Friendship is Obligatory: Part 1, or How Nightmare Moon's return was not my greatest worry.
I still can't believe Celestia didn't take me seriously! I mean, yes, making sure the Summer Sun Celebration goes perfectly is important, but the possible return of Nightmare Moon is dramatically more-so! But no, rather than having the time to do critical research that could affect all of Equestria, Spike and I are being sent to Ponyville. Hopefully I can finish my checklist quickly, and do research in the local library.
And now Spike is reading out the letter. Again. I turned away, focusing on the landscape, tuning his voice out. I mean, I already knew what it said by heart.
"My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville"
And of course, the worst part.
"And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!"
I don't need friends. I am a student of Princess Celestia, a powerful unicorn, and friends aren't going to help me defeat Nightmare Moon; Research, and finding the Elements of Harmony will.
That was when I felt something, power building up in my horn. I wasn't channeling a spell either. A massive flash of light, slamming my eyes closed, and a stab of pain. And then... then I couldn't move... My body just locked up.
I was still breathing, but aside from that, nothing worked. I couldn't open my eyes, move my legs, or tail (though it was still waving in the wind) and trying magic didn't help either. Was I paralyzed, attacked? I tried to say something, but nothing came out. I had to get help. Paralysis was not a minor ailment. I was pretty sure that General Medicine's General Medical Knowledge said that while it could be treated if a pony got to a hospital quickly, long-term it could cause permanent damage! Still, I would probably fall over any second now, Spike and the guards would notice, and....
And then my eyes opened, blinked, and my head turned back to the front of the carriage. Without me doing so. I.... What? How? I was under attack! Somepony had hit me with some kind of spell. I hadn't done much research on dark magic, but this was obvious some kind of mind control. I tried to cast a general dispel, but it didn't work. My horn didn't respond.
Spike was still reading the letter. The royal guards were still flying. They hadn't noticed anything wrong. That wasn't good. Somepony had just seized control of my body, disabling my magic and everything else, and nopony had noticed. If Celestia was here, she would have noticed, but....
My head turned back, and my legs draped over the side of the carriage. I panicked, thinking I was going to fall, but my head just lay down and sighed. Then I/they stopped, looking at my forelegs. And hooves. And then turned around, looking at my side, and mane, and barrel, and Cutie Mark. You never notice how much your eyes move when just looking around until they just start doing that without you controlling them. I just stared at my Cutie Mark for a few seconds, before turning back and having my head just dropped onto the railing. Ow....
This was really not good. They had fine control, meaning there wouldn't be any obvious tells, unless they got my behavior wrong, and again, I couldn't do anything.
I looked at Spike. He was finishing up the letter. "Make some Friends!" He grinned at me, obviously excited that Celestia wanted me to socialize more, but this really, really wasn't the time.
"Uh... I guess I'd better get started on that." My voice said, sounding rather uncertain. It felt as weird as the rest, and just felt wrong. I wasn't speaking, but my mouth and tongue and teeth moved to make the words anyway.
Unfortunately, Spike was happy with the response. "That's the spirit, Twilight!" I just stared blankly at him, or rather my head and eyes and body and.... Well, I stared at him, but I wasn't doing it, anyway.
Ponyville might have be interesting normally. To study, not to visit anyway. A rural town, mostly earth ponies and pegasi, traditional, and overall not exactly unusual. But, since Celestia chose it this year, it would have deserved a close look. But right now there were bigger problems. Namely that some unicorn had seized control of my body.
My attacker had looked around quite a bit, and I hadn't seen any other chariots, a pegasi couldn't have cast spells, and a unicorn probably couldn't have kept up with the royal guards. Plus I would have almost certainly been out of sight.
Between panicking, and trying to take back control, use magic, or do anything at all, I tried to figure out what was going on and why. I was a powerful unicorn, Celestia's student, and hence an important pony. I knew this, and I knew that in the past important ponies were the targets of foalnapping, or... assassination. I hadn't heard of any case of mind control, but it was possible. I mean, Equestria was peaceful these days, so I never even considered the possibility. And mind control would be so practical too. Just have me land, wander off alone after sending Spike to do something, and I would just be carried away, or killed. Nopony would realize until tomorrow!
I was close to Princess Celestia. I was outside of Canterlot for the first time in quite some time, and the furthest away from Celestia in years. No doubt Celestia would have detected the attack, so they waited until I left. It was an ideal plan. But for which reason would they do so? Ransom? Blackmail? Just having the magic of a powerful unicorn? I really hoped they weren't going to just kill me out of sight, or worse, sacrifice me in some evil ritual. Such rituals were illegal, sure, but so was foalnapping, and doing that to Celestia's student was not something she would forgive.
Was I going to be bait for Celestia? Was... Wait, Alicorn. Nightmare Moon was an Alicorn! Alicorns could fly as well as, if not better than a pegasus, as Cadence had shown me. They could cast spells further, stronger, faster, easier than a unicorn, though that might be the unknown thousands of years Celestia has been around. It was so obvious! Nightmare Moon was already here, a day early… And she completely crippled me without me even getting a chance to fight back. And Celestia was going to be in Ponyville tomorrow morning! And she was going to be ambushed! And Celestia didn't take my letter seriously. And Nightmare Moon was already here. And she was going to use me somehow to defeat Celestia and then bring Eternal Night and and and and...
My train of thought was derailed as we landed, and Nightmare Moon puppeted my body out of the carriage. I don't think I had ever been this scared. I mean, I was scared of snakes after... well... But I hadn't been helpless since I became Celestia's student, and knowing that somepony who might well be as powerful as Celestia had taken control of my body, and was likely to use me as a hostage and/or to attack Celestia was on a whole new level of horror.
Spike was just being enthusiastic, like always, none the wiser. "Come on, Twilight! Let's get going!"
"Uh, yeah, sure. Let's go." my mouth said, and then I promptly faceplanted.
"Oh my gosh, Twilight! Are you okay?" Spike asked, clearly concerned. Maybe my thought about her having fine control was wrong? Well, Celestia had longer legs, and I remember being really clumsy when my legs started growing, so maybe it’s like having your legs shrink?
She had me stand up "Yeah!" She exclaimed "I just have jet-lag, that's all." What is ‘jet-lag’? I mean, jet is the stream of high pressure gas escaping a container through a small hole, and lagging (behind) is having trouble keeping up, soo.. Wait, does that mean having trouble with... No, jet doesn't really make sense for mind control, and there is no way anypony would make it that obvious.
Spike glanced at the crater I left (Ow, my aching muzzle) and gave me a confused expression, echoing my thought "What's jet-lag?"
My hoof waved dismissively. "Don't worry about it, it goes away after a while." Well, so much for learning the answer to that mystery...
Spike unrolled the Sun Celebration Preparation checklist. "So, we should get started on the preparations. The Summer Sun Celebration is tonight, after all."
My head tilted. "Wait, I thought I was supposed to be making friends?" Wait, What? Didn't she know what was going on?
Spike looked suspicious. That was a good sign. "Now you want to make friends? But I thought you were more worried about Nightmare Moon."
She froze, smiling nervously "Well... yeah, I'm still worried. I mean, I like sleeping, so why would I want any nightmares around?"
That was when the pink mare showed up. With a fluffy pink mane, more pink everywhere else, and a Cutie Mark of three balloons. She gasped, jumped into the air, and dashed away.
Me/She and Spike glanced at each other. "I'm not that scary, am I?" She asked.
"I don't think so." Spike said, putting a claw to his lip. "Hey, what were we talking about, again?"
"I can't remember, either. So, where are we supposed to go?"
But he just glanced at the checklist. "Let's see. ‘Banquet Preparations: Sweet Apple Acres.' It's the first thing on the list, so let's go there first." She nodded at that, and started walking.
