"The Night will last Forever!"
The words had broken off into maniacal laughter, and with all the pieces of her return falling into place, only one thought had been going through Twilight's head:
Why didn't Princess Celestia listen!?
Now the unicorn was staring Nightmare Moon down, while the pitch black Alicorn mocked her. Determinedly, Twilight scraped her hoof against the floor, and lowered her spell-powered horn.
"You're kidding, right?" Nightmare said dubiously. In response, Twilight kept on with her charge, running towards the evil thing that had stolen the sun and her Princess. The ancient ruins of the castle rushed by her in a gray and green blur as she fed her horn more and more magic, hoping against impossible odds that she could reach the Elements. Nightmare Moon lowered her own horn, and started charging as well, rushing towards the smaller pony.
In the split second before they made contact, Twilight timed her teleport to go behind the nightmare on hooves. But instead of landing on the stone, time slowed down and there was darkness all around the unicorn.
"This isn't even the ruins!" She whispered aloud. The magical signature felt different; a heavy darkness mixed with a strange, bright white lightness. For some reason, Twilight felt she should be as quiet as possible. It felt like she might disturb something, although there were no signs of life.
The purple mare kept walking anyway, and came upon a field of stars. There was a slight, calming breeze. It was beautiful. Silvery grass shone and sparkled in time with some soundless beat, trees made of starlight and dust climbed into the sky. There were clouds made of clusters of stars, some with tiny supernovas going off inside of their puffy depths. And the sky itself! Stars, stretching as far as the eye could see, shining and glittering with such intensity you could reach out and touch them.
In what could be years or a instant, it all fell away, leaving Twilight trapped in the suffocating darkness again. But this time, there was a sound. A slight, quiet beating. It sounded like somepony's fading heartbeat.
"H-Hello? Is anypony there?" She asked, still whispering. A quiet whimper came from the mare's right and was lost the the all-consuming dark. Twilight turned around and saw a small, fragile-looking Alicorn curled up on the ground. Or, what was considered ground. Concerned, she trotted over to the light blue pony, and a name slipped into her mind: Luna.
"Luna?" Finally, her voice was its full volume. The head raised ever so slightly, and the mare gazed at Twilight with glazed eyes. The unicorn felt a magical current suddenly pass between them, as fierce as a lion's roar.
"T-Twilight?" The small voice said, the sound of it like music notes tinkling out of a harp. The mare in question felt a strange need to comfort Luna. Tentatively, she sat down, then laid on the floor, curling herself around the smaller pony.
"It's okay. Celestia will still love you. She will always love you." Now where had that come from? But Luna brightened, just a little. Maybe Luna and Celestia knew each other. They were, after all, both Alicorns.
"Really? You think so?" Luna asked quietly but hopefully, her voice sounding stronger.
"Really." Twilight found herself fading, like she was disappearing out of.... Wherever she was. "I must go now." She said suddenly, standing up.
"I'll never forget you.... Twilight!"
"I won't either, Luna."
Time sped up and the unicorn felt herself being teleported like normal. She landed right in the center of the Elements. "Woah..." She whispered, awestruck. Quickly remembering her task, Twilight powered up a spell to use on the Elements.
"Just one spark..." Glancing back at Nightmare Moon, she noticed the Alicorn looked confused and a little angry. Twilight realized something just then; The black of her coat looks just like the darkness I was in...
Finally, she got the spell working, and Nightmare snapped back to attention. She knocked Twilight out of the way and stood over the Elements. "No!" But then the lightning that had been spreading between the magical stones sputtered out. The nightmarish pony laughed, crushing the Elements with her stomp.
"Stop!" A small voice sounded, and Luna's face appeared in Twilight's mind, but it looked devastated. Devastated... At the Elements being destroyed? Nightmare Moon hesitated, and in that split second, the unicorn heard the five mares she had begun to call friends coming up the stairs behind her.
When Twilight turned to look, her eyes got big with relief. She felt a spark deep within herself, and something inside her unlocked...
"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight asked, with no small amount of smugness. "Well, you're wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony... Are right here!" Twilight waited while Nightmare Moon saw her friends around her. The Element shards began to glow and raise up around Nightmare. "What?" She asked incredulously.
"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty!" Shards that were glowing orange flew up and around her friend. "Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness!" The shy pegasus's pink shards circled around her.
"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter!" Pinkie's shards flew around her. "Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of Generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her heart's desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty!" Rarity and Rainbow's shards flew around them almost cheerily.
"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Twilight said, nearly finished with her speech.
"You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!" Nightmare Moon said desperately with a conflicted look on her face. Come on Luna, you can do it! The unicorn silently cheered the little Alicorn on.
"But it did. A different kind of spark! I felt it the very moment when I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... Are my friends!" As well as Luna. Twilight added silently. A glow appeared above the six ponies, and the glowing sphere stayed hovering above her head.
"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it created the sixth Element... The Element of Magic!" A little sappy... But it works! The Elements manifested into their physical forms, and a crown appeared on Twilight's head. She felt her love for her friends and the pony she now knew was inside the nightmare turn into raw power, and for a split second, Twilight was sure she saw Luna in the rainbow, saying "Thank you."
The rest passed in a blur of worry for Luna, but Twilight had to act like she didn't know her. How would she explain her journey to Princess Celestia in front of the five other ponies? Besides, the unicorn felt like it was something that she should keep between her and Princess Luna.
On their way to Ponyville, Twilight went up to Luna when she fell behind the others. "Are you okay?" Luna nodded, her eyes glistening with tears. The blue Alicorn suddenly turned and threw herself on Twilight, encompassing her in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you so so much! We can be the best of friends now, okay?" Luna poured the barrage of words onto Twilight, and the unicorn smiled and hugged her newest friend back. She might even want to be more than friends someday, somehow. Because really, Luna was kind of cute, and not in the way you think your little sister is cute...
"Of course, Luna."
