“So what now?” Melody turned to Celestia but she was gone. “Celestia?”
“What!? No!” Twilight closed the book she was reading and tossed it. “I won't use that magic!”
“What's wrong?” Melody asked and picked up the book.
“That spell...it's horrible, I won't use it...” Twilight said shaking.
Melody opened the book and looked into it. “Let's see”
She read the spell, she realized that it was a spell to destroy life forces. “This is dark magic...”
“Why would Celestia give me that? I could never use that!” Twilight shouted.
“Wait, there's more” Melody read on and smiled. “I don't think she wants you to use the spell but read this part”
Twilight looked at the book and read out loud. “Souls once lost can be recovered by reminding them of who they once were”
“I never thought about that...” Twilight said getting a smile back. “If I can just talk to them, maybe I can get them back to who they belong too”
“But that's not going to be easy” Melody pointed out. “This has never happened before, it might not work”
“True, but we have to try” Twilight said. “I won't give up on my friends”
“That's good to hear” Melody said. “I should get down there, I'll hold off as many as I can”
“I'll take care of these girls, you don't need to worry” Winter said patching them up with a first aid kit she found.
“Thanks Winter” Twilight said with a nod. “Let's go Melody”
“Let's? As in we?” Melody raised an eyebrow.
“I need to face those copies, I don't know why...but I think I can save them” Twilight said putting a hoof on her chest. “I feel it...I know I can reach them and save my friends”
“Well okay then” Melody said and walked out of the room.
Twilight quickly followed after her and went up next to her. “You don't believe me huh?”
“Why would you think that?” Melody asked looking ahead.
“Because even I'm questioning it” Twilight said looking worried. “Can I really save them on just this feeling?”
“Twilight, it was you who showed me that even with my past I could change how I felt about Celestia, I trust your judgment” Melody smiled at her. “Don't question yourself, do what feels right”
“I will, thanks Melody” Twilight felt better, she didn't feel alone thanks to Melody, and that gave her strength.
The castle shook and Melody looked out a nearby window seeing the bugs destroy the city. “Their getting closer!”
“Melody, you go and hold them back, I'll go out there and lure the five copies out!” Twilight said and dashed off in a hurry.
“Great, give me the hard job why don't you?” Melody joked as she ran off to the outside. “Oh who am I kidding? I love this sort of thing!”
Twilight walked out into the courtyard and looked around, she could feel eyes on her as soon as she stepped out.
“Well, well, you've been a thorn in our sides for far to long Twilight” Greed said as she walked out from behind a pillar covered in roses. “But now your all alone”
“I'm not alone, Melody, Misty, Winter, and all of my friends are with me” Twilight said proudly.
“Oh gag me, what can friendship do now!?” Betrayal asked flying down into the garden.
“It can do a lot” Twilight said.
“What power do you have now? We have taken over your little home, your friends are nothing but husks, your princess does nothing to stop us, we're going to win” Greed said full of herself, then the others came out from the garden as well glaring at Twilight.
“I'm still here and I won't let you win” Twilight said and turned to Betrayal. “I know the truth now, I figured it out, your all the elements of my friends, you don't belong to those bug things, you have to go back to them, they need you, and I know you need them”
“Ha! What has Rainbow Dash done for me? Loyalty? Please, it's so much more fun like this” Betrayal smiled as she spoke.
“Rainbow Dash, she is loyal to her friends she would never betray anypony, and she never betrayed you, your what kept her going have so many trials and hardships, don't you remember? Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy when her animal friends all got sick, even though she didn't want to, she stuck to it because they were friends” Twilight explained.
“Well...I...” Betrayal thought about it and smiled fondly. “Those little guys were sorta cute, and I couldn't let her take care of all the animals, that's a big job”
“I knew it!” Twilight thought to herself and then spoke. “That's right, and you loved it, she even helped you get your favorite pet Tank, remember when Rarity got you that signed photo of your favorite wonderbolt? You felt bad at first because she ended up missing her deadline because of that and you helped her finish and deliver the dress's barely in time to give her a second chance?”
“I loved that photo, I hanged it up next to my bed, then I learned Rarity was in deep trouble and I felt like it was my fault, I don't even like dresses but she was so awesome in doing that for me, I had to help her” Betrayal said sounding more like Rainbow Dash.
“It's working...come on Twilight, just a bit more” Twilight thought to herself again and spoke up. “That's right, and what about Pinkie Pie? You loved to pull silly pranks on ponies with her, she even baked you a cake in your likeness, she helped you open your eyes to true friendship”
“I remember that, she helped me see what true friendship was all about” Betrayal was more confused then ever and didn't know what to think anymore. “We pulled some great laughs together”
“And then Applejack, she helped mend your wings when you crashed and broke them, and even after you recovered a little and you wanted to fly again she stopped you from doing that to make sure your wings fully recovered, even though you hated being grounded you were grateful to her, remember?”
