//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Return of the Mane 6, Part 2 // Story: Rise of the Element Gang, Book 3: Heroes United // by Power of Six //------------------------------// Chapter 15: Return of the Mane 6, Part 2 Despite a little bit of reassurance that now all would be well, for the most part anyway, and that Discord would be close to his defeat, I could tell Luna was still worried, for both the fate of Equestria and the pony that she considered to be her friend. She stood on her balcony, her legs and hooves rested on the railing, staring out at the chaotic Ponyville in the distance and pondering what Dusk was doing now, if he had recovered from what Discord had done to him… and what Diablo Nightfall had forced me to do. Much like her, I too felt fear for the heartless, crueler version of Dusk along with an overwhelming pity and compassion for him. Luna understood that feeling for she and Dusk both now had to endure when our darker desires had gotten the better of us and something else had taken over. Luna could still remember from her own time as Nightmare Moon, her attempts to bring about eternal night, trying to seriously hurt Twilight Sparkle and her friends, all the bitterness and anger that had fueled her to do all of those things. At first, she thought nopony would understand what she had been through… until Dusk came along, that is. Even I couldn’t help but sigh at the thought of young Dusk. He didn't deserve what had happened to him. Though I thought it would be the case, seeing it had been detailed in the ancient writings. “Is everything alright?” I asked my dear Lunes as she looked to me. “It is nothing.” She told me. “I just feel terrible for what has happened to Dusk. I interpret what been said all wrong and it fills me nothing with guilt. Dusk had now gone through all he had done and all that Nightfall had done. I’m afraid I may have made his life even more difficult as a result of it. He doesn’t deserve it.” “It’s not your fault, Lunes.” I told her, trying to comfort her. “Anypony could have misinterpreted what had been said. Besides, I’m sure Dusk is fine. He’s just like his father, he doesn’t let something like that keep him from fulfilling his duty.” “That might be true,” she said to me, “but I still worry for I should have gotten reports back from Tia along with her student.” “Be patient, Luna. I’m sure that Dusk and Twilight are now on their way to using their magic to return their friends to normal and doing so with interference from Discord. He believes he’s won, so his focus will not be on them.” “I hope you’re right, Dragonis.” She then pulled out the ancient scroll and began to unfold it. “Let us also hope that Fore Sight was indeed right in his writings.” The very scroll she pulled out was the last prophecy left by Fore Sight the Uncanny, one many had come to reject and claim to just be something created by the prophet turned mad by Discord. I still remember what it said, word for word: Heritor of night, A son born soon, With a sliver’s power, Of the moon. His greatest weapon being his mind, And takes in stride, Though, through discord, Shows a dark side. Against this evil, Most unhallowed, He is light, opposed, To the madness shadowed. Though, to keep at bay, This darkness made, The stars and their light, Must come to his aid. Though modesty forbids, Great deeds, he did. Guided by light, Unlocks power once hid. Gathers the seven, Through the mists of time. When chaos is at prime, He enacts justice to its crime. And when six, Do cease their fight, By his light, They unite… I didn’t want to remember the rest for the next part of the prophecy is much concerning, the very part of which even Luna was unsure of. “Don’t worry.” I told her. “I’m sure Dusk will figure it out. He’s smart.” “But what if Discord knows about Dusk and tries to stop him? If he does, he would do it himself or use some dark minions like the ones Tia and I destroyed during the Uprising.” “And he and his friends will be able to handle it.” I then placed a claw on her shoulder in assurance. “Dusk has managed to pull himself out of the toughest situations Equestria has faced. I’m sure he’ll be able to pull out of this as well.” “I just wish we could do something more to help.” “Hoot!” Hearing that hoot, we looked to see a small, white Hoothoot rested on the railing near Luna. “A Hoothoot?” I was confused by the sudden appearance of this pokemon. “Apparently, it is a messenger.” Luna said as I looked to see a letter attached to its leg. It had a somewhat nervous disposition about it as it had now hidden its head behind its wing and refused to look at us. It was also shaking a little in its feathery body, absolutely terrified. “Is it… afraid of us?” “No, I believe it is just shy.” I said with a smile, suspecting this owl could only belong to one pony in particular. “And I do believe I know who sent it.” From there, Luna reached out gently and