Knights of Harmony, Episode I: Rise of the Elements

by bahatumay

Chapter 17

Nightmare Moon looked at the gathered Harmonists. “It’s over, girls,” she laughed. “You can’t win without the Elements of Harmony. Your training is incomplete, your skills are weak. There is nothing you can do. Nothing can stop me now. The universe is mine.”

Twilight’s breath came raggedly. She was right, wasn’t she? They had no chance against a Nightmare. Had she just sent her friends to their death?

And then there came the unmistakable whirring sound of a lightsaber spinning through the air. Nightmare Moon looked up just in time to see a green shoto spinning right towards her head. She easily avoided it by merely tilting her head. She watched it spin by and hit the ground and fizzle out. She paused, as if trying to comprehend who would be so stupid.

She got her answer when she looked back up just in time to see the bottom of Rainbow Dash’s boot flying at her face, quickly followed by the rest of her. Nightmare Moon twisted her whole body to avoid it, but she wasn’t fast enough. Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, scooped up her shoto, and ignited it defiantly. Nightmare Moon slowly lifted her right hand to her cheek, and gently brushed the tips of her fingers against her skin. They came away streaked with red. She clenched her hand into a fist and snarled.

“Rainbow’s right!” Rarity cried, pointing her lightsaber at Nightmare Moon. “We can’t give up now!”

“The fate of the galaxy’s in our hands!” Applejack added.

“There’s six of us and one of her!” Pinkie shouted.

Twilight looked around at her friends, willing to fight—and maybe even die—together. She couldn’t help but smile and even tighten up. “Then let’s do it! Together!”

“Then together you will die,” Nightmare Moon growled. She held both hands out, and the handles zoomed into her hands. Blue and red blades burst into being.

There was a brief pause.

Twilight started. Letting out a roar, she charged. She started with an overhead swing, which Nightmare Moon easily blocked with her red lightsaber. She made to bring the protosaber down, but flipped the handle in her hand to block Applejack’s swing. She drove forward, pushing Twilight back and batting away Applejack’s return swing and Rarity’s jab. Rainbow leaped over her, slashing down, and Nightmare Moon dodged the blade by moving just her head again, missing by only the barest of margins. She caught Twilight’s slash with both blades in an x-block, rotated her hips and thrust her off to the side, launching her towards Rarity who had to quickly pull her lightsaber out of the way, and lashed out behind her with a kick, keeping Fluttershy back.

Applejack darted in to take advantage of her leaving her side open, but she deflected her strike away with an almost offhand motion behind her back with the protosaber. She spun and delivered two strikes which Applejack only barely blocked. A third would have been fatal; but her attention had been drawn by Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity. With a sweeping motion, she gathered the two blue blades, parried Rainbow’s thrust, and kicked, missing Twilight’s knee by a hair and forcing her to jump back.

Pinkie Pie attacked from behind, her twin sabers whirling in a circle. Nightmare Moon deflected both, her sabers moving slowly and methodically even as Pinkie whirled. Her pinksabers moved so quickly and so wildly no one else was sure how to strike, and no one wanted to get close enough in case of friendly fire. Nightmare Moon used this to her advantage. She batted her spinning strike down, deflected Twilight’s reaching strike from behind, and spun to engage Pinkie. She caught her in a mountain block, both lightsabers up, and delivered a front snap kick to Pinkie’s chest, knocking the wind out of her and making her stumble back. In the same movement, she crossed her lightsabers behind her back to block Rainbow’s strike, then kicked at Rainbow’s unprotected stomach, forcing her to scamper back.

They fought valiantly, but everywhere they struck, there were flashes of red and blue blocking, deflecting, redirecting. They'd never fought as a group before, and to avoid getting in each others’ way, they seemed to be attacking in sets of three and two. She only had two lightsabers, but they seemed to be doing the work of four.

Two lightsabers…

Rainbow Dash recovered from a particularly hard kick and squinted as something new occurred to her. That power cord looked really exposed. Maybe she could help even the odds. She held back, waiting for the opportune moment, and when Nightmare Moon swung to engage Pinkie Pie again, she struck. Rainbow crouched and then dove, using Harmony to launch herself, twisting in midair as she swung her lightsaber. She knew Nightmare Moon would sense her coming and sidestep the attack.

