A THOUSAND YEARS LATER

“Spike, do you know what today is?” Twilight asked her assistant as she pulled down a few books from the library shelf with her magic.

“Free Day, right? Why was it called that, anyway?” Spike asked her, climbing up the stairs to see if she needed any help.

“Spike, I’ve told you this plenty of times. But I suppose once more wouldn’t hurt.” Twilight gently said, turning from the bookshelf to one of the tables that had been set-up for studying. She placed the few books she had gathered on the table and waited for Spike to sit near her.

“Tell me again then. Why is today called Free Day?” Spike asked, sitting next to her and watched her crack open a book about fairy tales.

“Well, nopony knows, really. The only ones who truly know are the Princesses. Even though I’m Princess Celestia’s personal student, she hasn’t told me the true reason about it. As far as I’m aware, it’s been called that because they help feed the poor and help out the homeless ponies.” Twilight explained, suddenly frowning at her explanation. Even she didn’t believe the reasoning the Princesses have out but it was the only one they had to go with so everypony just went along with it.

“It’s called Free Day, because the Princesses help feed the poor and help out the homeless?” Spike asked, nodding in understanding.

“Exactly. There’s probably more to it though.” Twilight replied, flipping through the pages in the book before landing on one. “Elements of Harmony … see Dragon in the Moon. What? I just flicked passed the ‘D’ section and it didn’t say anything about a dragon.”

“You probably flicked through it too fast.” Spike commented, resting his head on a claw with his elbow on the table. Twilight rolled her eyes and slowly flicked through the pages until she reached ‘Dragon in the Moon’.

“This is just a legend about how the Princesses freed Equestria from some form of tyranny by sending that villain into the moon.” Twilight commented, trying to find some more information in the book.

“That would explain the draconic face.” Spike told her as he got up, feeling a belch coming on. He burped and in a whirlwind of green flames, a scroll appeared. Twilight caught it in her magic and quickly read through it. “What’s it say, Twilight?” Spike asked her curiously.

“It says that both the Princesses want to see us.” Twilight said, looking at Spike with a raised brow.

“Let’s go then! No use waiting around here.” Spike said with a grin and ran out of the library and into Canterlot proper. Twilight snorted and chased after him all the way to the castle, dodging the ponies in the street as she went past.

They both ran through the castle doors and into the hallways. She knew them like the back of her hoof by now and lead Spike to where the Princesses told them to meet. After a quick debate on which way to go, Twilight just snorted in frustration and lead Spike to the throne room. She walked in with Spike on her heels and waited patiently for the Day Court to finish before speaking with her mentor and princess. When she called for a break, Twilight took this chance and walked up to Celestia with Spike in tow.

“You wanted to see us, Princess?” Twilight asked after bowing.

“Both my sister and I wanted to see you but she told me to take care of it while she handled other duties for today. We wanted to see you because the town of Ponyville is in need of a royal helper this year. A disaster has befallen them recently and we need to stay here to oversee things in Canterlot. So, we'd like you to go, as our representative, to check and make sure everything is being done to help their increase of poor and homeless.” Celestia explained to her student.

“You want us to go to Ponyville? But what about my studies?” Twilight asked, obvious panic set in her voice.

“Your studies will be fine. I just want to make sure everything is okay with Ponyville. I heard it was a pretty big disaster.” Celestia answered with a quiet chuckle.

“Come on, Twilight! It’s Ponyville! It’s someplace outside of Canterlot that we’ve never been to before!” Spike said excitedly, trying to persuade Twilight to agree to this.

“Plus, it will give you a chance to make some friends.” Celestia added, nodding in agreement with Spike.

“Friends? I don’t need friends! That’s what Spike’s for.” Twilight protested, rubbing a hoof on top of Spike’s head.

“Thanks, but you need more friends than just me.” Spike said, taking Twilight’s hoof off his head.

“Fine. Let’s just get this over with.” Twilight said exasperatedly, knowing that there was no point in arguing with the two.

“Excellent. This checklist should help you with the disaster recovery efforts.” Celestia said happily, magicking a furled up scroll and giving it to Twilight. “Please make sure to make some friends. It’ll be good for you,” she added as a last piece of advice.

“I’ll see you later then, Princess.” Twilight said with a small smile and a wave, and lead Spike out of the throne room and towards where the chariots were held.

During the rest of the day, Twilight and Spike talked to the various residents of the town and soon found that there were five different mares in charge to help with the disaster relief. A butter yellow mare with a pink mane and three butterflies for a cutie mark was in charge of helping the injured animals. An orange mare with a blonde mane and a Stetson as well as a cyan Pegasus mare with a prismatic mane were in charge of lifting rocks and helping the various injured ponies along with a white mare and a stylised purple mane. The last pony was a pink one with a darker pink mane. She was in charge of making sure everypony stayed chipper and kept their spirits high.

While the sun went down and the moon went up, the shadow in the moon disappeared as the various residents went to the town hall for a final celebration of the day as well as for some final disaster relief efforts. They were hoping for both the Princesses to show up for some last minute morality points. When the mayor opened the curtain, nopony of note appeared.

“Dear residents of this town. I, Kar'Voth, am here to tell you that your princesses are mine, literally. You and the rest of Equestria will follow in short order, never fear. All I ask is that you obey me. You may live like you usually have, but I will own each of you!” Kar'Voth said in a very cheerful tone as he appeared on stage in a flash of black lightning. The ponies gathered spoke amongst themselves before a collective question was asked,

“Who’s Kar'Voth?” A chorus of voices sounded out in confusion. Twilight wracked her brain to try and remember if she had heard of him before and realised that the Dragon in the Moon and this Kar'Voth was most likely the same being.

“You’re the Dragon in the Moon!” Twilight called out, with various shouts of protest flung her way.

“Ding ding ding! Give the mare a prize!” Kar'Voth said. “Your prize is to watch helplessly as I claim all of Equestria as mine.” His voice went from cheerful and delighted to cold and unforgiving.

“What kind of dealy is that!?” Pinkie Pie shouted at him, not really liking the idea of being ‘claimed’.

“The kind where I get what I want and you ponies get to go about your everyday lives. Unless, you’d prefer to try to stop me and end up like your Princesses.” Kar'Voth threatened.

“I don’t know about anypony else, but I’ll sure try to stop you!” Rainbow Dash told him before flying up and bucking him in the face.

“Well, I see you want to join your Princesses.” Kar'Voth responded as he sidestepped the mare’s attempt to buck him in his face. He encased her in black crystals, but left her head exposed. “Now, be a good little mare and stay right there.”

“What’s the big idea!?” Rainbow shouted at him, trying to get free of the crystal to no avail.

“How’d ya reckon ya’ll gonna claim us?” Applejack called out.

