The Magic and Mysteries of Friendship

by The Stainmore Phoenix

The Nightmare Begins

The next day, the group met outside the pharmacy. Twilight seemed surprised to see that they were short seven ponies.

“Where are the Thestrals and Alicorns?” she asked.

“Didn’t ye hear tem?” Hurricane asked. “T’ere on guard duty.”

“Oh,” White Orchid said. “I guess that makes sense. The Summer Sun Celebration often times brings out the classic thievery of jewels and bits.”

Everyone else conceded the point. After a quick check on to make sure that every pony Twilight was traveling with was accounted for, they made their way to the town hall, which was in a rather decrepit state. Some of the walls had paint flaking off, and even holes. The roof looked ready to collapse and the interior didn’t look any better.

Tattered curtains, some shattered windows and even broken wooden railing was everywhere. Dragonstorm was standing in the shadows, making sure nothing suspicious happened. The Thestrals were taking their positions, with Dangersignal hovering in the air. The former guards all seemed to be focused on their duties.

When the last ponies entered, the doors shut and the sun light poured in through the windows and flooded the room. The electric lights were in need of replacement, so the town hall was using a much more appropriate light source. All sorts of treats had been laid out and prepared.

Ponies clamored excitedly about the celebration and how it was going to be a great day. The guards didn’t share in the excitement. So far, nothing had gone wrong and that was a major red flag. When they worked during the Summer Sun Celebration, things always went wrong-Celestia was delayed, somepony forgot to arrive, schedule shifts, you name it, it happened.

“I’m not liking this, Field Marshal,” Dragonstorm said to Dangersignal when the bigger Alicorn came to get a report.

“I hear you, Brigadier General, but there is nothing to do until the bad thing happened,” Dangersignal replied. “I do not like this as much as you, but it is the way things are.”

Dragonstorm gave a salute and continued his patrol, the shadows concealing him. The bright red Alicorn watched as the ponies milled around. Out of his peripheral vision, he watched the clock as it’s second hand crawled up to move the hour hand to the twelve, so the bells could toll 10 am. The guards turned their attentions to the curtains when the bells gave their signature clanging. Something must have been in the air, because the guards tensed immediately.

Dragonstorm took his position on the balcony. Gripping the curtain’s pull cord with his ethereal magic, he gave it a pull to reveal an empty balcony. The ponies began to gasp and cower as the guards took up looking around.

“Lock down the doors!” Dangersignal barked. “I do not want any pony leaving, as whoever orchestrated this, could be out there waiting for the others!”

Ponies watched as the Thestrals locked the doors. The mayor was up in arms about the guards doing that, but she promptly lost that argument when Dragonstorm gave her a cold glare. He turned to make note of something peculiar on the ground near the wooden railing.

“Field Marshal!” he called. “Can you come here?”

Dangersignal joined Dragonstorm and looked at the floor. They looked at each other and gave an inaudible growl and looked up towards a swirling night blue cloud. The Thestrals didn’t waste time, bucking the doors open, damaging them in the process. The ponies were too terrified to move.

The Alicorns jumped backwards just as the swirling cloud dispersed, showing a rich midnight black Alicorn, with an imposingly long horn and a very imposing glare. She had dark cyanish gray armor, similar to that of the Royal Canterlot Guard. Her teeth resembled something out of a horror story, sharp and jagged, like glass.

She glanced down on the scared ponies. Twilight’s ears fell back, flattening themselves, fear evident on her face. Dangersignal placed himself to face the troublesome brute. She merely smirked and then giggled darkly.

“My, my, being tough when you know your scared,” she taunted. “Scared of the dark, scared of losing control of your life, scared of losing your friends. These subjects of mine do not look upon you with the greatest respect.”

Dangersignal kept himself calm, and with one quick movement, his left hoof slapped the taunting pony hard, rocking her hard to the right. He straightened her up with one from the right. He grinned as two red marks made themselves prevalent, his retort being made known to everyone.

“My points against your taunt have made themselves known. One-I made friends because they want to accept me for who I am. Two-I am proud of my fears and not to proud to ask for help. Three-I know that I am not a monster holding their innocence captive,” he smirked. “Now, come and fight me, no wings, magic or any dirty tricks, Nightmare Moon. Oh, wait, you’re a coward and couldn‘t fight fairly even if your own ego depended on it. Face it, your scared. Scared that I will succeed as well as my friends. Scared that you‘ll lose your precious power.”

Nightmare Moon snarled and was getting ready to charge a spell when she was caught out by surprise. Dragonstorm tackled her, interrupting her spell casting. The other royal guards finally showed up to be used to escort the others out of the building.

Knightstrike helped and stayed outside in case some pony got brilliant notions of being a superhero. The guards and their friends stood their ground, ready to handle Nightmare Moon. She groaned, in angered happiness, which set off bells and whistles of the dangerous variety in all the guards’ heads.

“I await you, for a better test,” she taunted and laughing maniacally, she turned into the blue cloud and slipped through the broken windows.

Rainbow Dash burst through the doors to see the cloud disappear. Hanging her head in shame, she flew back into the building. Eighteen other ponies all looked like they wanted to sort the problem out.

