Resistance

by TapitLightly

Once in a Millenium

Twilight Sparkle shut the history book she was reading. In a different timeline, she would be researching Nightmare Moon’s return; instead, she is researching her rise. Not much is known about Nightmare Moon’s early years, only that she came out of nowhere and destroyed the sisters Combination and Permutation one thousand years ago. And now, the immortal Alicorn rules over the whole of Equestria. The famed Elements of Harmony have been scattered across the land. And Twilight Sparkle leads a resistance bent upon gathering them and defeating Nightmare Moon.
AppleJack, her loyal friend and leader of the ground troops, approaches her with an obvious question on her face.

“No, I haven’t gotten any closer to discovering the sixth element, or how to use the first five.”

AppleJack looked out upon the resistance force. “Listen Twilight, we have enough power here. We can handle Fact-‘

“NO! Maybe, just maybe we have the power to defeat her armies. But she has power the likes of which we’ve never seen. She brought down the Princesses of the Sun and Moon, and that was over a thousand years ago. No AppleJack. We won’t have a chance without the Elements of Harmony, which is why I need you to hold onto the element of Honesty. Please AppleJack, just trust me.”

“Alright Twilight. Ah trust you.”

"Good. Now, please go tell Rarity and Rainbow Dash that I need to see them."

"Alright."

* * *

"How are you going to stand up to Nightmare Moon when you can't even stand up to a simple obstacle course?!?!"

Rainbow Dash, the Captain of the Air Guard, had no patience for ponies who couldn’t accomplish what she saw as a simple task.

The private that Rainbow Dash was yelling at tried to protest that "This obstacle course is anything but simple" but Rainbow Dash would have none of it.

"I don't want to hear your excuses Fluttershy, I want to hear results! All the other recruits handled it easily! Run it again!

“Yes ma’am!” The young mare, barely older than a filly, ran off to try the obstacle course again. Rainbow Dash was still watching her when she jumped at the sound of a voice.

“You really shouldn’t be so rough on her Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said as she trotted up next to the Pegasus. “The poor dear has already been through enough in the past few weeks.”

“She needs some tough love if she’s ever going to be able to help against Nightmare Moon. She’s going to go through a lot more in the next few weeks since Twilight has decided she will hold the element of kindness.”

“I still don’t know if that was a smart idea.”

“Me neither, but it’s her decision. We’ve gotten this far because we follow her. Might as well keep on following.”

“It’s obvious why you are holding the Element of Loyalty.” Rarity’s light mention of the Rainbow Dash’s most recent appointment brought a smile to the Pegasus’s face.

“Thanks.”

“Are y’all just gonna talk all day?” AppleJack burst into the conversation in a heavily sarcastic manner. “Twilight needs to see y’all, but I’m sure she can wait.”

“There’s no need for your sarcasm AppleJack.” Rainbow Dash replied. “We’ll head over now.”

* * *

“A new Earth pony has joined our ranks. She’s a bit… physics defying. However, she is connected to us. Everyone, meet Pinkie Pie.”

After the greetings with the admittedly odd pink pony, Rainbow Dash asked the question on everyone’s mind.
“What do you mean by connected?”

“I mean the reason you are the leaders of this force. Everyone remember when I asked how you received your cutie marks?” The response was a chorus of various forms of “Yes.”

“Well let’s run over them to be sure. AppleJack, you are the head agricultural pony. You received your Apple mark because a rare rainbow which released a large burst of energy led you to the orchard where we first started the resistance and you have been trustworthy ever since. As such, you’ve been entrusted with the element of Honesty. Rarity, you are the head of finance and our… tailor, for lack of a better word. You received your Diamond mark because the huge explosion of energy led to a burst of your Unicorn magic which brought you to a rock about a kilometer from my camp. The gems in this rock have fed us for 8 years since, so I’ve entrusted you with the element of Generosity. I received my Star mark because the same energy explosion brought out my magical abilities and helped me hatch the powerful dragon Spike who has helped us for all these years. And Rainbow Dash, you’re the connecting link. You created the Sonic Rainboom, showing your flying prowess and releasing the energy wave. You are the reason we’re here, and that rainbow lightning bolt on your flank is proof of it. The loyalty you’ve shown throughout the years is staggering and more than justifies the entrusting of the element of Loyalty to you.”

“Yeah, yeah. We know.” Rainbow Dash said, getting a little impatient. “But what does Pinkie Pie have to do with it?”

“I was just getting there. Pinkie received her cutie mark in a similar fashion. She lived on a rock farm. Pointless work, no real meaning. She wasn’t happy with her life. Until one day, a huge rainbow lit up the sky, and her world. After that, all she wanted to do was bring happiness to this chaotic planet. And she does so through parties. At first, her method seems a bit… mundane. But we could all use some happiness in these troubled times, and her parties are simply that. Pure happiness. And due to her connection and her personal merits, she’s now the keeper of the element of Laughter. This brings me to my final point. Fluttershy, please enter.”

The canary yellow Pegasus trotted in, looking more than a little bashful.

“Fluttershy received her cutie mark when a certain Pegasus knocked her off of the cloud she was sitting on.” Rainbow Dash blushed a little as she recognized the pony. Twilight didn’t pay her embarrassment any mind. “Unfortunately, our shy Pegasus couldn’t fly yet. But right before she hit the ground a large group of butterflies caught her. She quickly realized that she had a way with animals, and was even capable of coaxing them back out into the open after the energy burst frightened them. She noticed the butterflies on her flank, and the rest is history.”

The ponies who had previously doubted Twilight’s decision quickly dashed any doubts they had in her. Only one thing remained to discuss. And Twilight herself broached the subject.

“Now all we have to work out is the last element. But that’s another discussion. It’s been a long day. Bunk out.”

* * *

Twilight Sparkle was about to fall asleep when Spike returned.

“Spike! You’re back!”

“Of course I’m back. It’s been two weeks.”

“With all the stuff happening at camp recently, I had forgotten! Oh Spike, I’m so glad you’re here again!”

“I’m glad to be back Twi. I’ve missed this place. But let’s face it, my quest was vital. We needed to find the sixth element.”

“Yeah…” Then it clicked. He had said needed! “Wait, you found it?! What is it?”

Spike pulled a stone with a six point star out of his pack. “This is it. The element of Magic!”

Comments

[asr3]

objectionable?

[Wayofthepen]

Short, but interesting enough. Not noticing mistakes, either. Mustache of approval

[Mobius of the Moon]

Quite... interesting. We'll see where this goes.

[BifauxnenStroganoff]

I dunno, it's not bad, but... It could definitely use some work. You lack polish or any real descriptive terms, and everything seemed a bit abrupt, with things just happening with little to no explanation. Definitely want to look out for that in the future.

[digiz]

Battle against who? I'll join Luna :)