“The same way I claimed the castle in the Everfree and everything inside it as mine.” Kar'Voth began. “Actually, it’ll be better if you just see it.”

“You claimed the castle in the Everfree?” Twilight asked in surprise.

“Maybe claiming the entirety of Equestria is not the best way to go about it, darling.” Rarity told Kar'Voth uncertainly.

“I don’t like that idea.” Fluttershy whispered, hiding behind her mane.

“Oh, it’s the best way to go about getting the rest of the world and I love this idea.” Kar'Voth said as he stepped off the stage and started to walk out of the building. “And yes, I claimed the castle and everything in it a thousand years ago.”

“Hey! Let me out of here! Don’t you dare leave me like this!” Rainbow protested when she realised the dragon was going to leave with her still trapped inside magic crystal.

“No. If I did that then I’d have to hurt one of my future belongings. I don’t like doing that if I don’t have to.” Kar'Voth said as he got to the exit and took to the skies as he headed toward the Everfree castle. Twilight went to go after the dragon but remembered the predicament that Rainbow was in. She ran back in and over to Applejack.

“Applejack, right? Are there any picks left over from picking apart the rocks?” Twilight asked. Applejack nodded.

“There sure is. What d’ya need them for?” Applejack asked, then looked over to Rainbow as Twilight gestured to her. “Right. Ah’ll get those picks then,” she said and raced out of the room to find the picks. A few moments later, she came back with about five picks and handed them to the five strongest ponies she could find, including herself. Then, they all went up to Rainbow and began to steadily pick away at the crystal surrounding her.

When they got the crystal to a thin enough layer, the crystal cracked around Rainbow. She burst out of it and took off after the dragon, not caring what anypony else said.

“Applejack spoke up, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy also spoke up.” Twilight mused then an idea got in her head to go with these four and chase after Rainbow. ‘Wouldn’t hurt to try.’ she thought and went to each of them, asking them to help her follow Rainbow to the Everfree. After some much convincing, they all agreed and rushed after Rainbow, heading towards the Everfree.

When they got to the entrance, four of the mares immediately walked in with the fifth cowering at the edge but after some coaxing from Twilight, Fluttershy walked in was a massive gulp.

“I-I don’t think w-we should be here.” Fluttershy whimpered to the group as she looked around fearfully.

“Don’tcha worry none, you’ll be fine with the four of us here.” Applejack reassured her.

“Rainbow was following that dragon and the dragon was going to the castle in the Everfree so that’s where we should head too.” Twilight reminded them. “Do any of you know how that disaster happened to begin with?” she asked them.

“From what I know, a big bang sounded out near the town square, making me wake up in a hurry. It was rather improper to wake a mare up before her beauty sleep is meant to end.” Rarity answered primly.

“Same thing happened to us even though we were nowhere near the bang.” Pinkie supplied, bouncing up and down along the path they were walking.

“So a big bang sounded and you all woke up from it this morning?” Twilight asked them, switching her gaze from pony to pony as they spoke. “Do any of you know the cause of it?” Twilight asked, trying to get to the bottom of this disaster mystery.

“No, sorry, Twilight.” Fluttershy apologised.

“It’s fine. It’s probably just another natural disaster anyway.” Twilight said casually. The group fell to silence for a few moments as they tried to think of what to say.

“Ooh! Anypony know good ghost stories!?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Ghost stories? This is hardly the time for ghost stories, deary.” Rarity said with nervous laughter.

“If anything, it would be a nice way to pass the time.” Twilight told them, nodding to Pinkie. “Why don’t you start us off then?”

“The best ghost stories are based off events that can actually happen~” a ghostly voice told the five mares. The mares slowed their walking as they heard the voice.

“Was that you Pinkie?” Twilight asked her, looking around nervously.

“Nope. Must have been somepony else!” Pinkie said with a delirious smile.

“Who-who said that?” Rarity asked the air and feeling really stupid for doing so.

“I did~” said the ghost as it ran a hoof along Rarity’s spine. Rarity shivered and let out a gasp at the touch.

“Wh-wh-what was th-that?” Rarity asked in a small voice. She tried to see if she could spot anything but nothing could be seen.

“I don’t know but I don’t like the sound of them.” Twilight replied, trying to see if she could spot whatever those things were.

“Come out and face us!” Applejack shouted at the ghostly voices.

“We are already facing you, miss~” the ghost said as it and its comrades formed ranks in front of the five mares.

“That’s a lot of them.” Twilight said unnecessarily, coming to a full stop.

“Ghosts aren’t real! You just need to laugh at them to make them go away!” Pinkie said with a giggle.

“Ah don’t think that’ll work, Pinks.” Applejack warned her. “These ghosts seem to mean business.”

“Are you r-r-real?” Fluttershy asked one of them, giving a small eep when it turned its featureless face to look at her.

“We are very real, ma’am. Otherwise we would not be able to touch any of you~” it said as it put a hoof against Fluttershy’s cheek. Fluttershy shrunk away from the touch and gave another eep at the cold and slimy feeling.

“You may be well-mannered but you sure are cold.” Rarity gave a comment as she shivered, still reeling from the effects of earlier.

“What do you ghosts want?” Twilight asked them, refusing to move from her spot.

“We were sent by Kar'Voth as a delaying tactic. We were told not to lie to you as well~” one of the ghosts responded.

“So then why don’t ya’ll move out of the way and let us get back to business?” Applejack asked them.

“We cannot do that, ma’am. For we are the easiest of the obstacles set for you.~” said another of the group.

“Obstacles? There are more of you along the way?” Twilight asked in disbelief.

“What am I telling you? All you have to do is laugh at them! It’s easy!” Pinkie interjected and walked up to one of the ghosts, chortling at it as if it had told a good joke.

“I highly doubt that would work, darling.” Rarity told her.

‘The unicorn is correct. We were summoned using dark magic and will not go away because of laughter.~” the group answered in unison.

“Aww. But that’s what I was always told to do! Giggle at the ghosties and they’ll go away!” Pinkie protested, ears drooping in embarrassment and sadness.

“So how do we pass by you then?” Twilight asked, sitting down and swishing her tail from side to side impatiently.

“It’s okay, Pinkie. You gave it a good try.” Fluttershy said to Pinkie with an encouraging smile.

“Thou must be honest with one another even if a lie would mean saving thy friend’s feelings. We will be able to tell if any of thee lie. Now, please tell each other something thou likes about each other and something thou hates about each other. We will be able to tell if any of thee lie.~” explained an obviously very old ghost.

“So you want us to say what we like about each other and something we hate about each other? We’ve only known one another for a few hours,” Twilight said as she reworked the old language in her head into words that she understood.

“Tis long enough to find something for each category if thou art friends.~” replied the ghost. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to say something.

