Guardians of Harmony: Friendship is Magic

Chapters

Chapter 3: Applejack and Her Mother/An Apple To The Core Pt 1
Chapter 4: The Sparkle Family/Saying Goodbye
Chapter 5: Rainbow Dash Defending/Arrival To Ponyville
Prologue: The Mare In The Moon
Chapter 1: Enter Lightning Nightwing/Celestia’s Decision
Chapter 2: Some Dusty Old Books/An Old Pony’s Tale

Chapter 3: Applejack and Her Mother/An Apple To The Core Pt 1

Applejack stood by her mother Pear Butter’s bedside, sobbing relentlessly. The doctors had said that there was no known treatment or cure for her disease. The only thing Applejack could do was wait for her mother’s own death.

It was terrible. They had tried everything. Big Macintosh had dropped out of college to care for the family, Granny Smith had been out lobbying the Equestrian Medical Association with the help of other eagle-eyed protesters, the orchards had been left not taken care of for months, and Apple Bloom…the poor filly. She would grow up without a mother, too young to remember very well and therefore not care, never knowing what Pear Butter had sacrificed to protect her family at the cost of her own life.

A long time ago, Pear Butter was the daughter of Grand Pear, a stallion who belonged to the rival Pear Family. Their farm was right next door to Sweet Apple Acres. On one sunny day, she fallen in love with the son of the Apple Family, Bright Mac. Their love was forbidden and their respective families vowed to do whatever it took to keep them apart. Nonetheless, the young couple’s love persevered for years despite their families’ strong hatred of each other. Grand Pear knew there was only one thing to do.

One day, he told his daughter that the Pear Family would be moving to Vanhoover, a city very far from Ponyville. Knowing that she would never be able to see her love again, she told Bright Mac of her families’ decision. Bright Mac would not stand for petty hatred to get in the way of their innate love for each other and arranged for Mayor Mare to host a wedding between the two, so that Pear Butter would legally become a part of the Apple Family and not have to leave. However, their parents found out and Grand Pear gave his daughter the choice of staying with the Apples or leaving with the Pears.

Ultimately, Pear Butter chose love over her family’s feud and the Pears departed the next day. Pear Butter, given the nickname Buttercup by Bright Mac, grew their family over the course of several decades. First Big Mac was born, then Applejack, and then Apple Bloom.

However, a couple years after Apple Bloom’s birth, Pear Butter would come down with a mysterious illness then unknown to medicine. Eventually, it was determined by the local Ponyville hospital to be a debilitating form of lung cancer, compounded with a variation of swamp fever. The disease was incurable, but Pear Butter was determined to stay alive for her family. She underwent a lot of treatment that prolonged her life by four years, but everything had turned out to be for nothing as the diseases came back at full force, but much worse.

In a last ditch effort to save his wife and find a cure, Bright Mac sailed across the Celestial Sea to the far off, fabled zebra nation of the Sultanate of Zevera, but was never heard from again and presumed dead.

Now Pear Butter’s breathing came slow and raspy, a sign of decaying health. There wouldn’t be much time left. Applejack didn’t know what to do. This was her mother and she was about to die.

“Oh Ma…” Applejack whispered, “I don’t know what to do…” The tears came falling down as the feeling of helplessness overcame her.

She felt something touch her hoof. It was Pear Butter, grasping her daughter’s hoof with the remaining amount of strength she had in her frail body. Her blue eyes opened and she faced her distraught daughter, “Applejack…it’s okay…”

“Ma!” Applejack realized. She shook her head, “No, it’s not okay. I won’t let’cha die! I just…I just can’t…”

“Applejack…” the strain of talking was taking its toll on the earth pony, “Don’t worry…about me. Don’t…waste your life…sitting helplessly by…my side…” She coughed, drops of blood coming out of her mouth, “You can be…anything you want to be…”

“Not without you…” Applejack said, “What should I do? I can’t raise Apple Bloom by myself. Granny can’t do it. Yer the only thing keepin’ this family together.”

Pear Butter smiled weakly, “Yes…you can….Applejack…you are…as much of a….part of the Pears…as you are of……Apples. You will…bridge the divide someday…”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Applejack stood in the middle of the apple orchard in the dead of night. Her mother’s words were replaying in her head as she wiped the leftover tears from her eyes. She ran towards the nearest apple tree and bucked it. Four apples fell from the tree, falling into the untouched baskets lying beneath it.

