//------------------------------// // Castle of the Two Sisters // Story: Echoes of Harmony // by Scyphi //------------------------------// Everfree Forest already looked plenty gloomy during the day, but it looked even more so now that the darkness of night had fallen, engulfing it thickly and completely. This, naturally, didn’t help especially much with their nerves. Surprisingly though, the first half of their journey through the forest proceeded mostly without incident. Part of this seemed to be just good luck, but another was because both Creamy and Pinkie knew their way through this first half, what paths to take, and what dangers to look out for and give a wide berth. By so doing, they were able to largely avoid coming into contact with them. They still saw the odd signs of those dangers—at one point Creamy found recent tracks from a timberwolf and warned them to be on guard just in case it or its pack were still in the area—but none of the actual dangers themselves. It eventually got to the point that Rainbow started getting overconfident about their chances to the point of bragging, arrogantly wondering aloud why they were so afraid of going in on their own in the first place and thinking the danger had been exaggerated. Rarity eventually knocked the griffon down a peg again by deliberately tripping her. Then she was brought down a peg for real once they entered the latter half of the journey, and slowly the threats they faced started to rise more and more, making it clear they weren’t so absent after all. At the same time, Pinkie’s ability to assist waned more and more, until finally the zebra made the sobering admission that she’d never ventured this deep into the forest before. Fortunately, Creamy still knew her way just fine and continued avoiding the worst of the dangers. So even when they were about to stumble upon some of these, whether it were plant or animal (for there seemed to be plenty of both), she usually could stop them with just enough forewarning, backtrack if needed, and work their way around it and keep themselves out of the way of direct harm. Not that there weren’t still close calls—Fluttershy nearly stepped into the maw of a carnivorous plant at one point, and an angry manticore plowed by directly in front of them at another, thankfully not noticing them. Probably the most unsettling close call though was when a whole stampede of varying deadly creatures very nearly trampled them. But though some quick thinking ducking behind a tree that fell in the chaos spared them, the fact the creatures were stampeding as if frightened by something was alarming, as it begged the question of what was so scary to frighten these beasts so badly? And despite all of these close calls, the fact they’d made the journey without too significant event or injury was just as much worrying as it was heartening, since they knew full well this shouldn’t have been the case…particularly once Twilight realized that stampede of creatures were all moving directly away from the very spot they were trying to reach. “This has been too easy, hasn’t it?” Twilight muttered quietly to Creamy, moving up beside the pegasus leading them so the others following behind them wouldn’t overhear. “Quite,” Creamy readily admitted. “I’ve made this journey more times than I’ve ever cared to admit, and yet I’ve never had this much success avoiding trouble. It’s…almost unsettling.” “Could it be the late hour? We must be getting close to midnight or later by now.” “No, in fact, if anything, the late hour would mean the forest should be at its most active and dangerous, not the reverse.” Creamy gave their surroundings an uneasy glance. “You can sense something is unnerving the whole forest and I don’t like it.” “Are we possibly doing something to scare or at least intimidate some of the worst creatures away then? I mean, when was the last time you made this journey in the company of a dragon, hippogriff, griffon, or changeling?” Creamy chuckled a little but shook her head. “Don’t oversell yourself and your friends, Twilight. Most of these creatures are strong enough, big enough, or just overall deadly enough that they aren’t going to care who or what you are if they think they can get a good meal out of it.” “Well, in that case, a part of me is almost thankful because I don’t particularly want to meet my end in some creature’s digestive tract,” Twilight admitted, gazing into the dark woods surrounding them. “But then the other part of me is screaming that these creatures all choosing to run and hide instead of attack on tonight of all nights probably isn’t a coincidence.” She looked at Creamy again. “One of the forewarning signs of Nightmare Moon’s return is odd animal behavior, after all. This would seem to fit the ticket.” “And I fear you’re right,” Creamy agreed. “I’m not sure if she intended it that way or if it’s just an unintentional consequence of it, but her imminent return does seem to be affecting the animals.” She gazed out into the darkness again too. “More than that, even. It’s almost as if the whole world itself is reacting to her return.” “Serving as an unfortunate reminder that the clock’s ticking,” Twilight added, heaving a sigh. “So I’ve got to ask—how much longer until we reach the castle?” “Hopefully not too much longer,” Creamy replied. “We’re making good progress, so I think we can still make it there before it’s too late.” She then went quiet for a moment. “Twilight, I should also tell you that once we’re there…my path will probably go somewhere else, separate from yours. So I won’t exactly be at your sides anymore once we’re at the castle. I don’t intend to leave you high and dry, of course, but…” she drew in a deep breath. “There are my own things that I need to do out there, things that I’ve…long been trying to avoid.” Twilight was quiet for a long moment. “You know, I haven’t told them,” she told Creamy suddenly, motioning back at her friends, “About what you’re trying to hide from everyone.” Creamy pointedly didn’t make eye contact with her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Twilight turned her knowing gaze at her for a moment. “I am a changeling,” she reminded pointedly. “And as such, I know changeling magic when I see it.” Creamy’s motions suddenly seemed to get a little stiffer. Twilight nodded to the golden amulet the pegasus wore about her neck. “That amulet of yours is quite powerful and very precise with its magic. I’m guessing that’s why none of the zebras have managed to see through it like they saw through my own disguise. But I know the Shapeshifter’s Amulet when I see it. There are several changelings back in the Archivum who’ve long been wondering where it’d gotten off to, in fact.” Creamy still didn’t make any notable response or reaction to what she was saying, but her pointed silence was starting to seem forced and noteworthy. So Twilight took her gaze off of her again. “You know, once Nightmare