“If I did go flying I would have broken them even more and never fly again, that's what the doctors told me after, I couldn't thank her enough after that” Betrayal said and her body started to glow her elemental color.
“And remember when you came to sleep over at my house because your house was blown away and they had to fix it, we would stay up all night reenacting scenes from our favorite parts of different Daring Do books, we had so much fun even though we kept it just between us because it was embarrassing” Twilight said.
“Haha, I loved doing that, and it was so awesome that even though I didn't have a place at the time you helped me” Betrayal added and she was glowing brightly now.
“Don't listen to her!” Greed tried to stop her but a magical barrier stopped her instead. “No!”
“Your not Betrayal, your loyalty!” Twilight shouted and Rainbow Dash's energy shot out of Betrayal's body and floated over to her. “Nothing will ever change who you really are inside”
Loyalty smiled at her and flowed into Twilight's body, Twilight then turned to Anger. “Anger...remember what Pinkie did for you?”
“Huh?” Anger backed up not sure what she was going to do, but she couldn't move any further for some reason. “Don't make me hurt you!”
“Everypony forgot your birthday, you tried to tell us over and over again but we didn't pay you any mind, you were at your house feeling so alone at your birthday party Pinkie came by with a cake and gifts for you, she then used her party cannon to get our attention and made us realize what we did without knowing, we all felt so bad, but you forgave us” Twilight explained. “Pinkie saved your party because she was the only one that payed attention”
“I....I remember...” Anger said looking down. “She worked on everything for me, I couldn't have been more happy that day”
“Then Applejack, she helped you build all those homes for those tiny animals, even when it was raining she made sure they all had little homes, and you saved a lot of animals because of that” Twilight added.
“She was very helpful...” Anger started to sound more like Fluttershy now. “I was grateful to her hard work, I didn't even have a way to repay her so I ended up working on her farm for awhile to pay her back”
“That's right, and remember Rainbow Dash? She went with you when you went back to Cloudsdale for a few days to cheer you on when you needed to pass the fliers exam so you could stay in Ponyville” Twilight said.
“It was really hard, they always bullied me..” Anger said as she began to glow. “But thanks to Rainbow Dash I passed”
“And then you did her a favor when you came to cheer her on in that contest” Twilight pointed out. “Then there is Rarity, remember when Rarity came over to your place when you were having a bad mane day? She spent the whole day trying to fix it, and you two ended up bonding and she gave you a mane clip, and then you learned it was one of her most prized pieces”
“Rarity really saved me that day, I felt so bad I couldn't leave my house, but then she showed up and helped, it was really nice of her” Anger said.
“And remember when you lost angel? You were crying for weeks, then I went out and found him for you, it took me a long time, but seeing you smile again was worth it” Twilight said smiling at her.
“Angel bunny? I couldn't do anything without him...I remember I was so happy when you walked in with him, I couldn't stop crying from joy...” Anger was now glowing brightly.
“NO!!!” Greed tried to move but a magical force was keeping her back.
“Your not anger, your kindness, and you would never hurt anypony!” Twilight said and Fluttershy's element flowed out of her and Kindness hugged Twilight before going into her like Loyalty.
“Stop it!! You can't do this, this can't be happening!” Greed shouted.
“And you!” Twilight turned to Gloom. “Remember all the fun times you had with everyone?!”
Gloom glared at her. “What do you mean?”
“Remember when Applejack took over for you when you were sick? She helped you get better and she baked all the goods that week just for you” Twilight said.
“That-that's true” Gloom said thinking about it.
“And when you lost all your party balloons Rainbow Dash managed to get them all back for you so you could threw a party” Twilight continued.
“That really saved me..” Gloom said.
“And when you were so busy and running around to the point you passed out, Rarity came and made you sleep and she did everything on your list so you could rest” Twilight pointed out.
“Ye-yeah...” Gloom was starting to glow now. “I never forgot what she did for me...”
“Fluttershy and her animal friends threw you a party and remember that bear actually liked you and asked Fluttershy to give you a cute love letter and you thought it was from her?” Twilight said with a bit of a laugh remembering what Fluttershy told her.
Gloom blushed at this and her voice changed to that of Pinkie's. “I felt so embarrassed when she gave me that, even though it was the bear's letter I couldn't get Fluttershy's cute face out of my mind”
“And remember when I was so stuck in my books you had to steal my book and make me go outside, you lured me to the park and everypony was there, we all then had fun and you even had cupcakes with each of our faces on them” Twilight said getting a warm feeling from the memories.
