//------------------------------// // The Bond of Friendship: Harmony's Awakening // Story: The Power of Friends // by kurusagi16 //------------------------------// The Bond of Friendship: Harmony's Awakening Morning Star, Kimono, and Razzaroo had been fruitlessly searching for Flurry Heart, when all of a sudden, a loud screeching sound rang out through the tunnels. "What in Equestria was that?!" asked Razzaroo. "Whatever it is, it must be trouble." said Morning Star. "Follow me!" The three of them galloped in the direction the screech seemed to be coming from. They gasped when they finally reached the spot. Sparks was fighting off the changelings with all her might, but no matter how many she took down, more seemed to come up in their place. "Sparks!" cried Morning Star. "We have to do something." said Razzaroo. "My thoughts exactly." said Kimono. She leaped into the air and did a spin kick, taking out some of the changelings as she landed down beside Sparks. "Kimono? What are you--?" "No time." said Kimono. She took on a meditative pose as she chopped and kicked at the changelings. "Whoa." said Morning Star impressed. "You can say that again." said Razzaroo. She put on a determined look. "Now it's my turn." She charged into the swarm, screaming like a maniac and wildly hit and kicked at them. This confused the changelings so much that not many of them knew what to do against Razzaroo's crazy attack strategy. "Might as well get in on the action." said Morning Star. She teleported to the girls' side, and used a wide array of attack spells on the swarm, being careful not to get her horn hit by the globs of goo they through at her. "Where's Harmony?" asked Kimono, hitting on a changeling's pressure point and rendering it unconscious. "I sent her up ahead to get Flurry." said Sparks, slamming two changelings' heads together. "Down the rest of this tunnel to the right." "Any idea how to end this fight faster?" asked Razzaroo. "My arms are getting tired!" "Leave that to me." said Morning, an excited and almost crazed gleam entering her eye. "I always wanted to use this one." she said ecstatically. Her horn charged up into a big ball of magic, with she sent out as a shock wave to the the remaining changelings. It sent them all flying against the wall, pinned and unable to move. "There, that should help." said Morning Star. A faint glow radiated off of the girls. "Looks like my disguise spell's worn off, we should hurry and get to Harmony." "Let's go." said Kimono. Together, the foursome hurried down the tunnel, feeling that victory was theirs. Harmony cautiously entered the chamber, it appeared to be completely empty. She eyes gazed all around at the massive chamber, which was also filled with oozing green slime. When she looked up, her eyes fell upon the giant cocoon, and inside she saw Flurry Heart, lying unconscious. Her eyes widened. "Flurry!" Harmony flew up to the cocoon. "Flurry! Wake up! Can you hear me?!" Flurry Heart didn't respond. "Hold on, I'm gonna get you out of there!" Harmony hit and kicked the hard and smooth outside of the cocoon, unable to break through it. Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched from below. Queen Chrysalis, hiding behind a large stony column, eyed the Pegasus. Her gnarled horn lit up as she looked into the pony's heart, to see who it was that she loved more than anything. A cruel smile took up her face when she saw. Her body erupted into green flames, changeling her form into that of the one she saw in Harmony's heart. Harmony panted a little and lowered herself back down to the ground. She looked back up at the cocoon and said, "Dang! Not so much a scratch!" she groaned in frustration. "How am I ever going to free Flurry?" Harmony's ear twitched as she heard a scuffling sound. "Who's there? Show yourself!" she demanded, turning toward the stone pillar. A figure slowly stepped out from behind it, a figure Harmony never thought she would see again. She gasped, her eyes widening. The figure was an adult Pegasus mare with a sea-green mane braided over her shoulder, and a pastel green hide. Her eyes were filled with warmth as she smiled at Harmony. Harmony managed to find her voice. "Mom...?" The Pegasus nodded. "Yes dear, it's me." she said. "B-but you can't--it's not possible! You're...you're..." "Dead?" finished the Pegasus. Harmony nodded grimly. The Pegasus lowered her head and looked away sadly. "Yes, I was. But I came back, because