The Mayor Mare had persuaded the assembled ponies to go back home for the moment, although most of them were still in shock or deep worry. The Mane Six then carried the unconscious form of Spike back to the Golden Oak Library.
“Should we bring Spike along?” Pinkie asked, looking at the baby dragon.
“The Everfree is way too dangerous for Spike! Besides, he’s not supposed to be there.” Fluttershy protested.
Rarity countered. “But it’s also wrong to just leave Spike alone. We need to monitor him closely since we don’t know if his fainting’s just it or something more.”
Fluttershy widened her eyes and said quietly. “Y- You’re right.”
“Also, what if he waked up just to find no one’s around?” Rainbow Dash quipped.
“That’s right, sugarcube, he’d think that Nightmare Moon’s kidnapped all o’ us!” Applejack added.
“With six mares to protect him, hardly a hair of his would be harmed.” The cyan mare smirked.
“Rainbow, Spike is a dragon, he doesn’t have hairs.” Twilight said blankly.
“You know what, facts are for wimps.”
“An-y-way.” Twilight said, “I agree that we should keep an eye on him by bringing him with us. Besides, I don’t want him to always be the tag-along little dragon. He needs to see some actions… if he wakes up that is.”
The mares nodded, Twilight then elevated Spike onto her back and fastened him to her with a belt.
“Let’s move girls. Some naughty pony is listening in.”
The group promptly left the Library and went towards the edge of Ponyville. They passed the bridge to Fluttershy’s cottage, and soon the towering trees of the Everfree forest was in sight.
“Lovely place, isn’t it.” Rarity grimaced, as she looked at the spooky-looking woods.
“It’s seen better times.” Twilight muttered meaningfully.
“Hey now,” Pinkie pointed to the woods. “Let’s focus at the present, shall we?”
Twilight nodded. “Indeed. I’m going to deal with those ancient issues after we finished up with Nightmare Moon.”
The purple mare suddenly felt some rumbling on her back. “W-Where are we?” Spike groggily said. It appeared that the baby dragon has been awaken by the noise of their chatter.
“We’re in the Everfree forest, sugarcube.” Applejack stated in a mock-scary tone. Spike’s eye shot open, and he fell straight back into unconsciousness.
“Applejack! Scares aren’t healthy for Spike!” Twilight chided.
“What? I wasn’t lying ‘bout that.” Applejack retorted.
“You can be more tactful with your phrasing though, Applejack.” Fluttershy also added.
“Tell him he’s in Royal Canterlot Garden? Pfeh, it’s easier anyway if the little whel—Spike’s knocked out.” Rainbow Dash wagged her tongue.
“Let me check him up first.” Twilight reached for the unconscious form of Spike and inspected. “… It’d seem it’s nothing to worry.”
The group walked across the woods and found themselves at the top of a cliff. “We’re supposed to go down from here, right?” Rarity asked.
“Uh, we have to do something first, I think.” Rainbow Dash glanced to the shadow lurking in the woods. “It doesn’t make sense as we already know, but I guess we still have to prove to the Elements or the Spirit of Harmony that we are true to our Virtues.”
After an awkward silence, Applejack suddenly yelled at an over-the-top manner.
“Tha’s plum touched! How on earth d’ya think we can think up something from the ground up?”
“What’re you on about? I can’t even understand you with the giant apple stuffed in your mouth!” Rarity immediately caught Applejack’s intention and dramatically mocked.
“What? Ah’m gunna whip yer plot so hard yer ain’t gunna recognize yer famblies!” Applejack growled angrily.
Fluttershy opened her mouth, but absolutely nothing came out at all. Pinkie Pie just grinned awkwardly and watched.
Suddenly, a glistening smoke momentarily flashed, and the earth began to violently shake. The protruding piece of cliff broke off from the mountain. The ground the mares stood on gave way, and all ponies except Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fell off the steep cliff.
Pinkie Pie somehow whipped out a skateboard from her puffy mane, and stepped on it with a “thud”.
She skillfully kicked, which landed herself on the almost vertical surface of the cliff. She then slid downwards with incredible speed, and reached the valley floor at the blink of the eye. She flipped the skateboard up with a flourish, and grinned towards the two pegasi, who watched with awe.
Rarity swiftly flared her horn, and a giant crystalline rod popped out from the mountain body, neatly catching the falling unicorn. She however looked quite unhappy at the turn of event.
“Do we absolutely have to do this? My coiffure’s ruined.” She groaned.
