//------------------------------// // A Journey Full of Revelations, Danger, and Ponies // Story: The Knights of Fiction // by Yoh_3 //------------------------------// Chapter 4 A Journey Full of Revelations, Danger, and Ponies Nightmare Moon continued cackling, the assembled crowd still stuck in stunned silence. The Mayor was the first one to recover. "Seize Her!" The Mayor shouted, jolting the few guard who attended into action. "Only she knows where the Princess is!" Nightmare wasn't having any of that. "Stand back, you foals!" Nightmare shouted, her eyes turning white. Suddenly three bolts of lighting struck, throwing the guard for a loop, while nightmare continued laughing. The vapor then closed back in on Nightmare, leaving nothing but it, and it flew past the stunned guards, through the now open double door. Rainbow Dash, who had broke away from Applejack, flew after her, shouting. "Get back here!" Twilight then scooped up Spike, who was still passed out, and galloped out, a determined look on her face. I sprinted after her because, hey, I didn't know what the hell to do, and she seemed like she had a plan of some kind. She led me to the library, she slowed down to a trot and headed up the stairs to a small loft, where there was a small basket on the floor, complete with a tiny mattress and tiny pillow. Twilight deposited Spike into the basket. Spike at this point had become semi-lucid. "We've got to stop Nightmare!" he exclaimed sleepily, before falling back into unconsciousness. Twilight used her magic to pull a blanket over him. "You've been up all night, Spike." Twilight said, smiling down at him, "You are a baby Dragon after all." With this she turned to leave the room, turning off the light in the room in process. I walked beside her on the stairs "You're going to have us ransack the library aren't you?" I asked, looking down into the main room below. "Yep." she answered shortly. "So, what are we looking for?" "Anything on the Elements of Harmony." "Right." And, just like that, we were off. Twilight used her Telekinesis to pick random books off the shelves and flipped through them, before tossing them away when the info she was looking for didn't materialize. I, myself, took the more traditional approach, namely picking up the books from the shelves, flipping through them, using my years as a clerk to tune out any words that weren't Element or Harmony, and then adding them to the growing pile of books on the floor. "Elements, Elements, Elements..." Twilight muttered to herself before letting out a groan of frustration. "How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony!?" "And just what are the Elements of Harmony?" Said a brash, accusative voice that scared the crap out of me. I turned to find Rainbow Dash, who was not respecting Twilight's personal space. Twilight started backing up, but Rainbow moved foreword, not letting Twilight get to comfortable. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy?" These accusations were cut off when Applejack, who had entered the library without me noticing, pulled Rainbow back by her tail. "Simmer Down, Sally." She said, dropping Rainbow's tail. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity entered then, just missing the dirty look Rainbow gave Applejack. "She ain't no spy. But, she sure knows what's going on, don't ya' Twilight?" The five assembled Ponies gathered around her to hear the explanation. Twilight appeared to consider something, before caving in. "I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her." Twilight looked up, staring forlornly at the moon through a window. "But, I don't know what they are, where to find them. I don't even know what they do!" Pinkie interpreted the, reading off a seemly random book. "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." I was struck speechless, while Twilight plowed Pinkie out of the way, to confirm that was what it really said. "How did you find that!?" Twilight exclaimed, dumbstruck. "It was under 'E'!" Pinkie explained in a singsong voice, as she bounced over to join the other five Ponies. "Oh." Twilight said in a small voice. I, myself face palmed. How had I not thought to do that? Anyway, Twilight pulled the red book from the shelf, reveling the cover which depicted a golden Unicorn head with six diamonds arranged in a circle around it. She quickly flipped to the important passage, and started reading. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty." As Twilight read I felt this strange feeling, like we were being watched by some malevolent force. "The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last know location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal Pony sisters. It is located in what is now..." Twilight shuddered, her eyes filling with disbelief, "The Everfree Forest!?" The other Ponies gasped, all horrified at the prospect of having to head into the mysterious woods. Fear stayed in Twilight's eyes for a second before she steeled herself, and went galloping out of the library. The five mares looked at each other uneasily, before they themselves galloped out, shouting at Twilight to slow down. I lingered a moment before I put my finger to my ear. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Thomas?" "That wherever these Elements are, is where you'll find your sword?" "Oh my God, Thomas, you must be a mind reader." I deadpanned. "I do what I can." I laughed a bit before running out of the library myself. "Hey, Girls! Wait for me!' --- We Stood at the edge of the Forest, No one saying a word. That is until Pinkie asserted her oh, so cheerful personality. "Whee! Let's go!" Pinkie chirped, taking a couple steps forward. "Not so Fast!" Twilight said, stopping Pinkie in her tracks. "Look, I appreciate the offer, But I'd really rather do this on my own." "No can do, Sugar cube." Applejack interrupted. "We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone." Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash trotted ahead, undaunted. "We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." The three other mares hummed their agreement. "Especially if there's candy apples in there!" Pinkie said, not quite getting the simile. This garners her a strange look from Twilight. "What? Those things are good!" Pinkie trotted ahead, herself. Twilight sighed and looked over he shoulder where she found me, standing nonchalantly, my arms folded behind my back. "I guess you're coming along too, are you?" I shrugged my shoulders in a vaguely passive way. "I can't just wait back at the library, while you girls go on an adventure to stop a mad mare from bringing on eternal night." Plus I need to get my sword back, but I wasn't going to tell her that. Twilight sighed, defeated, and started forward, while I followed behind. We quickly caught up to to the other five and started the journey in utter silence. The strange flora of the forest made for an oppressive atmosphere, their shadows either looking like what they were, the leaves of a naught often seen plant, or the menacing form of an unknown creature just waiting to pounce. It wasn't until we were walking along a cliff face until someone spoke up. "So...," Twilight said, breaking the silence, "none of you have been in here