Applejack and the others raced into the throne room as quickly as their hooves could carry them. There, they beheld the sight of a battered and beaten Twilight Sparkle lying across from the evil mare of darkness Nightmare Moon.
“Twilight!” they cried out in unison before galloping to her side.
“My word!” Rarity said first. “Are you alright, dear?”
The Keyblade-wielding (well, former Keyblade-wielding) unicorn picked herself up to address the others. “I’m fine. Nothing I’m not used to,” she told them.
“But your Keyblade!” Pinkie Pie yelped, referring to the partial key at Twilight’s hooves. “It’s half-there and half-…not there!”
Twilight levitated the broken weapon up to her muzzle. She almost felt like crying again. She’d had her Keyblade for so long, she almost couldn’t imagine being without it. It had become a part of her. And now that part of her was torn away from her. She felt…incomplete.
Fluttershy gasped as she looked toward Nightmare Moon and the shards of rock under her. “And are those the…Elements of Harmony?!”
The alicorn gave a smug smirk. “Hmph. They were the Elements, yes,” she said, stomping on one of the thicker shards and grinding it into dust. “Now nothing more than crushed granite.”
Twilight hung her head in guilt. “Girls, I… I’m…”
“Not another word, sugarcube,” Applejack butted in. “Ya did yer best. We couldn’t have asked any more o’ ya than that.”
“Besides!” Rainbow Dash hovered restlessly, pounding her forehooves together. “Who needs the Elements anyway? Now I can clobber the moon hag with my bare hooves!”
This time, Nightmare Moon failed to suppress her laughter. But it came out more like the light giggle of a pony who just heard a good joke than the malevolent cackle of a villain. “Will you little ponies never cease to amuse? Has living under Celestia’s sun baked your minuscule brains like hard-boiled eggs?”
“Throw all the insults ya like, missy!” said Applejack as she stepped forward. “It ain’t gonna make a lick o’ difference! We’re still sendin’ yer hide straight back t’ where it came from!”
“Yeah! What she said!” Pinkie Pie added.
Twilight watched the others form a line in front of her, as though they were protecting her. Truly, the mulberry pony couldn’t find rationality in such actions. “Girls, what are you doing?” she asked them. “You don’t really expect to win, do you?”
“Not really,” Applejack admitted. “But it’s like Ah said before: we owe it t’ ourselves and Equestria t’ try.”
“But why?!” Twilight was sincerely at a loss. “You don’t have Keyblades! T-There’s no way your magic’s strong enough by itself! Why would you stick by me for such a lost cause?!”
“No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it!” proclaimed Pinkie in an affected voice.
Rarity looked over at the pink pony puzzled. “‘Fool’?”
“Hee-hee! I’ve always wanted to say that! I heard it in a movie once!”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Sheesh, Twilight! I thought you were supposed to be smart! Isn’t it obvious by now?”
“Huh…? Isn’t what obvious?”
“The reason we stick by you,” Fluttershy started with an affectionate smile, “is because…”
“…” Twilight hung on the cream-colored Pegasus’ every word, eager for the answer.
“…we’re friends.”
My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship
~ Chapter 11: Friends in My Heart ~
Twilight froze. There it was again. The spark. And that word. ‘Friends’. She’d heard it get thrown around all day today, but only in this instance did it truly strike a chord.
…Friends… My friends…
Across from the six, Nightmare Moon held up a hoof. In it appeared a small purple flame. “I’ve run out of patience for this foalishness. Those who know nothing can understand nothing. And you lot have so very much to learn.” Her turquoise eyes suddenly went wide. “Allow me to teach you!!!” She slammed the dark flame into the ground, calling forth a column of fiery darkness to rip across the floor in the six’s direction.
The five ponies before Twilight gasped…
There was a twinkle of magenta light…
…And the flames slammed against a magical barrier. Now Twilight stood at the party’s forefront, her horn radiating with power.
“Twilight!”
Nightmare Moon’s dark fire receded, and she watched the barrier’s magic disperse. “…?”
