//------------------------------//
// 19. Harmony 
// Story: Stallions of Harmony - Longest Night 
// by Jetto 
//------------------------------//

"...t-they...they're alive!" 

Nopony but himself could hear what Prince Blueblood muttered under his nose. Quite honestly, after what he's been through, he barely had any strength to even talk at all, much less loud enough for somepony to hear him, but that didn't matter. What mattered, was that indeed, they were still alive! A giant boulder fell from his heart, just seeing them here, all five gathered and still in good enough shape to come back for him and fight. He couldn't deny it anymore, not to himself or anything that existed- he never felt happier in his life. No longer alone, he felt stronger then ever.

Nightmare Moon had a different opinion, though for the most part, her anger was still caused by Prince himself, not them. If anything, their appearance gave her something to vent the frustration on.

"I do not know how you managed to survive the fall," she said "but I must applaud your stupidity, for you have plenty of it to show yourselves in my domain again. If you seek death, I advise you turn away and look for less painful means," her eyes, along with horn, glowed with dark energy "for I have no mercy left for fools!"

Since climbing back to surface and washing away the slime in the river, the team decided that this time they would approach Nightmare Moon with more creative plan then 'hit her with everything we got'. With that in mind, they managed to sneak in just close enough to notice her and Blueblood talking, even if they couldn't register any words from their distance. The brainstorming was cut short once they heard Prince's scream of agony, which prompted Shining Armor to literally crush the wall with one solid buck, interrupting further tortures.
And as reckless as this was, they couldn't blame him for it, for Prince was in much worse shape then they expected and time was not something they could afford any longer.

Now they all stood together, side by side, against a being that could crush them with a single move. To say that they were scared was an understatement, but they couldn't afford to show any of it. Shining Armor stepped forward.
"Nightmare Moon," he said, with no stutter in his voice "I'll give you one last chance. Release Prince Blueblood AND Princess Celestia, or else."

As predicted, Nightmare Moon snorted, her anger being the only force stopping her from outright laughing.
"I am in no mood to laugh at fools anymore."

Shining Armor sighed. He knew it was for nothing, but he had to try anyway. Now there was no escaping it anymore, no miracle survival in the abyss, no pony eating cabbages, just them and her.

"Well, gentlecolts," said Soarin, forcing a weak smile on his face "it has been a pleasure working with you. I couldn't ask for better company." aside from maybe a cute mare with bazooka, but he didn't say that.

"Don't talk like we're all gonna die!" said Thunderlane, not quite as angry sounding as he wanted "I have a little bro waiting home. I promised I'll be back for him and I'm keeping it!"

"So am Ah," Big Macintosh join in on he conversation "mah family's waitin' for me."

"Don't worry guys, I've been through worse," Doctor hoofwaved "everything will be fine and we'll all joke about it later."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" added Shining Armor.

"Oh, so we DO have a plan?" asked Soarin.

"Yeah," Shining Answered, locking his glare at slowly approaching Nightmare Moon "throw everything you got at her until she stops moving!"

Thunderlane sighed one final time "Yeah, this is gonna end well."

Nightmare Moon looked at the group of fools that tried to beat her face to face. It was the dumbest plan she heard in a while and expected them to last all of few minutes, at best. However, she felt something odd about them, a thing not noticeable by eyes alone. What was it and why did it feel so... unnerving? She knew that feeling, she remembered. There was something similar happening way back. She looked back at Prince Blueblood, whom she hadn't paid her any attention since they appeared. He was different, no longer a smug bastard, not even a broken shell she expected him to be after all this torture. He was... smiling? And his tears were not those of sadness, but rather happiness. 
She snorted. Of course, so that's what was happening. They brought something more to this fight then their stupidity. They brought him hope. 

But even so, she could turn that back to her favor.
"Take a good look at them, little prince," she whispered to him, smiling viciously. Prince looked at her and almost instantly banished the smile "for the hope they gave you just now... I will shatter it!"

Crap. Buck. Damn it all to hell.
"NO, DON'T! PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU! DON'T YOU DARE!" but his words only motivated her more, as she slowly walked towards the group and focused all her will on a single objective. Even as weak as she was right now, she had enough power to carry it.

The group braced themselves as Nightmare Moon gave them little time to react, starting with a single blast shot straight at them. It exploded upon contact, thankfully stopped by a quick barrier. The purple force field cracked from the impact, but otherwise did it's job and they remained unharmed, saved for a little headache to Shining Armor. Realizing this wasn't going to work forever, he issued a quick order.

"Spread out, we're too easy to target in group!" they nodded back and went their own ways. Soarin and Thunderlane flew into the air, thanking heavens that ceiling was gone, giving them much more room to maneuver. Big Macintosh and Doctor ran two separate ways, hiding behind the pillars and debris, leaving only Shining Armor standing in his original, exposed place. 
Nightmare Moon stood in her place and looked around, easily finding all of their hiding places, but saw no threat in any of them separately. Except for one, who time and again displayed a minimal amount of power, just enough to defy her for a while. She eyed Shining Armor, her first target.

Another exploding blast was shot, once again cracking the barrier and sending Shining Armor to his knees. He feared he wasn't going to keep it up for another shot, but had no time to dodge, so he braced himself, as another blast fired his way. This one didn't even reach the shield, but exploded almost right next to her face, making her cover her head with a hoof, temporarily blinding the offender.

Shining widened his eyes trying to wrap his head around what just happened. Did her spell backfired? No, it couldn't. While still dazed, a piece of debris smashed itself on Nightmare Moon's invisible barrier. And then another, as Big Macintosh had plenty around him to keep on bucking it straight at her, one after the other. Her blast must have exploded on one of the rocks. Shining gave him a grateful nod and braced himself for a charge. He couldn't cast any good offensive spells, but he still had his hooves and could give her a solid buck if need be.
While he ran, she turned to Big Macintosh and shot another blast in his direction, literally blowing up his cover, with Mac himself barely jumping away. 

