My little Mage Episode 1

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
chapter 5

Chapter 1

Once upon a time a long time ago, there lived two beautiful princesses who ruled over the magical land of Equestria. Their Immortal blood fueled their immense power, and together they ruled and protected the land of Equestria through keeping the balance of the world in a constant state of harmony. The celestial mage, princess of the Sun, archmage Celestia ruled over the day and with all her power, ensure that the Sun would rise and fall with her ancient rituals.

The Umbramancer, princess of the Moon, master and guardian of Darkness and dreams, archmancer Luna every night would raise and lower the Moon, her rituals would ensure that the night stay beautiful and safe. She watched over the dreams of her people. Yet eventually, she began to grow in sorrow. Every night she poured her heart and soul into making the night as beautiful as she could, yet not a single soul was awake to see it, nor took the time to even attempt to. And every time she strode into do good by her people she went unnoticed. To the people, the archmage, the bringer of the light and day was the only noteworthy leader. So she strived for greater power hoping that she would be given the respect deserving of any who even came close to her position.

Reaching for more power, her rituals went astray and she lost herself in the Darkness, the Umbramancer reached for more than she could grasp in hopes of drawing attention to the beauty of the night, but she placed too much faith in her own power and control. The powers of the night latched onto her discontent and jealousy towards her sister. Those dark powers seethed within her influencing her mind. She was a princess after all, a princess that was unloved, a princess that was ignored. She could have the world at her fingertips. But all she had was an empty night, every night. When finally she succumbed to her own Darkness, she became the shadow goddess, The Nightmare Moon, when finally she challenged her sister. Refusing to lower the Moon, The War Began.

Taking what she believed rightfully belonged to her, the goddess of the night challenged the power of the Sun. The celestial archmage responded by using the powers of the ancients. Unable to defeat her sister upon her own power, she use the elements of harmony to imprison the moon goddess within her own shadowy realm upon the Moon.

However, the ancient seers proclaimed that with the help of the Stars, the Nightmare goddess would break the seals that bound her upon her own Moon, she would Escape in 1000 years.

Soft dexterous fingers traced over the pictures and depictions of each moment in history.

"... that... that was a thousand years ago... This is literally the thousandth year, alright, can't be too careful. I should at least warn the archmage. If these old Legends have any validity at all then surely she would need to know."

Twilight Sparkle, the archmage's prized pupil, Expert Arcane mage, stood up and slid her books back into her Leather Pouch.

"It said Elements of Harmony... I need a figure that part out first before I warn the archmage."

Taking off as fast as she could through the arcanaeum and into the palace grounds. She bolted forward ignoring all else, not even stopping to talk to the group of her fellow classmates who called out to her. She had far more important things to deal with. She had no doubt that her teacher, the literal immortal guardian of the Sun knew something about what she had just discovered, but she would not be the prized pupil of the archmage if she did not take some sort of action.

Practically kicking her own door in she didn't notice her familiar flying across the room due to the impact of the very door she had just made contact with.

"Spyke?... where are you!?..."

Withholding his grumbles the Slender dragons slithered quickly across the floor and up his master's leg until he perched over her shoulder.

"You called mistress?..." He held back from yelling or even rubbing the welt barely noticeable under his thicker scales.

She breathed a little easier trying to settle herself.

"Yes! I apologize for the short notice but I need to find a book... I had it just the other day. It's something about the elements of harmony and other old world artifacts of Legend."

"Right away..."

He sighed and continued about his work slithering across the bookshelves looking for the book in question. He didn't quite despise his master, but she could be quite insensitive from time to time. However she did take good care of him, and honestly she was the closest thing to family he had ever known. This was big, even for a familiar, so he could excuse her negligence from time to time.

With a blur of motion the books shuffled from their places with a show of telekinetics. Pulling out and circling Twilight's head once before hopping right back into place where she had uprooted them from. Her sharp eyes darted from title to title until she heard his voice.

"Found it..."

The books currently suspended in the air dropped to the floor and her hand extended. The book he was holding on to shot through the air and impacted her hand. Sadly she was too busy to notice that he was connected to it and shot off into the far wall.

Grumbling he picked himself up hissing "You're welcome..."

Instead of using her shoulder he slithered to the top of the desk his small slender feet and Claws ripping every nook and cranny careful not to do any harm to the masterpiece craftsmanship that made up the room that they were gifted with.

Twilight's eyes darted from page to page taking in everything she could."Yep that's about what I expected... Spyke!... Take a Letter please."

Still grumbling the small dragon regurgitated is parchment and quill. Pricking his own tongue to draw blood for ink he stood ready.

"Dear illustrious archmage, I respectfully beg a moment of your precious time. While looking through the old histories and vague prophecies. I came to notice that one such ancient prophecy of the Nightmare goddess returning was coming up. I have 100% faith that this did not Escape your attention however I aim to be as useful as possible and beg of you to give me direction, whatever is needed for this possible threat, I stand ready. Give the order and I shall loyally follow as always! With my infinite respect, your pupil, Twilight Sparkle."

She nodded to the Dragon who put the finishing touch on the letter before sealing it and breathing his fire into the scroll to send it away.

" I don't suppose this it's something I should be involved in is it?” Spyke spoke as he relocated to Twilight's shoulder. But she shook her head.

" chances are she won't even let me be involved... I just want to prove that I'm paying attention and actually care... blessid sun... I do hope she does need me though, I believe I'm ready for a trial."

She happily tighten the headband that marked her as a member of the unicorn tribe. Of the three nations that made up ancient Equestria, those with the purest of bloodlines were blessed with enhanced powers and proudly displayed the ceremonial Focus tools of their magical trade. Just as those of the Pegasus tribes tattoos a pair of wings on their body which allowed them to use the elements as they pleased. Only the down-to-earth exiled tribes had no symbolism. And though they were capable of powerful Magic, they were almost always restricted to non arcane and non primary Elemental magical powers.

While looking up at the masterpiece of jewelry that resembled a horn her attention was shattered. Even though she had heard it a dozen times it was still something else to have a dragon burp in her face. Quickly and efficiently she caught the letter before it fell.

" I was almost convinced you were just burping on me, this one came back a lot faster than I thought it would."

Twilight unraveled the scroll and watched in Joy is it lit up and she could hear her master's voice. "My dear faithful student. WhileI appreciate your attention to detail and your capacity to understand ancient texts as well as your excessive will to serve me and the kingdom, you have to remember that some stories are just stories, you are right to take caution within the warnings of ancient texts. But you have to remember but not all texts are nonfiction. Tales of warning often feed in and out of historical accuracy. However I am glad you contacted me, especially since you appear to constantly refuse to get out of that Library unless you're heading directly to the arcanaeum. As such I have a task for you."

Just as she began to grumble the scroll shot Out a small electric shock which made her jump as her teacher's voice continued.

"If my calculations are correct that shock should discontinue any further whining. Now I need you and you specifically, to head into the village known as Ponyville. As you know the celebration is coming and we have not much time to prepare. And as usual anyone who's actually capable of holding a proper schedule is either busy with grand research or cooped up in a library. So I'm sending someone who is both capable and not doing important research."

Twilight begin to Grumble again before the scroll shocked her once again. She idolized the archmage, but it was still annoying how she could predict Twilight's every move and apparently every grumble as well.

Carried through the skies by the elementalist’s chariot. The Royal Guards from the arcanaeum itself carried the young mage far from the capital and into the small village where the celebration was to take place. Twilight carefully read the checklist. Everything was in order she just wanted to make sure to check double-check and triple-check every event on the list. There was a reason that she was the prized student of the archmage. And she was not about to let the ruler and guardian of their Nation down on such a simple task.

Whispering into her ear, her familiar held firmly onto her shoulder." I'm still saying that she agrees with me. You spend too much time doing anything but what someone your age should be doing. Why else would she send you out of the capital to do something like this?... I mean you practically embarrassed yourself talking about nonsensical prophecies and dangers, as if something could actually upset this Empire. The archmage herself can chuck the sun around at will. Do you really think anything is capable of overpowering her?"

"Spyke... I asked you the first time to shut up, now I'm telling you to. So unless you want to be banished for ten hours I suggest you stop reminding me of the events that have led us to this point."

The Chariot set down and the two elementalists who powered The Chariot stood by. She nodded her thanks and they smiled graciously before taking off quickly.

"Mistress I wasn't trying to imply that you were a failure, I was just trying to point out that while you are the master of the arcane power and skill, knowledge of magic doesn't really give you people skills. It's a bad idea to become a savant at one thing an absolutely terrible at everything else. Just loosen up, make some friends, go to a Tavern. Look here comes someone right now. Say hi and try acting like a normal person. You have nothing to lose and we both know that you were sent out here for this very reason, if the arch mage needed someone to check up on preparations she would have sent a servant or something. We both know she sent you because she wants you to interact with the world instead of being cooped up in a work space all your life."

Twilight grumbled Before resigning to the fact that he was indeed correct. Her eyes leveled at the oncoming figure and she breathed easy. it was a girl and she was wearing a jester costume, she had the biggest smile Twilight had ever seen. If anyone was easy to talk to it was going to be This one. After all Being friendly and happy was the job of a jester.

"Hello there, I don't suppose I can have a moment of your time on this fine evening?"

The jester stopped and looked at the mage With a happy smile. A smile that rapidly transformed into a twisted mask of Horror. Both hands shot up to the sides Of the jesters face Before she screamed and ran surprisingly fast.

Both Twilight and Spyke Sat there wordlessly.

"She planned this didn't she?... An annoying test Within the punishment of going out and doing such mundane tasks. I should have seen this coming. Hold on tight Spyke.. I'm sure it just gets bumpier from here."

Chapter 2

"List!?"

Spyke raised the paper and cleared his little throat. " weather team... the town's resident lead Elementalist... one Rainbow Dash should have the clouds cleared 5 hours ago..."

Twilight looked up at the heavily clouded sky.

"What do you think Spyke?... diplomacy or Arcane Fire?"

"See that's what I was talking about! That! Is why the archmage sent you out here ...You have no people skills!"

Letting out an explosive sigh Twilight Shrugged and waved her hands as if dismissing the whole ordeal. "Fine let's find her or him and get the weather cleared... this is ridiculous..."

