The Magic of Six

Chapters

Episode 1 - Harmony, part I
Episode 2 - Harmony, part II
Episode 3 - Golden Ticket

Episode 1 - Harmony, part I

Once upon a time, in the land of Equestria, there were two royal siblings, who worked together to keep order and harmony across the land.

The first used her Highborn magic to raise the sun to bring the day.

The second used his own magic to bring forth the night.

For many years, they kept their subjects content.

However, the younger sibling grew jealous of his sister, as their subjects played and laughed and worked during the day, but were afraid or exhausted during the night and could not appreciate it.

His sister noticed, and try as she might the brother refused to listen to her reasoning.

Over time, this jealousy grew larger and larger, until the brother was consumed with hatred, and turned into a horrific creature of the night:

Nocturne.

For a week, the world was caught in eternal eclipse, the brother threatening to create ever-lasting night, the sister valiantly refusing to yield.

Her magic was no match for his own, caused by the darkness within him.

Reluctantly, she brought forward the most powerful magical artefacts known to humankind: The Elements of Harmony.

She wielded the magic in the artefacts to defeat her brother, and banish him permanently in the moon.

Afterwards, she took on the responsibility for both the sun and the moon...

"... and maintained harmony in Equestria ever since." Victoria turned the page, hoping to find out more, but the paper only yielded an article on the Seventeenth Drake-Human War.

She leant back against the tree she was sitting under, feeling the cool wood against her through her vest and shirt, and let out a sigh.

"I swear I've read something about this..." She watched a cloud drift lazily across the sky. "But where have I...?"

She closed the book and pushed herself up, eyeing for the closest piece of shade to her.

"Well, might as well check back in my room."

***

Victoria wiped her brow of sweat, the sun oppressively bearing down on her. The problem about living on a mountain is that the sun was just a little bit closer than she'd like.

At least her place was air-conditioned.

As she started across the marble bridge ahead of her, a trio of girls stepped in her path. "There you are, Tori."

She looked up, holding a hand above her brow. Fellow schoolmates, she noticed.

"You know that Miranda's having a little get-together at the West Castle Courtyard, right?"

"I didn't know." Tori replied, the heat fraying her nerves. There was a potential prophecy to research, and she couldn't be bothered going to a party. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to do some studying."

She pushed past the girls, picking up her pace. She passed by two more people, the mint-green-haired one waving to her as she passed, but she really couldn't be bothered socialising.

Eventually, after an excruciatingly hot walk up a flight of stairs that spiralled around the Ivory Tower, she reached the gold-trimmed doors of the top room.

She pushed the doors open hard, and stepped in, and immediately looked around for her assistant. "Barb!"

Nothing.

"Barbara!" She called again, kicking the door shut as she entered the wonderfully cool room. Only now she noticed that her assistant, Barbara, was lying across the room, her purple tail stabbing through a wrapped-up box. "Ah, there you are."

Barb sat herself up, rubbing her head. "You could've checked if I was in front of the door, Tori."

"There's no time for that." Tori started to one of the many bookshelves, but froze for a second. "What's that on your tail?"

Barb blinked, looked at her tail and pulled it off. "Well, it was a gift for Miranda, I mean, it is her 18th." A stuffed bear fell out of the bottom and landed with a soft thud, stuffing coming out of the massive hole through it. "Oh for God's sake, I paid, like, twenty bucks for that."

"Barb, I need your help with something."

Barb tossed her mangled present aside, then walked up. "What's up?"

"Can you get me an old copy of Predictions and Prophecies?"

Barb saluted and dashed off.

Tori closed her eyes for a moment, the crystal on her forehead glowing brightly. A book from up high fell from its perch on the bookshelf and drifted down to her. She opened her eyes and looked, frowning at the cover. "No..." More books floated up, none of them showing the right cover. "No, no no no!" She groaned in frustration.

"Found it!" Barb called out, high up a ladder, waving a large blue-covered book around.

Tori grabbed it in her magic and pulled it over, taking Barb with it. Barb fell flat on her face while still holding onto the book. "Ah, that's it." She dropped the other ten books in her magic to the floor, and pulled the blue book away with her.

Barb sat up and checked her nose for bleeding. "I expect you want me to clean this all up?"

"If you can." Tori placed the book on a desk and flipped through the pages. "Elements of Harmony... Elements... E... E, e, e... Aha!" She looked at the article, where only one phrase filled it out:

"See Man in the Moon."

"Man in the Moon?" Barb blinked, holding a stack of books in one hand and the ladder in the other. "Isn't that an old lady's tale or something?"

Tori flipped through the pages again. "Man in the Moon. A legend from olden times. A powerful man who wanted to rule Equestria in eternal night. The Elements were used to imprison him in the moon."

"So..." Barb flicked a troublesome book back into its rightful spot, only to accidentally push the ladder back and make it stand upright.

"Legend has it that on the longest day after a thousand years, he will escape and bring about eternal night." She gasped. "Barbara, do you know what that means?"

"N-no..." Barb tried to push herself forwards, but only upset the balance of the ladder and make it fall backwards. Barb managed to leap off at the right time, but couldn't grab onto the bookshelf to hold her fall. Instead, she landed in Tori's arms.

"Take a note, please. Addressed to the Princess." Tori smiled, letting go of Barbara and passing her a scroll and quill. As soon as Barb flicked the scroll open and pressed quill to parchment, she cleared her throat. "Dear Princess Celestia, my continuous studies of magical theory have led me to discover we are on the precipice of disaster."

"Pressi... Press..."

"Threshold."

"Threeeeeh..." Barb blinked.

"Brink?"

Barb frowned at the scroll. "Uh..."

"You don't even know how to spell Brink?"

"It's... B-R-I-N-C-K, right?"

"Lose the C."

"Ah." Barb scribbled it down. "Go on."

Tori started to pace. “For you see, the fabled Man in the Moon is in fact Nocturne, and he is about to return to the world and bring about eternal night." She stopped walking for a moment. "Something has to be done to make sure that this prophecy does not come true. I await you response. Your faithful student, Victoria Tanton."

"...Victoria... Tanton." Barb tapped the quill on the scroll and looked up. "Got it."

"Great." Tori smiled, sitting down on a chair next to the window overlooking Canterlot. "Send it."

"Now?"

"Of course."

"I dunno, wouldn't Celestia be busy preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration? That's the day after tomorrow."

"Exactly. That's why it's imperative that we have to let her know now and not later."

Barb blinked, then looked at the scroll. "Fine." She drew in a deep breath, then as she let out the same breath a column of green fire engulfed the scroll, burning it into ash which drifted away on a blanket of green light. "There, it's on its way." She crossed her arms. "I wouldn't hold your breath, though."

Tori smiled, turning to look out the window again. "I'm not worried about that. Princess Celestia Zodiac trusts me completely. She's never doubted me, even after all these years."

"Even if that was the case, which I know it is, she's still-" Barb gagged, then belched out another column of green fire. A scroll materialised itself and hit the floor.

"See, I told you she'd be willing to take immediate action."

Barb scooped up the scroll and cleared her throat, holding it open. "My most faithful student, Victoria Tanton. You know that I value your diligence and I trust you completely."

Tori smiled again, leaning back on the chair.

"But you simply must stop reading those old, dusty books."

Tori's eyes widened, and her smile dropped.

"My dear Victoria, there is more to life than studying. So I am sending you to personally oversee the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration in the host town, Ponyville."

Tori growled, resting her arms on the edge of the chariot.

"And I have an even more essential task for you to complete:" Barb continued. "Make some friends."

Tori groaned, one of her arms falling loose and overhanging.

"Look on the bright side, she's organised for you to stay at the local library, Golden Oaks Library." Barb sat next to her, and placed an arm over her back. "Doesn't that make you feel better?"

Tori let out a sly smile. "Yes." She turned to her assistant. "You know why?"

"Beca-"

"Because I'm right." She smirked. "I'll check up on the preparations as fast as I can, then spend the rest of the night studying on Nocturne."

"Then..." Barb looked a little hurt. "When will you make friends like Celestia asked?"

"Please, Barb. She said to check on the preparations and I am prepared to do my royal duty."

The chariot slowly drifted down into the town square of Ponyville, kicking up a fine layer of dust as the magic wings of the drivers flapped faster to slow the descent.

"However, the fate of the world does not depend on me making friends." She leapt out, then walked up to the pilots. "Thank you, sirs."

"Maybe the people here have something interesting to talk about?" Barb offered, pointing to a pink-haired man walking briskly up, a smile plastered on his face. The man stopped in front of the two. "Come on, Tori, just try socialising."

Tori looked at the guy, and felt her stomach become much less stable than before. She knew she was never good at talking to others, especially men around her age, as this one appeared to be. "Uh... Hello?"

The guy's smile instantly dropped, something like a look of realisation dawning him. He leaped into the air, gasping loudly, before dashing off into the distance.

"Well... That was weird." Tori scratched the back of her head.

"So, what's first?"

"Banquet preparations, which is being organised by Sweet Apple Acres." Barb pushed the small white fence open, allowing Tori in first.

As they walked through the farmland, they heard running, but only looked when they heard a voice holler out.

A blonde, orange-wearing man was charging full-bore at a tree. He stopped a few feet short, turning around and kicking the trunk with all the momentum he had gathered. The tree shook, and most- no, all- of the apples dislodged themselves and landed into buckets below. The person smiled, crossing his arms and looking proudly at his work.

Tori sighed, walking up. "Let's get this over with." She hesitantly approached the farmer and put on her most convincing smile. "Good afternoon, my name is Victoria Tanton."

She felt her arm being grabbed and shaken hard. "Well, howdy there Miss Tanton. A pleasure makin' your acquaintance." He smiled. "Ah'm Jackson Apellia. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends."

"Friends...?" She replied, her voice shaking. "Actually, I, uh-"

He finally let go. "So, what brings a fine-lookin' gal like you here?"

Tori shook her hand, which was throbbing painfully. "Ow ow ow..."

"Ooh, y'alright there?" He walked up and took her arm, looking it over. "Sorry, Ah'm not exactly aware of mah own strength."

"So I noticed." Tori replied through her teeth. "Anyway, I'm here to check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I assume you're in charge of the food?"

