Twilight ran through the streets of Ponyville with Spike on her back, trying desperately to get back to the library. She had been running for several minutes when she suddenly remembered she could teleport. After cursing herself under her breath, she teleported to the library’s lobby.

After knocking out Spike and leaving him upstairs, Twilight ran around the lobby, throwing books off of their shelves in a desperate attempt to find what she needed to stop Nightmare. Try as she did, however, Twilight couldn’t find any books about the Elements of Harmony; a set of ancient relics rumoured to stop evil.

“Ugh!” Twilight grunted, getting angry at the poorly organised books. “How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?!”

“Having more people trying than just yourself is a start,” answered Cloud, walking in through the front door. “I take that this is that ‘nothing’ you mentioned?” He motioned around with his hoof. Twilight sighed.

“More or less. I suppose you have no idea who Nightmare Moon is?” Twilight asked. Good thing I brought that history book...

“Old ruler of the land, turned evil through arrogance, greed or jealousy?” Cloud guessed. Twilight blinked.

“Um… Actually, yes, that about sums it up.” What am I doing? I need to find that book! “I’m sorry,” Twilight apologised as Cloud picked up a book and leafed through it, “but I’m in a little bit of a hurry. I don’t have time for this.”

Cloud wasn’t listening, too engrossed in the book he was reading. Twilight rolled her eyes and continued looking.

The book Cloud was reading detailed basic defensive magic, focusing heavily on magic bolt spells and simple shield spells:

“...But what is particularly interesting to most students is that every Unicorn has their own natural ‘flavour’ of magic.

A Unicorn’s ‘flavour’, as some call it, is a slight magical unbalance in their casting, and that ‘flavour’ is almost always what that Unicorn’s speciality is. Since a Unicorn’s magic is already unbalanced in a specific way, when a Unicorn tries using magic that corresponds with their ‘flavour’, less effort is required, making that kind of magic much, much easier. It is possible to remove one’s flavour through much training and magical balancing.

A few examples of magical ‘flavours’ are:

-A fiery tinge.

-A fluid tinge.

-An electrical tinge.

-A bright tinge.

-A healthy tinge.

-A slow tinge.

This phenomenon is displayed most directly when initially using combat magic. Since basic combat magic is elementless, the casting Unicorn’s ‘flavour’ will tip it into relating to whatever their ‘flavour’ is…”

The book continued into further detail, but when Cloud reached an explanation of how to cast a magic bolt spell, his horn slowly began to glow without his knowledge. What was stranger was the colour of his magic aura; while it was usually a light blue, it was now, for whatever reason, red. It built up more and more, until suddenly…

Twilight spun around to see a small, smouldering crater in the wall of the library. Cloud tutted.

“Dammit, not again,” he muttered.

“What did you just do?!” Exclaimed Twilight. “What do you mean ‘not again’?!”

“Earlier today, well, yesterday I guess, I accidentally cast a spell without meaning to, a teleport spell. Just now, I was reading about magic bolts and, well, you can see what happened. Weird, right?” Oh, is that all?

“Not at all,” Twilight explained, annoyed it wasn’t something more important, “you just don’t know your own strength. This sort of thing is common during puberty, but obviously this is due to your missing memories.”

“But how did I cast a teleport spell without knowing how?” Asked Cloud. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Were your emotions rampant at the time?”

“Yeah, I was pissed of at this annoying little sh-”

“Then you just had a magical overload and accidentally teleported,” Twilight continued explaining, rolling her eyes in annoyance, “no big deal. Like I said; it's not uncommon.” Cloud blinked.

“Alright then.”

“Now, if you’re done distracting me, I need to find a book on the Elements of Harmony, now!”

“And just what are the Elements of Harmony?!” Demanded Rainbow Dash, bursting in through a window.

“Oh for f-!”

“And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh?!” Rainbow continued demanding. “Are you a spy?!” Twilight teleported her back outside.

“This is why I don’t socialise!” Twilight screamed.

