//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Return of the Mane 6, Part 1 // Story: Rise of the Element Gang, Book 3: Heroes United // by Power of Six //------------------------------// Chapter 14: Return of the Mane 6, Part 1 Moments earlier… “So let me get this straight,” Shield said to me after I told him, Dog, and Leon what the stones I was wearing really were, “the weird rocks that you’ve collected, the ones Twilight had turned into a necklace, are actually what Fore Sight was looking for?” “That’s right.” I confirmed with a proud smile. “It’s just like my ancestor said, ‘unite the seven’. He was talking about the seven stones.” “But how come you’re the only one who found them?” Dog said to me. “Doesn’t seem very hard to miss.” “It’s because they can’t be found by somepony.” I told him. “Much like with many things in this world, they have to be earned.” “Earned?” Leon asked. “Yes, earned. The reason I have these stones is because I earned them. Each stone appeared from when I earned them.” “So you got those things because you showed you were worthy of them? How?” “By finding the light.” “Light?” Dog asked. “You mean like being good?” “Not exactly.” I told him. “You see, guys, the stones only appear to those who follow a certain kind of light, one I had only just experienced when you three came into my life.” “How did us getting involved helped you do that?” Shield raised a brow. “Isn’t it obvious? Each of you had shown me the very wonders of something I didn’t think I could experience.” I then went on to explain. “The honesty, the kindness, and the loyalty you all showed, those are all part of the light, the one of which allowed me to find the stones. And it’s not just you, the girls helped too. Rarity with her generosity and Pinkie Pie with her joy, along with the three mares who had reminded me of the light of which you three showed me. And I’m not the only one who has come to experience this light because of you all. Twilight even experienced it when she came to Ponyville. The light I refer to is the magic that also revived the power within the Elements of Harmony.” “Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Shield asked me, now getting it. “Yes, Shield.” I confirmed once more. “The reason Fore Sight couldn’t find the stones was because he went out alone to force them to be found. I’ve only just realized just now that I had earned these stones from finding the light without even knowing it. Fore Sight believed that it was those who followed the light of good that would bring the stones together. But really, what unites these seven is not from just the light of good. It’s the light of friendship.” “Cool.” Shield said with admiration. “Kinda cheesy, but cool.” “Hang on.” Leon spoke up. “There are seven stones on your neck, right? Isn’t that kind of like finding the Elements of Harmony?” “Well, yeah.” I said, realizing that me getting these stones was almost like how the girls got the Elements of Harmony. “Now that I think about, you’re right.” “Also I can only count us helping you finding six of those.” Leon told me. “Me and Flutters helped you with kindness, Dog and AJ got ya to be more honest, Shield and Rainbow showed you nothing but loyalty, Rarity just kept being generous, Pinkie just made sure you always had some laughs to share with us, and Twilight showed you friendship is magic. That’s six. Who helped you with the seventh?” Looking down, I saw he was pointing to the only stone that had color, the one with my fur color. “Actually this is something I earned from discovering a new light.” I told him. “Remembering the kindness, joy, generosity, loyalty, honesty, all the things you and the girls had shown me to help me experience the magic of friendship, I realized that it was what gave me the strength to pull through everything life had to throw at us, to overcome every challenge that came our way. From that, I realized that all of these are what make up the new light I found… my own.” “So you’re sayin’ that stone Luna sent us to find…” Dog started. “…is the stone that represents me.” I finished. “So how do they help us?” Leon asked me. “Actually, I’m not sure.” I said to him. “I’m still trying to figure that out, especially how we’re gonna use them.” “Okay, then let’s get to figuring them out.” Shield stated. “With you back, we can go out there and beat Discord!” “Not so fast, Shield.” I told him. “Before we can even try to figure out how to use the stones, I’m afraid we still have a problem.” “What do you mean, cap?” he asked me. “Shield, look at my necklace.” I said, noting how only one stone gained color while the others remained black. “All these stones turned black when I became Diablo Nightfall. I’m back now, but only the stone representing my light has changed. Seeing it like this means, in order for the stones to work, we need all of them to be in full color.” “How do we do that?” Leon asked. “I’m not sure.” I told him. “But that’s not the only thing we need to do. Before we can figure out how to fix the stones, we need to help the girls. Like Luna said, in order to beat Discord, we need both the stones and the Elements of Harmony.” “But the girls are already discorded.” Dog reminded me. “We tried usin’ the Elements with most of ‘em like that and the Elements didn’t do a thing.” “Well, they won’t work unless we can restore the harmony between the girls.” “And how do we do that?” Leon asked me. “Well, seeing how Discord has changed them to act their opposites,” I said, explaining the solution, “we need to remind them of who they really are.” “Dusk, how are we gonna knock some sense into them?” Shield said to me, doubting we could restore the girls to normal. “You said it yourself, Discord’s magic has a tough habit to break. What can we use to beat that?” Putting a claw to my chin, I then put some thought into it before I then remembered what helped me come back to the real world. Or should I say who. “Wait, Luna!” I said, remembering how she helped me defeat Diablo. “When I was Diablo Nightfall, she cast a spell on me that actually reminded me of who I was. Maybe the spell she used can help the girls remember who they are. Not only that, but she might also know how to fix the stones. If I can get a letter to her, she can give us the spell she cast and tell us what we need to do to restore the stones!” “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get that letter to Canterlot!” Shield exclaimed. “Already ahead of you.” I said to him. “You guys stay down here and keep any Paraserpents from getting in here, I’ll go write the letter.” “You got it, cap!” Shield told me as he and the others went on to stand guard. Putting my focus to getting the letter out, I just hope Luna wasn’t too badly hurt and ask her for the spell and what to do with the stones. She had been the one who had sent me to the Castle, who had fought