Gloom smiled as the memories flowed in and Pinkie's element came out and Laughter giggled as she flew into Twilight like the others.
Twilight was feeling the energy of her friends flow through her, she was glad to feel them, and she was close to finishing this. “Good to feel you again Laughter”
“Let's talk about you next” Twilight turned to Lies.
“Oh heck no, I won't listen!” Lies said trying to ignore her.
“You have to remember our friendship! Remember when your dog Winona was hurt and Fluttershy came to care for her? You couldn't watch over her due to your work, but Fluttershy stayed with you and her to make sure she was okay” Twilight told her making her listen.
“Yeah...I...I remember..” Lies said starting to glow just like the others.
“And the time Rainbow Dash helped you with your apple bucking because Big Mac had to repair the building she crashed into, you barely managed to get enough but thanks to Rainbow Dash you got through it” Twilight pointed out.
“She really helped me out..” Lies spoke as she voice changed to Applejack's. “We had cider for weeks after that”
“Remember when Rarity made nests for the birds in your farm so they wouldn't get in your way?” Twilight said keeping it going.
“That's true, without her doing that I would have bucked baby birds out of their tree and that would have been horrible” Lies said as she glowed brightly.
“Then there was Pinkie, she's so close to you, your like cousins, remember when you were feeling down? She came in and spent the whole day with you, braiding your mane and tail, playing silly games, talking about colts with you, she didn't stop until you smiled again” Twilight said.
“I remember, she really came through for me then” Lies said remembering it.
“And remember when my magic went crazy and changed all your apple crops into oranges and it took forever to pick them and change the trees back into apple trees, I felt so bad I couldn't even face you for weeks, until you came and told me it was okay and no harm was done, you have to remember that!”
“I...I do, I remember it all now...” Lies said and Honesty came out of her and flew right into Twilight's chest.
Twilight could feel her magic growing and her bonds increasing with her friends. “Honesty....”
Greed stomped her hooves hard angry. “No, no, no, you can't be this strong, your just magic you don't even have any friends anymore, where is this power coming from!?”
“It's coming from friendship Greed, and you need to come back with us too!” Twilight said walking up to her.
“Stay back!” Greed tried to move back but her legs would not move.
“Remember who you were, remember the time you tried to get a client to try your new dress but she harshly turned you down, then Applejack managed to convince her to give you another change” Twilight said making her listen.
“No, I won't listen!” Greed tried to stop her but she realized she was glowing. “Stop it!”
“Then there was the time you were fantasizing about your dream colt and you accidentally kissed Rainbow Dash on the lips, she freaked out and didn't talk to you for quite sometime, and because of that you were having a hard time and you locked yourself in your home” Twilight said smiling, she only knew that because Rainbow Dash told her the reason Rarity was locked up in her place for that time.
“You're lying! You can't make me go back!” Greed stopped as she heard her voice, it was now like Rarity's.
“And then there was Pinkie, you were trying to set up a party but you didn't have enough bits at the time, so Pinkie gave you what you needed and helped out even though she didn't understand your high society party” Twilight said knowing she was getting through to her.
“Pinkie really saved me...no, I can't give in!” Greed was inner fighting with herself trying to make sense of things.
“Remember Fluttershy? She always went with you to the spa, when you had to go out of town she ran your shop while you were gone for days” Twilight pointed out.
“She had barely managed to hold up things I couldn't have gone out of town without her help...” Greed was now glowing brightly.
“Remember when the two of us had a girl's day out? All we talked about was stupid stuff like books and fashion sometimes colts and mane styles, but we bonded so well it was worth it, I cherish my memories with everypony and you have a special place in my heart” Twilight reminded her.
Generosity came out of Greed and floated over to Twilight, she kissed her cheek and went inside her like the others and Twilight smiled at this. “Welcome back Generosity”
The five mares looked at each other and each started to fade away, Greed watched as each of her sisters were fading out of existence. “Twilight...”
“Huh?” Twilight turned to watch the last of them fade and Greed smiled at her, she didn't understand why, but she was glad that they didn't fade away in pain.
Twilight started to move back with a terrasect worker came out of the ground and looked right at her. “Purple one...”
“What!?” Twilight knew it wasn't speaking to her, but she could hear a voice, she somehow knew what it was. “Your...a forgotten one...”
“We have watched the surface for eons, we have seen the rise and fall of many nations, Equestria will fall one day, just like all the rest”
“I won't let that happen” Twilight said facing the bug. “You won't take our home”
“We realize this, you have fought and beaten our hopes for gaining power, we will die out soon” The voice spoke as if it was ready to die.
