//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Elements and The Spirits // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 4: The Elements and The Spirits ------------------------------- By this point, Azure was convinced the Everfree Forest wasn't out to get the group just because they were there. The cliff was sturdy not two seconds before it fell apart and sent the non-pegasi sliding and skidding down towards what could have been a nasty fall. The manticore, once calmed, was, as Fluttershy called it, a "big kitty". Or maybe it was just grateful for the assistance. Then those trees...once laughed at or choked, they returned to perfectly normal plants. There was definitely something else going on, but the cyan colt couldn't figure out what. He couldn't have been the only one thinking about this; surely Twilight or one of the others would have seen something amiss by now. The sound of rushing water quickly called him out of his processing. "How are we gonna cross this?" Pinkie asked. It was a good question, certainly one that any one of them could have asked. The water was rushing way too fast. If anypony fell into that, no matter how strong a swimmer they were, they'd be swept away in no time by the current. And there wasn't a bridge in sight, not even a series of stepping stones that were easily visible or reachable in the roaring waters. Azure's ears suddenly twitched in response to a distant sound. From the way the mares close by were looking, he'd guessed they heard the same noise he just did. It sounded like somepony or something was sobbing in utter distress. As the noise drew closer, the cyan colt noticed the waters were getting choppier and choppier. What the-- Azure thought to himself, wondering what exactly was going on with the waters. "Huh?" Pinkie asked. A small, narrow, purple object was suddenly visible among the waters. The sobbing reached its peak volume, and before any of the ponies present could fully realize it, all seven of them together were drenched in a few gallons of water. As soon as he wiped the water away from his eyes, Azure first looked to the others, and discovered that they were soaked, but unharmed. Then, he turned to the source of the crying. It was a sea serpent, bawling about something that was utterly lost on the colt. His body was narrow and purple, and, to Azure's immediate surprise, his orange mane was rather well-done. "Well-done" was the last thing the pony could expect when it came to creatures like the one before him. There was something strange about the serpent, however: one side of his (well, he assumed based on the sounds of the serpent's cries) mustache was shorter than the other, the longer side curled off to one side in a handlebar sort. "Oh, what a world, what a world..." he continued to sob, apparently unaware there were others nearby that could see him in the state he was in. Whatever the case, his rampant crying was disturbing the waters. Azure had approximately half a mind to give the serpent something to cry about, but he wasn't about to-- "Don't think about it..." Twilight whispered to him, extending a purple hoof in front of him. Before Azure could retort, she spoke up, turning to the sea serpent. "Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?" "Well, I don't know." The sea serpent appeared to stop crying, apparently having found someone to offload his worries on, which baffled the unexpecting Azure to no end. "I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid." Hearing the sea serpent's tale caused Azure's eye to twitch. The gravity on his left side increased tenfold, and with a creaking noise, he noiselessly and painlessly fell to his left. Partly because he felt stupid for not concluding the mustache was the source of his sorrows as soon as he heard the serpent's voice; partly because he felt the reason was absurd. "Oh, give me a break," This was probably one of the few times Azure could say he fully agreed with Rainbow Dash, who had voiced her opinion with that statement. "That's what all the fuss is about?" Applejack asked, as the cyan colt finally found it in him to rise back to his feet, wordless since the two mares had already taken the words right out of his mouth, more or less. "Why, of course it is!" Rarity cut in, indignantly, only moderately surprising everypony else. "How can you be so insensitive?" I can think of a few reasons why... "Oh, just look at him," The white unicorn continued on, issuing a lot of statements that were met with sniffled or gasped affirmatives from the sea serpent. If Azure didn't know better, he'd almost say she was flirting with the serpent, talking about his "lovely luminscent scales", "expertly coiffed mane" and "fabulous manicure", all of which was ruined without the mustache half that had been torn off. The only reason why Azure even remembered any of it was because he found the situation so terrifyingly off-putting that he didn't know what was going on for a few seconds. "Oh, it's true! I look hideous!" The sea serpent said in response to the snowy mare's sentiments. The cyan colt couldn't see Rarity's facial expression at this point, but he'd assume that, were looks capable of murder, the area immediately in front of her would be nothing more than a crater. "I simply can not let a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected," Rarity said, going up on her hind legs. Azure had two things on his mind right now: one, he had no idea what she was about to do; two, he was wondering if fabulosity was even a word. A loud snap and a yelp from the sea serpent derailed Azure's train of thought entirely. "What did you do that for?" the serpent asked, just before appearing to faint. Rarity wasn't paying attention, instead using the scale she'd apparently taken from the serpent's body, and taking it in a magical hold, royal blue in color. "Rarity, what are you--" said Twilight, just as lost as Azure himself was. Unexpectedly, the unicorn in question turned the scale around, and in one clean swipe, cut off most of her tail. The cyan colt swore he didn't even know what was going on, but to make matters slightly less confusing, the white mare quickly tied the sheared-off purple tail segment onto the damaged half of the serpent's mustache. Azure stood, blinking, while he tried to process once again how this pony could be so willing to give when the moment came to it. First the blanket, now this... The sea serpent came to, and immediately was taken by the gift of pony tail. He gave a rather effeminate chuckle, before responding, "My mustache! How wonderful!" "You look smashing," responded Rarity, while the sea serpent gushed over the fact his mustache had been restored to its former luster. Well, if two-toned mustaches were a fashion statement among sea serpents. Azure didn't know, nor did he care to know what sea serpents considered beautiful. "Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail..." The purple unicorn lamented. "Oh, it's fine, my dear." Rarity said. "Short tails are in this season. Besides, it'll grow back." "So would the mustache," said Rainbow, though Azure could only barely pick up on that. He was far too distracted with a more engaging issue. Now that the serpent had stopped bawling its eyes out over its deformed mustache, the river had calmed. "Look! We can cross now!" Twilight took a few steps forward, but unexpectedly, the sea serpent quickly made himself useful and formed a bridge using the length of its body. "Please, allow me." he said. Azure recovered from the shock of the moment, not really knowing which way was right and left. Well, he already didn't know that given his absolutely terrible sense of direction, but it was even more scrambled. Thankfully, the cyan colt was called back to his cognitive function before he became completely lost in thought. "Azure, aren't you comin'?" Rainbow Dash said, the only one still in the air. "Right, got it," he responded, quickly making his way across the sea serpent's back and falling into step behind the mares. There was something about the sea serpent's story that just fed his curiosity too. The trees did have a dim purple glow when they were alive...but for the life of him, Azure couldn't remember why the color was important. --------- Twilight couldn't even remember how long it had been since the group had entered the Everfree Forest, but a short while after leaving the serpent, her eyes snapped up to catch a close, close glimpse of the castle that held the Elements of Harmony. She smiled so widely her face might have split were it not for the gravity of the situation. "There it is!" she said, only able to contain her excitement due to the sense of duty she had instilled in her. "The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony. We made it!" There she was, using the word 'we' again! Yes, they did care for her, just as much as she cared for them, but after this, was she really going to ever be in their company again? Pushing away the intrusive thoughts again, the purple mare took off at a full sprint. She faintly heard a male voice grumbling incoherently, followed by rapid hoofsteps, but whether or not Azure followed her didn't matter. "Twilight, wait for us!" Applejack called out. "We're almost there!" The mare disregarded her use of the word "we" as she continued forward, paying no mind to where she was going...until her hooves failed to find purchase on the ground below her. As she chanced to look down and the familiar principle of nine-point-eight meters a second squared took over, Twilight suddenly understood why it might have been a good idea to slow down. She hadn't fallen more than two feet, maybe three, before something clamped down on her tail and arrested her momentum. Looking up, she couldn't quite see who saved her from falling this time, but before long, whatever it was that had her was backing up, away from the nasty fall. It wasn't until her forelegs started dragging the ground a safe distance away from the fall she'd