Soren and Luna arrived at the library a few minutes later. With Luna leading the way, the couple walked inside. Soren called for Twilight, and instead of her answering, Soren received a bouncy Pinkie Pie on top of him yet again. Once again, Soren had to use his magic to get Pinkie Pie off of him. He looked around to see that all of his friends were there.
"That took you longer than expected, Soren," Twilight commented.
"Luna had to scold me and explain some things first," Soren said. "Since the Doctor and I were gone far longer than planned, I think we need to get down to business. I hear we managed to plant a spy in the Shadow Horses."
"It's true," Rainbow Dash said. "Luckily Princess Celestia managed to find a colt brave enough to try, and it was so worth it."
"We even know exactly when they plan to attack," Twilight added. "Since they plan to attack on the next eclipse, we still have two weeks until then.
"Two weeks?!" Soren exclaimed. "First we come back late and now this?"
"Simmer down, Soren," Applejack said. "I'm sure you're all caught up with that studying you had to do."
"Actually, I mostly know Air and Earth spells. At the locations we went to, we grabbed the books without reading them. We figured I would have enough time to study before the battle."
"That should be good enough to fight Night Wing," Luna assured.
"I don't want to take a chance. I should keep studying just in case."
The clock in the library struck 5 o'clock. Everypony decided to go have dinner together as they talked about what's been happening in Ponyville since Soren and the Doctor left. After their dinner and conversations, the group of friends parted from one another to head to their respective homes. Soren found it strange that the Doctor didn't want to come to dinner or to talk to anyone; that stallion remained in his TARDIS even when he and Luna came to the library. Soren decided to ignore it for now, for he was tired from his adventure with the time-traveling stallion.
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The Ponyville library was dark and silent as the moon reached its apex in the sky. The only noise that could be heard inside the building was the soft humming of the TARDIS. Inside said TARDIS, the Doctor continued to check to make sure everything was working properly. He was just about to be done but he heard a knocking at the door. The Doctor opened them and saw that it was Twilight Sparkle. She walked inside and stood next to him as he finished his inspection.
"It's been too long since I've been in here," Twilight said.
"Yes it has," the Doctor replied distantly.
"Doctor, I know that tone. What's on your mind?"
"Do you remember what happens to unicorns who learn too many offensive spells?"
"They usually become so in tune with their power that they can't even perform normal spells."
"That is what will happen to Soren by the end of his battle with Nyra."
"Can you do anything about it?"
"Yes, but...I was hoping it wouldn't come to that."
"Come to what?" The Doctor then began explaining to Twilight what has to happen in order for Soren's magic to revert to normal. Twilight gasped at the end of the explanation.
"But no unicorn will be foolish enough to risk that! There has to be some other way."
"I'm afraid there's not. And we both know that there is only one unicorn that is willing to risk anything to make sure Soren stays safe." The tone in the Doctor's voice convinced Twilight that this was indeed the only way to help her friend. "Try to get some rest, my dear. I'll handle everything from here. Just make sure Soren doesn't study more than you usually do, alright?" Twilight smiled, hugged the Doctor, and walked out of the TARDIS.
As soon as she closed the TARDIS doors behind her, the time machine already started to disappear. Twilight watched as the TARDIS vanished from sight. 'No unicorn should ever have to do that to save another. It's absolutely mad.' Twilight turned around and walked upstairs to get some sleep.
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The next day, Soren decided to secluded himself in his house to study. It is because of the fact that the eclipse will happen in less than two weeks that Soren wishes to study as many elemental spells as possible. Two days later, Soren is still studying as much as he can. Luna decided to talk to him on this day to hopefully convince him to stop studying for the time being.
Luna flew up to Soren's cloud house and let herself in. It was dead quiet inside, but what did one expect if the resident was studying for three days straight? Luna eventually found the stallion in his room. Soren was lying down on his bed, reading one of the six books he collected from the past. Even though she walked in, Luna wasn't sure if Soren noticed her, for he continue to focus on his studies. Luna smiled at the determination on Soren's face as he read.
"We have never seen thou so focused before," Luna commented. Soren jumped a bit because of the sudden intrusion.
"Oh hi, Luna. What brings you here?" Soren asked, already guessing the answer.
"I have come to ask you to take a break. Three days is long enough for one study session, wouldn't thou agree?"
"I have less than two weeks to study as much as i can in order to prepare myself. There is no room for error during that fight."
"There are multiple reasons why you need to stop studying, Soren. First, everypony needs a break for time to time. Second, the more spells you learn, the more unstable your magic will become. And third, what about your plan to negotiate with Nyra?"
"I'm still planning to try and convince her to stop her evil ways. And if my magic becomes unstable, I'm sure you or Twilight can help me with that. Luna, you of all ponies should understand that I need to prepare myself for anything. Once this is over, I'll have no need to study these Elements anymore."
"Soren, even though I am for convincing Nyra to become good, I still must ask why you feel so strongly about this."
