Prologue: Destati

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria…

There ruled two regal pony sisters who, with their governing powers over light and darkness, created harmony for all the land.

Good morrow, Tia. We trust thou hast slept peacefully?

We have, dear sister, thank you. Another calm evening, we take it?

Of course. Beneath the light of our moon, all is as it should be.

Wonderful. Wilt thou be retiring to thy bedchambers then?

In a moment. We wish to…watch…if thou wouldst indulge us.

…I would be delighted, Lulu.

The elder sister used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought forth the moon to usher in the night.

Another awe-inspiring night sky, Luna. Truly, we can only liken it to the finest of art.

Thine adulation is unwarranted, Celestia…but appreciated.

Thus did the two sisters maintain balance for their kingdom and their subjects – all the different types of ponies – as well as balance over the light and the darkness.

But as time went on, the younger sister had grown resentful.

…

Luna? Doth something trouble you, my sister?

The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful starlit night.

…Every night, Celestia. Each and every sunset do they retire to their homes and slumber, without as much as a passing glance at our moon and stars. We admit we find it rather…insulting.

…The night, it is a time for much-needed repose, Luna. Everypony works and plays during the daytime, and sees thy moon as their guardian of the night. They look to thee to watch over them as they sleep.

Do they truly? At times, we wonder. Lest thou forget, Celestia, we hold power not only over darkness and night, but over dreams as well. And we have seen many dreams. Dreams of thy warm, welcoming day. Nightmares of the chilling, alien dusk and all that dwell within it. The night frightens them. …We frighten them too, we fear.

What art thou saying? That thou doubt our words? Or the love everypony holds for thee?

Certainly not. It’s just– Ugh…

Luna? What’s wrong? Dost thou feel ill?

…Worry not, Tia. ‘Tis but the ramblings of a mind ridden with fatigue. Night court ran a little longer than we anticipated. If thou wouldst excuse us, we desire a bit of sleep of our own. Good day to thee, Celestia.

Luna…

One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower her moon and make way for the sunrise.

‘Tis unfair! Unfair, we say! Wherefore do they delight in sister’s day and refuse the beauty of our tapestry of nightfall?! Are we not our sister’s equal?! Do they not love us as well–?! Argh! Accursed headaches!

The elder sister tried to reason with her…

Prithee, Luna, come to thy senses! Thou art losing thyself! Losing sight of what’s right!

‘What’s right’?! All of Equestria favors thee over us, and thou sayest that is ‘right’?! Thy folly truly knows no bounds, Celestia! Thou hast drunk deep from the fount of thy subjects’ worship and art now vain! If they refuse to regard us as they do thee, then they shall fear us instead!

L-Luna?! What’s become of thee, sister?!

BEGONE!

…but the darkness had taken a firm hold of the young one’s heart, feeding upon and intensifying her jealousy and bitterness. It consumed her, corrupted her, twisting her visage and transforming her into a wicked mare of darkness:

Nightmare Moon.

AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!

The evil mare calling herself Nightmare Moon vowed that she would shroud all of Equestria in eternal night. The darkness that pulsed within her heart had taken form, giving birth to a most terrifying entity:

Nightmare Moon’s agents of the dark… Those without hearts… The Heartless.

Eeeeek!

What are those things?!

Demons! From the depths of Tartarus!

RUN!

N-No! Get away from me!

Princess Celestia, help us!

Flee! Flee, you pathetic foals! Quake in fear beneath the hooves of your one true queen! The sun shall never rise again! The age of Nightmare Moon is at hand!

The Heartless terrorized Equestria and lands beyond, consuming the hearts of ponies and other creatures to increase their number. And with each new Heartless created, Nightmare Moon’s power grew.

Oh, Lulu. My dear sister. Hast thou truly been taken by the darkness? Is there no way to save thee? …Aah! What… What in Equestria is…?!

To combat Nightmare Moon and her ever-expanding army, the elder pony sister awakened a great power thought long forgotten to the furthest ends of Equestrian history:

The weapon of legend, the Keyblade.

…Key…blade?

It was through the Keyblade that the elder sister was able to harness the most powerful magic known to ponykind: the Elements of Harmony.

Celestia… So you would stand before me a second time?

Luna, I beg thee to listen to reason. Thy heart hath been tainted by the darkness, but thou may yet be saved. ‘Tis not too late. Stand down.

Saved? I do not require saving; the darkness has opened my eyes to the truth. I see now that there is only one pony worthy enough to rule Equestria, and that pony is me. Long have I been under your shadow, Celestia, but no longer! Your reign ends here, and the sun shall DIE!!!

Thou wouldst fight me, thine elder sister? …Then thou leavest me no choice. May Mother forgive me for what I am about to do.

Using both the power of the Keyblade and the magic of the Elements, she reluctantly defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the moon.

Goodnight…sister mine.

Without its leader, Nightmare Moon’s army of Heartless was swiftly dealt with.

The elder pony sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon from that day forth, and harmony and balance have been maintained in Equestria for generations since.

But though Nightmare Moon sleeps in lunar confinement, the menace of the Heartless, however mitigated, remains—

—For there can be no light without darkness.

Chapter 1: The Promised Beginning

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“—For there can be no light without darkness.”

That was the very last line on the page.

An adolescent unicorn pony lay in the shade of a short, willowy tree that beheld a wide field of grass. Her coat was a lustrous grayish mulberry; her mane a silky sapphire, with violet and fuchsia highlights. As the soft grass beneath her lightly tickled her barrel and hooves, she closely regarded the book of Equestrian myths and legends opened up in front of her. That particular entry in the book had struck a nerve, awakening a great curiosity.

Her hoof crept across the page as if underlining that one passage.

“‘Elements of Harmony’,” the purple unicorn murmured in her state of deep thought. She cast her indigo eyes up to the bright midday sky. “Where’ve I heard that term before?”

Before the horned pony could ponder on the subject further, however, she heard a rustle in the bushes nearby and reflexively sprang to her hooves.

“H-Hello?” she called out into the silence. “Is somepony there?”

Another rustle (and a twig snapping underhoof) later, the entity stepped out from behind its cover of darkness and made its presence known:

A small creature with an all-black coat and bright yellow eyes that juxtaposed its dark coat tone. Seemingly equine in nature, it walked on all fours; its hooves were large and clawed, and its ears were like antennae. The creature bore its big, yellow eyes into the purple unicorn, almost hungrily.

The unicorn pony let out a sigh of relief, having expected a greater threat. “Just a Nightfoal…” she said to herself, allowing herself to lower her guard a little. “Either the Keyblade Guard’s getting sloppy, or the Heartless are getting sneakier…” She assumed a stance and focused power to her horn. Not much power, as she didn’t require a lot to do what she needed. There was a sudden shift in the air, and tiny sparks of magic flickered to life around her. They briefly swirled about in the unicorn’s vicinity before coalescing upon a solitary point in space. And in a flash of condensed blue light…

…a weapon materialized.

The strange, almost key-shaped weapon with a book keychain hovered in front of the unicorn, suspended in midair by her telekinesis. She swung at the air a couple of times with it, as if she were wielding it by hoof, before looking back to the black-coated creature.

The creature’s eyes appeared to widen just slightly at the sight of the oddly-shaped weapon, its apparent hunger guiding its every movement from then on. It pushed itself forward and off the ground, pouncing on the unicorn and baring its fangs (if it had fangs to speak of).

In a fluid right-to-left motion, the unicorn pony swung the floating blade through the air and through the aggressive creature’s midsection. From the clean cut in its body outward, the creature had disintegrated and vanished in a puff of black mist. The Nightfoal was no more.

The job complete, the purple unicorn held her weapon out in front of her, smiling thinly. “Now, Twilight,” she chided herself, “nopony likes a show-off.” The azure-shafted weapon had become glints of light, which proceeded to fly over and disappear within the star-shaped mark adorning the pony’s flank.

The unicorn’s name was Twilight Sparkle.

And she was a Keyblade wielder.

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 1: The Promised Beginning ~

The streets of Canterlot were as peaceful as they always had been. The sounds of whistling breezes, swaying tree branches, twittering birds, and happily conversing ponies ran rampant. Truly, Canterlot was considered the closest that all of Equestria had to a utopia. Perhaps this was due to the warm presence of Celestia, princess of the sun and moon. Perhaps it was because Canterlot was nearest to the Keyblade Guard’s protection than anywhere else in Equestria. The reason didn’t matter much.

In fact, to one Twilight Sparkle, the reason was the farthest thing from her mind. Even now, the unicorn pony was muzzle-deep in a book that she held up in front of her telekinetically. To those who knew her and passed her by, this was no unusual sight.

Thoughts of what the Elements of Harmony were mentally tormented Twilight throughout her walk across Canterlot. What were they? Where did they come from? How were they utilized? What kinds of magic, besides that of banishment, did they contain? How long had they been in existence? Were they created by a Keyblade Master? Or did they, in fact, create the first ever Keyblade? Twilight had so many questions, and—

“H-Hey, watch where you’re—! Oof!”

Twilight’s muzzle rams into the book in front of her, and it drops out of her telekinetic grip and onto the ground at her hooves. Likewise, Twilight stumbled backward onto her rump upon so suddenly bumping into another pony. She was an enthusiast of literature and studying, to be sure, but her peripheral awareness during such times left something to be desired. Briefly seeing stars, Twilight shook off the dizziness and glanced ahead to see what (or who) she’d collided with. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry!” she blurted out. “Are you al—? …Oh! Lyra, it’s you!”

Sitting up on the ground opposite Twilight was another unicorn, deep aquamarine in coat color and a mane that gleamed turquoise and white. She rubbed at the sore spot on her head where she’d knocked into her fellow unicorn. “Yeah, it’s me,” the mint-green unicorn named Lyra snarked. “If that’s how you greet your friends, I’d hate to see how you greet your enemies.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” Twilight whimpered, jumping up to offer Lyra a helping hoof up. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Heh. I noticed,” Lyra continued, now standing upright. She went easy on Twilight; all things considered, she was perfectly fine. “But I’m glad I ran into you actually. The girls and I are all heading over to Moondancer’s pre-Solstice party. Wanna come with?”

Twilight recoiled. While she wasn’t at all on bad terms with Lyra Heartstrings, the two hadn’t really spent enough time together to be called ‘friends’. The same could be said for practically every stallion and mare Twilight knew and knew her back; none of them were anything more than acquaintances. She was always the bookworm, the loner. On top of that, being one of the few Keyblade wielders in Canterlot who wasn’t in the royal guard, she was more alone than she would’ve been otherwise. “Uh…” Twilight hesitated. “Sorry, Lyra. I’d like to, but…something important came up, and I have a lot of research to do.”

“Aw.” Lyra made no attempt at hiding her disappointment. “Whatever it is, it can’t be more important than my last party in Canterlot. I’m moving to Ponyville tomorrow.”

“And I feel just awful about it, really.” Yes, Twilight said that and somewhat meant it, but the shuffling of her hooves and skirting around to Lyra’s backside told a different story. She was anxious to end the conversation and get away. “But you know how it is with us bookish ponies: gotta get our studying in whenever we can. Hehehe…hah… Bye!” She spun around and took off down the road.

“Wait! You forgot your…book.” It was too late. Twilight was long gone and out of earshot. Lyra exhaled a sigh and shook her head, “Must be nice being Princess Celestia’s personal student and a Keyblade wielder,” she mused.

Twilight galloped down the road at near full speed, paying no mind whatsoever to those she passed by; she didn’t want to be delayed more than she already had been. She’d already forgotten what her conversation with Lyra was about. As her thoughts shifted to the Elements of Harmony once more, she raced up a flight of steps to an ivory tower that she called her home.

“Spike!” Twilight cried out as she burst in through the tower’s double doors. “Spike, where are you?” The tower’s lower level was rather quiet, so she moved to the upper level, where she was greeted by a large mess of papers and books on the floor. She groaned audibly at this. “This place looks worse than when I left it hours ago! SPIKE!” As she spread the pile of papers and books out, her eyes fell upon a small purple mass with green scales.

There lay Twilight’s dragon assistant Spike, snoozing the day away.

Twilight felt her frustrations melt away when she saw how cute and peaceful the baby dragon looked while sleeping. “Oh, poor little guy,” she cooed softly, taking care not to wake him. “Must’ve tuckered himself out cleaning up all day.” With her magic, Twilight lifted the tiny dragon out of the mess and carried him over to a basket downstairs, where he’d sleep more comfortably. “Sleep tight, ‘number one assistant’.” the unicorn offered before setting out to work.

She may not have had her assistant to help, but Twilight would not be discouraged. It only now occurred to her that she’d left her book of myths and legends behind with Lyra, but she already knew what she needed to research; the book could be retrieved at a later time. For now, Twilight settled for throwing herself at the bookshelves.

…Some time later, the slumbering Spike had awoken to a muffled racket coming from upstairs. Every few seconds, something had thudded onto the floor. “Twilight?” mutters the dragon in his state of half-sleep. He climbed up to the library and found a clutter of books at Twilight’s feet – an even bigger mess than before he’d passed out.

“No… No…! That’s not it either…! Argh, where is it?!”

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike greeted. “Didn’t know you were home.”

“Oh! Spike!” Twilight turned her head to see her assistant in the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

“Nah,” the little reptile politely said. “What ‘cha lookin’ for?”

“My old copy of ‘Predictions & Prophecies’. I can’t find it anywhere!”

Glancing about, Spike picked up a book at random. “…Uh, is this it?” he asked, holding the front cover out in Twilight’s direction.

“…Oh.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “What would you do without me, Twilight?”

“Let’s hope I never find out,” said Twilight, snatching the sought-after book from Spike’s claw with her magic. She immediately opened it up to a certain section. “‘Elements’, ‘Elements’…”

Without a word, Spike moved to clean up the mess Twilight had made.

“…Ah! Here we go! ‘Elements of Harmony’: …See ‘Mare in the Moon’?”

“‘Mare in the Moon’?” Spike echoed from the ladder. “That old ponies’ tale? What ‘cha lookin’ that up for?”

Twilight ignored Spike’s inquiry and pressed on. “Let’s see… ‘The Mare in the Moon: Myth from olden pony times. A powerful mare of darkness who sought to rule Equestria, defeated by the Keyblade and the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal.’ …Nighttime eternal! It’s Nightmare Moon!”

Spike nearly fell back off the ladder at the mention of Nightmare Moon’s name. He caught and corrected himself just in time. “N-Nightmare Moon?! What’s she got to do with any of this?!”

“Don’t you see, Spike?! The Mare in the Moon is Nightmare Moon! She’s about to return to Equestria and bring with her eternal night! If we don’t do something, everything’s gonna go straight to Tartarus in a handbasket!”

“Uh… You’re sure you’re not—?” Spike would’ve finished his question, but the sight of Twilight darting up and down the room and taking things into a saddlebag derailed his train of thought. “Now what are you doing?”

“I have to let Princess Celestia know about this! She’s the only one in Equestria who can stop Nightmare Moon’s return!”

“You sure that’s a good idea, Twilight? Princess Celestia’s probably pretty busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. Which is…you know…the day after tomorrow?”

“That’s just it, Spike. The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration! The sooner I let the Princess know, the better!”

“Um, speaking of the princess, you do know what time it is, don’t you?”

“It’s almost 5:00. So?”

Spike outstretched a clawed hand and pointed toward a wall calendar. Twilight squinted her eyes to just barely make something out written on today’s date:

A large circle with the words ‘M.O.M. EXAM TODAY!!!’ written in red marker.

Twilight’s heart stopped beating in her chest for a moment. “…Oh, no! That’s today?!?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Once it had remembered to continue beating, Twilight’s heart was beating at three times its normal rate. She started trotting in place, unable to contain her anxiety. “Oh-no-oh-no-oh-no-oh-no-oh-NO! How could I have been so inattentive?! I’m usually so much more focused than this! So diligent in my schedule-keeping!”

“Right… In that case, shouldn’t you be heading over to the castle? Like, right now?”

Twilight didn’t say another word and bolted down the stairs and out the front door.

“Wait! You could’ve just…teleported.” It was too late. Twilight was long gone and out of earshot. Spike exhaled a sigh and shook his head. “Never been happier to not be a Keyblade wielder,” he mused before getting back to tidying up.

…The throne room of the Canterlot royal castle was solemnly quiet this afternoon; Celestia, princess of all Equestria and herald of its sun and moon sat silent to the side of the room, her mane and tail of multiple colors flowing in a nonexistent wind. The throne room’s walls were lined with numerous decorative tapestries and intricate stained-glass windows, but Celestia’s attentions were focused solely on one window in particular; it was a piece that nearly everyone in Equestria was familiar with:

The image of the two pony sisters of legend encircling the sun and moon.

To everypony else, the picture brought feelings of hope and warmth, of balance and harmony between the light and darkness. To Celestia, however, the picture brought anything but hope. Failure seemed a more accurate descriptor. As well as profound unease over what was to come. “Two days…”, Celestia muttered in her solitude. “Just two more days…”

Just then, a knock at the throne room doors brought the forlorn princess out of her ruminations. A deep voice on the other side, slightly muffled by the thick walls, called out to her. “Begging your Majesty’s pardon. A Twilight Sparkle is here to see you.”

“Thank you,” Celestia called back. “Send her in please.”

The giant doors of blue-gray marble swung open with a muted creak, allowing entry for a visibly winded Twilight Sparkle. She cantered up to meet the princess, nearly tripping over her own hooves on the way in, as the doors she entered through close again. “Hello…Princess Celestia,” Twilight hailed her princess with a weak bow. “I’m not…late…am I…?”

Celestia took a moment to regard her student’s condition, surprised by her gasping for air. “My goodness, Twilight, you look exhausted. Did you run all the way here? You do know you could’ve just teleported, right?”

Twilight’s mouth hung open for several moments before she caught herself and face-hoofed…

…to which Celestia could only smile. Somehow, her beloved student was always able to put her in a good mood. “Don’t worry, you aren’t late,” the benevolent princess assured, “but if you’re too tired that you wish to postpone—”

“No!” cried the unicorn in sharp protest. “I mean…it’s okay. I’m ready.”

“…Then come over here.” Celestia beckoned Twilight to the very center of the room, where the two stood several feet across from each other. “Stand up straight,” Celestia then instructed.

Not needing to be told twice, Twilight stood tall and proud before her teacher, the sternest of expressions on her muzzle.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia began in a serious tone of voice, “for years now, you’ve been a most faithful and accomplished student. You’ve come very far in your studies, and have learned so much about magic. And for almost half the time you’ve spent under my tutelage, you’ve also become a well-versed and proficient wielder of the Keyblade. I can think of very few ponies who could say the same; in fact, only one other comes to mind. …You’ve made me very proud to be your teacher, Twilight.”

She didn’t let it show, but Twilight was beaming with pride at Celestia’s words of praise. The faintest blush tinged her cheeks as her teacher spoke.

“The Mark of Mastery,” Celestia continued, “is bestowed upon Keyblade wielders who have proven to be incredibly strong of heart – proven that they were not chosen by the Keyblade merely by chance and are worthy to bear the mantle of ‘Keyblade Master’. And today, you will be examined for it. Are you prepared for this undertaking, my dear student?”

“I am,” Twilight simply replied.

Celestia nodded. “Very well. Your exam shall be a simple one: test your strength against another Keyblade Master in pitched combat.”

Twilight’s determination faltered, but only a little. She’d expected a more complex exam, preferably one with a written portion. “Is that all?” she asked. “I thought the Mark of Mastery exam was intended to see if I was strong of heart.”

“‘There are no winners,” Celestia philosophized, “only truths – for when equal powers clash, their true nature is revealed.’”

“So…I can lose the fight and still pass the exam?”

“Correct. …But you should try and win anyway.”

“Hehehe. So will I be fighting you in this exam, Princess?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Twilight, but I’m afraid not.”

Disappointed? Twilight was relieved. Celestia would’ve flattened her. “Then who—?”

Another knock at the door cut the purple unicorn off, and the two turn toward it. “Ah, good. That must be him. You can come in! She’s ready for you!”

The giant marble doors swung open again, and in stepped a tall, well-built stallion with a pearly-white coat. He walked in wearing a helmet and breastplate of purple-and-gold armor, befitting a soldier of his rank and station.

Celestia regarded the soldier respectfully as he entered. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, Captain.”

The soldier reached up and removed his helmet, revealing a scraggly mane of multiple shades of blue. “My pleasure, your Majesty,” said he to his princess. Turning to Twilight, he gave a smile and said, “Hey there, ‘Twily’.”

Twilight’s heart stopped beating in her chest for the second time that day. “S-Shining Armor?!”

Chapter 2: Future Masters

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“Surprised to see me?”

Twilight Sparkle blinked several times to make sure her eyes were working properly. She barely got to see her older brother Shining Armor since he joined the Canterlot Royal Guard, and normally she’d have been ecstatic to see him. But his presence here at this moment in time meant only one thing. “I-I have to fight you?!” she nervously stammered.

“There are very few Keyblade Masters in Equestria beside myself,” Celestia explained, “and, as I’m sure you’re aware, your brother here was recognized for the Mark of Mastery not long after he made captain. If you have reservations at the thought of fighting him…”

“W-Well…”

“You’ll have to excuse Twily here, princess,” said Shining Armor. “Back when she first got her Keyblade, she’d want to spar with me all the time and put all she learned about it to practical use. If the way she’s acting comes as a surprise, it’s because…she could never beat me.”

“Ah. I see. In that case, perhaps I’ll get in touch with Master Featherswift in Cloudsdale—”

“Wait.”

Celestia and Shining Armor looked to Twilight, who hung her head just slightly. After a few moments of silence, she picked her head up and looked back to her teacher and sibling. “…I’ll do it. Let me show you – both of you – what I’ve learned. Please.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.” As she closed her eyes, Twilight produced her Keyblade.

Across from her, Shining Armor grinned and produced his own: a Keyblade that ostensibly reflected its wielder’s inclination toward strength and protection.

Princess Celestia stood off to the side and watched the two closely. “Twilight Sparkle…”

The young unicorn’s violet eyes glinted with confidence.

“Master Shining Armor…”

So too did the older unicorn’s eyes of intense cerulean.

“May the light of the Keyblade, and the light of the Equestrian sun, guide both of your hearts to victory. …Begin!”

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 2: Future Masters ~

Celestia’s eyes were glued to the battle that played out before her.

For going on five minutes, Twilight and her brother clashed blades fiercely, neither willing to give the other an inch. Shining Armor occasionally alternated between wielding his Keyblade in his mouth and wielding it telekinetically to throw his sister off, while Twilight demonstrated a talent in a wide assortment of magic spells. Fire, wind, gravity – each attempt by her brother to confuse her was met with an attempt of her own.

To the princess’s affixed eyes, it was like poetry in motion watching the two do battle.

With a particularly loud clang of steel against steel, Twilight and Shining Armor leapt away from each other to catch their breath. Their Keyblades hovered at their sides, and their brows were marked with sweat.

Shining Armor’s lips curled up into a smirk. He’d expected the fight to be over by now, and he was surprised by how long his sister’s lasted against him. Surprised and impressed. “Wow,” he started at Twilight, “you didn’t put up this much of a fight last time.”

“I’ve been…practicing,” Twilight replied in short breaths.

“Well, it shows,” Shining Armor commended, “though you’re lookin’ a little beat there. You sure you want to keep going?”

Twilight put on a confident grin and readies her weapon. “Oh, I’m sure. You ready to lose for the first time, ‘Shiny’?”

Shining Armor put on a grin of his own and hardened his stance in preparation for whatever Twilight threw at him next.

The younger unicorn pointed the tip of her Keyblade at her brother and shot a trio of fireballs at him. In response, Shining Armor erected a spherical barrier around himself. The fireballs made contact with the barrier and were absorbed into the energies that comprised it. Twilight rocketed forward herself then and brought the full physical force of her blade down upon the barrier. Once again, it simply absorbed the blow, its energies rippling outward from the point of impact.

“Nice try, little sis.”

Twilight wasn’t discouraged. Throughout the fight, she’d been studying her brother’s techniques, tactics, and magic closely – how they worked and how they could be circumvented. Shining Armor was known for his specialty in barrier magic, that much was clear. And the resilience of the barrier was proportional to its size and the amount of magic he poured into it. He could outlast her for hours if necessary. But she’d seen him cast it enough times to understand how it worked. With this knowledge, Twilight projected her unicorn magic upon her brother’s shield and inverted its magical polarity – like reversing a battery – allowing her Keyblade to pass through!

Shining Armor diffused his now useless barrier and brought his weapon up to shield himself. “Well now,” he commented, amazed, “that’s a neat new trick.”

“Like it? It took me a while to work out the specifics of how your spell worked. I mean, I still can’t cast it myself, but just understanding how it worked was enough for me to—”

“Okay, I get it!” Shining Armor griped with a roll of his eyes. “Boy, once you get going…!”

Twilight harrumphed at her brother’s jab at her quirks and turned her attention back to the matter at hand. Jumping away, she hung in midair as she assailed him with blasts of ice.

The older unicorn leapt out of the way of each blast and retaliated by flinging his Keyblade at Twilight like a boomerang.

The spinning blade narrowly missed Twilight as she leaned out of its flight path; thinking quickly, she magnetized it, allowing it to orbit her body for a few seconds, before sending it straight back to sender.

Shining Armor hopped to his rear by several feet, and his Keyblade struck the ground where he stood just milliseconds earlier. ‘Whew! Close one!’ thought the intimidated captain.

Princess Celestia continued to watch as the battle between her student and the captain of her Royal Guard persisted. Truly, she was astounded by how skillful with the Keyblade she’d become. But there was something off about the way in which Twilight fought. It felt as though something was missing. And Celestia knew exactly what that something was. It was something Twilight had always been missing and refused to accept. She truly hoped that she would learn to accept it before it was too late. She craned her head upward as Twilight suddenly rocketed several feet off the ground.

“Haaaaaaah!”

With a fierce battle cry, Twilight dove upon Shining Armor from above, bringing her Keyblade harshly against his once more. The violent reaction of their colliding magical auras exploded outward, blanketing Princess Celestia’s throne room in a blinding light. The princess of the sun shielded her eyes with a wing and waited for the intense light to die away.

…When the dust finally settled, Twilight and Shining Armor stood muzzle to muzzle, their eyes locked and their Keyblades poised to deal the finishing blow.

“…Enough,” Celestia spoke out. “An excellent battle, the both of you. I’ve seen all that I needed to see.”

The unicorn siblings heaved a simultaneous sigh and backed away, their weapons vanishing into their cutie marks. They stood side by side before their princess as she looked upon them.

“A most awe-inspiring display, Shining Armor,” said Celestia, addressing the older unicorn first. “I see now that I chose very well in appointing you captain of my Royal Guard.”

“You flatter me, your Majesty. It was, as always, an honor.”

She nodded in reply before turning to her dearest student. “I’ve reached a decision. Twilight, you’ve fought well and hard today. And while you had doubts about facing your older brother at first, you overcame those doubts and rose to the occasion. How far you’ve come in your studies has been made perfectly clear…”

With each sentence of praise Princess Celestia gave her, Twilight’s eyes grew in size, as though her passing the exam was a foregone conclusion. She so longed to hear her teacher say those words to her…

…but those words would never come.

“…But it is with deep regret that I must inform you…”

The pupils in Twilight’s eyes shrank.

“…You have not yet shown yourself worthy of the Mark of Mastery.”

“W-What?!” Twilight’s thoughts raced faster than ever. She felt her world crumbling at her hooves. Never before today had she failed an exam; she didn’t allow herself to. And here Princess Celestia was, telling her she did just that. “But…why?!” she cried, desperate. “Did I take longer than I was supposed to?! Was I on a time limit?! Did I not react fast enough?! Did I focus too much on physical attacks, or on magic?! Please, princess! Tell me what I did wrong!”

Celestia couldn’t say she hadn’t expected this kind of reaction. “Twilight, please, calm yourself. It’s not the end of the world. You did nothing wrong. As a matter of fact, only members of the Royal Guard have ever lasted as long against Shining Armor as you have.”

“Then why—?!”

“The Mark of Mastery, as I said at the beginning of all this, is bestowed only upon those who are strong of heart. Your heart is indeed strong, Twilight…but it is also markedly empty.”

“Empty…?”

“You’ve read and reread an untold number of books in your time as my student. And what have you learned about from doing so? History, literature, magic – all vital information as a scholar and Key bearer, yes, but there’s more to life than what’s just on the written page. Tell me: did you make any friends at all while attending my school?”

Twilight had no idea where Celestia was going with this, but indulged her nonetheless. “Well, Spike and I—”

“Spike is different. You hatched him from a dragon egg. The two of you are close, of course, but he’s more like family to you, isn’t he? I mean real friends. Do you have any?”

Twilight hesitated in her answer. “I… I guess I don’t. But you don’t understand, Princess.”

“Oh? Enlighten me then.”

“Books are – have always been – everything to me. They’ve taught me so much, and they still have so much more to teach me. And I never want to stop reading. Or learning.” Twilight moved toward one of the stained glass windows and looked up to regard it intently. “Ponies aren’t like books. They’re unpredictable. Disorganized. Irrational. I love books because they’re predictable. The invaluable knowledge they provide, the captivating stories they tell…” It was almost difficult for Twilight to put her love of books into words, and before she realized it, a melody had found its way into her heart, and she started to sing.

So much left to know

So much time to grow

So many mysteries to uncover

Wishing for just one more to discover

Even though other fillies and foals

Seem bored with books and scrolls

It fills my heart to expand my mind

Finding things I never knew I could find

And I have so far to go

And there’s so much left to know

Princess Celestia smiled warmly as she joined her student by her side. “Oh, Twilight,” the alicorn princess said softly, “there’s so much you’re missing out on.” Looking up to the same window of illustrative glass, she joined in her student’s heartfelt song.

So much beauty to be found

Every precious sight and sound

You can learn so much from the pages of a book

But never forget to get out and look

With your own two wondering eyes

At the sea, the fields, the skies

With friends by your side, I know you’ll be on your way

To discovering something new every single day

All together we will grow

For there’s so much left to know

To know

Celestia casts her gaze downward to meet Twilight’s eye.