Diablo with Dragonis to save me, and had set me on the way to overcoming my dark side. Like Discord, she knew something about me and I was going to find out what, for I was sure it would hold the key to defeating Discord. “Come on, my pet!” I prompted Ophelia, who had been sleeping nearby. “We need to send a letter. Spike? Spike! Where are you, little brother?” “Dusk? Dusk, is that you?” I heard a disbelieving voice reply, but I couldn’t tell where from. “It is! Where are you?” “I’m up…” He was cut off by a loud belch and a groan, forcing me to search manually. Ophelia flying behind me, I hurried around the library, calling for Spike, eventually running upstairs and finding him on the floor, looking exhausted, but with a huge grin at the sight of him, one which I couldn’t help but return. “Spike!” Unable to contain myself, I jumped forward and hugged the baby dragon. “It’s good to see you, my brother!” “Dusk! Oh, I’ve never been so happy to…” I stopped when he belched and a scroll appeared in the air, landing on an ever-growing pile I had only just noticed. “What’s all of this?” I asked, setting him down on his bed. “Are you feeling okay?” “No, I feel awful!” He belched up another letter. “The princess… has been sending these… since I came back upstairs.” “How long ago was that?” “I don’t know, it’s all a blur. Just… never-ending letters!” He actually cried as he belched up another. “Please, make it stop!” “I, uh… don’t know if I can. Sorry, Spike.” I put his blankets around him and moved to look at the pile. “What is all of this anyway?” Levitating a random scroll, I unrolled it and read the words inscribed upon it. I recognized the writing as Spike’s, not Celestia’s, and realized I’d heard this letter before. It was the one Twilight had sent at the end of Winter Wrap Up. It detailed how everypony had hidden talents that could be found with patience and diligence and that teamwork and friendship could overcome any obstacle. Not sure why, but I went on reading it thoroughly. Dear Princess Celestia, Winter Wrap Up was one of the most special things I’ve ever been a part of here in Ponyville. It helped me… I stopped reading when I saw the aura I had around the letter change from my usual blue to being multicolored, glowing with lilac, pink, cyan, orange, white, and yellow. The sudden color change was enough to shock me, making me drop the letter. I had no idea what had just happened, but I began to have a guess on what it was from looking up at my horn. Could this be some sort of power I had with my magic? My curiosity peaked, I picked the letter up with my claw and continue reading. Just from reading this letter, I remembered that day with warm feelings in my heart, despite the lingering cold… being with Twilight, both of us trying to find our place in wrapping-up winter, waking up the animals with Fluttershy, even being part of the process of bringing in spring on time. I didn’t even care when that strange aura reappeared. The lesson Twilight had learned that day was that we all had our hidden talents and that, if we’re patient and diligent, we are sure to find them. And, as always, with good friendship and teamwork, ponies can accomplish anything. While that warm feeling stayed with me, I was then caught by surprise as the aura around the letter became brighter. While at its brightest, I saw it leave the letter and enter my horn which was now glowing. With the two auras mixing together, something very peculiar happened. Before my eyes, I was beginning to relive the day this letter was sent, but it wasn’t just my memories that I saw. Along with them, I also saw what other ponies experienced that day, specifically what Twilight and the girls experienced. Everything that I experienced and heard from the guys, I actually saw them happen. When it finally stopped with me writing the letter, I shook myself and was just in awe of what happened. Seeing my horn had stopped glowing, I then looked back at the letter as a thought came to me. Did my magic just give me some of the girls’ memories? To prove my suspicious, I pulled out another one, one that detailed how powerful and wonderful friendship could be and that even the bitterest of enemies could become friends, as long as there was understanding and compromise, that warm feeling I had from reading the first letter increased at the fond memory of Little Strongheart and how strong our friendship had become, despite the fact our people were enemies and when peace had been restored. The same thing happened again and I experienced the girls’ memories of that day, even ones that were out of the area where I was. It was like I was there with Rainbow Dash, Shield, Pinkie Pie, and Spike as they met the buffalo tribe. From that moment, I realized what was going on: somehow my magic was able to obtain the memories within these letters, even ones that weren’t my own, and put them into me. If this was the case, then maybe I didn’t need Luna’s spell. Maybe I could use my own magic to help the girls remember who they are. With this, I then went on reading the other letters, my magic giving me the girls’ memories from both after and before me and the guys came to Ponyville. Learning every one of these lessons increased the warm feeling as they all reminded of the very lessons I learned while me and the guys were as the Element Squad, reading through each one with every word I read strengthening that magical feeling deep down inside me. Boy, did Twilight learn a lot about friendship, a few I’ve had learned with the guys. And were they great lessons to learn. With the memories of when Twilight received tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala, the lesson she learned was that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but having more than your friends can make you feel awful when there’s not enough of them to go around; the time Applejack tried to harvest a whole orchard of apples, she and AJ both learned that friendship is not just about giving of ourselves to friends, but also about accepting what our friends have to offer; and when Rainbow Dash’s old griffon friend Hilda came around, Pinkie Pie learned it can be hard to accept when someone you like wants to spend time with someone who’s not so nice. Though it’s impossible to control who your friend hangs out with, it is possible to control your own behavior. What’s important is that you continue to be a good friend and, in the end, the difference between a false friend and one who’s true will surely come to light. When Trixie first came to Ponyville and boasted about her magic skill, though she was so afraid of being thought of as a showoff that she hid a part of who she was, the girls helped Twilight realize that it’s okay to be proud of your talents and there are times when it’s okay to show them off, especially when you’re standing up for your friends; when