untied the letter. Smiling her thanks to the bird, she unfolded it and read what was written. Reading it with her, we were met by one surprise that made the hope within us grow even stronger as Lune then called out her sister who was busy sending back Twilight’s reports on friendship. “What’s this, Luna?” Celestia asked. “I still need to send the rest of Twilight’s reports.” “I do not think that will be necessary, listen.” Luna proceeded to read aloud. Dear Princesses Luna and Celestia To the eldest of you, Twilight and I have received your reports and their intended purpose has been fulfilled. You can stop sending them now. I don’t think Spike can take much more of the effort required and deserves a rest. Thank you for reminding us of the true worth of friendship and reminding us of who we are. And to Luna and Dragonis, my friends… you’ve helped me more than I could have ever thought possible. You probably know the origin of Diablo Nightfall by now. All I can say is thank you, from the deepest recesses of my heart, thank you so much for helping me get back to the light and I am so sorry for what I… he did to you. I only hope you can forgive me, for the pain I caused you is nothing compared to the guilt I feel for failing in my duty to prevent it. Any other help you can give would be appreciated because I have a feeling the worse is about to begin. You’ve both done so much for your subjects and have already fought this battle once before. Still, it never hurts to have a little more help. Your loyal subject, Dusk Noir. “I already have.” Luna whispered, rolling up the scroll and turning to me and her sister. “We’ve done it then.” “We have.” I said to her, returning the smile. “It seems as though our efforts have managed to help our young friends and now they are on the right path that will lead to their victory over Discord.” “Yes, but our task isn’t yet completed.” Celestia said, staring out at Ponyville. “What do you mean?” Luna asked as we both looked at her with confusion. “It means that I think we have been playing too passive a role in this battle.” She looked down at us and shared a knowing smile. “I think it’s time we take a more active stance, don’t you?” “You took the words right out of my mouth, dear sister.” the younger replied, getting ready to fly. “But I think it would be prudent to get some additional force.” “Indeed. I believe that it would be the appropriate action.” I added/ “So do I.” Celestia joined us at the edge of the balcony, raising her wings. “Come then. It’s time to take the fight to Discord!" With that, the Royal Pony Sisters and I leaped from their castle, spread our majestic wings and took to the skies, ready to finish this once and for all. Twilight’s view After arriving at Sugarcube Corner, I performed the memory spell I had learned once again on a restrained Pinkie Pie brought by Leon and Dog, letting her remember all of the times she had made me laugh, both with our friends and every other pony in town, reminding her of the irrepressible ball of happiness that she was and not the cynical, grumpy mare Discord had forced her to become. Dusk was performing his own similar spell, his eyes closed as he created a color puppet in her image that, when complete, dissolved into her, gave her the other pieces of memories of our friendship, and restored her fur color to normal at the same time that my own magic took effect. In a way, we were taking two halves of the spell. I focused more on the memory, while Dusk channeled the emotions of said memories, somehow, through his own unique magic. I knew this because I had felt it when it had reawakened the magic within me after Discord had extinguished it. I had never felt anything more wonderful, more beautiful, in my whole life as in that moment when Dusk had performed that spell on me. All of those positive emotions pouring into me, the happiness, the joy, the wonder he had shared whenever he had been with me and everything that I had made him feel by just being his friend. There had been something else, a feeling that I shared and that had been growing stronger since Dusk had returned. That had shone as brightly as the sun and was enough to make me cry just thinking about it. But, despite the joy he no doubt felt from his return to us, I couldn’t help but notice something else about me too. In little moments, there were times Dusk would look guilty, distraught almost from some unknown, secret fault of his. It was even more obvious when she looked into my eyes and saw it, burning in there like a fire. Dusk would always look away from me when I did this, but it was there, even though he tried to hide it. It was then that I knew he had felt guilt from his time as Diablo Nightfall. Even though it wasn’t his fault, Dusk has been taking fault for what the Kishin had done. And, seeing how Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity barely have any memory of who Diablo was and how he