You can wait a little longer to grow

For there’s so much left to know

“…Princess?” Twilight looked up at her teacher with a face of uncertainty.

“I have a task I’d like you to do for me, Twilight. Will you hear me out?”

…Spike let out a great sigh as he placed the last book on the shelf. “Finally finished,” the young dragon spoke to himself as he stepped down from the ladder. “I wonder how Twilight’s exam is—” Before he could finish his thought, Spike heard the front door downstairs close shut. “Twilight?” In his excitement, Spike slid the rest of the way down the ladder and raced down the stairs to meet his unicorn best friend as she came in. “Welcome back! So how’d your exam go? Passed with flying colors, right? Am I supposed to call you ‘Master Twilight’ now? Hehehe.”

Twilight rubbed a foreleg in hesitance. She almost didn’t have the heart to break the bad news to one she considered a little brother. “Um… Actually, Spike…”

Spike quickly picked up on Twilight’s lack of excitement and lost his smile. “Or…did I jump the gun before you could tell me what happened?”

“…Maybe you should sit down, Spike. We need to talk.”

Thirty minutes earlier…

“…The Summer Sun Celebration?”

“Yes,” Princess Celestia affirmed. “I’d like you to oversee the preparations for the Celebration this year. It’s being held at the bottom of the mountain, in a small town called Ponyville. I’m certain with somepony like you acting as the chief supervisor, it’d be a Celebration to remember. It is, after all, the thousandth one.”

“But, Princess Celestia,” Twilight protested, having nearly forgotten why she wanted to meet with the princess to begin with, “I’ve made a terrible discovery before coming here! The ‘longest day of the thousandth year’ – which this year’s Celebration falls on – is the day that the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon, escapes from imprisonment!”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at this. “Nightmare Moon?”

“If something isn’t done to prevent this from happening, all of Equestria will be plunged into everlasting darkness! I know the Summer Sun Celebration is one of the most important events of the year, but for the sake of all of Equestria, I must insist we cancel it this year and make sure Nightmare Moon doesn’t break free!”

Celestia laughed then, which puzzled her student a great deal. “Oh, Twilight, you simply must stop reading those dusty old books! The Mare in the Moon is nothing more than an old ponies’ tale, the stuff of folklore. Secondly, do you realize what it is you’re suggesting? Cancel the Summer Sun Celebration? Do you know how many ponies would be upset if I authorized that? It’s just as you say – the Celebration is one of the most significant events of the year. I can’t simply call it off two days prior and on the word of one little pony. No matter how much I value that pony’s diligence and counsel.”

“But—!”

“Twilight,” Celestia cut her off again, “trust me when I say you have nothing to worry yourself over. And when the Celebration’s passed, we can discuss your retaking the Mark of Mastery exam. Will you do this for me?”

Twilight’s mind wrestled with itself. Who was she to doubt Princess Celestia’s word? Maybe she was worrying herself over nothing. Maybe it was just an old ponies’ tale. As for supervising the preparations for the upcoming Celebration, how could she say no? It wasn’t an order from her ruler; it was the favor of a teacher and the only pony aside from her brother who she considered a dear friend. “…Of course,” Twilight finally answered.

“Thank you. And Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“During your stay in Ponyville, do try and make some friends, won’t you?” she said with a wink.

…On the morning of the solstice, Princess Celestia and Shining Armor stood in the castle courtyard to see Twilight and Spike off. From the way Twilight clung to her brother so firmly, Spike would’ve needed a crowbar to pry her legs loose.

Any tighter, and the mare would’ve cut off Shining Armor’s air supply. “Twilight,” groaned the stallion, “it’s only gonna be for a day or two.”

“I know,” Twilight moaned. “Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna miss you or Canterlot.”

“Yeah, yeah… See ya soon, Twily.”

“You too, B.B.B.F.F.” Twilight finally let go of her brother of her own volition and moved toward the chariot.

Shining Armor leaned down to meet Spike eye-to-eye. “I’m counting on you to look after my little sis for me, okay, Spike?”

Spike responded with a reassuring salute. “Leave it to me, ‘Shiny’! She’s in good hooves! …Er, claws.”

Shining Armor almost pulled the little dragon in to give him a noogie, but out of fear of scraping his hooves on Spike’s scales, he settled for patting him lightly on the head. “Heh. No doubt about that.”

“Hehehe.” Their brotherly moment now passed, Spike joined Twilight in the chariot.

And with a gesture from Twilight, the two Pegasus royal guards at the front took off, flapping their wings, beating their hooves against the air, and taking the chariot Twilight and Spike were riding in up into the sky with them. Twilight looked back to Shining Armor one last time, waving goodbye to both him and Princess Celestia.

The princess and captain waved back, and kept waving until the chariot fell out of sight. Shining Armor slowly lowered his hoof as he addressed the princess standing behind him. “…You sure it was a good idea not telling her?”

Celestia replied with a question of her own. “You would rather I did tell her and cause her undue stress?”

“I’m just saying. No good can come from keeping her in the dark like this. The banishment spell is going to wear off tonight.”

“And when that happens, I’ll be ready.”

“No,” Shining Armor asserted, turning to face his princess. “We’ll be ready. You won’t have the Elements on your side this time, your Majesty. Your Keyblade is strong – possibly the strongest in Equestria – but I won’t allow you to face Nightmare Moon by yourself. As both captain of the Royal Guard and a Keyblade Master of Canterlot, it is – and always will be – my sworn duty to protect you and this kingdom.”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, her heart warmed. “Thank you, Captain. But you are wrong about one thing: we do have the Elements on our side…so long as Twilight comes through.”

“Do you think she can do it? She’ll know what to do when the time comes?”

She opened her eyes again and looked to the sky, as though she could see Twilight’s chariot in the distance. In all likelihood, she probably did see it. “I have the utmost confidence in her.”

“…Be honest with me though: you had every intention of failing Twilight in her Mark of Mastery exam, didn’t you?”

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about, my dear Shining Armor,” said Celestia through her thin smile.

Shining Armor shook his head. “No wonder the other guards call you ‘Trollestia’ behind your back…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Chapter 3: Laughter and Merriment

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The Pegasus-drawn chariot soared across the skies of Equestria, just below the cover of clouds. While Twilight was despondent over both leaving Canterlot and failing her Mark of Mastery exam, the sensation of the brisk summer air blowing against her face had lifted her spirits a little. Besides reading, flying chariot rides were one of the few things in life she enjoyed.

She looked over the side of the chariot and watched as vast grasslands, acres of apple trees, and a winding river passed below. Glancing ahead then, she saw as the clouds parted and the quaint town of Ponyville came into view. A rather small-looking village to be holding an event as momentous as the Summer Sun Celebration, but it seemed nice.

Twilight let out a long sigh. There were so many things she’d rather be doing right now.

“Still bummed about leaving home for a couple days?” she heard Spike ask.

“I’m not a little filly, Spike,” Twilight replied. “I can handle being away from home for a short while. What I can’t handle is being forced to deal with what’s sure to be dozens of ponies jabbering away at me while I oversee the preparations.”

“Well…at least the princess arranged for you to stay in a library. That’s good, right?”

Twilight thought on it some before coming to an outlandish conclusion. “You know what? It is good! Because the princess knows I’m right! I’ll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon’s return!”

Spike felt the need to face-hoof (or face-claw, as the case may be). “You’re still on that?” he moaned. “You remember what the princess said. And what about making friends?”

“Spike, I am the personal student of Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, briefly bragging. “I’ll check on the preparations like she asked, but I have far more important things to do than make friends.”

The little dragon shook his head at the sentiment, but otherwise refrained from pestering Twilight about the matter further.

The chariot gradually lost altitude as it flew within the Ponyville town limits. A small number of pony pedestrians looked on as it arrived. The ride got a little bumpy as the chariot came to rest on the ground, but it was a smooth landing nonetheless. The two passengers hopped out of the chariot and thanked their royal guard chauffeurs before setting out.

“Come on,” said Twilight, beckoning her companion in the direction of the town hall. “First things first, we need to meet with the mayor. She’s expecting us.” She looked ahead toward the building in question when something in the corner of her eye turned her attentions westward. Something had just hidden itself from view. A Heartless perhaps? Twilight hadn’t known many species of Heartless to act stealthily. And she didn’t sense the telltale signs of darkness that Heartless radiated. In fact, in this place, Twilight felt hardly any darkness at all.

Spike noticed the sudden pause in her step. “What’s up?” he inquired.

“…Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“Hmm… Nothing, I guess.”

The two continued on toward the town hall…as a figure watched keenly from the shadows.

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 3: Laughter and Merriment ~

“…Here you are: the official overseer’s checklist,” said the mayor of Ponyville as she handed a ribbon-bound scroll to Twilight.

Twilight picked the scroll up with her telekinesis and opened it up to look over the list. “Thank you, Mayor Mare,” Twilight said to the gray-maned authority figure.

Mayor Mare shook her head lightly. “Oh, no, thank you, Miss Sparkle. And let me be the first to say how thrilled and honored we all are that Princess Celestia’s chosen our little town to host the Celebration this year!”

“I’ll be sure to pass your regards on to the princess when I can,” she said with a soft chuckle, her eyes not straying from the parchment before her. “Hmm… ‘Decorations’… The Celebration’s being held in the hall pavilion, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“And the pavilion’s through…that door there, I’m guessing?”

“Why, yes.”

Twilight moved for the door in question. “Would you mind terribly if I took a look inside to see how the decorations are coming?”

“Uh, I wouldn’t recommend that. You see, the decorations are being handled by the local dressmaker and she’d explicitly asked there be no interruptions.”

Twilight twisted her muzzle a little at this. So much for checking something off the list early, she thought. Looking up, she glanced out the window to observe the sun. “Oh, well. It’s still pretty early. Guess I’ll just—” She did a double-take toward the window. Something in the corner was just staring at her, but was now gone. “What the…?”

Mayor Mare tilted her head in confusion at the purple unicorn’s behavior. “Is something wrong, Miss Sparkle?”

Twilight turned to face the mayor nervously. “Miss Mayor,” she started, “by any chance does Ponyville currently have a Heartless problem?”

“Heartless?” Mayor Mare echoed, tapping her chin with a hoof. “No, not to my knowledge. The Keyblade Guard’s been quite vigilant in keeping the peace. But, from what I hear, their most frequent appearances have been near Sweet Apple Acres.”

“I see… Thank you for your time. We’ll be going now. Come on, Spike.”

“Twilight?” Twilight’s movement for the front door came suddenly to Spike, and he ran to catch up. “W-Wait for me!”

The edgy unicorn pony started up the path leading to Sweet Apple Acres, her pace increased. Spike had just caught up with her when he called out. “Twilight, slow down! What’s the rush?”

“There’s something weird about this place, Spike. I can’t put my hoof on it, but something about it just feels…off.”

“You mean Mayor Mare? She seemed pretty nice to me.”

“I’m not talking about the mayor. Although if there is something going on, she might be in on it. I mean, ever since we first came into town, I’ve felt like we were being followed.”

“Sure you’re not just being paranoid?”

“I’m serious, Spike! The sooner we get through the checklist, the sooner I can—” Twilight’s sentence was cut short when something her eyes just barely registered sped by her backside. In response, she summoned the Academia and turned to face the mysterious entity. “Alright, enough is enough! Whoever or whatever’s following us, show yourself!”

Twilight’s demand was met with windswept silence.

Spike raised an eyebrow at her spectacle and remarked, “Princess Celestia was right. You do spend way too much time indoors.”

Realizing she had just made a spectacle of herself, Twilight bashfully put the Keyblade away. “Maybe. But it never hurts to be prepared—”

~Honk~!

As she turned back around to continue up the road, Twilight was stopped yet again when her nose came into contact with another pony’s nose, making a distinctive honking noise as it did so. Twilight found herself staring into the deep blue of another pony.

“Hi!”

“Aah!” With a startled shriek, Twilight stumbled rearward, tripping over her own hooves and falling onto her back. She looked up to see an Earth pony standing over her. She had a hot pink coat, a frizzy, bright raspberry mane that more closely resembled cotton candy, and the same deep blue eyes she was staring into seconds ago.

The pink pony continued with her introduction, despite nearly giving Twilight a heart attack. “I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”

Twilight’s mind had gone blank. The pony on top of her seemed to come out of nowhere. “Uhhh…” is all she managed to utter in her discomfort.

“…Well, come on. You do have a name, right?” The pink pony named Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped. “Unless you don’t have a name! Oh, that’d be just awful! Terrible! THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING! …Oh, wait. That’s not my line. Heh. Silly me!”

Twilight struggled to form a coherent thought as Pinkie blathered nonsensically. “W-What? No! I mean…of course I have a name! It’s Twilight Sparkle!”

“Nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle! I’m Pinkie Pie! …Whoops! Already said that, didn’t I? Hee-hee! Um…is this your first day in Ponyville?”

The unicorn hesitated to answer. She nodded slowly.

“It is? Great! In that case…” Just then, Pinkie’s mood had done a complete 180, and she glares coldly into Twilight’s eyes, moving closer until they were just inches apart. “I’ve got just one more question for you, Miss Twilight Sparkle…”

Twilight swallowed the lump in her heart. “W-W-What is it?”

“…Do you like parties?” Pinkie 180’d again, and her smile was back in full force.

Once again, the purple-coated pony was caught off-guard. “What?!”

“Yeah, you’re right! What am I thinking? Of course you like parties! Everypony likes parties! Except for the Heartless. Every time I try to get ‘em to eat cake, they try to eat me instead! I wonder if I taste good.” Pinkie proceeded to lick her own hoof. “…Mm. Bubblegum.”

“Uhhh…”

Pinkie gasped again. “Oh, my gosh! What am I doing still standing around here for?! I have to put together your welcome party! It’ll be the most super-fun, super-fabulous, super-fantastic party you’ve ever had! Bye!” And in a big, pink blur, the hyperactive Pinkie Pie had vanished to parts unknown.

Twilight’s thought processes were an utter jumble. “…What just happened?”

…Deciding to forget her encounter with the perplexing pink pony ever happened, Twilight took Spike and moved on to the large apple farm at the end of the road: the aptly named Sweet Apple Acres. According to the checklist, the family that lived here was in charge of preparing the Celebration banquet. Spike licked his lips ravenously at the wealth of apples that graced every corner of his eye. Rather than chide his baser urges, Twilight concerned herself with finding someone to talk to about the catering.

But as far as she could tell, Sweet Apple Acres looked deserted.

“Where is everypony?” she spoke.

Just then… “Consarn it! They jus’ keep gettin’ back up! Ya holdin’ out okay, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup!”

“Alright! Hold ‘im steady now! Aaaaaaand… YAH!”

At that moment, a small, black mass had shot up into the air and clear over the barn. Twilight and Spike watched as the mass sailed through the air and landed with a muted splat, momentarily becoming as a puddle of black sludge before hopping back up to assume its normal equine shape.

Twilight recognized the organism in an instant. “Heartless!” she cried as she instinctively readied the Academia. The Nightfoal had acknowledged the two’s presence for all of three seconds before the Key bearer silenced it with a simple blast of Fire. “Come on, Spike!” Without another moment’s hesitation, she galloped toward the other side of the barn.

The west fields of Sweet Apple Acres were a small-scale warzone. Over a dozen Heartless were running about, causing the trees to rot from their influence. The only thing that stood between them and those succulent apples were a pair of ponies: a mare, slender yet fit, an orange coat with blond mane and tail, wearing a light brown Stetson hat; and a stallion, very well-built, a crimson coat with a mane and tail of light orange, wearing a brown yoke around his neck. The two raced up and down the field, chasing down the Heartless and striking at them with their hind legs. While some immediately vaporized into dust, others proved more resilient and persevered to cause the two ponies further torment.

The orange-coated pony threw her hat to the ground in exasperation. “Blasted varmints are tough as nails! We’ll lose this entire field at this rate!”

“Excuse me!”

The mare turned to face Twilight and Spike as they arrived. Normally, she’d have delighted in the company of new faces, but given the circumstances… “Oh. Howdy there, folks. If y’all are here ‘bout the caterin’, Ah’d be happy t’ talk about it, but…as ya can plainly see, Ah kinda got mah hooves full at th’ moment.”

Twilight watched on as the Heartless laid waste to the field of apple trees and the red stallion labored in vain to drive them away. She sympathized. She knew the threat that the Heartless posed. Though why they were targeting the apple orchard and not the two ponies themselves was beyond her. Nevertheless… “…Allow me,” said Twilight, stepping forward with Keyblade at the ready.

The Heartless in her vicinity appeared to pick up on her presence and aimed their attention toward her. They approached.

Ignoring their advance, Twilight focused all of her awareness on the blade in her magical grasp.

“Now what in Celestia’s name is that girl doin’?” asked the blond pony to Spike.

The widely grinning Spike crossed his arms. “You’ll see.”

Just as the mob of Heartless converged on Twilight, her eyes shot open. She pointed her blade skyward and called forth a brilliant pillar of blue-white light that incinerated the Heartless nearest to her into nothing. The pillar then split itself off into eight smaller poles of light that danced around Twilight like a carousel. With a simple swing of her weapon, Twilight sent the pillars flying outward, obliterating any and all Heartless that still remained in the area. The deed finally done, Twilight let out the breath she’d been holding, her legs wobbly from having cast such a high-level offensive spell.

“Nice one, ‘Twi’,” Spike commended. “What do you call that one again?”

“Faith,” the still shaky unicorn answered. “Only ever read about it – never tried it out before. Whew… I need to sit down…”

The mare with the orange coat knelt down to pick up her hat and set it atop her head, her mouth agape at Twilight’s show of magic. “Hoo-WEE! That was mighty impressive there, li’l missy! Don’t think Ah’ve ever seen a Keyblade pony do that before! Have you, Big Mac?”

“Nnnope,” replied the heavyset stallion as he approached.

The Academia vanished into Twilight’s cutie mark, and she walked up to address the two. “It was…nothing really.”

“‘Nothin’’?! Shoot, sure didn’t look like nothin’! Why, ya sent them beady-eyed Heartless varmints packin’ faster than jackrabbits with their tails on fire! Plumb saved our apple field too! …Well, what’s left of it anyways.”

“Why were the Heartless targeting your apple trees anyway? They’re drawn to darkness; I’ve never known them to do this before.”

“Ah don’t rightly know. Ya reckon they got a taste fer apples now too?”

“Heartless that like apples? That’s…odd.”

“Odder things have happened. …Oh, but where’re mah manners? Ah’m Applejack. This here’s mah brother Big McIntosh. And who do we have t’ thank fer savin’ our livelihood?”

“Oh, um… My name is Twilight Sparkle—” All of a sudden, Twilight felt Applejack take her hoof into hers, and she shook vigorously, catching Twilight by surprise.

“Pleasure makin’ yer acquaintance, Miss Twilight! We here at Sweet Apple Acres love makin’ new friends! And th’ way ya stepped up and saved our field like that, we’d be pleased as punch t’ call ya a good friend of ours! Right, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup,” answered Big McIntosh in what was likely his signature manner.

Applejack finally let go of Twilight’s hoof and addressed her properly. “So! What can Ah do ya fer?” the mare asked with a wink.

When the trembling from their hoofshake subsided, Twilight responded, “A-Ahem! Right! Well, I’m chief planning supervisor for the Summer Sun Celebration. You’re in charge of the food, yes?”

“Yes, indeedy! Would ya like to sample some of our vittles?”

“Boy, would we!” Spike interjected, jumping at the offer of free food.

“I suppose,” Twilight relented with a sigh, “as long as it doesn’t take too long…”

“Why don’t Ah introduce y’all t’ th’ family while we’re at it?” Applejack proposed as she moved toward a nearby dinner bell. “Should let ‘em know th’ coast is clear.” She took the metal beater into her mouth and struck at the inner sides of the triangle, filling the air with discordant sounds, before crying out,

“SOUP’S ON, EVERYPONY!”

A little filly poked her head out the barn door. Her coat was a pale shade of yellow, and her mane and tail shimmered a vibrant red. She wore a large pink bow that accentuated her cuteness. The filly quickly glanced left and right before turning to the barn interior. “It’s safe t’ come out now, y’all!” she said before hopping out into the open.

Right behind her came a herd of over twenty Earth ponies of assorted coat and mane colors, all of whom had been hiding in the barn from the Heartless. Twilight and Spike were very nearly trampled as they crowded around them and Applejack. Their sheer number had thrown the unicorn for a loop.

Applejack threw one foreleg over Twilight’s withers and the other over Spike’s shoulders as she introduced them. “Everypony,” she began, “this here’s Twilight and Spike. They’ll be joinin’ us fer brunch today. Let’s show ‘em some good ol’-fashioned Apple family hospitality, huh?”

The family of Earth ponies erupted into a chorus of cheers and laughs then, and started setting up the picnic table. Twilight tried to voice her objections, but to no avail; she was outnumbered. And no backup would come from her dragon assistant; he was too busy stuffing his cheeks with apple-themed treats. She resigned herself to her fate. With any luck, she wouldn’t be kept for longer than an hour if necessary.

A short while later (and having had more than her fill of pie), Twilight snuck away from the party to return to the west field. A good portion of the trees were rotted and would undoubtedly have to be uprooted. The mystery of the apple-loving Heartless was still fresh in Twilight’s mind. To her knowledge, there hadn’t been any documented cases of Heartless eating pony foods. Maybe there was something special about the way these apples were grown? Something in the soil perhaps? Twilight made a mental note to look into the matter more closely once the Summer Sun Celebration was over.

She walked over and rested a hoof on the trunk of one of the rotted trees. Just as she thought. Its heart was gone. As Twilight came to realize over the years, every living thing had a heart (at least in the metaphysical sense) that wills it, drives it. And this tree no longer had one. Only a shriveled husk remained.

“Can ya help it?” asked a young voice at Twilight’s side.

Twilight looked over and down to see the little bow-wearing filly from before standing beside her. “Oh. Hello. Um… Apple Bloom, was it?”

“Yup. So…can ya? Help the trees, that is?”

The unicorn looked back to the tree with a forlorn face. How can you help what’s already dead? “…I’m sorry, Apple Bloom,” she sighed to the filly, “but I can’t.”

“But Applejack said you’re one o’ them Keyblade ponies! Cain’t ya just wave it ‘round like a magic wand and fix ‘em up good as new?”

“It…doesn’t work like that.” Twilight hesitated. She hadn’t much experience speaking to foals.

Apple Bloom kicked lightly at the dirt, her tone becoming bitter. “Ah wish Ah had a Keyblade. Then Ah could help Applejack and Big Mac protect Sweet Apple Acres from the Heartless. But they always make me go an’ hide in th’ barn.”

“They’re just trying to protect you.”

“Ah know that, but… Ah’m not a little baby. Ah can take care o’ mahself.”

Twilight smiled warmly at the filly’s desire to protect her home and family. She saw in Apple Bloom a longing not unlike her own longing to learn all there was to learn. She found herself thinking back to her Keyblade-related studies and remembered reading about something called the ‘Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony’. Twilight briefly entertained the notion of choosing Apple Bloom as her successor, but quickly cast such notions aside; she didn’t think Applejack or Big McIntosh would take kindly to her intentionally exposing their youngest sibling to the Heartless more than she already had been.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t try and cheer the young pony up.

She summoned the Academia. “Hey. You wanna see something cool?”

Apple Bloom picked her head up to see what Twilight was up to.

From the tip of the blade shot out several tiny sparks of light that hung in the air. As Twilight brandished the weapon about, the sparks flew about in Apple Bloom’s vicinity, dancing around her like fireflies and tickling her cheek as they came close. She giggled at the tingly sensation, and her bad mood had lifted.

Twilight decided that, for the next few minutes at least, she would amuse Apple Bloom with a private magic show. Her duty to Princess Celestia – the Summer Sun Celebration – could wait a few minutes longer.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the field, Applejack leaned against the barn and looked on at the two, content with simply watching. The smile on her little sister’s muzzle brought a smile to her own.

Chapter 4: A Walk in Andante

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Spike finished off his candied apple with a satisfied ‘mmm’ as he checked catering off the list. “That’s takes care of food,” he started with his mouth full, “next is…weather!”

Twilight looked down at her companion with an odd mix of disapproval and disgust, taking notice of his now distended belly. She sarcastically asked him, “You sure you had enough to eat, Spike? You maybe wanna go back for fourths?”

He impishly belched in her face. “Nah, I’m good. Hmm… Says here a Pegasus named Rainbow Dash is supposed to be clearing the clouds.”

The unicorn craned her head up to examine the sky. They were markedly not cloudless. She scowled and remarked, “Well, either this ‘Rainbow Dash’ is bad at her job or she’s just plain lazy. Let’s try to find a weather patrol station so I can file a formal complaint—”

“LOOOOOK OOOOUUUUT!”

Twilight spun to her rear and observed the rainbow-colored blur speeding toward her. Mere seconds foretold the difference between health and bodily harm. Her thoughts raced to find a spell. She concentrated power to her horn and settled for what she thought was appropriate: a simple force field that shielded herself and Spike. The rainbow-colored blur raced down through the air and, upon impacting the force field, bounced against it and sprang away. Its forward momentum shot, the blur briefly spiraled through the air before crash-landing into a mud puddle.

The rattled Spike voiced his astonishment. “W-What the hay was that?!?”

“If I had to guess…” Twilight trailed off, dissolving her barrier and turning to the puddle.

In it lay a cerulean-coated Pegasus pony whose mane and tail gleamed with virtually every color of the rainbow. The gleam, however, was subdued by the light brown muck that marred her form and wings.

Twilight and Spike walked over as she picked herself up out of the mud. “You okay?” asked the horned pony to the Pegasus, her tone only slightly condescending.

“Yeah, it’s all good,” she replied. Stepping out of the puddle, she vigorously shook herself off, and within moments the gleam had returned. “My descent trajectory was just off a little, that’s all.”

“I bet…”

“Nice reflexes there…uh…”

“Twilight Sparkle. And unless I’m mistaken, you’re Rainbow Dash?”

“The one and only!” Rainbow Dash boasted, puffing out her chest a little. “Heard of me, have ya? You want an autograph?”

“Hardly,” Twilight sneered. “Aren’t you supposed to be keeping the sky clear for this evening?”

Rainbow Dash had apparently started doing push-ups when Twilight looked back at her. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to that as soon as I’m done practicing.”

“Practicing? For what?”

“The Wonderbolts, of course!” Rainbow zipped over to a nearby poster depicting a trio of Pegasi in flight suits and goggles. Sitting upright on the ground, she mimicked the pose they were striking on the poster. “The most awesome team of flyers in Equestria! They’re gonna be performing for the Celebration at sunrise, and I’ve gotta be in top form so I can show ‘em my stuff!”

Twilight brought a hoof to her mouth to muffle her giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Rainbow asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

“If you can’t even keep the sky clear for one measly day,” Twilight explained, “how do you expect to impress the Wonderbolts?”

“Hey! I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat! Eight if I broke a sweat!”

Twilight scoffed. “Please. If it’s that easy for you, it must be easy for anypony.”

“Oh, yeah?!” Rainbow was up in the unicorn’s face in an instant. “Let’s see you do it then!”

“…Fine.”

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 4: A Walk in Andante ~

For a moment, Twilight was unsure what had gotten into her. It wasn’t like her to try and belittle another pony like she did Rainbow Dash. Maybe it was the Pegasus’ deliberate avoidance of her Celebration duties. Maybe it was due to her apparent brashness and overconfidence that Twilight felt the need to knock her down a peg or two. Whatever the reason, Rainbow called her out, and it was time to stand and deliver.

Twilight called the Academia Keyblade into tangibility – a sight Rainbow Dash momentarily marveled – and looked to the clouds above. With the weapon hovering next to her, she manipulated the air around her and condensed it into a sphere of wind that floated at the blade’s tip. She took aim at one of the clouds…and fired!

The sphere whizzed upward into the sky like a cannonball and made direct contact with the cloud…

…pushing it away by a couple of yards.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. That spell should’ve dispersed the cloud into tiny white wisps. She glanced back at Rainbow Dash; she was suppressing giggles.

“Grrrr…!” The Keyblade wielder ignored the cyan Pegasus and took aim at another cloud, firing off a second blast of wind. Same result as before: it did little more than nudge the cloud forward a few feet. She tried again. And again. By the sixth attempt, Twilight was practically screaming in frustration. “C’mon, you stupid Key! Work already!” she growled, shaking the Keyblade like a flashlight with dying batteries.

Rainbow Dash walked up to the maddened mare’s side. “Want me to show you how it’s done?”

“I-I can do it! Maybe I’m using the wrong spell!” Taking aim once more, Twilight fired off not another sphere of wind, but a bolt of lightning.

It sailed through the air at ‘lightning speed’ and struck the cloud. This time, however, it didn’t move; rather, it absorbed the energy of Twilight’s spell and turned black.

“Uh-oh…” said Rainbow Dash, stepping away from Twilight as if she knew what was about to happen.

The electrical current swirled within the cloud for several seconds…before the cloud discharged it straight back!

Twilight’s body lurched a few inches off the ground as thousands of volts of electricity surged violently through her. The lightning strike left her with singed hairs, a messy mane and tail, temporary spasms, and smelling of cooked pony.

Rainbow Dash could no longer hold herself back and fell over onto the ground, laughing uncontrollably. Not ten feet away, Spike was laughing along with her.

Twilight staggered a bit as she tried to find her footing. She sent the Keyblade away and looked over the hysterical Pegasus with contempt. “Alright, Miss ‘Ten-Seconds-Flat’,” she sneered. “Think you’ve got what it takes to impress the Wonderbolts? Try me on for size.”

Rainbow’s laughing instantly ceased, and she shot Twilight a confident stare. She sprang to her hooves and pushed off the ground, leaving a rainbow-colored trail in her wake. Below, Twilight and Spike watched in complete awe as the winged pony darted from one cloud to another, clearing each one with a well-placed buck. So too did Twilight and Spike’s eyes dart about in their sockets as they followed Rainbow’s position in the sky. She moved so fast that Spike almost fell over dizzy.

“Loop-de-loop around and…!” Rainbow spiraled down through the last cloud as she came in for a landing before Twilight and Spike. “See? Ten. Seconds. Flat.”

“Wow…” Spike marveled.