the girls dealt with that sleeping dragon I heard about, Fluttershy taught Twilight to never lose faith in her friends by standing up to the dragon and getting him to leave. Needless to say, I was surprised to have found out about that part of her. Anyway, much like I have learned from my own, the lesson here was that friends can be an amazing source of strength and can help you overcome even your greatest fears. When a storm had forced Rarity and Applejack to take shelter in the library and Twilight took this as a chance to have her first sleepover, she was surprised to find two ponies that seemed to have so little in common could ever get along and learned yet another lesson I’ve come to know, that if you embrace each other’s differences, you just might be surprised to discover a way to be friends after all. This lesson kind of intertwines with a lesson I learn about being a leader: that, no matter how much I want to, I shouldn’t want my teammates to all think the same and that their different points of view are what make the team strong. A good leader understands this and a good friend accepts it. While looking through them, I had found that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had learned a lesson in friendship too, one I had learned from coming to Ponyville: that sometimes, what you think will cause you to lose your friends and feel left out can actually be what helps you make your closest friends and realize how special you are. During the Running of the Leaves, Applejack and Rainbow learned a lesson Dog and Shield learned a long time ago: anyone can get swept up in the excitement of competition, what’s important is to remember that the friendship you have is always more important than the competition. My cuz learned her lesson from trying to making all of the girls’ dresses for the Gala: if you try to please everyone, you oftentimes end up disappointing everyone, especially yourself. When someone offers to do you favor, you shouldn’t be overly critical of something generously given to you. In other words, pun not intended, you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. From there on, I began to remember all the memories from different moments I shared with both the guys and the girls in my time in Ponyville, even learning the experience the girls had at those times: the time Twilight tried to find any sense in Pinkie Sense, the Young Flyers Competition, the time Leon and Fluttershy foalsit the Crusaders, the time those three fillies took part in a talent show, when we tried to rescue Rarity from the Diamond Dogs, Fluttershy’s time at being a model, Celestia’s visit to Ponyville, when we found out all of us had a special connection through the Sonic Rainbooms of Shield and Rainbow Dash before we’d even met as it had resulted in them getting our cutie marks and how everypony might have some special connection with their friends before they’d met them too. Even I was a part of it, remembering those wonderful feelings of acceptance and the awesome sight of the Sonic Rainboom. And those are just the tip of the iceberg. There was also the time Twilight got Owlowiscious, Pinkie Pie’s birthday, the Gala. I finished it all off with the one letter of which increased the already greatly warm feeling I had the most. Dear Princess Celestia, I’m pleased to report that the latest member of our friendship circle is finally starting to fit in with us and he has taught me a valuable lesson about friendship. Some of us are born with unique traits about ourselves that we sometimes keep hidden from others because we’re scared about how they might judge or view those things about us. Most times, we don’t even show them at all. But, with the help of our friends, we can choose to be more open about those special traits and unlock a true potential that might never have been revealed if we had kept it hidden. I think Dusk has learned that now and we’re going to see even more special things about him the longer we’re friends. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. With the aura around that letter entering my horn, I could feel something growing in my magic abilities too, a surge from my emotions and memories for the times I had spent with the girls, the urge to cast this new spell on something now that I had learned it. And knew what, or should I say who. Seeing all this, I then realized why Celestia had sent back all of these reports. They were more meant for Twilight as the Princess knew that she had to be reminded of who she was, what she had been through and learned. Mentally promising to Celestia, I was going to make sure that Twilight would remember who she was. Speaking of Twilight… “Pack your things, Spike. We’re leaving. Don’t ask where we’re going ʹcause I don’t know yet. Just not here.” I could hardly believe what I was hearing, that she had only now just returned back to the place we’d spent so much time together for the past year, as the best friend that I had ever had and so much more. I didn’t care how grey her fur looked, how forlorn she appeared to be. All that mattered was that I knew what I had to do, allowing the magic I felt to flow into my horn as I approached her. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but if you want to get out a book, I’m afraid the library will be closed for the foreseeable future.” she told me bitterly. “Now, can you please get out?” She didn’t know it was me. At any other time, considering all that happened, I would have preferred that and whatever punishment she would have in mind for me for releasing my darker self upon them and my home. Right now, I just wanted to be with her, to stand by her side, to speak her wonderful name on my lips… “Twilight Sparkle?” Now she looked up, gasping and unable to comprehend what she was seeing standing in front of her. It was like she had seen a ghost from how wide her eyes grew, staring at me as I removed my hat to expose my horn and walk ever closer to her. “Dusk?” she whispered. “Is that…really you?” I finally stopped, directly in front of her, close enough to hear her heart beating against her chest, gazing back into her violet eyes. Knowing exactly what this spell would do, I smiled back at her, tried to ignore the guilt of the pain I caused her, and let all the good memories and feelings I had for her flood through me. “Remember.” Pressing my glowing horn against her own, I closed my eyes, letting the spell be cast and allowing all of these memories, both my own and the ones she lost, and emotions flow into her like a river. How much I had learned about friendship by being with her about what my true worth was, about how strongly I felt for her that extended far beyond friendship, I let her feel it all. No one’s view Unknown to Dusk, as he continued to cast the spell, one of the black stones on his necklace gained a tint of color which