"We sure as sugar are, cutie." He smiled.

"Cutie?!" Tori frowned.

"Care t' sample some?"

"Well, as long as it doesn't take too long..." Tori growled, holding her sore arm.

Jackson dashed off, then proceeded to ring a triangle. "Soup's on, everyone!"

Tori looked at him with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

"Uh, Tori...?" Barb, who was facing the other way, tugged at her sleeve.

"What?!" Tori shouted back, then her eye trailed to where Barb was looking. "Oh."

Before she could react, a stampede of people pushed them forwards, and when her head stopped spinning she found herself deposited onto a chair. In front of her, an empty table lay ahead of her, covered in a yellow tablecloth.

Jackson appeared beside them. "Now, how about Ah introduce you to the Apellia family?"

Tori frowned. "Thanks, but I really need to-"

"This here's Franny." He pointed out a redheaded girl placing a dish of apple fritters down on the table. "Betty, Rosie, Raphael..." He continued to list out various members of the family who approached the table, all of which depositing food in front of her. After a long list, he inhaled. "Bethany-" He pointed to a large girl with orange hair, holding a cupcake. "Alexander-" He pointed towards an early-teen boy with red hair, who smiled welcomingly at her. "Aaaand-" He shoved an apple into her hands. "Granny Sandra." He walked up to an old woman resting on a rocking chair. "Up an' at'em, Granny. We've got guests."

The old woman snorted awake. "Wh-wha...?" She walked slowly over, rambling on about soup being on and her walking over.

"Why, Ah'd say Miss Tanton here is already part of the family."

Tori's eyes widened and the apple fell out of her hands by reflex. She offered a nervous laugh. "Well, I, uh, I can see the food situation's handled, so I'd better be on my way."

"Aren't ya gonna stay for brunch?" Alexander looked up at her with incredibly convincing puppydog eyes.

Fortunately, living with Barbara as she was growing up helped her against that sort of thing. "Sorry, but I have an awful lot of work to do."

"Aww..." The entire family went.

She looked around nervously, then groaned. "Fine, I'll stay for brunch."

There was much rejoicing.

"Alright, next up is weather."

Tori groaned, clutching her stomach. "Ugh... I ate too much..."

"You know, you didn't need to eat everything."

"But it would've been rude to not eat it." She frowned. "And how aren't you full?"

"I'm a Drake, we have great stomach processing powers." She smiled to herself.

"And what was with that Jackson guy? Was he hitting on me or something?"

"What makes you say that?"

"The way he was constantly calling me pretty." She frowned.

"Maybe he just thinks you’re pretty?" Barb shrugged.

"I highly doubt that."

Barb sighed. "Whatever." Her eyes wandered upwards. "Isn't there supposed to be an Avian girl named Rachael Dallas clearing the clouds?"

Tori looked up, and noticed the absence of clear sky. "Well, she's not doing very well."

Something hit Tori right in the left arm hard, sending her flying into a mud puddle. Once her sense of balance returned, she could feel someone sprawled all over her.

The person shifted, laughing. "Uh, excuse me."

Tori growled, sitting up to look at the mud-covered rainbow-haired girl, grinning at her.

"Here, lemme help you." The girl dashed off, her glowing wings flaring back up and pulling her into the sky. She returned in just a moment, holding a dark cloud and lifting it above her. She flew up and pounded on the top with her fists, drenching Tori in rain, which washed the mud off but left her now-wet fringe hanging over her eyes. "Oops, I guess I overdid it." She kicked the cloud aside, then hovered beside her. "Let me try something else."

Tori pushed her hair aside to watch the girl start to fly around her at high speeds.

"The Rain-Blow-Dry! Patented." The turbulence of the resulting whirlwind of colour tugged at her wet hair and pulled the moisture away.

The rainbow-haired girl slowed down and alighted gently, the elegant fans of magic on her back pulling into her back. "Perfect. No no, don't thank me, you're-"

Tori watched her open her eyes. Then her mouth open in shock. Then break out into a massive grin. Then, she fell to the ground laughing, Barbara following. She ran a hand into her hair, finding it all tangled. She sighed with frustration. "Lemme guess, you're Rachael Dallas."

The girl stopped laughing and stood up. "The one and only. Why?" She flew up close, causing Tori to take a wary step back. "You heard of me from someone?"

"I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear, not crashing into Supervisors for the Summer Sun Celebration."

Rachael leant back and drifted on her wings. "Yeah, that'll be easy. I'll just finish my training and get on to it later."

"Training?" Tori raised an eyebrow warily. "Training for what?"

"The Wonderbolts!" She announced, gesturing with her entire arm to a poster. "They'll be performing at the Summer Sun Celebration and I'm gonna show them my stuff."

Tori scoffed.

"Hey, what?!"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously what?"

"Are you seriously thinking that the Wonderbolts, the most talented fliers in all of Equestria, would accept you?"

Rachael smiled. "Yep, I'm pretty sure."

"Well, I'd say not."

"Eh?" Rachael raised an eyebrow.

"They wouldn't accept anyone who couldn't keep the sky clear for even a day. Your chances are pathetic."

"Hey!" Rachael pointed accusingly. "I could have this whole frickin' sky clear in ten seconds."

Tori smiled to herself. Right in the pride. You're quite clever, Victoria Tanton. "Prove it."

Rachael frowned, then zoomed skywards. Barb pulled out a stopwatch and the two traced the rainbow blur across the sky smashing clouds into vapour.

After the acrobatic display Rachael alighted on a bridge pillar, crossing her arms and standing confidently. "See? Ten seconds."

Tori was astounded, her mouth hanging agape. Barb looked at the stopwatch, then up again.

"I'd never leave my home town hangin'." She smiled and flicked her long hair aside. "You should see your face. You're a laugh..." She drew a blank look. "Oh crap, I didn't catch your name."

Tori composed herself. "Victoria Tanton."

"We should hang out more, Vicky."

"Victoria."

"Whatevs." She kicked into the sky again, her wings bursting out. "Catcha later."

Barb let out a low whistle. "She's pretty cool, isn't she?"

"And incredibly arrogant." Tori sighed, playing with her puffed-up hair. "At least I could use it as an advantage."

"Anyway, we should keep moving. We've got a few more things to check out."

Tori pushed open the door to the town hall. It was miraculously air-conditioned, and also very well-decorated. Banners depicting important, almost religious, scenes of the Princess or the sun hang up on flagpoles or on hovering clamps.

"Woah..." Barb mumbled.

"Woah indeed, Barbara." Tori looked around. "The decorations are coming along nicely. Ooh, they even have the Battle at Gryphus Hi-"

"No no no, not those banners."

Tori looked down at her in confusion. "What could possibly be more 'woah' than a banner on the Battle at Gryphus Hill?"

"Him." Barb pointed at the lone figure standing at the stage. The figure was obviously male, and carried an air and posture of elegance normally reserved for upper-class people. Purple hair crested his head, falling in a flat curve. A thin ponytail was tied back, arching all the way down to the small of his back.

"Huh." Tori muttered.

The man moved, carrying a variety of strings in the air and testing them out against one of the wooden supports. "No... no... ugh, disgusting... Dear God, Evans, what were you thinking? No..."

Barb did a quick look-over of herself, running her sharp fingers through her hair. "How's my hair? Straight? How about my hoodie?"

Tori rolled her eyes and approached him. "Excuse me, sir-"

"Just a moment, my dear. I'm 'in the zone' as it were."

"Oh my God his voice is so hot..." Barb spoke quietly.

"Aha!" 'Evans' looked over the final ribbon, a golden sparkling one that worked astoundingly well with the background. "Yes, that always works." He turned to face them. "Now, uh, how can I help- AGH!"

Tori blinked. "Eh?"

"My goodness, whatever happened to your coiffure?"

She looked up at her hair. "Oh, right, my hair. A minor accident. I'm just here to help with the decorations and then I'll be out of your way."

"No no no, this simply cannot do." Elusive walked behind her and pressed his palms gently against her back, edging her onwards. "Come on, my dear."

"Wait, what-?! Barbara, help me!"

Barb just followed listfully.

***

"I thought you were going to just fix my hair, Evans."

"You're outfit is... Well, you look like a schoolgirl."

"That's because I am a schoolgirl! Well, technically a tertiary education student, but I like the look."

"Just be quiet and get behind the screen. I'll pass you some clothing to try on."

Tori sighed and stepped behind the screen, slipping her clothing with haste. "Just hurry up, I've got work to do."

After a few moments of Evans humming and commenting on clothing, two outfits were placed on the screen's top. Tori grabbed the closest one, and examined it. "What do you think?"

"I dunno, I'm majoring in Magical Theory and Elemental Sciences, not Fashion Design." She replied, putting it on carefully. It was a simple thing, a nice, pleasing green colour, and quite a modest length. As soon as she stepped out Evans frowned.

"Doesn't work with your hair." He pointed to the other one, the white, gem-encrusted piece. "Try that one on."

Tori groaned and slipped out of the green one. She held the other one up and raised an eyebrow. "A corset?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"Just breathing restriction problems, that's all."

"Oh, don't worry, that one's pretty flexible. Had the plastic ribs imported from Minotauria."

Tori slipped it on quickly, holding the dress front in place. The dress was short, shorter than she'd like, and it had no shoulder straps. She took a few wary steps out. "I don't like it."

Evans hummed with study. "I think it looks nice. Shows off your legs quite well."

Tori blushed brightly, stammering in embarrassed annoyance.

Evans rubbed his chin. "Might need to tighten the corset up though." Without much warning Evans walked up and gently turned her around. "You didn't even do it up."

"Do I look like I can work a damn corset?!" Tori snarled.

"Here, let me do it. Take a deep breath."

Tori sighed, then did so. Evans grabbed the two straps and pulled hard. "So, before, you were telling me where you're from. You can breathe out now."

Tori let out her breath. "I've been sent from Canterlot to oversee-"

Evans gasped melodramatically. "Canterlot?! Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, sophistication, and luxury, oh, I have always dreamed of living there."

"It's actually-"

"I imagine we're going to be the best of friends, my dear." Evans clutched her head in his hands, smiling like a young fan. Then his face went sour. "Emerald."

"What?"