She was having serious problems walking properly, falling over at least a dozen times, shouting out "JET-LAG!" each time Spike tried to help. Eventually, she slowed down and was more or less stable. I still wonder what Jet-Lag actually means...
Anyway, we got to the apple farm. It looked rather impressive, likely producing several towns’ worth of apples on its own. An earth pony mare galloped past, shouting "Yeehaw!” spun, and bucked a tree, dropping all the apples neatly into several buckets below. I had read about that, but never actually seen it...
Spike elbowed me, motioning me to speak. So she walked me up, smiled, and greeted "Hello, how are you today?"
"Mighty fine, how are ya?" she responded, with an odd accent I don't recall ever hearing before. Maybe a local accent?
"Good." I/She said, raising her hoof for a hoofshake "I'm Twilight." Then she looked down at my hoof, though I don't know why.
The mare took my hoof and shook it rather excessively. "Ahm Applejack! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! What can ah do for ya?"
Nightmare Moon stretched my hoof, trying to get rid of the resulting soreness. "I'm here because of that Celebration we're having. I'm just making sure that everything is good to go."
"Ah, you mean the Summer Sun Celebration! Yup, we were in charge of caterin' this year!" She grinned at the thought, though it faded somewhat. "We're all set, here! Would you like to sample some?"
"Are you sure that's a good idea? This is the food for the Celebration, after all."
Applejack waved her hoof dismissively. "Aw, don't fret. We've got plenty!"
Nightmare Nodded. "Okay, sure. I'd like to see what's going to be there, anyways."
Applejack gave me a big smile, and rang a triangle, yelling out "Soup's on, everypony!"
This resulted in a sudden stampede, revealed after my head turned towards the rumbling. I half expected to get trampled, but I ended up thrown upwards and got carried along. Spike and I got set down at a picnic table, trying to catch our breaths. Applejack spent the next minute or so introducing her family, though I only caught a few near the end. A large red stallion Big Macintosh, a young yellow filly Apple Bloom, and elderly green Granny Smith.
The whole time, each pony had placed some kind of apple-based food on the table. "Well, what are ya waitin' for? Dig in!" Added Applejack.
Nightmare glanced around, seeing everypony digging in, seeming hesitant. "Uh, Applejack? Are we really eating dessert items for lunch?"
Applejack laughed at that. "We sure as sugar are!"
My mouth seemed to grin mischievously. "I think I love you, already." That made me kind of uncomfortable.
Applejack laughed at that, and went back to eating. Nightmare started with a cupcake, oddly not using my magic to levitate it. It was actually extremely good.
"So, where're ya from?" Applejack asked.
Nightmare seemed hesitant, glancing at Spike for help, though he was busy talking to Apple Bloom. "Fillydelphia."
"Fillydelphia, ya say? Ah hear that's a nice city. What's it like?"
She started talking about it, although I was pretty sure the majority of it was inaccurate, or made up on the spot. The discussion moved to learning about Ponyville, which was probably more accurate, given it was by Applejack.
We left Sweet Apple Acres after saying goodbye. I honestly felt a bit bloated from how much I was forced to eat, but it wasn't like I could have done anything about it.
Spike consulted the list again. "Okay, next is the weather. A pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash is supposed to be clearing the sky."
Nightmare glanced upwards, and I noted that either Ponyville had the worst weather management I've ever seen, or Rainbow Dash wasn't doing her job.
Then she stepped into a mud puddle. Shaking a hoof clear, Spike pointed this out. "Uh, Twilight? You have mud on your hooves."
Nightmare gave him an unfriendly look "Oh really? And here I thought I stepped in chocolate."
Spike looked about to respond, when something splatted next to mean, resulting in a wave of mud to cover my entire side. "Are you okay?" Nightmare asked the rainbow maned, cyan pegasus.
The Pegasus jumped up, shook off the mud, thankfully missing me "I meant to do that." Right... And the rainbow mane means this is probably Rainbow Dash.
"Uh huh. Anyway, you must be Rainbow Dash."
This seemed to cheer her up. "Yep, that's right! Why, you heard of me?"
"There's a pegasus named Rainbow Dash that's supposed to be keeping the sky clear, and you have a rainbow mane. I just put two and two together."
Yea, it wasn't exactly a stretch of logic there.
Rainbow seemed disappointed. "Yeah, well, you'll hear about me someday. I'll be in the Wonderbolts, you'll see!" What, with that kind of attitude and failure to meet her responsibilities?
"Cool. Anyway, the sky is supposed to be clear for tonight."
Rainbow gestured dismissively. "No problem. I can clear the sky in a jiffy." But she just sat there.
"No you can't." Nightmare moon taunted.
Rainbow did not appreciate that, glaring at me. "What did you say?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just that there are so many clouds!" she wailed "You won't be able to clear them before the Summer Fun Celebration tonight!" That was overdramatic. And how did she not know it was the Summer SUN Celebration?
Spike pointed this out "Uh, Twilight? It's the Summer Sun Celebration, not the Summer Fun Celebration."
She waved my hoof dismissively. "Semantics." No it isn't. Semantics involves the meaning of words and the logical basis for Equish. Fun and Sun are not synonyms.
Spike clearly felt the same way, but Rainbow spoke first. "Hey, I'll have you know that I can clear these clouds in ten seconds flat!"
Nightmare smirked at her. "I hear a lot of talk, but I'm a man of action." Man? I know that Man is a species neutral term for Stallion, but I thought Nightmare Moon was an Alicorn Mare. I mean, she was sister to the older Sister in that old ponytale... Who now that I think about it might well have been Celestia. Is Nightmare moon Celestia's Sister? Was the legend recorded wrong, and Nightmare moon was actually an Alicorn Stallion?
Rainbow raised an Eyebrow. "Man of action? But aren't you a mare?"
Nightmare let out a grunt of irritation. "Look, the point is, you can't do it."
Rainbow glared at me, then promptly vanished. I half thought that she teleported, despite being a Pegasus, but no, she was just that fast. Nightmare tilted my head up to try and follow her motion, but All I could recognize was every single cloud be destroyed in what I thought was an impossibly short amount of time. Then she landed, and gave me a smug look.
"See? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I told you I could do it."
Nightmare, Spike, and even I was entirely speechless. Rainbow promptly burst out laughing. "You're pretty cool. We should hang out sometime."
And then she flew away, relaxing in midair like she was lying on a sofa.
"Whoa, she's amazing!" Spike praised.
"Yea, I guess she is."
Spike got the list out, and read it out. "Next is decorations. A unicorn named Rarity should be in charge of those." Maybe a unicorn can tell something is wrong...
The town hall was easy enough to find, as it was the largest building around, save the mansions in the distance. Inside, blue fabrics were draped around the room. Blue banners were flanking the central balcony, one with a sun and one with a moon. White flowers were hung over every doorway. Decorations looked to be nearly complete.
"Beautiful." Spike admired.
"Eh, I could do without the flowers. Otherwise, it looks nice."
"Not the decor! Her." He pointed at the lone unicorn, standing in the center of the room. She was a royal white, with a curly purple mane. Clearly focused on finishing the decorations, given the ribbons. This was probably Rarity. My eyes focused on her horn for a moment.
"How are my spines? Are they straight?" Asked Spike, fussing over his appearance.
I patted him on the shoulder. "Dude, relax." Spike gave me another funny look, but was ignored, as I approached the unicorn. "Excuse me-"
"Just a moment, please!" She interrupted. "I'm in the zone, as it were." She went back to her ribbons, finally deciding to use a vibrant red one. The unicorn turned to speak to me. "Now, then, how can I- Waaahh!" Her sudden yell startled me. "Whatever happened to you?"
Nightmare looked over my/herself to see what the unicorn was talking about, and I realized that I was still covered in mud. "Oh, right. Do you know Rainbow Dash?"
"Ah." The unicorn nodded, indicating that she knew what I meant. "I understand."