“Pinkie, I like the way you manage to cheer everypony up even when they seem at their lowest.” Fluttershy told Pinkie softly. “The one thing I d-don’t like about you though, is the way you seem so chipper all the time. Don’t you have any other emotion that’s not ‘cheerful’?” Fluttershy asked her, getting bolder the longer she talked.

“What? You like how I cheer everypony up but you don’t like how I’m happy all the time?” Pinkie asked for clarification to which Fluttershy nodded. “Well let me tell you what I like and don’t like about you. I like the way every single animal in Ponyville want to be your friends. It’s a good quality in you. But the one thing I don’t like, is the way you’re shy all the time. Can’t you be less shy every now and then?” Pinkie asked the shy pony, causing her to retreat behind her mane.

While Pinkie and Fluttershy had a one-sided conversation, with Pinkie being the side that talked, Applejack and Rarity confronted each other.

“Rarity, Ah like how much dedication ya’ll put in making those dresses but the thing Ah don’t like about that, is the fact that ya get ponies trussed up in them, even if they don’t want to.” Applejack told Rarity, watching her friend reel from shock.

“How could you say such a thing?! I would never force a pony to try on a dress. In fact, I don’t like how stubborn you can be but I admire the loyalty you show to your friends.” Rarity shot at her, causing the both of them to end up in an argument.

Twilight watched the four, three, of them get into arguments and turned to the ghost that laid down the rules. “What can I say to them? I know so little about them it wouldn’t make any sense for me to participate in this,” she told them.

“Dost thou not see something right now that thou hates about any of them? Surely thou dost. Thou canst use their interactions that thou hast seen during this to find something you like about them as well. Canst thou?~” the ghost replied.

“The only thing I can see about them that I hate at the moment is them arguing!” Twilight shouted the last word at the four of them. The four mares stopped their arguing and looked at her in surprise. “The other thing, the thing that I like, is the fact that they joined me in chasing after Rainbow. If they wouldn’t, then I would have gone by myself,” she added, facing the ghost again and completely oblivious to what she just said.

“All of thee have spoken true. Thou may pass.~” the ghost replied as they dissolved into thin air.

“Come on, We don’t have a lot of time.” Twilight said, thankful that the ghosts finally dissipated. She then began a light trot, the other four following after.

“Ghost stories. Anypony have them?” Pinkie asked, speaking as if the ghost army never happened.

“Pinkie, we’ve just lived a ghost story. I don’t think anything more can be said about that.” Rarity told her with a shiver down her spine.

“Ah agree. Let’s put this behind us and never talk about it again.” Applejack said stubbornly.

“Never talk about it again? We just encountered live ghosts! Who else can say they did that?!” Twilight said suddenly, getting excited with what they just went through.

“N-Nopony, T-T-Twilight.” Fluttershy said nervously, her hoof slipping a bit on the ground.

“Exactly! It could the greatest scientific find ever!” Twilight said excitedly, nearly slipping onto all fours but recovered just in time. “Where did this crystal come from? It wasn’t here before.”

“Ah don’t know but Ah don’t like the looks of this.” Applejack stated, cautiously stepping on the crystal before slowly walking away from the group as her footing got more sure.

“Applejack!” Twilight called out, noticing that the crystal around the orange mare began to grow. She lit up her horn and stuck her tongue out, trying to see if she could levitate Applejack back to the group.

Applejack looked over and didn’t notice the crystal until was halfway up her body. She slowed to a stop and slid a few feet before stopping completely. She noticed the crystal with a look of trepidation and found that she couldn’t move her hooves at all.

“Come on, we need to save Applejack!” Twilight called out and slowly but surely lead the group over to Applejack, making sure not to slip. Soon as they got near, the crystal disappeared back into the ground, leaving Applejack relatively unharmed. “You alright, Applejack?” Twilight asked concernedly.

“Ah’m fine but Ah think we need to stick together with this one. It looks like that if one of us leaves this here group, then this crystal ground will trap us.” Applejack explained worriedly. The mares accepted that explanation with a bit of hesitation but ended up sticking together anyway purely out of fear. They made it to the end of the crystal path and sighed in relief at the same time.

“We didn’t lose anypony, did we?” Fluttershy asked softly. The other four shook their heads and were surprised that no other mishaps had occurred along the path. They struck out along the path again and made their way to the castle, knowing that it was their destination.

With some casual chatter along the way, the five of them walked around the bend and soon found themselves in pitch blackness where no light could be seen in either direction.

“This is highly unusual.” Twilight observed and waved a hoof in front of her face. She couldn’t see it so that meant extremely low visibility.

“There’s no light here at all. How are we meant to see where we’re going?” Rarity asked, walking forward cautiously.

“You’re a Unicorn, Rares. Try lighting that there horn up.” Applejack said as she tried to follow Rarity by the sound of her voice. Rarity lit her horn to give off some light but that too was swallowed by the darkness.

“No light so we have to be very cautious when walking.” Rarity said as she frowned at her horn before continuing forward slowly. Twilight walked forward as well before realising that Pinkie or Fluttershy hadn’t spoken up.

“You two alright?” Twilight asked when she found her way to the both of them. Fluttershy shook her head, which was no surprise but the surprise was Pinkie shaking her head.

“Pinkie? You? Scared of the dark?” Twilight asked in surprise. She thought that Pinkie didn’t show any fear.

“Dark with light is a good thing but ultimate darkness is bad.” Pinkie sounded like she recited that from a book.

“You’re that scared of the dark that you won’t move at all?” Twilight asked, offering Fluttershy a hoof for her to hold while she talked with Pinkie.

“I just said that dark with light to see by is a good thing. I’m not that afraid of it if it’s like that. But this? This is a whole different beast.” Pinkie replied, barely noticing Fluttershy take Twilight’s hoof gently.

“Well … why don’t you bite my tail then and just follow where I step?” Twilight suggested kindly, already having a hooful with helping Fluttershy walk with her.

“What if you move too fast?” Pinkie asked, suddenly standing up.

“I’ll be sure not to.” Twilight reassured her, turning around and offering her tail for Pinkie to bite on. She winced when Pinkie bit on it and tucked her head towards her chest but moved slowly through the darkness, holding tightly onto Fluttershy’s hoof to be sure she didn’t fall behind either.

Applejack and Rarity smiled when they finally saw Twilight emerge with Fluttershy and Pinkie close at hoof.

“What took you so long?” Rarity asked curiously.

“I-” Twilight was cut off when she felt a sharp tug on her tail. She looked behind and found Pinkie shaking her head vigorously. Twilight raised a brow at her and turned back, intending to talk to her about it later.

“I had to help Fluttershy along with Pinkie’s help,” she amended what she was going to say and smiled sheepishly at Applejack and Rarity.

“As long as y’all make it out in one piece, that’s fine by me.” Applejack said, turning around and walking down the path. The other four followed her.