"In those dreams I saw, I witnessed a mare who was unsure of herself. A mare who felt useless, cast out...and scared. She doesn't want to do what she does anymore, but she has nowhere else to go. No pony in their right mind will allow her anywhere near their home. She's an outcast, an evil, scared outcast. If only I could show you that dream..." As he was speaking that sentence, an idea came to Soren's mind.
"Luna, is it possible for you to show my dream to yourself and one more pony?" Soren asked excitedly.
"We are the princess of the night. It is the most basic of our abilities."
"Perfect. Then I have a plan."
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It was close to midnight as the Ponyville library began its process of closing until morning. Twilight Sparkle yawned and closed the book she was reading. She locked the front door and the windows then went upstairs to her bed. Once she was in her room, Twilight turned off her bedside lamp, which shrouded the entire library in darkness.
Ten minutes went by before a flash of light illuminated the library lobby for a few seconds. Two ponies had teleported themselves inside. They were on a mission; they looked around the library to check if anyone heard their entrance. Seeing as no one woke up, the two ponies quietly walked up the stairs to the second floor. One of the two opened the door that led to the bedroom of Twilight Sparkle. The second pony turned on the bedside lamp so they could see better. Soren looked at Luna as she stepped closer to Twilight Sparkle's bed. The princess looked back at Soren with questioning eyes.
"Should we be doing this? It's wrong to sneak into somepony's hosue, even if she is a friend," she said.
"I like this about as much you do, but it's the only way to show Twilight what I saw."
"Very well. Give me a moment." As Luna prepared the spell, Soren had flashback to their conversation earlier in the day.
"Perfect," Soren had said. "Then I have a plan."
"And this plan is?" Luna asked.
"To get Twilight on our side about trying to change Nyra to good. I need you to use a spell on me and her so our minds can receive the same dream. Hopefully this will make her understand why I need to at least try to change her."
"Sounds reasonable, but how do we go about doing this?"
"It's not the nicest way, but it needs to be done."
So it was at this moment that Soren's plan was coming into fruition. Luna's horn was lighting up the entire room at this point. The two alicorns exchanged glances and nodded to each other. Soren laid on the ground and closed his eyes. Luna proceeded to use the spell on both Soren and Twilight. She didn't fall asleep like Soren did, but instead she put herself in a stasis of relaxation. Luna knew that she didn't need to be asleep to witness what the two friends were about to see.
During the spell, Luna noticed that Twilight was turning in her sleep and making sounds of annoyance. Unfortunately for Twilight, the princess of the night had to keep the spell going until the dream was over. She didn't like to use magic on ponies like this, but she felt it had to be done. It wouldn't have any negative effects on Twilight, but Luna still couldn't shake off the feeling that it was still wrong to do.
Thirty minutes passed before Twilight awoke with a gasp and started breathing heavily. Luna's spell broke, so the princess exited her stasis. Twilight looked around and quickly saw Princess Luna by her bed.
"Princess?" Twilight asked. "What are you doing here? What spell were you just using and who are you...?" Twilight eyes widened. "You used a spell to make me see that dream didn't you?"
"Please do not be cross with us, Twilight Sparkle. It was to help you understand Soren's point of view."
"Is Soren here?"
"Yes I am," Soren replied groggily. He slowly sat up and looked at Twilight, who was still confused.
"That dream..." Twilight started, "was that truly Night Wing?" Soren nodded. "But she was so..."
"Innocent-looking, I know. Do you now see why I was thinking that she could become good?"
"Yes. But first I have to ask: Whose plan was it to sneak into my library?" Luna looked at Soren.
"Umm...me." Soren was slapped one second later. "I deserved that," he said while rubbing his cheek. "We didn't feel good about doing it if that makes it any better." Soren was slapped again. "Ow! What was that for?"
"That was for forcing me to see a dream without my permission. I figured this entire thing was your idea."
"Well if you're done hitting me, I'd like to know if you changed your mind on giving Nyra a second chance."
"I'd have to agree and disagree with trying to change Nyra. I won't argue with you to not attempt to help her, but in the dream, Nyra said that she is only continuing her feeble attempt because some stallion told her to, that way a pony would care about her. It's true that she isn't entirely evil; she is just a mare who is sad, scared, and angry at the world. And I'm starting to think that you'll be the pony who cares about her."
"May luck be on my side," Soren comment. "I still need to study some more in case things take a turn for the worse, but I need to take a day off first."
"That is a wise decision, Soren. Or shall we start calling you Nyroc?" Luna teased with a smile.
"Both names are mine, so either one works. I've grown quite used to Soren though."
"I myself have grown quite used to sleeping in the middle of the night," Twilight said sarcastically. "And I would like to keep that habit, so if you two don't mind, I'm going back to sleep."
"Sorry again, Twilight. Hopefully it won't happen again, but if it does, I'll ask you first. Let's go, Luna." The princess nodded.
"Should have asked me in the first place," Twilight muttered when she pulled her blanket over her so she could fall back asleep. Luna rolled her eyes and smiled at their irritated friend. The two alicorns walked out of the library, said goodnight to each other, and left for their homes. The remaining days before the eclipse would go by quickly for all of Ponyville.