taken that whatever or whoever it was that had grabbed her tail had released their grip. "What is it with you and falling off cliffs today?" asked Rainbow, having caught up with the rest of the group. Twilight whipped her head around, convinced that she had saved her, and yet what she saw, close to her still-extended tail, was Azure, sputtering just a little, probably recovering from the mouthful of hair he'd probably gotten saving her...again. The others were close by, Rainbow hovering in the air a few inches from the ground as usual. "Well, now what?" Pinkie asked with a sigh. The bridge was out, and so far, Twilight couldn't see a direct way. That is, until she heard Rainbow Dash clear her throat and saw her look to her wings. "Oh, yeah," Pinkie was also reminded of this. With no further words, the light blue mare quickly soared across the gap into the dense fog... ---------- Rainbow Dash was convinced that if somepony knew precisely what to do in the end, it'd have to be the new mare in town. Of course, that didn't change her thoughts on Azure. Back at the party, he was going up to where Twilight had run off to, saying he'd try to talk her down to the festivities. However, Rainbow loved to think she knew him better than that. Especially after the fact he'd more or less stopped the mare from falling down, twice. Well, she couldn't let him have all the credit on that first one. He may have been able to manuever his way away from that nasty fall, but she still saved Twilight after she let go of Applejack's hooves, with a little help from Fluttershy, of course. The mare snickered slightly to herself as she took one of the downed ropes and began tying it into place. Somepony with that kind of physical skill, and an obvious egghead...it was so ridiculous a mismatch in her head that she couldn't help but chortle just a little at the thought. And seperated from the others, it was a perfect time for her to let out her laughter on the matter. However, she still had a job to do: she had to fix the bridge so her ground-bound friends could cross. She landed between the two posts, and was just about to hover down to get the other rope to tie it back up, when a voice called out to her. "Rainbow..." The voice was slightly gruff in nature. "Who's there?" questioned the pegasus, immediately hovering back up to ground level. When the voice only repeated its call, the mare found herself getting a little angry. "I ain't scared of you! Show yourself!" "We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in all of Equestria," the voice continued, now sounding as though it were coming closer, not that Dash paid any mind to it. "Who?" she asked, wanting to know why ponies would be waiting here, of all places, for the best flyer. "Why, you, of course," the voice was growing still closer, but that was still the last thing on Rainbow's mind. "Really?!" After saying this, her ego immediately kicked in, and she felt compelled to correct what she just said and did. She felt she sounded too underconfident in her ability, and wanted to rectify that. "I mean, yeah, me. Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would ya? 'Cause, I've been trying to get into that group for like, ever..." "No, Rainbow Dash. We want you to join us..." Three figures seemed to materialize through the fog. All three were clad in the exact same garb, which looked somewhat similar to the Wonderbolts' garb, except darker in nature. They had black masks, yellow "goggles" of sorts, and the remainder of their costumes were black. What little the mare could see of their fur were various shades of blue and black. What could she say? Their costumes looked cool! "The Shadowbolts..." ----- Azure grit his teeth, really wishing he could see through the dense fog. He couldn't have been the only one wondering what was taking Rainbow so long to fix the darn bridge. Yet a quick check behind him revealed that, save for Twilight, the others had crowded around each other, and appeared to be conversing to pass the time. Twilight herself was staring off towards the other side of the bridge, appearing to be the only one focused on the grander problem beside him. Then again, with all the crazy stuff that's happened tonight, guess it'd be nice to have a distraction... While the cyan colt did not consider himself a creeper by any means, he needed to do something to take his mind off the present situation. What was Rainbow Dash doing over there anyway? He may have manuevered somewhat down a cliffside, but he doubted he could have free-galloped his way across the bridge to see what was going on. Unbeknownst to the mares behind him, one of Azure's ears flicked up as he began to tune in to the conversation behind him. "It seems odd that he should have saved her twice in the same night," This was Rarity's voice, and the ear tuned in to the conversation twitched as it recorded the info. "It can't be much more than coincidence," Applejack said in response. "Were it any one of us in the same situation, he'd have done the same thing, no question." "Maybe, but he has stuck close to her all night too," said the white unicorn. "It really does make a mare wonder..." Something about Rarity's statement triggered something in Azure's brain. He went through, mentally, the statements Dash had said to him regarding Twilight. Two of them in total. One: back at the party, that suggestive grin...and the other right before they entered the forest. It was only now that Azure fully understood what Rainbow and now Rarity were getting at back there. Oh man, do they really think that I... Azure asked. Applejack is right, I'd have done the same for them if it were them in the situation... "Rainbow, what's taking so long?" Twilight immediately snapped him from his thoughts entirely. Realizing he'd better quit listening in before the conversing mares became suspiscious, Azure immediately focused on the task at hand. "Oh no...Rainbow, don't listen to them!" Azure's focus snapped up, but because the fog became awfully thick again, he could only catch a glimpse of Rainbow Dash conversing with some rather shady-looking individuals. The colt grit his teeth. "What's going on over there...?" "...I'm afraid I'll have to say no," Rainbow's voice eventually came over the fog, which seemed to disperse the instant she declined whatever she had declined. She took the other rope at last, and tied it securely into place. The cyan colt had absolutely no idea what had happened over there, and it certainly would have helped had he not allowed himself to become distracted. However, whatever the case, it was obviously a cause for celebration, given the five mares around him were cheering. He'd probably have looked stupid not doing so, so he joined in somewhat. "See, I'd never leave my friends hangin'!" the mare declared, not at all looking like she regretted the decision to pass up...whatever it was she did. The shady individuals snarled, and to his alarm, it looked like their eyes were glowing. A few moments later, they turned into purple clouds of mist and scurried off. "So that's it, huh...?" asked Twilight to herself, though it seemed to be more to herself than anypony else. "What's 'it'?" asked Azure, turning to her. "Hm? Oh, nothing..." The purple mare responded, and all of a sudden, it looked as though she'd just noticed he was there for the first time. "We'd better get over there now." And with that, the group once more advanced toward their goal: the ancient ruin. ---------- It wasn't that long a walk to the ruin. All they really had to do was cross the bridge. This was it. Twilight knew full well this was where the Elements of Harmony were last seen. The walls had crumbled, which in itself wasn't that surprising. The castle had to be a thousand years old, at least as far as when it was last occupied. "Whoa," Applejack said, taking in the sight, taking a spot ahead of her. "C'mon, Twilight, isn't this what you've been waitin' for?" It had been unsettlingly simple from there to find the Elements of Harmony. They were on the pedestals, or rather, the five known ones, anyway, undisturbed, untouched. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash set about retrieving the magical objects, which right now looked sort of like ordinary stones with weird carvings in them. "The Elements of Harmony...we've found them..." Twilight wasn't even going to worry about the fact she'd used the word "we" anymore. Without these six ponies with her, she doubted they'd have ever gotten this far. Even if she had only taken Azure with her as per her original plan, she had a funny feeling the cliff would have been the end of it. His physical prowess and her magical talent combined couldn't have gotten them very far. She'd seen that now. She was abruptly called out of her thoughts when one of the ponies almost fumbled an Element. "Careful, careful!" Despite their magical nature, the Elements appeared...fragile, to say the least. At least, physically, they did. "One, two, three, four...five..." Pinkie took a quick count. "There's only five!" "The sixth element is a mystery," Twilight repeated. "Then where is it? It's not here..." Rainbow cut in. "The book said that 'when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed'." The purple mare lay down in front of the five Elements, trying to decide on what she should do to try and force the appearance. The room remained completely silent. "What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked. "I'm not sure," the purple unicorn admitted. After thinking about it for a bit longer, she came up with something, "But I have an idea..." She turned to the other assembled ponies. It was true, she couldn't have come this far without their help, yet she was sure this would be the part where those magic lessons under Princess Celestia would come in handy. "Stand back. I don't know what will happen." Applejack nodded, and began to tell the other ponies to disperse. Six sets of hooves began working their way out of the room. Suddenly, one