Losing Powerby Ferntail12ChaptersChapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 1Chapter 2The center of the library had obviously been the site of a scuffle. Books were scattered everywhere, chairs were overturned, the bust and its table were on their sides, and Twilight’s immense collection of index cards was scattered all over the library, giving it the look it often had after a crazy week of studying. Pinkie Pie immediately yanked out her Sherlock Pones outfit and magnifying glass to examine the floor. She discovered scuff marks from hooves and… “Black feathers?” “Black feathers?!” cried Spitfire. “Oh no! The Shadowbolts!” “The who-now, sugarcube?” asked Applejack. “Who are the Shadowbolts?” asked Rarity. “Hold on a minute!” yelled Pinkie, pulling a glass of water out of nowhere and doing a spit-take. “Eek!” eeped Fluttershy. “The Shadowbolts?!! Are you sure, Spits?” asked a very worried and apprehensive Dash. “It seems like it. This is exactly the kind of thing Nightshade would do. Kidnap a Princess and Element of Harmony… Oh, Celestia! The Elements! They won’t work now that Twilight is gone!” Pinkie, who was still examining the floor, cried out: “Look everypony! Hoofprints! They're leading out the door!” With Pinkie in the lead, the six ponies tracked the hoofprints, which led through the town square, down the road, past Fluttershy’s cottage and chicken coop, and into the Everfree Forest. Suddenly, Pinkie stopped short and the others piled up behind her. “The hoofprints are gone!” she yelled, her mane deflating. “How will we ever find Twilight now?!” Dash and Spitfire kicked hard off the ground and shot up above the trees. They immediately saw light blazing from a single window high in a tower of the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Wordlessly, they touched down and pointed toward the castle. The earth ponies and unicorn galloped as fast as they could. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash left Fluttershy in the dust, going supersonic in a matter of seconds. Abruptly, Spitfire stopped dead in midair and Dash crashed into her. “Nightshade. I knew you and your team were behind this,” said Spitfire scathingly. “‘Course! The one and only Nightshade, in the flesh. Did you expect anything else, old friend?” replied the blue-maned Pegasus sarcastically. “You won't get away from me this time, Nightshade! You should be dead. That excuse for a pony Nightmare Moon brought you back to life. This time, you’re going back to Tartarus. For good!” said Spitfire, discreetly touching an amulet hidden around her neck. Dash did the same, thinking: We got stopped. Keep going. Save Princess Twilight! We'll take care of your opposition. Suddenly, the full team of Wonderbolts appeared out of nowhere, teleported by a spell inside Spitfire’s amulet. Catching Nightshade by surprise, Dash rammed her with a cyan hoof, causing her to spiral out of control. Recovering quickly, Nightshade yelled “Blitz! Intercept Alpha 1 thru 10 northeast of Gamma A-3!” A Delta-5 attack formation composed of Blueball Blitz in the lead, followed by Blackwing and Darkfire, then Hawkflight, Iceheart and Charger came streaking in a black blur out of the Ancient Castle of the Royal Sisters. Spitfire yelled “Wonderbolts! Icefire 10 Attack formation! Misty on point! Soarin’, you're with me.” The ten Bolts shot off, leaving Nightshade, Spitfire, Dash, and Soarin’ in their wake. Spitfire and Dash nodded at each other, their amulets carrying their thoughts; and to Soarin. The pair shot upwards, leaving Soarin to do his part. Plunging toward the ground, Soarin whirled up a tornado with his wings. Moments before slamming into the forest floor, he pulled up sharply and widened the twister, engulfing Nightshade in a swirling black vortex. Beating his wings furiously, he hovered just under Nightshade’s hooves. Dash and Spitfire came plunging by, hitting their explosions almost simultaneously. They gave out all they could in a brief performance and pulled into the bottom of a pyramid formation with Soarin. “Impressive,” said Nightshade. Trying to catch them off guard, she attempted to replicate Soarin’s trick. Spitfire and Dash exploded her tornado with a horizontal sonic and twist. Spitfire twisted off toward a cloud, while Dash spiraled in and cracked Nightshade across the forehead, breaking her shades. Nightshade retaliated by slamming a hoof into Dash’s back, breaking a rib. Dash healed it with her pegasus magic. Then she slapped Nightshade hard over a wingtip, causing her to spiral into an unintended loop. C’mon, Spits. Get it primed. I can’t hold out for much longer, she thought. Chapter 3While the pegasi fought an aerial battle, the remaining ponies of the Mane Seven battled the forest. The Everfree seemed determined to stop them too. There were bogs, trees, marshes, swamps, low branches, vines, animals… you name it, it has it. Nonetheless, they struggled on. