Twilight had to admit that Pinky Pie was one hack of a party planner. Why she wasn't put in charge of the celebration was a mystery; she could have put it together in an hour. The ponies had gathered in the town hall, the decoration looked stunning, and even the bird's performance was something to behold. This was by far the most unique Summer Sun Celebration Twilight had ever seen. Mayor Mare stepped up on the podium. "And now, it is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony..."

Twilight tuned out the speech; something felt off about all of this. A quick glance around was all it took to see her guard in equal states. Looking at each other, she gave them a silent order to prepare for anything. When the curtain opened, and no pony stood behind it, the crowd panicked. "Be calm!" Twilight ordered, the herd of ponies quieting down somewhat. "There is no need for alarm. Stay quiet and follow the instruction of the guard."

Black mist started to form on the stage, and lightning flashed as the light began to dim. This was not part of the celebration. Twilight would have been informed about it. She kept her gaze up on stage when a pony materialised. The black figure was slender, a long horn jotted out of her head and large black wings unfurled. "Oh, my beloved subjects, it's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces." The unexpected appearance of a midnight black alicorn sent a shiver down Twilight's spine, and memories of a book Celestia had sent her flooded back into her mind.

"What have you done to Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouted, the other guards slowly evacuating the building.

"Why, am I not royal enough for you." She started to cackle as more lightning erupted around her.

Twilight's mind raced as she remembered the stories the Princess had made her read. Was this why she was sent here? Did Celestia know this would happen? "I know you," Twilight declared, a smile creeping onto her face. "You're Nightmare Moon, also known as Princess Luna."

No pony was paying any attention; the room was almost cleared out at this point. Only Twilight's new friends remained, looking confused between the purple unicorn and the dark alicorn. A snarl came to Nightmare Moon's face. "I am not Luna, you whelp." Lightning arced through the air, impacting near Twilight. Another arc impacted harmlessly on a shield, Glowing Field looking up at the night princess, her horn glowing brightly.

Spear Point and Wind Sheer advanced on the intruder, their weapons held high and ready to strike. "You're too late; the night will last forever!" More lightning arced, and Glowing had to put far more magic into her shield. She started to pant heavily from the onslaught. When it was over, the alicorn was gone.

"Good job, Glowing. Take a break. The rest of you make sure the town is safe. I need to find a way to stop her and get Princess Celestia back." Getting a nod from all of them, Twilight galloped off towards the library. She needed to read up on the Elements again.

Before she could get to the book, Rainbow Dash had already tackled her to the ground, something Twilight should have seen coming. Her other new friends were right behind her. "You know an awful lot about Nightmare Moon," Rainbow accused.

"Simmer down, RD. She is a guard, she's supposed to know that sort of stuff." Applejack defended. "Mind fillin' us in? We're here to help."

Looking over the gathered ponies, Twilight could only smile. The book about the Elements talked about five virtues: Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty and Laughter. She could see all of them in the ponies in front of her. All that was missing was the last one, but it was a total mystery. She had an idea what the spark that was supposed to reveal it meant. All that was left to do was find them. Twilight picked up the book and read the passage where they would be found, "the Everfree Castle," also known as the castle of the two sisters. She was not about to lead civilians into that dangerous forest, but they would not have any of it and followed her despite her warnings.

Spear and Glowing escorted the group as they made their way into the forest. It was as dark as Twilight remembered, and she was sure Nightmare Moon would try something to stop them, but the attack never came. The only thing Twilight could think of was that she was still weakened after her return and was now biding her time to regain her full power. Time was of the essence.

They marched on, Pinkie Pie occasionally laughing and giggling at scary faces in the trees, telling the group her granny told her to laugh at spooky things. The rest of the group simply shook their heads and continued. Twilight had to giggle a few times at the pink pony's antics.

The first real obstacle was a manticore. While scary-looking, they were usually peaceful creatures and kept to themself. This one, however, was blocking the only relatively safe path; walking around in the dense trees could be dangerous. Fluttershy was the one to approach it, quietly talking to it. "What has you so scared, little one?" She asked, getting a surprise "little" from the rest of the group. "A scary black cloud flew by and frightened you? Oh, you poor little thing." She embraced the creature in a hug, getting her mane licked in return. "Feeling better?" Getting a nod, the creature finally got back up and vanished into the forest.

"That was nice of you, Fluttershy," Twilight said, getting a smile from the shy mare.

"Sometimes, we just have to be shown a little kindness." Giving her a nod, the group continued.

Crossing a river was no trouble at all; a helpful sea serpent showed them a good place to cross after getting a nice compliment about his moustache from Rarity, the white unicorn of the group. Twilight only got her name during the party but was happy that she was not like other ponies from Canterlot. She was relieved to learn that the white unicorn was not born there but enjoyed its fashion and style.

The castle finally came into view. Twilight was almost too excited and nearly missed the destroyed bridge. A quick flight over the canyon later, Rainbow had tied the bridge back together, allowing the others to cross.

Now at their destination, she ordered Spear and Glowing to stand guard outside, stepping inside with her new friends. The throne room was massive, long since decayed tapestries must have lined these walls; some of the windows were still intact, depicting heroes of old, not unlike the stained glass windows in Canterlot. It was clear that this was once Equestria's seat of power before Celestia and Luna fought. Twilight hoped they could rescue her, she had suffered long enough already. Finding the Elements took no time at all. The large stone spheres were displayed proudly on a pedestal.

"Okay, girls, are you ready to save Luna?" She got only stares from them. "Nightmare Moon was once Celestia's sister. They ruled together until they had a falling out. I don't know what happened back then, but Celestia had to banish Luna to the moon for a thousand years."

