The Trouble With Time Travel

by Mike the Red

2. Facing the Nightmare

"Amethyst, I am truly disappointed in you," Celestia stated, a hint of sadness in her words. "You have unwittingly abandoned your foals with your irresponsible behavior. Worse still is the fact that you have given my faithful student information she would otherwise have had to learn on her own, or with the assistance of her friends. I'm afraid I'm going to have to confine you to the Castle for three months. In that time, you will be studying in the Archives in order to find a way back to your original timeline. Be that as it may, I don't want you to be depressed -- I know Twilight is like a sister to you now, but you cannot spend time with my Twilight. She is not of your timeline."

"Begging your pardon, your Majesty, but I'm feeling really hungry -- I would request some food, but I have no money to pay for it," the purple mare stated glumly.

"While you are a guest at my Castle, you will be given nourishment as necessary. You will also be provided a room, but you will not be allowed to visit my student. Twilight, I request you return to your suite now. I have to go lower the Sun and raise the Moon."

"I thought your sister takes care of the Moon and the stars," Amethyst offered. "Oh, sorry. I forgot. Different timeline," she said softly and hung her head.

"I do miss Luna, and I hope to see her again sometime soon," the Sun Goddess mused.

"I'm sure you will, your Majesty," the purple mare offered, barely above a whisper.

"What do you know about Princess Luna?" Twilight asked.

"Where I come from --"

"Amethyst! Twilight, please go to your suite NOW. Do not ask any more questions of Amethyst, for the sake of both of us."

"Yes, Princess." The lavender mare nuzzled her mentor lightly on her neck and the gesture was returned, the Sun Goddess smiling warmly at her student. Amethyst smiled at Twilight as well.

"I hope to see you again some time, Twi."

"I hope so too, Amethyst -- I want to know what the experience of time travel felt like!" the librarian exclaimed excitedly before leaving the Throne Room.

"It feels like a standard teleport, kind of," she stated nonchalantly as Twilight exited the room.

"AMETHYST!!" the Princess shouted at the purple unicorn, who crumpled to the floor upon hearing Celestia use her Royal Canterlot Voice. A pained expression then came across the Alicorn's face as she trotted over to the unicorn to make sure no serious harm had befallen her. "I apologize for my outburst, Amethyst. Are you hurt?"

"Just my pride ... and my hearing," she responded flatly. "I'm sorry, your Majesty, I keep forgetting I'm in a different timeline."

"So what exactly possessed you to travel to THIS particular timeline?"

"I merely cast the time travel spell to see if I could perform it, though I had no idea of exactly when I was going to end up. There is a part of me that was curious to see Nightmare Moon for myself, having only heard legends of the dark princess."

Celestia glowered at the purple unicorn. "One thing you must realize, Amethyst, is that Nightmare Moon is extremely powerful -- and your power is no match for hers. I should warn you that any attempt by you to confront her will end disastrously for you."

"I'm sure you witnessed my interaction with Discord --" the purple mare began.

"You would be wise not to push your luck, Amethyst."

"I'm actually more concerned about the fate of my foals -- I only hope I can get back to them," she said glumly.

"I would like to express some sympathy for your plight, but given the fact that you have left your previous timeline, you seriously need to work on finding a way back to that specific timeline. For the time being, I shall assign an escort for you, so that you may have access to a bedchamber, a bath, the dining hall and the archives. It is my sincere hope that you will be able to find a spell to return you to your original timeline."

"Is it not possible for you to send me back to my original timeline, your Majesty?"

"I have many answers to many questions, as I'm sure you're aware, but some things are beyond even my considerable knowledge and power. Starswirl crafted myriad spells, but never experimented with all of them. Many of them are purely theoretical, and the most advanced ones are hypothetical."

Amethyst let out a low whistle. "I see, your Majesty. So I would basically be testing the spells without the benefit of prior experience from ANYpony."

"I'm sorry, Amethyst, but that's the way it is. You made your bed, now you must lie in it."

"Well, nothing like a good challenge, I must say. If you don't mind, I would like to get some food now, and some sleep after that. Who shall be my escort, your Majesty?"

"I shall assign the Royal Guard named Right Face to you, Amethyst. He is one of the guards on the other side of those doors over there," she said, pointing a hoof at the huge double-doors leading out of the Throne Room. "You are dismissed, Amethyst."

"Yes, your Majesty. Thank you," the purple mare stated reverently, bowing deeply before turning towards the doors, then left the room.

The Sun Goddess remained seated on her throne for a few moments longer before teleporting to her bedchambers. She trotted to her balcony and lowered her Sun, then raised the Moon. She took a few moments longer to stare into the night sky, her gaze lingering on the pale orb.

"Soon, my sister, soon you shall be free of that prison. I only hope my faithful student and her new friends will be able to restore you," the Alicorn thought pensively before returning to her bed, closing the doors to her balcony behind her.

About an hour or so later, Twilight had made her way to the Alicorn's bedchamber and knocked on the door.

"Is that you, Twilight, my faithful student? You may enter," the Princess stated softly.

With just a hint of hesitation, the lavender mare opened the door slowly, peeking from behind it. Celestia smiled warmly at her protege, beckoning her to the bed with her right fore-hoof. Twilight gave a big grin and hopped into the huge bed, giving her mentor a tight hug and nuzzled her on her neck. Her gesture of affection was graciously returned by her mentor, who wrapped a wing around the unicorn.

"I need you to be well rested for tomorrow, Twilight, which is why I asked you to come to my bedchambers tonight. I know you sleep quite soundly when you are with me," she stated softly, a genuine smile of affection on her face.

"I'm sure you're aware of how much I enjoy sleeping next to you, Princess," Twilight responded, a big smile on her face. Within moments, the lavender mare had fallen asleep, snoring lightly. Celestia chuckled softly and wrapped her wing tenderly over her. Presently the Alicorn fell asleep as well.

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Amethyst paid little attention to her escort, a unicorn stallion who was just about her height, perhaps a shade shorter than her. Apparently Right Face was quite taken with the mare and kept asking her questions. His coat was a strong teal color, his mane and tail a mix of medium and dark brown, his eyes a sort of pale green.

"So, Amethyst Shadow, eh? Nice name," he grinned as he trotted beside her, leading her to the dining hall.

"Thanks," she said tersely. "I thought Royal Guards were supposed to remain silent," she thought. She was frowning at the attention he was giving her.

"Where do you come from?" he pried.

"Baltimare," she lied.

"Oh, I have a brother there! His name is About Face. Perhaps you've heard of him?"

"Baltimare's a big city -- I've never heard of him," she stated flatly. "I hope he doesn't ask me which neighborhood I came from ..."

"So, which part of Baltimare did you live in before you came to Canterlot?"

"I don't know -- I never paid attention to such things," she replied dismissively.

"Oh. I thought Baltimarians were proud of their neighborhoods," he stated with some puzzlement.

The purple mare sighed heavily. "I only lived in Baltimare for about half a year before coming here -- I traveled from Las Pegasus to Baltimare," she stated, trying to throw him off.

"Ah! I have some cousins who live out there!"

Amethyst groaned audibly. "Is there ANYplace you don't have family?"

"Well ... I don't think I have any family in Neigh Orleans," he said thoughtfully.

"But you know of somepony who lives or was born there, don't you?"

"Yes! How did you know?" he asked, his grin growing larger.