“Simmer down, Twiglet,” said Applejack, who’d apparently been inside the library as well. “We just wanna know what’s goin’ on.” Four other Ponies beside her suddenly became noticeable and Rainbow flew back inside. Where do these idiots keep coming from?! Twilight sighed.

“I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon,” Twilight explained. “Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are apparently the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them - I don't even know what they do!”

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide,” read Pinkie Pie. Twilight snatched the book away from her. Yes! This is what I need!

“That’s… Convenient,” muttered Cloud, sounding suspicious. Twilight took no notice, flipping through the book until she found the information she needed.

“There are six Elements of Harmony,” she read, ”but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery.”

“Casual ‘stuff’?” Cloud suggested.

”It is said,” Twilight continued, ignoring him again, ”the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal Pony sisters. It is located in what is now…” Twilight walked out of the front door, face still in the book. The Ponies inside the library exchanged confused looks before following her.

“...The Everfree Forest!” Twilight read dramatically, standing on the outskirts of the forest, the others behind her.

“Alright,” said Cloud, “let’s go.” Hopefully it’s not too far, I’ll sober up soon.

“Not so fast. I appreciate the offer, but I’d rather do this alone.”

“No can do, Twiglet,” said Applejack, walking towards the forest. “We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple.” The others, minus Cloud, voiced their agreement. Actually, it really wouldn’t be a good idea for any of them to go in. Yeah, but I don’t wanna sound like a hypocrite.

“Face it, Twilight, we’re coming with you,” Cloud added as Twilight sighed. “Look at it this way; you have meat shields in case things go wrong!” The two of them followed the others into the forest.

“That’s morbid,” Twilight argued. “Don’t think like that.”

“Wait, you’re actually worried?” Cloud asked. ”Why? We’re only going up against a thing with amazing power, nothing to worry about at all!” Twilight frowned in annoyance.

“I see you’ve remembered how to be an asshole.”

“You are what you eat,” Cloud noted. Twilight looked to him, bewildered.

“E-Excuse me?!”

“I’m joking. You need to lighten up or you’ll lose focus on what’s important.”

“You mean like my sense of right and wrong?”

“No, I mean like Nightmare in vapour form flying towards us!” He exclaimed, pointing away from Twilight. She turned and, sure enough, saw exactly that.

Nightmare’s vapour soaked into the cliff they were standing on and an audible cracking could be heard. Everyone other than Twilight and Cloud were talking too much to notice.

“Everyone, get off the cliff!” Shouted Twilight, but she was too late; the cliff exploded under their hooves, sending all non-Pegasi plummeting down. Shit!

Cloud was falling and screaming, the ground getting closer each second. He seemed helpless, when magical energy suddenly surged through his body and some kind of magical, circular platform spun clockwise into existence underneath him. He stopped in the air, standing on the platform, trying to register what had just happened.

I’m… standing on a floating platform in midair. Another magic outburst? He glanced upwards to his horn, but it wasn’t lit. Not a spell then… I think? Uh, it’s green? A brighter, more vibrant green than my fur, if that matters somehow. It’s covered in shapes that- Wait a moment! It looks just like my cutie mark! So, it is some kind of spell? It seems so.

Cloud tried stepping on different parts of the platform, but everything within its circumference acted the same, as if it were solid, even empty sections that seemed like thin air. It was large enough for him to stand on normally, the outer rim being an inch longer on each side. As he stepped about on the platform, it didn’t tilt nor tip in any way.

Cloud suddenly realised he was about twenty metres above the ground. Okay, so, if it’s a spell of some kind, it would be reasonable to think I can control it, right? It seems like a fair hypothesis. He tried willing it to descend, and, sure enough, it did.

As he descended at a decent rate, Cloud realised he couldn't move his legs. It was as if he was rooted to the spot. Interesting… After landing, Cloud tried willing it to dispel. The platform obeyed, spinning counter-clockwise and shrinking until it disappeared in a flash of light. The opposite of how it appeared. Cute.

