Twilight picked Spike up by his scruff and deposited him back onto her shoulders. Rainbow Dash pried the rotting wooden doors open with a squeal of hinges. When Applejack entered she let out an awed ‘woah’.
“Come on Twilight! Isn’t this what you’re looking for?”
Twilight let her jaw hang open at the sight of the dilapidated stone structure. On each pedestal were the five elements.
“We found them!” Twilight exclaimed gleefully, finally letting go of Spike.
Spike on the other hoof eyed the stones disbelievingly, “Are you sure? Then where’s the sixth?”
“We need to get them down here first. Rainbow, help me please?”
Twilight reared up as high as she could on two legs and carefully brought one of the stones down with her forelegs. Rainbow flew up and grabbed one as well. Twilight was vaguely worried that Rainbow would shatter or drop one, but she didn’t.
When all five elements were on the ground in a wobbly looking circle, Twilight spoke again, “The book said, when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed,”
She laid down in front of the elements as Applejack snorted in annoyance, “What in the hay is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted, “But I have an idea. Stand back. I don’t know what will happen,”
Carefully, Twilight ignited her horns, drawing magic around the elements. There was faint feedback from the ancient stones as she saturated each one in magic. Well, if the book said sparks, perhaps some electricity would help.
“Come on now y'all. She needs to concentrate,” Applejack led her friends outside while Spike stayed by her side.
Twilight closed her eyes to draw out even more magic, slightly worried something would spontaneously combust. She would need to be careful about the dormant leyline. Spike’s gasp broke her out of her concentration. Her magic flickered and died, but that was the last thing on her mind.
Shadows warped around the stones, pulling dust, Spike, and the elements up. There was absolutely no subtly this time. Her fur prickled continuously but she hardly paid it any mind. Spike barely dodged the flying elements and nearly became a grease stain on the ceiling.
“Mom!” Spike cried as the shadows became a tornado.
“Spike!” Twilight jumped into the shadows, reaching for Spike just as the whole thing flashed, and they were whisked away in the familiar sensation of teleportation. It wasn’t very refined and Twilight fought the urge to be violently sick.
They reappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. Twilight flipped her second lids over her eyes and beat her wings to clear the smoke. When she could see again, she gasped and for the umpteenth time that night, her heart seized in her chest. Her nausea was long forgotten.
Nightmare Moon held the elements up but that wasn’t what Twilight was concerned with. Spike was held in front of the mare like a shield. She cackled deeply but stopped in shock when she finally saw Twilight.
“A Drakon. That is what my sister sends to defeat me? I am insulted,” she said scathingly.
Twilight huffed smoke out of her nose and pounded a claw to the ground, clearly about to charge the mare. Her jaw lifted in a menacing snarl.
“I have wings, thank you very much,” Twilight hissed.
Her earlier hypothesis was correct, if the Mare felt powerful back in the town hall, it was nothing compared to now. Twilight knew why Celestia was the one to banish Nightmare Moon, her power was vile, crackling at the edges and bleeding black.
Her forked tongue flitted out threateningly as her eyes narrowed. The spines around her face flared and her hackle plates rose. No creature touches a dragon’s child without permission and gets away with it. Immortal alicorn or not.
Nightmare Moon looked taken aback, “You’re kidding. You’re kidding right?”
Twilight could teleport once, she had to make it count. Smoke wreathed her head for a short moment before she charged as fast as she could. Being a dragon, that was pretty fast. Her claws sparked against the stone as she propelled her very aerodynamic body forward.
Nightmare threw Spike behind her, who landed with a cry. That only served to fuel Twilight’s growing rage. Nightmare opened her wings and charged as well.
Twilight’s anger powered her flames and she blasted out the hottest fire she could manage. From experience, she knew her hottest flames could reduce wood to ash in a second. Brilliant purple-colored flames engulfed Nightmare Moon’s head.
Right after her fire blast, she teleported to Spike. She stumbled for a brief moment since her teleportation wasn’t as smooth as she’d like. It would’ve been smoother if she had more time to charge the spell and not worry about the leyline beneath her. She picked Spike up and inspected him for damage. Seeing none, she let him shakily climb onto her shoulders. Her fury climbed to new heights as she felt him tremble.
