Ebă: Adding A Second Player
In the ruins of Canterlot Castle, the Elements of Harmony were being fired at a strange being, one grotesque beyond description. The seven friends; Twilight Sparkle, Applejack Apple, Rarity Belle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Maestro Spectrum were at the focus of it all, pouring energy into their respective elements. However, the creature was mostly unfazed by the power of the Elements, and spoke in a voice that haunted all who heard it. “Do you think I can be contained, small one?” It seemed to address the only male in the group, and quirk what passed for its head.
His dark teal fur on end, Maestro stood tall as his blue-green eyes bore into the creature with determination. “No, I've no illusions to such. But if I can delay you, that is all that is needed.”
A rumble came from the creature, a tremorous sound that might pass for it ‘laughing’. “How foolish. It matters not what you do, you cannot halt what comes. The cycle will reset as it always does.”
Maestro glared, his reddish-brown mane seeming to glow in the moonlight as it offset the turquoise streak down the middle. “I'm aware of that, fiend. I've remembered every time that the cycle has reset, ever since the first.”
The girls however, were completely lost as they looked between each other. Twilight was the first to voice her confusion. “Maestro, what are you talking about? I don't understand…”
Regaining her composure, Applejack questioned Maestro as well. “Yeah pardner, what's this 'bout? Cycles? Resets?”
Maestro flicked his seven-colored rainbow tail and sighed, shaking his head. They always did this, didn’t they? Oh those sweet, naïve friends of his… how they never changed… and likely never would. “Listen, we don't have time for this. It's starting.”
Confused, Rarity tried to ask what he meant. “What is- ah! The ground is shaking!?” the sudden tremor caused them to lose focus, and the Elements to let go of their erstwhile captive.
Fluttershy shrank in horror, whimpering to herself. “What's going on?”
The creature stood, to its great height the size of a mountain, and ‘laughed’ harder. “Behold as the world is torn asunder! Look in awe as it makes way for its new incarnation!”
Leaping up into the air, Rainbow looked around at the surrounding area, and frowned. The castle was falling to pieces, and black clouds started to roll overhead. “Even at my fastest, I don't think I could outrun this!”
Even Pinkie had lost her usual cheer and demeanor, concerned at what was going on. “This is so not fun! What's Mr. Author planning?”
As the tremors intensified, Twilight looked over to Maestro, and appealed for an answer. “Maestro, please! Explain what's going on!”
He shut his eyes, sighed, then looked back to all of them, eyes full of resignation. “You wanted to know why I knew of every event before the fact?” He gestured to the surrounding area, and deftly avoided the crumbling structure. “This is why. Stay conscious if you can, and you will see as I see the next time 'round. If not... well, there's always next cycle.”
The ground rumbled, causing Fluttershy to leap backwards. “Eep!” She was knocked unconscious by the falling rubble, but she was otherwise fine.
As the tremors continued, Applejack could scarcely keep herself upright. “Woah!” She tripped, and hit her head on the ground. She tried to force herself to to stay conscious, but it was in vain.
The pandemonium continued, and Rarity soon found herself in a predicament as she fell afoul of a puddle that had accumulated from the now falling rain. “Ah!” She slipped, hitting into a wall. She was not as sturdy as Applejack, so it stood to reason that she wouldn’t be conscious at this point.
Rainbow had evaded most of it so far. Yet… “Can't catch me, can't catch me, can't -” Her pupils shank, unable to avoid what was to come. “Aw, nuts.” Her luck ran out as she was struck by lightning that discharged from the clouds above. She still seemed to have some luck as her unconscious form hit the ground, undamaged.
Due to her abilities, Pinkie had escaped up to this point. But then, her ears twitched, her legs all shook uncontrollably, and her tail twitched all at once. “Pinkie Sense overload! Why, Mr. Author?” The combo continued, making her unable to react when she fell into a white tear in reality. She was then ejected back out, unharmed, but unconscious.