“Cloud!” Called Twilight, breaking his train of thought. Cloud glanced around and saw that everyone else had gotten down okay, nobody looked harmed. “What was that?!”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “But I’ve got a better idea of what my special talent is now.”

Everyone continued through the forest, using more caution this time. Twilight and Cloud were at the rear of the group, doing a few small experiments.

Together, they’d discovered that Cloud could summon and dismiss the circular platform whenever he liked. It didn’t seem to be directly connected to his Unicorn magic, moreso his willpower and innate Pony magic. The more he tried to do with it, the more strain it put on his mind.

As Cloud had noticed before, he couldn’t move his legs while the circle had any kind of velocity but, as long as it was stationary, he could move however he liked. This also meant that he could turn the circle upside down and he would remain rooted to it for as long as it was in motion. However, if he stepped off of the circle or summoned it somewhere not underneath himself, he could move the circle while moving his legs. The further away from himself he tried to move the circle, the more mental strain it took.

“I don’t understand,” said Twilight, “I’ve never read about anything like this before.”

“Do you read a lot?” Asked Cloud. Twilight looked disgruntled.

“Yes, actually. I’m a student of Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria and raiser of the sun and moon.” Cloud stopped walking and blinked.

“...Your ruler moves the sun and moon?” He asked, sounding almost scared. Twilight stopped too, looking at him in a confused manner.

“Um, yes? She’s raised both the sun and moon for nine hundred and ninety nine years, ever since her sister, Princess Luna, corrupted and became Nightmare Moon. After Princess Celestia trapped her in the moon, she had to start moving the moon as well as the sun.”

“...Oh.” The two of them continued walking, slightly quicker as to keep up with the others. “So we’re going up against a being with godlike power?”

“Yes,” replied Twilight, “why?”

“I’m starting to see why you were worried before,” said Cloud, a quiver of fear in his voice.

“What happened to all that talk of eating assholes?” Smirked Twilight. “C’mon, I doubt Nightmare will interfere anymore. There’s no way she expected us to survive that cliff.” Wait a minute…

“That’s a point, how did the rest of you survive?” Cloud asked.

“Well, Applejack-” Twilight was cut off by a mighty thud as an enormous creature leapt from the shadows, roaring and snarling. “A manticore! We’ve gotta get past it!” Cloud nodded, teleported to the front of the group and fired a magic bolt, just as red as before.

The manticore spun and struck the bolt with its armoured tail, reflecting it back towards Cloud. In a split second, Cloud managed to summon a platform. Up! Up!

The platform flew directly upwards, letting him avoid the bolt which exploded against a tree, knocking it down. Cloud grit his teeth and prepared to fire again, but something strange happened: The circle seemed to surge magical energy into Cloud, multiplying the power of his spell and making him fire off a much larger and much, much more powerful magic bolt. What was that?!

The manticore reflected the bolt again, but Cloud was too deep in thought and didn’t notice until the last second. Twilight, however, noticed sooner and cast a shield spell over him. The bolt exploded onto Cloud, smashing his circle to pieces that soon disappeared in a flash of light and sending him, once again, plummeting to the ground, this time crashing into it. Luckily, Twilight’s shield took the bulk of the damage, leaving him relatively unharmed, if a little bruised.

Cloud opened his eyes to see that one of the other members of the group had managed to tame it. Twilight walked over to him and offered a hoof to help him up.

“Thanks for trying,” she thanked, pulling him up. Cloud grunted, feeling embarrassed. “When you fired that second bolt, it seemed like the platform pumped some kind of energy into you.”

“Yeah,” Cloud agreed, “I felt it. I think it made my magic more powerful.”

“Hm… It can transfer your mental focus and innate magic into Unicorn magic, maybe?” Theorised Twilight.

“Maybe. Whatever it did, it put a hell of a strain on my focus; I had a horrible migraine, but just for a moment.”

