Is It Everything You Dreamed, Miss Sparkle?

by Arreis Of Avalon

Question Not

Twilight closed the book and stood. She levitated it to her pack and began walking home, eager to learn more about this ‘Nightmare Moon’ and the ‘Elements of Harmony’. If she could figure it all out, maybe she could get something from the princess, or better – maybe she could find a spell or something to prevent anypony from turning dark like that again.

On her way back home, Twilight ran into three ponies. “There you are, Twilight,” one said happily. “Moon Dancer is having a little get together in the west castle courtyard. Ya wanna come?~”

Twilight hesitantly spoke up. “O-oh, sorry girls, I have uh… A lot of studying to catch up on.” Quickly, Twilight escaped the awkward situation and trotted away as fast as she could.

The pony who had spoken sighed and turned to her friends. “Does that pony do anything except study?”

The mare next to her sighed as well. “I think she’s more interested in books than friends.”

Twilight heard every word the mares said as she dashed away, but chose to ignore them. “I know I’ve heard of the Elements of Harmony,” she said to herself, focusing on her main goal. She charged into her home in Canterlot, panting slightly from all the running. “Spike? SPIIIIKE!” There was a small groan in front of her. “Spike?” Before her sat a small dizzy dragon, groaning as he sat up. He was barely of any size, but that was to be expected of a baby dragon. “There you are. Quick, find me that old copy of ‘Predictions and Prophecies’.” Twilight turned to see a present impaled on Spike’s pointy tail. She tilted her head, confused. “What’s THAT for?”

Spike glanced at it and sighed as he pulled it off. “Well,” he said in his boyish voice, “it WAS a gift for Moon Dancer, but…” Spike watched the teddy bear that had been inside, now destroyed, fall to the floor.

Twilight rolled her eyes, pushing through the numerous books in her library. “Oh, Spike, you know we don’t have time for that sort of thing.” As she pushed apart two books, she could have sworn she had seen two eyes staring back at her. She was startled, but blinked once afterwards. The eyes had disappeared. Blaming it on the sun streaming in from the windows causing sun spots, she continued looking through books.

Spike watched her looking through the books. “But we’re on a break!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and levitated a few books off of the shelf, glancing at each title in turn. “No… No… No… Nonono!” She groaned in exasperation. “SPIIIKE!”

“It’s over here!”

With a quick tug, Twilight pulled Spike over to her, glancing at the title. “Ah!” With a big smile, she let all of her books drop to the floor, taking the book she needed along with her. Spike glanced around, sighed, and began to clear up. Twilight, meanwhile, began to flip through her book. “Elements, Elements… E, e, e… Aha! ‘Elements of Harmony’… See… ‘Mare in the Moon’?”

Spike glanced over at her, confused. “’Mare in the Moon’? But that’s just an old ponies’ tale.”

Twilight flipped through another book. “Mare, mare… Aha! ‘The Mare in the Moon: Myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria… Defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned to the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!” Twilight gasped, turning to where Spike was teetering on a ladder. “Spike! Do you know what this means?!”

Spike tried to push a book into the bookshelf, teetering on the edge of falling down. “N-no…” With a ‘woaaah!’, Spike fell down. Twilight quickly teleported under him, catching him. He made a small ‘ow’ as he hit her back.

Twilight gave him a letter and quill. “Take a note please, to the Princess.”

“Okaie – Dokey.”

“My dearest teacher,” Twilight began. “My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster!”

Spike interrupted quickly. “Hold on… Preci… Preci…” He looked at Twilight, confused.

“Threshold.”

“Thre…” He glanced up again.

“Er… Brink?” He just stared at her on that one. She groaned. “Ugh, that something really bad is about to happen!” Spike nodded and kept writing. Twilight began walking towards the giant hourglass in the center of the room. She could swear she saw the face of Nightmare Moon in the glass, but knew it was just the sun reflecting light in a strange way. She continued speaking. “For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she is about to return to Equestria and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true! I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twi…light… Spark…le! Got it!”

“Great. Send it.”

“Now?”

“Of course!”

“Uh…” Spike shrugged. “I dunno, Twilight. Princess Celestia is a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration, and it’s, like, the day after tomorrow.”

“That’s just it, Spike! The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration! It’s imperative the Princess is told right away.”

“Impera… I-impera…”

Twilight growled, an almost unpony like sound. “IMPORTANT!”

