A burst of light and a plume of smoke were the next things we experienced. Twilight began coughing, as did I. As the smoke cleared, we were greeted by her sight. Evil, menacing, yet still majestic. Much like Cornelia. As expected, Nightmare Moon was laughing. The Elements of Harmony lay suspended in the air by her ethereal mane and tail, circling her like planets around a star. Thunder sounded and lightning crackled in the large room we occupied. Twilight was unfazed by the light show. Together, we prepared to take on the dark alicorn, Twilight going so far as to clop a hoof on the ground, like a charging bull.
"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" she asked, wholly unimpressed by our determination. When she looked at me, I got the sense that she expected more from me. Had I more time and resources, it's highly likely I would have delivered on such expectations. But you make do with what you have.
Twilight didn't respond. She simply led the charge, her horn flaring with light. I followed close behind, prepared to fight to the best of my abilities, such as they were. Nightmare Moon readied herself, rushing forward to meet us halfway. It suddenly struck me what Twilight's plan was. It was then that I got in formation behind her and waited for the moment to strike. The closer we got, the brighter Twilight's horn became until we were less than a meter apart. Twilight's magic flared and she disappeared. Now only Nightmare Moon and myself remained. I jumped up and spun around mid air, trying to mimic Rarity's kick on the Minotaur from earlier. It worked, Hooves met face and helmet. The impact from my running kick caused the alicorn to stagger, but in the end, all I could manage to do was stun her.
It lasted only for a moment, but it was long enough. Nightmare spotted Twilight by the Elements of Harmony, trying to elicit a spark. In a mad dash, she forgot about her revenge on me and bolted over to the elements. When she appeared, Twilight was knocked back not by Nightmare, but the feedback from the Elements of Harmony. I managed to catch her and soften her landing. We looked over to Nightmare and the Elements and saw white sparks dancing between the orbs. We'd done it, the spark that ignited the five elements. Nightmare Moon seemed to think so too.
"No! No!" she cried. A smile worked its way onto our faces as we thought we'd come out victorious. But fate can be a fickle thing. As quickly as the spark appeared, it faded just as fast. Twilight gasped.
"But where's the sixth element?" she asked.
Nightmare Moon on the other hand was quite pleased with the current development of things. She began to laugh once more before rising onto her hind legs and slamming her front legs down around the orbs. The shockwave from the collision caused cracks to form in the Elements before they shattered. As those orbs shattered, so did Twilight's hopes of saving Equestria from an Eternal Night.
"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me. Now you will never see your princess or your sun. The night will last forever!" And once more, Nightmare Moon began to cackle, her mane and tail expanding into a funnel of smoke.
Twilight was distraught. Her last hope shattered into a thousand pieces. There were no words I could give her to make her feel better. All hope seemed lost until a flood of voices sounded from behind us. Turning around to look towards the only viable exit, a number of shadows made their way up the winding stairs. A gasp left Twilight's mouth. I turned to look at her and I could have sworn I saw a spark in her eyes.
"So that's it." I said, realising the same thing she did. She turned to me and smiled.
"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well you're wrong." Twilight began, turning to confront Nightmare Moon once again. I sat beside her, a smile on my face as I watched Nightmare Moon's expression. At first she seemed confused, then she seemed offended, like a pouty foal. "Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!" Twilight declared. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the colours of all of our friends. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.
Once Twilight's words sunk in, the stone shards on the floor around Nightmare moon began to glow. Some of them even rose from the ground, each radiating a different colour. "What?" Nightmare Moon was surprised by this new turn of events.
"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty. Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness. Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter. Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity. And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty." As Twilight listed off each of her friends and their representations, a number of crystals would move to revolve around them. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us." Twilight added.
"You still don't have the sixth element. The spark didn't work." Nightmare said, looking around, visibly unsure of herself.
"But it did, a different kind of spark." Twilight turned to face her friends. "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all..." she turned back to Nightmare Moon. "Are my friends."
Suddenly, a light overhead began to blaze. Looking up, a sixth orb revealed itself to them, lowering down to rest just above Twilight herself. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the Element of Magic."