"A falling out!" A voice shouted. "You know nothing, whelp!" Dark mist started to swirl around them, slowly forming back into the form of Nightmare Moon. "My sister betrayed me. My subjects rejected me. All I ever wanted was to show them my beautiful night." Lightning began to arc around her again, she was ready to defeat whoever stood in her way. Twilight could hear Spear and Glowing yelling, but a thick black wall prevented anypony from entering the throne room.

"And what a beautiful night it is, but Equestria needs balance, the day and the night. Your sister wants to have you back as well; why can't you see that?" Twilight argued, only getting a glare in return.

"My sister abandoned me in my time of need. She would never welcome me back!" Nightmare Moon snarled. However, there was a glimpse of hesitation as she took a fighting stance.

Twilight could see she was getting somewhere with this; she was on the right path. "Your sister trained me to rescue you, to save you from this nightmare. She did everything so you would be welcomed back with open hoofs. I would love to welcome you back as well, a pony who can stargaze with me or keep me company during my long nights of studying."

Nightmare Moon hesitated only for a moment, that brief time enough for the Elements to awaken. Bright glows engulfed Twilight's friends one after another, and the Elements formed into beautiful necklaces. "You're trying to banish me again! I should have known, you're just like the others. But it won't work. You're still missing the last Element."

"No, Luna, the Element is right here with me, and it's my friends. You see, when the Elements are united, they form a spark, a connection, so to speak. All it takes to awaken the last Element is for me to embrace that friendship." The last Element came not from outside; the glowing purple star slowly emerged from inside Twilight, briefly engulfing her in a bright light before settling down on her head.

"No, you will never defeat me!" Nightmare screamed, charging a powerful spell. The amount of magic gathered frightened Twilight, who could feel the build-up of magical energy.

Twilight had to do something; the connection to the Elements was still too weak to cleanse the corruption. A dark blue beam was released from Nightmare Moon's horn, bathing everything around in shadows. Instinct took over, magic surging forth, creating a bright golden shield in front of her friends. Twilight gasped; this was her magic, but how? She could feel the power inside of her again, far greater than ever before. A short burst of fear came over her, she was risking her magic again. But like the other times, her friends were far more important to her than her magic. The dark beam impacted the shield, both spells cancelling each other out, leaving a faint glitter in the air. "This is the Element of Friendship, the strongest magic of all, and I extend it towards you; all you have to do is embrace it."

Stunned by the display, Nightmare Moon hesitated. Could it be this simple? She could feel the magic, a similar warmth to her sister's magic. The lavender unicorn in front of her was right; she could reach out and take it. Reaching out with a shaky hoof and fighting against the urge to attack again, she closed her eyes. A rainbow-coloured light struck her moments later, cleansing away the lingering darkness within her, the voice of vengeance and hate slowly fading away. Luna collapsed with a smile on her lips, but before she could hit the ground, a soft purple glow cushioned her fall and set her down gently.

Looking out of a window, the new Element Bearers observed the sunrise. Twilight only spared it a glance before returning to Luna's side. She looked so helpless at the moment; the Elements had washed away all her magic. It would return in time, she knew that, but for now, the pony in front of her needed a friend. Reaching out a hoof, she smiled. "Will you take my friendship?"

Frightened at first, Luna looked up at her. The smile on Twilight's face was warm, something she had not felt in a long, long time. Reaching out, she allowed herself to be hoisted back up to her hoofs.

A bright light filled the room, the form of Princess Celestia slowly coming into view. Twilight's friends bowed while Twilight herself was looking up at her mentor. Luna's expression, however, was fearful. Approaching her little sister, Celestia smiled down at her. "Princess Luna. It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." She bent down, almost nuzzling her sister. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister." Reaching out a hoof, she continued. "Will you accept my friendship?"

Without hesitation, Luna pounced, embracing her sister with a tight hug. "I'm so sorry. I missed you so much, big sister."

"I missed you too," Celestia added. The moment was ruined by Pinkie Pie, who loudly cleared her nose. She offered to throw a big party as an apology, though.

Returning to Ponyville, the Summer Sun Celebration was back on, and ponies were basking in the light of their Princess. Many asked about the new alicorn beside her, happily chatting with Luna. Twilight could not be happier for her; things were looking up.

Leaving her sister to bask in the light for once, Celestia approached Twilight with a bright smile on her face. "Thank you, Twilight, for bringing my sister back."

"You knew I would do it," Twilight said matter-of-factly, surprising the white alicorn for once. "You did give me the books to read; you're not as subtle as you think. The only thing I don't know is since when."

"You gave me quite the headache when you joined the guard. I had everything planned from the day you became my student, and you tossed it all out the window." Putting a wing around her faithful student, she continued, "You surpassed my wildest dreams and reached the goal without my guidance. I'm not sure there is anything I can teach you any more."

Twilight pushed away from the tight hug. "Princess, stop. My friends are already looking at me funny. I'm an important guard now, and I can't look weak in front of them." Nuzzling against the alabaster coat, she continued, "Thank you for everything. But I have a feeling my journey has just begun."

Both of them looked out into the blue sky; only time could tell what awaited them in the future.

Author's Note

And with that, the story of Guardsmare Twilight comes to an end.

Once again, thank you for reading and leaving comments. This was far more successful than I could ever hope for. I had fun writing and learned a lot from it for future stories. It's amazing how a story I wrote in a week and intended to spend an hour per chapter for editing could get this out of hand to the point where I spent up to five hours on a chapter to get it to an acceptable quality.

I can't promise anything for those of you screaming for a sequel. Inspiration does not work like that, and while I have some ideas on how I could continue the story, I don't feel it yet. I will continue writing stories like this, however—short, quick-to-write little adventures that don't need a lot of planning from my end.

Again, thank you all, and I hope to see you again in the comment section of my next story.