before?" "Heavens, No!" Rarity answered, shuddering. "Just look at it. It's dreadful!" "And it ain't natural." Applejack added, and, for some reason, a feeling of dread settled in my gut. "Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria." "What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked, a very legitimate question I might add. "Nopony knows." Rainbow answered, adding a creepy little quiver to her voice. "You know why?" She continued, stalking up to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie, who had all stopped to stare at Rainbow. "Rainbow, quit it!" Applejack scolded. Rainbow Dash, however, continued undeterred. "'Cause everypony who's ever come in has never... come... OUT!" She suddenly leaped at that last part, causing a jolt to go through the three Ponies. And that's when the ground gave out from under us. While not a problem for Rainbow and Fluttershy, both of whom could fly, the same could not be said for the rest of us, who were sent sliding down a rocky slope towards another cliff, which gave way to a rather unforgiving looking drop. Rainbow and Fluttershy, not ones to just sit by and watch while their friends hurtle to their certain deaths, quickly snatched up both Pinkie and Rairty. I, meanwhile, had scrabble at the dirt and rock, searching for some kind of hold. While this didn't do my fingers any favors, I did happen to find a sturdy rock which allowed me to slow my decent. Applejack had done much the same, chomping down on an exposed root. Twilight, however, had not been so lucky, and soon found herself hanging onto the ledge for dear life with no real means to pull herself up. Applejack, the ever virtuous soul that she is, let go of her root, and slid down after Twilight, grabbing onto her hooves with hers (don't ask me how). I was just barely in earshot of them. "Applejack!" Twilight examined, futilely trying to scrabble back onto the ledge, "What do I do?" Applejack was silent for a moment, focusing on keeping Twilight and herself from plummeting to their doom. The she glanced up and spied something. "Let go." And, as strange as this might sound, the mysterious feeling from before flared up. "Are you crazy?!" Twilight questioned, not without merit. "No, I ain't. I promise you'll be safe." Applejack answered, the feeling growing more intense. "That's not true!" Twilight said back. "Now Listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll safe." And with one final surge the feeling became overpowering, causing me to let go of my rock, but fortunately I was able to stop right on the edge of the drop. Anyway, after a quick moment of weighing her options, Twilight let go of Applejack's hooves. She fell screaming... into the waiting hooves of Rainbow and Fluttershy. I sighed, relieved and glanced over at Applejack and nodded, she then returned the gesture and pointed towards a scattered path of ledges down. I nodded acknowledgement, and worked my way over a more advantageous position, and followed the farmer Pony down, leaping for ledge-to-ledge. When I landed on the ground again, no chance of it giving 'way under me, I smiled the goofiest grin ever and waved at the now recovered Twilight. "Yo, Twi, great to see you're not dead!" She laughed a bit, and returned the wave. Me and Applejack walked over to the group. "Hey, did something about that seem strange to you girls?" I asked, jerking my thumb back at the collapsed cliff. "Do ya' mean other then the cliff giving out, and you guys almost dying?" Rainbow Dash chimed in. "Kinda. I don't know that cliff seemed pretty solid, right up 'til it collapsed. I also had a strange feeling come over me, like something that didn't exactly have our best interest in mind was fallowing us." "You think Nightmare Moon had something to do with that cliff collapsing?" Twilight questioned. "Bingo." "That does make sense." Twilight said, considering the idea. "Well, standing here, thinking, isn't getting us any closer to the castle. We have to get going, but be on guard everypony." Twilight cautioned. "Right." We all responded, taking up the march again. 'Course I did take a moment to notice something. That feeling Applejack had, it had not faded one bit. --- We'd been walking for about ten minutes. Rainbow had quickly gotten board and had started giving the details of her daring rescue, emphasizing certain actions with little tricks. "And once Pinkie and Rarity were Safe... Whoosh," She quickly rocketed to the front of our pack, "Me and Fluttershy looped the loop around," a couple barrel rolls, "And Wham!" She landed then, "Caught you in the nick of time." "Yes, Rainbow, I was there." Twilight responded, slightly irritated. "And I'm very grateful. But we gotta-" Whatever she was about to say was lost when a creature leaped into our path causing her to gasp. The creature had the body and head of a lion with darker yellow fur and a red mane. It also had a pair of bat wings, and a scorpion's tail. "A Manticore!" The Manticore roared in answer to it's species name. "We've gotta get past him." Which we certainly did, but I had no idea how we were going to do it. The Manticore, not waiting for us to make the first move, leaped forward swiping it's paw at the Pony it landed in front of, which happened to be Rarity. Showing tenacity I would not have attributed to her, she ducked the paw and delivered a buck to the Manticore's face. "Take that, you ruffian!" Rarity exclaimed, right before the Manticore roared full volume in her face, leaving her mane a tangled up mess. "My hair!" Rarity cried in dismay, then the Manticore growled, causing Rarity to let out another small cry and sent her into full speed reverse. There was a small sound from Fluttershy that couldn't be heard over the humdrum when Rarity ran past her, Manticore in hot pursuit. Then Applejack jumped onto the Manticore's back, her feeling still as strong when Twilight was hanging off the cliff, causing the Manticore to stop in confusion. "Yee-haa!" Applejack called, the Manticore doing it's best impression of a rodeo bull, "Get along, little doggie!" Another sound from Fluttershy that we couldn't make out. The Manticore heaved Applejack off, sending her flying, her path crossing Rainbow's. "All Yours, partner." And then she began her decent. Not wanting any serious harm to come to her, I baseball slid, Catching her right before she hit the ground. "Thank ya', Kindly." "No, Problem." I said, turning back to see how Rainbow was doing. I turned just in time to see her get smacked out of a Rainbow vortex by the Scorpion tail. "Rainbow!" Twilight cried. Rainbow slid across the ground, stopping in front of Twilight. Twilight's eyes hardened and she glared at the Manticore, who dared Twilight to try and get by. Five of the Ponies, including the recovered Rainbow, got ready to charge. Didn't seem like the smartest plan ever concocted, but hey, you take what you can get, so I readied myself with the Ponies. We started the Charge, Twilight leading it, The Manticore standing it's ground, neither of the groups backing down. And that's when Fluttershy threw herself between us. "WAAAIIIT!" She shouted, her feeling flaring up in the progress. We skidded to a stop while the Manticore looked on confused. Fluttershy turned to the Manticore, a smile on her face. She then approached it, apparently without fear. The Manticore reared up, brandishing it's claws. We all turned away, expecting Fluttershy to be turned into Meow-mix. Except she wasn't. "Shh, it's okay." she said tenderly. We turned back to see her nuzzling the upraised paw. The Manticore, with a confused and unsure look on it's face turned over it's paw, unclenching it in the process, to revel a pretty nasty looking thorn stuck in it. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby." She said, comforting the creature. "Little?" Rainbow Asked. "Now this might hurt for just a second." Fluttershy said, ignoring Rainbow. She then took the thorn in her mouth, and plucked it out, her feeling growing to the same intensity of applejack's. Then a split second later the Manticore picked up the yellow pegasus, roaring. "FLUTTERSHY!" We all shouted in unison, concerned. Turned out the Manticore just picking her up so it could cradle her while licking her in thanks. I think it's a bit of an understatement to say it was a strange sight. Although Fluttershy was giggling while it was doing so. "Aw, you're just a little old baby kitty, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." 'Course, not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth we walked by the Manticore with no trouble. Most of our group continued on, getting a good distance away, while me and Twilight waited a little closer by for Fluttershy to get done with her pampering. When she was done her mane was stuck in a large cowlick (Manticore Lick?). "How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked, perplexed. "I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." Fluttershy said, walking to catch up with the rest of the group. Twilight pondered her words for a second, then a small smile crossed her face and she followed Flutttershy, with me in tow. Oh, and Fluttershy's feeling? Yeah, didn't fade, exactly like Applejack's. --- Our journey lead us through a swampy part of the forest, the ground having just enough give that we periodically had to stop to pull our feet out of the muck. Suffice it to say, we were not the happiest campers. "My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." Rarity said, voicing the thoughts we were all having. Almost Immediately, the path led us to a part of the forest where the flora was much more overgrown. The tree's overhead almost completely blocking out the already meager light from the Moon and stars. "Well. I didn't mean that literally." I got the strange feeling that someone was following us again. "That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces, and we wouldn't even know It!" Twilight said, exasperated. We continued walking, stumbling through the darkened forest, muttering complaints. "Oh, wait," Applejack said from the darkness, "I think I stepped in somethin'." That was when Futtershy shrieked. "It's just mud." Applejack said. She then turned around and found the real cause of the scream. A grotesque glowing face embedded into a tree, with a maw of pointed, sharp teeth. Applejack jumped back in fright with a shout, and that's when we found it wasn't the only face. We were surrounded on all sides by the faces, a low growling coming from somewhere in the group. There didn't seem to be anyway out. The Mares all started screaming, backing closer into a huddle (I myself stayed stoically silent... I swear). That's when Pinkie started laughing. This is going to sound insane, again, but her feeling flared up to about half the intensity of Fluttershy's or Applejack's. She was standing near one of the faces, giggling and making a few funny faces at. 'Twas a journey of strange sights that one. "Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run!" Twilight called to her. Pinkie laughed a bit more before responding to her. Before she did however the forest appeared to lighten and what sounded like a mandolin started playing, the sound coming from... well I don't frankly know where the sound was coming from. "Oh, girls, don't you see?" Then she started singing. You heard me. (Note: Since I am a Knight of Fiction and not, say, a musician, I have no idea how I should report someone just randomly bursting into song. I've gotten advice from a colleague, who said I should just direct you to the recording from The Camera. So Here it is. I think you'll get the gist.) As Pinkie sang the atmosphere seemed to get lighter, nothing seeming nearly as scary as it had just been. In fact the faces started disappearing, as if the only reason they had appeared was because of our fear. By the time the song finished all the faces had disappeared, We were all busting our guts laughing, none of the darkness from before was left, and Pinkie's feeling was blazing just as bright as Applejack's and Fluttershy's. --- The next leg of our journey found us being led by Pinkie's hopping gait. We were all still laughing from before, not looking where we were going, which is why is was such a surprise when Pinkie suddenly stopped, bringing our line to a very cartoonish halt. We stood on the bank of a raging river, the current way to rapid for any creature, equine or humanoid, to cross. "How are we gonna cross this?" Pinkie asked no one in particular. The answer arrived in the form of distant moaning and wailing. Glancing uneasily at each other, we worked our way through a clump of bushes we found a giant thrashing purple tail that was part of the reason for the impassible rapids. The rest of the withering serpentine body was the other part. Our eye's moved up the body until we found the next strange sight for the quest. The serpent had long, dark blonde hair, it almost looked swept back. He had eyebrows and a mustache to match, all through half of the mustache was torn roughly. He also had skinny arms, I payed more attention to the hair. He also happened to be the source of the moaning and wailing. "What a world! What a world!" He wailed, slapping his arms against the water. "Excuse me, sir." Twilight called, bringing attention to our little group, "Why are you crying?" "Well I don't know." He replied in an effeminate voice. "I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple (Boy that sounded familiar) just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off!" He Indicated the mangled mustache. "And now, I look simply horrid!" He flopped over for another bout of wailing, causing a small wave, which preceded to soak all seven of us. It was not turning out to be the best night ever. "Oh, gimmie a break." Rainbow grumbled. "That's what all the fuss is about?" Applejack asked, exasperated. "Why, of course it is!" Rarity exclaimed, shouldering past the two ponies, surprising all of us in the progress. "How can you be so insensitive?" She asked, marching up to the serpent, who had laid his head on the shore, sniffling. "Oh, just look at him." She continued in baby talk. "Such lovely luminescent scales." She said, rubbing said scales. "I know." He sniffled. "And your expertly coiffed mane." "Oh I know, I know!" He said, patting his hair down. "Your fabulous manicure." The Serpent gasped, "It's so true." It must have been a while since he talked fashion with someone. "All ruined without your beautiful mustache." "It's true I'm hideous!" The