Nightmare Moon was about to strike once again and fry the earth pony while he was getting himself up, but she noticed a charging unicorn in the corner of the eye. Time slowed to a crawl, Shining Armor planted his front hooves firmly in the ground and using his momentum quickly spun around and aimed both rear hooves right at the alicorn, as she spread her wings... but fell on his belly instead, hitting nothing. Nightmare Moon leaped into the air and kept flying away from guards reach. Her moment of breather was stopped, as she noticed two sets of hind hooves closing in on her. Soarin and Thunderlane rushed at her with all the speed they could muster in those few seconds, gathering force powerful enough to crush solid rocks, but not a magical wall, which suddenly manifested before them. The two squinted from pain, no doubt taking a considerable damage to their hooves, but smiled anyway as they, noticed that they were not the only ones in pain. Nightmare Moon also grinned and blinked, no doubt feeling that strike mentally. Unfortunately, it also made her even angrier.

Her eyes and horn glowed once again and the wall before them exploded, generating a shockwave that sent them away, both crashing into a nearby wall. 
Despite probably several bones broken, many bruises and a small concussion, both were still moving, if only slowly managing to get themselves up, not giving up that easily.

She was powerful, stronger then all of them put together. Yet, even though she was determined to destroy them, they somehow managed to outmaneuver her time and again. What especially caught Prince's attention, was when she took to the air to avoid a buck from Shining. Normally, she would create a quick shield, but not this time. She really was weakening with every second and her rage made her moves reckless. They had a chance... if they won't exhaust themselves first, that is. So far the five of them were in a tough spot, but not impossible. 

Except, wait, there were only four of them...

"Hello there," Prince almost jumped, if he didn’t have any bindings on his hooves. Brown earth pony next to him greeted him with a smile "don't mind me, I'm just here to get you out, once I figure out what these even are..."

"Doctor!"

"In the flesh. You don't look too good, you should go see a Doctor," he said, examining the black energy, then grabbed Prince's hoof and tried to pull it out "which is a good thing I am one! Just give me a, hnngghhh, moment! Oh bollocks, I'm rubbish when it comes to magic."

"Don't bother," said Prince weakly "she needs me here, these bindings won't go out that easily."

"Any idea why you're still here? Alive, that is?"

"Princess Celestia is alive," he said, Doctor nodding  as if it was obvious "Nightmare Moon wants to break me. Apparently I'm the only hope that Princess has left."

"Yes, that does make sense," he hummed "aim for the family, I hate when that happens. Well, now that we're here, we won't let her!"

Prince couldn't help but smile along with the Doctor. He still couldn't move or cast any spells, but that won't stop him from fighting. Somehow, he could do something, anything.

"Doctor, see these orbs over there," he pointed his head in their direction "these are the elements of harmony!" 
Doctor gasped and looked at the stones lying near Prince, along with one at the walls not too far from here.
"But," Prince paused, looking down, but quickly shook his head. This was not a good time for pessimistic thoughts "one is missing and apparently they lost their power.  At least that's what she claimed."

Doctor hummed and nodded.
"You know what I say about magical artifacts that lost their power?" he asked. Prince tilted his head, waiting for the answer. Doctor let out a smug smile before saying.
"Bollocks. Wait here, I'll be right back with solution!"

"I'm not moving... anywhere." Prince sighed deeply, as he saw Doctor quickly gathering all the orbs in one place and investigated them thoroughly.

"Honestly, a drowning pony will grab to a razor."

Prince stopped and looked around. Did he hear somepony say that? Prince turned left and right, but still couldn't see it. He clearly heard a voice, a familiar one at that 

"You are just fooling yourself. Delaying the inevitable instead of grasping what could rightfully be yours."

A figure appeared behind him, slowly walking to his side and making himself visible. It did not made any sounds as it walked. 

"Great. Now I'm going crazy!" Prince Blueblood lamented, as he now looked straight into his eyes. His own eyes. Or rather, the  red eyes of what could only be called his Dark Self. His more powerful, evil side he once saw in a mirror.

"Oh, don't mind me," the mirror image said, smiling "I'm just waiting to take my rightful place. That is, for you to accept me as your future, King Blueblood!"

There was exactly one pony in history of Blueblood clan who was named King. Odd, considering how many times the same names has been repeated in different generations. Heck, Prince himself was 15th pony named like that, his brothers being also numbers above ten. King Blueblood was a pony that was not talked about, erased from Equestrian history, a taboo topic even within family. There was a strict rule- you may not name your child a King.

Back on the battlefield, neither side wanted to give up, yet both were slowly running out of energy, everything suggesting that if one won't fall from wounds, it will from exhaustion. Shining Armor was very close to that, as he was once again standing, shield up but cracking after each successful blast that could wipe him out completely. He considered an agonizing headaches a fair price to pay for his life.

"Do you think I'm impressed by your little tricks?" asked Nightmare Moon, as she slowly walked forward and kept shooting "What do you think you can accomplish here? You, a bunch of weaklings, lucky enough to have survived so far. Your luck has ran out, little ponies."

Shining Armor kept his magic on, in fact much preferring that her attention was kept on him, giving others plenty of openings to exploit and time to recover. If his theory was correct, she couldn't cast or maintain two spells at the same time, which was exactly why she had to avoid his earlier buck by flying into the air, too busy readying her next blast. Which by the way, she was throwing away like candy on Nightmare Night. The irony was staggering.

"Do you think I'll fall for the same trick twice?" she turned around to notice Big Macintosh charging at her. His eyes widened, but that only made him run even faster, as he tried to outrun the blast she was going to send his way... but she didn't, instead shaping her energy into an all too familiar black whip, which flew right at the red pony and wrapped itself around his neck. Mac only barely managed to insert one hoof into the loop, thus only getting lifted with literal pain in the neck instead of choking to death. Nightmare Moon flung him in Shining Armor's direction. Shiny panicked and lowered his shield, so he could catch the big earth pony without him breaking on the barrier. But that meant one thing.

"Buck!" Shining Armor cried as he realized, that there was nothing in the way between him and exploding beams of certain death.

Two pegasi were slowly getting back on their hooves. Slowly.
"As weird as it may sound," started Soarin, as he massaged his aching wings "Spitfire's warm-ups are way worse!" he took a few good breathers, before rising up to his all four hooves.

Thunderlane didn’t get up as fast as his Wonderbolt companion. Maybe he was weaker physically, maybe he got hurt a bit more, but even so, he was too busy watching the sky. 
"Hey, Soarin?" he asked "Can you distract her for a minute or two?"

"How much will I regret it?" asked Soarin, giving Thunderlane a helping hoof.

"Depends," he grabbed the hoof and stood up, still looking in the sky "on how good my idea is."





"The way I see it, they're dead in... two minutes. Maybe three, if she enjoys the tortures. Four."

