To Light a Fire

“Just one spark, come on come on.”

Twilight Sparkle sent her magical energy swirling through her horn. The magically generated electricity crackled, ionizing the air around her and jumped straight into the circuit that lay before it, the Elements of Harmony.

Twilight was quite sure that she had succeeded since the electricity began to move faster and faster as the current increased, but there was too much resistance, as the elements were quite far apart. Soon, the electricity dissipated, causing the elements to come back down. Nightmare Moon, who thought too, that she would once again be banished, was surprised, although pleasantly. She slammed her hooves down hard and the Elements of Harmony were broken into fragments.

Everfree forest is full of flammable materials. One must wonder why a forest fire had not started yet in order to control tree growth. This was mainly because of the swamp and river situated in the forest that kept the flammable items in question wet enough so that they would not catch on fire. Instead, the forest was controlled by pony industry, since they needed wood to construct various buildings. They never knew much about the natural forest management techniques.

Due to bad management some of the flammable objects in the Everfree forest had dried sufficiently to light on fire. It was also unfortunate that the Everfree forest had a pyrocumulus cloud over it. When Twilight Sparkle fired the spark, she nudged the charge of the ground in the right direction. The lightning discharged in the distance, unbeknown to anypony. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Twilight Sparkle had an latent alignment to Ponyta, a fire pony. Later she would evolve into one for a brief moment, and she had shown fire breathing abilities before. This gave her spells a twenty percent increased chance of causing a fire due to various modifiers in her party.

As anypony would have expected with such a combination, a fire started. Well not exactly anypony. Someponies could have been dense enough to expect Zap Apples instead, but that’s another story to be told. Nightmare Moon was aware of the dangers that fire posed to her future kingdom of darkness, so she sent her minions to go deal with it. As long as the majority of structures failed to meet fire safety standards, she could not allow the fire to spread.

For a brief moment, Nightmare Moon’s attention waned as she focused on defusing the fire efficiently with some water. She did not notice the faint magical energy that was still within the Elements of Harmony that kept them alive, if by a thread.

Nightmare Moon turned to Twilight Sparkle once more to gloat.

“The night will last forever.”

Nightmare Moon started cackling. She was sure that she had triumphed over her sister for the first time in over a thousand years or so. After having lived for such a long time on a moon, one tends to be a little loony.

At this moment, Twilight Sparkle’s friends (big surprise) were chatting in a somewhat carefree manner and took their time to walk up the stairs leisurely (this is what good friends do in case of emergencies). The faint magic field reacted to the magic of friendship emanating from the staircase. Twilight Sparkle conducted this energy through her eyes and not through her horn. This allowed her to dilate her eyes.

Twillight Sparkle knew that with the power of dilated eyes that she could make a come back against Nightmare Moon. Her confidence allowed her to gloat back.

“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?”

Nightmare Moon was surprised by this, but stood there, not knowing what to expect out of the lavender unicorn. As far as she could tell, the unicorn had nothing else to pull out of the bag. She stared at the unicorn a bit longer. Luckily for Twilight Sparkle, Nightmare Moon hadn’t heard her friends boisterously talking on the stairs. Also luckily enough for Twilight Sparkle, Nightmare Moon had decided to focus vision on Twilight Sparkle, neglecting to look around her. Deep in Twilight’s eyes, Nightmare Moon could see vast stores of magical energy that intrigued her.

While Nightmare Moon was staring intently at Twilight Sparkle, Sparkle’s friends to the opportunity to appear out of nowhere, shocking Nightmare Moon even further. This was not what Nightmare Moon had anticipated out of Twilight. It was then that she finally realized that the Elements of Harmony were not as broken as she thought they were. The convergence of the six friends had given the Elements of Harmony enough energy to repair itself. Fragments started to swirl around the necks of the bearers, and Nightmare Moon could feel the magical energy streaming out.