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only 30 minutes, Applejack pointed out the ruins of the castle. The four ponies carefully walked over the crumbling wooden bridge, and entered the not-as-creepy-in-daylight castle. Suddenly, the floor dropped out from under them and they ended up far below ground in the dungeons. Fluttershy;s sharp ears picked out a sound that sounded much like Twilight’s voice, and she followed it. Rarity gained the attention of the other two, and followed Fluttershy. Along the maze-like paths of the dungeons, secret passageways spun in and out, causing choruses of screams as ponies fell into passageways, ended up in totally different parts of the castle, then spun back in to join the procession. “Oh! I hear them really well now,” said Fluttershy nervously. “Twilight???” called Pinkie. “Are you there?!” “PINKIE PIE?!!!!!!!!” came Twilight’s voice. “PINKIE PIE?” “TWILIGHT?!!!” “I'M OVER HERE!!” Fluttershy led them toward the source of Twilight’s voice. They found her in a dark cell, chained to a post. A magic inhibitor was clamped around her horn, and her wings were bound, too. “Hi Twilight!!!” cried Pinkie. “We missed you! What happened?” “Here, I’ll make you a deal. You get me outta here, and I’ll tell you what happened,” said Twilight. She looked utterly spent, so Pinkie agreed. “Pinkie Promise?” “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” “Okie-dokie-lokie!” Applejack bucked the door open with her back hooves, Pinkie removed the wing restraints, Rarity and Applejack unchained Twilight from the post, and Rarity, with Twilight’s instruction, removed the magic inhibitor after three tries. Free of her bonds, Twilight got up and stretched, then exploded a chunk of the wall to test her horn. “All good!” “So, what happened?” asked Pinkie. “Well, I was reading about Satanic, queen of Tartarus, when suddenly three black-uniformed pegasi burst in the door and attacked me. I tried to defend myself with a few spells, but the pegasi overpowered me and dragged me off. I thought they were taking me into the Everfree, but they took off and brought me here to the castle. One pegasus came in, I assumed she was their leader, and chained me up in this cell. I don’t know what happened to Spike. He wasn’t captured, and the guard outside my cell rotated every hour, so there was no chance that he could’ve been captured. You four came at a perfect time. The guards all rushed out a few minutes ago,” explained Twilight. “The guards rushing out wasn’t a coincidence,” said Applejack. “Dash told me that she and Spitfire would take care of our opposition. It seems that the two of them distracted your guards, Twilight.” “Oh? How are they doing?” Twilight asked, worried about her friends. “I don’t know sugarcube. I haven’t gotten any communication from Rainbow.” “We need to get out of here. I need to make sure those two are safe!” exclaimed Twilight urgently. The five ponies galloped out of Twilight’s cell, and Twilight cast a tracker spell on Rainbow and Spitfire so they could find the two pegasi. For some reason, the castle seemed to understand their plight. Nopony disappeared in secret passageways or found any dangerous obstacles. They reached the surface in half the time it had taken them to get down. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the sounds of battle from above, but it was only the Shadowbolts battling the Wonderbolts. Fluttershy taking the lead again to hear any sounds of battle, Twilight and the others fell into a single-file line to pick their way carefully through the Everfree. “Um, I hear something. It sounds like something exploded…” said Fluttershy after a while. “Oh, no! I hope Rainbow and Spitfire are safe!” cried Twilight. “C’mon girls!” They galloped off as fast as their hooves could go. Soon, the crackle of flames, the distinctive fire ring of Spitfire’s sonic flameboom, and the rainbow glow of Dash’s pegasus magic became clear in the sky. Suddenly, Fluttershy halted. “I see them,” she said quietly. And some kind of cage…” Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity rushed to the front of the line and tipped their heads up at the sky. Fluttershy told the truth. There was a strange silver cage suspended in Dash’s magical glow, while Dash herself hoof bumped with Spitfire a few feet above. “Rainbow! Spitfire!” called Rarity. “Huh?” said Dash. “Oh, hi Rarity. Hi Applejack, Pinkie. “TWILIGHT!” cried Spitfire. “You're