//------------------------------// // Chapter Five // Story: Eternal Nightmare // by Jgame //------------------------------// Everypony except for Twilight trotted out the door. All was according to script, and it was now my cue. I flew in, and began to transform my misty body into a tornado, picking up speed and causing the Elements to lift up and spin around in the magical wind. “Aah!” Twilight shouted as she opened her eyes, immediately stopping her magical charge. I continued to pick up speed as my vortex grew. “The Elements!” Twilight cried as she dived into my vortex. I transported myself, Twilight Sparkle, and the Elements into the next tower over. I teleported onto a small elevated pedestal on the floor, the Elements laid in a neat circle around me. Twilight coughed from the other end of the long, rectangular room and looked up at me, dazed. I laughed. Twilight Sparkle got ahold of her senses, and tensed. She pawed the ground and snorted, an unspoken challenge to fight. I arched an eyebrow. “You're kidding, right?” Twilight Sparkle magically charged her horn and charged at me in answer. She is truly an imbecile, I thought as I charged at her as well. At the last moment, Twilight Sparkle's horn released the charged magic power it had stored and she teleported in the middle of all the Elements. Perhaps not, I thought. Twilight Sparkle groaned before magically charging the Elements at a much quicker pace. “Just one spark. Come on, come on.” The Elements responded to the power surge, slowly levitating upwards. “Aah!” Twilight Sparkle cried as a stray magical spark blasted her back. That brought me to my senses. I teleported back to the Elements of Harmony, only to see that they were somehow working. “No, no!” I said in panic. It wasn't possible. They were defective! Cracked! Broken! And then the Elements fizzled out. “But... where's the sixth Element?” Twilight Sparkle asked. I stomped my forelegs, and the Elements shattered. I started to laugh. It was all too funny. Here I was, worried that my plan was going to fail, only to find mere seconds later that all had gone as well as I had plotted. No, even better that I had initially envisioned. Victory was mine. Twilight Sparkle's expression of horror only made the moment even more worth my previous frustrations. “You little foal!” I laughed, “Thinking you could defeat me? Now, you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night... will last... forever!” The voices of Twilight Sparkle's friends called out to her from the entrance of the stone room. Twilight Sparkle turned and listened to the voices. She gasped, and slowly turned back to me. Her eyes sparkled like bright stars. “You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony, just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!” Twilight Sparkle looked to her friends, who stood by her side. “What?” I said in confusion as the fragmented Elements began to rise up and gravitate to Twilight's friends. Twilight Sparkle continued to spout her nonsense. “Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty! “Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! “Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! “Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of... generosity!” Twilight Sparkle took a breath before continuing, “and Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty! “The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us,” Twilight finished her speech triumphantly. “But you still don't have the sixth Element!” I pointed out quickly, “the spark didn't work!” “But it did,” Twilight said as she turned to her friends, the shards of the Elements of Harmony spinning around them, “a different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you.” Twilight Sparkle turned back to me. “The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends!” A thunderclap sounded as the sixth Element, whole, undamaged, and shining so bright I could barely look at it, appeared above Twilight Sparkle. “You see, Night Mare Moon,” Twilight continued, “when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic!” The light from the Element of Magic flooded the entire room as I shielded my eyes. When I looked back, the shards of all the Elements had transformed themselves into amulets. The room audibly hummed with power. No. This has to be some sort of farce! I thought. My eyes saw as the Elements fired colourful beams, joining into a gigantic rainbow. Then, slowly at first, but rapidly gaining speed, it arced right to where I stood, paralyzed. The rainbow enveloped me, causing my vision to be assaulted by multiple colours rushing past me, the warmth causing my legs to buckle. I shut my eyes to resist the colours, and blacked out. I came to a few minutes later, my head foggy, as if I had just awoken from a very long sleep. Sunlight streamed in through the windows. Sunlight? Wasn't it night before? I thought to myself, confused. “...Now if only another will as well. Princess Luna!” A familiar voice called me. Princess Luna? I thought, even more confused. Oh yes, that's right, everypony called me that once. But if they are calling me that now that means... I gasped as the massive figure of my older sister stood over me. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this,” my older sister said, “time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.” “Sister?” Celestia's followers gasped. “Will you accept my friendship?” my sister asked. The memories of Night Mare Moon assaulted me as I began to cry. “I'm so sorry!” I sobbed, “I missed you so much, big sister!” “I've missed you, too,” my older sister replied softly. “So... what happens now?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “For the moment, my little sister and I need to return to Canterlot. Both of us are exhausted by our hardships we've faced. As for you, I will return you back to Ponyville for now,” my sister said. “That sounds like an excellent idea. I am simply exhausted,” Rarity said. “Wait,” I croaked, “your misery was inflicted by me. Allow me to repent by sending you to your homes in place of my sister. 'tis only fitting.” “Um, well, er...” Twilight stammered. “It is rather kind of you,” Rarity said smoothly, “but we would prefer if Princess Celestia would teleport us home. It's fitting, as... if Princess Celestia is to see us off, then it only makes sense that she would be the one to grace us with the teleportation spell.” Twilight glanced at Rarity and mouthed a quick thank you. “Casting aside the glamour of diplomacy, would it be safe to think thou does not trust me?” I asked. “Huh?” Twilight said, “oh, not at all. It's just-” “Yep,” said Rainbow Dash. Five sets of eyes glared at Rainbow Dash. “I thank thee for thine... straightforwardness. Do as thou wilt,” I said, taking a step backwards. Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say was cut off by Applejack. “Ah' really don't care who sends us home. Ah' gotta hit the hay, and then there's some apples that need buckin'. No offence, Princesses, but I'm beat.” “Applejack!” Twilight Sparkle admonished. “None taken,” was all my older sister said before Twilight Sparkle and her friends vanished from the room in the golden yellow magic of my sister. My older sister turned to me. “I'm sorry.” “'twas my actions that led me down this path. Do not feel sorry for me because I suffer the consequences,” I said, sharper than I intended. “It wasn't your fault.” “How? 'twere my actions.” “They were what Night Mare Moon did. You were under her influence.” “And if I cannot control myself, she will come again.” “We have the Elements of Harmony now.” “I doubt that she will make the solution so simple next time.” “There won't be a next time.” I had been avoiding my sister's gaze until now. Now, I looked up at her in the eyes. “She has seized my waking thoughts for an entire millennium. I know the delicate craftiness and brutal determination that is born from bitterness and tempered fury. She will come again.” “Enough,” my older sister said, “we will talk about this later. For now, let's go to Canterlot, and rest. When we're both ready, we'll finish this conversation.” I nodded weakly. My sister's horn glowed, and in a heartbeat we were in a castle in Canterlot. Two guards next to wooden double doors snapped at attention. “Princess!” they both said in unison. “That would now be Princesses,” my sister corrected. One guard merely gave an uncaring shrug. The other guard immediately glared at him. “As you wish, Princesses.” “These will be your accommodations for the time being,” my sister said to me. “Very well,” I said, and opened the door. The room was fairly large, with a red carpet, large windows that had been covered, a full-size mirror, a table with a brush, a smaller mirror on top of the table and various other things. A luxury bed was situated in the back of the room. I simply nodded back towards the guards and my sister and shut the door. Instead of going to the bed, I instead strolled in front of the mirror. I saw a small, scrawny alicorn, with light blue hooves and a darker blue coat. My dull blue mane was frizzled, and unkempt. My blue eyes devoured it's reflection. My cutie mark was a pitch-black night sky with a crescent moon in the middle. I barely resembled Night Mare Moon. I smiled. Finally, I went to bed and quickly fell fast asleep.