“Why didn’t you want me to say you were scared?” Twilight whispered to Pinkie, making sure the others didn’t here.

“I don’t want them to think I’m not happy all the time.” Pinkie said simply.

“That’s no way to go about it. You need to let others know that you’re not just happy-go-lucky all the time.” Twilight told her, shaking her head at Pinkie’s response.

“I know but I can’t help myself.” Pinkie replied and quickened her pace to catch up to Rarity and Applejack. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at her, then at each other and went to catch up to the other three.

Some time later, Twilight noticed that the moon was high in the sky and grumbled that they haven’t been making quick enough progress.

“We need to get moving! The whole of Equestria is counting on this.” Twilight said exasperatedly.

“The ‘whole’ of Equestria?” Applejack asked her with a quirked brow.

“Have you forgotten what he said when he appeared? He said that he wants to claim the entirety of Equestria.” Twilight reminded her and looked up with a scowl as she heard a raspy voice shout out.

“Hey! Up here!” Rainbow shouted down towards them.

“Rainbow? Ah thought you’d have caught up to that dragon by now!” Applejack shouted up to her.

“I would but I got trapped by a wall of black wind!” Rainbow called out, flying down towards them with a wall of black wind following her. She tried to fly away from it but found another wall of wind blocking her that way. “This is getting a bit ridiculous.” She sighed and bumped into a wall of wind above her. The only way out seemed down but that was soon blocked by the ground itself. Rarity tried to rescue her but the wall of wind pushed her back.

“So, y’all are sayin that ‘the fastest flyer in Equestria’ is being stopped by wind?” Applejack asked as she began to giggle. “Isn’t tha somethin’ tha the easiest obstacle?”

“Hey! I’d like to see you try it!” Rainbow retorted.

“Admit it, RD. This is pretty funny when you think about it. I mean wind stopping a pegasus?” Applejack said. She laughed and wiped away a tear before looking to see how Rainbow was doing.

“Yeah, it is kinda funny for a pegasus who can control weather to be stopped by something so simple.” Rainbow admitted as she giggled. The black wind dissolved and Rainbow was able to fly onwards. “Catch ya later!” Rainbow called out as she flew away but was stopped short when she felt her tail yanked by something. “What? I was just about to-”

“No buts, Rainbow. You’re staying here where we can keep an eye on you.” Twilight said forcefully, but a bit of laughter escaped as she watched Rainbow dangle upside down with her tail stretched out in mid-flight.

“How d-did she get free?” Fluttershy asked as she covered her mouth with a wing to hide her smile.

“It was right about the time she admitted something and laughed.” Rarity recalled.

“Hello? Dangling in mid-air here!” Rainbow called down to Twilight. She let go of her tail and Rainbow plummeted to the ground catching herself in time by flaring her wings and flapping down gently.

“So, she laughed at herself?” Twilight asked.

“That sounds about right.” Pinkie agreed and shrugged, sitting down.

“We can’t go forward until we laugh at ourselves. This may be one of the harder ones.” Twilight sighed.

“Ya sure ‘bout that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. Twilight nodded, forcing Applejack to walk forward to test it out. Soon enough, as she got close to a point on the path just ahead of the group, a black wall of wind appeared where she tried to go. She stepped to the side and tried to walk forward only to be stopped by the wind again. “Yup, we’re stuck. You’re right, Twilight.” Applejack said and walked back to the group.

“Now we have to laugh at ourselves but it will most likely be an honest thing like the first obstacle.” Twilight summarised, tapping a hoof against her chin as she slowly began to pace. Pinkie followed Twilight’s movements for a long while before speaking.

“What’s up, pacey? I didn’t think you paced, Twilight. Soon enough, you’ll pace a circle into the ground.” Pinkie jibbered.

“What? No I won’t. I can stop any time I want.” Twilight argued, continuing to pace in a circle.

“Sweetie, you kind of are.” Rarity supplied, pointing to the ground where Twilight’s head was currently bobbing.

“Nope. I’m just pacing like I usually do.” Twilight said in continuous denial.

“If this is how you usually pace, I’d hate to see the other places you walked.” Rainbow said as she chuckled a bit.

“Um.” Twilight blinked as the others disappeared from view, finally realising that she actually was pacing a circle into the ground. “Heh heh, oops.” Twilight laughed in embarrassment, climbing up out of the hole with Applejack’s help. “I believe that counts,” she continued.

“Rarity, you got a bit of dirt on your coat.” Applejack pointed out, hearing Rainbow snicker at Rarity.

“I do? Where?!” Rarity shouted, twirling place frantically to see if she could spot it.

“Other side.” Fluttershy said helpfully, pointing to the tiniest of smudges on her otherwise pristine coat.

“What? How did that get there?” Rarity asked, spinning around until she made herself. “Wait, I, heh heh. This may be a bit of a worry.” Rarity laughed, stumbling around until she fell against a tree. Fluttershy ran up to her and gently helped her up, laughing a bit at Rarity’s silliness.

“I’d like to see you laugh at yourself Applejack.” Rarity challenged, brushing off the bit of dirt as she laughed at how small it was.

“Ah don’t think Ah can laugh at myself, Rares.” Applejack said, watching Rarity with narrowed eyes.

“No, I believe you can. If I did then you most certainly can. So will you take up the challenge?” Rarity pressed, narrowing her own eyes challengingly at Applejack.

“Ah mean it. Ah doubt Ah can even come up with something to laugh at before the night’s over.” Applejack said stubbornly, eyes darting from side to side for a few second before refocusing on Rarity.

“There has to be something there, darling.” Rarity said in disbelief.

“What do ya want me ta do? Laugh at myself for being stubborn?” Applejack asked with a surprised look.

“That can work.” Twilight told her.

“Well Ah won’t!” Applejack stubbornly replied to Twilight.

“Listen to yourself! You’re being stubborn right now!” Rainbow called out now, laughing at something that AJ obviously wasn’t getting.

“Admit it Applejack.” Twilight smirked.

“No, Ah … fine.” Applejack relented and laughed a bit. “Ah’m stubborn yes, but I didn’t think it would be something to laugh about,” she added, feeling a few chuckles escape her before finally laughing softly.

“Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity and myself can pass through the wind barrier. I’m sure Pinkie can pass through anyway because she just laughs at anything which leaves, Fluttershy.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“I’ll be fine if I get left behind. It’s okay.” Fluttershy said softly.

“No, it’s not. We’ve come this far, we may as well go all the way.” Twilight said to her and noticed that she hid behind her pink mane the minute Twilight raised her voice to a more normal level.

“You’re hiding behind your mane again?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle. “I thought you stopped that ages ago.”

“I wanted to stop, but it was just too easy to hide behind my mane.” Fluttershy told her as she peeked out from behind her mane.