Applejack grabbed at a protruding branch mid-fall, and landed herself on a small platform.
Twilight immediately teleported Spike for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to grab at, but she was not quick enough to teleport herself. She too barely managed to hold onto a tree branch at a much higher place, and looked down at the orange mare.
Twilight blinked at Applejack, then Applejack nodded and yelled. “Jump down Twi, Ah’ll catch you.”
Twilight let go of the branch, and she immediately fell like a lead weight. Applejack gripped at the ground and lowered her body in preparation, then leapt at the precise moment and caught the purple mare at the exact right time.
“So, does this count as a case of honesty and trusting in your friend?” Twilight asked in the hooves of Applejack with a hopeful smile.
“It’s not like you couldn’t hold on anymore. You had plenty o’ time t’ yerself away.” Applejack stated matter-of-factly. “Besides, you should eat less sundae, Twi, yer too heavy.”
Twilight wiggled herself out of Applejack’s hooves, and grumbled. “Yeah, you’re very honest, alright.”
Applejack simple burst out in mirthful laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mares gathered up at the base of the cliff, and walked further into the forest. Calls from various exotic dwellers of the forest echoed across the forest. It was a strange and terrifying environment for most ponies, especially those from Ponyville, who heard countless terrible tales about the place since foalhood. But the Mane Six treaded forth with barely any fear. To them, the forest was hardly strange and new. Pinkie even whistled a cheerful tune as she trotted on.
Suddenly, a giant menacing figure was seen stomping the ground and running towards them. “It’s time,” Twilight observed. “Go Fluttershy, it’s your show-time.”
Fluttershy gulped and flew forward, and what entered her view had shocked her. Something even taller than the tallest of the tree was approaching her.
Instead of a smaller creature as expected, it was a raging and fully-grown Ursa Major. The Ursa, who was towering above the ponies, roared thunderously, which caused even the mares far away to wince and cover their ears.
“What the hay? A bucking Ursa?!” Rainbow Dash gasped. “Twi, this is way off!”
“I- I don’t know either!”
Fluttershy’s teeth clattered, as she thought about the Ursa’s powerful paws which could smash her into a pulp in one fell-swoop. She doubted that the Ursa could even see her since she was positively minuscule compared to the gargantuan creature.
But her animal-loving instinct won over, as she stopped in front of the Ursa and called out with her loudest voice, “Please stop, um, Mr. Ursa!” She glimpsed at the Ursa’s more angular features, and deduced that it was a he.
The Ursa Major glared at the puny yellow mare, and let out another loud roar. Fluttershy was undaunted however, and pleaded with steady eye. The Ursa winced and saw her eyes. He calmed down slightly, but still visibly agitated.
“Good, now let me check your paws.” Fluttershy flew towards the giant Ursa’s belly. The Ursa was alarmed, but Fluttershy stared firmly at him again, and it reluctantly let her examine his front paws.
Fluttershy held up the left front paw of the Ursa, and easily located a dead branch, almost as big as her, stuck in the paw. Fluttershy was relieved, and told the Ursa, “Now steady mister, it might hurt for a bit.”
She hugged at the dead tree branch, gritted her teeth and pulled it out with some difficulty. The Ursa initially let out a painful roar, but then felt no pain in his paw anymore. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the yellow mare, who simply smiled gently. Then he huffed, turned around and simply walked into woods, seemingly unthankful. His stomps reverberated in the forest as he stood tall, head almost emerging from the tall tree crowns themselves.
The other mares trotted up to Fluttershy. Twilight lit her horn and shot a blast towards the offending log, which disintegrated completely.
“Did she want to kill us?” Rainbow groaned aloud.
“It’d seem that treating an Ursa Major was just the same as you’d treat a smaller creature though.” Rarity commented. “It’s just the old thorn-in-paw trick, just upgraded to extra-large.”
“He’s hotter than blue blazes cos there’s a darn thorn in his paw, crazy thing. Don’t seem thankful or anything even.” Applejack said.
“Kindness is not something that’s given because we expect thanks or rewards,” Fluttershy quietly explained, as she looked at the retreating figure of the Ursa Major.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mares again began trotting deeper into the Everfree. The surrounding became darker and more sinister-looking as they proceeded forward. Trees that had merely seemed crooked and ancient suddenly appeared to grow grotesque faces as well. Hollering winds and shaking leaves emitted a strange mix of gasps and wailing.