serpent exclaimed losing some of that fashion excitement he had going. Rarity narrowed her eyes in resolution. "I simply cannot let such crime against fabulosity (her word not mine) go uncorrected." She then leaned forwarded and bit down on one of his scales, quickly pulling it off. "Ow!" The Serpent cried, "What did you do that for?" Rarity raised the scale, it doing a very convincing impression of a blade. "Rarity what are you-" Twilight was cutoff when Rarity brought the scale down. The serpent fainted, we stared, dumbfounded, and Rarity picked up the target of her slice... her tail. She levitated the tail over to the quickly recovered serpent, and, using some kind of magic, attached her tail to the said of the serpent snout, right where the bit of cut off mustache was. With this the feeling about her flared up, raising to the same level as the three before her, and I was left in a somewhat flummoxed state. Anyway the serpent straitened with a laugh "My mustache! How Wonderful!" "You look smashing." Rarity said, clearly happy to have helped resolve the fashion emergency. "Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail!" Twilight said, walking up. Rarity had been left with a little purple stump of a tail, something that didn't quite suite her as well as her groomed and styled tail. "Oh... It's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season." She glanced a little uneasily back at her stump, although the smile never left her face. "Besides, it'll grow back." Rainbow leaned in to whisper into Twilight's ear. "So would the mustache." Twilight then looked forward and gasped happily. With the mustache restored the serpent had stopped thrashing and the river was now had a much calmer current. Twilight was the first to start wading in. "We can cross now! Let's go!" Twilight then let a cry when one of the serpents coils lifted up and out of the water with her on top. "Allow me!" The serpent said before diving his head under the water, providing us with a bridge of coils over the water, which we used, hopping from coil to coil. On the other side I lingered a little while longer near the bank while the six mare continued down the path. "Hey!" I called. The serpent popped out of the water, still admiring his new mustache. "Yes?" "You know that purple cloud that cut off you mustache. Could you point us in the direction it went?" "Oh, definitely." He pointed down the path the Ponies were heading down. The path to the ancient castle. This pretty much confirmed our suspicions. Nightmare was screwing with us. "Alright, thanks. Watch out for low flying clouds, also try and keep that mustache in tact." I called back, jogging to catch up with the rest of the group. "Oh, I will, I will!" The serpent called after me, before diving back under the water. --- We'd only been traveling for about ten minutes after departing the river when our goal was finally in sight. "There it is! The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony. We made it!" Twilight exclaimed. I have to say the ruins certainly lived up to the name. what had once probably been a regal castle before was now just a lonely bit of stonework, with the forest slowing creeping toward it. In fact so much of the stone had crumbled away it'd have been appropriate to call it a skeleton of a castle. 'course we'd been traveling most the night, and even in it's decrepit state it was a welcome sight to everyone. Twilight took off at a gallop, eager to reach it. She wasn't the only one, and we fallowed closely behind. "Twilight! Wait for us!" That would be Applejack. "We're almost there!" Twilight called back, looking over her shoulder. But fate, who still wanted to throw one last curve ball at us, pretty much made her instantly regret this. Twilight wasn't watching where she was going and almost fell right off a cliff, luckily she caught herself before she fell into the abyss, and she hang there for a second before Rainbow Dash pulled her back to safety by her tail. "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" That would be Rainbow showing off her world renowned tact. Anyway, where Twilight would have fallen there was two stone post both of which was attached a bridge, there were matching posts on the opposite side of the chasm; however, there was one, tiny problem. Said bridge was not attached to said opposite posts. Ain't life a bitch. So we stood there, staring down into the misty chasm, contemplating our new standing in life when Pinkie sighed. "Now What?" "Duh!" Rainbow indicated her wings with a quick twitch before taking off. "Oh, yeah!" Pinkie said, any worry instantly leaving her voice. Rainbow Dash swooped down into the cavern quickly snatching up the bridge rope and starting her quick ascent to the other side. "You aren't going, Fluttershy?" I asked, suddenly aware she had wings too. "Oh, n, no. I'm not the that great a flier, honestly." Fluttershy answered, quickly ducking her head down out of bashfulness. "Hmm." I grunted to myself, before turning my head back to Rainbow Dash, who had just tied one the ropes to it's post. She was the process of tying the other rope when she suddenly dropped it. She seemed to be talking to someone, other I could see jack through the mist that was forming around her. Who ever it was she was talking to, they were distracting her from tying the other side up. "Rainbow!" Twilight called to the other side, trying to get the cyan Pegasus's attention, but to no avail. "What's taking so long?" she muttered to herself, slightly angling her head to get a better view. "Oh, no. Rainbow!" A new sense of urgency had entered her voice. The mist suddenly shifted, completely shutting off any view we had. "Don't listen to them!" Twilight continued to call to the other side. "Wait, them?" I asked, growing concerned myself. A full thirty seconds went by with no change. "Welp," I said, standing up from the squatting position I had taken, "Better try and find another way across." Suddenly, I felt a huge flare from the other side, followed by the Bridge suddenly tightening to a safe level, capped by Rainbow Dash flapping through the mist, completely dispelling it, her feeling having grown just as intense as the four mares before her. There were cheer from our entire group, myself included. We started making our way cross the bridge while Rainbow flapped next to Twilight "See? I'd never leave my friends hanging." she said, before flying back to the other side again. I jogged to catch up with her. "So, What happened, back there?" I asked, scratching the back of my head, embarrassed that I'd even hinted that she'd betrayed us. "Oh three ponies calling themselves 'The Shadowbolts' tried to get me to join them. It was a good offer, but I couldn't just leave you guys up a creek." "I'm sorry I doubted you for even a second." "No problem." She said, before trotting forward to our destination, her feeling blazing as bright as a bonfire. --- We entered the ruins, Twilight bringing up the rear. The first thing we saw was the great hall, which time, the great re decorator that she is, had kindly turned into a court yard. The second thing was a great stone pedestal, on which rested a radial with a great stone globe, and on that rested five stone orbs, all of which had a