Chapter 26: Master of Harmony
~3 days until the end~
The following morning, Princess Luna sent a letter to Cadence asking Rarity be moved to a room in Canterlot Castle. Thankfully Cadence's magic returned to her because she wrote back to Luna saying that Shining Armor would be by with a few doctors to bring Rarity. When he arrived he also had Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle with him.
After settling Rarity up in a room, Luna explained to Shining Armor everything that happened yesterday, after all, it was his sister.
"God..." was all Shining Armor could get out after hearing the whole story.
"The good news is that my sister is alive, if not weak," Luna said looking to the side, "The bad news is that Twilight is stronger than ever."
"Did you try to get control of the sun?" Shining Armor asked.
"I did," Luna said with a nod, "But wherever Twilight is she's in full control of both the sun and probably the moon. I doubt even my sister could stop her now."
"Is she well?" Shining Armor asked, noting how tense Luna got.
"Sister may say otherwise, but she's not up to talk to anyone at the moment."
"You're right Luna," Celestia was heard walking into the hall, "I would say otherwise."
"Tia..." Luna said walking over to her sister, who did look weak, "You shouldn't be here."
"Why not?" Celestia asked seriously, "I may not be at full power, but that doesn't mean I should be in bed."
"You were turned to stone," Luna reasoned.
"And you were turned into a mind slave," Celestia retaliated, looking right into Luna's eyes, "And you know that if the roles were reversed you'd do the same thing as me."
The two of them glared at each other for a second before Luna closed her eyes and sighed in defeat.
"Fine, but I'm keeping an eye on you," Luna said walking off, "It was nice seeing you again Shining Armor."
"Likewise," Shining Armor said with a small smile. He then turned to Celestia, "Maybe you should at least sit down."
"I'll be fine," Celestia said, "Before I ascended to where I am now I was a knight. I guess some habits die hard," Celestia laughed a bit.
"Do you know what's happening to my sister?" Shining Armor asked.
"I do," Celestia said with a sigh, "But I need to tell everypony at once. Could you stay for a little while?"
"Just let me write a letter to Cadence telling her where I am."
"Actually, tell my niece to come by. She needs to hear this too."
"Very well," Shining Armor was about to walk off, but he stopped and turned to her again, "Celestia, is my sister really a destroyer, or is there a chance to get my sister back?"
Celestia smiled, "Just because Twilight is a destroyer, doesn't mean she can't be saved. There's a difference between a monster and a destroyer," Celestia turned and walked off as she spoke, "A monster doesn't have a heart, a destroyer may simply be heartbroken."
Shining Armor was a little confused, and he wasn't sure he liked Twilight being called a destroyer, but at least Celestia believed that Twilight could be saved. That was all he needed to hear.
The spell wore off, but the emotions that Applejack felt hadn't left her. She had never been so afraid in her entire life. Not just with the effects of the spell, but also due to the realization that she didn't kill Twilight.
"What's wrong with me?" Applejack said pacing through the library, "Why can't I stop trembling?"
Yes, she was still really afraid. It got worse when she heard that Twilight had become an alicorn, and that they now only had three days until she destroyed all of Equestria. She could have prevented that by killing Twilight when she had the chance.
But she didn't, she couldn't.
"So do you see it now?" Lezard said walking into the library.
"Ya knew that Ah couldn't kill her?" Applejack asked darkly.
"I had my guesses, but more so I was referring to the thing that's keeping the Element of Honesty from evolving."
"Why don't ya tell me?" Applejack said shooting Lezard a dark glare, "Ya seem ta know so much about the Elements of Harmony. Why don't ya stop bein so enigmatic an' just tell me?"
"Because if I simply give you the answer then it won't mean anything. I can at least say this, so long as you keep deluding yourself you'll never evolve."
"Deludin mahself?" Applejack asked, now getting really angry.
"That you fought Twilight to save Equestria, when we both know that you weren't thinking of Equestria at all yesterday."
That was the last straw. This guy may have been Apple Bloom's friend, but he was getting on Applejack's last nerves.
"Who do ya think you are?" Applejack asked walking over to Lezard, "Ah'm an Element of Harmony! Mah duty is to save Equestria from threats like Twilight! All you are is sum class A asshole with a degree in magic who thinks he's sum messiah! Ya don't know how it feels to have the fate of the world restin on your hooves! Ta have ta fight that evil in whatever form is takes, even IF IT'S YER BEST FRIEND!" Applejack stopped when she said that. Where did that come from?
Lezard looked right at Applejack seriously, but his expression softened a bit, "Now we're getting somewhere. I... didn't know that Twilight was your best friend."
"Ah... don't even think she knows..." Applejack admitted, "Ya know Ah wus the first one ta reach out ta her?"
"When she moved to Ponyville?" Lezard asked. Applejack nodded.