Moon has returned, it’s probably not going to matter as much anymore.” “You say that as if I will be the one who’ll have to face her,” Creamy responded darkly. Twilight glanced at her. “You can’t hide from her forever, Princess Celestia.” To her credit, the pegasus mare beside her successfully kept her reaction to a minimum, at most just closing her eyes for a long moment before drawing in another deep breath. “I haven’t been referred to by that name in a very long time,” she murmured. “Upwards to a thousand years, I would expect,” Twilight responded back. “Does it even matter who I am anymore, then?” “It does to you. I’m sure it’d matter to her as well.” Twilight’s gaze turned somewhat sad. “That’s how you knew so much about what had happened, isn’t it? You were there.” “I dearly wish I hadn’t been,” the former princess in disguise admitted. “Maybe then it all could’ve been different. Maybe then Equestria wouldn’t have collapsed on my watch. Maybe then Nightmare Moon wouldn’t have ever come to be. Maybe then I’d still have my sister.” She was quiet for a long moment. “I am no princess anymore, Twilight. I haven’t been for quite some time, and I honestly think it is deserved. In many ways, this whole mess is my own fault.” “Then, if I can ask, why were you so resistant towards trying to fix it?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask the ancient pony. “Because I’m not the one that can stop her,” she replied resolutely. “I’ve already tried and failed, and I know, if it were up to me, I’d only fail again.” She glanced at Twilight. “That’s part of the reason why I ended up changing my mind about all of this. Perhaps it is foolish of me…but I’m hoping against hope you and your friends really can do something to…break the cycle finally.” Intimidated by the pressure that put on her, Twilight went silent after that, which seemed to suit Creamy just fine, going right back to as if no big reveals had been dropped between them. This continued until Pinkie suddenly spoke up behind them. “Hey, is that a tower I see in the distance?” she asked, pointing with her hoof ahead of them. They all followed her gaze and, indeed, hidden among the shadowy shapes of foliage around them stood the distinct outline of a castle tower, or at least what remained of one—it looked ancient and dilapidated now. “That must be it then,” Twilight surmised, gazing up at it, “The Castle of the Two Sisters.” “Well then, what are we waiting around here for?” Rainbow asked, pushing on ahead. “Let’s get over there already!” They didn’t have much further to go before the forest abruptly opened into a spacious clearing, at the center of which the ruins of the castle they’d been looking for sat atop a small knoll. But barring the path between them and it was a large ravine, the bottom of which seeming invisible in the darkness of the night. A rope bridge had at some point crossed the gap, but it’d had since collapsed, dangling uselessly from only one side of the wide crevasse. “Oh my,” Fluttershy muttered as she peered into the massive crack in the earth. “I certainly wouldn’t want to fall down there.” “And no one has to,” Rainbow reminded, nudging the hippogriff. “Not when you’ve got wings!” Pinkie raised a hoof. “I don’t have wings!” she happily reminded. “Not to worry, darling,” Rarity said, scooping up the zebra in her arms before spreading her wings, “I think we can carry you across easily enough.” “Wheee!” Pinkie squealed as she was flown across the ravine, Fluttershy and Rainbow flying behind her. Twilight started to follow, but paused as she noticed Creamy lingering behind. “Are you coming?” she asked. Creamy shook her head. “I got you to the castle as promised,” she said. “But like I said, I have my own things to do, so we’ll have to part ways here.” She nodded for the changeling to proceed though. “You go on ahead, though. And Twilight…good luck.” “You too, princess,” Twilight said back. “I hope you find the closure you’re looking for.” She then fluttered on across the ravine to where the others were waiting for her. Upon landing she looked back, but saw Creamy had already vanished from view, gone to do whatever else she’d come to do. Hoping she’d be okay on her own, Twilight turned her attention back to the task at hoof and she and her compatriots resumed their hike towards the castle. Even though it was mostly in ruins now, it was hard to not be impressed by the structure, especially as it still wasn’t too hard to envision how it must’ve looked at its prime. “It’s a pity, really,” Rarity murmured as they neared the entrance. “It must have been a simply gorgeous building in its day.” “Yeah, but we’re not here to sightsee,” Rainbow reminded, eager to get on with this. “So c’mon, let’s go find those elements already and whip some Nightmare Moon flank!” They cautiously entered the castle, wary of any dangers lying within, but instead they found a spartan chamber with its roof almost entirely caved in, allowing the twinkling light of the stars and the glow of the moon to shine inside. Twilight couldn’t help but eye the outline of Mare in the Moon marring the moon’s surface, remembering they likely had only a matter of hours to minutes to find the Elements of Harmony, figure out how to use them, and prepare to face Nightmare Moon. But of course, it was never going to be as simple as the elements just lying out in the middle of the floor for easy taking, and as they glanced around, they didn’t see any obvious suggestions on where the magical artifacts may be. “So, um,” Fluttershy finally asked the question, “where do you think we’ll find them?” “I don’t know,” Twilight said, leading deeper into the chamber. “But let’s look around a little, see if we can’t find any—” she cut herself short when she suddenly noticed movement in the corner of her eye and whipped her head around to look into the shadows of the room, eyes widening. “LOOK OUT!” But she realized what was about to happen a second too late, and the magical attack burst forth and slammed into them all like a wave, throwing them into the opposite wall and adhering them to it with a thick green gel. Though they all tried to wiggle free, its grip was too good and had them too tightly pinned to the wall. “Ugh!” Rarity cried as she tried to free one of her arms to no avail. “What is this horrid stuff?” “That, my friend,” spoke their attacker, stepping out of the shadows and into view, “is changeling gel.” Twilight recognized him immediately. “Pharynx,” she growled in dismay. “Oh, it’s you again!” Rarity bemoaned and only redoubled her attempts to free herself. “And here I was starting to think we had successfully gotten you off of our tails!” The changeling smirked as he stopped to stand smugly before them. “Oh no,” he assured them, “we simply fell behind for a bit, but we were always going to catch up with you again. We’ve actually been waiting for you for a couple of hours now, so it took you long