“The Apple Family…is more than just Apples…It includes the Pears too…you are meant to end the feud…that began long ago…”

She wiped the sweat off of her forehead, breathing heavily as she tended to the next tree. There was a lot of work to be done as the orchard hadn’t been touched in a long time.

“When you set your mind to something…you will do it no matter what…”

After taking care of the trees, Applejack began cleaning around the barn. Since Pear Butter had become bedridden again, not much cleaning or maintenance had been done on the barn. She stacked the hays up on top of each other in piles, the effort putting a strain on her physical capacity. With a loud yell, she stacked the last one up.

“No ancient feud can stop you…no law or ordinance can defy you…in terms of sovereignty and independence, the Apples are their own country, controlled and dominated by the next generation after the next, a responsibility that will soon…pass onto you…”

The cycle repeated. Everyday and every night, Applejack would see her mother and then go off to help with the farm. And every time, she would get new advice and replay it in her mind as she did the chores.

“The fate of Equestria will literally rest in your hooves…the entire Royal Army, you could defeat…with little effort…”

Applejack imagined herself leading an entire army of her family against an evil ruler and the brainwashed Royal Army. As the two sides collided and fought, she bucked the next tree like she would do to an enemy soldier. More apples fell, this time more numerous. She carried the buckets towards the house, breathing heavily.

“The balance between light and darkness…and the outcome of everyday will ultimately come down to your call…”

On the third night, Applejack readied herself. She pawed the ground, and with a smile of determination on her face, sprinted into the orchards, bucking every tree in sight at the speed of a bullet. At the end of the lap, she made several trips, carrying the apples inside. She decided to make Pear Butter some apple juice and poured the fruits into the blender.

“The question, no the challenge…won’t be doing it…it will be not doing, not seeing…it is the burden of this responsibility that will define you and who you choose to be…”

Applejack prepared the apple juice and poured it into a large cup with a red straw. Picking it up, she carried it upstairs as carefully as she could, opening the door to her mothers room. Pear Butter was sleeping soundly. Gently tapping her, Applejack held out the cup of apple juice. Pear Butter’s eyes opened again slowly, and she grasped the cup, gulping it all down in just 10 seconds.

Pear Butter smiled again and tears of happiness came to Applejack’s eyes, knowing that she had made her mother happy. Maybe she could do this.

She stayed there with her mother for the rest of the night, the orchard finally having been taken care of. The farm was in good hooves once again.

Author's Note

‘Guardians of Harmony’ is BACK!! I finally got this chapter written and out there. This story is back in action and I will be multitasking between this and ‘Trials of the Force’ as my motivation has returned for that story. Please feel free to comment your feedback down if you want to. In case you all noticed the glaring similarities between the second half of this chapter and Cyborg’s story for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, that’s because it was intentional. This story is basically the Snyder Cut to the pilot episode to MLP: FIM; bigger, better, longer, and definitely more epic. Hope to see you all soon! :ajsmug:

Chapter 4: The Sparkle Family/Saying Goodbye

The moon was shining brightly in the sky, illuminating the buildings of Canterlot as Twilight and Spike arrived in their hot air balloon towards a smaller house in the outskirts of the city.

Twilight knew this place. This was the home of her parents. She and Spike had decided to say goodbye to them before they left for Ponyville as they hadn’t visited them in quite a long time.

Twilight’s heart felt heavy. She felt like she was saying farewell to her family, when she really wasn’t. With the longest day of the thousandth year coming up and Nightmare Moon’s return imminent, it only seemed fair that she visit her family one last time just in case she died on that day.

Stepping out of the balloon, Twilight walked towards the house that she had grown up in for many years and knocked on the door.

“Mom? Dad? Shining?” Twilight asked softly.

At first, there was silence. Then the wooden door slammed open to reveal a very ecstatic Shining Armor who jumped up and scooped up the helpless unicorn, hugging her tight like there was no more time left. He was soon joined in by Twilight Velvet and Night Light, both parents respectfully.

When they were done, Twilight had to catch her breath. She had to admit that she hadn’t expected such a surprise.

“Come inside, sweetie! We have a lot to catch up on!” Twilight Velvet encouraged her.

Twilight went inside with Spike, closing the door behind her. All at once, she was overwhelmed by all the childhood memories of the house. It filled her with a sense of warmth unlike anything she had ever felt in a long time.

“Everything is exactly the way I left it…” Twilight realized.

“We knew you’d come back to visit sometime,” explained Night Light, “So I insisted that everything be exactly the way you left it. Your brother came up with the surprise welcome though.”