With those final words, the orb overhead and the gems all shone blindingly bright. The shards came together around the girls, transforming into personalised jeweled necklaces, save Twilights. The Element of Magic transformed into a crown. A purple starburst gem resting in the centre, mimicking Twilight's cutie mark. Each of the girls came together, the light around them glowing ever brighter. I watched Nightmare Moon carefully. As two rainbow beams emerged from Twilight and the girls, Nightmare went to run away. It was then that I acted.
"Nightmare!!! I shouted at the top of my lungs. The sudden calling of her name caused her to make eye contact with me for just a moment, but it was long enough. "Don't move from that spot until this is all over!!!" I commanded. The second those words left my lips, I felt my geass react and rewrite Nightmare Moon's brain, forcing her to stand still as the Elements of Harmony latched onto the dark alicorn. Despite the command I gave her, Nightmare Moon cried out in protest as the beams of rainbow energy swirled around her. Nightmare Moon was a good as done. I deactivated my geass and looked over to the girls. They seemed to not hear me issue the command to the alicorn, which was a good sign for me. Twilight's eyes opened and all I saw was white light radiating from them. Seconds later, everything was white, then black.
How long we were unconscious was anyone's guess, but I was the first to awaken. The girls were just beginning to stir, Rainbow coming to the quickest. She groaned as she pressed a hoof against her temple.
"Oh, my head!" she mumbled.
Applejack looked around. "Everypony okay?" she asked.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Rarity exclaimed. She and Fluttershy were admiring the new tail that had magically grown back.
"Why, Rarity, it's so lovely." Fluttershy praised.
"I know. I'll never part with it again." Rarity replied.
"We couldn't have been asleep for that long, could we?" I asked, earning a chuckle from Rainbow.
"No, your necklace." Fluttershy responded. "It looks just like your cutie mark."
Rarity looked down to examine said necklace. She then noticed Fluttershy's own necklace. "So does yours." she replied. This got the girls all praising their own necklaces, until they saw Twilight's new addition; a crown.
"Gee, Twilight, I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey. But I reckon we really do represent the Elements of Friendship." Applejack admitted.
I turned my gaze leftward as the light of the morning sun began to rise. "Indeed, you do." a new voice, soft and motherly, yet regal and strong replied. A ball of pure white light emerged through the window and burst forth to reveal a pure white Alicorn with golden crown and regalia. Like Nightmare Moon, she had an ethereal mane, however hers resembled an aurora with varying shades of red, green and blue.
I knew right away who this was, but Twilight saw fit to confirm it. "Princess Celestia!" she said, pure joy coating her features. She went up to meet her princess who in turn lowered her head down and around Twilight's neck to give her what I could only assume was a friendly hug.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it." Celestia addressed her. That last sentence told me much about her. Celestia was as smart as myself, with far more years worth of knowledge and experience to hone that intelligence. I knew then and there that if I were to ever truly oppose this nation of ponies, I would need extensive knowledge and a vast number of resources at my disposal. With the presence of magic, the battlefield would no longer be in my favor despite my geass. 'But I'm getting ahead of myself. I still need to evaluate whether or not this kingdom is anything like Britannia. If not, then nothing need be done against them, and I could finally live a peaceful and fulfilling life, as one of them. However, if Equestria turned out to be like Britannia, I'm sure a little digging would uncover an underground movement or two that would just love to see Celestia and her ilk overthrown.'
"But you told me it was all an old pony tale." Twilight argued. My gaze was taken from the glowing and regal princess of the sun to the spot Nightmare Moon once stood.
"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her." Celestia said, turning to all of Twilight's new friends, save me, who had moved closer to the spot said Nightmare once was. I honestly hadn't expected anything to remain behind. A pile of ashes, at best, yet what remained peaked my curiosity. It had been a while since I'd been party to an adventure or quest that didn't result in a fatality.
"But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now if only another will, as well..." Celestia's last words drew everypony's attention to me. A young looking light blue alicorn with a black crown and sparkling baby blue horse shoes lay sleeping beside me. "Princess Luna." at the mention of her name, the young alicorn visibly jolted awake and upon seeing Celestia, tried to make herself even smaller. She was afraid, there was no denying. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this."