related to Dusk, I had to guess he also felt guilty for not telling them the origins of that monster. After we’re done with this, I’ll need to have a talk with him about how we will tell the girls and show how they will forgive Dusk as it wasn’t his fault. For right now, we had work to do. After Leon and Dog got off her, Pinkie was already back on her hooves, bouncing away and hugging everypony tightly. “I’m back! I’m back! I’m back!” she chanted, embracing me. “I mean, I was all grumpy and misery and sad, but now I’m all happy and bouncy and jumpy and I just love it so much I just wanna throw a party for it! No, wait! Several parties, all at the same time, with different hats and cakes! That would be absolutely positutely funeriffic and it would all be just ʹcause I’m so happy to be back to my old Pinkie-dinkie-twinkee self!” “I’m glad to have you back too, Pinkie.” I sincerely said. “It wasn’t the same without you.” “Aw! Thanks, Twilight. That’s sweet.” She gave me a perky smile and whipped around to hug Dusk. “And you! I knew it! I knew you were psychic, I just knew it!” she insisted. “I could feel you inside my head and putting all that lovely bubbly stuff in there with Twilight, like you were putting cupcakes and everything sweet right into my brain! Hey, maybe you’re both psychic! That would be amazing! Then you’d be the cutest couple ever for sure!” I felt my cheeks flush at the mention of that and suddenly became very interested in my hooves, not making eye contact with anypony. Why did she have to bring that up? Was it really that obvious? Not that it was meant to be, I still thought it was a silly idea anyway. Of course, it was. Yet, somehow… I rather liked the sound of that more than before. I didn’t know why, but it just sounded… good. I sounded rather embarrassed as well, mumbling in my quiet voice. “Um, er… we’re not a couple, Pinkie, but… I’m happy you’re back.” Dusk added, trying to pull the subject away from that territory. “I’m happy you’re back too! I mean, I remember you being gone and I was so sad now looking back on it, especially since I said such a mean thing about you. But now you’re back and I’m just over the moon, stars, and universe about it! In fact, I’m so happy you're back, you get a second hug and this complimentary cupcake!” She hugged him again and placed the sugary sweet in his claw, beaming at him. Dusk stared at her for a few moments, then just laughed it off. “Thank you, Pinkie. It’s much appreciated.” “Come on, we’d better get going,” I prompted after I finished giggling. “Just a sec, Twilight! I wanna have a talk with Dusky, won’t take a moment.” she assured. “That is, if Dusky don’t mind?” “Um… not at all.” Dusk said, unsurely. “Twilight?” “Well… if you have to, but don’t take long.” she said firmly. “We still need to find Rainbow Dash and stop Discord.” “Great! We’ll talk in here, won’t be long.” She pushed Dusk into a side room, beamed at us again, and shut the door behind her. I stared at the door, then around at my friends, who of whom looked just as confused as I was. What did Pinkie need to talk to Dusk about that was so important? And why did she feel the need to talk to him about it away from the rest of us? Was it something to do with what she had said about me and him? At first, I was willing to respect her wishes, but it became harder and harder to keep myself from listening. In the end, my curiosity got the better and I sneaked over to the door and pressed my ear against it. I had to know what they were talking about. I caught the end of a sentence that Dusk was saying, in a worried voice. “…you know, about my… brother?” Dusk was asking Pinkie. “You mean that big old meanie you turned into after Discord put something in you that made you go bananas until you remembered about all of us, managed to get rid of it, and go back to being you?” “Yeah, that’s him.” Dusk sounded surprised. “But… how could you know about that?” “I saw bits of it when you were doing your spell. A bridge formed can be crossed in either direction.” A moment of silence following this unexpected pearl of wisdom. “I saw that in there too. Your noggin’s full of clever stuff like that.” “That’s a matter of opinion.” I muttered. “What…else did you see?” “Eh, nothing I’ll say to anypony else, but this thing got me worried about you.” Her voice was now sympathetic, concerned. “You wanna talk about it? I know it’s hard for you.” “That doesn’t even say the half of it.” “I know. But I just want you to know, Dusk, I don’t blame you.” she said gently. “How can you say that?” Dusk responded bitterly. “How can you in all honesty even say that?” “ʹCause it wasn’t your fault, that’s why. It’s all because of that yucky stuff that got in you. Just think of it as an accident, like the ones you did before and you got all sad about. Remember that, by the lake?” “Except that it wasn’t an accident!” he shouted back. “Nightfall got out and he hurt you, caused