“I think she’s tryin’ to scare us.” Applejack blinked.
“Yeah, surely nailed the atmosphere.” Twilight said, and turned to the party mare. “Uh Pinkie, about singing in here...”
Pinkie Pie huffed. “Silly Twilight, are you questioning my ability to make ponies laugh without a song? My stand-up routine can also make you all crack up like a bunch of mad hyenas!”
“That’s specie-ist, darling.” Rarity pointed out.
“Hey, doing punchlines are my job!” Pinkie jokingly protested, and then giggled.
“Alright girls,” Pinkie cleared her throat and put on a poker face. “Y’know, I get anxious sometimes. Other ponies always told me that, ‘It’s all in your head!’ I have to deal with my head all the time. That’s like saying, ‘Don’t worry about the parasprites, it’s just in your house!’”
The mares heartily chuckled, and Pinkie continued, “… I’ve been single since I moved to Ponyville. I found out that because of this, Mrs. Cake recently asked one of my friends if I’m into mares instead of colts.” Rainbow Dash let out an inadvertent snicker. “… I’m not, though I think that just shows the supportive attitude she had towards my life. ‘Well, she’s not winning, so she must be playing another game!’”
The group burst into a rapturous laughter. Pinkie Pie grinned widely, as the magically-twisted scenery returned to normal in a puff of dark smoke.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group arrived at a raging river in the middle of the forest. They stood at the bank of the river for a long while, waiting for something to happen. As Twilight pondered whether to just teleport the entire group across the water at the risk of overexertion, a wistful sea serpent arose from the water.
“What a world, what a world.” The sea serpent wailed and sobbed.
“Oh my, what happened to your beautiful mane and moustache?” Rarity queried, slightly surprised. She’d expected just a shoddy cut-job of his moustache, but what she instead witnessed was not just a travesty of fashion, it’s a violation of common decency.
Part of the sea serpent’s head was almost shaved clean, leaving a mane-cut which could only be best described as a drunken barber’s reverse Mohawk. His moustache was also cut into the shape of a lopsided toothbrush. It was a complete mess.
“Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just popped into my face and messed with my well-coiffed mane and moustache. When it went away, I looked at myself in the water and found them completely, irrevocably ruined!” The sea serpent burst into tears again.
Even Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but felt for the sea serpent, “Wow, that’s so totally uncool.”
Rarity gawked at the straight-up genocide of good sense, and said, “Such lovely luminescent scales and fabulous manicure, all ruined because of that horrible cut-job!”
“It's true, I'm hideous!” The sea serpent wailed.
Rarity observed, she was going to cut off a portion of her tail to fix his manestyle, but the damage was too extensive. She couldn’t fix half of it even if she shaved herself bald. As she pondered for a way to fix his mane and moustache, Twilight leaned in and said. “Do it, I’ll help.”
Rarity looked back at Twilight and nodded. She quickly chopped her tail short with her magic. “What did you do that for?” The sea serpent yelped.
“I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected.” Rarity smiled. Twilight stepped forth and casted a spell on Rarity’s cut purple tail, and it promptly grew several times longer.
Rarity grinned, now the tail’s long enough for a proper clip-in operation. She raised the purple tail with her magic, and intermixed it with the sea serpent’s own mane. A blue glow surrounded the sea serpent’s mane, as Rarity’s magic nimbly combed and coiled around the orange and purple hairs. After the glow dimmed, the sea serpent’s mane returned to a flowing and proper style, with a single purple stripe curiously resembling Twilight’s mane color. Rarity then took the last strands of hair and tied them to the remaining moustache, and bent them upwards to form a gentlemanly handlebar. It was a job well-done.
“Oh-hohohoho! My moustache, my mane! How can I ever thank you … little ponies?” The sea serpent moaned in delight.
“I’m Rarity, and this is my friends Twilight,” Rarity then introduced her friends one by one. “You look smashing now! May I have to pleasure to learn of your name too?”
“My name’s Steven Magnet, my lady. Oh! You’re my savior, my heroine, my guardian angel! You want to cross the river, right? Please, allow me.” Steven Magnet lowered his back, and gestured the ponies to board.
After crossing the river without incident, Rarity turned around and thanked Steven Magnet. “No need for thanks, Rarity. Your expert and timely mane-job was simply stuff of my dream. Please, let me know if I can help out next time you enter the Everfree, my home is just nearby.” Rarity graciously curtsied and bid the grateful sea serpent farewell.
