//------------------------------// // Lost Magic // Story: A New Generation: Friendship is Magic // by Sky_Wishes //------------------------------// The journey out of Everfree was thankfully a lot faster and lot less eventful than the journey in. There was little conversation, as the group were one hundred percent focused on getting the Elements to the Princess. Even so, it was difficult, as the Element’s rock forms weren’t exactly designed for easy travel. Still, they galloped home as fast as they could. Sunny’s lungs were once again burning as they finally exited the forest. Still, she knew that they couldn’t stop there, and they made haste to the Town Hall. It was still encased in its bubble, and Sunny could see the occasional flashes of yellow and blue light that meant the battle was still going on. “Come on, everypony! We’re almost there!” And she picked up her pace, faster and faster and faster— —Until she eventually slammed into the force field. She nearly dropped the Element she was carrying on her back, but Izzy fortunately caught it with her magic. Sunny, however, didn’t notice this, as she was far too bust slamming against the barrier with her hooves. “No no no no no!” She cried with each desperate bang. “We were so close! How are we going to get these to the Princess now?” Zipp landed besides her, making a few cursory taps of her own. “I’ve never seen a force field like this before.” tap, tap, tap. “Izzy, do you think could—” *CRASH* The group instinctively ducked for cover as the forcefield shattered around them, the magic shards quickly disintegrating into sparkles. Hitch was the first up. “Is everypony okay?” He asked, frantically looked at rest of the group. “Yeah...” Zipp groaned. “I’m good.” said Sunny. “We’re okay here.” Pipp said, referring to both herself and Izzy. She turned to look at the now exposed building. “Well, that was convenient. What do you think that was?” “No time to question it!” Hitch said. “We need to get in there!” Sunny looked up at the Town Hall. Despite begging for entrance only a few seconds ago, she couldn’t help but gulp. She had a bad feeling about this. Sunny’s bad feeling got a name as soon as she stepped into the building. Nightmare Moon was cackling maniacally as she stood triumphantly over the prone form of Princess Celestia. “PRINCESS!” As soon as she heard the simultaneous cry of the group, Nightmare Moon turned and give them a wicked grin. “Ah, my beloved subjects, perfect timing! Have you come to pledge your loyalty to your New Princess?” “No way!” Pipp shouted, although she was still cowering behind Zipp. “We’re here to stop you, you monster!” That triggered another cackle. “You must be kidding me! Tell me, just how do you puny foals think that you can best me?” She laughed a bit more before she spotted the stone orbs that they were carrying, and her entire body stiffened. “What the— How did—” she growled and slammed her hooves into the ground. “Give those to me!” “No way!” “I said give them to me!” This time, her statement was punctuated with a laser beam from her horn. Sunny braced herself once more, only to be surprised when she didn’t feel anything. She nervously cracked her eyes open only to see Izzy standing in front of her, holding a shield spell. “Iz—” “Get to the Princess!” She interrupted. “I’ll hold her off!” “But—” “Just go!” Sunny had no time to protest as the rest of her friends pulled her away from Izzy and toward the Princess. “Princess!” She called once more as she approached her nearly unconscious form. “Princess, please! Wake up! We need you to wake up!” After a few agonizing seconds, she eventually cracked her eyes open. “You...” she groaned. “I saw you...” “—No time for that!” Zipp interrupted. “We brought you the Elements of Harmony. You need to use them to defeat Nightmare Moon!” The Princess gasped. “The Elements? But...” Her eyes grew wide as her eyes fell on them. “Where...?” “Doesn’t matter!” Hitch interrupted. “You know how they work, right? So use them!” “I... can’t...” “You have to!” Pipp pleaded. “Izzy—” “...Who?” The Princess lifted up her head to see Izzy, who was straining under the exhaustion of holding up the shield. The Princess’s eyes hardened, and she stood up, much to the group’s delight. “That’s enough!” She shouted, in a firmer voice than anypony had ever heard from her. Nightmare Moon hissed before turning her attention back to Celestia. “Oh joy. Black for round two?” She stepped further. “I will not let you harm our subjects further.” Her horn glowed, and the Elements of Harmony were lifted up into the air. Slowly, five jewels— a red one, an orange one, a blue one, a purple one, and a pink one —emerged from orbs, and they fell to the ground. The jewels began circle around Celestia— slowly at first, but they quickly picked up in speed. Nightmare growled once more. “No!” She cried. “Stop! I command you!” Celestia didn’t listen as she rose higher and higher into the air. Sunny watched and awe she grew brighter and brighter and brighter and... ...Nothing happened. There was no radiant glow, no magical beam of light directed at the maleficent mare. The jewels just get spinning, and eyes time passed, even that grew slower and slower, until the Princess eventually collapsed on the ground once more. “...Princess?” Sunny asked. She held her head low. “I told you... I can’t...” Nightmare Moon’s shock slowly faded as a smirk began to crawl on her face. “Haha! I can’t believe it!” She wiped her tears with her hoof. “Actually, I can! Your precious elements are nothing—” she began to charge up her horn. “—but worthless stone!” “NO!” Sunny cried as she watched helplessly as the beams shattered the elements into tiny pieces. She gave a little chuckle to herself “I’m glad that’s all taken care of.” Her expression steeled and she unfolded her wings turned towards Sunny and her friends. “You ponies, on the other hand, are a different story. While you hardly count as a threat, you’ve been a massive thorn in my hide, and I cannot allow this treason to go unpunished.” Another smirk crossed her face, and her horn started glowing again. “Nighty-night, my subjects!” And then Sunny’s world went black.