Kindness and the Heart of Shadow

by Raven-Flight

Desperation

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Starlight all found themselves quite suddenly in Twilight’s room, and most unhappily awake.

“Alright, Twi,” Applejack rubbed her eyes. “What’s so urgent?” The other ponies who weren’t yawning at that moment all nodded in agreement with the question.

“They have the Helm of Shadows.”

“That ain’t good!”

“They have the Helm of Shadows,” Twilight continued, her voice cold and her face blank, “and they have Princess Luna in it.”

“You mean…?” Rainbow Dash started.

“They brought back Nightmare Moon?” Pinkie Pie finished. Nopony was yawning anymore. Twilight nodded.

“Chrysalis ambushed me in the library. I think she meant to put the Helm on me, but Celestia saw her and knocked it out of her hooves. Princess Luna showed up as Celestia became corrupted from touching the Helm, and Luna had to put it on herself to protect her sister. Chrysalis imprisoned Luna in changeling slime as she was transforming, and Sombra emerged and teleported them all away.” Telling the story made reality set in for Twilight, and a sharp sob escaped her throat. “How could I let this happen?”

While everypony else was still gawking over the news, Applejack wrapped her friend in a hug. Twilight’s tears slowed after a few moments, and her friend looked her over. “Now Twi, you know it ain’t your fault. Okay?” Twilight nodded. “Good. How’s about you tell us what ya’ll were doing in the library so late at night?”

“Princess Celestia and I were researching magic. We were hoping to develop an amplification spell by morning.”

“I could have provided you with a spell if you’d asked,” Starlight put in, “but what in Equestria did you guys want an amplification spell for?”

“To amplify a different spell, a water-deflection spell, so we could protect San Franciscolt from the tsunami.”

Rarity snapped herself back to attention. “The tsunami? So you’ve decided to do it anyway?”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash flew up in her excitement. “Let’s make ‘em pay for taking Fluttershy and Luna!”

“Not yeah! What if the tsunami hurts our friends?” Pinkie Pie crouched into an attack posture and glared at the flying pegasus.

“Nightmare Moon ain’t our friend, and we’ve already determined that Fluttershy’s plum gone, so it don’t matter. We need to knock those bad guys out before they do any more damage!”

“Hear, hear! Avenge Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cheered.

“Plum gone,” Pinkie Pie repeated quietly, standing down from threatening Rainbow Dash and glumly taking a seat.

“Well I, for one, am still holding out hope that Fluttershy is alive. I’m still loyal to my friend, unlike some pegasi I know!” Rarity flipped her mane over her shoulder.

“Hey! Wanna say that to my face?” Rainbow Dash swooped down until her snout was inches from Rarity’s.

“I just did!”

“Girls, this isn’t helping!” Starlight thrust herself between the unicorn and pegasus, then looked to Twilight once Rainbow Dash and Rarity had turned their backs on each other. “Twilight, even if we summon the tsunami and protect San Franciscolt in the process, what did you plan to do next? The waters might flush the villains out, but do you really think it will kill them? We have to have a plan of attack in case they come out alive.”

“Well, I had thought we could just ambush them as they were fleeing since they’d probably have their guard down, but now that they have an Element of Harmony and Nightmare Moon, I don’t know if we’ll be strong enough!”

“Not to mention all those fancy magical artifacts they stole,” Applejack added.

“But wasn’t there something else those ruffians didn’t take? Besides the Amulet of Aurora, I mean.” Rarity turned back around so her question could be addressed to the whole group. Twilight answered.

“The Alicorn Amulet. I know things look desperate, but I really don’t think we can risk using it.”

“Just how desperate do we have to be? I think we’ve passed that point, Twilight.” Now Rainbow Dash turned around too. Her face was stern.

“Well, what are you going to do if the amulet corrupts me too?” The alicorn snapped at her friend, her voice rising. “That might just be the doom of Equestria!”

“Yeesh, and I thought I was the proud one,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Now Pinkie Pie bounded up, smiling, and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “If anypony can resist that amulet’s evil temptation, it’s you Twilight! I believe in you!”

“We all believe in you,” Rarity added. “However the final confrontation happens, there’s nopony I’d trust more than you to bear the risk and save Equestria!”

Twilight took a few steps back from her advancing friends. Her eyes were huge and her mouth hung open. “No! You guys don’t know what you’re asking! If I fail, I could hurt so many ponies, and I’d bear the guilt forever. Please, you mustn’t make me do this!”

“Come on, Twi!” “Trust yourself!” “We’re behind you all the way!”

“Wait.” The girls stopped cornering Twilight and turned to look at Applejack. “It doesn’t have to be an alicorn to make that amulet work, right?”

“Not it!” Starlight screeched. “I’ve already been a villain and I don’t want to risk going there again!”

“I wasn’t talkin’ about you, sugarcube.” One by one, all the ponies turned to look at the other unicorn.

“You couldn’t possibly mean...” Rarity started.

“Oh yes,” interrupted the earth pony. “Remember how you were sayin’ that you know you’re not as powerful as other unicorns? Well, now you will be, to the benefit of all of Equestria!”

Rarity shrank into herself. “That’s not at all what I wanted...” she whispered.

Twilight didn’t take notice of her friend’s misgivings. “It’s perfect! With you wearing the amulet, we just might have enough magic on our side to defeat our enemies, but not so much that we wouldn’t be able to stop you if the amulet were to overcome you! —Not that I’m saying it will, of course.”

Pinkie Pie was looking back and forth between Rarity and Twilight, and she was frowning. “Twilight, I don’t think Rarity is comfortable with this...”

“Maybe not,” the Princess answered. “But since she’s the Element of Generosity, I know Rarity will agree to sacrifice her comfort for the salvation of Equestria and our friends!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.

“Right, how generous of me...” Rarity hung her head and said nothing more.

---

Grogar let the imagery in his Seeing Eye fade to black. “Excellent.”

Comments

[taterforlife]

Wow. That escalated quickly. But in a very believable way. A lot more believable then the pace has been for some of the two-part episodes, that's for sure!

I'm so excited for the rest!

And oh, Celestia. Such an interesting way to say it. "Fluttershy has ceased to exist." In a way, she isn't wrong...

[kurusagi16]

Things certainly are going from bad to worse. I like the way you've amped up the tension for the girls and the princesses. But I just had a thought, if the girls can somehow tell Discord that Fluttershy had "ceased to exist", then Discord could come back and help them out. I mean, as far as they know Fluttershy is...dead...which would break the agreement made between Sombra and Discord.

[Raven-Flight]

9821286
Oh good, I'm glad it's believable! I had to rework the order of events and pacing for the latter half of the story quite a bit to try to get the impact I wanted. I guess I finally got it about right!

[Raven-Flight]

9821404
Well, Twi did try to send Discord a note already, but she has no way to know if he got it since he never responded. It would probably be a good idea to try again at this point, but the girls are all stressed and afraid. I can't really blame them for not thinking about it. They sure need the extra help, though, don't they?

[Coco Candy]

Poor Rarity! They’re using her element to their advantage!!!