> The Mane Seven Elements of Harmony > by psinet > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1. Twilight Sparkle was walking through Ponyville with her dragon friend Spike her mentor Princess Celestia had sent her to check the preparations for the Summer Sun Festival and make some friends but Twilight was worried about the return of Nightmare Moon an evil pony who was said to bring the eternal night so she decided to get the preparations done and over with so she could focus on the important task at hand "Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have something interesting to talk about." said Spike "Come on Twilight just try." Twilight sighed "Fine." she spotted a pink mare with a poofy mane "Um... Hello." the pink mare gasped and ran off in the other direction "Well that was interesting all right." Twilight said Spike just facepalmed he then looked at the list "Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres." they then heard somepony yell "Yee Haw" they turned to the source and saw an orange mare running through a field then she kicked an apple tree causing all the apples on it to fall in a bunch of baskets Twilight walked over "Good afternoon my name is Twilight Sparkle." she was interrupted by the mare shaking her hoof like crazy "Well Howdy do miss Twilight." The Mare said "A pleasure makin' your acquaintance. I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!" Twilight then told her that she's there to check the food for the celebration Applejack then invited her to have lunch with them afterwords Twilight meet Rainbow Dash and Rarity whom Spike developed a crush on next on the list was the lights and fireworks maker so Twilight an Spike set off they arrived at a place with a medium sized building and a tall tower with a giant red bird painted on the top and above the painting was a constant burning flame "Wonder what that's for." Said Spike they reached the door of the building a sign on it read CAUTION: materials are very reactive and some are unstable please follow safety instructions and wear proper gear. with an arrow pointing to googles, hard hats and earplugs the duo put them on and walked in "DUCK AND COVER BEHIND THE METAL SHEET" yelled a female voice Twilight and Spike jumped behind nearby piece of metal they heard a rattling sound then BOOM "You can come out now." Said the voice Twilight peaked up from behind the metal and saw a light orange mare with a red and yellow mane and tail wearing the same goggles and hard hat and earplugs which she took out with her magic she had a beaker of blue liquid that she was poring into a firework the mare spoke again "My name is Sunset Shimmer and everything here is ready for the Summer Sun Celebration." Twilight and Spike were confused "How did you-" Spike asked only to be cut off by Sunset Shimmer's answer "I was born with the ability to read minds." Twilight was surprised to hear this "But that's-" she was cut off by Sunset "Impossible I know Princess Celestia even said as much she never heard of such a thing before but she was able to help me so I wouldn't hear everyponys mind all at once now if I'm in a room full of ponies I get their minds one at a time there's no stopping it or turning it off." Just then a stallion walked in "Hey Sunset the firework ready?" he asked. Sunset picked up the firework that was sitting on the table "Right here." she then told Twilight and Spike that the liquid was what made the boom and how the boom meant that it was mixed right and where to find a pegasus named Fluttershy they set out meeting Fluttershy who got excited seeing Spike a baby dragon when Twilight and Spike finally got home they saw all the ponies in town throwing a party the pink mare was there introducing herself as Pinkie Pie suddenly Nightmare Moon appeared proclaiming eternal night Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash and Rarity set out to find the elements of harmony. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity were in Twilight's home the Golden Oaks Library looking for information on the elements of harmony they discovered a book that said they were in the Castle of the 2 sisters which was now in ruins the book also told what the elements were Kindness, Honesty, Laughter, Courage, Loyalty and Generosity the castle was deep in the Everfree Forest so they set out they then heard a call for help they saw one of the ponies houses was on fire and the pony was trapped inside without warning Sunset ran into the burning building the others were shocked but were more shocked when she came out levitating the pony to safety Sunset wasn't even singed they asked her how that was possible she replied that she would tell them later then they faced peril at a cliff Applejack told Twilight that she would be fine if she trusted her soon they ran into a Manticore but before Twilight could tell the others to fight it Sunset instructed them to let Fluttershy take care of it Rainbow Dash protested at first but then she relented turned out the Manticore had a thorn in its paw Fluttershy revealed she didn't know about the thorn Twilight realized that Sunset knew because of her ability to read minds then Rarity helped a sea serpent restore his moustace by cutting her tail then they found themselves surrounded by scary trees Sunset told them to get behind her for their safety but then Pinkie Pie