The Bystander

by Kerberos

Mare in the Moon

Author's Note:

No editor this time, but a really long chapter. Enjoy!

Mare in the Moon

Iron was working on some horse shoes for the Apple family. He wanted to get ahead of the game when it came time to order them. They went through the shoes within a month. Applejack and her brother, Big Macintosh, didn’t need resizing all that often. Applebloom on the other hoof, Iron would have to measure her when it came time to order.

He hung up the shoes on a rack and took a break. The last four years have been ups and downs with a certain rainbow mare. He wasn’t blind to what she was doing when she asked him to watch her practice, or when she asked if she could help him with some work. She put him behind two weeks with her help. Rainbow laid off a bit after the rake incident. Iron wasn’t looking to be with anypony just yet. He just wasn’t ready. But that didn’t stop her from giggling and acting like a school filly around him.

He was sipping on some of the Apple family cider that he grew accustomed to.

Rarity backed down after his first day. ‘Probably because of Rainbow’. She no longer commissioned anything from him when the unicorn jeweler set up shop. Iron didn’t mind in the least that Jewel Crafter showed up. In fact, he was more than happy to give her Rarity’s contract.

Iron set his cider down and went to shovel more coal into the fire.

He never really did anything with Pinkie and Fluttershy. They never needed much from him when it came to anything metal related. He saw them whenever Rainbow invited him to a picnic or some other kind of outing.

Pinkie tended to irritate Iron with her rambling. She never gave him a chance to breathe and was always popping out of nowhere.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, grew a bit more accustomed to him. She still wouldn’t talk to him directly. Iron felt a little hurt when she would be talking to her friends and then choke up when he came around. He stopped trying after the first two years. Her friends said it was nothing personal, but Iron could never reach out to her.

Iron had other friends that he made. He got to know the local DJ, Vinyl Scratch. She had a club towards the outside circle of Ponyville. It was a nice place to get a drink whenever Iron needed to relax. She also needed a lot of work done since her entire setup had some kind of metal. It was mostly aluminum, which Iron was glad to work with.

He also got to know both Big Mac and Thunderlane. They would usually meet him at the club every Friday. They would talk about all kinds of things like work or home life. Thunderlane was on the weather team and was currently dating both Cloudchaser and Flitter. How he pulled that off, Iron would never know. Big Mac was married to his work. He never got out much, other than their usual Friday night meetups.

After he finished up his shoveling, Iron decided to call it a day. Nopony would be in today. Today was the Summer Sun Celebration, and Celestia herself was going to be in Ponyville. Iron and Celestia sent letters back and forth throughout the years. She would talk about her student. Celestia would also send some things over politics, mostly to complain though. Iron, in turn, would send her projects that he would be working on, and the friends he has made or has tried to make.

Iron walked into his home to take a nap. He would be up all night, as was tradition in Ponyville. He was going to have a nice breakfast with the only motherly figure in his life after the celebration.

Over the skies in between Canterlot and Ponyville, a royal chariot flew through the sky. On the chariot sat a lavender unicorn and a baby dragon. The unicorn was pouting over the railing, while the dragon was reading off a letter.

“My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends.” Twilight responded with a deep sigh.

“P.S. I would like you to check up on a friend of mine. His name is Iron Smoke and I would like to know how he has been getting settled in Ponyville. I miss him like a mother would miss her son. You would be doing me a great service by doing this task.” Twilight looked up in a confused manner after she heard the last part of the letter.

“Spike. The princess doesn't have a son. Even if she did, she would have told me since I am her personal student.”

“I wonder what she meant by that then,” Spike responded.

“I don’t know, but I am going to find out who this Iron Smoke is after I check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.” Twilight finished with a smack on the railings. She was determined to find out this mystery pony that she was just now told about.

“So, does that mean you will give up on this Nightmare Moon thing and go and make some friends?” Spike said full of hope.

Twilight facehoofed. She forgot about the Nightmare Moon prophecy that got her sent to Ponyville in the first place. “No. I will wait till after the celebration to find Iron and the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends. I'll just check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to a library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return.”

“Well, at least the princess arranged for you to stay in a library.” Spike inwardly groaned. His chances of a day just making friends and having a good time were thrown out the window. They felt the weight of gravity overcome the magic that held them onto the chariot as they descended towards the small town.

Iron woke up with a loud knocking at the door. He begrudgedly hopped off his bed and headed towards the door. When he opened the door, he came face to face with the town’s local hyperactive pony. Iron let out a yawn before he addressed the pony.

“Hello Pinkie Pie. What can I do for you?” Iron wiped the rest of the sleep out of his eyes.

“Hiya Smokey! I just wanted to invite you to a party to welcome the new pony in town!” Pinkie reached back and pulled an invitation out of nowhere. Rather than questioning where it came from, Iron looked it over. The party was going to be held at five o’clock at the library. He didn’t think anypony ever went to the library. The local librarian resigned a few months ago and the place has been empty ever since.

“Yeah. I’ll be there Pinkie,” Iron said, still half asleep.

“Okie Dokie Lokie! See you there!” She gave a bigger smile then hopped down the road.

Iron shut his door and laid the invitation down on the coffee table in the middle of his livingroom. He was still waking up, and was feeling a little bit hungry. Iron debated whether to go out to eat or just make something at home. He decided to make something here since some of his favorite places might not be open.

He walked into the kitchen and made himself a quick hay sandwich. He was eating his sandwich over the counter while thinking to himself. ‘No orders for today and I am bored out of my mind… I need to get out more.’ With the final bite of his sandwich, Iron headed out the door into town.

When he got into town, the streets were packed with ponies but no stalls or shops, just ponies who were going to their own parties and get togethers. Iron was walking through one of the less crowded areas when he heard the boasts of a certain pegasus.

“Hey, I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat.” He saw Rainbow bragging to a lavender pony with a mane that could rival Pinkie’s tangled mess. He also saw, what looked to be, a small purple lizard by her side.

“Prove it,” retorted the ignorant pony. ‘You did it now,’ Iron thought. With a whoosh, Rainbow took off into the sky, clearing all the clouds in sight. ‘One Mississippneigh. Two Mississippneigh...’ Iron began counting off the seconds that Rainbow was in the air. She eventually made her way back in front of the, now in awe, unicorn.

“Loop the loop around, and wham! What'd I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd nev-”

“I counted eleven,” Iron interrupted her. Both ponies and a dragon turned to look at the newcomer. Rainbow gave a small gasp before landing next to the curly mane pony.

“H-Hey Iron. I didn’t see you there.” Rainbow was playing with her hooves and had a bit of a blush on her face. Normally, she wouldn’t be caught dead acting like this, but she couldn’t help it around her crush. There were times where she would act like he was just a friend and challenge him to more hoof wrestles... and races when she wanted to win after losing the hoof wrestle.