enough to finally get here.” “But how?” Twilight cried, also trying to free herself, but even as a changeling who knew more about changeling gel than all of her compatriots, the gel’s grip held tight. The fact a blob of gel had also covered her horn, blocking her magic, definitely didn’t help. “How did you even know where we’d be so accurately?” “Well, first we had a little talk with Lord Goldstone in the Griffon Order about it,” Pharynx began with an unpleasant chuckle. Twilight’s eyes bulged in horror. “You attacked a head of state?!” she exclaimed, fearing the consequences. Pharynx rolled his eyes. “Only because he was the only one who had the info we needed, and I wouldn’t use the word attack myself—the fool nearly wet himself in his hurry to tell us everything he knew about you lot, at which point we knocked him out with venom so to sneak away with ease. But that was what got us into the general neighborhood. As for getting the rest of the way, though…” He glanced to one side in time for his fellow two changelings to drag forward two more creatures that were bound and imprisoned, both of whom were immediately recognized. Twilight’s heart dropped. “Spike, Applejack!” she cried in alarm upon realizing the diamond dog and parrot had been captured since they last saw them. “Are you two all right?” Fluttershy asked, concerned for their well-being. “These scumbags haven’t done anything to you, have they?” Rainbow growled, shooting Pharynx a scowl. “Well,” Spike grumbled back in reply, “we’re both not too happy about the situation, but other than a few scrapes and bumps, we’re okay.” “It’s less me and Spike that Ah’m worried ’bout at the moment anyway,” Applejack said, shooting her changeling captors a glare before giving the others an apologetic look. “Sorry, though…we tried ta keep ‘em from findin’ out where y’all were goin’. Big Mac and Apple Bloom even tried…” “Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom!” Twilight declared, realizing the other two Apple siblings were conspicuously absent. “What did you do to Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom?” she demanded of Pharynx. “Nothing significant,” Pharynx assured, “Once we had the information we wanted, we also dosed them with venom and left them at their quaint little airship to sleep it off.” He motioned to Spike and Applejack. “And as you’ve already been told, we’ve made it a point to try and not harm these two. It’s now up to you, Twilight, on whether or not it stays that way. So will you surrender this time?” Twilight growled in frustration at his blatant threatening, not wanting to deal with it. “Pharynx, we don’t have time for this!” she bellowed at him, anxiously peering up at the moon looming in the sky above them. Was it just her, or did it seem like a faint halo of stars had started to surround the lunar orb? “I agree!” Pharynx concurred, perhaps deliberately missing her point. He nodded his head at the other two changelings who began brandishing their horns at their two captives. Clearly Applejack and Spike were their bargaining chip so to get Twilight to cooperate with their demands. “I would decide to give up this silly quest of yours quickly, or else you might not like what will come next.” But his threats weren’t having the desired impact on the others. “You fool!” Rarity even flat out insulted him. “Nightmare Moon will return at almost any moment!” “To this exact spot, even!” Pinkie added, as if just trying to be helpful. “Not my problem!” Pharynx retaliated, clearly not having much belief in the threat. He pointed a frustrated hoof at Twilight. “You have strung me all around this whole continent trying to chase you down, and I am not playing your games any longer! So you have two choices. Surrender and allow yourself to be taken back to the Changeling Kingdom so to stand for your wrongs, or ensure your little band of misfits have a very unpleasant evening, starting with the diamond dog and parrot!” The two changelings threatening Spike and Applejack loomed closer, pulling back their heads so to better expose their throats to their sharp horns. “Twilight!” Spike squealed in fear when they did this. “Fine, fine!” Twilight conceded in desperation, seeing she didn’t have much other choice. “I surrender! But you have to let me find the Elements of Harmony before you take me away!” As she said this, she glanced back up at the moon again. To her horror, she found the Mare in the Moon markings upon its surface had somehow vanished without a trace. Pharynx remained fully focused on her though, paying no attention to the events beginning to take place around him. “Absolutely not!” he commanded, stepping towards her. “There will be no further delays, no attempts to buy time, and no more searching for anything. You will only surrender, submit to being restrained, and then we—” He was cut short with a cold wind rushed through the ruined castle, forcing him to stop and brace against it. Rolling in with it was a shroud of darkness that obscured the light of the night sky, plunging the chamber into near darkness. Infuriated, Pharynx lit his horn and pointed it in Twilight’s direction, thinking she was behind this. “What have you done?” he demanded, the sound of what seemed to be distant thunder now rumbling in the distance on top of it all. “This isn’t me, Pharynx!” Twilight swiftly assured. “I’m not the one doing this!” Pharynx didn’t believe her though. “No more games!” he bellowed as the wind died down and an eerie quiet started to settle again. “I have no more patience for your attempts to put this off any longer, so you had better comply with all of my demands right this very moment, or I swear on the name of the Informis Una herself that I…will…” He slowly trailed off, losing all of his grandeur as everyone started getting the distinct impression they were no longer alone in the room. A sense of dread wrapping around them, they one by one slowly turned their heads to look towards the far end of the chamber. There, standing on a small podium, was a tall and menacing looking alicorn, colored black as night and with an ethereal pale blue mane made of sparkling stars, gazing at them with dangerous slitted eyes. “Oh, by all means,” Nightmare Moon remarked coldly, “don’t stop on my account.” Perceiving her as the greater threat that she was, Pharynx and his two cohorts immediately dropped what they were doing and whipped around to face the towering pony, charging their horns. “Who are you?” Pharynx demanded, attempting to flex his authority and stay in control of the situation. It was entirely too late for that though, and Twilight and the others could only watch in dismay as Nightmare Moon started forward, immediately seizing the focus of everything in the room. “Is it not obvious? Have you all really forgotten who I am in my absence?” she growled at the three changelings that dared imply her harm. The trio replied by firing a salvo of spells at