//------------------------------// // Elementary, My Little Pony // Story: My Little Background Pony: Friendship is Magic // by comicfan616 //------------------------------// The castle was a mess. The Doctor guessed that it had stood for more than a few centuries above a thousand years, and it showed; entire sections of the walls were missing, to say nothing of the ceiling, and moss and vines were growing wild even along the floor. The group made their way to the throne room. Surprisingly, despite the Doctor’s concern, there was no sign of Nightmare Moon. He hoped it was a sign of things to come. The throne room was just as dilapidated as the rest of the castle, but it still contained an air of regality. At the end room were two thrones, cracked and chipped in various places. Between the thrones was an oddly shaped stone statue. It looked like a pedestal with five arms spreading out of it. At the end of each arm was a small platform, almost like an egg cup, and each one was holding a sphere, each with its own gemstone-like design carved in it. “Is this it?” Derpy asked. “Where better to keep some of the most powerful magic is Equestria?” the Doctor responded. “Right by the side of the sisters who once ruled this land together.” “They look kinda… useless, though,” Vinyl observed. “Let’s just get them down here,” Octavia suggested. Derpy flew up and wrapped her hooves around one of the Elements. As she lifted it off the pedestal, two other Elements, influenced by Vinyl and Lyra’s magic, floated up and toward the ponies. All three Elements landed slowly on the ground in front of the group. The two unicorns grabbed the other two once their hold on the first disappeared. Bon Bon counted the Elements they had. “Five,” she said. “I only get five. Wasn’t there a sixth Element?” “Ah, yes,” the Doctor said, “the elusive sixth Element that not even the TARDIS could identify. Luckily, I did glance over a passage just before we left.” “Well, don’t be shy, Doc,” Vinyl said. “Spill.” “It said that the sixth Element will appear when the others resonate and focus on a single point.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Derpy asked. “Not a clue,” the Doctor said unabashedly. Before anyone could protest, however, he continued, “But I’ve got a hunch.” He took out his sonic screwdriver. “If I can find the right frequency, I may be able to simulate this resonance and bring out the Element.” He moved toward the Elements on the floor. “Just for your own safety, you might want to stay back. I don’t know if this is a good idea and I’d rather not have you around if things get messy.” He turned on the screwdriver and started adjusting it. The volume shifted between high-pitched to barely audible. The other ponies moved back to the door, staying just outside the entrance into the throne room. The Doctor continued to work on the screwdriver, keeping his eyes on the Elements in the hope they would do something. After several minutes of almost pointless tinkering, he noticed something around the Elements. He stepped back and watched. They were all being surrounded by a blue wind that became a small tornado. The Elements were caught in the wind and flew up and into the vortex. The Doctor didn’t know what to expect, but he could tell this wasn’t supposed to happen. With little time to think, he relied on instinct and jumped into the tornado. The other ponies outside saw what was happening and tried to run to the Doctor and possibly help him. But the wind was too strong and kept them back. Eventually, the tornado disappeared, but the Doctor and the Elements were nowhere to be seen. “Now what?!” Lyra demanded. “Doctor!” Derpy called out. “Doctor, where are you?” “Look! Up there!” Octavia shouted. She was standing next to what was left of a window. A tower could be seen not too far away from where they were. Light was flashing through the windows. The Doctor rubbed his head as he got up. It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in the throne room. Whatever happened there must have teleported him here. His thoughts were quickly replaced however, when he saw what was in front of him: Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony laid in front of her. “It’s so nice to see you again,” she said in that same calm voice. “I admit, I didn’t want it to end like this, but you were just so persistent.” “Can’t help it,” the Doctor returned. He was very scared, but he couldn’t let Nightmare know it. “It’s something of a character flaw.” “I suppose we can also add hubris to that list of flaws, believing you, a mere pony, could use the Elements of Harmony against me.” “Oh, you’ll find that there’s nothing ‘mere’ about me.” “Maybe, but even Celestia, with all her power and the Elements combined, could only send me to the moon, and even that failed in the end. What could you possibly hope to accomplish?” “Trust me. Everything I’ve seen and done makes your bid for eternal darkness seem like a middle school prank. Besides, if I couldn’t possibly use the Elements, why did you take them from me when I was working with them?” “I learned a long time ago, one thousand years to be precise, to leave nothing to chance. I had already sent Celestia away before I even revealed myself tonight. And while I wasn’t going to try to retrieve the Elements at first, you made me take measures.” “You mean trying to kill us, delay us, and even dissuade one of us? Very poor attempts, I must say. However, if you are willing, I can help you. You were once a great leader, beloved by your subjects. You can still be that.” “At the cost of my glorious night shadowed by the sun? Here