"You're broadcasting it as loudly as if you were shouting it at the top of your lungs, Right Face. Now if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you would stop asking so many questions. You're supposed to be a Royal Guard, not a love-struck colt," she admonished him. He expressed his disappointment by flashing her a hurt look on his face. "I hope you don't cry, it would be very unbecoming a Royal Guard for you to do so. Am I that attractive to you?"

"Well, yes, Amethyst. You are extremely beautiful! I can't take my eyes off you!"

"I thank you for the compliment. I hate to burst your bubble, but you're not my type. Sorry."

"I have been assigned to you as your escort, milady -- not your type? What IS your type? Am I not as handsome as you are beautiful?" he asked, almost with indignation. "I am second in command of the Royal Guard! Other mares would be throwing themselves at me!"

The purple mare chuckled. "Then have one of them be your choice! As for me -- I have very discriminating taste in stallions -- I'm honored that the Princess has seen fit to place her second highest ranking Royal Guard commander as my escort, but even so, you're still not my type. Sorry."

The purple mare and her teal escort trotted in silence the rest of the way to the dining hall. She was shown to a seat and her food request for pasta al dente with a spicy garlicky tomato-based sauce, a salad with a vinaigrette dressing, a few dinner rolls and a glass of white wine. When her dinner entree was brought to her, she noticed what seemed like a small portion size, but considering she was receiving free food, she chose not to complain about it. The wine, on the other hoof, was a perfect complement to the food.

Feeling somewhat satisfied with her dinner, she returned to the door of the dining hall to see her escort standing at attention.

"Please lead the way to my bedchamber, Right Face," she stated, trying to make her voice sound friendly.

The stallion nodded his head and silently turned to lead Amethyst to the room she'd be sleeping in when not somewhere else in the Castle. It took nearly fifteen minutes of trotting through hallways and down a couple of staircases to make it to the guest accommodations and not a single word was exchanged between the two unicorns. The stallion stopped in front of a particular door and nodded his head once again.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Right Face. Thank you for your service," the purple mare stated softly, trying to sound upbeat. The stallion simply nodded his head and turned to leave. "You should have been nicer to him earlier, Ammy," she thought to herself as she entered the room.

The guest accommodation was quite small and relatively sparse. There was a single bed, just large enough for her. There was a dresser with a mirror at the opposite wall. There was a window overlooking the Royal Gardens to the left of the bed, the entry door to the right. There was another door next to the dresser, presumably leading to a bathroom. Not bothering to take any more details into consideration, she pulled back the blanket on the bed and laid down to rest. She used her telekinesis to turn off the light and fell asleep quite quickly in the comfortable bed. Her dreams centered on EJ and Stephanie and how she could return to her original timeline to continue raising them. Her conscience was starting to bother her and her sleep came fitfully.

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Amethyst Shadow was awoken by a knocking at the door. The sun was already up, but the dark purple unicorn was still sleepy. The knocking became more insistent and she gave a loud enough groan to let the pony on the other side know she was getting up.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said impatiently. The door was opened to reveal Right Face, the guardspony from last night.

"Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia requests your immediate presence," he stated coldly. He made his attempt to avoid eye contact with the mare extremely obvious.

"All right, all right. Look, sir, I apologize, okay? I'm sorry I was rude to you last night. Let's try to make things a little smoother between us, all right?" she asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice. Her attempt at contrition fell on deaf ears as her escort simply nodded his head and motioned for her to follow him. It took about fifteen minutes of trotting through hallways and up three staircases to make it to the Throne Room. The door was opened and the unicorn was announced.

"Amethyst Shadow. I have been expecting you," the Alicorn stated flatly.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for my tardiness," she responded, bowing deeply.

"Truthfully, you are not tardy. I would like to discuss certain matters further with you, but I would like to share breakfast with you."

"Where is my housemate?"

Celestia chuckled. "She is not your housemate ... at least, not yet, anyway. Worry not, Amethyst, you will be able to visit her soon enough."

"I suppose you've already sent her on her way to Ponyville?"

"Yes, that is correct, Amethyst. I could not risk having you tell her any more of what you know. Please follow me to the dining hall."

"As you command, your Majesty," the unicorn stated. Celestia chuckled loudly at her statement.

"Please, Amethyst, I am not angry with you, and there is no need for such formality in my presence."

"Yes, your Majesty," she replied and followed the Sun Goddess to the dining hall. As Celestia trotted relatively slowly, Amethyst had to trot a bit faster to maintain the Alicorn's pace.

"Princess, I have a favor to ask of you. It appears I have gotten on the wrong hoof with the escort you assigned me -- I had no idea he was as high ranking as he is. I rebuffed his early advances towards me and now he avoids eye contact with me and only speaks when necessary. I was wanting to know if you could let him know I'm very sorry for upsetting him and let him know my contrition is sincere, if that's not too much trouble."

"I believe I may have a short discussion with him while you are in the Archives," she stated, a warm smile gracing her features.

"Thank you, your Majesty," Amethyst responded.

They entered the dining hall a few moments later and sat next to each other. Breakfast was brought to them shortly and they discussed matters while eating.

"It would appear you would like for me to lose a little weight," Amethyst mused, examining her relatively small portion size.

"I noticed you were somewhat over-weight," the Sun Goddess observed, "which is why I insisted that your room be on the other side of the Castle from the dining hall. You could stand to lose about 30 pounds."

"Your Majesty, it's just baby fat -- I picked it up after --"

"You told me you had your foals while in a copy of Twilight's body. I seemed to recall you said Trollestia was pretending to be ... Him. If what you said is true about your foals, then ... He is not the true father. Do you know who is?"

"Your Majesty, I was told it was a Royal Guard unicorn stallion whose semen was used to artificially inseminate me -- though I was never told exactly who it was. I'm pretty sure it was not Shining Armor, though."

"Even so, you said that over the course of the past few years, your extra weight was added after I had transformed you from Twilight into your current form," the Princess observed.

"Actually, your Majesty, you transformed me from a male human into the pony I am now," she clarified.

"Your story is quite convoluted, Amethyst -- does all this transformation confuse you sometimes?"

"Not really, your Majesty. I believe I'm much happier as a unicorn mare than I ever was as a male human. Once again, I thank you for your generosity and kindness."

"You are quite welcome, Amethyst. I trust you are ready to get started in the Archives, then?"

"Yes, your Majesty," she responded as she finished the last of her breakfast and drained her glass of orange juice. "Thank you very much, it was delicious!"

"You are very welcome, Amethyst." She turned her attention to Right Face, still standing guard at the door to the dining hall. "Right Face, a moment if you would, please?"

The teal stallion trotted in, a serious look on his face. "Yes, your Highness?" he stated flatly.

"Amethyst Shadow would like to apologize to you for her ... behavior last night. On my behalf, I would like for you to provide her with an opportunity to improve your opinion of her. Please consider giving her another chance. Please escort her to the Royal Archives as I believe she is ready to begin her search for a spell to return her to her original timeline."

"Yes, your Highness," he stated tersely. He turned his attention to the dark purple mare and glared at her with narrowed eyes. She offered a weak smile in response. "Very well then, Amethyst, please follow me to the Archives."

She followed him as instructed and once they were out of earshot of the Princess, he nearly launched into a tirade.

"How dare you embarrass me in front of the Princess! I am just doing my job, just as you requested. Now you want me to accept an apology I feel is most insincere? Weren't you the one who told me I'm not your type? What, have you changed your mind?" he asked quite indignantly. Much to his surprise, the dark purple mare quickly trotted around to face him and wrapped her fore-legs around his withers and pulled him into a deep kiss on the lips. His eyes went very wide with surprise at this completely unexpected move on her part.