slowly began to spread around the piece of rock, the color being the same lilac as the unicorn mare before him. In that moment, Shield, Dog, and Leon had walked up the stairs to see what was happening, watching in awe as Dusk cast his spell. From there, between the two unicorn horns, a light puppet of Twilight appeared, this one brighter and more beautiful than any other Dusk had created before. With it dissolving into a stream of color, it flooded its way into Twilight, the unicorn mare gasping as it did with tears well up in her eyes. As it did, slowly from her hooves up, she began to regain color, her gray fur becoming lilac again. Once the stream was absorbed, the gray mare was now restored, she becoming Twilight Sparkle once again. Dusk’s view Feeling the spell had finished, I lightly took my horn away and opened my eyes to see who was once had been gray have her fur restored to its brilliant lilac shade. She stood there, breathing heavily, silent for all but that. Raising her head and gazing right into my eyes, she let the tears flow and embraced me once more, which I happily returned. I could feel the warm tears drop onto my shoulder as we hugged, aware of nothing else except each other. “Oh, Dusk… I never thought I’d see you again.” she murmured, sniffing and still hugging me. “Neither did I… I’ve never been happier to see you.” “I missed you… so much.” Suddenly, her voice became regretful, apologetic. “Dusk, I’m so sorry we left you behind. I know you wanted to, but you should have stayed with us from the start, then you might have been safe. Instead, you… turned into somepony else, somepony I didn’t even recognize. It was all my fault for what happened to you.” “Twilight,” I said, cupping her chin gently. “I don’t blame you, nopony could have predicted what happened. It was my choice to stay here in Ponyville.” “I know, but… I still shouldn’t have left you.” She gazed imploringly at me. “Can you ever forgive me?” “Of course.” I then broke eye contact and looked to the floor. “Only if you can forgive me for what my ‘brother’ has done.” “Dusk, it wasn’t your fault. The Black Blood was making you do all that.” “I know, but still…” I then went on to explain, telling her how much it hurt me when I remembered the pain I caused. “The fact that I allowed myself to be consumed by madness…” Allowing the tears that built up in my eyes to flow down my face, I continued even as my voice began to break. “The fact that I… caused so much pain to everypony… to our friends… to you… it’s more painful to me than… anything else I’ve experienced. I had already lost my father and brother… I can’t bear the thought of losing you too. You, the girls, Shield, Dog, and Leon… you’re all important to me. You’re more than my friends. You’re… my family… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Closing my eyes, I began to sob, letting all that aching pain in my heart out. I thought I would be like this for a while, but then I felt a hoof on my cheek as I turned to face Twilight, where I saw her smile, just her complete and utter relief that we were back together after all the danger we’d been through. Seeing how Diablo had been, I thought Twilight would never look at me that way again. “Dusk… you don’t have to apologize.” She said to me. “I already forgive you.” “You… you do?” I was in complete disbelief at what she said. “Of course. I don’t care what Diablo has done, all I care about is that you’re here safe and sound. You’re my best friend and I don’t want to do anything to lose you.” Hearing that say that to me, I felt a full rush of joy that, even after everything that has happened, she still considered me her friend and still cared about me so much. Catching her by surprise, I pulled her into the hug once more, the tears of sadness turning into tears of joy as they flowed onto her shoulder while I gave her my silent thanks for her forgiveness. Though only for a moment, Twilight then returned the embrace, no doubt gaining smile on her face. I thought nothing could spoil the moment until… we heard a familiar chuckle and looked to see Leon, Shield, and Dog looking at us with sly smiles, the three mentally teasing us. Pulling back, Twilight and I remembered how close were to each other, gaining a blush before breaking away, looking at anything other than each other as I wiped away my tears. After managing to calm myself, I then spoke to Twilight, both of us trying to hide our embarrassment. “So… are you okay?” “Me? Oh, I’m fine! More than that, brilliant! Especially now that you're back.” With calming herself down, her expression then became one of concern. “But what about you?” “Me? Well, I’m feeling…okay, I suppose. Some painful memories among other things, but nothing too serious… I think.” “Diablo told me that there wasn’t a cure for Black Blood, that you were stuck like that.” I felt a twinge of anger at the very mention of his name. “What happened? How did you get back to normal?” “Oh, that?” I said, holding up my good luck charm in the palm of my claw. “Let’s just say I had a little help. I’d tell ya, it wasn’t easy. Diablo put up a fight. Important thing is that he’s gone and I hope to never go through anything like that again.” “I should think so.” She looked over my body. “You want me to check over for any injuries that need treatment? I’ve read a few medical journals on the subject.” “So have I and I’m fine. Well, mostly fine, physically anyway.” I felt those painful memories return, but shook them away and gestured to her. “Nice to see you have your color back.” “It certainly feels better.” She marveled at her restored color and beamed. “How did you do that?” “Yeah, what was that?” Shield asked. “Well, it was actually my magic.” I answered. “I read the letters Twilight sent to Celestia and my magic managed to extract the memories from them. It was like my magic was a Pensieve, something that allowed me to view the memories on the days each letter was sent, from each lesson in friendship we’ve all learned.” “So what? You can get memories from other ponies now?” Leon asked. “Apparently, but I’m not sure to what extent. I only got the memories Twilight needed from the letters that had been sent back.” Speaking to her and as she listened, Twilight picked up and examined the reports Celestia had sent back. “To explain why she sent these back, I believe that she had done it in the hopes that you would be reminded of who you were from them. And, though unintended to be by the new spell I just learned, I believe her plan was a success. Did it help?” She closed the scroll she was reading and beamed at me. “Yes, it did. It was… wonderful.” she whispered. “And you… you’ve made it all so clear.” “I have?” “He did?” Leon raised a brow. “Of course, isn’t it obvious?” She laughed at my bemused expression. “Discord’s trying to distract us from what’s important. He knows how powerful our friendships are and he’s been trying to keep us from seeing it.” “Ah, yes! Of course!” I declared, seeing how obvious it was now for I myself already knew it. “He knows it’s powerful enough to use the Elements and that was why he broke you and the girls apart, so you couldn’t use them and so he’d have no more opposition.” “Exactly! That’s why the princess sent back my reports, so we’d be reminded of exactly that. Or rather, so you’d remind me.” she rectified. I blushed and looked away. “I’m sure you would have…managed without me.” “Still the modest one.” She only smiled all the more at my comment. