The Element of Love

Season One

Friendship Is Magic

Part Two

Night-terror Nebula stands there, laughing evilly as he basks in the terror and fear from the ponies.

"Seize him! Only he knows where the Prince is!" yells Mayor mare and two Royal Guards fly forward.

"Do you fools really think that you can defeat me so easily? Do I look like a mere foal to you?" Nebula's horn glows and lightning appears right in front of the guards, making them panic and fly into the balcony. As a result, they fall to the ground.

Nebula laughs hysterically upon seeing this. "Your 'Prince' is so incompetent that he can't even train his own guards properly! Hahaha! Look at those fools!" Once he's done laughing, he stamps a hoof onto the balcony and sneers at the crowd. "Your Prince will not return, no matter what. Remember, he is at my mercy, so you might want to take a step back and think before attempting to attack me."

With that said, he transforms into a black fog-like creature and vanishes.

Rainbow tries to chase him, but you hold on to his tail with magic, and pull the pegasus back to Earth. "Rainbow," you say, looking into his eyes so that you can make sure he hears every word you say. "If Prince Solaris really is at the mercy of Nebula, we should make a plan and then chase after him."

Rainbow sighs. "Fine. And let go of my tail. Though, I can't blame you for holding on to it.It is pretty awesome after all, " he smirks. You roll your eyes and cease your spell.

"Hey, where's Dusk running off to?" asks Applejack, drawing the attention of yourself and the other four ponies around you to the galloping form of the aforementioned unicorn in the distance.

"I don't know, but let's follow him!" exclaims Bubble enthusiastically, bouncing off without a care in the world.

Eventually you arrive at the new temporary home of the lavender unicorn, otherwise known as the Golden Oaks Library.

You wonder why it's named that. It's the only library in the town, so shouldn't it be named the Ponyville Library or something?

Nopony knew why it had that name, other than Granny Smith, but you weren't looking forward to spending forever listening to her going on and on about anything and everything, suggesting that you would make a perfect partner for Applejack, or being given enough apple dishes to last a year.

You're about to knock on the door politely, but Rainbow kicks the door open and Bubble hops in.

Elusive sighs. "I've taught them thousands of times how to behave like civilised ponies, but they always forget. If they behave like this at the Grand Galloping Gala, they'll be lucky if Prince Solaris doesn't send guards to get them out, assuming the Prince is saved from that ghastly stallion. Honestly, who does he think he is, sabotaging the Summer Sun Celebration like that? I worked so hard, but my efforts were in vain… "

You nod as you walk forward, and go upstairs as you haven't found Dusk on the ground floor.

You can hear somepony struggling and Bubble, Rainbow and Applejack's voices.

"We should hurry before they do anything to Dusk, " you tell Elusive and Butterscotch before running forward and bursting into Dusk's room to find an incredibly confused and gagged Dusk, tied to his bed with a lasso, and the other three around the bed, glaring at him.

Bubble is wearing an interrogator's outfit, which doesn't surprise you that much as you're already used to him pulling things out of thin air.

"Mmff! Mmmfff!"

"Now tell us, who's side are you on?" demands Rainbow . "If you say it now, we'll let you go."

"Mmff!" Dusk looks towards you for help, and you facehoof.

"Applejack. Bubble. Rainbow. First of all, if you're questioning Dusk, how can he answer if he's gagged?"

The trio looks at each other, avoiding your gaze out of shame, and they sheepishly chuckle.

You resist the urge to facehoof again and instead, you free Dusk from his bindings. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No," he answers . "They bursted in, yelling about how I was some sort of spy, and, ugh...my head hurts."

You look towards Bubble accusingly. "I'm sorry for hitting your head with a rolling pin, Dusk! Actually wait, I'm not. You're. A. Spy."

"Everyone listen, and listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. Dusk. Is. Not. A. Spy. Clear?"

"Then how does he know about this Night-terror Nebula? And why did he run away as soon as Nebula left? " Applejack questions, meeting your gaze with a hard stare of his own.

"I must admit, it is rather...suspicious…" pipes in Elusive .