I knew you needed me." Her eyes looked deep into Harmony's. "You must've been so heartbroken, can you ever forgive me for leaving you?" "It's not your fault!" said Harmony. "It was just an accident." The memories began flooding in, just as sharp as they ever were. Her mother, Medley, had died in an accident, while trying to make a delivery for the cafe. It changed Harmony's life so dramatically, that Harmony could hardly stand it. Her mom, dead. All because of a stupid accident, leaving her all alone. It just wasn't fair. And now, here she was, right in front of her, asking for forgiveness. Chrysalis bit back a smile, seeing her spell starting to take effect. Harmony began to remember all the precious memories she had with her mother, convincing her more and more that the pony in front of her was her. "How do I know you truly forgive me?" asked the disguised Chrysalis. "I do, mom." insisted Harmony. "Then, does that mean, you still love me?" Harmony nodded her head. "Yes! I love you more than anything in the world." "Then prove it." said Chrysalis. She opened her arms wide to Harmony. "Come to me, my little filly." Harmony flew into her arms, hugging her tightly. Tears flowed out of her eyes as Chrysalis lovingly stroked her, whispering to her in a maternal manner. "There, there, everything is alright now." she soothed. Harmony's eyes glazed over with a sickly green light. "I missed you so much!" she said. "I missed you too, my brave little darling." The spell became complete, meaning Chrysalis could freely shed her disguise and she would still be seen as Medley in Harmony's eyes. Then, voice called out for Harmony, the voices of her friends. "Harmony!" Queen Chrysalis cursed under her breath, when she had a brilliant idea. She lifted Harmony's chin up and smiled sweetly at her. "You want me to stay with you, don't you?" Harmony nodded in a robotic manner. "There are ponies coming here." said Chrysalis. "Ponies who want to take you away from me. Fight them, and don't let them succeed." It was then that the girls entered and saw Harmony with Chrysalis. "Harmony, get away from her!" cried Kimono. Harmony turned, unable to recognize her own friends under the influence of Chrysalis' spell. Harmony narrowed her eyes and shouted,"Leave us alone!" She charged at her friends and started attacking them. "Harmony, it's us!" cried Razzaroo, dodging her friend's punches. "She's under a spell." said Morning Star. "We can see that for ourselves thank you." said Sparks, trying to hold off Harmony. "What are we supposed to do?" asked Kimono. Morning Star began to light her horn. "Hold on, maybe I can--" A blast of green light shot out at Morning Star, knocking her to the ground. "Morning!" cried Razzaroo worriedly. Another blast was fired, covering her in green goo. The girls glanced over at Queen Chrysalis, who was chuckling darkly. "This is the end of the line for your little rescue." she said. In the cocoon, Flurry Heart was starting to come to. She blinked a few times before she saw what was going on on the other side of her prison. Her eyes widened. Her friends were all there. Morning Star was encased in green goo, Kimono and Razzaroo were hit by Chrysalis, encased in similar slime, and Harmony was fighting against Sparks. "Harmony!" called out Flurry as loud as she could. But she didn't respond. Only Sparks looked up at her. "Flurry, are you alright?!" "I'm fine! What's going on?!" "Chrysalis has Harmony under some kind of spell!" "That's right." said Chrysalis, smirking. "The little fool will do whatever I tell her to." Flurry Heart glared at Chrysalis. "You monster!" she shouted. Her horn lit up. She tried to use it on the cocoon, but her magic didn't seem to affect it. Queen Chrysalis laughed. "It's no use! Face it, little princess, I've won and you've lost. And soon, I'll have all of Equestria within my power." There was only one thing left to do. Flurry Heart called out to Harmony, as best as she could, to try and get through to her. "Harmony, snap out of it! Don't you realize what you're doing?!" "Don't waste your breath, she can't hear you." mocked Chrysalis. Sparks gritted her teeth. "I don't think I can put her off for much longer, Flurry!" Kimono and Razzaroo, struggled to break out of the slime, as they did so, they called out to Harmony as well. "Harmony, it's us! We're your friends!" cried Kimono. "Don't you remember us?!" asked Razzaroo. Morning Star also called out