Evans pointed to the emerald on the front of her corset. "Green is not your colour, Tanton, I'll go get you a new one."

Tori watched him stride off. "Quick, Barb!"

Barb stood there lazily.

Tori groaned and, scooping her clothes up in magic, gripped her wrist and pulled her out.

"I now freaking hate short dresses." Tori growled, fixing up her trusty modest skirt. "I don't want to show off my legs."

"Wasn't he dreamy...?"

"Oi. Focus, Juliet." Tori rapped her fist against the enamoured Drake's skull. "What's next on the list?"

"Oh, uh..." Barb pulled the scroll up. "Music. The last one."

"That's going to be nice and relaxing. Just as long as this one-"

"Shh!" Barb paused to listen. "Y'hear that?"

Tori heard the slow drift of birdsong through the summer air. "Yeah. Let's check it out."

The two approached and hid behind the nearest bush to the tree. A girl, dressed in a long, yellow dress, hovered slowly, directing a choir of birds.

Well, most of them. One of them was off.

"Oh, uh, please stop everyone." The girl could barely be heard from their conveniently-placed bush. "Excuse me, but your rhythm is just a little off. Can you try and keep track?"

The bird nodded.

"Thank you. Now, follow me please."

Tori pulled herself out of the bush and walked slowly up.

"A one, a two, a one two three-"

"Hello!" Tori announced, scattering the birds and momentarily stiffening the girl with shock. "Oh, I'm sorry I scared your birds. I'm here to check up on the music and it's sounding wonderful."

The girl landed and, hiding one of her eyes behind her long, pink hair, scuffed the ground with her shoe.

Tori grinned awkwardly. Well, that's a good start. "I'm Victoria Tanton."

Silence.

"What's your name?"

"Um..." The girl replied so quietly that Tori struggled to hear her. "My name is Emily..."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Uh... M-my name is ..."

Tori took a step closer. "Didn't quite catch that."

The girl hid further behind her hair and squeaked nervously.

In the ensuing, deafeningly awkward silence, the birds returned. "Well, uh, looks like your birds are back. I won't keep you. Keep up the good work."

The girl didn't even reply, averting her gaze away from her.

"Oookay then." She walked back to Barb, who emerged from her cover. "Well, that was easy."

"Yeah, I'd reckon so." Barb replied.

"I mean, yeah, it was awkward, but-" She felt something ram into her back and send her sprawling over Barb's head. Her fall was miraculously soft, narrowly avoiding the stone path and instead landing on a bush.

When her senses returned she could hear a conversation between Barb and the girl.

"... but most people call me Barb."

"Hi Barb, I'm Emily." She smiled warmly. "Oh my goodness, a talking Drake. Uh... What do Drake talk about?"

Tori stormed up and grabbed Barb's wrist, dragging her along, before she could even reply.

Not that it stopped her, as Emily followed her, seemingly unaware of Tori's anger. "Well, what do you wanna know?"

"Absolutely everything." Emily replied with such enthusiasm.

"Well, I started out as a small purple-and-green egg."

***

"... And that's basically my whole life story. Well, until today." Barb, who was no longer being dragged, jumped with excitement. "Ooh, do you wanna hear about today?"

"Yes please." Emily seemed just as excited.

"Well!" Tori yelled louder than she needed to. "This is where we're staying while we're in Ponyville and my little sister needs her sleep."

"No I don't."

Tori, her fake smile waning, stealthily slipped a flash of magic into the back of Barb's knee, toppling her for a moment. "See, she's so sweepy she can't keep her wittle balance."

"I'm not a freakin' kid, Tori." Barb growled.

"Oh, you must simply get to bed." Emily scooped her up and started to fly inside, but was stopped by Tori.

"Yes yes, we'll get right on it, well, goodnight!" She slammed the door.

Barb frowned (not that they could see each other in the dark). "Rude much?"

"Sorry, Barb. I just wanted to get some research done without a bunch of crazy people trying to make friends all the time." She walked a few steps forward. "Where's the light."

The click of the lights gave her just a little more of time to react to the surprise of literally the whole town being inside the room, yelling 'surprise'. It wasn't enough, as she yelped in shock.

"Surprise!" Someone whom she recognised called out. "Hi, I'm Patrick and I threw this party just for you!"

Tori turned to face him, putting on the best fake smile she could.

"Were you surprised? Were you? Huhhuhhuh?" Whoever this person was, he could move.

"Very surprised." Tori replied through gritted teeth in a cheery tone, before turning aside and reverting to her currently normal state. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet."

"That's silly." Patrick replied. "I mean, what sort of party would a welcome party be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, boooor-ing!"

Tori slowly made her way to the drink table.

The pink ghost followed her like she was being haunted. "You see, I haven't seen you before, and if I haven't seen you before it's because you're not a resident of Ponyville and I know everyone, and I mean everyone, in Ponyville, so I decided to throw you a supergigantic spectacular welcome party just for you."

Tori had been pouring what looked like alcohol into a cup. She needed something strong. She raised it to her lips

"And now you have lots and lots of friends!" Patrick wrapped his arm over her back, gesturing out to the crowd, focussing on the four people she had to contend with today.

Tori started drinking.

"See?"

The drink wasn't alcohol.

She felt the inside of her mouth burning up.

"Uh, are you alright sugarcube?" Jackson approached her cautiously.

"HOT HOT HOOOOOT!" Tori screamed out and raced off, bypassing the fridge to grab a whole carton of milk and scooping up a spare cup in her magic, then dashing straight into her room.

"Dude, what did you put in there?" Rachael raised an eyebrow, regarding Patrick.

Barb grabbed the container, and spotted the logo. "Hot sauce...?"

Patrick tipped some of the contents onto a cupcake and shovelled it into his mouth.

"Whuff? Iff' goof."

***

Tori lay on her back, on the bed in her room. "God damnit, haven't they heard of turning the music down."

She grabbed the pillow and covered her ears up, but the rhythmic thump of the music broke through even that.

"Tori, come on down." Barb called out, her head under a lampshade. "Pat's started a game of Pin the Tail on the-"

"No!" Tori shouted back, launching her pillow at nearly sonic speeds (or, at least she thought she did) at Barb. It missed, but broke a framed picture of Ponyville and knocked it to the ground. "All the people in this town are freaking crazy! Do they even know what sort of day I've been having?! Do they even know what time it is?!"

"We have to stay up for the Summer Sun Celebration." Barb offered. "As Princess Celestia's personal student-"

"I go to bed earlier and wake up to watch it. Nothing new."

"Come on, Tori, you're missing out on the fun." Barb turned. "When you change your mind, come on down."

Tori mockingly imitated her as soon as she left, before sighing heavily, turning her attention to the moon, pulling up a book on legends.

"On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will herald His escape, and bring about night-time eternal." She closed it and let out a breath. "I hope it's just a legend."

Barb kicked the door open. "Tori, it's time to watch the sun rise!"

"My everything's is killing me..." Tori muttered as she entered the hall.

"Why's that?"

"Jackson's family pushed me, Rachael smashed into my arm, Evans' stupid corset hurt my chest and, worst of all, and Emily literally rammed into my back and knocked me into a bush."

"That explains why you're so grumpy."

"Ya think?!" Tori snarled.

"Isn't this exciting?!" Patrick yelled out. "Are you excited coz I'm excited I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went-" He gasped quickly. "-But I mean really, who can top that?"

Before Tori could reply, a choir of birds started, announcing the arrival of a smartly-dressed woman.

The room fell silent.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as Mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration."

A cheer from the entire crowd, except Tori.

"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate the longest day of the year."

As the Mayor continued, Tori's eyes wondered to the moon. Four pinpricks of light made their way to the moon, and the black visage of a human flashed from existence.

"... The good, the wise, Princess Celestia!"

The curtains drew open, but no-one stood there.

"What?" Evans, who was operating the curtain, announced in confusion.

A babble went up amongst the crowd. "This isn't good..." Tori mumbled, feeling Barb tighten her grip on her hand.

"Calm down, everyone, I'm certain that there's a reasonable explanation for this."

"Ooh, ooh! I love guessing games!" Patrick bounced with joy. "Is she hiding somewhere?" He immediately started looking around.

Evans returned from backstage. "She's gone."

Everyone gasped.

"Ooh, he's good..." Patrick appraised him.

Then yelped, as a blue mass of cloud slowly formed where the Princess should be. The cloud grew in size, emitting a hum of pure magic before it burst apart.

Where the cloud was, a tall, armoured figure stood. What wasn't covered in blue metal was covered in black cloth, except his face. The spiralling crystal built into his helm and his wings radiated a black magic, and a crest of stardust fell from his helm down to his feet. His eyes opened, revealing them as blue and reptilian.

"Nocturne..." Tori mumbled, gripping Barb's hand tighter.

The armoured figure stood straight. "Oh, my beloved subjects... It's been far too long since I've seen your precious, little, sun-loving faces..."

"Hey!" Rachael announced. "What have you done with our Princess?!" She made to dash forwards, only to be grabbed by the collar by Jackson.

"Whoa there, Rae!"

Nocturne chuckled. "Oh, I've locked her away. Why, am I not royal enough for you?" His smile dropped suddenly, and a wave of dread fell over the crowd. "Don't you know who I am?"

"Ooh, ooh, uh..." Patrick called out. "Hokey Smokes? No, it's-"

Jackson, using his free hand, jammed an apple into his mouth.

Nocturne chuckled, drifting on his black wings next to Emily. "What, my crown doesn't count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" He moved up to Evans, flicking his chin. "Did you not remember the legends? And didn't you even see the signs?"

"I did." Tori called out, gaining his attention. "And I know who you are."

Nocturne smirked, regarding her.

"You're the Man in the Moon, Nocturne."

Nocturne chuckled. "Right you are, my pretty one. Then that means you know why I'm here."

"Y-you're here to..." Her voice caught in her throat.

Nocturne smiled to himself. "Remember this day, little mortals, for it will be your last. From now on, the night will last for eternity!" As he laughed maniacally, the ethereal mane swirled around him, crackling with lightning.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

8/02/14 Edit - Fixed a few issues (names, words, terminology)

Episode 2 - Harmony, part II

Lightning arced through the sky, falling out of a cloud of pure stardust. Underneath the spiralling storm was a lone figure, clad in blue armour, laughing and savouring his victory.