Which, of course, she did.

But Rainbow Dash wasn’t aiming for Nightmare Moon.

Her lightsaber passed through the power cord as if it hadn’t even been there. The protosaber sparked and died instantly. Enraged, Nightmare Moon swung down with her red lightsaber, and though Rainbow was propelled by Harmony and spun in the air, she couldn't quite get out of the way in time. Her swing left a deep gash on Rainbow’s leg, and Rainbow screamed. She pushed out with her hand, and Rainbow Dash flew backwards. Unable to right herself in time, she slammed head first into the wall and fell limp to the ground.

But it had been a tactical sacrifice. Though the Harmonists were now down a member, Nightmare Moon was forced to drop the useless protosaber handle and fight with only one blade. The power cord sparked as it dragged along the ground behind her, her red lightsaber held high, spinning to take in all possible threats. She reached out for Rainbow’s fallen lightsaber, but Rarity was faster; she dove in and scooped up the handle.

“Twilight!” she called, throwing it over.

Before Nightmare Moon could readjust for this, Twilight caught it and ignited it, holding it in an off-side reverse grip.

Nightmare Moon scowled. Apparently intent on taking out her biggest threat first, she charged at Twilight; but she deflected her strike and slashed out with Rainbow’s shoto, forcing her to jump higher (and faster) than Twilight had thought possible to dodge it. She leaped backwards and resettled. With only one to her two and surrounded by others, she was at a distinct disadvantage, especially with Pinkie closing in again.

She quickly changed tactics. She brought her left hand over in a sweeping motion, and rubble flew at Fluttershy. She squeaked and hid behind her lightsaber, which sheared it in half; thankfully, nothing hit her tentacles.

In retaliation, Applejack jumped and slashed at Nightmare Moon’s left side. They clenched blades, and Nightmare Moon reached up and pushed her away with her left hand. Applejack flew backwards, propelled by Harmony. She tried to hurl another block of stone at Rarity, but she sensed it coming and spun to dodge it, and she had to move fast to deflect both her jab and Twilight’s attack from the right. For the first time, she was driven backwards.

But she had a few tricks left. She raised her hand and a burst of blue Harmonic lightning erupted from her fingertips, aiming at Applejack, who let out a startled cry and flinched. Twilight was close enough; she stepped in front and caught it with her lightsaber.

Nightmare Moon batted away Rarity’s lightsaber and tried again, this time with a different target. Fluttershy gasped and held up her hand, and Twilight cried out; she was not fast enough.

But Fluttershy caught it with her hand, held it for a moment, and then threw it down, sending it harmlessly into the ground.

There was a brief pause there as both Twilight Sparkle and Nightmare Moon, the only ones of those present who had had any real Harmonist training to speak of, paused to stare. That was certainly unexpected, especially from someone who only generously could be called a Padawan.

Then Pinkie jumped in, and Nightmare Moon spun out of the way. Her cloak spun behind her, and Pinkie’s left saber swing caught the edge of it, passing right through it. Rarity let out a devious chuckle at the clothing damage and rejoined the fight.

Nightmare Moon retreated further into the temple itself. Now the sounds of lightsabers clashing and stones clattering echoed off the desolate walls, adding another dimension to the fight.

“She's too strong!” Applejack called.

“Don't think like that!” Twilight called back, blocking an overhead strike. “We can overcome any obstacle together!”

Pinkie giggled. “That almost sounded like a proposal!”

“Now is not the time!” Twilight shouted.

But the levity seemed to lift the slight spell of darkness, and Applejack swung with renewed vigor, landing two blows whereas before she was only getting one.

The fight continued, lights flashing and lightsabers clashing. Twilight took a small step back. Her students were fighting amazingly well. Even so new in Harmony, they were managing to last a lot longer than she’d even dared hope. But then again, that was the power of Harmony. She cracked a wry smile as she flipped her lightsaber over her hand. Nothing would surprise her anymore.

And then the unmistakable sound of a blaster firing did just that.

Twilight spun around. “Rainbow?” she gasped.

For it was indeed Rainbow Dash, limping but still with plenty of fight left in her. She lifted her tiny holdout blaster and fired again. It was small enough that it may have only had enough juice in it for another shot or so.