untold damage and suffering, and it was all my fault! I was supposed to keep him locked away, keep you all safe, but I didn’t! I failed, Pinkie. Don’t you see that? I failed…” Dusk was silent again, myself straining my ears to listen. “But do you know what the worst part is?” “What?” “It was my body he used, my abilities, my emotions, and I can remember every bit of it. I see it, every time I see you or Twilight or any of the girls and guys. All I can see, all I can think about, is the pain that I caused them, hear their screams, their cries, and their begging for mercy and that’s just you girls. There’s so much more he’s done, all because of me, and I have to witness that every single time and I can do nothing about it. Nothing!” Dusk’s voice trailed off and I, feeling my heart wrench, could hear him sobbing, muttering over and over again how it was all his fault and how he could do nothing. It was enough to bring tears to my own eyes, which I wiped away as they trickled down my cheek. It was all so clear now, why he now looked so much more guilty and forlorn than before. Even though I forgave him, he was still afraid of what the others would think once they found out. I remembered what he said, as how he thought of us as a family, and knew exactly what he was afraid of: losing his family. Looking back, I saw the others were all watching me with inquisitive looks as I listened at the door. “What’s goin’ on in there?” Applejack whispered. “Twi, you okay?” “I’m… I’m not sure.” I mumbled, gesturing her to be quiet. “Hold on, I’m getting more.” I heard hooves approaching Dusk and Pinkie’s sympathetic voice again. “Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay.” she whispered. “I know it’s hard, but believe me, it’s not your fault. Even if he brings raining chocolate which is yummy and tasty, it’s all that meanie Discord’s fault, not yours.” “But I…” She shushed Dusk, cutting him off. “Listen to your aunt Pinkie, Dusky.” she said. "I did some mean things too. I can remember all the grumpy stuff that I did and said when he did that to me. But I know that he’s the one to blame, not me, and I know that, because of what he’s done to you, to me, our home, and our friends, he’s soon gonna see the bad side of Pinkimina Dianne Pie and believe me, you gotta do something pretty bad to see the bad side of me!” Dusk was quite for a moment, no doubt considering this. “I’m not sure I believe you entirely, I don’t know if I can yet… but I agree with you on one thing: Discord does need to be stopped and we all need to do it together.” “That’s the spirit!” She heard her hug me again. “We can talk more about this later, okay?” “Yes… thanks, Pinkie. Just… don’t tell the others yet.” He told her. “You can talk to Twilight and the guys, but not the rest of the girls. They have a few memory gaps with Diablo and don’t know the whole truth about him. I don’t… want them to know yet.” “No problem, I won’t. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” she Pinkie promised sincerely. “Come on, we better get going.” “Right, you are.” He agreed. I then backed hurriedly away from the door as it opened. Pinkie bounced out happily, followed by Dusk. “Oh, and one more thing. Eat up that cupcake, I promise that once you’re done, you’ll feel loads better.” “I’ll bear that in mind.” he said, taking a bite out of it before Leon spoke up. “Hey, Dusk! Look down.” Looking to where he was pointed we saw that most of the stones around Dusk’s neck had now received color, the newest one being the same pink as the mare we just saved. “Looks like we’re almost done.” He said before he looked to me. “So, shall we get going?” “Oh, yes, of course!” I agreed. “Come on! Let’s go, everypony! Only one more to go.” “Great! Hey, now I think about it, there’s so many things you can laugh about from all this. I mean, I was bouncing up and down and up and down in the library before, which was weird, but funny, just bouncing going boing, boing, boing! I love making that noise, it’s so much fun! And I mean, what’s not fun about a noise like that? And then there was when I…” Pinkie bounced out of her house laughing and talking all the way followed by the rest of us as Dusk created a puppet of the Pegasus pony we were looking for. As we set off at a slower pace than before, for Pinkie had started laughing and rolling around so much about all that was happening, even about her fur being gray, Applejack had to move her around in a nearby cart, I turned my attention to Dusk, munching away on his cupcake and perking up a little bit at the end of every bite, though still with something of a guilty demeanor. So, while Discord had changed the others with his magic, he had done something truly cruel and horrible to him. He had actually created a darker side for Dusk, what that had taken over my mind and body completely. That was why Diablo had said Dusk was as good as dead, because he had been left in that