I did," she said, nervously poking her hoof at the ground. "I know that I easily could have hurt you, or even worse, so I wanted to say that I am deeply sorry. And you don't have to forgive me for as long as you would like. I just wanted you to know that I am truly sorry."

Amethyst paused to think. Could she forgive the alicorn? "Thank you for the apology, Princess. But I'm afraid that I can not forgive you right now. I'm sure that I will be able to some day, just not at the moment."

The alicorn nodded. "Of course. I understand why you feel that way." She looked over at Rainbow. "I have a few more ponies to apologize to right now."

Amethyst headed off to get something to eat while Luna apologized to Rainbow, who was likely to forgive her. She felt a bit guilty for not forgiving Luna, but she just couldn't face doing it at the moment. After all, she had tried to hurt her, both physically and emotionally. She kidnapped Twirly to try and taunt her and break her spirits. Amethyst couldn't forgive her yet.

She found Twirly gleefully munching on the rice that Saffron had made, taking large bites of the grains. The breezie smiled when she saw Amethyst, and quickly finished off what she was holding.

"Heh, Ahmy!" she said before swallowing. "Is something wrong?"

Amethyst had started to think about her sister. Sure, she had Twirly there to be relieved that she was okay and vice-versa, but she still wished that she was there.

"I was just thinking about my sister," she confessed. "But you don't need to worry about that." She smiled. "After all, we still have a celebration to enjoy."

"Make sure jat you don't poke out anypony's eye with your tiara!" she teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, ha ha, Twirly. Maybe I will just to spite you."

"Like you would ever do jat!"

"You know me all too well."

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia sought to speak with Twilight, which was rather easy considering that the unicorn was standing off to the side of everypony else.

"Twilight, may I speak with you?" she asked.

"Of course, Princess," said Twilight.

"Thank you." She paused a moment. "Oh, Twilight, can you forgive me?"

She was confused. "For what?"

"For not telling you about Nightmare Moon's return. I knew perfectly well that my sister was returning today, but I wanted you to figure it out on your own."

"But why?"

She sighed. "Because I was afraid that as soon as you knew about the Elements of Harmony, you would have gone straight for them. I was hoping that you would run into at least one other pony along the way who would have gone with you. But if had told you that the Elements needed to be activated with a spark of friendship, I would have just been pressuring you into making friends based on the fact that you needed them."

Twilight smiled at the Princess's concern for her. "You're not at fault for not telling me, Princess Celestia. I understand why you couldn't."

"I just never imagined that Nightmare would have used mind control on you." She smiled at the fact that Twilight was okay. "You know, Twilight, I've always considered you to be my student. And I've always that thought that you should have been accepted into my school."

Twilight's eyes glimmered with surprise. "R-really?"

"Really."

Twilight smiled, happy to hear what the Princess had told her. "I think that I'll go talk with somepony. It is rather lonely just standing here." The unicorn walked off, leaving Celestia feeling even happier than she.

The Wonderbolts were overjoyed that their teammate was safe, but also extremely proud of her.

"Fleetfoot, we outta start callin' you the number one Wonderbolt!" cheered Misty Fly.

"Aw, come on!" said Fleetfoot. "Just because I helped stop Nightmare Moon doesn't make me the best 'bolt!"

"What, are you next going to say that performing a Sonic Rainboom isn't legendary?" teased Spitfire.

A small distance away, Rainbow's ears perked up.

Fleetfoot smiled at her teammates, and then looked up at the sky. There was so much open space. Her smile changed into a grin. Enough space for her cloud house so she could be near her friends. After all, it wasn't like anypony was stopping her from moving.

"Hey, guys, I've got something that I might need your help with in the future..." she started.

Back over with Limestone, Pinkie, and Vinyl, she had finished telling the two what had happened. And though they were shocked by the story, what she told them next was even more surprising.

"I've decided to stay in Ponyville," she declared.

"What?!?" cried out Pinkie. "But I thought you loved the rock farm!"

"I do, but I don't have a reason to stay. Ma and Pa don't need me to run the place. And Marble has her Chosen One to help her out. I have my first real friends here, and I want to be able to hang out with them and such." She smiled. "Besides, it will be good to expand the business. I can have a small rock farm here. I think that I heard about a waterfall cave that's open to buy."

"That's so amazing!" cheered Pinkie. "We should have our next sister get-together here! Can we bring our Chosen Ones?"

"Of cour- Wait a minute. Pinkie do have a Chosen One?!?"

She laughed nervously. "Uh, maybe..."

"And you haven't told me?!?"

"I told you that you should have told her, babe!" said Vinyl, grabbing Pinkie's hoof. "Move it before she starts yelling!" The two bolted, with Limestone dashing after them.

"Pinkamina Diane Pie and Vinyl Record Scratch you to get back here this instant and tell me when you went to the Choosing Stone!"

Author's Note

And Saffron just watched everypony amusement while she waited for her dad to return from his trip.

Well, we've made it to the end of the first story in the Lateverse! This has been possibly my favorite story I've written, and I have so much information stored up in my head about this universe! Now it's time to start writing some sequels!

Chapter Fourteen: Determination

Rainbow Dash was not having a good day. After all, considering that all had wanted to do today was watch the Wonderbolts and possibly impress them somehow, being mind controlled was really ruining everything for her. Especially considering she couldn't even resist it a little bit.