her. Nightmare Moon deflected all of them with the simplest of ease, knocking them back at the changelings who in turn had to shield themselves from their own attacks impacting near their hooves. “Does my crown mean nothing now?” Nightmare Moon continued as she advanced on the attacking changelings, who started to back away now they began to understand just what they were dealing with. “Am I not allowed any of my authority after spending a thousand years imprisoned? Did you not recall the stories of me? The legends? Did you not see the signs?” She fired a powerful spell into the floor underneath them, causing it to explode and knock them across the room like ragdolls. The shockwave likewise pushed Spike and Applejack, having been left abandoned in their bindings, back onto the floor themselves. The rest could only turn their heads, shielding their faces, before helplessly watching the ensuing disaster continue. With a mighty flap of her wings, Nightmare Moon soared over the hole she’d just created, sailing through the residual cloud of smoke wafting up from it like a demon closing in on its prey. She landed in front of Pharynx and his cohorts before they could scramble back into their hooves, snatching them up in her magic and dragging them close to her furious face. “Clearly not,” Nightmare Moon observed as she sneered at them. “And unfortunately for you, I have no patience for the foolishly ignorant.” And with that, she forcibly flung them up and through the open roof of the chamber, the three changelings vanishing from view as they rocketed up into the night sky and out of sight. Nightmare Moon watched them sail away like one watching a pig roll in mud, before with one sharp movement she turned her gaze back onto the remaining creatures in the room, proving to their dismay she had most certainly not forgotten them. “Now,” she began, approaching Applejack and Spike struggling to pick themselves off the floor, since they were the closest, “as for you…” “Oh nelly,” Applejack murmured as the black alicorn proceeded to loom dangerously over them, Spike likewise cowering beside her. “Stop!” Rainbow suddenly shouted in a desperate but likely foolish attempt to prevent the two meeting the same fate as the changelings. Nightmare Moon froze before shooting the five creatures adhered to the wall a glare. “Well, well, well,” she said as, with an almost casual flick of her horn, she enclosed Spike and Applejack within a forcefield dome. “Someone certainly is daring…or perhaps just crazy?” She narrowed her slitted eyes at them, pinned and helpless against her. “I suppose none of you have any idea who you’re dealing with either, do you?” “I do,” Twilight responded, attempting to be brave. She had no idea if saying so would help or even where she was going with this, but she felt she had to say something. “I know who you are. You’re the Mare in the Moon, the Fallen Sister, the Bringer of Night Eternal…” She swallowed as Nightmare Moon came closer, looking her right in the eye. “…Nightmare Moon.” Nightmare Moon gazed at her sternly for a long and tense moment. Then, finally, a small smile graced her lips. “Very good,” she remarked approvingly. “Somecreature actually remembers me after all.” Her smile then turned cruel. “Then surely you must also know why I’m here.” The changeling started to cower, knowing full well the answer and not liking it one bit. “You’re here to…to…” “I’m here to reclaim what should’ve been mine a millennium ago,” Nightmare Moon finished, too impatient to wait for her to finish stuttering it out. “In short, you should remember this day well, because it also will be your last. For from this moment on, the night will last…forever.” The alicorn let that ominous statement echo out for a long moment, sinking into their minds. Then, apparently satisfied, she smirked again and turned away, heading for the castle exit. “I suppose you all are of no immediate problem to me in any case, and I have more important concerns to deal with for now.” she conceded as she purposely strode away from them. She then glanced back at them to make one parting quip. “But do…stick around.” Then, chuckling to herself, she exited, leaving them alone still all trapped or restrained, no less afraid, or having absolutely any means to doing anything about it, much less stop it or save themselves. Rainbow, breaking the silence, managed to sum it up. “We are absolutely f—” FWUMP! The impact of Nightmare Moon’s hooves striking the ravine floor outside the castle echoed up and down the chasm of earth. Paying it no mind though, she surveyed it only long enough to ensure no immediate threats or annoyances before starting forward at a leisurely walk down its length, heading where its far end looped around one side of the castle ruins above her. There, the ravine transitioned into a spacious cavern, looking seemingly inconspicuous from the outside. However, once inside, it was quickly apparent it was no ordinary one, for hidden within was a sizeable and crystalline willow-like tree glowing with magical energies, bearing five major branches and a starburst-like shape at its center. At the tip of all five of its limbs were colored gems, also visibly brimming with raw magical power. However, standing between it and Nightmare Moon was one creamy-white pegasus mare. And it was clear from her resolute look that she did not intend to just step out of the way. Nightmare Moon slowed to a halt and regarded her with an almost amused look, a look that grew upon sighting the golden amulet strapped about her neck. “You look rather different from when I last recall seeing you,” she quipped aloud, smirking. “A lot has changed since you last set hoof on this land, sister,” Creamy firmly replied. She took a deep breath. “On the other hoof, I fear you haven’t changed much at all since I last saw you.” “Your pathetic attempt to remove me from the picture only kept me preoccupied for a time, little more,” Nightmare Moon said in a calculated manner, resuming her approach towards the magical tree behind the pegasus. “You may have won our last battle, but you most certainly have not won the war.” Creamy took a step forward to show she would not be easily moved, continuing to block the other’s path forward. “I cannot allow you at the Tree of Harmony, Luna,” she informed. Nightmare Moon scowled. “Do not call me that!” she bellowed, words full of venom. “I am not that mewling little pony anymore!” “One cannot escape who they are that easily, Luna,” Creamy nonetheless persisted, undeterred. “Trust me, I’ve spent most of the past thousand years trying, yet here I am, confronting my past because it has found me once again.” Her words only seemed to anger Nightmare Moon more though. “Then why are you hiding behind that blasted amulet?” she growled, lighting her horn. Using her magic, she grabbed the amulet around Creamy’s neck, forcibly deactivated its magic, then ripped it from her neck all in one