part of his mind. Remembering all the things Diablo had done to us, I could understand completely why Dusk looked and felt so guilty around us now. He blamed himself for all Diablo had done…and that just wasn’t fair. I wanted nothing more than to hold him in my arms, to tell him that it was fine and everything was going to be all right and how I thought he was the most special pony I’d ever met and I could never, ever blame him for what he did… Wait, what? Where that came from? I thought with a blush. Still, we had a task to focus on now, which both he and I knew and had to remain focused on. Later though. I vowed, I’ll talk to him. He certainly needs it. We reached Rainbow’s house on the outskirts of town, Fluttershy flying up with Shield on her back and they went peeking through the windows to try and find her. Pinkie had, at this point, calmed down and was capable of walking again, while Dusk, in accordance to Pinkie’s promise, looked a little better after eating that cake, watching his Rainbow puppet which he hadn’t yet cut off. I gave him a reassuring smile while we waited, which he gladly returned. “She’s not here.” Fluttershy reported, flying back down. This got me worried. “Without Rainbow Dash, we can’t use the Elements.” “She could be anywhere by now!” Applejack despaired. “We’re never gonna find her.” “Excuse me!” Dusk said. “Apologies for sounding rude, but I wasn’t done tracking her yet and, if you would look to that cloud, you’ll find our cyan Pegasus. Or gray, rather at this moment.” I looked where the puppet had stopped and was now fading now its work was completed to see the daredevil, laid back and relaxing on a cloud without a care in the world, just as gray as the girls and I had been previously. “Hey! I spotted her there too!” Pinkie tapped her head and pointed at Dusk. “See? We’re the real thinkers of the group.” I decided not to respond to this and called up to Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash!” “Hey, guys!” she responded, not even looking up. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Twilight informed. “That’s nice.” she said nonchalantly. “Discord’s still on the loose!” I pressed on, trying to get a better response. “We need you to help us defeat him with your Element, Loyalty!” Now she looked up, making a dismissive noise. “Loyalty, schmoyalty! Have you guys seen Ponyville? It’s a disaster! I’m staying here in Cloudsdale where everything’s awesome.” “How in Equestria can she think that tiny patch of cloud is Cloudsdale?” Rarity asked. “Don’t,” Dusk said to Dog as he leaned over, no doubt to mention Rarity’s incident, “unless you want to end up getting a wind blast from her.” Dog then gained a look of shock before he said “Good point.” Dusk then went on to talk to his cousin. “It’s an extent of Discord’s powers and manipulation. He can use his magic to create hallucinations in the recipient to bend them to his will if need be.” “Ah, I see.” Rarity nodded with a look that said she hoped nothing would be mentioned. “So he’s done that to Rainbow then?” “It would seem so.” He confirmed. “There’s no way she’s gonna work with us.” Shield spoke up. “Thanks to Discord, she haves no loyalty to anypony.” “Well, at least she managed to dodge Diablo.” Leon put in, causing Dusk to divert his gaze to the ground and making me well up with pity for him again. “Time for Plan B!” I said, deciding to move the subject away from that before anypony broached further. “Pinkie, do you still have your balloon?” “Yes, indeedy, super seedy!” Pinkie affirmed. “Applejack, Dog, you have your lassos?” “Sure thing.” Applejack nodded. “Right, here’s what we do…” Dusk’s view After Twilight told us her plane, we got ourselves ready as the hot air balloon floated gently upwards into the sky with the others in the basket as I flew up myself. We knew we had to get Rainbow Dash restored to normal, so we could stop Discord and save Equestria. Though we needed to be quiet for she was asleep and we couldn’t miss this chance to pin her down so Twilight and I could perform the memory spells. I looked down at the sleeping Pegasus as she rested on her cloud. She was the only one I hadn’t done anything to when I had been my darker self for that brief period. No doubt however she would be just as angry with me as the other mares would be once I told them all about what I had done. While I had talked to Pinkie about it, thanks to her uncanny way of finding out about these things, and Twilight already forgave me, I still had to talk to my cousin, my sister, and my cowpony friend about it afterwards as they no doubt would want to. Then what would happen? What would they do? I didn’t want to leave them again, it had been too hard the first time… Focus on the now, Dusk. I told myself mentally. Discord had to be stopped. Worry about what comes after when it comes. We were in position above her, while she was completely unaware of our presence. We just had