The Mayor pointed, alerting the gold-clad avian warriors stationed nearby. "Seize him! Only he knows where the Princess is!"

The three guards rose up, their wings flaring white. They burst forward to try and grab Nocturne, but the God-like figure turned to them with anger.

"Stand back, you mortal fools!"

Three bolts of lightning arced down and struck them, shorting out their magic wings and throwing them back. He grinned, and enveloped himself in stardust and drifted away as a cloud.

Rachael, pulling against Jackson's grip, managed to get out and give chase. But, fast as she was, she only watched the cloud race into the mountains, too slow to chase it.

She panted, then her face took on an expression of worry. "Eternal night...?"

Being an Avian allowed her a natural 3D perception, an ability to look not only sideways but up and down in instinct. It was this perception that allowed her to notice the purple-haired streak racing down to the town library, a green haired companion in tow.

"What's she up to?"

***

Barb stumbled inside. "We need... To..."

Tori gently guided her to her bed. "Just rest, Barb. I'll restore natural order to the world before you know it."

Barb fell asleep instantly. Tori quietly made her way out and turned the lights off, closing the door behind her.

With that out of the way, she charged head-first into the shelves of the library, scanning them for anything. "Elements, Elements...! Ugh, how can I stop Nocturne without the Elements of Harmony?!"

She looked up to see Rachael giving her a death glare, pushing her slowly back to the wall. "And just what are the Elements of Harmony?! And how did you know about Nocturne, huh?"

Tori felt her back pressed against a shelf.

"Are you a spy?"

Rachael was pulled back with a yelp, Jackson gripping onto her ankle. "Simmer down, Rae. She ain't no spy."

Tori breathed a sigh of relief.

"But she sure as heck knows what's goin' on, don't ya Tori."

"Victoria."

"Victoria, sorry."

Tori sighed. "I did some preliminary research before coming here. I read all about the prediction of Nocturne, and about these strange objects called the Elements of Harmony, which are the only things that can stop him."

"That's mighty handy."

"But I don't know where they are, or what they look like. I don't even know what they do or how they work."

"The Elements of Harmony," Patrick called out. "A Reference Guide."

Tori dashed up and pushed him aside. "How did you find that?"

"It was under 'E', duh."

Tori mentally facepalmed, but physically brought the book down and opened it up. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty." Tori frowned. "The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said that the last known location of the Elements is in the ancient castle of the Royal Siblings, which is now in..."

"...The Everfree Forest..." Tori gulped.

"I cannot see this ending well at all..." Evans muttered.

"Whee!" Patrick took a few steps forwards. "Let's go!"

"Hold it!" Tori stuck out her hand to stop him. "I appreciate your help, but I need to do this alone."

"Nope, sorry, cutie-"

"Cutie?!"

"-But we ain't lettin' any friend-"

"Friend?!"

"-Of ours go into that creepy place by herself." He took a long stride forwards, the others following. "We're stickin' to ya like caramel on a candy apple."

"Especially if there's candy apples in there." Patrick added.

"Patrick?" Tori raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"That made no sense whatsofreakingever." Tori followed the party into the forest.

***

"So... None of you have actually been in here before?"

"Oh, good heavens, no." Evans replied. "I mean, look, this place is so... dreadful."

"And it ain't natural either." Jackson added. "Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tori looked around nervously.

"Nobody knows~" Rachael, now airborne, hovered slowly in front of Evans, Emily and Patrick. "Do you know why?"

"Rachael, quit it." Jackson pulled Tori to his side, and away from Rachael.

"Because everypony who's ever come in, has never... come... OUT!"

The three victims leapt back in surprise, and a split second later a massive crack appeared behind them.

The whole cliff edge dislodged and slid down the mountainside, and the four non-fliers fell onto the slope it created and followed it to the depths of the ravine.

"Emily!" Rachael called out. "Quick!"

Rachael dived down and lifted Patrick up, as Emily flew over and slowed Evans down by grabbing onto his arm and holding him back. Jackson grabbed a tree root that was poking out to hold him back. Tori, however, continued sliding until she was all but over the edge, gripping onto it with her arms only.

"Hold on, Tori, Ah'm comin'!" Jackson released his grip and slid down, grabbing Tori and keeping her stable.

"Jackson, what do I do?!" Tori strained to get up, her voice betraying her panic.

Jackson looked behind her, then levelled his view directly to her eyes. "Let go."

"Are you crazy?!" Tori yelled back.

"No Ah ain't. Ah promise, you'll be safe."

"Oh yeah, accept a promise from someone who not only claims we're friends when we're clearly not and also openly hits on me. Do you think I would believe you?!"

"Now listen here, Victoria. Y'all may not think we're friends, but Ah like ya enough not t' drop ya off a cliff. What Ah'm sayin' to you is th' honest truth." He levelled a serious gaze at her. "Let go, and you'll be safe."

Part of her wanted to climb up there, and probably give him a belting. But something, something that she couldn't explain, overrid that instinct, and told her to drop.

She let go, and fell down with a shriek and closed eyes, and waited for the pain.

Mid-fall, she felt four arms grabbing her, and minimal pain. She opened her eyes again to see the two Avians holding her aloft, slowly floating down.

Jackson leapt down the cliff face, jumping on small platforms that were available to him. "Well, Ah reckon that's that."

Tori walked up and slapped him. "That's for before, the hitting on me"

Jackson looked at her with surprise. "Did you just-?"

"Yes I did. Now we're even."

Rachael let out a low whistle.

***

"... loop-de-loop and wham! Caught you right in the nick of time."

"Rachael, you had at least five seconds to put them down and wait for me to drop."

"And, um, I saw you not actually do a loop." Emily stated.

Rachael sighed. "You're no fun."

"But," Tori stated. "I'm very grateful, but we've got-"

Something large landed in front of them. A large, red-maned lion, with a scorpion tail and bat wings.

"A manticore!" Tori charged up magic around her hands. "We've gotta get past him."

The manticore leapt up and swung over Evans' head, who ducked and retaliated with a kick of his own.

"Take that, you fiend!"

The manticore roared at him with such force that it literally billowed his hair open and into a tangled mess.

"My hair..." His attention snapped back to the snarling Manticore, and he tactically retreated.

"Wait..." Emily called out, but due to her quiet voice nobody noticed.

Jackson leapt up and landed on its back, waving his hat in the air. "Yee-haw!"

The manticore bucked and bucked-

"Wait!" Emily once again called out.

and finally Jackson was flung off. As he soared through the air, he smiled at Rachael. "All yours, partner."

"On it!" Rachael soared off-

"Wait!"

and flew around the manticore, creating a prismatic tornado. It did nothing, as a flick of its tail sent her sprawling in front of the group.

"Rachael, are you wounded?!" Tori ran up and immediately began to check for a wound from the tail.

"Just my pride." Rachael stood up and joined the forming line.

The manticore scrapped its paw on the ground, preparing for a charge. The five did much the same, then burst forwards. Tori charged a spear of magic in her hands as she dashed forwards, aiming for the-

"Waaaaaaaaaaait!" Emily, who had not been charging, stepped in front of them, halting the charge.

She turned around and slowly approached the manticore. The manticore raised its paw, claws out, to strike. Tori covered her eyes.

"Shh, it's ok..."

Tori opened her eyes to see her rubbing the beast's paw gently, soothing it. After a moment, it opened it and showed its palm, a massive splinter embedded deep within it.

"Oh, you poor, poor little baby."

"Little?" Rachael commented.

"Now, this might hurt for just a second." Emily gripped the splinter and yanked it out. The manticore grabbed her in its paws and roared loudly.

"Fluttershy!" Tori readied her magic again.

The manticore started licking Emily. Emily, beaming, giggled and talked to the manticore as one would talk to a cat or child. The party walked past them and on to the journey, but Tori stopped to wait for Emily.

"How did you know about the thorn?"

"I didn't." Emily walked up, her hair brushed back. "Sometimes we just need a little kindness."

"Ugh..." Elusive groaned, fixing his hair up. "My eyes need a rest from this forest, it's so horrific to look at."

The area around them became darker as they walked under a disturbingly thick amount of foliage, obscuring all their vision.

"I wasn't being literal."

"The castle could be right here and we wouldn't even know it."

"Don't you know a light spell?" Rachael asked.

"No, that's in next year's course, along with gravity and momentum."

"When do you learn hypnosis?"

"I don't know if it's in the course or not." Tori felt someone bump into her.

"Terribly sorry." Evans replied.

A dull thud. "Sorry, pal."

"That's my leg, Patrick."

Tori felt something press against her chest, accidentally groping her. "Get your hand of my breast!"

"Oh my, uh, sorry, Victoria, I didn't see you there, really." Emily replied.

Squelch. "Oops, Ah think Ah stepped in somethin'."

Emily screamed.

"Emily, calm down, it's just mud."

Jackson snapped his head forwards and came face to face with something vicious, and leapt back with a yelp.

Tori noticed the light coming off it, and then the same light all around, each with its own twisted, wooden face on the side of a tree.

The group backed up into each other, and the only thing on their mind was to scream.

A laugh interrupted them. "Huh?"

Tori saw Patrick, next to one of the trees, laughing his head off and making faces at it.

"Patrick, what are you doing?! Run!"

"Oh guys, don't you see?"

"Am I the only one hearing music right now?" Evans commented.

"No..." Emily replied.

***

The party, having thoroughly giggled at the ghosties enough to defeat them, bounced out of the forest quite happily.

Until Patrick stopped and everyone collided with him.

Tori peered over his shoulder, an easy feat considering he was the same height as her. In front of them was a raging river. "How are we gonna cross this?"

A very flamboyant wail of despair drew their attention to another part of the river. In the river was a large humanoid with an excellently-styled hairdo, but in place of a pelvis or legs was a long, serpentine tail, which was thrashing around violently and causing the movement of the water.

"Excuse me, sir, why are you crying?" Tori asked the creature.

"Oh, I don't know, I was just sitting here, when a tacky little cloud of blue smoke just-" He swept his arm aside. "Whisked past me and tore half of my beloved moustache clean off!"

He pointed to his moustache. Half of it was indeed lopped off.