The two look around until they found what was clearly a stream of rainbow colored hair hanging over the side of a cloud. Considering the anomaly within the world they lived in where people's names usually strictly coincided with physical features or their caste mark, it was not very far of a leap in judgement for Twilight to open her mouth and speak.

"Rainbow Dash?..."

The rainbow colored hair budged, moving lazily the head connected to it peaked over the clouds. Where was a loud yawn, but much faster than she expected and athletic female form leap from the clouds and like lightning flash down beside Twilight and Spyke.

Normally this would have been fine for them both, however beneath this cloud where they stood, there was a very thick mud puddle. The impact from a girl's feet influenced by her rapid descent caused something similar to an explosion of mud and filth from the puddle.

Spyke did not much mind considering all he wore was his own scales, but Twilight's eye twitched involuntarily. She did not have the best robes but she did put quite a lot of effort into maintaining her appearance. She was after all the personal Protege of the literal ruler and protector of the entire world.

"Oh.... sorry about that, here just let me..."

The rainbow haired girl smiled and raised her right hand. The power from her rings flared. It was a quick estimate but Twilight was positive that this was a five prong Elementalist, and judging by the amount of power and the air, this was the village's most powerful elementalit, Rainbow Dash. But before Twilight could say or ask anything. The wind element ring over her ring finger shot up its power and severed a large piece of the cloud she was just laying on. The water element ring on her thumb flared and the entire Cloud let out a torrential downpour. It certainly clean her but also left her sopping wet. Had her clothes not been Enchanted to keep out general weather she would have been violently angry.

The Elementalist smiled again and again her ring finger flared up and Power. What was nearly a tornado quickly dried her however made an absolute mess of her hair.

"Good as....snrk!..." The Elementalist it was not very good at hiding her amusement.

" people skills Twilight people skills! Remain calm and... snrk!..." Spyke too began to chuckle and laugh.

To her immense credit, Twilight stayed her anger. "Rainbow Dash I assume?..."

"The one and only... what can I do for you?" She proudly puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips.

" it says here on my paper which is now covered in mud but you were supposed to clear the skies hours ago..." Twilight's voice decently hid the anger while she telekinetically gripped the mud and tossed it off the paper which was warded against the elements for reasons very similar to this very situation.

"Oh yeah, no need to worry it'll be done on time..."

"On time was 5 hours ago...."

"Oh quit your whining, clearly you're new to this place otherwise you wouldn't be so concerned... this is Rainbow Dash you're talking to... I have plenty of more important things to do before I take 4 seconds it would take to clear up the skies..."

Twilight scoffed and rolled her eyes. " like what?

But something caught her eyes, she thought it Rainbow Dash's role was solely the weather team, she also took note that a normal member of the weather team would not wear her wind Elemental ring so far down her hand as her ring finger. Her middle finger and index finger held fire and lightning rings. It did not take her long to see that the combination was a military one. That combined with her confidence and her excessive power in elemental magic made the next words out of her mouth very predictable.

"I'm practicing for the Wonderbolt Academy... I am practically the best Elementalist Within 50 miles... heck I'm probably the best Elementalist within a thousand miles... "

Luckily for Twilight she understood that such massive egos were easy to manipulate. "Tough luck impressing anyone... an Elementalist 5 hours late for such a simple easy task... hell I can probably do this before you do. I'll probably have to to seeing that you're obviously incapable of doing so."

A pair of sharp pink eyes narrowed at her "Not very many people have the cojones doubt me... alright new girl, top this"

The rainbow haired elementalist flared her power to an unnatural level. Then like lightning she whipped out her Elemental caster, much like the primitive bow long since abandoned in favor of the easier to attain and much more powerful magical prowess, the elemental caster was like a folded up bow with no string. The string and the arrows would form out of the elementalists own Magic. However a Caster was almost exclusively a combatant's weapon. It was not illegal by any means for an elementalist to have one, it was just highly irregular especially since she was technically on the weather team and she appeared to be using it to do her job.

With a single burst, a flurry of wind arrows blasted apart all the clouds in the sky. It had taken literal seconds. This was a relief to Twilight but also it was very impressive. It was a single matrix spell which cast dozens of wind element arrows at once. Breaking a cloud was not hard, but controlling dozens of attacks spawned from a single spell matrix was something very few elementalists were able to do.

"Well at least you can backup your talk with results..."

"Get used to it purp. I'm kinda a big deal for a reason..."

Again Twilight's eye twitched. " well you have things in control over here I have to move on... "

The rainbow haired girl smiled confidently and without another word she flipped a messy salute and leaped up into a tree and resumed what was clearly a nap.

"List...."

Spyke chuckled floofing his mistresses extremely disorganized and messed up hair before clearing his throat. "Decorations and general festive organization... looking for an enchanter named... oh enchantress! An enchantress named Rarity..."

Twilight sighed and entered the main hall of the town hall calmly despite how rough her time here was so far. She just wanted to get the whole ordeal behind her and not have to worry about whatever this lesson was again. Though to her surprise She could feel her familiar tense up ridged.

"Mistress! Are you seeing what I am seeing? Quick! I know you're a mess but how do I look? Scales? Clean? I... my goodness.. such radiant beauty... it's like the first time I've seen a proper woman..."

He didn't notice Twilight's hand come up before it clamped down over his head. " You know I am a woman too right? I may be still young but I am female and I am still a proper woman... Think about that for a while" Her power flared and the familiar was banished into the ethereal for the moment.

Approaching the figure that Spyke appeared to have been drooling over she did notice the reason he had such a powerful reaction. Her skin was fair as snow and she was radiant, should look as if she could have been descended directly from royalty. However, Twilight's keen senses figure there's something unnatural about it. And it did not take very long to notice the gemstones about the woman's clothes. They were charms. Sharpening her mind Twilight put up a barrier Within to block out the low level charm magic. It seemed odd to her, Twilight could clearly tell that even without the charms this maiden was very beautiful. There had to be a reason why she felt the need to amplify her presence.

" Rarity? I am.."

She didn't get the chance to continue speaking. The young woman turned around and let out a shriek. "Good Heavens girl! What in Tartarus happened to your hair?"

The girl that Twilight guessed was clearly Rarity took Twilight by the arm and with a snap of her fingers, the gemstones within her clothes changed from charms to power amplifiers and just as quickly, she teleported the both of them to a separate location. Normally this would have brought out a hostile response. However living in Canterlot made her quite used to this sort of response from time to time and it was only confirmed when she realized but she had just been teleported into a boutique of some sort.

"I apologize my dear, but this is quite simply an emergency... I don't care who you are someone committed a fashion War crime against your hair..."

Being quite familiar with this sort of behavior and culture Twilight just let it happen, this would not be the first time someone yanked her away to fix something about her hair or clothes. She knew resisting would only make the problem worse, and she did need to get her hair put back into order. Thankfully it was only a few short moments before a surprising amount of expertise and finesse put Twilight's hair back in order.

"Thank you, I assume you are Rarity?"

"Yes darling and I apologize for my sternness but such atrocities are not allowed in my presence."

Twilight had gotten a decent View of what this girl was doing before she was teleported away. Rarity's job had already been completed, and was only becoming more and more fine-tuned as she poured more effort into it. She could move on to the next subject without any problems.

"Well I quite thank you for your assistance, but I was sent here from Canterlot and I just needed to check up on everything here I've got to keep moving considering that you clearly have everything in your areas under control."

The enchantress stopped and her young beautiful eyes widened with clear Joy. "Canterlot?... you are from Canterlot?.. oh goodness this is a treat!"

Suddenly Twilight begin to regret opening her mouth on that subject. She was quite familiar with the culture of the upper class, and easily saw that this was similar but not the same. This was someone who belonged in the upper class but was stuck in a lower class. If she did not act now Twilight would most likely be stuck for the rest of the day trying to escape a bombardment of questions and requests all regarding High Society in Canterlot. So in between Rarity's breaths Twilight took the only chance she could find and teleported away.

_____________

Snapping her fingers her familiar popped back onto her shoulder.

" sorry about that... you were caught up in a charm spell... a charm spell that clearly made you say something you did not mean." There was a growl in her voice before she spoke one more word.

"List!"

Clearing his throat as he glared at her, Spyke looked over the list. "Oh this is an odd one... the local temple has offered to cover the catering..."

"The temple?"

"Aye... the temple... apparently there is a family of warrior priests but have been out of a job for a few Generations... you know... those pesky ages of peace."

"Ah... say no more..."

During the last war, patriotism and loyalty to the crown lead dozens into a pseudo faiths that crafted dozens of various orders and knighthoods. Even a fair amount of guilds. When The War ended, these Warriors had nothing to do. As such they turned their duties towards the people of the land. Most started Farms or orphanages. With a small community like this it was most likely a farm that a local Warrior priest Temple would resort to.

Spike looked over the paper and smiled. "Ordos Poma..."

Twilight coughed and withheld a Snicker. "The order of apples?... seriously?"

"Aye, keep in mind symbolic nature of the Apple. Fruit has always been a personification of Works within a faith. Perhaps this was exactly why their name is the order of apples..." Spyke lifted a claw taking up his 'I'll have you know' stance. Twilight let it slide considering she did just banish him even if it was just for a small handful of minutes.

"Well time will most certainly tell... I imagine that the orchard up ahead is most likely where we are headed..." Twilight breathed a little easier and strode forward with Spyke in tow.

The two of them entered and noticed a great deal of activity. She could easily tell that it had been quite a long time since there was any form of conflict in the land. In one corner of the yard, a mass of old veterans huddled together grumbling. On the other side, almost entirely made up of young adults and children. It was the most unorganized looking group of warriors Twilight had ever seen, and they were all wearing aprons. She could not tell if this was a warrior priest Enclave or a bake sale. The majority of them still wore armor, even underneath their aprons. Most of them were still very physically fit, two of these were clearly at the head of the others.

"Alright ya'll keep them coming... don't slow down fer nothin."

Twilight looked over towards the source of the voice and spotted a female proudly standing tall. She was clearly Young, just around Twilight's age, about 15 or 16. But she was well-muscled and her armor was well shined. Unlike the others she could not properly pass off as a baker that happened to be wearing a set of armor. And beside her was a man that put most of the soldiers she had seen to Shame. Easily six foot eight and not appearing to be bothered in the least for the massive Hammer that hung upon his back that was most likely twice as heavy as Twilight was, these two were clearly either the leaders of the group or just it's best warriors.