to keep the element of surprise until the right moment. “Okay, Fluttershy, you grab Rainbow Dash and hold her down. Applejack will lower me down from these ropes so Dusk and I can cast our memory spells on her.” Twilight recapped of her plan. “Got it!” Fluttershy saluted. With a ferocity I rarely saw from her, Fluttershy sped towards Rainbow Dash while she slept. But, just as she reached her, she stopped and tapped her lightly on her flank, enough to wake her up. She wasn’t going to do what I thought she was, was she? “Um… I’m just wondering if it’s okay if I hold you down against your will for a little bit.” She was. Despite my affection for her, I couldn’t help but groan in annoyance. “There goes the element of surprise.” Shield spoke up in annoyance “Nice try! Ponyville’s your problem, not mine.” Hopping back onto her cloud, Rainbow Dash sped off in the blink of an eye, take a trick from Shield’s playbook. Improvising quickly, I used my metal bending to turn my claw into a mechanical claw cannon and got a grip on Rainbow’s tail. “Nice work, Dusk! You got her!” Leon exclaimed. “Now reel her in before she gets too far.” Dog added. I did so and it looked like I was doing it, but—when I reached half-length of the line—I was starting to be pulled by her. “What’s going on, Dusk? Reel her in!” Shield said to me. I tried to, but it seemed she was stronger than me and I soon came to a realization with an “Uh-oh.” “What?” Leon asked me with an arc brow. “Looks like I haven’t… fully recovered from… facing Diablo.” I said with worry, struggling to keep pull back against Rainbow. “While I can use some of my powers that involve changing parts of my body, apparently my physical and performance attributes have been decreased drastically.” “What does that mean?” Leon questioned. “It means that… powers like my… super strength have… gotten weaker!” I told him, still fighting against the resisting pegasus. “Much like how the line I’m using isn’t doing much of anything, I’m afraid I won’t be able to reel in Rain—BOOOOOW!” Just like that, I was dragged behind at high speed as Rainbow started pulling me through the sky. Looking back, I could hear the girls and guys get ready to go after me as Twilight grabbed and lowered a length of rope down in front of Fluttershy. “Come on, Fluttershy! We’ve got to catch her!” Getting the message, she grabbed the rope in her mouth and began to pull the balloon along like a dog pulling a sleigh. I felt fear as I was dragged through the sky by Rainbow, grabbing my hat to stop it from flying off as the others sped after her. I hoped they could catch up to her. Even with our weight dragging her down, she was still far lighter, faster, and more maneuverable in the air than that cumbersome balloon. But we had to try, for if we couldn’t, Equestria would be under Discord’s rule forever. Fortunately, it was Rainbow’s cocky attitude that gave them an edge. No doubt in a bid to confuse them or to show off, she whirled around, sped back towards them, and whizzed past the balloon, flying this way and that to throw them off. Even though she was no longer as loyal as she was, I had to admit she was still a good flyer. Though the spinning was making me nauseous, I even started turning green. While it made her difficult to keep track of, it also brought her close enough to the others to use the fallback plan. “Applejack!” Dog called, grabbing a length of rope. Because Twilight was busy at the reigns, Dog grabbed another rope and tossed it up to her. She caught it and spun it around her head while Rainbow Dash flew right next to her, a foolish mistake. Applejack’s aim was dead on, wrapping around her waist and fixing tightly around her. Smiling at our small victory, I turned to see if the rope was secure only to discover, too late, that it was around the legs of Pinkie and Rarity. “Look out!” I shouted, but both Rarity and Pinkie were pulled out of the basket, screaming all the while. “PINKIE! You were supposed to secure the rope!” Rarity screamed. “Oops.” was all she could say with an embarrassed smile. I was worried of them being but in danger, but I felt relief when I noticed that their added combined weight to mine had pulled Rainbow off her cloud and we were even reducing her speed due to the added body mass. As long as the rope held, they’d be fine. We’d just have to catch Rainbow all the more quickly now. “Rarity, Pinkie, hold on! Y’all are slowing her down!” Applejack observed from atop the balloon. “Oh, Fluttershy, would you be a dear and fly faster, please?” Rarity called. Fluttershy, however, was at her limit. I could make out the tears streaming down her cheeks. “I can’t!” “Come on, Little Sister! I know you can do it!” I called out to her. “Yeah, don’t give up, Flutters!” Leon spoke up. “If you can’t catch her, Discord wins!” Twilight added. “That big… dumb… MEANIE!” That last word was accompanied by a sudden burst of speed I would never have