Twilight gaped at the tall white stallion, who was grinning smugly, “Only the best welcome home surprises for my little sister.”

Twilight smiled. She was home.

“You ready to play an honorary competition for the Sibling Supreme crown?” Twilight Velvet asked her, “I could have you two square off at dinner as to who can eat the fastest.”

“Do it, Twilight!” Spike encouraged her.

Twilight nodded. “Why not? I have plenty of time.”

And so, the Sparkle family spent time together all throughout the evening, getting caught up on each other’s lives. Twilight told her parents about her recent studies under Celestia and Shining Armor told her about how he recently got a Medal of Valor for his military service in Griffonstone.

In the end, Shining Armor won the Sibling Supreme crown just based on that fact alone, even though Twilight won the eating contest. While Twilight was disappointed, she was happy for her brother.

Finally, it was time to go to bed and Twilight had to tell her parents why she couldn’t stay longer after the night.

“Princess Celestia assigned me to go to Ponyville in order to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration,” Twilight explained, “Though I know her real motive for doing so. She basically stated as much.”

“What is it, sweetheart?” Twilight Velvet asked her daughter.

“She wants me to go to Ponyville to make friends…” Twilight answered glumly.

“But that’s great, Twily!” Shining Armor told her, “Princess Celestia was always worried that your pursuit of academia was preventing you from making real connections outside of your books. Making friends is part of learning.”

“But I don’t want to make friends!” Twilight protested, “It’s a waste of time, and the Princess should be more concerned about her deranged foe coming back from the Moon after all these years for revenge!! Hay, I’m concerned about it! Why is it that I am and she’s not?! Doesn’t…doesn’t she care about what’s going to happen to Equestria?”

“Of course she cares,” Night Light said, “I’m sure that she’s just as worried about that prophecy as you are. She just wants what’s best for you. After all, you’re the closest pony she’s had to a daughter in so many years. She’s just looking out for you.”

“I…I don’t want to do this though…” Twilight never felt more frightened about going to an unknown town than she did now, especially if it was to do something she had never done before. It terrified her more than she let her family know.

“I know,” Twilight Velvet said, “But it’s only temporary. After the Celebration, if you still feel uncomfortable about this, tell the Princess. She’ll understand. If not, we will.”

“Thanks,” Twilight thanked her parents, grateful that they had her back. “I promise I will come back. And I’ll get that crown back from you, BBBFF.”

Shining Armor grinned once more, winking playfully at his little sister. “Oh we shall see about that, Twily. We’ll see about that.”

Twilight then embraced all of her family members in a big warm hug, one that she felt in her gut would be the last hug she would ever give them.

The next day, Twilight and Spike departed on their balloon from the Sparkle family home for Ponyville, Shining Armor waving goodbye to them from the ground. Spike lit the fire in the balloon and it carried them off.

Twilight was unsure what to expect from Ponyville, but she was going to do her part for the festivities like the obedient, diligent student she was. She would worry about the friendship aspect after the celebration, when she had a chance to talk with Celestia again.

But deep down, she knew that somehow, things would not go the way she planned they would go.

After all, they never did.

Chapter 5: Rainbow Dash Defending/Arrival To Ponyville

The next day was a particularly bright and sunny day in Ponyville. This was in part due to the fact that the Weather Patrol pegasi were working overtime to prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration.

The day was Tuesday and was an infectious chatter about in Ms. Cheerilee’s Schoolhouse as the schoolponies settled into their seats and prepared for their lesson. Today was to be a special one, they were told.

Each one of them had noticeable cutie marks on their flanks, except for three of them: an earth pony filly named Apple Bloom, a pegasus filly named Scootaloo, and a unicorn filly named Sweetie Belle. The three of them rarely talked to each other outside of class and the only times Apple Bloom had ever spoken to Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo about anything was when the class bullies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, would pick on them and they would vent to each other briefly before going their separate ways.

Apple Bloom had always wanted to actually hang out with them, but spending time with her close friend Twist kept her pretty busy.

The class instantly quieted down when Cheerilee came in. She was a light purple earth pony mare with three yellow flowers as a cutie mark, symbolizing her love for making others happy.

“Alright class, settle down. We have an important lesson to get to,” Cheerilee spoke to her students gently. When they all were paying attention, she continued, “Today we’re going to talk about cutie marks.”

“Boring…” Diamond Tiara muttered.

“I gotta agree with her on one thing…” Scootaloo put her head in her hooves, “This is just rubbing it in.”