"And now I look simply horrid!" He added, moving very melodramatically, before crashing into the water to continue his despair. The resulting wave crashed over the six and soaked them thoroughly.

"That's what all the fuss is about?" Jackson crossed his arms.

"Why, of course it is!" Evans leapt out, his previously wavy hair now long and straight. "How can you be so insensitive?"

"What?"

"I mean, look at him. Such wonderful, luminescent scales."

The serpent sniffed. "I know, right?"

"And such an excellently coiffed hairstyle."

"Oh, I know, I know."

"Someone kill me." Rachael muttered.

"Such a fabulous manicure."

"It's so true~"

"The flamboyancy is gonna make me sick..."

"And ruined without your moustache."

"It's true, I'm hideous!"

Evans frowned. "I can't let such a crime against style go uncorrected." He reached forwards and yanked the closest scale to him out of the serpent's tail.

The serpent wailed in pain. "What did you that for?"

Evans flicked his hair out and dropped suddenly into a combat stance.

"Evans, what are you-?"

A flash of movement, and the serpent fell. Evans remained stationary, having finished striking.

"Is he dead?" Rachael asked. "I really hope he's dead."

Evans's ponytail fell off. He discarded the scale and lifted, magically, the lock of hair and fused it into the serpent's lack of moustache.

The serpent reared and laughed. "My moustache! How wonderful!"

"You look smashing." Evans smiled.

"What about your hair, Evans?" Tori asked.

"It’s fine, my dear. Short hair's in this season." He replied, but with little conviction. "Besides, it'll grow back."

"So would the moustache." Rachael commented.

Tori walked into the river. "Hey, it's stopped moving. We can cross now!"

She felt the earth move from underneath her. The serpent looked down at her with a smile as part of his tail lifted her up. "Allow me."

"Five bucks says that serpent guy is gay." Rachael commented, readjusting one of her fingerless gloves.

"Rachael, must you be so vulgar?" Evans replied, running a hand where his long ponytail used to be. "He's effeminate, not necessarily gay."

"You wanna take that bet?"

"Guys, there it is!" Tori shouted, halting everyone. In front of them, over a smoke-covered bridge, was a castle, worn with age and plant life. She ran forwards, grinning. "We're almost there!"

She slipped on something wet, and her legs fell down over the edge of the ravine, where the bridge was supposed to be. She teetered on the edge, her legs flailing and her arms desperately trying to pull her back up, and failing.

Mercifully, a hand grabbed her and pulled her back. "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" Rachael helped her back up, smiling.

"Now what?" Patrick looked at the fallen bridge.

"Go around and look for a different route?" Jackson asked.

"Try again tomorrow?" Emily suggested.

Rachael opened her magic wings and flapped them around. "I can fly, duh."

"Oh yeah." Patrick replied as Rachael dived into the fog. She emerged a second later with the two ropes in her hands, pulling the bridge back up.

She quickly tied off one of the support ropes and started work on the other, when an ethereal voice called out to her. "Rachael..."

"Who's there?" She looked around nervously.

"Rachael..."

Rachael raised her fists and punched forwards a few times. "I ain't scared of you! Show yourself!"

"We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flier in Equestria."

Rachael blinked. "Who?"

"Why, you of course."

Rachael beamed. "Really? I mean, oh yeah, me. Uh, hey, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would you? I've been trying to get into that group for, like, forever."

"No, Rachael Dallas, we want you to join us." Out of the fog, a three-pony team emerged, wearing a dark mockery of the Wonderbolt flight suit. A woman with blue hair stood at the head of the formation, two bulky men flanking her. "The Shadowbolts."

"Shadowbolts?"

"We're the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all of Equestria."

"Even surpassing the Wonderbolts?"

"Yes." The woman replied. "But first, we need a captain."

Rachael grinned.

"The most magnificent..." The woman circled Rachael on wings of grey light.

"Tick."

"Swiftest..."

"Yep."

"Bravest flier in all of Equestria."

"Yep, that's all true."

"We need..." The woman flew close to her ear and whispered. "You."

Rachael cheered and fistpumped. "Sign me up!"

The Shadowbolt smiled to herself.

"Just let me tie up this bridge, then we have a deal."

"No!" The woman flew close to her face, and Rachael leapt back a step. "It's them or us."

Rachael felt the nearly-magical glare from underneath her goggles.

***

"Rachael!" Tori called out. "What's taking so long?" She looked across the bridge, and spotted Rachael talking with what appeared to be a shadowed mockery of the Wonderbolts. "Oh no."

The leader of the aerial team turned her head to the party, and with a bright glow of magic from her goggles, the fog drew closer together, thickening substantially.

"Rachael, don't listen to them!" She took a step forwards, but Jackson pressed a hand against her.

"Let her deal with it herself."

"Besides," Patrick announced, wrapping an arm around Emily's shoulder, much to the shock of the avian. "We've have Emily."

***

"Well?" The Shadowbolt leader leant closer to Rachael.

Rachael tensed up in thought, her mind straining. After a long moment her shoulders went slack, and she looked up at the team. "You."

The woman leant back, savouring her victory-

"Thank you, I mean, but I kinda have to help my friends and inadvertently save the world." Rachael grabbed the rope and swiftly tied it to the stone. "Besides, no ponies live in the Everfree, that's just stupid."

After tying the bridge her wings burst into life, and she sailed over and alighted in front of the party, the fog dissipating. She revelled in the cheering of the team.

"See, I'd never leave you guys hanging."

With a burst of lavender magic, Tori pushed the wooden oak doors aside with a loud creak.

"Woah..." Patrick looked over the desolate scenery. The stone inside was fragmented and broken, with vines growing over it, a fine layer of dust covering the area.

"Welp, we're here." Jack crossed his arms. "Now, Tori, y'all know where these Elements are?"

Tori looked up at a column, six supports sticking out of it, each holding an orb. "That's them. The Elements of Harmony."

"How can you tell?" Rachael asked, tilting her head.

"I can feel a strong resonance of magic coming from their direction."

"Oh yeah." Jack replied. "Weird Highborn stuff."

"The politically correct term is caster, thank you very much." Evans crossed his arms.

Tori cleared her throat, half to get attention and half to clear the dust out of her lungs. "Emily, Rachael, can you bring them down?"

Rachael saluted and raced up, Emily following swiftly. They grabbed five of the orbs, settling them down in front of her. Rachael went for the sixth, but returned with only a few scraps of amethyst.

"There's only five intact ones." Patrick looked over the stone spheres.

"Yeah, the other one was a gemstone the same size as them." Rachael tossed the amethyst to the ground. "Didn't survive as well."

"Was that the sixth element?" Emily asked, almost frightfully.

"No, fortunately." Tori sighed. "The sixth element only appears when the five are present and a spark will cause it to be revealed.

"So what the heck is that supposed to mean?" Jackson replied.

"I don't know... But," Tori smiled. "I have an idea. Stand back."

"Why-?"

"These objects are reportedly highly-potent arcane artefacts, and I'm going to try to funnel some magic into them. It could cause a massive feedba-"

"Enough with the science, Toz." Rachael groaned. "We're going."

"Come along, y'all, she needs to concentrate." Jackson turned and walked out of the building, all but Emily departing.

Emily, however, approached slowly. "Victoria-"

"Emily, I need to concentrate. Sorry, but we can talk once I'm done."

"O-okay then..." Emily glided slowly away.

Tori closed her eyes and stretched out her hands above the elements. With a flash of light, fields of magic surrounded her arms and the Elements, lifting them slightly into the air. Streaks of violet light crawled along her body, creating a pattern that to those trained in magical theory knew was a high-level use of magic.

It was taking its toll, however, as her mind strained to keep up with the needs of the spell. A small wind kicked up around her feet, which as far as she could tell wasn't supposed to happen. When she opened her eyes, a raging tornado of blue magic was growing, taking the Elements with them. She took a wary step back, but the tornado moved faster than her, scooping her up and trapping her within the aura with a slowly-building high-pitched keening noise. As the noise became deafening, it cut out suddenly, throwing her back onto the floor - a different floor.

She raised her head to see, upon an old stage a fair distance away, the armoured figure of Nocturne, holding the Elements in a cloud of stardust, laughing triumphantly.

She frowned, standing up and preparing a spear of magic.

Nocturne's triumphant smile dropped into a more skeptical one. "You're kidding."

Tori crouched, ready to charge forwards at a moment's notice. The spear glowed brighter.

"You're kidding, right?"

Tori slowly started a charge, her tired legs slowly but surely working their way to speed. Nocturne frowned, and created a lance of blue magic, instantly moving at a high speed.

The two rapidly crossed the distance between them, and just as Nocturne thrust forwards, Tori's spear burst into a bright light and she disappeared. Nocturne ground to a halt, looking around.

Tori reappeared on the stage, staggering. Adopting the same straight-bodied position as before, she pumped her magic into the Elements. "Come on... One spark..."

She heard Nocturne reappear directly in front of her, but before she, and he, could react a strong feedback of magic sent her flying back, sliding against the cold stone.

As she sat up, she saw sparks flying around the Elements and Nocturne's leg. "No!"

Tori's smile dropped as soon as the magic around them stopped. Nocturne looked equally surprised, but then he broke out into a fanged grin. The grin turned into a laugh, and with a shockwave of magic applied to the ground, the Elements were destroyed, turned into chips of marble.

Nocturne looked up at Tori, and without warning snakes of stardust binded her limbs, hoisting her into the air. "You little fool... Thinking you can defeat me?" He walked slowly closer. "Now you will never see your Princess, or your Sun, and Night will reign eternal." His aggressive expression changed into one a lot more terrifying to her - sadism. "But first..."

She felt a tendril of magic slowly snake up her leg, lifting the base of her skirt up. She tried to wiggle away, but it failed.

Just as the magic wrapped itself around the strap of her panties and gently tugged down, everything stopped when voices were heard.

Something happened. Something inside Tori, something that was dark and cold, a part she never knew existed, sparked. The surge of feeling bolstered her confidence, and suddenly the mystery of the Elements became clear to her.

She turned away from the noise and towards her captor. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony?"

"I just did, didn't I?" Nocturne replied bitterly. "I tore them into chunks, leaving you helpless to me."