Plucking the list from Spyke's claws, Twilight carefully read the name of the contact she was supposed to meet with for this service. "Applejack?..."

The armored girl turned her head and gave a shout. Almost instantly the rest of the workers quickly shed their aprons and lined up. Considering the less than 'ready for Duty' condition of most of the bodies in front of her, the amount of discipline was rather High in the ranks. It was more than she needed, for all Twilight cared they could be wallowing around in the mud so long as they got the job done right. However her perception allowed her to see that despite the age of peace, these people still held firm to their traditions and martial discipline.

"Ordos Poma at yer service ma'am!... ah assume yer are the one sent from Canterlot?.."

Twilight was quite pleased with this one. She didn't feel the need to run away and was not covered in mud. So far so good. "That I am... upon the request of the arch-mage herself..."

"Blessid sun! It's an honor Ma'am! The Ordos Poma has unfortunately declined in its combat prowess as a whole, but in a time of peace it is understandable, and though it is a time of peace, we are all still here. We have artificers, paladins, clerics, templars, monks, priests, and more... granted the only action we have had in the past 2 Generations is what you see here before you..." She chuckled pointing at the feast still in preparation before swatting one of the warrior monks on the gut that hung out over his belt, just another reminder of what an age of peace did to warriors.

"Very good, I am both confident and impressed.. carry on, I need to continue."

"Pardon the request sugar cube but won't ye be staying to sample the feast?... Sure it aint as fancy as what you find up in the capital, but this Paladin out fights and out cooks ever order in the land!.. ye just got to stay at least fer a while..."

Twilight was indeed hungry and was not entirely opposed to the idea of staying even if the overly welcome Paladin was a bit overbearing in her opinion. " I'm sorry I just have to keep going I have a list and a schedule to follow..."

There was a soft whimper and she looked over just in time to see something that drained her soul. The girl must have been just barely old enough to have started her training. But clearly she was dressed as an artificer's Apprentice. The light of joy and Hope was quickly fading from her large expressioned eyes. Eyes like a puppy.

"Please miss?... I worked really hard on my cobbler..."

At the risk of having her soul shatter Twilight gave in and sat down at the nearby table. Instantly she was greeted with the cheers of joy and celebration.

"...ugh....list..."

Her belly was a little too full. Every time she had finished sampling one dish, a precious set of puppy eyes begged her to sample another. It was practically an endless cycle and now she was trying to review spells for some slight relief for her stomach pains.

"Aye... this is an odd one. Supposedly a local druid was requested to put together an animal Orchestra... we should find her out here near the edge of town."

"Animal Orchestra?... are you certain?..."

"That's what the list says..."

"So are we to expect something cutesy and pathetic or masterful? Only the most well known animal Tamers in the entire nation have ever been able to do anything remotely close to a successful musical number with animals. Everything else is most likely going to be a few children putting on a play with their pets dressed up..."

" it's a list not a documentary... all I know is what and sometimes who we're looking for."

Twilight was going to ask more but she got her answer in a surprisingly delightful way. A stunningly beautiful voice sang out in Flawless rhythm. A accompanying it was a chorus of birds. It was almost as if it was out of the old Legends and tales. However it's stopped abruptly and a figure dressed in yellow and green scrambled, nearly leaping behind a tree.

"Umm... are you ok?..."

The silence was almost deafening but Twilight tried it again. "I don't quite understand what you're trying to do.... I already saw you..."

The figure stepped back out, it was clear that the young Maiden did not get out much. She looked like the type to do her best to hide from the world despite having very useful and even beautiful talents. Not to mention her outfit clearly pegged her as a druid. Like the legendary maiden's of the forest. The only thing that came to mind when looking at her was a hidden Beauty and Grace.

Twilight snatched up the list again and searched for a name. However, this time she was not as lucky. Instead she just stared onward

"...h..hi.."

"Um...hello.. I am Twilight, I was sent here to see how the orchestra was going... clearly you have that under control, it was quite beautiful if you don't mind, what's your name?... it's missing from the paperwork but taking a look around I don't see very many other Druids, much less Druids practicing an animal Orchestra."

Twilight calmly watched the young druid who did her best not to make eye contact. She did however attempt to speak. 'Attempt' to speak. All that Twilight could make out was hushed tones that sounded like it was the beginning of a introduction.

"....ok...then... miss druid... you keep up the good work..."

She turned about understanding that some people just needed space. This girl was obviously an extreme introvert, she just hope that the girl would be able to do her job As the list Implied She would.

"Well mistress.... that's all of them... I guess we can turn in for the night... the arcanaeum reserved the room in the local library for youuuu...ah... hello there..."

Twilight turned back around in confusion at Spyke's latest words. And there she saw the Druid, just staring in awe and joy. Large expressioned eyes and barely contained joy. "A dragon familiar!.. I've never seen one before!... he is so cute!"

Spyke blushed smoothing his claws over his frilled spikes. "I am rather appealing to the eye if I do say so myself... glad someone finally notices.."

"Ah! He talks.. this is so wonderful!"

"The stories I could tell lass..."

"Spyke!... library?" She held up her hand as if requesting a physical object from him.

"Cant miss it, center of the town, old oak tree grown into a library."

He turned his attention back to the druid. "And what is your name lass?..."

"Oh!... I am Fluttershy, s...sorry about before. I just don't spend much time with anyone but the animals...d...do you mind talking with me.. I would like to know more about you and dragon familiars..."

"Well certainly... it's quite flattering to have someone interested in me... for once... what would you like to know?"

She smiled happily and spoke a single word.

"Everything!"

Twilight groaned loudly.

Chapter 3

"And that!... is how Equestria was made!"

wilight was on the verge of tearing her hair out. Listening to her familiar talking endlessly to some shy obnoxious druid for the past half-hour was more than just playing on her patience. But finally after poking around a little bit she was now finally in front of the only library in Ponyville.

"All right now, I know you two have had a good long talk but I have to get to sleep... and I'm sure that you have plenty of Druid things to do... so if you don't mind..." She opened the door and stepped inside giving the soft wave goodbye before firmly pulling the door shut.

"Blessid Sun... I thought I'd never get out of there alive."

The slightest shift in the air causes her to whip about quickly, bringing to bear her staff, conjured to her fingertips in the blink of an eye. However, it was not a foe she was dealing with. It was something much worse.

"SURPRIIIIIISE!!!!!!"

Twilight had nearly leveled the place with one magical blast, but when the lights came on and she realized that it was full of plenty of the townspeople with a very large Banner overhead reading *welcome to Ponyville*. Seeing all of this, there was a tickling temptation to use the magical blast anyway.

"Welcome to Ponyville!"

It was the same Jester that they had seen when they first arrived in ponyville. The same one that screamed in horror and ran off.

Twilight's eye twitched heavily. "...thanks... I guess..."

Twilight I was very unsure of the whole situation. She most certainly was not one for parties and this was no exception. At the moment, she needed a bath and then to quite simply go to sleep. She had been booted off to some trivial task by her teacher, practically force-fed more food than she could handle, splashed with mud then soaked with water and blasted dry, insulted by her own familiar, reminded of her least favorite part of equestrian culture as if it was the best thing since the construction of the arcanaeum, and finally annoyed to no end by an excessively shy introverted druid wanting to know everything and then some about a dragon that should have had very little to say. And now there was a party in her honor that she wanted nothing to do with. Had this not been the only place she could fall asleep she would have simply teleported away.

"I saw you this morning! I was super surprised because I didn't know you! And the moment I saw you I knew right away that I had to go and prepare a welcome to Ponyville party! Because I know everyone in Ponyville. And if I don't know you and you're here in Ponyville that means you're new! As such the planets aligned and the heavens parted! And the Declaration was as thus! I must have a party for this newcomer!"

"Newcomer? You did all of this and you don't even know my name?..."

The jester smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "Of course I Know Who You Are, you are Twilight Sparkle. My friends told me!"

She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at a tall Paladin, a rainbow haired Elementalist, a beautiful enchantress and a shy druid who looked like she was pulled in from outside forcefully. The fact she was amongst the crowd seemed to haunt her.

".... I see..." She grumbled in a low tone and she plucked one of the random bottles off of the beverage table and poured herself a glass. The pink-haired jester continued blabbering on constantly and the only thing that Twilight Really caught was the fact that her name was Pinkie Pie. That and the fact that she did not appear to even need to breath with how much was coming out of her mouth.

"Really it's quite amazing... " Her tone was dripping with sarcasm before she took a long sip from her cup. Which of course she instantly regretted. Doing her best not to instantly spit whatever it was out Twilight instantly made a mad dash for the bathroom.

Pinkie Pie giggled taking one of the cupcakes off the table and splashing the Muerte Roja hot sauce from Twilight's cup onto the cupcake and practically swallowing it whole. "Yummies!"

" Moon damn it!"

Twilight lifted her head off of her pillow trying to gather enough concentration to double the sound dampening field around her. Admittedly she only discovered this spell within the library a few days previous and this is the first time she actually had the chance and the desire to use it. She was both embarrassed and absolutely livid at the fact that she didn't already have mastery over it. Mostly because of the party still rocking on in the Next Room. "You would think that they would cancel the party once the guest of honor has left or at least made it clear that they don't want a party!..."

"It's not all that bad mistress..." Spyke slithered up her bedpost and laughed. " I happen to know that you're not allergic to having fun... okay so I don't actually know for certain but it won't hurt to try and find out... just go out there and..."

He was cut off as Twilight banish him for the rest of the night and instantly went back to trying to double the power of the spell.

Waking up after a solid 3 hours of sleep, Twilight was not happy. She woke up just in time to see Spyke returning from his banishment.

"Mistress you have got to stop doing that!... not only is it very rude, but I am your familiar for a reason! Being banished hurts you as much as it does me. I'm more than just an assistant..."

Twilight sighed and rubbed her brow. "I am sorry Spyke... it's just been an exceedingly stressful 24 hours. And I know you're not always the most perceptive individual but you should have known very easily that I was not happy about this party. Let's just go to the Celebration and forget all about everything that has transpired... I honestly have no idea why in Equestria the archmage has done this to me... maybe I pissed her off or something."

