//------------------------------// // 2: A Threat // Story: Names // by Malowith //------------------------------// "Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!" "Here she comes," He whispered to himself. Celestia was missing and he knew who came next. Behind him, a light blue ear swiveled in his direction. "Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games! Is she hiding?" "She's gone!" He didn't gasp with everyone else, and a second blue ear turned his way. "Ooh, she's good," Pinkie said followed by a yelp. He failed to gasp again as Nightmare Moon appeared onstage. "Oh no... Nightmare Moon," whispered both Twilight and Blue Screen. Spike fainted. One ear shifted slightly toward Twilight, and two purple eyes turned in their direction. "Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces" Rainbow's attention shifted back toward Nightmare Moon, "What did you do with our Princess?!" she asked as she launched herself toward the demon onstage. "Whoa there, Nelly..." Applejack forced out through teeth she used to grab Rainbow's tail. The Nightmare chuckled, "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" "Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty—" Applejack shoved her hoof into Pinkie's mouth. "Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?" "I did. And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!" Jack mouthed the words as Twilight said them, but said her name aloud. Both were the only ones not to gasp in response. Rainbow only grew more suspicious. "Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here" "You're here to... to..." Twilight gulped The Nightmare chuckled again, "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" Lightning struck and her chuckle turned into a full villain laugh. Chaos broke out through the room and the guards were as ineffective as ever. Everypony ran, and Blue Screen did his best to blend into the crowd. "Not so fast!" yelled Rainbow as she swooped in and grabbed him, "Something's up, tell me" "I don't know what you're talking about, put me down!" Blue yelled fearfully over the rushing wind, louder than was needed, squirming fearfully in her hooves. "Don't try to pull that with me, unless you want me to let go" He looked down, the distance to the ground making Jack's heart skip a beat. He wouldn't risk that without wings, and there was no way he was revealing himself in the middle of a town full of panicking ponies. Up ahead he spotted Rainbow's second mark, Twilight, running with spike held in her magic. "How did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh?" Rainbow continued, "Are you a spy?" Oh no. Oh no. Logic fully slipped through the terror. Jack was terrified of the fall beneath him. Canthus was terrified of the Nightmare behind him. Blue Screen was terrified that Rainbow was right and he'd been discovered and he'll probably be locked in a dungeon forever and he'd messed up time so bad they'll fail to stop Nightmare Moon and it's all his fau- SLAP Blue Screen raised a hoof to his cheek. He was back on the ground. Rainbow Dash was standing in front of him, foreleg still raised across her chest from slapping him. "ow" was all Blue said, quiet as a whisper. Rainbow lowered her hoof, "Sorry, I, uh, didn't know what else to do. You were panicking and wouldn't respond." She shuffled on her hooves, "Look, it's obvious something's up, especially after... that. But I guess I shouldn't have laid into you like that. I'll get back to you if I need to, but hopefully Twilight will have answers," She turned and entered the library that he hadn't even noticed was there. Blue wiped a wetness from his eyes, apparently he had been crying. He stood up from where he sat on the ground, and followed after her. "It was under E~" Pinkie bounced by right as he opened the door. "Oh" was Twilight's response. That... was a bit quick, wasn't it? Rainbow had just arrived. Why was everyone here already? No, it was Rainbow who was late, from having to carry him here and deal with his panic attack. "...the Everfree Forest" Twilight finished reading. "Ain't no way you're going in that forest alone" Applejack announced for the group. "You all really don't have to come with." Twilight said. Rainbow jumped in, "And miss out on kicking that Nightmare's butt, no way!" "At least let us lead you to the edge of the forest, darling." Said Rarity, to witch Fluttershy nodded. "It'll be fun!" Pinkie added, jumping into the middle of the group. Blue watched this and, realizing that leaving at this point would probably be a bad idea (let alone embarrassing), smiled a weak smile. "We've got your back, Twilight." “Let go” “Are you crazy?” The cliff broke when expected. Jack had tried to hold back a bit so not to fall, but managed to lose his footing anyway. He slid down the slope and ended up a good ways from Twilight, who had been crying for help. He had grabbed a branch and found a ledge for his back hooves to stand on, a luxury Twilight