“You all can see my cutie mark, can’t you?” Ms. Cheerilee indicated to her flank. She then flipped the page on her wooden clipboard, “Like all ponies, I wasn’t born with a cutie mark. My flank was blank.”

“Awwwww…” Twist said, “It’s so precious!”

“If that’s what you call it.” Sweetie Belle replied to her from the back bitterly.

Cheerilee was about to continue her lesson when all of a sudden, the sound of gunshots rang out from outside the school. She was instantly on alert, having been taught the proper protocol from early on. The class noticed it too. Apple Bloom knew the sound because Applejack kept a hunting gun that belonged to their father Bright Mac in the shed.

BOOM!!

Another gunshot. This one followed by the splintering of wood. Somepony was trying to shoot their way in!

“Hide, class!! In the corner!!” Cheerilee told them quickly. She quickly shut all the windows and closed the curtains.

The fillies then all got up and ran towards the corner, huddling together when all of a sudden eight grey stallions all in black coats burst their way in through the wall. The leader was a unicorn stallion, who was carrying a black briefcase with his magic, knocking Cheerilee out cold with it.

The leader sniffed the warm air in the schoolhouse, removing his glasses to take in the sights momentarily as his henchponies advanced, shooting everything in sight. He then proceeded to follow his fellow stallions.

When they got to where the students were all huddled up, the leader made a dismissive gesture with his hoof.

“Demonstration, please.”

The stallion next to him obeyed and pointed the gun right at the eyes of Sweetie Belle, who squeezed her eyes tight in fear. Chuckling to himself, he removed the gun from her face, but still kept it out for good measure.

Cheerilee had just gotten up and was being escorted by the seventh henchpony over to the back corner with her students.

“We’ll be making a statement shortly,” the terrorist leader announced, “Until then, if I see any movement, you’ll have a lot of dead foals on your hooves.”

All of the students closed their eyes and silently prayed to Princess Celestia that help was coming.

Meanwhile outside, in the midst of all the chaos, atop a massive bed of clouds was a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail, sporting a multicolored lightning bolt underneath a cloud for a cutie mark.

It was Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony alive. She stared at the terrorist attack with a look of built-in fury and anger. Her resolve made clear, she flew at top speed from the cloud bank towards the schoolhouse.

The eighth henchpony had stepped outside for some air while the hostage situation was going on. He smiled in triumph to himself as his fellow colleagues were doing their work.

Soon, Celestia will know true fury from ponies like us. He thought to himself merrily.

Suddenly, he was yanked up from his spot and grabbed in a chokehold by Rainbow Dash who was hovering above him.

“Who are you?!” Rainbow Dash demanded, “I have a right mind to report this to the bucking authorities. Now who are you?!”

“We’re a small group of reactionary terrorists,” the stallion responded with a shiver, “who want to turn back the clock a thousand years-“

“Boring!!” Rainbow Dash yelled, “Why the hostages?!”

The stallion laughed. “You’re too late. The countdown’s already begun. In just a few short moments, this town and the EverFree Forest…boom!! While the world watches…”

The lead stallion had unpacked his briefcase and started a countdown. Once the timer had reached 0, a bomb would go off, destroying everything in its path.

“Down with the modern world,” he cooed, “back to the dark ages and the safety of holy fear.”

The fillies didn’t dare move. The seventh stallion kept his gun brandished in case any one of them tried to make a break for it. The students all felt tears come to their eyes, not knowing what was about to happen to them.

Just then, there was a loud crash and Rainbow Dash crashed through the roof, landing with a resounding thud on four hooves. The leader noticed this and fired two rounds of ammunition at the pegasus, both of which she dodged.

Then, Rainbow Dash ran through the classroom, dodging the rain of bullets fired at her with unprecedented speed. Grabbing several bullets at light speed, she threw them all at the other henchponies, four of them collapsing with a thud and the others barely managing to this.

BUCK!! WHACK!! KICK!! Three more fell to the ground at Dash’s hooves. With only 5 seconds left, she grabbed the briefcase and flew up into the air, crashing through the roof once more and flinging it up into the sky, where it lingered for the remainder of the countdown before exploding harmlessly in the air.

The leader stallion blinked for a few seconds, taking a moment to see whether Dash truly was gone. When he was sure that she was, he chuckled to himself, thinking to himself that the athletic pegasus had died from the blast.

Raising his gun once more, he aimed it at Cheerilee and the students, who all cried out, begging him not to pull the trigger. Diamond Tiara collapsed on Silver Spoon sobbing and Apple Bloom hugged Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who were too scared to refuse and hugged back, thinking this would be their last moment alive. Twist had already fallen on the floor, paralyzed from fear.

