To Rekindle the Sun

by Donraj

Chapter 4

When they finally reached the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters it was surrounded by a giant dome of purple magic. As clues went that seemed like a pretty good one.

“Twily’s in there,” Shining Armor said. He sounded certain.

The other ponies looked impressed. Even Rainbow Dash.

“Sweet Celestia,” said Rarity. She levitated a rock and tossed it at the forcefield. The light rippled and the rock ricocheted back into the forest like a shot.

“An’ you’re sure it’s her doin’ this and not Nightmare Moon?” Applejack asked.

Shining Armor nodded. “I taught her this spell.”

Everypony cocked an eyebrow at that. Shining Armor resisted the urge to blush.

“Alright everypony,” he began. “Thank you for all your help. I’m not asking you to go in there with—”

“Yeah yeah,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently. “Didn’t we already do this song and dance?”

“Indeed,” Rarity said firmly. “We are not leaving you to deal with…” she shuddered. “...This alone.”

The others chimed in with the same sentiment. Even Fluttershy from atop her manticore, though its rumble mostly drowned her out. Fluttershy patted the big cat thing to thank it for speaking on her behalf. Rainbow Dash spared her friend an annoyed look.

“She has no idea how awesome she looks right now,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself.

Shining Armor wiped the corner of his eye. “Thanks girls. Now then.”

Shining Armor faced the magical forcefield. His horn began to glow the same color. “I’m going to open a way in. Once you see an opening, hurry. It won’t last long.”

With that he fired a burst of magic from his horn. A section of the shield about ten feet across began to twist and unspool where it hit. Rainbow Dash was the first one through and the rest scampered after her. Fluttershy took up the rear. Her manticore plucked Shining Armor up with its tail as they passed and hauled him in before the forcefield snapped shut again.

“Good boy!” Fluttershy said. She scratched the manticore behind the ear and it purred loud enough to drown out the other ponies gasping for breath.

“Seriously, not a clue,” Rainbow Dash said. She was blushing for some reason. Applejack made a mental note to tease her rival about it later.

Once they were past the shield the ponies heard the sound of battle from further inside. They raced through the crumbling palace with Shining Armor in the lead, hurdling debris and ducking through partially collapsed doorways until they found themselves inside a large room on one of the upper floors. It reminded Shining Armor of the throne room in Canterlot. The similarity was pushed out of his mind when he saw his sister on the far side of the chamber. She was shaking and exhausted, but her horn glowed bright enough to keep the center of the room lit. A white form lay sprawled on the floor behind her. Princess Celestia.

Shining Armor began to speak. A voice from the shadows pre-empted him.

“You are a such a strange little pony, Twilight Sparkle,” said Nightmare Moon. She sounded amused. “First you free Celestia’s greatest enemy and now you risk your life to protect her.”

Something flickered behind a pillar. Twilight blasted it into dust. Mocking laughter filled the room.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Nightmare Moon teased. “What madness drove you to summon and challenge me? Was it pride?”

A tendril of shadow snaked around half of a broken statue and whipped it at Twilight. Twilight barely managed to deflect it in time to avoid being crushed. Shining Armor’s eyes went wide as he realized his sister was afraid to dodge for fear of leaving the princess vulnerable.

“Part of her has always been afraid of what you can do,” Nightmare Moon continued. Her tone was almost conversational. “Did you know that? Her dreams where you betrayed her were just exquisitely dark. Though even she never thought you would reverse engineer Tirek’s magic draining spell. Kudos for exceeding expectations.”

Twilight glared as she tried to spot her adversary. Her eyes widened as she saw her brother, then narrowed as she began to formulate a plan.

“And what about you, ‘Luna?” Twilight shot back. “Does she dream about you crying because nopony liked you?”

Another masonry missile came flying out of the dark. Twilight parried it easily this time. Her voice turned mocking.

“She wants you back more than anything, you know. Can’t imagine why, but she does.”

That struck a nerve. Nightmare Moon came swooping out of the shadows straight at Twilight. Twilight feigned panic, looking like she was going to flee or throw up a shield...then grabbed Celestia with her magic and threw her across the room just before the black alicorn smashed into her.

Shining Armor grabbed his monarch with his magic. He grunted with the effort until Rainbow Dash flew up to help. Together they lowered her to the ground. Shining Armor raised his shield spell again just as Nightmare Moon turned her gaze on them.

“How—” she said before Twilight slugged her in the side of the head. The midnight alicorn snarled and bared her fangs. She was inches from biting down on Twilight’s throat when the magic draining spell connected again.