Nightmare Moon dodged it and took this opportunity to flee. She turned and jumped up onto a ledge, what should have been a second floor. Twilight tossed Rainbow’s lightsaber back to her and faced the Nightmare. She felt the Harmony flow through her and jumped, following her. She twirled her lightsaber, spared a split second to glance beside her…

Too late, she realized that her friends were not able to follow. Only Rainbow had had any training on Harmony-assisted jumps, and she was still in no condition to make this one. Her heart stopped. She'd fallen into a trap!

Nightmare Moon let out a chuckle and stepped forward, deflecting Rainbow’s next shot.

“Hold on, Twi! We're coming!” Applejack called, desperately looking for stairs.

Twilight held her lightsaber in front of herself, trying to keep herself calm. She started with a quick overhead slash, quickly spinning it to a body strike.

Nightmare Moon blocked them dismissively. Twilight glanced around for something, anything, and let out a tiny shriek as Nightmare Moon stabbed. She deflected it, but Nightmare Moon forced her lightsaber over, pinning her in place and clenching the blades together. She was strong.

She shifted her hips and held their blades in place with one hand, and pressed her other hand against Twilight’s head. “You fascinate me, Twilight Sparkle,” she hissed.

Twilight cried out in pain as Nightmare Moon’s mental probe dug deep, her power enhanced by the close contact.

“I may come out of this with more than I previously thought,” Nightmare Moon purred.

Visions flashed unbidden through Twilight's mind. Visions of her. She wielded a red lightsaber, and she stood beside Nightmare Moon, as Master and Apprentice.

“You have potential like I've never seen. I will teach you things the Harmonists don't dare to even study,” Nightmare Moon breathed.

And she would learn. She would be a master of Harmony. Not even Master Cadence could stand in her way. She would fall before her, as would…

No!

Her friends!

Shocked back into coherency by that thought, she seized hold of it. Her friends. Applejack, so trustworthy and open; Fluttershy, so shy but so kind; Pinkie Pie, always cheerful and good for a laugh; Rarity, so beautiful yet so generous, Rainbow Dash, with her rough exterior but undying loyalty to her friends…

And then the vision changed.

A young Master Celestia strode forward, her protosaber resting on her belt. Beside her stood Starswirl, one of the early Harmonist masters. Others stood, ancient masters she didn't recognize, other five. And across from them, Nightmare Moon, sharpened teeth bared and lightsaber burning.

In the real world, Twilight stood still, eyes glazed over, as the fight raged on around her. Pinkie had made it up first, and the others weren't far behind. Nightmare Moon swung two-handed and Pinkie blocked it with both pinksabers, and tried her own attempt at a kick. Nightmare Moon blocked it with the heel of her boot on her shin, making Pinkie cry out with pain. Fluttershy swung her lightsaber, and Nightmare Moon took a small step back.

Drained from what had been happening in her mind, Twilight fell face forward. Applejack jumped forward and caught her. “Come on, Twi,” she said urgently, giving her a shake. “Wake up! We need you!”

Twilight shook her head, trying to clear it. Rainbow Dash and Rarity stepped in front to protect them, while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie tried to sandwich Nightmare Moon between them. It had been going long; Rarity was breathing hard, Pinkie’s normally voluminous hair was weighed down with sweat, and Rainbow was still limping. But even through this, one thought remained clear in her mind.

“We’re going about this all wrong!”

“What?”

Twilight straightened up. “Master Celestia never talked about lightsabers during the fight because she didn’t use them! The protosabers of the time could never have lasted as long as the fight lasted. The Elements of Harmony are us!”

“They’re what?” Applejack demanded.

“It was a translation error! ‘Ancient’ is supposed to be ‘timeless’, and ‘artifact’ is just a noun for something that can hold and focus Harmony! We are the Elements of Harmony!”

“I don't know about you, but I'm feeling really mortal right now!” Rainbow called.

“But the Harmony inside you isn't!”

“Fascinating,” Nightmare Moon said, in a tone that made it perfectly clear that she did not actually find it fascinating. “You're the Elements of Harmony. Now you'll die.”

Twilight stepped forward. “No. Now you'll be defeated, because now I understand more about the Elements of Harmony than even you.”

This defiance shocked Nightmare Moon into listening. “Don't pretend to lecture me, girl!” she spat.