Spyke sighed and slithered of her leg perching on her shoulder. He knew well that she had social problems, and despite how inconvenient it was for him he was not so much angry at her treatment of him, he was her familiar and he was charged as per magical contract to protect her with his life. He may have been an infant of his species but he owed his existence to the girl he was currently perched on.

"Aye mistress... I am sorry you didn't have a better time and I should have tried harder to make the experience better for you."

She gently pet the top of his head. "Don't be so hard on yourself, despite how terribly you failed, you were trying to help me and I appreciate it..."

Without another word they prepared for their day.

Slowly making her way through the crowds, Twilight rubbed her temples. The crowd's murmuring was already enough to drive her up the wall with a small amount of sleep she had. However the problem she was suffering from what's the return of Pinkie Pie the jester. She had seen just enough of the pink haired girl to notice that she did have some potent Magic, which technically made her a Trickster mage and not a jester. However it was blatantly clear that she was an Entertainer and not a combatant. Not that it was vital to it being worth her time, it just made Twilight a little less confident in her time here being of use.

"The party last night was great! It would have been better if you weren't being such a grumpy pants!"Pinkie's words were followed by happy giggles. But the Trickster mage was promptly pulled back by the Paladin Applejack. This ease Twilight's nerves a little more, the same sort of ease she knew she needed, the same sort of ease she decided to take by leaving her familiar behind for the night much to his objections.

"Sorry about the fuss sugar cube. Pinkie throws a party at every chance she gets, it just gets worse if you try to postpone or Escape it. We learned it's probably just best to let it happen and apologize later." The Paladin was much easier for Twilight to deal with at the moment, unlike the jester she actually understood the concept of personal space, and seemed rather respectable, perhaps a little too proud of her family and their work, but that was something that she could easily understand.

"Don't worry too much about it it's just one night of sleep I lost out on... soon the celebration will be over and I can go back to Canterlot." She smiled despite her utterly exhausted state. Her eyes poked about picking out just about everyone she had met the day before from the crowd.

The crowd's murmuring looked like it was going to continue forever, at least until the mayor of the town begin to speak welcoming everyone. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, we are eternally pleased to for the first time in a great many years, the summer solstice, the Summer sun celebration is to be held within our Halls. We will feast and revel in the enjoyment of this holiday. For the immortal Arch mage herself has chosen this little town to be graced with her very presence. So without further to do, I give you the sole reason that our nation stands... our Eternal protector, our princess, and guardian... archmage Celestia!"

The curtains pulled back with the Beautiful Singsong tone of birds and trumpets. However the balcony that was lavishly decorated and the throne that had been hastily transported from the capital which Now set upon said balcony was in fact empty.

At first there was a lot of shrugs then a small murmur began to spread. Quickly turning into a soft spike of fear. Something had gone wrong.

" remain calm everyone she is our eternal Guardian... literally the most powerful individual in the entire world, I am sure she is fine..."

As the mayor continued to speak a sickly dark Mist rolled in, twirling and crackling with Arcane Magic. Twilight gulped and grit her teeth, hoping with all her heart that this was a joke.

The Mist formed over the throne and with a burst of power shattered it. When the Mist cleared, the Shadows throughout the entire building shimmered and danced without even the slightest change in lighting. There amongst the shattered fragments of The Golden Throne stood an individual as beautiful as she was powerful. It was like she was the literal embodiment of Shadows and darkness. And off of her back floating gently and majestically, the sign of immortality. Solid black Arcane wings. Solidified just like the power of the archmage. Very few within history have even been able to begin to achieve such a level of power that would create literal and physical wings out of the latent magical powers flowing off of an individual.

"Hello Equestria... I do hope you didn't miss me too much... "

The mayor gasped and threw an accusing finger up at the figure. "Where is the archmage?!"

"Why hello to you too peasant, the common decency towards royalty sure has declined in the past Thousand Years. If you're looking for the archmage you're not going to find her... for some obvious reasons."

She hefted a massive double-bladed sword with a grin. A grin that all the Royal Guards did not care for.

"SEIZE HER!"

Four guards at once rushed the dark figure. Twilight almost didn't have time to scream her warning. "NO YOU FOOLS STAY BACK!"

The blade twirled and thankfully only Magic Flowed off of it. Not so thankfully, All 4 elite guards blasted in all four directions. Their armor was smoldering and their weapons were shattered.

"Did you fools really forget who I was?... this whole time you borderline worship that tyrant weakling and you forget who I am?..."

Her body dissolve into mist and she flowed down into the ground trailing off long tendrils of smoke that slowly rolled across the floor. Beautiful sharp inhuman eyes opened in the darkness and the power moved outward gently nudging the frightened villagers who did their best to stagger back.

There was a sudden burst of energy from Pinkie Pie as she was about to begin blabbering on and a massive guessing game as to this mysterious figure was but as if it was foretold ages before. Apple Jack saw it coming and crammed the largest Apple she could into the girl's mouth to shut her up. The Paladin was no fool. She could feel the tension in the air and the ungodly level of power radiating from this magical woman. So to keep a lot of death from happening, she remained silent.

"I know Who You Are..."

The dark figure smiled and turned about facing the voice that had just spoken. In turn Twilight narrowed her eyes and spoke once again. "The dark God of nightmares and the Moon. Shadows incarnate... Darkness and dominance... you are Nightmare Moon... Here to plunge the world into darkness eternal..."

"Finally one of these peasants remembers me..." Nightmare Moon smiled and twirled her great blade once in her hands before floating up to Twilight until she was face-to-face with the much younger and much less powerful girl. Twilight did her best to maintain her Stern face, but she could feel the power wafting off of this individual. Never before in her life that she felt so small. And looking into the deep cyan eyes she could tell that the monster in front of her knew how she felt and reveled in it.

"Cute little thing, smart too... I'll tell you what, I have things to do, so why don't you do me a favor and inform these Petty ignorant fools of exactly what is expected of them... and when I come back... I won't kill the lot of you." She smiled and her power crackled before she turned into a mass of Dark Mist which nearly instantly exploded and shot out through every possible exit in the building. Twilight's response was also just as quick as nightmare Moon's exit.

"....Crap..."

Chapter 4

"Moon damn it!...Elements elements!..."

Twilight dug through the books at the library. It was her first time actually going through this Library, if she had to guess, she would say that this Library without a librarian for several years. It looks like it was poorly alphabetized and had no real system for finding the things she needed.

"Looking for something purps?"

Twilight spun around only to come face to face with an Elementalist arrow notched on its caster. "Ok.. first get that out of my face Rainbow brat!... second why are you calling me 'purp'?" She glared past the caster at Rainbow Dash.

"Not until you tell us what is going on?... and it's the hair really..."

Spyke growled, slithering up Twilight's back and putting himself in the path of the arrow with a low seething hiss. However the situation was thankfully defused when a large sword clanged loudly against iron wrapped knuckles.

"Calm down sugar cube... she ain't done nothin wrong... and you know a witch hunt is not what we need right now..." Applejack sternly glared at Rainbow Dash with her two handed sword ready to stop a fight with brute force if needed.

"You know something is wrong when the Paladin is trying to stop a witch hunt... fine... but we are getting an explanation!" Rainbow Dash lowered her caster and moved to the side. "Aye purp... what's the story?... where is the archmage and how did you know all about that creepy dark chick?"

"Quit calling me that! And it's because I read history... that is Nightmare Moon... you know like from Nightmare Night... THAT nightmare... yes the dark God...." It took a few seconds but Twilight picked five forms out of the darkened room. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were not even trying to hide, honestly only the druid was hiding. Clearly she was terrible at it. But the other two were here as well.

"Well then darling I don't suppose you know what to do next? ... I mean the Dark God and missing archmage... we are kinda... um..."

Pinkie Pie popped up beside the enchantress with a happy grin. "Screwed!"

"Yes... thank you Pinkie, that was exactly as graceful as I wanted it to sound..."

"I'm still a little unsure of everything at the moment... however there is a few things to take in..." Twilight cleared her throat and held up her hands

"The archmage is gone! We have no idea where she is, and currently, the dark God of nightmares is here... even the archmage was incapable of defeating the dark God... she only managed it with some sort of extremely powerful artifact from the old world, something called The Elements of Harmony. So that's why I am here in the library digging through all this unorganized crap instead of organizing and mobilizing the army... that is if I actually have that much Authority to begin with. I am the personal Protege of the archmage. However, that just means I'm a student. I don't actually have any Authority other than the permissions granted to me by the archmage... and all that is is an advanced Library pass. So at the moment we are here looking for information on something we're probably never going to find, and something that probably takes power that is equivalent to at least the archmage in order to use. So if any of you have the power to chuck the sun through space that would certainly be a load off my mind. But until any of you develop that kind of power and control how about you all shut up and help me look for the damn book!"

"Elements of harmony and other old world artifacts?" Pinkie Pie giggled looking over a book in her hands. Twilight was there in an instant grabbing it from her hands.

"Where was it?..."

"Under E duh...."

Twilight growled and Spyke pat her head. "People skills mistress people skills...."

Twilight sighed and opened the book quickly skimming from page to page. "It's got to be in here somewhere..."

The others watched carefully until Rarity posed the question. "Exactly what is it we are looking for in a book?"

Twilight did not even bother to Take her eyes off the book's pages. "Right now the longest shot I can think of is our only choice, we have to find the elements of harmony, and their last known location is... oh dear... the possessed Everfree forest..."

Fluttershy instantly locked up just as all the others had varying responses, from a smile at the idea of such a challenge all the way to the questionable sanity of just giggling.

"Alright Purp... when are we heading out?..."

"Stop calling me that.... and 'we' are not going anywhere... 'I' am heading out immediately.."

To even Spyke's surprise, she plucked him off her shoulder and to materialize her staff before grabbing a bag with various supplies. However one such Paladin stood in her way.

"Sugar cube... you may think that this is a you thing and only a you thing, but in case you didn't notice we live in Equestria too. The military is freaking out and running in circles out there, its most likely not going to be of any help. All the while you need soldiers, now Rainbow and I here are decent Fighters. Pinkie is weird but as resourceful as they come, you won't find a better healer for another hundred miles than Fluttershy. And if you need to talk your way out of a situation, Rarity is your girl. Also to the point, we are not letting you leave without us. I know you want to do this alone but it is our home in danger too. So either you accept our help or we are running ahead without you."

