NaNo2014: Shadows of Friendship: Part 25

“This cannot be allowed!” Nightmare Moon protested, launching a wave of Shadows at Twilight and her friends, only for the dark magic to hit the spinning fragments of glittering gems and wash aside, protecting the group by the door.

The purple alicorn barely managed to raise a shield in time to ensure her own safety. For a few moments she strained against the tidal wave of Shadows then the star floating over the tree shattered into tiny shards and dove down. They wrapped around the Princess, glowing with an odd purple that was somewhere between the two shades of Twilight’s coat and their brilliance drove the surge of magic back.

The light only continued to grow, each set of glittering shards erupting in a blaze of glory that cocooned the pony they had been circling. Nightmare Moon could do nothing but watch in stunned horror as the Elemental gems and the ponies who represented them joined forces. The glow surrounding the five by the door shrank in until it was only around their necks. The Elements flashed brightly before dying out completely to reveal golden necklaces with a gem that looked like their cutie mark resting in the centre, but in the colours of the Elements.

Meanwhile the Element of Magic coated Twilight in a layer of magic which seemed to sink into not only her, but her puzzle too, filling the cracks with a purple glow. The final piece, the one that had been shaped like her cutie mark, started pulsing with the same purple as the Element.

“You won’t win.” Twilight informed the slightly panicking Shadow possessed Princess as she stared her down, able to feel the power surrounding them as a golden crown formed on her brown. It looked less like the crowns of Equestria and more like a diadum with Equigyptian patterns etched into the golden metal, though an amethyst purple star featured in the centre at the front of it. “I might not be able to destroy you, but I can save Princess Luna from you and bring back the Sun.”

“We’ll be back, we’ll always be back,” The Shadows spat at her, the odd echo in the possessed alicorn’s voice distorting in their anger, “We will break free from your final lock and when we do, we will destroy you and everything you hold dear.”

“You’ll have to get through us first, right girls?” Rarity asked, not quite sure what was going on but understanding that Twilight would need their backup.

“That’s right.” Rainbow Dash agreed, flaring her wings, standing tall and proud and refusing to back down here anymore than had against the trio of pegasi.

“We’ll be there to stop yer before you can even get to ‘er!” Applejack nodded, stamping her hoof and glaring at the tainted Goddess. “Yer won’t even get into Ponyville.”

“Yeah! No meanies allowed!” Pinkie agreed with a bright laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.

“We’ll all do our best to stop you.” Fluttershy agreed, her voice soft but determined as she watched Twilight’s magic glow even brighter as they confirmed their friendship and unity with each other.

“See?” Twilight asked, her wings half extended as she stepped towards the alicorn, “You can’t win, because I am never alone, I have my friends. Now, get out of Princess Luna and bring back Princess Celestia!”

“No.” The Shadows hissed, launching a fresh wave of darkness that did nothing against the protection of the Elements, but gave them a chance to get their stolen form airborne, “No, we won’t, your precious Sun Goddess can rot, souless in her cell for…” They cut off, choking slightly and losing a couple of foot as, for a moment the blue coat that was so dark it was almost black, flickered to a slightly lighter midnight blue and her narrow, almost catlike green eyes widened to a more normal shape for a few moments before the darkness regained control.

It gave the ground bound Princess below a chance to cast a spell that trapped the almost-black alicorn in a magical circle that stopped her from going anywhere.

“I don’t think your host likes that idea.” Twilight smirked, pleased to see there was some sign of Princess Luna still being within the dark creature before them and still fighting. “Last chance.”

“Never.” Nightmare Moon spat. “I will never leave!”

“Yes, you will.” The part-time Princess told her, the Elements reacting to her desire and the desire of her friends to free Princess Luna and bring back the sun. The gems of all six Elements glowed brightly from within their settings, along with an aura that surrounded each of the ponies, while the golden glow of the puzzle mixed with the purple of the Element of Magic. Then all seven sources of power sent bright lights rocketing skywards where they twisted and joined together, swirling around and around at high speeds as they plummeted down again, forming a rainbow of colour and power as they struck the possessed Princess who screamed in pain as the power drove the dark intelligence out of her.