Nightmare spun around disoriented with her shadow mane smothering and her helm slightly melted. The helm was still glowing with heat and Nightmare winced as she threw it off. With Spike secure, Twilight turned to the elements and pushed as much magic as she dared into them.
The stones began to emit sparks and electricity jumped between each one. Just as Twilight was about to add another surge, Nightmare crashed into her. All three tumbled away in a tangle of limbs, tails, and gnashing teeth. Twilight’s teeth caught some feathers and scraped against her underwings and Nightmare’s shoe kicked her on the side of her head.
As they skidded to a halt, Twilight spat out her mouthful of feathers and blasted Nightmare in the face with fire again as her powerful wings beat against the floor in an effort to right herself. Nightmare Moon shrieked since she didn’t have the helm to protect her this time and the fire scorched her muzzle. Twilight’s tail whipped around erratically, cracking the stone around her.
As they struggled, Spike jumped clear just as Twilight rammed her horned head into Nightmare’s chest plate. She saw double for a moment but it was worth it to hear the alicorn let out a wheezing cough. Her victory was short-lived when the alicorn stomped harshly into her weakly protected underbelly. It was her turn to heave and Nightmare chuckled.
The chuckle turned into a scream as Twilight set fire to her mane. For a moment, Twilight froze. She didn’t expect shadowy vapor to actually catch fire. Her momentary lapse in attention was her undoing as Nightmare slammed a hoof into her forehead.
“You miserable foal!” Nightmare growled out, coat smoking nicely.
Dazed, Twilight could do nothing as Nightmare extracted herself quickly and ran back to the sparking elements, which had begun to glow. In one fluid movement, she crushed them under hoof, to the horror of Twilight. That quickly sobered her back up and she dragged herself into a seated position near Spike.
“But, where’s the sixth element?!” she cried out desperately, holding onto Spike tightly. She knew there had been a spark. She watched it happen!
Nightmare Moon began to laugh anew, looking positively deranged with a burned muzzle, “A talking Drakon, thinking it could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess or your sun! The Night shall last forever!” Helm-less and wearing dented armor, the Mare in the Moon celebrated her victory. Her left-wing hung limply down, scarlet staining the upper part of it.
The shadows reached out like tendrils and almost seemed to reach for the moon through the crack in the roof. Spike whimpered as Nightmare cackled. Twilight spat again. Her saliva was pink with bits of black chewed-up feathers.
Twilight roared defiantly, shifting Spike to his normal place on her back. She could hear hoof steps on the stairs below and hope sparked through her. The spark! It all made sense now. She had to buy time. Forcing her aching muscles to stand, she blew fire again to gain her attention.
“You’re wrong! The elements can’t just be destroyed like that because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!” She roared confidently just as all her friends fanned out behind her.
She motioned to each pony as she talked, “Applejack, who reassured Fluttershy when she was in doubt represents, Honesty!”
Remnants of the Elements floated up and flew to encircle Applejack. She could feel Magic begin to stir.
“Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion represents, Kindness! Pinky Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of doubt represents, Laughter!
More shards levitated up. Magic was shifting and groaning.
“Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent and gave a meaningful gift represents, Generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who did not abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire, represents, Loyalty!”
Magic reared its head and howled. Magic was listening.
“The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!” Twilight confidently claimed.
“You still don’t have the sixth element! The spark didn’t work!” Nightmare Moon blustered, confirming she was the one that put them through the trials.
Twilight stood tall, “But it did. A different kind of spark. I felt it the moment I heard those hoof steps. When I realized that you all, are my friends!”
Light expanded above Twilight’s head, blinding the mare, “You see Nightmare Moon. When the elements are ignited by the spark, it creates the sixth element: Magic,”
Magic brushed against her consciousness, silently judging. A beat later, Magic seemed to approve and something warm and soft settled into Twilight’s chest, filling a void she didn’t even know was there.
The light reached a crescendo and every being closed their eyes. Twilight felt herself raise up off the ground as the Elements exploded with energy. Twilight only had the time to dread the waking of the leyline before there was the sensation of walking through a very windy tunnel and the light died.
When everyone opened their eyes again, they were sprawled on the ground, not knowing how they got there. Twilight groaned loudly and lifted her wing to check on Spike.
“Every pony ok?” Applejack asked as she got to her hooves.