Twilight was more envious than impressed however. “But…you barely did anything at all! Why didn’t it work for me?!”

“Uh, hello? Only Pegasi like me can manipulate the weather? Or did you sleep through that lesson in ‘Ponies 101’?”

Twilight’s mouth hung open. Of course she knew only Pegasi had a magical inclination toward the weather, but surely something as simple as cloud dispersal wasn’t beyond the capability of unicorns, let alone Keyblade wielders. Apparently she was wrong. She felt humiliated.

Thankfully, Rainbow Dash didn’t rub Twilight’s nose in it. “Ha-ha. You’re a riot, Twilight Sparkle. We should hang out some more after the Celebration. Show me some more of your cool Keyblade tricks.” And with another quick spiral through the air, the rainbow-maned Pegasus was gone.

“Whoa,” Spike continued to marvel. “Isn’t she amazing?”

“Yeah, amazingly obnoxious,” Twilight commented. She sighed. “I’ll be glad when this day is over. …Come on. We’re back near town hall. Let’s go see if the decorations are done.”

“Right behind ya.”

The walk back to town hall was, mercifully, without incident. No other ponies had stopped them to strike up a conversation, there weren’t any Heartless ambushes, and Twilight hadn’t seen hide or hair of that pesky pile of pony pep named Pinkie Pie. Perhaps the universe had gotten its fill of messing with Twilight for one day.

The two met Mayor Mare as they enter. “Ah! Hello again, Miss Sparkle,” the mayor greeted with a cordial smile.

“Hello, Mayor,” Twilight responded. “Thought I’d check in to see if—”

“Madame Mayor!” A voice from beyond the doors leading into the hall pavilion suddenly called out. “The decorations are fini! You may come in if you’d like!”

“Oh. Well, imagine that. Since you’re here, Miss Sparkle, why don’t we see the decorations together?”

“Heh. Sure.”

The three enter the great Celebration hall and are treated to a breathtaking sight. The pavilion was decorated from top to bottom in all manner of ornaments befitting such an occasion. Various banners of various designs hung from the walls and ceiling. Lengths of cornflower blue silk were draped across the upper-level balconies and mezzanines, punctuated by assorted gemstones and ribbons of gold. And everything glittered. It was the very definition of ‘picturesque’.

“Beautiful…” Spike crooned.

Mayor Mare chuckled lightly. “Yes, it is, isn’t it? Rarity certainly does top-quality work.”

Upon the platform at the far end of the hall stood a lone unicorn mare. Her coat was purest white, and her curly indigo mane and tail bounced lightly with each step she took. She was, by pony standards, quite beautiful. She trotted gracefully from one end of the platform to the other as she inspected her work, seeing the trio of Twilight, Spike, and Mayor Mare in the corner of her eye. “Très magnifique, wouldn’t you agree?” the unicorn asked the three.

“Oh, most assuredly, Rarity.” the mayor praised. “You’ve outdone yourself.”

“Hmm. You’re too kind, Madame Mayor.”

“Miss Sparkle, allow me to introduce Ponyville’s resident fashion designer: Rarity.”

“Hello,” said Twilight.

“Hi…” a love-struck Spike followed.

“Charmed,” Rarity returned with before regarding Twilight more closely. A high-pitched yelp escaped her lips.

Twilight jumped in surprise at this. “W-What?”

“Goodness, darling, what happened to you?! Your coiffure is a charred mess!”

Twilight ran a hoof through her mane and noticed she still had some burn marks from when she was hit by her own lightning spell. “Oh, this. Heh. It’s a little embarrassing, really; I’d rather not bore you with the details. I just came by to check on the decorations. I won’t keep you.”

“‘Keep me’?! Oh, perish the thought!” Rarity zipped to Twilight’s backside and goaded her forward. “Come, my dear, we’ll have you looking good as new in no time!”

“W-Wait! Where are we…?! S-Stop!”

“I bid you a good day, Madame Mayor! I’ll see you tonight at the party!”

“Good day to you too, Rarity! And thanks again for your help!”

“DON’T IGNORE ME! HANG ON A MINUTE!”

Twilight’s pleas fell on deaf ears all the way to Rarity’s home of Carousel Boutique. Once again, Spike was rendered useless by his infatuation with the ivory-coated unicorn.

Rarity found herself oddly fixated with Twilight’s mane, ever since she’d washed the black soot out of it. From its natural straightness to its sheen to the pink and purple highlights. So exotic, Rarity thought. She simply had to style it! She projected her magical aura on Twilight’s mane and quickly cycled through a number of mane styles that might’ve looked good. “No… No… Oh, heavens no… Ooh, how about a Prench braid? Braids are all the rage this season!”

Twilight groaned audibly at Rarity’s persistence.

“Has anypony told you, dear, that you have a lovely mane?”

“…Thank you?”

“Have you considered dyeing it a different color?” Rarity cast an illusion spell that gave Twilight’s mane and tail a drastically different color scheme. “Perhaps a nice off-white, with a streak of purple?” It changed again. “Or maybe a nice gradient of pink, blue, and violet? That would go just smashingly with your coat.”

Twilight’s patience ran dry. “I like my mane the way it is! Could we move on to more important matters please?!”

“Oh! Do forgive me, um… Twilight, was it? You were just telling me where you were from?”

“Ugh… As I was saying, I’ve been sent from Canterlot to— Aah!” The second that Twilight mentioned the Equestrian capital, she felt a harsh tug at her hair.

“CANTERLOT?!?” Rarity squealed with a muzzle-wide grin. “Oh, Canterlot is just THE place in Equestria to live! The glamour! The sophistication!! Princess Celestia!!! What I wouldn’t give to spend one day among the social elite!”

“It…isn’t really all that—”

“And the Royal Guard!” Rarity swooned. “Is there a group of stallions in all of Equestria more dashing, more gallant, more…studly?” Her tone had become low and sensual as she trailed off, and she appeared to blush.

“Uh-huh…” Twilight was tired of the conversation already. At her rear, Spike flexed an arm and hoped the Royal Guard wasn’t ‘ponies only’.

“You simply must tell me all about it over brunch sometime!” Rarity prattled on. “I can tell that you and I are going to be the best of friends!”

There was that word again. ‘Friends’. Twilight rolled her eyes. Princess Celestia’s heart was in the right place, she thought, but so far Twilight and these other ponies had nothing in common. Best of friends? She highly doubted it.

Rarity turned to head into the next room. “Now then, I have some very nice mane ties in my workshop. I think you’d look fabulous in a high ponytail. Be right back!” And she happily trotted off.

Twilight seized the opportunity. “Quick!” she cried to Spike as she made her escape toward the front door. “Before she turns me into one of her dress-up dolls!”

The lovesick dragon’s mind, however, was long gone. Twilight had to double back and yank him out of the Boutique by his tail.

…Now free of the unicorn fashionista’s clutches, Twilight finally had a moment to breathe easy. And vent. “UGGGHHHHH! Confound these ponies! I’d have been through the whole checklist by now if they weren’t all trying to make friends all day and wasting my valuable time!”

“Aw, come on, Twilight,” said Spike as he rode on Twilight’s back. “The princess said to make friends, and you’re not even trying.”

“I know, Spike,” she began in reply, “and while I appreciate Princess Celestia’s concern, me not making friends is not the end of the world. And besides, make friends with who? I dunno if you’ve noticed, but every pony in this town is insane! First there was Pinkie Pie, whose brain is probably made of saltwater taffy!”

“I thought she was kinda funny.”

“Then there was Applejack, who talked a mile a minute and practically force-fed me all that food!”

“Mmmm… I can still taste the apple fritters…”

“Next came Rainbow Dash, who’s got an ego as big as the sky! ‘Ten seconds’, my flank! I bet it was more like…twelve!”

“Were you even timing her…?”

“And finally, Rarity! Talk about pushy!”

“And gorgeous. Don’t forget gorgeous. …So what are you gonna do? Just give up? ‘Cause of a few excitable ponies?”

Twilight sighed. “I dunno. I don’t want to let Princess Celestia down, but…why couldn’t she have picked somepony else for this job?”

“‘Cause she trusts you,” Spike answered as he hopped off her back and walked around to her front. “Probably more than anypony else. And ‘cause she cares enough about you that she doesn’t want you to spend every waking moment studying. She worries about you, Twilight. …I do too.”

“Aw, Spike…”

“Just forget about your exam for now. Forget about stuff like the Heartless and Nightmare Moon, and focus on the Celebration. Princess Celestia gave us a job to do, so let’s make her proud, okay?”

Twilight smiled warmly at the little dragon. She leaned over to nuzzle his cheek. “When did my life get so nuts that I need a baby dragon to keep me grounded?”

“Hey, who’re you calling a baby?”

She laughed. On a day like today, Twilight needed a laugh. “What’s next on the list?”

“Music. It’s the last one.” Music (ha-ha) to Twilight’s ears. “…Promise me you’ll try to be friends with the next pony we meet?”

Twilight’s eyes rolled briefly, but she kept smiling. “Okay, Spike. I’ll try.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Twilight told herself she was through the worst of it. That it’d be nothing but smooth sailing from here to the library. She was still concerned about Nightmare Moon’s impending return a considerable deal, but in light of Spike’s advice, she decided to focus on the here and now. She was almost home free.

Besides, it was music. Everypony likes music, even the antisocial Twilight.

How bad could it possibly be?

Chapter 5: Night of Fate

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‘How bad could it possibly be?’

Never did Twilight so strongly regret having such a thought.

It had started out so well. Hers and Spike’s tour across Ponyville had taken them a small ways onto the town’s outskirts, into a little grassy clearing. There they were treated to the exquisite sound of a choir of birds, led in song by a Pegasus mare with a golden coat and flowing pink mane. Her voice was enchanting and complemented well by the birds’ song. Twilight felt both at peace and relieved to know that this would no doubt go smoothly.

Well, maybe not that smoothly, Twilight mused. She had promised Spike to reach her hoof out in friendship to whomever they met next. When she finally worked up the courage to say hello…

“That sounded beautiful.”

The Pegasus pony jumped in surprise, watching as her bird friends flew off in various directions, before turning to see Twilight.

Twilight was hit instantly by a twinge of guilt. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Or your birds. That song just now – it…really was lovely.”

“…Th-Thank you,” the Pegasus replied as she shuffled her hooves.

A brief pause followed before Twilight glanced back at Spike, who only prodded her on. She sighed. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. I’m the official overseer for this year’s Celebration. And you are?”

A barely audible mumble.

“I’m sorry?” Twilight leaned in.

The Pegasus looked away. “…F…Flutter…shy…”

“‘Fluttershy’?” she sounded out.

A swift nod in response.

“Oooookay…‘Fluttershy’. Well, it looks like your birds are back. And if what I just heard is any indication, I guess music for the Celebration is well taken care of. I’ll just…be on my way then.” Twilight turned to leave, almost disappointed. Well, that was pointless, she thought.

“…Um…”

The unicorn pony stopped when she heard the timid Pegasus beckon her. “Yes?”

Fluttershy gestured toward the birds. “W-Would you, um…like to meet them?”

Twilight’s heart seemed to leap. The first time she ever reached out to somepony, somepony reached back. A thin smile crept its way onto her muzzle. “Uh, sure, I’d love to,” she finally answered, making her way back over. Looking up at the tree’s thin branches, Twilight met the gaze of a little blue jay.

Fluttershy smiled as well. “Careful now,” she softly advised. “Nice and slow.”

Twilight extended a hoof out to the bird – a little overeagerly…and was met with a shrill squawk.

The color drained from Fluttershy’s face. “…Oh, no.”

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 5: Night of Fate ~

Indeed, it had started out so well. And now…

“AAAHHH! Get away from me!”

Twilight galloped up and down the meadow as Fluttershy’s flock of songbirds flapped around her, squawking and occasionally pecking at the panicky unicorn. With each peck, a small ‘ow!’ escaped Twilight’s lips.

Fluttershy was beside herself with stress trying to ease the situation. “Oh, gosh! Oh, goodness! Um…excuse me? Little birdies? P-Please stop pecking— Oh, dear!”

At the Pegasus’ side stood Spike, who just shook his head at the spectacle. “Yup. Twilight’s terrible with animals.”

When the flying nuisances refused to leave Twilight be, she involuntarily summoned the Keyblade. She had no intention of going on the attack; she just wanted something to fend them their constant pecking off with. At the sight of the weapon, the birds backed away.

“No, stop!”

Twilight’s eyes widened a little at the outburst from nowhere, and she was suddenly tackled to the ground when something barreled into her. A spiraling tumble followed, and Twilight ended up on her back with her forelegs pinned. On top of her was the shy Pegasus. “F-Fluttershy?! What are you doing?!”

“I’m so sorry! But I couldn’t let you hurt them!”

“I-I wasn’t going to—”

“You just frightened them, that’s all!”

By this time, the birds had retreated to the dense cover of leaves in a nearby tree. Fluttershy left Twilight and hovered over to the tree in question, looking up into it from the grass below. “It’s okay,” she called out to the birds softly, “there’s nothing to be afraid of. Nopony’s gonna hurt you.”

Spike joined Twilight at her side as she picked herself up off the ground. The two watched Fluttershy intently…watched as her tiny bird friends inched their way out of the tree branches and into the open. They flapped, fluttered, and buzzed about the Pegasus’ head before coming to a rest – some on the grass at Fluttershy’s hooves, others perched atop her head and outstretched forelegs. Spike let out a drawn out “Whoa…” at the sight.

“See?” Fluttershy started again as she nuzzled the very same blue jay Twilight tried to pet. “All it takes is a warm and gentle hoof.”

Twilight snorted. Not that the winged pony’s natural talent for communing with birds wasn’t something to behold, but she was still quite annoyed by her less-than-pleasant avian encounter, it seemed.

At any rate, music: check.

“…And did you see the way she harmonized with all those birds? It was like something from the Canterlot Philharmonic!”

“Yes, Spike,” Twilight retorted, “I was there.”

A short while later, Twilight and Spike were on final approach to the library – though ‘tree-brary’ felt more apropos given its outward appearance – that Princess Celestia arranged for her to stay in during her time in Ponyville. But not before Spike and Fluttershy had a chance to chat. The little dragon was amazed by the Pegasus’ ability to connect not just with birds but with almost all forms of animal life, and she was likewise fascinated with him simply by dint of being a dragon. For a while there, Twilight was unsure their conversation would ever end. Ironic. Spike wanted the Keyblade-wielding unicorn to make a friend and ended up making one himself. Well, good for him, she thought.

“At least you enjoyed yourself,” Twilight pressed. “Fluttershy didn’t seem to want to leave you alone until she heard your entire life story.”

“Yeah, well, I am pretty awesome. Hehehe.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Okay, don’t go turning into Rainbow Dash on me, alright? Besides, we have more important things on our plate.”

“Let me guess: Nightmare Moon again?”

As the two reached the library’s front door, Twilight rested a hoof on it and looked back to her dragon assistant. “Sorry, Spike. Maybe you don’t buy into the legends, but it’s nearly sundown. I have only a few hours to convince Princess Celestia that Nightmare Moon is coming, and I can’t afford any more distractions.” She pushed the door open and…

“SURPRISE!!!”

Twilight shrieked in utter shock as several hooves reached out from inside the library and dragged her in. Her heart rate practically tripled as she was treated to the sight of dozens of ponies – Earth, unicorn, and Pegasus – surrounding her in her Ponyville home. Had they been Heartless, Twilight would’ve brought out the Academia, but she restrained herself (just barely).

But the freak show hadn’t ended there. An orchestra of horns heralded the abrupt arrival of Pinkie Pie, who’d placed a cone-shaped party hat on Twilight’s head and led some of the ponies around her in joyful song.

Welcome, welcome, welcome

A fine welcome to you

Welcome, welcome, welcome

We say how do you do?

A trumpet blared deafeningly in Twilight’s ears before the drums kicked in.

Welcome, welcome, welcome

We say hip-hip-hooray

Welcome, welcome, welcome

To Ponyville today!

A party horn in her face brought Twilight out of her stupor, and she found Pinkie Pie standing mere inches away. “P-Pinkie Pie?!” she eventually squeaked in her half-daze.

“That’s my name!” the pink Earth pony squeaked back. “So what do you think of your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party? Were you surprised? Were you? Huh-huh-huh?”

“…Very surprised, actually.” As Twilight thought back, she recalled Pinkie mentioning a welcome party during their first meeting. By all rights, she shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was. She supposed that went to show how unpredictable this ‘Pinkie Pie’ truly was. “Um, Pinkie? Do we have to have this party right this second?”

“Well, of course we have to, silly! You said it was your first day in Ponyville! And if it’s your first day in Ponyville, that means you haven’t met anyone yet! And if you haven’t met anyone yet, you must not have any friends! And what better way to make friends than to throw a great big super-duper fantabulous welcome party where everypony is invited?!”

Twilight felt her IQ drop a couple of points by that massive rationalization. She pressed a hoof to her head and groaned, “I’m getting a headache…”

Pinkie zipped away into the crowd of ponies before returning just seconds later with four other mares in tow – the very same mares Twilight had met over the course of the afternoon: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy – all of whom seemed happy to see her. “See?” continued Pinkie, “I even invited the new friends you made today.”

Twilight’s headache worsened as she tried to fathom how the party pony could have known she met the other four. Was she stalking her across town? Was she somehow omniscient?

Applejack tipped her hat to the pony with the mulberry coat. “Howdy again, ‘sugarcube’.”

Not to seem rude, Twilight acknowledged her with a halfhearted smile. “…Listen, Pinkie Pie, I appreciate this, but I’d really just like to get some studying done.” She moved for the stairs as she spoke. “So if you’ll excuse me—”

Unfortunately, the pony who seemed to simultaneously everywhere and nowhere had appeared to the unicorn’s front, slowly nudging her back toward the center of the room. “Oh, Twilight, don’t be such a party pooper! You’re Ponyville’s guest of honor! …Although I guess the princess is the ‘guest-ier’ guest of honor since it’s the Summer Sun Celebration. But you’re still the ‘guest-iest’ guest of honor at this party!”

“But I—”

Pinkie then took Twilight by the hooves, nudging her further in the others’ direction. “C’mon, Twilight! Dance with us!”

Naturally, Twilight resisted. “I don’t—”

“Cut a rug!”

“Pinkie, I—”

“Shake your hoof-thang!”

She snatched her hooves away. “CUT IT OUT, PINKIE!”

The ponies in Twilight’s immediate vicinity fell silent. Pinkie Pie’s mane lost some of its bounce and drooped a little. The others stared at Twilight blankly, taken aback by her sudden fit of temper.

She stared back at them, surprised even herself. She’d never seen anyone look at her that way before. But then she’d never before snapped at another pony like she just did. Twilight strained to find her voice. “I… I’m sorry!” she offered before turning her back to them and bolting up the stairs.

Spike finally found his way through the crowd and walked over, clawing half a cupcake. “Where’d Twilight go?” he asked with his mouth full.

Rarity opted to answer. “I suppose the dear isn’t much for soirees.”

…Twilight’s further research into the Elements of Harmony yielded no results. Not that she could concentrate on a single subject for very long though, what with the party going strong beneath her hooves. She felt as though the universe was intentionally stonewalling her at every turn. When several hours of research and study did nothing to get her mind off impending doom, she attempted to go to sleep. Especially now that the sun had gone down. Same problem: too much noise coming from downstairs. She felt every thump of the bass-heavy music. She almost felt like going after some Heartless and taking her frustrations out on them.

Twilight moaned as she brought her head out from under a pillow. “UGH! I said it before, and I’ll say it again: all the ponies in this town are crazy! I can’t get a single minute to myself around here! It’s all ‘friends’ this and ‘parties’ that! Am I the only one who cares that Equestria’s about to be plunged into eternal night?!” She rolled over in her bed, determined to get a few minutes of peace, and her gaze fell upon the window. Through it, the light of the full moon brightly shone. And upon that the surface of that moon was the silhouetted façade of a unicorn: the façade of the fabled ‘Mare in the Moon’. Twilight spoke silently in her solitude. “‘Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal.’” She then remembered the reassuring words of her beloved princess.

“Oh, Twilight, you simply must stop reading those dusty old books! The Mare in the Moon is nothing more than an old ponies’ tale, the stuff of folklore. …Trust me when I say you have nothing to worry yourself over.”

Twilight closed her violet eyes to block out the moonlight. “Princess,” she whispered, “I hope so much that you’re right…” She reopened her eyes to look at the clock. It was almost time for the sun to be raised.

The night was nearly over. She wanted desperately to believe in Celestia’s words. But her steadily growing anxieties and the esteem she held for history and myth wouldn’t allow it.

Sure enough, everypony in Ponyville had begun gathering in the town hall pavilion. Earth ponies and unicorns filled the floor and balconies, while Pegasi hung in midair.

Twilight stood to the side of the platform with Mayor Mare. As she glanced around the room, she noticed the presence of a number of royal guards but saw no sign of her brother among them.

“What’s wrong, ‘Twi’?” asked Spike by her side.

“I don’t see Shining Armor anywhere, Spike. Do you?”

“Hmm… Nope. Maybe he’s with Princess Celestia.”

“Maybe…” Twilight shook her head. Now she really was being paranoid. Luckily, the twittering fanfare of Fluttershy’s bird choir was a helpful diversion.

After the short musical flourish, Mayor Mare moved to the center of the platform. “Fillies and gentlecolts”, she began to the crowd, “as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” The crowd momentarily erupted in cheers before Mayor Mare motioned for them to quiet down. “I couldn’t be prouder to be a resident of Ponyville than I am today, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, for our dearly beloved Princess Celestia has chosen our little town to host not just the Celebration, but one that commemorates a thousand years of sun-filled peace. In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, here to introduce the princess, I give you her personal student and protégé, and official Celebration overseer, without whom this momentous occasion would not be possible… Please join me in welcoming Miss Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot!”

Mayor Mare stepped to the side to allow Twilight to enter, and the audience of ponies welcomed her to the stage with a round of hoof-stomping applause.

“Thank you, Miss Mayor,” Twilight opened with, “and thank you, everypony. Your mayor is right: it’s indeed a historic day. Today we celebrate a millennium of peace and harmony in Equestria. And for that we have Princess Celestia to thank. I consider it both an honor and a delight to call her my teacher, and to call myself her faithful student…”

…Meanwhile, far from town hall – far from Ponyville, in fact – a tall, alabaster-coated alicorn, with a mane and tail that twinkled sky-blue, turquoise, azure, and heliotrope, stood in a wide open field of grass. Her body was still, and her eyes were fixed on the moon’s surface.

At the alicorn’s side was an armored unicorn stallion with a pearly-white coat. He too was silent.

Before long, the alicorn spoke. “…Your sister’s begun her introductory speech, Shining Armor.”

“Oh, yeah?” Shining Armor returned with. “Bet she’s going on and on about how great it is to be your student. Am I right?”

Celestia blushed a little. “She can be quite…complimentary at times. You can be there with her, you know. You don’t have to—”

“Yes,” he interrupted. “I do. I told you: as long as I am able, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you and this kingdom. But I still don’t know why you chose to keep this from Twily in the first place. Not causing her ‘undue stress’ can’t have been the only reason.”

Princess Celestia was silent as she watched the stars move into position. “…You’re right. It wasn’t.” The stars faded behind the moon, and the Mare in the Moon’s façade vanished. Celestia’s wings flared out. “It’s begun.”

The wind suddenly picked up, and the temperature took a sharp nosedive, to the point at which Shining Armor could see his breath. As he looked ahead, he observed as something black, something sinister, materialized into existence before him. The ethereal effect was not unlike that of a Key bearer summoning his or her Keyblade. It was both mesmerizing and frightening.

Just a few feet away from Princess Celestia and Shining Armor appeared a second alicorn. But where Celestia’s coat was a soft pinkish-white, this alicorn’s coat was as black as Heartless flesh. Where Celestia’s mane sparkled several bright colors, the black alicorn’s was midnight blue and indigo. Her mane less resembled hair and more resembled starry vapor, and she was clad in a helmet and breastplate of azure steel.

Having appeared before them kneeling, the black-coated alicorn slowly rose to her hooves. With her legs fully outstretched, she stood at least a foot taller than Princess Celestia (not counting her horn).

The legend made real. Nightmare Moon.

She opened her eyelids and regarded the princess and her captain with turquoise eyes. The second she saw her, Nightmare Moon grinned. “Hello, Celestia.”

The Equestrian princess’s eyes narrowed. “It’s been a long time…‘Nightmare’.”

“‘Nightmare’?” Nightmare Moon seemed almost offended by the label. “I seem to recall, prior of my imprisonment in the moon, you so keenly addressed me as ‘Luna’.”

“I refuse to address you as that which you are obviously not. You aren’t Luna. You’re nothing but a shadow, a phantom that calls another’s body its own.”

Nightmare Moon chuckled. Her laugh was chilling to Shining Armor’s ears. “I suppose your being here,” the black alicorn continued, “means you intend to try and banish me a second time?”

“Not simply try,” said Celestia. She closed her eyes for a moment. A shift in the air, and from her sun-shaped cutie mark appeared little flickers of magical energy. From those flickers emerged Celestia’s mighty weapon:

The most powerful Keyblade in Equestria: Heaven’s Light.

“I imprisoned you once before,” Celestia stated as she brandished the glowing sword in her aura. “I can do it again.”

“Without your precious Elements?” Nightmare Moon scoffed with an arrogant ‘ha!’ “That I would very much like to see.”

“Shining Armor!”

“Yes, your Majesty!” The stallion quickly cast his fears aside and summoned his own Keyblade, the Oathbrand.

Nightmare Moon was surprised by a presence of another chosen one, as evidenced by her raised brow, but was otherwise unaffected.

With Keyblade at the ready, Shining Armor pointed his weapon at the evil mare and projected his magic toward her, entrapping her within his sturdiest barrier. With that done, Celestia took aim at Nightmare Moon with her own weapon.

“Oh-ho. So that’s your game, is it?” Nightmare Moon’s voice echoed from inside the force field.

Dots of golden light appeared around the Heaven’s Light and coiled around its tip in a spherical formation. “NIGHTMARE MOON!” Celestia cried in her rarely-used royal Canterlot voice. “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HARM MY LITTLE PONIES OR BLANKET EQUESTRIA IN ETERNAL DARKNESS! BY THE UNDYING LIGHT OF THE KEYBLADE…I BANISH YOU BACK TO THE MOON!” The sphere of light that coiled around the Heaven’s Light’s tip condensed and exploded outward, taking the form of a ray beam.

Nightmare Moon bared her teeth in wicked glee. She expected this. In a swift, fluid motion, she sliced clean through Shining Armor’s barrier and deflected Celestia’s beam away.

Celestia and Shining Armor gasped. It had been so effortless. “I-Impossible!” Celestia cried. The only way Nightmare Moon could’ve done that was with a… She looked closely at Nightmare Moon’s mane; there was something in it. Something long and misshapen. When she finally determined what it was…her pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. “No… It can’t be…!”

Nightmare Moon grinned even wider. “The darkness…is truly something, Celestia. It holds many, many secrets…and a thousand years is a long time for those secrets to be laid bare. …I found it, Celestia. As I drifted perpetually between awareness and slumber, I found the door. The door…to the other side…!”

Her vaporous mane held in its grasp…a Keyblade.

Chapter 6: Enter the Darkness

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“…And then there was the time the princess taught me how to cast a gravitational inversion spell! It took me an hour to figure out how to get her throne off the ceiling!” Twilight narrated with a hearty laugh. Speaking of Princess Celestia and her experiences being her student had done wonders to help her loosen up, especially after a day like the one she’d just trudged through.

Her audience, on the other hoof, wasn’t so receptive of her dragging out the princess’ entrance. Some ponies had eventually lost interest, while others were beginning to trail off to sleep, thanks in no small part to having stayed up to watch the sunrise.

At least Rainbow Dash, who stood near the back of the crowd, was enjoying Twilight’s anecdotes if her stifled laughter was any indication.

Standing just barely off to Twilight’s side, Mayor Mare loudly cleared her throat. “Um, Miss Sparkle? Perhaps we should, er…move things along?” she proposed with a nervous grin.

Twilight blinked. “…Oh!” Realizing that the sun should’ve been raised several minutes ago, and by extension that she made Princess Celestia wait backstage longer than necessary, she blushed deeply. “Heh. Uh, m-my apologies, everypony,” Twilight offered the audience in mild mortification. She straightened herself and brought a hoof up to her mouth. “Ahem! Without further ado, it is my great honor to introduce to you all the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day, the good and wise bringer of harmony to all of Equestria… The greatest mentor anypony could ask for… Princess Celestia!!!”

Fluttershy’s choir of songbirds tweeted another piece of grand fanfare to herald the alicorn’s arrival, and all eyes fell on the curtains of the upper balcony as Rarity drew them open.

And then…silence.

A deafening stillness fell swiftly upon the pavilion when eager pony eyes expecting to see their alabaster princess in all of her glory instead saw…nothing. For a handful of moments, a vacant stage was all anypony saw.

Unrest quickly followed. Murmurs of ranged volume blanketed the town hall, as every pony present wished to voice their ever rising concern. Among them was one Twilight Sparkle. “Princess…?” she finally managed to push out from her stiffening throat.

Mayor Mare stepped up to quell the audience’s disquiet, hoping doing so will help with her own. “Everypony, remain calm,” she told them, “there must be a reasonable explanation!”

“Ooh, I love guessing games!” Pinkie was heard spouting somewhere in the crowd. “Is she hiding?!” An Earth pony is suddenly hoisted a few feet off the floor. “Yoo-hoo! Princess!” That pony is then lowered down, and then a unicorn goes up seconds later. “Olly-olly-oxen-free!”

“Miss Rarity,” Mayor Mare began to the indigo-maned unicorn above, “could you please check in on the princess?”

“Of course,” replied Rarity, who proceeded to disappear behind the curtains.

Everything’s fine, Twilight told herself. She probably just got a tangle in her mane or something, and Shining Armor’s helping her comb it out. You’ll see. Everything’s fine. As she recited those two words over and over in her head, Twilight found herself unconsciously glancing up toward the moon. Its light cast down through apertures in the domed ceiling, giving the hall some much needed illumination. Twilight grew even more edgy at the fact that the Mare in the Moon’s silhouette was gone from its surface. Everything’s…fine. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Rarity finally returned, and Twilight perked up a little at the thought of Princess Celestia following her out shortly.