“That’s ridiculous!” Rainbow teased, laughing at Fluttershy’s predicament. Fluttershy blinked at Rainbow for a bit before laughing, realising that Rainbow was right.

“You’re right.” Fluttershy said softly, smiling and laughing as she flicked her mane behind her ear. They all laughed at each other’s insecurities that they had showed while walking passed the wind wall. They made it through without a hitch and with no further delays, they ran towards the castle, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.

They soon found the castle looming in the distance. As they ran up the path, they skidded to a halt in front of a great chasm with a broken bridge that had been connected between the castle and the cliff side.

“Argh! The castle is right there!” Twilight complained and stamped her hoof.

“We have no bridge to get to it either.” Applejack commented, sitting down and looking across the chasm. Rainbow flew down into the chasm to see if she could find the other edge of the bridge. Spotting it dangling on the castle side of the chasm, she grabbed one of the ropes with her teeth and dragged it back up, holding it on their side of the chasm.

“Brith here!” Rainbow called out through a mouthful of rope.

“That’s not a bridge. That’s half a bridge. We still need rope to hoist it up on this side so Rainbow doesn’t get too tired.” Twilight said with a bored comment.

“Ah got rope!” Applejack announced, reaching under her Stetson and bringing out a coil of rope. She handed it to Twilight who unfurled it and attached it to one end of the bridge with her magic. She extended it out and found that it only reached halfway.

“Do you have anymore?” Twilight asked Applejack. She replied by shaking her head. “What else can we use then?” Twilight asked and began to look around for any vines that could be used. She felt the rope combine with another aura of magic, causing Twilight to look at the bridge, only to find a purple tail that had been straightened out to be a makeshift rope.

“Rarity? You-Your tail!” Twilight said in surprise, noticing Rarity’s cut tail.

“It’ll grow back, Twilight. I just couldn’t stand being on this side longer than I have to, knowing that the dragon is in there somewhere.” Rarity reasoned and attached the sides of the bridge with her tail. Rainbow hesitantly let go of the bridge, watching it start to fall but stopped as the two pieces of rope grew taut and held it up.

“Finally!” Rainbow called and dashed inside, the other five scrambling after her.

“Didst thou now learn thy lesson back in the town?” Kar’Voth asked as he knocked Rainbow out of the air and into the others. The group fell over like bowling pins. As they struggled to get up, Rainbow recovered the fastest and rushed at him, bucking him in the face again.

“Thou Rainbows truly like kicking dragons in the snout, don’t you? Fine, try again without thy energy!” Kar’Voth said as he absorbed Rainbow’s energy until she had to land.

“What?” Rainbow asked weakly, barely able to stand as she limped back to the group.

“What did you do to Rainbow?” Twilight called out, placing a shield in front of the group in case he tried anything funny.

“We didst absorb her energy as We said We would. We dost not lie.” Kar’Voth told the group as six orbs of stone started to orbit around him. Twilight watched the orbs orbit him with her eyes.

“What are those?” Twilight couldn’t help her curious side, momentarily forgetting about the fight.

“These? These art mine Elements of Harmony. We didst claim them with the castle and those who occupied it. Such as Clover the Clever and Starswirl the Bearded.” Kar’Voth explained to the quizzical unicorn.

“You ‘claimed’ the greatest Unicorn in history!?” Twilight asked in surprise, lowering her shield to let the others do what they want. Applejack watched Twilight’s reaction and reacted herself by running towards Kar’voth to headbutt him in one of his forelegs.

“We didst claim Celestia and Luna as well, Twilight.” Kar’Voth told Twilight as he looked down at Applejack. “Tis futile, Applejack.” He absorbed Applejack’s energy as she stood next to his foreleg. Applejack let out a groan as she slumped against his leg, too weak to even make an attempt to go back to the group.

“You claimed the Princesses as well?” Twilight asked in a small voice, a horrified look overcoming her features as she witnessed Applejack get her energy sucked out as well.

“Varily. Would any of the rest of the care to try something?” Kar’Voth inquired as he looked at each of the remaining mares. The other four were too scared to do anything, not to mention Twilight looking shell-shocked at having learned this new information.

“No? We see no reason not to begin the ceremony then.” Kar’Voth said as he walked towards the four remaining mares and the exit that was behind them. As a last-ditch effort, Twilight powered her horn and covered the exit in sparkly shield magic, knowing that it wasn’t enough to stop him but hopefully it would slow him down. She grunted with the effort of keeping the shield up while Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy tried to think of what to do.

“Oh? Thy magic feels similar to Clover’s, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps...Yes, tis so. Mine magic is already permeated throughout thy body!” Kar’Voth said in surprise.

“What the hay does that mean!?” Pinkie called out.

“It means that she has been mine since she was born for it seems that all of Clover’s descendants had mine magic passed onto them. Dost thou understand, Pinkie?” Kar’Voth explained. He had stopped the moment he’d found his magic inside of Twilight.

“So you’re saying that Twilight is descended from Clover and Clover was claimed by you in the past but that means that whatever magic you used that was inside Clover is also inside Twilight because she’s a descendant of Clover? That’s a bad case of genetics if I ever heard one.” Pinkie said in a rush, tilting her head from side to side as she talked.

“Correct, Pinkie. Mine magic is the reason why this castle wasn’t reclaimed by either the forest or beasts for the past thousand years.” Kar’Voth told the hyper mare. The three mares still standing looked to Twilight in concern.

“Why are you all looking at me? Because I have some freakish magic inside me from a thousand years ago?” Twilight snarked and glared at the dragon. “Why did you claim everything in this castle a thousand years ago? Just to have something belong to you?”

“Nay, at the time We were known as Draigo. We claimed everything, with permission from Celestia and Luna, to protect it from monster attacks.” Kar’Voth explained to the lavender mare.

“So you were corrupted then?” Twilight asked, her horn sparking as she kept the shield up.

“We know not what happened. All We know is that when We woke up we looked like this and felt so much freer than before.” Kar’Voth told he as he resumed walking towards the exit. Twilight kept the shield up and groaned as an utterly ridiculous idea entered her head.

“Kar’Voth, do you want to hurt your belongings?” Twilight asked, feeling sick when she knew that she was part of that category.

“We would prefer not to, but will if we must.” Kar’Voth replied.

“What would you do if I hurt myself then?” Twilight asked, trying to keep him talking as she went through multiple plans at once.

“We would heal you, but We have been unable to use such magic since We woke up like this, Twilight.” Kar’Voth admitted.

“You won’t be able to heal yourself either then if you managed to get hurt?” Twilight asked her third question, horn sparking multiple times as the spell kept flowing through her horn.

“Tis as thou hast guessed, but We do not see any of thee managing to hurt us.” Kar’Voth said confidently.

