//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Twilight Sparkle // Story: Nightmares Are Tragic // by Jordan179 //------------------------------// The Champions stepped into the Throne Room, gasping in awe as they saw the remains of the Castle's greatness -- and the engine to deploy the Elements, covered as it was with cobwebs and vegetation. Twilight was trailing slightly, her friends instinctively positioning themselves to protect her. "Whoa," said Applejack, "Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?" Twilight's gaze swept the old engine -- and the crystals arranged upon it, ready for the taking. "The Elements of Harmony ..." she said in amazement. "We found them!" Yes, thought Nightmare Moon, concealed within one of the walls. You've found them. Now, claim your prize! The two pegasi worked to bring them down from the mechanism's arms. "Careful ... careful ..." urged Twilight, as Rainbow and Fluttershy set them down. Twilight's conserving her own strength, realized Princess Luna as she watched the dream unfold. She's holding back her power. She fears that this is entirely too easy ... she's smart. She thought hazily that it would have been nice to have a smart friend, that far too many ponies were predictible. Ah well, maybe next nightmare ... Nightmare Moon absorbed the intelligence. I definitely don't want to face that mage with her friends backing her up, she thought. It's fortunate I won't have to. "One ... two, three, four ..." counted Pinkie, then looked frustrated. "There's only five!" Twilight looked disappointed, frowned with concentration. "Where's the sixth?" asked Rainbow. Now you're going to try to find it by using your magic, predicted Princess Luna. It's what I'd do. Too bad for you that this will make you think that whatever Nightmare Moon does next is a reaction to your own magic, until it's too late. She giggled to herself. Before you know what's going on, you'll be trapped! Yes, affirmed Nightmare Moon. Trapped and destroyed. Twilight bent and studied the five Elements intensely, eyes narrowing in concentration. "The book said when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to appear." She lay on the floor and contemplated the crystals. Wow, thought Luna. She looks so familiar when she does that, focuses like that. Like I've seen him ... I mean her do that somewhere before. Long before? But where? And when? Something nagged at her, a memory from very long ago. But she could not make the connection. I guess I've dreamed about Twilight before. From the Moon? No, long before that ... "What the hay does that mean?" asked Applejack. Always direct, those Apples, Princess Luna thought. When we fight her, we're going to have to expect her to close and try to do damage, no matter how scary we look. Unless she's protecting a friend ... "I'm not sure," said Twilight, "but I have an idea." Her eyes narrowed again and she concentrated on the Elements. "Stand back," she ordered. "I don't know what will happen ..." The other five backed off. Twilight closed her eyes; magic flouresced around her horn. "Come on now, y'all," Applejack said gently. "She needs to concentrate." Yes ... urged Nightmare Moon. Step away from your friends. I only want Twilight, for now ... It was no geas. It was merely Nightmare Moon's thought. But the other four trotted after Applejack, to the door of the great hall. No spell neeeded, affirmed Princess Luna. No one wants to interfere with a mage concentrating on something critical. And because we aren't attacking yet, they have all been lulled into assuming that they can solve this problem peacefully. Now, thought Nightmare Moon. While she is totally focused on her working ... Yes, agreed Princess Luna. but don't touch the Elements until the last, or you'll warn him ... her ... of our presence. Twilight's eyes were squeezed tight shut. The young mare trembled with the effort of her magecraft. Though she could have sensed Nightmare Moon's magic, that was entirely concentrated on the Elements before her. Her horn began to shine from end to end. Nightmare Moon slipped past her, a wisp of vapor that was first infra-red, then rose into the ultra-violet, skipping through a few flashes of visible light as her magic grew denser, her radiance stepped up into higher frequencies. Her enemy might have seen this, had not her horn already been glowing, were not her eyes still shut. Gently, subtly, the Nightmare oozed around the crystals. Twilight's horn sparked with random discharges as she tried to attune herself to the Elements. The Nightmare whirled around the Elements, joining with Twilight's magical probe, synchronizing her own telekinesis to it, as she had been advised to do by her captive. Her paramagnetism carried the Elements in her wake, setting them also whirling around, as they might have been doing around the lavender unicorn had she actually been attuning them to herself. Twilight's used to working alone -- as was I, Luna thought with a twinge of sympathy. Poor filly. She never realized that it was her friends who were meant to attune to the other Elements. My sister was able to manage all six alone, but that is clearly beyond the abilities of this young mage. She will never be able to do it on her own.. Which is why she will perish, gloated the Nightmare. Luna felt vaguely sad, as she might have while watching a tragic play from a great distance. There was nothing she could do to affect the outcome: she was simply trapped within the nightmare, just like the little stargazer. Their psychic vortex increased in intensity, rose higher, glowed brightly now in the visible band. The air stirred, winds rose. Twilight suddenly noticed what was happening, that the maelstrom of magic was most definitely not under control. Her eyes widened and she screamed in surprise. Her friends called out to her from outside. There were hoofbeats on the stairs as the purple vortex which was Nightmare Moon rose, bearing with it the five crystals. "The Elements!" cried Twilight, as her five friends burst into the chamber. Narrowing her eyes in determination, she leapt into the vortex that was Nightmare Moon ... ... who promptly teleported both her and the Elements away.