“She’s gone!”, Twilight heard Rarity say…

…and she grew deathly cold.

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 6: Enter the Darkness ~

The crowd’s murmurs had now escalated to that of alarmed chatter. Everypony was wondering where Princess Celestia was, and nopony had the answer, least of all Twilight who, since her brother – the Captain of the royal guard – was also missing, was the target of choice for much of this line of questioning.

“Where’s Princess Celestia?!”

“You’re her student, aren’t you?! Shouldn’t you know where she is?!”

“Oh, goodness! Did something happen to her?!?”

“Everyone, please calm down!” Twilight cried back at the throng of ponies. It was amazing how quick they were to break down in panic at the mere idea of something happening to their ruler. Celestia truly was loved and depended on, the unicorn thought. “Your mayor and I are on top of the situation, alright?” Twilight mentally scolded herself as soon as those words left her lips; she realized she just passed the buck onto the already stressed-out mayor. Nevertheless, she turned her back to the panicked ponies and made her way over to where some of the royal guards stood. Everypony wanted answers, and Twilight was one of them. “Excuse me, sir?” she said to the Pegasus in gold armor in the middle, trying her hardest to keep composure. “Do you know where Captain Shining Armor is?”

“No, ma’am,” the guard said as he shook his head. “The captain elected to stay close to the princess at all times today and ordered the rest of us to remain on standby. I imagine wherever the princess is, he’s with her.”

“And neither he nor the princess said anything about stepping out for a bit? Or if they planned on stopping somewhere on their way here?”

He shook his head again. “Sorry, ma’am.”

Twilight thought it impossible for her unease to worsen. She was dead wrong. She felt like she was on the verge of fainting. And not just uneasy now either; she was starting to get just the tiniest bit angry. Whatever was going on, both Princess Celestia and Shining Armor were being secretive about it. But why? To what end (or ends)? Not only were they keeping Twilight out of it, but also Shining Armor’s own subordinates. The next time she saw her brother, Twilight would make sure to—

~CRASH~!

A great, earth-shattering crash interrupted Twilight’s thoughts. It shook every stallion and mare in the pavilion to the core and turned their attentions skyward. There, they saw a white and blue figure come crashing in through the ceiling and plummet straight down toward them. The ponies at the center of the floor scattered outward as the figure, and the chunks of roof debris it brought down with it, slammed into the ground. Those nearest to the resulting crater coughed and wheezed in the dust, and gasped heavily at what they saw:

A white unicorn stallion, body bruised, armor fractured.

“SHINY!!!” someone shrieked through the crowd as they made their way through.

Within seconds, Twilight and Spike ran up to the fallen pony. Kneeling down, Twilight took his head and upper body into her hooves. “Shining Armor! Are you okay?!”

In his little sister’s warm hold, Shining Armor winced in pain. He struggled to open even a single eye, and his vision was somewhat blurry. “T-Twily…” he groaned.

“I’m here, Shiny!” Twilight squealed, lightly squeezing one of her brother’s hooves in hers. “Who did this to you?! Where’s Princess Celestia?!?”

The feeble stallion ignored her frantic questioning and simply told her through clenched teeth, “Run… You’ve…gotta get out of here… She’s too powerful…!”

“‘She’?! ‘She’ who?!” Before Twilight could (or would) receive the answer to this, she felt a strong chill wash over her.

Similarly, many ponies in the hall started shivering. “Brrrr! Good golly, did it get a mite cold all of a sudden!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ain’t it supposed t’ be th’ middle o’ summer?”

Just then, a loud yelp from Pinkie Pie and a chain of deep gasps saw the early morning’s second arrival: at the balcony where Princess Celestia was expected to appear was a cloud of dark-blue starry mist. The mist grew as it entered the town hall, and in a wide outward expulsion of air, a mare with a black coat and gaseous mane emerged.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh, no… It’s her!” she said in a terrified whisper. “Nightmare Moon!”

The mare of darkness looked over the assembly of ponies with a pleased smile. “Ahhh… My beloved subjects…” she crooned to them, her voice low and soft. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, little sun-loving faces. Truly I’ve missed them these long thousand years. Or rather…the look of abject terror on them.”

Rainbow Dash leaped up from her spot in the crowd. “What did you do with our princess?!” the cyan Pegasus shouted, ready to pounce on the black mare at a moment’s notice.

Nightmare Moon lightly chuckled. “Why, am I not royal enough for you? Do you not know who I am?” The wicked alicorn of darkness suddenly sprang from her perch on the balcony with a bountiful leap and hung in the air for several seconds before coming in for a landing on the floor, a few feet away from Twilight, Spike, and Shining Armor. The ponies around her backed away even further until their backs were practically to the wall. She watched closely as they did this. “Is my crown no longer of any worth,” she began to them again, “now that I’ve been imprisoned for a millennium’s time?”

“I know who you are!”

All eyes, including Nightmare Moon’s, fell on Twilight, who’d made her voice heard.

“I know exactly who you are!” Twilight said with a glare. “I know the legend! I saw the signs! You’re the ‘Mare in the Moon’ – Nightmare Moon!”

Yet another gasp filled the room at the sound of the pony of legend’s name. Nightmare Moon raised an intrigued eyebrow at this and took a tentative step forward. “Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. I’m so flattered. Might I have your name, my little pony?”

“…Twilight Sparkle.”

“‘Twilight Sparkle’…” She sounded out the name, intentionally stressing each syllable, and then remarked, “I sense Celestia’s light within you.”

“So you do know where the princess is! Tell me before I—!”

Twilight was cut off when a large pony stepped in front of her. “Don’t even think about it, Twily.”

“Shining Armor!”

“Knights of Canterlot, fall in!” the captain cried out. And almost as soon as he did, a unit of four royal guards – two unicorns, two Pegasi – emerged from the crowd and advanced upon Nightmare Moon in circle formation. “You made a big mistake dropping me here instead of finishing me off, Nightmare,” said Shining Armor to her as he drew the Oathbrand. In kind, each of the royal guards that encircled her also drew his own Keyblade. “Now, you’re surrounded!”

Nightmare Moon’s smile was quickly replaced by an annoyed frown. “Learn your place, you impudent foal!” she snarled. Her mane and tail of glittery vapor drew in toward her body before swelling and expanding out, releasing a great wave of dark energy that blew harshly over the royal guards and many of the surrounding ponies. Shining Armor shielded himself and his sister from the violent expulsion of power. To most, it was like being hit by nothing but a strong gust of wind. But those like Twilight and Shining Armor knew different: the darkness in Nightmare Moon was immense.

Once the Keyblade wielding knights had been blown far enough away that they weren’t in her personal space, Nightmare Moon brought a hoof up and slammed it on the ground, causing a light tremor that knocked some ponies off balance. The shadow she cast suddenly took on a life of its own, taking the form of a small cluster of…

“Heartless!!!”

The town hall exploded with chaos. Screams of fright ran rampant, and ponies bolted left and right as they tried to put as much distance between themselves and those black-coated creatures as possible. Applejack and Rainbow Dash did what they could to ward off the invading Nightfoals, as did the Key-bearing royal guards. Fluttershy hid herself away underneath a table, while Pinkie Pie tended to a lightheaded Rarity.

The ponies darted for the door, but quickly found their means of escape cut off by Nightmare Moon and her Heartless.

“Leaving so soon?” she said to the trembling equines, some of whom had broken down in fear-induced tears. She chuckled softly through her nostrils at this sight.

“Leave them alone!”

In that instant, Twilight stepped before the sadistic mare. Within the grip of her magical aura, she held the Academia confidently. She drew her head back and to the right before twisting her neck left; the Keyblade followed her gesture and hurled itself at a nearby row of Heartless. They evaporated into black dust, and the cornered ponies took this opening to flee toward the opposing end of the hall. Having accomplished this, the purple-coated unicorn glared back at Nightmare Moon.

“Another bearer?” the alicorn noted. “Gracious, they’re just handing them out like party favors these days, aren’t they?”

“I… I’m not afraid of you!”

Nightmare Moon suppressed the urge to laugh. “Don’t insult my intelligence, little filly. You are very much afraid, as you should be. You know who I am; therefore, you must also know why I’m here. And what I’m capable of.”

Twilight stood her ground, in spite of her steadily growing fears.

“So it’s a fight you desire?” Nightmare Moon snorted. “If you were only so worthy of my time. How can you hope to stand against me…when your dear princess could not?”

The unicorn’s eyes widened considerably. “P-Princess Celestia?! What… What did you…?!”

“It’s rather amusing, now that I think about it. I wanted to give her a front row seat to my rise to power. But I imagine it’d be difficult to view Equestria from confinement in the sun when the sun will never again rise. Quite the conundrum, wouldn’t you agree?”

“You… You b-banished her to the…?!” Twilight’s mind reeled from the realization. Just as Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon a thousand years ago, so too did she now imprison Celestia in her very own sun. Twilight’s eyes started to water when the thought of never seeing the princess again occurred to her, and her blood began to boil. She gritted her teeth. “MONSTER!!!” she screamed, readying her Keyblade and galloping at Nightmare Moon at her top speed.

“Twily, wait!” Shining Armor called out from somewhere to her rear, but his voice barely registered to her. “She has a…!”

Twilight let loose a great cry of anger, further drowning out her brother’s voice, and brought her weapon down upon Nightmare Moon with all the force she could muster…

…only to have the loud clang of steel on steel ring in her ears.

“!!!”

The sight of the foreign Keyblade caused Twilight’s mind to go momentarily blank. The blade reached at least half a foot longer than hers, and its features were warped and menacing. Indigo and metallic gold comprised its color scheme, and the turquoise eye at the blade’s head that matched Nightmare Moon’s own eyes seemed to stare straight back at her.

The wind picked up again, and Twilight felt another fierce rush of black wind blow over her – a second glimpse at the sheer amount of power Nightmare Moon commanded. She also felt an intense pressure push against her Keyblade…and cracks started to form in the shaft. Twilight gasped at this and glanced up into Nightmare Moon’s eyes; the turquoise in them was now a brilliant white. Twilight’s knees shook.

The stories she heard about the Mare in the Moon growing up had for a short time given her bad dreams, but they were nothing compared to the real deal. She felt so small, so utterly terrified of this…thing…standing before her.

She couldn’t even react accordingly when the alicorn turned her weapon on its side and swung at Twilight to blow her away. The unicorn pony flew back several feet before the ground met her. When she moved to pick herself up, she craned her head up to see Nightmare Moon standing above her and looking scornfully down at her with those same glowing white eyes.

“Yet another audacious foal,” the black alicorn hissed, “who fails to learn her place…!”

Twilight’s body failed her. W-Why?! Why won’t my body move?!

The evil mare brought her blade up over her head to deal the finishing blow…

C’mon, move! Please!

“…Let this be a lesson to all that I am not to be crossed.”

Twilight clenched her eyes shut and awaited the inevitable. PRINCESS CELESTIA!!!

“Argh!”

When the sound of Nightmare Moon crying out in irritation hit her flopped down ears, Twilight cracked one eye open and looked up. There, she saw something small and scaly scratching feverishly at her head and helmet.

“You leave Twilight alone, you big bully!”

Her eyes opened fully. “Spike!”

Sure enough, the purple unicorn’s number one assistant had grabbed onto Nightmare Moon’s head and was holding on for dear life. “Twilight, run!”

The muscles in her body now less tensed, Twilight found she was indeed able to move again. She hopped to her hooves and moved a handful of feet away before looking back to the wrestling mare and dragon.

The black winged unicorn lashed her vaporous tail around Spike’s neck, not tightly enough to choke him but such that he was suspended above the floor. She brought him around to look straight into his eyes. Strangely, Nightmare Moon found it difficult to be angry; after being opposed by Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor – both formidable Keyblade wielders – to then be beset upon by one so diminutive was humorous. Her lips curled upward, and she said to him, “Rambunctious little reptile, aren’t you?”

“Try and hurt Twilight, and I’ll show you ‘rambunctious’!” Spike warned before belching a tremendous plume of green flame in her face.

It barely singed her. “Oh-ho! As fiery as the flames your race breathes! I like it!”

Twilight brandished the Academia. “Let him go!”

“BE STILL, WHELP!” The white glow returned to Nightmare Moon’s eyes…

…and once again, Twilight was stricken immobile. “Nngh! Can’t…move!”

That done, she looks back to Spike and grins again. “…You and Twilight Sparkle clearly mean much to each other. You could be of use to me.”

“Forget it!” the little dragon spat. “I’ll never help you!”

“You misunderstand. I wasn’t giving you a choice.”

Just then, using the tail she had wrapped around Spike as a channel, Nightmare Moon poured her dark essence into him, engulfing him in black, translucent fire. The little dragon screamed.

Twilight watched in horror and helplessness as one of her favorite creatures in Equestria was subject to this suffering. “SPIKE!!!”

As the flames died away, Nightmare Moon’s grip on Spike lessened, and she allowed him to fall to the floor. But the process was only half over. To Twilight’s further horror, her best friend’s body began to transform. He had grown several times bigger. His neck and tail grew longer. His arm and leg muscles became toned. The green spines that lined the top of his head like a Mohawk became longer, sharper, and crooked. And to top it all off, the purple of his scales had turned a much darker hue.

“…S-Spike…?”

The almost unrecognizable dragon slammed his front claws on the ground, causing everypony nearest to him to jump. He then turned around to look at Twilight; the pony, now smaller than him by comparison, was petrified by the look of complete wrath in those orbs of emerald. He roared at her.

A cruel smile stretched across Nightmare Moon’s features as she stepped forward. “I’m afraid you’ll find that not a shred of what made your little friend an individual remains. He’s become one with the darkness. He’s mine now.”

Twilight’s limbs grew limp, and she fell to her haunches. “No… Please… Not Spike too…” she whimpered, eyes welling with tears.

“There. Right there. That feeling you have? Of utter misery and despair? Learn to embrace it, for it will be all that you know. All that any of you will know, should I again be opposed.” The wicked mare looked out to the throng of ponies. “Listen well, little ponies! Remember this day fondly, for it was your last! From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” Nightmare Moon’s evil cackles filled the night air. The starry vapor that comprised her mane and tail rose and swirled, enveloping herself and the subjugated Spike. And as swiftly and mysteriously as she arrived, they vanished.

Silence blanketed the town hall once again, and Shining Armor cried out to his little sister as her body finally shut down and she lost consciousness.

Chapter 7: Hand in Hand

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“Mm… Ugh… Ah! Nightmare Moon! W-We’ve gotta…stop… Huh?”

Twilight awoke with a start, damp with sweat, her foalhood nightmares of the evil ‘Mare in the Moon’ having returned with a vengeance. Expecting to wake up in the town hall where she’d blacked out in the first place, she instead found herself in a soft bed back in her Ponyville home – the library. She was covered up to her barrel by a blanket of silk. ‘How did I get here?’ Twilight wondered, before quickly reasoning that she was carried here after her collapse on the pavilion floor. Whoever did that, she would be sure to thank at her earliest convenience.

She looked out the window to her right; the first thing to grace her violet eyes was the light of the featureless moon. Twilight couldn’t help but think it was rather beautiful without those black craters lining its surface.

But then she remembered what the moon’s unblemished surface meant, and her bout of reverie passed.

Twilight pushed the covers off of her and got to her hooves. This was absolutely no time to be sleeping or daydreaming. She moved for the stairs before the sound of muffled voices hit her ears, and she quickened her gait a little. The voices came in clearer the closer she got to the bottom of the stairwell.

“…I mean it, Rainbow. When Twilight wakes up, no hoof pointing.”

Twilight immediately recognized the first voice as that of her brother Shining Armor…

“Okay, okay! Jeez!”

…and the second as that of her new ‘friend’ Rainbow Dash. Twilight groaned at the prospect of having to deal with her (and those other oddball mares) again today. She moved into the light of the main room. Anticipating the presence of six other ponies in the room, she found only Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

The three looked over when they heard someone descending from upstairs and saw Twilight standing there. “Twily!” Shining Armor greeted her as he trotted over to her, nearly staggering as he did so.

Twilight met him partway and caught him, allowing him to lean on her for support. “Careful.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Heh. Thanks.”

Standing this close to her brother, Twilight took note of his body and the many bandages that wrapped it. “Wow…” she gaped. “Nightmare Moon sure gave you a beating, huh?”

Shining Armor chuckled softly. “Yeah. Not as easy as taking down a Nightfoal, it turns out.”

“So who…?”

“Fluttershy,” Shining Armor replied in explaining the bandages. He motioned toward the timid Pegasus in the corner. “Her first aid skills are really something.”

Fluttershy hid her deep blush behind her pink mane. “Oh. I-It was nothing. Really.”

“What about Ponyville?” Twilight then asked. “The Heartless?”

“The royal guards are taking care of the Heartless right now. It’s not as bad out there as you might think.”

“And these two?” the unicorn continued, gesturing toward the two Pegasi in the room.

“I asked them to help me bring you to bed. I wasn’t in any shape to carry you myself.” Shining Armor walked over to playfully punch Rainbow Dash in the shoulder. “Besides, I had to keep an eye on this one and make sure she didn’t harass you with questions about being a spy when you finally woke up.” He shot her a reproachful eye.

Rainbow Dash quickly put her defenses up. “I said I was sorry!”

“Um…”

The two winged mares glanced ahead to see Twilight awkwardly rubbing her foreleg.

“…Thanks for…carrying me here and…patching my brother up.”

Rainbow grinned widely and gave a nonchalant ‘no prob’, while Fluttershy gave a sincere smile that sought no self-gratification.

Twilight couldn’t help but ask. “So if you two are here, where are the others?”

“Applejack and Rarity went to walk their little sisters home,” Fluttershy answered. “The poor things. They were so scared after Nightmare Moon left, they clung to their sisters’ legs and wouldn’t let go.”

“And Pinkie Pie…” Rainbow Dash continued before trailing off. She looked as though she were about to burst out laughing. “…Well, you have to see it to believe it.”

Twilight tilted her head, confused by the rainbow-maned pony’s vague words, and was about to inquire further…when she suddenly heard a melodious sound coming from outside. Her ears perked up. “Is that…singing?” she asked to nopony in particular.

“Like Rainbow said,” Shining Armor began again with a sigh, “it has to be seen to be believed.”

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 7: Hand in Hand ~

Nothing prepared Twilight for what she saw outside her front door. At first, she thought it a hallucination, or perhaps she’d never awoken after passing out in the town hall and was now dreaming. She slapped herself to make certain. Nope. Not a dream. But there was no logical explanation for what she was witnessing.

A moderately-sized group of ponies was parading through Ponyville with a spring in their step and smiles on their faces. At the head of the parade was a bouncy Pinkie Pie, who led them in jaunty song.

Smile, darn ya, smile!

You know this whole world is a great world after all

Smile, darn ya, smile!

And right away, watch lady luck pay you a call

Things are never black as they are painted

Time for you and joy to get acquainted

Make life worthwhile

Come on and smile, darn ya, smile!

Twilight’s mouth hung open. Nightmare Moon was free, Princess Celestia was gone, and the Heartless were running rampant… And yet Pinkie Pie was leading a parade through Ponyville as though she hadn’t a care in the world. Perhaps she truly didn’t. Twilight slapped herself a second time before turning to the smirking Rainbow Dash. “Okay, seriously! Does she do stuff like this all the time?!” she cried with a slight crack in her voice.

“All. The. Time,” the Pegasus replied. “Leave it to Pinkie Pie to throw a parade in the middle of a crisis.”

“But…why?!”

Rainbow shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Twilight turned back around to bear witness to (and maybe try to make sense of) more of the insanity Pinkie Pie was orchestrating…

…and came face-to-face with the pink mare herself. “Hi, Twilight!”

“Aah!”

“Feeling better now?”

“Pinkie, what… How…” The unicorn struggled to find the right words, which she found herself doing every time she interacted with the hyperactive Earth pony. “W-What is all this?!” she eventually articulated.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m throwing a parade for everyone in Ponyville!”

“Considering everything that’s happened, do you really think now’s the time?”

“Now’s the perfect time, Twilight! I love making everyone around me smile, and do you know what the best time is to make someone smile? When they’re sad! And since almost everyone in Ponyville is sad right now, I have my work cut out for me. Hee-hee!”

Twilight was about to question the crazed pony’s thought processes when she caught sight of a Heartless appearing at Pinkie’s backside. “Pinkie, watch out!”

Pinkie spun to her rear and faced the Heartless unicorn that had popped out of the ground. “Ooh! Hello! Want a cupcake?”

Before the black creature could make Pinkie’s heart its own, Twilight lunged at it with Keyblade in mouth and cleaved it in two.

Pinkie sighed. “I guess Heartless don’t like cupcakes either…” she lamented before downing the pastry in her hoof in one bite. “Maybe I’ll try muffins next.”

Twilight found herself unconsciously drowning out Pinkie’s nonsensical chatter as she regarded the Academia floating before her. It still had cracks along its handle and shaft from when it took on the force of Nightmare Moon’s own Keyblade earlier; the fractures weren’t mending on their own. Would it inevitably shatter completely? Twilight once thought the Keyblade indestructible. But then she also once thought that Princess Celestia was the only Keyblade wielder in Equestria.

Princess Celestia…

The Academia fell from Twilight’s magical grip and clattered to the soft, pebbly ground at her hooves. Twilight fell too, to her haunches, and hung her head low.

“Twilight?” asked Shining Armor behind her.

“The princess is gone, Shining,” she started in a melancholy whisper. “Spike’s gone. Nightmare Moon’s free to terrorize Equestria. And on top of everything, there’s this.” She pointed to her cracked weapon. “It’s…hopeless.”

“Stop it, Twilight. You know what that kind of thinking will lead to.”

“Can you blame me? You said so yourself: she’s too powerful. She even took down Princess Celestia!” Her eyes started to water. “I’m never gonna see her or Spike again!”

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Shining Armor were stricken silent by Twilight’s show of emotion and indeed could hardly blame her for it. While she, like all of Equestria, had lost her princess, she’d also lost a teacher and close friend, not to mention another who’s been like a little brother to her since she was young.

“Awww, it’ll be okay, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie offered to the sniffling unicorn as she nuzzled her cheek a little. “…Hey! I know what’ll cheer you up!”

Twilight dried her eyes with a foreleg and looked up at Pinkie as she momentarily turned away. One could only guess as to what she was up to now.

She messed with her mane and tail a bit and stuck a plunger to her forehead before facing the others again. Except for her lack of wings, Pinkie looked much like a pink, short-legged Nightmare Moon (although how she was able to make her mane almost the same consistency as the real thing was yet another mystery to add to the pile). “Look at me, everypony! I’m mean old ‘Black Snooty’! Gaze upon my spooky mane and tremble at the sound of my big, scary voice! RAWR! I hate the sun!”

The three ponies standing behind Twilight were instantly taken by uproarious laughter, which Pinkie joined in. In the middle, Twilight was dumbstruck by how relaxed she was being over the situation. And yet…still she brought a hoof to her mouth, unable to hold back a snicker. That joke at the evil alicorn’s expense was just too funny. Pretty soon, she too was laughing at the top of her lungs.

Pinkie was beside herself with joy at this sight. “Hee-hee! Made ya laugh!” she singsonged.

Twilight had gotten her laughter under control before long, but didn’t lose her warm smile. Everything about this Pinkie Pie was illogical; she wondered if there were a rhyme or reason to anything she did and how she acted. Then again, she found the pink pony’s desire to make those around her smile and laugh infectious and – dare she say it – somewhat admirable. “…Thanks, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie’s grin widened. “It’s what I do!”

“Well, ain’t this a fine ‘how-do-you-do’? Turn our backs on Ponyville for one second, and the next, ponies are hoppin’ on the rooftops.”

Twilight and the others looked over to see Applejack and Rarity approaching. Rainbow Dash seized this opportunity to address the group now that it was whole. “Okay! Now that we’re all here, can we finally figure out what we’re gonna do about Nightmare Moon?”

“‘Do’?” Rarity echoed. “Whatever do you mean by ‘do’? In case you’re hard of remembering, she single-hoofedly trounced two experienced bearers and the royal guards. What can we hope to accomplish?”

“Well, we gotta do something! I’m not gonna just sit back and let that ‘moon hag’ turn Equestria into her own Heartless playground!”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “And can you imagine? Nighttime forever means no sun! No sun means no warmth! No more afternoon picnics! No more sunbathing! No more swimming in the lake to cool off!”

Fluttershy spoke out then. “And what about the flowers and plants? They’ll all wither.”

“…The Elements…” whispered the purple unicorn in the middle.

“Twilight?”

Saying nothing, she suddenly bolted past Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, into the library. The ponies on her doorstep shared a glance before following her inside. There, they found the main room – relatively spotless moments ago – with dozens of books scattered across the floor. Book after book hovered in front of Twilight’s face for half a second before she tossed it aside like so much refuse. “No… No… No, no, no!” She groaned to the sky.

Applejack navigated through the mess of literature and asked, “What ‘cha lookin’ fer, sugarcube?”

“Information about the Elements of Harmony. My studies into Nightmare Moon’s return told me a little bit about them. They’re mysterious, magical artifacts that sealed her away a thousand years ago. I’ve been trying to dig up all that I could about them – where they are, what they are, what they do – but… ARGH!” Twilight tossed the last book in the pile harshly at the wall. “But I can’t find a single thing about them,” she grumbled, hanging her head again. “…Spike’s so much better at this. He always managed to find the book I needed when I needed it. Never knew how much of a mess I am without him.”

“Oh, that poor little dragon,” Rarity added. “Forced to do that dreadful mare’s bidding against his will, like a common lapdog. Surely there must be a way to save him.”

“Him and the princess,” Rainbow Dash corrected.

“Hey, look!” Pinkie Pie suddenly cried out. Reaching down, she took one of the books lying around into her hooves. “‘The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide’! Is this what you’re looking for?”

Twilight snatched the book away from her with her magic and brought it to her muzzle for a closer look. “How’d I miss this?!”

“Maybe I can be the new Spike! Hmm… I’ll have to learn how to breathe fire though…” Pinkie tapped her chin with a forehoof, no doubt fantasizing about being a flying fire-breathing reptile.

Twilight ignored the manic mare and opened the book. “Let’s see… ‘There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are currently known. These five embody the virtues of harmony and light for which life in Equestria is renowned: kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty. The sixth Element, as well as the virtue or power it represents, are a mystery, believed to appear only when a spark between the other five ignites the magic within.’”

“Sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo,” remarked the always candid Rainbow Dash. “Anything else in there?”

“Not much. Mostly just rumors and speculation about what the Elements really are. ‘Essences of purest light’… ‘Powerful hearts that somehow avoided becoming Heartless’… Pretty interesting stuff, actually.”

“Focus, egghead.”

“Right, sorry.” Twilight flipped past a few more pages before coming to rest on something promising. “…Ah. Here we go. ‘It’s said that the last known location of the Elements of Harmony is the site at which they were last used: the place where Nightmare Moon was finally defeated.’”

“And where might that be?” asked Rarity.

“The ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters,” Twilight answered as she closed the book shut. “At the center of the Everfree Forest.”

“The Everfree Forest?!?” a cacophony of voices cried in Twilight’s ears.

Rainbow folded her forelegs as she hovered. “Hmph. Figures the one thing we need to take Nightmare Moon down is in that place.”

Twilight inwardly admitted to having heard stories about the strange woods that lay on the outskirts of Ponyville. Seeing the others’ reactions, it made her shudder a little to learn that some of those stories had a layer of truth to them. “Look, it’ll be fine,” Twilight assured. “I’ll head for the castle to find the Elements and—”

“You? By yerself?” Applejack interjected. “Nothin’ doin’, Twilight. No way we’re lettin’ a friend of ours go into that creepy place on her lonesome. If you’re goin’ in there, we’re comin’ with ya!”

“Absolutely not,” the purple unicorn objected. “It’s way too dangerous. None of you are chosen ones like me and Shining are.”

The cowpony scoffed. “We don’t need no fancy-schmancy key to show them Heartless a thing or two. Ah’ve been protectin’ mah farm just fine for months now without one.”

“But Nightmare Moon—”

“Nightmare Moon can throw whatever she wants at us,” said Rainbow then, “and we’ll still kick her flank straight to Tartarus! Right, Fluttershy?”

The fainthearted Pegasus poked her head out from behind Shining Armor. “Um… I-I’m actually just fine with staying here…if that’s okay…”

Twilight shook her head. “This is ridiculous. This isn’t your fight.”

“‘Course it is,” Applejack stubbornly returned. “It’s all ours. It’s the fight of anypony who’s willin’ to try. And Ah sure as sugar am. Right?”

A general consensus of ‘yups’ and ‘mm-hmm’s’ filled the room, to Twilight’s surprise and frustration. Had two or three of them been Keyblade wielders, she’d have been accepting of the help. But willingness to put themselves in harm’s way, given their lack of fighting experience? She thought it more foalish than noble. But then, this was her first day in Ponyville. The ponies in front of her had lived here their whole lives; they were probably more familiar with the Everfree Forest’s layout than she was. Even still… “…You know I can’t guarantee your safety while we’re in there, right? I don’t know how much more my Keyblade can take before it totally breaks – if it ever does.”

“Like Ah said, we can hold our own just fine.”

Twilight analyzed the five ponies’ faces one by one. Odds were all of them would be staunchly committed to following her into the depths of the Everfree. Even Fluttershy, for all of her reluctance, seemed to slowly come around. She thought on the day she just had, her one-on-one encounters with each of them. Despite their overenthusiasm and her own disposition toward attempts to push them away, they reached out to her openly. The smiles on their faces spoke volumes of the value they held in friendship. Twilight sighed, with an expression that screamed this is an incredibly bad idea. Nevertheless, she then looked ahead to address them. “We should get going right away, before Nightmare Moon catches wind of what we’re up to.”

Her proposal was met by firm, concurring nods.

“Alright then,” Shining Armor entered with as he stepped forward. “Now that that’s settled, I should regroup with my soldiers and join in clearing out the Heartless still in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie’s song may have lifted their spirits for now, and news of what happened to Princess Celestia isn’t exactly public knowledge yet, but word’s starting to get around.” At Twilight’s side, he rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I can handle things here. You go do what you have to.”