With a sigh, Applejack retied Rainbow to the tree. "Can't ya do anything ta stop this mind control?" she asked.

"The Empress will rein supreme!" she was forced to yell.

"Ah'll take that as a 'no'."

At least Rainbow had one advantage to being mind controlled. Whereas nopony else really knew what was going on, she knew practically everything happening. Since she was linked into Nightmare's mind control so firmly, she could see what was happening through both her eyes, and whoever the unicorn she had under her control was.

"Applejack, Ah'm scared..." said her younger sister Apple Bloom, nervously walking up to her.

"Ah know, sis," replied Applejack. "But everything is gonna work out in the end. Ah'm sure that Princess Celestia will find a way to stop that Nightmare."

Celestia's too weak, thought Rainbow, wishing that she could speak. But Sparkler and those other ponies might be able to with those Elements of Harmony they keep mentioning.

Nightmare had been tracking them the entire time, but Rainbow had only been able to see Sparkler. Nightmare was focusing on her quite a bit. Hopefully she would be able to find the Elements, wherever they were in that awful forest.

You are useless! boomed Nightmare's voice in her head abruptly. That's it! I'm using the power I'm wasting on you to deal with my Midnight Warrior!

Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise, as Nightmare abruptly snapped her mind control away from her. She was thrust forward from the abrupt change, and her Shadowbolt uniform vanished. She crashed in Applejack, but both of them managed to remain standing.

"Dash!" cried Applejack. "Wait, are ya back to normal?"

"Yep!" said Rainbow, gleeful that she could finally speak. "But it's because Nightmare was using her power for the other pony she has mind controlled..."

"How do ya know that?"

"Magic." Hopefully that was a good enough answer. "And she has Celestia trapped away and weakened." Applejack's face fell, and Bloom hugged her sister's leg nervously. "But Sparkler is with some other ponies are they're trying to find something to stop her in the Everfree Forest!"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, Star's in Everfree? Is she insane?!?"

I must be insane... thought Twirly as she glided away from the castle nervously. If that Nightmare lady finds out that I'm gone, she'll be really mad... A sharp gust of wind blew her off course, and she quickly grabbed onto some vines coming off of the castle. Stupid sail-wings!

"Eek-eek!" cried a shrill animal noise.

Twirly quickly looked around for the source, and barely managed to dive out of the way of a bat. She quickly hid behind the vines to get away from it, breathing heavily at the sudden attack.

"Eek-eek!" screeched the bat, making her hide behind more vines and weeds on the side of the castle.

Amy, I wish I could get to you! thought Twirly as the screeching continued. Please be okay! And please get the Elements!

Twilight fought harder and harder against Nightmare's mind control, but she still couldn't break free. She was exhausted from having to use so much effort, but by the sun, she was a Royal Guard and wasn't giving up! Though Twilight knew that she shouldn't be able to regain control of her magic from Nightmare, she was hoping that she would be able to speak. After all, she was already resisting enough to not speak Nightmare's words with any emotion.

Come on... she thought around the words forced into her head. I'm almost... there...

Just as she felt like she was going to break free, Twilight felt a small burst of more mind control magic jump into her, and she was abruptly snapped back into Nightmare's full control.

Where did that come from? Twilight was exhausted from all the effort that she had just been using. Was she just storing up her power, waiting for me to think I had a chance of escape before she pounced once again? Or could she have relented her hold on that pegasus she turned into her Shadowbolt?

Nightmare's voice felt heavy in her head, and she would have groaned if that was possible at the moment. She began fighting through all of the power and energy constraining her once more, even more determined to break free. After all, she was Twilight Sparkle and she would find a way to overcome this barrier. She always found another way.

A brave face and a determined outlook were easy ways to lift others' spirits when they felt as if something was heading in the wrong direction or it was fearful or fightening. Though, the one appearing to be brave and determined may simply be keeping a façade to keep other motivated. Amethyst had done that façade several times before.

Since she organized most events in Ponyville, there was no surprise that there would be at least one of two things that didn't quite go right. Winter Wrap-Up consistently had one major thing go wrong, which would lead to fighting, anger, mismanagement, and winter arriving late. But in the flurry of chaos, Amethyst would always put on a bright smile, and lead everypony back into order, but her joy was just there to encourage others.

But walking towards the ruined castle where the Elements of Harmony were stored, Amethyst truly felt brave. Though it would seem more logical for her to be in a complete panic over even the thought of fighting against an alicorn as opposed to making sure an event went on smoothly, it was the other way around in this case.

Maybe it was because she wasn't doing this alone. Sure, they were all scared of Nightmare and her power, but bravery wasn't just being fearless. Normally, Amethyst's only other output source was Twirly, who blatantly expresses her opinions over the current situation, while she had to remain positive and encouraging. The five ponies with her just seemed to lift up her spirits, as she had to do for others.

Perhaps it was because three of them didn't even know her, and the other two simply knew her better than most. Whatever the reason, the five gave her bravery, and she returned it back to them. Fearfully, Amethyst walked to the front of the castle with the others following directly behind. Her horn lit up as she activated her signature to look for danger, she took in a deep breath.

"This is it."

Twirly struggled to even come within hearing range of her friend and caretaker, completely unseen even by the unicorn's watchful eye.