The Seventh Element

Worry

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She stood before a burning city

The screaming of ponies was music to her ears

All was bathed in an unnatural night

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Luna was slipping in and out of consciousness. She knew there were ponies near her, she could hear their muffled conversation, but she just couldn't make her mouth work, or her eyes for that matter. She was trying to open them, but it was like trying to stay awake when you hadn't slept in days, they just wouldn't work.

She let out a groan of pain.

Immediately the ponies in the room rushed towards her and began talking in hurried voices.

"I nk sh ake"

"Whu- What?"

It took her ears a minute to adjust.

"Na! Cn ooo hr e?

Una, a-wer me....

Luna?"

'I understood that one'!

"Trixie?"

"Aha! I the great and POWERF-"

"Oh shut up, can't you see the poor thing needs help?"

Trixie looked at the ground and backed up a few paces to allow the unknown pony more room to examine the princess.

"Luna are you okay?"

She looked towards the voice. Before her stood a beautiful mint green unicorn. She had a ring of daises woven in to her wavy, dark green, mane and a cutie mark of some sort of aggressive looking vine. Her eyes were a deep red, something Luna had never seen before.

Her senses were coming back to her.

'I have to tell them'

Wh-Who are you? What's going on?

She tried to stand up, but her knees began to shake violently.

"Woah! Slow down there sugarcube, you need some rest 'fore you can get up again." The familiar voice made her inexplicably angry. She pushed it aside, that is exactly what she had to warn them about.

"But I- No, you have to leave! I'm not- I mean, I can't-

A fourth pony cut her off.

"With all do respect, we are not going anywhere, my fair princess. So if you would so kindly lay back down and rest, we would be most appreciative."

Luna had no idea where this voice had come from and had no idea why he was speaking in such an odd way. She was terribly confused.

"He's right Luna, just sleep. We'll be here when you wake up, you'll get through this."

She didn't know the other three, but she trusted Trixie and if Trixie trusted them, well so did she. She felt a sudden surge of hate and pain that made her throw back her head and scream!

The others gave a nervous look to each other.

She fought it long enough to get one last look at the others before she lost consciousness.

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"Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Poor thing... She looks plum tuckered out."

The Orange pony gave a glance to Luna who was sleeping fitfully a short distance away.

She turned on Trixie, "You knew this would happen didn't you? Why did you bring her here?"

"Calm down Applejack, Trixie didn't know it would happen. She just thought it would."

Applejack glared at her.

"Perhaps an explanation is in order, madame Trixie? I for one don't think I would have traveled all the way out to this filthy castle had I known it was to watch our Princess be in so much pain."

This came from a pony at the back of the group wearing a monocle, top hat, tuxedo and some fancy drink for a cutie mark.

He was a very classy stallion.

"Yes, yes Trixie thinks you're right Sir Klass." Trixie cleared her throat.

"Princess Luna coming back was no secret, Princess Celestia wanted the magic of friendship to be spread far and wide to not only let ponies enjoy friendship, but to dissuade those who would seek to destroy it.

So of course this place was common knowledge, not where it is exactly, but the fact that it exists well, everypony knows that!"

It was true, Celestia was very public about Luna coming back, but until then they had all thought it was to rejoice for the return of her sister.

"Not long after Luna came back to us, Trixie met her on a visit to the castle. After talking to her a bit Trixie realized that Luna didn't remember much, if anything, that had happened during her time as Nightmare Moon. Trixie did some preliminary research at the time, but after the events of yesterday, she decided to get out her old notes and began digging. Soon, she found that in similar cases of magical amnesia such as this it was common for memories to be returned after visiting either places with a strong magical presence or places that the affected had visited during the time they cannot remember... This place fits both those criteria."

Applejack was a bit taken aback by this explanation. She totally expected it from Twilight Sparkle, but from Trixie? It seemed so out of place... Despite her ego and over the top attitude, Trixie was the head-honcho of the Star Swirl Society after all. She sure seemed to know what she was talking about.

"But why Trixie? Why did you want her memories back?"

Trixie cocked her head slightly to one side as if to say 'Isn't it obvious?'

"You've seen her. She isn't quite the same, but not how you'd expect. That little bit of Nightmare Moon trapped inside her has made her kinder. Maybe it's some strange side effect of the Elements of Harmony, or maybe she is trying too hard to suppress the Mare within, but whatever the case, she needs to confront what is inside her. A princess needs to be strong, courageous, confident, a good leader. Do you think she has been any of that since she got here?"

The other ponies looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Exactly! We needed to bring out those memories so she could confront them once and for all, otherwise we will only have a shell of Princess Luna"

"But, if I may, madame Trixie. Are you not afraid that those memories will bring back her hatred for her sister? Are you not afraid of bringing back Nightmare Moon?"

"Yeah, I thought tha' the Elements of Harmony were supposed t', get rid of Nightmare Moon, not hide her inside Luna."

"No. I've told you already, the Elements of Harmony did their job; they crushed the evil inside of her. All I wanted to do was to make her remember what her sister has done, don't you remember how it was before she came back? Nopony remembered her, the only one in Ponyville who had any idea was Twilight Sparkle. We all thought that it had always been Princess Celestia who ruled Equestria by herself, with no help and she did nothing to remind us of her sister or even mention that she existed. It's like she wanted us to forget all about her."

They sat in silence as they watched Luna still stirring in a fitful sleep, letting out the occasional groan or mumble. They could hear the rain on the roof and thunder in the distance.

"What about what she was sayin' before she passed out? Seemed like she had somethin' important to tell us."

"I think she was in shock, I know I would be if I woke up in a strange place surrounded by ponies I didn't really know."

Applejack seemed unconvinced.

"For our sake..."

She looked back at Luna.

"I hope you're right, sugarcube..."