12.3: Temporal Fluctuations
(Alex's POV)
"Please! Someone make sense of this!"
"Alex! Calm down. I can't help you if you don't remain calm."
I sigh. "Of course it would be you Twilight..."
"Listen. I'm just trying to help. If you really don't like me that much, then why are you here?"
"I'm here because I just came out of the Everfree after mysteriously appearing there...but I see what you are trying to do. What can you do?"
"I can show you things as I saw them. Maybe seeing it all from a new perspective will help."
"Okay...what do I need to do?"
"Just sit down, close your eyes, breathe, and trust me."
The part of me raging against her screams at me to run, but I ignore it, taking a breath, sitting down on the grass, and I close my eyes. I shiver a bit as I feel her horn touch my head, and then everything goes black.
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'Nightmare Moon had returned as I had predicted. I had sent Princess Celestia a letter night a day before, warning her of this fact, but she said my head was stuck in the books and that I had to go make friends. That is when she sent me to Ponyville under the guise of overseeing preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. When Nightmare Moon returned, I was the only pony who recognized her. I realized we would need the Elements to defeat her. My other five friends, now the other Bearers, came with me.'
She pauses for a moment, and then a sort of movie begins to play, as she narrates the thing.
'We had to pass through the Everfree Forest where there were five trials, one for each of my friends, trying to turn them away from the course. They accepted and defeated the challenges, unable to be deterred. We finally got to the Castle Ruins, and I found the Elements. They were still stone, but I somehow managed to awaken the Gem Elements inside the stone spheres. The Elements of Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity and Laughter were all present, but I did not know where the sixth Element was. But then I found the spark inside of me, the spark that brings the Sixth Element into being. The Spark of Friendship. After that, the other Bearers and I got ready to finish off Nightmare Moon. The Harmony Rainbow was charging when I heard an odd sound, something like an artist drawing. I thought it was just associated with the Elements....'
The movie speeds up a little, keeping pace with her narration.
'And we unleashed Harmony, but she blocked it somehow. She had a Rainbow of her own, but it was...dark, evil. She managed to fend off our Rainbow until we faltered, and it all collapsed. She start talking about the Dark Elements. I had only heard rumors, and those only because I listened in on one of Princess Celestia's rambling sessions. Nightmare Moon went on about how each Dark Element blocked a Harmony Element perfectly. Disloyalty for Loyalty, Lies for Honesty, Tears for Laughter, Anger for Kindness, Greed for Generosity, and lastly, Hopelessness for Magic. It was the perfect shield. We would never have been able to beat her, but somepony else intervened. A stallion, by the sound of the voice. He gave us the time we needed to recover and try again. It was then that Harmony and Darkness clashed, but he added his magic. That was when I knew that he was important. Harmony overpowered Darkness, and the original goal was achieved, setting Luna free from Nightmare Moon.
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The movie stops and she removes her horn from my head as I open my eyes, and stand up.
"When all was said and done, I tried to follow the stallion, but I could not. All I saw was his outline as he ran away. The thing that made me think it was you was that he was on two legs, something only you do."
I blink. "Okay then. I think you might be right... but there is something that prevents you from being right."
I turn and then run off to the Everfree, and I hear Twilight galloping behind, trying to catch up to me. I hear a dull tone in my ears, and I shake my head, trying to get it out.
"What is that?" I just keep running until I get back to the ruins, the tone growing louder and louder.
"Wait a second...That's a resonance... that of the Triforce! Red must be here!"
I enter the ruins, the noise almost deafening. "He's close!"
I finally reach the main room, where Nightmare Moon stood, and then I blink as my hand stars glowing. A glow in front of and behind me starts to show up. I spin around. "Twilight. Not surprising, but who...Red? Are you there?"
I hear no response. I then look closer, and I see the glow is hanging in a cloud of some sorts. "What have you done with Red?!"
I hear a voice I thought was dead. "I don't know this Red of which you speak."
"Nightmare Moon? You're alive?"
"Yes, surprisingly enough."
"How?"
"I do not know."
I blink, and then look down at my hand. The Triforce is resonating. I'm here... Twilight's here... but Red is not.... Does that mean that he does not carry the Triforce of Power? Does that mean Nightmare Moon has taken his place? What does this mean for the Alex of this timeline? Is there another me? Is there another Triforce of Courage? How did I change history? And most importantly, can I get back to my own time?!
End of 12.3: Temporal Fluctuations