“Just watching the display. It is always funny when somepony tries to challenge your speed.” Iron ended with a chuckle, remembering the big race a couple years back. Rainbow snickered a little bit, also remembering the race.

“Yeah. Those guys didn’t know what hit them.” She looked over to see the unicorn coming out of her daze. “Oh yeah! Iron, this is Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, this is Iron Smoke.” She pointed at each pony. Twilight remembered hearing that name in the letter her mentor gave her.

“Iron Smoke? Do you, perhaps, know Princess Celestia?” She couldn’t see why he would know her teacher. ‘He isn’t even a unicorn. How could he know the princess?’ Twilight was confident in her own thoughts until Iron spoke up.

“Oh yeah. I know her. We send letters back and forth all the time. She talks about you a lot.” Twilight was as stupefied as when she saw Rainbow clear the sky. ‘The princess told him about me!? How come I never heard of him then! I am suppose to be her personal protégé!.’ While Twilight was steaming in jealousy, Rainbow decided to speak up.

“It has been fun and all but me and Iron have some errands to run. I think Quill wants us to pick up a few books.” Iron thought about what she meant and was about to ask when it hit him. ‘Party. Library. Books.’ Iron came to realize that this is the pony Pinkie was going to throw a party for. Rainbow probably was the first pony Pinkie came to first. ‘Probably asked her to help too.’

“Yeah. I remember Quill saying something about that. We better get going. I’ll see you around.” Iron gave a wave before heading in a random direction. Rainbow trotted up next to him after saying her own goodbye. Once they were out of sight from Twilight, Rainbow spoke up.

“So did Pinkie already tell you about the party?”

“Yeah, she came by my house and woke me from my nap. I am guessing she asked you to help her out?” Rainbow responded with a nod and headed towards the tree library.

Once they got to the library, she knocked on the door and waited for Pinkie to answer. The door opened up enough for the pink pony to stick her head out. She looked left and right before pulling both pegasi inside. When they found their balance, Pinkie, who was grinning like a madpony, let them know how happy she was that they showed up.

“I am so happy that you guys showed up! Why does that sound so familiar? Oh well. Here!” She hoofed over some streamers to Rainbow and Iron. “Could you guys hang these up? I can’t find a ladder anywhere in here.”

“Sure thing Pinkie,” Rainbow spoke up. Both she and Iron flew up and started to hang the streamers around the empty library. By the time the two were done, Pinkie has already set up the rest of the room.

Iron looked over to Rainbow and said, “If it were anypony but Pinkie, I would ask how she set this up so fast.” Rainbow giggled a little.

“Yeah. I learned long ago to just go with it.” She sat down on one of the chairs. Pinkie was finishing up the last of her games: Pin the Tail on the Pony. Right after she was certain that the poster wasn’t going to fall off the wall, there was a knock at the door. Pinkie walked over and performed the same ritual that she did with Iron and Rainbow, with one exception. The entire town seemed to funnel into the library. Iron got a glance at the clock before he was squashed against Rainbow. ‘It’s almost five so I guess they are here for the party.’ He was looking around, seeing the ponies fill the room, oblivious to the mare he was pushed up against.

Rainbow’s cheeks were burning a bright shade of red. On the outside, she looked like she was keeping her cool. On the inside, however, she was choking up like a school filly. ‘Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh! He is touching me! Ok Rainbow. Play it co- His flank touched mine! Sweet Celestia. This is so embarrassing, but I don’t want it to stop.’ Rainbow’s mind was racing with thoughts ranging from being embarrassed about a flank touch to things that would make even loose ponies blush. Seeing that there was now no way out, she decided to enjoy the feeling and let her imagination run wild.For her, sadly, it ended when Pinkie let out a large gasp and shut off the lights.

“Shhhh! They’re coming!” Pinkie disappeared in the darkness while the rest of the town bent down, trying to make themselves a bit smaller. A few moments passed before the library door opened and slammed shut.

“Huh. Rude much?” Iron heard a male voice.

“Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?” Iron and Rainbow both recognized the voice of Twilight. Pinkie took that as her queue to turn on the lights.

“SURPRISE!!!” Twilight jumped back as she saw the whole town in the place where she would be staying at. Pinkie jumped up and put her face in front of Twilight’s. Pinkie began her ritual of welcoming the new pony. That is where Iron was able to scoot away from Rainbow, figuring she would rather not be squished. By the look on her face, he was wrong.

“Uh… Rainbow?” He waved his hoof in front of her face, which he could only describe as pure bliss. Iron saw no response to his waving and poked the dazed mare.

“Wha, wha, wha? Surprise!” A few ponies look back at her with confusion on their faces. Her ears splayed back and she heard Iron start to chuckle.

“I think ya missed your cue there.” Rainbow gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her head.

“Yeah. I guess I kind of zoned out there.” She looked around and saw the party was in full swing. “Hey. I am going to look around. See you at the ceremony?”

“Yeah. I’ll meet you out front.”

“Cool, see ya then.” She hesitated a bit. What came next was a little forward, even for Dash. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before disappearing into the crowd of ponies.

Iron stood there, dumbfounded about what just happened. His forehoof made its way to the spot where she kissed him. He knew she had feelings for him, but she had never out right kissed him. To him, the kiss felt… good. It felt right. ‘Am I starting to fall for this mare?’ This rattled Iron just a bit. He didn’t think he would be a good coltfriend, and he doubted he could keep up with Rainbow. ‘I am not the right pony for her. This is just some crush.’

He made his way around the party. He played a few games but mostly stayed at a table, drinking some hard cider. Some of his friends came around and talked for a while, but he wasn’t the party type of pony. He was the sit back and watch kind of pony. A bystander.

The party drifted into the early morning hours. The sun would be raised soon and the ponies were making their way to town hall. Iron was standing outside, waiting for Rainbow. She was one of the last ponies to get to town hall. As she trotted up to him, he was going to question her about the kiss. Then, he thought it would be better if he just forgot about it.

“For being a fast mare, you were almost late.” She may have made him feel awkward, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t still act like friends.

“Yeah, I had to swing home real fast to get something.” She trotted past him. Iron could smell a sweet scent as she went past him. ‘Did she put on perfume? Wait? She HAS perfume? Smells like... strawberries.’ This night was just not Iron’s night. His best mare friend was now laying her feelings out on him harder than she has ever in the past. He followed Rainbow into the hall. They both found a spot in the crowd and waited for the ceremony to begin.

The lights dimmed and a spotlight hit the stage to illuminate the mayor. The ponies quieted down and waited for the mayor to start her speech.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” All the ponies in the crowd cheered. They were quite fond of this holiday.

“In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…” Fluttershy readied her birds for their fanfare.