The creature gloated, drinking in its victory as the world fell apart. “The scent of the new iteration is near.... will you see its dawn?”
The ceiling crumbled, and a slab was about to hit Twilight. Her eyes wide, she thought she was done for. “Ah! M-Maestro?” Sure enough, Maestro was using his magic to prevent the slab from hitting its mark.
His eyes started to water, and he pushed the slab away with full force. “No! I've been through this alone too many times! If one other among my friends is made aware, then maybe something can change! I can't go it alone! Not again..” Tears dripped from his eyes, as he started to break down.
Twilight had never seen him like this. He’d always been positive and determined, no matter the situation. This was the first time that she’d seen any other emotion from him. It was a bit surreal, which explained the surprise in her voice. “Maestro... you're... crying?”
He dried his eyes, and looked at her, glaring a bit. “Is it too much to ask for you girls to actually pay attention? If we really are friends, you'll do things differently next time.”
Twilight was about to ask what he meant, but the creature interrupted. “It won't matter in the end. The dawn is here!”
The sun started to rise, and Twilight immediately wanted to shield her vision. But Maestro shook his head, and looked into the sunrise. As Twilight fought the urge and looked into the sunrise, their consciousnesses are thrown elsewhere, elsewhen.
Twilight woke with a start in the middle of the night. “Maestro!” She panted heavily, and looked at her surroundings. It was her old room when she was back in Canterlot studying under Celestia. Everything was as it was that fateful morning when she had been sent to Ponyville. She gasped. Could it be? The thought was crazy, but she looked over to Spike and gasped; his wings were gone. There were many dark thoughts running through her head at first, but then she remembered what Maestro had said. It was a strange thought, that this could be the day she went to Ponyville, but there was one surefire way to know. She got out of bed, careful to not wake her assistant. She looked out the window, and gasped. There, plain as day, was the Mare in the Moon. “Luna… So it’s true, then. It cycled back…” She went over to her reading stand, the one she remembered placing the book on the ‘legend’ of the Mare in the Moon. It wasn’t there, of course. She hadn’t gone to the library to borrow it yet. She hadn’t shrugged off her Canterlot friends, and... well. Then she got an idea. She could do things differently, this time. She could have her old friends meet her friends that she would meet for the "first time" later today. She could change the future! But then she considered something. What kind of ramifications would that cause? She didn’t know. She’d have to talk to Maestro about it, for sure. But, she was still tired, and it was much too early for this. She decided to get a bit more sleep before doing anything too rash.
Later that day, Twilight was on her way back from the Library, book in tow. She’d gone a bit earlier than last time, in hopes of running into some of her Canterlot friends. Right on cue, she saw them. The two that had reminded her about Moondancer’s party. She called out to them. “Lemon! Lyra! It’s good to see you.” She smiled gently, closing her book that she’d been pretending to read. “What’s up?”
The two looked between each other, a bit surprised by her attitude. The Twilight they knew almost always had her muzzle buried in a book, so to see her act so differently was a bit jarring. However, they reasoned that she’d probably just finished reading that book, and felt like talking with them. Lemon shook it off first, and addressed her. “Oh, we’re off to Moondancer’s party. You coming?”
Twilight sighed. “I’d love to, but Princess Celestia wants me to help organize the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. Spike and I will drop by before we go, though.” She hadn’t lied about the Celebration. After all, she’d already sent the letter that morning. She wrote it herself, changing a few things slightly from last time. She’d mentioned Luna by name, but she had received the same reply as last time. Maybe Celestia had only glanced at it?
Regardless, she grabbed Spike at their room, along with his gift to Moondancer. Twilight and Spike then went to Moondancer’s place, and she approached them with joy. “You came! I’m glad. I thought that-”
Twilight smiled sadly. “As much as I’d like to, I can’t stay. I have an assignment from Princess Celestia. But, I just couldn’t go without saying goodbye.” She then gestured to Spike. “We have a parting gift for you, though. To remind you that we care.”