"Though, Pinkie Pie wus the first one ta see her, Ah actually spoke ta her. Ah knew that she an' Ah were meant ta be great friends, an' Ah ain't wrong about these kind o' things."
"You seem like a really good judge of character," Lezard said, "But what I don't understand is, if you and Twilight are such good friends, then why are you so adamant in killing her?"
"Cause Ah'm scared of her, okay?!" Applejack shouted walking off a bit, "Ah'm afraid of what she's become. She... turned on me."
"Turned on you? Explain."
The memories of what happened minutes before she asked her friends to restrain her came back to Applejack.
I WON'T let you get close to me! Touch me and you're DEAD!
"She threatened ta kill me," Applejack admitted sadly, "After everything that had been happenin before. She seemed scared of somethin, see? Her magic went crazy, she began havin nightmares everynight, after a while she stopped comin outside, an' when she did she looked paranoid. Not like the Lesson Zero incident though, this was different."
"Lesson... Zero?"
"That's whut we call this incident last year when Twilight forgot to send a report to the Princess. She got really scared an' began tryin ta come up with an excuse ta send somethin ta her. The whole situation got outta hoof, but in the end we all learned how much we should've stuck by her rather than dismiss her problem like we did, so we dubbed that day Lesson Zero since we all felt it was something we should have done on instinct."
"I see, but this time felt different?" Lezard asked, getting back on topic.
"Yeah. She didn't look like she was losin it like that day. This time, she looked like she wus seriously scared of somethin. Ah didn't take it seriously until Princess Celestia was turned ta stone, an' when Ah did, I... locked her up."
"I... didn't know that..." Lezard said slowly, and he looked like he didn't know how to take that news.
"She wus scared that she wus gonna hurt us, so she asked us ta lock her up in the basement of her library. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie hated it, Fluttershy and Rarity were against it, but more scared of what she was sayin, but Ah..."
"Um, Applejack, is it alright if I take a stab at something?" Applejack nodded her head, so Lezard continued, "Is it possible, that you blame yourself for what happened?"
Applejack thought about it, but she didn't have to think too hard. It was like she already knew the answer, but she didn't know she knew.
The one truth she didn't even know existed...
"It is mah fault," Applejack said, her voice shaking and the tears coming, "Ah accused her... Ah abandoned her... When she needed me the most, Ah locked her up like she wus sum animal! It's all mah fault! Ah made this monster!" she broke down, and cried harder than she ever cried in her life. As she did, the Element of Honesty began to glow, "Twilight, Ah'm sorry! Ah'm so sorry!"
As she cried, she felt something awaken within her. A power greater than anything she ever felt, along with something heavy slowly forming on her body. Red and gold armor, much like a knight's armor. It was similar to Rarity's armor, only it didn't have the fishnet stockings, and the shoulders were simple knight pauldrons that were golden. On her chest was a golden apple.
The Element of Honesty finally evolved.
Lezard knelt next to her and held her hoof comfortingly, "If you really want to make it up to Twilight, then you know what you have to do."
"But what if it's too late?" Applejack said looking up at Lezard, "What if Twilight really is-"
"After what you told me just now, and what I saw last night in the throne room, I don't think Twilight is really gone. You can't give up either. After all, you are best friends, right?"
Applejack looked down and thought about that. She and Twilight were best friends. They had always been, even if they hadn't ever openly said it. Twilight always came to her if there was a problem, and if Applejack had an issue she knew that she could count on Twilight. They were like sisters, and Applejack let her sister down.
Not again though. She would save Twilight this time, no matter what.
"Excuse me," a guard said standing in the doorway, "Princess Celestia asked me to collect everyone. She wants everypony to meet in her room."
"Understood," Lezard said getting up. He held out a hoof helping Applejack up, and then began making his way out of the room.
"W-wait!" Applejack called out, stopping Lezard, "Ah'm... sorry fer everything Ah said. Ya ain't a class A asshole."
Lezard laughed a bit, "No, but my peers always said I wasn't the most empathetic pony in the world."
Applejack smiled a bit, and then walked after Lezard, understanding him a little better. No wonder Apple Bloom liked him so much.
When Applejack and Lezard walked into the Princess' room, a collective gasp was heard. Rainbow Dash ran up to her.
"Applejack, is that what I think it is?" she asked.
"Yeah, Ah think it is, and you were right about what we did. Lockin Twilight up wasn't right, even if she asked us to. Ah'm sorry," Applejack said unable to look Rainbow Dash in the eye.
"Hey, let's just focus on what we need to do now, okay?" Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack nodded and walked over to where everyone was sitting.
"Good, so is everyone here?" Celestia asked.
"Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle aren't," Pinkie Pie said.
"We need to give Apple Bloom some space," Lezard stated, "Her friend Silver Spoon is with her."