“...Princess Celestia!” The mayor motioned up to the balcony above her. Rarity drew the curtains back to reveal… nothing. All the ponies started to talk amongst themselves at the lack of a princess. Rarity went to the back to look for the princess while the mayor tried to retain order.

“Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!” The mayor’s voice was frantic and above all else, nervous. Rarity came back to the balcony to deliver the bad news.

“She's gone!” All the ponies in the room let out a gasp. In the confusion, a dark blue mist started to appear on the balcony. The mist was moving in all kinds of directions before morphing into a tall black alicorn. The alicorn was obviously a mare and donned a blue helmet with a matching breast plate. She flapped her wings a few times before she spoke to the crowed of horrified ponies.

“Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces.” She had on a evil grin while she addressed the crowd. Iron looked over to see Rainbow about to take off. He quickly grabbed her tail before she got more than a couple feet off the ground. Even though he was able to stop her from physically attacking the stranger, he was not able to stop her from verbally attacking.

“What did you do with our Princess?!” Iron was able to bring her down with a sharp yank. She fell flat on her flank and turned to tell off Iron. She didn’t get the chance.

“I rather NOT die today!” He spoke in a loud whisper. “And I don’t want to see YOU die either.” He emphasized his point by poking the mare in the chest. Rainbow stopped everything she wanted to do and say at the stallion. One thought echoed through her mind. ‘He cares about me.’ The dark alicorn did not wait on them and continued to go on.

“Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?” In truth only one pony in that room knew who she was. But that didn’t stop Pinkie from trying.

“Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty-” She was interrupted by Applejack, who shoved a cupcake into Pinkies mouth.

“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?” The alicorn was moving towards ponies, leaning uncomfortably close to Fluttershy. Then she leaned over and lightly slapped Rarity with her mane.

“ I did. And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!” The ponies around Twilight moved away as she stated the facts. It was followed by a large gasp from the frightened ponies.

“Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here.” The alcorn's grin grew as she went on.

“You're here to... to... “ Twilight gave a gulp and looked around nervously. She knew what Nightmare was going to do but didn’t have the heart to tell the ponies. Nightmare gave an evil chuckle.

“Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last FOREVER!” Nightmare’s mane started to swirl above her and lightning started to shoot out. The thunder was mixed with maniacal laughter. Iron wasn’t feeling what the other ponies were. Instead of fear, he was feeling more angry than he ever had in his life. ‘I will not let another pony I love go without a fight!’

“Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” the mayor cried out. The guards flew up to take down the alicorn.

“Stand back, you foals!” The lightning from the storm lashed out at the flying guards. Each one was struck back. Nightmare shifted back into her mist form and flew out the doors. Iron wasn’t able to react fast enough to stop Rainbow this time, but even at her speed, she wasn’t able to catch Nightmare. Rainbow looked down to see Twilight running out of the hall to her home. ‘How did she know this was going to happen?’ With that in mind, she chased after the unicorn, unaware that Iron was flying to his own home, revenge in mind.

Rainbow was able to catch up to Twilight as she was laying the dragon down to sleep.

“You've been up all night, Spike. You are a baby dragon after all. Elements, elements, elements... Ugh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?” Rainbow decided at this point to make herself known to the mysterious mare.

“And just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy? Whoa!” She looked back to see the orange farm pony pulling on her tail.

“Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you, Twilight?” The rest of the ponies that Twilight met that day funneled into the room. They all looked at Twilight expecting an explanation.

“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, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!” Twilight was staring up at the “empty” moon when she heard a childish voice read off the book title she was looking for.

“Hmm "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."” Pinkie was then butted out of the way by Twilight. She stared at the book Pinkie pointed out.

“How did you find that?!” She had been looking for that book ever since she left Canterlot.

“It was under E~!” Pinkie bounced along happily. Twilight then took the book out of the shelf with her magic and found the page she was looking for.

“There are seven Elem-” Twilight started before she was interrupted by Pinkie.

“Whoopsie! I left a smudge.” The pink pony hopped in front of Twilight and wiped off the smudge. Pinkie gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I had a lot of cake tonight.” She took her place back amongst the other ponies. Twilight let off a cough to clear her throat before she began again.

“Yes, well. There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest.” The ponies in the room gave off a gasp.

“Did ya just say the Everfree Forest? That is one of the most dangerous places in all of Equestria!” Applejack pointed out. “Granny always said ta stay out of there. There’s all kinds of varmints in there. I hope y’all know how to fight, cause it’ll get rough if we run into any of them creatures.” When she warned them of all the dangers and how it might be handy to know a thing or two about fighting, Rainbow had an idea.

“What if we bring Iron along? He trained with the guards for a while.” The ponies looked at her with mixed expressions. Applejack and Pinkie seemed to agree with this idea. Twilight looked a little peeved at this idea, while Fluttershy seemed to visibly shrink at the mention of Iron. Rarity let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Darling, we all know why you want to bring him along. This isn’t the time or place to try and woo him over. This is serious business.” Rarity tried to reason with Rainbow, to which was responded with a groan.

“Look. It’s not about that. He said he trained with the guards for a while. That means he knows how to not only look after himself, but us too.” Rarity was about to retort when Applejack stepped in.

“Rainbow’s right. We could use all the help we can get.” Rainbow smiled at her friend that stepped in. Rarity lost the will to fight this out and conceded. “Speakin of which, where is he?” They looked around the room, thinking they just left him out of the conversation. Rainbow knew where he must have went after the event in the town hall.

“I think I know where he is. You guys go ahead and meet us at the front of the Everfree Forest.” Before any of them could respond, Rainbow made her way out of the library towards Iron’s home.

After Rainbow chased Twilight

Iron flew as fast as he could towards his blacksmith shop. He was more than angry. He was furious at the mare who dared to take another pony he could have called “mother” away from him. He wanted to hurt Nightmare. He wanted to hurt her so bad. To make her feel the pain he was being force fed.

The thoughts only intensified when he reached his shop. He threw the door open and made his way to a chest. Iron opened the chest to reveal a set of armor, wing blades, some straps, and a sword.

He was trained in the guard for a bit in his life. He wanted to get to know how the weapons and armor he made worked in the real world. Gallant was more than happy to help him learn how they used his equipment. He was trained among the other pegasus recruits. He did well with the wing blades but was better with a sword strapped to his foreleg.

He strapped on the armor first. It was made out of a slightly tougher material than the royal guards. It was also colored silver instead of the gold that ponies were used to.

When he finished strapping on the saddle armor and breast plate he looked up on a shelf and saw a picture of his family. It was the one that his father gave him. It had his mother and father standing tall while he was the little colt in between them.

He stopped everything he was doing and walked over the picture. Iron reached up and took the picture in his hoof. He held it in front of his face as a lone tear came rolled down his cheek and dropped on the ash covered ground. He stood there for what seemed like hours, just cradling the picture in his forelegs.