Spike handed it over, and Moondancer opened it gingerly. Her face lit up, and she looked to Twilight. “It’s all of us… together.” She paused, a sullen look on her face. “Will… I ever see you again?”
Nodding, Twilight explained. “I’ll visit when I can. And you’re always welcome to come visit me, too.” she looked to the others of her friends here in Canterlot one, by one. “All of you are. I’ll just be down in Ponyville. Not too far from here, so we’ll always be in touch.”
Her friends were all surprised by this. Twilight was acting so differently from the way that she usually did. However, some part of them knew that it was her as they said their goodbyes. They even waved as they saw her off. Twilight had a warm feeling in her heart as she went to Ponyville. She had done the right thing. She was more friendly to her Ponyville friends as she met them the ‘first time’, and was carried away. But then, she arrived to the one that she’d met last. Maestro. She paused at the door. He still remembered all of what happened last time. Looking back, she realized what he’d meant- he had advice for how to defeat the villains and befriend their enemies earlier, and they had always been ignored. She felt guilty for that, but she knew that she had to face him eventually. Bracing herself, she opened the door. At the stage, she saw him working with his adoptive daughter at his side, a rainbow dragon named Prism. The door closed behind Twilight, and Maestro turned to see her. “You’re late. Troubling thoughts, I presume?” at her nod, he looked to Spike. He was fawning over Prism, and Maestro cleared his throat. Startled, Spike looked sheepish. Maestro smiled gently. “Why don’t you two go get to know each other? I’ve business with Twilight.” The two dragons left into a side room, and Maestro cast a silence field. “So. Have you done anything with your knowledge of the future yet? Maybe you have averted a dead friendship?”
Eyes wide, Twilight nodded. “How did you know that I’d try to keep my Canterlot friends? There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”
Maestro shook his head and smiled. “Far from it, really. I think now that your eyes are open to how things are, you know now why I’ve done the things I did- even keeping Starswirl’s Journal from reaching you.”
Twilight gasped. “Why did you do that? I don’t understand…”
Looking off to the distance, his eyes were full of sorrow,. “Last time that I let you use that spell, it didn’t end well. You never figured out how to finish it, and well… It wasn’t pretty.” He paused, and looked to Twilight. “I’ve seen many endings to our tale, Twilight. None of them happy. That’s why I’ve done what I’ve done.”
He then showed her an indigo gem, and her eyes lit up. “The Element of Inspiration? But how…?”
He concealed it once more, and sighed. “I created it. It took a balance of the two ways of learning magic, but by some miracle I pulled it off. It may be artificial, but I managed to link it to the the other six. That is how come they work together, though by all rights they shouldn’t.” He looked her in the eyes, that familiar determined look in his eyes. “It took far too many cycles to perfect, but now It works like a charm. I made this in hopes of averting what became of the Equestria I knew. Though, for the longest time I couldn’t pull it off, because you girls were always the same- you always vied for the way things originally went, and that meant ignoring me.” As Twilight was about to apologize, Maestro held up a hoof. “It’s alright. It’s not your fault. The cycles love repetition- that’s how they’ve resisted me thus far. But, if we work together…” He smirked. “We might be able to save Equestria yet. So. Will you take my advice when we face Nightmare Moon, Twilight?”
It was a bit hard for her to digest all this. An artificial Element of Harmony, on top of all this cycle business. Regardless, Twilight knew that Maestro had been trying for a long time to fix things. So, she nodded. “I will. I don’t know what it is, but I guess that’ll have to wait. My party’s soon.” The two shared a nod, and the silence field was dropped. Spike found his way back to Twilight, and gave a sheepish wave to Prism, who reciprocated. Maestro shook his head in amusement, and that was the last Twilight saw of the scene.
