“The Elements of Harmony are six magical gems that protect the power of friendship. Almost nopony knows about these mysterious Elements, but their power is extraordinary, and they can be used together.”
“One thousand years ago, the mare of the moon plunged Equestria into darkness. The Princess of the Sun used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon and banish her to the moon, where she would remain until the thousandth year, on the longest day of the year.”
“The Elements of Harmony are located in… the ancient castle of the Royal Sisters in the Everfree Forest?”
Dusk Glow frowned.
“Something this important is just sitting in an abandoned castle?”
He was sitting among a mountain of books in one of the palace towers, carefully reading a copy of A Reference Guide to the Elements of Harmony.
His expression was unusually serious.
The one month countdown was almost over.
Nightmare Moon was supposed to return very soon.
For the past month, Dusk Glow had been studying as much magic as possible and constantly practicing his three transformations.
He had been preparing for one purpose.
When Nightmare Moon returned, he wanted to defeat her, restore Luna, and help the two royal sisters reconcile.
But something had been bothering him.
This was supposed to be a catastrophe of enormous proportions.
So why was all of Equestria still so peaceful?
Almost nopony seemed worried.
Even Princess Celestia appeared to be doing nothing.
Dusk Glow had even written to the princess asking whether they should begin preparing in advance.
Her reply had been surprisingly casual.
I know you’re worried, but please don’t panic yet.
How am I supposed to not panic?!
Princess, why are you just sitting there?
Don’t you want to save your sister?
With no other choice, Dusk Glow had decided to search for the Elements of Harmony himself.
He knew he could not defeat Nightmare Moon alone.
He needed help.
“I have to prepare as early as possible.”
Dusk Glow put the book into his saddlebag.
Then he headed downstairs.
A small purple dragon was wrapping a present when he noticed Dusk Glow carrying a saddlebag.
Spike tilted his head.
“Dusk, are you going to Moon Dancer’s little get together?”
“Moon Dancer’s get together?”
Dusk Glow paused.
Then he remembered the mare.
The bespectacled unicorn who looked almost like a recolored version of Twilight.
He had first met her by chance at the library with Twilight.
At the time, Dusk Glow had actually mistaken her for Twilight’s sister.
That misunderstanding had been rather embarrassing.
“I don’t think I have time for that.”
Dusk Glow walked toward the door.
“You’re the one who’s friends with Moon Dancer, along with Twilight. I’ve got somewhere I need to go.”
He had not told either of them about Nightmare Moon’s return.
He did not want to drag too many ponies into the situation.
Princess Celestia had specifically warned him not to spread the information and cause unnecessary panic.
“Somewhere?”
Spike looked confused.
“Where are you going?”
This was the first time Dusk Glow had ever mentioned going somewhere on his own.
“I need to find something.”
He reached for the door.
“Tell Twilight I’ll be back soon.”
The moment Dusk Glow opened the door, a purple blur came rushing through.
Thump!
She collided directly with him.
Twilight Sparkle had not expected the door to open, and she accidentally knocked Dusk Glow onto the floor.
“Whoa!”
Dusk Glow’s head struck the floor with a dull thud.
His vision went black for a moment.
Something heavy was pressing against his chest, making it difficult to breathe, and his body was pinned beneath it.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch…”
Twilight was equally dazed from the collision.
Her horn had somehow become caught in one of the straps of Dusk Glow’s saddlebag, and her face was buried against his soft coat.
She instinctively tried to push herself up.
Unfortunately, that only made things worse.
One of her hooves accidentally pressed against Dusk Glow’s chest.
Dusk Glow shuddered.
The two of them froze.
They stared at each other.
One on top of the other.
Silence.
Then their faces turned bright red.
Spike stood nearby with a wide grin on his face.
He was clearly enjoying the show.
No time to be embarrassed.
Twilight quickly scrambled back onto her hooves.
“There’s no time!”
“Spike, go find a copy of The Great Book of Equestrian Prophecies!”
She immediately rushed upstairs and began searching through the bookshelves.
“Dusk, you need to help me!”
“We may be facing a catastrophe!”
A catastrophe?
Dusk Glow froze.
Wait.
Does she know?
“Twilight, did you realize Nightmare Moon is coming back too?”
“What do you mean, ‘too’?”
Twilight looked back at him.
“Have you read that book as well?”
“If you have, then you should know what day after tomorrow is, right?”
“The Summer Sun Celebration?”
Spike answered first.
“It’s Nightmare Moon.”
Dusk Glow spoke seriously.
“That mare of the moon, Nightmare Moon, was banished to the moon by the Elements of Harmony.”
“On the thousandth year, on the longest day, she will return and bring endless darkness to Equestria.”
“And the day after tomorrow is the day she returns.”
“Nightmare Moon?”
Spike frowned.
“But isn’t that just a legend?”
The story of Nightmare Moon had been passed down for generations.
By now, it was little more than a bedtime story used by parents to scare foals into going to sleep.
“This isn’t the time to worry about whether it’s a legend, Spike.”
Dusk Glow’s expression was grim.
“Just like Twilight said, we’re facing a disaster.”
“And the key to stopping it is finding the Elements of Harmony.”
Twilight stared at Dusk Glow.
She was surprised by how much he knew.
Everything he had said came directly from the books.