"You're wrong." Tori managed to free one of her arms in a burst of magic. "The Elements aren't a bunch of stone. They are metaphysical constructs, and the Spirits of the Elements are right here!"

With a surge of magic, Tori destroyed her bindings, landing softly on the ground. As she stood, she could see - no, feel - the other five members of her team beside her. The marble shards glowed with magic and lifted themselves into the air, much to Nocturne's surprise.

She turned to Jackson. "Jackson, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the Spirit of Honesty."

Red-glowing fragments proceeded to spin around Jackson.

"Emily, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the Spirit of Kindness."

Pink shards moved their way to the flying Emily.

"Patrick, who banished fear by laughing in the face of danger, represents the Spirit of Laughter."

Blue fragments spun around Patrick, who was bouncing with excitement.

"Evans, who calmed a sorrowful Serpentine with a meaningful gift, represents the Spirit of Generosity."

Purple shards gathered around Evans.

"And Rachael, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desires, represents the Spirit of Loyalty."

"That's what I'm talking about." Rachael grinned as magenta shards spun around her in the air.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."

"You still don't have the sixth Element, Victoria Tanton." Nocturne growled. "Your adventures are pointless. The spark was not activated-"

"It was." Tori spoke softly. "A different kind of spark, one that cannot be measured by magic or science." She turned to the team, a friendly look on her face. "I felt it as soon as I realised how happy I was to hear you, to see you. How much I cared about you." Tori's eyes started to water. "The spark appeared inside me when I realised that you all are my friends."

A bright light appeared above her, and drifting down slowly on a cushion of invisible magic was another stone sphere, the primary shape of her Talent Mark etched into it. Nocturne shielded his eyes with a black wing.

"You see, Nocturne, when those Elements are ignited by the... spark that resides in us all, they create the Sixth Element. The Element of... Magic."

A bright aura of spectral magic engulfed them all. The floating crystals condensed on the necks of the wielders, turning into crystals, with gold being formed around the neck of the wielder.

The sphere of Magic turned into a large, six-point star-shaped crystal, a gold crown forming off it and resting on Tori's head. A tone of arcane resonance built up around them until it literally burst upwards as waves of rainbow magic, forming together and arcing straight onto Nocturne.

It hit only a foot away from him, but it quickly became a tornado of light, engulfing him. Despite his efforts, his magic couldn't touch it, and it quickly binded around him with an arcane howl of agony.

The magic grew to such intensity that Tori, overcharged with magic, passed out.

***

Tori's eyes flew open.

"Everyone alright?" Jackson asked, pulling himself up, offering a hand to Tori, who gladly accepted it.

"Thank God!" Evans shouted happily, holding a lock of his once-again long hair.

"Oh, Evans, it's so wonderful." Emily, who wasn't even looking at his hair, commented.

"I know! I'll never part with it again."

"No, you're necklace. It looks exactly like your Talent Mark."

Evans blinked, then compared the shape of his sudden necklace with the shape of the diamonds on the back of his hands. He looked up, directly at Emily's chest. "So does yours."

Emily blushed and rubbed her arm nervously, looking over her necklace.

"Look at mine!" Patrick announced, the blue crystal the shape of a balloon.

"Aww yeah!" Rachael fistpumped.

"Gee, Tori, Ah thought you were bein' all crazy and stuff, but Ah reckon we do represent the Elements." Jackson commented.

"Indeed you do." A majestic, almost angelic, voice resounded across the room. From one of the windows, the party could see the sun rise, glowing brightly. The bright glow reappeared inside the castle, and with a flash of magic a tall, well-built woman stood in its place, feathered wings where magic wings would be. A spiral of golden magic emanated from her forehead, and her hair fell down in spectral waves down to her hips. She wore a long, white, almost form-fitting dress, and bore a crown of gold.

Everyone bowed except Tori, who approached her happily. "Princess Celestia!"

"Tori Tanton," Celestia opened her arms, and Tori ran into them happily. "My most faithful student." She reluctantly released her hug. "I knew you could do it."

"But... You told me it was an old woman's tale."

"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." She walked forward slowly, her wings slowly converting into magic and then into nothing. "I saw the signs of Nocturne's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." She turned sombrely to the stage. "Now, if only another will as well..."

Lying on the ground was someone that looked similar to Nocturne, but significantly weaker.

"Prince Artemis."

He slowly pulled himself up, only to meet the gaze of the Princess, and he recoiled in fear.

"It has been a thousand years since I've seen you like this..." She knelt down in front of him. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little brother."

"Brother?" Rachael asked.

"Will you accept my friendship?" Celestia pulled herself up, offering a hand.

Artemis leapt up and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Celestia... I've missed you so much..."

"Me too." Celestia put her arms around Artemis.

Patrick immediately started crying. And, just as quickly stopped. "Hey, do you know what this calls for?"

"A party!" Patrick announced, immediately running into town along with other happy villagers.

Tori calmly walked back, the four of her friends following behind her. "He can sure get a party organised quickly."

"He's known as Ponyville Grand Party Master for a reason." Rachael commented.

As Tori reached the town, Celestia and Artemis pulled up in a royal chariot. Barb, fully awake, emerged from the crowd and gave Tori a tackle-hug.

Celestia approached, and the entire town bowed their heads slightly. Two young avians flew up and placed a ring of flowers around Artemis's neck, who looked honestly surprised that it happened.

Tori's smile dropped after a moment.

"Why so glum, Tori?" Celestia placed a gentle arm around her shoulder. "Are you not happy to return to Canterlot and continue your studies, now that your quest is complete?"

"That's the thing, Princess." Tori moved out of her arm and made her way slowly to her friends. "Just as soon as I learnt how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them."

Celestia smiled. "Barbara, take a note please."

Barb saluted and pulled out a quill and scroll immediately.

"I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the Caster Victoria Tanton shall take on a new mission for Equestria." Celestia turned closer to Twilight. "She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."

Tori couldn't help but beam. "Thank you, Princess Celestia. I'll study harder than before."

"Barb, is that the last box?"

Barb grunted, slamming another large box down. "Box of Books number 75. That's all of them."

"Excellent." Tori used her magic to sort them out.

She saw the light behind her darkening, and she turned to see a silhouetted figure in the light of the doorway.

"Barb, can you turn the light on?"

As soon as it flicked on the silhouette took the form of Prince Artemis, who approached slowly. "Miss Tanton, if I may speak with you privately for a moment?"

"Sure."

Artemis came closer to her, shutting the door to the room behind him. "I would like to formally apologise for my actions beforehand."

"Oh, that?" Tori smiled. "You were a corrupted god of eternal night back then, I don't think you need to apologise."

Artemis smiled. "Thank you, regardless. I would also like to thank you for freeing me from my madness. I have missed much of humanity's developments over the last thousand years."

"Ask your sister about it when you get the time. A lot has changed."

Artemis, with a slight blush, gingerly took Tori's hands in his own gloved ones, and kissed the back of it. Tori laughed, amused by the archaic display of affection.

"That gesture's a little old, milord."

"Oh." Artemis's face grew hotter. "Oh, I deeply apologise for that."

"It's ok, my Prince. You'll get used to it."

Artemis relaxed. "Thank you. I shall endeavour to meet up with you in the near future."

Tori watched him leave quickly, a slight blush on her face. She giggled to herself. "Come on, Tori, you can't be falling in love with a Prince, can you?"

Author's Note

8/02/14 Edit - Fixed a few things.

Episode 3 - Golden Ticket

"Nope..." Barb causally tossed an apple out of the basket, then reached into it again, examining the next one. "Nope..."

"Thank ya kindly for helpin' me out today, Tori." Jackson, carrying a sack of freshly-picked apples, smiled to himself. "Ah bet Beth that Ah could get all these golden delicious into th' barn by lunchtime. If Ah win, she's gonna go down Stirrup Street in one of Granny dresses." He snickered triumphantly to himself. "Boy, she'd hate that."

"No problem at all, Jackson." Tori replied, wiping her brow. "I'm glad the goal is lunchtime, though. All this hard work is making me hungry."

"I know, right?" Barb added, examining an apple.

"Barb, you've done nothing to help us while we've done all the work."

"Exactly, you're taking so long I missed my snack-time." She tossed the apple in her hands aside. "Besides, I'm quality control."

Tori's stomach growled, and she laughed nervously. "Well, we'd better get some food."

Barb continued her rummaging. "No... Nope..." Her eyes widened. "Aha!" She yanked out a bright, juicy-looking apple.

"Woah..." Tori's hand instinctively went for it slowly. "That looks delicious..."

Barb took a huge bite of it.

"Barb!"

"What?" Barb twitched as her cheeks puffed up, and a jet of green fire burst forth, the smoke materialising into a scroll.

"A letter from the Princess?"

Barb snatched it from the air and opened it, clearing her throat. "Hear ye, hear ye. Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce the Grand Gala is being held at the capital city of Canterlot on the 21st day of..." Barb squinted. "Yadda yadda yadda... Cordially extends an invitation to Victoria Tanton plus one guest."

Tori and Jackson gasped, and in sync announced "The Grand Gala!"

Tori proceeded to jump around like an excited schoolgirl, while Jackson cheered. Barb frowned, then proceeded to belch another jet of fire, this time materialising into two golden tickets.

"Wow, great!" Tori beamed. "I've never been to the Gala because I was underage. Have you been, Barb?"

"No." Barb replied dourly. "And I plan to keep it that way." She crossed her arms. "All that girly frilly froufrou nonsense makes me sick."

"Aw, come on, Barb, a dance would be nice. You might find a cute boy there."

"I've already found one, thank you very-"

"Nice?" Jackson, grinning like a loon, walked up. "It's a heaps better than nice! Ah'd love to go."

"Aren't you a guy or something?"

"It's an all-gender event." Tori replied.

"Ah ain't there for the frilly stuff, God no. If Ah had an apple stand set up there, well, d'ya know how much business Ah could get there? Ah could' rake in enough cash t' fix up Sweet Apple Acres." Jackson started wandering, lost in his imagination. "We could fix up that saggy ol' barn... Or Beth could fix up that saggy ol' plough... And Granny could replace her saggy ol' hip!"

"Is he going mad?" Barb asked.

"How should I know?"