“I couldn’t save you,” he muttered to himself. He hesitantly put the picture back in its place. “But I can save Celestia.” He tightened his straps. He then attached the wing blades. They were specifically built for fast cuts that also didn’t hinder flight. The last piece of equipment he donned was a single sword. He placed it in its holster and headed for the door. Upon opening the door, he was greeted with the face of Rainbow Dash. Iron let out a frustrated sigh

“Dash, this isn’t a good time.” His voice had a growl to it. He ended up walking around her and headed towards town. Rainbow flew alongside him.

“I know. That’s why we wanted to ask for your help. You see, Nightmare can only be defeated by these elements of harmony and they are kinda in the Everfree Forest.” Iron stopped in his tracks and looked at the mare with a confused expression. “You can see where I am going with this. And seeing how you are already dressed up to slay a manticore, it would be helpful if you were there in case one did show up.”

“I have a better idea.” It was Rainbow’s turn to look confused. “How about all of you stay here while I go in search for these elements.” Now knowing a starting location, Iron wasn’t about to let anypony go into that forest. Rainbow however had different ideas. She landed in front of Iron and stomped her hoof on the ground.

“What do you mean “stay here”!? There is no way I am going to let you go in there alone!” She wasn’t going to budge on this. Iron brought a forehoof to his forehead and let out a frustrated groan.

“Dash, don’t make it any harder than it has to be. I have to do this.” He tried to walk around her but was stopped by a foreleg. Iron looked at Rainbows face. She was still angry but her eyes were starting to tear up.

“I’m not going to sit back and watch you get killed!”

“Rainbow.”

“What kind of friend would I be if I let you go in there?!”

“Rainbow!”

“What in Equestria would make you think this is a good idea?!”

“RAINBOW!”

“Well?! Why do you think you can do this to me?!”

“I CAN’T LOSE ANYPONY ELSE!”

Rainbow stopped her attacks on the armored stallion. Even through her tears, she could she Iron starting to tear up as well. His shoulders dropped and he lowered his head. He sat down on the path, staring at his forelegs.

“I can’t… I just.. can’t.” All his steam was spent. He was now weeping for his dead mother. Iron had been holding in this grief in for four long years, and in an instant, it burst out of him. He was crying like a newborn foal in the middle of the street.

Rainbow was shocked even further. She had never seen this side of Iron. She was used to seeing him happy or laid back. Now she was seeing the baggage he has been carrying ever since they met.

Rainbow was having her own little panic attack, trying to figure out what to do. She thought what Fluttershy would do if she found a crying animal. Without thinking any further, she pulled Iron into a hug. It didn’t take Iron long to wrap his own legs around Rainbow as he sobbed into her neck.

“It’s ok. Just let it all out,” she cooed while rubbing his back. It was a good five minutes before Iron started to calm down. His tears have stopped and he was reduced to sniffing. He pulled himself out of the hug and wiped his nose and eyes. Rainbow took this moment to see how he was doing.

“You feel better?” Even though it was an intense moment for both ponies, Rainbow felt happy that she was able to comfort her crush.

“Yeah… I…” Iron took in a deep breath before continuing. “I needed that.” He now had a small smile on his face. It wasn’t a Pinkie smile, but it still spoke volumes of thanks towards Rainbow.

“Like I said before. I’d never leave a friend hanging.” She got up and rubbed his back some more, getting rid of his shakiness. “Speaking of friends, do you feel alright enough to come with us?” Rainbow was shaking a bit herself. She was still trying to get over how the stallion, that she thought of like a brick wall, could just crumble in a second.

“Y-Yeah. I’m good.” Iron got onto all fours with shaky legs. Once they started trotting towards the Everfree, his legs got better.

They eventually made it to the entrance to the Everfree, where five mares were waiting to venture in. As soon as the mares spotted the duo, their reactions were very much the same when Rainbow brought up the idea to bring Iron along, with the exception of Rarity.

“Howdy there Iron. Seems Rainb… Ya’ll alright there sugarcube?” Even if his legs were no longer shaky, his eyes were still red from his breakdown.

“I’m better now. Thanks,” he said as he wiped his eyes. Applejack eyed him critically before moving on.

“Alright then.” She turned towards Twilight. “Now why don’t ya tell em where we’re runnin off ta.” The peeved look on Twilight’s face molded into a smug expression.

“Well, as Celestia’s personal student and closest friend, I found that they use to rule in a castle in the Everfree forests. That is where the Elements of Harmony were last seen.” Iron raised an eyebrow, along with Rainbow and Applejack, at the extra fanfare she started off with. “Now that you are caught up, we can get going.” She then turned around and trotted into the forest. Fluttershy scurried after Twilight like a scared puppy. Iron turned to the other mares.

“What was that all about?” They had their own eyebrows raised while they looked back and forth at Iron then to the spot where Twilight was standing.

“I don’t know, but it was kind of weird that Fluttershy went off with a pony she hasn’t even known for a day.” Rainbow spoke up what everypony was thinking.

Iron sighed. It didn’t surprise him that Fluttershy ran off to get away from him. She would always make excuses to not come to an event if she knew Iron was coming along, and if he did show up, she would excuse herself for the rest of the night. It always hurt him because he didn’t know why or what he did to cause her to act like this. He also didn’t want to bring it up and make her resent him more than she already did.

“C’mon. We don’t want them to get too far ahead.” Iron ignored Rainbow’s statement and walked into the forest. It didn’t take long for them to catch up. They were going at a snail’s pace. While they were walking, Rainbow trotted up to Fluttershy and started a conversation. Iron couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the head nods towards him gave him a good idea of the topic.

Just when it looked like the conversation between Rainbow and Fluttershy was starting to heat up, the ground crumbled under the pony’s feet. Iron, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were able to get airborne while the rest slid down the slope.

“Fluttershy! Iron! Quick!” The three pegasi raced after their falling friends. Rainbow was able to get Pinkie and Fluttershy struggled to get ahold of Rarity. Iron couldn’t see Twilight sliding towards the cliff and opted to help stop Rarity from sliding down with Fluttershy. Fluttershy would have flew away if it wasn’t for Rarity.

“I got her. You go help Rainbow.” Fluttershy was a bit reluctant to let him take Rarity, but looking over his shoulder, she could see Twilight in trouble. She flew out of Iron’s sight as he got a good grip on Rarity.

“Thank you Darling. No offence, but I thought she would pull my tail out before she would have gotten me in the air.” Iron was making his way over towards where Rainbow and Fluttershy were lowering down Twilight.

“No problem Rarity.” Iron lowed Rarity to the ground. She dusted herself off in a “ladylike” manner. Iron would have rolled his eyes at this, but his attention was back to the other two pegasi. Rainbow looked as if she just proved a point, but Fluttershy wasn’t convinced.

