Time Vigilante: Butterfly Effect

Chapter 4: Destiny Awaits

I arrived at Rarity's Boutique soon enough. Having already added it to my map markers, I made it a simple matter to fly over town to my destination. Over on another street, I saw Twilight talking to Rainbow Dash. I could see Twilight was currently in awe of the skill Rainbow just put on. But I knew Rainbow's performance wouldn't reveal her Loyalty until later. Maybe I could get Pinkie to help us find the Element Bearers.

Once I landed, I stepped into Rarity's shop. "Rarity? There's something we need to talk about." I called out to her. She was currently in the process of discarding bad banners from her design pile. She looked at me in surprise.

"Oh, it's you! What is it?" She asked.

"I needed to warn you about a prophecy that'll come to life tomorrow morning. Twilight Sparkle and I have both seen signs of it, but I think you embody one of the artifacts that can help us stop it." I told her. She looked shocked, to put it lightly.

"Oh dear. What prophecy is that, exactly?" She asked in worry.

"You know the Mare in the moon? It's not an old mare's tale. It's a prophecy." I told her.

"What? How could that possibly be true?" She asked.

"Well if you could live for a thousand years after banishing your sister to the moon and never once talk about her, she'd fade into false tales and stuff like that too. The legend specifically stated that Nightmare Moon will return on the thousandth year on the thousandth day of the summer solstice. And that the stars will aid in her escape."

"If this is true, then Princess Celestia should be warned about this." Rarity said. I held up a hoof.

"Twilight already has. Celestia has known for a long time exactly how long and exactly when Nightmare Moon escapes. After all, it was Celestia herself who banished her sister to the moon."

"Princess Celestia has a sister?" Rarity ask.

"Yeah. The legend writes about two Royal Sisters and Princess Celestia looks like one of the illustrations. So Celestia has a sister who once embodied the night." I told her.

"I see… If this is true, then we have a terrible calamity on our hooves." Rarity said. I questioned for a moment why she was taking me seriously, before she continued. "So what exactly is it I can do to help?"

"Well the Elements of Harmony are basically artifacts of harmony that you and Twilight can work together to get working. Each element represents a trait it's bearer embodies. You embody Generosity." I told her.

"Oh, I see. Then I just need to make friends with this… Twilight Sparkle?" She asked. I nodded.

"She should be stopping by here for a check up on the Summer Sun Celebration decorations." I let her know. "I'm going to be looking out for the other Elements. We already know Generosity, Honesty and Kindness. We just need Laughter and Loyalty."

"Oh! I would recommend looking for Pinkie Pie. The darling knows Everypony in town, so she should be able to tell you who fits these elements best." Rarity advised.

"Oh! Thanks, that helps a lot!" I said with gratitude. As I was leaving, I stopped when I heard her muttering something.

"A princess of the night… once innocent, now corrupted due to envy and negligence… maybe a gift could help her calm down?" Rarity thought out loud. I liked the way she was thinking. Maybe we didn't need the Elements? Maybe we just needed to show her she was appreciated.

Either way, my next stop was Pinkie Pie. Now if only I knew where to look? Knowing Pinkie was preparing a party at the Treebrary, I decided to head back there.

Once there, I saw ponies beginning to gather. They were holding invitations to the party, and I saw Pinkie darting in and out of the place faster than should be conceivably possible. But I stopped her by just showing up. She gasped in horror.

"Oh no! You aren't supposed to know yet!" She said in dread when she saw me. I chuckled.

"I know a lot of things I'm not supposed to, Pinkie. But don't tell anyone else that, okay?" I said with a light hearted tone.

"Okie dokie! But how do you know? Are you psychic? Are you a time traveler?" She stopped and gasped. "Are you secretly an alien that used to watch cartoons about us when you were back home but you can't go back home now so you have to try and survive future threats to equestria?!" I had to laugh at that last one.

"You got it on the third. I knew you'd get a hunch." I said with a big smile.

"I'm right? Oh my gosh, I need to-" she paused. "Wait, no. A secret between us. Gotcha. Were you looking for me?"

"Yeah. I might know who gets to use the Elements of Harmony already, but I kinda needed to talk to you so I'd have an excuse to tell Twilight as if I got the info from you. Get it?" I asked.

"Oh, totally. I could get them all together at yours and Twilight's welcome party if that helps." Pinkie offers. I grin, nodding.