The power flooded out, in a wave of rainbow light that did not just erase the darkness from every last corner of the ruined castle, wash away the illusion that Nightmare Moon had cast to make the place seem whole again and return the soul of the prisoner down in the cells below, but spread out through the forest, breaking down the Challenge that had silenced the entire forest and cut it off from the outside world before continuing out into Ponyville and consuming the mist that had spread out from the forest, finally dying out as it reached the edge of the corruption.

Not that fillies were aware of any of that, the flare within the castle had overwhelmed them, leaving them flash blinded and sprawled on the ground. Applejack was the first to awaken and she gazed around blearily, trying to work out why her head felt like it had exploded and why the others were unconscious on the ground.

“Fluttershy?” She asked, nudging the nearest pony to her and becoming relieved when the pale yellow Pegasus filly stirred and opened her eyes, shaking her head slightly to shift her mane so she could see their surroundings properly.

“Wh…what happened?” Fluttershy asked as the others started coming around. “And…oh wow…look at your necklace! It’s lovely!” She gestured to the golden collar which had an amber apple with emerald leaves embedded amongst the swirling pattern engraved in the shining gold.

“Yours is too.” Rarity informed her, her hoof going from her own amethyst diamond to the rose quartz butterfly with its golden setting that rested around Fluttershy’s neck.

“Look at mine, look at mine!” Pinkie Pie was the first to get to her feet and she bounced around the courtyard, moving over to Twilight’s side, allowing the pony, who had reverted to her unicorn form when she had passed out, to see the pale blue topaz balloon on her collar.

“I don’t do jewellery.” Rainbow Dash commented as she found a reflective surface and looked at the ruby lightning bolt within her necklace, “But I think I can make an exception for something as cool as this.”

“Twilight’s is the prettiest.” Pinkie said bluntly, gesturing to the diadum, which, with its odd patterns and pink garnet star, looked unique.

“What happened to the Princess?” Twilight asked, looking for the alicorn, unaware of what had happened while she had been transformed. The Princess who had been struck directly by the rainbow of power, was led at the foot of the tree. Free of the darkness, which seemed to have been burned away by the bright light of Harmony, Luna looked about the same age as them. Her coat was a gorgeous midnight blue and her mane and tail was much shorter, though they still looked like the night sky. The purple unicorn could finally get a good view of the Princess’s cutie mark as she carefully approached, the almost black splodge on her rear had a silver crescent moon on it.

It was a good symbol for the Moon Goddess, Twilight decided as she lowered herself at Luna’s side and gently nudged her with her muzzle. “Excuse me, Princess Luna?”

The Alicorn blearily opened her eyes, seeming dazed and confused as she blinked around at the ponies who were slowly gathering around her. They came to a stop on Twilight and a small frown graced her features, “You were an Alicorn...” She shook her head as if trying to clear her head, “Are you all, alright?”

“I do that,” Twilight told her softly, a smile on her features as she nodded and supported the exhausted looking Princess as she got to her feet, noting that her mane was fading to an odd pale shade of cloudy grey and blue. “I should ask the same of you, you’re not hurt are you?”

“No, but I need to get down to the dungeons.” Luna staggered and leaned into Twilight as her hooves scuffed the floor.

“Easy, easy.” Fluttershy murmured as she got on the alicorn’s other side, “You were a lot bigger a few minutes ago, you just need to adjust. Let us help.”

“I…” For a moment the ponies were worried that Princess Luna would not let them as she held herself proud and tall, proving herself just a little taller than them all. Then her shoulders sank and her gaze turned towards the ground. “It would be for the best, thank you. My sister…It has been many years since I have seen her like this and I do not…” She trailed off, looking worried. “She will hate me for all I did…”

“I’ve known Princess Celestia since I was a filly.” Twilight told her quietly, making the others lean in a little to hear, wanting to hear more about their new friend, “She took me on as her personal student when I lost control of my magic and hatched a baby dragon’s egg. In the time I’ve studied under her, I’ve heard story after story about you, how you two worked and played together. About all those…I guess I have to call them pranks that you both played on the nobles… she misses you. I can tell.”