“Interesting, interesting…”

The two of them continued to discuss theories as the group ventured deeper into the forest.

Many hours and obstacles later, including a group of ‘scary looking trees’, the group finally made it to the castle ruins. Entering through a pair of tall, wooden doors, the seven of them found themselves in a long stone room, ruined with age. In the centre of the room stood a statue bearing five spheres.

“Twilight, is this what we’re looking for?” Asked Cloud. Twilight nodded.

“This is it,” she replied. “The Elements of Harmony. We’ve found them!” The two Pegasi in the group lifted them down from the statue.

“One, two, three, four…” counted Pinkie, ”there's only five!”

“The book said: “When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.”

“A magical spark maybe?” Suggested Cloud.

“Yes, that was my thought too,” Twilight agreed. “Stand back, everyone.” Though Cloud took a few steps back, the others felt it necessary to leave the room entirely. Good job, everyone, get separated in a spooky castle. Great adventuring logic there.

Twilight began casting a variety of spells on the Elements, but nothing seemed to work. Suddenly, the dark vapour appeared again, this time sucking the Elements into a vortex.

“No!” Shouted Twilight. “We can’t let her take the Elements!” She leapt into the vortex, Cloud following her a second after.

The two found themselves in a larger room deeper into the castle. At the end of the room stood Nightmare Moon herself. The Elements floated around her, lifted by her magic.

“Twilight,” Cloud said very quickly, “cast that shield spell on me again.” Twilight looked around, bewildered.

“What?” She asked. “Wait, you’re going to fight her?!”

“Yep.”

“But there’s no way you can-!”

“I know, but I can keep her busy while you get the Elements.”

“No!” Twilight shouted. “Cloud, she’ll kill you!”

“Then you’d better get the Elements working fast.”

“But-!” She was shut down by a glare. “...Fine.” Twilight cast a shield spell on Cloud as he stepped towards Nightmare.

“You're kidding,” tutted Nightmare. “You're kidding, right? Hm. Fine, if death is what you wish.”

“Today’s not the day I die,” Cloud spat back, charging his horn and shifting his stance.

“We shall see.”

Cloud fired two magic bolts in succession as Nightmare shifted into vapour and blasted towards him. The bolts passed through her and she shifted back into Pony form, but continued charging at him. Cloud waited until the last second before teleporting behind her and firing another bolt. This one hit, but her armour took the bolt like it was nothing.

Nightmare sent a blast of lightning at Cloud, scoring a direct hit. It sent shocks of pain through him, but his shield took most of the damage. Nightmare wasted no time firing two magic bolts of her own, both incredibly larger and deadlier than Cloud’s. Cloud quickly summoned the circular platform and flew upwards to dodge the bolts, only for them to curve and come back at him. Cloud flew around on his circle, dodging the bolts again and again while firing his own bolts back at them, breaking one of them apart. The other struck him in the side, pushing the shield near its limit and breaking a few ribs.

As Cloud cried out in pain, Nightmare flew up to be level with him and unleashed a magical beam of concentrated nightmares straight towards him, tendrils of darkness spiking out of it. Cloud used the circle to boost his power, then poured every bit of his magic and mental focus into a magic bolt spell. The spell erupted from the power, turning into a red beam of magical energy, electricity sparking off of it as it collided with the beam of nightmares.

The two beams fought for power, but Nightmare’s beam quickly won and pushed back against Cloud’s, getting slowly closer and closer to him. Finally, it collided with Cloud, smashing through his shield and sending him crashing into a far wall.

Cloud fell to the ground, broken and bloody. Nightmare teleported to his side.

“Not bad for a mortal,” she said to his unconscious body, “but you had no chance against a God, you foal. Now you shall die.” Nightmare charged up her horn to deliver the finishing blow, when suddenly…

“Nightmare Moon!” Bellowed Twilight. Nightmare turned to see Twilight and the other five floating in the air, each one encircled by an Element of Harmony.