"Well, if you put it that way, Amethyst, I believe I accept your apology!" he chuckled after she broke off the kiss with him, returning to trot beside him.

"I didn't know what else to do to let you know I was sorry for pissing you off," she giggled.

"So, does this mean I might have a chance with you?" he asked her, almost hesitantly.

"That depends on how I'm feeling tonight, though I must admit I'm kind of tempted..." she stated in a bemused tone. He started cantering a bit more sprightly upon hearing this from her. "Let's not move too fast now, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, slowing down his cantering to a trot.

"I meant figuratively, not literally!" she giggled.

They reached the Archives at this point and Right Face stood at the entryway as Amethyst made her way back over to the desired wing of the library. She started examining the books, looking for the particular one she had chosen the last time around. She noticed an empty slot where a book had been. "I hope that's not the one I needed," she thought as she read the titles on the spines. Quite a few of the books in that wing didn't have titles, so she was forced to remove them and read either the cover or check the inside. Quite a few times she had to skim through each book, looking for a spell of some sort or other.

Many of the time-related spells she read were ones designed to slow down the rate of time passage (which she chose to memorize), one to speed it up, one to warp it into a ball and use as an offensive weapon (another one worth memorizing, she thought), one to reverse it's flow, and the one for traveling backwards through it. Part of the observation for that particular spell was that in order to travel forward through time, a different spell needed to be used.

"I must have jumped universes as well as traveling backward through time -- this is going to be harder than I thought," she thought. She continued to search through more books, and found quite a few more useful spells. "Hmm, let me get some ink and parchment to make personal copies of these -- I can't believe what I'm learning here!" she excitedly thought.

"This guy was a GENIUS!" she shouted, losing herself. "Now I see why Twilight was so impressed by his works!"

"Something the matter, Miss Amethyst?" came a voice from behind a door.

"Please get me some ink and parchment, I need to write a bunch of stuff down!" she shouted at the door. She trotted to the door to hear his anxious hoofsteps clattering down the hallway as he galloped quickly to fetch her desired supplies.

"Perfect, just the distraction I needed," she thought to herself, grinning broadly. She teleported to the front gate of the Castle and trotted to the train station.

As Amethyst trotted to the ticket counter at the train station, the Royal Guardsponies were searching for the dark purple unicorn. Right Face was deeply embarrassed that he had allowed himself to become so distracted as to allow her to escape the Castle. The teal stallion was meeting with Princess Celestia, informing her of the escape.

"One way to Ponyville, please," the purple mare requested.

"That will be fifteen bits, please," the agent responded.

"Um, I don't ... uh ... have any ..." she hesitated.

"I can't give you a ticket for free," the agent said sternly.

"How soon before the train arrives?"

"Don't even think of trying to board without paying!"

"You didn't answer my question -- I am going to see if I can find the money before it arrives."

"You have thirty minutes before the arrival of the next Friendship Express to Ponyville," he stated flatly. "Good luck."

Amethyst stated trotting around, looking for bits that might have been inadvertently dropped by ponies, and managed to find thirteen bits during those thirty minutes. At the same time, Canterlot Castle's Royal Guards were expanding their search for her. She caught sight of them in the distance and her search for bits became more frantic. When she heard the whistle of the approaching train, she began panicking. She needed only one more bit! She carelessly bumped into a passing stallion.

"Oh, please excuse me sir, I'm sorry for bumping into you," she offered politely.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, miss?"

"I'm trying to get to Ponyville -- the ticket is fifteen bits, but I'm one bit short of that."

"Well, if it's only one bit, here you go. Take care, and next time be more careful of where you're galloping around!"

"Thank you, sir!" she said excitedly, galloping as quickly as she could to the ticket counter. She placed her bits on the counter and the agent cut her ticket.

"I see you managed to accomplish your task! Congratulations, one one-way ticket to Ponyville!" he chuckled as he hoofed her the ticket. She hurried to the train as a few Royal Guardsponies started asking the ticket agent about a certain dark purple unicorn mare with a powder blue mane and tail and a cutie mark of the number 17.

"Nope, can't say I've seen such a pony come through here," he stated flatly.

"You'd better not be lying to us," Right Face warned the ticket agent. Amethyst's former escort then turned to his fellow guards dejectedly. "Looks like we've lost her. Come on, guys, we're going to have to expand the search further."

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Amethyst took a seat on the train in the last coach, fidgeting nervously as she impatiently waited for the train to make it to Ponyville, virtually wishing with the strength of her will to make the train go faster. She regretted having left her saddlebags in the Castle as she had nothing to read to keep her mind occupied. She chose to reflect upon the spells she had memorized while in the Archives. Suddenly, a certain white Alicorn materialized in the seat next to her in a blinding flash of white light and a golden POP.

"Going somewhere, Amethyst?" Celestia asked, smiling warmly. The purple mare jumped about four feet out of her seat at the sudden arrival.

"P-p-princess C-c-c-celes-st-stia! W-w-what a p-p-pleasant s-s-sur-surpise!" she grinned sheepishly.

"I suppose I should be very upset with you for disobeying me. I suppose I should be angry with you for having escaped your confinement. I suppose I should be furious with you for humiliating your escort, a stallion who regarded his service to me very highly and now doubts his own abilities. I am tempted to sentence you to six months in my dungeon without the use of your magic, however, I am going to allow you to travel to Ponyville anyway. This is because I know you wish to help Twilight and her new friends and that your heart is kind. I just have a couple of caveats for you, though. First, do not give Twilight all the answers she seeks, especially about her future -- except in certain circumstances. This will be subject to your judgement, of course, but I will need to be informed whenever such circumstances arise. Secondly, I will need for you to try harder to find your way back to your original timeline."

"I am terribly sorry for disappointing you, your Majesty. I will do my best to assist Twilight and her friends in any endeavors they may undertake, especially if they request my assistance. Please give Right Face my sincerest apology for humiliating him like that -- it was wrong of me to take advantage of him like that. I promise I will make it up to him in the future. Thank you for your understanding and patience, your Majesty," the purple mare stated with great reverence, bowing deeply. The Princess then teleported back to the Throne Room of her Castle and reconnoitered with her Royal Guard and called off the search and relayed the purple mare's apology to Right Face, though he was quite livid upon hearing it.

"You will have to learn your lessons the hard way, Amethyst Shadow," the Alicorn said softly to herself.

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The Royal Chariot carrying Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike finally landed in Ponyville. The two of them discussed the Princess' suggested course of action for Twilight, though the mare was considerably less than enthusiastic over the simplicity of the tasks she had been assigned, and even annoyed that her studies would be interrupted by having to make new friends -- the possibility of a cataclysm loomed, and she considered such trivialities as bothersome, though after further discussion with her dragon assistant, she somewhat reluctantly agreed to carry out her teacher's assignment. The two of them stepped off the chariot and the lavender mare then graciously thanked the pegasi who had flown her all the way to Ponyville from the Castle.

Though she didn't know it at the time, a certain dark purple unicorn was trailing her on the train and would be arriving in Ponyville about two hours later.

Twilight's first attempt to make a friend met with unexpected results as a certain pink earth pony appeared to leap five feet off the ground and gasped with all her breath upon being greeted by the lavender mare and proceeded to leave with great speed immediately after said gasp. The lavender mare mused sarcastically to her assistant about how well the attempt went. The two of them traveled further through town as Spike read the checklist -- though whether this checklist was of the lavender mare's creation or not was open to question.