“Hang on Twilight,” Rarity suddenly realized. “You could have just used his remaining mane to do your little hair-extension magic, couldn’t you?”
Twilight opened her mouth, but she then merely nodded. Rarity couldn’t help but slap her own forehead with her hoof.
“Short tails are in chic, remember?” Rainbow Dash teased.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mares then trotted into a dilapidated clearing in the middle of the forest. A ruined castle entered their sight, but they were separated from the castle by a deep chasm. No crossing was in sight to allow easy access, to the ponies’ surprise.
“Paging Doctor Rainbow Dash, broken bridge.” Twilight japed. Rainbow Dash smirked and looked around. After some searching, she noticed a long, thick bundle of vine hanging from an oak across the rift. She immediately flew to the other side and grabbed at the vine.
Just when she tucked at the trailing plant to make sure it was good for a pony’s weight, a dark smoke suddenly enveloped her and a trio of Wonderbolts-like figures appeared, the only difference being that they were wearing pitch-black uniforms instead of the iconic blue tight-suits of the Wonderbolts.
“We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in Equestria,” One of the shadowy figures proclaimed. “We want you to join us, the Shabowbolts!”
Rainbow glared but didn’t speak up, so the shadow pony continued. “We're the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all Equestria.”
The pony whispered in Rainbow Dash’s ears. “But first we need … a captain! The most magnificent... the swiftest … bravest flyer in all the land!” She leaned in even closer, “We need... you.”
Rainbow remained expressionless for a long while, her stare inscrutable. The level of awkwardness started to build up. Eventually, the leader of the Shabowbolts spoke up. “Well?”
Rainbow suddenly smirked. “I’m very glad that somepony recognized my awesomeness on sight and immediately pledged their allegiance to me. Very well, as the new captain of the Shadowbolts, I give you your first mission: Join me and help pick up my friends at the other side of the chasm.”
The leader of the Shadowbolts took a while to process what she’d just heard, then said with a slightly flabbergasted tone. “Huh? No! It's, uh, them or us!”
“Pfft, then bugger off you stooges. I don’t need anypony who couldn’t even follow a simple command from their captain.”
Rainbow then ignored the shadow ponies, and proceeded to grab the end of the vine and brought it across the chasm to her friends.
The Shadowbolts watched Rainbow fly back to her friends and gritted their teeth. They weren’t letting this go that easily.
Rainbow Dash emerged from the thick smoke and greeted her friends with the new mean to cross the chasm. Then three figures appeared behind Rainbow all of a suddenly and tackled the group.
“Wow, are you ponies aerial acrobats or hired thugs?” Rainbow exclaimed, as she barely maneuvered away from one desperate tackle of the shadow pony.
“Hey, pirated version of the Wonderbolts, that’s cute.” Rarity grinned, shooting a bolt of magic against her assailant and sending her across the chasm, “Ha! Have at it, villain!”
Applejack dispatched another shadow pony using a powerful back-kick with her legs. The remaining leader of the shadow ponies glowered, and tackled Fluttershy, the seemingly weakest of the group.
Fluttershy was carefully trotting away from the commotion. When she saw the Shadowbolts leader coming at great speed, she simply sighed and used the Stare on her.
The Shadowbolts leader gasped and stopped in her track immediately. She babbled and grasped her neck, then with some tremble, she clumsily flew away in the opposite direction at an ever higher speed.
“Dang, that Stare’s not somethin’ of this earth.” Applejack commented.
“Now that’s taken care of, we should get going immediately.” Twilight said.
“Tarzan Swing! I love it!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mares landed on the opposite side one by one, and hurriedly galloped towards the ruined castle.
“Huh, do you think that the forest’s been more … vicious?” Pinkie asked in between breaths.
“Well, an Ursa Major showed up, what can I say?” Twilight said.
“I don’t suppose it’s due to… our new knowledge.” Rarity commented.
“Let’s hope the final encounter wouldn’t turn out ridiculously hard.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
They entered the main gate to the castle and reached a chamber. Twilight immediately trotted up to the elaborate arrangement of stands that held five delicately-crafted orbs.
“She wasn’t here yet. Let me try firing this thing up.” Twilight licked her lip. But before she could even fire up a single spell, the dark smoke that has been following them around suddenly appeared and engulfed her and the orbs once more. Then in a bright flash they simply disappeared altogether.
The mares looked at one another and immediately reached for the throne room, which emitted a visible white glow even viewing from the outside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You impudent foal!”