“No more hiding behind other ponies this time!” Twilight shouted triumphantly as magic poured out of Nightmare Moon and into her like water falling from a pitcher. Nightmare Moon’s starry mane flattened into simple blue hair as dark power arced between them. Thunder boomed and the alicorn was sent flying after her sister. She landed in a sprawl, sliding to a stop a few inches away from Shining Armor. The imposing figure of Nightmare Moon was gone, replaced by a smaller alicorn with a dark blue coat. Celestia’s eyes fluttered open.

“Luna?” she whispered.

“What in the hay just happened?” Applejack asked, speaking for everypony.

“I’m giving the princess her sister back,” Twilight Sparkle said matter of factly. Everypony looked back up at her and gasped. The same sparkling cloud of magic that had surrounded Nightmare Moon was swirling around Twilight now. As they watched it settled at her sides, taking the form of a pair of starry wings. Her eyes glowed and shifted, taking on the draconic appearance of her vanquished foe.

“Twily?” Shining Armor asked hesitantly. He dropped his shield. “Are you alright?”

His sister responded with a too wide grin that sparked uncomfortable memories of the one and only time she had been late with her homework. “Alright?! Of course I’m alright! I’ve never been better! I just did what we’ve been trying to do all this time?”

Shining Armor gulped. “...Beat Nightmare Moon?”

Twilight’s new wings flapped once. The gesture was enough to create a gust of wind that cleared the dust and debris from that side of the room. Shining Armor coughed and closed his eyes.

“Make the princess happy again, of course!” Twilight said in that too manic tone.

Something shifted behind Shining Armor. He looked back to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack helping the princess to her hooves. “Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said. Weakened and woozy, her voice still thrummed with authority. “What have you done?”

Twilight froze, looking very much like a filly who had been caught doing something she knew she wasn’t supposed to. She flicked her ears and pawed at the ground nervously.

“You were so sad,” Twilight said. The crazy had drained out of her voice. “I tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked. So I started researching the problem. I found old texts about the origins of the Mare in the Moon legend. I remembered you saying the name Luna and I put the pieces together. I thought...if I could take her magic away, weaken her enough that she couldn’t fight you…”

Twilight gulped. “Then you could talk to her and have your sister back.”

Celestia had regained her hooves while Twilight spoke, though she still leaned on Applejack for support. She took one step, two steps, then she was standing over her sister. “Twilight, I—”

The blue alicorn cut her off with a wad of spit to the face.

“It was always about you,” Luna hissed.

Twilight’s eyes flared. “HOW DARE YOU?!” she boomed in a voice that rattled stone. Her horn flared and a lance of violet magic streaked at Luna. “YOU NEVER DESERVED HER!”

Celestia lurched away from Applejack and in front of her sister. Twilight’s attack battered aside her attempt to parry it and struck her square on the horn. She crumpled.

Twilight screamed at the sight of her beloved teacher stricken. “You!” she snarled at Luna. Literal smoke came out of her nostrils as she snorted like a bull. “You did that!”

Shining Armor caught his liege as she fell. “The Elements of Harmony,” Celestia gasped. “You have to use them to—”

Celestia’s eyes rolled back into her head. She fainted.

Shining Armor looked from his ruler to her sister to his sister and made a tactical decision. He plopped Celestia in front of Fluttershy on the manticore, slung Luna over his own back, turned and fled. “Everypony run!”

Most of them didn’t need to be told. Rainbow Dash was a beat slower, but once Twilight started spamming death rays in that direction she decided to accede to Shining Armor’s command experience. The ponies tore out of the throne room and raced pell-mell through the castle, an extremely angry newborn alicorn in hot pursuit.

“Applejack!” Shining Armor said as they stumbled into an antechamber. “Any idea what these Elements of Harmony look like?”

“Not a clue,” Applejack admitted.

“Ooh, do you think they’re a bunch of big round stones with magic-y symbols carved into them?” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“Why ever would you say…” Rarity began, then sighed. “...You’re looking at them right now, aren’t you?”

Indeed, Pinkie Pie was standing in front of a large decoration in the middle of the room. An inscription at the bottom read “The Elements of Harmony.”

“Okay, so...what do we do with them?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“...I don’t know,” Shining Armor admitted. He could hear Twilight smashing her way closer. “Applejack?”

“Do Ah look like an unicorn?” Applejack snapped. “Fluttershy, any luck with the princess?”