“…Thank you, everypony,” Twilight said to the five ponies behind her. “I never would’ve made it this far without you.”
“Defiant to the bitter end,” the alicorn sneered. “What do you hope to accomplish without your weapon?”
“I…don’t need the Keyblade. I have a better weapon now.”
“Oh? What weapon is that?”
Twilight pressed a hoof to her chest. “…My heart.”
“Your heart?! HA! You’re kidding, right? That feeble little thing a weapon?”
“It’s true. My heart is feeble. It’s the most fragile part of me. But…” The little pony glanced back to the other five. “…it can also be the most powerful. Because it’s not alone. Not anymore. It’s found other hearts to share all of itself with: its joys… its sorrows… its laughs… its pains… and its warmth. The same warmth I feel…when I’m with my brother or Princess Celestia. It gives me the strength to persevere.” Twilight took up her broken Keyblade again. “I don’t need a weapon…! My friends are my power!”
A bright glow of fuchsia suddenly enveloped the halved blade in Twilight’s magic grip, and it condensed, rippling from the keychain up. A new shaft and teeth took shape, and the Academia was reformed and repaired to pristine condition before Twilight’s eyes! Even the colors in Twilight’s cutie mark seemed more vivid.
“I-Impossible!” cried Nightmare Moon at this sight. “You’ve reopened your door?!”
Twilight’s eyes widened a little, and she started to laugh. “I get it… I understand now!”
“Excuse me?!”
“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that, Nightmare Moon? Well, you’re wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony…” Twilight gestured to her friends. “…are right here!!”
Nightmare Moon snorted derisively. “‘Spirits’?! Really now, Twilight Sparkle, what on Earth are you--?! …Hmm?” Her gaze shifted downward when she felt a faint tremble at her hooves. Beneath her, the fragments of the Elements of Harmony began to move, slowly lifting themselves off the ground. “W-What?!?”
Across the throne room the stone Elements glided, the shards of each finding a place for itself in the orbit of one of Twilight’s friends. Fluttershy flinched at this extraordinary phenomenon. “T-Twilight? What’s going on? Are you doing this?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, Fluttershy. This is all you. And it’s okay, don’t be scared. …Though I guess it’s hard for somepony as sweet and kind as you are to not be.”
“You think I’m…kind…?”
“Of course! All the little animal friends you have, the way you helped that Timberwolf when none of us lifted a hoof to – why else would the Element of Kindness have picked you?”
“Makes sense t’ me!” Applejack said…
…prompting Twilight to face her. “Applejack…who values being true to both herself and everyone else… It was only because of your sincere-to-a-fault heart that I was able to see through Nightmare Moon’s ruse. I can’t think of anypony more worthy of the Element of Honesty.”
“Aw, shucks…”
The purple unicorn faced Rarity then. “Rarity, what you did back there at the ravine, giving up your key to fame and fortune to those baby dragons… I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a selfless act of generosity. You and your Element are a perfect match.”
Rarity looked away, her cheeks reddening. “Oh, Twilight, stop! You’re making me blush!”
Pinkie Pie bounced lightly on her hooves. “Ooh! Ooh! Me next, Twilight, do me next!”
Twilight could only giggle at the pink pony’s exuberance. “How could I forget you, Pinkie Pie? It’s mostly thanks to you that I’m here in the first place. I’d have called it quits back in Ponyville if you weren’t there to cheer me up. What other Element could there be for somepony like you?”
“Um…parties?”
The unicorn chuckled again before correcting her. “Laughter.”
“Oh, right! Heh! Duh!”
“Tch!” Nightmare Moon sneered, lifting her hoof up again. “I’ve had just about enough of this folly! Begone, you insignificant pests!” Throwing her hoof out in front of her, Nightmare Moon fired upon Twilight and company with a dense, black orb of pulsing darkness.
“!!!”