The lead stallion laughed maliciously. He didn’t care that he was the only one of his gang left. The fact that he had won was the real accomplishment.

“Like lambs to the slaughter…” he grinned, firing a bullet at the students. But just as the bullet was about to reach them, there was another crash and it was intercepted by none other than Rainbow Dash, who had survived the explosion.

The lead stallion blinked, hoping he wasn’t seeing things. But it was true. Rainbow Dash had survived and she was absolutely infuriated.

BOOM!! Another bullet fired, this one intercepted as well by Rainbow Dash, who just tossed it away harmlessly. Running through the rain of shots again, she caught each one of them and flung them away from the students. She stopped at the last one.

“I don’t believe it!” The stallion cried out, “What are you?!”

“Loyal.” Rainbow Dash stated plainly.

As the stallion scrambled to get another gun, Rainbow Dash reared her right hoof and punched him right through the front side of the building, where he landed right next to some local police ponies who had just arrived on the scene.

As the dust cleared, Rainbow Dash turned her head towards Cheerilee and the students, who were all staring wide-eyed from her display of heroism. She had saved them. “Is everypony alright? You all okay? You okay? You okay?” she asked them as she helped each one of them up. Apple Bloom wasted no time in high-tailing it out of the school where it was safe.

Dash finally turned her head to Scootaloo, who was staring at her in shock and awe. She came down to the orange filly’s level and asked her gently,

“You okay, squirt?”

Scootaloo nodded slowly, “Can I be like you someday?”

Rainbow Dash wiped away approaching tears at that question. She smiled at Scootaloo and told her, “You can be anything you want to be.”

Scootaloo just bobbed her head on response, letting herself be helped up by her savior, her mind still reeling from the day’s events.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Meanwhile, the carriage from Canterlot finally arrived in Ponyville. The royal guards touched down gracefully.

“Thank you, sirs,” Twilight thanked them. All three of them nodded in acknowledgement.

“So what’s the plan, Twilight?” Spike asked her.

“We’re going to oversee plans for the Summer Sun Celebration,” Twilight told him. As he was about to respond, she continued, “I know the Princess wants me to make friends too, but I’m only here for business. I’ll talk with the Princess after the celebration.”

“But Twilight-“ Spike began.

“I understand you’re concerned, Spike,” Twilight stated a matter-of-factly, “But the future of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.”

She would soon realize how wrong she was about that.

Prologue: The Mare In The Moon

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria…There were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the Sun at dawn. The younger brought out the Moon to begin the Night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all for different types of ponies.

But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day the elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through the younger one’s beautiful night. The younger sister’s resentment grew to where it could not be contained. Despite having a loving elder sister, the younger alicorn felt rejected by her subjects, the populace. Why should her sister get all the love and not her? She was a Princess too, wasn’t she? What was wrong with her Night?

Nothing. That was what. There was nothing wrong with her Night. It was her sister that was stealing her glory. Her sister had betrayed her. Her sister deserved to burn. To die. The Moon would rise. The night would last forever. The dawn would never rise again.

One fateful day, the younger sister refused to lower the Moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one’s heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.

She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. She raised an army of monsters and demons in a direct attack on her sister. The leaders of her army was a species known as batponies, nightmare creatures who fed on fear.

The ponies, in a desperate bid for their survival, pled for the elder sister to save them, to protect them. And the elder sister listened. With a heavy heart, she set out in search for the mysterious Elements of Harmony, magical artifacts created by the Protectors of Old Equestria. Her search lasted many years and she grew older, never giving up on her search.

15 years later, she finally discovered the Elements, hidden in a secluded cave in an undiscovered forest. The Tree of Harmony had guarded the Elements for centuries and the elder sister had to pass a rigorous test of worthiness. She had tame the sinister Pony of Shadows, a remnant of forbidden magic manifested in the form of a black alicorn with immense power. The elder sister fought the Pony of Shadows, eventually defeating it and befriending it with her kindness and compassion, officially passing the test. The Tree granted the elder sister the Elements and she returned to her fallen Kingdom to fight her sister.

With the wisdom she gained on her journey, the elder sister inspired the ponies to revolt against the despotic government while she faced her sister one-on-one. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the Moon.

The elder sister took on responsibility for both Sun and Moon. And Harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.

But it was prophesied that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars would aid in her escape and she would bring about the eternal night once more.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
1,000 YEARS LATER….