“That doesn’t matter right now. Besides flying, what else can you do?” Twilight asked, laying down on the floor as she concentrated all her strength into keeping the sparkly shield up.

“Well, We use Nether manipulation and dark magic. We have other abilities, but they are sealed.” Kar’Voth told her as he wondered what she was getting at.

‘He can’t use anything other than dark magic. That’s just great.’ Twilight sighed to herself and looked up to Kar’Voth. Fluttershy whispered something to her as she gestured towards the dragon. “You sure you want me to ask him that?” Twilight asked and focused her attention back on Kar’Voth. “Fluttershy wants to know if you can change form. I don’t know where she got that idea from though.” Twilight relayed Fluttershy’s message and watched Fluttershy whisper something to Pinkie.

“We hath not tried that since becoming aware of Our changes.” Kar’Voth admitted.

“Why don’t you try then, Mr. Voth?” Fluttershy asked in a bold move of her own.

“We art weaker in that form, but We suppose We should know what abilities are left to Us.” Kar’Voth said as his scales became metal full-plate armor that was pitch black with purple accents that covered his entire body. He had a cape on his shoulders that was black with purple lining. His gauntlets had one inch claws on each finger and a sword was strapped to his waist. Looking at the helmet he wore only one glowing green eye could be seen with purple flames pouring from it.

“This is your true form?” Twilight asked in a bored voice and flattened her ears when Fluttershy told her to.

“Who cares what he looks like? PARTY CANNON!” Pinkie shouted, pulling out a small white cannon with a blue rim and pink wheels from behind a nearby pillar. She moved it and aimed it before laughing hysterically and pulling the string, letting loose an explosion of streamers and confetti bags at a high velocity. Kar’Voth flew back about twenty feet as he took the cannon’s blast in his gut from ten feet away. It would have been worse if not for his armor.

“How did We forget about her cannon?” Kar’Voth asked himself. He looked up and noticed the Elements were on the floor where he had been standing earlier.

Twilight looked at the fallen orbs and remembered him calling ‘Elements of Harmony’. She didn’t really know what they were but stood up and ran up to them anyway, cutting off her flow of magic and powering down the shield. The other three followed her to the orbs and they instinctively grabbed one, not really knowing what else to do.

“No! Not again!” Kar'Voth yelled as he changed back to his draconic form and charged the four mares.

Twilight grabbed the other three Elements in her magic and ran to the side, and over to Applejack. “Do any of you know what these are?” Twilight asked them.

“Nope but he seemed angry that we got them.” Pinkie answered, giggling at Kar’Voth.

“Thou shalt not be laughing when thou hast no energy!” Kar’Voth yelled and absorbed the energy of Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity, leaving Twilight for last.

“You sucked their energy out.” Twilight stated, staring calmly at the dragon. “I barely know these ponies but what I do know of them is that they stood up for each other, even when arguing.” Twilight shrugged as she sat down and even had the audacity to stare boredly at Kar’Voth.

“We shall give thee a choice. Keep thy friends or keep the Elements. I will take whichever thou dost not choose.” Kar’Voth told Twilight.

“I don’t even know what these things are.” Twilight replied and magicked the six Elements in front of her face to inspect them. “They’re just stone orbs. Why do you want them so badly?”

“We shall tell thee if thee hand them over to me.” Kar’Voth stated as he slowly walked towards Twilight.

“I’ll gladly hand them over when you tell me what they are.” Twilight said, magicking the orbs behind her when she noticed him move.

“We get them first then We’ll tell thee. Not the other way around, Twilight.” Kar’Voth told her as he continued to slowly walk towards her.

“You tell me first, then I’ll give them. I won’t take it any other way.” Twilight countered, levitating the Party Cannon stealthily as she realised her horn was still lit up from magicking the Elements near her.

“We didst not want to do this, but thou hast made Us.” Kar’Voth said as he reached out with a tendril of black energy and directed it toward Twilight. Twilight didn’t move from her spot, instead, levitated the Party Cannon next to his ear and pulled the string with her magic, causing it to make an extremely loud explosion with streamers and confetti going everywhere. Kar’Voth roared in pain as he lost hearing in one ear, was flung forty feet away and got a concussion from hitting the floor with his head.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief before running out of the room and further into the castle, looking back at her new friends for a brief second before disappearing around the corner. With the Elements in tow, she ran through corridor after corridor before finally tiring out in an open courtyard with a gigantic and oddly-leaved tree. She flopped against the roots that were hidden from the doorway and levitated the Elements close to her she could try and inspect them in peace. She heard a primal roar of rage emanate from the castle’s entrance.

“She’ll pay for that.” Kar'Voth said to himself after his roar. He started running down the corridors, looking for any sign that a pony had been here. With a thousand year’s worth of dust everywhere it didn’t take him long to find Twilight’s trail.

Twilight cringed at the roar and quickly set to work finding out how these stupid orbs worked. The first one she inspected had a star shape while the other five had a generic crystal shape. She set those in between the roots for now, hiding them out of sight to inspect the starry one. ‘It’s just a star etched into a rock. There’s nothing special about this at all other than the fact that it was a star and the others weren’t.’ Twilight shook it to see if it would activate that way but nothing happened. “Oh come on. You have to work somehow.” Twilight muttered to herself.

“Oh, they do, but you’ve run out of time to figure it out.” Kar'Voth said as he stood in the doorway leading into the castle.

Twilight peeked her head around the wide trunk of the tree to find the dragon standing in the doorway. “Hey. How’s it going?” she asked casually, stuffing the other five Elements deep into the roots of the tree in hopes of him having not seen them yet.

“Oh, you know. Concussion, ruptured eardrum, and being flung forty feet. I’ve had worse injuries, but I think I’m at least talking the right way now.” Kar'Voth told her as he walked towards her.

Twilight stepped out from behind the tree trunk and gave him the Magic Element. “You are, don’t worry. I have no idea how these work but I do know you want them, badly. So, I flung the other Elements into other parts of the castle.” Twilight said casually, hoping he wouldn’t see through her bluff if his concussion was really that bad.

“Well, that’s one plus, I guess. You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” Kar'Voth asked.

“Why would I? You’ll just suck my energy out and leave me for dead if I did otherwise.” Twilight answered, as she walked passed him. “Before you ask, I don’t know where I put the other Elements. I tried an unstable teleporting spell on them to see if they activated that way and they got teleported to different parts of the castle.”

“Dead? No, the others will be fine. They just need about eight hours of sleep. Why would I kill something or someone that I was about to claim for myself?” Kar'Voth said as he kept his attention on Twilight.

“No clue. You seemed like that kind of guy to me. Which way is it to the entrance? I want to check on the ponies I travelled with.” Twilight asked boredly, doing her best to keep emotion out of it.

