The Crystal Palace, Front Balcony
Star Swirl the Bearded, Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Cadance were standing together on the balcony of the Crystal Palace overlooking the main avenue of the Crystal Empire. They had just witnessed night fall and the sun rise in the same instant, which had caught the attention of everyone in the Crystal Empire. The activity in the Empire had come to a sudden halt with the strange phenomena, the citizens mesmerized and confused by the event.
"Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker must be asserting their royal authority," Star Swirl postulated, deducing the meaning of the odd occurrence.
"We can't let them control the sun and moon for long," Princess Cadance warned. "Who knows what they'll do if the citizens don't obey their rule?"
Twilight shook her head and walked back into the palace, a sullen weight visible in her stride. Princess Cadance followed her.
"Don't be stressed, Twilight, you have a lot of support here," Cadance tried to cheer her up.
Twilight stopped walking but didn't look back at Cadance. She took a small breath. "I'm...fine," Twilight said, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "Let's get started." She continued walking down the hall towards the library.
The Crystal Palace, Library
Twilight and Star Swirl were standing in front of a large table that was flanked on both sides by the rows of shelves of the Crystal Palace's library. On the table were the six Elements of Harmony arranged in a circle and standing off to the side was Stygian, who was levitating a pencil and a pad of paper and taking notes on the pair's findings. At the far end of the table, a magic containment vessel had been set up to capture magical energy to be studied.
"Try again, Twilight," Star Swirl instructed. Twilight nodded then energized her horn. She shot a beam of magic down onto the table and engulfed the Elements of Harmony. The Elements began to swirl rapidly before another beam of magic shot out from the center and into the magical container. Twilight released her spell and the Elements gracefully returned to the table. Star Swirl trotted over to the magical container and looked inside. Twilight and Stygian looked on with hope but Star Swirl shook his head in disappointment, which lowered the spirits of the others.
Twilight groaned loudly. "What isn't working?" she asked, frustration evident in her tone.
"The Elements of Harmony weren't designed to channel magic," Star Swirl explained. "They are strong magical artifacts on their own but as a source of magic you can’t influence the magic that they cast. When you and your friends use the Elements, you are calling forth their innate magic and you can't amplify your own magic by using them alone."
Twilight sighed and sat down in the nearby chair. "This is why we needed the Castle of Friendship last time," she surmised. "It allowed us to route magic from the Tree of Harmony, combine it with the power of the Elements themselves, and use all that power at once to seal Daybreaker."
Star Swirl stood with his hoof on his chin, looking over the notes that Stygian had taken on their experiments. He flipped back and forth through the pages, trying to decipher a pattern from their findings. "I wonder..." Star Swirl said to himself, squinting his eyes. He looked back over at the Elements of Harmony.
"Is there something you noticed, Mr. Star Swirl?" Stygian asked.
"Maybe..." Star Swirl said. He dispelled the magic contained in the magical capture vessel then levitated the Elements of Harmony. He shot a fresh sample of magic into the vessel from the Elements then moved in close to inspect the sample. "I believe..." he began, "we might be approaching this from the wrong perspective."
"How so?" Twilight asked.
"Rather than look to the Elements of Harmony themselves, we should examine their origin."
"The Tree of Harmony?" Stygian asked. "But I thought the Tree could not be used to enhance the effects of the Elements."
"No, but what if instead of enhancing the effect of the Elements, we used the power of the Tree itself?" Star Swirl postulated. "The Tree of Harmony is the manifested form of Equestria's magic and the Elements of Harmony are the crystallized essences of friendship magic that were originally given power by the Tree. The six bearers are thus connected to the Tree of Harmony by way of the Elements. Perhaps...it may be possible to use that connection in order to push the magic of the Tree through a single point, shape that magic as a friendship spell, then seal Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker."
"That...might work," Twilight said, starting to see the theory. "It would essentially be like using me as the Castle, right?"
Star Swirl nodded. "However," he added, "this method is highly unstable compared to using the Castle. When we used the Castle, the effect was simply as if we had used the Elements but by tenfold. By trying to route the magic of the Tree directly through you, the resulting spell may do more than just seal Celestia and Luna's magic...Celestia and Luna may..." Star Swirl trailed off, not wanting to describe the end result.
Twilight raised her hoof to her mouth, realizing what Star Swirl was implying. "Oh...oh no..." she said, dreading the worst.
"Why is that, Mr. Star Swirl?" Stygian asked. "How is it different from using the Castle as a conduit?"
