by ArguingPizza
***
“–when those elements are ignited by the… by the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the Element of Magic!”
The shattered fragments swirling around the six mares flashed to life, each fusing into gems that reflected the cutie marks of their respective bearers. A lightning bolt, balloons, apples, diamonds, and butterflies molded themselves into necklaces, while the flaring sun crowned itself atop Celestia’s head.
White light enveloped them, suspending them in the air. The magic built upon itself, released for the first time in centuries by the bond shared by the six mares. Brighter than bright, it grew until at last it was unleashed in a blazing flash of multicolored magic.
The rainbow exploded upwards, corkscrewing until it reached a summit and crashed down upon the jagged, armored form of the Tyrant Knight. His scream of defiance was drowned out by the wind’s fury, and he was overcome by the Elements’ might. Celestia opened her eyes, and they glowed with the unfathomable power of the heavens. There was a final, great burst of magic, and then all was still.
A long, aching moment passed as the six mares gradually picked themselves up off the floor, nursing bruised bodies and confused minds.
“Oh, my head,” Rainbow said, her wings stretched out to either side of her as she struggled to stand.
“Everypony okay?” A few pained grumbles answered Applejack, broken by Rarity’s sudden gasp.
“Oh thank goodness!” Rarity stood, her dirtied coat momentarily forgotten, as she admired the necklace that adorned her. The other girls slowly took stock of themselves, noticing for the first time how their Elements had changed to reflect them.
“Gee, Celestia, I thought you were just spoutin’ a lot of hooey,” Applejack said in no small amount of awe, “but I guess we really do represent the Elements of Friendship.”
A flash of raspberry magic heralded the clopping of hooves on stone. “Indeed you do.”
Through the shattered windows of the old castle, the moon at last dipped below the horizon and allowed the sun to rise, putting an end to the twilight that had stretched on for nearly a full day. Celestia gasped, and as her friends hurried to bow, she bounded over to embrace her mentor.
“Princess Twilight!”
“Celestia, my faithful student.” Princess Twilight craned her neck to meet Celestia’s and she wore a wide, proud smile. “I knew you could do it.”
Celestia pulled away, ears drooping. “But, you told me it was just an old pony’s tale.”
“I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I, too, saw the signs of the Tyrant Knight’s return, and I knew that I was not strong enough to face him myself. Only you had the magic inside required to defeat him, but you could only unleash it if you would let friendship into your heart.”
Princess Twilight turned to face the pile of shattered, dark purple armor that had once been the Tyrant Knight. “Now if only another will as well.”
From the pile of broken plate and chainmail, something stirred. A horn rose first, followed by a pair of stunning white wings.
“Prince Shining Armor,” Princess Twilight said, and began to clear away the debris with her magic. As the pile shrank, a mop of messy blue hair emerged, followed by a stunning, well-built stallion. He was easily as large as Big Mactinosh, and his chiseled physique would have given even that rugged farm pony a run for his bits.
Rarity swooned on the spot.
Princess Twilight approached and laid down beside him. When she did so, the strange, gorgeous stallion flinched away shamefully. “Its been a long time, big brother.”
“Brother?” the six mares asked in unison, even Rarity from her fainting couch.
“The kingdom is safe, Shiny. Please, come back to me.” Princess Twilight reached out a hoof to trace her brother’s jaw, as well as force his head up to face her. “I need my BBBFF.”
The two alicorns stared at one another, their audience of six leaning forward at rapt attention, until the stallion leapt forward to embrace his sister. “I missed you, Twily.”
Hours later, once the panicked denizens of Ponyville had been informed of what had transpired, Pinkie Pie had put her special talent to full effect by organizing the world’s best welcome-back party for Prince Armor.
Ponies laughed and danced through the streets, playing games and hurrying to celebrate the return of their Princess. After the terror of the Summer Sun Raising, all were eager to return to the familiar pattern of the holiday. Even the unexpected addition of Prince Armor caused no great stir, as he had very well glued himself to his sister’s side.
During a lull in the festivities, the Royal Siblings found themselves an island of peace away from the crowd. They planted themselves in a narrow alley that was for the better part hidden from view, but gave them an excellent vantage for watching their subjects.
“I can’t believe I’m shorter than you,” Shining Armor said with a scowl, angrily draining half a cup of punch to express his discontent. Twilight only giggled.
“Oh, relax Shiny. I’m sure you’ll get back to normal as your magic recovers. Besides,” Princess Twilight said, leaning heavily against him and covering his back with a wing, “you should enjoy this while it lasts. Not every day you get to look a few centuries younger.”
Shining Armor grinned deviously. “Speaking of youth, what’s with you and the white one? Celestial something?”
“Celestia.” Twilight tilted her head. “What about her?”
“Oh nothing, I’m just happy for you.” Her brother peaked at her, eyebrow raised. “My little sister finally found herself a special somepony after all, huh?”
Normally, red did not show well through purple fur. It was one of the better benefits of having a darker coat, though in that moment, it might as well have been a band-aid trying to disguise a collapsing dam.
“W-what? No!” Twilight sputtered a string of half-formed nonsense before she managed to put her mind back into something approaching working order. “She’s my student! Nothing more!”
“Ah, of course, of course.” Shining Armor’s acceptance was blatantly insincere, but Twilight could do nothing aside from stomp her hoof indignantly. She had forgotten in the past thousand years how good her big brother was at pushing her buttons.
“Come on, I’m sure they’re missing us by now.” Princess Twilight made a point to ignore her brother, but as they rejoined the party, she caught sight of Celestia passing by with Applejack. As she did, she couldn’t help but let her eyes wander to… less polite areas of her student. Namely, places that tended to enjoy particularly sunny days.
The sound of snickering told her that she’d been caught, and her cheeks burned red hot.
Still, a mare couldn’t be blamed for looking… and perhaps a little more.