of them seemed to slow, falling out of the rhythm of the others. Eventually, the straggler stopped, leaving only five sets of hooves to walk out of the room. Confused, Twilight turned, and saw Azure, still standing close to the doorway, the others having followed Applejack's lead and left her to her business. "Why are you still here?" she asked. "I'll be fine..." "With your luck today, I'd figured somepony should stay behind and keep watch while you do your thing..." he responded, turning back to her with a neutral expression on her face. Twilight narrowed her eyes at him. Who did this pony think he was? She was sure that anypony else could have saved her from the second fall, and that first fall wasn't even her fault to begin with. "Do you think I'm always going to need saving?" "Not particularly. But I'm sure you must have noticed the steady stream of occurences that have taken place since we started this whole thing. The cliff, the manticore, the trees...the serpent. Remember the mist he mentioned?" "I've already figured it out, Azure," Twilight said, turning her gaze onto the five known Elements. "Nightmare Moon has been trying to impede our progress, and from the looks of things, I'd say her traps didn't go as she'd intended." Again, she was reminded of the other ponies' contributions. Azure put himself at risk, that much was certain. He certainly held some importance, but the mares she'd met just today...well, to say that they contributed as much as he did was underplaying their roles. Applejack had given her honest reassurance when her mind was racing. Fluttershy had calmed a raging beast with kindness. Pinkie literally laughed in the face of danger and invited everypony to do the same. Rarity sheared off most of her tail and gave it to a crying serpent. And Rainbow Dash turned down...a leadership position, it turned out, for that shady group...the Shadowbolts. Twilight knew all their contributions held relevance, but for some reason, she just couldn't tie it all together, not yet. There was one missing piece of the puzzle, and she knew it couldn't have been Azure. Much as he had helped her specifically, something just didn't add up when it came to his involvement here. Yet his statement on why he wanted to stay close certainly made sense. Nightmare Moon was probably going to try something else at this critical moment. "Alright...I see what you're saying. Just be quiet while I concentrate..." ---------- Azure stood between the mares outside and the lone mare with the Elements. He was in a rather ruined room. He could see the others clearly from where he was because the walls around it resembled swiss cheese more than masonry. He could hear Twilight concentrating, mumbling something about that spark she'd mentioned. Even if I'm not the one that lands the final blow, I've been waiting three years, and I'm going to see this through to the bitter end, the cyan colt thought as he took another look around. Twilight knows as much as I do we couldn't have gotten this far if it were just the two of us. If it wasn't the cliff, then it probably would have been the manticore that got us. Heavy, heavy footsteps sounded nearby. It sounded like something was climbing up somewhere nearby. Azure Courage instinctively tensed up, prepared for anything. Judging from the growls, he'd figured it was probably another manticore. It made sense to him. The beasts probably nested throughout the Everfree Forest, after all. The climbing steps stopped, and were replaced with normal heavy footsteps. They were unbearably close, and the colt could hear his heart beating in his chest again. First, when he was up against the manticore (and slightly before that when he thought it was something else entirely). After that, it was when the trees started growling. Yet, he knew he could control his fear. A purple and black creature finally came into view. Azure's blood ran cold when he looked upon it. There was no questioning what had stepped right in front of him this time. While, like the manticore, it had a lion's body and head, it had a second head resembling a goat. And that tail was a gray snake, not a regular tail at all. It took slow, steady steps toward him, and Azure realized he was frozen stiff. "C-chimera...?" The colt's eyes widened. This wasn't anything like the manticore, partly because it didn't look mad, but ravenous, just as it had that one night back when he went camping. ------- "N-no...not this...!" He was still very young then, and hadn't yet earned his cutie mark. It was a summer camping trip, not too long after that year's Summer Sun Celebration. Even as a kid, Azure had a tendency to explore on his own, and even though it was night and they were in a relatively unfamiliar part of the forest, like the idiot he was back then, he'd wandered off. Of course, his impeccably horrific sense of direction was even worse than it was now, so as expected, the younger Azure Courage got lost. Yet this didn't scare him so much as it did frustrate him. However, that soon changed when he came across a snarling beast of a monster. And it wasn't a vegetarian...no, it was something far worse. It was the first and only chimera he'd seen until now. It had a green snake for a tail, a silvery goat's head with antlers as gold as the rest of its body. It was actually a lioness's body, not that it really mattered to Azure. It was a traumatic moment for him. He stared death in the face, and for the life of him, he could not move away from the paralyzing stare of the two heads. It growled menacingly, an act which would haunt Azure's dreams for the rest of that year, and would appear sporadically in nightmares he'd had since then. -------- Azure remained completely frozen, unaware that the chimera was now moving past him, slowly advancing toward Twilight. The others had not even noticed this. -------- "What do I do...I'm too scared to move...Twilight's in danger...the others are in danger..." Azure continued to be frozen as the chimera drew closer, licking its lips ominously. It was the first time in his life that the colt could say he was completely terrified of what he was looking at. The chimera drew closer, but abruptly, a crimson-colored blast of magic came from nowhere, and stunned the chimera. It turned from its would-be meal, and growled menacingly. "D-dad?!" Azure asked. His father paid him no mind, and charged the chimera, who in turn charged him. His father put the best fight of his life against the creature, and instinctively the young colt turned away, afraid his father would die right in front of him if he kept looking. He could hear the sound of magic being used, and of branches breaking. He could hear the growls of the chimera, which sounded angrier the more it apparently got hit. Suddenly, the chimera gave a terrifying roar, and Azure instinctively shrunk. "Son?" his father called. He refused to budge. "Son, get up! The chimera's gone..." It was a blur. He didn't even really remember what he did after looking up to his father. What he could remember of the event was crying, sobbing near-incoherently, about how scared he was of the chimera, and how he did not deserve his name, a sensation that now replayed in his mind as he realized he still couldn't move past that old fear. But then the memory fully returned, what his father said just after Azure had wished he was as brave as his father was. "We did not mis-name you, son," his father said, nuzzling him. "Being afraid is nothing to be ashamed of. Fear is what makes us real ponies. The truth is, I was just as scared as you were." "B-but...you didn't look scared..." said the younger Azure, looking up to his dad. "The fear of losing you overcame the fear of that beast." his father said. "That's what 'Courage' is. You haven't really had an opportunity to prove your name, but aside from your color, you took after me. My name, son, is 'Burning Fortitude'. Fortitude is almost the same as courage. Both have next to nothing to do with bravery. It's about fighting your fear, being able to protect the ponies close to you when the moments counts. That's one case, anyway, but it's probably the one I've lived by the most." "Huh...?" "How do you think I met your mother?" ---------- Sweet Celestia, Azure thought, his legs starting to tremble less and less, and his face starting to morph from stunned to angry. That is what my name means...'Courage' isn't just being brave...it's overcoming one's own fear...no matter how bad it gets...Dad was right, the antics Virid, Blitz, and me got up to weren't much more than the feather that tickles the iceberg! No. It's defined by what I do here and now! The cyan colt's ears stood on end as he realized he could hear the sounds of a singular scream. "Get away!" Twilight screamed, more out of frustration than anything, though Azure could make out a measurable amount of fear in her voice. She also sounded confused as well, as if asking "what is a chimera doing here". It was enough. He could hear the shouts of the others, but given he was closer, he had a good three second head-start on them. His hooves rapidly hit the ground. Sure enough, the purple chimera was staring down Twilight, or rather, the Elements she was in front of. Azure knew one thing and one thing alone: it was time to earn his name. "Hey, ugly!" Using his magic, he seized the nearest piece of debris he could and flung it straight between the chimera's eyes. The chimera turned to him, and uttered a terrifying growl, one that would make each hair on a pony's pelt stand on end. Azure was not as affected as he would have been, a sense of duty now fueling his reserves. "Get away from her!" He continued his rush, forgoing the fact he knew a couple of spells for the time being, and engaged the chimera directly when it jumped down in front of him. The chimera raised up on his hind legs, and slammed its forepaws down where Azure would have been had he not moved underneath the chimera and, once more using his horn as a lever of sorts on a