Nightmare Moon said contemptuously towards Twilight, who found herself in an ancient throne room.
“Your brazen words in front of your royal highness have not been forgotten. You will be duly punished.”
Nightmare Moon paused for attention. “After I brought eternal night to all of Equestria! Mwahahaha!”
Twilight looked at Nightmare Moon and mentally snorted. Her inherited experiences went back to a much more ancient time than the dark Alicorn, but she was just called a ‘foal’.
Twilight steadied herself and said. “Nightmare Moon, I have no wish to lay harm on you. I’m merely going to use the Elements to cleanse you of any dark influence and return you to your sister.”
Nightmare Moon gritted her teeth and angrily scowled. “I have no sister! You ponies will never see your beloved princess, or your sun ever again! The night will last forever!” She then forcefully stomped on each of the five stone orbs, shattering them into little pieces.
“Ha, ha, Mwahahaha! I’m victorious at last, nopony can stop me now!” Nightmare Moon laughed in a high pitch.
“Do you even realize that’s the last words of countless fallen villains?” Rainbow Dash, who galloped into the throne room with her friends, mocked.
“Fools, without the Elements of Harmony, none of you are even close to powerful enough to stop me!”
Nightmare Moon haughtily bellowed. “Now, bow before me, and I might consider spare your lives after my glorious ascension.”
Twilight sighed. “No wonder you were defeated. You don’t even know how the Elements work!”
She said with some impatience. “The orbs are the form of the Elements, but the essence of the Elements is wielded by and projected through the Element-bearers, who personify the virtues of the Elements. How can you not know, being a former bearer yourself? The sixth element, the Magic of Harmony will manifest itself as long as the Element-bearers will it.”
“In other words, you can’t destroy the Elements simply by physical forces.” Rarity helpfully supplied.
“Well in that case, I will simply subdue all of you forcefully so you’ll not have a chance to use it.” Nightmare Moon growled, as she leapt forth and casted a giant bolt of lightning at the Mane Six.
Twilight immediately casted a powerful shielding spell, and an invisible wall have dissipated the incoming attack.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash then sprang forth, intending to hold down the dark Alicorn and let Twilight blast her with her Harmony Magic.
“Pull back! It’s too risky to go into close combat!” Twilight yelled, as she saw Nightmare Moon’s eye lit a vivid white. A malicious force then swatted both Applejack and Rainbow Dash to the back of the throne room, and they landed on the crumbling stone wall. Rainbow Dash let out a painful yelp.
“Hahaha! Do you now see the futility of your resistance?” Nightmare Moon cackled.
Twilight merely glared. “Your antics at the woods simply gave us the chances to demonstrate the connections between the Elements and our qualities.”
She bobbed her head slightly. “Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty. They together form an impenetrable fortress in our hearts, which I will now show you – the Magic of Harmony!”
Twilight howled, and she casted a spell that emitted countless purple magical tendrils. They leapt forth like a snake’s tongue and restrained Nightmare Moon’s legs.
“Now who’s playing laughable antics?” Nightmare Moon scoffed, as she prepared to casually disperse the restrictive magic.
This was when Twilight’s eyes began to glow a clear white. She and her friends elevated to the air in a gush of colorful magic. The powdered dust of the orbs rose and reconstituted into each of the jewelries representing each Elements. The Elements then snapped onto the necks of the Mane Six, as a brilliant band of rainbow wrapped around them and grew in size.
‘It worked!’ Twilight squealed in her mind.
Then, the magical rainbow consisting of pure Harmony Magic struck the dark Alicorn, who looked on with great alarm. She was squarely hit and let out of painful yell, then knocked back onto the old derelict throne gracelessly with great force. The old stone chair shattered in a thousand pieces.
“Whoops, forgot to tell her to brace.” Twilight stuck her tongue out. She turned to her friends, and said. “I don’t know how we did it, but well done girls, the Elements seemed to recognize our rather … unusual friendship.”
“The Elements do possess hair regeneration power!” Rarity looked at her tail which had grown back. “Surely we can harness that amazing power to help countless ponies who suffer from mane loss?”
The group cheerfully laughed. However, Twilight turned to Spike and muttered worriedly.
“He shouldn’t have any external or inner injuries… Why isn’t he-”
“Uhm… what’s happening here again?” Spike rubbed his eyes and asked, interrupting Twilight’s murmuring.
