//------------------------------// // Elements // Story: Surrogate Light // by scootalooftw //------------------------------// I laid still where I had landed, forelegs over my head with my eyes screwed tight, wondering why I still seemed to be both alive and conscious. In fact, besides the dull throb in my chest where the beam had impacted me, I seemed to be perfectly intact. “It’s ok, Twi,” a familiar scratchy voice said. “You’re safe now, you can open your eyes.” Slowly opening one eye, I was shocked to see Rainbow Dash standing defensively in between Nightmare Moon and me. “Barely got here in time,” Rainbow said, peeking over her shoulder at me. “You still got everything back there?” “Yeah, I do,” I said, giving myself a quick look before flinching when I looked back at Rainbow. “But, your tail…” “Eh, it’s fine,” Rainbow said, snapping the singed remains of her tail in annoyance. “It’ll grow back, you won’t.” “But… what are you even doing here?” I asked. “And, how did you even find us?” “You didn’t think I’d leave you to deal with ol’ Nighty here by yourself?” Dash asked. “When she did that creepy smoke thing and pulled you with her, I followed you guys. You aren’t far from the room we found the Element’s in.” “Why risk yourself for me?” I asked. “What do you mean?” Rainbow asked, briefly looking back at me before remembering to face Nightmare Moon. “Why risk yourself for me? For somepony you don’t even trust,” I said. “You see what that beam did to the thrones, imagine if you would have gotten hit by that.” “No chance it woulda hit me,” Rainbow scoffed. “Besides, if I hadn’t done anything, knowing that I could have, I never would have been able to live with myself.” Rainbow’s expression softened as she gained a small smile. “Besides, I’ve been rethinking the whole ‘not trusting you’ thing,” she said. “Somepony who’s willing to go through all this, and stand up to an alicorn by themselves? Kinda makes me think I misjudged you.” Standing from where I landed, a warmth bloomed in my chest as I moved to stand beside Rainbow. Nightmare seemed content to see and watch with a sneer on her face as I gaped at the damage done by the magic attack. The thrones were completely destroyed, along with a large portion of the dais they had rested upon, and there was a large hole blown in the wall behind it. “What about the others?” I asked, shaking my head to try and clear the image of what her attack would have done to me from it. “They were following on hoof when I took off,” Rainbow said. “They should be here any moment.” “Good,” Nightmare said, speaking up for the first time since she had launched her attack. “I’ve grown tired of these games. Once your friends arrive, I can just destroy you all at once.” “You can try,” Rainbow scoffed. “Once the others get here, we’ll just beat the hay outta you and take the Elements back.” “I’d like to see you try,” Nightmare chuckled darkly. “One-thousand years on the moon were quite… tedious, I could use the entertainment.” Shouting and the sound of hooves pounding on stone interrupted any further banter, and it wasn’t long before the other four came galloping into the room and ran straight for us. Sliding to a stop in front of us, they quickly fanned out around me and turned to face Nightmare. “Y’all alright?” Applejack asked. “Little toasty, but we’re fine,” Rainbow said. “Me and Twi can handle anything this wanna be can throw at us.” “Rainbow, you are not fine!” Rarity shrieked. “Just look at what happened to your poor tail!” “Eh, it’s no biggie,” Rainbow said. “It was either the tail or Twi; not exactly a hard decision to make.” “Well, I suppose that’s understandable,” Rarity said after a moment's hesitation. “Besides, short tails are in this season.” “Are you quite through?” Nightmare asked, frowning impatiently. “I’d like to move on to the whole ‘destroying you’ part already.” “Ha, you wish!” Rainbow laughed, taking a confident step forward. “With all of us together, you don’t stand a chance!” The rest of the ponies stepped forward, shouting their agreement, and I noticed the dim glow that had been emanating from the Elements pulse in response. Nightmare noticed it too, her expression darkening as she floated the stone orbs in front of her. “With these, you may have stood a chance,” Nightmare growled. The glow surrounding her horn intensified and the Elements shattered, the sounds of the shards falling to the ground cutting through the silence in the room like a knife. “Without them, however…” We all gaped in shock at the shattered remains of what had been our best hope of returning the sun. “Aww, where’s that bravado now, my little ponies?” Nightmare cooed. Stepping over the shattered remains of the stone orbs, she slunk towards us with a devious grin on her face. “Hadn’t you just finished telling us how you were going to… ‘beat the hay out of me’?” “W-we don’t need the Elements to beat you,” Rainbow said shakily. Swallowing her fear, she stepped forward once more with a glare. “And you aren’t going to hurt my friends! If you want to touch them, you’re going to have to go through me.” Unbeknownst to Nightmare Moon, the shattered fragments of the Elements behind her began to glow in response to Rainbow’s assertion. I noticed, however, and a small smile grew on my face as I came to a realization. “What are you smirking at?” Nightmare demanded. “Despite what the puny pegasus might say, you will die here.” “You can’t destroy the Elements,” I muttered, drawing looks of surprise from the others. “What was that?” Nightmare asked, crouching