"Because when we used the Castle to enhance the Elements of Harmony, the magic being produced by the Elements was fully-formed and the Castle simply acted as an amplifier, the magic being routed from the Tree through the Castle and taking the form of the Elements of Harmony that were acting upon it," Star Swirl explained. "In this case, because the Tree's magic is the pure magic of Equestria with no form of its own, Twilight must shape it into the correct friendship magic spell before it is cast. When dealing with that much unformed magic from an outside source, the results are unpredictable if it overwhelms the host charged with casting the spell from it." Stygian noted the great sorcerer's words in his tablet.
"Still...I cannot see a better way to give your magic of friendship the boost it needs to properly defeat Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon," Star Swirl conceded. "This may be a risk we have to take. It is not enough to simply seal their magic this time, we must entirely separate their power to control the sun and moon."
Twilight remained silent as she pondered what was being asked of her. "I'll do it..." she eventually managed to say. "Even if we can't save Celestia and Luna, I still have a duty to the people of Equestria to protect them from Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker."
Just then Twilight's Ponyville friends entered the library together along with Sunburst.
"How's the research going?" Pinkie Pie asked cheerily.
"We might have something," Star Swirl said.
"But...it's not a guarantee," Twilight added. "We think we can power up my magic by using the Tree of Harmony and it would be enough to overpower Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. However, there are risks..." Twilight looked away and tried to hide the fear in her eyes.
"Hm..." Sunburst thought through what Twilight and Star Swirl were proposing. "That sounds like it could work. But you'd have to get Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon in the vicinity of the Tree of Harmony."
Star Swirl and Twilight exchanged glances in response.
That night, asleep in her bed, Twilight Sparkle was in the midst of a dream.
Twilight was standing in the middle of a black void. The only thing that broke up the endless emptiness was a spotlight that seemed to shine only on her.
"Hello?" she called out, hoping that she wasn't alone in such a desolate environment.
"I knew I'd find you..." a voice echoed through the void. "Sleep can only elude one for so long."
"Who's there?" Twilight asked into the black nothingness, trying to get the voice to identify itself. Her own voice was unsteady and wavering.
"You already know," the voice responded.
Twilight swallowed down her uncertainty. She did know the identity of the unseen speaker. "Where are you?" she asked, more confidently.
"Everywhere," the voice said, now having an effect as if it was multiplied. Several large floating heads of Nightmare Moon suddenly appeared all around Twilight Sparkle. She backed up slightly in surprise but quickly regained her footing.
"If...you're out there, face me yourself," Twilight said back, not wanting to appear intimidated. The floating heads of Nightmare Moon vanished into the negative space.
"Twilight Sparkle...you are in my domain," Nightmare Moon responded, her voice now sounding close by and unmodified. "Putting on a brave face won't work here." Nightmare Moon stepped out of the black void and in front of Twilight Sparkle, now appearing at her usual height. She stood just outside the circle of light that was shining on Twilight.
"I...I am afraid," Twilight accepted that she couldn't use bravado to deceive Nightmare Moon in the dreamscape. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you intimidate me."
"Oh dear foal, intimidation is so unbecoming," Nightmare Moon said, faking an offense. "I am more fond of practical courses of action."
"What do you want?" Twilight asked her.
“I just wanted to check on you,” Nightmare Moon said with faux concern. Her smile was deceptively gentle. “To make sure you were alright after you departed Canterlot in such a haste...” She reached out her hoof and put it under Twilight’s chin. Twilight backed away in response.
"More like track my movements through my dreams," Twilight rebuffed. "Why isn't Daybreaker with you?"
"I wanted to address this personally," Nightmare Moon told her. "Also, I forgot, you weren't in Canterlot when Daybreaker and I made our announcement. We go by 'Empress Daybreak' and 'Empress Moon' now."
"Your titles mean nothing to me..." Twilight responded defiantly, her mouth curled with contempt.
Nightmare Moon sneered at Twilight's defiance. "But enough about me, let's see what's troubling you, little one..."
Nightmare Moon waved her front hoof in front of Twilight. Behind her, the darkness pulled back and a scene appeared. A beautiful crystaline structure that resembled a tree could be seen in what looked like a secluded cavern. The crystal tree had five branches, each with empty slots at the ends, and a star-shaped symbol on the trunk, reminiscent of Twilight's own cutie mark. Twilight slowly turned around to face what appeared behind her.