" Having knowledge does not make a pony a spy, " scowls Dusk, now that his gag is removed. "I'd say you three are spies, what with the way that you attacked me! "

Rainbow Blitz wipes his hoof down his face. "Fine. We shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, but if you're not a spy, then what are you?"

You all are now downstairs, and Dusk has finally finished his explanation.

Satisfied that nopony will attack him or suspect he's on Nebula's side, he leans back in exhaustion.

"Now that I have explained everything, let's move on. The legend said that the Elements of Harmony would be able to defeat Nebula, as it's the strongest magic known to Ponykind. Where's that book about the Elements…? I'm sure it was somewhere here before… "

You scan the shelves and pull a book out of the section with E, and pass it to Dusk. "Found it."

" That was...fast," remarks Rainbow.

"When you have a friend who's obsessed with libraries and books, you start to pick up a few things," you tell the pegasus, and wink in Dusk's direction.

Dusk opens the book and after flipping through a few pages, reads aloud, "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony brothers. It is located in what is now..."

You shiver as you look at the Everfree Forest, at the entrance of which you are standing with your friends.

You can't help but feel a little afraid, and Bubble picks up on that. "(Y/N), there's no need to be afraid. I'll protect you from anything that will harm you!"

A moment after he takes your hoof in his own, Rainbow pulls you towards him. "I'm protecting (Y/N). It only makes sense that the coolest, bravest and most awesome pony in Equestria should protect a pony who's almost as cool as himself."

"Actually, I'd prefer if (Y/N) would come with me," says Elusive. " The dear could surely use my protection from that ghastly forest. For example, I can give her boots. None of you brought any clothing to be protected. " He then casts a light spell to show his boots, raincoat, and hat.

"As if (Y/N) would need any of those when she's with me," scoffs Applejack. "All of that fancy-shmancy stuff is only gonna weigh her down."

" Well, you could certainly use it. "

"Me? Use that? How will Ah fight any timberwolves comin' our way?"

"Timberwolves…" whispers Butterscotch nervously. "I forgot about that...But don't worry, (Y/N), I'll do my best to protect you."

Dusk scoffs. "What nonsense are you all talking about? I'm going in alone."

"If you think y'all can go in that forest alone and come out in one piece, yer mighty mistaken,partner. "

"I know several defensive and offensive spells..I am more than capable of defending myself from any creatures that might wish to attack me."

"Do ya know why hardly anypony knows anything about the Everfree Forest? It's because those who go in, never go out."

"So all of you would rather be stubborn and possibly get killed along with me instead of doing...whatever you do? "

"Dusk," you say, tired of this argument . "Isn't there a saying or that goes, the more the merrier? It'll be much safer if all of us go with you. What if you get lost in there? Or Nebula finds you, a-and -" your voice breaks down as you consider what might happen. "I just don't want to lose you…"

His stone cold expression softens. "Fine, we'll all go. But you'll stay right next to me."

With that, he holds your hoof and gently pulls you into the forest.

"Hey, no fair!" whines Blitz as he hurries after you two. "I should get to be with (Y/N)!"

"We're all going to be walking in a group," stares Dusk irritably. "What's the big deal?"

Rainbow groans and kicks a nearby tree in frustration. Cracks start to form on the ground, and before you know it, the soil beneath you.gives way, causing a landslide.

You scream as you lose balance, sliding down towards a huge rock that seems to be awaiting you. Panic has overtaken your brain, and your heart is beating so fast in fear that you feel it might burst out of your chest.

"Help!" you scream desperately as the others also slide towards you, each trying to reach out. Applejack grabs one of your hooves while you use the other to hold on to a tree root, and you breathe in and out, calming yourself.

"We can't hold onto this forever…" says the earth pony, looking at the sky as he does so. "Let go."

" What?! " You gesture to the rock that you know you'll eventually slide to. "I'll be dead!"

"No you won't," he says. "Ah know this sounds crazy, but if ya let go, you'll be safe. Ah'm saying the honest truth here, (Y/N). Why would Ah even lie to you anyway? "

Trusting Applejack, you close your eyes and let go. BAM! You open them again to see a purple beam strike the rock, and for two yellow and blue blurs to swoop down and pick you up.

Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch are carrying you through the air, and take you to the other side where Dusk, Elusive, Bubble and Applejack are.

You shakily stand on the ground, and Dusk puts a hoof around your shoulders to steady you. "Thanks for saving me…" you gratefully say to Applejack, Dusk, Rainbow and Butterscotch.

"I told you that the one and only awesome Rainbow Blitz would save you!"

"From something you caused, " scoffs Dusk.

Rainbow is about to start arguing when Butterscotch gasps, "A manticore! Coming towards us!"

True to his words, a manticore is growling and walking towards your direction.

"Stay here," orders the lavender unicorn, after which he marches towards the beast. His horn glows and he attempts to strike the manticore with bolts of magic.

The manticore gets angry and roars at Dusk. He steps back and coughs.

Applejack and Rainbow Blitz go next, and while the latter distracts it, the former waves his lasso around and ties the manticore up.

No sooner than the earth pony is about to tip his hat, the manticore rips the string off and attempts to catch Blitz and strike Applejack, both of whom are whisked away by Bubble in the nick of time.

Throughout this whole encounter, Butterscotch had been trying to get his companions to stop, but he was heard by no one. Yet this time, he yelled, "Wait!" and ran towards the manticore.

He looks at the manticore and says something you can't hear, before pulling something out of its paw, causing it to roar in pain.

" Butterscotch! " you shriek, fearing he would be eaten.

Thankfully your worries are for naught as contrary to everypony's expectations, the manticore happily licks the yellow pegasus' face and the latter returns to you and chucks a small thorn to the side.

Dusk is taken aback. "How…did you know about the thorn?"

"I didn't, " replies Butterscotch . "Sometimes we all just need to show a little kindness instead of taking an aggressive approach."

Elusive groans as he walks through the mud. "Ugh… All this mud will stay in my memory forever. Why does it have to be so dirty here? I need a rest from this horrifying sight. " A second later it becomes pitch black. "Well, I didn't mean that literally…"

Dusk casts a light spell, and you and Elusive copy him. With the three of you casting light spells, it's bright enough to see the surroundings.

You just focus on the ground, not willing to take the risk of tripping.

Suddenly Butterscotch quietly says, "I don't want anypony to panic, but is it just me or do those trees have faces?"

All of you look up at the trees. You don't have to look far as there's literally one right in front of your face. "AAAAH!" you scream. "The tree- i-it has-"

You move back from it as quickly as you can, and the seven of you are now surrounded completely by the magically corrupted trees.

Bubble bursts out laughing, much to the confusion of everyone around him.

"What's so funny about this here situation we're in?" Applejack asks him.

Bubble doesn't answer, instead opening his mouth...and starting to sing.

"When I was a little colt and the sun was going down…"

"Tell me he's not…" groans Dusk.

"The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown…"

"He is… "

"I'd hide under my pillow
From what I thought I saw
But Granny Berry said that wasn't the way
To deal with fears at all"

Rainbow asks, "Then what is?"

"She said, 'Bubble, 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.'
Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Gasps follow this laugh of his as the faces disappear.

"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
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... hahahaha... heh...
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuugh!"

And as all of you take his advice with a grain of salt and laugh at the trees, the faces finally disappear and there's a huge lake in front of you.

A sea serpent appears just as Dusk is about to zap the lake with some sort of a spell.

"What a world, what a world," he sobs.

You step forward, concerned. "Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?"

"Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid." He continues wailing.

Rainbow groans into his hoof. "Oh, give me a break."

Applejack is unimpressed. "That's what all the fuss is about?"

"Why, of course it is, " Elusive chips in. "How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales."

"I know."

"And your expertly coiffed mane."

"Oh, I know, I know."

"Your fabulous manicure."

"It's so true!"

"All ruined without your beautiful mustache."

"It's true, I'm hideous!"

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected," says the marshmallow white unicorn, after which he yanks one of the scales out of the serpent's body.

"What did you do that for?" cries the serpent.