“Look out!” Rainbow Dash jumped in front of Twilight to shield her from the hit, throwing her forelegs out in front of her to defend herself. As the projectile sped within range, it impacted the glowing Element shards orbiting Rainbow’s body, fizzling out and diffusing into the open air.
“Rainbow Dash…!”
The hovering Pegasus grinned. “Heh. Lemme guess. Loyalty?”
Twilight smiled back and nodded. “You never leave your friends hanging, remember? Even after I gave you my Keyblade and entrusted Nightmare Moon’s defeat to you, you still didn’t leave us behind. Sounds like textbook Loyalty to me.”
The black alicorn stomped a hoof and snarled. “A meaningless effort, foal! The sixth Element of Harmony still eludes you! The spark didn’t work!”
“But it did,” Twilight retorted. “A different kind of spark. ‘A spark between the other five ignites the magic within.’ Not within the Elements…but within me.” She turned around to face the others, eyes welling with emotion. “When I heard you just now, calling my name… When I realized just how much you all meant to me… That’s when I felt it, when I understood, when I knew, that you’re all…my friends!”
There was a brilliant flash of white light over Twilight’s head then. To Twilight and her friends, the light was gentle and uplifting. To Nightmare Moon, it was hot, angry, and hostile. Within the awesome light appeared another stone sphere. It bore the same six-pronged star symbol as Twilight’s cutie mark.
“And when those Elements,” Twilight resumed as she looked up toward the orb, “are ignited by the spark that resides within the hearts of us all, it awakens the sixth Element: the Element…of Magic!”
Around the bodies of Twilight’s friends did their respective Element fragments whirl and flash, before they fused somewhere in the center, taking the form of beautiful, golden necklaces. Each necklace bore a different-colored jewel in the shape of its wearer’s cutie mark. Each pony experienced a sudden influx of magical energy that filled them with warmth.
“Oooooh… Tingly…” Pinkie Pie remarked.
In the case of Twilight, the Element of Magic seemed to shed its outer shell of stone, revealing a golden tiara adorned with a six-pointed, rose-colored star. The color vanished from Twilight’s eyes, leaving only a white luminescence that saw all and knew all.
Nightmare Moon recoiled as she saw Twilight and her friends lift off of the ground. “T-This… This cannot be! I’ve never felt such power come from the Elements! Not even when they were wielded against me a thousand years ago! What ungodly magic is this?!?”
“This, Nightmare Moon…” Twilight’s voice echoed, “…is the magic of friendship.”
The force that built within her and her friends swelled and overflowed. It poured all of itself into the Academia, which Twilight now pointed at the throne room ceiling. From the tip of the blade, a rainbow-colored beam of light shot forth. It spiraled several feet up before arcing down upon the alicorn.
“NO!!!”
But Nightmare Moon would not go quietly. Focusing every shred of her power to her horn, she let loose a furious blast of dark energy that met the ponies’ beam of multihued light in the middle. The clash of magics rang across the chamber with a crackle and hum. “My power is absolute!” the black mare roared in defiance. “I am without equal! I am darkness itself!!!”
And in her moment of madness, of desperation…Nightmare Moon heard a voice. The voice of one she’d long since kept suppressed.
…There can be no darkness…without light.
“No…! NO!” The prismatic beam soon won out, overpowering Nightmare Moon’s magic and wrapping around her form. The intense energies assaulted her, tore at her, broke her down at the molecular level. Her flesh felt like it was on fire. One last bloodcurdling scream escaped her throat before she was forever silenced.
A dazzling radiance overtook the old castle throne room, and all Twilight could see was white…
…until the Elements exhausted her magic, and her vision was taken by a consciousness-stealing black.
…Twilight… Twilight… Time to wake up, dear…
“Mmmm…” Twilight moaned lightly at the outside voices.
…C’mon, up and at ‘em, sugarcube… We’re all waitin’ on ya…
The words seemed to echo a little in her ears, as though they were spoken by ghosts.
…Rise and shine, Twilight! Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey…!