fluid movement. When she did, Creamy’s form vanished in a flash of magical fire, revealing instead a much taller white alicorn with a flowing mane colored a light blue with pale turquoise and pink highlights within it. However, she wore absolutely no other forms of attire or regalia. Nightmare Moon grinned in recognition of this new form nonetheless. “Now that is more like it,” she quipped, pleased while using her magic to destroy the captured amulet in a burst of sparks and fire. “Although I must say, these thousand years do not seem to have been all that kind to you.” “Like I said before, Luna,” Celestia said, swiftly readjusting to her original form and modifying her stance accordingly, “Much has changed while you were away.” “Oh, I’m sure,” Nightmare Moon growled, eyes narrowing again. It was clear she didn’t think much of the claim. “But it won’t matter, because now that I’ve returned, it will all change in my favor. Equestria will be mine, its subjects will bow down to me, and you will not stand…” “Equestria is gone, Luna,” Celestia interrupted, getting right to the point. For once, this gave Nightmare Moon pause. “…What do you mean it’s gone?” “There is no more Equestria anymore. The turmoil of your uprising and our fight saw to that. Our mistakes while fighting each other only brought it to ruin, ripping itself apart not long after your banishment.” Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened briefly in concealed surprise but quickly narrowed again. “You’re lying.” “I don’t have to,” Celestia stressed, staring her down. “You can go and look for yourself. This is not the nation you left. It simply doesn’t exist anymore.” “And you did nothing to stop it?” Nightmare Moon questioned, finding that idea hard to believe. “Oh, I tried,” Celestia promised, her eyes becoming hurt while recalling what happened. “I was desperate to try and prevent its fall. But princess or not, I was still just one pony. That wasn’t enough to stop our subjects from having their faith in their princesses be rattled to the core. Nor was it enough to stop ponies from turning on anyone or anything they thought may have conspired with assisting Nightmare Moon’s brief rise to power. I was suddenly scrambling to try and stop a civil war from breaking out on our very streets.” Now she was the one advancing towards Nightmare Moon. “Because I thusly couldn’t spare enough ponies to keep defending our borders, the changelings decided to exploit the turmoil and expand their control beyond the Badlands. Meanwhile, the dragons started driving ponies out of the southeastern coasts in a bid to take the resources there for themselves. The hippogriffs and parrots then started moving in to protect the inhabitants of the other coasts, forming alliances, protectorates, and trade relations until their influence became so dominate that they eventually formed into new nations under their control. And by that time, I was so stretched thin trying to hold things together that I had no choice but default on a major transaction with the griffons, and as a result was forced to surrender a large swath of land which they promptly took full control of.” She sighed, bowing her head sadly. “By that time, there wasn’t enough left worth fighting for. Our subjects decided Equestria was lost and gradually left, immigrating west in hopes of starting again. There are scant few ponies even still here on this entire continent.” She gazed pleadingly at Nightmare Moon. “Luna, you are fighting for a throne that no longer exists, to rule over subjects that are no longer here. All you will find here are other nations who’ve settled this land in Equestria’s stead, because we failed to prevent its downfall…and in many ways they were the ones who ultimately restored order, not us. And they will not recognize your authority or any claims you make to this land. Most probably don’t even know who you are.” “And all of this is my fault?” Nightmare Moon challenged suddenly, interjecting for the first time since Celestia started relating all of this. “No,” Celestia admitted, and stood firm before the other alicorn. “It is my fault and my fault alone. I failed Equestria, I failed my subjects, and above all, I failed you. If I hadn’t been so full of myself, seen you needed help and not neglected your needs, to instead realize you were about to resort to dark magic to fill the voids I hadn’t been helping fill…we wouldn’t be both here now, mere husks of ourselves fighting for a broken land that no longer cares.” Her gaze softened, pained. “And I am sorry, Luna…deeply.” Nightmare Moon stood there for a long moment, genuinely taken aback and momentarily uncertain how to proceed. For a split second her façade cracked and the scared little sister still somewhere underneath it all peeked out of hurt eyes. But then as quick as it had appeared, that crack sealed itself again and the raw fury returned. “NO!” With one swift swipe of her hoof, Nightmare Moon backhanded Celestia across the face and proceeded to loom over her. “This is merely a setback at most. If you say Equestria is occupied by foreign intruders because you were too incompetent to stop it, then I will simply clean house. This has changed nothing, Celestia—I will still take it all back for myself, and I will remove anything that stands in my way!” Celestia, rubbing briefly at her stinging face, straightened and stared her down again. “I can’t let you do that, Luna,” she stated determinedly. “Fine by me,” Nightmare Moon replied, lighting her horn and taking position to fight. “I was planning to start with you anyway.” She fired her horn at Celestia, but Celestia swiftly blocked the spell with one of her own and returned fire, attempting to stun the other alicorn. Nightmare Moon, however, showed no restraint and retaliated with as much force she could muster. While the Tree of Harmony stood glowing behind them, the two alicorns dueled for the fate of the land, one trying to get at the tree while the other was trying to keep the first away from it. It was clear the two were evenly matched though, caught in a deadlock while they locked horns fighting. So Nightmare Moon finally evened the odds, using her magic to rip a bolder out of the floor and use it to bludgeon Celestia out of the way, physically knocking her across the cave. Despite being quite shaken from the blow, Celestia immediately worked to get back on her hooves, but with her no longer standing in the way Nightmare Moon surged ahead for her real prize. Using her magic, she reached out to the closest of the magical gemstones perched on the tree’s branches, pulling it free and bringing towards herself, cackling as she thought she’d succeeded. Instead, the gem had barely floated a foot away from the tree before its image flickered as if static then vanished entirely, like it had never existed. Shocked, Nightmare Moon stared at the spot it once occupied before hurriedly grabbing for another