didn't have. Blue could see Dash was in position to catch Twilight, but Fluttershy had started hovering around him to try to help him down. She looked nervous, as if she wasn't really sure how to go about this. "Go help Dash catch Twilight," Blue suggested, "I'm stable right now, I'm not so sure about her." “No I ain't. I promise you'll be safe,” responded Applejack “That's not true!” Twilight's grip on AJ's hooves slipped a bit, her rear hooves scrambling at the cliff wall. “Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe” Twilight looked around and saw Blue Screen smile, "They'll catch you," he said. And Twilight let go. “Wait.” The manticore was putting up a fight, repelling everything being thrown at it. Only Jack seemed to notice the yellow pegasus trying to get attention from the sidelines. It was hurting him to just watch this happen. "Wait" There wasn't any good reason not to stop this early. The manticore was already in pain, and Fluttershy didn't deserve to be ignored. “Everybo-pony stop!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. They did just that. Even the manticore. “Thanks” said Fluttershy, not noticing Jack sigh. The trees were even more scary in real life. Or actually, scary at all. Actually they were pretty silly looking in the show, now they were downright terrifying. Probably a fear spell or something. Not that any of this crossed Canthus' mind, he was too busy screaming. Once Pinkie started singing, however, that silliness became apparent once again, Pinkie's laughter breaking the spell. The song continued and Jack, knowing the words, even added some backing harmonies. He felt almost compelled to actually. A heartsong, Canthus noted, he could hear the nonexistent instruments. As the song reached its final few bars the fear spell fully broke, the faces fully disappearing a bit before they should've. “I simply cannot let a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!” Taking a scale from the surprisingly feminine sea serpent, Rarity cut off her own tail to use as the missing half of its mustache. "You look smashing." Rarity commented with his mustache in place. Jack didn't really agree, sure it was better than having just the one side, but they didn't match at all. He got an idea. "If I may, could I try something?" He asked the two of them. Twilight looked woefully at Rarity's tail, but Blue had spoken up before she thought to say anything. "Well, sure. Although, what is it you're going to do, if I may ask?" Rarity said. "Would you prefer those to match?" He asked the serpent, hoping to answer Rarity through action. "That would be even more wonderful!" the serpent said, "This is such a lovely color and shape." Canthus wasn't very good at magic, at least compared to most ponies who would use these types of spells. But if there was anything a changeling knew how to do it was transform. He reached out and grabbed the blonde side of the mustache and concentrated. Hair to Hair. Just changing color and shape. He thought to himself. He wasn't very good at this kind of thing. Calling himself 'out of practice' would imply he had formal training in the first place. Extenuating circumstances didn't quite give him the chance. With a pop the mustache changed, he sighed in relief as the serpent squealed in glee. "It's beautiful!" Blue Screen stepped aside to catch his breath, after a time the grateful serpent formed a bridge to help the group across the river. “Thank you Mr…. uh” Said Jack “Magnet, Steven Magnet, and it’s no problem. I should be thanking you!” “It really is no issue,” replied Rarity, “It looks great on you,” She then turned to Blue Screen and spoke in a medium whisper "Promise to come to my shop some time soon, I'm getting ideas~." “Don’t listen to them!” Yelled Twilight. A fog swept in, blocking Rainbow, the bridge she was supposed to tie up, and the mysterious ponies with her from view. "Who were those ponies, what are they talking about over there?" Fluttershy asked in a soft voice. "Nothing good on both counts ," explained Twilight, "There's no reason anypony else should be out here, especially tonight, that is unless they were trying to stop us. I've got the sneaking suspicion that some of the things we faced tonight aren't quite coincidence." The fog must have been magically enhanced, as the next few seconds were passed in silence, not a sound was heard from the other side. "Is... she coming back for us?" Twilight asked. The group looked at each other nervously. A minute had passed. This was taking much longer than it should. “Don’t worry,” said Jack, “I trust her” Sure enough, shortly after, the fog cleared and Rainbow came back over. “See? I never leave my friends hanging” Rainbow didn't disclose anything else after that. What happened back there? Jack eyed the ruins just ahead, unsure about the future. He rushed up the stairs. “Because the spirits of the elements of harmony are right here!” They arrived just in