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you since we separated, how much I’ve realized that, regardless of what you might think, I can’t manage without you.” “What… what do you mean?” I asked unsurely. “I mean that, if we need to save Equestria, I want you with me this time. Element or not, I’m never leaving you behind again. Besides, I think I’ll need your help to restore our friends to normal.” She held out her hoof. “What do you say, Dusk? Shall we fight for our friendship, together?” I stared down at her outstretched hoof, knowing what this meant. A year ago, I would have said no, that she could no doubt find somepony more useful than me, but now… now I knew my true worth, for she had shown it to me… they all had. I didn’t know what I had done with my magic, but I knew that, working together with Twilight, I wanted to help save my friends and my home, no matter how small my contribution. With that thought firmly in my mind, I gripped her hoof in return and nodded. “I’m with you, Miss Sparkle, to the end.” “And you’ll have the Element Gang support with you.” Shield said. “Yes, then let’s do it!” I said. “For them.” “For us.” she followed up before we all chorused together. “For Equestria!” “Hey… nopony mind me.” Spike’s weak voice groaned, as he belched up another report. “Oh, sorry, Spike. Will you be okay?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, just so long as I don’t… burp out my guts…” “I think I can help here.” Levitating a blank roll of parchment, I wrote a message asking the princess to stop sending reports as well as a thank you to Princess Luna and Dragonis along with asking Luna about the stones. I was about to send it when… “Hey, Dusk.” Leon said to me. “Did you already figure out how to fix the stones?” “No, why?” I told him with a raised brow. “Then… what’s going on there?” Leon pointed to me, confusing me even more. It was just when I looked down and was caught by surprise, making me drop the quill I had. What surprised me was that, not one, but two of the stones had gained color: one in midnight blue and the other lilac. “What the…?” I said, holding both stones in my palm. “When did it change… How did it change?” “Dusk, is everything alright?” Twilight asked in concern. “Yeah, it’s fine, it’s just…” I said before then showing her my necklace. “Take a look.” “What?” Twilight said with surprise, seeing the two glowing stones I had. “What happened to your necklace?” “Yeah, how come one of ‘em is purple like Twilight?” Dog asked. “I have no idea. It was black a while ago, just before…” I then paused as I put some thought on it. “Before I cast the memory spell on Twilight.” It was then that I had a struck of realization. “Of course! That’s it!” “What’s it, cap?” Shield asked me confused. “Think about it, this stone became blue after I came back, right?” I said, pointing to one of the two color-filled stones before motioning to the other. “Well, I think this one became lilac when I brought Twilight to her normal self! Don’t you get it? One stone is connected to me and the others are no doubt connected to Twilight and the girls! Their light is what gives them strength. The reason they were black was because the girls were still corrupted by Discord.” “So what you’re sayin’ is,” Dog started, finally getting it, “if we turn AJ and the others back to normal…” “We’ll restore the stones to full strength!” I finished. “And use them to take down Discord!” Shield added. “Exactly!” “But we still don’t know how to use them.” Leon put in. “I’m sure we can figure something out on our own. We got this far. Let’s just find the other girls and get them back to normal!” Before we got moving, we were stopped by a sudden belch and I remembered Spike as the little dragon groaned in pain. “Oh, right.” Throwing the letter I wrote away, I quickly got to work on a new one, this one only asking Celestia to stop sending letters and the little thank you to both Dragonis and Luna. With it done, I then whistled for Ophelia. “Take that to Princess Celestia.” She hooted obediently and let me tie it to her leg, giving me a gentle nip before taking off into the sky, going until she was a little white speck on the horizon, which I only noticed now was a random line rising and falling. “Thanks, man.” Spike groaned, crawling under his covers. “I’ll just… stay here then…” “I’d say you need it.” Twilight remarked before she spoke to me. “Now mind telling me about those stones?” “It’s a long story.” I told her. “I’ll explain on the way. We need to restore the others before it's too late.” “Right!” She said with a look of determination. “Then let’s go save our friends!” “As you wish, Miss Sparkle.” I said, bowing my head and we all galloped after her, me with a new sense of purpose driving me. As I explained everything I discovered about the stones so far, for the first time since this whole thing had started, I had a new sense of hope and determination that motivated me. I’d overcome the most grueling mental challenge I’d ever faced, we ventured into the Everfree Forest and made it out alive, and even stood against the spirit of chaos ourselves. Now me, the guys, and Twilight were going to bring him to justice and make him pay for what he had done, to ourselves and our home. Twilight too seemed to be more driven, whether it was due to my return or the new hope she’d been given, I wasn’t sure, but I was just glad to be back with her, along with how she forgave me for the torment and destruction I’d caused. It turned out it was a good thing I had come along with Twilight. Thanks to Discord’s redecorating, Ponyville had become a lot more difficult to negotiate with new paths leading up, down, underground, in the air, or just completely vanished. Luckily, my unique tracking magic ensured that a safe, sensible path was always to be found and we made swift progress throughout our chaotic home. We arrived at Sweet Apple Acres first, complete with flying pigs, a madly tap-dancing Granny Smith, and Applejack, who appeared to be eating in reverse, returning bites to bare apple cores. The sooner this world returned to harmony, the better. I thought, this was far too confusing. “Applejack, we’re here to fight for our friendship!” Twilight declared, suddenly surprised