“And when the five elements come together, Harmony itself holds them together.” Led by the pressing thought in her mind, she reached up and pushed, feeling the Harmony flow through her.

The woman stayed strong, her stance low and balanced; but her shadow seemed to be torn off, flapping like a flag in the wind. It seemed to scream, and then dove back down, reattaching itself to Nightmare Moon.

Twilight gasped. “A wurms!”

Rarity squinted. “There was only one…?”

“No, a wurms! A creature of the dark side! I thought they were extinct! They’re parasitic worm-like creatures that enhance your connection to the Dark Side of Harmony!”

“How do we defeat it?”

“We’ve got to get it off her first! Do it again! Push! Together!”

But it was not to be so easy. Nightmare Moon backflipped, putting more distance between them. She deactivated her lightsaber and ran.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Rainbow was faster, beating her to the archway. In too much pain to run normally, she had launched herself with Harmony, letting it flow through her and move her. She leaped around, pushed off the wall, and skidded to a stop in front of her, cutting off her escape. She twirled her lightsaber around her hand. “I owe you one for this,” she growled, gesturing at her leg.

Nightmare Moon scowled. “Stand aside,” she hissed.

In answer, Rainbow Dash slashed down at her arm. Nightmare Moon rocked backwards out of the way and delivered a two-handed overhead slash, but still moving with Harmony, Rainbow twirled out of the way. Applejack tried to take advantage of her opposite side opening, but Nightmare Moon was faster. Rotating faster than seemed physically possible, she slashed down, and Applejack cried out. Her lightsaber fell to the ground, sliced in half, and she shook her hand.

“Applejack!” Twilight cried.

Rarity stepped up as Applejack skipped back. Pinkie Pie tossed one of her pinksabers over, and Applejack caught it and ignited it, still shaking out her right hand.

Nightmare Moon tried to stab at Rainbow Dash again, but Fluttershy blocked it. They worked in tandem. And with Pinkie and Applejack circling around, both wielding pinksabers and jabbing over and over at both sides simultaneously, Nightmare Moon was driven back.

While she was distracted with the other five, Twilight tried pushing again. Nightmare Moon’s shadow shrieked. Fluttershy joined in, and the wurms seemed to be tearing. Nightmare Moon howled and threw her lightsaber, forcing Fluttershy to duck, breaking her concentration. She rushed at Pinkie, blocking her pinksaber hilt with her left hand and, devoid of her own lightsaber, settled for driving her fist into Pinkie’s stomach. She pushed her away, forcing Rarity to drop her lightsaber and catch her.

But this had been her fatal mistake. Nightmare Moon held up her hand, calling her lightsaber back, but Twilight snap-kicked it out of the way, and the combined momentum sent it sailing out through a window, shattering the old glass. Now, she was surrounded and unarmed.

But an unarmed Harmonist is anything but. She raised her arms over her head, and called upon Harmony. Cracks started forming in the ceiling, and dust and rocks began to fall.

She was trying to take the whole temple down on top of them!

But even so, Twilight was calm. She raised her hand and pushed again, and her friends quickly joined in. It was a race against time, and the cracks on the ceiling grew deeper. At the same time, slowly, painfully slowly, the wurms was being torn from her body.

And then it happened. Its former host collapsed, and the wurms scrambled, looking like more of a shadow than a creature. It writhed angrily.

“Lightsabers up! It's looking for another host!” Twilight shouted.

It seemed to find one that pleased it. Slithering like a snake, it crossed the ground, dodged Applejack’s pinksaber swing, and headed for Fluttershy. It jumped, and she flinched, instinctively protecting her face but leaving the lower half of her body unguarded.

And then a burst of Harmonic Lightning impacted the wurms, lifting it into the air and slamming it into the stone wall of the dilapidated temple.

The one formerly known as Nightmare Moon was on her feet, her face pinched and sharpened teeth bared in determination and rage. With an angry cry, she raised her hand again and another round of Harmonic Lightning erupted from her fingers, and the wurms seemed to scream and writhe as the lightning crawled across its body.

But there was no mercy on the woman’s face. She raised her other hand and Harmony-pulled the nearest lightsaber to her, and ignited it with a quick flick of her wrist. She kept the wurms in place with the lightning, flipped to a reverse grip, lifted the saber over her head-

And drove it down.