time. “What?” “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!” “Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!” Each of the mentioned ponies floated in the air, a ring of shards circling them. That was all five. But Twilight was on a roll. “And Blue Screen, who may not represent an element, helped and stuck with us anyway. He guided us with his actions and voice bringing us together with empathy!” She placed no emphasis on the final word like she did the others, but that didn't matter. Suddenly he found himself floating, and down in a ravine just outside something stirred. A forgotten gem lifted from the dust behind a tree where it had laid, hidden, for centuries. It flew towards the castle. “The spirits of these six ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us.” “You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!” “But it did! A different kind of spark,” she turned to 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... are my friends! 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!” There was a flash, and suddenly the element of magic appeared in the air. The spectacle was so grand that it hid the movement of a green gem launching itself into a high speed orbit around Jack. And then, rainbows. “Ugh” He was the first one to wake up, and good thing too since his disguise was down. He quickly shifted, black chitin turning to blue fur. The next thing he noticed was the necklace. It was ornate, with a golden brace holding onto two emerald green gems in the shape of his cutie mark. “Ugh, my head” said Rainbow. “Everypony okay?” Asked Applejack “Oh, thank goodness” Proclaimed Rarity, looking at her reformed tail. “Why Rarity, it's so lovely” said Fluttershy. “I know! I'll never part with it again” “No, Your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark” “What? Ooh. So does yours” Fluttershy gasped in surprise, not noticing her necklace before. “Look at mine! Look at mine!” Yelled Pinkie, bouncing over. “Aw yeah” proclaimed Rainbow. “Gee, Twilight!” Said Applejack, “I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship” Suddenly, a bright light radiated from the window, from which came a voice.  “Indeed you do” Twilight gasped “Princess Celestia” “Twilight Sparkle,” said Celestia, “my faithful student. I knew you could do it” “But…,” replied Twilight, “you told me it was all an old pony tale” “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, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now if only another will as well,” Celestia walked over to the dark blue figure in the corner, “Princess Luna” Princess Luna gasped. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this,” said Celestia, “Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister” “SISTER?” Yelled Twilight and Rainbow together. “Will you accept my friendship?” Asked Celestia. Luna ran forward and hugged her sister, “I’m so sorry, I missed you so much big sister” “I missed you too” The hug was eventually broken up and the princesses turned around. “I would like to thank all sev…” Celestia paused staring straight at jack, “A seventh?” Everypony turned to look at Jack, confusion written on all of their faces. Rainbow Dash regarded him carefully, lost in thought, while Twilight stared intensely at the necklace around his neck. Jack himself felt really self-conscious all of a sudden. A nervous grin graced his face. “Do you think we missed this one, sister?” Asked Celestia. “‘Tis highly possible, we were urgent in our search for a weapon against Discord. Panic might have clouded our perception.” “I suppose we were young after all,” Celestia chuckled, “Perhaps I should take the elements back to Canterlot for study, but for now we should focus on my sister’s return” “You know what this calls for?” Asked Pinkie. “A Party!” The party was just as amazing as any other of Pinkie’s parties. How it was set up by the time they got back to town, nopony would know; but it was fun nonetheless. Everypony in town was included and the party lasted until sundown. Every face had a smile except three. Luna, who was disappointed the party had to end. Especially just before nightfall. Celestia, who was still mulling over the seventh element. Examining it even as she left for Canterlot in her flying carriage. And Jack, who knew that he had royally screwed up. He sulked back to his house and got into his bed. Waiting for sleep, he was forced to think. He would never get his lives back. Most of the sorrow came from Jack, as Canthus didn’t care much. He was already alone. As Jack, though, he had friends and family. How were they reacting now? Did they think he was dead? If only he could go back… But would he? He had a responsibility here and six ponies he knew would become great friends. He stared into his mirror and concentrated. A flash of green signaled a change, and where Blue Screen once lay was Jack’s natural human form. He frowned, It didn’t feel right anymore. Sighing, he changed back and closed his eyes, drifting into slumber.