"Yeah. So, anyway, I just needed to check on the decorations." I took an exaggerated look around. "And it seems it’s all okay. I guess I'm done here."
"Don't you want to clean up?" She asked.
"There's a river just down the street, I think I'll just use that."
Rarity was justifiably offended by that idea. "Oh, goodness, no! You really must take a proper bath!" She trotted by me, and levitated me after her. That is kind of relieving, if still undignified.
She carried me all the way to her house, which would normally be rather embarrassing, but was somewhat comforting right now. After all, it was a normal reason to have no control over you actions, and reminded me of when I was younger.
She takes me upstairs and draws a bath, putting me down and saying "I'll be downstairs when you're finished. If you need anything, just let me know!" She then left along with Spike. Nightmare let out a sigh after the door closed.
Nightmare climbed into the bath, and soaked in the hot water, which was admittedly relaxing. She spent several minutes cleaning the mud off my everything, and then emptied out the water.
She went downstairs, and interrupted Spike's conversation with Rarity "Thanks for letting me use your bath, Rarity, but we should be going soon."
She looked over and smiled at me. "It's no problem, darling. May I know your name?"
Nightmare nodded. "Twilight."
"It's good to meet you, Twilight. I hope we can talk again soon, hopefully under better circumstances."
She nudged Spike and left the building, giving Rarity a friendly wave.
"Wasn't she wonderful?" Asked the daydreaming Spike. At this point, he had taken to riding on my back like normal.
"I suppose." Nightmare reluctantly agreed. "What's next on the list? We still have a job to do."
Spike refocused on his job, and read from the list. "Oh, uh, music! It's the last one."
Nightmare smiled at that. That was probably not a good sign. Soon she would be able to do whatever her plan was freely without suspicion.
She stopped on hearing a melodic series of bird whistling. Spike hopped off my back as Nightmare walked over to the sound, crawling through some bushes to find a bunch of birds in a tree, whistling along with the directions of a yellow coated, pink maned pegasus. I listened to the bird choir, and was rather impressed. Animal affinity was usually an earth pony trait after all.
I noticed pretty quickly that the blue jay wasn't doing a particularly good job, being out of sync, out of tune, and even facing the wrong way! The pegasus had to stop the practice to help him out. I couldn't hear what she was saying between my distance and her apparently low volume.
Nightmare stepped out of the bushes, which caught me by surprise. Not knowing when my body would start moving was still really uncomfortable.
"Hello!" Nightmare called out, startling the pegasus into releasing a gasp, scaring the birds away! Honestly, it wasn't even that loud, although she obviously hadn't seen me beforehoof. She looked at me, trying to regain composure.
"Sorry about the birds. I was just checking on the music, and I heard their whistling."
The pegasus landed in front of me, pawing at the ground, avoiding eye-contact with me. I stood there awkwardly, and even if I had control, I wouldn't have had any idea what to do. The silence was getting awkward, fast. I looked around, not sure why. Judging by the slight rustling in the bushes, I guessed Spike was probably hiding in there. Maybe looking for him?
My eyes rolled, and I turned back to the pegasus, who could only look at me from the corner of her eyes. She still avoided eye-contact. I sighed. "I'm Twilight. What's your name?"
"Um... I'm Flutter..." Flutter? Seems a bit short. I think she might have trailed off. I would ask, but, well...
Nightmare sighed again. "Well, you must be pretty talented to train those birds to sing like that. It was pretty good."
Flutter(?) just shrunk behind her mane, squeaking something in response.
Nightmare closed my eyes, rendering me blind. This was probably something I would have to get used to.
"Well, I'd better get going." I noticed her birds coming back, landing on the tree again. "Oh, and your birds came back. So, I'll just leave you to it."
Another squeak was her response.
Nightmare glared above me. "Okay, see ya around." She walked back to the bushes, finding Spike leaving the bushes at my approach.
I heard a loud gasp behind me, followed by a low voice yelling loudly. "A baby dragon!"
Before Nightmare could react, Flutter slammed into me, flinging me away and onto my face again. I recovered to see Flutter and Spike talking for a bit.
"Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before! And he's so cute!" Flutter squee'd at the lizard.
My eyes opened wide in shock, again for no reason I could determine. I wish I could know what she was thinking. What was so unexpected there?
Nightmare clearly forced a smile "Well, we'd better get going." walking by Spike who started to follow.
"Wait!" Flutter trailed behind me, though she had her eyes on Spike. "What's his name?"
Nightmare froze at the simple question. My eyes darted back and forth. She didn't know, hadn't had the chance to do research. She would have to guess, giving herself away, as long as Spike didn't... "I'm Spike!"
Flutter gasped. "Oh my, he talks! I didn't know dragons could talk! I just don't know what to say!"
"Maybe you two could find something to talk about?" Nightmare suggested.
"Good idea, Twilight! What do you want to talk about?" The question was directed at Flutter.
"Well, I want to know more about you." Flutter said.
Spike nodded. "Okay, what do you wanna know?"
"Absolutely everything."
I would have groaned if I could. Seriously, Spike was a great assistant and all, but he wasn't exactly a storyteller. Regardless, Flutter clearly was fascinated with dragons and was entirely captivated by the story.
Nightmare walked around town, possibly aimlessly, until she interjected a request for directions from Spike.
Eventually, we arrived at the library, an enchanted tree-structure. Nothing compared to my parents’ home, the palace, or even my tower, but it had books which....
"...and that's the story of my whole entire life! Well, up until today. Do you wanna hear about today?"
"Oh, yes, please!"
Nightmare was kind enough to groan loudly in displeasure, but neither of them seemed to notice. She opened the door with my hooves Spike followed me inside, but once we went inside the completely darkened room, Flutter seemingly disappeared.
"Hey, why's it so dark in here?" I heard Spike ask.
"Okay, please tell me we have some way of lighting this room." Nightmare was irritated.
I think Spike was going to point out I had a horn, but he was cut off when the room exploded with light, followed shortly by "SURPRISE!" being yelled by no less than fifty ponies. I jumped at the sudden noise (Or rather Nightmare did exactly what I tried to do involuntarily, which almost felt like I had control for a moment), looking about at all the ponies that surrounded me. Why were all these ponies here? What was going on?
A poofy pink pony pronked up to me. "Surprise!" She shouted, which didn't help, seeing as this being a surprise was pretty obvious. "I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?" She asked, bouncing around me the whole way.
Nightmare glared suspiciously at her. "How did you get in here? Did you break in?"
I couldn't tell if she giggled, or if she was just shaking with excitement and ignoring the question. "Remember me? I saw you earlier today while you were talking to that dragon, and I went up to you and I realized-" She stopped mid-sentence to mimic her large gasp from the first time we met. "See, that's because I didn't recognize you, and if I didn't recognize you, that must mean you're new, because I know everypony in Ponyville!"
Nightmare sat down, probably overwhelmed trying to keep up. "And if you're new, that means you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I went-" She gasped again. "I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!" She stepped aside slightly so that I could see everyone that I met so far: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Flutter, all of who were giving me welcoming smiles.
Nightmare blinked, took a breath, and looked back at Pinkie, who was smiling expectantly, as if awaiting for approval. "So you threw a surprise party for me so I could make some friends?"
Pinkie nodded vigorously.
Nightmare smirked, glancing at Spike next to me. "And you were worried about me making friends." Spike glared light-heartedly at me, while I turned to Pinkie. "Well, alright, let's get some drinks out here and let's party!"
Pinkie giggled approvingly at my answer, and we all set out for the table with a large bowl of punch on it, complete with a ladle and a set of cups next to it. Though, what got my attention was an unlabeled brown bottle on another table, completely unopened. I grinned at the bottle. So it was that kind of party, huh? I figured this would be pretty juvenile with all the streamers and confetti, but I guess I was wrong if they were serving alcohol.
"I call dibs on that beer." Nightmare stated.