Celestia knelt down and rested across from me on Luna's other side, her voice sounding gentler as she spoke. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."
"Sister?" the girls gawked.
"Did we fail to mention that?" I asked. All eyes except Twilights were on me. "When I was helping Twilight with piecing together her research, it was obvious that the Mare in the moon or, Princess Luna rather, was Princess Celestia's sister."
"How do you figure that?" Rarity asked.
"Well, Twilight gave me the brief version of the story of the two pony sisters. One in charge of the Sun; Princess Celestia, obviously. And another in charge of the moon. The fact that Princess Celestia, who has ruled over both the sun and moon for the past thousand years, even though her cutie mark depicts the sun exclusively proves that there must have been another, and that the story is true. Princess Luna's name was not mentioned that I'm aware of, however, Nightmare Moon's was. The fate of Nightmare moon is recorded in the story. She was sealed away in her beloved moon for all eternity. When Nightmare Moon returned, it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the story was true and that Nightmare Moon was the younger sister of Princess Celestia." there was an eerie silence as all eyes were on me.
"Uh, so to summarise... Called it!" I finished. Pinkie was the first to break the silence with a fit of giggling, and I was suddenly no longer irked by her existence.
"Who are you?" Princess Celestia asked.
"I am Lelouch Vi Britannia. Honestly, I don't know how I got involved in all of this. One minute I'm helping Twilight with research, the next... eternal night." I replied. Princess Celestia chuckled.
"I'm sorry to have gotten you caught up in all of this, Lelouch." she said.
I chuckled back. "Don't be. I needed to make some friends, since I just came to Equestria. Now I've got seven. We mustn't forget young Spike." at the mention of the dragon, Celestia's smile seemed more genuine somehow. I thought the last smile was genuine. 'She's suspicious of me. Which means everything that's happened, including Twilight's new friends were planned. I hope they have Chess in this world, I'd love to see how she plays.'
"Then welcome to Equestria, Lelouch Vi Britannia." She then turned to her younger sister. "Sister, will you accept my friendship?" Celestia continued, as if the interruption had never taken place. She rose to her full height. 'Yeah, like standing over her will help her to decide in favour of friendship. You should have stayed down at her level, Princess.' I looked over to the girls to see each of them leaning in, hope in their big eyes. I decided a little coaxing might help. I leaned into Luna and whispered into her ear.
"I understand your hesitation, Princess. I've said things to my own sisters that I wish I never had. Even now, my heart breaks whenever I think about it. But right here, right now; this is your chance to mend your heart, and your sister's." a gentle gast escaped her lips as my words sank in. Mere seconds later, Luna rose onto her hooves and dove forward to Celestia.
"I'm so sorry!" she cried, tears filling her eyes. "I missed you so much big sister." Luna whimpered.
Celestia let the tears fall from her face as she was finally, truly reunited with her long lost little sister. "I've missed you too." she said.
Pinkie began crying a fountain of tears for all of five seconds before she suddenly stopped. "Hey, you know what this calls for?"
"A Party!"
So we made it back to Ponyville in record time, only to see Pinkie had somehow already set up the decorations and festivities whilst everything was going on. A small carriage had been called and drawn for the princesses and they were now arriving in town. Spike was the first to greet Twilight when she returned, and even saw fit to offer me a fist bump. I accepted happily enough.
Looking over to the princesses, I saw a group of ponies bowing to the pair whilst Luna still looked somewhat forlorn. Until a fair of pegasus fillies put a wreath of flowers around her neck in welcome. The gesture surprised her, but eventually moved her to tears as she looked up at her sister with joy on both their faces. Everything seemed to be concluding in a happily ever after. Never thought I'd see one of those. It was then that I looked over to Twilight and saw a crestfallen look upon her face. Princess Celestia seemed to notice this too.
"Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?" 'Ah, there it is. The return. She doesn't want to leave her new friends behind. No doubt Celestia knows this. She probably planned this.'
