//------------------------------// // Friendship (and Light) is Magic (Part 3) // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// The castle of the royal pony sisters seemed to have been in ruins for over a thousand years, though most of it seemed to be intact. The group entered the rotted wooden doors that was the entrance to the main hall of the castle, Sora walking in first with his Keyblade out, just in case any Heartless might be lurking in the dim room. No signs of any yellow eyes or dark voids they come out from to ambush them. "It's all clear...for now." Everyone looked around in awe, seeing what used to be a grand castle in what little glory it still had after a thousand years. With a bit of searching, they managed to find what they were looking for in what appeared to be the throne room. Sitting on a circular, artistic pedestal, resting on individual platforms, were five stone orbs, which must have been the Elements of Harmony. "There they are." Sora carefully lowered each sphere off their resting places to the ground, placing them in a circle. "But there's only five of them. Where's the sixth one?" Rainbow asked. "The book said that once the five elements are united by a spark, the sixth one appears," Twilight said, staring at them curiously. "I have no idea what this spark is, but I'm going to figure this out." "Then let's give her some space, everypony," Applejack said as the other mares headed outside of the room to let her concentrate. Sora stayed behind, both to make sure Twilight wasn't disturbed and wondering if his own magic was the possible spark they needed. While the lavender mare's horn glowed, trying to find the spell to activate the Elements of Harmony, Sora began to think back on the journey through the forest. Some of the trials they went through were quite odd, almost as if they seemed to be tests. The Large Body causing the girls to slide down the slope and Applejack assuring Twilight she would be ok, Fluttershy's kindness toward the manticore immediately calming it down as he helped pull out the thorn, Pinkie Pie's random song and laughing dispelling the illusion of the scary trees, Rarity giving up her tail to give to the sea serpent to fix his mustache, and Rainbow Dash staying with the group over the Shadowbolts' offer to join them. That last two were the strangest; the serpent explaining that a blue mist had flew through and cut his fabulous mustache, and the three ponies that actually lived in what the others called the most dangerous place in Equestria. The way the outfits those pegasi were wearing seemed dark and matched Nightmare Moon's body. It was obvious the Mare in the Moon was trying to deter them, but in the end she failed, and ironically gave Sora a theory about the Elements of Harmony. He soon heard Twilight groan, unable to activate the stones. "I can't get them to spark!" she complained, leering at the five orbs that were supposed to be gems. "This isn't working...If only those books gave us some more information on how they work. And the sixth one is missing!" It soon hit him as he thought back to the letter Celestia had given him the day before the preparations. Aside from the crossed out writing, the alicorn wishing to have her sister spared, she also mentioned to protect Twilight and five other ponies. And speak of the devil, the five other ponies along with Twilight just happened to be the mares that were with them, the same friends he had made in Ponyville. She knew something about her pupil and the other girls, but before Sora could make his guess, he had to see if it really was true. "...Hey, Twilight." Twilight looked over to Sora. "You know, there was something weird about the Elements of Harmony I couldn't help noticing. Each one represents an individual element: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty." "...And? What's odd about that?" she asked. "Don't the others have similar qualities of each element?" Sora pondered as he looked down at the five stones. "Applejack is an honest, hardworking mare. Fluttershy loves animals and doesn't have a single angry bone in her body. Pinkie is random and hilarious. Rarity's very giving to others. And Rainbow is pretty faithful to those she's close to." "What are you getting at?" she asked again, not understanding his logic. "Well, I'm just guessing here, but I think it's possible that they might-" Suddenly, Sora was blindsided by a purple gauntlet that flew in out of nowhere, slamming him hard into the wall. "Sora!?" Twilight panicked as, from behind the ruined pillars in the room, the other parts of a mobile suit of purple armor joined the gauntlet, the body of it wearing a heart shaped emblem on its chest. The teen squinted his eyes open, watching the armor form together, an old Heartless he had faced in the past when his