The Persistence of Destiny

by Cold Bolt

My Own Private Equestria

Six ponies stared up at the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

"You know... under less dire circumstances, I should have liked to explore this place a bit more thoroughly," said the Doctor. "These ruins must be full of historically relevant artifacts! Perhaps we could make another expedition once things have calmed down, hm?"

"Let's worry about that later." Sunset marched forward. "We've got a villain to thwart."

The Doctor leaned toward Starlight. "She is taking things a tad more seriously, isn't she?"

Starlight sighed. "I don't know her all that well yet, but she's confided in me at least a few things about her past. Given what that last trap put her through... I don't blame her at all for the attitude change."

"Maybe we shouldn't be letting her wander in there without us, though?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, right." Starlight waved her hoof. "Come on, everypony. The Elements should be right..."

The six of them filed in through the front door into a wide foyer.

"...there!"

In the center of a room barely defined by its crumbling walls stood what appeared to be a stone sculpture composed of several spheres set around a central column. The party stared at it.

Rainbow quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I dunno what I expected..."

Starlight stepped forward carefully, muttering to herself. "Okay, so... should be any moment now..." She frowned as she reached the column itself uneventfully. "Oh. Then... how do I...?"

Derpy stage-whispered to the others. "What's she doing?"

"She's probably trying to trigger whatever she remembers happening next in the story," Sunset explained.

"Ugh, I was afraid of this..." Starlight sighed as she stepped back and closed her eyes, her horn lighting up. With a chorus of "ow, ow, ow," the light from her horn enveloped the stone spheres.

Immediately, a strange force erupted from the base of the column, washing over five sets of hooves.

"Wh - Oh no!" Derpy flapped her wings desperately but couldn't so much as budge an inch. "I'm stuck!"

"Rrgh!" Sunset grunted; it felt as though her hooves had been magnetized to the floor. "Should've known it wouldn't be that easy...!"

"Hang on!" Having evaded the effect while in midair, Rainbow swooped down and grabbed Applejack's shoulders, lifting with all the power her wings could muster... but all it resulted in was her neck emitting a loud pop.

"Ooh, that's better," said Applejack. "Mighty thankful, Dash."

Rainbow was spared the need to reply as the shadow of the sculpture in the moonlight began to twist and warp. It expanded as it rose from the floor, assuming a chillingly familiar equine shape.

BZAP!

Before anyone could react, a bolt of magic aimed squarely at Nightmare Moon's head erupted from Sunset's horn.

ZZZT zzzt...

The bolt struck an invisible shield, blue energy splashing across its surface and dissipating.

"Guh...!" Sunset gasped, wincing from the pain in her horn. "F-Figures..."

"Don't worry, guys, I can still grab the - urk!" A cold blue aura halted Rainbow in midair and threw her to the ground, her hooves binding to it immediately on contact.

"I tried to teach you obedience." Nightmare Moon's expression was inscrutable. "None of you would have been in any danger tonight if you had done as I asked. Instead, you decided to play 'hero' and waste both your lives and my time on this misguided act of rebellion."

Rainbow growled. "Why should we listen to you?"

"Because I am your queen." Nightmare Moon strode forward, lifting Rainbow's chin with her forehoof. "You will serve as an example of the cost of defiance. I am blameless in this; your blood is on your own hooves."

Rainbow spat at her. "You've got one last chance to surrender, you - "

The already raised hoof struck Rainbow's face in a blink, leaving her reeling.

Nightmare Moon turned away, stepping up to gaze at the sculpture. "But before the festivities can begin, I see that I must remove a certain temptation for the good of Equestria. I had hoped to keep them for further study, but it is of little consequence."

The orbs upon the pedestal lit up briefly, an almighty crashing sound ringing out as they all shattered and littered the floor with innumerable fragments of stone and crystal.

Derpy shut her eyes as tears flooded them, her forelegs too stuck to the floor to wipe them away.

"No," whispered Applejack. "We... we came so far..."

"Ha!"

All eyes suddenly locked on Starlight, who had been silent throughout the confrontation thus far.

The Doctor blinked. "Er, Miss Glimmer... are you feeling alright?"

"Never better!" Starlight grinned. "I just wasn't expecting this to go so perfectly according to plan!"

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow at Starlight, but said nothing.

"I mean, I'm not sure exactly how important the shattering part is to the equation, but I know what to do from here." Starlight tried to raise a hoof to point at Nightmare Moon before remembering her bindings and settled for a confident smirk instead. "And you've sealed your own fate - hook, line, and sucker!"

Nightmare Moon stared at her, visibly unimpressed. "I'm listening."

"You haven't destroyed the Elements," said Starlight. "They can't be destroyed, because Harmony can't be destroyed. They'll always be with us, as long as there are ponies worthy of wielding them."

Sunset's scowl gradually grew into a smile.

Though she couldn't see any of the ponies behind her, Starlight called out all the same. "Derpy, do you remember what happened with the serpent?"

"How - How could I forget?" Derpy shivered. "I, I almost g-got eaten..."

"You made a sacrifice," said Starlight. "You were willing to give up everything - not just all the food you made, but even your own life - if it meant keeping the rest of us safe. That's an act of true Generosity."

As if on command, a pile of crystal shards rose into the air and soared toward Derpy. A golden necklace materialized upon her collar as the shards merged together, forming a round purple gemstone that sparkled in the moonlight. Its light washed over her body, freeing her from the magic binding her to the floor.