Applejack again wanted to speak up, but she was quickly stopped by Twilight, who instead said. “Don’t worry Spike, we found the Elements of Harmony, defeated Nightmare Moon and fixed everything.”
“Yeah, hunky-dory and everything.” Rainbow Dash looked at a flabbergasted Spike and rolled her eyes.
“Seems like our work here’s done.” Applejack nodded with relief.
“Indeed, my little ponies.” A bright light shone through from the balcony, and the Mane Six turned around to see the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, stood regally and smiled at them. The sun has risen above the horizons, it had seemed that Nightmare Moon was truly defeated and the power of darkness was casted off, for now.
“Your Highness.” The mares bowed at the royal presence.
“We’re immensely thankful that you’re safe and unharmed.” Twilight duly replied.
“There’s no need to be so formal, dear Twilight. You and your friends have rendered a great service to Equestria.” Celestia smiled. “I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart.”
“Thank you for your kind words Princess,” Twilight curtsied. “We simply saw to that you and your sister are finally united.”
“Oh? So you did know, Twilight. You’re ever so faithful, humble and yet surprising.” Celestia said with a raised eyebrow. She then turned to the former Nightmare Moon, and solemnly declared, “Luna, it has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this.”
Princess Luna gasped and looked up fearfully from the wrecked throne. She gulped and opened her mouth, but not one word came out.
“Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.” Celestia warmly offered. “Will you accept my friendship?”
Princess Luna burst into tears, and threw herself into the gentle embrace of her big sister. “I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!”
“I've missed you, too.” Celestia said quietly.
Twilight looked on with a relieved look. At least everything turned out fine.
Suddenly, she remembered something else, and jabbed Pinkie with her back leg.
Pinkie’s eyes shot wide, and realized it as well. “Oh oh! Do you know what this calls for?”
She jumped cheerfully. “A party!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike has fully recovered, and was exceedingly wakeful as if he had taken a lengthy rest. He was now feasting on cakes and gems from thankful ponies who hailed the Mane Six and Spike as heroes, even when all he did was laying on Fluttershy’s back snoring like an old bear.
“I’m still a bit miffed that she left all the work to us, hid in who knows where and acting all sagely afterwards.” Rainbow Dash smirked and said, watching the numerous ponies streaming towards the impromptu celebration of the return of Princess Celestia and the reunion of the Sisters.
“Celestia’s just doing what she thought it was best for me, Rainbow. She is far from infallible. But she is very capable, or else Equestria wouldn’t have stood tall while other nations fell into oblivion and obscurity.”
“Now that we got the Elements, what should we do?” Rarity queried.
“I’m not going to let my newfound knowledge go to waste. On the short-to-middle term, we must preempt the future sources of threat by dealing with them before they became threats.”
“Twi, you know disaster-proofin’ Equestria tends to have a bad result.” Applejack reminded.
“This is different than paranoia, though. We know about Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, just like we know about Nightmare Moon. And of course… there are reformable ones like Discord, and Starlight Glimmer… maybe? I would give it my all to befriend or at least neutralize their threats as peacefully as possible. We should fully exploit our foreknowledge in order to go one step beyond passive defense.”
“This is in principle not a bad idea, dear, but I’m afraid it would cause unpredictable changes the farther we go.” Rarity sighed.
“Not that Nightmare Moon exactly used any other tricks, even though Twi met the tome moons ago and did so many things differently. Butterfly effect might be overrated.” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“Still won’t hurt to be careful. We can’t flaunt our knowledge too blatantly, or ponies would get suspicious or weirded out.” Rarity cautioned.
Twilight closed her eyes and exhaled. “I agree with Rarity. For now, I prefer to lay low and follow our routines as closely as possible, so that we don’t rouse suspicion. However, I also want to change things slowly… Something big in the long-term.”
“Twilight.” Fluttershy said in a rare asserted tone. “What you are planning can affect hundreds of thousands of lives, and the entire fate of Equestria as a nation. You must be thoughtful and careful.”
“This is for certain. Regarding political matters, I will only act with caution and act only after everything else is settled. We are still small potatoes and need to accumulate some sort of meaningful influence anyway, even though we did defeat Nightmare Moon. Even if someday I become a princess, my stature would still likely be miniscule compared to the other three princesses.”
Twilight wryly chuckled. “But it’s ironic, isn’t it? To render the crown ceremonial, I must strive to have one that is not. But if it does lead to a more peaceful and irenic world, then I don’t mind being somewhat hypocritical.”