None of the ponies had an answer. The silence was painful and irritating. Finally, White Orchid snapped.

“Can’t we do something?” White Orchid demanded. “I mean we have a group here, with all sorts of magic!”

Dragonstorm was about to answer when Dangersignal’s ears perked up quickly.

“Magic?” he said, turning to the orchid grower. “Did you say magic?”

“Correct, why?” White Orchid asked.

“Meet me at the library in half an hour!” he said. “Twilight, I need you and Dragonstorm to find books.”

The dark red Alicorn slipped a list in his brother’s vest pocket and disappeared to handle some issues in the Ponyville depot. The group, confused, galloped to the library. Once inside and White Orchid had shut the door, Dragonstorm pulled out and unfolded the list.

“The Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know anything about them.”

“They were used to banish many evils, including Nightmare Moon,” Dragonstorm said. “Surely, you were taught something about these very important artifacts?”

“Well, not really,” Twilight said. “I mainly studied magic and learned all the different spells that unicorns are supposed to know during their fillyhood.”

Dragonstorm gave the group the fifteen minute lecture about the Elements of Harmony. Spike was taking notes, as he had been awoken by the galloping of the group. He glanced up when the bright red Alicorn finished.

“Excuse me, but there are an undetermined amount of Elements now?” he demanded, incredulously.

“Yes, because after Celestia banished Nightmare Moon, the original Elements: Magic, Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity and Kindness were exhausted and a slew of new Elements took their place: Honor, Diligence, Wisdom, Humbleness, Integrity, Morality, Pride, Respect, Courage, Believe, Sincerity, Virtue and Trust.”

“It says here in this book that after Celestia’s use, their power became too divided, and will only work with the pony that shows that element to the letter,” Twilight said.

“So we’re stuck at the starting line?” Aquatis Storm demanded.

“Not really, Doc,” came a voice.

Dangersignal appeared, with a broad grin. Shutting the door, he looked at the group. The others began to read his face and realize he was on to something.

“Alrecht, spill,” Hurricane huffed. “Ye noo we hate bein kept in teh dark.”

“First, didn’t it seem odd that Celestia knew of us, and us in particular?” he asked.

“Now that you mention it, it does,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Now, how many ponies are there?” Dangersignal asked.

“Nineteen,” Applejack said. “Wait a minute! Nineteen Elements, nineteen ponies. Ya mean that…”

“Precisely!” Dangersignal said. “She knew she could no longer wield the Elements, so she chose us to take up the task because she believed that we each showed one of those elements.”

“But did she say which Element was connected to which pony?” White Orchid demanded.

“She’s a teacher, not a strategy guide to making the perfect superheroes. We’re to figure that out,” Dangersignal said. “I want every single Element written down, so that way we can put the name of the pony who bonds with that element. Also, this is a test and those who have taken tests in school know that this won‘t be easy.”

“Of course!” came the collective groan.

“At least we’re being tested to see if we’re able to save the world, so there’s no pressure there,” Dragonstorm said.

“Oh, thank you,” Soundstar huffed. “Saving the world is no big deal, so we should stand around and look pretty.”

“Not really,” Dangersignal said. “I was giving you all a hard time, as you know me to do. Going into any situation with stress does a pony no good whatsoever. Anyway, we need to know where Nightmare Moon is holding Celestia and I have a hunch, but it needs confirmation.”

“What’s the hunch?” Twilight asked, a book being held in her lavender ethereal magic.

“Ever heard of the Castle of the Two Sisters?” he asked.

“Yes, Luna and Celestia co-ruled Equestria there, and it’s on the other end of the Everfree Forest,” came the reply.

“Predictable villain,” was all the dark red Alicorn could say in an irritated chortle.

“Predictable how?” Amplitude asked.

“Did any pony notice Nightmare Moon’s Cutie Mark?” he asked.

“Yes,” Gemstone said. “A crescent moon. Why?”

“Who else has a crescent moon for a Cutie Mark?” Dangersignal asked.

“Princess Luna,” Twilight said.

Silence once again made itself obnoxiously known as the group stared, their eyes widening. Dangersignal nodded, and looked down.

“Princess Luna is Nightmare Moon,” he whispered.

The others were taken aback by his actions. Dragonstorm noticed that his older brother was showing that he was hurt in ways that no pony could actually connect to. Taking a breath, Dragonstorm looked towards his brother.

“You have something to confess?” he asked. “Normally, you hide everything under lies, but this must be a deep wound.”

“I had given my word of honor that no ill shall befall Princess Luna, but it did,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “I failed her and now, this monster is going to do more harm and it’s my fault!”

Tears of pain and of anger slipped down his cheeks. He was really hurt by letting down his honor and his motivations. He was showing a new side that no pony expected-his vulnerability.

“We’ll sort this out together,” Twilight said. “You didn’t fail her, she did this of her own volition and it’s her beast.”

Dangersignal nodded and after agreeing to a plan, the group split off. However, Dangersignal had his own plans.

“I’ll do this myself. I don’t need any help!”