Twilight looked up into Applejack's eyes for a moment. "You wouldn't even know where t.."

"The ancient castle two sisters, abandoned 1000 years ago nearly to this day, directly east with a slight variation to the north of six kilometers."

Twilight looked over at Pinkie who was giggling happily at the book. "That information is in the first century equestrian! The number of people who are supposed to be capable of reading that outside of Canterlot should be able to be counted on a single hand... how the living?..."

"More resourceful than you think sugar cube... now 'we' are going out to find these elements... and 'we' are graciously inviting 'you' to come along..."

Twilight let out a long sigh rubbing her temples. "Fine...but I swear!... if y.."

Applejack held up a finger to Twilight's lips. "No sugar cube, we swear... I am a paladin. My word is stronger than steel, it is the foundation of my soul. And I swear to you that we will do our best on this mission."

To Twilight's surprise the next voice that spoke with Fluttershy's.

"We all swear, I have to be honest, this scares me a lot, but not as much as living in a world ruled by the god of nightmares. And it's the right thing to do. I will go with you if it means that our world will become that much safer. I think I speak for us all when I say this..."

The whole group nodded in agreement. It actually made Twilight feel a little bit better but still a bit skeptical. "Spyke... keep sending letters to Canterlot. Relay what has happened here and what we're trying to do. Use the recent Renditions of encryption and codes. None of the old stuff. And keep trying, don't stop for anything. We have no idea what kind of steps that the nightmare God has taken to securing this land for herself. The best we can do is just keep trying."

The small dragon look like he was mortally wounded. He desperately wanted to go along with his master on this Quest, but she was right. Someone needed to be here and someone needed to do all they could to secure Communications across the entire nation. Without a word he nodded and regurgitated his quill. The others prepared.

"Oh bleeding Tartarus... is it just me or did the haunted forest become twice as haunted?..." Applejack looked into the Everfree and Rainbow Dash chuckled.

" I never thought the Paladin would be the first to be scared off." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

Applejack grumbled and drew her sword, a massive two-handed blade with a large fire rune etched cross the entire length of the blade. It was not the best piece that Twilight had ever seen but it was most certainly a very powerful weapon, one that clearly looks like it had been passed down from a previous generation.

"Well ladies?... are we ready?" Pinkie happily fist pumped

"Hell no but that's not going to stop us." Rainbow's Powers flared high and from the tattoos under her boots, her wind Elemental wings sprouted lifting her off the ground.

All together all six of the young girls entered the forest.

The forest seemed to make the girls fight for every inch. What looked to be a flawlessly clear path through the woods near instantly become a thicket of razor like thorn bushes. But Applejack's sword made quick work of such obstacles.

"So any idea exactly how we're going to use these elements darling?" Rarity carefully stepped over each mess on the ground, surprisingly her grace came in handy and she did not slow the group down, even with her fussing about the condition of her dress.

"I'm still trying to figure that out, the book wasn't exactly clear on it.. it just gave some cryptic riddle. I am sure that things will become much more clear once we find the damn things." Twilight struggled for footing near the edge of the cliff with some level of annoyance.

There was a sudden Extremely Loud crack and crumble. As if it was out of a bad dream, the ground underneath them literally gave way. Twilight knew that they were standing near a cliff side. However, she did not quite realize that the cliff ledge far overextended itself. The ground had been walking on was only a few feet thick and was already under its own weight ready to crumble.

Everything seemed to happen at once. Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed Rarity by the arms, she was the closest and quickly Elementalist Powers allowed her to pick the enchantress up and pull her back from the cliff. Fluttershy despite being a shaman was still from the Pegasus tribe, though it was a little bit surprising, the Elementalist wings popped from her ankles and she grabbed on to the nearest person to her. Pinkie Pie. However, lacking the strength to actually carry the girl back up the cliff, she settled for giving Pinkie Pie a slow ride down the cliff, almost like a parachute.

The two unfortunate ones however, did not fare so well. Applejack went over the side of the cliff first, instantly spinning as hard as she could, the Paladin planted her blade into the side of the cliff with one hand as the other hand shot out and grasped a falling Twilight. Grabbing onto the paladins hand as well as she, could her momentum proved troublesome even for the durable Paladin. Twilight and Applejack's arms came taut and there was a loud pop, Applejack let out a scream through tightly clenched teeth but she did not let go.

It took a moment before Twilight got over dangling over the sheer cliff before she looked back up and noticed the paladins arm was bent at an odd angle. Despite having severely hyper-extended her arm, Applejack still held tightly onto Twilight, supporting all Twilight's weight on the damaged limb.

"Sugar cube... I hate to be a bother but we have to find a solution to this very quickly..." Apple Jacks eyes darted back and forth trying to find some sort of solution, the pain over her face was very clear and her grip even seemed to weaken by the second.

"I agree, just please For the love of all that is holy do not freaking drop me!"

Applejack's hand trembled and even with the blatant severe pain clear on her face, a glimmer of hope showed up in her eyes. "Alright sugarcube.... I see the solution and I know you're not going to like it but I need you to let go... "

Twilight's eyes widened do the size of saucer plates. "Are you bloody crazy I'm not letting go for anything!"

Applejack's voice leveled despite the pain. "Sugar you're just going to have to trust me. The time it will take to explain and make you believe it is too much. I cant hold on for that long."

Grunting in pain he began to sway Twilight back and forth gaining momentum, this of course was quickly inducing horror for Twilight. "How in Tartarus am I going to trust you when your plan is to drop me off a cliff?"

"Twilight... girl... I am a paladin, I live by Oaths and creeds. It is the foundation of my very soul, I am the very last person that will lie to you or anyone for that matter. If you can't have faith in my word then have faith in the generations honor that my family have served this country. I came on this mission to find the literal God of nightmares, and I'm not going to stop here. I just need you to trust me, I wont let you die."

Applejack's pleading eyes betrayed no sense of trickery and despite how much it pained Twilight she finally nodded. "Alright but I swear, if this ends up killing me I am going to haunt you for the rest of eternity!"

Gaining a little more momentum Applejack finally released Twilight who in turn released her grip on Applejack's hand. This however did not mean she fell silently. Screaming and flailing she only fell 5 feet before Rainbow Dash zoomed in at top speeds to catch her. Due to the shape of the cliff she would not have been able to do so had Twilight not received the extra momentum to the side.

The trip down was short and it did not take long before Twilight was back on Solid Ground. "Oh sweet Celestia's holy tush! Don't ever do that again! But still thank you so much!"

Applejack's sword sank into the ground just a few feet from Twilight. And following suit Applejack slowly fluttered to the ground with Fluttershy guiding her.

Carefully bracing her wrist between her feet Applejack drove a balled up fist into her elbow and with a loud crack she corrected the hyperextension. Needless to say she did not remain silent about it, but surprisingly she did not curse. "Oh lovely... that was... all kinds of fun. Fluttershy sugar cube, care to help me I kind of need this arm."

Without any delay, Fluttershy quickly began to heal the paladin's arm, fussing over seeing her friend hurt all the while. However, she did not get very far before the next problem set in.

The roar was deafening, and everyone who did not jump five feet in the air from fright simply toppled over.

“A little faster with the arm sugar cube… I would much appreciate it…”

“To late farm girl!” Rainbow Dash flared her power and released a torrent of fire and lightning from her caster at a large blur that blasted out from the woods. However, the impressive attack did very little to even slow the creature down and she was forced to dive to one side.

Twilight quickly teleported twenty feet to one side, she was already extremely high strung from the near death but that only served to make her even more on point with her reflexive avoidance.

Applejack and Fluttershy on the other hand had to take a far less graceful route. Placing her boot against Fluttershy’s chest Applejack pushed hard sending Fluttershy up and out of the way letting her catch herself in the air with her elemental wings all the while, Applejack barely managed to use that same momentum to roll back and uproot her sword with one hand, Even if the beast's claws lit sparks off the armor on the paladin's back no one was hurt in the initial charge.

Wind, fire, and lightning arrows pecked away at the back of the massive beast that had finally came to a stop for just enough time for them all to see it was an adult manticore. Rainbow Dash released an unrelenting assault on the beast, though surprisingly it did very little but anger the creature which turned and lunged at her viciously.

Upon landing just three feet short of biting the rainbow haired elementalist in half, it promptly received a heavy arcane blast to the face. Turning to swipe at Twilight who teleported back out of reach the beast then received a heavy fiery blow to the back from the paladin who dove over the swiping paw and then under the slashing poison tipped tail. It whipped about again ready to pounce just as a smoke bomb exploded it its face and a large rock in Pinkie’s hands crashed over its head. Yet again, this did not phase the beast. Instead the creature seemed to just rear back and slash at the little trickster. Pinkie however, was far too agile and seemed to carry an obscene amount of situational awareness and what could only possibly be luck.

“Quick! Surround it… this bad boy is tough but if we keep attacking we will wear it down!” Rainbow Dash leveled her caster at it charging an elemental blast four times the usual size, however something unexpected occurred.

“STOP!!!!” Roots shot up from the ground and cut off angles of attack for the group. Pulling her staff out of the ground Fluttershy held up her hands as if demanding peace. “Wait… please… just let me try…”

The others gave her a look which clearly implied they were concerned about the girl’s sanity. The look intensified as she approached the massive beast. Which gave a ground shaking roar as it raised a set of claws and swiped at her.

Rainbow’s caster doubled in power again and she took aim at the beast’s throat and almost got the shot off before Fluttershy shouted again.

“WAIT!!!”

Her forearm bled from the deep lacerations but the druid seemed to utterly refuse to attack the massive beast.

As if sensing ulterior motive the beast drew back its claws and stared at the girl. She smiled warmly despite her injured arm. “Don’t worry little guy, I can feel it, even if they can't.”

She extended her hand and touched his paw. Turning over the massive set of claws that nearly just cost the girl her very life she gently smoothed her fingers over a rune that looked like it had just been burned into the beast’s paw.

“He is cursed, it’s a pain and anger rune. Very old, I have only seen this once before. It’s a relic of an older and crueler time. Luckily this one was poorly applied.” With a wave of her hand, water trickled from her staff and swirled around the rune before her magic seeped into the magical brand and removed it.

“Good boy, now you go on, if you get hurt again, you have my scent, come and find me. I will heal you.”