by Big Macintosh, who was behaving like a dog. “How intriguing.” I muttered as I watched him dug a hole back down again. “Oh, now ya want to fight? And look who decided to show up. Haven’t missed you at all." she said to us. “Where were ya when I was battlin’ Discord?” We nodded to each other and I nodded to Dog and Leon and they pounced her before she could react, pinning the farm pony to the floor. “Snap out of it. This isn’t you! You’re not a liar. Dusk, now!” At her command, I performed my spell in time with hers. As Twilight performed her own spell, I poured in all of the memories Applejack lost, including the ones I had with her: when she’d first welcomed me, her offer to be my very first friend, planting that apple seed on our walk, even the times I hanged out with her and Dog. The color form floated above us as Twilight performed her own memory spell, my fellow unicorn giving the cowpony the memories of their time together as my puppet dissolved into her, restoring Applejack’s fur to that fair shade of peach. With the sight of a stone in the same color, Dog and Leon then got off Applejack. “Wha… what happened? Twilight! Dusk! Dog!” She shook her head and stood up. “I saw a vision of us feudin’ and fightin’. I couldn’t face the truth, so I started tellin’ lies. I’m sorry, everypony. Can ya ever forgive me?” “We already have. Come on!” Twilight ordered, wasting no time in getting going. “Nice to have ya back, sugar cube.” she said to me as we galloped off once more. “It’s good to be back and… it’s great to see you again, Applejack.” I added sincerely. “Well, thank ya kindly.” she said, looking up at the puppet I was using. “Anypony else getting’ a feelin’ of déjà vu here?” Dog asked. “Separated in a dangerous environment with you, Dusk, Shield, and Leon coming to find us all with his color puppets and bringing us all back together to fight the bad guy?” Twilight laughed a little at that. “Now you mention it, this is all rather familiar.” “This does seem to be becoming a habit of ours, isn’t it?” I remarked to which the others agreed. “Just further proof you should have been with us from the beginning.” Twilight added, smiling at me. “Believe me, I was.” I muttered, so only I could hear. “Yes, well, I’m here now.” “And we’re just that little bit better for it.” Dog said. Then Applejack cocked her head at me. “I remember bein’ told ‘bout that feller Diablo. Though not sure if I know it all. Head’s still a little fuzzy.” “Really?” I was now a little nervous, not sure what to tell her about Diablo being me. “Well, you don’t need to worry.” Twilight said to her. “He’s been taken care of and gotten what he deserved for what he did to Dusk.” “Well that’s good.” Applejack said before she turned back to me. “You okay?” “I… I’ll manage.” I said, not dishonestly, but not entirely truthful either. “If ya say so.” she said unsurely, possibly picking up on this. “What happened to him anyway?” “He’s been beaten and I made sure he never comes back.” I said firmly. “Amen to that.” Dog agreed. “Let’s see if we can't do the same with Discord, huh?” “Indubitably.” I said, moving to the head. “Now, let’s go and get Fluttershy.” As we ran, I felt a little guilty for lying to Applejack and went along with what the others were telling her. Much like with Twilight, I was afraid of what she would think of me if she knew I was Diablo Nightfall. But I pushed that aside and got back to the task at hand. Certainly, I had defeated my darker self and regained control of my body, so he was gone for good. He wouldn’t return from any infection nor would some other influence that can force his return. His reign of bringing torment and suffering to all those who stood in his way was over. Even Discord couldn’t find a trace of him in my mind. We arrived at her cottage just as quickly as we had with the farm, albeit with a lot more dips and drops than we were used to. The door was locked, but that was swiftly solved when Applejack and Dog promptly kicked it open, to reveal the Pegasus hanging a few critters upside down from a high height. This was enough to shock Leon. “Hey! Why are you interrupting my fun?” she demanded. “Fluttershy, let them go and get down here.” Leon said to her. “Very poor choice of words.” With a sinister cackle that made me feel unnerved, she dropped them and they plummeted to the ground. Sprinting forward, me and Leon caught them and brought them softly to the ground before they could sustain any injury. They squeaked their thanks and hurried off in case their former carer tried anything else on them. “Yoink!” I felt my hat leave my head and looked up to see Fluttershy had taken my hat. “I’ve been meaning to do that and it was worth it.” “Fluttershy, would you please be as kind as to return my trilby?” I asked, keeping my voice controlled and measured. “Flutters, I would listen to him.” Leon warned her. “He gets angry when somepony takes his hat and you won’t like it when he’s angry.” “Um… how about no?” she snapped, cackling again. I was about to step in when Leon stopped me, shaking his head before stepping forward and gazing up at her with a sad expression on his face. “Fluttershy, look what he’s done to you.” Leon said to her. “I know you think you’re enjoying this, but deep down, you know this isn’t who you truly are. Where’s that kind Pegasus who I helped escort a family of ducks? Where’s my sweet Flutters?” “She was too nice and didn’t let herself have any fun. This is much better.” she insisted, making Leon sigh. “Well, it’s not to me.” Leon told her as I glanced at Applejack, who was now preparing a lasso to bring her down to earth so she and Dog could hold her down while me and Twilight worked our magic. Deciding to help keep her distracted, I then returned my attention to Fluttershy and tried to get my hat as she held it even further out of my reach, making minimal jumps as Leon kept talking to her. “Do you really think that? ʹCause I don’t. I like the old you better.” “Well, tough! That me is gone!” “No, she’s not! She’s just being kept quiet! And I know how I get her to speak out!” He stepped closer and I stopped jumping and got ready to act straight away. “Look, I don’t know what you’re going through, but I have friends that went through stuff just like this, who know what it’s like when you lose yourself and have somepony else take control of you in a way you don’t want.” “But I do want this.” she retorted, though not as firmly as before. “You’re just being a sad, little crybaby who wants his best friend back. How sad is that?” “If I’m a crybaby for missing the mare I care about the most, then fine.” He said calmly. “Remember the day we met, back when I used to work for that circus? Even though you were scared, you were the only pony who was brave enough to help me tame the orthros, the only creature there I thought nopony could get under control. Yet