“Thanks, Shining.”

With a nod of his own, Shiny was out the front door in a brisk canter.

Twilight watched him depart before regarding Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash once more. There was no turning back now. With a calming breath, she said to them, “Well then…let’s go save Equestria, shall we?”

Chapter 8: The Rustling Forest

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Twilight and her entourage of ponies stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest, where a vast, seemingly endless expanse of twisted, moss-covered trees greeted them. Some of them, if one were to squint hard enough, even appeared to have nightmarish faces carved into their trunks. Whistling breezes and wolf cries were prevalent among the noises of the wood.

If there were ever a time for Twilight to have second thoughts about braving the forest’s dangers, now was that time. She glanced back to the five ponies that accompanied her: most of them wore stoic expressions, while a couple appeared to be lightly trembling. “It’s not too late to turn back, you know,” she said to them. “I’m fully prepared to head in there on my own. I won’t think any less of you or anything.”

Applejack shook her head. “Nice try, sugarcube, but ya ain’t gettin’ rid of us that easy. As much as you can try t’ convince yerself otherwise, you need us.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie shouted, excitedly rearing up on her hind legs. “Come on, everypony! Time to save the day! Allons-y!” She trotted to the head of the herd.

The other four said nothing to Pinkie’s peculiar war cry and followed her into the forest’s maw.

As Twilight watched them amble away, a glint of light from her cutie mark produced the Academia. The cracks that lined its form were no closer to mending than they were before she’d left Ponyville. It felt as though something was preventing it from repairing itself – a block of some kind. Although whether this block was internal or external, she was unsure.

She looked back toward Ponyville. The lanterns and heat lamps illuminating it made it a beacon in the darkness. Somewhere in town, her brother Shining Armor was trying his hardest, giving it his all. If he was affected in any way by Princess Celestia’s banishment, he didn’t let it show. Rather, perhaps it was knowledge of that very incident that now motivated him. Of course it affected Twilight as well, but not as positively as she would like. Simply hearing about it made her go berserk. And because she did, her Keyblade – and Spike – paid the price.

She sighed yet again before dismissing the weapon and trotting ahead to catch up with the others. Maintain control. When the time came to fight Nightmare Moon again, which Twilight didn’t doubt it would, she wouldn’t lose control of her emotions like last time. For all she knew, it was the key to using the Elements of Harmony.

Princess Celestia… Spike… Wait for me, okay…?

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 8: The Rustling Forest ~

Silence.

For a heart-pounding five (going on six) minutes, the six ponies walked in complete silence, no two sharing so much as a word.

Moreover, the ‘party members’ walked in pretty close quarters to one another, no doubt due to the ominous environment. Twilight would have voiced her objections if she weren’t just as nervous as the others were.

Her head craned repeatedly to the left and right. The Everfree Forest was just as creepy and bizarre as the stories that lent to its infamy told. Its trees were denser and more warped than those in Ponyville or Canterlot. Plants grew more wildly and in random patterns. There were species of flora and fungi that Twilight had never seen before. And every few seconds, something rustled in the bushes, crunched underfoot, or howled in the distance. Not helping matters was the fact that the path before her was practically pitch black.

There was something in the air as well. Something almost indistinguishable from everything else that made the Everfree Forest what it was, but it made Twilight’s nose wrinkle. Every time she took in a breath of air, she felt the urge to cough. Was the air in the forest always this stifling, or was it due to Nightmare Moon’s presence? She could ignore it well enough, but it was just another thing to check off on her mental list of ‘Reasons Why I Hate the Everfree Forest’.

When she felt something brush against her side, she leaps forward with a high-pitched yelp.

To her rear, Rarity lets out a small yelp of her own. “Oh! Pardon me, my dear!”

“Y-You scared me!” Twilight cried, unintentionally snapping at her fellow unicorn.

“An accident, I assure you. It’s so dark, I can barely see three feet in front of me.”

Realizing they were indeed in need of some illumination, Twilight focused power to her horn, causing a bright fuchsia light to flicker to life at its tip. The others sighed a little in relief at this, and Twilight chuckled a little at the thought of being the group’s light source. Their stroll continued, and Twilight decided conversation would best break the unnerving silence. “Sooooo,” she awkwardly began, “I take it none of you have been in here before?”

“No way!” Rainbow Dash blurted out. “I mean, just look at this place! It’s so creepy!”

“And spooky!” Pinkie added.

“And filthy!” Rarity shuddered. When this remark earned her raised brows from her companions, she quickly defended with, “Well, it is!”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Anyway, everypony in Ponyville knows to stay out of the Everfree Forest. They say anypony who comes in…” She then took on a low, shaky tone of voice. “…has never come out!”

“Um…actually…”

When Fluttershy finally spoke up in a near whisper, the others glanced back to her.

“…I’ve been in here before.”

“YOU HAVE?!”

Fluttershy shrank to the ground at their outburst. “I-I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”

“We’re not mad at you, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash explained to her closest friend, “it’s just… What reason could you possibly have for coming in here by yourself?”

The painfully timid Pegasus picked herself back up little by little. “Well…some of my animal friends live here, and whenever one of them gets really sick or they have a problem they can’t handle on their own, they come and get me. It’s part of why I live so close to the forest in the first place.”

Twilight hesitated to ask. “What…kind of animal friends?”

“Mostly birds…and a family of bears.”

A pony as delicate as Fluttershy being friends with bears? Twilight would believe it when she saw it. “…Oooookay,” was all she said before dropping the subject. Looking straight ahead, she concentrated on the dirt path at her hooves and on keeping the light her horn was giving off strong. There, at the very edge of where the light met the shadows, she saw something slinking away. She stopped for a moment. “Huh?”

“Somethin’ wrong, Twilight?” asked the cowpony Applejack.

“I thought I just…saw something move.” Twilight took a few tentative steps forward as the others watched her with concern. Once she’s moved toward the shadowy figure enough, she makes out what appears to be…a claw? Just then, she and the other ponies behind are hit by a hot breath of air. The foul, eye-watering odor causes them to plug their nostrils. “Ugh! What’s that awful smell?”

Applejack froze in place. “Ah know that stench… Ah’d recognize it anywhere…!”

A pair of green neon eyes glared out from the darkness, and a low growl was heard.

“Timberwolf!”

A creature stepped slowly into the light given off by Twilight’s horn and bared its fangs at the group as it snarled. It more or less resembled a regular wolf, but its body was comprised entirely of tree bark, branches, and leaves. Pieces of the forest given life – it looked so alien to Twilight’s eyes, much like the Heartless had at first.

As the others quivered behind her, Twilight stood her ground and prepared to summon the Keyblade, should the beast decide to pounce.

Just as it positioned itself to do so, however, the Timberwolf’s long, wooden ears perked up and it turned its head to the west. At that moment, three nebulous masses of black appeared out of the ground and surrounded it: a trio of Nightfoals. The Heartless advanced upon the Timberwolf, their golden eyes burning with malice, and the beast of timber flesh growled more angrily. As they grew ever closer, the Timberwolf sensed their intent and ran off, prompting the Heartless to give chase.

The six ponies stood dumbfounded for a moment. “…What was that?” asked Twilight to the others, as she was just as confused as they appeared to be.

“I’d call it a stroke of luck,” Rarity answered. “If the monsters of the Everfree wish to claw at each other instead of at us, I say ‘let sleeping Timberwolves—” She was momentarily cut short when something rushed past her face. “…lie’?”

Glancing straight ahead, the group noticed Fluttershy taking off by herself and vanishing into the cover of night.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cried out to her friend as she and the other four quickly followed after. “Come back!”

Led by the light of Twilight’s horn, they raced down the stretch of dirt beneath their hooves until the grass obscured it. They galloped, desperate to catch up with their pink-maned companion before harm could come to her. When their gait saw them enter a small moonlit clearing, they found Fluttershy hovering a couple of feet off the ground, her eyes fixated on something nearby.

A lone Timberwolf was gnawing its teeth and clawing at the Heartless trio that chased it earlier. The forest native had them outmatched in terms of brute strength, and were it against any other animal of the same build, victory would be all but certain. But the Heartless had the advantage in both number and unnatural ability. They taunted the Timberwolf by getting back up each time they were knocked down. They slashed harshly at it with their clawed forelegs. And they hobbled from side to side, unfazed by its fearsome – yet progressively weaker – roars.

The leftmost Nightfoal raised a foreleg to strike…

…and was suddenly incinerated by a burst of orange flame.

The two Heartless still standing turned to see Twilight – more importantly, the Keyblade in her telekinetic grasp. In an instant, their priorities shifted, and they turned their backs on the Timberwolf to pounce on the weapon’s wielder. As it sped through the air, one Heartless watched as Twilight leapt to her side, and it proceeded to get its face bucked in, courtesy of Rarity. “Hah! Take that, you ruffian!” shouted Rarity to the Nightfoal as its body burst into dust.

Rainbow Dash had caught the last one by its foreleg and, with a dizzyingly fast twirl, hurled it away into a tree; the impact shattered it into nothing. “Aw, yeah!” she cheered, pumping a triumphant hoof.

The threat of Heartless now gone, Twilight turned the Academia on the downed Timberwolf, fearing its eventual attack. The beast snarled at her in response.

“Save yer magic, Twilight,” Applejack suggested to her. “No need t’ go wastin’ it on that overgrown twig. It cain’t bother us no more.” She nodded her head toward where the path continued and beckoned her friends over. “C’mon, y’all, let’s get movin’.” But in the corner of her eye, she spotted Fluttershy inching her way over to the weary wolf. Her eyes widened at this sight. “Fluttershy! What in tarnation are ya doin’ now?!”

The cream-coated mare blocked out all outside noises and focused solely on the animal in front of her. She slowly reached her hoof out to it. It snapped its jaw at the outstretched hoof, and she pulled away.

“Fluttershy, get away from it!” Twilight readied her weapon…

“Wait! It’s okay!”

…but stopped herself upon hearing Fluttershy’s opposing cry.

Fluttershy reached out to the Timberwolf a second time. It only growled at her this time. “Shhh… It’s okay…” she cooed to it with a warm smile. Sensing the affection in her eyes and tone, the Timberwolf stopped growling…and began whimpering like a puppy. Fluttershy walked around to its side; she gasped softly when she saw the gaping hole in the side of its torso. “Oh! You poor, poor thing! Can’t you regenerate?” The Timberwolf whimpered again. “You can’t? Hmm… Twilight!”

“Y-Yes?”

“Could you carve out a sheet of bark from one of the trees?”

“A sheet of… What? But—”

“Please!”

Twilight was at a loss for what Fluttershy could possibly be up to, and briefly entertained the notion that her fear of the forest was driving her mad. Running off on her own, walking up to a dangerous Timberwolf, and now this bizarre out-of-nowhere request? Twilight didn’t believe these to be the actions of a sane pony. All the more reason why she wanted to come here alone.

…And yet…there was something in Fluttershy’s eyes. Something that compelled Twilight to do as she asked. Mind control? No, Twilight was still very much in control of her free will. Hypnotic suggestion? Also unlikely; Twilight didn’t take Fluttershy as the ‘hypnotizing type’, and again, she didn’t feel like she was being coerced in any way. It felt more akin to…encouragement? It was difficult for the unicorn to properly define. Her heart guided her more than anything else. She faced the tree nearest her and sliced evenly into the bark, cutting out a thick but flexible sheet of coarse lumber. As the Keyblade then vanished into Twilight’s cutie mark, she projected her aura across the sheet on the ground and floated it over to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded to Twilight in gratitude and took one end of the sheet in her mouth. She brought it over and used it to plug up the opening in the Timberwolf’s side. Whatever amount of magic the Timberwolf could conjure kept the sheet secure on top of the opening, and Fluttershy wrapped a bandage around it for good measure. “There we go,” she said aloud, satisfied with her work. “Once you get your strength back and you can regenerate more easily, we’ll take the bandage off, okay?”

The Timberwolf edged to its paws, finding it was able to stand upright more steadily. It met Fluttershy’s gaze.

She picked up on its facial cues in an instant and beamed. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Timberwolf!”

The wolf briefly nuzzled Fluttershy’s cheek – it was rough and a little splintery, but she didn’t mind – before turning away and departing for the darker regions of the forest. Fluttershy waved goodbye to it as Twilight walked up, once again finding herself at a loss for words. “You… H-How did…? Why would you…?”

“I had to,” Fluttershy answered, even though no coherent question left Twilight’s lips. “You heard Rarity and Applejack. No one in Ponyville would’ve given a hurt Timberwolf a second glance. But sometimes…a little kindness can go a long way.”

Twilight could feel a smile creeping its way onto her muzzle. As she trotted over to join her traveling companions at their side, she found she’d developed a newfound respect for this shy pony. To do what no one else in the group had the courage or decency to do was truly something.

Maybe this journey wouldn’t be as bad as she’d first thought…

…If there was anything maddeningly consistent about the past twenty-four hours, it was Twilight’s tendency to set herself up for crushing disappointment and suffering.

Why did I have to be cursed with such optimism?!

Twilight made the mistake of looking down again, and a chill shot up her spine. The only thing between her and a thousand-foot drop into a ravine was a wobbly, time-worn rope bridge. Had she been trembling any harder, the bridge would’ve likely shaken to the point of giving way. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked ahead, seeing that Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash had already made it across. She, Fluttershy, and Rarity were far from as eager.

“Come on, girls!” Twilight heard Pinkie Pie call out. “It’s just a little walk across a bridge!”

“That’s easy for you to say!” Twilight snapped back. Somehow she was convinced that, on top of everything else, the pink pony could defy gravity. Putting one hoof in front of the other, she very literally inched her way across the bridge, stepping as lightly as she could on the wooden planks that lined it. When the next thing she felt under her hoof was dirt, she skittered off the bridge and past Pinkie, letting out a great sigh of relief. She turned around and looked to Fluttershy and Rarity, halfway across but still having some difficulty (although it puzzled her as to why Fluttershy didn’t just fly over like Rainbow Dash had). “You’re almost there, girls!” she yelled to them. “It’s just a few more feet!”

Rarity’s pace wasn’t much better than Twilight’s. “B-Be right with you!”

“Just don’t look down, okay?!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, I should think that goes without saying!” Rarity said back with an unintended bite in her tone. In spite of the warning, however, she found her gaze being pulled downward against her better judgment, and upon seeing how far down the ravine stretched, she let out a small squeal of fright.

“Told ya not to look down…”

“Okay, easy, y’all,” said the cowpony Applejack. “The quicker we get over this hurdle, the quicker we’ll find the castle.”

Rarity stared long into the abyss, each moment spent doing so intensifying her fear. Just then…a glimmer caught her eye. She blinked. Did the altitude cause her to see things? No, there it was again, in the cliff wall. A red sparkle cut through the thin haze. Rarity was strangely drawn to the glow.

By this time, Fluttershy had caught up. “You okay, Rarity?”

“Hmm? Oh. Yes, yes, I’m alright. Say, Fluttershy, dear, do you see that sparkle down there on the side of the cliff?”

The timid Pegasus immediately hid her eyes behind her hair. “I-I’d rather not look down any more than I have to,” she shuddered.

“Hah. Yes, of course, I’m sorry. …Rainbow Dash! A moment of your time, if you please!”

…At the fashionista’s request, Rainbow Dash picked her up and carried her a few yards down the ravine toward the red glimmer. There, the two saw something smooth and glossy stand out from among the surrounding gravel and vines. “Is that…?” Rarity murmured to herself as she studied the object. Projecting her magical aura around it, she (with some mild exertion) plucked it out of the wall of rock and brought it close to her snout. At first glance, it seemed to be nothing more than a ruby. But as she regarded its odd shape and orange and yellow undertones, she went breathless. “Oh, my goodness!” she squeaked. “Is this what I think it is?!”

Rainbow Dash was, understandably, less enthusiastic about the discovery. “We came all the way down here for a dumb rock?”

“This, my uninformed friend, is more than just a ‘dumb rock’! It’s a Pyrestone!”

“Pie-what?”

“Pyrestone!” Rarity corrected her. “One of the rarest gems in all of Equestria, perhaps the whole world! Why, a dress made from this magnificent jewel would shoot me straight to the top of the Canterlot social ladder! I’d be a fashionista superstar!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “That’s great, Rarity. Can we go now? I’m getting tired of holding you up like this.”

“What’s the holdup, you two?” Applejack’s voice echoed from above.

“Be right there!” Rarity called back. “Thank you, Rainbow, I’ve gotten what I came for. Let’s be on our—”

“Waaaaah! Waaaaah!”

“…Wait. Do you hear that?”

“Yeah. Sounds like…crying?”

The sound of high-pitched wails drew the two ponies further down the ravine where, on a small outcropping of rock, they spotted a nest of three bawling baby dragons. Their scales were a pale azure, and their stubby spines a bright teal. The broken egg shells around them suggested they only recently hatched.

Rarity’s heart melted at the sight of them. “Awww, what adorable little baby dragons! Hello there!”

Rainbow Dash set Rarity down on the ledge and watched as the unicorn proceeded to coddle the infants in the nest, which appeared to pacify them a little. She scanned her immediate vicinity. “Wonder where their parents are. …Do you think they…?”

“…It’s possible,” Rarity interjected, coming to the same grim conclusion Rainbow Dash presumably did. “The little darlings must be famished.” She took a step back when one of the infants reached its tiny arms out to her – more specifically, the gem tucked away in her mane. “Oh! W-What’s it doing?”

“I think it wants your Pyre thingy. Dragons eat gems, y’know.”

Rarity gasped softly. “No-no-no, little one. Hehehe. I’m afraid this gem’s not for, um…consumption.”

The little reptile became more agitated, as it seemed on the brink of crying again.

“Ohhh…” Rarity’s gaze shifted between the nest of newborns and her prized gem. It was true: a Pyrestone dress would be incomparable in the fashion world of Equestria, guaranteed to bring her the recognition she desired and then some. But then there were the baby dragons before her. Their parents were nowhere to be seen, and Rarity couldn’t ignore their cries of hunger. Rarity bit her lower lip. A few moments of deep thought later, she sighed heavily. “…Rainbow Dash. Take me up to the others please.”

“Say what? We’re just gonna leave them here?”

“Quite the contrary. I need Twilight’s Keyblade.”

Rainbow Dash asked nothing else as she picked Rarity up again and flew up to join Twilight and the others. Rarity hurriedly relayed to them the details and approached Twilight, explaining her need for the Academia. Once she accomplished this, the two of them teleported back down to the ledge alone.

Rarity held out the Pyrestone, which Twilight took in her telekinesis. “You’re sure about this, Rarity?” the purple unicorn pressed.

“It’s not even a difficult choice to make, Twilight,” Rarity answered. “Popularity should never come at the price of somepony’s well-being.”

With an affirming nod, Twilight readied the Keyblade and cut into the fire-colored gem multiple times at lightning speed, leaving tiny bite-sized marbles where once was a larger crystal. She brought the smaller stones over to the dragons’ nest, and they wasted no time in feeding. They were satisfied, and from the look on Rarity’s face, she too was satisfied.

Rarity spoke as she watched the babies eat. “I do hope their mother and father return for them soon.”

“…Me too, Rarity.”

…The six ponies’ trek through the Everfree Forest went on, much to everypony’s exhaustion; with no sun and an unmoving moon, Twilight had long since forgotten what time it was supposed to be.

Applejack was currently at the group’s head, and she walked a deal faster than the rest. For the first few minutes of walking since clearing the ravine, the others didn’t pay it any mind, but as time went on, she’d gotten progressively faster. Twilight and the others were practically cantering just to keep up with her.

“Hey, Applejack!” Pinkie Pie called out from the rear. “What’s the big hurry? We’re all going to the same place, aren’t we?”

“Sorry, sugarcube,” Applejack returned with, “but we wanna find th’ castle and them Elements of Harmony before Nightmare Moon does, don’t we? We cain’t let anythin’ else slow us down.”

“Yeah, but we don’t wanna run ourselves ragged on our way there,” Rainbow Dash countered.

“If ya cain’t hack it, ya shoulda stayed behind in town,” the cowpony said rather curtly.

“Hey!”

Twilight zipped to the head to the herd and cut Applejack off. “Come on, Applejack, there’s no need for that. We all want to stop Nightmare Moon as badly as you do.”

Applejack hung her head and heaved a sigh. “…Sorry, Twilight. You too, Rainbow. Ah just don’t like leavin’ mah family and farm fer very long without me there t’ protect it, ‘specially with them Heartless runnin’ about.”

Twilight smiled warmly at her. “It’s okay, Applejack. I know how much you care about your family. I saw as much when you…” She paused. Her smile faded.

“…Somethin’ wrong?”

“Uh…no, it’s nothing. Um… L-Like I said, I saw as much when you and Big Mac defended your east fields today.”

“Heh, yeah. Those varmints sure gave us a run for our money, didn’t they?”

Twilight paused again. “…Yeah… Good thing you had me and my Meteor spell to help out, huh…?”

“Boy, Ah’ll say! Never seen anythin’ like it!”

“…”

“But enough gabbin’ outta us, huh? We should get a move on.” Applejack moved to continue onward, but found herself cut off again when Twilight pressed a hoof to her chest. “Uh…beggin’ yer pardon there, Twilight. You’re…kinda in mah way. Heh.”

“No…” Twilight whispered. “…You’re in ours.”

Applejack’s eyes widened when the Academia materialized overhead, and she leapt out of its swing arc.

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy gasped deep at the sight of Twilight attacking Applejack.

The startled cowpony hardened her stance and shrieked, “Twilight! Have you lost yer cotton-pickin’ mind?!”

Twilight’s body went still. “…I don’t sense it,” she cryptically muttered.

“Beg pardon?”

“I don’t know how I didn’t realize it sooner. I can’t sense any light in you. Well, actually, I can sense a tiny bit, but it’s definitely not hers. It’s not Applejack’s.” She shot an indignant glare at the mare in the Stetson hat. “You’re not Applejack!”

Applejack was dumbstruck by this accusation. “Wha… What are you talkin’ about?!”

“Drop the act. I can see right through you now. You may have duplicated her memories – though apparently not as well as you thought – but you can’t duplicate her light. It’s like a hoofprint: no two are alike. And a pony’s light is like their heart’s hoofprint.”

The other four remained silent. They looked to the orange-coated Earth pony with expressions of profound confusion and uncertainty.

“…Well now,” Applejack hissed in a voice that wasn’t her own. The black of her eyes became vertical slits. “…Aren’t we so very clever?”

Chapter 9: Sinister Shadows

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The ponies all took a fearful step to their rear. From Applejack’s mouth came the voice of Nightmare Moon.

‘Applejack’ stared down Twilight with a smirk. “Amazing. It’s almost inconceivable that something so rudimentary would give me away.” She spoke with a lilt that was both pleasing and menacing to hear. “You’re not like your fellow chosen, are you, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight, scowling, held out her cracked Keyblade and asked simply, “Where’s Applejack?”

“Hm. Where indeed?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “I swear, Nightmare Moon, if you did anything to her…!”

The alicorn wearing Applejack’s face pursed her lips. “Now, now. Mustn’t let our emotions get the better of us. We wouldn’t want a repeat performance of our earlier altercation, would we?”

“…” As much as she wanted to unleash all of her anger on the mare of darkness, Twilight forced herself to calm down, at least until she learned of where the real Applejack was hidden. “…I’m only gonna ask one more time: where is she?”

Nightmare Moon’s cowpony-shaped body suddenly turned into blue and purple mist, and her voice echoed from nothingness. “…You’ll have to catch me first…” it said with a chuckle before flying away.

“After her!” shouted Twilight to the others, prompting the five of them to give chase.

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 9: Sinister Shadows ~

Across several miles of dimly lit soil, the group of ponies sprinted after the indigo-colored stream of mist – the only tie to their missing orange companion – as Nightmare Moon’s wicked laughter echoed in their ears. At the party’s head, Twilight kept her eyes focused on the vapor that floated just inside her field of vision. Each time the vapor veered off, Twilight reacted swiftly and accommodated for the change in direction. Nightmare Moon had taken both Spike and Princess Celestia from her; she refused to let her have Applejack as well.

At some point during the heart-pounding pursuit, however, the mist seized in place for a moment…

Hah! Gotcha now!

…before it suddenly split off into over ten different directions.

Twilight planted her hooves down and skidded to a sudden halt, causing Pinkie Pie and Rarity to bump into her from behind. Their collective eyes darted about in their sockets looking to the various directions Nightmare Moon had fled in. Even now, the alicorn’s ringing laughter openly mocked them.

“Where’d she go?!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she caught up.

“I-I don’t know!” a frantic Twilight cried back.

Pinkie Pie added, “What about Applejack?!”

“I…” Twilight looked to the left. Then she looked to the right. Then straight ahead. Every path appeared exactly the same. Nightmare Moon could’ve been down any of them. And every second she spent hesitating distanced her ever further from finding Applejack. She was at a lack of sound ideas. So… “Applejack!” Twilight called out to the dark. “Where are you?!”

To her surprise, the others joined in, drowning out Nightmare Moon’s laughter with shouts of “Applejack!” and “Can you hear us?!”

Twilight lightly hung her head. If there’s even a small chance that witch stashed her somewhere close by…!

Just then… “Ah’m over here!”

Her head shot upright. Yes! She IS here!

The group bolted toward where the voice with the southern drawl originated, and within seconds, something came into view: Applejack herself, suspended in the space between two trees by what appeared to be black webbing. “Applejack!” the five ponies yelled in unison.

“Thank Celestia!” the blond Earth pony said as her friends arrived. “Get me outta here, y’all!”

Twilight sighed with relief and approached. “You got it.”

“Wait!”

She stopped. Turning away from Applejack, she faced left. There, a second Applejack was held in place by black webbing.

“That’s not me!” the other Applejack said. “Ah’m me!”

Pinkie Pie gasped. “Oh, my gosh! Two Applejacks! The apples have been doubled!”

“Uhhh… Not quite,” Rarity said.

The group glanced around and grew increasingly uneasy.

Not two…

Not three…

Five. Five Applejacks arranged in a semicircle around the ponies, all of them restrained to their respective positions.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Don’t just sit there like rottin’ tree stumps, y’all!” said the first Applejack. “Cut me loose already!”

Applejack #3 protested. “Don’t listen t’ her! Ah’m the real Applejack!”

“No, you ain’t!” said #4. “Yer freckles are all wrong!”

“Oh, yeah?! Well, yer hat’s the wrong shade o’ brown!”

The five Applejacks all talked on top of each other, filling the area with grumbling southern noise.

Rainbow Dash shoved her hooves in her ears. “I’m getting a headache!”

“QUIET!!!” Twilight screamed, causing the duplicates to instantly clam up. “Relax, everypony. Nightmare Moon’s wasting her time. I told her she can’t duplicate another pony’s light. I’ll figure out who the real Applejack is in no time.” Confident, she closed her eyes and concentrated, projecting her awareness onto the five Applejacks, with the intent of identifying the odd one out. She found the process was not unlike casting a mind-reading spell. “…Huh?” However, she found it to be more difficult than it was earlier. “Wait… That can’t be right.”

“Well?” Rainbow Dash said, impatient. “Can you tell who the real Applejack is or not?”

“I… I don’t know. I can’t sense…anything in them.”

“So they’re all the same? Then they’re all Nightmare Moon!”

“I can’t confirm that either. If they were all Nightmare Moon – if they were anypony – I’d be able to sense something within them, but… I can’t sense anything at all. It’s like they’re not even there!”

“What the hay does that mean?!”

“I think…the light and darkness in them is being masked.”

…Very perceptive.

Twilight gasped when she heard the voice again. “Nightmare Moon! What are you--?!”

Quite the moral quandary, isn’t it? As it stands, I hold your friend’s heart in my grasp. Will you endeavor to save her and hope your decision is the correct one? Or choose wrong and lose her to the darkness forever? Or are you even certain she’s among these five at all? What to do, what to do…

Rainbow Dash snorted. “She’s toying with us! I bet they’re all Heartless in disguise or something! I say we get rid of ‘em all!”

Fluttershy voiced her objections. “But what if one of them is the real Applejack?! We could hurt her!”

“Twilight, what ‘cha waitin’ fer?!” Applejack #2 asked. “Get me outta this black gunk!”

“No, me!” shouted another. “Ah ain’t no imposter!”

Twilight’s ears flopped down against her head, and she shrank down to the ground. Nightmare Moon’s taunting laughter and the five Applejacks’ noisy grumbles didn’t make the decision before her any easier to make. Free one and doom the others? What if she made the wrong choice? She would be directly responsible for Applejack’s condemnation to the darkness. Take Rainbow Dash’s advice and eliminate them all? Same problem. And if the real Applejack was indeed among them, Nightmare Moon’s mention of having Applejack’s heart in her grasp meant she could seize it at any time. For all Twilight knew, she was simply running out the clock.

It wasn’t even a question of whether or not Twilight cared about Applejack as a friend anymore. She couldn’t be responsible for allowing another pony’s heart to be swallowed by the darkness. She wouldn’t be able to shoulder the burden of what is essentially sentencing another to death. Unfortunately, this only made her decision that much harder to make. Applejack’s fate wasn’t in Nightmare Moon’s hooves; it was in hers. The pressure was too much for her. She clenched her eyes shut and retreated into her shell. She almost felt like crying.

“…Twilight…”

The unicorn cracked an eye and looked up. One of the Applejacks was staring back at her.

“Listen, sugarcube,” the blond pony said. Her tone was soft, but somehow came in clear over the other Applejacks’ voices. “Ah can tell how much this is weighin’ down on ya, and Ah’m awful sorry fer puttin’ ya in this situation to begin with. But you know me.”

“No, I don’t!” Twilight wailed. “We haven’t known each other for twenty-four hours! I don’t know you at all!”

“Ah know, and Ah’d really like to get to know you better. But after ya helped Mac and me on the farm today, and the way ya cheered up Apple Bloom, Ah knew deep down you were somepony Ah could trust. And Ah do trust ya, Twilight – completely. So Ah’m askin’ ya to send some o’ that trust mah way. Believe that what Ah’m sayin’ to ya is the honest-to-Celestia truth. …It’s me, Twilight. You just gotta believe me.”