"Why, Ah'd give up my left leg to go to that Gala..."

"Well, in that case, Jackson, would you like to-?"

A yell of panic stopped them mid-track, as a rainbow-and-cyan blur crashed into them.

"Are we talking about the Grand Gala?" Rachael emerged, shifting her flight goggles up.

"Rachael..." Jackson stood up. "You told me you were too busy t' harvest apples. What were you busy doin'? Spyin'?"

"No, of course not." Rachael turned, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "I was busy napping. And I just happened to hear that Tori's got a ticket for the Grand Gala spare?"

"Uh... Yeah, but-"

"Woohoo!" Rachael flipped in the air. "This is so awesome! The Wonderbolts turn up and perform every year!" Rachael's eyes glazed over, just as lost to her mind as Jackson was. "I can see it now... Everyone will be watching the skies, their eyes riveted on the Wonderbolts... But then, in would fly... Rachael Dallas!" She leapt into the air, wings of magic holding her aloft. "I would draw their attention with their super-speed strut."

"What...?" Barb tilted her head

"Then, I would mesmerise them with my fantastic Foley Flash!"

"What's that even do?" Tori asked.

"Glorified aerial dive." Jackson replied.

"And for my Grand Finale..." Rachael's wings grew in size, her imagination fuelling her latent magic. "The Buccaneer Blaze!" She alighted, her wings slowly folding back into her body. "Everyone would go wild! The Wonderbolts would insist that my signature moves be incorporated into their routine."

"Does she actually realise it's illegal to interrupt an aerial performance?"

"And then... Welcome me as their newest member." Her eyes refocussed, a big grin plastered on her face. "Don't ya see, Toz, this could be my one chance to show'em my stuff! You gotta take me!"

Jackson grabbed her by the collar and pulled her out of Tori's face. "Hold on just one apple-pickin' minute!" He let go, crossing his arms. "Ah asked for that ticket first."

"So?" Rachael turned to face him, scowling. "That doesn't mean you own it!"

"Oh yeah?" Jackson pulled out an arm. "I challenge you to an arm wrestle. Winner gets the ticket."

The two dashed over to a nearby stump and proceeded to wrestle with their arms.

Tori pushed the two apart. "Guys, these are my tickets, I'll decide who gets them, thank you very much." She sighed. "Whoever has the best reason to go should get the ticket, don't you think?"

Jackson took a step forwards. "Drummin' up business for the farm?"

Rachael took two steps forwards. "A chance to audition for the Wonderbolts?"

"Money t' fix Granny's hip!"

"Living the dream!"

Tori blinked. "Those are all pretty good reasons, aren't they...?"

Her stomach growled, and she laughed nervously again.

"Ah hah, listen to that, I am starving." She started to back away nervously. "I dunno about you but I can't think on an empty stomach. So, uh, I'll think about it over lunch and get back to you two." Taking Barb's hand, she proceeded to walk away. "Okay?"

"Okay..." The two replied dejectedly as Tori walked off.

"So, who're you gonna give the ticket to, Tori?"

"I dunno, but I really can't think straight when I'm hungry."

"So that's why you failed that test five months ag-"

"I thought we said we weren't going to mention that!" Tori shook her head. "Not important, where should we eat?"

The door of Sugar Cube Corner, which Twilight was heading for almost by instinct, flew open and a pink projectile slammed into them.

Tori groaned. "What the heck is it with people and crashing into me..."

She spotted Patrick, lying on his front, by her side. The tickets wafted down until they hit his puffy pink hair, which startled him awake, running around screaming about bats on his head.

After a moment he stopped as his eyes caught the tickets. "Wait... There aren't..." A bright-eyed, child-like grin broke out over his face. "Tickets to the Grand Gala?!"

"They are, why do you-?" Tori's words caught in her throat as Patrick's eyes glazed over. "Oh come on."

"It's the most amazing incredible tremendous super-fun wonderful terrifically humongous party in all of Equestria! I've always always always wanted to go!"

He then proceeded to sing about the Gala, before taking a break.

"With decorations like streamers and fairy-lights and pinwheels and piñatas and pin-cushions. With goodies like sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes and sun-beams and sarsaparilla. And I get to play my favorite-est of favourite fantabulous games like Pin the Tail on the Pony!"

He finished his song.

"Oh, thank you Tori! It's the most wonderfullest gift ever!"

"Uh, actually, Patrick, I-"

Barb scooped up the tickets, but froze upon a familiar gasp. She turned to see Evans, staring at the tickets.

"Are these what I think they are?"

"Uh-"

"Yes, yes, and yes! Tori's taking me to the Grand Gala in Canterlot!"

"The Gala." Evans recalled. "I design ensembles for the Gala every year, but I've never been able to attend them myself. Oh, the society, the culture, the glamour."

"It's actually-"

"It's where I truly belong." He broke out into a smile. "And where I'm destined to meet... Her!"

Barb's jaw flew open.

"Her!" Patrick mimicked, before adopting a face of confusion. "Who?"

"Her..." Evans wandered into his imagination like those before him. "I would stroll through the Gala, and everyone will wonder: Who is that mysterious man? They would never guess that I was just a simple man from little ol' Ponyville." He smiled softly. "Why, I would cause such a sensation that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself."

"I can arrange that anyway." Tori replied.

"And the Princess would be so taken with my style and elegance, that she would introduce me to Her! Her niece. The most beautiful, eligible caster woman in all of Canterlot." He closed his eyes, holding his closed hands to his chest. "Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt."

"And what, exactly, is wrong with being a Drake?" Barb whispered to Tori.

"Our courtship would be magnificent. I would ask for her hand in marriage, and of course she would say 'Yes!'. We would have a royal wedding to befit a Prince, which of course I would become apon marrying Her, the woman of my dreams!" Evans's focus returned back to reality, and immediately he gazed down upon Tori, annoyed. "I simply cannot believe you would invite Patrick O’Donnell over me, when all he would do is party and prevent me from seeing my true love!" He turned sharply, his long ponytail nearly striking Tori. "How could you?"

Barb felt the tickets being yanked from her hand, and he spotted a white rabbit carrying them away to Emily, who was dressed in a light shirt and pants, with mud-covered boots.

Emily gasped, taking the tickets in her hands. "Angel, these are perfect..."

"Uh... Guys, I haven't decided who to give the extra ticket to." Tori told the two men before her.

"You haven't?!" They asked - Evans looked hopeful, while Patrick had the complete opposite.

"Yes, and if you had let me speak before you interrupted me-"

"Um, excuse me." Emily walked up slowly. "I just wanted to ask, I mean, if it would be alright, but, if you haven't given it to someone else-"

"You?" Evans questioned. "You want to go to the Gala, one of the largest social gatherings in Equestria?"

"Well, no..." Her leg was pounded by the rabbit by her feet. "I-I mean, yes, or, actually, kind of, you see..." She closed her eyes, quietly slipping into the realm of her imagination. ”It's not so much the Grand Gala, as it is the wonderous private, gated garden that surrounds the dance." She opened her eyes, which were shimmering with excitement. "The flowers there are said to be the most fragrant in all of Equestria. And for the night of the Gala, the 21st of the Month of Dawn, and that night only, they will all be in bloom."

"But... It's not the Gala itself."

"And that's just the flora. Don't get me started on the fauna!" Emily was getting excited enough to raise her voice, so it was still quiet. "There's loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my! Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz. White-blue jays, and red jays, and green jays, pink jays and pink flamingos!" Her eyes returned to normal, and she found herself mid-air, holding Angel.

"Wow, Emily, it sounds... beautiful?"

"Wait just a minute!" Rachael called out, from up on a perch on the roof above them.

"Rachael..." Tori frowned as Rachael alighted. "Were you following me?"

"No, I mean, yes, I mean, maybe." She shook her head. "Look, that ain't important. I couldn't risk letting a goody two-shoes like you giving the ticket away to just anybody."

"Wait just a dang minute!" Jackson called out, approaching the crowd.

"Oh come on, Jackson, were you following me too?" Tori bemoaned.

"Ah was followin' this one-" He pointed an accusing finger at Rachael. "To make sure she wasn't tryin' any funny business." He crossed his arms. "Still tryin' to take mah ticket."

"Your ticket?!" Rachael shouted.

"But Tori's taking me!"

And just like that, the five started to argue loudly, all trying to vie for the ticket.

Tori couldn't take it anymore. "Everyone SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"... And then I said 'meatloaf, are you'-"

After a moment of silence, Tori cleared her throat. "Guys, there's no use in arguing."

"But Victoria-!" Evans started, but was quickly cut off by Tori.

"This is my decision. And I'm going to make it on my own, and I can't think straight with all this Goddamn noise." Her stomach rumbled again. "Not forgetting hunger. Now go on, shoo!"

Reluctantly, the five moved slowly away, with Barb and her remaining.

"And don't worry, I'll figure this out!"

"Ugh... Barb, what am I going to do?" Tori grabbed one of the flowers on the table to fiddle with. "All five of my friends have good reasons to go to the Gala. Jackson or Rachael... Patrick, Evans, Emily... Ugh."

"Have you made your decision?" A gentlemanly voice asked.

"I can't decide!" Tori shouted out in reflex.

"Uh... Tori, he wants to take your order."

"... oh." Tori straightened up her posture and fixed up her frazzled hair. "Well, in that case I would love a... cheese and lettuce sandwich, thank you."

"Do you have any rubies?" Barb asked the waiter, who only replied with a glare. "No?" Still a glare. She sighed. "I'll have a large serve of fries, extra crispy, extra salt."

"What do you think, Barb?"

"I think we need to try another restaurant. I mean, I like potatoes just fine, but would it hurt anyone to offer some gemstones?"

"I mean about the ticket and the Gala and who to take with me."

"Oh." Barb rolled her eyes. "You're still on that?"

Tori leant forwards, knocking the vase aside. "Barb, listen!" She pushed herself back. "How do I choose? If I choose one will the others be mad at me? I could give up my own ticket and get two of them to turn up, but then that'd leave three upset people! Not including myself, of course."

"Here's your food." The waiter interrupted.

"Oh, thank you." Her mouth started to water. "This looks so good... I'm sure everything will be much clearer once I eat.