"Shut up!"

"And when that happens, Equestria will bow to their new king. Even you would enjoy it."

"Shut up!"

"Because I will be YOU! And you will become ME! Though technically, we're both one and the same."

"Shut up! You're not even real!"

"Not yet, I'm not. But in a while, I will be."

"Over my dead body!"

"Details, details."

You know you're not right in the head, when your dark image doesn't treat this seriously. Either his mind was in worse shape then he thought, or Equestria was in far more trouble then he imagined, which would be impressive in and of itself. But he did have a point- they were actually losing badly, even as Nightmare Moon kept on shooting left and right, she only showed slight fatigue, unlike others. But even though he was in worse shape then them, he still wished to be there, do something to help. Anything. Instead, he was stuck here, talking to his imaginary evil self. 
He had to get out, right now! The bindings were too damn strong and without magic, without tools, all he could do was try harder. He struggled and struggled, desperately moving hoof one after the other, hoping to at least loosen them up a bit, to get at least one hoof out.

"Don't bother," said King, yawning "you'll just get all sweaty and smelly. I want my first action as a ruler to be something else then a shower."

Prince didn't listen, more intent on moving his body like crazy, trying and failing to pull his hooves out.

"Like talking to a wall," King rolled his eyes and shook head "You have few minutes of your conscience left, try doing something more sophisticated. How about a nice little game of chess?"

Prince groaned and pulled even harder. King shrugged.
"Right, you can't move. Well, there wasn't really a point to it, I know your thoughts anyway."

Prince stopped struggling to sigh. He silently wished for a facehoof, which only strengthened his desire to get out.
"And I thought Soarin was annoying..."

Soarin was indeed annoying, but to somepony else right now. He flew right above Nightmare Moon, who was once again concentrating on exploding beams, this time aimed at Shining Armor and Big Macintosh during their most vulnerable, shield-less moment.

"Geez, somepony is getting cranky. I suggest getting laid there, sister," the taunt did managed to get her to look his way, but not enough to make her forget her original target. That came later "lucky for you, this stud right here doesn't mind old, wrinkled harlots!"

And then there was a scream of anger, sound of explosion followed by another squeaky scream of high pitched stallion that just narrowly avoided death.

"YOU WILL EAT THOSE WORDS, INFIDEL!" 

Big Macintosh and Shining Armor were torn. On one hoof, they were safe and able to get up without danger of exploding. On the other, Soarin was now being chased by furious alicorn, shooting fireballs all over the place, only barely missing. One such blast pierced right through his right wing, thankfully not exploding in place, but flying even further away. Soarin screamed in pain as he lost altitude and finally crashed into the cobblestone, rolling several times before he stopped. It hurt like... well, a bit more then usual Spitfire warm-ups. He looked at furious alicorn, gasping in anger, horn aimed at the injured Wonderbolt.

"Umm, I said I don't mind, didn't I?" she walked closer, no change in attitude. He laughed nervously, desperately trying to come up with some charm he usually oozed with "Not that you look bad," and failing  "actually you're quite a cutie, in a Hearth's Warming Cake kinda way, especially for one thousand... years... old... uh, I really like your mane?"

As Soarin found the hard way, immortal evil alicorns were quite immune to his charms. He couldn't blame himself for not knowing that little fact, but he did regret ever agreeing to this plan. Where was Thunderlane anyway? He could really, really use his help right now.
Nightmare Moon was getting closer and closer, her horn becoming darker with magical energies with each second, covering all her body in shadow. 
Shadow... why was she in a shadow all of a sudden? She took a peek up to the skies, but only had time to widen her eyes, before she saw what hit her.





Thunderlane. The assistant manager of Ponyville branch. That wasn't exactly the thing to brag about, considering their office was all of five ponies, him being a number two to one of Equestrias most prominent young fliers. It was like most branches in small towns, but Ponyville was slightly different. Lack of busy weather schedules in the town was balanced out by being located nearby Everfree forest, where weather acted on its own. Usually, it meant little to weather ponies, they kept themselves away from Everfree as possible, only occasionally scouting for problems. On a chance there were storms or other anomalies that could endanger Ponyville. When that happened, they called for backup from nearby branches, sometimes even the main division itself to let them, the professionals, take care of it, their own involvement being mostly to support, rarely go into field themselves. Some did volunteered anyway, gaining bonus salary and reputation. 
Rainbow Dash was after one of those things. Thunderlane needed the other. These two were the only ones who ever volunteered . 

Those little side jobs not only paid lots of bills, but also taught Thunderlane a lot about the weather of Everfree. The clouds were erratic, moving on their own, generating much more moisture and energy then regular, Cloudsdale manufactured ones. Thunderlane was no rookie, moving clouds was his bread and butter. 
A bigger problem, was avoiding getting zapped by stray electricity, more often then not seriously injuring the poor pegasus who wasn't careful enough. For Thunderlane this was not a problem. True to his name, that was his special talent and when it came to generating and containing electricity in clouds, he was second to none.

Nightmare Moon found it the hard way, when one solid  buck in the cloud created the biggest thunder she has ever seen, aimed directly at her. The flash and cracking thunder noise were of the charts, blinding and deafening everypony nearby, even Thunderlane, who knew it was going to be big, but not this big!

It took them a good while before the ringing in the ears stopped and noises slowly turned into actual sounds. It took even longer for their eyes to slowly regain their sight, much too slow for comfort. On the bright side, the were still alive, which meant that Nightmare Moon...

"...is...is this it?" asked Thunderlane, as he observed the smoldering crater he just created. Admittedly, he never tried to weaponize thunderclouds, so he wasn't sure what the end effects would have been. 
The smoke inside slowly dissipated, when suddenly something grabbed him in midair. He only managed to take a glance at the dark vines that entangled his body along with wings, before getting slammed directly at Shining Armor and Big Macintosh. Before they could react, the same thing happened to Soarin, who only yelped and got smacked into them as well.

From the smoldering crater, Nightmare Moon emerged, not a single scratch on her body, her eyes and horn glowing even darker then ever before, but this time her face betrayed no emotions. Her anger took a more tranquil form, but it was still there, they could feel it. She stopped and looked behind, this time telekinetically grabbing Doctor, who at this point was still busy examining the elements. Without a single word, she threw him, along with the elements, into the pile with the others.