The group eventually got moving again. Iron leaned over to Rarity, who was walking beside him.

“Do you know what’s going on between those two?” Rarity let off a nervous chuckle. ‘That’s reassuring.’ Iron thought sarcastically.

“I’m sure it’s nothing Darling. Just a couple of friends talking.” She dismissed the thought with a wave of her hoof.

“Rarity, you are the town’s gossip mare. Don’t look at me like that. You know exactly what they are talking about.” Iron pressed further. Rarity was now starting to visibly sweet. Just when Iron thought she would crack, a roar permeated through the forest. Iron could swear he heard Rarity say “Thank Celestia”.

The roar came from a very angry manticore. It was easily bigger than Iron imagined. Its wings were spread wide and its scorpion tail was ready to sting. The part that gave Iron the most nerves was how its lion hide could take a lot of punishment before it would be down for the count. The creature jumped in front of Iron and Rarity then took a swipe at them. Iron rolled away while Rarity ducked then bucked.

“Take that, you ruffian!” The manticore responded with another roar, right in Rarity's face. The roar was so forceful that Rarity’s mane was blown straight backwards and then curled up the same way he first saw Twilight’s mane. Rarity was able to feel her mane curl up like Pinkie’s.

“My Mane! Wah!” She ran to the back of the pack. A faint wait came from Fluttershy when she ran past. Before Iron could react himself, Applejack found herself on top of the raging manticore.

“YEE-HAW! Git along, little dogie.” The manticore immediately started to jump around, trying to shake off the pony. Another faint “wait” came from Fluttershy, who at this point was sitting on the sidelines. The manticore got a good shake in and threw Applejack off.

“All yours, partner.” Applejack said as she sailed through the air. Rainbow gave her a salute.

“I'm on it.” Rainbow then started to make her own rainbow cyclone around the raging beast. Another “wait” came from Fluttershy as Rainbow started to speed up. The manticore’s response to the whirlwind was a quick tail whip. Luckily, the back end of the tail hit Rainbow in the stomach.

“Rainbow!” Twilight and Iron both cried out. ‘That’s it. No more nice pony.’ Iron drew his sword. He was taught in the guard how to take down these beasts in teams. He didn’t have the luxury right now. One thing in his training he could use was to go for the jugular. It is the weakest point on a manticore. He looked down at Rainbow, who was still struggling to get up. Their eyes met each other’s.

“You said I would be helpful if one came along.” Iron had on a snarky smile. Rainbow just groaned a bit more. Iron floated up a little and lifted his sword like a lance. He watched as the manticore challenged him by scraping the ground with its claw. Iron let of a yell and charged at the beast.

“WAIT!” Fluttershy flew up in between him and the manticore. Iron was thankful he was able to stop when she flew in front of him. Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t be around anymore.

Fluttershy then turned around and walked up to the manticore. The beast raised its paw as if to attack. All the ponies turned away, not being able to bear what would happen.

“Shhh... It's okay.” The manticore looked confused and held out its paw. There was a rather large thorn stuck in the middle. “Oh, you poor, poor little baby.” She looked up at the now calm manticore.

“Little?” Rainbow looked confused.

“Now this might hurt for just a second.” Fluttershy reached up and took the thorn in her mouth. With a pluck the manticore screamed out in pain.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Everypony screamed, fearing the worst. Turns out the manticore picked her up and cradled her. It was licking her mane while she was giggling and cooing at the tame beast.

Everypony took a sigh of relief and trotted past the pegasus and her new friend. Iron hung towards the back of the group and heard Fluttershy and Twilight share some words.

“How did you know about the thorn?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.” Iron hurried back to the group. ‘Show some kindness my flank.’ Iron was steaming a bit to himself, thinking of how much of a hypocrite Fluttershy was. Rainbow and Fluttershy went back on with their conversation. This time, it was Fluttershy’s turn to look smug. He really didn’t want to be the product of two friends falling apart. It would kill him on the inside to take away somepony that really cared for Rainbow.

While Iron was tearing himself up inside, he failed to notice the ponies stop in front of him. He ran right into Pinkie. Iron pulled his head back and backed up a little.

“Sorry.” Pinkie turned around with her trademark smile. Of course she wouldn’t be bothered.

“That’s ok Smokey! It is getting a little dark here.” Iron looked up. True to her word it was getting darker. Twilight decided to also comment on the darkness.

“That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it.” Iron could barely see the end of his muzzle let alone a hidden castle. The mares started to bump into each other, each one apologizing to another.

“Oh wait, I think I stepped in somethin'.” Applejack lifted her hoof closer to her eyes. Before anything else could be done, Fluttershy let off and ear piercing scream. “It's just mud.” Applejack turned around to reveal a scary looking tree. She screamed and ran back towards the other mares. Iron would have leapt up and attacked if it wasn’t just a tree.

“Girls… It’s just a tree.” Iron’s reasoning never reached their ears. They chose to scream and cower in fear. He looked up to at least see Pinkie just being her normal goofy self, making faces at the trees.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run!” Iron shook his head at the frightened Twilight.

“Oh girls, don't you see?” Pinkie cleared her throat before she started to sing.

“When I was a little filly and the sun was going down…”

‘Done!’ Iron left the mares to their song and dance. He didn’t feel like singing or laughing at the moment. He was still trying to figure out a way to not break up Rainbow’s and Fluttershy’s friendship. It didn’t help that he didn’t know exactly what they were talking about. He sighed and leaned up against a tree. ‘Either way I’m screwed. If I cut things off with Rainbow, she will be heartbroken. But if I don’t… Fluttershy might abandon Rainbow. As much as I would hate to break her heart… Fluttershy is more important to her compared to some stallion.’

As regretful as he was, Iron made his choice. He wasn’t going to break up a friendship that has been going on a lot longer than his own.

“Hmm, why won’t this tree change? I have already laughed, giggled, chuckled, snickered, snorted… everything I can think of but this tree won’t change.” The voice of Pinkie brought him back to the reality he had been dreading. He looked around to see all the trees were back to what they should look like. He turned around to see the only tree left to change was the one he was leaning on. Iron got up onto his hooves and saw the tree instantly change into the others.

“Well that was weird, but it is gone now. Let’s get moving girls.” Twilight turned around and started back along the path. ‘Wow… she doesn’t even notice I am gone… or a male for that matter.’

“Now wait here just a sec! Has anypony seen Iron?” Applejack sounded a little worried. Before Iron could put her worries to rest, Twilight spoke up.

“I’m sure he’s fine. We need to keep moving.”Twilight was trying to urge the other ponies on. Applejack was going to say something else before Iron was able to speak up.