"And truth is, I don't think Sweetie Belle is ready to see anyone either," Spike said, "She's really shaken up by what happened."
"We can fill them in later," Celestia said, "Cadence, could you close the curtains? I'd do it myself but..."
"Sure thing Auntie," Cadence said now using her magic to close the curtains, making the room surprisingly dark.
"Now, I'm sure by now all of you are familiar with the legend of the Queen of Darkness, correct?" Celestia asked.
"If we haven't heard the story, we definitely get the gist of it," Rainbow Dash said, "That's Twilight's true self, right?"
"Well, yes and no," Celestia said, "It's more of the pony she's destined to become. That doesn't mean that the Twilight we all knew wasn't real, because she was, but the moment she was born events were already in place that she didn't have control of."
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
"Are any of you familiar with the term reincarnation?" Celestia asked.
"I am," Lezard said raising a hoof, "I wrote a paper on it in my junior year at your school."
"Whut is it?" Applejack asked.
"And is it tasty?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"I think it's associated with time, right Mr. Lezard?" Fluttershy asked.
"That's right, and please just call me Lezard. I'm not the oldest in this room, no offense Princess."
"None taken," Celestia said with a smile.
Lezard cleared his throat before he spoke, "Reincarnation is when a pony is reborn after they die. This usually happens thousands of years after the pony's life ends, so nopony can truly determine if it's real or not, but Chronomancers like myself believe that this phenomenon is in fact true, based on the theory that history repeats itself."
"You mean this happened before?" Spike asked.
"And it may even happen again, long after all of us are dead," Lezard explained.
"That brings us to the main topic of this talk," Celestia said now making her horn glow. She then pointed it at the center of the room and images of ponies began to appear, one of which was an alicorn that looked a lot like Twilight, "Thousands of years ago, even before Luna and I were born, the ruler of Equestria was named Queen Midnight. She was loved by everypony in Equestria, and was in charge of raising the sun and the moon much like Luna and I today.
"However, she had a dark secret. She was spawned not from Elysium like most ponies, rather, she hailed from Tartarus. You see, she originally came to destroy Equestria, but instead felt the light of the ponies. She then decided against Equestria's destruction and instead acted as it's protector against the monsters of Tartarus. This went on for many years unchecked.
"Unfortunately though, the ponies of that Equestria found out where Midnight came from, and why the demons of Tartarus kept coming. They were attempting to bring Midnight back with them so she could finish her mission of destroying Equestria. The ponies turned on Midnight, calling her a monster, and stormed the castle. Midnight began to wonder why she spared Equestria in the first place, and allowed the darkness in her heart to consume her again, thus the Queen of Darkness was reborn as the Destroyer of Equestria."
"So, this legend was talking about Twilight being who she was as Queen Midnight?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That's correct," Celestia said, "Twilight is the reincarnation of Queen Midnight, also known as the Queen of Darkness."
"But she didn't destroy Equestria," Applejack said, "Ah mean, if she did, then we wouldn't be here, right?"
"Somepony stood against her then?" Shining Armor asked. Celestia nodded, and the images changed, now showing an earth pony that no one really recognized off hoof, but Lezard raised an eyebrow looking at her.
"Somepony did. At the time, she was a simple carpenter, but one pony named Bayonet stepped forward. She was clever, and managed to trick Midnight into giving her a fraction of her power. Once she did, Bayonet did the impossible, and summoned the power of all five Elements of Harmony at once to combat the Queen of Darkness."
"Wait, five?" Spike asked, "I thought there were six Elements."
"Remember Spike," Pinkie Pie said, "The Spark of Friendship created the sixth Element inside of Twilight the day we fought Night Mare Moon."
"Oh right... I remember now," Spike said nodding. He actually wasn't there when they fought Night Mare Moon, so it was harder keeping up with that.
"But for one pony to use all the Elements of Harmony at once," Cadence said, "This pony must have been amazing."
"She was," Celestia said, "But the power came at a price, for you see, no pony can handle that amount of power for long, and as you are well aware, one of the elements can't be used unless one is willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good."
"Rarity..." Fluttershy said, everyone looking down realizing what Element Celestia was referring to.
"So this pony allowed herself to become the vessel for the Elements of Harmony by displaying all five Elements at once," Celestia continued, "In doing so though, she surrendered her very being to the Elements, and was unable to reclaim her mortal life. Both she and Midnight died that day, but as they faded away, Midnight vowed to return one day to finish what she started. For Bayonet's bravery, she was forever remembered as the Master of Harmony, and the ponies believed that on the day the Queen would be revived, so would the Master of Harmony, and she would once again fight to rid the world of her darkness."
"So that's who the Master of Harmony is..." Applejack said to herself.
"But the Master of Harmony killed Midnight, right?" Fluttershy asked, "If she fights Twilight again, won't that..."