The party was enjoyable, now that she actually was participating. Her Canterlot friends even stopped by to say hello, and participate in the party. This was one surprise that she enjoyed very much, and she sort of lost herself in the festivities. But, she got a free moment, and stepped away onto the balcony of the Library. Maestro was there, looking at the moon. Twilight watched as the four stars of prophecy touched the moon- just as they had that night, so long ago. Maestro spoke. “She’s here. Nightmare Moon. The hour is nigh, Twilight. When we go into the Forest, and make for the Castle… We must be careful not to tip our hand. The creature is watching.”
That surprised Twilight, but she controlled herself so she wouldn’t scream out. “It’s here? Now? I thought that…”
Maestro shook his head. “You thought wrong. I made that mistake, Twilight. The first time I became aware of the cycle, I tried too much too fast. It… didn’t end well. Be patient. We will play its game for now, moving the pieces into place at a reasonable pace. Tonight, we solve two problems- Nightmare Moon, and the creation of the Tantabus. If we do things right, we can erase her guilt, tonight. When the time is right, I’ll let you know.”
Twilight nodded, and the rest went as she remembered form last time, but with her Canterlot friends seeing Nightmare Moon for themselves. She and Maestro called her out, and her reaction was much like last time. Twilight convinced her Canterlot friends to stay in town- though she was touched that they wanted to come along. The trip through the forest was much like last time, as she let herself get into those precarious situations that her friends helped her with. Then, Maestro inspired them to keep going when the Castle was re-figured into a maze. They found the Elements, and when Maestro laid the Element of Inspiration with the others, he convinced the others to not go far. He then looked to Twilight. “Together. We must light the spark together. We must use our Elements in tandem. That is what I’ve come to conclude will erase Luna’s guilt. Are you ready?”
Twilight nodded, and they lit their horns together. The two of them were abducted, the Elements shattered at the hooves of Nightmare Moon, and she gave her little speech about the girls being the Elements- then she turned to Maestro. “Maestro, who never let us give up, is the Bearer of Inspiration!” Indigo shards floated around his head, and circled. Twilight then cut off Nightmare Moon’s response. “As for myself?” Violet light descended from above. “I’m the Bearer of Magic!”
As the seven Elements harmonized, Nightmare Moon stepped back in shock. “Not possible! How can there be seven Elements?! How did you summon the Element of Magic!?”
Twilight and Maestro then spoke in unison. “There’s something you should know… Friendship! Is!” The Elements then shot out a rainbow of light at Nightmare Moon. “MAGIC and INSPIRATION!”
Nightmare Moon was soon engulfed, and the sun returned as the light from the Elements died down. Luna was there, and Twilight and Maestro explained to the girls who she was before Celestia could. Celestia looked at the heroes, and smiled. “I must thank the six-”
Maestro stepped forward, and tapped the crown embedded with a gem cut like his Cutie Mark- A turquoise music note superimposed over a paintbrush in an X-shape with the seven colors of the rainbow coming of the tip of the brush in a leftward arc underneath. “I believe you mean seven.” He smirked, positively glowing as Celesita’s eye twitched.
However, she regained her composure, and was about to dismiss his claims, But Twilight interrupted. “It’s true, Princess. Maestro did help us cleanse your sister. Without him, I doubt that Luna would be without guilt about what she did as Nightmare Moon.”
Celestia balked, and looked to Luna. “Luna, is this… true?”
Nodding, Luna explained. “We still regret being her, make no mistake. Verily, We will make an effort to earn forgiveness from the ponies of Equestria. But, We find it pointless to punish ourselves for what cannot be changed.”
Blinking, Celestia took that all in. She then looked to Maestro. “How… How did you even find a seventh Element of Harmony?”
With a shake of his head, Maestro deferred that until later. “That’s not what’s important here. What’s important is that a void in the Elements has been filled, and that your sister is back.” He then looked to Luna. “Though, she will have to be brought up to speed… I think I’ll take that on.”
Celestia stepped back, surprised. “You’d do that? Help her acclimate to today’s society? Why? For my sake? Hers?”