“I’m right here. We can go.” His head was hanging low and he didn’t make any kind of eye contact. He walked right past Twilight and proceeded down the path. Twilight had look of guilt on her face. The happy go lucky mood that Pinkie just got done setting was washed away like a sandcastle on a beach.

“R-Right. Let’s go.” Twilight was now feeling ashamed of herself for putting Iron on the backburner. Even if she didn’t have that many friends, she still knew that no pony should ever be treated like that. She trotted down the path to catch up to Iron.

When she caught up to him, she didn’t feel any better. Looking at how he carried himself, she could have sworn somepony stabbed her heart. His head hung low. His shoulder were drooped as far as they could go. His tail was dragging on the ground. There was only one word he could use to describe this stallion… defeated. She also felt like she had seen this before. Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it but the way he looked reminded her of some other pony she had seen acting just like now. Before she could dive into it more, Pinkie spoke up again.

“How are we gonna cross this?” Twilight and Iron looked up to the rest of the group standing on the banks of a raging river. Twilight would have asked how they got in front of her but the distant cry caught her attention. The group followed the noise to reveal a purple river serpent. Its tail was thrashing around, making the river have a rapid feel to it. The serpent had a big golden hairdo with, what used to be, a matching mustache.

“What a world, what a world!” He continued to thrash around.

“Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?” Twilight spoke up, trying to get the attention of the crying serpent.

“Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid.” Iron couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling, even if he wanted to. He wasn’t in a mood for this. Rainbow voiced what Iron was thinking.

“Oh, give me a break.” Applejack was next to speak up.

“That's what all the fuss is about?” He reminded Applejack of how Rarity would act if her mane wasn’t done properly. At that moment, the mare in question made herself known.

“Why, of course it is. How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales.” She reached up and petted the serpent on the chin.

“I know.” He was able to sniff out.

“And your expertly coiffed mane.” He raised his head off the bank and pulled his mane back.

“Oh, I know, I know.” The serpent was petting his mane due to Rarity’s flattery.

“Your fabulous manicure.” Rarity continued to praise his fashion sense.

“It's so true!” He made a face that would rival Rainbow’s if a wonderbolt was nearby.

“All ruined without your beautiful mustache.” All the praise in the world couldn’t have stopped the serpent from falling back onto the river bank.

“It's true, I'm hideous!” He cried out. Rarity took a determined stance.

“I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected.” She then walked up and plucked a sharp scale from the serpent’s body. He let out a very unmanly yelp.

“What did you do that for?” The serpent was scared about what she was going to do with his scale. Twilight looked just as confused.

“Rarity, what are you-” She was answered with a large portion of Rarity’s tail being cut off. Rarity levitated her tail up to the ruined side of his mustache. With a bit of magic, she got her tail to attach and complete the mustache. Iron didn’t think it looked any better, but the serpent disagreed.

“Oh-hohohoho! My mustache. How wonderful.” The serpent was now stroking his new mustache. Rarity also agreed with him.

“You look smashing.” Iron could tell that Rainbow and Applejack felt the same way he did.

“Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail…” Twilight motioned to the now visibly shorter tail.

“Oh. It's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season. Besides, it'll grow back.” Iron could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

“So would the mustache.” Rainbow decided to throw that in. Twilight just smiled and shook her head. She looked back down to see the river had stopped raging.

“We can cross now. Let's go.” Twilight jumped into the river only to be lifted up by the serpent.

“Allow me.” He then dived under the water, giving the ponies a bridge to cross. Iron opted to just fly across. ‘I don’t know why we didn’t just do that in the first place.’ He continued down the path.

Twilight thanked the serpent when his head poked back out of the water. She then turned around and felt another pain of sadness. Iron’s mood hadn’t improved in the slightest. She kept thinking she had seen this somewhere before. Then it hit her.

Twilight was running down the halls. She was almost tardy to her lesson with Celestia. She was just so caught up in her reading that she lost track of time. If it wasn’t for Spike she would have been tardy.

She turned a corner. ‘I can’t believe I forgot to look at the clock!’ The study was only down a few more hallways. As she turned her last corner she almost ran into a pony.

He had a dark coat and a short mane. His head was hanging low. It looked like he just lost everything. But Twilight was in a hurry. She didn’t have time to deal with ponies.

“Sorry!” The stallion gave no indication that he heard her. She ran right past him and bursted into the study. “Princess! I am so…” Twilight trailed off as she saw her mentor crying into a cushion. Celestia looked up to see the confused and saddened face of her pupil.

“Twilight,” she sniffed, “I-I am sorry, b-but I h-have to cancel o-our lessons today.” She hated letting her student see her like this. She tried to use her years of experience to help her regain her composure. It didn’t work out so well.

“Princess, what’s wrong? Is it because I was almost tardy!? I’m sorry! It won’t ever happen again!” Twilight was freaking out, thinking it was her fault. Celestia gained as much composure as she could.

“It was nothing you did my faithful student.” She wrapped her student into a hug. She wasn’t about to tell her about a pony’s passing. She just couldn’t take away that innocence that Twilight possessed. “However, I am not able to teach you properly today. I hope you can forgive me.” Twilight would have scoffed if she wasn’t with her teacher.

“Princess, you don’t have to push yourself for me. We can pick up on our lessons when you feel ready.” She gave her teacher a little squeeze. Celestia returned the gesture then asked if she could be alone. Twilight nodded her head and left the princess cope with her feelings.

Twilight put the pieces together. She was too focused on her own worries that she didn’t even connect the two ponies. This only made her feel worse. ‘This isn’t the first time he has felt like this. And now it is my fault.’

She walked up beside him and tapped him on the shoulder. Iron thought she was asking him to move over, so he did. Since she didn’t get his attention, she decided to speak up.

“I-Iron?” He didn’t respond. That only made Twilight feel even worse about herself. Little did she know it wasn’t her that was causing him so much distress. It was the fact that he would have to hurt one of his friends in the near future.

She wanted to say how sorry she was and that it was wrong of her to try and axe the stallion from the group. She wanted to apologize for her jealousy getting the better of her. Before she could explain herself, she spied the ruins that they were looking for.

“There it is, the ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony. We made it!” She said it with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She started to gallop towards the ruins, hearing Applejack telling her to wait up. “We're almost there. Whoa!” Twilight failed to notice the lack of a bridge covering the cliff. Iron reacted as fast as he could and pulled Twilight back away from the gap. She looked at her savior, even then, there was a lack of emotion on his face. “Thanks.” She gave him a small smile, to which he only nodded his head.

“What's with you and falling off cliffs today?” Rainbow tried to lighten the mood. The rest of the ponies caught up and looked at the empty chasm.

“Now what?” Pinkie spoke up. Iron walked to the edge of the cliff and was ready to take off when Rainbow put her leg on Iron’s shoulder.