you managed to get that big guy under control. What you did for me that day… it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. It’s because of you that I’m the stallion I am today.” He then got a serious expression on his face as he looked to her. “And that’s the reason I’m doing everything I can to get you back. And, for the record, I’m really sorry.” “Oh, yeah? For what?” she challenged, Applejack whirling her length of rope. “For this. Now!” She squeaked in surprise as the rope wrapped around her body and tightened. Thanks to Dog and Applejack’s help, we were able to haul her down to the ground and hogtie her in place, preventing her from struggling free. Me and Twilight then did what we had to, me allowing my brotherly feelings for her and my admiration at how kind and compassionate she could be flooding into her through the puppet that restored her color, a stone becoming the same cream yellow. Immediately, her struggles ceased, her cruel sneer vanished, and the visage of timid kindness that I knew so well to be Fluttershy’s returned at once and filling me with relief to see her back to normal again. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed when she returned to normal. “Twilight, Applejack, Dusk, Leon, I just had the worst dream!” “Haven’t we all, sugar cube?” Dog remarked, untying her legs. “Flutters!” Leon said, tackling her into a hug with tears flowing from his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” “Me too.” She said, gaining a slight blush. “Oh, my! It was horrible! I was so mean and nasty! I just did all of these mean things and I poured water onto Twilight, I tripped up poor Shield, and Dusk, I…” With her gasp, Leon then let go of her as Fluttershy looked down realized she was holding my hat before giving it back to me in a panic. “Oh, my gosh! I’m so sorry I took it! I didn’t mean to!” “It’s okay, Fluttershy.” I assured soothingly, putting my hat back on. “The dream is over now. You’re back to being you.” “But I was still so cruel to you and you didn’t deserve that, not any of you.” She stared at me, tears forming in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Big Brother! Please don’t be mad!” My eyes widened and I gasped, so did Leon as well as Fluttershy when she realized what she’d said. I’d always thought of her like the little sister I never had, but this… this still caught me off-guard. This surprised me more than anything else so far and everypony else too for we had all fallen silent at her exclamation, Fluttershy looking mortified. “I mean, um… I don’t mean like… you know as… well…” She trailed off and hid behind her mane, mumbling incoherently. My response was to smile kindly at her and embrace her, which she gladly returned. “It’s okay. I forgive you, Little Sister.” I whispered in her ear, resulting in her hugging me all the more tightly. “Thank you.” she whispered back before breaking apart from me and beaming. “So… what’s going on?” “What else? We’re bringing the band back together!” Shield summed it up. “And then we’re bringing down Discord.” Twilight added. “Come on, Rarity’s next!” “Right you are.” I confirmed, making her form appear. “For once, I agree with you.” Leading behind Twilight, we galloped off again. “So Flutters is your sister now, huh?” Leon asked me with a proud smile. “Yeah.” I said, returning it from that forgiveness I had just given to Fluttershy, who I now noticed was flying closest to me. “And I’m glad. Just hope she doesn’t remember Diablo.” “I doubt it.” he told me. “Also, I’m pretty sure Diablo was worse than Jerk Fluttershy.” “Yeah, no argument there.” I was glad to have Fluttershy back and even more so now we had made clear the closeness we felt for each other. In addition to this, something else gave me some renewed hope. In lieu of what me and Fluttershy had done, perhaps I might even finally let Twilight know how I felt about her. After all, me and Fluttershy had been okay with each other revealing the sibling-like feelings we had for one another. How great would it be, to at last let her know, to hold her gently in my hooves and share in a love far stronger than friendship, to do anything for her…? But…what if she didn’t feel the same? Deciding not to linger on this more likely possibility, I returned my attention to the waking world when I saw we had arrived at the Carousel Boutique, which was also in a different location to where it was originally situated. How fitting we were now here for the pony who had been helping me with my romantic dealings, especially now I had just been considering them again. When we entered, we found Rarity in the center of the store, lovingly polishing and crooning over the large boulder that I knew, thanks to Discord’s powers, she thought was an equivalently sized diamond of infinite beauty. What a state she had been put in thanks to him, that we had all been put in. Well, that was about to change. “Sorry, we’re closed.” she said absently. “That’s okay.” Twilight said, getting her attention. “We’re just here for one thing.” She motioned silently to us for positions to take up, which we swiftly complied to do. “What do you think you’re doing?” Rarity only stood in front of the boulder when we had her surrounded and were closing in around her, cutting off any escape. Her eyes darted around us, standing before her boulder protectively. “Get away from my gem! Get away…” She was cut off when Twilight performed her memory spell and I thought of the positive emotions I had for her, my cousin relationship with her, the way she had helped me in my attempted romance, teaching me to dance and the two of us having tea together, reminding me of all the best aspects of Canterlot with none of the bad ones. The color puppet restored her fur to her shining white coat and uniquely styled purple mane, gasping as the feelings were poured into her mind. After it was done, she smiled her pleasant, sophisticated smile. “Hello, girls, and to our gentlecolt friends too.” she added to me. “What is going on?” Frowning and then widening her eyes, she whipped around to face the rock. “By Celestia! This is embarrassing.” She hurried behind the stone and started to push against it. Seeing what she was doing, I moved forward to help her, heaving the rock out of the door and leaving it outside where it belonged. She nodded in thanks to me and turned to the others. “Let us never speak of this again.” she announced firmly. The others only smiled, just glad to have her back. “Hold on…” I walked up to the boulder, examined the surface, knocked on it, and found a substantial crack in its surface. “Applejack, Dog, Shield, could you lend me a hoof please?” “Sure thing.” She and the others walked over to where I indicated. I positioned them at three points of the rock. “When I say go, kick it as hard as you can. Ready?” I requested politely. “And how!” Dog said. “Okay. 