Their next objective took them to Sweet Apple Acres to check on the status of food for the banquet. Their attention was quickly grabbed by an orange earth pony mare who succeeded in making an entire tree's worth of apples fall into baskets with a single buck of her hind legs. Twilight was then very enthusiastically greeted by the mare who introduced herself as Applejack, welcoming the unicorn to the farm and shook her fore-hoof with such vigor, speed, and length that her assistant had to physically intervene to stop the repetitive after-motion of her still shaking fore-hoof. After being asked about food preparations, Applejack introduced the rest of the extended Apple family, who piled food onto a table as they were introduced.

Twilight appeared to be satisfied that the food situation was under control before a pale yellow filly with a big red bow tied in her mane asked her if she was going to stay for brunch, giving the lavender mare her very best sad eyes look. Twilight tried to explain how busy she was and this was met with great disappointment by everypony present. Not wanting to keep them disappointed, she relented, whereupon a great cheer went up.

Twilight and Spike left the farm and made their way back into town, the mare complaining about having eaten too much pie as her bulging belly complained in its own particular way. The next item on the checklist was the weather and Spike mentioned a certain pegasus who was supposed to be in charge of the weather. Twilight commented that whomever it was was not doing a very good job of it. No sooner had the comment left her lips, she was bowled over by a sky-blue pegasus who crashed into her, knocking them both into a mud puddle.

The pegasus mare offered a half-hearted apology before fetching a dark cloud and jumped up and down on it repeatedly to unleash a torrent of rain upon the muddy mare. The water rinsed off her mud, but she was now soaked, and not too happy about it, either. The pegasus decided to fly around Twilight in a very tight circle at a high rate of speed, thus drying her off, though it left her mane and tail looking more like Pinkie Pie's. Upon seeing this sight, the pegasus then fell over in raucous laughter, quickly joined by the baby dragon who also found Twilight's new look quite amusing.

The nonplussed mare questioned the pegasus about her name, whereupon she proclaimed herself as the one and only Rainbow Dash, who indicated she was practicing to join the Wonderbolts, who would be performing at the Summer Sun Celebration. The unicorn doubted the pegasus' ability to clear the clouds from the sky and when the boastful mare proclaimed she could clear it in ten seconds flat, Twilight gave a mischievous grin and said, "Prove it." Rainbow flew into action, very swiftly flying through the sky, bucking clouds left and right with her hind legs until all the clouds were gone. She performed this feat so quickly that it left the unicorn stunned, her mouth agape. The pegasus found this reaction quite amusing and expressed a desire to hang out with the unicorn.

After a slight amount of teasing about her poofy mane from her assistant, the two made their way to the town hall to meet with Rarity, who was finishing up the decorations. The white unicorn mare was in the process of trying to decide which color of ribbons to place, ultimately deciding on sparkles. Spike very quickly fell head over tail in love with the fashionista, who gasped in horror upon seeing Twilight's mane and tail. The lavender mare simply explained that she was there to check on the status of the decorations and would be leaving soon enough, but Rarity felt compelled to improve Twilight's look, pushing her into a dressing room and trying several different outfits on her before temporarily settling on a very tight corset with an emerald on the chest.

Rarity asked Twilight where she was from and when the lavender mare stated she was from Canterlot, the white mare was aglow, expressing a strong desire to live in the capital city. She then noticed that emeralds didn't suit Twilight all that well and left to fetch some rubies. Twilight used the distraction to leave the boutique, though Spike was still smitten by the white mare's charms, even as they made their way towards Fluttershy's cottage to check on the music preparations.

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The Friendship Express pulled into Ponyville Station and a very anxious dark purple unicorn mare got off the train to examine her surroundings.

"Ah, Ponyville. Home sweet home," she thought. "I can't wait to meet up with Twilight again -- I hope she won't be mad at me for doing this."

While Twilight and Spike were making their way towards Fluttershy's cottage, Amethyst was making her way towards the Library. The purple mare was trying her best to stealthily make it to the library, but was intercepted by a certain pink earth pony.

"Hey, what'cha doing?" the pink mare asked her.

"I'm trying to get to the Library without being seen -- run along now, Pinkie," the purple mare replied.

"Hey! I never told you my name! How do you know who I am? Are you a spy? Is that why you're acting real sneaky? I can tell you're a spy! Hey, let me join you! I always wanted to be a spy too!"

"You should know who I am, Pinkie -- oh, wait. I keep forgetting -- I traveled back through time, so now nopony knows who I am. Pinkie, my name is Amethyst Shadow and I am a housemate of Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia has given me permission to meet up with her -- I suppose you haven't seen a lavender unicorn accompanied by a purple and green baby dragon, have you? They should have arrived here a few hours ago."

"Yeah, I did! She's new here -- wait! You're new here too! I'm throwing her a surprise party! You wanna help me make some cupcakes? You can join the party too!"

"Sure, why not," the purple mare offered and followed the pink party pony to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie introduced Amethyst to Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and a few pleasantries were exchanged. The two then went into the kitchen to bake cupcakes for the surprise party.

"Hey, Pinkie, if you're throwing a surprise welcome party for Twilight, how come you're not throwing one for me?"

"Well, Ammy, it's like this -- you already know me, and we've already met. I have a feeling you're not really new here, are you?"

"True enough, Pinkie -- I've been here for the past three and half years, though traveling back through time, I now have to rebuild the friendships I had with you and all the others. I know most of the ponies here in town, but now they don't know me. I really need to find a way back to my original timeline so I can reunite with my babies."

"You have foals? That is so wonderful! I'll bet they're just the bestest little foals in all Equestria! Would you like to tell me everything about them? Do they like cupcakes? I can make an extra batch for them!"

"Unless you can send them across a dimensional barrier and about seven years into the future, I don't think they'll be able to enjoy them very much," the purple mare offered sullenly.

"Don't be sad! I'm sure Princess Celestia can find a way to send you back!"

"She told me she can't, and that I have to find a way on my own. Looks like I'm gonna be here for awhile."

"Well, that just means we can be the bestest of best friends EVER! You should be happy!"

"I miss EJ and Stephanie," the purple mare stated sadly.

"I'll bet they miss you too, Ammy -- but cheer up! You'll get back to them! I just know it! My Pinkie Sense tells me you WILL!"

"Thanks for having so much confidence in me, Pinkie Pie."

Shortly the cupcakes were finished and Pinkie put the frosting on them. Amethyst carried the boxes in her pale blue aura to the Library, which was still vacant as Twilight and Spike were on their way from Fluttershy's cottage, the butter yellow pegasus chatting amiably with the baby dragon as he regaled her with his life story. Everypony Pinkie had invited to the surprise party had made it to the Library as she and the purple mare arrived about five minutes before Twilight and Spike.

Fluttershy was so taken with Spike that she wanted to care for him, though Twilight was impatient enough to push the yellow pegasus aside and closed the Library's front door in her face. Once inside, they noticed how dark it was and when the lights were turned on a cheer of "SURPRISE!" went up. Pinkie Pie introduced herself to Twilight with great enthusiasm and proceeded to explain in very rapid-fire fashion her reason for throwing the party and inviting every pony in Ponyville. Amethyst quietly waited in a corner trying not to be seen by the lavender mare, who was more interested in pouring herself a drink and leaving the partygoers to their revelry. Unbeknownst to her, she inadvertently poured hot sauce into her drink and discovered her error a moment too late. She then decided to head upstairs and get some sleep, but was interrupted by Spike, who tried unsuccessfully to get Twilight to join in the fun.