NaNo2014: Shadows of Friendship: Part 24b

((a second update cause I screwed up the time on the last attempt to post))

“I…I sealed you?” Twilight asked, shaking slightly as she picked herself up, pain shooting down her back as she moved, “But I’m not an alicorn, I couldn’t…” She trailed off, her eyes widening as a thought hit her.

“Now you’re beginning to understand, little Princess.” The darkness hissed at her, “You’re not an alicorn now, but you were and we thought you destroyed when you ripped your soul in two and gave your life to try and get rid of us. Turns out you’re as hard to eliminate as we are. Shame that won’t save you now.”

Twilight did not get a chance to respond before she was in the air again, tumbling across the ground and slamming into the base of the silver tree.

“You must have sealed your alicorn powers away with half of your soul when you locked us away. Left yourself with little more than a unicorn’s form and strength.” The darkness cackled, “But we had an ace in the hole, a Princess of our own, a mare from the lands that spawned us and she has worked tirelessly for all this time to free us. It’s a shame you won’t be around to meet her. She has a lot she wants to say to you.”

“Wh…who says, it ends here?” Twilight demanded as she got up, the puzzle glowing, its golden glow pulsing in time with Twilight’s normal purple magic which was wrapped around the Elements of Harmony, trying to activate them, even as she stumbled, barely able to get to her feet, “I might only be a…part time Princess, but I am not…letting it end here.”

“You do not know who you are dealing with,” Nightmare Moon snorted. “You may be my sister’s student, but I am the stronger sister and I will destroy you!” Nightmare Moon tried to use her magic again, but Twilight was ready, calling up a small brown fuzzball from her deck with green hands and feet and sharp claws that leapt at the possessed Princess and exploded on contact.

The explosion pushed Nightmare Moon back, giving Twilight a chance to push a little more of her magic into the Elements, desperately hoping that that was the spark she needed and that she could use them to protect her friends. It certainly did something as the unicorn saw the marble spheres start to change colour, taking on the shades that she had seen in the book.

“No!” The Shadows and the Princess both screamed as the Elements started glowing, “No! We will not allow this to be!”

“Wha…aah!” Twilight cried out as hooves connected with her side and she went skidding across the floor, her magic cutting out as the dark possessed Princess used her powers to slam the unicorn into a wall so hard that the real brick work, the crumbling, decrepit, ancient brickwork, cracked and tumbled down, burying the filly.

“Finally!” Nightmare Moon snarled as she stalked towards the glowing elements, pausing before she stamped her hoof and unleashed a wave of Shadows that sucked up every drop of energy within the glowing spheres. The five orbs started cracking as something behind Nightmare Moon started moving.

The alicorn turned to stare at the sound when she realised that it was the sound of the rubble shifting and falling, her eyes widening when she saw Twilight pick herself out of the fallen bits out castle, her wings twitching a little to dislodge the fragments of stone and her ruby red eyes narrowed and focused on Nightmare Moon. Her own Shadows were flaring up like black flames around her as she moved out of the pile of black rubbish and stood in front of the possessed alicorn. “Do not write me off yet.” She growled out before shaking herself off, getting rid of some of the dust lightening her coat to an almost lavender-white.

The stone spheres continued to crack as Nightmare Moon laughed, a high pitched, slightly hysterical, psychotic laugh as the Elements shattered into a million little fragments, “You could not defeat us before, when you were whole! You’ll never do it now, wounded and pathetic as you are. Especially not alone! Your strength comes from Unity, it always has! And now your backup, your precious Elements of Harmony are gone, destroyed, forever!”

“The spheres may be gone, but my friends are always with me,” Twilight snapped back, her wings half opening as she tried to spread them in a display of dominance, “I will defeat you!”

“You? Defeat me?!” The alicorn laughed, her shadow taking the form of a twisted dragonic creature and spreading up the wall. Its shape shifting and changing as it grew, revealing wings with holes in and three rows of sharp teeth, “I have had many forms over the Millennia,” The darkness crowed through Nightmare Moon as the shadow changed again, becoming a huge unicorn with a barbed horn. “Equigypt, your country, was just the first. This time, this time your entire world will pay and there’s nothing you can do to stop me! Because poor Princess Twilight was stupid enough to come all this way without managing to protect a single one of her friends!”