"I made a mistake," she admitted "I took you lightly. I underestimated your capabilities. And I overestimated my own power. I admit that much," she took a few more steps forward, as unemotional as ever "but no more tricks!"

Another blast exploded right before them. Shining Armor winced from pain, as his shield cracked. He took a quick breath and sent more magic into it, slowly covering the crack with more energy.

"No more mercy!" another shot came, once again creating a crack, bigger and ore painful one.

"No more hesitation!" and another, this one almost breaking the shield completely. Shining Armor knelt, but still kept his magic on. Only his determination kept him awake at this point.

"DIE!" 

Another blast reached the cracked, energy shield, this time crashing it into million pieces, like a stone thrown at a glass. Shining finally gave in and collapsed with a scream of agony. His friends grabbed him before he fell on his face, but they were in no better position. Thunderlane and Doctor were still tied up in dark energies and could not move. Soarin had an injured wing, even without it was considerably too beaten up to move. That left Big Macintosh as the last one standing, fresh out of ideas, other then shielding his friends with his body. He took a lot of beating in the past, one or two explosions shouldn't make much difference. Probably.

"NO!" Prince screamed and struggled through his tears, desperately moving is hooves, cursing his weakness and those wretched dark energy traps that kept him glued to the stone. He refused to give up, even if it meant biting his hooves of.

"Woah, careful there, little prince," King warned him "I'm gonna need those."

"Shut up!"

"No, I won't shut up! You know who should shut up? YOU! Because you lost! I won! You will be me in a manner of seconds!"

"You are not me! I am me, the only me there is and I refuse to give up!" he struggled harder, moving his left and right hoof.

"Yadda, yadda, all you ever do is WHINE! Game over, prince! You had your fun, let the true winner take over now,!"

"NO! NEVER!" 

Crack...

"Look at them! Save yourself the pain of witnessing their deaths and just get lost, kid!"

"NO! NO!"

...crack...

"Argh, this is getting annoying! Give up already!"

"NEVER!"

...crack..."

"I am sick and tired of this crap! What do you think you will achieve, huh?"

"NO,"

CRACK!

"I WILL,"

CRACK!

"NEVER,"

CRACK!

"GIVE UP,"

CRRRRAAAACK!

"TO YOU!"

Prince launched his hoof towards King Blueblood's face...

SMACK!

King only managed to widen his eyes in surprise, before getting smacked into the oblivion, disappearing in a mist he actually was. 
Prince took a few deep breaths before he noticed his hoof, still raised in front of him.
"I'm... I'm free!"

"Umm..." Soarin yelped, as Nightmare Moon concentrated on her final attack. Not one of them could move away, due to either bindings, exhaustion, injuries or sheer refusal to leave friends to their doom "can I have a last wish before dying, at least?"

"NO!" she answered coldly "You had enough! NOW PERISH"

This was it. One last spell to end them all. Not even Shining Armor's spell could block this one, even if he was still capable of casting anything, instead of lying on the floor, barely conscious enough to even look and listen. The aim was set, the spell fired...

"NOOOOOOO!"

Nightmare Moon's head jerked, slightly altering her aim, which sent a beam right past her target, charring few golden locks of Prince Blueblood's mane, never even meeting it's original target, instead blowing up far, far away from anyponies sight. Prince Blueblood didn't dare turn back to see what size the explosion was, much too fazed by the fact that A GIANT EXPLOSION JUST PASSED HIS HEAD BY A HAIR, LITERALY!

"W-what?" Nightmare Moon growled, as she barely missed killing her precious hostage, who somehow ran right into her view and blocked his companions "H-how did you..."

Prince knew exactly what was going on, but at the same time, he had no idea what was happening. Reality check- he just got out and managed to block others, even surviving it, if by sacrificing some of his gorgeous hair. One inch in the wrong direction, his head would be everywhere in the room, except his neck. Nightmare Moon was in front of him, still pissed of, but at least too shocked to act. Great, that gave him about... ten seconds? Now all he had to do, was think of the greatest plan ever, defeat her, bring back Celestia and sun and go on a hunt with Soarin, all while he was exhausted, tired, aching, hurting, pained, sweaty and smelly, with only adrenaline keeping him awake anymore.

No, his mind was not working properly. Considering recent events, it was a miracle it even did in the first place. 

"HOW?" Nightmare Moon yelled, making Prince take a step back "How did you free yourself? What did you do?"

Okay, she was confused. Good. Very good. And he still had no idea what to do. And as time will pass, her confusion will turn into even more anger, she'll imprison him again and they'll be back in the beginning, meanwhile Prince still won't have a solution. 
What would a strong pony do? A strong pony like...

"Look, a giant lizard!" he pointed hoof behind her.

Buck... billion possibilities, tons of stupid ways to get yourself killed and all he could think of was a 'behind you' trick. This couldn't work! There was no way! Even if she didn't read his mind, she wasn't dumb enough to fall for the oldest trick in the book. The trick that was...

"What are you talking about?" she asked, turning her head back "I see no lizards here!"

...a trick that she was older then, apparently. Prince wasted no time and instantly charged and just as she was turning back, he raised his hoof and...

SMACK!

Five stallion gasped, as their jaws and eyes widened considerably.

"Oh my!"

"Duuude!"

"Woah!"

"Blimey!"

"Eyup!"

Nightmare Moon stumbled. She had to take a step backwards and flutter her wings just to keep balance. Once her hooves, all four, were firmly planted in the ground, she just... stopped. For few good seconds, she ceased to move. She blinked once, then slowly raised her left hoof to her face, along the way noticing that she was shaking. She tried her hardest to stop it, but had no power over her hooves. She ignored it for the time being and carried over with her original plan and put her hoof to her left cheek. It was cold, very pleasant and comforting, a perfect contrast to her cheek. 
It stings. Burns. She wanted this feeling gone. She hated it. She didn't want it. She almost forgot how it feels.

"It..." she whispered, still massaging her cheek, now red, with an imprint of a hoof on it "...hurts?"

Prince just stood there, watching in disbelief the most disturbing view thus far. Nightmare Moon. The Mare In The Moon. Completely frozen in place, examining her burning cheek, otherwise standing straight, barely moved from her place after Prince Blueblood hit her with everything he got. 

"It... hurts..."

After long, exhausting fight with five (well, four) stallions, attacked with hooves, rocks and a giant thunderbolt, one and only thing that passed through her defenses was about as effective as hitting a branch during a stroll through the forest. Regular forest, not Everfree.