Unable to sleep, Twilight peered out her bedroom window to watch a cluster of four stars inexorably work their way towards the moon. She softly hoped aloud that the legend was nothing more than an Old Pony Tale, but was dreading the possibility of Nightmare Moon making her return.

A few hours later, but still before dawn, the ponies made their way to the town hall, the site of the Summer Sun Celebration. Pinkie Pie was very excited, and repeatedly asked Twilight if she were as excited. Fluttershy instructed her bird choir to chirp a fanfare as a spotlight trained towards Mayor Mare, who approached the crowd of ponies through a purple curtain. The Mayor proudly announced the start of the celebration, though Twilight's attention was stolen by the four stars surrounding the moon go behind it and the mare's image on the surface of the moon flashed and was gone, causing the lavender mare to silently gasp in horror. Amethyst trotted up to her housemate at this point.

"Did I miss anything, Twi?" the dark purple mare asked.

"Gaah! You're ... you're supposed to be in the Castle!"

"Heh. Can't keep me locked up in there! Hey, what's going on? I think the Mayor's a bit worried..."

"Um, Amethyst, it looks like ... the Princess ... is ... GONE!" Twilight cried as the crowd of ponies all gasped in unison. A purplish dark blue mist coalesced on a balcony overlooking the crowd as Rarity stood dumbstruck, staring Nightmare Moon in the face.

"Ah, so that's what she looks like," Amethyst mused aloud. Twilight and Pinkie Pie gave the purple mare a very quizzical look.

"Are you sure you really wanted to see her, Amethyst?" Twilight asked with exasperation.

"Just wanted to satisfy my curiosity, Twi," she replied nonchalantly.

"What have you done with our Princess?" Rainbow asked, very quickly taking to the air to charge at the black Alicorn.

"Whoa there, Nelly," Applejack admonished, grabbing the cyan pegasus' tail in her teeth.

"Do you not recall the legend? Do you know who I am?" the evil Princess asked rhetorically.

"Ooh, ooh, more guessing games?" Pinkie asked excitedly, rattling off a bunch of names before Applejack shoved an apple into the pink earth pony's mouth.

"I remember the legend -- you're the Mare in the Moon -- Nightmare Moon!" Twilight stated, her words tinged with anger. The crowd of ponies gasped at this mention. Amethyst simply nodded her head, acknowledging confirmation of fact as she stood beside the lavender unicorn.

"Well, well -- it looks as though somepony HAS remembered the legend!" the dark Alicorn chuckled. "And I see a companion to you -- is she somepony special to you?"

"If you must ask, your Majesty, I am Amethyst Shadow -- companion and confidante to the pony who just mentioned your name. I have traveled just to see you in the flesh -- and having done so, it is my mission to defeat you!"

The Nightmare laughed heartily at the purple unicorn's statement. "And how do you propose to do that? You have no idea of just how powerful I am, do you?"

"I know your strengths, Nightmare Moon, and I am fully aware of how powerful you are. I will not underestimate your power, though I am fairly certain you will come to regret having made your return."

"Amethyst! Don't do this!" Twilight admonished. "Let her go! You can't defeat her by yourself!"

"The lavender one speaks truth, Amethyst Shadow! You cannot hope to defeat me alone!" And with that, the dark Alicorn returned to her mist form and flew away, leaving the crowd of ponies frightened, angry, and confused.

----------------------------

As the misty form of Nightmare Moon flew off, Rainbow Dash broke free of Applejack's hold on her tail and gave chase, only to lose sight of the misty form a few seconds later.

"Night-time? Forever?" the cyan pegasus almost fearfully asked aloud.

Inside the town hall, confusion, anger, and fright gave way to determination and resolve. Applejack trotted over to the dark purple unicorn.

"Ah know this might sound like a dumb question, but what did ya mean when ya told that Nightmare you had traveled just ta see her? Would ya mind tellin' us who ya are?"

"You might have heard me announce my name and Nightmare Moon repeated it. I am Amethyst Shadow and I have traveled backward through time. Where I came from, you and all the others are good friends of mine, and Twilight and I live together in the Library."

"The Library!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly. "The answers we need are in the Library!" she shouted and galloped out the door, going as quickly as her legs could carry her to her new home.

Outside, the cyan pegasus saw the lavender mare galloping towards the Library.

"Where's she heading off to?" Rainbow asked herself. She then saw Amethyst give chase, quickly followed by the others and decided to follow as well. She quickly overtook the others due to her speed and made it to the Library before anypony else as Twilight was frantically searching the shelves for the specific book regarding the Elements of Harmony. The cyan pegasus pushed her muzzle against the lavender mare's and asked what exactly those elements were, and how she knew about Nightmare Moon, even going so far as to express suspicion of Twilight as a spy.

"Funny thing is that Pinkie Pie asked me the same question," the dark purple mare chuckled. "If you're looking for the book on the Elements of Harmony, you might wanna try looking under "E" for Elements."

"You seemed ta know an awful lot about Nightmare Moon, too, Amethyst! Tell us what ya know!" Applejack stated as she was joined by Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy as they and Rainbow as well approached the two librarians.

"The legend of Nightmare Moon has it that a thousand years ago, she was banished into the Moon by Princess Celestia, who used the Elements of Harmony to succeed in banishing her. They are the only known artifacts capable of producing strong enough magic to banish Nightmare Moon. The book has information on the location of those artifacts," Amethyst stated flatly. "I don't know how much time we have left, though," she added with some apprehension.

"How do you know Twilight so well? What about us? Do you know us as well as you know Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.

"Like I said before, I traveled back through time, though I appear to have crossed into an alternate universe as well. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash -- I know you all quite well, as in the other universe I left behind, I had been living in Ponyville for more than three and a half years, staying with Twilight in the Library here, acting as an assistant librarian to her and helping around the house with chores as needed. Applejack, I would like to give you a personal thanks to you and your family for being able to give me food whenever I was hungry, even when I didn't have the money to pay for it."

"Oh, it's nothin', Sugarcube, Ah'm glad we could be of service to ya!" the orange mare grinned. "Looks like ya haven't missed many meals, either! Yer about as big as mah big brother!"

The others giggled a little at this mention. "Anyway, let's check that reference guide on the Elements before we waste too much more time," Amethyst suggested. Pinkie Pie found the book and read the title aloud, immediately being pushed out of the way by the lavender mare.

Twilight started quoting from the book, describing the Elements by name and their location. As she was doing this, the misty form of Nightmare Moon paused outside the window of the Library, taking note of the activity. Amethyst saw this and commented on it.

"That witch is spying on us," the dark purple mare stated, almost angrily. "She wants to toy with us! If she thinks she can defeat us, she's got another think coming!" She then started humming a certain song...

"Ammy, what are you doing?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Are you trying to sing? At a time like this?"

"Consider it a victory song of sorts," the purple mare offered sheepishly, giving a slight shrug.

"Anyway, it says here that the Elements are located in the Royal Castle of the Pony Sisters in ... the Everfree Forest?!" the lavender mare stated somewhat fearfully.

"That's right," Amethyst stated. "The castle is rather deep in that forest -- I suggest we travel together so that if we encounter any problems, we'll be able to deal with them effectively."

"Um, Amethyst, I'd prefer to go alone --" Twilight began.

"If you told me I couldn't defeat Nightmare Moon by myself, then what makes you think you'll be able to do it yourself? I think it would be a good idea if we ALL went -- I mean, there's a possibility that we will all be needed anyway," her housemate offered. "And since I consider you my best friend anyway, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you! Same goes for the rest of you girls!"