of the gems, only to have the same thing happen. Swiftly, she tried again with all of gems but to no avail. All of them quickly dissolved away into nothing the moment she tried removing them from the tree. And all at once, she realized why—they were fake and she’d only been lured into thinking they weren’t so to keep her distracted. Infuriated, Nightmare Moon spun around to face Celestia, aware of what was happening and about to reenter the fight. “YOU!” she bellowed, blasting her off of her hooves again and then jumping on her, pinning her to the floor. “Where are they? WHERE ARE THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY?!” “We really need to get out of here!” Fluttershy reasoned as the hippogriff wiggled against the changeling gel pinning her and her cohorts to the wall. “What do you think I am trying to do?” Rarity hissed in-between grunts, the dragoness straining to use all of her strength to try and pry herself free to no apparent avail. “Grr!” Rainbow growled as she too found flexing all of her muscles against the gel not enough. “This…stuff…just…won’t…give!” She stopped for a moment to recover from the exertion, panting. “You know, its super annoying you changelings even came up with this stuff, Twilight!” “I’m sorry!” Twilight snapped as she likewise struggled without gain. “I don’t like this situation either! If we don’t get out of here before Nightmare Moon comes back…” “…then we’re dead creatures walking, I get it!” Rainbow snapped. “But you’re one of the creatures who actually use this stuff—so how come you haven’t just popped right out of it?” “If I could use my magic then I could exert enough force to rip free, but I can’t so long as my horn’s covered and I can’t fix that without first freeing my hooves!” Twilight retorted, motioning up at her gel-covered horn. “Well, think of something, because the rest of us aren’t going to figure it out on our own!” Rainbow said before glaring down at the floor where Applejack and Spike were still trapped inside of Nightmare Moon’s forcefield. “And what the heck are you two doing? Trying to smother each other?” “Landsakes, no!” Applejack shouted back, having scooted herself up against Spike who had, for reasons the rest couldn’t discern from their angle, pressed his face into her back. “Spike’s tryin’ ta chew through my bindings! If even just one of us can git free…” “But you’re still trapped in that forcefield bubble thingy!” Pinkie pointed out, the zebra alternating between flexing each of her limbs individually, hoping one would eventually pull free of the gel. “How do you plan to get out of that?” “One step atta time here, Miz Zebra,” Applejack said, “unless ya got some hokum-pokum or wutever ya zebra do ta git us outta here.” “Nothing that elaborate,” Pinkie assured with an amused grin. “I’d need a cauldron and a bit of brewing to do that anyway, but oh boy, if I did have a cauldron…why, I could probably bake us a portal out of here! Also, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced! I’m Pinkie! What’s your name?” “Uh, well, Ah’m Applejack. Ah’d say it’s nice ta meet ya, but uh, given current circumstances…” “Ugh!” Rainbow Dash interrupted loudly. “We don’t have time for this! We need to get ourselves free and escape from here already!” “What we need to do is find the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight corrected, “Or else escaping isn’t going to do us much good in the long run!” “Got it!” Spike suddenly shouted through gritted teeth as Applejack’s paw bindings abruptly snapped and came away in his mouth. He then swiftly turned his head and spat out the changeling gel they were made with. “Phoo! Bleh! That stuff is nasty!” Her paws now free, Applejack quickly went about freeing her feet then releasing Spike as well. But they were still trapped inside the dome-shaped forcefield placed over them and no matter how much they kicked and beat upon its sides it didn’t give way in the slightest. They then started to search for any other way to escape the barrier. Spike stomped one foot on the floor a couple of times. “Hey, do you think this forcefield has a bottom?” he asked aloud. “Because if it doesn’t, I think I might be able to just dig us a tunnel going underneath it!” “Worth a try either way!” Applejack reasoned and assisted with clearing away debris as Spike proceeded to pull up the floor tiles and dig a hole into the earth underneath with surprising speed. Soon both creatures were out of immediate sight. Meanwhile, Rarity’s frustration at her failure to free herself reached a breaking point. “All right, time for a new approach!” she snapped upon concluding brute strength wasn’t cutting it. “I apologize in advance for this, but I promise to try and not singe anyone!” Then before anyone could ask what she meant, she took a deep breath and breathed a thin gout of flame, turning her head so it burned along one side of her body. The flames came dangerously close enough to some of the others that they had to shield themselves as best as their pinned positions would allow. But slowly, it became clear the heat of the flames were slowly melting or burning their way through the gel, and after another one or two bursts, Rarity was finally able to rip free her right paw with a victorious cry. “Rarity, quick!” Twilight urged, trying to position her head as close as she could to the dragoness, “Try and get this gel off of my horn!” Bending down as far as the remaining changeling gel adhering her in place allowed, Rarity managed to scrape off most of the large glob of gel covering the changeling’s horn, allowing it to light once again. Now free to use her magic, Twilight swiftly used it to grab herself and tug, stretching the gel until she finally pulled free and was able to safely flutter to the floor. She then turned to try and free the others. “Nuh-uh!” Pinkie interjected, motioning with her head to move on. “Go find the Elements of Harmony before Queen Meanie-Pants comes back!” “Oh, right, right!” Twilight said, having forgotten her own advice in her haste to help her friends. She searched the chamber for any sign of the missing artifacts, but there weren’t any more clues to their whereabouts than when they first entered. “I…I don’t know where they are though, and there can’t possibly be enough time to do a more thorough search!” “Oh my!” Fluttershy suddenly declared, her attention drawn to a nearby window, seeing bursts of magical energy exploding outside. “I think something’s happening…something big!” Twilight turned to steal a glance too and winced. “I hope that just means Creamy’s distracting Nightmare Moon for us,” she remarked aloud before going back to searching. “Creamy?” Pinkie repeated in surprise. “Why in the world would she be fighting Nightmare Moon?” Before Twilight could reply, a nearby floor tile thumped a couple of times then popped free, allowing the somewhat dirtied Spike and Applejack to clamber out of the tunnel they’d