"What's beer?" Pinkie echoed.
I/She uncorked the bottle and drank from it. Setting the bottle down, it was pretty obviously the kind of thing I would never want to drink, seeing as my mouth and throat were now on fire. I think it was hot sauce. Naturally, my mane caught fire, as my magic tried to purge the substance.
The next second, nightmare tried to scream, but couldn't, rushed over to the punch bowl, and drunk straight from the ladle. It took five drinks before the burning subsided enough for me to recover, and Nightmare gasped for breath with my head on the table.
"Are you alright, darling?" I heard Rarity ask.
Nightmare looked over to find the others looking at me with a small amount of worry. Steadying her breath. "You know what? I've had quite the day, and I'm getting tired." The exasperation was obvious "I think I'm just going to pick up a book, and read myself to sleep upstairs."
Nightmare browsed the shelves, and after being wished a good night, had help finding a copy of "Myths and Prophecies", before heading upstairs.
Why where they playing such loud music in a library? I can't focus on trying to read along with Nightmare like this.
Seriously, I couldn't turn the pages, couldn't move my eyes, so I had to keep focus on the words as Nightmare turned the pages, so it went slowly and required focus. I couldn't focus on words after she moved on, but she read slower than me. It was really frustrating.
She went downstairs to retrieve more books, presumably because she was looking for something. Her excuse of needing "Something more boring to read" was accepted by everypony, but Spike looked confused and somewhat suspicious.
It soon became clear that Nightmare was researching the legends about him/herself. She even made the same calculations I did. This actually made it less likely to be Nightmare and more likely to be either one of the stars (That would aid in her escape_, or else something to make me one of the stars. My Cutie Mark was a Starburst after all, and thinking on it, might well be related.
Either way, she glanced at the clock, 4:02, and glanced at the stars surrounding the moon. The Mare in the Moon was still there.
She got up and started to head downstairs again, but the door swung open first. Spike was wearing a lampshade on his head for some reason "Hey Twilight, it's almost time to watch the sunrise."
We headed to the Town Hall, along with what was likely the entire town. The mayor was giving a speech, though it was hard to focus on it given my ears were twitching in all directions. My gaze drifted upwards towards the moon, and the stars started moving rapidly.
My breath stopped, and eyes widened, as I saw the image of the Mare in the Moon flash and disappear.
I started breathing raggedly, and focused back on the mayor, who was introducing the princess. "...the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria... Princess Celestia!" Finishing her introduction, the curtains were pulled. Celestia was missing. I had half expected her to be there, and to be forced to attack her, but she was already missing!
My eyes locked on a blue cloud of magic where the Princess should have been. The cloud surged, then receded behind a black alicorn with war barding. Her mane looked like the night sky come to life, much like Celestia's aurora style mane. Her blue eyes were narrowed into dragon-like slits, which bore into everyone they saw. If there was a pony that could strike fear into the hearts of others, this was her. This was the real Nightmare Moon.
Spike passed out next to me. He couldn't handle this, and to be honest, if I had control, I don't know if I would have done better.
Nightmare glanced around the crowd. "Oh, my beloved subjects." She began, her voice dripping with malice. "It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces."
"What did you do to our Princess!?" Rainbow demanded. She flew forward to charge at Nightmare Moon, but Applejack caught her by the tail.
"Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" Nightmare asked accusingly.
My body stood taller, as though trying to look confidant. . "I know who you are." Nightmare Moon turned to regard me with a look of slight interest. "You're Nightmare Moon, the Mare in the Moon."
The ponies around me gasped, but Nightmare looked impressed at my knowledge. "So, somepony remembers me. Then you know why I'm here?"
I nodded, a slight glare on my face. "Yeah, I know exactly what you're going to do. But it won't work, for I alone know your secret weakness!"
Nightmare Moon didn't look very convinced. That didn't stop everyone else from gasping in surprise. "My secret weakness? Pray tell, what could that be?"
My face started to relax, and forced a crooked smile. "No, I don't really know your secret weakness. I'm just distracting you while an ambush party sneaks up on you right..." I looked just past her, as if I was looking at something behind her. Nothing was there "Now."
Nightmare Moon spun around to face her phantom foes, while my controlled spun around, picked up Spike onto my back, and galloped out of the building. I left behind a room filled with confused ponies and a bewildered goddess, who I could hear laughing at me from halfway to the library. She wasn't following me, which may have been good.
Friendship is Obligatory: Part 2, or Unhappily Ever After.
Spark ran, with Spike, all the way back to the library, dropping him off on the bed. I honestly couldn't blame her, given that he was delirious.
After that, Spark quickly located The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. I don't know why the library was organized alphabetically. It is a truly awful system, given that the first letter of the title has little to do with the book, whereas the Dewdrop Decimal system organizes books by content.
She dropped the book on the table. Apparently, the last known location of the Elements of Harmony were in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, in the Everfree Forest. The elements were clearly based on several virtues, Kindness...
Then the door slammed open, with a rainbow blur speeding up to me. Rainbow Dash got in my face, glaring. "What’s your deal?" She demanded. "First you're being all brave, then you just run off like a coward!"
"In case you didn't notice, Rainbow, Nightmare Moon is far too strong for anyone to handle alone. This was a tactical withdrawal."
"Tactical, my flank!" Rainbow accused, waving her hoof around.
Spark started to respond, but was interrupted by Applejack, who had just entered the room along with the other ponies Spark had interacted with. "Settle down there, Rainbow. Nopony's blamin' her for runnin' off." She turned to me with a frown that demanded answers. "But you know something we don't, don't ya Twilight?"
Spark nodded, responding "Right. Nightmare Moon is an angry goddess who was imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years. Now that she's free, she will bring eternal night, which will inevitably kill all life on the planet." "-The Elements of Harmony"
Spark elucidated on the research she had done. The Elements of Harmony, Five virtues known, but six elements. The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, which sounded like the kind of places I should have heard more about.
She trailed off for a moment, until Applejack spoke up "Uh, Twi? You all right, sugarcube?"
The resulting headshake was unpleasant, but I was getting used to it. "Yeah, I'm fine. Anyway, the castle is in the middle of the Everfree Forest. I'm sure we can get in there and get out before Nightmare figures us out, no problem."
Everypony else looked nervous, except Flutter, who started shaking. "D-did you say the Everfree F-forest?"
"Yeah. Is that bad?"
"Bad?" Scoffed Rarity. "It's terrible! The Everfree Forest is the most dangerous place in Equestria!"
"Pfft! I'm not scared!" Rainbow boasted. She shifted uneasily in place.
"Good, because we need to get going pretty soon. Anyone want to come with me?" Spark offered. I suppose she wanted the help, and it would be nice to at least have company during this disaster.
"Heck yeah! I'm not letting some obnoxious moon pony win!"
"Ah'm with ya, sugarcube."
"I'm coming, too. We must stick together, after all."
"I'll follow you, if you don't mind..."
Pinkie was jumping around with excitement. "Woohoo! We're an adventuring party!" She stopped in place. "Whoa. I could throw an Adventure Party!"
I smiled confidently. "Then I'm glad to have you all along. With all six of us, I'm sure we'll succeed."
The moon was shining brightly overhead, but that just made the woods creepier. If you are going to explore a forest, you do it during the daytime. And, you know, of your own free will.
Nopony was particularly comfortable with the situation, except Pinkie Pie, who was pronking alongside the party, painfully unaware, or uncaring of the perilous forest.
The vines hanging down were quite annoying, brushing through my hair again and again, but at least there was a dirt path to follow.
Spark tried to start up conversation "So, have any of you been in here, before?"
"Heavens, no! Just look at it, it's dreadful!" Rarity complained.
"Yeah, I noticed that this place was a crap-heap."
Rarity winced at me. "Is there a need for such language?"