Twilight found in this Applejack’s eyes a look similar to the one in Fluttershy’s eyes earlier. But where Fluttershy’s eyes held a gentle inspiration in them, Applejack’s eyes held an unyielding sincerity – one that Twilight felt was incapable of deception and telling lies. Despite Nightmare Moon’s efforts to mask it, a sliver of Applejack’s light shone through. And it was unmistakable. Twilight moved to stand upright. “…” She summoned the Academia.

Applejack’s eyes widened a little in worry. “T-Twilight…?”

One swift motion of the Keyblade later…

…she was freed.

The black webbing shriveled under the force of Twilight’s weapon and slid off of Applejack’s body like melted butter.

Once she worked the knots out of her joints, Applejack met Twilight’s eye. She smiled as she secured her Stetson and said, “Thanks, Twilight.”

Twilight returned the smile. “…It really is you.”

“Heh. Darn tootin’.” She looked to one of her duplicates with scorn and walked up to it. “Usin’ mah face to mess with mah friends…! Nopony does that and gets away with it!” Once she was close enough, Applejack spun around and kicked harshly at the imposter with her hind legs. Expecting it to dissolve into dust like a lowly Nightfoal, Applejack paused when she felt one of her legs get caught on something. She craned her head back. “!!!” From the point of impact between her hoof and the Applejack duplicate’s chest, the cowpony’s leg had gotten lodged in its chest cavity, a black sludge seeping out from the opening and keeping Applejack’s leg wedged. She felt like she was ankle-deep in thick mud. “W-What in tarnation?!” Adding fuel to the already nightmarish fire was the fact that the duplicate she was glued to started to liquefy. Its form became as liquid and was soon a puddle of viscous goo at Applejack’s hooves.

All around the group, the three other duplicates faced the same change in matter, turning into puddles of black slime on the grass. As they gurgled and bubbled, they swelled outward, joining into a single larger pool and covering the entire field.

Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity all screamed in panic as the sludge wrapped around their hooves as well and pinned them to the ground. Only Rainbow Dash was fortunate enough to push off the dirt with her wings in time. Any and all attempts to free themselves proved futile, and Twilight’s efforts to teleport away were just as pointless; her magic reserves were being suppressed. Whatever energy she could muster was currently devoted to keeping her Keyblade afloat.

Fluttershy cried out to her airborne friend, “Rainbow Dash, help!”

“I gotcha, ‘Flutters’!” Rainbow Dash immediately flew over and wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy’s barrel and tugged straight up, trying to pry her loose from the sludge. But the thick goop held fast to her hooves.

To everypony’s added horror, the sludge began to pull them down into it, dragging them down slowly like quicksand.

Rarity’s kneejerk writhing caused her to sink faster than the others. “Aah! It’s in my mane!” she whined. “Get it out, get it out!”

“Rarity, quit yer kickin’ and screamin’! You’re only makin’ it worse fer yerself!” Applejack yelled from across the field, though she wasn’t much better off, as the tar-like blackness had swallowed her up to her shoulders by this point.

Rainbow Dash could only watch helplessly as her friends sank into the black flood. “Alright, that’s it! I’m pounding this mud ‘til it’s nothing but powder!”

“No, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted at the blue Pegasus. “You’ll get stuck too!”

“What else can I do?! If I can’t pull you out, then…!”

Twilight glanced as far around herself as her neck would allow. Within moments, she and the others would be completely submerged. She had a short-term plan in mind, but it required use of her magic. “…Quick! Take this!” she said to Rainbow, flinging the Academia at her.

She caught the flung weapon by its handle with her tail. “What are you gonna do?” Rainbow asked Twilight.

“The only thing I can think of right now,” Twilight answered, focusing power to her horn once more.

In a series of soft pops, pink air bubbles appeared over each of the five trapped ponies’ heads. At least if they were dragged below the sludge’s surface before they could get free, they wouldn’t be in immediate danger of drowning.

Twilight turned back to face the hovering Pegasus. “It’s all up to you, Rainbow Dash,” she said. “Find the Elements of Harmony. Use them to stop Nightmare Moon once and for all.”

“Me?! What about you?! I can’t just--!”

“The Elements are more important. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something. As long as I can do magic, I’m not entirely useless. I’ll figure something out.”

“But what if you don’t?!”

Twilight didn’t blink. “…”

“…”

The last thing Rainbow Dash heard Twilight say before the blackness swallowed her whole was “…We’re counting on you.”

The winged pony pressed her hooves to her head in dread. All she saw beneath her was a pool of pulsating black and purple. “No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-NO! This can’t be happening!”

Poor Rainbow Dash… The last mare standing…

Rainbow jumped in surprise. She spun around in the air and took notice of the indigo mist drifting several yards away from where she hovered. She gritted her teeth. “You! What did you do with my friends?!”

Sinister chuckles echoed from the amorphous haze. “Calm yourself, my little pony,” Nightmare Moon said. “Your friends will live. Let’s just say I’ve…put them away in my toy box.”

“And I’m supposed to just take your word for it?”

“Well, that’s entirely up to you, isn’t it?” Nightmare Moon taunted. “Now what was it you said you’d do earlier? ‘Kick my flank all the way to Tartarus’? …You want me, little Pegasus? Come and get me…!” Her laughs faded into the night as she left for parts unknown.

“Come back here!” Rainbow yelled after the fleeing alicorn. After tonight, an invitation was just what she’d been waiting for. She’d have liked nothing more than to mop the floor with Nightmare Moon’s face and use her horn as a toothpick. And wouldn’t you know it? She had just the tool to do it with: Twilight’s Keyblade. Speaking of which… Rainbow Dash brought her tail around to study the weapon. It had seen better days, but still seemed pretty durable. Then again, this was her first time even holding a Keyblade, so she had nothing to base her assumptions on.

“…Probably should’ve asked Twilight if this thing came with a manual…”

Black.

That was all Twilight could see: a colorless, lightless void that appeared to stretch on forever. Like space, but with no stars.

Making stronger the comparison was the sensation Twilight had of floating, as if she was in a weightless environment. Her movement wasn’t anywhere as limited as it was at the “surface”. Speaking of the “surface”, she wasn’t even sure which way was up anymore.

When the last few drops of her magic reserves depleted, the energy sustaining her air bubble released and scattered. Twilight deeply inhaled, fearing airlessness in this space, but was forced to exhale after several moments of holding her breath. To both her surprise and great relief, Twilight found she was able to breathe as freely and normally as she could in the world above. A trifle in the much grander scheme, but ‘small blessings’ and all that. Unfortunately, this left her cut off from the rest of her magic supply.

She wondered where this place was. She wondered what this place was. Not even the light of the Equestrian moon seemed to touch it. Is this what it was like to be swallowed up by the darkness? She expected it to be much colder. Was there any way to escape? Would she become a Heartless soon?

She wondered where her friends—uh, traveling companions were. They were nowhere in sight. But why? They were just a few feet apart before coming here. Did the darkness separate them from one another? Were they alright? Unharmed? …Or were they now Heartless as she was afraid she would soon be?

Twilight looked and listened close for a sign of them, any sign. Something that told her they were safe.

She looked.

She listened.

…Nothing.

“Hello…?” Twilight reluctantly called out into the abyss, hoping somepony would answer. “Applejack?” she called out after a few seconds of silence. “Rarity? Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy?” Still nothing. Could they not hear her? Were they…? An ill chill crept slowly up Twilight’s spine, and she buried her face in her hooves. It was all her fault, she mused. She never should’ve let them convince her to bring them into the Everfree Forest with her. Because she did, she allowed not one heart, but four to fall into darkness. She hoped dearly that, once Rainbow Dash came through with the Elements of Harmony, those four could be saved somehow. Without her Keyblade or her magic, she certainly wouldn’t be saving anypony herself any time soon.

Suddenly…a glimmer of light peeked in through the fine hairs on her forelegs and hit her eyes.

Twilight moved her hooves away and blinked at the faint white light in the distance – a breach in the blackened space. A way out? Wherever it led, anywhere was better than here. As some light is shed on her surroundings, Twilight looked around her once more and found the others there, floating aimlessly around her, not ten feet away from where she herself drifted. They all looked like they were sleeping. Her headache finally weakened, and she could feel the connection to her magic supply reestablishing. Quickly taking advantage of this, she conjures a much larger bubble to safely hold her and the others as she pulled toward the far-off light.

As the distance closed, Twilight’s magic grew stronger, her confidence hardier. She squinted in the intense light, but kept going. She would be free of his place. She’d make sure the others were too. And there, in the overwhelming brightness, just before she collapsed with exhaustion…

…she saw the moon.

…Twilight awoke what were likely just moments later, the feeling of soft grass under her body greeting her. She let her eyes adjust before making any attempts at sudden movement. As she picked herself up, an excited voice hit her ears.

“Hah! I can’t believe that worked! I’m even more awesome than I thought!”

After hearing that voice so many times today, Twilight could recognize it in her sleep. She rose to her hooves as the image of a certain blue Pegasus came into focus. “R-Rainbow Dash!”

The winged pony flicked her rainbow-colored mane to the side and gave a smirk. “You sure you don’t want my autograph?”

Twilight turned to face behind her and saw the others slowly coming to as well. They all stood in the same field that saw them get dragged into the dark depths.

Applejack secured her precious hat again. “Everypony alright?” she asked to the others.

“Yes, I’m okay,” Fluttershy responded, working the kinks out of her wings.

“Heavens!” exclaimed Rarity as she shook off her dizziness. “Now there’s an experience I’d care not to repeat!”

“Tell me about it!” Pinkie Pie added. “That black, ooey-gooey stuff was stickier than the stickiest Sugarcube Corner taffy! And it didn’t even taste good! I say, if you’re gonna go to the trouble of trapping somepony in sticky stuff, you should at least make it taste good!” she huffed. “Awww… Now I want some taffy…”

Twilight turned back to Rainbow. “Rainbow, did… Did you just do…what I think you did?”

“Hay yeah, I did!” the blue pony bragged. “Not even sure how, but just goes to show how awesome I am.”

“But what about the Elements? Nightmare Moon?”

“And abandon you guys? Not a chance. That moon hag can push my buttons all she wants; I never leave my friends hanging …Oh, yeah. I think this is yours.” Rainbow Dash held out the Academia with her tail and presented it to Twilight.

Twilight absorbed the Keyblade into her cutie mark without breaking eye contact with Rainbow Dash. Against her better judgment, she suddenly leapt forward and wrapped her forelegs around the Pegasus’ neck.

Rainbow Dash patted Twilight’s back in return, startled but nevertheless accepting of the gesture. “Ha-ha! Jeez, you’re so weird, Twilight!”

Twilight only slightly tightened her grip around Rainbow. That Rainbow Dash stayed behind to help her friends, knowing she’d never wielded a Keyblade before and at the risk of Nightmare Moon finding the Elements of Harmony before them, had touched her more than she realized.

What in Equestria was happening to her? Before today, Twilight would’ve laughed off or snubbed any silly notions of making friends. And yet, over the course of the past few hours, she found herself…liking these ponies. Enjoying their company. Respecting them and their values. Caring deeply about them. And now this: willingly hugging Rainbow Dash. The only others she’d ever hugged were her parents, Shining Armor, Spike, and Princess Celestia. Whatever was happening, it made Twilight feel strange, act strange. But stranger still was the fact that…she liked this feeling. It gave her warmth. It made her want to smile and laugh.

…Was this friendship? Were these ponies…her friends?

On the final stretch toward the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, the pony party was met with mercifully little resistance in the way of natural forest dangers and Heartless. Though a couple of them couldn’t help but wonder if Nightmare Moon was simply toying with them some more – lulling them into a false sense of security before deciding to flatten them beneath the weight of her immense power.

On a large portion of land that seemed to mark the edge of the mountain, a once-great, now-ruined castle stood. The central castle tower consisted of nothing more than a small flight of stone steps that led to some wood-carved double doors, smashed walls and shattered glass windows that reached not much higher than the doors themselves, and copious amounts of plant overgrowth.

The six ponies warily approached the tower’s doors, which welcomed them with a deafening creak as they opened.

Sitting in the tower atrium, at the center of the room, was a monument of fieldstone and marble, also somewhat overlaid in vine and moss, with intricate patterns carved into it. Near the pedestal’s crown, five thinner columns stretched out from the much broader pillar in the center in a pentagonal arrangement. Perched atop the tips of these columns were five large stone spheres, each bearing a different symbol.

Twilight stepped to the middle of the group and beheld the monument with starry eyes. “The Elements of Harmony…!” she spoke, relieved. “We found them!”

Flying up to the Elements’ monument, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy delicately pick the five stone orbs and carry them over to the ground at Twilight’s hooves.

Pinkie Pie counted off the number of orbs in her head and softly gasped. “There’s only five! Didn’t the book say there were six?”

Twilight kneeled down to examine the Element closest to her. “‘The sixth Element,” she began, reciting the reference guide’s words from memory, “is believed to appear only when a spark between the other five ignites the magic within.’”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Meaning…?”

Twilight summoned the Academia. “Stand back. I’m gonna try something.” As the others took a step back, she thrust the Keyblade into the floor and focused energy to her horn. The air shifted, and a cool wind blew over the atrium. Twilight’s power output intensified, and the wind grew stronger in kind. The five ponies around Twilight watched in awe as the wind coiled around the stone Elements and carried them up into the air.

“Whoa,” Rainbow Dash marveled. “Far out, Twilight…!”

The Key-bearing unicorn in the middle cracked an eye open. They shot fully open when she realized what was happening wasn’t her doing. “W-Wait! What’s going on? I’m not doing that!”

The heavy winds that blew throughout the room became ever stronger, and started to carry the Elements further upward, out of Twilight’s reach.

“The Elements!” Instinctively, Twilight pushed off the stone floor and jumped into the eye of the whirlwind…

…just as the Elements vanished into thin air, and Twilight with them.

“Twilight!!!” the five ponies cried in unison.

A blinding flash. A burst of purple smoke. Twilight coughed as the smoke cleared away and she tried to get her bearings. No mistaking it: that was a teleportation spell. But to where? If the cold, hard feeling under her hooves was any indication, she was still in the castle. Glancing around, she noticed the much larger space and greater abundance of pillars and windows – the throne room perhaps?

Just then…laughter. And a clap of thunder.

Twilight looked to the other end of the chamber and, through the settling dust, saw a black-coated alicorn with wings at full extension.

She stood with a wicked magnificence that only a mistress of the moon could employ. As her vaporous mane and tail flowed freely, lightning crashed all around her, only adding to her evil majesty. Five stone orbs hovered around her.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed, and her grin widened. “…Hello again, little filly.”

Chapter 10: Forze Del Male

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“Hello again, little filly.”

Twilight looked across the dilapidated throne room and beheld the sinister magnificence of Nightmare Moon. She watched as the Elements of Harmony’s spherical husks of stone orbited around the alicorn, an unseen force keeping them afloat.

“I really must offer you my thanks,” Nightmare Moon crooned. “Were it not for you and your friends, I never would’ve found the old castle. This place, this vast expanse of trees that you call the Everfree Forest – it all used to be undisturbed grassland. A veritable labyrinth where once were rolling hills and plains.”

“You saying we led you here?” Twilight spat. “Forgive me if I don’t feel like saying ‘you’re welcome’.”

“Stubbornly defiant, I see. Are you under the impression that victory is still within your reach? The truth stares you in the face, foal. Your precious Elements are no more than stone, sapped of every last drop of their power when I was sealed away a thousand years past. Only with them could you have ever hoped to defeat me, and they are now useless to you.”

“If they’re useless to me, why were you so concerned with finding them before us?”

“…What?”

“The Elements are powerless now, right? But when you were wearing Applejack’s face, you were in such a hurry to find the castle that almost nothing else mattered. Not the injured Timberwolf, not the nest of baby dragons; heck, when Rainbow Dash called you out on it, you pretty much gave your intentions away right then and there.”

“…” Nightmare Moon was silent, curious as to where the little bookworm was going with this.

Twilight put one hoof forward. “The only truth that ‘stares me in the face’ right now…is that the Elements of Harmony scare you. They locked you up a thousand years ago, and you wanted to find them first before we could use them on you because you’re afraid of being locked up a second time. Or worse.”

The orbs of stone floating around the black-coated mare fell to the floor with a series of resounding thuds. Nightmare Moon herself seemed almost insulted by Twilight’s accusation. Afraid? Of the Elements of Harmony? She feared nothing. Her power was absolute and without equal. For the longest time, she scowled at the little pony across from her, mute, before her lips curled up into a smirk. “…You are an amusing one, Twilight Sparkle,” she said in an audible whisper. “Rising to the challenge in the face of your princess’s utter defeat? Admirable…but oh so very unwise.” Nightmare Moon’s malformed Keyblade then materialized in the grasp of her ethereal, star-studded mane.

In response, Twilight summoned the Academia, cracks still running up and down the shaft. She pled inwardly to Princess Celestia, if she could somehow hear her, that her weapon would hold out long enough to see her through this confrontation.

“Show me…the power of your convictions… Twilight Sparkle!!!” Lightning crashed around Nightmare Moon once more…as she lunged forward.

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 10: Forze Del Male ~

Five sets of eyes darted about the old castle atrium, as the voices they belonged to cried out for their spirited-away companion.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted, her friends scurrying around her in panic. “Where are you?!”

Rainbow Dash came in for a landing at the cowpony’s side. “There’s no sign of her anywhere!”

“Yoo-hoo! Twilight!” Pinkie Pie called out, picking up a lonely stone block as though it were weightless. “This isn’t a time for hide-and-seek!”

Before anxiety claimed her entirely, Rarity caught a glimpse of a shimmer in the corner of her eye. She trotted over to the window and looked to the northwesternmost tower. From its windows, she saw a spectrum of bright lights coming from within. “Girls, look!” Rarity yelped to her friends.

Applejack regarded the glowing lights briefly and gasped in realization. “C’mon, y’all!” she directed to the others, and she bolted for the large wooden doors at the far end of the chamber. But a sudden, second-long tremor broke her sprint, nearly knocking her off balance. “W-What in blue blazes…?!”

When a second, stronger tremor came, unease started to set in for the five mares. Then a third tremor came, and a fourth, each slightly stronger than the one before it. Whatever was approaching was beyond the passage leading out of the atrium. By the time of the sixth tremor, powerful enough to push the group of ponies a couple of inches off the ground, a large, scaly claw stepped out into the open.

That was all Fluttershy needed to see to know it was time to hide.

A second scaly foreleg appeared before the colossal beast pulled the rest of itself through the door opening. A great mass of amethyst and lime green scales and dark green spines revealed itself to the party.

Spike, number-one-assistant-to-Twilight-Sparkle-turned-dragon-of-darkness-and-destruction, reared back onto his hind legs and belted out a mad, thunderous roar that echoed across the roofless castle chamber and the Everfree sky beyond.

The ponies in front of the great dragon froze. Applejack’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, and her mouth moved on its own. “…Whoa nelly…”

Spike took in a big lungful of air through his nostrils and, lurching his neck forward, exhaled a stream of green and black fire. Applejack and the others ducked as close to the cold, hard floor as they could as the trail of flames traveled over their heads. When Spike was finished, a ring of fire lined the edge of the room; he had effectively sealed off their means of escape.

Rainbow Dash picked herself and glowered at the dragon. Her wings beat agitatedly. “Looks like Nightmare Moon’s guard dog wants to play!”

Spike picked up on the Pegasus’ movement almost instantly, lifting one of his claws up to flatten her. The ponies scattered across the floor just as Spike’s claw slammed harshly against it. He saw them flee and, singling out Pinkie Pie, gave chase. His footsteps weren’t as deliberate as they were when he first entered; the small tremors he caused with each forward step now only slightly shook the room. He chased the pink pony halfway around the room’s perimeter and closed the gap in no time. As his eyes focused on her cotton candy-like tail, he opened up his toothy maw with intent to chomp down on it. But just before he could, Rainbow Dash soared in from the left side and struck at Spike’s jaw with a hind hoof, causing him to stagger and allowing Pinkie to get away. Spike recovered from the blow within moments and looked to the flying pony irritably.

“Nyah-nyah!” Rainbow taunted the dragon, blowing a raspberry at him for good measure.

In retaliation, Spike swiped his claws and blew fire at her, quickly finding that none of his attacks were landing due to the Pegasus’ amazing speed.

“Heh! Too slow, ya big newt!”

Spike exhaled through his snout then, blowing a thin puff of black smoke in Rainbow Dash’s face. She breathed in the eye-watering smoke and coughed. With her vision clouded, Spike swatted her with his tail and sent her flying across the atrium.

“Ohhh, Spikey-wikey~” sang a high-pitched voice from the side.

Spike looked over and saw his original target Pinkie Pie standing by with a small, short-barreled cannon on wheels.

“Open WIIIIIIIDE!” the pony with the frizzy mane said. She mashed a button near the cannon’s base, and out of the barrel shot an entire chocolate cake.

The pastry whizzed through the air and splattered messily against Spike’s face. Pinkie mashed the button again, and it fired off an apple pie this time. Once again, it left a sugary, sticky mess on Spike’s snout. When he roared in anger at this, a second cake shot into his open maw and down his throat. Not bothering to savor the cake’s flavor, Spike swallowed and bellowed again; Pinkie Pie’s efforts served only to make him angrier.

“Hmm… If cake and pie don’t work… Time for me to pelt this palooka’s patootie with my powerful, peppy, plot-kicking Pinkie Pie Peppermint Pulverizer! …Patent pending.” Pinkie decided that the next thing she’d shoot at Spike…would be herself! She suddenly leapt into the barrel of the cannon and threw on a helmet that she seemed to pull out of thin air. The cannon’s blast launched her into the air at Mach speed. “WHEEEEEEEEE!”

The crown of her helmet collided violently with Spike’s jaw, and as the pony-shaped cannonball ricocheted off in a random direction, the dragon reeled from the hard hit, knocking into the wall at his right.

Pinkie Pie flew through the air for several seconds before her loss in momentum carried her down toward the ground, where Rarity clumsily caught her. “Good gracious, Pinkie! Are you alright?!”

Still dazed from her head collision with Spike’s scaly hide, Pinkie slurred, “The Pinkie Pie Peppermint Pulverizer…needs perfecting…”

When Spike finally found his bearings, he let out a smoky snort. He looked around for its pony prey and saw nothing in his immediate line of sight. Just then, something tugged at his spines that caused his head to lurch back. As he glanced to his backside, he saw Applejack brandishing a lasso; one end was in her teeth, the other end wrapped around his topmost spine. With a defiant growl, he jerks his head frontward, pulling the Stetson-wearing pony at the lasso’s opposing end off the ground.

Applejack had foreseen this though, and launched toward Spike at such a trajectory that, when he pulled her off the ground, she’d land with her hooves on his head. She now rode him like a bull at the rodeo. “YEE-HAW!” Applejack’s voice echoed. “Git along, little doggie!”

Spike whipped his head back and forth in an attempt to shake the orange Earth pony loose. No such luck; Applejack’s forelegs were wrapped as tightly around his spines as a boa constrictor. Using the spines as reins, Applejack shifted her weight and guided Spike’s stampede. One lap around the Elements’ monument, and she steered him face-first into a wall. She jumped away as Spike wobbled dizzily.

Applejack met Rainbow Dash’s eye as she flew by. “All yours, pardner,” she said to her blue friend with a wink.

“I’m on it!” Rainbow returned with a salute before diving in.

She streaked through the air at unimaginable speeds, circling Spike’s head in a rainbow-colored spiral. Gale force winds buffeted Spike as he shook off his dizziness. He roared upon seeing Rainbow’s helix of color. With another mighty swing of his tail, he zeroed in on Rainbow Dash and blew her away with a great thwack.

Once again, the blue pony went flying, skidding across the dusty castle floor and coming to a stop near her fellow Pegasus in hiding. “Hey, Fluttershy! Feel free to jump in at any time!”

“I-I can’t!” the cream-coated mare cried as she hid her face in her hooves. “I’m scared of dragons!”

“Really?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, incredulous. “You, ‘Little Miss I’m-Not-Scared-of-a-Snarling-Howling-Timberwolf’, are afraid of dragons?!”

“Timberwolves are different! They’re not huge, scaly, terrifying, teeth-gnashing, fire-breathing, pony-eating MONSTERS!!!”

Rainbow sprang to her hooves and urged, “Come on, Fluttershy, we need you! Twilight needs you!”

The pressure only made the timid pony tremble harder. “I’m sorry! I just can’t!”

“Argh!” Rainbow peeked out from Fluttershy’s hiding spot and saw the overgrown Spike advancing upon Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. His bared fangs oozed hot saliva. Rainbow Dash took wing in an instant and sped through the air. “Leave them alone!”

The giant dragon brought his right claw up and, for the third time, smacked the little flying pony’s body away. This time around, her collision with the wall was harsh, the ground that met her even colder. “…Ow…” she raspingly whimpered.

Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hooves at this terrifying sight. “Rainbow Dash, no!” she shrieked. Her lip quivered, and her thoughts raced. She watched her new friends cower in fear of the ravenous Spike. She listened to her best friend in the world groan as she fought to stand. She heard the threatening growls of a baby dragon corrupted by darkness.

Why was this happening? The day before, the only thing she really worried about was when one of her many animal friends sprained an ankle. Today, a dragon she was deathly afraid of.

Fluttershy looked to her friends again. How helpless and weak they seemed. Just as helpless and weak as she was. And she realized: as afraid as she was of ‘Nightmare Spike’, she was even more afraid of seeing her friends hurt. “…”

Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity held close to each other, trembling uncontrollably. Spike opened up his mouth to devour them whole, swathing them in his putrid breath.

“STOP!!!”

Against his better nature, Spike paused when the voice from nowhere ordered him. He glanced to the side to see Fluttershy, who’d come out of hiding to confront him. There was a distinct change in her demeanor; gone was her expression of shyness and fear in favor of one of intense anger.

“This has gone on for long enough, mister!” the typically bashful Fluttershy scolded. “Nightmare Moon may have filled your heart with darkness, but these are my friends you’re messing with! And no one – I repeat – no one messes with my friends!”

Spike was stricken docile. An inexplicable force emanating from Fluttershy’s eyes made him strangely compliant to her demands. She took a few steps toward him, and out of fear of being crushed by this unearthly power, he took steps away from her.

Rarity couldn’t believe what she was bearing witness to. “Are you seeing…what I’m seeing?”

“Ah’m seein’ it…” Applejack replied, “…but Ah ain’t sure Ah believe it…!”

“And they’re your friends too, you know!” Fluttershy persisted. “Same goes for Twilight and Shining Armor, right? Did you just forget about them? Did Nightmare Moon take your memories away when she turned you into her puppet? If she didn’t, you better straighten up and fly right, mister! Or so help me…!”

However the message was sent, it appeared to be received. Spike blinked several times, the pure white glow of his pupils being replaced by his signature deep-green. He struggled to move his lips, and out came a deep, gravelly voice.

“Ffffflllluuuuu…tttttttteeeeeerrrrr…ssssssshhhhhhhhyyyyyy…”

“Spike?” The young mare became hopeful.

The giant dragon groaned and shook his head; the darkness controlling him had been suppressed by Fluttershy’s ‘Stare’, but was now fighting for mind supremacy. Spike’s mind fought back. On the outside, this had taken the form of Spike running up to surrounding walls and ramming them repeatedly with his skull.

“S-Spike!” Fluttershy cried out in alarm. “What are you…?!”

“Twwwiiiiiii…lllllliiiiiiiiggghhhhtttt…!”

“Well, Ah’ll be,” Applejack started again, securing her hat. “He’s fightin’ Nightmare Moon’s control over ‘im!”

“Come on, Spike! You can do it!” Pinkie Pie cheered, flailing her hooves. “Show that mean old meanie-pants Black Snooty who’s boss!”

“The poor dear’s just hurting himself!” a worried Rarity remarked.

Stampeding from one side of the atrium to the other, Spike drove his skull into a wall over and over in an ill-conceived attempt to cast out Nightmare Moon’s influence. Rainbow Dash knew those walls wouldn’t endure much more though, and that the entire chamber would soon cave in on itself. “Alright, that does it! Time to put an end to this!” With steeled will, she shot upward into the night sky, putting several miles between herself and the ground. She cast her gaze down to where she’d taken off from and zeroed in on Spike. She then positioned herself to dive…and dove. Her wings beat fervently against the pushing updrafts as she plummeted. In the final seconds of her descent, Rainbow Dash spun around to strike Spike’s noggin with a hind hoof, and…

~WHAM~!!!

…struck at the dragon’s scaly head like a wrecking ball.

His vision thus blurred, Spike collapsed onto the stone floor, teetering on the very edge of consciousness. All around him and the ponies, the flames in Spike’s ring of fire finally died down.

“And stay down, ‘Smokey’!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Aw, yeah! Who’s awesome? I’m awesome!”

“Alright, Rainbow, there’ll be time for that later,” said Rarity to rein in her Pegasus friend’s antics. “I do believe we still have a task ahead of us. We must find Twilight.”

“But what about Spike?” Fluttershy wondered. “We can’t just leave him.”

Applejack chimed in. “Don’t worry, sugarcube. He should be right as rain once we deal with our little ‘Mare in th’ Moon’ situation. Now c’mon, y’all! Twilight could be in a heap o’ trouble!”

As Spike lay defeated on the stone atrium floor, the five ponies raced around his hulky form and up the flight of stairs that awaited them outside the chamber.

Hang in there, Twilight! Help is on th’ way!

Twilight let out a pained grunt as she was thrown back, her hooves skidding across the floor and picking up dust. Her coat was marked from head to hoof by bruises, thin cuts, and light burns. Her mane was somewhat matted and frayed. And the Academia in her magic grip was even worse for wear.

The winded unicorn shot Nightmare Moon the evil eye, as Nightmare Moon, barely perspiring, shot back a conceited grin.

“Disappointing thus far,” the alicorn gloated, her Keyblade pulsating black waves. “Is this truly the extent of your resolve?”

Twilight looked past Nightmare Moon, past the menace of her dark weapon, to the old castle throne behind her. Specifically, to the assembly of stone orbs resting at the foot of the throne.