Elusive points the scale towards his own body; his tail to be more specific, and cuts it off. Now his tail can barely be called one…

He ignores your concerned look and with a flash of magic, restores the serpent's mustache.

"Oh-hohohoho! My mustache. How wonderful."

"You look smashing."

"We can cross now. Let's go. Ah!"

Dusk walks forward and is about to take a step into the water when the serpent lays his body across the lake. "Allow me."

"There it is, the ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony, " notifies Dusk.

"We made it!" you gasp and run forward, excited at the thought of what a Castle from a thousand years ago would look like.

"(Y/N), wait for us!" calls Applejack, and you would have fallen off the cliff if Rainbow hadn't flown forward and taken hold of you.

Once he puts you a safe distance away from it, he lets go of you and with fake annoyance, asks, "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?"

"Now what?" asks Bubble. "Are we going to stay here forever? The bridge is broken… "

"Duh."

"Oh yeah."

A few minutes after Rainbow flies to the other side, you begin to worry. had something bad happened to him?

"Rainbow, what's taking so long?" The clouds pass for a moment and you can see three figures in a strange uniform and blue mist around them. This must have been one of Nebula's traps... "Oh no. Rainbow! Don't listen to them."

A minute after that, he flies back and smirks at you. "See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'."

With the bridge now fixed, you all proceed to cross to the other side.

"Wow…" You take in the sight of the old castle. Even though it was far from its former glory, it was still beautiful.

You turn around to see Dusk standing near a pedestal, and join him. "The Elements of Harmony, we've found them, " he says. You reach out to touch one, but he grabs your hoof before you can. "Be careful around these."

Bubble counts them. "There's only five!"

"Well, the book did say that when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed," you say.

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not sure, " you admit. "But maybe it means it just needs a spark of magic?"

Dusk's eyes widen, and he leviates the spheres down. "You could be right. I guess giving it a try wouldn't hurt."

With that said, he steps back and his horn begins to glow. "Uh, all of you should probably step away as well. I'm not sure what could happen."

His magic surrounds the orbs, spinning them around...and nothing happens. "Maybe some alicorn magic will work?" he says, trying not to sound hopeful, but you know he's secretly hoping it'll do the trick.

"Okay," you say, and stand beside him. Your magic surrounds the spheres and you close your eyes in concentration , hoping for a spark...only for that concentration to be broken by the sound of villainous laughter.

A chill runs down your spine as you stand up to hear the gasps of your friends...and your eyes meet those of Night-Terror Nebula.

"Hello, my little band of troublemakers. It seems that you've somehow managed to pass all my tests… and make it to the Castle. I have no idea how you did that, but nevermind. You may have come here, with hope in your hearts, but that hope will be crushed, because… You cannot defeat me, no matter how hard you try. "

Dusk glares at the villain defiantly. "We have the Elements of Harmony, and -"

He smirks and levitates the Elements over to himself and drops them on the floor. "Oh my, how very careless of me. Ah well, what's happened is done, and you can all go home now. Goodbye. "

"Do y'all think we'll really give up so easily? We've done so much to make it here; we ain't just gonna return home like that."

The others , including you, nod and agree with Applejack's statement.

Nebula laughs again. "How about I put it this way? Either leave now, or you'll never be able to go home again. Or anywhere else, to be honest. "

"You can't scare us, Nebula. We're gonna kick your flank, and save the Prince!" says Rainbow.

"You foals are powerless against me. I shall rule Equestria, and the night will last forever."

Dusk is hiding his face in his hooves and everyone else is discussing something worriedly. You stand in front of them and stare at Nebula; your eyes meeting his. "You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here."

Nebula raises an eyebrow in confusion."What?"

You continue, "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty! Butterscotch, who tamed the manticore with his compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! Bubble Berry, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! Elusive, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! And Rainbow Blitz, who could not abandon his friends for his own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty! The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."

As you say each pony's name, the shards of the mentioned Element levitate next to them and become whole again, while the ponies also float in the air.

Nebula shakes his head in disbelief. "You don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!"