all right!” The golden mare swooped down and hugged Twilight, closely followed by Dash, who had been cut off by Spitfire just as she was about to welcome Twilight back. “We have our friend Nightshade, leader of the Shadowbolts here,” said Dash, jabbing a hoof toward the cage. “Twilight, could you put an anti-sorcery spell on the cage? Our friend here has a bit of Nightmare Moon’s sorcery that she inherited after being brought back to life. Long story, we’ll find a time to tell you guys.” Twilight nodded and her horn flared to life, and a sparkling pink glow enveloped the cage for a few seconds. “There. Done.” “Now, let’s take Nightshade to Canterlot,” said Spitfire. “She deserves to be in Tartarus, but she needs to be tried first in front of all the Royal Princesses. That includes me.” “We’ll tell you how we defeated her on the way home, right Dashie?” said Spitfire. “Of course Spits,” said Dash. “I want to see how my team’s doing. The Shadowbolts should be tried too,” said Spitfire. “I think they’re alright, but I think we should collect the Shadowbolts for transport back to Canterlot.” “All right girls, you heard her. Let’s go!” cried Twilight. They galloped off in the same direction they came in, Dash towing Nightshade’s cage behind her with her magic. Chapter 4When the Mane Seven and the unconscious Nightshade arrived at the place where they had last seen the Shadowbolts and the Wonderbolts, they found a unhappy scene. Misty Fly had been knocked out and Silver Lining was bleeding from a nasty gash in his right hoof. Surprise had a black eye and her goggles were broken, and Wave Chill was bruised all over, his suit was veritably torn to shreds, and his tail was twisted in a knot. The Shadowbolts were much worse off though. Charger’s shades were broken and he was pressing a hoof to his head in pain, Iceheart was bleeding from all four hooves, and Blackwing’s wing was twisted at a strange angle. Hawkflight was lying unconscious on the ground, Darkfire had a black eye and a torn suit, and Blueball Blitz was bleeding from the left hoof, right wing, and left cheek. Twilight healed the injured Wonderbolts with a simple spell while Dash enclosed the Shadowbolts in separate cages. As the large group of ponies comprising the Mane Seven, the Wonderbolts, and the caged Shadowbolts headed toward Ponyville to catch the Canterlot train, Rainbow and Spitfire told the story of how they defeated the Captain of the Shadowbolts, Nightshade Fyre II. “So after I sent you the message that we would take care of your opposition, Spitfire here summoned the Wonderbolts with the amulet that you gave her, Twi,” said Dash. “Nightshade called Blitz and the others to battle them, thus the injuries.” “Dash, Soarin’ and I stayed to fight Nightshade. We found that our amulets are very useful in battle,” continued Spitfire. “We don’t have to say anything that our enemy can pick up. Soarin’ distracted Nightshade while Dash and I performed a quick display of how far we’ve come since the last time we saw her.” “Typical of Nightshade, she tried to copy Soarin’s move. We were too smart for her. I broke her shades, effectively distracting her, while Spits got the stun grenade we planted in a cloud earlier primed. Nightshade broke my fourth rib, but I discreetly healed it, saving the knowledge of my pegasus magic to show her later and possibly stun her.” “While Dashie was distracting Nightshade, I was getting the stun grenade. Basically our plan was for Dash to distract her while I primed a stun grenade. Then, I would use the grenade to knock her out, Dash would enclose her in a prison, tada.” “I decided to show off my own magic after a bit of the teleportation sorcery left over from Nightmare Moon-long story-thwarted one of my best attacks. Simple attack, just a rock and telekinesis. I didn’t expect it to even make Nightshade flinch. But when the first telltale glow flared from my wing, she seemed to freeze, turn to stone faster than we can do with Discord. I guess she was stunned by the realization that I had unleashed the magic inside me, that I was ten times more powerful than I was as a cadet at the Academy, and she didn’t even see the rock until it hit her. My aim was true. She was hit squarely in the chest.” “As my old nemesis and former student fell, I performed a flameboom and threw up the now-primed stun grenade. My fire ignited it and it exploded in Nightshade’s face. Dash and I both could’ve let her slam into the ground without a thought, but we knew that she should be tried for her crimes in front of all four Royal Princesses.” “Stopping Nightshade’s falling figure with my magic moments before she hit the ground at over 50 mph, I pulled a