"All right! Let's do this!" Rainbow shouted as they all left the library and headed for the Everfree. As they began their trek towards the castle, they chatted among themselves about journeying through the forest. None save Amethyst had ventured into the Everfree, and she was expressing some trepidation regarding nocturnal activities of some of the more dangerous creatures that called the Everfree home. This only served to make the others more fearful.

"Relax, Twilight and I are both very highly accomplished magic users. We should be able to handle anything the big bad Everfree wishes to throw at us!" the purple mare chuckled, somewhat nervously.

"I wish I had your level of confidence, Amethyst," Twilight offered half-heartedly.

"That just comes with experience, Twi," she responded. As the purple mare was talking, a dark mist flew by nearly unseen. Twilight was standing a little too close to a rocky ledge that suddenly gave way and everypony lost their hoofing as the ledge crumbled away. Everypony did their best to regain some traction, but Twilight slid all the way to the edge of a cliff, holding on only by her fore-legs. Applejack slid down to hold onto her and Amethyst gave a silent curse as she slid to meet the two.

"Hold on," the orange mare said, trying to pull the lavender mare back to safety. Amethyst peered over the edge and saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hovering below the edge.

"Twilight, if you let go, you have Rainbow and Fluttershy to catch you," the purple mare offered.

"Are you sure about that, Amethyst?" Twilight asked quite fearfully.

"I can help you by using my telekinesis, though I think Rainbow and Fluttershy are strong enough to carry you."

"Twilight, Ah can see them! Let go, you'll be okay," Applejack said as she tried to assuage the lavender mare's fear.

"Okay," she said and released her grip, emitting a scream as she fell. The two pegasi caught her, but her weight was considerably more than Fluttershy was used to carrying. The two pegasi gently lowered Twilight to the ground, where Rarity and Pinkie Pie were already waiting. Applejack hopped down ledges to the lower level. Amethyst was still at the top of the cliff edge.

"How are you going to get down here?" Twilight shouted up at the purple mare.

"Watch this," Amethyst stated proudly as she lit her horn. She disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared with a pale blue POP next to the lavender mare.

"Wow! I didn't know YOU could teleport as well!" Twilight said excitedly.

"How do you think I traveled back through time? I don't have a machine capable of letting me do THAT," the purple mare chuckled loudly.

"Hey, what's that purple mist doing here?" Pinkie Pie asked as said mist flew swiftly away from them and disappeared again.

"It's that accursed Nightmare Moon -- she's still toying with us!" Amethyst shouted angrily. "When I catch up to her ..."

"Easy there, sugarcube, no need ta be gettin' all worked up over it," Applejack offered calmly.

They continued their way deeper into the forest, Rainbow bragging about how she saved Twilight, who grumbled about being there. A few steps further, they were confronted by a manticore. Each of the ponies took their turn trying to subdue the creature, save for Amethyst who lit her horn. Rarity fled from the creature after bucking it in the face, Applejack was flung off the creature's head, and Rainbow was smacked by its tail, causing Twilight to call her name in concern. They were about to collectively charge at the manticore before Fluttershy yelled at everypony to stop. The butter yellow pegasus nuzzled one of the beast's paws, expressing compassion for it. The beast turned over it's paw to show a thorn stuck in it, which Fluttershy gently plucked out with her teeth, advising the beast that said action might hurt a little. The beast roared in pain, blowing Fluttershy's mane in one direction, causing the group to call her name in apprehension before the manticore started purring and licking the yellow pegasus' face. She cooed to the beast as it continued to lick her face, and the others made their way past the beast, Twilight stopping to look back.

"Amethyst, why didn't you try to fight the manticore? Is there something you know that we don't?" Rainbow asked suspiciously.

"Well, I saw her acting all sneaky like, yesterday! She said she was trying to get to the Library without being seen, but I saw her! I think she's a spy, even though she told me she wasn't! I want to be a spy, too! C'mon, huh? Huh? Can I? Huh?" asked Pinkie Pie excitedly.

"I hate to pop your bubble, Pinkie, but I'm not a spy. Yeah, I know some things about stuff, but I promised the Princess not to give you all the answers. You're gonna have to trust me on this, though I know that probably won't sit very well with you," the purple mare replied.

"Well, we'd like to see a little more action from you," Rainbow said with some concern.

"Don't worry, Rainbow, you'll get to see some soon enough. Hey, Fluttershy, how did you know about that thorn?"

"I didn't -- sometimes you just need to show a little kindness," she offered softly.

Unseen by any of the group, the thorn in question transformed into purple mist and continued on it's way to the castle as well. As they continued further, Rarity complained about her eyes needing a rest from all the icky muck, and her request was granted as they entered a very dark area of the forest where the canopy prevented any light from filtering to the floor.

"I didn't mean that literally," the alabaster mare complained.

"Nightmare Moon could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it," Twilight stated with great apprehension. As if to emphasize her point, the dark mist slithered between them and flew to a tree, wrapping itself around the tree, transforming it into something terrifying. Suddenly the trees around them had developed frightening features, causing the ponies to shriek in fear. Amethyst glared at them, standing her ground. Pinkie Pie found the images to be hilarious and started laughing at the site, mocking the frightening images and making funny faces and noises herself.

"Pinkie! What are you doing? RUN!" Twilight shouted at her.

Pinkie Pie launched into an impromptu singing of "Giggle at the Ghosties."

"Tell me she's not," the lavender mare said with a bit of contempt in her voice. Her expression turned to one of surprise when she saw one of the evil faces on the trees disappear as the pink pony laughed at it. Her example led the others to follow suit, and shortly all the trees were returned to their faceless state as they all laughed and giggled, Amethyst included.

"You know, that was actually quite fun!" the purple mare chuckled. "Who knew?"

"I did, silly filly!" the pink pony giggled.

They continued further still and came across a raging river.

"How are we gonna get across that?" asked Pinkie.

"I suppose I could teleport each one of you across," Amethyst mused. "Or Rainbow could carry each of you across, or Twilight could teleport one apiece, or Fluttershy --"

A splashing sound coming from the river interrupted Amethyst as she was trying to come up with a plan to cross the rapids. A very disappointed serpent was cursing his luck, as a large piece of his mustache appeared to have been sheared off. "What a world, what a world," he cried in frustration as he slammed his fists into the water.

"Excuse me, sir, why are you crying?" Twilight asked him.

He explained that a wispy cloud of purple smoke cut his mustache off and he fell body first into the river, drenching all the ponies. Applejack and Rainbow complained a bit about it and Rarity chided them for their negativity. Amethyst shook the water out of her coat and watched bemusedly.

"He seems a little on the flamboyant side," the purple mare softly giggled to Twilight as Rarity engaged the serpent in conversation, complimenting him on his mane and scales. the serpent enthusiastically agreeing with the compliments.

"I cannot allow such a crime against fabulosity go unpunished," the alabaster unicorn nearly exclaimed and yanked a scale from the serpent using her teeth. This caused quite a bit of concern among the other ponies, but not as much as when she used the sharp end of the scale to slice off a good portion of her tail, causing the serpent to seemingly faint in disbelief. She then used her telekinesis to attach her shorn tail to the remainder of the serpent's mustache. Upon seeing his mustache repaired, he exclaimed his thanks to Rarity.

"If you don't mind, sir," Amethyst offered, "please allow me to color match it for you." The purple mare lit her horn and enveloped Rarity's attached tail in her pale blue aura and changed the indigo piece of tail into an orange color, matching the rest of the serpent's hair.

"Oh, thank you so much!" the serpent exclaimed with great enthusiasm.