detailed etching of a gem on them. "Come on now, Twilight." Applejack said back in a hushed tone, "Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?" "The Elements of Harmony." Twilight said, relief evident in her voice, "We've found them!" While Rainbow and Fluttershy flew up to retrieve the elements I leaned in to whisper in Twilights ear. "I'll go and make sure there's no more ambushes set up." I hurried off into a side room, one thought in my mind, finding my sword. I didn't have to go far. In the first room I entered I saw my sword. It laid on a small pedestal, a small film of dust coating it, although the blue of it's scabbard still easily seen. I stood under the partially whole roof, and put my finger to my ear. "I've found it Thomas." Not waiting for any answer I quickly crossed the room and took up my sword, it's familiar grip finally back in my hands. There was a quick flash of light, blinked some spots out of eyes, I looked down, and found that I had gone through a small wardrobe change. My gray pants had been replaced by a pair of black ones with a bit of white linen wrapped around both knees. My shirt had also been replaced, although this was less noticeable then the blue gi with a white trim, held together by a black sash. I also wore a pair of comfortable leather gloves with the fingers missing. Heck, even my shoes had been replaced, what had been slightly uncomfortable slip ons created by ponies who didn't now how to cobble for humans were now a pair of comfortable leather boots, things that would definitely last a while. The scabbard hung by my side, while I held the naked blade in my hand. I recognized this outfit. This was the traditional garb of the Myrmidon's of the Fire Emblem universe. Yeah, Knight weapons can be kinda funny like that. The very first time you pick up a weapon that's suited for you, or anytime you hadn't picked up said weapon for a while, say 15 years, it'll instantly change whatever your wearing into that of which you're most suited to be. No one really knows why they do this, through the technicians have a couple theories. Anyway I returned the sword to it's scabbard, a small smile on my face. It was good to have it back. Suddenly, I heard a cry from the great hall, a cry that sounded a lot like... "Twilight!" I shouted, hearing the other 5 echo the call. I dashed back into the hall at just the same time as the others, just in time to see Twilight leap into a Tornado of Ethereal Night, which proceed to disappear in a flash of light. I just stood there while the 5 looked around confused, calling our for Twilight, before Rainbow Dash stopped and stared at me, which quickly became a glare. I could understand why, I mean I had been by myself while the other 5 were all together when, all of a sudden, something happened to Twilight, and I was left behind in brand new digs with a sword strapped to my waist. You could say it looked a bit suspicious. "What's with the new duds, Isaiah?" She asked, suddenly in my face. "W-w-well you see..." I said, backing up. "Oh, and that sword?" She continued, not letting me get any breathing room. The other ponies looked on. "T-that's a funny story..." I continued backpedaling away from the anger in her eye's. "And where were you when we were outside?" The distrust in her voice was palpable. "I-I-I was..." I tripped over a loose brick, landing on my butt in a pathetic way. Oh, If my mentor could see me then. "Do you want to know what I think?" She asked, still not giving me an inch. "What?" I gulped, shrinking my head back, doing a very good Fluttershy impression. "I think you only tagged along for one reason. I think you never intended to help us. In fact, I think you're the spy!" "What!" I shouted, finally finding my voice. "You heard me!" She shouted right back. The others looked about uneasily, probably wanting to start looking for Twilight. But now I was pissed. "I can't believe you think I would sell you girls out to Nightmare Moon!" "You haven't helped us once this whole time! In fact you almost lead my friends away back at the bridge!" As angry as I was I had to concede that point. I almost had lead them away, as unintentional as that had been. I'd also done little to help on the journey. I took a deep breathe, calming myself down. I saw why Rainbow might have had those suspicions, and I had to dispel them so we could start our search for Twilight. "Rainbow, I can see that your mad." I started. "You bet your horse-feathers I am!" She shouted. "But," I continued, "I can honestly say that I had nothing to do with what happened to Twilight just now, and if there had been anyway I could've helped, I would have in a millisecond. Look me in the eye and tell me that I'm lying." She stared into my eyes for a half a minute before she saw that I was totally sincere, before she sagged a bit, her face taking on a haggard look. "Sorry." she muttered offering me her hoof. "S'alright." I said, taking her hoof, pulling myself up with her help. "Now then," I said, addressing everyone in the hall, "let's find our friend." And we were off. My first instinct was to check the floor around which Twilight had disappeared, looking for some kind of secret passage or something along those, until I remembered that magic existed and I abandoned the idea. It didn't look good until Rarity noticed something. "Look!" She stood at one of the high windows that overlooked the castle. In one of the few towers that was still in tact there was a great white light glow streaming out the windows and open doors. "Come on!" Applejack called, taking the initiative, galloping out great big wooden doors with the rest of us a step behind. We made it to the tower in record time and we started making our way up the narrow stairway, calling for Twilight all the way up. The sight that met us as the top was a strange one. There stood Nightmare Moon, stone shards littering the floor around her feet, and her ethereal mane gathered into a vortex above her, and then there was Twilight who stared at us for a second, before she let out a little gasp and a spark played across her eye. Suddenly, with no warning her feeling, that had been stagnant for the 15 years I knew her, started growing. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight asked with confidence I hadn't heard for awhile, Turing to face Nightmare. The five approached slowly, ready to stand with their friend. I started to take a step to join them, when something stopped me. Something that told me that they should face this together, without me, that I wasn't needed just yet. I didn't exactly like this something, but I knew it was right. "Well you're wrong," Twilight continued, her feeling still growing, "Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!" I was slight confused by this statement until I connected the dots, she was talking about her friends. Suddenly, the stone shards around Nightmare's feet floated off the ground, each glowing a different color. "What?" Nightmare looked around at the now floating shards, any and all confidence gone from her voice. "Applejack," Twilight glanced at her, "who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of honesty!" All the shards that had an orange aura zipped over and started orbiting the orange Earth Pony. "Fluttershy, tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of kindness!" The shards that glowed light pink gravitated towards the timid Pegasus. "Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter!" Light blue for the Pink Party Pony. "Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of generosity!" A deep purple for the Fashionista. "And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own hearts desire, represents the spirit of loyalty!" Finally the shards that glowed red hovered around her. Then, something in my mind just clicked. All these ponies represented one of the Elements of Harmony, and at the time that they exemplified their element, the feeling about them, their spirit, if you will, grew exponentially. By George, I had it! Twilight however wasn't finished yet. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" "You still don't have the sixth Element!" Nightmare Moon was clearly grasping for straws now. "The spark didn't work!" "But it did." Twilight said, dashing any hope Nightmare might had still had, "A different kind of spark." She turned to face the five, who, that mourning had been nothing more then strangers, "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear, to see you. How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside of me," the first tears of happiness were starting to form at the corners of her eyes, "when I realized that you all," she turned back to face Nightmare, who's little plot to blot the land in eternal night was starting to seem just the tad bit impossible, "are my friends!" Twilight's spirit, which had been growing steadily, all through her speech, flared at this declaration, growing to match those of her five new friends. Suddenly, there was a flash from overhead, and overhead appeared a stone orb that matched the orbs from before, this time with a star burst on it's side. The sixth Element. A light surrounded the Element. A light that for all intents and purposes should have blinded everyone in the room, however Nightmare was the only one to react to it, using one of her wings to shield her eyes. "You see, Nightmare Moon," Twilight said, a full head of steam carrying her on, "when those Elements are ignited by the," she had to search for the right word for a second, "the spark that resides in the heart of us all," Nightmare looked like she knew her planned was doomed, "it creates the sixth Element. The Elements of Magic!" With this the glow about the Element of Magic intensified, to a point where I had to shield my eye's a bit. All six of the ponies started floating off the ground, the shards around Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow quickly turning into crystals with the color of their aura, before gathering at the necks of their respective Pony. Even the Element of Magic burst into shards before collecting at the top of Twilight's head. I glanced a tiara suddenly appearing on Twilight's head, before the six floated into a formation with Twilight in the middle with the other five in an arc above her. The bright light enveloped the six, and from that light sprung two rainbows, shooting straight up, circling each other, before meeting at the top and making a straight shot for Nightmare Moon. The rainbow enveloped Nightmare in a twister of multicolored, well harmony I guess, while she shouted. The six friends floated there, seemly unaware, until everything just went white. I came to a minute later, feeling like another inconsiderate jerk had jammed a railroad spike into my brain again. I pried my eyes open and saw the six ponies sprawled out on the floor, luckily they didn't look to worst for wear. Rainbow was the first of the six to come around. "My head." She groaned. I felt for her at that moment. The rest of the ponies were starting to recover. "Everypony okay?" Applejack asked, glancing around. "Alright over here, just warn a guy when you do that next time." I called, rubbing my temples. "Oh, thank goodness." Rarity and Fluttershy had been the first back on their hooves, and Rarity seemed ecstatic about something. "Why Rarity, it's so lovely." Fluttershy complimented Rarity "I know! I'll never part with it again!" I then noticed that Rarity's tail had grown back, curls and all. "No, your necklace." There was indeed a new necklace around Rarity's neck. "It looks just like your cutiemark." This was also correct, a perfect purple replica of one of the diamonds on her flank. "So does your!" Rarity pointed out, and again, she was correct. Fluttershy's necklace had a little pink butterfly. Applejack was silently pleased with her orange apple. "Look at mine, look at mine!" That would be Pinkie Pie, also pleased, although not so quietly, with her blue balloon. "Aw, yeah!" That would be Rainbow being more then content with the red lightning blot on her's. Twilight, meanwhile, just stared up at her Tiara with a smile on her face. The Elements of Harmony and their wielders, together at last. "Gee, Twilight," Applejack spoke up, bringing attention away from the newly formed Elements, "I thought you were spoutin' a lot of hooey. But I reckon we do represent the elements of friendship." "Indeed you do." An all to familiar voice reverberated through the entire room. A beam of light shone through one of the broken windows. Through the window we could see that the sun was finally rising and it was making up for lost time. A ball of light separated itself from the sun and floated through the window. With a flash, the, until then, missing princess of the sun appeared. I, along with five of the six new wielders, kneeled quickly, because, you know, sun princess and all. Twilight, however, felt no such obligation. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight said breathlessly, rushing to greet her beloved teacher. "Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student." Celestia said, nuzzling Twilight. "I knew you could do it." "But... you told me it was all an old pony tale." "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." We slowly stood back up while Celestia continued explaining. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew that it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." Twilight shared a look with all of us, a look that said she definitely understood what Princess Celestia was talking about. "Now if only another will as well." We all glanced worriedly to where a minute ago Nightmare Moon had stood. There lied the broken and smokey remains of the armor Nightmare had worn, and among them was a tiny, at least for Alicorn standards, pony. Now if you twisted my arm and shouted in my ear to admit it, I would have to begrudgingly say that she looked vaguely like Nightmare Moon. She still had the green eyes and wore the boots from her time as Nightmare Moon, and, yeah, she had the same cutie mark, however she was very clearly not the same Alicorn that had attempted to shroud Equestria in endless night. First of all her coat was a dark blue. Secondly, her mane and tail were just a lighter blue then her coat, definitely not the night sky made into hair. Thirdly, and most importantly, that feeling of Doom that had surrounded Nightmare was decidedly absent, no instant chill that told me she was bad news. Instead there was a quiet sadness and loneliness, a feeling that said that she had majorly screwed up and was still carrying the burden of the mistake. "Princess Luna." Luna was shocked awake by the voice of the Princess, and proceeded to cower as she approached. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." The Princess lied down in front of the tiny Alicorn, folding her legs under her, much like she had with me 15 years before, although she seemed to know exactly what she had found this time. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. "Sister?" That would be Twilight and Rainbow expressing what we were all thinking. If Luna was Celestia's sister this could only mean one thing. The two sisters in the myth had to be Celestia and Luna, meaning that Celestia had been ruling for a thousand years since Nightmare Moon's banishment. I think all the ponies there made the same connection I did. Celestia stood asked one question to her much smaller sibling. "Will you accept my friendship?" We all leaned forward expectantly, concerned about the decision Luna was about to make. Luna took a second before springing up to nuzzle her elder sister chest. "I'm so sorry! I missed you so much big sister." Luna said, tear streaming from her eyes. "I've missed you too." Tears were obvious in Celestia voice. Now I won't say I had tears in my eyes, but I'd be bloody lying if I said I didn't. In fact I'd be the biggest lier to ever exist if I said Pinkie didn't. The party pony had produced a handkerchief from who-knows-where and was crying literal fountains of tears. That didn't last long. "Hey! You know what this calls for?" Pinkie said, perking up instantly. "I think I can guess." I said, making my way to the door. "A Party!" "Exactly!" I shouted, pointing at the Pink Pony, "Now let's go!" I continued motioning to the door. --- And Party we did when we made it back to Ponyville. It seemed everyone was celebrating the return of something. For the Ponies of Ponyville it was the return of Celestia, for Spike it was the return of Twilight, safe and sound (although he was slightly miffed he didn't get to come along), for Celestia it was the return of her younger sister, Luna, who it seemed could not get into the festivities, at least not until a pair of filly Pegasuses adorned her with a wreath of roses, a fitting homecoming for the long lost Princess of the Night if I do say so myself. In fact it seemed like the only Pony not celebrating was Twilight, strangely enough. "Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?" Princess asked her weirdly saddened protege. "That's just it. Just when I learn how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them." She glanced at her friends, who all know looked just as saddened at Twilight. Celestia seemed to understand exactly what she meant. "Spike, take a note." Spike produced a scroll and quill, "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the Unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, shall take on a new mission for Equestria." Twilight's friends were all brightening one-by-one, they all knew where this was going, even if Twilight didn't. "She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville." A smile broke out on Twilight's face, while her friends mobbed her, congratulating her. "Oh, thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!" Twilight promised. And there was much cheering. Also, finally, The Camera, which had been around long enough that it just seemed like part of environment, faded a bit, then strengthened again for some reason, and then disappearing entirely. Also strangely Pinkie disappeared for a second before reappearing again. Strange if I do say so myself. From there the Party continued for about two more hours, however the fun was dampened for me by one piece of knowledge. I was going to have to tell them who I really was soon. --- As the party was winding down I told the six wielders that I needed to talk to them in the library alone. I also invited Spike along because we'd never be able to hide the secret from him, and the two Princesses, mostly because it just seemed right. Luna opted out, citing Tiredness, apparently hate and jealously were good enough fuel to keep a pony going for a thousand years without sleep. Celestia promised to fill her in later on. The six Ponies, baby Dragon, and Alicorn sat on cushions centered around the table in the center of the main room, while I sat on the edge of said table, my sword resting in my lap. Spike had been nice enough to set a glass of water to the right of me before taking his seat. I didn't pay much attention to it, my mind more set on devising a way to tell them that I was not of this world. "First of all, I'd like thank you all for siting down here to listen to me instead of having a bit more fun at the party." I started, pulling at my collar a bit. "Oh it's no problem at all, Sugar cube." Applejack assured me. "Thanks. Anyway, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound totally crazy, and I will completely understand if none of you believe." I took a drink from the glass, trying to find my voice. "Is this about how your a being from another world sent here to protect ours?" Pinkie asked with a straight face. The water that had been in my mouth suddenly found itself as a fine mist violently ejected from my mouth, while I had been left sputtering. "How did you know?!" "Know what?" Pinkie asked with an innocent look on her face. "That I'm from another world!" "Your from another world?!" She asked, genuine surprise in her voice. I face palmed, not quite sure what had just happened. I wasn't the only one. "What are you talking about, Isaiah?" Twilight questioned, concern showing on her face. I sighed, a little at lost for words. "Well, like Pinkie said," I glanced over at her, "I think, I come from a different world." The six Ponies and Spike exchanged glances, although Celestia seemed to be taking it in stride, like she does. "Where I'm from, people watch your lives as entertainment through a piece of technology called a TV." I glanced at the assembled group, most of which had disbelieving faces. I knew I was going to have to provide some evidence. I put my finger to my ear and spoke. "Hey Thomas." The Ponies stared at me like I was crazy. "Yeah?" Thomas asked around what I think was a straw. "I think I'm going need your help to explain this, I'm going to put you on speaker phone. "Go ahead." I took the ear piece out of my ear, pressed a small button and placed it on the table. "Say hi Thomas." "Hi Thomas." His voice was mixed with random clattering in the background. The Ponies and Dragon stared at the tiny piece of equipment, Celestia still didn't seem fazed. "Very funny Thomas." I muttered. "I try my best." "So... you're really from another world?" Rainbow asked, interrupting our banter. I nodded my head. "But... if you can watch us on this 'TV' why are you here?" "Ah, you see, that's where it gets complicated. Feel free to jump in if I miss anything Thomas." "Oh I will." He said. "Well some of the people in my world watching you lives on the TV, what we call a TV show or series, some will become fans. Then some of these fans will get on another piece of technology called a computer, get on this thing called the