rather large crack in the masonry below, sprang up onto his forelegs and slammed his rear legs straight into the chimera's stomach area. Thanks again, Crimson, for that guide, though I've got to admit this is the first time I'm putting that move into practice... Azure thought, immediately wedging himself out from the crevice before the chimera recovered. That move obviously wasn't enough to beat it, and judging from the way the serpent-like tail lashed at him-a move he could barely dodge-it would take a bit more than that to run this thing off. "Az!" This was Applejack, but for obvious reasons Azure couldn't look to confirm where she was. "You need help?" "Think it'd be better for you to stand back--agh!" He was cut off by the snake-like tail again lashing at him, which in his position he couldn't do much about except dodge in the awkward position he was in. "That thing's gotta be at least four times your size!" This was Rainbow Dash, who he could barely hear over the sounds of his own heartbeat and the chimera trying to get him again with its hissing tail. "C'mon, Az! Even I know a pony can't take it on by himself!" Azure continued to keep his focus, dodging the concerns for now and decided on a course of action. He never really had control over the spell he was about to use, but given it was either that or get bit by a tail he wasn't sure contained venom, he'd take his chances with it. Magic surged into his horn. First thing's first, getting under it was a mistake...so...here we go... His horn glowed a bright cyan as he made his next move. A split-second later, Azure had his wish granted...but not in the way he wanted. While he was out from underneath the chimera, now he was on top of its back. And the chimera, aware its new quarry was now on its back, began thrashing about wildly, aiming to toss the colt off. The furry ground undulated on him, and at the same time, he could hear the serpent tail hissing at him, as though ready to strike should he try to hold on. "Darn it...!" the colt grunted. It was a hard decision to do, but since he couldn't recall if chimeras' tails had venom or not, it was better he get launched through the air. Besides, he did know a rather handy spell. If memory served, Crimson was the one that showed him it. Eventually, the chimera he was standing on bucked him high into the air, and sent him hurtling towards a very solid looking wall. However, Azure knew enough about gravity from freegallopping to realize if he turned himself into a pencil, he would be pulled down faster. Well, technically that was Crimson's stunt, but he didn't need this spell anymore to pull out of it. "Azure, what do you think you're doing?" Twilight asked. "Let them help you! You won't make it away from this!" Already the colt's horn was glowing again as he focused on another spell that he knew. Unlike with the warp spell, he knew he had a decent handle on this spell, considering he'd done it successfully quite a few times in the past whilst freegallopping alongside his cousins. Immediately, his descent began to slow. He was going to the ground at a high rate, but it wouldn't be enough to take him out. As soon as he got back on his feet, firmly, he stood straight up. "I don't want your help!" he finally said, loud enough for the others to hear. "This fight's a personal one for me, anyway. Stay back!" "'Personal'?" This was Twilight again. "You can't be serious! That thing can eat you alive!" When the chimera finally realized Azure was alright, it started charging. The time around Azure seemed to slow, and by sheer luck, he'd dodged to the left, just barely eluding the attack. The beast he was fighting halted, but it soon turned to him. Clearly, this chimera wasn't as dumb as a pony could assume it was. Again, the concerns of the others made themselves known, but all six mares were shouting over each other, doubting his sanity. You know, even though he might make a snide comment about how I'm suddenly a mare magnet, I could really use Virid's help right about now...but I've got to make a good split second decision about this... Azure thought, taking a deep breath. The chimera growled and charged again. Time seemed to slow around him. He could just hear the others telling him to move, but he saw his salvation behind him: an overhanging piece of ruin. Azure quickly ducked, and by some luck, the chimera was stupid enough to pass over him when he went prone. Rather than get back on his feet, the cyan colt quickly turned over on his back once again, pulling in his legs. The partial arch was rather thick. Perhaps this part of the castle once had a high-rising ceiling, but over the years, had deteriorated to this large open space with an overhanging wall. Whatever the case, Azure knew he only had one shot. He closed his eyes briefly in focus. A few moments later, he used yet another one of the spells he'd learned with his cousins. It was an offensive repulsion spell-essentially the opposite of a barrier. It was the same spell that his father had used on the chimera, now that he'd thought about it. The glow around his horn changed from the translucent glow that usually accompanied a spell use, and became opaque cyan, just before a bright magic blast shot up at the arch, and scored a hit. The arch cracked away and broke. The chimera halted its trajectory toward Azure, and looked up, seemingly stunned by the falling debris. "Hit the deck!" Azure heard Rainbow Dash yell out. A few moments later, the sound of pound after pound of rocks hitting the ground was heard, and so was a growl of defeat from the chimera. Dust was kicked up, and rubble rained down as the ruins were violated by the vibrations of the desecration. The shaking and the noise continued for at least ten whole seconds. The cyan colt wasn't immediately aware he was coughing up dust as he rolled back onto his stomach, and shakily rose to his feet. He saw the rubble he'd created, and looked around. The others were safe, especially the flight-oriented ones. The other, ground-bound mares began to rise to their feet, save for Twilight, who was still near the Elements, lying down. However, she did raise her head to acknowledge the fact the rockslide was over. "That..." she started, in apparent disbelief at what Azure had just done. "that was utterly reckless!!" Though she sounded angry, she didn't quite show it. None of her facial cues quite matched up with it. In fact, she looked like she was thinking about something else entirely, dazed from the thought. He wasn't quite sure what was going through her head, but he did know he was glad she was safe. The colt looked away, not quite sure where he was going with that either. He looked to the rubble again. "At least none of you were hurt..." Azure observed, more to himself than anything. Somepony gave a slow inhale, as though to ask what was going through his head when he did, but it turned into a sharp gasp. Azure's eyes shot open, and a few moments later, a torrent of purple mist shot forth from the rubble. "Watch out!" yelled Fluttershy, all meekness absent from her demeanor for that short moment. The mist went past Azure, though as it did, he could have sworn it was yelling at him. In that moment, he realized who it was going for. He whirled around on all fours, just in time to catch Twilight and the Elements being engulfed in the mist... Again?! How many times do I have to save you, Twilight? Azure thought. He closed his eyes in focus, as though trying to concentrate. This was something that his cousins had taught him to do; in the chaos of the chimera fight, he'd forgotten clean about it. If he truly wanted to retain a better level of magic control, he would have to clear his mind. The colt was hoping that it'd help him track down where Twilight had been abducted. The colt's horn began to glow. As the others turned to a not too far off sound, Azure realized where they had been taken... ---------- To say Twilight Sparkle's mind was in a whirl was an understatement. One moment, she's staring down an oddly-colored chimera, which in turn was staring at the Elements of Harmony. The next, Azure comes in and fights bravely against the beast - it was a wonder how he came out of it without getting hurt. Well, at least at the time. When she saw the purple mist rushing at her, she understood the chimera's purpose...and who the chimera really was. Pushing those thoughts aside for now, the purple mare struggled back onto her feet with a groan, just in time to see a familar face guarding the Elements. It was an angry-looking Nightmare Moon, preparing to charge with her head lowered. Twilight knew she couldn't do much in a direct confrontation. She had to blindside her, and try to get that spark working. Though, just before Nightmare had abducted her, she felt...strange, when the others came in to support her. However, she had soon banished it. She really couldn't have afforded distractions at that instant, nor could she afford them now. The two ponies charged each other. Externally, due to the size and species difference, it was a total mismatch. As stated before, the purple unicorn knew full well what she was up against from the word "go", and wasn't about to try and attack her back like Azure had done (technically twice, considering she had to have taken the form of the chimera). As soon as Twilight and Nightmare Moon were within inches of butting heads, Twilight called upon a teleportation spell, and warped herself to the Elements. She crouched down, trying desperately to do as she had tried to before all the interruptions: charge up the five known elements. Her plan was to supercharge the elements, and the resulting spark, in her mind, would have shown the sixth Element, whatever it was. Then those elements could have been used to defeat her. A magenta glow surrounded her horn and the Elements as she shut out all distractions. Twilight could feel the magic flowing from her into the Elements of Harmony that were on hand, but something was wrong. Her tactic wasn't working as planned. She tried to force more into her attempt. "Just one spark...come on..." The mare mumbled to herself. "Come on...!!" Her magic continued to flow, but abruptly, something shoved her back. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but given it wasn't burning, she'd guessed it was a telekinetic push, sort of like what had been used on Azure. Twilight bounced against the floor once before coming to a stop. She looked up, in time to see Nightmare Moon flinching at the sight of the still-glowing Elements. As encouraging as this sight was, it didn't last. The magic energy that Twilight had fed the Elements soon faded, and the Elements fell to the floor. "But, where's the sixth Element...?!" Twilight asked, a mixture of despair and defeat welling up inside her. Apparently, this was all it took for Nightmare Moon to see her attempt had failed, for she began laughing, just as she had right before knocking Azure to the side and the Royal Guards out. "You little foal!" she cried. "You're just as much a foal as that contemptuous upstart that tried attacking me! His heroics, and yours, were for naught!" With this, she brought her hooves crashing down onto the Elements, shattering them. "Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!" Then, the evil dictator carried on laughing. To say Twilight was in despair at this event was an understatement. That was their last hope that just got smashed into pieces. She did not just let down those other ponies; she'd just let down her teacher. It was almost too much to handle. The mare did not even remember being coated in a dark magical field of some sort, her loss of hope too crushing for her to realize she'd been captured. Her ear twitched abruptly, hearing an all too familiar voice, masculine in nature and sounding angry. "Hey, Nightmare!" Twilight's eyes snapped open. When did she start crying? It didn't matter. Her eyes were so wide that they had started to hurt. Right there, in front of Nightmare Moon, was Azure Courage, looking even angrier than he had against the chimera. Please...stop...Azure... she thought to herself. The Elements of Harmony have been shattered...it's over... Strangely, even as her mind admitted this, the very last part of her sentiment suddenly didn't sound right. Puzzle pieces were twitching in her mind, but it was a movement so faint that it might as well have not been there. "You again?" Nightmare Moon asked, ceasing her laughter at once. "Come on, now, don't you remember what happened at the town hall? I don't know why your bravery is so unshakeable...I looked into your mind, little foal; I had expected the chimera to freeze you a little longer!" Twilight's mind already began to go to work. Was that why Azure was so delayed? Because he was scared of the chimera? If he was, he honestly didn't show it... "Courage is a little more than being brave; you're about to find out what I mean!" To Twilight's half-surprise, the colt immediately charged the moon dictator upon saying these words. There's a difference between having courage and being brash, Azure! The cyan colt's effort was unsurprisingly in vain. The alicorn's horn sparked, a cobalt color. A moment later, Azure hit something along the lines of an invisible wall, and was sent flying away. He landed square on his side, and slid quite a few feet back. However, he rose back to his hooves, struggling just a little. "Why do you keep trying?" asked Nightmare Moon, sounding amused. "Because I know what happens if I chicken out and give up!" This was Azure, crouching down, and his horn once again taking on the bright glow it had taken right before he brought one of the walls down on the chimera. Several more blasts of magic went rushing at Nightmare Moon. "Do you intend to stop me all on your own?" The evil alicorn still sounded incredibly amused by his efforts, her horn once more glowing. "Please. You can't even hope to touch me the way you are." All of Azure's laser shots were reflected by a shield that had appeared around her the instant it appeared his attack would make contact. Some of the shots reflected into the walls, blowing them out, while the others actually went back to the charging colt, who had to make the best dodges of his life since he continued advancing. However, one clipped him on the side. He slowed down, grimacing in pain and slowing a little as he staggered on the afflicted limbs. The fur on his side was singed severely, and from the way he winced, Twilight assumed he'd also gotten burned by the passing blast. "You aren't even worthy to clean the dirt from my helm much less lay a single hoof on me!" A storm started above, just as it had back at the town hall, and in a short moment, Azure was nearly struck by one bolt of white lightning. "Maybe you should bow before me!" Another bolt, another shaky dodge from Azure, who just barely avoided being struck down. "I might be willing to forgive you!" A third bolt cracked down right in front of the cyan colt, who halted his advance immediately. He was soon wreathed in a cobalt glow, and lifted into the air. Nightmare Moon approached him. "Being a knight in shining armor is so overrated." Had Twilight been paying less attention, she'd have thought the night princess was insulting her older brother, but that was beside the point. Azure dangled helplessly, though Twilight couldn't see his facial expression again. "Especially when there's no light in the sky except for my own!" "That won't be forever," Azure said. "Sooner or later, you will meet your better." "You don't appear to know the meaning of futility, do you?" Nightmare Moon responded. "I've destroyed the Elements of Harmony! If you didn't already hear, that means this resistance you're putting up is even more futile than it was already!" With that, she chucked the cyan colt a long way. Twilight felt herself choke as the despair came rushing back to her. Not only was she trapped in the magical barrier, but once again she was reminded of her failure. Azure took his sweet time rising to his feet, even as Nightmare Moon slowly began trotting toward him. His horn was alight once again, a cyan hue coating it. It glowed vividly as he continued his quiet focus. "Even if you have destroyed the one thing that could supposedly defeat you, is there really any way that I can give up?" Azure asked, his horn still glowing, a look of complete inner focus on his features. Twilight could say one thing: she'd never expected such a look from him. "I will see this through to the end!" "How noble..." responded the alicorn. "Making a last stand, hm? You must really enjoy exercising futility. Take your best shot, if you can." Azure's face betrayed only the start of a smirk. "With gusto." An impossibly large laser rushed forth from Azure's horn, and suddenly, Twilight realized that the colt's laser wasn't even aimed at Nightmare Moon. It was heading right for her. "What are y--" She started, unable to even finish, catapulted out of her despair for a brief instant by the sudden change. The laser made contact with the shield and vanished soon afterward, and only after a few seconds did she realize what Azure intended to do. While the initial impact did not appear to do anything, a crack appeared on the impact zone just a little while later. He-he disrupted it...!? Twilight didn't know whether to be angry or thankful for this save he'd performed, since his attack could have just as easily hit her hard. Yet, he'd saved her, and that was all that really mattered. Until she'd remembered what Nightmare Moon just said. Oh right, it doesn't matter what we do... The shield began to crack and break away. As soon as Twilight was free from the barrier, she began to fall. Calling upon her vast knowledge of spells, she too began doing the teleport spell. Most of the time, she'd been able to cast it without a hitch, and after a quick inhale, she cast it. The purple mare found herself at the side of a collapsed Azure. He was breathing heavily, sweating from the exertion. She looked up to the angry-looking Nightmare Moon, who took a few steps back. The look of anger, however, was once again replaced with a look of malicious amusement. "So you managed to save her, did you?" Nightmare Moon asked. "You foolish upstart, don't go thinking that things will suddenly turn in your favor now that you've freed her! I've already smashed the Elements!" The dark alicorn paused, turning her back to them for a moment. "Azure, are you alright?" Twilight asked. "Fine..." he responded, trying to get back onto his feet. All he managed to do, however, was collapse again. "...Killer migraine..." The purple mare had a sneaking suspiscion he was masking his physical pain, but he had just supercharged that spell just to free her. It was no surprise that he'd be out of breath from something like that after all that he'd suffered through. Nightmare Moon suddenly whirled around to face them, her eyes alight with more malice than before, if that was even possible. "I've rendered my judgment! You two little foals can join your princess!" Her horn began to glow. Twilight braced herself, completely ready for what was to come. "Stop it right there, Black Snooty!" The purple mare turned, caught completely off-guard. Right there, in the doorway behind them, were the other five mares. It was obviously Pinkie that did the speaking, judging from the voice. ..These five ponies...they've...come...Certainly they must have heard, and if so, doesn't that mean... "We're not going to let you hurt our friends!" This was Rainbow Dash, looking as ready to fight as she had back at the Town Hall. This time, however, all five were just waiting to charge. "And I'm not going down without a fight." Twilight Sparkle found herself surveying the five mares that had entered. Nightmare Moon had stopped her attack. "Do you honestly believe you five will make a difference?" Fluttershy's unusually fierce look diminished only a bit, but she did not appear to be backing down significantly. Seeing