“I may be evil, but I try not to kill things that I don’t have to.” Kar'Voth said as he pointed Twilight in the correct direction and started his search for the Elements in the courtyard. Twilight looked back after he finished speaking and got an extremely worried look on her face as she observed what he was doing. Now knowing that her friends would be fine, she took off in the other direction and noticed the dust on the floor. Lighting up her horn, Twilight swirled the dust behind her in an effort to mask her tracks as she explored the castle for a bit.

“Stupid, Twilight. Spreading the Elements all over the castle. Gonna take forever to find them.” Kar'Voth grumbled to himself as he gave the entire area a once over. He even checked in the tree’s roots, nothing. “Well, next room, I guess.”

“This is a big library.” Twilight commented, having found herself inside the Castle’s library and noticing the multitude of books in the shelves. “I could get lost for weeks here but I can’t. I got to make sure Kar'Voth doesn’t find those other five Elements. Wait. I’m in a library! I can search them up here!” Twilight said to herself and clapped her hooves in delight as she immediately began poring over the books to find any information at all on the Elements. She soon found out that there were six different elements, each with their own magical properties but the one thing that she seemed to come back to is what the Elements represented.

“Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty and Magic. I got five unconscious friends back at the entrance. Maybe it will work with them?” Twilight asked herself and figured it couldn’t hurt to try. With that in mind, she shut the book and took it with her in case she needed it, leaving various sized piles of teetering books in the library. She shot past Kar'Voth in one of the corridors and almost immediately stopped in her tracks when she realised. “Found the Elements yet, Kar'Voth?” Twilight asked, slightly out of breath.

“No, but you seem to have found something, Twilight. Why the rush?” Kar'Voth asked with a raised eye ridge.

“I realised I hadn’t checked on my acquaintances yet. Too busy exploring the castle.” Twilight said, not turning to look at him and staring straight ahead. “You haven’t found even one Element yet? I thought you’d have found at least two by now.”

“I still only have Magic. The one you gave me.” Kar'Voth admitted as he levitated the Element around him.

Twilight turned and watched the Element curiously before smiling up at him. “You’ll find them eventually. Now, I got to check on the others.” Twilight said before stepping backwards and running back towards the entrance. Kar'Voth decided to quietly follow Twilight in case she knew something he didn’t.

‘Okay, the Elements are still under the roots. That’s good to know. I’ll just quickly grab them and then head on back to my friends.’ Twilight thought, too busy running towards the courtyard to notice anything else. When she got there, she quickly checked behind herself to see if anything was amiss. Not noticing anything, she went to the roots and levitated the hidden Elements out from the ground. A bit of dirt was still on them but that shouldn’t be a problem. Pleased that Kar'Voth hadn’t found them, she turned and began to run back into the castle.

“So, you did lie. Lying isn’t very nice, Twilight.” Kar'Voth said as he strode through the doorway. Twilight gave a small eep when she saw Kar'Voth walk in and quickly hid the Elements behind her even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“I thought you were still searching the castle, Kar'Voth.” Twilight whispered.

“You seemed to have found something so I decided to follow you, just in case.” Kar'Voth told her.

“I found out about the Elements but I still don’t know how they work.” Twilight replied, backing up into the tree, suddenly afraid of what he might do to her.

“I could tell you, but that wouldn’t help me at all.” Kar'Voth said as he turned to leave. “I think I’ll go check on your friends.”

“They’re not my friends.” Twilight huffed. “They’re just random ponies that helped me when I asked.”

“Really? Then how did you get past my traps?” Kar'Voth asked as he continued his way toward the castle’s entrance. Twilight realised that he wasn’t going after her and came up with another stupid idea.

“I responded with appropriate answers.” Twilight said as she rushed by him, heading to the entrance as quickly as she could.

“Appropriate answers wouldn’t get you past all of them. Only true friendship could get past all of my traps. That’s how I know how much of a threat you six are!” Kar'Voth said as he charged after her. Twilight heard the thud of his claws quicken against the stone tiles and multitasked her spells by keeping the Elements levitated and placing a sparkly shield between her and the dragon.

“I brought them along just for that reason. I barely know any of them, but somehow we managed to get passed them.” Twilight told him, quickening her own pace in an effort to get to the castle entrance first.

“Barely know them? Didn’t you learn anything during those traps?” Kar'Voth asked her as he took flight and sped to catch up to Twilight.

“Nope. That’s the one time I didn’t learn anything.” Twilight lied, glancing behind her and slowing and ducking when she realised what he was up to. She moved the shield she created around herself as she watched him fly over.

“That’s too bad. I guess you’ll never learn about Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic.” Kar'Voth told her as he flew over her.

“Yeah, too bad.” Twilight echoed as she slowed to a trot.

“Given up already?” Kar'Voth said as he noticed Twilight slow down.

“No. I just thought you would go on ahead.” Twilight said casually, keeping the portable shield between her and Kar'Voth. She levitated the orbs in front of her face and thought about them and her friends. Getting a determined look in her eyes, she rushed by Kar'Voth and moved the shield back behind her as she resumed racing towards the entrance.

“That’s more like it!” Kar'Voth said excitedly as he chased after her. Twilight ignored him and soon came upon the entrance, where her friends talked with each other as they laid down, trying to get their strength back.

“Twilight? Where have you been?” Rarity asked, watching her race in with five of the orbs clutched in her magic.

“Learning about the Elements and being chased by Kar'Voth!” Twilight answered, giving each of them one of the orbs. “I don’t know which orb is which so I’m hoping I gave them to the correct pony.”

“You’re still missing the most important one, Twilight. Good luck getting it away from me.” Kar'Voth said as he rounded the corner and confronted the six mares.

“Ah. Right. Magic.” Twilight sighed despondently, her ears flicking in disappointment.

“Hang on a sec. What just are these Elements y’all speak of?” Applejack asked, looking at the orb Twilight gave her.

“Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter and Magic. Those are the six Elements of Harmony. From what I read, they’re what sent him to the moon a thousand years ago.” Twilight explained, nodding her head in Kar'Voth’s direction.

“Yes, Twilight, they are. And I’m not going to let you send me back there!” Kar'Voth told her as his eyes turned completely black and a wave of dark earth crashed towards the mares. Twilight realised she still had her shield up and now that she only had one thing to worry about, decided to put all her power into the shield. She extended it into a ring around the group and strengthened it until sparks flew off her horn, a signal of too much power being channeled into it.

“It seems that Celestia’s prized student still needs to work on her defenses. Unlike a certain guardsmen that you know.” Kar'Voth laughed as Twilight’s shield shattered and his earth hit the mares.

