Twilight pinned her ears back as Constellation clacked her beak, her soft, mosaic wings spreading slightly at Rainbow's shout. Rainbow was crouched, growling and pawing at the ground, while her wings were spread and tilted forword. The other four were staring at her in horror. The red light hovering over her head flickered and nearly went out as her loyalty wavered.
"Rainbow! How could you SAY such a thing!?" Rainbow growled, her ears pinned down as the red, glowing sphere above her head continued to flicker and dim. Twilight stared at the ball of light, her ears pinned down. She'd heard her mother and aunt talk about the Elements many times. One thing they'd talked about was that each element tested the pony it gravitated to. Now, this made sense. The Elements were alive In a sense and could sense a potential bearer's ability to stay true to the Element that chose them.
"Rainbow, I didn't do anything wrong. Haven't you heard the phrase 'the victors tell the story'? My aunt hated my mother and me because she listened to the rumors the nobles started about us." Rainbow snarled and the light nearly went out again. Applejack sighed and stepped between them.
"Rainbow, calm down. Let's hear her out." The blue mare pinned her ears back and sat down. The dim, red ball stopped flickering as she did so, though it didn't get brighter. Twilight sighed and lowered her head, Constellation rubbing her head against Twilight's neck. Twilight turned to the bird and stood up.
"Constellation, did you lead the other Opal-beaks against the ponies of Equestria?" The bird shook her head and began to purr, her eyes closed. Twilight stroked her feathers and smiled, satisfied. The bird spread her wings and opened her beak, a warbling call flowing out of her throat. Her thin wings came down and she jumped into the air. Rainbow looked away and, to Twilight's delight, the red ball started to brighten slightly. However, there was still a long way to go.
"Rainbow, I don't want to hurt anyone. I was in a stasis spell and Celestia clearly sealed Constellation into an array so she could protect the Elements. How could we have done those things?" The energy ball continued to brighten, though Rainbow was still looking away. The other five balls started to coalesce and focus on their necks, or head in Twilight's case. As the swirling energy condensed, two patches of golden dust formed on each side, snaking their way around the ponies necks. The energy continued to condense and began to solidify. Soon Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie were each wearing a glimmering necklace while Twilight was wearing a small crown with a star-shaped amethyst set inside. Each of the necklaces held a gem that matched the wearer's Cutie Mark. The only one lacking a necklace was Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, how come they all get one and I don't?"
"The Elements judge a potential bearer and, if they're deemed worthy, the Elements form into jewels. However, if that Element senses the bearer's shared trait wavering then it will start flickering and dimming. If they're deemed unworthy then the Element will vanish till the next one comes along. However, Loyalty is the hardest to keep because loyalty can change quite fast. Also, each bearer must be unwavering in their Element towards all of the other bearers." Rainbow tilted her head in confusion. She looked at the other ponies then up at her still dim ball of energy.
"Which is which?" Twilight nodded to Rarity and pointed to her tiara.
"Light purple is Magic, dark purple is Generosity, orange is Honesty, blue is Laughter, pink is Kindness and red is Loyalty." At the last one, she looked directly at Rainbow, who looked back up at the swirling ball of energy above her head and notice the deep red colour of the ball. She looked around at the others and her ears drooped as the implication hit her. Her loyalty to Twilight had left and the Element had almost left her. She turned towards Twilight and jumped when she saw Constellation standing right on front of her. The large bird clacked her beak, cooing. Rainbow flicked her ears back and looked away, small tears gathering in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Twilight. I was wrong, rash, and I jumped to conclusions. if you forgive me, I won't swerve again. I promise." With that, the red ball of energy began to blaze, bathing all of them in bright red light. It migrated to her neck and, after a few seconds, she was wearing a golden necklace with a bright ruby set inside, shaped like a lightning bolt. She looked up as Twilight wrapped her hooves around her neck.
"See? All you needed to do was prove yourself." Rainbow smiled and looked down at the necklace around her neck. There was a gentle light held within each of their gems that made them shimmer. Rainbow sighed and smiled at Twilight who was examining her crown. The prismatic mare looked around at her friends and smiled. Things were going well.