those five mares there gave Twilight new hope. Knowing these six ponies would be there for her in her time of need, even after how she'd treated most of them-- Something suddenly rushed through her, a warmth so indescribably blissful that it outdid even the greatest book she'd read up until that point in her life. With this warmth came a sudden awakening. The puzzle pieces clicked completely into place. Everything suddenly became clear to her. "Nightmare Moon! Did you really think that you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight asked, coming back to her senses, her will to continue fully restored. She was just about as enlightened as she needed to be. "Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here." "What?" Nightmare Moon asked, completely caught-off guard, taking a few more steps back. The fragments of the shattered Elements began to glow and fly about the room, towards the mares. Twilight hadn't even considered the possibility until she was sitting down with the Elements, right after Azure went just outside the room. But it wasn't until she'd felt that surge she'd had not too long ago that she knew that possibility was the truth. "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the Element of Honesty!" The fragments of the element rearranged themselves, forming a necklace around the earth pony's neck. She continued to go down the list, in order of their occurence. Fluttershy's calming of the manticore allowed Twilight to see she was the spirit of Kindness. Pinkie's laughing...well, that lent itself to the Element of Laughter. Rarity's generosity, stunning as it was, outed her as the spirit of Generosity. Lastly, there was Rainbow Dash, "who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire", represented the Element of Loyalty. Those were the five known elements represented. "The spirits of these ponies got us through everything you threw at us." Twilight finished. "But, you don't have the sixth element!" Nightmare Moon shot back. "Unless..." Her gaze focused on Azure, who was struggling to his feet, looking to the others with an expression of wonder almost alien to him. "Though he certainly has the spirit to get us through this, and without his help we couldn't have gotten this far," Twilight began. "Azure Courage is not a spirit of the Elements of Harmony." "Then the spark didn't work! Why are you so happy?!" "It was a different kind of spark that went off in my heart..." The purple mare said, turning to the other ponies, keeping an eye on the still-exhausted Azure, who was stumbling a little as he moved slightly away from the others. "I felt it the very moment I realized exactly how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you." It was something she'd never thought she'd say. And, in that moment of clarity, Twilight knew one other thing. She was wrong to say the fate of Equestria didn't rest on her making friends. "The spark ignited inside me when I realized you all are my friends! You see, Nightmare Moon," The purple eyes of the mare trailed up to the ceiling as she turned back to the alicorn, where something else was beginning to form: a tiara. "when those Elements are ignited by the spark that resides in the heart of us all," She wasn't immediately sure if that statement completely applied, considering the truth about Azure. "It creates the sixth Element, the Element of Magic!" The sixth Element was her own element; she represented it. She floated close to the other mares she'd befriended that night, and all of them were surrounded by a uniform, white glow. Twilight knew the six other ponies she'd seen that day were going to be her best friends forever. Yet, even as the power of the Elements raged around her, and Nightmare Moon gave shrieks of defeat, the purple mare knew that the puzzle was not quite complete yet. Azure's piece wasn't yet slid into place. If he wasn't a spirit of an Element of Harmony, then what could his role have been among the Elements...? The power surged through Twilight's body. Her eyes shot open, revealing white pools of glowing light. Then, the mare's consciousness completely left her. ---------- Azure stirred back to consciousness. His head pounded like he'd just done his Twilight-saving stunts a million times in a row uninterrupted and then lifted an entire castle for a full minute with his magic on top of that. His vision eventually corrected itself. Though he was grateful to see the fact nopony aside from Nightmare Moon was harmed by the output of such massive magical energy, the way in which she was quite surprising. Yet, it made total sense at the same time. The six of them all represented the Elements of Harmony. The fact that a pony could double as a spirit went right over Azure's head at the time, but somehow, it made sense, given what'd he'd witnessed from the mares during the escapade, at least, the five he'd known before this. Twilight being the spirit of the hidden Element, Magic, really surprised him. At least, until, now that he thought about who she was-the sun princess's personal student...it did make sense on that front too. Even with the fact Nightmare Moon had been defeated; judging from the way she screamed as the double rainbow cannon was engulfing her, Azure couldn't help but feel just a little gypped. He'd spent three years braving jeers from his family members and preparing himself physically and magically, and yet the best he did was earn his name. These six, five of which hadn't even known that the Mare in the Moon was soon to return, had only just gotten into the myth and blasted her away. However, he wasn't quite right to feel that way. So what am I then? Azure thought, looking over to the still-unconscious mares. Simply by becoming friends, they tapped into the powers of the old relics and defeated Nightmare Moon. It would explain why I felt pulled to them, at any rate. Still, though...makes me wonder what I am in relation to them, if anything? If I'm not an Element, then what am I? The six mares began to move about, and only here, the cyan colt realized something: Rarity's tail had somehow been restored. "Ugh, my head..." Rainbow Dash was the first to rise to her hooves, groaning. "Everypony okay?" Applejack asked, the others finally getting to their own feet. "Oh, thank goodness!" This was the white unicorn realizing that her tail was back at its full length, curled just as it had been when she'd passed it off to the serpent. She apparently started to hug her tail. "Why, Rarity, it's so lovely..." Fluttershy said, her meekness all but gone at this point, though Azure had a suspicsion that she was more used to her than she was to him. Even after a week he'd struggled to get a response. He had a funny feeling it had to do with his gend-- "I know!" Rarity said, obviously still elated that her tail was restored. "I'll never part with it again!" "No, your necklace..." the meek yellow pegasus said, pointing to it. "It looks just like your cutie mark." It was only now that Azure could fully understand what the Elements of Harmony had reconstructed themselves into during Twilight's explanation. He'd paid almost full attention to the actual defeat and hadn't really noticed the details under after the effect. Sure enough, all five necklaces did bear the symbols in question. The tiara did too. The mares in the room took turns complimenting each other's physical element or gloating over their own, whichever fit their character more. Abruptly, all of them stopped conversing among each other, and all turned to the elementless colt, who flinched from the twelve eyes now focused on him. All six were, surprisingly, at a loss for words at the moment. Certainly, it probably should have been awkward, considering he too did his part, but wasn't himself an Element. "That just leaves...you..." Twilight said at last. "I...I don't know where you fit in here, but...you've got to fit in somewhere..." After some quiet consideration on the part of the mares, it was Rainbow Dash who said something surprising. "'Fit in', nothin'! Those moves he did on the chimera were awesome!" Surprisingly, the pegasus in question wasn't exalting herself directly. There was a collective murmur of agreement, somewhere during which Azure believed that he'd simultaneously wooed six females during his show of heroics. However, it was a belief that passed away soon enough. Good timing, since Twilight spoke up afterward. "Of course, we couldn't have done it with you, Azure..." Abruptly, her expression changed, almost like she'd realized something. It was sort of like the look she sported right before Nightmare Moon had abducted her, but the look faded soon afterward, and she did not elaborate further. It was here, the cyan colt noticed something. With Nightmare Moon defeated, the ruins they were in; the hallway, seemed a lot lighter than it did before. Probably because the night dictator was defeated, meaning the sun could rise as it was supposed to...however long ago it was. The unicorn knew he'd lost track of time somewhere between the cliff and the manticore. No, before that. "Reckon what ya said is true, Twilight," said Applejack, circulating back to the known factors in Nightmare Moon's defeat. "We really do represent the elements of friendship." The purple mare addressed inhaled, as though to correct her new friend, but a new voice, one that Azure knew he should remember, but couldn't remember who it was, echoed throughout the scene. "Indeed you do..." At first, the group looked about confused, as though trying to determine where the voice was coming from. All of them chanced to look out the window at roughly the same time, and saw a faint white light heading right for them. Twilight seemed to know what was going on, as she had before. Not that Azure could see from his angle... Of course, even if he wanted to ask what was happening, he didn't need to. Within moments, the approaching light morphed into a figure that, now that the colt thought clearly, he really should have seen