You falter and that's when Dusk stands up. "But it did. Sure, it wasn't a magical spark, but it was a spark nonetheless." He then addresses the rest of you. "When I first came to Ponyville, I had only one goal in mind, which was to check on the preparations and read everything in the library. I never planned to spend so much time with you all. I used to think that socialising and having friends were a waste of time. Like, what was the use of that, when I could use my time to do something productive? "

"Get to the point, colt," growls the dark alicorn.

"Whatever you say… The thing is, these six ponies mean a lot to me. I can't imagine living without them. Even though five of them are ponies that I just met yesterday, I- there's some sort of feeling in my heart that tells me I can trust them. The spark I was speaking of was one that occurred in my heart, as sappy as it sounds. These six ponies are my friends, and together, we'll defeat you. "

As soon as he says that, he glows and floats in the air as well, with a new sphere forming next to him with the symbol of his cutie mark.

Nebula's smile fades upon seeing this new development and he snarls, "Well, I'll just destroy you six then!"

His horn glows, and a ball of magical energy flies towards your friends. You freeze in terror and your heart beats faster in fear and shock. No! I can't let it hit them!

At that moment, as it draws closer, seemingly in slow motion, you jump in front of them, ready to let it hit you.

They all gasp, "(Y/N)!" and you close your eyes, trying to push against it with your magic, and just as it's about to touch you…

Your body glows brightly and a sphere forms around your body, shielding you and taking the impact of the blast.

A rainbow seems to come out from your chest, and a bright light fills the room. When it fades, you see a sphere beside you, and it is in the shape of a heart.

Nebula's eyes widen in terror. "What?! No! No! T-this can't be happening!"

The seven of you hold hooves and as the spheres glow, a rainbow light bursts out from them and hits Nebula, who yells one final "No!"

You stand up and rub your head which was aching terribly. "Ugh, what happened?"

The ponies around you are all wearing golden armor, each with a different colored and shaped gem in the centre.

The gems are actually a lookalike of their cutie marks.

"(Y/N), dear, that looks absolutely dazzling!" compliments Elusive.

"Huh?"

"Your tiara of course! " exclaims Bubble.

You feel the top of your head with a hoof and take your tiara off. It's a beautiful gold one, with a sparkling pink heart in the middle and shiny all around.

"Wow…" you gape while looking at it, and put it back on your head just as Prince Solaris enters the room, causing you all to bow.

"There's no need to bow, my dear subjects," he says. Dusk approaches the Prince, who nods to him. "Dusk Shine, my faithful student. I see you have managed to complete your task here."

"I thought you said that it was just a folk tale, and that I should stop reading those 'dusty old books' and make some friends?"

" That was because I was confident you would be able to defeat Nebula on your own. I suppose you would be ready to return back to Canterlot now? "

"Prince… I…"

" What's the matter? I thought you wanted to return to your studies as soon as possible? "

"Well… I made some friends, just as you wanted… "

"And you don't want to leave them behind? Understable. In that case I shall send you an official letter, declaring that you may live in Ponyville and begin your studies on friendship. And might that be (Y/N), the alicorn that you once mentioned to me; your foalhood friend? "

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I see that you bear a crown… I suppose that means your Element is a new one. The Element of Love."

A groan is heard from somewhere across the room and the Prince walks there. "Brother… You have returned."

There is a light blue alicorn with a darker mane and a cutie mark which is of a half moon with a black splotch as the background.

"Did I hear that right?" asks Bubble. " Prince Solaris just called that stallion, brother? "

The alicorn flinches upon seeing Solaris approach him and looks away, refusing to meet his gaze.

"I'm...so sorry… " he mumbles.

"You need not apologise, Artemis. But if you really want to...you can start by buying cakes for me. "

"These past thousand years have done nothing to lessen your love of cake, have they?" Artemis hugs the Prince. " I've missed you, brother. "

"So have I."

And throughout this whole interaction, Bubble was still gasping the word brother in disbelief.

Author's Note

That's an image I found that saved the day.

This chapter was a real challenge to write. This whole week, I kept putting it off, and then today, I spent the whole day working on it and finished it just before midnight.

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