Twilight only managed to nod through the massive headache that split her skull. The nearest leylines rumbled as they reconnected with the newly awakened one. The amount of magic in the air had her feeling lightheaded. The aching from the Manticore attack returned with a vengeance.
“Oh, these are lovely!” Rarity remarked, showing off her new necklace.
Fluttershy agreed, “They look just like our cutie marks,”
“Lookit mine! Lookit mine!” Pinky squealed as she bounced.
“I reckoned you were just saying a lot of hooey, but I really do think we represent the Elements,” Applejack admitted.
“Indeed you do,” a familiar voice concurred.
Outside, the sun slowly slid above the horizon, taking its rightful part in the sky. Twilight rolled her eyes as her mentor teleported in front of them with a slow burst of light. Her friends gaped before lowering themselves in a bow.
“Celestia,” Twilight acknowledged lightly with a tip of her head, pushing the pain away for the time being.
Her mentor gave her a small wink before saying in a mystical voice, “Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student. I knew you could do it,”
“I knew I should’ve written you that letter,” Twilight grumbled, fighting the urge to outright snarl about the fool’s errand the Princess sent them on.
Celestia gave a tinkling laugh, “So you did see the signs,”
“Of course I did, but I thought you would’ve had it taken care of,” her friends gasped at the accusational tone Twilight used to address their ruler.
“I knew you were the dragon to do it. But not until you let true friendship into your heart,”
“Nearly dying a couple of times along the way,” Twilight hissed, spines flaring in anger as she remembered Spike going over the edge.
“You wouldn’t have let that happen,” Celestia placated, “Now if there were only another will as well. Princess Luna,”
Only then did the rest of the ponies notice the small figure that lay where Nightmare Moon was. The small alicorn’s coat was a lighter black than the pitch it was before. Her shadowy mane was more mane-like and flowed around an invisible wind. She flinched away as Celestia approached.
“It’s been a thousand years since I’ve seen you like this. Time to put our differences aside. We were meant to rule together, Luna,”
“Luna?” Spike asked, getting a nudge from Twilight.
Tears welled up in Princess Luna’s eyes, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to lose control like that! I-I just got so upset and-”
“I’m sorry too,” Celestia interrupted, eyes misting over “I did not know what the Elements would do,”
Hesitantly, Princess Luna enveloped her older sister in a hug. When Celestia hugged back, it was as if a dam had broken and both sisters began to cry. Twilight wasn’t sure if she was the only one that noticed exactly how fearful Princess Luna was of her supposed older sister. She kept her mouth shut for once, too tired to deal with anything else.
Pinky Pie sobbed along with the reunited sisters before abruptly stopping, “Hey! Do you know what this calls for? A party!”
As the celebration came to an end, Twilight felt her smiles slowly become more plastic in nature and her reactions less genuine. Spike asked her what was wrong but Twilight shook her head and promised to tell him later.
Of course, this did not escape her esteemed mentor, “Why so glum my faithful student? Are you not happy that your mission is complete and you can return to Canterlot for your studies?”
Twilight’s eye twitched and she grimaced, “It’s just, the ponies here, my friends, are really the only ponies to ever really give me a chance at friendship. Now that I know what it feels like, I need to leave them so soon,”
Her friends gathered around as she spoke. The Princess puffed her chest and declared, “Spike, take a note please,”
Spike jumped, not expecting to be addressed, and fumbled for a quill and parchment. Twilight frowned at Celestia’s command. When he was ready, Princess Celestia began her new declaration.
“I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the dragon, Twilight Sparkle shall undertake a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the Magic of Friendship. She will report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.”
Rainbow Dash perched on her head, Fluttershy leaned against her foreleg, Pinky Pie leaned back on her chest, Rarity leaned against her body, and Applejack lightly punched one of her shoulders.
Twilight hadn’t smiled this joyfully in a long time. For once Celestia did something right. She was sure her cheeks would be sore later. Her friends cheered as her fang-filled smile flashed in the sunlight.
“Thank you, Princess. I will study harder than ever before,” She promised her mentor.
The Princess nodded approvingly and turned to investigate the cake that lay on a nearby table. Spike vaulted into his place on her back and squeezed tightly.
Some things never change. But as her friends clamored around her, she realized other things do. And a lot of the time, things change for the better.