If I can just get to the Elements…!

Focusing on Nightmare Moon once more, Twilight stamped at the ground. The wicked mare regarded her unamused. “Really now, are you that much of a glutton for punishment?”

Twilight didn’t give Nightmare Moon the satisfaction of a reply, responding only with a single shot of fire.

The alicorn’s Keyblade sliced through the oncoming projectile, and her eyes narrowed. “It appears so. Fine then. If you refuse to acknowledge the power of my darkness…then I will extinguish every last trace of your light!”

She swung her midnight-colored key and threw the first attack of Round 2: a crescent arc of dark energy that carved through the air. Twilight dove out of the crescent’s path and broke into a gallop around the throne room. Nightmare Moon followed her movement, launching crescent after crescent at her. Briefly taking shelter behind a pillar to catch her breath, Twilight leapt out and fired a blast of concentrated magic from her horn. As her opponent absorbed the blast with her weapon, Twilight took to the air on a burst of wind, electing to fire upon the alicorn from above with a rapid-fire volley of red flame. Nightmare Moon swatted the fireballs away with a spin of her blade and projected her power onto the airborne Twilight, dragging her down with gravity magic. Just before she collided with the ground, Twilight conjured an energy bubble for her to bounce on and cushion her fall. The bubble expanded, sending Twilight up again, in an arc directly over the black-coated alicorn. From above, she shot down a trio of lightning bolts that Nightmare Moon wasn’t prepared to guard against.

“Argh!”

Twilight returned to the ground, and the evil mare retaliated; with an upward swing of her Keyblade, she summoned a column of purple fire that traveled across the floor in the littler pony’s direction. In response, Twilight conjured a rectangular wall of energy to absorb the blast. Though several yards divided them, Nightmare Moon closed that gap in a matter of milliseconds. Twilight’s eyes went wide. S-So fast! She shattered Twilight’s barrier by force of will alone, and lashed her tail around Twilight’s neck.

“Freeze…!”

A flash of extreme cold overtook Twilight’s body, encasing her entire form in ice. Nightmare Moon proceeded to hurl the frozen Twilight into a wall; the ice smashed on impact, and the mulberry pony fell limp.

As Twilight struggled to stand, she also strained to gather her thoughts. Never had she faced an enemy so powerful; not even the strongest Heartless gave her this much of a hard time. But she reasoned that banishing Princess Celestia to the sun served as proof positive of her might. She was unable to contemplate further, however, as she was suddenly picked up off the floor. She looked ahead and saw the wicked white glow in Nightmare Moon’s eyes again, and a magical force pulled her toward the alicorn. Twilight feared she was about to deal the finishing blow…

…until she saw that there was no glow around Nightmare Moon’s horn. This force pulling her in – it wasn’t unicorn magic, it was Keyblade magic! A Keyblade spell that Twilight herself was familiar with! She reacted swiftly, bringing the Academia up and casting the appropriate counter-spell. The magnetic field around Twilight’s body met the field around the alicorn’s…

…and they repelled!

“What?!”

Yes!

Twilight immediately took advantage of this break in the evil pony’s concentration, jumping up and bringing her Keyblade down upon the enemy in a surge of power. Nightmare Moon reeled. She followed up on this with a whirling dervish of blade strikes that drove the enemy back a few feet. To cap off the assault, a show of Faith. A pillar of bluish-white light came down from above, and the alicorn let out an anguished scream as she felt her insides burn. The intense light faded, and the mare of the moon fell to her knees.

Now’s my chance!

Twilight shut her eyes, focusing her magic again, and momentarily popped out of existence, popping back into it beside the Elements of Harmony. She wavered for a second, unused to expending so much magic at once, before gazing down at the stone orbs at her hooves. “Just one spark,” she said to herself. Like before, she thrust the Keyblade into the ground and concentrated power to her horn. “Come on, come on…!” Before long, the same magical aura given off by Twilight’s horn was building around the orbs, coating them all in a swirl of magenta.

Nightmare Moon spun around to see Twilight, her turquoise eyes bloodshot and her expression indignant. Her form became as mist, and she rocketed toward the young Keyblade pony.

As the magic continued to build, Twilight felt something within the Elements flicker to life. She became considerably more hopeful from this feeling, even as Nightmare Moon corporealized before her. The Elements weren’t as drained of their power as the black alicorn had alleged, but there was indeed very little to harness. No matter; if there was even a slim chance that they could be used against her…

Nightmare Moon bared her teeth. “You…insolent little…!”

Twilight ignored her. She was almost there, she could feel it. She fed power to her Keyblade, and those energies then poured into the Elements. There was a pop and a fizzle in the air, as energy was distributed among the five orbs. But as that energy fed back into the Academia, and subsequently back at Twilight, the unicorn felt something akin to…a push. A very hard push. The magical feedback threw Twilight back at least fifty feet. “Owww…” She had one of the worst headaches ever when she picked herself up.

Power still surged within the Elements; the effect was not unlike lightning jumping around inside a cloud. Nightmare Moon observed this with abject horror. “No… No!”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile spitefully at the alicorn’s expense. No doubt she was thinking the same thing Twilight was: she was about to lose.

The energy continued to crackle and hiss until…it sputtered and died. The auras faded. Nothing happened.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. “W… W-What? But…where’s the sixth Element?! It should’ve…! Why didn’t it…?!” Once again, she’d been stricken inarticulate.

At the other end of the spectrum, Nightmare Moon – realizing her victory had been all but assured – started to laugh. A soft chuckle at first, but slowly built to a hearty, malicious cackle. She suddenly reared up on her hind legs and slammed her hooves on the ground…

…causing the Elements of Harmony to shatter as though they were made of glass.

Twilight’s heart sank as low as it could possibly sink. She saw her only hope – all of Equestria’s only hope – of being rid of the threat of Nightmare Moon disintegrate before her very eyes. The mighty Elements of Harmony, the most powerful magic known to ponykind, now lay in fragments on the throne room floor.

But Nightmare Moon wasn’t quite done crushing Twilight’s spirit yet. She pulled the Academia out of the ground and held it out in front of her. “You little foal!” she spat. “Thinking you could defeat me?! I warned you that I was not to be crossed! I warned you about learning your place! Now you will never see your princess, your little dragon friend, or your sun! And this…!” She brought the Academia up over her head and struck it against the ground, snapping it in two along the cracked shaft.

“!!!” Another hefty blow to Twilight’s already fragile psyche.

The upper half of the Academia fell to the floor with a clatter, and Nightmare Moon tossed the handle and keychain away. It slid across the floor and stopped in front of Twilight. “…The penalty for your impertinence,” the cruel mare hissed. “I’ve sealed off your door. The sun will never again rise, and the night – my beautiful, wondrous night – will last forever!!!” The alicorn’s laugh once again filled the air; she couldn’t contain her rapture.

Twilight slumped to the floor. She didn’t care that it was freezing cold to the touch. Princess Celestia was gone. Spike was gone. The Elements of Harmony were destroyed. Her connection to the Keyblade was severed.

That was it then. All hope was lost.

She clenched her eyes shut and buried her face in her forelegs in a pathetic attempt to hide her despair.

Twilight cried silently. She failed.

They were right there… I was so close… I can’t believe how much I let everypony down, how much I let Equestria down…

“…ight…”

I’m sorry, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash…

“…ilight…”

I’m sorry, Shining Armor… I’m sorry, Spike… I’m sorry, Princess Celestia…

“…wilight…!”

I’m so, so sorry…

“TWILIGHT!!!”

The sorrowful unicorn gasped. Somepony was calling out to her. Or more accurately, someponies. She craned her head back and looked to the passage leading out of the throne room. An assembly of pony-shaped shadows drew near.

“We’re a-comin’, Twilight!”

“Save some of the fight for us!”

“We’re almost there, Twilight!”

“Help is on the way, darling!”

“We got your back, Twilight! And your front! And your sides too if you want!”

It was them. The five ponies who had come to the castle with her. The five ponies who braved the dangers of the Everfree Forest with her. The five ponies who gave her the warmest (albeit most eager) reception to a new town she’d ever had. They’d come looking for her. They were worried about her.

Another tear escaped Twilight’s eye…

…and she felt it.

The spark.

Chapter 11: Friends in My Heart

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Applejack and the others raced into the throne room as quickly as their hooves could carry them. There, they beheld the sight of a battered and beaten Twilight Sparkle lying across from the evil mare of darkness Nightmare Moon.

“Twilight!” they cried out in unison before galloping to her side.

“My word!” Rarity said first. “Are you alright, dear?”

The Keyblade-wielding (well, former Keyblade-wielding) unicorn picked herself up to address the others. “I’m fine. Nothing I’m not used to,” she told them.

“But your Keyblade!” Pinkie Pie yelped, referring to the partial key at Twilight’s hooves. “It’s half-there and half-…not there!”

Twilight levitated the broken weapon up to her muzzle. She almost felt like crying again. She’d had her Keyblade for so long, she almost couldn’t imagine being without it. It had become a part of her. And now that part of her was torn away from her. She felt…incomplete.

Fluttershy gasped as she looked toward Nightmare Moon and the shards of rock under her. “And are those the…Elements of Harmony?!”

The alicorn gave a smug smirk. “Hmph. They were the Elements, yes,” she said, stomping on one of the thicker shards and grinding it into dust. “Now nothing more than crushed granite.”

Twilight hung her head in guilt. “Girls, I… I’m…”

“Not another word, sugarcube,” Applejack butted in. “Ya did yer best. We couldn’t have asked any more o’ ya than that.”

“Besides!” Rainbow Dash hovered restlessly, pounding her forehooves together. “Who needs the Elements anyway? Now I can clobber the moon hag with my bare hooves!”

This time, Nightmare Moon failed to suppress her laughter. But it came out more like the light giggle of a pony who just heard a good joke than the malevolent cackle of a villain. “Will you little ponies never cease to amuse? Has living under Celestia’s sun baked your minuscule brains like hard-boiled eggs?”

“Throw all the insults ya like, missy!” said Applejack as she stepped forward. “It ain’t gonna make a lick o’ difference! We’re still sendin’ yer hide straight back t’ where it came from!”

“Yeah! What she said!” Pinkie Pie added.

Twilight watched the others form a line in front of her, as though they were protecting her. Truly, the mulberry pony couldn’t find rationality in such actions. “Girls, what are you doing?” she asked them. “You don’t really expect to win, do you?”

“Not really,” Applejack admitted. “But it’s like Ah said before: we owe it t’ ourselves and Equestria t’ try.”

“But why?!” Twilight was sincerely at a loss. “You don’t have Keyblades! T-There’s no way your magic’s strong enough by itself! Why would you stick by me for such a lost cause?!”

“No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it!” proclaimed Pinkie in an affected voice.

Rarity looked over at the pink pony puzzled. “‘Fool’?”

“Hee-hee! I’ve always wanted to say that! I heard it in a movie once!”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Sheesh, Twilight! I thought you were supposed to be smart! Isn’t it obvious by now?”

“Huh…? Isn’t what obvious?”

“The reason we stick by you,” Fluttershy started with an affectionate smile, “is because…”

“…” Twilight hung on the cream-colored Pegasus’ every word, eager for the answer.

“…we’re friends.”

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 11: Friends in My Heart ~

Twilight froze. There it was again. The spark. And that word. ‘Friends’. She’d heard it get thrown around all day today, but only in this instance did it truly strike a chord.

…Friends… My friends…

Across from the six, Nightmare Moon held up a hoof. In it appeared a small purple flame. “I’ve run out of patience for this foalishness. Those who know nothing can understand nothing. And you lot have so very much to learn.” Her turquoise eyes suddenly went wide. “Allow me to teach you!!!” She slammed the dark flame into the ground, calling forth a column of fiery darkness to rip across the floor in the six’s direction.

The five ponies before Twilight gasped…

There was a twinkle of magenta light…

…And the flames slammed against a magical barrier. Now Twilight stood at the party’s forefront, her horn radiating with power.

“Twilight!”

Nightmare Moon’s dark fire receded, and she watched the barrier’s magic disperse. “…?”

“…Thank you, everypony,” Twilight said to the five ponies behind her. “I never would’ve made it this far without you.”

“Defiant to the bitter end,” the alicorn sneered. “What do you hope to accomplish without your weapon?”

“I…don’t need the Keyblade. I have a better weapon now.”

“Oh? What weapon is that?”

Twilight pressed a hoof to her chest. “…My heart.”

“Your heart?! HA! You’re kidding, right? That feeble little thing a weapon?”

“It’s true. My heart is feeble. It’s the most fragile part of me. But…” The little pony glanced back to the other five. “…it can also be the most powerful. Because it’s not alone. Not anymore. It’s found other hearts to share all of itself with: its joys… its sorrows… its laughs… its pains… and its warmth. The same warmth I feel…when I’m with my brother or Princess Celestia. It gives me the strength to persevere.” Twilight took up her broken Keyblade again. “I don’t need a weapon…! My friends are my power!”

A bright glow of fuchsia suddenly enveloped the halved blade in Twilight’s magic grip, and it condensed, rippling from the keychain up. A new shaft and teeth took shape, and the Academia was reformed and repaired to pristine condition before Twilight’s eyes! Even the colors in Twilight’s cutie mark seemed more vivid.

“I-Impossible!” cried Nightmare Moon at this sight. “You’ve reopened your door?!”

Twilight’s eyes widened a little, and she started to laugh. “I get it… I understand now!”

“Excuse me?!”

“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that, Nightmare Moon? Well, you’re wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony…” Twilight gestured to her friends. “…are right here!!”

Nightmare Moon snorted derisively. “‘Spirits’?! Really now, Twilight Sparkle, what on Earth are you--?! …Hmm?” Her gaze shifted downward when she felt a faint tremble at her hooves. Beneath her, the fragments of the Elements of Harmony began to move, slowly lifting themselves off the ground. “W-What?!?”

Across the throne room the stone Elements glided, the shards of each finding a place for itself in the orbit of one of Twilight’s friends. Fluttershy flinched at this extraordinary phenomenon. “T-Twilight? What’s going on? Are you doing this?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, Fluttershy. This is all you. And it’s okay, don’t be scared. …Though I guess it’s hard for somepony as sweet and kind as you are to not be.”

“You think I’m…kind…?”

“Of course! All the little animal friends you have, the way you helped that Timberwolf when none of us lifted a hoof to – why else would the Element of Kindness have picked you?”

“Makes sense t’ me!” Applejack said…

…prompting Twilight to face her. “Applejack…who values being true to both herself and everyone else… It was only because of your sincere-to-a-fault heart that I was able to see through Nightmare Moon’s ruse. I can’t think of anypony more worthy of the Element of Honesty.”

“Aw, shucks…”

The purple unicorn faced Rarity then. “Rarity, what you did back there at the ravine, giving up your key to fame and fortune to those baby dragons… I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a selfless act of generosity. You and your Element are a perfect match.”

Rarity looked away, her cheeks reddening. “Oh, Twilight, stop! You’re making me blush!”

Pinkie Pie bounced lightly on her hooves. “Ooh! Ooh! Me next, Twilight, do me next!”

Twilight could only giggle at the pink pony’s exuberance. “How could I forget you, Pinkie Pie? It’s mostly thanks to you that I’m here in the first place. I’d have called it quits back in Ponyville if you weren’t there to cheer me up. What other Element could there be for somepony like you?”

“Um…parties?”

The unicorn chuckled again before correcting her. “Laughter.”

“Oh, right! Heh! Duh!”

“Tch!” Nightmare Moon sneered, lifting her hoof up again. “I’ve had just about enough of this folly! Begone, you insignificant pests!” Throwing her hoof out in front of her, Nightmare Moon fired upon Twilight and company with a dense, black orb of pulsing darkness.

“!!!”

“Look out!” Rainbow Dash jumped in front of Twilight to shield her from the hit, throwing her forelegs out in front of her to defend herself. As the projectile sped within range, it impacted the glowing Element shards orbiting Rainbow’s body, fizzling out and diffusing into the open air.

“Rainbow Dash…!”

The hovering Pegasus grinned. “Heh. Lemme guess. Loyalty?”

Twilight smiled back and nodded. “You never leave your friends hanging, remember? Even after I gave you my Keyblade and entrusted Nightmare Moon’s defeat to you, you still didn’t leave us behind. Sounds like textbook Loyalty to me.”

The black alicorn stomped a hoof and snarled. “A meaningless effort, foal! The sixth Element of Harmony still eludes you! The spark didn’t work!”

“But it did,” Twilight retorted. “A different kind of spark. ‘A spark between the other five ignites the magic within.’ Not within the Elements…but within me.” She turned around to face the others, eyes welling with emotion. “When I heard you just now, calling my name… When I realized just how much you all meant to me… That’s when I felt it, when I understood, when I knew, that you’re all…my friends!”

There was a brilliant flash of white light over Twilight’s head then. To Twilight and her friends, the light was gentle and uplifting. To Nightmare Moon, it was hot, angry, and hostile. Within the awesome light appeared another stone sphere. It bore the same six-pronged star symbol as Twilight’s cutie mark.

“And when those Elements,” Twilight resumed as she looked up toward the orb, “are ignited by the spark that resides within the hearts of us all, it awakens the sixth Element: the Element…of Magic!”

Around the bodies of Twilight’s friends did their respective Element fragments whirl and flash, before they fused somewhere in the center, taking the form of beautiful, golden necklaces. Each necklace bore a different-colored jewel in the shape of its wearer’s cutie mark. Each pony experienced a sudden influx of magical energy that filled them with warmth.

“Oooooh… Tingly…” Pinkie Pie remarked.

Nightmare Moon recoiled as she saw Twilight and her friends lift off of the ground. “T-This… This cannot be! I’ve never felt such power come from the Elements! Not even when they were wielded against me a thousand years ago! What ungodly magic is this?!?”

“This, Nightmare Moon…” Twilight’s voice echoed, “…is the magic of friendship.”

The force that built within her and her friends swelled and overflowed. It poured all of itself into the Academia, which Twilight now pointed at the throne room ceiling. From the tip of the blade, a rainbow-colored beam of light shot forth. It spiraled several feet up before arcing down upon the alicorn.

“NO!!!”

But Nightmare Moon would not go quietly. Focusing every shred of her power to her horn, she let loose a furious blast of dark energy that met the ponies’ beam of multihued light in the middle. The clash of magics rang across the chamber with a crackle and hum. “My power is absolute!” the black mare roared in defiance. “I am without equal! I am darkness itself!!!”

And in her moment of madness, of desperation…Nightmare Moon heard a voice. The voice of one she’d long since kept suppressed.

…There can be no darkness…without light.

“No…! NO!” The prismatic beam soon won out, overpowering Nightmare Moon’s magic and wrapping around her form. The intense energies assaulted her, tore at her, broke her down at the molecular level. Her flesh felt like it was on fire. One last bloodcurdling scream escaped her throat before she was forever silenced.

A dazzling radiance overtook the old castle throne room, and all Twilight could see was white…

…until the Elements exhausted her magic, and her vision was taken by a consciousness-stealing black.

…Twilight… Twilight… Time to wake up, dear…

“Mmmm…” Twilight moaned lightly at the outside voices.

…C’mon, up and at ‘em, sugarcube… We’re all waitin’ on ya…

The words seemed to echo a little in her ears, as though they were spoken by ghosts.

…Rise and shine, Twilight! Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey…!

“Just…five more minutes…”

…Heh. And she says I’m lazy…

…That voice. That all-too-familiar voice. As soon as Twilight heard it, her eyes shot fully open, and she was propping herself up on her forelegs. In front of her stood a petite mass of purple and mint-green scales smiling back at her. Almost immediately, the unicorn’s eyes welled with tears. “Spike…!” she cried, before jumping up to smother the little dragon in a tight hug.

As she rubbed her cheek against his, Spike blushed while trying to push her away. “Twiliiiiight!” he whined. “Cut it out!”

Applejack and Rarity giggled and awww’d at the affectionate sight.

“Sorry,” she said, soon freeing him of her embrace to dry her eyes. “I’m just…so glad you’re back to normal. I thought I’d lost you for good.”

“Aw, I’m not going anywhere, ‘Twi’. Who else is gonna re-shelve your books and send your letters to the princess?”

Twilight chuckled. How she’d missed Spike’s playfulness and humor. She stopped laughing, however, and gasped once she’d fully processed his words. “The princess!” And just like that, her good mood has vanished. If Princess Celestia was still trapped in the sun, did Nightmare Moon’s defeat mean she was stuck there for good? Or did Spike’s return to normal also mean Celestia’s freedom?

The key-wielding pony would receive a partial answer to her question when a bright, golden light shone into the dim throne room through the cracked windows on the east wall, and a familiar heavenly body appeared from behind the mountains.

The sun had started to rise.

Twilight let out a stretched sigh. Seeing the sun after so long made it feel like she’d just woken up from a long dream. Turning around, she saw her friends conversing among themselves, admiring the trinkets that now hung from their necks.

“It looks so pretty on you, Rarity,” said Fluttershy.

“As does yours,” Rarity returned the compliment.

“Look at mine! Look at mine!” Pinkie Pie spouted as she bounced up and down.

Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest as she regarded her own bling. “Heh! I could get used to this!”

Applejack sidled up to Twilight. “Golly, Twilight! How’d you know all of us workin’ together would whoop Nightmare Moon?”

“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t,” Twilight replied. “When I finally accepted all of you as my friends, something just…clicked. It was like…opening a door that up until now had been sealed shut.”

“Don’t reckon I really get it, but as long as it makes sense t’ you, I guess that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash approached. “…But seriously, Twilight. ‘My friends are my power’? How corny can you get?”

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. “It turned out to be true, didn’t it?”

“Indeed it did.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide again, and she spun back toward the window. The sunlight reflected brightly off the fractured glass…and expanded. Twilight and Applejack stepped to the rear as a glint of gold passed through the glass and entered the room. Through the blinding light, Twilight could barely make out the shape of a tall pony with magnificent wings, a large horn. The light died away, and she saw her dear princess, elegant mane and all. For the second time in under five minutes, Twilight became teary-eyed. “P-Princess Celestia!!!”

Twilight trotted up to Celestia, and the majestic alicorn knelt down to accept her nuzzle. “Twilight, my dear student,” Celestia began, a bit emotional herself. “No words can properly express how proud I am of you. How proud I am of all of you. I knew you could do it.”

“…You knew?” Twilight pulled away. “Wait! You knew Nightmare Moon would come back?! T-Then what was all that about her being ‘nothing more than an old ponies’ tale’ and ‘the stuff of folklore’?! You lied to me?!”

Princess Celestia’s expression went dour. Just as she knew of the return of Nightmare Moon, she knew she’d have to face this eventuality. “Only with the best of intentions,” she explained. “I didn’t want to worry you with it. The responsibility of Nightmare Moon was my burden to bear.”

“Your burden? But…the Elements of Harmony. You had to have known I would seek them out and use them against Nightmare Moon. The spark would’ve only worked if I let friendship into my heart.”

“And before all of this started, before I sent you to Ponyville in the first place, what did I ask you to do?”

“…!”

“During your stay in Ponyville, do try and make some friends, won’t you?”

“I had no intention of forcing you onto this path,” Celestia continued. “I wanted you to make friends, and then harness the power that friendship brought you to power the Elements of Harmony, because you wanted to, not because you needed to. I was fully prepared to face Nightmare Moon on my own, and the Elements were merely a last resort. But what I didn’t count on was her discovering the power of the Keyblade. I underestimated her.” Her smile returned. “Just as I underestimated you, Twilight. A mistake I hope to never make again.”

Twilight’s own smile slowly came back as well. While she was still a little upset about being lied to, her elation over having her mentor and number-one assistant back more than made up for it.

“Uh, guys? Hate to interrupt, but…”

The eight of them all looked over to where Rainbow Dash was pointing. At the foot of the old throne lay the still body of an alicorn mare, lying precisely where Nightmare Moon stood earlier. Fragments of smoldering azure metal littered the floor around her. But while her cutie mark was exactly the same, her mane and tail were a solid sky-blue, and her coat a gentle blue-gray. And so petite her form was! She appeared no taller than Twilight or any of her friends.

“Heavens t’ Betsy!” Applejack exclaimed. “She’s still alive and kickin’?!”

Celestia stepped toward the fallen alicorn.

Twilight beckoned to her, “Princess, stop! She’s dangerous! She’ll seal you in the sun again!”

“It’s alright, Twilight. The Elements of Harmony are just as their name suggests – they create harmony and balance. They can’t be used to destroy, only purify that which is impure.”

“Purify…?”

The little alicorn heard her approaching hoofsteps and hid her face beneath her hooves.

“Princess Luna…” Celestia started at the lying alicorn. “It’s been a thousand years since I’ve seen you like this.”

“Leave us, Celestia,” said the blue-coated pony in a timid tone. “Spare us thy sympathy, for we are not deserving of it.”

“How can you say that?” Celestia knelt before the pony named Luna. “No matter what comes between us, you will always be my little sister.”

The five ponies beside Twilight were equally as dumbfounded. “LITTLE SISTER?!?”

“…I knew it…” the unicorn in the middle whispered to herself. “The same ponies as the ones in the legend…!”

“How canst thou still call us thy kin?!” Luna sobbed. “After all the pain we’ve brought?! All the destruction we’ve caused?! All the hearts we’ve taken?! We alone have been the orchestrator of too much despair, Celestia! We beggeth thee to lock us away! Not for a thousand years, but for all eternity!”

“I’ll do no such thing, Luna. You are not Nightmare Moon--”

“‘Tis a lie!” Luna sprang to her hooves, tears streaming down her cheeks. “We lost ourselves to the darkness, and thus gaveth birth to the Nightmare! A sin of our own design and making! Dost thou not hate us?!”

Celestia took Luna into her forelegs and held her close, joining in her little sister’s tears. “I hate only myself for not being able to help you a thousand years ago, my sister,” she wept. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“We’ve brought untold misery to thee and our beloved Equestria…and thou wouldst ask for our forgiveness…? Truly we are not deserving of a sister such as thee… We’re so sorry… How we have missed thee these long thousand years, Tia…”

“…I’ve missed you too, Lulu…”

Everypony – and dragon – watching was moved to a varying degree of tears (there was a puddle forming at Pinkie Pie’s hooves). Twilight reached up and removed the tiara perched on her head – the Element of Magic – to examine it more closely. It shimmered within her grasp.

The events of the past twenty-four hours played through Twilight’s head in fast-forward. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined making friends, losing (and getting back) her Keyblade, Spike, and Princess Celestia to an evil pony of legend, or playing an integral part in saving Equestria from everlasting darkness. Not only that, she was at the very center of it all. Her role in all this was perhaps the most vital, as evidenced by the Element of Harmony she held in her hooves.

“…Princess?” Twilight caught herself speaking aloud.

The two alicorns moved away from one another, and Celestia glanced over to her student.

“…What happens now?”

Everyone turned to Pinkie Pie when they heard her gasp. With the biggest grin Twilight had seen from her yet, she squealed, “I have an idea!”

Chapter 12: The Next Awakening

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The group’s return trip to Ponyville was much shorter than it was for them earlier, thanks to having both a degree of sunlight to illuminate their path and having the power of the sun princess’ Keyblade on their side.

Their numbers, however, were down by one; Pinkie Pie had sped ahead of the group some time ago for not-even-Celestia-knew-where. Naturally, Twilight would’ve voiced her concerns about the cotton candy-maned pony rushing off on her own, but after her proclamation of “I have an idea,” she was already gone. Luckily, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were ‘Pinkie-savvy’ enough to talk the mulberry unicorn down before she’d organized a meaningless search party.

At any rate, the group’s trek through the Everfree Forest was met with little to no hindrance; Celestia’s mere presence warded off the woodland dwellers of the dark, and her Heaven’s Light Keyblade easily dispatched any foolhardy Heartless. The alabaster alicorn stayed close to Luna, never leaving her little sister’s side for a second. The younger princess didn’t object.

To the alicorn sisters’ rear strolled Twilight and her friends (sans one Pinkie Pie, of course). Twilight could’ve bored holes in the back of Princess Luna’s head from the way she focused so intently on it. Each time the moon princess felt the little pony’s gaze drill into her, she glanced behind, only for Twilight to yank her eyes away in nervousness.

Applejack inched over to Twilight and leaned in to whisper, “Hey. Somethin’ buggin’ ya, Twi? You’re eyein’ the princess’s li’l sis over there like she was one o’ yer books or somethin’.”

Twilight hesitated to respond. “It just…feels so weird. Walking with Ni— I mean, Princess Luna like this as if nothing’s happened. Are we supposed to just forget that she banished Princess Celestia, stole the sun away from Equestria for several hours, and nearly destroyed us?”

“Well, ya heard the princess yerself. Luna ain’t Nightmare Moon. Not anymore at least.”

“Yeah, but—”

“And besides, just look at ‘er. Does she look anythin’ like the pony we fought back at th’ old castle?”

Twilight looked over to Princess Luna. Indeed, she and Nightmare Moon couldn’t look more dissimilar if they were night and day themselves. “…No. It’s just taking some getting used to, I guess.”

“If ya still ain’t too sure, you could always talk to her. Take yer time. We’re here fer ya if ya need us.”

She gave her cowpony friend a grateful smile. “Thanks, Applejack.”

“Anytime, sugarcube.”

And yet Twilight found it difficult to keep calm. She continued watching Luna closely, fearing that at any moment Nightmare Moon would make a resurgence. Was she truly as ‘purified’ as Princess Celestia said? Or had the Nightmare simply been suppressed to a far corner of Luna’s heart? What if one little nudge was all it took? She’d lose herself to the darkness again, and the ‘Mare in the Moon’ would be back. Would the Elements of Harmony work a second time?

The countless unknowns tortured Twilight to no end. Even as Ponyville came into view over the horizon.

My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship

~ Chapter 12: The Next Awakening ~

“SURPRISE!!!”

Twilight could only describe it as déjà-vu. She and her companions all wore faces of extreme shock, the likes of which not even Princess Celestia’s distinctive poker face could mask.