1… 2… 3!” With a loud crack, me, Shield, Applejack, and Dog kicked with our hooves with enough force to shatter it completely. I looked at Rarity and nodded. “There, now we never speak of it again.” “Quite so.” Rarity said, nodding her approval before glancing at my neck. “I say, what’s happening to your necklace?” Looking down, I then looked down to see that now five of the stones had become filled with color: one of midnight blue, one of lilac, one of peach, one of cream yellow, and now one of purple. Though looking at the purple stone, I saw that it had small tints of white, a pattern of the two colors that match both my cousin’s mane, tail, and fur. Much like her, it was kind of a stone of… rarity. All the while, two of them were still pitch black, glowing dimly, like they were asleep and waiting to be woken up. “It’s sort of a long story.” I told her. “Remember Fore Sight?” “Your ancestor? Why, of course.” She said to me. “Well, before he passed away, he went on a search for something.” I explained. “Turns out what he was looking for were these stones. Luna says that they can be able to help and I do believe she’s right.” “Yeah, speaking of Luna, I’ve been meaning to ask ya.” Shield spoke up. “Where exactly did you get the stone she wanted us to find?” “Actually it’s a bit hard to explain.” I said as I told them how I came across the seventh stone. “You see, after my encounter with Discord back at the castle, I had a little run-in with a Darkrai.” “Darkrai?” Leon asked. “It’s a Pokémon and get this: this Darkrai actually belongs to Luna.” I said, surprising them. “She haves a Pokémon?” Shield said in disbelief. “Yeah, and it wasn’t the only Pokémon I met.” I said as I continued. “It led me outside where I had a run-in with a Legendary Pokémon!” “A Legendary?!” Shield, Dog, and Leon all said in shock. “Pardon, darling, a what?” Rarity asked as she and the girls looked at me in confusion. “What ya talkin’ about, sugar cube?” Applejack questioned me. “A Legendary Pokémon is a sort of rare Pokémon with pretty unique powers, one that barely anypony has seen before and have been considered to be of myth and legend.” I answered them. “Yeah, you should see the Legendaries we saw, they’re awesome!” Shield exclaimed. I cleared my throat to allow me to continue. “Anyway, the Legendary I came across was Dialga, of which legends says that time began when this Pokémon was born. Darkrai brought me to it for Dialga had a task for me, one of which led to me possessing the blue stone you see now.” “So what did it want ya to do?” Dog asked me. “Well…” I then turned to Applejack. “Applejack, Dog told me that you saw something the last time you were at Castle of the Two Sisters, something that reminded you of my magic, correct?” “Yes. It actually helped us find Twilight so we could help her.” she answered. “Why?” “Well, actually what you saw back there was my magic.” I told her. “Hold on, you were in Canterlot when that happened.” Leon pointed out. “You didn’t even know they were there! How could you get your magic there?” “Well, the Dusk from back then wasn’t there,” I told him, “but I was.” “What are you talking about?” Leon raised a brow as he and everypony else was confused. “You see, Dialga has the ability to control time.” I explained. “It can even send anything or anypony through time, whether it’s the future or the past.” “Wait,” Shield spoke up and I saw he was piecing it together, “are you saying that the Legendary actually…” “Yeah, Shield. Dialga sent me to the past to help Applejack and the others reunite with Twilight!” All of them were shocked in awe from hearing this, even Twilight had a hard time taking it all in. “So ya mean ya went back in time and helped the girls beat Nightmare Moon?” Dog asked, still surprised. “In a way, yes.” I said as I finished my explanation. “And, when I returned to the present, I managed to get a little souvenir from the trip.” “Which was the seventh stone.” Leon added in realization. “So this whole time, right from the beginning. Dusk had been helping the girls.” Shield put in. “Who would have thought?” “But… b-but…” Twilight said, no doubt having a bit of trouble taking all this in. “I need to lie down.” “I know it’s a lot to take in and a bit crazy,” I said to her, “but that’s life with the Element Gang. Anyway, let’s leave this for after we beat Discord.” “You’re right.” She said, pushing her questions about what I just said for later. “Let’s get back to work and find Pinkie!” “Way ahead of you!” I silently affirmed my order by creating a new puppet for the pink pony, but I was still thinking again about the significance of these stones. What exactly were they and how were they affecting my magic in such a way? How exactly did they fit together in defeating Discord? I also still wondered what each of them meant for me. Thinking back on it and remembering how each stone had the color of each of the girls, I was beginning to see them representing a light of which was a part of their Elements: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. It just made sense seeing how each one was lighting up for each of the girls I rescued. But if that so, then what about the one that represented my color? What was my light? I also wondered what would happen once all the stones gained their color. Would their true power finally be revealed and, if it does, what will happen? My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed something slither into a bush. It was only there for a second and it was gone, so fast I wasn’t even sure if I saw it. I stared at the spot where it had been, at the bush it had supposedly gone into. I didn’t know exactly what it had been or if it had even been there, but something made me feel… uneasy about it. Would it be worth trying to investigate and put these fears to rest… or confirm them? “Dusk? Are you all right, darling?” Rarity had stayed back to check up on me, looking where I was. “It’s, um… nothing, just my imagination.” I finally said. “Come on, let’s get going.” Rarity lingered for a moment, smiling warmly at me. “I’m relieved to see you recovered, Dusk.” Her eyes moved to Twilight, who was looking back with concern. “I don’t think I’m the only one.” “Well… I would think all of my friends are glad to see me.” I mumbled, my cheeks growing hot. “You know what I am talking about.” She only winked and gestured for me to take the lead. I nodded and ran on ahead again, lowering my head to hide how red my cheeks had become. No one’s view Unknown to the group, a long, scaly neck rose from the bush, the creature watching them leave through red, fiery eyes. The creature is revealed to be Black Fang as he raises a stub tendril, a reminding wound left of how he had been between by Dusk. He hissed, gave an approximation of a smile, and slithered after them, a good few more of his kind following in his wake.