"Exactly what I was going to ask for! I'll need Rainbow Dash, you, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight around the table I put the Elements of Harmony reference guide." I told her. She saluted like a mock soldier.

"Can do, Switchie!" She said. Although how she knew my name without being told by me wasn't a very big stretch, it was good to see Pinkie breaking the fourth wall regularly.

With that settled, I went back to my studies. Taking out the Aeromancy spellbook, I gave it a focused read on my way to map the other Element Bearers houses. Along the way, there was a light prodding at my mind when I passed Bonbon's shop again, but nothing that gave me a red flag. I did however notice that the Aeromancy spell book seemed incomplete. I suppose I'd have to finish it myself.

Same with the Cryomancy book, it seemed. Unfortunate, but at least I learned how to shape air and water. The rest I'll need to manage through experimentation.

About a couple hours later I had every landmark in town mapped, and I saw Twilight and Fluttershy approaching the Treebrary. I quickly caught up with them.

"Hey Twilight. Any luck?" I asked her.

"None. I couldn't find Loyalty or Laughter. Have you had any luck?" She asked. I nodded.

"I found Pinkie Pie. You'll see why she's Laughter soon enough." I promised. I looked ahead to the Treebrary as Twilight opened the door to let us in. As soon as the door was closed, the lights turned on. Pinkie and the entire town was in the library, shouting Surprise as one.

"Wh-what is this?! Why is the entire town in my house?!" Twilight asked, outraged.

"It's a surprise party, silly! You don't get out much, do you?" Pinkie asked. I looked at Twilight.

"Hard to enjoy a party without Laughter, right?" I prompted her. Twilight's angered face melted away into understanding.

"Oh! I see. Well, um…. Thank you, Pinkie Pie. I don't often go to parties." Twilight said awkwardly. "Libraries are generally supposed to be quiet."

"Well that would be boring. Quiet parties are for nobles." Pinkie said. Twilight chuckled at that accurate description.

"You're right. Now that I think about it, the parties in Canterlot never really get noisy beyond dull chatter." Twilight noted.

"That, and the nobleman's party generally consists of business bragging or courting." I said. Twilight looked at me in surprise. "What? You look at the grand majority of nobles and you see a bunch of snooty little entitled pricks, and you tell me I'm wrong."

"Well you're not, but don't say that to Rarity." Pinkie said as Twilight picked up a bottle and started drinking from it. After the first gulp, she actually paid attention and looked at the label on the bottle. She coughed as she set it back down.

"Oh horseapples!" She sorta cursed before looking for some water. Pinkie and I laughed while Twilight got herself a glass of water. After getting one, surprisingly, she started laughing at herself in good humor. "Wow. Can't believe I did that to myself!"

What a surprise. If she isn't stressing over something, she actually seems to enjoy herself. With that, the party began in earnest...and Twilight actually participated.

Hours later, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow were waiting in the crowd while Rarity and Fluttershy proceeded as normal. The element bearers had been briefed about the mission and what had to be done. Rarity suggested presenting gifts to nightmare moon since the legends say she was corrupted by negligence brewing envy. I was inclined to agree, but told her we would have to be ready to use the backup plan in the Everfree if it didn't work out.

Rarity hold her gift box close and dear as she was up on stage. The script went as expected… until Twilight spoke up to confirm Nightmare Moon's identity.

"No. We know who you are. You're the mare in the moon. Nightmare Moon." Twilight called out. I stepped up with her.

"Lost to Envy 1000 years ago because you were ignored and felt you had to force everyone to love you. You were neglected and forgotten. But no longer." I declared. Nightmare Moon was caught off guard, and frowned.

"My friends and I have gathered here today, not to fight you, but to welcome you back. You don't need to hurt anypony to make your point heard." Twilight declared with a smile.

"You have?" Nightmare Moon asked, uncertain if she could trust us. Rarity nodded beside her on the stage.

"As soon as I heard you were coming back, I decided to make you a gift. To show you that you still have a place in this world." Rarity said, holding out the gift box. Nightmare moon took it in her magic. As everyone in town held their breath. What Nightmare Moon took out was a dazzling lunar necklace made of some shining stone and with moon shaped sapphires embedded into it. She looked stunned. And a tear began to form in her eyes. I smiled. It was working!