coming, what with Twilight being her student and Nightmare Moon being her worst enemy and all that. The figure in question was a white-furred alicorn, a stark contrast in itself to the dark blue that the evil one had sported. Also, her mane, like Nightmare Moon's, flowed, but in a more elegant movement rather than a wild storm. It was a mixture of colors, purple, green, blue...Magenta eyes scanned the scene. Her aura was all benevolence...for somepony that had probably been sealed up somewhere while Nightmare Moon was out doing evil. "Of course, I have to admit, I didn't quite expect you..." It was not hard at all for Azure to guess who she was referring to. Of course, all the ponies immediately bowed to the reappearance of the sun princess, Azure included. Just from the corner of his eye, he could see Dash in one of her rare instances of being grounded as she too bowed down. She emitted such a presence that even Virid was compelled to bow, and he was one of the most disrespectful unicorns that Azure knew. This alicorn was Princess Celestia, the exalted ruler of Equestria, raiser of the sun, and as Azure understood, Twilight's mentor. Azure's gaze was focused on the floor. If the princess didn't know why he was here, then all this really was one big happy accident on his part. All Twilight could do right before the bow was gasp her mentor's name. It seemed like forever since the cyan colt had started bowing, but eventually the tension in the room relaxed, specifically when the solar monarch spoke again. Given that he could see the others had stopped bowing, he'd figured it was time to relax. "Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student," Princess Celestia opened with, leaning over the addressed pony with a motherly affection that Azure found somewhat surprising. Briefly, he'd wondered precisely how long she'd been under her wing; and just as he'd considered that, he also came to the conclusion he'd known Pinkie Pie a little too long already since his mind's voice was chuckling to itself at the pun. "I knew you could do it." Well, at least one of us wasn't being ridiculed privately... thought Azure as he recalled Twilight's first real conversation with him. They were both the only ones, to their knowledge, that had been worried about the upcoming incident, yet everypony else dismissed their concerns. The colt wanted to put a question to the whole situation, but he knew it wasn't his position to say anything; the princess seeming pleasantly surprised at his inclusion was enough for him. "But..." The purple mare was at an utter loss for words at this, "You said it was all just an old ponytale..." The way she said it indicated that she had absolutely no idea what the sun princess was getting at. "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." The sun princess said. Azure bit back an amused snort as he recalled precisely how cold Twilight was to the others at the party, and how she disregarded everypony but him later on--a fact which quickly bit the colt in the brain as he recalled what Rarity and Rainbow had thought about the two of them. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not do it until you let true friendship into your heart." Azure Courage resisted the urge to breathe out, especially since he noticed now the monarch had shifted her attention to him. That benevolent demeanor did not diminish, but for a few moments, she said absolutely nothing. The cyan colt hesitantly bit his tongue. "As I said before, I did not quite expect your inclusion, but given what happened, it is fortunate you accompanied them all the same." There was something in her tone that suggested there was more to this than she was letting on, but nopony really caught it, so Azure wasn't about to bring it up. He breathed a somewhat relieved sigh, though internally, he was still confused about his role in this, if anything. "I was happy to help in any way I could," At this precise instant, the cyan colt was once again reminded that pretty much all of his helpful moments came when Twilight was in peril, but willed himself to remain stone-faced. "You did much more than just help, Azure," said Celestia. Now this was different. She had just said she didn't expect him, so... "What do you mean, exactly?" Wasn't that all he'd done since the eternal night thing began? Other than the chimera, and the move he did to set in motion Nightmare Moon's defeat, both of which being key contributions aside from making sure Twilight reached the ruins safely, he really felt like he didn't do a whole lot. "Twilight already knows..." Now Azure took a few moments to look at Twilight, who adopted a sheepish, yet bewildered demeanor. "It was only a theory." "It is true, you are not a Harmony Element, but there is a vital role you play despite that. You can not have harmony without courage." Again, her explanation almost felt vague, but it certainly fit. The others had their necklaces (Twilight having a tiara), and while his own little trinket didn't have any magical qualities that he was aware of, he was glad to have i-- A quick gaze at his left foreleg, where he'd tied his band, revealed something disheartening. His ears wilted considerably as he realized his parting gift was missing! "M-my band!" This was Azure sounding as though the wind was knocked out of him. "I know I had it at the town hall!" How could he have missed not having it this long? "Um..." The sheepish-sounding voice wasn't Fluttershy. Right in front of his face, floating in front of him, was the dark blue strap of cloth. It was wreathed in a magenta glow, so it was obviously Twilight floating it. A few yards in front of him, Twilight looked almost awkward handing it off. "Is this what you're looking for..." The mare seemed distracted with something on the back. "'Courage'...You mentioned this was your family's parting gift to you earlier, didn't you? You kinda lost it after you tried attacking Nightmare Moon at the town hall." "Where'd you--?' "I found it right before comin' up to the library," This was Applejack. "Been keepin' it in my hat this whole time. I can understand havin' somethin' like that close to your heart." There was the vaguest motion to her hat, and Azure found himself understanding, very briefly, what she was getting at. "I see," Azure responded, relieved that his band had been found. "Twilight, if I can just--" "Around your leg probably won't do...there's too much material here. It already flew off once while you were being reckless." The mare said, lowering the strap to Azure's eye level. Azure was just about to say something else when he felt the material slide under his mane, a bend in the fabric compensating for his horn. There was a knot tightly wound at the back of his head. Before he realized it, Twilight was done wrapping the band around his head. "I think this suits the band's purpose a little better." Azure Courage suddenly found himself hoping that Rainbow Dash didn't see the fact he and Twilight both had headwear now suspiscious. Granted, hers was a magical object, his wasn't, but both did hold relevance to their place in harmony. Thankfully, that didn't come. What did come was statements of approval from the six mares. It was more or less along the same lines; they were all his friends now, and he could consider them his. Twilight made a comment about how his band--no, bandanna, fit, even though it wasn't magical, as he already knew, given his role among the mares. Eventually, though, the sun princess cleared her throat. "There is one last thing that remains undone..." she observed. "There is one other that needs to let true friendship into her heart..." She turned toward the direction where Nightmare Moon had been hit, and only now did Azure notice something, as did the others. The armor that the evil alicorn in question had been wearing was now shattered, scattered around a new, yet strikingly familar alicorn. Well, except for the part where she was now the size of the majority in the room. Her fur was a light shade of blue, her mane very light blue. While the moon cutie mark was still present, and also seemed to be accompanied by the night sky now that her fur had lightened in color, this pony was somehow far different than the one she obviously had been for the better part of the night. How long had she been laying there? Azure didn't know how he could have missed her for this long, and a quick check on the others revealed that yes, they too had somehow not noticed. "Princess Luna!" The much, much smaller alicorn jumped with a timid, almost afraid-sounding gasp. Azure could perfectly read what was going on in those blue eyes: she was afraid the sun princess was going to banish her to the moon again; given what Celestia had just got done saying, however, that did not seem likely. "It has been a thousand years since I've seen you like this. Time to put our differences aside." The cyan colt momentarily found himself amazed at how outrageously blunt (for a princess) the ruler was about the whole situation. However, what she said next made that make sense. "We were meant to rule together, little sister." "Sister?" This was everypony else, though both of the royal sisters ignored this. Twilight quickly did a double take on what just happened, and rammed her face into her hoof, as though she'd completely forgotten something. She said something very quietly to herself, Azure only barely able to pick up the "book" thing. As soon as he heard the word, though, immediately the colt realized he'd forgotten that fact as well. The tale did sort of say that the two princesses were sisters... "Will you accept my friendship?" This was the white alicorn. Tension suddenly entered the room. It was true that Luna was no longer under the evil helm, but this probably didn't mean that she'd forgiven the past given what Azure remembered from the fable. After all, it was the resentment of the lack of nightlife in Equestria that gave birth to Nightmare Moon in the first place. Everypony that