“Just…five more minutes…”
…Heh. And she says I’m lazy…
…That voice. That all-too-familiar voice. As soon as Twilight heard it, her eyes shot fully open, and she was propping herself up on her forelegs. In front of her stood a petite mass of purple and mint-green scales smiling back at her. Almost immediately, the unicorn’s eyes welled with tears. “Spike…!” she cried, before jumping up to smother the little dragon in a tight hug.
As she rubbed her cheek against his, Spike blushed while trying to push her away. “Twiliiiiight!” he whined. “Cut it out!”
Applejack and Rarity giggled and awww’d at the affectionate sight.
“Sorry,” she said, soon freeing him of her embrace to dry her eyes. “I’m just…so glad you’re back to normal. I thought I’d lost you for good.”
“Aw, I’m not going anywhere, ‘Twi’. Who else is gonna re-shelve your books and send your letters to the princess?”
Twilight chuckled. How she’d missed Spike’s playfulness and humor. She stopped laughing, however, and gasped once she’d fully processed his words. “The princess!” And just like that, her good mood has vanished. If Princess Celestia was still trapped in the sun, did Nightmare Moon’s defeat mean she was stuck there for good? Or did Spike’s return to normal also mean Celestia’s freedom?
The key-wielding pony would receive a partial answer to her question when a bright, golden light shone into the dim throne room through the cracked windows on the east wall, and a familiar heavenly body appeared from behind the mountains.
The sun had started to rise.
Twilight let out a stretched sigh. Seeing the sun after so long made it feel like she’d just woken up from a long dream. Turning around, she saw her friends conversing among themselves, admiring the trinkets that now hung from their necks.
“It looks so pretty on you, Rarity,” said Fluttershy.
“As does yours,” Rarity returned the compliment.
“Look at mine! Look at mine!” Pinkie Pie spouted as she bounced up and down.
Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest as she regarded her own bling. “Heh! I could get used to this!”
Applejack sidled up to Twilight. “Golly, Twilight! How’d you know all of us workin’ together would whoop Nightmare Moon?”
“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t,” Twilight replied. “When I finally accepted all of you as my friends, something just…clicked. It was like…opening a door that up until now had been sealed shut.”
“Don’t reckon I really get it, but as long as it makes sense t’ you, I guess that’s all that matters.”
“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash approached. “…But seriously, Twilight. ‘My friends are my power’? How corny can you get?”
Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. “It turned out to be true, didn’t it?”
“Indeed it did.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide again, and she spun back toward the window. The sunlight reflected brightly off the fractured glass…and expanded. Twilight and Applejack stepped to the rear as a glint of gold passed through the glass and entered the room. Through the blinding light, Twilight could barely make out the shape of a tall pony with magnificent wings, a large horn. The light died away, and she saw her dear princess, elegant mane and all. For the second time in under five minutes, Twilight became teary-eyed. “P-Princess Celestia!!!”
Twilight trotted up to Celestia, and the majestic alicorn knelt down to accept her nuzzle. “Twilight, my dear student,” Celestia began, a bit emotional herself. “No words can properly express how proud I am of you. How proud I am of all of you. I knew you could do it.”
“…You knew?” Twilight pulled away. “Wait! You knew Nightmare Moon would come back?! T-Then what was all that about her being ‘nothing more than an old ponies’ tale’ and ‘the stuff of folklore’?! You lied to me?!”
Princess Celestia’s expression went dour. Just as she knew of the return of Nightmare Moon, she knew she’d have to face this eventuality. “Only with the best of intentions,” she explained. “I didn’t want to worry you with it. The responsibility of Nightmare Moon was my burden to bear.”
“Your burden? But…the Elements of Harmony. You had to have known I would seek them out and use them against Nightmare Moon. The spark would’ve only worked if I let friendship into my heart.”
“And before all of this started, before I sent you to Ponyville in the first place, what did I ask you to do?”
“…!”
“During your stay in Ponyville, do try and make some friends, won’t you?”