Underneath a tree in the outskirts of the capital city of Canterlot, a lavender unicorn mare was reading a thick brown book titled: Predictions of Prophecies.

The unicorn was named Twilight Sparkle. She had a confused look on her face as she studied the tale of the Mare in the Moon, particularly one aspect of the legend.

“Hmmm. The Elements of Harmony,” Twilight mused, “I know I’ve heard of those before….” The question was burning on her mind.

“But where?”

Author's Note

First chapter! Yup, a lot to unpack here. Obviously, a longer version of the Mare in the Moon tale with some religious biblical symbolism in there. This will be the first story in a 5-story arc so far starting with the union of the Mane Six as the Guardians of Harmony to a new generation eventually taking on the mantle. I obviously can’t spoil everything because that would be no fun. But this is definitely an expanded (and somewhat darker) version of the series pilot. This is going to be so fun to make. Please feel free to post your feedback.

Chapter 1: Enter Lightning Nightwing/Celestia’s Decision

Canterlot Castle.

The ruling House of the Celestial Dynasty. The monument of power in Canterlot City. The terror of the kingdom’s enemies. The shock and awe of tourists and citizens alike. The centerpiece of the Kingdom of Equestria. Inside its enormous halls, grandiose rooms, and regal carpeting sat two thrones, one yellow and one blue with the symbols of the Sun and Moon on each respectively. The blue throne had not seen use in over a thousand years. But on the yellow throne sat a tall white winged unicorn with an ethereal, flowing mane of blue, green, and pink. Known as an alicorn in Equestrian terminology, this figure bore a striking resemblance to the heroic elder sister of the Mare in the Moon legend, the only difference being that the elder sister had a straight pink mane while this alicorn’s mane was flowing freely.

This was Princess Celestia, the ruler of the Kingdom. She sat forlorn on her throne, checking policy after policy submitted to her by the Committee of Nobles. Most of them she vetoed as the Nobles clearly did not have the best interests of the common ponies at heart, and these policies if approved would only serve to benefit them solely and not the common citizens. She sighed deeply, putting the scrolls away just as the double doors opened and a grey unicorn stallion royal guard walked into the room.

Celestia looked up to see him.

“Your highness,” the royal guard spoke, “The prisoner is ready to talk.”

This got Celestia’s attention, “Is he now?”

“Yes,” The guard said, a hint of caution in his voice, “But beware, Princess. His time in solitude has driven him mad. Last night, we heard him mumbling in his sleep. He seemed to be…talking to someone.”

Celestia unfurled her wings and stood up in a show of defiance and power, walking over to the guard, “I care not what forbidden magic he and his kind and delved in. He will tell me…” she trailed off.

“Tell you what?”

Celestia faced him once more, a mixed look of sadness and built-in trauma present in her eyes, “…if the prophecy is indeed true or not.”
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Lightning Nightwing awoke from his vivid dream in a cold sweat, fear on every inch of his face. What had he just witnessed?! For a thousand years, he had been kept in the deepest, darkest layer of the Canterlot dungeons ever since the Great Celestial War, which saw the defeat of his mistress at the hooves of the Equestrian Army. After all these years, he just wanted to die.

But the tyrant would not allow it. No. A large golden bubble of magic surrounding his cell on all sides kept him alive and well, meant to sustain his life for as long as possible until he would finally break and be brainwashed to serve the Sun. No. He would not turn. He was too strong for that. He was loyal to his mistress to the very end. He thought he would never hear from her again.

But last night, everything changed.

He had dreamt that he was in a pitch black void and standing in front of him was a hologram of the Dark Alicorn herself.

“Lightning H. Nightwing…” the hologram had addressed him, “Signal my arrival.”

“Your what?!” Lightning had demanded, not daring to believe what he had just heard, “Tell me!!”

“The longest day of the thousandth year…” that was all the apparition could muster as the connection bad been cut short and she disappeared into a million tiny pieces of particles.

Lightning was still trying to figure out what his mistress had meant when there was the sound of hoofsteps and that wretch Princess Celestia herself came near the cell, an expression of no-nonsense plastered on her face.

Lightning smiled despite his confusion. He knew what game he was going to play this time.

“Tell me, batpony!!” Princess Celestia wasted no time in ordering him, “What about the prophecy?!”

Lightning shook his head slowly, “Ah, look at us. This is how it all caves in, civilization as we know it. But why would you believe me? I’m a thousand years old!” He barked laughter, “You’re just keeping me alive until you get an answer! You won’t get one, Sun-Butt!!”