Shocked at how she had been blindsided so easily, Nightmare Moon devoted some time thinking about being distracted, distracting herself even further. She could only conclude that the overwhelming magical potential inside of Twilight Sparkle had prevented her from sensing the fine details of the magic within the Elements of Harmony.

The pendants had finished forming at this point. All that was left was for the tiara to focus the magical energy. Nightmare Moon could not bear to look at the dazzling light that was radiating from Twilight Sparkle. Instinctively she shut her eyes and focused on the burning sensation that was affecting her eyes. She failed to put up the relevant magical barriers.

Then the Elements of Harmony fired a stream of rainbow light that wrapped around Nightmare Moon in a fiery blaze.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”

Nightmare Moon could not believe it. Her castle, about to be burned down in flames by the Elements of Harmony. On top of that, the fire could spread beyond the castle, causing the damage that she had worked so hard to prevent previously. She had no choice but to end the enchantment keeping Princess Celestia imprisoned in order to free the magical energy required to stop a fire of the magnitude that the Elements charged with the powers of Ponyta were likely to cause.

It was not enough. The freeing of Princess Celestia had caused the sun to rise, drying the area a tad too much. The fire ran down the sides of the castle, hungrily devouring the fuel before it.  It didn’t help that the entire Everfree forest was now just more kindling for the fire to snack on before reaching Fluttershy’s cottage and starting on Ponyville.

Twilight Sparkle was shocked to find that she and her friends were surrounded by fire.  She hadn’t expected to Elements of Harmony to be so destructive. In resignation, Twilight Sparkle fell to the ground, exhausted after expending so much magic. Her friends around her were all unconscious. Even if she wanted to, Twilight Sparkle had no energy left to save any of them. Only a nagging feeling prevented Twilight Sparkle from giving in and closing her eyes.

Nightmare Moon could see that her efforts were not working. She sighed, knowing that it was hopeless. She turned back to look at Twilight Sparkle, the mare that had come so close to what nopony else had come. Something about Twilight was different. For some reason, Nightmare Moon remembered what Twilight had said before.

“Just one spark”

And inside of Nightmare Moon, some of the magic that Twilight had discharged let Nightmare Moon experience an emotion that she had not felt in a very long time. The spark that was in the hearts of all ponies had ignited. Nightmare Moon felt a very special sense of attachment. Nightmare Moon had could not recall the word. It didn’t matter to her at the moment. She could only see that Twilight Sparkle had fallen unconscious. Twilight Sparkle was about to die to the fire unable to escape, and Nightmare Moon knew she had to do something. In a flash, Nightmare Moon and Twilight Sparkle disappeared from the ruined castle and appeared in Ponyville, as the flames continued their advance.

Princess Celestia was still disoriented from being imprisoned. She had not intended to raise to sun, to let one fire blossom into a threat that could destroy Equestria. It was regrettable that she had not enforced fire safety standards, but that legislation was stonewalled by the corporate backing from Filthy Rich, since meeting the standards was fairly expensive.

As she was heading back to deal with the fire, she noticed her sister sprawled out, unconscious. Princess Celestia frowned in surprise. She hadn’t expected Nightmare Moon to have used so much magic. To her further surprise, she saw her prized protege, Twilight Sparkle tightly embraced within. For some reason, Nightmare Moon had gone through the trouble of rescuing Twilight.  Princess Celestia wondered what part Twilight played in Nightmare Moons plan. Apparently Twilight was worth enough to jeopardize Nightmare Moon’s bid for power.

Except that didn’t feel right either. The embrace seemed warmer than that. No matter. Whatever reason Nightmare Moon had for rescuing Twilight, the fact remained that she had committed some serious crimes against Equestria. Princess Celestia would have to banish Nightmare Moon back to the moon again.

The only thing that made Princess Celestia pause was the groan that fell from Twilight Sparkle’s lips as she regained consciousness.

“Wha what happened?”