She stepped back and only when the beast turned and happily pounced off into the underbrush did she turn to heal her own arm.

“Wow… seriously…” Twilight approached calmly. “We could have fought him… I mean I have no idea why he was so durable, but we could have fought him. We were doing pretty good. You did not need to take such a risk.”

She only smiled and turned back to her friends. Slowly she came back over to Applejack and resumed healing her arm. “Sure, you could have, and it was rather reckless to try what I did. But fighting was not necessary either. Yes, he attacked first, and it is just to end the life of something that would kill indiscriminately. The value of one life does not outweigh the life of another, and most certainly not the lives of six… We could have fled too. That would have been quite merciful, but sometimes you just need a little love. It is not justice or mercy that tames the pain of despair or the fires of hate. Its Grace, only compassion and love can do that.”

She smiled and withdrew her hands from Applejack’s elbow which the paladin promptly flexed and bent to check the condition. “Thanks Sugar cube… it’s a little sore but I am ready and able.”

The paladin smiled happily. She was just as surprised as Twilight on Fluttershy’s words.

“Well… I guess we learn something every day…come on now… we still have a ways to go…” The group moved forward still a bit cautious. The trip almost killed them twice already and they were only a half hour into it. The further they traversed into the forest the thicker the plants became.

“Whoa… wait up… something… something is wrong…”

They had not seen the sky for five minutes now, and it felt like something was crawling up their spine. Shivers and cold breaths. Every step forward felt like another step down the throat of some massive beast.

Twilight’s logical mind quickly went to work trying to root out what the problem was. It did not take long to figure out something was very wrong. Despite the fact that she could not locate any physical danger, there was a creeping fear that ate away at her, and it was apparent on even the two resident warrior’s faces.

“Twilight… something… something is…” Applejack started but stuttered breathlessly as if with her last step something knocked the breath clean out of her. And that is when she dropped to her knees and began to scream.

As if it was the last straw the others began to fall as well. Whatever it was it seeped at the edge of Twilight’s vision and suddenly like a violent flood it struck her. Images of horrid nightmares shot out at her from every angle. She fought hard to maintain some semblance of sanity as she found the it. Her knees contacted the muddy ground as she shivered in fear. barely able to hold it back, the terror was relentless and she was staring plainly at the cause.

At the base of the tree in front of her and again on a rock a little further away. As if even placed across this section of the forest, fear wards were deeply imprinted throughout the woods. She struggled with a counter spell but fumbled as the last of her resistance gave way and her mouth opened in an endless scream as her worst nightmares came out to consume her.

But suddenly her vision cleared and she heard a rich hearty laughter. In the depths of this madness and pain. Someone was laughing, and it was not the malicious laughter of some madman. Nor was it the laughter of insanity, thought under the conditions Twilight would have figured it would have had to have been. No, this voice was soft and playful. And its mere presence was eating away at the fear wards.

“Oh, you girls get up, silly…HA!! This one kinda looks like a smiley face! “ Pinkie Pie tapped the rune and giggled to herself as Twilight watched with amazement as the ward began to fade. She was unsure if the laughter was contagious or if she was actually going insane but she too slowly began to laugh. With her eyes shut she felt something warm inside her replacing the fear. Dissolving it as if it were ice under the flow of boiling water. Taking a chance, she embraced the warmth and opened up in hearty laughter. By the time she opened her eyes all the girls were busy laughing and rolling back trying to catch their breath.

“whew… wh..what in Tartarus was that?” Applejack struggled to stand still trying to shrug off the giggles.

“Silly, I was saving you guys from yourselves. Fear and despair are traps, but they are traps of the heart. Fear like this is of your own making, it only has as much power as you give it. You can choose to revel in fear and lose yourself in worries and pain or you can choose something greater. You can choose to be happy, or choose to focus on what hurts. Focusing on such things makes you afraid and brings you pain. Life can always be worse, trust me I know, I have seen things, but Joy is something you make for yourself and for others. It’s an option, even if there is no reason for it you can always choose happiness over fear.” The Jester smiled and happily hopped and pranced her way back down the path laughing at any new fear wards they encountered.

Twilight stared blankly rubbing her cheeks, her mouth literally hurt from all the smiling and laughing. "That girl is either crazy as hell or she is one of the wisest people I have met…”

he others nodded and all together they chased after Pinkie Pie.

Another half hour down the path and they ran into a rather serious problem. They were walking through a rather small valley with only one exit and unfortunately they could clearly hear what clearly sounded like a dragon rampaging down that path. It was the only path they could take unless they wanted to add another 4 hours to the trek, 4 hours of being flown one by one up cliffs and through caves and around the stalking grounds of big predators.

“Ok… Any plans for a fully grown rampaging dragon? And no Fluttershy I am not going to let you try and snuggle it into submission, this is a dragon. You know, the literal fire breathing apex predator of death and domination.”

They all nodded in agreement and interestingly Fluttershy seemed to be in agreement as well.

“But this does not mean we cannot try and reason with it… just be ready for the fight of your life…”

They moved forward with caution and before they could even see the great beast a set of claws big enough to uproot a house slashed back the trees in front of them all. A deep bellowing voice roared at them. “YOU COME TO STEAL AND DEFILE AS WELL?”

Twilight took one look up at the beast and cringed. “Crap…”

The beast’s mouth opened and Twilight instantly covered her ears. Witnessing the impulsive movements of what they could possibly consider to be their leader, the other girls did the same and were rewarded with a far less painful experience. But painful none the less.

It was a Water dragon, specifically it was a Harpy Serpent. Much unlike an actual harpy, these beasts were known for their cunning and stunning beauty. Yet at the same time much like a harpy, they were very well known for their powerful voice. Instead of breathing fire, their voice could either hypnotize or in this case cause very intense sonic blasts.

When the blast ended, Twilight stood up and still wincing in pain she put on her best smile.

“No, we are no thieves, you should know by our scent, we have never been here before. But we are trying to rid ourselves of quite a problem maker. It is what has brought us up here, I do not suppose we can assist you and perhaps in return, you can grant us safe passage across your territory?”

Twilight nearly wet herself as the massive claws dug into the ground with a slam as the Serpent closed the gap between them in an instant. “Do you are you truly ignorant enough to think you can replace what was defiled?... let’s see this then…and if you fail, mark my words I shall consume you all…”

Twilight groaned, she did not want to get herself into this sort of a mess. “Yes, we shall do our best… I assure you, we are no foe of yours. Please, let us try to help.”

She begged whatever Deity was listening that it was a simple task, or at the very least not impossible.

The Dragon rose to its full height and smoothed back to a deeper part of the water until he came over a small island. His voice rang out in a deep sorrowful song which nearly drove them all to tears. The beast was very capable of showing his emotions through his sonic powers.

Massive claws meant for slashing and tearing beasts fifty times the size of a man, gently unveiled a small egg on the little island. However, the egg was not the focus of what seemed to be bothering the beast. “It is all I have left of her, Our unborn child… and… this…”

As his claws drew back further, they finally saw it. It was like a blanket, only woven from silk. The silk that was a female Dragon’s mane.

“Oh… your poor dear… this… this is unforgivable…” The dragon looked down at Rarity who had gotten a lot closer than the other. With utter grace and beauty, the enchantress closed the gap and kneeled upon the stones looking over the blanket. The masterfully woven piece was torn violently in half. It was clearly and disrespectfully violated. Whoever did this intended for it to be done so disrespectfully. “This is desecration, Vile and horrid desecration of something pure…you poor beast… I have not the capability to reverse the damage… but I can only give to you what I hold so valued.”

The Dragon’s eyes sharpened as she held out her hand and her gemstones floated up and formed a dagger. The Dragon was now on alert and clearly ready to eat the enchantress if she did anything to his unborn child. Though instead she drew the knife across her own long luscious hair creating an ugly uneven slash through it. She then quickly with her own magic, raised the damaged blanket and wove her own hair into it. When she was done she placed it upon the egg with the utmost grace.

“I have given you what matters most to me… My beauty will return in time, but I have given back to you and your child what was taken, I deeply apologize if my beauty was not enough to measure up to that of your love…But a child nor a father should be without the memory of the love of a mother or wife… I feel shallow, but my beauty is one of the only things I have, and I pray that it will be enough to remind your child that they are loved none the less.” She smiled warmly and the dragon stared with wide eyes.

You … you would do this for me…I did not think selflessness had a place in humanity… I… I was wrong…” A tear formed in his eye and he moved his body to bridge the gap in the river. “you… all of you, you are forever welcome here, I name you Taara’quchu… Friend of the voice… my young will know of your sacrifice…”

He bowed his head in respect and the girls slowly, cautiously crossed the river.

“Rarity… your hair!...” Fluttershy touched the ugly slashed mess at the back of her friend’s head.

“Would you not do the same for a child who would never know a mother’s touch?... Nothing in this world is more important to a child than a mother’s love, and the loss of a parent is unthinkable… had you lost your mother, would you not give ANYTHING to have even the slightest remembrance of her?”

Applejack flinched and slowly reached back and touched the sword on her back. Biting her lip, she nodded to the sentiment.

“We get it… lets… just keep moving. And Rarity… thank you…”

The enchantress smiled and rustled what remained of her hair. “Very well, and I think I can do SOMETHING with this…. I mean I am that talented after all…”

The trip continued, and 45 more minutes down the line they could finally see their destination, on the other side of what looked to be a bottomless gorge.

“Annnnnnd the bridge is out… Rainbow… can you fly us across one by one?” Twilight exhaustively pointed to the far end.

“Yes… but I would really rather just pull this bridge back up and let you walk across…”

“Oh… yeah… fair enough.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and flew over quickly seizing the ropes and began to tie it off until that is, she heard the voice.

“There she is… just like you said…” Another voice hummed happily as the seductive voices played over each other. There was a flash of movement that was enough to impress even Rainbow Dash. She quickly leveled her Caster and stared into the mist that quickly spread over the ledge she was standing at.

“Quit playing games… I can see you in the mist, if you like I can kill you right now. Or you can come on out and tell me what this is about.” She drew back her hand and a fire arrow lit up in the caster. But the response was playful.

“Oh yes, we know quite well how skilled you are… this is exactly why we are here before you…” The mist cleared just as three figures came in, their elemental powers radiating and burning in the air behind them.