Princess Celestia scowled. “You served the Dark forces. I will get an answer out of you, even if it means keeping you alive for 4 thousand more years. Tell me or I’ll have to make this difficult.”

“But…the bell’s already been rung,” Lightning told her, “And they’ve heard it. Out in the dark…among the stars…ding-dong, Harmony is dead.”

Enraged, Princess Celestia sent a blast of yellow magic headed his way, which he barely managed to dodge. It hit the wall, creating an imprint of the Sun in the spot where it landed.

Lightning turned back, but Celestia was gone, already heading up the stairs. He shouted, “AND THE BELL CANNOT BE UNRUNG!!! She’s hungry. She’s found us! And she’s coming! Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…”
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Princess Celestia made it back up the stairs to where the royal guard from earlier was waiting for her. Again, Lightning had told her nothing and only played his little tricks on her. But something he had said boggled her mind. The bell’s already been rung.

With a sinking feeling, she realized. The prophecy.

“So….what do we do now, Princess?” The royal guard asked her.

Gathering her composure, Princess Celestia took a deep breath and told him, “I have an assignment for Twilight Sparkle. Inform her family that she is going to be heading to Ponyville to make some friends.”

The royal guard was skeptical, “You really think a couple of little ponies can take down the Mare in the Moon?”

Princess Celestia nodded slowly, “They will. They have to…”

Chapter 2: Some Dusty Old Books/An Old Pony’s Tale

Meanwhile, in the Canterlot streets, Twilight Sparkle was walking up with her saddlebags carrying her books. She stopped before three ponies she knew all too well. They were her old school friends from Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. No. Not friends. They were her old schoolmates. She didn’t have friends. She didn’t need any.

One was a blue unicorn mare with an hourglass cutie mark named Minuette. The second pony was a yellow unicorn mare named Lemon Hearts. The third pony was a yellow unicorn mare named Twinkleshine.

“There you are, Twilight!” Lemon Hearts exclaimed.

“Moon Dancer is having a little get-together at the west castle courtyard,” Twinkleshine explained, “Wanna come?” All three mares leaned excitedly towards her.

Twilight internally groaned. She didn’t have time for parties. She had a prophecy to investigate. It annoyed her that ponies seemed to think that she did nothing of importance at all and that she could come at a whim whenever they wanted her to. She was Princess Celestia’s star pupil for ponies’ sake! She had no time to associate with those lower than her.

But she at least wanted a convincing excuse. She was anti-social by nature, but she wasn’t mean. Biting back an angry retort, she put on a fake smile and told them, “Oh sorry, girls. I have a….lot of studying to catch up on.” Before the other ponies could reply, she trotted off in a hurry.

Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine stared after the pony they considered their friend, but the feeling was not reciprocated.

Twinkleshine huffed. “Does that pony do anything else but study?”

Minuette shrugged. Lemon Hearts glared after Twilight.

“I think she’s more interested in books than friends.” Twinkleshine finished.

“What are we going to tell Moon Dancer? She’ll be so disappointed.” Minuette asked, thinking about the utter despair Moon Dancer would feel. Their friend looked up to Twilight as a role model and she would be crushed if the lavender unicorn did not show up.

“Nothing.” Lemon Hearts said, “If she doesn’t ask, don’t tell her. Let’s just go enjoy the party and forget about it.”

The two ponies walked away. At least they wouldn’t miss Moon Dancer’s party.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
“I know I’ve heard of the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight insisted as she ran in the direction of her house, a tall tower that acted as the city’s library.

Twilight was the proud owner and she loved it whenever ponies would come in to check out or read a book. Occasionally, ponies would pay her when they checked out a book, but she did not care about the bits. All she cared about was sharing her extensive knowledge with the next generation. In her mind, books were the future. They contained knowledge that you could never get anywhere else, written by the most famous authors of old. And absorbing that knowledge should not be bound or restricted by any sort of monetary system in her opinion.

Her “number one assistant” Spike acted as the organizer of the books. He didn’t really do much in terms of business other than organize. But Twilight loved him anyway. He was the closest she had to a son. She owed to him her entire apprenticeship. She had hatched him when she was just a filly during an entrance exam in her old school. If she passed, she would get into Princess Celestia’s prestigious school where her parents decided to enroll her due to her fascination with learning magic. She came very close to failing. But a massive boom in the sky of then unknown origin had powered up her magic, allowing her to hatch Spike. She went on a bit of a magic rampage soon afterwards, turning her parents into literal plants and turning Spike giant, but it was then and there that Princess Celestia had recognized her raw, untapped magical ability and passed her, taking her on as her apprentice.