Spark sighed. "Sorry, I'm just surprised none of you have ever been here before. I lived near a cave back home, and kids would always wander off in there. They had to block it off, after a while."
Applejack raised an eyebrow at me. "You had caves in Fillydelphia?"
Spark stared at Applejack for a moment "If you know where to look." She replied cryptically, and unhelpfully.
Rarity looked at me, confused. "Hold on a moment, I thought you were from Canterlot?"
We stopped near a cliff, none of us paying it much mind. That was because the others were all looking at me, expecting me to address the inconsistency.
"Well, I was born in Fillydelphia, but then we moved." She smiled, trying to deflect suspicion.
Applejack wasn't deterred. "Y'sure? 'Cause ya don't seem like yer too sure about yer answer."
And then the cliff collapsed, with us standing on it. My stomach jumped into my throat, I tried to flail in panic, but that obviously had no effect. This was how I was going to die, wasn't it. Even If I had control, or magic, I don't think there would be anything I could do. Well, the pegasi completely failed to fall, and sped into action rescuing Rarity and Pinkie, but Applejack and I slid towards the cliff. Applejack managed to grab a conveniently placed root, but my body was just scrambling at the slope, without any luck.
The edge was coming way too close, and Spark turned around. Having only a vague idea of how many seconds until I fell off of the edge to my death was not helping. Still, Applejack did a controlled slide, and managed to grab me just as I went over the edge. My head panned wildly, and I noticed a few outcropping that I could have landed on, had I been a few meters in either direction. I could feel my grip failing, and Applejack was having trouble not sliding further.
She looked at me with determination "Let go."
"The fuck I will. That fall will kill me!" Spark protested.
"No it won't." She countered. She looked me dead in the eyes with a sincerity that I could feel. "Ah promise that if you let go, you'll be safe."
Then Spark let go, and we fell to our death. I couldn't scream externally, but Spark wasn't so incapable. "OH SHIIIIIIIIIT!"
Somehow, in all of that, I completely forgot that we had two pegasi with us, and we had delayed long enough for them to land the others. So rather than hitting the ground, Rainbow and Flutter caught me, and brought me down at a significantly less terrifying speed. Spark grabbed both of them in a hug. "Thanks, it means a lot to me what you did there."
Both made their excuses for breaking the hug, though rescuing Applejack would have been reason enough. However, she clearly had absolutely no trouble, given she leapt down several outcroppings before reaching the bottom. As she walked by and gave me a reassuring pat on the withers, I considered how she valued truth.
It took only a short time to find the path again, and we continued forward. Unfortunately, Rainbow was doing her best to remind me of how close I came to death.
"...and once Pinkie and Rarity were saved, whoosh!... Me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time." She smiled, basking in her own glory while the others were completely straight-faced.
"Nice story. I was there, so I might be a bit biased, but I'm sure it would be a nice story to tell your kids someday." Spark said, and changed the subject. "So, Rainbow. I take it you know a lot about those "Wonderbolts", huh?"
Rarity and Applejack groaned behind me, while Pinkie bounced in place saying "Oh boy, story time!"
Rainbow hovered next to me, looking like she was ready to go on some tirade, but a loud growling froze us in our tracks. My head swung around, but there was too much foliage in the way. Everypony stared ahead for a long while, but heard nothing else.
"I guess it's gone now." Spark commented.
"Um, what if it comes back?" Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie raised a hoof, like she was hoping the teacher would call on her. "What if it's a big, bad monster?"
"A monster? Don't be ridiculous, it was probably just a wolf." Spark said to alleviate the worry.
"That didn't sound like a wolf." Fluttershy corrected.
"So, what? You think it's some mythical beast, like a manticore? Don't be absurd." Spark sounded sarcastic.
A fearsome roar from ahead shook us. We faced the creature that roared, and Spark was clearly shocked. "Oh my god, a fucking manticore."
Spark was frozen at the sight of the Mythological creature, but the others prepared for a fight. Rarity charged the beast. She ducked under one of its swings, and kicked him in the face.
The manticore glared at Rarity and roared right in her face. The force of its call pushed back her hair. The sight of her ruined mane was more than she could take, and she ran behind me to fix it.
Applejack tried to wrangle the manticore, but was quickly tossed across the clearing. Rainbow Dash sped into action as Applejack landed next to me.
She looked up at me with slight annoyance. "Is there a reason yer just standin' there, Twilight?"
"What can I do? I'm just a sales clerk!"
"That ain't no excuse! Rarity's a fashion designer, and she just clobbered the critter!"
I looked back at the manticore, who just slapped Rainbow away. Rainbow looked dazed, but otherwise fine. That was clearly enough for Spark, who charged at it.
"Hey kitty, up high!" Spark yelled. The manticore swung high at my head to counter. Spark ducked under the swing, and came up behind the manticore. With surprising skill, given her earlier clumsiness, she bucked the manticore.
Right in the private parts.
The manticore screeched, and fell on its side, using a single paw to grasp its pained loins. I saw various reactions from my companions, from Rarity's look of disgust, Applejack's look of disappointment, Pinkie visibly wincing, Rainbow rolling on the ground with laughter, and Fluttershy staring in sheer horror.
"Quick, get him while he's down!" Spark shouted.
Before she could pounce on it, Fluttershy jumped in the way frantically waving her hooves. "Stop! Stop!"
Spark stopped, clearly confused. Fluttershy ignored her, and went to nuzzle the manticore and offer him soothing words.
The manticore whimpered at her, holding up one of its paws to reveal a humongous thorn that I can't believe I didn't notice before. Fluttershy pulled it out, eliciting a pained whimper from the beast, but it quickly showed its gratitude for the friendly pegasus, nuzzling and licking her affectionately.
The others snuck past the heart-warming scene, each making sure they weren't getting any attention from the manticore. Fluttershy eventually said her farewells to the manticore and made to walk past me.
"How'd you know how to pacify the manticore like that?" Spark asked.
"Well, sometimes, we all just need to be shown a little kindness." She replied nervously. She trotted past me at a slightly faster rate.
Tapping on my back caught my attention, so I turned around, and the manticore grabbed me by the throat with its paw. It growled at me, as my legs kicked uselessly. It roared, and threw me into a tree. I smashed through the tree with my back, hit another tree with my head, and landed on the ground with a thud. I groaned to a seated position, and noticed the manticore blowing a raspberry at me before scampering off into the forest.
I stood up, stretching my aching back. I scrambled to catch up with the others, who were walking off as if I wasn't just attacked like that. I suppose they think I deserved it.
Despite the pain, I couldn't help but think about Fluttershy's actions. Hopefully Spark would try such an approach in the future, it could only lead to less pain for me.
Rainbow crossed her arms defensively. "Look, all I'm saying is that I thought it was funny."
Applejack gave her a reserved glare. "And ahm sayin' it was dirty!" She looked at me with the full force of her indignation. "Why'd ya use such a rundown, dirty trick like that?"
She was referring to Spark's... approach... to fighting. Rainbow was laughing about it the whole way, which eventually led to them arguing about it.
"I'm the rogue. I always fight dirty." Spark flatly replied.
That didn't impress Applejack "Why'd you have to do that? That's no honest way to win!"
She rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine. If it really upsets you, then no more low-blows."
"That'd be great."
I might have believed her if not for the wicked smirk my face twisted into the moment I turned away. Maybe she wouldn't deal any more "low-blows", but that doubtless left many options that Applejack wouldn't appreciate either.
The canopy ahead was dense enough to render the area completely dark. Spark was clearly expecting an ambush, given how my eyes went in all directions.
"I know the Everfree Forest isn't much to look at, but I at least want to see something" I heard Rarity complain.
A soft splat sounded by Applejack. "I think I stepped in somethin'."
Fluttershy shrieked in response. "It's just mud." Was Applejack's deadpan response.