sang a funny song that helped them through Sunset revealed she couldn't understand Pinkie Pie's mind and Rainbow Dash helped them cross a bridge they then found the castle Twilight went in alone and found the elements but couldn't figure out how to activate them Nightmare Moon then shattered the stones "You little foal!" She said "Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!" she then started laughing twilight then heard the other calling for her and all six of the ponies she meet came into the room she said to Nightmare Moon "You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here." this suprised Nightmare Moon "What?" she asked Twilight continued "Sunset Shimmer who ran into burning building to save somepony represents Courage Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty! The spirits of these six ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us." Nightmare Moon then said "You still don't have the seventh element the spark didn't work!" "But it did." Said Twilight "A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends! You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the seventh element: the element of... magic!" the seven ponies started to glow and a rainbow beam shot out and hit Nightmare Moon when it cleared everypony asked if they were ok and found they had necklaces with stones that matched their cutie marks Twilight had a crown with a stone that matched hers Celestia then appeared and revealed the pony they fought was her sister Luna who then apologised and revealed how much she missed her Celestia noticed that Twilight was reluctant to leave her new friends and decreed Twilight stay and send reports Twilight then deduced that Sunset knew of Nightmare Moon's true identity due to her mind reading Sunset confirmed this and told her that she didn't think the others would belive her if she told them. > Chapter 3 Sunset's family and the story of her cutie mark. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset Shimmer was cleaning her workshop the day after her adventure defeating Nightmare Moon when she heard the voices of her friends Twilight Sparkle and her dragon assistant Spike, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity "Hey everypony." She said "What's up?" "I was about to ask you that." Said Twilight as she watched Sunset work. "I'm cleaning the workshop and my home before my family comes home from visiting relatives in Manehatten." Sunset replied. Applejack spoke up "Mind if we help ya sugar cube?" "Not at all." Responded Sunset handing Twilight and Rarity a broom and the others a dish cloth like she was using "You can clean every where but the work shop I'll take care of that myself." She told them. Pinkie Pie was puzzled "Why's that?" She asked "Because." Replied Sunset "These chemicals are very volatile and I don't want any of you to get hurt." "Sunset is right." Said Twilight "We don't know what those things are or how delicate they could be so everypony keep away from them." "Got it." They all said and continued working till Rarity broke the silence " By the way Sunset how did you get this workshop?" Sunset answered "It was actually built by my father a few years before he meet my mother." She pointed to a picture of a yellow stallion on the wall with a red mane and a fireball for a cutie mark the bottom of the picture read Solar Flare. "And he taught you everything about his work? Asked Fluttershy. "That's right." Answered Sunset. "So you help him out?" Asked Rainbow Dash. "I used to." Said Sunset sadly "But he passed away a couple of years after my brother and sister were born." "Sorry." Said Rainbow Dash. "How did he die if you don't mind me asking?" Said Fluttershy. Sunset looked sadly over at Applejack "It was from the same Timberwolf that Applejack's parents got killed by." The others gasped and started to apologize to both her and Applejack but they told them not to worry about it. "Hey Sunset tell us about you brother and sister." Called Twilight "OK but let's move to cleaning the house we're done here." Sunset said she led them to a door at the back of the shop into a large house then pointed to a picture of a light gray mare with a yellow mane with a black spot circled by a white ring with what looked like rays coming out of it with her were two twin foals one was a red colt with a black mane that had a yellow stripe in it and black dots for his cutie mark the filly to his right was yellow with a black Mane that had a red stripe in it and had gray swirly cloud as a cutie mark. "This my mother Eclipse and the foals are my brother Sunspot and my sister Moon Dust they are twins." The others were amazed at the picture "Darling their wonderful." Said Rarity "Though seeing their cutie marks reminds me how did you get yours we told you how got ours last night after defeating Nightmare Moon but ran out of time before you could tell yours" "Fair enough." Said Sunset she took a deep breath "I'll tell you while we work it began when I was a filly I was trying to help my parents with their work I read from my fathers mind that he was low on certain things for his work that come from the Everfree forest so I set out to get them." The others gasped at this but didn't interrupt "I was walking the path that my father always takes and saw some phoenixes flying to get food for their chicks suddenly I heard a loud boom and