She grabbed the sandwich and was about to take a bite, when a crowd of people stormed inside the building. "Uh, madam?"

"Hm?"

"Are you going to eat your food in the rain?"

"Rain?" Tori smiled. "It's not raining."

And then she noticed that, except for a patch of light around her, it was raining.

"What's going on?"

"Hey there best-friend-forever-I've-ever-ever-had!" Rachael's voice came from above. She was leaning on the edge of the hole in the clouds, looking down at Tori. "Enjoying the sunny weather?"

"Rachael, what are you doing?" Tori asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Rachael played an innocent look. "I just saw that the smartest, most-generous chick about to get rained on, so I'd thought I'd kick a hole in the clouds so that she could keep dry and dine and feast, that's all."

"Rachael, you're not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing me extra-special favours, are you?"

"Me? No no no, of course not!" Were it not for the fact that Rachael was obviously lying, the fact that the sun was right behind her and giving her an angelic look would've fooled even Jackson.

"Uh huh."

"Seriously, I'd do it for anyone."

The scattering of people caught in the storm proved otherwise. Rachael's nervous laugh added to that.

"Rachael, I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favours, so I'd appreciate it if you closed up that raincloud right now."

"Ugh... Fine." Rachael did so. Tori smiled confidently to herself, and prepared to take a bite of her sandwich.

She regretted her decision a split second later, with rain pouring down around her to soak both her hair and her food. She let out a low growl, dropping her sodden sandwich back onto its plate.

"Victoria!" Evans called out from under an umbrella, standing nearby. "It's raining."

"No." Tori didn't even look in his direction. "Really?"

"Come with me before you catch a cold!" Evans grabbed her by the arm and dragged her off, Barb following close behind.

Tori, once inside Evans' store, shook herself somewhat dry. Unfortunately, this left Evans' normally curled hair to become straight with water. "Oops, sorry."

Evans' look of annoyance was replaced with one much more positive. "No no, it's quite alright." He walked up and wrapped an arm around her. "We are the best of friends, are we not?"

"Evans."

"And you know what the best of friends do?"

"Uh..."

"Styling!" He brought over a screen with his magic and proceeded to work his profession over her, almost oblivious to her shouts of protest and the fact that she was almost unclothed at this point.

After a long moment he pushed the screen away and revealed Tori in a grand, simple outfit. To Tori, it was great except for one thing:

"The skirt's too short."

"And you, Barb, I have something for you as well."

"Eh?" Barb, even though she was in the presence of Evans, didn't like the sound of what was to come.

"I have a dashing little outfit for a tomboy like you." Evans pulled the screen over to Barb and once again did his job. Tori couldn't tell what was to come, until the screen was pushed aside. Barb was dressed in a gold-trimmed, blue outfit, similar to the dress of the upper echelons of an older civilisation. A golden wig covered her short green hair.

"Oh great..."

"Now you just need a hat." Evans plopped a hat on her head.

"I already told you two, I don't want any of that girly Gala stuff. See you back at the library!" Barb dashed off, tearing at the clothing she was wearing.

Evans laughed nervously. "Oh, who needs her anyway?" He reached over and pulled a mirror to show Tori. "This is all about you."

Tori looked herself over. "Yep, the skirt's too short."

"No it's not."

"You can see the very base of my butt."

"Oh, that's only situatio-"

"When I'm standing up straight."

"Ok, you're right, it is a little short." Evans smiled. "But regardless, you're going to look fabulous at the Grand Gala."

"Wait. The Grand-?"

Evans gasped, approaching a stand with a well-cut suit on it. "What's this? A suit that matches your ensemble closely! What a coincidence." He walked over and draped his arm over her. "We'll be the bells of the Ball, you and I. Everyone will be clamouring for our attention. All eyes will be on us!"

"Evans, I don't like-"

"And then everyone will finally know the most handsome, most talented, most sophisticated person in all of Equestria, is Evans Quartz!" His eyes nearly sparkled, but then he noticed the sour expression on Tori, and laughed nervously. "And Victoria Tandem, of course."

"Tanton."

"Of course, Tanton..."

"I see what's going on." Tori pushed his arm off and turned to face him. "You're just buttering me up so I'll give you the extra ticket."

Tori's crystal flashed bright, and the ensemble flew off her.

"Well, it's not going to work." She grabbed her sodden clothing and slipped it on. "You're going to have to wait for my decision like everybody else. Now, if you'll excuse me," She marched towards the door. "I've been trying all day just to get some lunch!"

"Did someone say lunch?" Jackson, who was at the door, replied, grabbing Tori by her wrist and pulling her out and onto the ground.

"For God's..." Tori pulled herself up, and her eyes met the tower of apple treats in front of her. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Ah got apple pie, apple fritters..." Jackson continued to list the many different foods on the cart. "... And apple Brown Betty. Uh, the dessert, not my auntie." He smiled hopefully. "Whaddya say there, best friend?"

Tori's stomach rumbled.

"Is that a yes?"

"No!" Tori shouted in reply. "No, it's not a yes! I don't know who the ticket's going to, and all these favours are making it harder for me to decide!" She dashed off.

"So... that's a maybe?"

"I never knew being showered with gifts would be so aggravating!"

She pushed her home's door open, but was greeted to the sight of Emily scrubbing the walls of her home, humming something.

"Emily, not you too!"

"Oh, hello, Victoria. I hope you don't mind. I'm just doing a little spring cleaning for you."

"It's summer." Tori growled.

"Oh, well... Better late than never, right?" She turned to the rabbit, who was skilfully preparing a salad. "It was all Angel's idea."

"You're not doing this for the ticket, are you?"

"Oh, no, I'm doing this because you're my very best friend."

"That's what Rachael, Evans and Jackson said."

Emily's smile cracked slightly. "R-right, Angel? Helping very best friend?"

Angel just gave her a disappointed look.

"Oh." Emily turned, smiling normally. "Yes, we are just doing this for the ticket."

Angel offered the salad to Tori. "No, no, NO!" Tori turned to leave. "This was very nice of you and Angel but I'm not accepting any more favours until I've made my decision, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Surprise!" A cheer rang out through the open door, and Patrick grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her outside.

"Tori is my bestest friend. Whoopie, whoopie!" Patrick started to sing, throwing her into the air.

"Patrick..."

"She's the cutest, smartest, all around best girly, girly!" Another toss.

"Patrick."

"I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party!" Another toss.

"Patrick!"

"She'll give her extra ticket to the Gala to me!" Another toss

"PAAAAAAAAAAATRIIIIIIIIIICK!"

She fell to the ground.

"Yes, Tori?"

"At least the others tried to be subtle about the ticket."

"Wait, what ticket?" A random girl asked. "What Gala?"

"You didn't know?" Patrick asked. "Tori has an extra ticket for the Grand Gala that she's giving to me."

"That was never-"

"The Grand Gala?" The crowd shouted.

"Oh God, here we go..." Tori sighed. "Barb, time to run!"

***

No less than a whole minute later, Tori and Barb were backed into a corner, a horde of nearly-mindless people approaching them slowly, constantly asking for favours.

"This is just like that zombie book I read." Barb muttered.

Tori's crystal glowed bright, a field of lavender magic surrounding the two. Veins of light etched across Tori's body no less than a second before the two flashed away from sight, leaving the smell of ozone and a scorch mark behind.

In the main room of the library, the two reappeared, Barb covered in ash and stumbling around.

"Warn me next time you're going to do that..."

"I didn't even know it was going to happen!" Tori prodded the crystal in her forehead gently. "Now quick, lock the doors!"

In a panicked speed, all the windows and doors were shut around them, and all the lights turned off.

The two sighed and rested on the wooden floor. "It's over for now..."

"Yeah..."

The light flicked on.

And Tori noticed her five friends in the room, and she let out a scream of rage, fear and exhaustion. "I can't decide! I just can't decide! It's just so important to all of you and I can't let any of you get upset and giving me gifts and doing me favours isn't making it any easier because you're all my friends and I want to make you all happy but I can't! I just can't!" She curled up into a ball, her hands over her head.

Jackson approached slowly and rested a hand on her head gently. "Tori, sugar, I... I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you. And, if it helps ya some, Ah don't want the ticket anymore, not with all th' stress it comes with. Y'all can give it to someone else, Ah won't feel bad."

"Me too." Emily glided slowly over. "I feel just awful for making you feel so awful..."

"And me too." Patrick added. "It's no fun making your friends upset."

"Tori, it was unfair of me to try and force you as I did." Evans added.

"Yes!" Rachael leapt into the air. "I got the ticket!"

The weight of the room's glares brought her down from her high.

"Actually, now that you mention it, my moves aren't ready. I need to do a bit more practice."

Jackson turned his attention back to Tori. "We all got so gung-ho about the Gala that we forgot how... un-gung-ho we were makin' you feel."

In unison, the five people apologised.

"Barb, take a note." Tori pulled herself up. "Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to The Grand Gala."

"Eh?" Patrick tilted his head.

"If my friends can't all go, then neither will I."

"Tori, ya don't have to do that." Jack said. "Y'all can go if ya want."

"I've made up my mind. Barb, you can send the letter."

Barb nodded, opening one of the windows and engulfing the scroll in green fire.

"Now you won't get to go either, Tori." Emily added.

"I probably wouldn't enjoy myself if you guys didn't come too. It's probably for the best."

Barb launched a column of fire, which she caught.

"A letter from the Princess? That was... fast."

"My most faithful student, why didn't you just say so in the first place?" She pulled out of the scroll six golden tickets. "Hey guys, look, there are tickets for all of you."

Tori gasped. "Now we can all go!" Her stomach rumbled again.

Evans smiled. "Allow us to treat you to dinner."

As each person left the building, they each grabbed a ticket. Jackson took the last one.

Barb looked at her empty hands and sighed. "How come I don't get a ticket..." She belched another gout of flame, and caught it, opening it to read. "And one for you, Barb. Sorry, I forgot to pack this one in the first letter." A single golden ticket slipped out of the note, and she ran out in joy. As soon as Jackson caught her she froze. "Uh... I mean... Aw come on, I have to go too? Ugh..."

After a few moments she broke into a grin again, dashing away with a laugh. Jackson chuckled to himself, and continued on into the warm summer night.