"It hurts."

Sure it might sting and burn for a while, but otherwise has no lasting consequences, other then a bad mood.

"It hurts!"

Because apparently she wasn't mad enough.

"IT HURTS!"

Prince Blueblood didn't think this one through. He blamed Everfree magic, if only because the only other culprit was him. Whether it was a mistake or not was of no importance right now, because he angered an immortal, evil alicorn. At this point, she probably forgot she needed him for her plans, which was bad news for both sides, for Prince twice so.

"RUN, YOU FOOL!" he heard Doctor screaming at him. A sagely advice, he realized, so he made his dash, but instantly realized there was nowhere to run, at least not like this. So he ran to the only thing that he could think of now- his team.

"What are you doing?" asked panicked Soarin, but Blueblood didn't stop, only ran faster, while Nightmare Moon charged her spell right behind his back.

"JOIN YOUR HOOVES!" he yelled at his companions, as he jumped right at them and concentrated on his own spell. Buck overcasting, he put all he got into it.

Time once again slowed to a crawl. Prince soared through the air, slowly but surely reaching his hooves out for everypony else, who gathered in a pile and extended their hooves to him. His horn glowed brighter and brighter every second. Shining Armor tried to put a shield between Prince and Nightmare Moon, but failed to scrounge even an ounce of his magic, suffering from a terrible headache, much worse then ever before. His failure couldn't stop a giant, purple energy ball, which flew straight into Prince Blueblood, and by extension, everypony else.

Then there was an explosion! Nightmare Moon ran out of any patience and wasn't satisfied with waiting. She ran into the smoldering crater that her spell just created and violently flapped her wings, fanning away the smoke and looking for any bodies, alive or not. 

Nothing. No bodies, no blood, no ponies. She gnawed her teeth and screamed into the moon.





Six stallions screamed, then crashed into the floor, one on the another, forming a chaotic pile of barely alive ponies, now with teleportation sickness, yet still glad to be alive. Also glad that nopony has eaten anything in almost a day. 

"Ah will..." Big Mac started, as he rolled over his teammates. "...never... get used... ta this..." he gagged, barely stopping himself from throwing up, much to his friends relief.

"Mac," said Prince Blueblood on the bottom of the pile "get of me... please."

Once they untangled themselves, they fell on their backs in a circle, too exhausted and sick to stand up just yet. After a moment, they finally took a deep, collective breath of relief.

"Remember when I said you were brilliant?" asked Doctor, looking at Blueblood "Because you bloody are!"

"You..." Soarin started "you PUNCHED her! In the face!"

"Yes, I remember that."

"You PUNCHED," Thunderlane also said "an immortal, evil alicorn. IN THE FACE!"

"I know!”

"YOU PUNCHED NIGHTMARE MOON IN THE FACE!" whined Shining Armor.

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR THAT FROM YOU, OF ALL PONIES!"

They fell silent for a moment. Then, one after the other, they snorted and exploded in laughter. Considering how much damage they received, number of broken ribs and fatigue, this was the most painful laughter they ever had, but damn all, it felt good.

They instantly stopped once they heard a loud, roaring scream coming from a distance. Job was nowhere near done, so they got up on their hooves and faced each other.

"Okay then, I have good news, and bad news," said Doctor, prompting everypony to gulp with terror "the good news is," he extended his hooves towards the middle of their circle, where five stone orbs stood "these are Elements of Harmony!"

Another collective gasp came from four ponies.

"The bad news is... that's all the good news I have."

Yet another collective sigh ensued. The group carefully looked at the five stones in front of them. Aside from being almost perfectly round, lacking one and having some markings on them, nothing stood out. They had nothing so far.

"Okay, brainstorm time," said Doctor, clapping his hooves "what do we know?"

"There should be six of them," said Prince "but one is missing. Nightmare Moon claimed that it was destroyed, but she lied to me already, so..."

"Wait, wasn't the name of one of them also missing?" noticed Soarin. Doctor stomped the ground with enthusiasm, being the only pony slightly less exhausted then others.

"Right! So we can safely assume that the unnamed one is not here. Which makes the rest of them," he pointed at the five stones and counted the names.
"Generosity, laughter, loyalty, kindness and honesty. That we know, but what does that mean? Why were they named like that?"

"You don't think it's just names, right?" asked Shining Armor. Others looked at him "I mean, I know a guy who has two hoof-blades he named Kami and Oni."
More glares. Shining blushed and scratched his head.
"It's neighponese for 'God' and 'Demon'. He thought it sounds cool." he shrugged.

"Yeah, cool story bro," said Thunderlane, raising and eyebrow "but ancient ponies didn't know what 'cool' meant."

"You would be surprised," noted Doctor, but nodded "but that's a good point, things have names for a reason. And if there's a reason, then that means there's a pattern, and if we find it..."

"We could find da name of the sixth element!" Big Macintosh finished, making Doctor nod in appreciation.

“Right! So everypony, think. What these five have in common?”

“They're all positive?” asked Thunderlane, shrugging.

“That's a start. What else?”

“They're non-violent.” added Mac. Doctor nodded and waved his hoof, prompting others to think further. 

“They describe the Princess!” announced Soarin “Kind, honest, generous, loyal, always smiling. That's how most ponies see Princess Celestia!”

Prince thought. As much as he idolized his aunt, she wasn't nearly as perfect as most ponies thought. Especially recent events showed that she can be a trickster, though she technically didn't lie to him outright, just avoided the truth. That, and she wasn't always smiling. There were plenty moments where he witnessed her being far from happy. Like the last time he saw her, which was completely his fault. But even without him, she had plenty down moments, though he wasn't sure what the actual reasons were. She rarely talked about past. Heck, she never even mentioned Nightmare Moon as anything other then a legend. Not that she ever liked talking about it.

"Hate to break the optimism here," Prince interrupted the talk "but even if we can find the name, we still won't activate the other elements.”

“We don't know until we try,” reasoned Doctor, but Prince shook his head and proposed a different plan.

“Nightmare Moon will catch up any time, so before that happens, the elements need to go to a safe place. Canterlot is our best bet. Even without Princess, there are plenty of powerful mages, they have a better chance of figuring out the elements then we do here.”

“What do you propose?”

Prince sighed. He wasn't liking it any more then others “You need to take the elements and run for Canterlot...”