Twilight Sparkle was confused. She thought she died in the fire. Had she gone to the afterlife? Then she looked up to Princess Celestia. If she was in the afterlife, did that mean Princess Celestia too was dead? Then she had failed. Failed her destiny. Failed at averting a crisis. Failed her friends. Failed... Twilight Sparkle stopped panicking for a moment, and finally noticed that she was being squeezed. She turned around, and saw Nightmare Moon. Instinctively, she let out a scream.

Princess Celestia watched in some amusement as Twilight Sparkle squirmed around. Her student looked so adorable. It was unfortunate that her friends had been sacrificed in vain. Not that it meant much to her. She had long ago learned not to make attachments. It made things easier. Time for business.

As she stood there, large amounts of magic pooled out of every edifice of her body into her horn. Transporting and trapping her sister such a distance would require a very precise amount of magic. Twilight Sparkle gazed back to Princess Celestia in awe due to the expert display of magic before her. She felt a twinge in her heart as Nightmare Moon disappeared.

Now it was time to deal with the fire that had started to spread through the Everfree Forest. Princess Celesita could tell that Zecora had been caught asleep in her hut. Well that was another problem out of the way. The citizens of Ponyville had been complaining for years about the creepy zebra. As she analyzed the fire, she realized that she would need Twilight Sparkle's magical reserves to put it out.

"My faithful student Twilight, I need you to come along and help me put out the fire"

Twilight Sparkle was in the midst of thinking about why Nightmare Moon had been cuddling her. Could it be that she wasn't as evil as she seemed to be? Maybe Nightmare Moon had feelings. But why did Nightmare Moon save her? Nightmare Moon could have probably gotten out of the castle without any of them just fine. Shaking the doubts out of her head, Twilight Sparkle followed Princess Celestia back toward the Everfree Forest.

What Twilight saw was shocking. The fire was white hot and it was eating through everything. She thought of her friends again. How could they have survived. She vomited into the ground at the thought of their charred bodies broken under the rubble that was left from the collapsing castle. This fire could not be allowed to spread.

With the help of Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia started putting out the fire, slowly and methodically. Soon, all that Twilight could see was charred black. As they continued on, Twilight felt a sense of foreboding come upon her. When they finally arrived at the old castle, Celestia motioned for Twilight to stop, and entered the remarkeably intact entrance.

Twilight Sparkle could not help but to follow Princess Celestia quietly. Something seemed awfully suspicious. Why just the castle. As Princess Celestia walked up the stone steps, Twilight Sparkle could feel herself growing colder and colder as the fear started to squeeze her mind. The castle had survived despite the fire. Why?

Then they arrived at the room where Twilight Sparkle had faced Nightmare Moon so long ago. Twilight could not bear to look inside. But she had to. What she saw shocked her. Her friends had not been burned like she thought they had, but gored by some sharp object. Each one of them had been efficiently dispatched with a quick stab through the brain. She watched as Princess Celestia ignored their bodies and took the Elements of Harmony.

A sinking feeling emerged as Twilight Sparkle began to connect the dots. It couldn't have been Nightmare Moon; Nightmare Moon hadn't known the fire wouldn't have burned the bearers, Nightmare Moon had gone through the effort of saving herself after all. As far as Twilight could tell, nopony else could have gotten to the castle. Except an alicorn. Now, Twilight wanted answers. But she couldn't confront Princess Celestia just yet. The only other, Nightmare Moon had been banished to the moon. Twilight Sparkle knew that she had to get Nightmare Moon back somehow. She didn't notice as Princess Celestia slowly walked toward her.

"Well what do we have here?"

Twilight Sparkle almost jumped out of her hide. She slowly turned her head, trying not to confirm the fact that she was in deep trouble. When her eyes finally met Princess Celestia's, she found herself losing consciousness.

"I guess you'll be going to the moon as well"

When Twilight Sparkle regained consciousness, she found herself staring into the eyes of Nightmare Moon. She caught herself from screaming for a second, due to the tender look. It was different somehow.