Fluttershy had laid Princess Celestia out on the stone floor and was examining her. She shook her head. Princess Celestia was out cold.

Shining Armor cursed. Luna groaned on top of his back.

“Arrange the Elements of Harmony in a circle,” she slurred. “Best if she walks in the middle.”

“Why the hay should we believe a word you say?” Rainbow Dash demanded.

Luna smirked. “Because my flank is first on the chopping block if I lie.”

Hard to argue with that. Shining Armor didn’t try. He started levitating the Elements down and motioned for Rainbow Dash to help. “Okay, then what?”

†

Twilight came barging in to see her brother standing next to a prone Princess Luna. She marched in slowly, magic swirling around her ready to repel any ambush.

“Twily,” Shining Armor said in that tone of voice you use with crazy people. “You don’t have to do this.”

“THERE IS NO TWILIGHT!” she boomed. “THERE IS ONLY MIDNIGHT SPARKLE!”

Dark alicorn magic was one hell of a drug.

Shining Armor lowered his head and cast the spell Luna had described.”Right. This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.”

Magic jumped and crackled like electricity from one Element of Harmony to the next, forming a circle around Twilight. Twilight looked down in alarm. The magic sizzled and popped, grew brighter...then died out.

Twilight looked at her brother. She laughed hysterically and lashed out with her magic. All five of the Elements of Harmony shattered.

Luna groaned in resignation. Twilight’s eyes fixed back onto her quarry. Shining Armor decided the situation had just officially become hopeless.

And that was when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. He looked back to see Rarity standing next to him. The other girls were arrayed behind him. And suddenly he understood.

“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony that easily?” he told his sister. “You’re wrong. Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!”

Something began to shift around Twilight’s hooves. The newbie alicorn looked nervous.

“Rarity, who went out into the Everfree Forest at night to help a pony she barely even knew represents the Element of Generosity!”

A glowing bit of crystal leapt up and flew over to hover in front of Rarity. Shining Armor kept talking.

“Applejack, who comforted me when I was in doubt represents the Element of Honesty!”

Another flare of light, this one amber.

“Rainbow Dash, who wouldn’t abandon a companion no matter what the peril represents the Element of Loyalty!”

There was coruscation of light in every color of the rainbow.

“Fluttershy, who showed us the way forward by taking the time to help a wounded manticore represents the Element of Kindness!”

Fluttershy squeaked as she was levitated up and forward. A choker with a pink gem shaped like a butterfly appeared on her neck.

“And Pinkie Pie, who laughed in the face of danger and kept our spirits alive when the night was darkest represents the Element of Laughter!”

The light was getting brighter now, melding into something Twilight had to shield her eyes against. She hissed.“But I broke the seal! The Elements of Harmony are gone!”

“You’re wrong Twily,” Shining Armor said. His voice was gentle. “Because together the Elements of Harmony represent something you’ve always needed more than anything else. You’ve spent your entire life learning to control Magic, but friendship is what makes it all complete!”

A crown with a gem bearing an eerie resemblance to Twilight’s cutie mark materialized in the air above Shining Armor. He bowed as it set down on his head. It glowed in unison with the necklaces around the necks of the other five ponies. Shining Armor’s eyes turned white and with a rush of arcane power a giant double rainbow burst up from the six ponies. It twisted upward in a double helix before slamming down onto Twilight, smashing past her magical defenses and ripping away the dark power she had stolen.

When everypony’s eyesight recovered, ‘Midnight Sparkle’ was gone and Twilight was laying in a heap.

†

“Well Ah’ll be,” Applejack said bemusedly. “And here Ah thought you were spouting a lot of hooey Shining Armor, but Ah reckon we do represent the Elements of Harmony.”

“Indeed you do,” came an ethereal voice. The ponies turned to see Princess Celestia back on her hooves and smiling down benevolently at them. The five mares bowed while Shining Armor stiffened and threw a sharp salute. The manticore took that as a cue to run away.

“I failed to see the signs of what my faithful student had planned,” Princess Celestia continued. “The power of the Elements of Harmony is one that no amount of study or practice can harness. Only by allowing true friendship into your heart can they be reborn. Now if only another will as well.”

Princess Celestia looked down at her sister. “Princess Luna,” she said gently. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?”

Princess Luna trembled as she rose to her hooves again. From the looks of it she was considering another spitwad. Then her eyes turned moist and she rushed forward. Shining Armor tensed as the other alicorn’s horn came perilously close to his ruler’s chest and throat, but the lost princess only hugged her sister.