is my answer, my little pony!” Nightmare reared up and slammed her hooves on the ground. The Elements, still close to her, shattered on impact. All that was left were tiny shards around Nightmare’s hooves. The Doctor was stunned. “What?! That can’t be possible! The Elements should be stronger than a simple stomp on the ground!” “It must pain you to know so much only to come up short where it truly matters,” Nightmare said with a grin. “Don’t worry, though. Even in the state you found them in, you couldn’t possibly have used the Elements.” “Maybe the Elements are gone,” the Doctor said, “but if this path is your final decision, then I’ll keep fighting.” He held out the sonic screwdriver, hoping that it would do something miraculous. But he barely turned it on before a blue beam struck it, causing him to let go. The screwdriver landed on the floor, the top portion destroyed with only a few wires hanging out. “You little foal!” Nightmare gloated. “Thinking you could defeat me! Now you’ll never see your princess. Or your sun. The night will last forever!” She laughed triumphantly. The Doctor was crestfallen. He had failed. The planet would be plunged into everlasting darkness, and the only hope he may have had in restoring the light had literally been crushed. He bowed his head in humiliation, eyes closed like he was about to cry. He could hear the cries of ponies, cried of fear, cries… that sounded like they were calling his name. The Doctor lifted his head up; those cries were real, and they were actually calling out to him. “Doctor!” “Doc, you up here?” “Doctor, where are you?” He recognized those voices. He turned his head and saw some shadows through the doorway, followed by the five ponies who had followed him this far. He felt a strange mix of happiness, excitement, sadness, and anxiety all at once. He turned back to Nightmare. “Actually, Nightmare Moon, there might still be a chance,” he said. “I was right; you can’t destroy the Elements of Harmony so easily. Especially when those Elements share their spirits with five amazing ponies.” By now, the others had entered the room proper. They stood behind the Doctor and, upon hearing his words, started feeling more confident, like they could take on Nightmare with their bare hooves. The shards of the Elements also seemed to react; they lifted themselves off the ground and started glowing faintly. “Like Bon Bon,” the Doctor continued, “who asked only to be trusted in a time of doubt, representing the Spirit of Honesty!” The shards that were glowing yellow floated to Bon Bon and began circling her. “Or Octavia, who tamed a wild manticore with nothing but a soothing melody, representing the Spirit of Kindness!” The same thing happened to Octavia, except the shards were glowing black. “Derpy Hooves, who was able to find humor in a scary situation, representing the Spirit of Laughter!” Shards glowing silvery grey surrounded Derpy. “Lyra Heartstrings, who helped a dying creature with all her heart, representing the Spirit of Generosity!” Light blue shards flew to Lyra “And Vinyl Scratch, who wouldn’t leave her friends behind even if it meant furthering her own goals, representing the Spirit of Loyalty!” Shards of royal blue circled Vinyl. “Your tricks and traps have failed before all of these ponies and their devotion to their virtues,” the Doctor continued. “You still don’t have the sixth Element!” Nightmare hastily reminded him. “Your little gamble with the resonance didn’t work!” “Maybe that’s because I had it on the wrong frequency,” the Doctor replied. “And I was using the wrong tool.” He turned to the others. “When I heard you all calling me, I felt something I thought I’d never feel again. Maybe friends will eventually go their separate ways, but you’ve just shown me that our friendship will last forever.” He turned back to the alicorn. “Do you hear that, Nightmare Moon? Your night won’t last forever, but the power of our friendship will!” Suddenly, there was a flash of light from above. Everyone waited until the light died down before looking up. It was another stone sphere, much like the Elements before Nightmare shattered them. It floated down until it was just above the Doctor’s head. “You see, Nightmare Moon, when all five Elements find a common focus and resonate with it, like these five have when they were looking for me, such a process reveals the sixth Element: The Element of Friendship!” The sphere started glowing brighter. So many things happened at once, it was nearly impossible to see it all happen. The shards surrounding the five collided together on each of the ponies’ necks, creating a necklace with a golden band and a charm in the front, with each charm being a different color. The sphere above the Doctor dissolved and flowed to the remains of the sonic screwdriver. The device lifted itself off the ground and floated into the Doctor’s hoof. When it finally stopped, the silvery plating of the screwdriver had become gold, like the necklaces. Instinctively, the Doctor held the screwdriver above him and turned it on. The usual whirring noise seemed louder than normal. The other Elements started creating a rainbow stream that converged on the screwdriver. Once the streams combined, the rainbow shot up and headed straight for Nightmare. The dark alicorn had just enough time to scream, “NOOOOOO!” before the rainbow landed and started swirling around her, eventually drowning her out. By now, the ponies were only barely aware of what was happening. After a constant stream, the Doctor felt the power growing stronger and hitting its peak. Soon, his vision went completely white.