wasn't a princess found themselves leaning forward. In so doing, Pinkie leaned over too far, and her forehooves slipped, leading her chin to slam into the ground with a small squeak from the party pony. Eventually, the tension in the room broke. The apparently purified Princess Luna completely broke down into tears. As the sisters had a rather tearful hug, the others in the room were treated to what kind of voice the re-instated Princess of the Night used. "I'm so sorry! I've missed you so much, big sister!" The others collectively winced. Hadn't the princess ever used her inside voice in her life? The sun princess, despite being point-blank relative to the borderline screaming voice her little sister just used, did not even flinch. However, the scene was still touching, and it was still enough for something heartwarming. A rather loud sob was heard on top of this, muting out whatever Princess Celestia responded with; it sounded vaguely like she was telling her to lower her voice just a little, though. Azure turned his head to the left, seeing Pinkie Pie imitating a garden sprinkler and crying an impossible amount of tear-water from her yes. That pretty much summed up how touching the scene was, but just as quickly as she'd started, the waterworks ceased, and immediately the earth pony went back to being her happy self. "Hey, you know what this calls for?" she asked as soon as she'd snapped back to her normal self. "I have an inkling..." Azure mumbled. Nopony responded vocally, but everypony who heard him and knew Pinkie Pie personally giggled lightly. The rose-colored pony took in a deep breath. "A party!" ---------- The victory celebration was relatively uneventful, Azure realized as he sat alone in his house that night. Well, there was a couple of things that came from this. One, Princess Luna was back to the side of harmony and would raise the moon again as soon as she'd recovered. Two, Twilight Sparkle was not returning to Canterlot as she'd initially hoped; seeing that her student now understood how cool friends could really be, Princess Celestia quickly allowed her student to remain in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. Had Azure not been involved in it, he might have scoffed a little at the notion of studying friendship. But seeing as how he paid witness to the whole thing, perhaps there was other aspects of interpersonal relationships that caused great magical power to be released. Not that it really mattered to him. As long as he continued combining his magic with the martial arts he'd learned, he'd be ready to help the six mares as he had before. If he ever needed to again. With Nightmare Moon now purified back into the lunar princess, what was a pony that had prepared for that catastrophe left to do except go back to a normal lifestyle? "Guess I should at least tell my family the news, if they didn't already gather..." Azure pulled aside a quill, an ink bottle, and a blank piece of parchment. "So they know the score, and all..." "To my family: I'm sure you're wondering why the night lasted as long as it did...Uh, yeah, guess who was right this year? If you don't know, Virid, I might have to hurt you next time I see you. As it turned out, Nightmare Moon came back! I can't take the credit for doing it all on my own. Those five mares, plus one more that just moved in yesterday were the ones that landed the last hit. I helped. So anyway, you know, I really hope you guys apologize for the stuff you'd given me now. I may have been wrong three years in a row, but fourth time was the charm!" "Gloating, are we?" Azure leapt a solid six inches out of the chair at his desk, sprawling at his side. He looked, and saw the same princess he'd seen earlier that same day after Nightmare Moon had been defeated. White fur, flowing mane despite the total lack of wind in the room, magenta eyes...which, strangely, appeared to be more amused than anything else. "P-Princess...?" His voice came out at a higher pitch than he intended. Shaking off his rather uncolt-like outburst, he continued. "Uh...if I may ask, how long were you behind me?" "Just long enough to hear you'd been following Mare in the Moon for four years..." She didn't sound angry about that fact, not that Azure could tell anyway. "I am sure you had your reasons for it, though..." The cyan colt was not at all sure what the sun princess was doing here in his home, and remained silent while he tried to process things as he rose to his feet. However, his processes weren't entirely working at full capacity considering he wasn't expecting it at all, so he waited for her to say what she wanted to say. "There is more to what my student said earlier," said Celestia, answering the colt's unspoken question. "You see, it is true that harmony can not be attained without courage, but there's just a bit more to it than that. During my time inside the sun while Nightmare Moon was freed--" Azure inhaled, ready to ask how, when he remembered it did make sense in its own way, "I had been watching your progress, and I must say, I certainly did not expect this to come out." "You didn't mention it earlier..." Azure thought aloud. "Why?" "Azure Courage," Princess Celestia began. "while you may not be an Element Bearer, you are, however, a Protector of the Bearers." The unicorn felt his heart skip a few beats. Granted, he'd spent most of the night protecting one of the so-called 'Element Bearers'--a certain bookworm came to mind, but...all six of them? "That is, if you want to," she continued. "I'd noticed something during your part in the skirmish..." Azure bit back the urge to grit his teeth. If you indicate I have a crush on Twilight, I'm going to pass out. "You had a certain ability to fight with your magic and your body, certainly a quality of any knight. And your role, 'courage', feeds into that role better than anypony. Had you not acted in defense of Twilight, the others would not have been able to defeat Nightmare Moon." The solar princess explained. The cyan colt exhaled a small sigh of relief. "Okay, I'll do it," Azure said. "Even if you hadn't come out with the 'Protector' thing, I knew I'd wanted to keep helping. It may sound a bit weird for me to say it, but they're all my friends, and, as my father taught me long ago, courage is being able to overcome one's fears for the sake of others." "Glad to hear it," said the princess. "I must take my leave now, but I must implore you to keep your role a secret. If I know my faithful student, she's bound to take it the wrong way, to say nothing of what the other Bearers would think." "Wait a moment, before you go, Princess, I have a question...about Princess Luna." Azure said. It had been nagging at him ever since he'd seen her. She was a dwarf alongside her sister! "She isn't quite used to the times," said the solar princess. "Oh no, I meant...why did she...come out of Nightmare Moon's armor so...small?" "Well, she is my little sister..." She seemed to giggle at this little pun she made, and Azure instinctively snorted a little and bit back the urge to shake his head. "Truthfully though, she isn't back to how she was before she became Nightmare Moon. I'm sure Twilight could have told you the very same thing, though..." Her horn became coated in an amber glow. "And please remember, keep your role a secret..." she repeated, teleporting off, probably back to Canterlot. Azure stood there, blinking, taking in precisely what he'd agreed to. To protect the Bearers, who happen to be my friends...well, why not? I'd have fought all those trees if Pinkie hadn't cut in with her laughing in the face of danger, after all. And as for the secret thing, well, I am not going to tell anypony anyway. Virid'd joke about it 'til we're old stallions at the end of our lifespans. "Guess I'd better finish my letter..." Azure said, though underneath the calm, collected exterior, his sparkling brown eyes betrayed his excitement. It wasn't quite the life of adventure he'd expected, but hey, he'd been wrong before. "A Protector of the Bearers...I'm sure they can handle themselves, but there might be some enemies that they won't be able to handle on their own. That's probably why..." Realizing he was thinking aloud again and not wanting to risk Pinkie teleporting herself into his home unannounced, the cyan colt turned his full attention back on finishing up his letter. "Seriously, apologize, Virid. Those Paranoia jokes were uncalled for. As for the rest of you, I guess we can put it behind us, right? Still Living in Ponyville, Azure Courage" "Alright, I'll get this sent in the morning." The pony said to himself. "And I need to learn to stop thinking aloud when I'm alone. Guess I'll clear my mind, then go to bed..." And with that, Azure Courage did just as he said he was going to do. He found himself struggling to go to sleep given the sudden excitement he'd went through. For some reason, all he could think about was the task he was assigned, and what had happened against Nightmare Moon. If he was to protect the others from things like that, then that was what he'd do. That sort of thing was in his name, after all. ------------ For the record, no, Azure is not going to ever be a seventh Element. Technically, by virtue of what he is to the others, he IS, but on a literal level, he's not going to suddenly become a living magical nexus like the Mane 6. Even though episode re-enactments will be in this, this adaptation of canon will contain things that will make Azure's "skill" useful. Otherwise, it wouldn't be until Discord where Azure would be seen fighting seriously, and we all know how that would turn out. If anyone says I'd make Azure win that fight, clearly you didn't read the last two chapters. So after Nightmare Moon's defeat, you have Azure's role here, and the premise for this fic. I promise I'll get back on CC, but I'm still wondering exactly how well this stacks up. Leaving a downvote is alright, just tell me why you feel that way. Same for upvotes too. I want feedback.