“I missed you so much, big sister,” Princess Luna sobbed.

“I missed you too Luna,” Princess Celestia replied with equal emotion.

Rocks slid and hooves scraped the floor as Twilight Sparkle stirred. Both alicorns turned to look at her. The little unicorn flinched as she saw their gazes.

“I, I’m so sorry,” she stammered. “I never meant—”

“Hold, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna said. Royal authority was already returning to her voice. Twilight fell silent and cringed.

“As We understand it you undid the seal imprisoning us on Our moon in hopes of reuniting us with Our sister,” Luna continued. Twilight nodded.

Luna held Twilight’s gaze before looking back to her sister. “While her judgment may have been lacking, Twilight Sparkle’s affection for you cannot be denied. We are in no position to condemn another for decisions born of an excess of despair.”

Celestia’s face was unreadable. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said. Twilight flinched again. “Step forward.”

Twilight did so. She was clearly terrified. “I’m, I’m so, I didn’t mean—”

Celestia cut her student off by grabbing her with both forelegs and pulling her in for a tight hug. Twilight automatically hugged her back.

“You have brought light back into my world, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia whispered.

Luna caught Twilight’s eye. “Enemies though we may have been, we both love my sister. Let that common ground be our foundation from this moment on.”

Celestia reached over with one fluffy wing and pulled her sister into the hug. Pinkie Pie broke down sobbing with joy.

“Hey,” she said to the mares standing next to her. “Do you know what this calls for?”

Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack sighed as she finished with, “A party!”

Once the group hug was over Shining Armor cleared his throat. “Princess Celestia?”

She looked at him. “Yes, Captain Shining Armor?”

“Requesting permission to collapse unconscious.”

Princess Celestia smiled. “Permission granted.

Comments

[CommisarSilver]

In some ways errie but also interesting. Eggads celestia has her work cut out for her.

[Opponent]

Hmm. So apparently Twilight still is Magic, but Shining Armor could focus the Elements to help her?

Overall, it feels a bit forced. Rarity's part, while kind of out of the blue in the show, is pretty non-existant here. It's hard to practice or even demonstrate Generosity in the middle of the forest in a situation like this, so it's not an easy task to describe, and yet the absense of it still feels wrong. Same with Pinkie, to a lesser extent, she has no definitive impact. Plus, Luna spitting into Celestia's face, and then not half an hour later crying in her lap and pleading for forgiveness feels... odd? Then again, magic or not, the emotional back-and-fourth she would be having in this situation would be immense, so it's unlikely she was rational at any point here.

Also, we got to see Shining Armor the pony, the unicorn, but not the CO. Might come across as odd for him to accompany Twilight personally (and alone), as well as going alone-ish into the Everfree, but it's actually the most sane solution. Nobody else present even came close to Twilight's power level. At least the local mares knew the land. It's certainly refreshing, with american citisens in general having an unhealthy obsession with their military and projecting furiously onto ponies. And that gets grating after a while.

All in all, it's an interesting take, well done. 8/10. You deserve more exposure than you got.

[Donraj]

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Granted this is kind of tell rather than show, but I did assume that Rarity and Pinkie Pie did things between the manticore and reaching the castle that helped solidify their roles in Shining Armor's mind. Ultimately the story was about Twilight and Celestia (and Luna) and I didn't want to get bogged down reinventing every detail of the pilot.

And yes, there was some pretty serious emotional ping-ponging at the end. But Luna saw her sister take a magical bullet for her and also got hit by the backwash from the Elements of Harmony. I think spitting in Celestia's face was the natural reaction to hearing that the only reason she was freed was to make her perfect princess sister happy.

I don't think I showed it as well as I wanted to, but even before mainlining Luna's Nightmare powers Twilight was feeling some pretty deep seated resentment of her own that Celestia cared so much about Luna instead of Twilight. Even if she didn't recognize that going in.

[Greatazuredragon]

She looked at him. “Yes, Captain Shining Armor?”
“Requesting permission to collapse unconscious.”
Princess Celestia smiled. “Permission granted.

Very nice work.

[Mystic Sunrise]

“I, I’m so sorry,” she stammered. “I never meant—”

I'm calling bull. Twilight is trying to cover up how much she fucked up. Big time.

Love the story. Just the fact that Twilight is trying to sound innocent of this isn't working for me. She knew darn well what she was doing. Nothing was forcing her to do it.

[PaulAsaran]

You can has review!

[Donraj]

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Oh, hi!