Light returned to the glade, but what I saw sent shivers down my spine and caused everypony else to let out screams. Horrific, twisted red trees, with gaping maws filled with sharp teeth greeted us. Everypony bunched up, my gaze snapping between the abominations. I, obviously, didn't scream. Not even internally. Really!
All of us were quivering in fear, except Pinkie Pie. She was standing up to one of the trees, making silly and demeaning faces at one of them, giggling like a maniac the whole time.
"Pinkie, why are you taunting the tree demons?" Spark asked.
Pinkie wasn't paying my confusion any mind, and she began singing.
When I was a little filly and the sun was going doooowwn...
My confusion was compounding further. "Don't tell me she's going to sing?"
Pinkie, somehow, appeared above us and continued her song.
The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me froooowwn...
Without batting an eye, Rarity called it like it was. "She is."
I'd hide under my pillow
From what I thought I saw
But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way
To deal with fears at all
"You've gotta be kidding me." Spark groaned. I looked at the trees, expecting to see them doing something. Strange, they were standing completely still. Why were they doing nothing?
She said, "Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall
Learn to face your fears
You'll see that they can't hurt you
Just laugh to make them disappear."
Pinkie brazenly laughed at one of the trees, and it poofed into an ordinary not-evil tree. The others gasped, but I stood bewildered. "You've gotta be kidding me." Spark repeated in shock.
So, giggle at the ghostly
Guffaw at the grossly
Crack up at the creepy
Whoop it up with the weepy
Chortle at the kooky
Snortle at the spooky
The others joined in on the singing and the laughing, each laugh transforming the trees. I just stood there watching with amazement. Pinkie halted the song entirely to stand right in my face, slightly glaring as if I was doing something wrong.
And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna...
Pinkie erupted into a giggle fit, making even more of the trees normal again.
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuugh!
The music cut out, and everyone fell to the ground with laughter. Not me though, I was still staring at one last tree that hadn't been fixed yet. I was studying it.
"Hey, Twilight, why aren't you laughing?" Pinkie asked.
Spark stopped studying the remaining tree and turned to the others. "Couldn't we have just walked past them?"
This gave their laughter pause. They looked at each other questioningly, then looked at me. Everypony burst out with renewed laughter, once more falling to the ground in their mirth. I would have gladly joined them.
Spark wilted with obvious embarrassment. "That was a legitimate question, guys." She whispered defensively.
As they eventually got up to continue the journey, I thought about how Pinkie's boundless optimism was enough to break us out of our paralyzing fear. It was truly amazing to me how simply thinking on the bright side of things was enough for her to shatter the spell. Maybe things were looking up.
Before the giggling could cease, we left the glade to find a river in our path. The river was a full-fledged rapids, despite the lack of an obvious grade. It looked impossible to swim across.
"How are we going to cross this?" Pinkie asked. A strangely sensible question coming from her.
I looked up and down the river. "Who the hell makes a road going this far in the forest, yet forgets to put a bridge down here?"
"Language." Rarity chided.
"Sorry."
We could hear sobbing from upstream. With no further leads, we decided to investigate. I saw a lilac colored sea serpent in the river, thrashing his tail around the river in sorrow. "What a world, what a world!" He wailed.
Spark sighed, clearly irritated, and approached the sea serpent, followed by the rest of the group. "Hey, are you okay?"
"No, I am not okay!" He sobbed, throwing his head back in despair. "This tacky purple cloud whisked by and cut my beloved mustache clean off! And now, I look hideous!" He fell into the water in despair. The resulting deluge instantly soaked the entire group down to the bone.
I was about as irritated as Spark seemed right now.
"Oh, give me a break." Rainbow groaned.
"That's what all the fuss is about?" Applejack asked with indignation.
Rarity looked downright offended by the remarks. "Of course it is! How can you be so insensitive?" She scolded with her head held high.
Rarity approached the sea serpent with a critical eye. "Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales!"
Spark pushed my bangs out of the way to stare at Rarity. What was she doing?
"And your expertly coiffed mane!"
Oh, I see. She is trying to convince him that he still has a lot of positive features. I think.
"And your fabulous manicure... all ruined without your beautiful mustache!"
... Or not. And you were doing so well. Just as expected, the sea serpent's wailing renewed, and the water was wild once more with his incessant thrashing.
Rarity glared in determination. "I cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" She ran up to the serpent and bit off one of his scales, unsurprisingly causing him to yelp in surprise and pain.
His response was interrupted as Rarity sliced off her own tail. Surprising, given how she had reacted while fighting the manticore.
Rarity didn't pause, simply levitating her autotomized tail up to the serpent's face. I was somewhat curious as to what exact spell she used, as it perfectly replaced the missing half. You know, if you ignore that even I could tell it was the wrong shape and color. Imagine my surprise when instead of being upset about his mis-matched facial hair, he was thrilled to have a full mustache.
"You look smashing." Rarity complimented with a straight face. I don't know if she was lying or not, and would have been afraid to ask.
"Uh, Rarity? Are you really okay with this?" Spark asked her, motioning to her tail.
Rarity gave it a glance, and her face had a flash of distaste on it. "Oh. Uh, it's fine. Short tails are in this season. Besides, it will grow back."
She was a transparent liar it seems. She was really attached to her tail, yet she readily gave it away to someone else just to make them feel better.
Then Rainbow Dash whispered in my ear. "The mustache would grow back too, you know."
True enough. Though her generosity resolved the situation without any real harm being done.
Spark started wading across the river now that it was calm. The sea serpent lifted me from the water, arranging his body as stepping stones across the river.
"Allow me." He said, granting us access across the water.
It even got us goodwill, and an easy way across the now calm river.
The group followed the road for a little longer, and cleared the tree line. Ahead, I saw the crumbling ruins of, presumably, The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Hopefully with the Elements contained within. We all sped up to a decent canter. "That's it! We've found the castle, girls! Victory is nigh!" Spark's optimism spread to the others, and they picked up the pace as well.
That is, until we reached a chasm. And the bridge was out.
Pinkie sighed. "Now what?"
Rainbow fluttered her wings. "Duh, I'll just fix the bridge! Just gimme ten seconds." She swooped into the chasm.
"Oh yeah." Pinkie giggled to herself. With sudden and tone-killing intensity, Pinkie turned to me. "Say, you never told us where you were really from."
Spark promptly dodged the question. "I don't like talking about it. Can we talk about something else?"
"Okay. When's your birthday?"
"May."
After a blank smile from Pinkie, she continued. "What Day?"
"I think it's a Tuesday, this year."
Pinkie's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Is there a reason you're avoiding my questions?" Pinkie gasped dramatically. "Oh no, do you not like birthdays?"
Spark decided to try and avoid the questions by checking on Rainbow, who had been gone for a bit longer than the ten seconds it should have taken. And she was talking to a group of pegasi with flightsuits. Spark leaned forward to try and hear better.
"...It's them or us." Said the lead pegasus.
My eyes widened. "Rainbow! Please, don't listen to them!" Spark yelled.
The lead pegasus glared at me, her eyes flashing with magic. Mist came from out of nowhere, and clouded our view, hiding the events across the way from observation.
I stomped with fury. "God DAMN you and your goddamn magic!"
"Twilight, calm down!" Rarity tried consoling Spark.
"No, I'm pissed now! Every time! Magic screws me over every fucking time!" She yelled into the mist, with absolute fury. Her ranting had everypony looking at me, and presumably my horn.
Spark glared into the mist, teeth grit, with everypony else worriedly watching me. A moment later, Rainbow burst back through the mist, fully repaired bridge quickly revealed behind her. Spark promptly whooped with joy and rushed over to give Rainbow a quick hug.
"Oh man, you have no idea how glad I am that you're sticking with us!" Spark said with apparent relief.
Rainbow smirked. "I'd never leave my friends hanging."
Spark smiled back at her as she flew across the chasm, followed by the others crossing the bridge.