The wurms twitched once, and then moved no more. She twisted, then dragged the blue lightsaber blade through its body once more; but she had killed it with the first strike. It quickly crumbled into dust.

When the last bit had disintegrated, the lightsaber fell from her hand, deactivating itself, and she dropped to her knees. “Free,” she whispered, her voice shaking. She raised her hands, as if seeing them for the first time. “Free.” She touched her head. “I… Finally, I am… free.” She looked up, looked at Twilight’s Harmonists, then back down. She slowly picked herself up. She flicked her fingers, and the lightsaber she’d used previously zoomed back into her hand. She looked at Twilight. “This… this is your weapon?”

Twilight nodded.

“It is perfectly balanced and very well made,” she said, her voice cracking as she rolled it. “A bit bulky, maybe; but perfectly balanced. No loose parts or any superfluous designs; it bears the mark of a good Harmonist.”

Twilight was unsure why she was giving her lightsaber a critique. “Thank you…?”

“No,” she said forcefully. “No. Thank you.” She reached out and fell into Twilight’s arms. “Thank you,” she whispered, grasping her tightly. “Thank you, thank you. Thank all of you. I…” She pulled back, looking into Twilight’s face. A pained expression crossed her face as she lifted her hand and ran a finger along the scar Nightmare Moon had carved into Twilight’s face, and her hand continued along until it came to Twilight’s mechanical hand. She gasped. “I am so sorry,” she whispered, burying her face in Twilight’s shoulder. “I am so, so sorry.”

“I am so, so confused,” Pinkie whispered behind her back.

But things were about to get weirder. Familiar stomps sounded in the distance and grew close; the sound of clone troopers approaching. Twilight looked behind her and saw the glint off the recognizable armor of clone troopers entering the temple, and leading them was Master Celestia, lightsaber in hand.

“Ha. Here comes the cavalry,” Applejack said wryly.

As she entered, Celestia paused, clearly taken aback. She took in the sight. Fresh lightsaber scars littered the ground and walls, and up on the second floor…

She leaped up on the ledge easily. “Are you girls alright?” she asked anxiously.

There were general murmurs of assent. Once Celestia had been assured that they were fine, she turned her attention to the other woman standing there, stock-still. Her facial expression was unreadable, though her jaw was tight.

Celestia met her eyes. “Luna,” she said softly.

“Celestia,” Luna answered tersely.

“It's been a while.”

Her facade cracked slightly. “It's been too long,” Luna agreed, her breath coming heavier now. She nervously twirled Twilight’s lightsaber in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she started lamely. “I know that’s not-”

“No,” Celestia gently but firmly cut her off. “I’m sorry. For all my talk of Harmony and friendship, I didn’t realize that my weakest link of all was with my own sister.”

“Sister?” Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash whispered in shock. They looked nothing alike.

“Will you accept my friendship?”

Luna may have sniffled. “Only if you’ll accept mine,” she said.

Celestia pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered, seemingly unaware of the others watching. “It’s good to have you back.”

“It is good to be back.”

They remained like that for a few minutes, just basking in each others’ company. Finally, Celestia leaned back. “So much has changed since you’ve been gone.”

“And yet, I’m certain much has stayed the same.” Luna paused and tapped her chin. “Speaking of the same, as I recall, there was… one thing…”

In a motion quicker than anyone could follow, she swung Twilight’s lightsaber up and ignited it in one quick motion. Celestia didn’t even see it coming.

All gasped. Rainbow reached for her own lightsaber.

And half of Celestia’s hair drifted to the ground.

Luna grinned as she deactivated the lightsaber. She deftly spun it around her fingers and blithely held it out for Twilight to take. “There. Now, we are even.”

Celestia froze. She gasped. Her hands traveled down her hair, grasping at the burned, severed ends.

And then she began to laugh. It started low and quiet, and then grew louder until she threw back her head she was laughing so hard. “Oh, yes. I remember now,” she finally managed to say as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh, my. After all these years, I’d nearly forgotten… No matter. It is a small price to pay for having you back.”

Pinkie was the first to join in her laughter, and it soon spread across the rest of the Harmonists.

And once again, the light shone through the darkness.