Maestro glared at Celestia, and Twilight saw venom in his eyes. He whispered to himself. “Not for you. Never.” He shook it off, and looked to Luna with sympathy. “For her, partly. For Equestria, certainly. For myself, an experiment. Might be fun…”
Twilight was shocked at how hostile he’d been towards Celestia, and then how sympathetic he’d been towards Luna. What had Celestia done to deserve such anger? Luna’s response broke her out of her thoughts. “Fun? What is… ‘fun’?”
Maestro sighed. “Oh, I’ve got a long road ahead of me, It seems…” He looked to Luna. “I’ll start our lessons later. You should spend some quality time with your sister, might do the both of you some good. After all, you haven’t seen each other in an entire millennium! Lessons can wait until Saturday. Catching up with your sister can’t.”
The rest of the day went rather similarly to last time, with Celestia taking the Elements for safekeeping before she and Luna went back to Canterlot. Though, during the festivities of the Celebration, Twilight took Maestro aside. “You looked at Celestia with such disgust… Why?”
Maestro clenched his ovular platinum locket etched with his Cutie Mark on the front in his turquoise magic. “I… don’t want to talk about it. I’ll only say… she’s not the saint that you think she is, Twilight.” For the remainder of the day, he refused to speak on the subject, so Twilight let it lie for the time being, knowing that she’d get an answer, someday. In the meantime, she helped the girls connect with him as best she could- after all, she understood this much: If they were to win in the end, their friendship needed to be strong. Maestro seemed to appreciate that Twilight had gotten the girls to talk to him, and he smiled to show it. They were the only ones that knew about the cycles, and they both silently agreed that it would stay that way, for now. Maestro left, promising to keep in touch and visit when he could- After all, he was a traveler to his bones. The sun set on the day, and Twilight lost herself in thoughts of what was to come in the future before finally falling asleep.
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If you would like an editor, I'd be interested, This is an interesting idea.
9379835
I'd like that. I hope to have this fic update more often than once a month, but we'll see what happens.
As I was reading this "Maestro" kept giving me "Mary Sue" vibes but seeing as he has relived this life who knows how many times I'm willing to let it slide for now
, also a lot of things the characters said/thought feels a bit robotic, but maybe that's just me 
one more thing!
try not to use the same word to describe the same thing twice, it stands out like a sore thumb
9381404
Changed the second venom to disgust. If the characters feel a bit robotic, I'll see what I can do to fix that. Though, I think I'll keep it that way in the pre-reset section... just for contrast.
9382853
. something that would help with the "Mary Sue" feeling I was getting would be to have Celestia still not as good as she seems to be, but not as bad as Maestro was implying; although that would be for later down the road, and that could mess something up you have planed, so I'm not sure about it... 
good; this story has potential, so I'd rather not see it get weighed down by these issues
9383098
Yes, I do have plans- Plans that will hopefully tone down those feelings. It may take a few chapters to get that effect, though.
9383938
good to know; for now I'll try to power though it
9384882
With help from an editor, I've cleaned up a few things in this prologue. It still probably has a few issues, but hopefully it looks better.
9391984
Just reread it, and yeah this is much better! Looking forward for the rest of this story
9392369
My big question to you though: Do the interactions still feel robotic? It's kinda hard to look past my bias. I want to know before I upload the true first chapter.
9392919
trust me dude it's fine; if I had saw it like this the first time I probably would not have even said anything, and just wait for the other chapters.
although in the future you might want to slow the pace down a bit.
9393054
Pacing, huh? I'll see what happens with that in the first chapter. I write the way I feel makes sense, and most times I just leave it be for a little bit before taking another look. I sometimes do go back and adjust things that made sense at the time, but no longer seem to. Whatever pacing comes of that is what I stick with, usually.
I had to applaud sarcastically to the OC character that Twilight couldn't figured out how to finish Starsswirl spell so she could become an alicorn or something.