“Hey, stop talking about boring stuffs! Get into the party mood, girls!” Pinkie Pie leapt in between the talking mares.
“Hear me play the trombone!” She blew into the instrument in an over-the-top manner, and a loud off-key note went out.
The mares erupted into loud laughter. That’s when the golden chariot that carried Princess Celestia and Princess Luna landed in the middle of the crowd. Loud cheers reverberated throughout the town square in which the celebration took place.
Twilight and her friends trotted near the royal entourage, and she was surprised to find that it was Fast Winds and Sky Stream again who pulled the Princesses’ chariot. She smilingly nodded at the Royal Guards, who in turn nodded at her, but just barely perceptible.
Fluttershy gently placed her hooves on the shoulder of Spike, reminding him to join them as they approached the Princesses. The litter Royal Sister looked uncomfortable, as she was clearly still apprehensive about what she had done as Nightmare Moon, and on the other hoof, getting so much attention all of a sudden.
“Good day, Your Highnesses,” Twilight lowered her head. “It’s great to see you again.”
“Good to see you too, my faithful student,” Celestia gently smiled, but then frowned, “Twilight, you sound a little bit … reserved, is anything wrong?”
“Oh, not at all, y-Princess Celestia,” Twilight was still a bit rigid after the little talk on dismantling the current political system. “I simply think it more appropriate to use a more formal way of address you and Princess Luna in the public, as it is not well-known that I’m your student.”
Celestia nodded. It seemed that her student had grown much more mature and level-headed in recent days. She had always thought that Twilight was a rational mare, although prone to occasional anxiety attack. She was also worried that the secluded life of magical learning in Canterlot had made Twilight Sparkle into a hermit and a social recluse.
But recently, as Celestia observed and heard from ponies around Twilight Sparkle, Twilight seemed to have become much more skillful, expertly even, in social situations and making herself likeable in general. Twilight began to greet and socialize with other ponies and royal guests in the castle.
She even seemed to have memorized the names and faces of the Royal Guards and other palace employees, as Celestia once saw Twilight casually greeting the bed-maids of her royal chamber. Celestia also remembered how shocked she was, when she was told that Twilight had forgone one of her obligatory study binge before a royal examination, in order to attend the birthday party of Lemon Hearts, something the Twilight of old would have never done.
Celestia closed her eyes and sighed under her breath. Has Twilight changed into another pony? Had some evil creature taken her form and impersonated her most faithful student? Or did Twilight simply grow up? Celestia regarded her suspicion preposterous, as Twilight otherwise behaved like the old Twilight, but in her deepest heart she was uncertain. Twilight was now a highly able and mature pony, if just somewhat inexperienced, and she could obviously finish her assigned tasks with flying colors. She wouldn’t admit it outright, but she somewhat missed the innocent and sometimes overly dependent filly, who would write her letters reporting every minute details of her daily life.
“Princess, is there any problem?” Twilight asked with concern, as she noticed that the Princess had simply stood and looked at her in silence.
“… No, not at all Twilight. You’ve done a great job and rescued my beloved sister from the evil clutch of darkness. I thank you with all my heart.” Celestia leaned forward and bowed at Twilight.
“I’m truly overwhelmed, Princess Celestia. I dare not accept the honor and rather defer it to my friends.” Twilight stood back and joined her companions, “For without their faith and support, I could never experience true friendship and ignite the bright flame that is the Magic of Harmony inside my heart.”
“Excellent. Twilight, you’ve displayed much maturity and responsibility in the handling of matters. I’m sure you’re now more than ready to continue your studies back in Canterlot.”
“I beg for your understanding, Princess Celestia, but I must stay. I’ve always wanted to study the most arcane of magic. But to me, the magic of friendship is the most complicated and least understood one for me yet. My experiences with my new friends at Ponyville taught me much that I had missed in my solitary pursuit of knowledge.”
Celestia raised her eyebrow. If the Twilight of old had said that, she would have readily believed her and granted her leave. Not that the magic of friendship wasn’t a very worthy subject to study, nor was there little to learn; But the Twilight of now seemed to be a much more adjusted mare and good at socializing, she’s grown somewhat doubtful towards Twilight’s assertion that she needed to stay and learn about friendship anew. At the end, the recent change in Twilight’s personality had made her hesitant to grant Twilight’s request right away.