Spike groaned as he fell back into the shelf behind him. He sat up after a few books fell on him. “Okay, Okay!” He grabbed the letter and burst it into flames, sending it to the Princess with magic. It was something Celestia herself had taught him. He wasn’t quite sure how he had learned the magic, but it was interesting to say the least. “There. It’s on its way.” He smirked. “But I wouldn’t hold your breath~”

“Oh, I’m not worried, Spike. The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she’s been my mentor, she’s never once doubted me.” She’s never going to, either. Twilight smirked, knowing for a fact that she had everything under control. Spike gasped and burped, a letter appearing in the smoke of his flame. “See? I knew she would want to take immediate action.”

Spike cleared his throat and began reciting the letter. “My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and trust you completely…” Twilight smiled. “But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!” Twilight gasped, shocked. Her own mentor called her books DUSTY and OLD?

Twilight knew it didn’t happen often, but sometimes, just sometimes, a massive surge of rage towards her mentor would bubble up within her. She didn’t know where it came from, but it always went away quickly. She swallowed her anger and listened to Spike read the rest of the letter.
+~+~+~

“The night… Will last… FOREVER!” Nightmare Moon laughed her sickening laugh. Twilight watched, scared for her life – and the life of all those in Equestria. She had failed, and she knew it. There was no way she could fix this. The spark didn’t work. Everyone she knew, everything she had hoped for failed. Everything was gone…

Unless I am at my most powerful.

Twilight didn’t know where the thought had come from. But she liked it.

Her ears twitched as she heard the voices of the ponies who had followed her all this way. Those ponies… They had followed her the entire time. Twilight had never considered herself as a strong leader… why had these ponies followed her? Because you have power… Magic. Twilight gasped as she felt something spark within her, much like it had when she was a child. That foreign magic, something she had no control over. But it felt weaker this time, took longer to rise to the surface. Twilight didn’t understand what was happening, her mind and heart racing. Finally, she discovered a possible solution, it HAD to be the answer. “You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony, just like that?” Twilight smirked. “Well, you’re wrong, because the SPIRITS of the Elements of Harmony are RIGHT. HERE!” Twilight knew it was a long shot, but these ponies had followed her through it all – they had to be part of it all. They just had to be. And it only made sense that they would represent the Elements – Just look at them!

Twilight felt that magic bubble up again, but knew somehow her horn was not needed. In turn, all of the shattered remains of the elements rose up, glowing with a different light each. “What,” Nightmare Moon asked, worried.

Twilight began to list off all of these ponies traits, trying to discern the truth in all this mess. “Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty. Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness. Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter. Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity. And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty.” Twilight smirked. “The spirits of these 5 ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!”

“You still don’t have the sixth element! The spark didn’t work!”

Twilight shook her head, somehow knowing that Nightmare Moon meant the spark of magic within her. Magic… Yes, it all made sense. “But it did. A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you,” Twilight said, turning to the five spirits of harmony. “To see you… How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized you all… are my FRIENDS.”

In a spark of light, an orb or stone appeared above her head. Twilight knew it was her magic that had made it appear. My magic. Yes. It’s mine now. Nightmare Moon flinched back from the light and Twilight smirked. “You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the… the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element. The Element of… Magic.” In a burst of magic, Twilight closed her eyes. She felt herself lift into the air, all of them glowing. She could see the light behind her eyelids, shining brighter and brighter. She heard Nightmare Moon screaming.

All this power… all the magic… Twilight couldn’t contain it any further. Her eyes opened to reveal the brightness within, pure white shining forth in a blaze of untamable intensity. She heard a faint voice, or at least she thought she heard something. The failure is gone. You will do well, Spark. Very well…
+~+~+~

Twilight awoke, groaning. She didn’t remember what had happened. There had been a light and then… She shrugged it off. It was probably nothing, honestly. She had just been through a tramatic experience, so it was sure to leave some residual effects. Around her, she heard everypony talking about their wonderful new necklaces. “Gee, Twiligh,” Applejack said. “I thought you were just spoutin’ a lot o’ hooey, but… I reckon we really do represent the Elements of Friendship.”

“Indeed you do.”

All of the ponies gathered turned to see the sun beginning to rise. From the light came the form of none other than Princess Celestia. While everypony else bowed, Twilight gasped in joy. “Princess Celestia!” She quickly ran up to her teacher, nudging her head under hers.

“Twilight Sparkle,” her mentor responded. “My faithful student, I knew you could do it.”

Twilight looked at her, confused. “But… you told me it was all an old pony tale.”

“I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return, and I knew 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 glanced at her newfound friends, smiling. “Now,” the Princess continued, “if only another will as well.”