“I..”

Nightmare Moon stopped for a moment. She couldn’t find words for what she wanted to say. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t find anything to say either. After all this time trying to destroy Nightmare Moon, it was only Nightmare Moon that could fix things. There was no easy way to apologize. So they sat there, looking at each  other. They were not in a hurry to do anything. Both of them knew the effort that getting back to Equestria would take.

Then Twilight Sparkle had a flash of intuition.

“Nightmare Moon, I think I know a way back.”

Slowly, Nightmare Moon nodded. After having failed so soon, she wasn’t so eager to return without regaining some strength. With Twilight Sparkle by her side though, sheh felt she could do anything.

“Before we go, may I ask you a question?”

“Yes you may”

“Why?”

Nightmare Moon thought for a second. Long ago, it would have been because nopony appreciated the night sky.

“It’s because...”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Twilight could hear the hesitance in Nightmare Moon’s voice.

“You can tell me after we corner Princess Celestia.”

Nightmare Moon knew that she had to tell Twilight Sparkle.

“Tia is my sister.”

“What?”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to be at loss for words.

“Let’s go”

Nightmare Moon broke Twilight Sparkle out of her shock. The large amounts of magic that seemed to be pouring out of her was amazing. Twilight Sparkle noticed that Nightmare Moon was staring at her, and blushed.

“My special talent is magic.”

In a flash, Nightmare Moon and Twilight Sparkle appeared in the Ponyville Library. Nightmare Moon was pleasantly surprised to find that Twilight Sparkle was indeed highly proficient in magic. If it hadn’t worked, it would’ve taken a while.

Of course, Twilight Sparkle was unconscious from the use of so much magic. Nightmare Moon also knew that her sister probably already knew they were here. It was in the Everfree Forest, or what was left of it, that would provide the best place to hide and recuperate. So they disappeared.

When Twilight Sparkle awoke, she found herself in a familiar place. Something was different. It was grayer. Somehow, that made all the difference. Without realizing why, Twilight Sparkle starting sobbing. Then she realized this was where her friends were murdered by Princess Celestia, and the tears began anew.

Nightmare Moon could only look by. She had never become friends with any of the mares that now lay dead within the walls of what was once her stronghold. There was nothing for her to say, nothing for her to do to comfort the anguished mare in front of her. The only thing she could do was give Twilight Sparkle another warm embrace.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Nightmare Moon could feel Twilight Sparkle shuddering in her grief. Slowly, Nightmare Moon could feel herself begin to change.

Princess Celestia, now armed with the Elements of Harmony was heading toward the Everfree Forest. With Twilight likely unconscious, she was sure to be able to defeat Nightmare Moon again. The stars would no longer come to Nightmare Moon’s aid. The Sun was hers. No one else’s. Princess Celestia could not contain the rage she felt when all the stars had helped Nightmare Moon. What was she lacking that Nightmare Moon had? Never again would it happen. Princess Celestia would seize it all.

But the stars still loved Nightmare Moon the best, and when they finally met, Princess Celestia found that she was the one who had been tainted by hatred. Twilight Sparkle could only sit by in awe as powers that controlled the world clashed. In the end, Nightmare Moon appeared to be victorious, and was about to strike the final blow when Twilight Sparkle intervened.

In her heart, Twilight Sparkle knew that she could not let Nightmare Moon stain herself with the blood of her sister.

Princess Celestia used this opportunity to use the Elements of Harmony. For a moment, it appeared as if all was lost. But Twilight Sparkle had not ceased to be the bearer of the Elements of Harmony even though the rest were dead, and the powerful magic rebounded on the hate-filled Princess Celestia.

At that moment, in the rainbow, it felt quite right to Nightmare Moon to take Twilight Sparkle’s hooves and dance among the stars.

The stars twinkled back in the strange sort of twilight as the rainbow mixed with the light as if to voice their approval.