“Woah,” Soarin interrupted “I don't like the 'you' part. Didn't you mean, 'we'?” 

Prince shook his head “I'll go the opposite direction. She wants me more then you or the elements,”
he paused. They looked at him, jaw opened widely, as the implications hit their minds. Prince sighed and continued.
“If things go as I expect, I'll be able to buy you few hours, maybe even a day or two...”

“No,” said silently Shining Armor.

“That's the least I could do,”

“I said NO!” Shining stomped the ground for emphasis “I promised I won't let you get hurt, I'm not letting you go there alone!”

Prince groaned and massaged his head. Of all times to argue about safety “Oh for the love of... forget your stupid job and just go!”

Shining Armor didn't say anything. He took few slow steps towards Prince Blueblood, not once breaking the eye contact, and finally when he was close enough, he raised his hoof. Prince panicked, but couldn't do anything, only ever managing to close his eyes and turn away, awaiting another strike, which Shining Armor...

...did not do. Instead, Prince felt something on top of his head. A large, but surprisingly gentle hoof, patting him. He slowly opened his eyes and turned to Shining Armor, smiling gently. He did not leave his hoof of the head.

“First of all, protecting ponies is not a stupid job!” he said with great conviction “It's the greatest honor, one I take with great pride. And secondly,” he finally took his hoof away and took a breath before continuing.
“I'm not protecting ponies because it's my job. I'm doing my job, because that means protecting ponies. I'm not doing this because Captain Blitz Shield gave me an order, or because Princess Celestia asked me to take care of you. I do it because my name is Shining Armor and you need my help. So whether you like it or not, I will not leave your side. That's just the kind of pony I am.”

Prince stopped on his tracks. He couldn't take his eyes of Shining Armor's, one full of truth and dedication, not a single trace of hesitation or regret could be found anywhere. This wasn't just foolishness, it was something a lot more. Prince shook his head and looked at the others.
“D-don't be stupid, you all have your families waiting for you! Y-you can't let them down!”

“Don' be silly, pardner,” Big Macintosh walked to his side and gently patted him in the back “if what we've been through don' make us family, then ah dunno what does!”

“W-whuh...?”

“Exactly!” Doctor smiled and placed himself at the other side, also patting his side “If Nightmare Moon wants you, she'll need to get through us first! That much I can promise you!”

“Besides,” Thunderlane joined the circle and bumped his hoof of Prince's forehead “if I wanted to run away, I'd be half way to Canterlot already. I told you, you showed some serious courage thus far, it's only natural I... WE can't do anything less!”

“What they said,” said Soarin, barely fitting himself in between Thunderlane and Shining Armor to also bump his chest, if only because of peer pressure “you deserve ALL the mares in the world for what you did and Celestia be my witness, you'll get them if it's the last thing I do! Well, okay, I'll save some for myself and others, but you still get the better share!”

It took him a few seconds, but Prince eventually managed to step away from five overemotional stallions. He turned away, head lowered into the ground.
“This... this is stupid...” he started, stuttering with every word “...you w-want to t-throw away you l-lives... for m-me...” he paused, legs shaking like mad “...you guys... you guys...”

He finally raised his head and slowly turned back to meet their faces. His eyes were no longer holding themselves back, nothing blocked the waterfall of tears that rushed through his cheeks, as well as nothing stopping his nose from running along with them, creating the most vulnerable, unsightly picture possible. Not that of an adult, serious stallion, but a weak, suffering foal. 
And yet, it was exactly the right thing to show.

“YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!” he screamed, barely holding onto his hooves “I don't deserve it!”

And with that said, he finally lost control over his hooves and fell down on all knees, crying himself out on a stone floor, not caring about anything else in the world, other then the fact that they were here. With him. For him. And there was nothing fake about it. 
As he was lying there, he felt a hoof patting his head. He raised his sight to notice Big Macintosh, smiling brightly.

“Eyup you do. More then ya think.”

Prince couldn't take it anymore and threw himself on Macintosh, wrapping his hooves around his neck and buried his face in his giant, red shoulders. Mac jumped, but didn't resist. He wrapped one hoof across Prince, not bothered a single bit by his wet mane.

“Aww, don't hog him for yourself!” Doctor protested and joined the hug, which soon turned to a group hug, once all five surrounded themselves on a single pony. 

“Not the kind of affection I'm used to,” said Soarin “but I'm okay with it.”

“Soarin,” said Thunderlane “shut up. You're ruining the moment!”

“Sorry.”

Their 'moment' was abruptly interrupted by yet another explosion from afar, echoing around the corridors they were stuck in. They instantly un-hugged and wiped their tears and snot of their faces. As it turned out, Prince Blueblood was not the only one who embarrassed himself with overabundance of emotions, much to his relief. With a smile on his face, they went back to their original plan. Doctor coughed and continued.

“Okay, five elements known, one more to go. It's a pattern, they refer to Princess Celestia somehow. What else?”

“Actually,” Prince hummed and theorized “not just Princess, but Equestria as a whole can be summed up with them!”

“That... makes sense!” admitted Doctor “Hardly any other country has laws for 'freedom to smile and be happy' actually WRITTEN in the codex! Which by the way is the best law, period!”

“Okay, so where does that leave us?” asked Thunderlane, nervously shifting in his place, expecting a certain evil alicorn to burst to their place any time “Does that mean that sixth element is in codex?”

“Well,” Doctor scratched his head “maybe, but it's way broader then six lines...”

“Arghh,” Shining Armor groaned. What at first seemed like yet another headache caused by overcasting, turned out to be a prelude to a facehoof “of course, six lines! How could I forget!”

His friends looked at him confused. Doctor asked “Forget... what exactly?”

“A poem!” he answered “At the entrance to Canterlot University, there is an old stone tablet with a poem. It's right there in the main hall, I always saw it when I visited Twilight!”

'Greet with peace, not war,
give yourself, don't take others,
speak truth, not lies,
let them smile, not cry,
never leave those dear,
then unity will stop any evil.'

“That was before they invented rhymes?” asked Soarin, getting only annoyed glares as an answer “Sorry.”

“That does sound like the elements, even if they didn't quite use the same phrasing.”