made. “Ha!” the parrot declared, looking back at the now empty forcefield they’d burrowed under, “That sure worked like a treat!” “Twilight!” Spike meanwhile declared, shaking dirt off of himself and hurrying over to the changeling. “While I was digging, I noticed evidence of some kind of empty gap near that side of the room, under the floor.” He pointed with one paw. “It’s too heavily enforced for me to dig into, but I think it might be some kind of secret compartment!” “Let’s hope you’re right, Spike,” Twilight said before sending him to assist freeing the others—Rarity had made more progress freeing herself but was still stuck to the wall and unable to free any of the others. Meanwhile, Twilight scanned the floor with her magic, searching for anything that would react or trigger from it, before finding a rectangular section she was reasonably certain was a hidden door. “Oh, the enchantment operating this better still work,” she pleaded aloud as she worked to activate it with her magic. Fortunately, it still did. With a rumble, the hidden door slid open and from within a large stone podium automatically rose up to occupy the space it’d cleared. Five arms branching off of the central base had a sphere balancing at the ends in corresponding stands, each of the spheres bearing a different symbol marking it. Twilight gasped as she took in the sight. “These must be it!” she declared, “The Elements of Harmony!” She motioned to Applejack standing nearby. “Applejack, help me get all of these down!” Working together, the changeling and parrot lifted the spheres from the arms and collected them in a rough circle on the floor. Moving uncertainly, Twilight then approached the circle and started to scan the spheres with her magic, trying to determine how to use or activate what she prayed were indeed the right artifacts. “Ah notice there’s only five,” Applejack observed, watching the changeling do this. “Didn’t ya say ya need six? Where do ya think the last one is?” “I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted as she worked. “But my research suggests the final one can be revealed by properly triggering the other five with the right magic. I’m hoping that’s also what will activate the elements so we can use them against Nightmare Moon.” She strained her magic, trying to find the key. “I’m not sure what’ll happen when I find it, though.” “Oh, do try to hurry!” Fluttershy pleaded, watching the commotion continuing outside while Spike tried to figure out a way to free her. “Whatever is happening outside seems to be getting worse, and I don’t think—oh no!” She was cut short when the form of a creature was bodily hurled out of the ravine and impacted the ground, digging a small trench as it slid into it. Whoever it was didn’t immediately pull themselves free of the debris. Knowing time was running out, Twilight made a quick judgment call. “Applejack, go help Spike free the others!” she commanded while also trying to not break her concentration. “If I haven’t figured this out by the time you do, then all of you need to get out of here and to safety while you still can! I’ll stay here and keep trying to work this out for as long as I can.” “What?” Rainbow bellowed. “I didn’t tagalong for this whole adventure just to leave you behind, Twilight!” “I can’t guarantee your safety if you stay!” Twilight snapped back, half-turning her head in Rainbow’s direction. “You all could end up hurt!” “A necessary risk if it means ensuring the same doesn’t befall you!” Rarity countered, now half-free from the gel. “I have already given up a fair bit coming this far, so I am more than willing to continue to do so—how about the rest of you, girls?” “Oh yes!” Fluttershy agreed, Spike nodding in agreement beside her. “I couldn’t possibly abandon you when you need help.” “But…” Twilight started to object. “C’mon, Twilight!” Pinkie said, joining in with a big and confident grin, “Think less gloom-and-doom and more smile-and-beguile!” Applejack placed her talons over Twilight’s shoulder. “Twi, Ah promise ya, with all the honest truth, we’re gonna git outta this by workin’ together.” Twilight hesitated, contemplating all of the many ways this could still go bad, but heartened by the unwavering support of the others, she slowly nodded. “Okay then,” she said, reaching up to give Applejack’s talons a pat, “together it is.” Applejack grinned then hurried off to help free the others. “C’mon Spike, let’s git this lot off this wall so we all can show that mean-ol’ walkin’ fairytale wut fer!” Twilight, meanwhile, continued to work the spheres with her magic, desperately trying to find the solution that’d make them work. Gradually, the spheres started to glow and spark, even shift slightly from their positions. “I think I’m getting it! I think I might’ve—” She was cut short with a bolt of magical energy suddenly shot through the castle entrance and struck her in the back, sending the changeling skidding across the room. “Twilight!” Applejack shouted and started to double back to her. Spike started to run after her too but was stopped short when an aura of magic seized him. “Hold it,” Nightmare Moon growled darkly as she stormed back into the castle, looking none too pleased. She bound Spike in magical chains before letting him thump to the floor again, unable to move. “I think you have all done enough.” Rarity twisted around to try and spew fire at the dark mare, but didn’t get far before another spell from the alicorn clamped the dragon’s snout shut and pinned her back to the wall with more magical bindings. That done, Nightmare Moon continued on past, heading towards Twilight and the spheres still lying on the floor. Applejack attempted to fling herself at one of the alicorn’s legs but the parrot was summarily thrown off with ease, sent bouncing across the room, then sealed within a new forcefield. “Don’t you dare do anything to Twilight!” Rainbow declared despite still being fully pinned to the wall by gel, “She’s got the elements and won’t hesitate to use them against you!” “You mean these elements?” Nightmare Moon asked snidely, before rearing up and, with one slam of her forehooves, shattered all five spheres into useless shards. Seeing the looks of horror from the others, she cackled loudly. “You fools!” she shouted at them, her tone degrading. “You never had a prayer of defeating me! And now you will all pay the price for daring to defy my rule!” “No…they won’t.” “What?” Nightmare Moon snapped, whipping around to see Twilight weakly picking herself up, using the podium the spheres had sat upon as a brace. “You’re kidding, right? You really think you can stop me now?” “Alone? No,” Twilight said, grinning confidently as she steadied herself. “But I’m not alone, I never was, and that’s the point.” She looked thankfully at her friends, all looking on at her in varying forms of confusion before back at the alicorn threatening her. “Do you even know what the Elements