The wave pushed the mares into the far wall, their heads hitting, making them slump against the floor. Twilight was flung into the wall from the dual force of her shield shattering and the wave sending her flying. She hit the wall and heard something crack as she fell. Gently rubbing her head as she lied there, she cried out in pain when her hoof brushed against the base of her horn, feeling a bit of it missing. “Too much power fed into horn results in horn cracking when flung against wall.” Twilight muttered to herself as she analysed her pain.

“Don’t you see how futile your efforts are? I beat the Grim Reaper and Celestia before Luna sent me to the moon. What makes you think you can do better than them?” Kar'Voth taunted as he slowly walked towards Twilight.

“Because I have friends.” Twilight said, hearing a hum of power from the five orbs surrounding them. “Applejack is honest as Rainbow Dash is loyal. Fluttershy and Pinkie displayed kindness and laughter in equal measures and Rarity is generous by using her tail as a makeshift rope.” Twilight continued, shutting her eyes against a blinding light. When it disappeared, five gems were in place of the orbs.

“That’s five. What about the sixth?” Kar'Voth said as he took his Element in claw.

“No clue. No idea how to activate that one.” Twilight said truthfully, wincing when she moved her head. ‘I’m going to have a hard time casting spells with my horn being cracked,’ she thought to herself sadly.

“You’re Celestia’s student. You know about the other five, but don’t know about the last and most important Element: Friendship? What kind of dunce are you?” Kar'Voth asked, astounded that she knew so much yet so little.

“I’m a very good dunce. I never knew about friendship until today, even now, I still don’t know anything about it.” Twilight replied, closing an eye as she felt a bit of blood run down her face from her cracked horn.

“You’re even more dense than I am if you’ve learned nothing about friendship after going through everything you have today.” Kar'Voth told her in exasperation.

“Fine. You caught me. I’ve learned something about friendship but even that little bit isn’t enough to activate the sixth Element.” Twilight admitted. She thought back over the journey in the Everfree and realised that the only thing of note she really learned was that they all stuck together, even though they argued a lot.

“Well, your friends are obviously Element Bearers. You, are not. I will let you leave, but they will stay here. Trapped so that they can not use the Elements against me.” Kar'Voth told her as he advanced upon the other five mares. Twilight tried to put up another shield between them but the stress on her horn was too painful to do so. She contemplated what he said and didn’t bother moving an inch.

“But I don’t wanna move.” Twilight stated, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Then I will move you. Goodbye, Twilight. The next time I see you will be when I own all of Equestria.” Kar'Voth said as he wrapped Twilight in dark wind and moved her outside the castle’s entrance.

Twilight looked at the castle for a second before standing up and checking herself over, noting how the only real injury to her was her cracked horn. ‘I can’t let this continue. I need to come clean and save my friends.’ Twilight thought as she ran back over the bridge to charge back into the entrance room. ‘This will most likely make no sense at all but I got to try something!’ Twilight thought desperately as she confronted Kar'Voth.

“What kind of friend are you if you want everything in Equestria to belong to you?” Twilight called out to him as she ran into the entranceway.

“I never said I was friends with anyone. That doesn’t mean I don’t know about it, though. The Elements were used on me before and I did have friends before I woke up.” Kar’Voth said. Kar’Voth’s eyes changed to regular golden dragon eyes and his serrated features smoothed out.

“Twilight! It takes a spark to activate the last Element of Harmony!” Kar’Voth said in a very similar, but different voice than normal. The six mares looked at Kar’Voth weirdly before Twilight pondered what he had said.

“A spark activates the last Element? What spark? The books never said anything about a spark!” Twilight called out.

“I do not have long. Kar’Voth is...almost in control...again. The magic of friendship is what you need. True friendship.” the voice told her. The dragon’s body began to shake as he screwed his eyes shut as though in pain before they opened to reveal Kar’Voth’s eyes once more.

“I do not know what he told you, but you must pay him no heed.” Kar’Voth told the mares.

Twilight watched the orb that contained the Element of Magic as she thought over what this other voice said. ‘If friendship is what’s needed, then maybe I actually can activate the Element.’ Twilight wondered and thought over what she and her friends did on the tests and as she thought of them, the orb slowly lit up every time it orbited near her.

“Now, Twilight. Leave before you get more hurt than you already are. Your horn is damaged just like this Element is. I don’t want you to lose the ability to use magic. It would make your ancestor roll over in her grave knowing that her descendant made it so she couldn’t use magic anymore.” Kar’Voth told her as he started to slowly encase the other mares in black crystal.

Twilight looked at her friends in shock before turning her attention back to the dragon. “Wait. Let me see the Element again. Since I can’t activate it, it wouldn’t hurt, right?” she asked in a carefully neutral voice.

“I suppose that’s true. What do you hope to see that you haven’t already?” Kar’Voth said as he slowly levitated the orb towards Twilight. Twilight took a calming breath and lit up her horn, wincing as more sparks than usual cascaded out of it while she levitated the orb towards herself. As soon as it was close, Twilight then slowly walked over to her friends.

“Probably a … hidden button or something like that.” Twilight answered him with a wince.

“Twilight, it’s a solid orb of stone not a container that opens when touched in the right area.” Kar’Voth told her, getting kinda tired of how stupid she seemed to be.

“I beg to differ.” Twilight said softly, grinning in delight when the orb began to glow intensely as it came in proximity with the other Elements. “Hey, Kar’Voth, maybe I’m not so stupid after all.” Twilight called out smugly, watching a five-pointed purple star appear in place of the solid orb.

“No, not again! It’s all his fault. He’s been fighting me since we became like this. Fine, you will all perish!” Kar’Voth said as he took in a deep breath and sent a stream of black fire towards the six mares. The Elements counteracted the magic with a rainbow shield before going towards the six different bearers. When they made contact with each bearer, a white flash appeared before dimming to reveal six different items.

A gold, lightweight helmet studded with orange gems in the shape of apples appeared on Applejack’s head underneath of her Stetson. An axe with a long pink handle and a blue and yellow metallic blade appeared in front of Pinkie, the handle nearly hitting her on the head. A white flash appeared on Rarity’s hooves, barely indistinguishable from the rest of her coat. What she got were blue gem studded horseshoes that had hairline fractures crisscrossing over them.

Fluttershy got a bright yellow and pink shield with a giant fractured butterfly gem on the front of it. Rainbow’s wings got the white glow and when it disappeared, rainbow-coloured wing blades edged with electric blue appeared on the top of her wings, adding extra protection while still being razor sharp and incredibly lightweight. Twilight was the final one to receive an item: a thick, mystical tome with a lavender cover and a starry illustration appeared before her while the spine of the book looked slightly frayed.

“Weapons, armor, and a book? They didn’t look like that before...I guess I’ll have to kick it up a notch now that all six elements have been activated.” Kar’Voth told them as he plunged them into darkness and put a smooth coat of crystal on the floor beneath them.