She owed her entire life to that egg, to that purple and green baby dragon she came to care for. And she wouldn’t trade him for anything or anyone else.

Speaking of Spike, he was carrying a gift from Moondancer in a red gift-wrapped present with a yellow ribbon wrapped around it to the doors when all of a sudden, the doors burst open and Twilight barged in, shouting: “Spike, SPIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!!” It was only after the third “Spike,” that she noticed her number one assistant on the floor, getting up.

“There you are,” Twilight said, relieved. She hurried into the main floor of the library, searching everywhere. “Quick, find me an old copy of Predictions of Prophecies.” That was when she noticed the now torn up present, “What’s that for?”

Spike handled the present. “Well….it was a gift from Moondancer.” The bottom half had been torn off under the impact of Twilight’s hooves, so the gift fell right out. A teddy bear.

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight told him, exasperated, “You know we don’t have time for this sort of thing.”

“But we’re on a break!” Spike protested.

Twilight’s horn glowed pink and she started sorting through multiple books, “No, no, no, no, no…” She started getting frustrated. “SPIIIIIIIKE!!!!” Of course. When in doubt, always turn to Spike.

“It’s right here!” Spike shouted from the opposite shelf. He was on a ladder. Twilight tried pulling the book from his grip, but ended up yanking him instead.

He flopped over on the floor and Twilight dropped the other books from her telekinetic grip. “Ah!”

She carried the book over to a study table and sorted through its contents, “Elements, Elements, E, E, E…AH!!” She found it, “The Elements of Harmony! ‘See Mare in the Moon?’”

“The Mare in the Moon?” Spike asked, “But that’s just an old pony’s tale.”

“Mare, Mare, Mare…” Twilight sorted through the contents again until she found it, “Aha! The Mare in the Moon. Myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars would aid in her escape and she would bring about nighttime eternal!” She gasped. “Spike! You know what this means?”

Spike shook his head, “No. What does it mean?”

“Take a note,” Twilight told him, giving him a quill. “To the Princess…”

“You got it!” Spike said. As Twilight paced around the room, she told Spike what to write in the letter:

”My dearest teacher,

My continued studies on pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster. For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she’s about to return to Equestria to bring about nighttime eternal. Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle .”

“Twilight…Sparkle!” Spike finished up the letter.

“Great! Send it!” Twilight ordered.

“I don’t know, Twilight,” Spike said cautiously, “Princess Celestia is probably very busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. After all, the day after tomorrow-“

“That’s just it, Spike.” Twilight told him, “The day after tomorrow is the thousandth anniversary of the Summer Sun Celebration! It is imperative that the Princess is told right away!”

Despite his personal doubts over Twilight overreacting or not, Spike nodded. He could see that this was very important to her. But he was sure that she was going to eat her words. He breathed out a blast of green fire which engulfed the scroll, sending it out of the library.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath.” Spike teased her.

“Oh I’m not worried, Spike.” Twilight explained confidently, “The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she’s been my mentor, she’s never once doubted me.” That wasn’t completely true, but she wasn’t afraid to exaggerate to make a point to anyone. As if on cue, Spike breathed out the letter, “See? I knew she’d want to take immediate action!”

Spike read the response letter, “‘My dearest student Twilight, you know I value your diligence and that I trust you completely. But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!”!

Twilight gasped.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Princess Celestia sat in the throne room, pondering over Twilight’s letter. She had played up a good troll response, but deep down, she was deeply considering it. Could it really be true? Could the prophecy actually be-

Suddenly, there was the sound of alarms and a loud crash. Four royal guards rushed into the room. They were all bloodied bruised and had dents in their armor.

Princess Celestia gasped. She stood up quickly, “What happened?!”

The pegasus royal guard in the middle has hacking, coughing out blood, but barely managed to say, “Lightning….has escaped the dungeons!” He fell over unconscious, the other guards instantly by his side, doing their best to tend to their fallen comrade while tending to their own injuries simultaneously.

Princess Celestia was worried. This wasn’t good at all.

Author's Note

Second chapter is done! Yup, a scene by scene recreation from the actual episode, but with added exposition and less Spike abuse to maintain a consistent tone, plus an added short Celestia scene at the end. I’ll do my best to update this story consistently if I have time after homework and school, etc. The plot thickens!! Once again, feel free to leave feedback in the comments. See y’all in the next chapter! Byeeeeee!!