"Amethyst, darling, I had no idea you were so talented! I might request your assistance in my boutique some time," the fashionista said, beaming a smile.

Twilight expressed her concern over Rarity's tail, but the white mare reassured the librarian that short tails were in this year and that it would grow back eventually.

"Sooner than you might think," Amethyst thought, smiling softly. Twilight noticed the raging river's water had calmed to the point where they could all cross and the serpent in his gratitude allowed everypony to cross without getting wet by having them use his body as a make-shift bridge.

After a bit more slogging through the forest, they came to a clearing where they could actually see the castle. The light of the full moon cast an eerie glow to the castle, but Twilight paid it no heed as she galloped toward it.

"Twilight! Mind the gap!" Amethyst called out to her. The lavender mare continued galloping, slowing herself down a bit late as she nearly slid off the edge of the gorge where a rope bridge dangled from its posts. Rainbow grabbed her by her tail and pulled her back from the edge, chiding her about cliffs.

"Now what?!" Pinkie asked in exasperation.

"Duh," Rainbow chuckled, flapping her wings as an illustration. She flew into the gorge and pulled the other end of the bridge up to the other side and fastened it, but while she was doing this, the misty form of Nightmare Moon swirled between the cyan pegasus' legs.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" the pegasus commanded. "I ain't scared of ya!"

Nightmare Moon's voice could be heard as she complimented Rainbow on her flying ability. Rainbow thanked her and asked her to put in a word to the Wonderbolts as she had been wanting to join that group forever, but was offered a position in the Shadowbolts instead. The cyan pegasus was eager to join, but stated she had to fasten the bridge. She was prevented from doing so by one of the three purple and black clad pegasi, whose eyes glowed a bright yellow to move clouds to obscure the view from the other side.

"What's taking so long?" Twilight asked as she saw Rainbow chatting with the Shadowbolts and then clouds obscured the view.

"She's been distracted," Amethyst said. "I would teleport across, but the view's been obstructed. My depth perception prevents me from getting a clear sight-line and I don't wanna teleport blind over there."

While this exchange between Twilight and her housemate was going on, Rainbow flew off and fastened the end of the rope bridge and flew back to the others. The lead Shadowbolt pegasus expressed some anger at this and disappeared into a purple mist. The cyan pegasus then escorted the rest of the group across the rope bridge, finally reaching their destination. They entered the castle which had fallen into disuse over the centuries, eventually reaching the pedestal on which the crystal orbs representing the Elements of Harmony were situated. The large orb on top of the pedestal appeared to have been broken, but the other five appeared to be intact.

"Twi, there's only five of them there -- I thought there were six," Amethyst mused. Rainbow carefully plucked the orbs from the pedestal and placed them on the floor in what appeared to be a pentagonal shape. Pinkie expressed a similar sentiment, and Twilight explained that when the five are present, a spark would allow the sixth to reveal itself, though she wasn't quite sure what that meant. She decided to use her magic on the orbs to see if magic use could make the sixth appear. Applejack persuaded everypony to leave and allow the lavender mare to concentrate, though Amethyst stood just outside the doorway to watch.

As the lavender mare screwed up her face in serious concentration, the misty form of Nightmare Moon swirled around her, becoming a whirlwind and whisking away the orbs as Twilight's concentration was broken and she cried out in surprise. Everypony galloped back into the room to find Twilight and the orbs missing and began circling the room trying to find her. Applejack called out for her and caught a flash of light from her periphery, noticing a tower across the way.

"She's probably over there," Amethyst mused. "We'd better hurry, I think she might be in trouble." Everypony then galloped toward the section of the castle Twilight had been teleported to.

The lavender mare coughed as she materialized on the floor of what was probably a throne room at one time. At the far end of the room stood the dark Alicorn in all her glory, the orbs swirling around her in her aura as she laughed at Twilight. Twilight gasped, but steeled herself in grim determination, dragging her right fore-hoof on the floor as she assumed a charging stance. She stomped her right fore-hoof, determined to attack the Alicorn.

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" Nightmare asked, a mix of amusement, contempt, and disbelief in her expression. Without answering, the lavender mare stomped her right fore-hoof once again and lit her horn, starting her charge. Amethyst POPped into the room, about ten feet to the left of the lavender mare.

"Well, well, it looks like somepony wants to be a hero," the dark Princess chuckled. "You made a terrible mistake coming to the aid of your confidante, Amethyst Shadow!" She cackled her evil laugh as lightning bolts flared around her.

"Amethyst, what are you doing? You're ruining my plan!" Twilight admonished.

"I have a few tricks up my proverbial sleeve -- I picked up a few spells Starswirl had written down, and I'm going to use them on her to help you get the Elements back," the purple mare explained.

"Isn't this touching? The two of you! Together!" Nightmare Moon chortled. She still held the orbs in her aura as Amethyst slowly trotted toward the Alicorn. "What do you think you're doing? I told you earlier! You cannot defeat me by yourself!"

"Explaining myself is not exactly my strong suit," the purple mare stated coldly. "So I let my actions speak for me." She lit her horn, glowing a pale blue and readied the time-ball spell. The spell in question was designed to affect the flow of time within the orb of effect, causing a full stop on whomever was hit with it. She enlarged the orb so that it would completely engulf the Alicorn, who was still chuckling at what she perceived to be a simple attack spell.

"Well, I believe I should follow your example!" the Alicorn laughed, using her telekinesis on the purple mare, who used her telekinesis to propel the time-ball at the Alicorn. The spell reached the Alicorn's body and activated, causing her to freeze as though time had come to a complete stop for her. The Alicorn's telekinetic grip on the purple mare was released, at least momentarily.

"How did you do that!?!" Twilight asked in shock.

"I told you, I picked up a few spells Starswirl had written down," her housemate chuckled. "Now get those Elements before the effect wears off, please. It's taking nearly all I can to keep it up."

Twilight did not have to be told twice, and she used her telekinesis to retrieve the orbs and brought them over to the pair of unicorns. "How is this supposed to work?" Twilight asked.

"We need the others to get here, Twi -- each of them represents one of these Elements, and you are the catalyst for them. I am just facilitating the process a little, but they need to hurry -- my magic can't hold up much longer," the purple mare grunted, the strain of keeping up the stopped time effect taking its toll on her.

"I must admit, I am most impressed!" Nightmare Moon chuckled. "I had no idea you were that powerful! The last time I encountered a unicorn with that kind of spell casting ability was when Starswirl the Bearded was still trotting around Equestria -- that spell you used on me has his hoofwriting all over it! Well, fun time's over! Now it's MY turn!" The Alicorn retrieved the orbs and shattered them. "Now, the night time will last FOREVER!!" she cackled gleefully. She levitated the dark purple unicorn with her telekinesis, who screamed in horror as she was bodily flung across the floor of the room, coming to a sliding stop about fifteen feet behind Twilight.

"Now as for you, who dared to think you could use the Elements by yourself, I have another plan in store for you!" the Alicorn addressed the lavender mare.

Amethyst rose to her hooves, dusting herself off. She narrowed her eyes to slits and screamed with primal rage and fury, her expression of apoplexy startling the Alicorn for a moment.

"It appears the hero wants a second round," Nightmare chuckled. "I am prepared for whatever it is you wish to assault me with!"

The purple mare's horn glowed a very bright pale blue, increasing in its luminescence until it became blindingly bright. The Alicorn wore a look of concern, seemingly almost afraid of what spell was in store this time around. A large nearly white ball of magic energy flew across the room at shockingly swift speed, impacting the Alicorn, who fell to the floor in a heap. She let a cry of surprise escape her lips as the gravity ball spell was used against her.