How did he learn so much?
Did he know about Nightmare Moon’s return all along?
“Did you already know about this?”
Twilight sounded slightly annoyed.
“Then why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Dusk Glow helplessly shrugged.
“I told Princess Celestia.”
“But she told me not to panic.”
“And I wasn’t completely sure whether anypony would believe me.”
“So I decided to search for information about the Elements myself first.”
“There’s no time to argue about that now.”
Twilight hurriedly turned back toward the books.
“We need to find the Elements of Harmony as quickly as possible.”
Just as Twilight began gathering what they needed, Spike suddenly breathed out a burst of green dragon fire.
A letter appeared in the flames.
Twilight’s eyes widened.
Only Princess Celestia could send a letter directly to them through Spike’s dragon fire.
That meant Celestia had already begun preparing.
“Princess Celestia’s letter!”
Spike exclaimed.
Twilight quickly unfolded it.
Written across the parchment were Celestia’s elegant words.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
My dear faithful student,
The Summer Sun Celebration is almost here.
I would like you and Dusk Glow to serve as my little representatives and travel to Ponyville, the location of this year’s celebration, to inspect the preparations.
There is also another, more important task I would like you to complete there.
Make a few new friends.
And Dusk Glow, I know what has been worrying you.
Please put your mind at ease and do not panic.
I have already begun making preparations behind the scenes.
Trust in the power of friendship.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Twilight stared at the letter.
“…I don’t understand.”
Two Royal Guards pulled a carriage toward Ponyville.
Dusk Glow, Twilight, and Spike sat side by side inside it.
Twilight rested her hooves against the carriage rail with a deeply troubled expression.
“Why would Princess Celestia tell us to go make friends?”
“What does that have to do with defeating Nightmare Moon?”
“The most important thing right now is finding the Elements of Harmony.”
Dusk Glow looked at the letter again.
He was deep in thought.
“The princess said she has already begun making preparations.”
“Maybe making friends is part of that plan.”
“And friendship might really be a source of power against Nightmare Moon.”
After all, Cadance had already shown him that love could become magic.
“How could friendship possibly defeat Nightmare Moon?”
Twilight sounded frustrated.
“And how many friends does the princess expect me to make?”
“I already have plenty of acquaintances in Canterlot.”
“And making friends isn’t going to save Equestria.”
She glanced toward Dusk Glow.
“Besides, I already have one pony who shares my interests and can discuss academic subjects with me.”
Her expression softened.
“That’s enough.”
Dusk Glow smiled.
“I’m glad you consider me a friend.”
“But, Twilight…”
“A friend isn’t simply somepony who shares the same interests as you.”
“It’s somepony you can trust even when the two of you are completely different.”
During his time in Canterlot, Dusk Glow had already noticed that Twilight was rather isolated.
She spent nearly all her time buried in books and knowledge.
Socializing and making friends were hardly among her priorities.
“And besides, going to Ponyville isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Dusk Glow placed his notes in front of her.
“Look.”
Twilight read through them.
Her eyes suddenly widened.
“The Elements of Harmony are in the ancient castle of the Royal Sisters in the Everfree Forest.”
She looked at the map.
“And the Everfree Forest is right next to Ponyville!”
Twilight suddenly brightened.
“That’s perfect!”
“We’ll finish our preparations as quickly as possible, then we’ll head into the Everfree Forest and find the Elements!”
Spike raised a claw.
“But Princess Celestia told you to make a few friends.”
“Don’t you want to make friends besides Dusk Glow?”
Spike took friendship seriously.
Especially when it involved Twilight.
“Princess Celestia asked me to inspect the preparations.”
“As her student, I’ll fulfill that responsibility.”
“But making friends isn’t going to save the kingdom.”
Dusk Glow gently patted Twilight on the shoulder.
“We can inspect the preparations while making friends.”
“Maybe those friends will even be useful when we search for the Elements.”
“And if Princess Celestia arranged everything this way, she must have a reason.”
“Exactly,” Spike said.
“Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Twilight sighed.
“Fine.”
“I’ll try to make a few friends.”
“But finding the Elements of Harmony is still our top priority.”
Making friends…
She was honestly not sure how she was supposed to do that.
Before long, the carriage arrived in Ponyville.
The village was bustling with activity.
Everypony was preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration.
Twilight and Dusk Glow thanked the two Pegasus Guards who had pulled the carriage and climbed out.
They looked around at their new surroundings.
A sudden breeze passed behind Dusk Glow.
He turned around.
His eyes widened.
A pink pony had suddenly appeared right behind him.
She stared at him with an expression of pure surprise and delight.
When did she get there?!
Dusk Glow quickly regained his composure.
Out of politeness, he calmly spoke.
“Hello, Miss. May I ask…”
Before he could finish, the pink mare suddenly jumped into the air as though she had been launched by a spring.
She moved with incredible speed.
In an instant, she was already racing away.
Dusk Glow stared after her.
“That pony is fast.”
Twilight looked equally confused.
“Who was she?”
“She just appeared out of nowhere and then ran away!”
Spike shrugged.
“I have no idea.”
Dusk Glow looked toward the street where the pink mare had disappeared.
All right.
Never mind that for now.
We need to finish our inspection.
The three of them continued into Ponyville, unaware that their lives were about to change forever.