lower as she ignited her horn once more. “You may have destroyed the physical embodiment of the Elements, but you can never truly destroy the spirit of harmony,” I said, confidently stepping forward to stand beside Rainbow. “The spirits of Harmony live inside these five ponies, inside of my friends.” Looking behind me, I nodded at my friends and motioned for them to step forward. “Applejack,” I said as the orange mare stepped forward to stand beside me. “Stalwart, hard-working, and when she says she’s going to do something, she gives it her all to make sure it gets done. She’s been nothing but truthful with me since I woke up, even when the truth isn’t what I wanted to hear. She represents the Element of Honesty!” In response to my declaration, a portion of the shards began shining a brilliant orange. Floating into the air, the shards soared in an arc over Nightmare’s head and began circling Applejack. “Fluttershy,” I said, the pegasus mare shyly stepping forward in response. “Quiet, compassionate, and she would never let another suffer if she could help it. Since the moment I’ve met her, she’s done nothing but worry about others over herself, even going so far as to stop and treat an injured manticore on our way here. A pony as caring as she is could only be the Element of Kindness!” Again shards of the orbs, encased in a pink glow, floated over to our group and encircled Fluttershy. “Pinkie Pie,” the mare in question hopped forward, giggling to herself. “Loud, boisterous, and never without a smile on her face. She has spent every moment of her time since your return giving her all to keep up the moral of the town and, once we had set out on our mission, that of our group. For the pony who spreads cheer wherever she goes, she’s deserving of nothing less than the Element of Laughter!” More shards of the sphere levitated over to the group, completely ignoring Nightmares attempts to stop them with her magic. The shards floated over to Pinkie Pie and began orbiting her as the pink mare danced back and forth on her hind legs. “Rarity,” I said, causing the white unicorn to prance forward. “I have never met a pony so willing to give all of what they have to help others. Since we met, I have seen her do nothing but give, never once asking for anything in return. The Element of Generosity could pick no better bearer.” Half of the remaining shards began glowing a bright purple and floated past a terrified-looking Nightmare and around Rarity. “And finally, Rainbow Dash,” I said, glancing at the rainbow-maned mare beside me. “Fierce, brash, and protective. Unable to stand idly by when one of her friends is in danger. I could think of nopony better to represent the Element of Loyalty!” The last of the shards of the orbs, this time glowing a brilliant red, floated off of the ground and began orbiting Rainbow. “So you figured out how the Elements work, big deal,” Nightmare scoffed. “You’ve still only got five of them; without the sixth they’re useless.” The rest of the girls shared a concerned look, but I simply smirked confidently at Nightmare. “That’s where you’re wrong,” I said, taking a step forward. “The prophecy stated that when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth to be revealed.” “And?” Nightmare said, taking a challenging step forward. “I didn’t see a spark, nor do I see the sixth Element. Face it, you’ve failed.” “But there was a spark,” I responded, refusing to back down. “The spark ignited in me when I realized how close we had become, and how much we had grown to care for each other.” Nightmare’s confidence began to visibly waver as she took a hesitant step back, her wings twitching as she considered fleeing. “The spark ignited the fire in the hearts of all of us when I realized that these ponies were my friends!” A bright light flashed above me, and a quick glance up showed a sixth stone orb gently floating above me. “When those fires are ignited by the spark of friendship, it creates the sixth Element.” The glow encasing the sixth Element steadily grew brighter as the five ponies behind me slowly floated off of the ground. “The Element of Magic!”  I shouted triumphantly, feeling myself begin to lift off the ground as well. The shards began spinning faster and faster around the necks of my five friends as they slowly changed in appearance. What had once been stone shards slowly grew crystalline in appearance, before rapidly closing in around their necks. A bright flash of light momentarily obscured my sight before clearing to reveal five golden necklaces, each containing a gem in the shape of the bearers cutie mark. The final orb lowered itself towards my head, and just as it was about to make contact it morphed into a large golden tiara with a purple starburst gem in the center. With the addition of the sixth and final Element, the glow encasing my friends and I doubled, then tripled, tinting my vision white before blasting forth from us in an arc towards Nightmare Moon. “No!” Nightmare shouted, swallowing her pride and turning to flee when she realized she couldn’t stop us. She was too late, however, and the rainbow light quickly looped around in front of her and cut her off. The blast began circling her faster and faster, slowly stretching until it became a whirlwind of rainbow light. I could hear screams of pain and cries for mercy come from the center of the whirlwind as it lifted her into the air, and just before my vision went completely white and I lost all sense I heard the distinct sound of seven bodies impacting the ground.