“We are here because of you! We came because we were drawn to your power, to… your ability..”

Rainbow Dash smiled and her caster drifted down a little bit as the middle figure advanced with a wry smile.

“Oh yes… you can feel it, can’t you?... We hide in secret, but no longer, we have been seeking the final member of our order. Someone powerful enough, fast enough, and skilled enough to keep up, and even perhaps... lead us.”

The soft female features were clear in the crisp air. Slender fingers danced through the air and rested on Rainbow's cheek with an extra alluring flare.

“What do you say?... glory awaits… you just need to.. HURK!”

Rainbow dash’s caster had dropped until there was not even an arrow in it. She was smiling warmly into the eyes of the female elementalist, however, a blade drawn from her waist was now lodged in the chest of the elementalist.

“Flattering… really, to no end, I am legitimately tempted and overjoyed to hear your words… you really have a talent for that, but let me make myself clear.” She kicked the girl back and her caster fired two rapid shots that ended the lives of the other two before they could make their move, then the caster leveled into the face of the first elementalist who was struggling to stay upright.

“If you think you can make me stab someone in the back with some sweet talk… you are a whole new level of stupid. A soul without adherence to a goal is weak. If I could be swayed by your honeyed words, then I too would be weak, and listen here you little priss… I … AM … NOT… WEAK!”

She loosed the arrow and turned back to the bridge. However, she did not see the bodies turn to smoke and waft away.

“Well then Purp… we are here, you do your thing…”

“What was all that noise?” Applejack and Twilight spoke almost in unison.

“Weakness… trust me on this girl… it was weakness… pathetic weakness…” She smiled and lead the charge up to the ancient castle.

chapter 5

"This place is a lot bigger than I thought it would be..."

Twilight Sparkle climbed through the rubble in order to enter the main hall. And right there in front of her was something she did not expect. The pedestal with what looks suspiciously like the pictures in her books of The Elements of Harmony.

"Um... hey... purp.. isn't this the thing?.."

"Stop calling me that and I think so yes.."

Everyone loomed about with concern. "Ya'll certain?... I mean... we don't have to kill any dragons or solve any puzzles?... no illusions?... we just walk through the door and it sitting right here?..."

Applejack's words perfectly personified Twilight's concern. The whole way here there were traps and problems that were not natural. It could have been a coincidence. However, Twilight had a very good feeling that the theory she had in place was the most likely case.

"A thousand years of nothing really drags on your skills..." Twilight's voice was at a near whisper, but it's still made Applejack turn her head.

"What's up sugar cube?"

"...Nothing AJ... let's get these things down... I'm confident you can all count and understand why I'm a little bit concerned here even aside from the fact that we didn't have to fight our way inside..."

Fluttershy was the first to speak this time. "Only five!... there are only five elements..."

"Yes.. however that is another problem that has not been so clear. The books never specified exactly how many there were, and on top of that each translation is slightly different... one says the element of laughter the next says element of joy... there's even one that translates Loosely to element of a happy Good Times... however all of the pictures show 6 physical objects when referencing the elements of harmony... "

One by one the small spheres were removed from the pedestal. Just holding one in her hand she could feel that they were immensely powerful, this of course concerned her even more. It implied that these were indeed the elements of harmony. After fighting through manticores and crumbling cliffs, fear wards, and rampaging dragons, all they had to do was walk in and the elements were waiting for them not even 20 feet into the building.

"Alright let me do my thing... I just need a little bit of quiet so I can focus."

There were a few silent nods and Rainbow Dash was the first the gesture to the others to give her some space. All together they moved into the Next Room silently allowing Twilight time for her meditation.

However the meditation did not seem to be doing any good for her. She would cast her power directly into one of the elements in order to measure the magical recoil. Quite simply to feel it out and get a better understanding of what it was she was dealing with. This was the common practice when dealing with magical artifacts you did not quite know about. It was moderately safe to do assuming that it wasn't a weapon. However, every time she pushed her magic into one of the stones, nothing happened. It was as effective as head butting the stone.

With some aggravation she placed the stone she currently had in her hand back onto the ground and stood up. Slowly pacing to and fro she racked her brain trying to discover something she was missing. The texts were no good because they were simply too much variation between them. Granted she had not read all of them but each one described the elements differently. At this point she would have to go through and individually try a different variation of technique with every single Stone.

Aggravated she turned back to make a rude gesture at the stones out of that same aggravation. But that is when she saw it. It was honestly one of the most surprising things she had ever seen. In fact it was so unexpected she closed her eyes turn around shook her head and then turned back around to look and see if she was seeing things. But no, it was indeed Nightmare Moon standing in front of her hefting the stones with a smug grin on her face.

"Oh... well... crap...CRAP!"

Twilight made a mad dash towards Nightmare Moon and only just barely managed to make contact with one of the stones before the lot of them all at once teleported away taking her with them.

The powerful magic made her head spin. However, it was nothing compared to the intense pain that shot through her once she felt a boot strike her in the side, nor was it anything compared to the pain she felt when she hit the wall. Stars swam through her eyes and the pain was almost making her ready to black out. Struggling to her feet she called her staff to her hands and supported her weight on it.

"You really are relentless aren't you? Clever little thing... but that will only get you so far. I am already kind of tired of it." Nightmare Moon leveled her blade at the young mage. "I suppose I should I commend you for getting this far... you really weren't supposed to get this far but... meh..."

Twilight coughed and held her side trying to see if her ribs were broken as she breathed incrementally deeper breaths hoping the pain did not flare up too much. "You act pretty tough, you wasted away for a thousand years on the moon, you didn't have enough power to just kill everyone back in the town hall, you didn't even have enough power to kill those four guards granted he came pretty darn close. You didn't have enough power to gut out that cliffside entirely, you didn't have enough power to properly curse that manticore nor enough to place strong fear Wards... by the time you came across the dragons all you could do was cut up their blanket. I think I'm in a better place than you want me to think I am."

Twilight smiled confidently hiding the fact that she was well aware but even without magic the god of nightmares could probably just walk over and beat her to death with her bare hands.

However, Nightmare Moon's smile did not fade. "Oh you are so clever it's adorable, but let me ask you something... why am I here? surely you know why I'm here."

Twilight paused for a moment then gave her answer. " The Elements of Harmony of course... you want to stop anyone from using them against you."

"That is a fair guess, but I would like to point out that I had no idea the elements were still here..."

Twilight's smile instantly faded.

"You are smarter than I thought... so cute. I imagine you understand now. I did not waste away on the moon. I was just not banished to the Moon with all of my powers, so naturally I needed to return to the one place that my Powers were.... the place where I was defeated the first time. And guess what..."

Nightmare Moon held out her hand and the air itself shimmered and boiled. Solid black Arcane Fire danced at her fingertips. Magic so powerful that it belonged in Legend. "It is exactly where I left it... fancy that."

She brought one of the elements to her hand only to inspect it for a short moment and then toss it behind her.

Sheer panic flooded through Twilight. It took her awhile to come up with the theory, she was so relieved when she saw the proof of it. But now that ship was long since gone. Not only did it set sail but then it capsized and then was struck by lightning and then somehow further detonated on the bottom of the ocean. She could think of nothing that she could do.

Nightmare Moon and simply laughed. "Did you really think you could use the elements against me? I mean you don't even know what they do. Otherwise I am fairly confident you had to have been acting a lot differently, and you would not have thrown your friends out of the room. You don't represent any of these elements... how could you hope to use them?"

Twilight grit her teeth and decided that if ever she was going to make her stand it might as well be now. From the bottom of her heart she hoped that Nightmare Moon was bluffing at least a little with how much of her power had returned. Twirling her staff and snapping into a combat stance she glared at the god.

"... Wait....your joking right?... right?... you have to be joking... oh my goodness... you aren't, that is so cute. But you should know that cuteness will only get you so far."

With a simple gesture a magical Shield enveloped Nightmare Moon. "Do you see this? Just remember that I am a god. This level of magic is something you will never Attain. It is some of the most simple of my abilities and no mortal is powerful enough to penetrate this shield with even their most devastating of magic."

She smiled twirling her blade softly between your fingers. And that is when the rock hit her face. "Gah!.. you little!..."

"Wow I can't believe that worked... did the literal Immortal God forget to defend against blunt force trauma? I wonder what else you're forgetting?" Twilight laughed as she picked up another rock.

"Cute... really... but I told you already that cuteness will only get you so far. And it won't get you anywhere after this."

ightmare Moon Crouched and what happened next was so fast that within that very moment Twilight's plan was almost ended right along with her life.

Magic enveloped her, and Twilight Sparkle reappeared over the elements. Her hand shot down to her belly then withdrew for her to see the slightest trickle of blood. Nightmare Moon's blade have gone less than a quarter of an inch through the skin. Had she teleported even one hundredth of a second later if she would have been paint on the wall. But at least her plan worked.

Without wasting another second she poured every ounce of her power into the elements. If there was a way for her to use the elements she would discover it on the fly. And surprisingly the elements gave an immediate response to her magical command. But it still felt like she was manhandling them. as impressive as her command was, it didn't last long.

An armored fist struck her in the face and sent her tumbling backwards. "You are really testing my patience, and that is something that I do not have much of!"

Nightmare Moon Raised her Weapon and brought it down in the middle of all the elements. Still crackling in surging with Twilight's magical power, they instantly shattered bringing a heavy smile to the Goddess's lips.

" I told you that you did not have the power to use them. And even if you did it's not like I would ever let you..."

There was a flash of energy and Twilight felt the same boot in her gut again. And then again the wall against her back. Pain racked her body and there was very little she could do other than groan in the immense pain. Her eyesight was blurry but she did not need to see to know that it was Nightmare Moon's hand that grasped the front of her shirt and picked her up off the ground.

You sure had a good laugh... you should be proud, no one has ever played me for a fool as much as you have... but I'll make sure that it is slow enough for you to regret every moment that you defied me and my will!" The back of her hand smoothed over Twilight's cheek as the nightmare God smiled. "Such a waste of a pretty face..."

Twilight's eyes opened to see the blade slowly going towards her stomach. This was just about the worst case scenario she could ever think of. But the very moment that she could feel Cold Steel pressing against her bare skin as it effortlessly slid through her clothes in a single effortless cut, the blade touched gently on her naval and she could feel the icy cold of the blade that could cut through flesh and bone like it was air, then a bolt of fire struck Nightmare Moon in the back of the head.

