The six Elements of Harmony began to prepare and trained themselves of magic and body for several weeks, the two royal sisters praying for the six to find a way to keep the peace they fought so hard to obtain and keep. The morning marking the fifth week of preparation Twilight lifted her head from her studies she had written about the Elements.

"There has to be something we missed." She used her magic to pull several books from the shelf, Spike climbing the stairs with a small gift basket.

"Twilight you are going to strain yourself if you keep working this hard, here Pinkie dropped this by." He sets the basket by the mare who read a book cover before throwing it away in frustration.

"I can't' stop now Spike, time is ticking. We don't know when she will arrive and we still don't know how. She is dead and gone, so how was she able to reach Celestia and declare war?" Spike sighed then removed the blanket from the basket.

"Will you at least eat something, Pinkie is worried you aren't eating and she is right. I haven't seen you eat or sleep in a few days." Twilight sighed and set down the books she still held in her magical grasp in a neat stack in front of her.

"Alright you win, only because those cookies smell really good." She smiled at the dragon who wore a worried expression. "I'll be fine Spike because I think I got it." She pulled a cookie to her mouth as Spike sat down beside her.

"You think?" He pulled out a ruby cupcake that Rarity had spared gems so lovingly for, he blushed looking at the cupcake in his claws. Twilight nodding eagerly as she chewed.

"Riddle me this Spike, how does the Crystal Empire stay safe?" He looked at her as he leaned in to take a bite of his treat before stopping to answer the mare.

"They all pray to the crystal heart and put their love into it?" He bit into the cupcake as Twilight swallowed her bit of the book shaped cookie.

"Bingo, I think we should take a page out of their book." She threw the last of the cookie into her mouth and stood, Spike staring at her confused.

"How will we do that?" The dragon spoke with his mouth full and blushed as Twilight put a napkin to his cheek.

"Eat properly Spike I've told you this," She smiles at the baby dragon. "I think if we put all the gems together and put all our strength into them and see what happens it may keep her at bay for a little longer. Worth a shot isn't it?" Spike swallows and nods, setting down his cupcake. "Come, let's go get everypony." Spike jumped onto Twilight's back as the two strolled eagerly out of the library. They walked around Ponyville, picking up their friends as they went around town. The five ponies grabbed their necklaces and joined the unicorn back at the library on the first floor.

"So what is the plan again?" Rainbow asked as the hovered above the four ponies under her, Twilight digging in a trunk before pulling out a safe locked box.

"We will do to the elements what we did to the crystal heart, emit all our harmony or power or something into them and see if it keeps her at bay. She is connected to them still I think." Unlocking the box Twilight plucked up her crown using her magic. "Alright girls place the five elements in a circle, I will put Magic in the middle and we will get started." The mares nodded and carefully laid their necklaces down as instructed. Twilight watched with a strong feeling in her stomach, laying her crown in the middle of the circle she turned to her friends. "Spike please wait upstairs," He nodded and quickly ran upstairs before Twilight spoke again. "Alright, I think if we think about how much we want to protect Equestria the elements will absorb our wishes and repel her magic for longer until we can figure something out." Rarity looked at her necklace.

"Will the necklaces be alright, I would hate for anything to happen to them." Rainbow rolled her eyes at the unicorns question but Twilight carried on ignoring it.

"Everypony ready?" The five nodded and stood behind their necklaces closing their eyes, they filled their mind with the thoughts of protecting Equestria and everypony in it, filled their hearts with the love they had for their home and their loved ones, their desire to continue to protect their home and the willpower to defend it. Twilight swallowed a growing lump in her throat and stood in the middle of the circle, placing the crown on her head and letting out a relaxing sigh. She thought back to the inner spark that started in her heart when she first became the holder of the element of magic, She shut her eyes tightly and tried to remember back to how happy she was when she and her friends rescued Luna from the clutches of Nightmare Moon and she thought of how happy she felt to have protected her home from eternal night. Twilight took a firm stand and concentrated her feelings into a magical energy that caused her horn to begin to spark wildly, the sparks formed into beams of strong purple light that shot into each necklace surrounding her and into her own crown. The gems sparkled and shone brightly as they began to glow, the girls continued to think hard about protecting their home before there was a huge explosion from the gems that blasted the mares back into the shelves of the library.

Rarity coughed hard and waved at the smoke in her face. "Is everypony ok?"

"I'm alright." Fluttershy called. Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash following suit.

As the smoke settled Twilight was sitting with her back to the mares, her eyes wide in terror as they approached with their own eyes growing wide in fear. In front of them in the middle of the necklaces was a tall grey mare, her mane and tail a mass of shadows that danced atop her body as she opened her yellow snake like eyes.

"N-no…" Twilight quickly stood up, Rainbow Dash blocking the door and the others quickly assuming a defensive stand. "How did you, I thought we.." The mare chuckled before openly laughing at the fillies in front of her.

"You think bringing the gems together with massive energy was a good idea little ponies?" Twilight shot a beam of magic energy at the mare who deflected it with a massive red shield. "I was hiding in those gems for ages," She stretched out her wings and neck in a calm slow fashion. "I was simply biding time and absorbing the energy whenever you silly fillies used the elements." Rarity glared hard at the mare as Fluttershy cowered behind her, Twilight still in shock. "You idiot foals just undid that cursed seal I had placed on me when Celestia banished my stupid younger sister. So thank you." She smirked as Twilight snorted hard at her.

"You won't leave this place! Spike has written to Celestia by now!" She stomped against the wood flooring as the mare cackled once more.

"Good, I need to pay her a visit." She noted at Twilight's gaze shifted to the Elements. "Now for these," Her mane quickly took the form of shadow like needles that stabbed hard into the gems, shattering them into a fine dust like powder. "There we are, goodbye for now fillies." She laughed and vanished within her own mane before disappearing completely. The six stood with wide eyes and hearts full of dread as they stared at the dust on the floor where their most powerful magic was gone.

Twilight fell to her knees, her eyes filling with tears. "What have we done.."