to her. "You've got to listen to us Harmony, you've got to break the spell!" Harmony's mind felt foggy, she could just barely hear the voices calling out to her, but she paid them no mind. She had to fight. She had to fight, other wise she'd lose her mom all over again. "That's right," whispered Chrysalis' voice in her mind. "You don't want to be alone, do you?" "I don't want to be alone." muttered Harmony. "I don't want to be alone!" She pinned Sparks to the ground hard. Sparks let out a groan, her muscles ached from all the fighting. She was too tired to keep it up. Just as Harmony was about to go on, Flurry Heart shouted to Harmony with all the volume and feeling she had. Loud enough to penetrate the spell, so that Harmony could hear her. "YOU'RE NOT ALONE!!" Harmony froze, the green glaze on her eyes flickered. She turned and looked up at Flurry Heart. "You're not alone." she repeated. "You were never alone. You had your friends, Kimono and Razzaroo, who loved and cared about you so much. I care about you too, Harmony. Because you're my friend, and as long as you have ponies who love and care about you...you are never alone." Flurry's words made something inside Harmony flicker. She began to remember, her two best friends. How they played together. How they laughed together. How they cried and comforted her when her mom passed away, helping her mourn and come to grips with her loss. They'd stayed by her side through thick and thin, always supporting her. A glimmer of multi-colored light caught her eye. She looked down at the necklace Flurry Heart had given her. The rainbow quartz shined with many different hues. A gift, from a friend. Kimono...Razz...Morning....Sparks....Flurry....my dear and special friends. "I've just about heard enough out of you!" shouted Chrysalis. She shot a powerful beam at the cocoon, making Chrysalis scream with fear. "Flurry!" the girls cried. Harmony's eyes cleared. She was no longer under the spell. "Leave her alone!" she shouted. Chrysalis snapped her attention to her and let out a laugh. "So, you broke the spell, a lot of good it'll do you. You and your friends have lost." "No,"said Harmony. "It's not over yet." "Please." scoffed Queen Chrysalis. "How do you expect to defeat me? You're nothing more than a pathetic little Pegasus." Harmony looked at each one of her friends. They'd come out all this way and endured so much in order to help her. The thought of them all supporting her, gave her strength. She felt something deep down inside her awaken. She looked at Chrysalis unblinkingly. At that moment, a prismatic spark flashed within Harmony's eyes. The queen was confused by this. Harmony smiled warmly at her friends and said, "You girls have done so much for me, thank you. Now it's time, I returned the favor." She snapped her attention back to Chrysalis. "What are you--" "Chrysalis, you are going to pay for what you've done." said Harmony boldly. She stood up tall and walked without fear toward the changeling queen. Chrysalis' eyes began to widen. She could sense an immense power starting to well up within the Pegasus. Where was it all coming from? "I won't ever let hurt me, my friends, or anypony else again." Bright shocks of white, almost like electricity shot out of Harmony, wrapping around her. The girls stared in shock. Some of the changelings who'd managed to free themselves from the wall went into the chamber, stopping in their tracks and staring in shock and amazement at the Pegasus. "Stay back!" warned Chrysalis, her voice betraying her fear. "If you come any closer, I'll hurt your friend." Harmony stopped but she looked Chrysalis in the eye, sending fear down through her body. "W-who...what are you?!" demanded Queen Chrysalis. Harmony knew she could deny it no more, and declared herself out loudly for everypony to hear. "My name is Harmony, the Spirit of Peace and Harmony, and I won't let you hurt my friends!" Her eyes filled with rainbow light, a surge of powerful magic poured out of Harmony, shooting upward and breaking through the cave ceiling. The light became blinding in the cave, as she unleashed her magic on Queen Chrysalis and the changeling. "Nooooooooooo!" cried Queen Chrysalis, turning away as the light hit her. From the high balcony of Canterlot Castle, Princesses Celestia and Luna looked out into the distance, and saw the shining beacon of light. Celestia smiled to herself. "The Spirit of Harmony, has finally returned."