Twilight hit the ground and barely was able to see dozens of arrows streak through the air at Nightmare Moon. The moment Nightmare Moon brought up a shield a fiery sword came in from behind her and she was forced to bring up another Shield to prevent the Paladin from striking her.

The hands of two different girls quickly hauled the Twilight to her feet and away from Nightmare moon.

"She has broken bones! We have to get her to safety quickly so I can heal her." Flying past all three of them, Rainbow Dash let out a yelp after she impacted the wall.

With a little bit of effort Twilight pushed away from them staggering to her feel holding her belly still recoiling in fear of what Nightmare Moon almost did to her. "No! She is still regaining her power. We have to end this now! We cannot flee."

A flashbang detonated a quarter of an inch from Nightmare Moon's face as the trickster mage joined The Fray. And just as fast Rainbow Dash rejoined as well.

"Well she's tearing us apart pretty fast darling, any suggestions? How about the elements? I don't suppose you know how to use them." Rarity's voice was still the charming flirty tone, even as one hand held a dagger forged from her charms and the other still tried to get Twilight further away from the fight.

Twilight's eyes lights lit up at the mention of the elements. There was something that she was very clearly missing. Something that Nightmare Moon had said in conjunction with what the books have been telling her all along. Something about the elements and her specifically. What she didn't have.

Nightmare Moon grasped Applejack by the throat squeezing her, hoping for a pop but the next attack had just begun so she opted to just throw her over hand at Rainbow Dash knocking both of them to Twilight's feet. Pinkie Pie join them surprisingly upon her own will.

"You... all of you!... from here on out. The world will remember you as a reason that no one will EVER rise up against the Queen of the night again! I will make sure that everyone in this entire world See's what I do to you... and they will tremble in fear and Terror at the mere thought of betraying my will! Even on display for the kingdom to see, no one will even be able to guess that you were once human!"

Twilight coughed and wiped the blood from the corners of her mouth, images and nightmares of what Nightmare Moon had in mind flashed in her subconscious threateningly. She quickly pushed the images to the side as the others quickly stood up beside her, now absolutely confident that they had fought the good fight and they were still going to lose. But Twilight's face turned as she smiled.

"Actually I'm pretty sure it's going to be a bit different than that, in fact now I'm absolutely positive of it, Did you really think that it would be so easy to destroy an old world artifact? The Elements of Harmony aren't some petty physical thing... you crushed The Vessels that once contained their power. But you were right, specifically I didn't have what it takes."

Nightmare Moon's eye twitch in anger and she slowly began to walk towards them turning her blade over in her hand, her magic flaring as she projected the horrors into their minds to inspire fear. Torture, desecration and more. But the six mages stood firm, not budging an inch, as if they were protected somehow.

"I hadn't really thought about it, I thought that it was a physical thing too. But honestly it was you who showed me exactly what I needed to see. The elements are not physical, they're magical, Not Only Magical but spiritual as well. They must resonate with something that represents them... but let's see if I can get this correctly, the ancient Scrolls were really vague about this. And really the only book I could find was not much help either."

Twilight stood up on her own power and slowly lifted her finger to point at Applejack. "The first element... truth honesty consistency in moral value... the element of Creeds... you can always have faith that there is no corruption within such a strong soul..."

She then pointed at Fluttershy. "Kindness Mercy and love... these things are apparent in the element of Grace... someone with enough love in their heart to forgive any transgression and to extend an undeserved Grace..."

She pointed next at Pinkie Pie. "Laughter and smiles, Joy is all that you need to dissolve the pain and fear that life brings to you.... no matter what the pain is. Joy is always an option. The element of Joy is with us."

She then smiled looking over at Rarity as the shattered remnants of The Elements of Harmony began to rise from the floor. "Generosity, understanding, and care... the idea of being selfless is almost extinct in this cruel world. But to thoughtlessly give what is most valuable to yourself all so that someone can have something that they never thought they would... the element of selflessness is right here..."

The shattered crystals orbited each of the girls. She then pointed at Rainbow Dash. "Loyalty, sternness, to adhere to your goals... and to let nothing come between you and what you have been sworn to do. The element of Adherence is one you can always count on... we have the elements."

As she had walked and listened, Nightmare Moon's face displayed more and more uncertainty. And now she was slowly moving back. "Y...you still don't have everything!..."

"Oh... but we do... I was just too stubborn to see it. I wanted to believe that I was all that I needed, but when I left a mark on this world that it would be upon my own will and my own power that no one else would have been involved... I saw the dependency on others as a weakness... I was a fool. It's more than just a strength. And it's not a dependency. It's magic... it is all of these things. To live by your Creeds, the show Grace even to those who deserve nothing, to bring joy into the hearts of those around you, to be selfless and give what you cherish to those who can give nothing to you in return, to adhere to your Oaths... that...is harmony. It is a magic long since forgotten within your heart. And it is a magic that is more powerful than anything you could ever conjure."

The crystals all came together with a crackling blast. And even to Twilight's surprise, there were 6 instead of 5. Each of them quickly taking form of a caste mark, each connected to the mage that represented them as a golden clad gemstone. "We are Harmony, and we won't let you hurt our world..."

Twilight's eyes opened wide and from them shined a blinding light as Elemental bonds shot forth from each of the young Mages. Once they had all interconnected Nightmare Moon had brought up her shadows to consume her in hopes of escaping, the light shattered the shadows, likewise her dark mist failed her. Left with nothing else she quickly turned about and began a full Sprint away from them. However it was far too slow as the elements of harmony latched themselves upon the bodies of the six mages and released a massive colorful blast that seemed to sing out with each element as it twisted and turned with in the air as if seeking out the dark God's power.

Nightmare Moon screamed and poured all of her power into a defensive spell but as if it was made out of loose sand, the colorful blast struck it's like a wave of the ocean's water. She was consumed by the magic.

Only moments later when the power had faded everyone present struggled to stay upright.

"Holy solar spankings!... that was both fun and amazing!... am I supposed to feel this tired?" Pinkie Pie wobbled about as she blabbered on. However she quickly silence yourself as an orb of light entered the room and without any noise detonated. As the glare faded they are standing right in front of them was the archmage herself.

Despite all of her pain Twilight instantly shot up and rushed over. The others only just noticing quickly turned and bowed.

"Archmage! Blessid Sun you are alright!"

The archmage simply smiled. "Of course I was in very good hands.. your hands.."

Twilight stepped back a little uncertain. "W..wha?.."

"Don't be too shocked. I was very happy to see that you saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, I have literally been counting the days ever since I banished her in the first place. Why do you think I sent you out on such a silly mission? The elements choose their wielders. And by fate the wielders are brought together. I have known since the day I first laid eyes on you and your caste mark... "

With a gentle hand Celestia touched Twilight just over her heart and the cast mark that all adult Mages had quickly lit up and expanded. The six- pointed star was identical to the element that rested within the crown that now sat upon her head.

"This is what you were destined to be, and I knew the very moment I saw you... the very moment your caste mark began to Glow... well done my good and faithful student... you have done so much more than you you could possibly comprehend..."

Tears welled up in the archmage's eye as she turned away for a moment and step towards the last known location of Nightmare Moon. It was this very location that they could see a small lump on the ground. Between charred pieces of armor and the remains of black swirling mist, a small figure struggled to her feet. It looked like a child. She was so small, but floating off of her back were wings. Wings that marked her as an immortal.

"Sister..." Celestia looked down at the pitiful form which cringed like if her gaze was one of Fire.

The young looking girl look back up as if making eye contact was painful. "Sister... I am so sorry... I didn't mean to... the darkness just... it... i..."

The archmage pulled the girl in and hugged her tightly. " I know sister... I know you were deceived. Not a day has gone by and these 1,000 years that I have not looked back and wished I would have done something different. I wish I would have loved you more. If only I wasn't so confident that I had been doing everything flawlessly, if only I wasn't so blind to your needs, I could have given you the love you deserved. The love you needed. But don't worry. I'm here now and that love is yours."

The moment was close to ruined as Rarity spouted in glee. "Oh Blessid Sun above my hair is back!"

The sun was high in the sky and the celebration was in full swing. Much to their surprise six young girls stood next to the archmage herself and what most didn't know was her long-lost sister.

"I seriously had no idea what I was doing.... I mean who on Earth throws a rock at the face of a god? how are we still alive?..." Twilight held her head between her hands and the others just laughed.

"Hey now purp, we saved the day and honestly none of us could have done it without you!"

"The day?... not so fast Rainbow... I'm pretty sure we saved the entire world, this is going to be a good Mark on the history of the Ordos Poma... I can just imagine telling the story to great-grandchildren."

They all laughed again. But Twilight seemed a little bit distraught.

"I meant what I said... I'm going to be a bit sad going back to Canterlot. I really did think but I was all I needed... I hate to admit it but... I have never been more happy that I was dead wrong. And now that I finally have friends... I have to go back."

A playful hand bopped her on the head, and the archmage looked down at her from behind pulling her in close.

"You know, with how busy I am I never really see you anyways... and when I need to see you I would still travel across the entire world just to do so. And I fully intend to do so. Meh... perhaps I'm just bad at explaining things, but my point here is that. You are still my student and I will happily come and visit you. But whether you like it or not your new assignment is here in Ponyville. Even if you are not needed in an official sense, I will still need you and the other elements right here where I can call upon you, and I'm pretty sure that Ponyville has been requisitioning a librarian for several years. So if it's alright with you I'm giving them the best librarian and I can possibly give. So you do your best to take up your lessons here. And keep in mind that this is just the beginning of what Fate has in store for you... what Fate has in store for you all..."

She smiled and hugged her student playfully before flying up and Landing carefully into the grand chariot next to her sister. "You all have fun now... I'll give you a shout the next time the world needs the elements of harmony but in the meantime you keep up your studies!"

Twilight smiled. "I can't believe it worked out that way.... under these circumstances I would normally be absolutely livid. But all I can manage right now is to be completely overjoyed... let's have that party!"

The end

Author's Note

Thank you for staying with me and reading.
This story was created a few months ago on the Equestrian Amino. I have since taken it and remastered it so it is presentable here.

There are other "my little mage" stories out there, but this is my take on it. I do hope you enjoyed ^_^