“Wait, your hopes? Why did you want to surface in the first place?” Twilight asked.
“We are dying, without a new land we will run out of food and we will fade away” The voice explained.
“Hmm...” Twilight wanted to stop them, but she didn't want to wipe out an entire species, then she got a idea. “How about we make a deal?”
“A deal?” The voice echoed confused.
“You leave Equestria and never return, find a new home away from ours and you can live there without anypony attacking you or you attacking anypony” Twilight suggested.
“You are willing to give us a surface to live?” The voice was lost but wasn't going to not take it. “Why?”
“Because, every living being deserves to live, and you don't need the elements to do that” Twilight said.
“The elements create a lust for power, we have been blinded to see any other solution without them, thank you purple one, we shall undo what we have done to your race and we shall leave” The voice spoke and then went quiet.
Twilight nodded and the bug dug underground once again, Twilight then turned and walked back into the castle.
Twilight went back to the room where the others were, she focused her magic and the elements came out of her and flowed into each of their bodies.
“Twilight....what is that?” Winter asked watching it all.
“What they were missing” Twilight simply said as they started to wake up.
“Ugh...” Rainbow Dash woke up and her eyes went back to normal. “What...what happened?”
“I'm not sure...” Fluttershy said getting up. “We're back to normal though, and I can move again”
“Me too, I feel much better now” Applejack said sitting up.
“I never want to do that again” Pinkie said stretching. “We could see everything that was going on...but not do anything about it”
Rarity sat up and smiled. “I'm...I'm back, oh thank goodness....”
“Girls!!!” Twilight cried out and hugged them all in one big group hug. “I was so worried!!”
“Twilight!!” They all hugged her back and Nightwish and Melody walked in.
“I can't believe they all left like that” Melody said.
“Me too, it's weird” Nightwish said and saw them all hugging. “Whoa!”
“Your all okay!!” Melody said happily. “That's wonderful!”
“Hey what about Misty!?” Rainbow Dash asked and then saw that Misty was up as well. “Your okay!”
“Yeah, I'm grounded for awhile, but I'll live” Misty said enjoying the moment.
“Oh man, that's bad, I was hoping we could fly together soon” Rainbow Dash said a little annoyed but she understood.
“Nightwish, I was so worried!” Rarity went over to Nightwish and hugged her.
“Thanks, I was worried about you too!” Nightwish said and hugged her back.
“Aww, that's good” Melody said and looked to her side hearing a noise and saw Celestia. “Celestia?”
“I see everypony is safe and sound, I'm so glad” Celestia said and looked at Melody. “You and these other mares have helped out more then you know”
“Thank you Celestia, so what are we going to do now?” Melody asked.
“I think that's settled already” Twilight said suddenly. “I made a deal with the terrasects and I think we'll all have homes soon”
They all looked at her confused and shrugged.
A couple weeks later the terrasect's had finished rebuilding their homes and Ponyville was back to normal as if nothing happened, Celestia herself was there to make sure it was all as it once was and approved.
“Well, well, Twilight you made some powerful allies haven't you?” Celestia said smiling.
“Allies? I don't know about that, but we have an understanding” Twilight said checking out her house.
“This is awesome!” Rainbow Dash said flying around. “Everything is back to normal!”
“Hahaha!” Misty Gale flew after her and Melody walked over to Twilight and Celestia.
“I like it here” Melody said looking around. “I think I'll enjoy living here”
“Are you sure? You could live with me at the castle” Celestia pointed out.
“Thank you, but it's time I get my life back on track on my own” Melody said. “And I recently met this DJ pony that's really good with music, I'm making friends all over the place”
“Well you were one of the heroes who saved Equestria” Rarity said walking up.
“Everypony seems to be getting back to their lives huh?” Nightwish said watching the several different ponies.
“Well I must be going, I'm glad everything worked out Twilight” Celestia said.
“Okay Princess, I'll handle the rest here, I bet in another week or so we'll all be back to our lives” Twilight said.
The princess left and Nightwish smiled. “I have a little something for you Twilight”
“For me?” Twilight asked confused.
“Here” Nightwish took out a painting and Twilight looked at the big painting, it was over Twilight and her friends and her new friends all together happy. “I hope you like it”
“Like it?” Twilight shed a small tear. “I love it...”
“Well I don't know about you girls, but I'm hungry, shall we go eat? I heard of some strange place called a Hayburger, I wish to try it!” Melody said happily.
“I'm pretty hungry, let's go!” Twilight said and put the painting of them inside her house and they all left.
THE END.