"That's just it. Just when I learn how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them." Twilight replied, none the wiser.
Celestia barely hesitated. "Spike, take a note, please." she said. I watched as the little dragon pulled a quill and parchment from seemingly nowhere. "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." as Celestia's decree was finalised, the girls all gathered around Twilight in a group hug. I stood just a little ways off. I wasn't a hugger.
"Oh, thank you Princess Celestia. I'll study harder than ever before." Twilight declared. A chorus of cheers sounded throughout town.
As the party began to die down and ponies went home to prepare their lives for the following day, Princesses Celestia and Luna prepared to depart as well. "Princess Celestia, might I have a word with you in private?" I asked, catching the alicorn just as she was about to step onto the carriage. She turned to look at me, that default smile that would have fooled anyone else had I not seen the more genuine smile earlier.
"Of course, I actually wanted to speak with you as well." she replied. 'That's ominous.' I thought as the sun princess stepped back down from her carriage and turned to face me. Princess Luna took the chance to smile and wave cordially at me. I bowed with respect to her in return. My focus returned to a much larger much closer alicorn. Princess Celestia towered over me. She was trying to make me uncomfortable, and it was working. She raised a hoof and gestured it away from the carriage, suggesting we walk and talk.
"I have to admit, Princess. You truly terrify me." I said, starting up the conversation.
Celestia's smile never faltered. "Oh? And why is that? Do you fear my power? Is it my status as Princess? The loyalty of my subjects? Or are you simply intimidated by taller mares?" she chuckled at the last one. 'So, she's open to some friendly banter. But of course, it's a test, to get a feel for me.'
"None of the above, I'm afraid. No, in all honesty; it's your mind that I'm afraid of." I said. I saw it. The slightest twitch of that otherwise perfect poker face.
"Whatever do you mean?" she inquired. It was subtle, but her tone wavered. 'She's not suspicious of me, she's terrified. But why?'
"The return of Nightmare Moon. You planned it all out ahead of time. Sending Twilight to find friends to help her tap into the Elements of Harmony. It sounds elaborate enough that some might leave it at that. But I know that your plan runs deeper. You were very particular about the friends Twilight made. You hoof picked them, and none of them are any the wiser. Which means you knew who they were ahead of time. That's why you asked for my name, but you already seemed to know theirs." I turned to look directly at her. Her poker face was perfect, almost too perfect. Like a mask.
"You believe so?" she asked. Her eyes did not make contact with mine. 'I feel like a rabbit staring down a wolf. I'm pushing buttons that normally can't be pushed. If anyone else were to ask these questions, she might be more open, but she's deliberately avoiding giving me any information I can use. Forget Chess, I'm on a tightrope and she's my opponent.
She thinks she's the bunny and I'm the wolf. And I've stepped into the warren that is her plan. "Which means that this was just the beginning. You have a much grander plan for her." 'The mask is cracking. Tells are slipping through. If I push much further, she'll destroy me. But it won't be quick, painful and flashy. No, it'll be subtle, like cutting out a tumor. She'll alienate me from the girls, just as Schneizel did with my Black Knights.'
'I could stop her. I could gain her trust with a single command, alleviate her worries... But I'd rather not use geass unless I have to.' "And as such... you're afraid I might interfere with that plan. I'm a wild card that wasn't supposed to be in the deck you fixed. You don't know whether or not I'm friend or foe." Those eyes. Geass has nothing on them, and they're looking right at me. I can't push any further. I'm standing on the edge.
As if that wasn't ominous enough, I hadn't realised that we'd stopped walking until we reached the entrance to the old castle, where the girls and I had faced off against Nightmare Moon. I can't push her any further... yet I have to.
"That explains why you're so cautious of me... But not why you're scared of me." Was it magic that made me feel as though a blade was pressed against my throat just now? Or was I sensing her intent to kill? I almost wished I had Maou's power, if only to hear what she was thinking... if she was thinking at all. She hadn't said a word.
Upon closer inspection, I realised that she was no longer looking me in the eye, but rather at my flank. As to why, I couldn't fathom... Oh.