of Harmony are, Nightmare Moon? What they represent?” “Do not waste my time with games!” Nightmare Moon said, turning around to fully face the lone changeling. “What difference does it make anyway? I destroyed them all!” She kicked a hoof at the shards still littering the floor. “No you didn’t,” Twilight reminded, grin growing. “You forgot the sixth element.” “You don’t have the sixth element!” “Yes I do!” Twilight said, and nodded her head at her friends. “I figured it out after you all insisted to stay by my side, realized what that meant.” She turned her attention back to Nightmare Moon. “The Elements of Harmony represent the key principles of what it takes to preserve harmony—honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and loyalty—but each of those elements on their own aren’t enough to do it. You need the sixth element to tie them all together. The one you yourself failed to understand, Nightmare Moon, the element using the most powerful magic of all,” She lit her horn, starting towards Nightmare Moon, “…friendship.” “ENOUGH!” Nightmare Moon bellowed and fired a beam of deadly energy at Twilight. The beam never hit her though, the energy dispersing harmlessly around the changeling as if she’d been enclosed in an invisible bubble. When it all cleared again, Twilight was revealed to be both perfectly unscathed but also wearing an impressive crown atop her head, shimmering with magic. As she continued forward, stepping into the circle of shards on the floor, the shards started to light up and lift off the ground, swirling around. “No…no…” Nightmare Moon breathed in sudden terror, starting to back away. “We have the sixth element, Nightmare Moon,” Twilight continued in conclusion. “And with that element, we can still summon the other five no matter what.” The shards then shot across the room, starting to spiral around Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie. By their magical grasp, all were pulled free of their respective snares and floated around the room until they fully encircled Nightmare Moon, trapping her between them. The shards them snapped back together again in bright balls of light on the necks of each of the five before magically connecting with Twilight and her crown. The collecting power gathered together in a loop before casting a beam of rainbow energy straight upwards before slamming back down towards Nightmare Moon. “NOOOOOO!” Nightmare Moon screamed as the magic engulfed her, increasing in intensity before an explosion of light suddenly filled the room and everything went white. When everything cleared, leaving a shallow crater where Nightmare Moon had last been seen, the six creatures thumped to the floor, momentarily drained but quickly recovering while Spike, having watched all this from the sidelines and now free of the magical chains, hurried up to them. “What the heck just happened?” he asked, still processing what he’d seen. “I…think we stopped Nightmare Moon?” Fluttershy asked tentatively as the hippogriff got back to her feet. “We certainly did something!” Pinkie concluded, getting back onto her hooves with one reenergizing hop. “Whoa,” Applejack remarked with a faint chuckle, noticing she and the others now wore intricate necklaces about their necks, save for Twilight who had her crown in lieu of a necklace. All six artifacts bore a prominent gem embedded in their fronts though, each a different color and shape for each individual creature. “Heh, Ah’m guessin’ these must be the real Elements of Harmony then.” “Aw yeah!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as the griffon examined her own necklace. “Now this is more like it!” “I suppose this means we did it,” Rarity said, tapping a claw on her element before looking to their changeling friend. “Right, Twilight?” But Twilight’s gaze had turned to the castle entrance, where the first rays of a sunrise had begun shining through. Standing in the doorway was a tall and white alicorn, somewhat roughed up but still looking very impressive in stature. The others turned to follow Twilight’s gaze and were taken aback by the newcomer’s sudden appearance. The alicorn, meanwhile, only stood in awe, taking in the sight before her. “…Who the heck are you?” Rainbow asked finally, confused. “Oh my goodness, your mane is lovely!” Rarity declared in glee, marveling at her waving multi-colored mane. The new mare glanced at the ethereal hairs sparkling in the dawn light. “Oh, um, I suppose,” she muttered, caught off guard by the compliment. “I mean, it’s a little mussed up from getting plowed into the ground a few minutes ago, but…” She trailed off as Twilight strolled up to her, looking at the alicorn meaningfully. “Princess Celestia, I presume?” she asked with a friendly grin. Celestia made a sheepish nod. “Wait, the other sister ruler of Equestria?” Pinkie asked in surprise. “Huh! Where have you been hiding this whole time?” Celestia chuckled a little. “Amusingly, Pinkie, in a little hut just outside your village,” she replied. The zebra’s jaw nearly unhinged as she understood. “You were Creamy this whole time?!” She declared, before abruptly turning contemplative. “Wow, my mystical orb of fate’s destiny sure didn’t see that coming…maybe I need to get a refund…” As the others giggled at Pinkie’s antics, Celestia examined the crown atop Twilight’s head. “You did it, then,” she concluded with a thankful grin. “You found the elements and stopped disaster from befalling us all, against all odds.” “Well…” Twilight said, embarrassed by the praise, “…you know…it was a group effort and all…so…” she trailed off when they heard a groan echo out from within the crater blasted into the floor, putting them all on alarm. “Oh no!” Fluttershy bemoaned, covering her head with her wings. “We didn’t stop Nightmare Moon after all!” “Not if we’ve got anything to say about it!” Rainbow declared, zipping to the side of the crater while the rest galloped over to investigate. “All right, Nightmare Moon, put your hooves up before we—oh!” Though shards of her armor lay at the bottom of the crater with her, the alicorn now picking herself up within didn’t look at all like Nightmare Moon. She was shorter, blue colored, and bore a dark blue mane filled with sparkling stars. She seemed not angry and dangerous but rather confused and frightened, looking back up at the creatures on the crater’s edge. None of them recognized her. …except Celestia. “Luna?” she breathed, her voice catching in her throat as she skidded down the side of the crater to join the other alicorn. “Sister?” the alicorn, Luna, asked upon recognizing Celestia as well. When Celestia eagerly nodded, she suddenly broke down in tears, wrapping her hooves around the white alicorn’s legs. Getting teary-eyed herself, Celestia pulled her sister into a grateful and loving hug. “It’s okay, Luna,” she comforted gently while the others looked on at the touching reunion. “The nightmare’s finally over.”