“W-What?!” Cried Nightmare. “That’s impossible! How could you use the Elements of Harmony?!”

“Because we are the Spirits of the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight declared. “You see, Nightmare, when these Elements are ignited by the spark that resides in the heart of us, it creates the sixth element, my Element! The Element of magic!”

A rainbow coloured beam of magical energy erupted from them and blasted Nightmare, her screams masked beneath the thunderous noise it made.

After what seemed like an eternity, everything stopped and the world was silent.

Cloud awoke in a bed and, once again, summed up his thoughts and feelings in a single word.

“Ow.”

After waiting a few minutes to fully wake up, he glanced around the room. He was in the Ponyville library, lying in the upstairs bed, sunshine lighting the room. Okay... So, not dead, not eternal night. That’s good. It’s a wonder that I’m still alive after that. I wonder how that happened? Damn, my sense of humor must have been critically wounded.

The door to the room opened as Cloud sat up.

“Cloud!” Exclaimed Twilight, rushing over to the bed.

“Hey, Twilight,” Cloud greeted, groaning. “Did we win? Or are we both dead?” She smirked.

“We won, smartass. The others and I got the Elements working and defeated Nightmare Moon.”

“Good job,” he said, patting her on the head, “I’ll buy you a cookie later.” Twilight gave him a playful dirty look.

“Thanks,” she replied sarcastically. “Anyway, Princess Celestia was released from her prison and came to us.”

“She probably wasn’t happy that you killed her sister,” Cloud thought aloud. Twilight shook her head.

“Princess Luna is still alive; the Elements destroyed the evil in her heart and set her free.”

“Huh. That’s convenient.” About as convenient as the book… Hm... “So, other than your shield - thanks for that by the way - why am I not dead?”

“Because of I,” announced a different voice. Cloud looked towards its source to see a tall Alicorn; Princess Celestia. “I took you to my personal hospital in Canterlot as quickly as I was able. My medical staff were able to heal you with a few advanced surgical procedures, and it has taken a week for you to awaken here.”

“Cool, thanks,” Cloud thanked simply. “What’s the real reason Twilight was in Ponyville?” Princess Celestia looked taken aback.

“Excuse me?”

“Cloud, what are you talking about?” Asked Twilight. “The Princess sent me here to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“So she sent you, the only one worried about Nightmare Moon, to the town where she just happened to appear,” summed up Cloud, “and set you in a library that just happened to have the right information, next to a forest that just happened to house the Elements of Harmony-”

“-And I just happened to bring along the other Spirits of Harmony who just happened to be leading preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, so I would definitely meet them,” Twilight finished, frowning. “You’re right.” She turned to the Princess. “Princess, did you know about all of this?”

Princess Celestia was quiet for a couple of minutes, her face impossible to read.

“I’m afraid, my student,” she finally replied, ”that I cannot tell you the reason as of yet. One day you will know the truth, but that day is not today.” I don’t buy it, something’s still up. Not much I can do about it right now. “Onto other matters; Cloud Calculation, I will look into the situation concerning your memories and your origin. In the meantime, I would like you to remain here in Ponyville with Twilight, allow her to train you in the art of magic and study your strange ability.”

“Well, alright,” he responded. “Any sort of end goal in mind?”

“I believe you may have the potential to become a protector of Equestria.” There was a short silence.

“...Is that all?” Cloud asked. ”I expected you to say a lot more.”

“I believe the rest is self explanatory, yes?”

“Fair enough,” Cloud sighed, “I accept your proposal.” The Princess smiled. Why do I feel like her intentions might not be so nice? I shouldn’t trust her. Not yet, anyway...

“Wonderful.”

The thousandth Summer Sun Celebration did not go according to plan to most Ponies. However, it was the catalyst that began the stories of many things: The Spirits of Harmony, the return of Princess Luna, a student becoming a teacher and, of course, the friendship between Twilight Sparkle and Cloud Calculation.

It would be put to the test on many an occasion.

Author's Notes:

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!