Twilight observed her teacher’s expression, and grasped that she’s somewhat unsure and doubtful. ‘…Is she thinking that I don’t need to learn about it? Is it because I’ve started to smooth-talk too much back in Canterlot? Darn it, I hadn’t thought that’d come back and bite me in the plot!’ Twilight mentally groaned.
Sensing Twilight’s desperation, her friends strode forward and joined her plea. “Princess Celestia.” Rarity said. “Twilight had proved herself to be a stalwart and faithful friend during our adventure. We’d be deeply saddened to be separated with her so swiftly afterwards.”
“Rarity’s right. We’ve built a plum sweet friendship when we’re a-chasin’ the Nightmare Moon. Please let her stay if that’s what she want, ah beg of you, Princess Celestia.” Applejack also pled.
“Pluh—ease?” Pinkie said with her best big puppy watery eyes.
“I—I will also miss my friends, please, Princess Celestia.” Twilight implored again, this time much more earnestly and with raw emotion.
Celestia deliberated for a while. She mulled over Twilight in the recent months. Twilight was certainly reaching out to other ponies instead of burying her head in the tomes, which seemed to be a good sign. She’s become even more gregarious and approachable than most ponies in the castle.
Too gregarious, however. Sometimes Celestia couldn’t help but think that her smiles were a bit unctuous, as if it was only an affable façade hiding something. She’d liked to think that Twilight’s grown mature, but she now increasingly feared that Twilight would go astray and become overly calculating. She despaired if Twilight, her beloved student, simply saw other ponies as simply means to her ends. She had seen it before.
That’s one of the reasons why she sent Twilight out on this mission that hinged on forging true friendship. She not only wanted Twilight to get to know more ponies, but also to have a taste of sincere camaraderie from the little adventure of hers. She was unsure whether Twilight was cajoling at other ponies to some purposes of her own, or she just looked unnatural because she was inexperienced in social situations. Either way, she considered that the mission would be helpful.
She revolted at the unpleasant thought of an evil manipulative Twilight. Fortunately, Twilight seemed to have now made good friends that were ready to defend her when she was in distress. It would be inappropriate to separate her from her newly-forged friends against her wishes. Besides, perhaps her friends could guide Twilight onto the right path.
Celestia eventually nodded. “Very well, Twilight, I’ll grant your request.” She smiled and gestured to Spike, who was looking on with concern. “Spike, take a note, please. I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.”
Twilight positively beamed. “Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!” The surrounding ponies loudly cheered, and Twilight was suddenly pulled into a group hug by her joyous friends, which made her yelp in surprise.
Their impromptu group hug was interrupted, however, by Princess Luna. “Twilight Sparkle,” She exclaimed. “I must thank you with all my heart as well. I’m more than ashamed of myself for falling foul to jealousy and committed so many heinous acts.”
Princess Luna paused as she appeared to have thought of some painful memories, but she then made a slightly bashful smile. “As my sister has veritably spake, I will have to let true friendship into my hearts to redeem myself as well. May your … our common endeavors be ever fruitful.”
“Certainly, Your Hi—I mean, Princess Luna,” Twilight said. “I’m ever your faithful listener and friend. And uh,” Twilight sputtered for a bit, “Regarding my remarks in the town hall, I was … merely taunting and I humbly apologized for any transgression I’ve made.”
“No offense taken, Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Luna graciously replied. Princess Celestia looked at them in surprise, wondering what had happened. She opened her mouth to ask, but eventually decided against it.
Pinkie Pie let out a gleeful squeal and said. “Less talking, more partying! We still have tons of fun games to play!” The ponies laughed and proceeded to immerse themselves in the fun and excitement of the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration.
Before Twilight joined the playing ponies, Spike stopped her and asked. “So that’s the reason you said we might have to stay here for a long time ... But why do you have to insist on staying, Twilight? Not that I don’t like at the prospects of seeing lady Rarity every day … But uh, why? Yeah.”
“Spike, that’s complicated … I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you all about this before departure, but I plan to do bigger things … something that can’t be done by simply staying in Canterlot as the Princess’s protégé. Now I can act more independently in Ponyville while keeping contact with the Princess via letters.”
Twilight then continued with a lower voice. “Plus, my friends here are really important to me, they are literally part of my life. I can’t just leave them here and go back to Canterlot myself.”
Spike stared at Twilight, and eventually nodded in understanding. He had felt that Twilight had grown somewhat weird in the recent months, but he also understood that friendship was something that was extremely precious to a mare like Twilight, so he had wisely chosen to not ask further.