expected from her. “This is the last one, Applejack!” Dog shouted, tossing her the last rope. “Don’t let us down!” Shield then remembered Rarity and Pinkie. “Oops… poor choice of words.” As Applejack prepared her last lasso, I looked out at Rainbow, still speeding away from them as fast as she could. We still needed something else that would slow her down and make her an easier target, but what? What could we use? Remembering what I accidentally did to her on our first meeting, I realized there was one last thing I could do. “Sorry to do this to you, Dashie. Guys, cover your eyes!” I muttered and they did so as I tapped into my magic and formed a large orb directly in front of her. “What the—AGH!” The bright light was enough to blind her and make her stop flying. At the same time, Applejack threw her last rope and made the target. She’d done it! With this rope now fully secured and with Rainbow still struggling blindly and rubbing her eyes, Fluttershy slowed down and lowered us gently back to the ground. I let go of her tail when we reached the floor, glad that was over and also to check up on Fluttershy, who looked exhausted, but proud as well. “Fluttershy, that was brilliant!” She accepted my hug weakly. “I knew you could do it, I just knew it!” “Thanks…” she panted. “You were great too, that orb really helped to slow her down and you tossed the ropes to Applejack to stop her. You did wonderfully.” “Yeah, way to go, Dusk!” “Yeah, well… Fluttershy was the one pulling.” I mumbled. “Now don’t go bein’ modest, sugar cube.” Applejack called, still firmly holding on to the ropes. “Yeah, y’all were a big help and we know it.” Dog added. “Just give us a word of warnin’ next time ya do one of them orbs, okay? Ya nearly threw AJ’s aim off.” “Right… sorry.” I replied quietly. “No sweat, we got her now.” Applejack struggled a little when Rainbow tried furiously to take off again. “Now, how 'bout givin’ me a hoof here? This one’s almost too wily, even for me.” Organizing ourselves quickly, we were positioned so each of the girls and the guys were holding on to a rope to reduce Rainbow’s struggling as much as possible, having her in a state where she couldn’t fly (as her wings were tied down) or run (because her rear legs were in the sky), or fight back (because of the distance between her and her “wranglers” as Applejack had called them). That left only me and Twilight to do our magic. “Let me go!” Rainbow ordered, still resisting us. “I don’t need you guys! Leave me alone!” She was snorting angrily when Twilight lowered her head and I was weaving her shape, remembering how much admiration I had for her for committing to be the best that she could be, her dedication to fulfill her dream, but also her ability to just be laid back and cool, knowing exactly the best way to carry herself and look and sound like one of the best, as I knew she was and one day would be the best member the Wonderbolts ever had. I beamed, Rainbow’s cyan coat returning along with her signature mane, though she had a slight headache from the effort. “Wha… what happened?” she asked, groggily. Then she gasped at sudden remembrance. “How’s Ponyville? Where are the Elements? Did we stop Discord?” The last question she actually tackled Applejack to the ground. Overwhelmed with affection and relief, we all rounded on Rainbow for a group hug around her, though she looked confused as to the purpose of it. It was almost a perfect moment… until three buffalo wearing tutus and ballet vests pirouetted past, reminding us of our duty. “Maybe it’s a little early for a group hug.” Twilight remarked. “But not entirely unfounded.” I added, renewed with spirit. “And I think we now know what this means.” Shield spoke up as we broke the hug. With that, I then looked down to see Rainbow’s stone was now lit up around my neck, glowing like the others. “Yes! We did it!” I exclaimed, now knowing we had a chance to beat Discord. “All seven stones are now to full strength!” “But if that’s the case, shouldn’t something have happened by now?” Leon asked, making a good point. “Yeah, you’re right.” I was a little confused for all the stones seemed to be doing is glowing. Pushing the questions about it aside, I then decided to go back to the task at hoof. “My guess would be that we’ll find out what they’ll do when we confront Discord. With that said, now we just need the Elements and we know exactly where those are.” “To the Bat Ca… uh, library!” Pinkie declared, galloping away as we sped off back towards town. Despite being a firm believer in faith and the impossible, I still couldn’t believe we were actually about to pull this off. Against all the odds, all of the trials, tribulation, and turmoil that had been placed before us, we had almost come out on top. My darker side was defeated and gone, our friends were restored to normal, and all we needed to do now was get the Elements, return Discord to stone, and save Equestria.