“I got this. You don’t look so good.” Rainbow offered him a smile. ‘Quit making this harder than it has to be Rainbow.’ He wanted to tell her, but right now they had a job to do.

Rainbow removed her hoof and dived to grab the bridge. She few to the other side and started to tie the lines when the fog started to accumulate. Iron couldn’t hear what Rainbow was saying but she was on her back legs, shadow boxing some unknown enemy. Iron could eventually see a group of pegasi dressed like the Wonderbolts, except darker. He didn’t know what they were talking about but Twilight voiced her fears.

“Rainbow, what's taking so long? Oh no. Rainbow! Don't listen to them.” The pony who looked to be the leader gave Twilight a sinister frown. The pony’s eyes flashed and the fog closed in, completely cutting them off from Rainbow. Twilight looked around nervously before landing her gaze on Iron. “Iron! You got to save Rainbow!” Iron just looked at the mare with an empty expression.

“Don’t worry. She’ll come back. She wouldn’t leave a friend hanging.” Iron returned his gaze to the fog. He knew more about Rainbow than he would care to let on. That didn’t help him feel any better about trying to let her go.

The fog started to separate and revealed Rainbow standing proudly at the start of the bridge. The other mares cheered. They now had a way to cross.

“See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'.” Rainbow puffed out her chest before flying above the other mares. Iron, once again, opted to fly over the gap.

They crossed the bridge and walked up to the ruins. The door was already cracked open. Once inside, all the ponies looked up in awe at the interesting platform dominating the room.

“Whoa. Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?” Applejack motioned to the five orbs sitting on their pedestals.

“The Elements of Harmony, we've found them.” Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Iron took the liberty of retrieving the elements. They were urged caution as they brought each one down. Once they were all sat down, the ponies counted how many there were.

“One, two, three, four... There's only five!” Pinkie pointed out.

“Where’s the sixth?” Rainbow asked. They all turned towards Twilight.

“The book said “when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.” The ponies looked at each other. They were confused on what Twilight ment by a spark.

“What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. Being a farm pony, she really didn’t know all that much about magic.

“I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don't know what will happen.” Twilight started to light up her horn, letting her magic flow.

“Come on now, y'all. She needs to concentrate.” Applejack suggested.

One by one, everypony filed out of the building. Once they reached outside, Rainbow and Fluttershy continued their conversation while Applejack paced in front of the door and Rarity fussed over her shortened tail. Iron chose to lean against a broken wall of the castle.

It didn’t take long for a commotion to sound from inside. The mares screamed out Twilight’s name and ran in. The last thing any of them saw was a blue vortex with Twilight jumping for it. Then it disappeared.

The mares were running back and forth yelling for Twilight and asking what was going on. Iron spotted Rarity pointing out of a window towards another area of the castle. There were lights and noises coming out the window. Iron didn’t hesitate to jump out the window and rush towards, what he hoped to be, Celestia’s foal napper.

“Iron! Wait!” Iron heard the pleas of Rainbow behind him. He then heard Applejack say something, but he didn’t hear any specifics. When he reached the room, he saw the same alicorn that boasted about eternal night. Down on the ground was a scared Twilight. She looked to be frozen in fear as her eyes were aimed at the alicorn.

Iron had a different emotion running through him at the time. He was angry. He was angry at losing his mother. He was angry that he would have to break a friendship to save another. He was angry that this pony that had the audacity to take away the only other pony who he would consider a mother. And he wanted to unleash his rage at this pony. Iron unsheathed his sword and started to charge at Nightmare; his eyes seeing red.

Nightmare and Twilight looked up to see the charging stallion. Nightmare merely chuckled at the pony’s bravo. Before Iron could get into range to do anything, Nightmare caught him in her magic.

“Did you really think you could harm me you foal?” Nightmare laughed more as she threw his sword out the window. She tore off his wing blades and armor, then tossed them out as well. Iron was still struggling in her grasp. With a whip of her head, Iron was sent sailing towards the opposite wall. Iron tried to regain what little control he had. It didn’t help him. He struck the wall with a resounding crack and fell onto the floor, unconscious.

Twilight watched the whole thing through teary eyes. Twilight couldn’t tell if he was just knocked out… or worse. Twilight almost broke down at that thought. She, instead, looked back over to Nightmare. Twilight had a determined look on her face and prepared to charge at Nightmare.

“You're kidding. You're kidding, right?” Twilight then ran full force at Nightmare, her horn lighting up along the way. Nightmare responded with a charge of her own. Right when the two would have collided, Twilight vanished. Nightmare looked back at the elements to see Twilight reappear.

“Just one spark. Come on, come on.” Her horn started to glow. Nightmare teleported back in front of the elements, just as Twilight’s spell began to take hold. Just when it seemed to work, the spell sent Twilight flying backwards. “Aah!” She skid a bit across the floor. She looked up to see the elements sparking with magic.

“No, no!” Nightmare cried out. Just when it looked like the elements were about to work, the spell flickered and died.

“But... where's the sixth Element?!” Twilight was looking around, frantically trying to find the sixth element. Nightmare just started to laugh. She lifted both her forelegs and smashed the elements.

“You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!” Her mane started to swirl and storm just like in town hall. Twilight was looking around, scared that the elements were lost forever. Her ears picked up a noise coming fromt the stairwell. It was then, Twilight’s eyes widened as she felt a spark inside her. She turned back and put on a smug expression towards Nightmare.

“You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here!” Twilight announced as her friends made it into the room.

“What?” Nightmare was confused. She already smashed the elements right in front of her. How could they not have been destroyed? She looked down and saw the shards begin to glow.

“Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty!” A few shards floated up and started to circle Applejack. Twilight was far from done. “Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of...kindness!” More shards started to float up to their owners. “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!” All the shards were now circling their respected owner. “The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us.”

Nightmare started to sweat and look around the room nervously. She thought she won when the elements were crushed.

“You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!” She was trying to give herself false hope. Twilight wasn’t convinced she had lost just yet.

“But it did! A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends!” She turned to the five ponies that were now wielding the Elements of Harmony. “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!”

A light shined above Twilight as the last element was summoned. The light grew brighter as the elements started to take shape around each pony. When each pony had their element finished, a giant rainbow was created, and was aimed right at Nightmare.

“Nooo! Nooo!” The rainbow engulfed Nightmare in a swirling vortex. She was flailing around, franticly trying to break free. The light grew brighter and brighter till it engulfed the entire room. When the light faded, everypony was laying on the ground. The ponies didn’t take long till they started to stir.

“Ugh, my head.” Rainbow complained. Slowly each pony got up, regaining consciousness.

“Everypony okay?” Applejack asked. Looking around she saw that all the mares were fine.

“Oh, thank goodness.” Rarity was now bouncing her now fixed tail up and down.

“Why Rarity, it's so lovely,” Fluttershy commented.