"Truth is, things are slightly different this time," Lezard said catching everyone attention, "First of all, like Spike pointed out, there are six elements this time, meaning that she might possess enough power this time to stop Twilight without killing her. Also, I noticed something about Twilight when she was speaking yesterday after Trixie's death."
"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Tears," Lezard said, confusing everypony, "Despite what she was saying, and despite her laughter, she was actually crying. I imagine something inside of her was still mourning the loss of Trixie, but the darkness was so great that she didn't even realize it."
"So if we appeal to that small part of her," Shining Armor said.
"We might be able to bring Twilight back," Lezard finished.
"But we don't know who this Master of Harmony is," Cadence said, "Even if we did, to ask this pony to give their life for us just seems so..."
"Actually, I think I have an idea of who the Master of Harmony is," Lezard said, "And she's been closer to us than we ever thought possible," as he said that he looked up at the door, looking at the pony who had secretly been listening to everything they were talking about.
Apple Bloom...
"Please calm down!" Lezard shouted walking after Apple Bloom, who refused to stop. She just wanted to lock herself in her room and force herself to wake up from this horrible nightmare. When she got to her room she tried to kick the door closed, but Lezard stopped it right before it closed.
"Go away!" Apple Bloom shouted.
"Apple Bloom, I know this is a lot to take in, but we don't even know for certain if-"
"Oh, like you don't know! Admit it, yer jus' sayin that ta calm me down, but ya know! Ah know!" Apple Bloom pulled off her dress and threw it to the side before showing Lezard her Cutie Mark, "You called the Elements of Harmony "tools fer peace", and this Cutie Mark means Ah'm a tool master! The Master of Harmony gets power from the Queen, and Twilight turned me into an adult! The second all of this began Ah started havin weird thoughts saying Ah had ta do somethin! All of the signs point ta me bein that Master of Harmony! Ya know it's me! Why don't ya jus' say it?!"
Lezard sighed and l closed his eyes, "Alright, at this point I am pretty sure that it's you."
Apple Bloom shook her head looking away, "Ah'm leavin."
"Leaving?" Lezard asked.
"Ah need ta get outta here."
"Where would you go?"
"Ah don't know!" Apple Bloom screamed, "Ah jus..."
Lezard walked over to her and touched her shoulder, "I know this is difficult for you, but you need to calm yourself. Freaking out like this isn't going to-"
Apple Bloom pushed his hoof off his shoulder, "You have no idea how hard this is fer me! This whole thing is jus' so... so... FUCKED!" she screamed, apparently shocking Lezard.
"A-Apple Bloom-"
"Ah look in the mirror every day, expectin ta somethin that Ah don't! More an' more Ah feel mahself changin on the inside, an' it scares me! Ah even killed somepony, Lezard!" she was shaking now she was so upset, "All Ah want is fer all of this ta end! Ah want ta wake up from this nightmare and be back home with mah friends!"
"This is too much for someone your age," Lezard said looking away, "I sometimes forget that you're a child."
"That's just it!" Apple Bloom said, "Ah'm NOT a child!"
"Apple Bloom, no matter how much you change on the outside you're still the same on the-"
"Can ya really say that? Ya said it the day ya met me that aging a pony wus somethin ya had never seen! You don't know how Ah've changed! You don't know what's going on with me!"
"I may not understand fully, but I can at least imagine how much this is bothering you," now Lezard looked a little irritated, "You're ten years old, but you're trapped in-"
"SHUT UP! You don't get it! All you see is a little kid stuck in an adults body! You don't understand anything!"
"Well then, why don't you tell me? What could I possibly be miss-"
Before she knew it, their lips were pressed together. She didn't even know why she did it. She didn't understand anything anymore. Her mind was going a mile a minute, and Apple Bloom was so scared that she couldn't take it.
They parted, and Apple Bloom looked into Lezard's eyes. He looked so shocked, as if he couldn't believe what just happened. Apple Bloom didn't know what to say, so she did the one thing she knew she could do.
She ran.
* * * *
When she got to the courtyard, she bumped into somepony and fell to the ground. She looked up and instantly wanted to disappear.
"P-Princess Luna!" Apple Bloom shouted bowing to her, "Ah'm sorry, Ah should've been watchin where Ah wus goin! Ah'll jus..." she was about to run past Luna, but she held her wing out stopping her.
"You've been crying," Luna said, "Something is wrong?"
"It's nothin, alright? Ah jus'-"
"As somepony who's studied Chronomancy and can cast a few time spells, I know the complications that arise when messing with it. If you need to talk to anypony in this castle, I might be the best candidate."
Apple Bloom looked away, thinking hard about what she was about to do. In the end, she decided that she needed to open up to somepony, and if Princess Luna was willing to listen...
She wasn't Zecora, but she'd do for now.