saw a rainbow explosion however a big dragon was walking nearby and the noise frightened the chicks they started crying out the dragon decided he was going to eat them then head to the source of the sound I knew I couldn't let that happen so I shot a magic blast at him which upset him but just before he could toast me the phoenixes came back the oldest of them saw me defending the chicks he flew down to me and started glowing while circling me the dragon shot his fire at me but the elder phoenix given me immunity to fire which answers your question on how I was unharmed when I went into that burning building when the dragon saw I was fine he sent his most powerful flame but the phoenix had given me another gift the ability to control fire I sent it back to him defeating him with his last breath the dragon decided to grant me gifts as is dragon law they were the ability to breathe fire, knowledge of the dragon law, resistance to mind control and the torch outside it was smaller when he gave it to me but he had a spell to make it bigger the flame on it is whats left of the elder phoenixes life force which is tied to mine as long as I live that flame burns and nothing can destroy that torch I painted the phoenix picture on it as a sign of accepting the elder phoenixes gift my parents were upset when I came home but also proud of me I got my cutie mark then and have had it ever since." "Woah that is awesome!" Cried Rainbow Dash Spike asked "How big was the dragon?" "Very big I would need a dragon much bigger then you to tell you that Spike." Answered Sunset. Twilight was amazed "Wow!" She said "I'll have to write this down when I get home." They moved into Sunset's room and started cleaning as they were doing so Fluttershy noticed a pony sized wyvern outside "Um Sunset why is there a wyvern out your window?" She asked "Oh that?" Said Sunset "That's my pet Ray I found him on one of my runs he had just hatched and had no parents so I promised to take care of him according to Princess Celestia he's a runt the size he is no is as big as he will get he learned to fly by himself" "Wow" the others said they moved to the kitchen. "So what are your mom and siblings talents?" Asked Pinkie Pie. Sunset smiled "I'll tell you that and some other things about them." She said "Mom does ceramics and lights she and my dad meet in military training Dad could fire a light burst in the air like a flare mom can make an invisible shield that makes it so no one can see her or anypony she puts it around Sunspot can find lost ponies or animals if he has something of theirs and Moon Dust can find lost objects but you have to describe the lost item to her I sometimes help them with my mind reading but they usually only want me to do that as a last resort they see it as taking advantage of me." "Awww." said the others except Spike who was looking out the window "Hey Sunset." He called "Your family is here." Sunset and the others looked sure enough there was Sunset's mother and sibling walking to the house Sunset ran out to greet them. "Sunset!" the twins said running to her and giving her a hug which their mother joined in on they then noticed the others Sunset introduced them and explained what had happened while they were gone. "Well." Said Eclipse. "Sounds like you had quite an adventure." "Wow!" Yelled Sunspot. "You and your friends are awesome Sunset." "Yay!" Called out Moon Dust. "Our sister is a hero." Sunset smiled and so did her friends her mother then walked over to a door levitated a key she had around her neck to the lock and unlocked it opened the door and invited the others inside it was a huge ceramic studio with light fixtures along one wall the others gasped as Sunset had not told them about the room her mother explained that she liked to clean it herself after she cleaned it she insisted the others join her family for dinner to get to know them better. > Chapter 4 Taming dragons with Fluttershy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day a thick black cloud of smoke appeared in the sky Twilight called Sunset and the others telling them it was being caused by a dragon's snoring and that if the dragon continued Equestria would be covered for 100 years. "Now." Said Twilight "We will have Flutter-" Sunset interrupted her "It won't be that easy Twilight She is afraid of dragons." "But Spike-" Twilight started only for Sunset to point out he is a baby and the animals she cares for are not dragons and reminded Twilight that most dragons are big but Sunset told Fluttershy she would protect her as she fought a dragon herself. "But you're the Element of Courage." Fluttershy said Sunset responded "Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway." So they set out eventually reaching the cave Twilight tried talking to the dragon Pinkie tried being funny Rarity tried charming him despite Sunset saying it wouldn't work Rainbow Dash got so fed up with all this she kicked the dragon who came out of the cave "Uh Sunset." Said Applejack "Just how big was that dragon you fought?" "This one is half the size of the one I defeated." Answered Sunset bracing herself for attack the dragon simply flapped his wings and blew them into a rock angering Fluttershy to the point she yelled at the dragon making him cry but then she told him he wasn't bad and to find a new place to sleep and do something about the smoke.