Unity... Prince Blueblood was buried deep in the thought. He thought back to his previous conversations with his aunt. She told him so many times, how most problems are solved not by yourself with great power, but with others, no matter how small any of them are. Like right now, for example, with everypony having some new light to shed on a problem none of them could figure out by themselves. This feeling of being together, set on a single objective, turning impossible into real. This was the greatest power she kept talking about. It took them so long to realize, that the answer to problem is just... working together. 
Prince laughed weakly. It was so simple. He was drilled the answer to this riddle all his life, yet only now did he get what the greatest power truly is. He finally realized the answer to what the actual sixth element is. 

It was...

“I FOUND YOU!” an evil voice boomed from the entrance, now smashed to pieces, making way to their greatest fear “YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ANYMORE!”

Crap. Ten times more crap occupied Prince's mind once he saw Nightmare Moon, finally catching up to them, as angry and uncontrollable as ever, once again preparing for a deadly spell, aimed straight at them. Shining Armor once again jumped forward and lighted his horn, but instead of usual barrier, his horn emitted only few sparks, as he fell on the ground, cursing his weak head for not letting him do anything more.
They were this close, almost figuring out the answer, but now it was all lost. Prince Blueblood was lost. Equestria was lost. His new friends, his only friends, were lost.

“NO!” screamed Prince, as he jumped right in front of the group, extending his hooves in a desperate attempt to stop Nightmare Moon from shooting, hoping that deep under all this rage, she still recognized him as vital to her plans and stopped at the last moment. 
Sadly, no such thing happened, she kept looking at them with bare teeth and glowing eyes, no change, no distraction. He couldn't protect them with his magic. Heck, the only useful thing he could do was teleport away, but with no time to grab them all, the best he could do was escape by himself, leaving them to die. 

Not an option. 

He laughed weakly. At the very least, the pain will end. And if there is heaven, they would meet there again. Which honestly didn't sound all that bad, all things considered. Too bad he was letting his aunt down. But she would forgive him, hopefully. He did his best. He really tried his hardest and was very close. The only regret left he had, was not being able to apologize for yelling at a mare he considered his mother. She knew he didn't mean it, right?

Once another blast was shot, Prince closed his eyes and accepted his fate. Then, there was a giant explosion, much larger and louder then ever before, but he couldn't care less to look at it... until he realized that his body was still in the same pain as before, with not even slight change in the wind touching his body. He opened his eyes, slowly. There was dust flying in front of him, but not reaching him or anypony inside a... barrier?

“T-that's not mine!” he heard Shining Armor announce behind him.

Prince took a better look at the transparent force field before him. He saw Shining Armor's barriers on many occasions, this one was not like the others. For one, it was a very light shade of yellow, no- gold in fact, while Shining's were always various shades of purple. And upon closer inspection, it seemed like unlike most magical force fields he knew, this one took the appearance of a flying, golden dust, which sparkled in air, like sand on a sunny day.

“W-what?” Nightmare Moon stepped back, finally letting go of her anger, changing it into disbelief, then confusion, which eventually became something more powerful even “B-but that... that's impossible! IT CAN'T BE!”

For the first time ever since her return, Nightmare Moon felt fear. Not just shock or confusion, but true and utter fear. 

Prince extended his hoof and tried to touch the barrier. It was warm, incredibly pleasant, much akin to rays of sun. Is Celestia free? Did she do it? No, it was something different, but very, very close. His eyes widened with realization, making him look back to the elements lying further down. They were glowing brightly, like small suns and more importantly, they were floating, slowly moving themselves in their direction, each orb closing to one of his five companions. He noticed something else. Threads, small golden dust threads leading from each of the elements to the barrier, but also to himself, surrounding him with warm, pleasant feeling, which dulled the pain of his body. 

Nightmare Moon looked at the show with ever growing fear.
“This is impossible! The elements were supposed to be gone! Destroyed! Powerless without Celestia! How can this be?!”

Prince allowed himself to sigh with relief, before donning the most smug, confident smile he could afford. For once, he was completely justified in his confidence.

“This is it, Nightmare Moon. You lost, the everlasting night is now over!”

Nightmare Moon on her part, disagreed, emphasizing her point with another explosive blast. Six stallions averted their faces from it, but as before, nothing reached them. She considered firing more, but deep inside her head, she knew just how useless it was. She remembered how well it ended last time, one thousand years ago. But still, it was different, her enemy was all powerful Princess of the Sun, not a group of normal ponies. But that scared her even more.

“HOW? Why do you have so much power? Only Celestia should be able to do that, but...”

Prince shook his head and explained.

“Want me to tell you about power? And I mean, true power, not a bunch of mana to explode anything you see and don't like. True power is...”

As an emphasis, one glowing orb floated around Big Macintosh, who observed it with curiosity, but not fear. The warmth calmed him down, so he allowed it to do... whatever it was doing.

“Power,” Prince continued “its having strength to crush anything that stands in your way... and still have enough empathy to show mercy,” the orb stopped in midair, right at Mac's eyes, then it exploded in bright, but not blinding, light, which moved around like a liquid until it surrounded his neck, slowly shaping into a form of a large, golden necklace, with a gemstone inside it, formed just like Big Macintosh's cutie mark- a big, green apple.

“Kindness!”

Mac touched his new accessory and nodded with approval.
“Eyup!”

“Power, it's being ready to do anything, to pay any price including the ultimate one, for the sake of  others,” next one happened to Doctor, his eyes widened and jaw almost at the floor, as his necklace took form of his own cutie mark, a brown hourglass.

“Generosity!”

Doctor raised his eyebrow and smiled.
“Well, I guess necklaces are cool, too.”

“...it's being able to say and act true, no matter how much it hurts us, because this is the only way to convey true feelings, to truly unite everyone,” Thunderlane's necklace also took his own form, a gray lightning bolt coming from a cloud.

“Honesty!”

Thunderlane shrugged.
“Huh, sure, why not?”

“...it's giving others the reason to smile and be happy, making life that more interesting and encouraging... even if he's a pain in the flank sometimes!” Soarin's necklace formed into an obvious form, that of a yellow lightning bolt with two angelic wings.

“Laughter!”

Soarin rolled his eyes at the comment.
“I cause something in the flanks, but not pain... no, wait, I didn't...argh, damn!”

“...and finally, it's never leaving those who need you the most in the times of need, even if you think  you don't need it,” he turned back to see Shining Armor, nodding to him in approval, as his necklace took shape of his own cutie mark, a purple shield.

“Loyalty!”

Shining Armor saluted with a smile.
“You can count on me!”