journey began. "Nice to see you again, Guard Armor. Time sure does fly." Soon, they heard Nightmare Moon's laughter echo as she appeared on the steps where the thrones were from her starry mist form. "Nightmare Moon..." Twilight saw her approaching the Elements of Harmony, her horn glowing brightly. "No!" She ran straight for the alicorn, and as soon as she got close enough, both mares and the Elements of Harmony teleported somewhere else. "Twilight!" Summoning his Keyblade again, Sora slashed the gauntlet keeping him trapped against the wall, making it step back as he landed on the ground. "Darn it...She's all alone with her. How I didn't hear you clanking around, but you're not going to stop me like before." Suddenly, an invisible shield appeared in a major potion of the room, the teen knowing he was trapped in this arena until one of them would fall. Having heard the commotion from the other room, the rest of the mares ran in, surprised to see the armor Heartless. "Sora!" Rainbow Dash tried to rush in to try to help, only to run into the invisible barrier trapping them inside. "What the hay!?" "Girls, don't worry about me! I'll be fine!" Sora flipped backwards as the Guard Armor's arms tried to punch him. "Twilight's with Nightmare Moon! You have to stop her!" "Come on, ya'll!" Applejack said as she lead the others through the castle to find Twilight. Sora quickly blocked another punch, watching them run deeper in the castle, hoping they find Twilight before Nightmare Moon could harm her. "Alright. Let's make this quick. I was sick of fighting you the first time, and it was annoying fighting you a second time!" He shoved the giant fist back, releasing a powerful shockwave as he stepped forward, stunning the limb, and began striking it. While the limb was still stunned, he flipped it around and thrust a free hoof into it, giving himself a temporary arm. He flew toward the body of the Heartless, where the heart was really located, throwing a flurry of punches into its chest and small helmet of a head. With one hard punch, he sent it flying along with the rest of its parts, scattering each body part. Leaping into the air, he took care of the gauntlet he managed to injure first, destroying it as it exploded into several green healing orbs. While he dealt with the other gauntlet, he avoided the legs as they began to stomp toward him, weaving between the individually moving feet. He blocked one of the feet, causing it to stagger back and knock over its twin, temporarily stunning them as he hacked through each one. Eventually, the rest of the limbs were destroyed, only leaving the head and body of the Guard Armor. The body began spinning rapidly as it lowered itself to the ground, acting like a top as it charged at the Keyblade wielder. Sora leapt up over it, latching onto its spinning head and twirling along with it. He pulled the head off of its body, kicking it hard and away from its dizzy body. Keeping his spinning momentum, he dove down and thrust his blade deep through the top of the body. While inside its chest, he managed to pierce its weak spot, the Heartless shuddering heavily as it shot out a large heart from where its head was, disappearing from existence. With the Guard Armor beaten, the barrier around their battlefield disappeared along with the Heartless. His vision caught sight of some magic up in a tower around the ruins, where Nightmare Moon and Twilight had ended up. Flapping his wings, Sora quickly flew toward the tower, hoping the unicorn was ok and able to hold her own against the alicorn. If there were any Heartless in there, she wouldn't stand a chance, neither mare would. Up in one of the towers that still stood around the ruins, Nightmare Moon, Twilight, and the five stone elements appeared out of thin air, Twilight thrown aside and stuck in a daze after jumping along with the dark alicorn's teleportation spell. Quickly shaking her head to snap out of her daze, the unicorn looked back at the cackling alicorn, staring at the circle of spheres. "Finally. This was where she hid them." Nightmare Moon was about to touch one of them, only to yell out in shock as she was struck my a magical beam, hitting the side of her face. Growling, she turned her head to face Twilight, the mare stomping her hoof as she prepared to charge her. "You insolent little foal. How dare you strike me!? You wish to rebel against your true ruler, then you'll suffer my wrath!" A dark aura began to appear around Nightmare Moon by her growing rage, the power making Twilight's skin crawl. She stood her ground, her horn glowing as the two mares ran toward each other. Before they could clash, Nightmare Moon using the new power growing from her to end the unicorn's life, Twilight teleported away from her, confusing the alicorn as she appeared next to the Elements