As the group entered the town limits, a veritable sea of jovial ponies greeted them. Overjoyed to see the sun again, everypony was outside, flooding the streets of Ponyville with laughter and cheer. They welcomed the ponies who returned to them the day – the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. They welcomed their beloved sun princess back from her brief banishment. Surprisingly enough, they even welcomed the young moon princess Luna openly.

Twilight could think of only one pony capable of putting together such a grand reception in such a short amount of time. Sure enough, in the corner of her eye, she saw the party pony Pinkie Pie hopping over, accompanied by Shining Armor.

“Twily!” the older unicorn greeted his sister, and the two met for a short but warm embrace. “Nice going, kid! I knew you could do it!”

“Thanks, Shining,” Twilight returned with, almost blushing.

“Shiny!” a voice from below cried out.

Shining Armor craned his head down and met the eye of one very excited-looking dragon. “Spike!” This time, the captain of the Royal Guard did pull Spike in for a noogie. “Good to see you back to normal, buddy!”

“Hehehe…”

Turning away from the brotherly scene, Twilight faced the bouncing Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, what is all this?”

“Isn’t it great?!” the pink pony squealed. “As soon as I remembered we’d be heading back to Ponyville, I thought ‘GAAAAASP~ Oh, my gosh! Princess Luna’s never been to Ponyville before! This calls for a party!’ Just like I threw you a party, remember? But then I thought ‘GAAAAAAASP~ Oh, my gosh! Princess Celestia’s not banished anymore! And Princess Luna’s not banished anymore either! This calls for an even bigger party!’ But THEEEEEN I thought ‘GAAAAAAAAAASP~ OH! MY!! GOSH!!! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are sisters! And they’ve finally been reunited after a thousand years! This calls for an extra-super-duper big party!’ And I figured, why not combine them? So I raced home as quick as I could, told everypony to come outside, and we all put together my ‘Welcome to Ponyville/The Sun is Back/Reunion of the Royal Pony Sisters Extravaganza’! With sun cookies and moon pies and cake and punch and ice cream and Pin the Tail on the Pony! What do you think?!?”

Twilight blinked, as she was curious how the pink-maned mare was able to spout all of that in a single breath.

Pinkie’s good mood wavered just a little in the face of her friend’s blank stare, fearing a repeat of her outburst the previous day. “…Too much?”

Within moments, Twilight’s lips curled up into a smile. “…It’s perfect, Pinkie.”

Just like that, Pinkie’s own ear-to-ear grin was back. “Hee-hee!”

“Hey, check it out,” said Shining Armor, directing his sister and her friends’ attention to the town square, where numerous ponies gathered around town hall. On the veranda just outside town hall’s doors, Princesses Celestia and Luna stood shoulder to shoulder. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack were at the front of the crowd, awaiting their princess’s address; Twilight, Pinkie, Shining Armor, and Spike shortly joined them.

Luna looked out onto the massive pony assembly nervously. It had, after all, been a thousand years since she’d last addressed them. She glanced over and up to her elder sister’s face and met Celestia’s expression of encouragement, giving a half-smile in return before facing the assembly again. She brought a hoof up to her mouth, cleared her throat, and…

“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!!! WE BID THEE ALL A FOND GOOD MORROW!!!”

Luna’s royal Canterlot voice reached every ear in the vicinity. Those unfortunate enough to be at the front of the crowd got the worst of it, being nearly blown clear off their hooves.

“ALLOW US TO FIRST IMPART UPON THEE OUR SINCEREST—!!!” She’s suddenly cut off when Celestia places a hoof over her mouth, to everypony’s discreet relief.

“Um, Luna?” the elder alicorn started. “I’m sure everypony can hear you just fine without the extra volume.”

Luna protested, “But tradition dictates—”

“Yes, I know, but a lot’s changed in the past millennium. Just…dial it back a little, okay?”

The younger princess frowned a little at the change in tradition, but nodded and relented for the sake of getting her message across as smoothly as possible. She looked out to the crowd of (now thoroughly startled) equines once more and slowly exhaled. “U-Um… Greetings, all. W-We are Princess Luna, and we thank thee for thy most warm reception to thy village. But whilst we are deeply humbled, there is…something you must know about us that we fear many of thee are not aware of. We are – or rather, were – the scourge of the darkness thou knowest as…Nightmare Moon.”

Horrified gasps and unsure murmurs blanketed the crowd at this revelation, which Twilight and her friends expected. To Luna’s right, Celestia held out a hoof, voicelessly beckoning them all for silence.

Luna pressed on in spite of their growing unease. “We understand thy trepidations. Both prior to and following our banishment to the moon, we’ve brought much destruction and despair to our dear subjects and beloved Equestria that simple words of apology can never make amends for. Though we are a creature of nightmare no longer, none can compare to the true nightmare that thou hast endured. Our sister may forgiveth us, but we will not ask forgiveness of thee until we have rightfully earned it. We make no excuses for our actions, and we pray that, with time, we will have healed the scars left by our own sinful hooves.” She bowed her head to them in shame. “…In witness of our sister Celestia and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, this we solemnly vow.”

Twilight’s mouth hung slightly open. Princess Luna’s words carried so much regret behind them, it seemed almost unthinkable that she was once Nightmare Moon. To the left and right of her, she saw as her brother and friends moved to kneel before their princess of the night. Then, like a big wave at a sporting event, other ponies around and behind her bowed to Luna as well. Were they truly this forgiving? Could Luna even be forgiven? She looked straight ahead then and saw a tearful Luna lean against Celestia. And as against her better judgment it was, Twilight found herself kneeling as well.

Celestia stepped forward. “Raise your heads, my little ponies,” she began affectionately, “for this isn’t a day for sorrow or fear. Nightmare Moon is no more, and my dear sister has returned. The solstice may have passed, but this is still a time for celebration. If it pleases our gracious host Pinkie Pie…let us party!”

The town square burst into cheers, as the ponies of Ponyville threw their hooves up and stamped the ground joyfully. It may have come a day late, but the Summer Sun Celebration was now in full swing. Everypony ate, danced, and played to their hearts’ content.

Not even the asocial Twilight could resist joining in the fun.

Princess Luna had snuck away from the party some time later, but it was no less festive from her absence. She strode into a little grassy clearing outside the town square. Even though she could still hear the loud, happy music, it was quiet enough for her to be alone with her thoughts. She sat at the top of the small hill and closed her eyes, simply taking in the rays of her sister’s sun and letting the cool summer breeze waft over her coat. Oh, how she missed this. Though she was nocturnal by nature, the feeling of the sun’s warmth was one of her favorite things in Equestria.

…After several minutes of this, Luna’s ears perked up when she was alerted to another’s presence. “Who goes there?” she called out to her rear. She heard a tiny ‘eep’ come from a nearby bush. “We know thou art there. Show thyself.”

The bush in question softly rustled before a timid unicorn poked her head out. “Um…hi,” greeted Twilight.

“Oh. …H-Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna greeted back.

“I-I can come back later if you want!”

“No! I mean… Thou may stay if thou wishest.”

Luna turned away from Twilight again, and Twilight just stood there. Sensing that the young alicorn princess was in need of somepony to talk to, she slowly approached until she was at Luna’s side. Looking over, she saw Luna’s gaze was fixated on the sky.

Ohhh… Now that we’re alone, what am I supposed to say? ‘I hate you’? ‘I forgive you’? I should’ve planned this out better!

Luna went first. “Thou art still afraid of us.”

“W-What?” Twilight was caught off-guard.

“It is alright. Our actions as the Nightmare cannot simply be moved past. There is much we must do to regain our subjects’ trust.”

“But…what about what Princess Celestia said? You aren’t Nightmare Moon. Or…weren’t, I guess.”

Luna shook her head. “Our sister means well. But were it not for our bitterness and jealousy, the Nightmare would never have been born.”

“…”

“…Tell us, Twilight Sparkle. Dost thou fear the darkness?”

“Fear the…? I don’t understand.”

“One thousand years ago, before Nightmare Moon was born, we saw many a pony’s dream. When they dreamt of Celestia, they were calm, at peace. When they dreamt of us, they were distant and frightened. Because we are of the moon and night. And what else is often associated with the night?”

“…The Heartless.”

“Indeed. Though we do not hold it against them, many ponies of that time believed the night we brought forth caused the Heartless to appear, that we were the source of all Heartless.”

“That’s not true!” Twilight suddenly cried. “Heartless come out during the day too! It’s just that they favor darkness over light, that’s all!”

“Of course learned ponies such as thyself know better. But ‘twas a different time, and such was one of the time’s common beliefs.” Luna closed her eyes as a soft blue aura of magic wrapped around her horn. “But while the darkness is indeed something to be wary of, it is not something to be feared.”

There was a dark blue flash, and Twilight’s eyes went wide when she saw a Keyblade manifest before Princess Luna. A drastic departure from the warped design of Nightmare Moon’s own, this weapon was more simplistic and elegant. A byproduct of the Nightmare: Princess Luna’s Nox Aeterna.

As she held the blade in her magical grip, Luna continued, “Darkness, like the light, is a force, an essence of life. It knows neither good nor evil. It is light’s equal and its opposite; one cannot exist without the other.”

Twilight suddenly went silent. The princess certainly wasn’t wrong. She did fear the darkness. But she was also curious about it. For as long as she’d been aware of it, the unicorn had wanted to learn more about it. But how do you study something you’re afraid of? For years, she’d taken care not to delve too deeply into it for fear of losing her heart and becoming a Heartless. She looked up to the princess’s muzzle. Then again, here was Princess Luna, an entity of darkness herself. She probably had more to teach than any book did. Twilight was suddenly overcome by a desire to study Luna and her powers of darkness, to see how differently they worked from the light. What new and interesting things she could learn!

“Um… Twilight Sparkle?”

“Huh? Y-Yes?”

“Thou art staring. It is making us most uncomfortable.”

“…Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize--! I-I didn’t mean to…!”

A light giggle escaped Luna’s lips. “It’s alright.”

The two shared a brief laugh that eased some of the tension between them. After a short silence, Twilight spoke again. “Are you coming back to the party?”

“In a little bit perhaps. I was never one for such large social gatherings.”

Shifting awkwardly, Twilight offered, “Would you…like some company?”

Luna smiled. “…We would very much welcome it, Twilight Sparkle.”

After the party died down and the sun started to set in the west, Twilight met with Princess Celestia and Shining Armor in the library. Twilight and Celestia stood across from each other in the den, while Shining Armor and Spike stood off to the side.

“You wanted to speak with me, my faithful student?” Celestia started, her colorful wispy mane flowing calmly atop her crown.

“Yes, Princess,” Twilight replied hesitantly. “I was just wondering. Now that Nightmare Moon is gone and Princess Luna’s been restored…what’s going to happen now?”

Celestia involuntarily tilted her head. “What do you mean? Your duties in Ponyville are complete, aren’t they? Now you can return to Canterlot and resume your studies like you wanted.”

“…”

“…That is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

Twilight rubbed at her foreleg as she struggled to find her voice. Breaking eye contact with her mentor, she continued. “It is. I mean, I thought it was. It’s just…part of why you sent me to Ponyville in the first place was to make friends. And I did. I met with five of the strangest ponies ever. And just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends…I have to say goodbye to them. I… I don’t want to say goodbye.”

“What are you saying, Twilight?”

“Princess Celestia… With your permission, I’d like to stay here in Ponyville.”

As soon as the declaration left Twilight’s lips, Shining Armor and Spike went wide-eyed.

“N-Not forever!” the young unicorn quickly amended. “I just think there’s a lot I could learn while I’m here. I discovered a magic through the Elements of Harmony that I didn’t know existed. I’d…never felt anything like it before. I want to learn as much about it as I can.”

A smile graced Celestia’s muzzle as her pupil spoke. “The magic of friendship. A mysterious yet powerful magic indeed. Your new friends must mean a lot to you if you don’t want to be separated from them.”

Twilight pressed a hoof to her chest, and her face flushed with the tiniest bit of red. “…They do.”

“Awww! We love you too, Twilight!”

“Pinkie! Shush!”

A surprised silence fell upon the room. The four of them blinked in unison at the two voices, and Twilight and Celestia turned to face the door.

“What’s going on now?”

“I dunno, I can’t hear anything anymore.”

“Do you suppose they heard us?”

“Don’t look at me! Pinkie’s the one who opened her big, fat mouth!”

The violet unicorn projected her magic onto the door and yanked it open…

“WHOA!!!”

…causing the five ponies pressed up against it to come tumbling inside the library. The pony pile consisting of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack cast their eyes forward and awkwardly met the puzzled gazes of Twilight and Celestia.

“Sooooo…” Rainbow Dash spoke up from underneath everypony else, “…I hear you’re sticking around town? Heh-heh…”

Princess Celestia lightly giggled while Twilight just shook her head in embarrassment. “What’d I tell you? Strangest ponies ever,” she snarked to the other three.

When she was done having her laugh, the princess of the sun addressed Spike to the side. “Spike, take a note please.” Almost on cue, the little purple dragon had a sheet of parchment and quill at the ready. “‘I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall henceforth take on a new mission for Equestria. She is to continue to study the magic of friendship, and will report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville. Moreover, as a versed wielder of the Keyblade, she is to involve herself in protecting the small town from the Heartless.’”

“And my Mark of Mastery Exam?”

“Once you’ve learned a bit more about friendship, we’ll discuss your reexamination. There’s no hurry. Besides, the use of the Elements of Harmony on Luna has taken a considerable toll on her power. I want to monitor her recovery closely.”

“I understand,” Twilight relented with a bow, “and thank you very much, Princess! I promise to study harder than ever bef— Ack!” The unicorn is cut off midsentence when she’s barreled into from behind and a pair of forelegs wrap around her.

“Yippee!” an ecstatic Pinkie Pie cried out. “Twilight’s staying! Does this call for another party?”

“No!” Twilight protested but maintained her grin. “No more parties today! I’m all ‘partied out’! Hah!” She found herself even more smothered when the other four grouped around her for a giggly group hug.

For Princess Celestia, Spike, and Shining Armor, it was truly heartwarming to see.

Before long, a royal Pegasus-drawn chariot was prepped outside the library to transport Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor back to Canterlot. Twilight and her friends stood by to see them off. This time, it was Shining Armor who found it difficult to let go.

“Shiny…” Twilight squeaked from within her brother’s death grip. “Come on. You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends.”

“Never thought I’d be hearing you say those words,” said the emotional captain as he loosened his grip.

“I’ll write you and Mom and Dad all the time.”

“You’d better,” Shining Armor said, looking like he was about to cry.

It was too good for Twilight to pass up. She teased, “About to have another one of your ‘liquid pride’ moments?”

“Shut up!” the older unicorn snapped back, pulling his sister in for a short noogie before she wrestled free. “…Love ya, Twily.”

“Love you too, B.B.B.F.F.”

As Shining Armor turned and made his way over to the chariot, Princess Celestia approached her student. “Twilight.”

“Yes, Princess?”

“I take it you’ve read up some on the Elements of Harmony? You’re one of the bearers now. What are your first impressions of them?”

“My first impressions? Well…” Twilight lowered her gaze and thought hard. “They’re definitely a source of immense power. When we used them for the first time, I felt…strong. More aware. Like I suddenly knew all there ever was to know. In fact…it felt like how it feels to wield the Keyblade.”

“I thought as much. While you’re living in Ponyville, I’d like you to do one other thing for me, Twilight.”

Twilight became more alert, curious about what other task Celestia was entrusting her with. “What is it?”

“I’d like you to keep a close eye on your friends. Now that the Elements of Harmony are bound to them, their lives will soon become a lot more…interesting.”

“Interesting how?” The unicorn mare was understandably confused by her princess’s choice of words.

“Do you remember when you first awoke as a Keyblade wielder? The dreams?”

Twilight thought back to the days leading up to her awakening. “You mean the dive? And that place with the stained glass pillars?” She was struck by thought-provoking realization. “…Are they going to…?”

Celestia nodded. “Undoubtedly. I’d like you to let me know as soon as they begin experiencing the same thing you did. I have a feeling they’ll need the both of us – mostly you – to help them through their ordeal.”

“…I’ll do whatever I can to help them,” Twilight assured.

Twilight’s assurance eased Celestia’s anxieties. “Glad to hear.” She knelt down and softly nuzzled Twilight’s cheek. “I’ll see you soon, my dear student.”

The mare with the mulberry coat watched as her mentor fluttered her way into the chariot and as the winged royal guards in the harnesses drew the chariot into the orange sunset sky. Twilight’s heart filled to the brim with emotion over her new life in Ponyville, and the same melody from days before crept into her voice once again.

There’s so little that I know

And I know I still need to grow

The task I humbly and happily accept

Is to pass it all on, so other ponies won’t forget

Walking up from behind, Rarity joined in…

The magic we all share

…followed immediately by Fluttershy…

And how much we learn to care

…then Pinkie Pie…

The joy of learning and laughing together

…then Rainbow Dash…

I know our time won’t last forever

…and finally Applejack.

So we’ll stop and take it slow

Just then, all six were singing in immaculate harmony.

For there’s so much left to know

To know

With her eyes fixed on the distancing chariot her brother and teacher rode on, Twilight held her new friends close and brought the song to a gentle end.

I can wait a little longer to grow

For there’s so much left—

—To know.

Two days later…

Twilight awoke to yet another picturesque Ponyville morning. The front door of the Golden Oaks Library opened with a light creak, and the unicorn pony trotted merrily onto the dewy grass outside. For the most part, it had an uneventful couple of days since she took up permanent residence in the little Equestrian town, which she was thankful for. The ‘Nightmare Moon incident’ had left her wanting some time to decompress. But even with this change of scenery, some things refused to change; Spike was as heavy a sleeper as ever. And considering what the incident had put him through, Twilight allowed the little dragon to sleep in.

As she hummed a cheerful tune, Twilight trotted in the direction of the café. But a shadow slithering in the corner of her eye broke her pace. She turned to face the odd phenomenon and gasped at something rising out of the ground: a pony-shaped Heartless with Pegasus wings.

“Murkwing!” exclaimed the blue-maned pony, instinctively readying the Academia.

The winged Heartless flapped its wings once and retreated.

“Hey! Get back here!”

Indeed, even with this change of scenery, some things refused to change. Twilight pursued the Murkwing a moderate ways across Ponyville, but any attempts to corner it were made futile by its aerial ability.

“Argh! Hold still!”

Once Twilight had chased the flying Heartless into the town square, she fired upon it with a volley of fireballs. It swerved to dodge the first two, but the third hit its mark, and the Murkwing dive-bombed out of the air. It hit the ground below with a splat before reforming itself. With a temporarily singed wing, the Heartless was grounded.

“Gotcha now! …Uh-oh.”

Twilight’s small victory would prove premature, as the Murkwing was soon joined by at least a dozen other Heartless of assorted sizes and shapes. Nightfoals, Murkwings, Heartless with unicorn horns, and even some as heavily built as Shining Armor comprised their numbers. It was a rare occasion that saw Twilight this outnumbered, but she didn’t falter.

Just then, a voice that seemed to come from above. “There you are!”

And within seconds, Twilight was joined by her five new friends, each of them coming from a different direction. She looked to them one by one, surprised by their sudden arrival. “Girls!”

Applejack greeted the unicorn with a tip of her Stetson. “Hey there, Twi. Fancy runnin’ into ya here.”

“Morning, girls,” said a slightly out-of-breath Rarity.

“What are you all doing here?” Twilight asked them.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth at the Heartless pack. “Caught a couple of these creeps lurking outside my house today.”

Fluttershy chimed in then. “That big one over there was about to take the heart of one of my animal friends!”

“Well, I guess your reasons for being here aren’t important,” Twilight conceded. “At least you helped herd these Heartless together so I can get rid of them all at once.”

“On your own?” Rainbow Dash scoffed as she floated down to Twilight’s side. “Haven’t you learned anything by now?”

The Keyblade-wielding pony saw her friends line up beside her. Rainbow Dash and Rarity stamped at the ground. Applejack readied her lasso. And Pinkie Pie was loading balloons and confetti into her ‘party cannon’. There was no point in trying to talk them out of it, Twilight thought. Besides, though they weren’t chosen ones yet, they’d proven themselves capable of holding their own against the Heartless and other threats. With a sigh, she set her sights on the pack of black-coated creatures. “…Let’s do it, girls!”

With a harmonized cry of “YEAH!”, the Elements of Harmony followed their friend into battle.

Her name was Twilight Sparkle.

She was a Keyblade wielder.

She discovered the magic of friendship.

And she couldn’t be happier.

THE END

Secret Ending: The Castaway

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–Special Secret–

“The Castaway”

She awoke.

Eyelids fluttered involuntarily as they fought to adjust to the light.

Light?

No.

There was no light. None at all.

All she could see was a never-ending sea of black.

She tried to move, but found her forelegs bound to the wall behind her by icy-cold chains. As she twitched, her back brushed the wall, and the utter coldness of it made her shiver.

How long had been trapped here? Who confined her here?

Just then…hoofsteps. Someone was approaching. But she couldn’t determine whom. It was much too dark.

When the hoofsteps ceased, she called out to their owner. Her voice was raspy from what must’ve been at least several hours of dryness. “Hello?” she was finally able to articulate. “Who’s there?”

A voice answered. The deep, guttural growl of a stallion.

What is your name?

The voice hadn’t answered her question. “What? My name? I don’t understand. Who are you? Where am I? And where is my sister?”

I’ll ask you again. What is your name?

The voice was persistent. She obliged it. “My name is…Princess Luna…”

No. That is not your name. Your name is…

The name was foreign to her. She was certain it wasn’t hers.

Once more. What is your name?

“My name is…” An odd blend of black and green began to cloud her vision. Try as she might to resist, she repeated the name for the voice. “…Tell me. Where is my sister?” she asked again.

You have no sister.
You have no familial ties to this world whatsoever.
From this moment forth, your life – and your magic – belong to me.

“…Who are you?”

What is your name?

“My…name…is…”

~ A “soul” displaced in time ~

Princess Celestia looked out over the city of Canterlot from her castle balcony, her sun hanging high in the Equestrian sky above. Her moment of calm silence was only interrupted by the soft clip-clop of nearing hooves. Turning around, the princess of the sun met the eye of one of her dutiful guards.

“Pardon the intrusion, your Majesty,” said the guard with a bow, “but she was rather insistent.”

“What is it?”

The guard stepped to the side, allowing Princess Luna to approach.

“Luna? Is something wrong? I’m surprised to see you up and about at this hour.”

The younger alicorn slowly walked forward and moved to her sister’s side. “Forgive us, Tia. We…could not sleep.”

“Did you have a bad dream?” Celestia leaned down to nuzzle her sibling…

…only for Luna to pull away. “Please, Celestia. We are not a foal, so we ask that thou refrainst from addressing us as such.”

“I’m sorry.”

Fearing she may have hurt her older sister, Luna quickly became reticent. “But…something doth trouble us. Thou knowest well of our sovereignty over the world of dreams, yes?”

Celestia nodded. “Of course.”

“As of late, we have had… Not dreams. We liken them more to visions. Premonitions. In them, we see another alicorn, with a coat as purest white as the wintertime snow.”

“Me?”

Luna shook her head. “No. Granted, the visions are hazy at best, but it more closely resembles…Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia grew unnerved. “…Your opinion on these visions, Luna?”

Luna walked over to the edge of the balcony and rested a hoof on the golden railing, looking out into the distance. Her gaze seemed to focus northward. “Something doth approach us. We know not when it will arrive, or from whence it comes, or if its intentions be good or ill. But we’ve reason to suspect its arrival shall shake the very foundations of Equestria.”

“…” Celestia spun to her rear, about to head inside. “Thank you for telling me all this, Lulu.”

“Think nothing of it, Tia.” Celestia began to walk, but was stopped by Luna again. “…Celestia. There is…something else.”

The alabaster alicorn glanced back to her sister. “What is it?”

“The alicorn in our visions – it speaks to us from time to time. Its voice bears no sound, but we hear it all the same.”

“What does it say?”

“It asks—”

‘…Where is Luna?’

Deleted Scene: Ultimate Harmony

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Warning: The following scene contains gratuitous amounts of cheesy, dramatic dialogue and over-the-top action that may induce uncontrollable adrenaline and liquid pride. Please consult a physician before proceeding.

–Chapter 11 Deleted Scene–

“Ultimate Harmony”

Twilight took up her broken Keyblade again. “I don’t need a weapon…! My friends are my power!”

“I-Impossible!” cried Nightmare Moon at this sight. “You’ve reopened your door?!”

Twilight’s eyes widened a little, and she started to laugh. “I get it… I understand now!”

“Excuse me?!”

Nightmare Moon snorted derisively. “‘Spirits’?! Really now, Twilight Sparkle, what on Earth are you—?! …Hmm?” Her gaze shifted downward when she felt a faint tremble at her hooves. Beneath her, the fragments of the Elements of Harmony began to move, slowly lifting themselves off the ground. “W-What?!?”

Across the throne room the stone Elements glided, the shards of each finding a place for itself in the orbit of one of Twilight’s friends. Fluttershy squeaked a bit when her body was wrapped in a light pink glow. Looking ahead, she saw a glow of the same color wrap around Twilight’s body.

Twilight continued to hold out the Academia. Reacting to her and Fluttershy’s glow, the Keyblade gleamed and morphed, taking on a new form: tree bark and vines curved around the handle, flower stems formed the blade’s shaft, three large flower bulbs formed its teeth, and at the end of the keychain was a pink bejeweled butterfly.

As this phenomenon took effect, Twilight’s cuts and bruises started to vanish; she felt her ‘battle damage’ just melt away. “Fluttershy…” Twilight spoke in almost a whisper. “Her untarnished kindness toward other living things – I feel so…invincible under it!”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed to a squint. “What is this…?”

All of a sudden, the wind coiling around Twilight picked up speed, and the pink glow on her body turned bright red, matching Rainbow Dash’s. The Keyblade in her grasp changed a second time: thin blue wings around the handle, a rainbow and white cloud as the shaft, rainbow-colored lightning bolts as the teeth, and a red thunderbolt gem as the keychain.

Twilight suddenly felt much lighter, as though she could jump off the ground and fly. She looked back at Rainbow Dash briefly, giving a nod of acknowledgement, before setting her sights on Nightmare Moon again. She pushed off the floor…and rushed in!

“!!!” Shocked by this sudden choice to attack, the wicked mare coated her mane in black fire and swiped it at the incoming Twilight like a whip. But the little pony’s sudden burst of speed helped her evade this effortlessly. “What?!”

Ducking low with Keyblade ready, Twilight spoke confidently. “Rainbow Dash’s loyalty to her friends – it makes me as quick as the wind!” She propelled upward, pelting Nightmare Moon with a spiraling surge of fierce wind.

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash cheered from the sidelines. “Go, Twilight!”

As the alicorn reeled, Twilight hung in the air over her for several seconds. The red glow around her body suddenly turned bright orange, reacting to the glow that built around Applejack, and her Keyblade transformed again: this time, short lengths of rope curved around the blade’s handle, its shaft resembled an apple tree, its teeth were formed from a trio of Red Delicious, and the keychain was an orange apple-shaped gem.

“With Applejack’s pure honesty on my side”, Twilight began again, “I feel strong enough to move the earth itself!” Filled with physical strength, she came crashing down, causing a small tremor and jagged towers of rock to strike at Nightmare Moon from beneath.

“Argh!”

Applejack whistled in support. “That’s showin’ ‘er, Twi!”

Nightmare Moon, not to be so easily defeated, was back on her hooves in seconds, eyes flooding with anger. She stamped fiercely at the ground, building her dark powers again and bombarding the six ponies with a flurry of black needles.

Twilight’s friends flinched…

…opting only to open their eyes when a distinct pop sound hit their ears. Before them, Twilight had erected a massive wall of festively-colored bubbles to absorb the oncoming barrage.

Pinkie Pie giggled and hopped at the sight of them. “Ooh! Balloons! I love balloons!”

Meanwhile, Twilight’s Keyblade and the glow around her had changed again. Her aura was light blue, and her weapon’s shape consisted of various sweets that made up its hand guard and blade: licorice whips, candied apples, scoops of ice cream, gumdrops, teeth of waffle cones, and a pink balloon-shaped jewel as the keychain. “Pinkie Pie – her ability to laugh in the face of danger…helped me banish my own fears and laugh too!”

The wall of balloons burst into tiny motes of light that converged at the tip of Twilight’s blade, and her aura changed color again – to that of a deep purple. Once again, her Keyblade changed in appearance: gems and woven fabric lined it from end to end, and the keychain was a small purple diamond.

Rarity’s azure eyes twinkled at the blade’s splendor. “Oh! Magnificent!”

“And Rarity’s generous spirit…” spoke Twilight still, “…makes all of Equestria shine!” The convergence of light at the Keyblade’s tip exploded, and a cluster of energy bullets rained down upon Nightmare Moon.

The onslaught pushed the black alicorn back a few feet, but she refused to go down. She stomped a hoof and snarled. “A meaningless effort, foal! The sixth Element of Harmony still eludes you! The spark didn’t work!”

“Oooooh… Tingly…” Pinkie Pie remarked.

In the case of Twilight, the Element of Magic seemed to shed its outer shell of stone, revealing a golden tiara adorned with a six-pointed, rose-colored star. The color vanished from Twilight’s eyes, leaving only a white luminescence that saw all and knew all. In the wake of this immense power, Twilight’s Keyblade transformed a final time: a long, lavender sword wrapped in a filigree of gold and white. The same six-pointed star atop Twilight’s tiara made the blade’s teeth and its keychain charm.

Twilight’s Keyblade at its most powerful, awakened by the Elements of Harmony: the Harmonia.

“This, Nightmare Moon…” Twilight’s voice echoed, “…is the magic of friendship.”

The force that built within her and her friends swelled and overflowed. It poured all of itself into the Harmonia, which Twilight now pointed at the throne room ceiling. From the tip of the blade, a rainbow-colored beam of light shot forth. It spiraled several feet up before arcing down upon the alicorn.

“NO!!!”

And in her moment of madness, of desperation…Nightmare Moon heard a voice. The voice of one she’d long since kept suppressed.

…There can be no darkness…without light.

A dazzling radiance overtook the old castle throne room, and all Twilight could see was white…

…until the Elements exhausted her magic, and her vision was taken by a consciousness-stealing black.