With that said, the elements were in their own places, at their bearers, which left only one small detail...

“Ha, you still don't have the sixth element!” Nightmare Moon taunted, but Prince didn't even blink “You must by now figured out what it is, right? If so, then you must also know how useless it is to you. You, a pony whose life was filled with misery, lies and fake relationships! They might be able to serve as vessels to their elements, but you... you are broken, unfit to lead them at all!”

Prince didn't say anything. The golden dust was already starting to gather around his body, but there was no orb, no light like those with other elements. For a moment they feared that something gone wrong, that the element was indeed destroyed and not coming back. Or it wants to come back, but Prince Blueblood was no fit for it. Either way, nothing happened. Even Nightmare Moon regained her senses and confidence.

“Think about it, little prince,” she walked few steps closer “how history loves to repeat itself. There will no doubt come a time when those you call friends will betray you, just like the one before...”

“DON'T LISTEN TO HER!” he heard Thunderlane scream “She's trying to fool you again!”

“Yeah, she's lying!” added Shining Armor “there's no way any of us will leave you, we promise!”

Nightmare Moon snorted and continued.
“Or what if YOU fail them? There might come a time when they will need you, but you'll fail... just like you failed your parents!”

“IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!” Doctor screamed from the back “You were just a little foal, you can't blame yourself for everything!”

Prince Blueblood still stood where he was, not moving an inch. He heard everything around him and even more. It made him think about a lot of things. He sighed and finally answered.

“Nightmare Moon,” he looked the alicorn in eyes “you're right.”

Five ponies gasped in terror in the back, but couldn't answer, much too shocked. Even Nightmare Moon was slightly taken aback from it. Soon after, Prince continued.

“Maybe I'm being blinded, like I was earlier... and maybe I'll be too weak to protect them like I should... however...”

He took a deep breath. The golden dust around him started moving even faster, growing in mass and length.

“...when you started torturing me, all I ever hoped for was dying, hoping that would make Princess Celestia angry enough to break free. But then, when I saw them back, alive... it made me happy. More then I ever imagined it would have. I didn't want to die anymore. I wanted to live, to save them, let them know how sorry I was for everything I have done so far... heck, I'm looking forward for the 'hunt', too!”

“YEEESS!” Soarin shouted in the background. And then he was smacked by Thunderlane.

“So, to make the long story short...”

The golden dust gathered in air, melding together and slowly becoming a mass of similar appearance as the other elements of the harmony. This time however, it was much bigger, gathering on his head, instead of neck. It slowly moved and shaped itself, until it covered most of his head,  resembling a helmet. Finally, on the forehead, a shape of an eight pronged star appeared, becoming a white, sparkling gem shaped just like his own cutie mark, a diamond shaped compass rose.
Nightmare Moon was right about one thing. With his new crown on his head, he looked more like a king then anything else. He still dared not call himself that, though. 

“... my answer is,” he took a deep breath, before shouting from the top of his lungs.

“NO MORE NIGHTMARES!”

His horn glowed. His new crown also did so, creating a blinding golden glow. Some would think that operating a magical artifact like that could take practice, but to him, it felt like it was never any different and it was a part of him since he could remember. Maybe it was a part of him he wasn't aware of, or maybe every unicorn has something like that inside them. He didn't care about it, instead opting to do what he promised from the very beginning, concentrating all of his his, and crowns, energy into a single spell. However, the crown itself had a much different function altogether. It had no power of its own. Instead, it took it from other sources it was connected to, which were of course, other five elements, which in turn took it from their bearers. 

All the elements glowed. If they were cursed, like many other artifacts of that kind, they would siphon ponies life force and use it to power the crown without their knowledge. But they didn't. What elements did instead, was ask. They had no sentience and didn't use any words, but subconsciously, their bearers heard their pleas for power, to give as much as they could. The bearers did not hesitate. They felt no ill will from elements, saw no need to be suspicious. Instead, they opened their hearts and mentally said 'take all you need'. And they did. But unlike most magical items, it didn't feed of their life forces, or mana or anything like that. It was fueled by feelings, bonds and connections they had with each other, and with the rest of the world.

It wasn't a normal spell, but it was, indeed, magic. True magic, the strongest kind of magic there was. Elements of Harmony didn't recognize mana as magic. To them, only one thing worked.

To Elements of Harmony, only Friendship is Magic!

Prince felt all of the friendship in his horn and crown. It was heavy, but not painful. If anything, it was pleasant, so much that he hesitated whether he should even strike it at the evil that stood in front of him. But then he did it anyway, letting crown take over, trusting his new element to know better what to do. And it did know, letting outside a lot of energy in form of all too familiar golden dust, which, once grown big enough, glowed in all the colors of rainbow and shot right into the sky. Once it was high enough, it took a rapid turn, taking straight aim at Nightmare Moon.

The alicorn screamed in defiance and tried to shield herself, but the approaching rainbow smashed through it like it was a very weak glass, shattering it and striking Nightmare Moon directly, exploding in a multicolored flash.

Bearers of the Elements of Harmony shielded their eyes from the blinding lights and waited a few moments for it to stop. Eventually, silence returned to the castle, only interrupted by Prince's heavy panting. Despite crown doing most of the work, he still felt exhausted after channeling the biggest, most unique mass of energy he ever experienced. His eyes felt heavy and he stumbled, tripping and almost falling on the ground, held by a hoof in last moment.

“Hey, you okay?” asked Shining Armor, stabilizing Prince on the ground. Prince nodded weakly and tried to think of a good, snarky reply, but he was too tired to work it out. He was interrupted by some news.

“Look!” Soarin pointed his hoof at the horizon. One wall of the chamber they were in was completely destroyed, giving them a good view at the most beautiful sight they ever saw in their life.

“The sun...” Prince muttered “... the sun is rising!”

Six stallions, each donning their new elements, lined up to observe the most satisfying, beautiful sunset they could ever dream of. There were no words, but they all agreed anyway. All this pain, all the risk, the danger, life threat, mental and physical tortures, all of it...

...worth it.

Prince wished they could have a loaf of bread right now. For one, he never managed to do that part of the tradition, what with having no family he wanted to be with, aside from Celestia, who was too busy with actually moving the sun. And two, he was hungry, now that adrenaline was wearing off. With no more things to do, he allowed himself to finally close his eyes and fall unconscious. 

He smiled in his sleep. There were no more nightmares.