Prelude:
Nightmare Moon was at a loss for words. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, the night black alicorn mare of darkness knew that she would eventually meet her end. But, she had always thought that it would be at the hooves of an army, or maybe her sister, the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, not at the hooves of six young fillies, most of whom were not even eighteen years of age!
Nightmare Moon looked across the group of ponies, and despising all six of them.
Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter
A pink party pony with a puffy, bubble gum pink mane and tail, and a trio of balloons for her cutie mark.
Fluttershy, the element of kindness
A butter yellow pegasus with a long, flowing, soft pink mane and tail, long enough to hide behind, which-Nightmare Moon suspected-was its purpose, as she was the most timid of the group, her cutie mark was a trio of pink butterflies.
Rarity, the element of generosity,
A white, slender, and graceful unicorn with a deep blue, curled mane and a tail that had once been of the same design, but for some reason, it was cut short, Nightmare Moon did not know the reason for this, but she pushed that trivial thought out of her mind, after all, that could hardly have anything to do with how the six fillies managed to get here. Upon the white unicorn's flank was a set of three diamonds which served as her cutie mark.
Applejack, the element of honesty,
an orange earth pony, with a mane and tail the color of hay, a splash of freckles across her face, and a cowpony hat that was tilted slightly back, she was stronger than the other five fillies, and had a grouping of three apples for her cutie mark.
Twilight, the element of magic,
Obviously, she was the leader of the group. A lavender unicorn mare with a special talent for magic, as shown by her cutie mark, a blueish-pink six-pointed star, with several smaller stars surrounding it. The unicorn's mane and tail were a shade of purple, with streaks of bright lavender. They were well groomed and had just a hint of being unkempt.
Finally, her eyes alighted on the youngest of the group, a pegasus named Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty.
She was a sky blue pegasus with an aerodynamic, yet somewhat edged, form. She had a rainbow colored mane and tail, rose red eyes, and a rainbow colored lightning bolt serving as her cutie mark.
Nightmare Moon had to guess that Ms. Dash was no more than sixteen or seventeen years of age. It was because of this, that Nightmare Moon had assumed that she would be easy to manipulate, she had been mistaken when Rainbow turned down the offer to lead Nightmare Moon's team of flyers, the Shadowbolts, to help her friends.
"She will serve her role soon," a voice in the back of her mind told her.
Suddenly, as the Elements of Harmony activated, and the multihued, rainbow blast came closer, and as it began to burn every fiber of her being, Nightmare felt like her mind was being shattered, no, it was splitting, all of the anger, hatred, and jealousy that had driven her to become Nightmare Moon was tearing itself away. But, she knew about the Elements, they didn't shatter minds, what was going on? Her answer came from the last place she expected, herself. "Now that you have been weakened, I can carry out the rest of my plan!" the voice was the same that she had listened to for all those years as Nightmare Moon, like a guide in the recesses of her mind. Only now it had become louder, and more real, like the voice was another pony standing next to her.
"What plans??" Nightmare Moon asked the voice, there was no response, "WHAT PLANS?!?" she demanded, still no response, as she was about to scream at the voice, suddenly she realized something, she was no longer Nightmare Moon, her night blue armor had been blown to pieces, and her form had become small and diminutive, she had been turned back into, Princess Luna! She did not see this change, but rather, she felt it, as she opened her eyes, she looked up and saw her sister, Princess Celestia, The regal, stark-white alicorn stood over her, her glistening, multi-hued mane flowing, whether there was a breeze or not, upon her flank was her cutie mark, a yellow sun, there she stood, regal as ever.Luna was so sorry for what happened, when her older sister Celestia forgave her, Luna felt something that she had not felt for a thousand years, happiness.
The armor of Nightmare Moon had been left where it lay, nopony had any desire to take it, the only intact piece was the helmet, and even that was beaten and even bent in some places, to anypony else it appeared to be nothing more than the remains of a once-feared suit of armor, dead weight. But, if somepony stopped and listened to their senses, they might feel a strange tingling sensetion coming from the hunk of midnight blue metal, if they were to move closer, they would hear a strange sound, like the distant slithering of a thousand snakes, and if that pony were to come closer still, they would hear the slithering stop, and a single voice, as black as a starless night whisper "You are not worthy, mortal foal!", and then, that pony would never be heard from, ever again.