Derpy rose a hoof to her new necklace. "O-oh wow..."

"And you, Doctor," Starlight continued. "You've got the most genuine curiosity and optimism of any of us. You even broke a fear enchantment and lifted our spirits with nothing more than cheesy puns!" She couldn't help chuckling at the idea. "I think it's safe to say you've shown us all the power of Laughter."

Another pile of shards came to life, coalescing into a sky blue gemstone in the shape of an hourglass. The Doctor grinned down at it as it met the necklace he now wore.

"Marvelous!" he decided.

"Rainbow..." Starlight bit her lip. "I don't know what happened between you and Fluttershy, and I'm sorry if it was something painful... but after I watched you showing mercy to that manticore back there, stopping to take care of it when you didn't have to..." She stopped for a breath. "The Fluttershy I know would be proud of your Kindness."

A pink shield formed out of crystal shards and bestowed itself upon Rainbow.

"He-hey! Who the heck brought the onions?" Rainbow protested with a sniffle. "Cut it out, I mean it!"

Stifling a snicker, Starlight turned toward Sunset beside her. "Sunset, I may not know quite everything you've been through... but I know it must have been really hard resisting such a gift of power you've spent so much of your life searching for. Never mind that you've stuck by my side this whole time..."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "It's what friends do."

"Then I'm glad to call you my friend," said Starlight, "and I'm honored by your Loyalty."

A ruby red sun coalesced on Sunset's collar.

"And Applejack?"

"Aw ponyfeathers," said Applejack, squirming in place as she tried to fidget in spite of her restraints. "I didn't do much. Nothing special, really..."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

Starlight smiled as Derpy spoke up.

"You told me exactly what I needed to hear," she explained. "You took my worries seriously, didn't sugarcoat anything... and you gave me the confidence to step up and take part even when I was scared." She turned to Starlight. "Um... which one is that?"

"If you ask me, that sounds an awful lot like Honesty."

Applejack soon found herself sporting an orange apple-shaped gem.

"Well shucks... Weren't nothing, June bug."

"Ha!" The Doctor raised a triumphant hoof. "Looks like that's all five!"

Rainbow sneered. "What do you say to that, tall, dark, and evil?"

Nightmare Moon hadn't so much as flinched throughout the entire scene. As the six rebels turned back to her with renewed confidence, her horn glowed. A wave of pressure rolled over the party, sending the five new Element bearers sprawling across the floor.

"You are inadequate."

Starlight's hooves un-stuck from the floor as she felt herself being lifted into the air by cool blue magic. Her breathing went ragged as that same magic began tightening around her neck.

"You are insufficient," Nightmare Moon spat as she watched the pony in her grip struggle. "You are incomplete, you are inconsequential. You continue to waste my time, and your lives are still forfeit."

Starlight let out a strangled cry as the magic tightened further, her panicked flailing beginning to weaken.

"Starlight!" Derpy struggled to stand up. "W, what... b-but we..."

"We got all the Elements!" Rainbow took to the air once more. "Now what? How do we beat her?"

"What's she banging on about?" asked Applejack. "Sounds like she's saying..."

"...there's a sixth Element," Sunset finished.

"A sixth Element?" The Doctor stared at her in disbelief. "Why did this not come up until now?"

Sunset stepped forward, pointing a hoof at Starlight. "It's a weapon I once tried to turn toward evil ends. The Element that ties the rest together, the spark of Harmony itself... the Element of Magic!"

A tiara materialized atop Starlight's head. A gem appeared within it, a magenta four-pointed star. It flashed, shattering Nightmare Moon's grip on Starlight and sending her crashing to the floor, coughing and gasping for air. The other five ponies dashed forward, helping her back onto her hooves.

Nightmare Moon stared blankly at them. "What."

"Whew... thanks, everypony." Starlight shook her head vigorously. "Now we can end this!"

Nightmare Moon stomped her hoof with enough force to crack the stone beneath her. "No! How could you possibly know about the sixth Element?"

Sunset smirked at the Doctor. "That's why."

The Doctor matched her grin. "Clever girl."

Starlight stood surrounded by her friends, whose Elements lit up one after the next. As beams of light erupted from them and converged on her own, she felt the gentle warmth of the power of Harmony surging through her.

Nightmare Moon gritted her teeth, summoning a large, glistening shield between her and Starlight. "No! This is inconceivable! How did you know?!"

A brilliant rainbow burst forth from the Element of Magic, shattering the shield effortlessly on its way toward its target. Nightmare Moon's anguished wail echoed through the castle behind her as all was washed away in a blinding flash of light.

Comments

[everydaygamer]

Alright that's one problem dealt with now to find out in what other ways this timeline has changed.

[Sun Sage]

"Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer..."

Nice touch with Starlight there, and tying together this first part.

Very interested to see where we go now. We are missing a few friends, and a lot of answers. Looking forward to seeing them, and/or whatever else you have planned here.

[Awesometacular]

Okay so this is how it is in the new timeline.
Starlight-Magic
Rainbowdash-Kindness
Derpy-Generosity
The Doctor-Laughter
Sunset-Loyalty
Applejack-Honesty

Great way to change things up though I'm kinda dissapointed that Applejack ended up being the same as before. With Rainbowdash having swapped her element I really wanted to see what else Applejack could embody.

[Akwolfgrl13]

Is nightmare moon visiny form princess Bride. Lol