Everypony turned to the small form of a blue alicorn, forgotten by all there. “Princess Luna.” The mare looked up, gasping in fright. Princess Celestia walks up to the mare, her wings flared in anger and her eyes hot with rage. “It has been 1000 years since I have seen you like this.” She sat down next to the alicorn, her eyes softening. “Time to put our differences behind us.” Celestia fought against the need to cry as she gazed upon the mare in the moon. “We were meant to rule together, little sister.”

“Sister,” everypony said in unison.

“Will you accept my friendship,” Celestia asked, standing as she dreaded the wrong answer.

The little alicorn hung her head, cringed, and charged forward to Celestia, tears rolling down her face. “I-I’m so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister…”

Celestia could not hold back her tears any longer. “I’ve missed you too,” she said with a relived sigh.

Pinkie burst into tears, then smiled brightly. “Hey! You know what this calls for?!”
+~+~+~

Twilight smiled as she moved the last of her luggage into her library home. Her mentor had agreed to let her stay here, in Ponyville. She would finally get to learn about this… spark some more. She blew out the candles and went to bed. On the way to her room, she could’ve sworn she had heard a voice… That’s right, she had heard a voice earlier, when she had defeated Nightmare Moon.

She was too weak… We need a new trial.

Twilight yawned, too tired to question her own personal thoughts this late at night. Anytime she tried to focus on the thought, it slipped through her focus like silk through her hooves. All in all, it was probably time for her to go to sleep. After blowing out her candles, Twilight lay down on her bed and drifted off to sleep.
+~+~+~

“What do you see, Luna?”

Luna’s horn was sparking as she analyzed pony’s dreams, as had been her job eons ago. “It’s just black right now, but I could swear I see something in her dreams…”

Celestia paced around the room, thinking. “Do you think it could be?”

Luna nodded. “It is altogether possible. I felt something happen up there on the moon. Something left me. I even remember his words…”

“His?”

“Sister, did you really think I would disobey you of my own accord? Not at all… Darkness invaded my mind, but all Darkness must have a name.”

“And what is the name of this Darkness?”

Luna gasped, her spell sparking bright. “N-no…”

“Luna??” Celestia trotted over quickly, worried. “A-are you alright, Luna?”

Luna’s eyes flared white for an instant as she grinned. “WE ARE FINE, CELESTIA. AND WE BELIEVE THY REIGN SHALL END IN DUE TIME. THE RISE OF MINE SPARK WILL DEVOUR THY WILL, BODY AND SOUL. PREPARE THYSELF… FOR DOOM.” Luna gasped in pain as her spell ended and she fell to the floor. Celestia gasped and quickly caught her sister. Luna had fainted, but Celestia knew that this was not the last time the Darkness would invade her sister’s mind. She did a quick memory spell, trying to delve into her sister’s mind.

In the darkness, Celestia could see the form of Twilight, but darker. Much, much darker. “What is your name,” she heard herself call, though echoed around as though in a cavern.

“My name,” the dark form said, “is Ardor, Entity and God of Darkness. And you, Celestia, are my victim.”
Celestia gasped in pain as she was hurled from her sister’s mind. Luna shivered in her sleep. Celestia glanced up at the faceless moon, scared for her student and for her sister. Her mind flashed back to the promise she had made, all those years ago. “I am princess of Equestria,” she repeated to herself softly. “As such, it is my duty to eliminate threats to our well being. I will terminate this threat… Even if it means doing the unthinkable.”

Celestia carried her sister to her room and laid her gently on the bed. She then went for her nightly walk in the glass hall. Here, all the stained glass images were framed and stored. She went to the one she always did – her sister’s darkness enveloping her. She stared at it all night, thinking to herself. “Luna,” she whispered. In a pang of sadness, she remembered her sister’s change. She imagined the same happening to her dear student. “Twilight… I am sorry… but I cannot help you from this path.” She hung her head sadly. “I couldn’t help my sister… and now I will fail you as well.”

The Princess of the Sun wept herself to sleep as she did every night. Just this once, however, her sister did not.

Author's Note:

*yawns* Enjoy folks. Stayed up late for you all to read it =u=

Comments

[DrakeFang]

Ardor, hm?~ Interesting~

[BroSlayer20]

Thank you for this chapter, Arreis.

[Arreis Of Avalon]

3534093 Why this chapter in specific? ^w^

[BroSlayer20]

3534224I feel like now it's going to get even more exciting.

[BroSlayer20]

3534228Now that the threat is known and what Celestia said at the end.

[Arreis Of Avalon]

3534231 MHM. I'm excited >w<