TWO HOURS LATER
Luna stared at the spears pointed at her muzzle. The gold-clad guards were glaring at her while a snow white stallion with a streaked blue mane walked towards her with cold blue eyes. Beside him was a light pink Alicorn mare with a pink, purple and yellow mane. Twilight and her new friends were standing behind the jet black mare, watching the exchange nervously. Rainbow had sworn allegiance to Luna after Twilight explained what had happened. The prismatic mare stood beside the lavender princess, her chest puffed and her eyes challenging.
"Captain, if you would let me speak, you would understand. Tell me what my sister told you." Shining Armour flattened his ears and growled. The light pink Alicorn looked between them, nervous. Her purple eyes locked with Twilight's own and they nodded.
"Mom, Shining, please calm down. Shining, will you please just give us a chance? I'll explain what happened to make my mother like this. If I don't change your mind, then the two of us will bring my aunt back and surrender. Deal?" Shining nodded and Twilight started to tell their story. But when she got to the incident at the bakery, she faltered, starting to shiver. Shaking her head, she continued.
"The last straw happened the day mom got banished. I was out in the city and I went into a bakery."
Twilight sighed, her ears drooping. She looked around at the jeering ponies. The lavender princess had long since stopped trying to make friends and had gotten used to the treatment. Her bag of bits jingled as it hovered beside her, bouncing along with her trotting. A group of foals raced past her, knocking her over. She grunted, her ears flicking back.
"Oh look, it's the moon's spawn." Twilight growled and looked up to see Crystalline walking towards her, her bright, blue eyes glittering in malice. Twilight pushed past her, eyes narrowed. She growled as she entered the bakery, trying to calm down.
"May I help you, princess?" She looked up to see the baker's stony face. Her eyes were narrowed in hatred as Twilight levitated a small cinnamon roll up, placing a few bits on the counter.
"I'm sorry, that's for someone else. The only thing we have available for purchase is this." A tiny, dark scone floated up, making Twilight wince. She shook her head and lifted her bits into the air, only to have the baker take them back.
"I'm sorry but you've already given me these. Now take the scone and get out." Twilight flicked her ears back, her wings twitching. Wrapping her magic around the scone, she started to walk away. Only to feel something soft hit her head. Her magic wrapped around the object and pulled it off her head as her aunt came in. It was the same roll she'd tried to buy. Rage spread across her face and she whipped around to glare at the baker.
"You said this was for somepony else!" The baker grinned and soon more cakes and rolls flew at Twilight, making her shout and dart around, to avoid being hit. Her horn began to glow and a loud boom echoed through the bakery. Everypony was thrown off their hooves and into the walls. Twilight shook herself off and stood there, panting. Suddenly a golden aura wrapped around her, making her spin and face her aunt.
"How dare you attack these ponies!?"
"B... but auntie, they were..." Celestia dragged her out of the bakery and towards the castle, ignoring her shrieks and protests. Tears ran down her cheeks as the stones on the road scrapped her fur. Eventually, Celestia lifted her up an they kept going, more tears soaking her fur.
When Twilight was finished, she was shivering and had tears flowing down her cheeks. Her wings were wrapped around herself as she sat there. Even Rainbow had tears in her eyes as they stared at Twilight. Luna gently wrapped her hooves around her daughter, pressing Twilight's muzzle into her chest as the smaller mare started to sob. Shining Armour gently placed a hoof on Twilight's back, watching her as she turned her tear-filled eyes towards him. His eyes were gentle and, slowly, Luna released her. Shining Armour gently pulled her into a hug, Twilight nuzzling into his neck.
"I'm sorry, Twilight. If I'd known..." Twilight sighed as he passed her over to Cadence and turned towards Luna.
"Princess, I apologize for how I acted. You must understand, she told me that you turned on her without cause and I never had any reason not to believe her." Luna nodded, though her eyes still betrayed her distrust. She looked up at the castle and her horn started to glow, a blue glow flowing over the surface of the castle. Soon, the white marble began to ripple into dark ebony with silver spirals all over the surface that glittered in the moonlight. The guards armour started to pale, turning into white-gold with copper clasps. Shining Armour's own outfit became rose-gold with silver details and a gold clasp. Shining nodded and saluted to the dark mare. Twilight ruffled her wings in apprehension. After what she'd been through, trust didn't come easy.