of Harmony. "Come on," she prayed, forcing every ounce of magic within her to activate the five stones. "Just one...little...spark!" "No!" Nightmare Moon was too late to try and stop her as Twilight managed to activate the Elements of Harmony, the stones glowing brightly and floating of their own accord. They began to spiral the alicorn, a look of fear on her face as she couldn't escape from the orbiting artifacts. "No! This can't be happening!" Twilight watched with glee, the Elements of Harmony responding to her magic. She was going to save Equestria, stop Nightmare Moon, and save Princess Celestia. However, that hope was diminished as the elements stopped glowing and landed around the alicorn with a thud. They didn't work. "No..." Nightmare Moon's panic turned into a malicious grin, laughing maniacally at the now useless gems that had banished her a thousand years ago. Rearing her hooves up in the air, she stomped them down hard to the ground, shattering the Elements of Harmony to pieces. Twilight sat where she stood in defeat, Equestria's only hope destroyed. "They failed..." "Of course they failed!" Nightmare Moon gloated. "Only five elements, and the sixth was nowhere to be found! You will never see your precious princess or your sun! I will cast Equestria into an eternal darkness, my night lasting for all eternity!" The alicorn's horn began to charge again, her blue aura slowly turning black, dark electrical sparks shooting out from the built up mana. "And for striking my royal face, you will be the first to be punished by my power!" Twilight couldn't move, too drained of her magic and shocked at their last possible hope to save everyone. As soon as Nightmare Moon fired, unleashing a powerful beam of dark energy at her. She flinched, awaiting her inevitable fate, only for Sora to fly in and stood in front of her, blocking the beam as it tried to push him back. With a powerful grunt, he deflected the beam back at Nightmare, countering her magical beam, casting a barrier around her to block her own attack. "This is getting out of hand, Nightmare Moon!" Sora said, seeing the dark aura billowing off the mare. "Fight back against the darkness! If you don't, you'll turn into a Heartless!" "...How did you survive that armor? That's impossible! That was the strongest Heartless that obeyed me!" Nightmare Moon growled, glaring at the Keyblade wielder. "Nightmare Moon, please listen to me!" Sora pleaded, spreading out his forelegs as he stood on two legs. "You can't let the darkness consume you! You may think the Heartless are listening to you, but they sense the darkness in your heart! They're waiting for the right moment to strike and turn you into one of them, a Heartless as powerful as the Guard Armor! Maybe even more!" "And you think you know about these creatures more than me!?" the mare questioned. "What more can you even do!? The Elements of Harmony are destroyed! Your magic may be unfamiliar, but it's not as strong as the power I have now!" "What?" Sora looked down at the ground around Nightmare Moon, shards of the Elements of Harmony littered on the crumbled stone floor. "It's over, Sora," he heard Twilight say, looking back at the distraught mare. "We failed..." "No we haven't." His ears perked up when he heard the others climbing up the stairway of the tower they were in, the girls a bit too late to find Twilight before he did. Sora helped Twilight back up on her hooves, staying positive as the Elements of Harmony weren't truly gone. "You haven't won yet, Nightmare Moon!" "...You have to be the biggest idiot on the face of Equestria," Nightmare Moon said. "The Elements of Harmony are gone! Without the five elements, the sixth one would never appear!" "That's where you're wrong." The rest of the group had finally arrived, standing behind Sora and Twilight. "Those stones may have been the Elements of Harmony, but those spirits of those elements are standing before you!" "What?" Twilight asked. "What!?" Nightmare Moon exclaimed. "Huh!?" the others behind them asked, highly confused. "Twilight, remember what I said about the girls earlier? About their personal traits?" Sora asked the confused lavender unicorn. "If the Elements of Harmony represented certain traits, would it be possible for someone to live with that element as their livelihood?" Twilight looked back at the five mares that had joined them on this perilous journey. With Sora's theory, as well as seeing how each pony shared a familiar trait to each individual element, what the teen had suggested was starting to sound true. Her eyes sparkled, her despair gone as she turned to face Nightmare Moon, baffled by Sora's words. "Sora's right...The spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!" The shards around Nightmare Moon began to float and glow an individual color, shocking