"Uh, Amethyst, what spell did you use against her?" Twilight asked.

"I increased the pull of gravity on her by a factor of twenty," the purple mare stated flatly.

"Was that another of Starswirl's spells?"

"Ee-yup."

"You're going to have to take me to that wing of the Archives!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly. Just then, the other ponies made it into the room to see the Alicorn still on the floor, struggling to rise to her hooves.

"Everypony, surround her. I am going to release the spell on her," Amethyst stated flatly.

"What are we supposed to do?" Twilight asked.

"Each of you represents an Element -- you should be able to use a collective magic against her," the purple mare replied. "Now hurry please, I can't hold it much longer."

The other ponies quickly surrounded the Alicorn, still struggling to rise, but making it quite clear that she wasn't playing around this time. Suddenly, the other ponies began levitating, their bodies beginning to glow brightly.

"You thought you could destroy the Elements of Harmony by shattering those orbs, but you made a terrible miscalculation. The Elements reside within each of us, uniting us as friends! It took us overcoming the obstacles you placed before us which allowed each of our talents to be made obvious, and that's when I realized that the missing element is that which unites us all -- the Element of Magic!" Twilight shouted at the Alicorn, who was now frozen with fear, though the gravity ball spell had worn off. Each of the levitating ponies was surrounded by the shattered fragments of the orbs, which then became the diadems each of them wore. A rainbow seemed to form a double-helix shape, rising toward the sky before turning into a single wave of magic, crashing down upon the stunned Alicorn, surrounding her in a vortex.

"NO! NOO! NOOOO!!" she screamed as the rainbow-hued vortex encircled her, swirling faster and faster until she had appeared to vanish. Twilight's eyes flashed pure white with magical enchantment as the Harmonic Magic spent itself, the once levitating ponies now laying on the floor. Amethyst trotted over to them, nudging each of them with her muzzle to make sure they were okay. Each of them noticed their diadems in the shape of their cutie marks and pranced around excitedly, comparing them to each other's, until their gaze fell upon the lavender mare, who was now wearing a tiara with an amethyst gemstone set atop the center of it. The others expressed astonishment at Twilight's new adornment.

"I knew you girls could do it," Amethyst chuckled.

"What about you, Ammy? Don't you have a cool necklace like us?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm not an Element Bearer, so I don't get one. As I was telling Twilight earlier, I was just facilitating this process. Congratulations, you all earned it!" the purple mare grinned.

At that moment, the Sun rose and a golden light illuminated the room as Princess Celestia made her return. The Element Bearers bowed deeply before the regal white Alicorn. Amethyst did so as well, but not all the way to the floor.

"Princess Celestia, I am pleased to see you have returned," the purple mare stated reverently.

"Amethyst Shadow, I would like to thank you for helping you friends and freeing me," she responded.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly, cantering toward the Sun Goddess, nuzzling against her chest.

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student!" she responded, returning the lavender mare's gesture of affection. Amethyst smiled warmly at this exchange.

The Alicorn and her student had an exchange of words, though Twilight was told that to unleash her potential, she needed the help of friends. Twilight turned toward the others and smiled, nodding her head. The nodded back in return, Amethyst giving a knowing wink and turning the tip of her left fore-hoof up, clicking her tongue against her teeth as she nodded her head. Princess Celestia chuckled softly at the purple mare's gesture, smiling warmly at all of them before a low groan came from where Nightmare Moon had once stood.

The white Alicorn announced the diminutive form of a dark blue Alicorn, still laying on the floor trying to recover some strength. "Princess Luna, it has been a thousand years," she stated as she approached her sister. "It is time for us to put our differences behind us -- we were meant to rule together, little sister."

This mention drew a gasp from the Element Bearers, but Amethyst continued smiling.

"Will you accept my friendship?" Celestia asked her sister.

"I'm so sorry! I've missed you so much, big sister!" Luna exclaimed, a few tears falling from her cheek as she nuzzled her sister with deep affection.

"I've missed you too," Celestia stated softly.

Pinkie Pie was brought to tears by this touching display of affection and blew her nose loudly before crying rivers of tears in comedic fashion before stopping to realize something. "Hey, you know what this calls for? A PARTY!" she exclaimed with great excitement.

----------------------------------

Twilight was reunited with her dragon assistant as the Royal Sisters were taken by chariot to Ponyville. The lavender mare was wearing a frown as she realized she would most likely be returning to Canterlot after having succeeded in her mission.

"I hope I can stay here with you, Twi," Amethyst said softly.

"I may have to go back, regardless," the librarian said glumly.

As the Alicorns stepped off the chariot, a garland of flowers was placed around Luna's neck. The Sun Goddess turned toward her student, explaining how upon completion of her mission, she could return to Canterlot to continue her studies. Twilight stated that as a result of having made new friends, she was extremely reluctant to return to the castle, whereupon Celestia instructed Spike to take a note. She issued a royal decree giving Twilight a new mission -- to continue to study the magic of friendship and send periodic reports to her from her new home in Ponyville. This elicited a very happy response not only from the lavender mare but from her new friends as well.

"Your Majesty," Amethyst stated, her voice nearly trembling as she said the words. "Begging your pardon, your Majesty, but I would like to know if I could stay here with your student and her new friends as well."

"Spike, you may add Amethyst Shadow's name to that decree as well." The baby dragon scribbled on the parchment. "Amethyst, I would reiterate my earlier request that you at least try to find your way back to your original timeline. Barring that, you may assist my faithful student with her needs. Please ensure that you remain on your best behavior, as further displays of irresponsible actions on your part may prejudice my kindness toward you. You may stay here in Ponyville with Twilight for as long as I am willing to allow it, and I must also request periodic reports from you as well."

"Amethyst Shadow?" Luna asked.

"Yes, Princess Luna?" the purple mare replied.

"Where do you come from?"

The purple mare laughed out loud. "My apologies, your Majesty, but the story is long and complex. Perhaps one day when I have some time, I will explain my story to you. I would suggest you ask your big sister about it, as it would take a very long time for me to relate in full detail for you. Princess Celestia, you have my sincerest thanks for your generosity. I will do my best to assist Twilight and the others as I can, and I will do my best to ensure timely reports to you as well as behaving myself as best I can."

Luna turned to her sister. "Why does she have a number for her cutie mark?"

The purple mare rolled her eyes and chuckled again.

"Luna, I promise I will tell you her story when we return to the Castle," Celestia said softly.

"I thank you as well, Princess," Twilight stated. "She helped us quite a bit in the castle -- she knows some spells I want to learn!"

The Sun Goddess glowered at the dark purple unicorn, who gave a sheepish grin. "How much did you tell them?"

"Only enough to facilitate them being able to wield the Elements," she replied.

"Then you have my thanks as well, Amethyst Shadow." With that, the Royal Sisters returned to the chariot and were flown back to Canterlot Castle.

"I'm so excited we'll all be able to spend so much time together! Aren't you excited, Ammy? We're gonna be such great friends!" the pink party pony exclaimed.

"Hey, Twi, pretty exciting, wasn't it?" the purple mare asked.

"Yeah, it was. I was astonished you were able to use those high level spells against Nightmare Moon! Please teach me how to do them!"

"What, right now? I don't have the spell books in front of me," the purple mare responded.

"Okay, I'll schedule an appointment for us to return to the Archives and you can show me!"

"Sounds like a plan, Twi. All this activity has made me hungry, let's get something to eat."