"It's beautiful. I've… never received a gift like this before. Did you make it?" Nightmare Moon asked, her voice no longer booming. Rarity nodded pridefully.

"I'm afraid without your measurements I couldn't make a dress for you. This is all I could make on such short notice." Rarity said. Pinkie jumped up onto the stage next.

"Here! I wanted to invite you to a party I've planned for tomorrow. You look like you could use a smile, Princess. A real one, that doesn't have any hate. Ooh! And you could totally come to this year's Nightmare Night party!" She cheerfully proposed.

"A party? Really? I won't just be sitting around smiling and waving, will I?" Nightmare asked.

"Of course not! You'll be the guest of honor!" Pinkie declared. This brought a lot more tears streaming down the old mare's face. I looked at Applejack next. She nodded back at me and stepped up to the mayor's podium.

"Like Switch said. Nightmare Moon became a monster because ponies ignored her. It says so in the legend. Take one good look at this mare. Ah can tell ya it's the honest truth." Applejack said to the ponies of Ponyville. "What we need… no. What Nightmare Moon needs is a good friend, or a lot o friends to help her. To show her she doesn't have to be alone."

Rainbow Dash flew up there too. "If that legend thing is true to the letter, it means Princess Celestia didn't stick with her sister. That's not cool. So let's show Nightmare Moon some good old Ponyville Hospitality! No reason to leave her hangin like Celestia did." Nightmare Moon was smiling now as she openly wept. The town was starting to warm up to Nightmare Moon. Fluttershy came up to her next… and all she did was give the big ol Alicorn a hug. Next up was Twilight and me again.

"I hope we can be friends, Nightmare Moon. With Princess Celestia too. I'm her student, and I've seen how much she misses you. I can't imagine how much she has suffered without you." Twilight called out.

I flew up to the platform as well. "So what do you say, Nightmare Moon? Can we put this eternal night business behind us?" I held a hoof out to her. She looked eager to accept.

"Just call me Luna." She said. But just as she reached for my hoof to give it a shake, she froze. I looked at it confused for a second before looking at her eyes. They were filled with sudden pain. One was glowing bright white. The other was consumed by pure shadow. Luna recoiled crying out in pain, holding her head in pain.

"No no no! Get out of my head you wretched fiend!" Luna writhes, stepping away from us. She slams her head into a wall, making Everypony gasp in fear.

"What's happening?!" Rainbow asked. All of us were on guard.

"It's worse than I thought. We need the Elements after all." I told them.

"But the trip to the castle is a two day trip!" Twilight protested.

"You have- nng! No other… option!" Nightmare's voice distorted as she struggled against that inner power. "Hurry! Bring a warrior with you! The Everfree must be Feared!"

Those last words stuck with me as the bearers and I ran to Twilight's library. Once we got there, Twilight is starting to hyperventilate.

"Oh no, this isn't what we planned at all! What are we going to do, Luna's possessed!" I quickly put a stop to it.

"Twilight calm down. Now, you lived with Princess Celestia and studied under her, correct? Do you have any connections with the Royal Guard you could pull? We need powerful ponies to help us." I told her. I looked her straight in the eyes as I did so… and I briefly saw them flash green like I put her under a spell.

"Shining Armor. My brother." She replied almost blankly. I raised an eyebrow, and as soon as I lost eye contact we both shook off the spell.

"Sorry. Accidental hypnosis. Happens sometimes. I need you to give your brother a call. I won't be able to fight through the forest alone." I explained. Twilight looked conflicted about the hypnosis spell, but decided to forgive me because of how quickly I reacted to dropping it. I turned to the rest of the elements.

"Do any of you have family members or acquaintances you know that are absolute powerhouses?" I asked. Applejack raised a hoof.

"Mah big brother Macintosh could help." She said.

"And I know a griffon that loves to fight." Dash volunteered. "But it'd take longer for her to get here than for us to get to the castle."

"Then Big Mac and Shining are our best bet. I know a field medic from the hospital that could help if we get hurt." I let them know.

"Alright. Then we have a plan?" Twilight asked. I looked at the others, who nodded.

"Then let's get going. Applejack, I'd like to meet your brother in person. I have an ability I want to give him." I told her.

"An ability? Y'all are gonna hav ta tell me about this ability." She said cautiously. I nodded, and started explaining it to everyone present.

This adventure still feels like it'll get me killed.