“I had no intention of forcing you onto this path,” Celestia continued. “I wanted you to make friends, and then harness the power that friendship brought you to power the Elements of Harmony, because you wanted to, not because you needed to. I was fully prepared to face Nightmare Moon on my own, and the Elements were merely a last resort. But what I didn’t count on was her discovering the power of the Keyblade. I underestimated her.” Her smile returned. “Just as I underestimated you, Twilight. A mistake I hope to never make again.”
Twilight’s own smile slowly came back as well. While she was still a little upset about being lied to, her elation over having her mentor and number-one assistant back more than made up for it.
“Uh, guys? Hate to interrupt, but…”
The eight of them all looked over to where Rainbow Dash was pointing. At the foot of the old throne lay the still body of an alicorn mare, lying precisely where Nightmare Moon stood earlier. Fragments of smoldering azure metal littered the floor around her. But while her cutie mark was exactly the same, her mane and tail were a solid sky-blue, and her coat a gentle blue-gray. And so petite her form was! She appeared no taller than Twilight or any of her friends.
“Heavens t’ Betsy!” Applejack exclaimed. “She’s still alive and kickin’?!”
Celestia stepped toward the fallen alicorn.
Twilight beckoned to her, “Princess, stop! She’s dangerous! She’ll seal you in the sun again!”
“It’s alright, Twilight. The Elements of Harmony are just as their name suggests – they create harmony and balance. They can’t be used to destroy, only purify that which is impure.”
“Purify…?”
The little alicorn heard her approaching hoofsteps and hid her face beneath her hooves.
“Princess Luna…” Celestia started at the lying alicorn. “It’s been a thousand years since I’ve seen you like this.”
“Leave us, Celestia,” said the blue-coated pony in a timid tone. “Spare us thy sympathy, for we are not deserving of it.”
“How can you say that?” Celestia knelt before the pony named Luna. “No matter what comes between us, you will always be my little sister.”
The five ponies beside Twilight were equally as dumbfounded. “LITTLE SISTER?!?”
“…I knew it…” the unicorn in the middle whispered to herself. “The same ponies as the ones in the legend…!”
“How canst thou still call us thy kin?!” Luna sobbed. “After all the pain we’ve brought?! All the destruction we’ve caused?! All the hearts we’ve taken?! We alone have been the orchestrator of too much despair, Celestia! We beggeth thee to lock us away! Not for a thousand years, but for all eternity!”
“I’ll do no such thing, Luna. You are not Nightmare Moon--”
“‘Tis a lie!” Luna sprang to her hooves, tears streaming down her cheeks. “We lost ourselves to the darkness, and thus gaveth birth to the Nightmare! A sin of our own design and making! Dost thou not hate us?!”
Celestia took Luna into her forelegs and held her close, joining in her little sister’s tears. “I hate only myself for not being able to help you a thousand years ago, my sister,” she wept. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“We’ve brought untold misery to thee and our beloved Equestria…and thou wouldst ask for our forgiveness…? Truly we are not deserving of a sister such as thee… We’re so sorry… How we have missed thee these long thousand years, Tia…”
“…I’ve missed you too, Lulu…”
Everypony – and dragon – watching was moved to a varying degree of tears (there was a puddle forming at Pinkie Pie’s hooves). Twilight reached up and removed the tiara perched on her head – the Element of Magic – to examine it more closely. It shimmered within her grasp.
The events of the past twenty-four hours played through Twilight’s head in fast-forward. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined making friends, losing (and getting back) her Keyblade, Spike, and Princess Celestia to an evil pony of legend, or playing an integral part in saving Equestria from everlasting darkness. Not only that, she was at the very center of it all. Her role in all this was perhaps the most vital, as evidenced by the Element of Harmony she held in her hooves.
“…Princess?” Twilight caught herself speaking aloud.
The two alicorns moved away from one another, and Celestia glanced over to her student.
“…What happens now?”
Everyone turned to Pinkie Pie when they heard her gasp. With the biggest grin Twilight had seen from her yet, she squealed, “I have an idea!”