The inside of the castle could hardly be considered "inside". There wasn't a roof to speak of, yet there was no debris on the floor to indicate there was a roof in the first place. Columns flanked either side of the room, but they were cracked and had vines growing on them. Nature was slowly creeping in here, as vegetation was all over the place in random segments of the wall and any stone surface. But what really caught the eye was the center. In the center of the room was a statuesque pedestal, on top of which sat five grey orbs surrounding a larger orb. I recognized them from the books. The smaller orbs were the Elements of Harmony.
"There they are. Our key to ending it all." Spark proclaimed. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity used their particular methods to bring the Elements to our level.
"There's only five." Pinkie observed.
"When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed." Spark quoted from the reference guide. "I guess we need to do something with these. But what?" She asked.
"Uh, if I may make a suggestion." Rainbow hovered next to me and flicked my horn.
It hurt about as much as when the manticore threw me through the tree, if not more so, and made it hard to even pay attention to what was going on. Though the further tapping from Spark didn't help much either.
"... Your horn, dear." Rarity said with a confused look.
My mouth dropped. "I'M A UNICORN!?"
Everypony else had their faces twisted in confusion. It was Applejack who asked the obvious. "Ya... didn't know you were a unicorn?"
My eyes shifted in either direction. "Yeah, I knew. I just wanted to be sure you knew."
She eyed me uncertainly. "Okay... then you know what yer doin', right?"
"Well, I can think of something." Spark looked at the Elements before me.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Rarity asked to encourage my progress.
Spark just glared at the Elements, and clenched, but nothing happened. She took a breath, and the Elements were being surrounded by a blue cloud.
Which, I realized, was the alternate form Nightmare Moon used to enter the Town Hall. I watched helplessly as it expanded, spinning around the Elements and lifting them up into a vortex. Spark panicked, yelling "The Elements!" and lunged forward into the vortex to try and grab them.
Being dumped out of the teleport was disorienting, and the second faceplant of the day didn't help. Spark rose to my hooves, and quickly surveyed the room. It had an actual roof, a massive window, and some columns in much better shape. Behind me was a staircase, as the only exit.
And standing on a raised dais was Nightmare Moon Herself, the Elements levitating around her, smiling evilly at me. "Well, well, look who's come to visit."
This was it. And I was probably about to die. Spark was a Sales Clerk, not even really a unicorn, and she was trying to fight a goddess.
Spark smiled mischievously. "I've come to end this, once and for all."
Nightmare Moon gave me a condescending grin. "And how do you plan to do that? Are you going to distract me with another group of invisible soldiers?"
Spark lowered into a challenging stance. "You never know. I can be wild and unpredictable when I want to be."
Nightmare Moon lowered the Elements onto the platform and walked calmly to face me. "I fail to see how empty threats serve your purpose. More likely, you're going to boast of your false abilities in order to scare me." She lowered her stance, accepting my challenge.
Spark smirked, and started circling her. "It's not my abilities that should scare you. You've been watching us since the cliff collapse, haven't you? You should realize that I have no particular abilities to call my own."
Nightmare started circling me as well, chuckling at Sparks’s admission of incompetence. "So why should I fear you? You've just admitted that you are weak, so what threat could you possibly pose?"
Spark just smiled at her. "You've been in battles before, right? You should know better than anyone that luck is just as important as skill. And lady, I have lots of luck on my side."
Nightmare raised an eyebrow behind her helmet. "Oh? And what good is luck when your opponent has enough power to overcome any lucky breaks you might have? What then?"
Spark stopped my circling, and Nightmare stopped as well. "I don't see how you have that kind of power, because you just made a grave tactical error."
She glared critically. "And that is?"
Spark smiled victoriously. "You left the Elements undefended right behind me."
Nightmare Moon looked confused for a moment, and looked past me. She just now noticed that in our circling, we switched sides in the room, where she was now on the opposite side of where she started. Spark yelled "Sucker!" and hauled ass towards the Elements.
This would all be pointless if Spark couldn't figure out how to use my horn in the next couple of seconds. The Elements grew closer with each stride, and Spark grit her teeth, trying to create a spark. Spark came to a stop right on the Elements, and pointed my horn at them.
Nothing. I tried to concentrate, summon even a single spark of magic, but I still couldn't do anything. My horn was still unresponsive.
Spark started rubbing my horn, which just spiked my fear higher, because she CLEARLY didn't know anything about unicorns, and we were about to die, and she was giving herself a Celestia damned hornjob.
Nightmare teleported in front of me, and grabbed me in her magic. She threw me into the ceiling, where I yelled in pain. She tossed me back to where we stared down, with me painfully landing on my side. She laughed triumphantly. "That was a good one! Really, well done! It's too bad your incompetence got in the way of your hard earned victory! Muahahahaha!" her expression turned dark. "Let's not let something like that happen again, shall we?"
She reared up, her horn glowing with power, and she stomped down with great force, the shockwave shattering the Elements at her hooves. Right before my eyes, she destroyed the only artifacts that could defeat her. Mere fragments remained of the artifacts that might have even freed me, perhaps.
We had lost.
I stared at the fragments in horror, like the symbols of my anguish. This was how I would die? As a helpless observer? My eyes lowered to my hooves. I failed. I was going to be stuck here, or die, and I don't think I could even blame Spark for this.
"Twilight!"
I looked behind me, seeing my friends rushing towards me. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, my eyes sparked with understanding. I felt my spirits lifting from their fog, as a euphoric tingling traveled down my spine. This wasn't just about me. It was about them. I wasn't alone. I stood up, and my friends gathered beside me, each making sure I was okay. I suddenly realized the solution. I tried to turn back to Nightmare Moon, before realizing that I had just been in sync with Spark, and still had no control.
Spark turned to Nightmare Moon with a confident smile. "You think you've won? By breaking the physical Elements, you think we're now powerless?" She bared my teeth in a smile of victory. "You're wrong. We don't need those trinkets; we are the Elements of Harmony."
Nightmare Moon smirked. "Another ploy? Really now, this is getting pathetic."
Spark chuckled at her naiveté. "Think back Nightmare, to all of those trials. Remember the cliff? Applejack spoke to me, and she promised my safety when I had no reason to believe I would survive. For her honorable word, she bears the Element of Honesty."
Some of the shards glowed orange, and flew next to Applejack, hovering around her. She gave them a cursory glance, and looked back at Nightmare with renewed vigor. Nightmare's smile disappeared, replaced by a hint of anxiety.
Spark continued. "Fluttershy, when faced with a creature on the attack, saw its pain and she alone acted to ease its suffering. For her compassion, she bears the Element of Kindness."
Fluttershy was now surrounded by shards glowing pink, but she was a bit frightened by their sudden approach. But Spark continued. "Where horrid imagery shocked and repulsed us, Pinkie laughed away her fears. For her optimism against all odds, she bears the Element of Laughter."
Pinkie was now surrounded by glowing blue shards. "When a serpent lost something precious to him, Rarity gifted him something valuable to herself. For her sacrifice, she bears the Element of Generosity."
Rarity was surrounded by glowing purple shards. "When offered the chance to join a prestigious group and rise to the top, Rainbow Dash chose to stand with those she cared about most. For her unwavering devotion to her friends, she bears the Element of Loyalty."
Rainbow was surrounded by glowing red shards. Nightmare Moon looked very nervous, but she wasn't backing down. "You haven't won, either! You don't have the Sixth Element!"
My face softened into a heartfelt smile as Spark looked over my friends. "No, we do. I understand now that the book didn't refer to a literal spark of magic. There's a spark in us all, just waiting to burst, ready to ignite the flames." Spark glared at the increasingly nervous Nightmare with a smile. "I knew what the Sixth Element was the moment my friends returned my hope to me. For the way I feel about the ones who have saved my life numerous times, and touched me with the actions that exemplified their virtues as my true friends, I have become the bearer of the Sixth Element. I bear the Element of Magic, the one who represents the power that true friendship wields."