Twilight Sparkle saw the image of herself touching down gracefully in front of the tree. As she did, the five other Elements of Harmony were seated into the empty slots at the ends of the tree's branches and Twilight's own Element, the Element of Magic, was placed inside the star symbol on the trunk. After the Elements locked into place, the tree ignited with a bright glow and the five branches each fired beams of magic onto Twilight. Twilight's dream self shimmered with white magical energy and then the scene turned to what she was facing. Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker were standing opposite Twilight and together they lunged at the lone alicorn. The dream Twilight charged her horn and shot out a huge beam of magical energy that engulfed the other two. As the energy washed over them, Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon were swept away and in their place Princess Celestia and Luna’s uncorrupted forms returned. However, the magical effect continued even after they were liberated and Celestia and Luna soon dissolved into nothingness before Twilight's eyes.
"NO!" the real Twilight Sparkle exclaimed in horror, having witnessed what she was afraid will happen. She desperately flew up to the space where the scene was playing out but the scene simply vanished back into the abyss, once again leaving the empty darkness. When the scene was gone, Twilight slowly descended back down and slumped in despair on her hind legs, her eyes fixated on the black dreamscape.
Nightmare Moon laughed evilly at what she had seen. "So that is what you are so burdened by, is it? That by trying to save Celestia and Luna from us you will destroy them in the process?"
"I...am still committed to saving Equestria from you, even if that is what must be done," Twilight said, getting back to her feet slowly. She was still facing away from Nightmare Moon as she spoke.
"You needn’t fret, Twilight Sparkle" Nightmare Moon said with false reassurance, "I can assure you that is not an outcome that shall come to pass."
"What are you hoping to accomplish?" Twilight asked, continuing to face away from the towering alicorn. "I asked Daybreaker the same question. You can't simply boss other ponies around and expect them to honor your rule. The only result you’ll get by demanding obedience is to seed rebellion."
"Rebellion only lasts as long as there is a cause to fight for," Nightmare Moon replied. "A good leader knows how to guide their people to a desirable end for all. Once the ponies of Equestria see our vision unfold, they shall fall into line. However you are an unfortunate obstacle in our path, being the final vestige of our ‘predecessors’ and a symbol of that which stands in the way of our progress to a true ‘Empire of Equestria’. It’s such a shame that your friendship magic does not agree with the power we possess, your magical talent would have made a fine asset.”
“I would never serve you!” Twilight rejected, finally turning her head in the direction of Nightmare Moon. “But why did you side with Daybreaker? Wasn’t your original goal to overthrow Celestia and rule Equestria by yourself?”
“While I would want nothing more than undisputed domain over Equestria, you and your friends have proven to be a thorn that is impossible to ignore, given my previous defeat,” Nightmare Moon explained. “After witnessing Daybreaker succumb to the same outcome, it was easy to see that we had something in common. With our combined might there is no force you or anypony can bring before us that will drive us back. I do not expect our truce to be eternal, but for now the advantage rests entirely with us...”
Nightmare Moon began to trot away in the darkness of Twilight's dreamscape. "Thank you for the show, Twilight Sparkle. It has been most enlightening..." Before long Nightmare Moon had vanished back into the black expanse and left Twilight Sparkle alone once again.
Canterlot Castle
Nightmare Moon opened her eyes and the inky blackness around her quickly dissipated, returning her to reality. She was standing on the balcony of Canterlot Castle and the sun was just starting to rise in the distance.
The sounds of hoofsteps could be heard coming in her direction. "Did you locate Twilight Sparkle?" a voice from behind Nightmare Moon asked. Nightmare Moon turned her head slightly and saw Daybreaker approaching out of the corner of her eye.
"Yes," Nightmare Moon confirmed, resuming her gaze across the castle grounds. "She is in the Crystal Empire."
"Figures," Daybreaker said flippantly. "She probably assumed we'd never think to look for her there. I suppose she forgot how easy it is for you to locate someone through their dreams." She came to a stop at Nightmare Moon's side and joined her in looking out across the castle's vast lawn, her blazing mane wafting in the morning breeze.
"Indeed."
"So, are we going to pay a visit, Empress Moon?"
"No..." Nightmare Moon answered. Daybreaker cocked her head to side slightly and gave a disapproving glance at Nightmare Moon. "More importantly than knowing where Twilight Sparkle is, I have been able to ascertain what she intends to do. We shall instead defeat two obstacles with a single strike." Nightmare Moon turned around and walked into the castle. "Come, I will explain..."