“You’re wrong.” The alicorn Princess smirked, “My friends are safe. I figured out your game and protected myself from your dark mist. You can’t fight fair, you have to weaken us before we get to you, but guess what? I remember enough to remember that a Challenge always has to be fair. You might have weakened me, weakened my friends and destroyed the physical forms of the Elements, but I still have a chance.”

“What chance could you possibly have?” Nightmare Moon demanded, “What possible hope? You are nothing compared to me, nothing!”

“Twilight!” The purple Princess’s smirk turned to an honest, bright smile as her friends piled into the courtyard and stopped by the entrance, staring at the tableau before them.

“There’s my hope, my chance. My friends.” Twilight told the Night Goddess, feeling her strength grow and her magic increase exponentially, “They’re my strength and they’re so much more than that. Those Elements you destroyed? They’re just stone, Harmony is within everyone if you know where to look for it and I’ve found it within those five ponies that you see before you.”

“You cannot be serious? You honestly believe that you can defeat me with the power of friendship?” The alicorn cackled.

“There’s not just my friends, each of them embodies an Element.” Twilight informed her, “Pinkie Pie, who scared off the wolves that you sent after us by giggling at them, embodies the Element of Laughter!” As she spoke, the shards of the sphere of Laughter started glowing the same pink as Pinkie Pie’s coat and started swirling around her like glitter, shimmering in the moonlight.

“Oooh, pretty!” Pinkie Pie bounced on the spot, looking delighted.

“Wh…what?!” Nightmare Moon yelped, backing up in her confusion as she watched it happen.

“Rainbow Dash, who fought your summoned pegasi even when it could have cost her her life and refused to join up with them even when they flattered her, represents the Element of Loyalty!” The second sphere did the same, this time glowing with the same pale blue as Rainbow’s coat.

“Too cool!” Dash crowed.

“Oh no, no, no!” Nightmare Moon snarled, trying to blast the five by the door with a spell, only for Twilight to draw from her deck and set a trap that caused her attack to reflect back off of it and strike the alicorn, making her crash into the silver tree in the courtyard’s centre.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight continued as the possessed alicorn picked herself up, a look of vague panic on her features as she realised that she was in deep trouble, “Who protected Nightingale from me and helped her even after she fought against us, represents the Element of Kindness!”

“I was just doing what any pony would have done.” Fluttershy whispered as the shards of the corresponding element glowed a pale yellow colour and circled her.

“Applejack, who waylaid my fears about my transformation by telling me the truth, embodies the Element of Honesty!” The part-time Princess informed the possessed one, smirking as her theory was confirmed. The Element of Honesty swirled around Applejack like amber, glowing like a flame.

“You can’t do this, you can’t drive me back into the dark, I will not allow it!” Nightmare Moon snarled, launching herself at Twilight. The alicorn narrowly dodged, causing the Moon Goddess to go crashing to the floor behind her.

“And last but not least, Rarity, who tamed the dragon by selflessly offering her jewels, making her own work difficult in the process and promising to help him find his horde again, is the Element of Generosity!”

The last Element lit up and joined those already swirling around Twilight’s other friends. “I wonder if I could make something that shimmered like this for ponies to wear…” Rarity mused as she beheld the pretty lights.  

Twilight could not help the amused smile that crossed her face at the other unicorn’s comment even a Nightmare Moon snarled at her, “You still haven’t gotten the sixth Element and without your precious true name, the final key to the seal you used on me, you’ll never unlock your full potential and destroy me!”

“You’re wrong,” Twilight informed her, feeling smug that she knew something that the other Princess did not and trying to ignore the jab about her name, “The spark I felt when I realised that no matter how hard I try to push you away, you’ll always be my friends?” She asked her friends, looking at them with a smile, “That’s when I realised something. The final spark resides within the heart of all of us, and that spark is Magic!”

She let out a startled gasp as power erupted from the tree in the middle of the courtyard and formed a star like the one in the center of her cutie mark in the middle of the air.