the alicorn as they flew away from her and over to the others. They were glowing orange, red, blue, pink, and purple. "Applejack, reassuring me of my doubts as I was close to falling to my death, represents the spirit of Honesty!" The orange shards floated down to the farm mare, circling around her as she watched them in awe. "Fluttershy, taming an enraged manticore with compassion, not violence, represents the spirit of Kindness!" The pink shards flew around the yellow pegasus, wincing as they hovered around her. "Pinkie Pie, laughing in the face of fear and danger, represents the spirit of Laughter!" The blue shards hovered around the bouncy, smiling earth pony. "Rarity, giving something she deems as value to somepony as a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity!" The purple shards hovered around the white unicorn, her eyes sparkling brightly as she eyed the glowing shards. "And Rainbow Dash, choosing her friends more than what her heart desires, represents the spirit of Loyalty!" The red shards, the last of elements, floated over to the rainbow-maned pegasus. "B-But there are only five!" Nightmare Moon shouted, looking nervous and failing to hide her fear. "You're still missing the sixth element! That spark of yours didn't even work!" "But it did, and it was a completely different spark," Twilight said as she looked at everyone. "I realized what it was after how happy I felt to see you all, how much I cared about you." She looked at Sora, giving her a grin. "That spark ignited in me...and I then realized that all of you are my friends." Suddenly, appearing above them in a flash of light, a sixth stone orb floated above Twilight, Nightmare Moon gasping in shock. "With those elements united by that spark, Nightmare Moon, a spark that resides in our hearts...That brings the sixth element; the Element of Magic!" The shards and the final element glowed brightly, each of them transforming out of their stone forms and into the true power of the Elements of Harmony. The shards turned into golden necklaces around Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack's necks, a gem on each of them that matched their cutie marks and the color of the shard that surrounded them. The Element of Magic transformed into a golden tiara, a pink star resting on the top of it that matched her own cutie mark. "No...No! NO! This isn't happening!" Nightmare Moon shouted, the dark aura around her growing more and more. "I'm not going to be beaten by these accursed elements again!" Heartless began appearing around the alicorn, hundreds of Shadows leering at the seven with their yellow eyes. They charged forward to take their lives, Sora standing in front of the mares to protect them. Before he could swipe at them, he felt a strange source of light come from behind him, and the Shadows all stopped and stared at what was behind him. He turned his head, watching the Elements of Harmony making the six mares glow brightly, making them hover in the air. The gems began glowing, and as Twilight opened her eyes, they glowed white, a light shining out from the elements and formed a powerful rainbow aura. The magic shot forward, passing through Sora and the Shadows, the Heartless completely eradicated by the light of the Elements of Harmony. As they circled around Nightmare Moon, the alicorn screamed in terror, unable to escape the spiraling magic that had banished her so long ago. While the mare tried to escape, Sora saw a keyhole appear inside of the Elements of Harmony's aura, feeling his Keyblade pulse with light. "A keyhole?" Before he tried to lock, or unlock, whatever the elements were giving him, he looked into the keyhole, gasping in surprise at what was inside of it. In a dark abyss, he saw a small blue alicorn curled in a ball, surrounded by a small light that was about to fade away from the darkness around it. Through the darkness, he saw a pair of blue reptilian eyes, similar to Nightmare Moon's, looking down at her and getting closer and closer. "That must be Celestia's real sister...This might be my only chance to save her." Sora aimed his Keyblade at the keyhole, summoning a brilliant light at the tip of the blade, and shot out a beam of light into the keyhole. The light merged with the rainbow aura swirling around the flailing alicorn, Nightmare Moon screaming in agony as the light began destroying the darkness inside of her. The dark aura was expelled out of her body, disappearing into the air as the light grew intense, temporarily blinding the Keyblade wielder for a moment. After a moment passed, his vision slowly returning, Sora heard the girls behind him gently hit the ground, rendered unconscious from the overwhelming power of the elements they had used. As soon as he was able to see again, he watched as the rainbow whirlwind slowly