internet and write stories about you and your friends that they made up themselves. We call these stories Fan Fiction." "So... people will write stories about us. So... what's the problem?" Rainbow questioned. "Well most of the time, there isn't one, however sometimes these stories will take on a life of their own. It'll use the energy generated by the author and the readers of these stories and find some way to crossover into your world." "Meaning?" "It'll find anyway to change the world to fit it, from changing how you think, to what you can do, heck even the basic principles of your world." "Wait," Twilight spoke up, stopping my explanation, "so if one of these stories said that I was, say, a Pegasus, I could lose my horn and grow a pair of wings?" "Pretty much." Thomas answered. "Hmm." Twilight seemed to be taking this a lot better then I would have thought. "So anyway," I continued, "these effects could dramatically ruin the world the story imposed upon, So The Knights of Fiction send a knight, me, to protect the any world depicted in a movie, book, TV show, etc., and a team of riffers, Thomas and his team, stay behind for support." "The Knights of What?" Applejack interjected. "The Knights of Fiction. An organization formed around 30 years ago to counteract the forces of fanon that started invading the canon of fictional worlds, normal enlistment age for the knights, 13, for riffers, 16." Thomas explained, sounding like he was reading from the most boring guide book in the world. "Wait," Twilight interrupted, "you've been here for 15 years, why were you a member at such a young age?" "Well you see," I said, considering how to properly explain the answer, "I wasn't really that young." Confused looks from all present, except for Celestia again. "The Knights actually sent me back those 15 years, Thomas said it was so you girls had time to get used to me, and right before doing that, they preformed some weird operation that reverted me to a toddler with the mind of an 18 year old. Don't ask me how it works," I held up my hand to stop the questions that I could on the lips of the six Ponies, "they haven't even explained it to me." "And that sword?" "My weapon of choice, though I didn't get it back tell today." "The ruins!" Rainbow said suddenly, pounding her hooves together. "Yeah, my sword somehow wound up there because of some incompetent programming." There was some muttered cursing from the ear piece. "So you only came along to get your sword back?" Rainbow asked, a bit of anger showing in her eyes. "That was part of the reason, but I did want to help you girls in anyway I could, I mean I like to think we became friends somewhere along the way." I glanced hopefully at the six Ponies. They all nodded, a smile on their faces, even Rainbow Dash, who seemed satisfied with my sincerity. "I also want to apologize to you all for not telling you girls all this 'till now." "Oh you don't need to apologize for that." Applejack spoke up. "I don't?" I asked, slightly confused. "Well of course, darling." Rarity said, "I'm sure you'd have told us earlier if you could have." "Well I guess I would've, but I needed to make sure of something before I did." "What's that?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "I needed to make sure you were all Main Characters." This garnered me confused looks from them all. "13 years ago, when I first met Twilight, there was some sort of feeling that instantly drew me to her. 13 years passed and that feeling was the only one of its kind I'd felt around here. Suddenly, out of the blue, we meet you five," I said pointing at the Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie, "and not only did you girls have same kinda feeling, buts it was more intense the Twi's. And, just to confuse me more, your feelings just came and went, seemingly at random." "They did?" Pinkie asked. "They did. But when we went on the journey to find the Elements, at some point during it all of your feeling grew to like 100 hundred times what they had been and stayed that way, in fact they're still that way." "Really, when?" Rainbow asked, curious now. "For Applejack it was when you consoled Twilight when she was hanging off the cliff, for you, Fluttershy, it when you calmed the Manticore down, Pinkie when you got rid of those tree monsters with your song, Rarity when you gave up your Tail to the Serpent for his mustache, and Rainbow it was when you didn't leave us up the creek at the bridge." "But those are when," Twilight gasped. "When they proved that they represented the Elements, yes. Also, Twilight," I shot her a smile, "your feeling didn't flare until you realized that you were happy to have them as your friends." The mares sat in stunned silence. "If we had been missing even one of you girls there would have been noway we could have defeated Nightmare Moon, when I realized that I knew I had to tell you all about who I really was." "So why am I here?" Spike spoke up. "Mostly because it'd have been to hard to hide it from you." "And I, Isaiah?" Princess Celestia asked, raising her head a bit. I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, I'd somehow managed to forget all about her. "Well your Twilight's teacher, so I couldn't ask her to keep a secret from you." Twilight shot me a smile for the consideration. "Also, I especially wanted to apologize to you, for deceiving you for 15 years." Princess Celestia let out a good natured laugh. "You don't have to do that Isaiah, I knew who you were the whole time." "Wait what!?" I asked flabbergasted. "Your eyes are those of a protector and one that didn't come from this world." Celestia explained. "Really?" I asked, swelling a bit with pride. "Really." I let out a contented sigh, know there was just one more thing that needed to be done. "I won't be coming back to Canterlot." "Why not?" Twilight asked. "Well the Camera's going to be fallowing you girls around." I explained "The wha-" "The force that records you girls for my world." "Oh, my." Fluttershy shrunk back at the thought of being watched. "You girls are going to be the majority of what my world see, so most of the Fan Fiction is going to revolve around you." "So you need to be around to make sure nothing happens to us." Twilight finished for me. "Exactly, I just need a cover to stay here." "Well that's easy." Princess Celestia had stood up. "We'll say that you were inspired by what you saw at the ruins and frustrated that you couldn't help them more, so you volunteered to be be the personal bodyguard for the Wielders of The Elements of Harmony." "Hey, yeah, that's perfect! It sounds Plausible, and it gives me an excuse carry my sword at all times." "And the cherry on top is it's not strictly untrue." Thomas said. "A nice little added bonus indeed. Thank you Princess Celestia." I said bowing to the Alicorn. "You are most welcome. Now I need to get back to Canterlot to make sure the Elements are secured properly. Also Twilight." "Yes?!" Twilight hurriedly jumped up from her cushion. "I cannot wait for your first friendship report." With that Princess Celestia left. There was a moment of silence after the Princess left. Rainbow Dash was the one to break the silence. "So what now?" I grinned like a maniac. "Now, we fanfic proof this world."