From the ceiling, an orb of seemingly pure magic descended over us. It was the Final Element. It bathed us in its divine light, blinding us with its manifesting power. It hovered over my head, but I could feel it transform into a tiara. It alighted onto my head, and I opened my eyes, immune to the now blinding light. I looked to see my friends now floating into the air in magic light, wearing their respective Elements around their necks. I smiled, and faced Nightmare Moon, who was quivering helplessly in fear.
I can't really describe what I did. I don't actually know if I did anything, or if it was Spark. But the calm, and peace, and overwhelming power, channeled through the virtues of friendship manifested as a Rainbow of Light.
The rainbow smashed into the petrified Nightmare, who screamed in terror and anguish at the flood of magic. As one, we amplified our power, and the world soon went white.
It was hard to say how long I was out. It was still dark out, but that meant little given the situation. Also Spark sat up and shook my head. The others were coming to as well, still adorned with their new artifacts.
"Everypony okay?" Applejack asked. <No, Honestly, I had hoped that would have freed me.
"Looks like it." Spark said. I looked over to where I last saw Nightmare Moon, and she was still there. She was unconscious, but she looked very different. I turned my attention back to the others, feeling that we were still safe for the moment.
Rarity was hopping for joy, holding her newly regrown tail. "Oh, thank goodness! I'll never part with you again." She spoke lovingly to her tail. Spark rolled my eyes at this.
Fluttershy noticed the design on Rarity's necklace. "Oh, what a lovely necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark."
Spark quickly glanced around comparing them, and indeed, each artifact matched their wielder exactly. Given they were mere stones before, they probably adjust to their wielder.
Spark looked down to see my Element, before remembering that hers (mine?) was a tiara. She lifted it from my head and examined it, and it matched my own cutie mark as well. She seemed a little disappointed, though. "Man, why did I have to get the tiara? I want a bitchin' necklace, too."
Pinkie appeared next to me as if from out of nowhere. "Don't be so sad, Twilight! With that Element, that means we're best friends forever and ever!"
Applejack nodded and stood next to me. "That's right, Twilight! Ah mean, ah thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but ah reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship."
"Indeed, you do." Spoke a voice I would know anywhere. Blinding light flooded the room from a nearby window as the sun was raised. An orb of light separated from the sun, and entered the room, bursting into the form of
Rather than trotting over, as I wanted to, or bowing, as everypony else was, Spark just stared blankly forward, as though she had no idea who she was looking at.
"Uh, hello there." She said, waving. I and everypony else gasped at her unacceptably informal greeting.
Princess Celestia wasn't offended in the least however.
"Twilight Sparkle, my Faithful Student. I knew you could do it."
"Do what?"
Princess Celestia gave me an odd look "...Saving Equestria from Nightmare Moon, of course."
"Oh, right. The Nightmare business. Yeah, we took care of that." Spark replied.
The Princess looked amused at the answer. "So I can see. I knew of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew you were the one with magic inside to defeat her. But, you could not unleash it without first accepting true friendship into your heart."
Princess Celestia looked across the room, her face unreadable. "Now, if only another will, as well." She walked past me, towards the fallen Nightmare Moon. "Princess Luna!"
Nightmare Moon, or rather Princess Luna, gasped in fright. She stared up at the approaching Princess with dread. I'm honestly not sure how I should feel about that, given what she had done.
The Princess lowered herself next to Luna. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. It's time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."
Everypony gasped, though I had theorized as much. Having it confirmed was a nice feeling.
"Will you accept my friendship?" Asked the Princess.
While the others leaned forward in suspense (And Pinkie fell over), Luna rushed up to her sister, nuzzling her apologetically. "I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!"
Princess Celestia nuzzled her back. "I've missed you, too." They sat together, sharing in their sweet, tearful reunion.
Killing the moment was Pinkie Pie, crying dramatically one moment, then gasping with an overwhelming smile on her face the next. "You know what this calls for?"
Everyone looked at her, wordlessly asking her to answer her question. She didn't do so, instead trotting happily to the exit to our confusion. She turned to us, and waved for us to follow before leaving the room.
"I guess we should just follow her." Spark suggested. Agreeing with that idea, we all walked to follow our bouncy companion.
Pinkie's silent journey took us all the way through the Everfree Forest. Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity tried on multiple occasions to ask her where we were going and what we were doing, but she quickly shushed them and merrily trotted down the road ahead of us. She didn't explain herself or anything. At least going back the way we came was mercifully uneventful. Though, at some point, Luna and Princess Celestia had vanished without notice.
Eventually, we arrived back in Ponyville, The streets and the main square were deserted, and it was rather worrying. Finally, Pinkie stopped and turned to us. We leaned forward in anticipation of what she was about to announce.
Pinkie threw up her hooves. "A party!" She proclaimed, ponies bursting out of their homes in celebration. Decorations suddenly appeared on buildings and trees, and we found the royal sisters approaching on a large chariot pulled by four armored pegasi. Spark relaxed after the initial shock of the sudden festivity around me, shaking my head in reaction. Pinkie was making a big deal out of celebrating our success, and just being overly dramatic.
Spark looked over to Luna and the other girl, seeing that Luna was still upset over recent events. That changed when two children put a necklace of flowers around her as a sign of goodwill, and managed an optimistic smile. Spike ran up to me from the crowd right then, grabbing me in a grateful hug. Spark pat him on the back and looked around to the cheering and smiling townsfolk.
It should have been a perfect, storybook ending.
Manage a great celebration: Check.
Defeat Nightmare Moon: Check.
Make some friends: Check.
But I wasn't part of it, not really. One of the heroes was an imposter, using black magic. I didn't know exactly who or what she, or maybe he was. Almost certainly not a unicorn. Claimed to be a store clerk. Somehow managed a possession spell regardless. Also hated magic enough to loose his temper over it.
The Princess noticed that I was sagging, and went to console me. "Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"
Spark frowned. "No, I'm not happy. I have great friends in Ponyville, and it breaks my heart that I have to leave them."
Celestia gave one of her warm, motherly smiles. "Spike, take a note, please." She dictated. "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."
Spark smiled, "Thank you, Princess."
The other ponies from the adventure surrounded me in a group hug, and Spark returned it as hard as she could.
The celebration lasted for a few more hours, during which Princess Celestia didn't even acknowledge me screaming and begging for help.
Spark and her new friends said their good-nights, and she entered the library with Spike to sleep in Ponyville for the first time.
She closed my eyes on the bed, while I screamed and cried in despair, until drifting off to sleep.
I awoke to the sound of Spike's pattering feet. I tried to sit up, to greet the day, but nothing happened. It took me several seconds to remember yesterday, and the day before, realize it wasn't just a nightmare, or an overactive imagination. That I was trapped, helpless, and Princess Celestia hadn't noticed. She hadn't noticed, or ignored me.
My body, or Spark rather, sat me up, before panning my vision around. It wasn't my bedroom, but the bedroom of Golden Oaks Library.
Spike came through the door. "Hey Twilight, want some breakfast?"
Author's Note
Sorry this took so long. I seriously don't feel qualified to write, and this was a struggle. When I reread the first chapter, It makes me feel like someone else wrote it, for how easily it came to me. Here, it was a struggle to keep Twilight's voice right, and I don't actually know if I managed it.
Amusingly, in the original story, Fluttershy never says her name to Spike, but she gets referred to as Fluttershy anyway. So she got called Flutter for a while.
I don't really have a good way to refer to "The Person who is possessing me" so just went with Spark. Also English doesn't manage a third person first person hybrid view where your body does things but you yourself don't.
As for Rhabdomisia, It was going to be Thaumiphobic, but I did some research, and -misia means hate the same way -phobe means fear. And it turns out that Rhabdophobia is a real word.