faded away, darkness and a blue aura dissipating along with it and over the same filly that now laid where Nightmare Moon once stood. Dismissing his Keyblade, he slowly approached the real sister of Celestia, watching her stir awake. As she looked up at him, she grew scared, unable to move. Unlike Nightmare Moon, her coat was a light shade of azure and her hair wasn't ethereal, a slightly darker shade of blue compared to her body. Her cutie mark was a crescent moon, resting on a black splotch on her flank, almost as if her cutie mark was in the night sky. "Easy. I'm not going to hurt you." He gently reached a hoof out to her. "You're safe now, Nightmare Moon." "...T-That...is not my name," she said, still scared of him. "Why are you not mad? Everything I've done...I do not deserve such kindness." "You can ask Celestia," he said. Tentatively, the filly reached her hoof out to his, Sora helping the small alicorn back up on her hooves. Soon, the other mares slowly began waking up from unconsciousness, wondering what had just happened. While they were admiring the new accessories given to them by the Elements of Harmony, Rarity having her luxurious tail back to its full length by their magic, Twilight noticed Sora with the young alicorn, thinking she was still Nightmare Moon. "Sora, get away from her!" Twilight said, trying to drag the teen away from her. "Wait, Twilight," he calmly said. "She's not Nightmare Moon any longer." "He is right, Twilight." From the crumbled opening in the tower, everyone watched the sun begin to rise as Celestia appeared from the light, landing gracefully before them. While the others bowed to the princess, Twilight ran up to her and, to Sora's surprise, hugged the ruler. "I knew you could do it. All of you." "What?" Twilight asked. "But...you told me that Nightmare Moon was just a pony tale. And it turned out true in the end...You believed me?" "I had always known this day would come," Celestia began explaining. "If you remember what I wrote to you in that letter, I told you to make some friends. I had seen the magical potential inside of you to stop Nightmare Moon, and it would only awaken once you had let true friendship in your heart. Along with the power of light." Sora gave a toothy grin, moving his forelegs behind his head as the princess winked at him. She approached the Keyblade wielder, the younger sister hiding behind him in fear of her older sibling's presence. "Sora, you've done well. And you have saved my little sister, Luna." "Sister!?" the mares all exclaimed, looking at each other in shock at the alicorn filly hiding behind him. "Well, I figured that also had to be a special objective you wanted to give me," Sora said. "Though, maybe you should have started over with another letter instead of sending me one where whatever you didn't want to tell me was scratched out." "I was unsure if your magic could also save my sister." Celestia looked down at Luna, Sora stepping aside so the two sisters could rekindle their relationship after being apart for so long. The white alicorn lowered herself to Luna's level, the blue alicorn trembling in fear. "I'm so sorry, Luna...I wish I could have been a better sister back then. I've made a huge mistake, letting my own ego blind me from your pain. I had only made it worse by banishing you, panicked by what you became. "After what Sora had told me about the Heartless...I was so scared for you." Celestia began shedding tears, surprising the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, never seeing their all powerful princess showing any sorrow in the past thousand years. "What you turned into...I was afraid your heart would have been forever tainted by your anger and bitterness toward me. You would have turned into a creature of darkness...and I would have lost you forever." Luna's eyes welled up with tears, her heart filled with guilt for all she did, even making her older sister upset at her own actions to try and stop her. "I want us to start over, and be a family again...You deserve to rule alongside me...Please...forgive me..." Luna's tears finally began streaming down her face, burying her face in Celestia's chest as she hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, sister! It was my fault...I should be asking your forgiveness, and I don't deserve it!" Celestia hugged her sister back as they both silently wept in each other's embrace. "I deserve to be banished again." "Don't say that, Luna," Celestia said, holding her sister close. "You're back now. You're no longer the Mare in the Moon anymore." "I missed you, Tia," Luna sobbed, nuzzling Celestia. "I missed you, too." The mares got all misty eyed as they watched the alicorn sisters reunite with each other, Pinkie bawling her eyes out as her tears streamed out like waterfalls. Sora leaned back