“I know! I'll never part with it again.” Rarity was now hugging her tail. Apparently short tails were no longer in.

“No. Your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark.” Fluttershy pointed to the new piece of jewelry around Rarity’s neck.

“What?” She looked down to see a purple diamond with a golden background. “Ooh. So does yours.” Rarity pointed towards Fluttershy.

“Wait!” The mares all looked at Rainbow, who was frantically scanning the room. “Where’s Iron!?” They all turned to Twilight. Twilight lowered her head and pointed at the end of the room. The ponies followed her hoof towards a dark crumpled mass. They gasped at the sight, and Rainbow wasted no time flying over to check on him.

She could barely take in the sight of the pony before her. She landed on her hooves and walked up to Iron. Due to Iron’s coat color, she wasn’t able to see if he was breathing or not. She then sat down cradled his head in her arms. Rainbow’s tears were starting to stain her coat.

“Shhh. It’s ok. E-Everything is going t-to be alright.” She started to pet the stallion, her voice choking up. Looking to his wings she saw that one of his wings was bent at an angle. She closed her eyes and started to hum, trying to take the pain away. She didn’t know who’s pain she was trying to take away: her’s or Iron’s. The rest of the ponies lowered their heads in respect.

Light started to shine in the room as the sun rose in the sky. The light only seemed to get closer, lighting up the room even more. It was so bright, it looked like the sun itself was in the room. And in a manner of speaking, it was. Celestia appeared as the light started to dissipate. The ponies in the room, with the exception of Rainbow, all gasped and made a hasty bow.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight galloped up to her mentor. Celestia gave her a reassuring nuzzle.

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it. You and your friends have saved everypony.” Twilight lowered her head and looked over towards Rainbow and Iron.

“Not everypony.” Celestia followed her student’s a gaze and lost her smile at the look of Rainbow petting the head of Iron. The rest of the mares lowered their heads in respect. Celestia’s heart jumped to her throat. ‘Not you too! I will not let you go too!’ She wasted no time to check on the stallion’s well being. A golden hue strung across his body and a sigh of relief came from the sun princess.

“He is fine my faithful student. He just needs some rest. But he will need that wing treated.” Rainbow was able to stop her crying and nuzzled him on the cheek. She looked up at Celestia and mouthed a “Thank you”. Celestia gave a polite nod in return. “Now back to the matter at hoof.” Celestia walked up to a small alicorn. The remains of Nightmare’s armor were shattered around the pony.

“It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.” The rest of the ponies, minus Rainbow, dropped their jaws.

“Sister?” The ponies looked at each other in confusion. As Celestia walked up to the new alicorn, she flinched away. Celestia still had sad eyes, looking down at her sister.

“Will you accept my friendship?” The younger alicorn’s eyes started to tear up. She leapt up from where she was laying and nuzzled her sister.

“I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!” Celestia returned the nuzzle with her own teary expression.

“I've missed you, too.” The ponies watched the display of sisterly love. The sentiment was broken when Pinkie spoke up.

“Hey, you know what this calls for?” Everypony looked at Pinkie expectantly. “A party!”

The pink mare through the mother of all parties for the return of Celestia’s sister, who was named Luna. Everypony attended the party. Everypony but Iron and Rainbow. They were both in the hospital.

When the group returned from the forest, Rainbow wasted no time and got Iron to the hospital. All he needed was to have his bone set back into place and to wrap up his wing. Once they were done, the whole staff was let off for the day. Iron was the only patient left in the hospital and Rainbow offered to wait for him to wake up.

They both laid on the hospital bed, facing each other. She made sure that he kept laying on his good side and stayed off his injured wing. As much as she liked being a tough mare, her heart was fluttering. He was still unconscious, but that didn’t stop her from curling up to his chest. She then felt his leg shifting. Iron’s forelegs instinctively wrapped around the mare, hugging her like a pillow. Her head rested just under his chin. ‘This feels nice. I could stay like this forever.’

She soon drifted asleep next to Iron, head buried in his chest. She felt warm and at home, not noticing the yellow pegasus crying in the window.

Back at the party.

Twilight was having a wonderful time at the party, but she still felt a bit of guilt towards how she treated Iron. ‘I didn’t give him the time of day… yet he still didn’t hesitate to help.’ She wanted to talk about this with Celestia, but she figured her mentor would be too busy bonding with her long lost sister.

“What is the matter my faithful student?” Twilight turned around to see her teacher. She looked around to see if Luna was around, but she didn’t see her.

“Princess? I thought you were with your sister.”

“I was, but she is very tired and needs her rest. It won’t be long till she takes charge of the moon once again.” Celestia looked like she was reminiscing about her and Luna. She shook her head and looked back at her student. “However I did make some breakfast plans with Iron. Would you like to come along?” Twilight shifted her weight and pawed at the ground. She couldn’t make eye contact with her teacher. This worried Celestia a little.

“I don’t think he would want to see me. I didn’t treat him all that well. I was jealous of his relationship with you.” Twilight lowered her head in shame. The smile on Celestia’s face turned into a mournful frown.

“It is perfectly fine to be jealous. Although, I am disappointed on how you handled it.” Twilight winced at “dissapointed”. “However, the reason we are so close involves a sad tale. A tale that is not my place to share.” Twilight looked up to her mentor in confusion. “But know this. I will always have a special place for you. I would never forget about you or your heroic deeds of today.” Celestia finished with a smile. That smile reassured Twilight that she wouldn’t be forgotten. ‘I guess I have somepony to apologize to.’

Comments

[FrozenInTime]

...still not as bad as the "DASH"ing story.

[Kerberos]

4245416 Not sure if good or bad
nhlnumbers.com/uploads/Image/Not+sure+if+child+abuse+or+just+lazy+dad+_4deeca61c271b7e4aa7580ff07ca11ea.jpg

[Dr_D]

Yeah I did it.
going to tie this in

Put this in the authors notes.

Other than that, this story has pleasently surprised me. I thought it would be another Gary Stu fic or a poorly edited fic. But this seems to be a lot better than the first chapter makes you think it is.
Keep writing.

[FrozenInTime]

4245421 Self-insert Gary Stu Alicorn OC. 'Nuff said.

[Kerberos]

4247419 Those are just funny things that like to import themselves from a google doc. They were comments.

[Kerberos]

4247551 Yeah, I couldn't Gary Stu even if I tried. It would feel wrong. However I know the colors are that type of thing, but I wanted to show that the colors of a pony don't really matter in the long run. Didn't want to Alicorn it though.

[Dr_D]

4248555
Oh ok then.

[Old Diggy]

She soon drifted asleep next to Iron, head buried in his chest. She felt warm and at home, not noticing the yellow pegasus crying in the window.

So THAT'S what Fluttershy's problem is.