against the wall, happy to see Celestia and Luna had gotten back together. Even in the most difficult of situations, none of the injuries he's been given mattered as long as he helped bring peace between two friends, siblings, lovers, anyone, saving them from a terrible fate or the darkness that dares to engulf the world. With the sun now risen back in the sky and everyone headed back safely to Ponyville, the entire town was celebrating the return of their princess, the sun, and even the return of Princess Luna. Celestia had then announced to Ponyville that her pupil, Twilight Sparkle, would stay in town to learn any new lessons in friendship and report them to her. The unicorn was glad to be staying, not wanting to be apart from her new best friends, especially Sora, the Keyblade wielder, a being from another world. Without him, none of them would have lasted long in the Everfree Forest, she wouldn't have discovered how the Elements of Harmony worked, and if he wasn't around, the Heartless could have easily overcome them. Celestia and Luna headed back to Canterlot via chariot, pulled by their royal guard pegasi, and the celebration went off in full swing. Sora took a little break from the festivities, sitting on top of a cloud as he watched everyone party down below, a popsicle stick in his mouth. After he gave Pinkie Pie the recipe to make Sea-Salt ice cream, it became a really popular ice cream treat for Ponyville, and it tasted far better than how Scrooge McDuck, Donald's uncle, made them. "Sora!" He looked down and saw Twilight waving at him, wanting his attention. Sora leapt off the edge of his cloudy seat, landing gently on the ground without the use of his wings. "I'm glad I found you." "I was just taking a small break from the partying. I may be a goofball, but I'm not like Pinkie Pie." He took the popsicle stick out of his mouth, licking some of sticky, frozen treat off his lips. "I have my limits." "Actually, I just wanted to talk with you a little bit," Twilight said. "...Mostly about what happened at the castle." "Like what?" he asked. "When you guys shot out that rainbow?" "Well...yes, but about what you said when our friends were the spirits that embodied the Elements of Harmony." Sora tilted his head as he waited for Twilight to speak after she went quiet. "...Did you know we were the Elements of Harmony?" "...I actually took a bit of a guess on that," the teen chuckled. "But I had a feeling it would work out in the end." "...So, if your bluff failed, Nightmare Moon could have killed us?" Twilight asked, glaring at the nonchalant stallion. "It wasn't exactly a bluff. Just hearing the five different elements kinda reminded me of one important factor with everyday life; friendship." The unicorn only stared at him, the same thing she had just discovered in order to activate them. "Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, and Kindness. All five of them are related to making friends. And having all six elements together, it's like a group of friends that remain inseparable. And one thing I've learned on my travels is that friends can be more powerful than the toughest of foes." "...Really?" Sora nodded, giving her that same goofy grin that made up his personality. "...Well, if you give an example of all five of those elements when we met...I'll be crossing honesty off the list." "Huh!?" Sora blanched, letting out a nervous chuckle as he scratched his head. "Well, I wasn't supposed to tell you or the others what I've been hiding." "Yeah. I know...but you told us anyway," Twilight said. "How can you be sure none of us would tell everypony else in Equestria?" "Because I trust you girls." Sora stood next to Twilight and wrapped a wing over her back. "And you can trust me now that I told you everything, and I can protect you all from dangerous threats, right?" "...You haven't exactly told us everything, Sora." Twilight pulled Sora's wing off of her. "But, I guess I can consider you a friend." "Great! The more friends, the better!" Sora pat Twilight on the back and headed back to the others to continue partying. "Let's get back to the fun! And you have got to try this Sea-Salt ice cream! Pinkie makes it ten times better than the actual creator of this ice cream!" Twilight just shook her head, never going to get used to Sora's upbeat optimism. "He is so weird..." She couldn't help but think back on this morning's journey through the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony. He saved her life several times: rescuing her from falling off that cliff, the manticore, nearly running off a chasm when they reached the castle, and even saving her from Nightmare Moon's more powerful and dangerous magical beam. Her cheeks turned red, her heart pounding heavily against her chest. "...But why do I want to know more about him?"