titanium cage and rope net from a portal and enclosed her in them. And that’s when we heard your voice, Rarity.” Over the course of the long-winded story, Pinkie had done five spit takes, Twilight’s expressions had gained an even wider range, Fluttershy had hidden in Applejack’s saddlebags, Rarity was in awe, and Applejack tried to congratulate the pair while supporting Fluttershy’s weight. All the Shadowbolts had had a sleep spell put on them by Twilight, but the Wonderbolts were cheering for their former captain and her partner. They had also reached the Ponyville train station without noticing. “All aboard for Canterlot!” cried the conductor. “Oh, good. We didn’t miss the train. Let’s go!” called Twilight from the head of the line. The twenty-four ponies boarded the train and arranged themselves and the cages Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity were carrying all into one carriage. They got some strange looks due to the six caged ponies they were transporting, though Twilight had tried to find an empty carriage. Five minutes later they were on their way to Canterlot. Chapter 5When the train reached Canterlot, the ponies disembarked with their cargo and headed toward Canterlot Castle. Now they did get some strange looks from the upper-crust citizens of Canterlot due to the six cages, but Twilight, who was leading, paid no attention. The guards surrounding the drawbridges lifted their spears upon seeing Princess Twilight in the lead, and the group continued toward the castle. They encountered no opposition as they entered the castle. Trotting into Celestia’s courtroom, Twilight dipped her head to the guards, who responded in kind. “Ah, Twilight,” said the Princess of the Sun kindly. “How nice to see you. And who is here with you…” she trailed off as she saw the Elements, the Wonderbolts, and the six caged Shadowbolts. “GUARDS!” she cried. “Cancel my audience with the Prench Ambassador-tell him I will see him in two days. A serious matter has come up. Summon Luna too.” Half the team of guards that had seemingly materialized at their Princess’s call rushed off toward the quarters of the Prench Ambassador, Green Clover, while the other half headed for Luna’s room. Celestia concentrated hard, her horn glowing a brilliant gold, and a speaking pool appeared in front of her. Cadance’s image filled the pool, projected from the Crystal Empire, but before she could say a word of welcome, Celestia said urgently: “Cadance. Come to Canterlot at once. A dangerous group of ponies has been captured.” “Celestia, what…?” said Cadance. “No time to explain. Come!” replied Celestia. About thirty seconds later, Cadance arrived in a blaze of blue light. Luna burst through the doors at about the same moment. “Tia! Twilight! Cadance! Sister, what is thy meaning of this meeting?” asked Luna. “Why art the Elements here? And the Wonderbolts? And those… what do you call them? cages?” “Luna, Cadance. We have an important decision resting in our hooves. The Elements have captured one of the most reputed mercenary teams in all of Equestria-the Shadowbolts.” Luna’s face had become whiter and whiter as Celestia’s explanation continued. “They...what...Sister, dost thou speak in jest? That foul demon Nightmare Moon created them as an illusion when she inhabited Our body. Art thou meaning they are… real?” she said, her voice getting higher pitched in panic with each word she spoke. “Yes,” Twilight said simply. Luna’s jaw dropped and she began to mutter an incoherent series of curses under her breath, slipping inadvertently into her native tongue, Ancient Equestrian. Cadance, however, seemed perfectly calm. “So, I presume we’re here to give them a fair trial and then sentence them, right?” she said. “Correct, Cadance,” replied Celestia. Anticipating the need, Twilight cast an awakening spell on the Shadowbolts. Her control over her magic seemed to have improved after she became a Princess, seeing as her spell did not misfire. Awaking sluggishly, the Shadowbolts looked around them in confusion as the realization dawned on their minds: they had been captured. Before they could react, the princesses had magically subdued them. Princess Celestia summoned a judge’s gavel and six chairs with built-in chains, and the Elements started setting up the throne room for the trial. Within a span of about fifteen minutes, the throne room had been transformed into a replica of a courtroom from Ancient Equestrian times. Celestia and Luna’s podiums stood at the front of the room, the six chained chairs, now binding the Shadowbolts tightly with their chains, sat three to a row in front of the podium, the Wonderbolts and the Elements were arrayed in a half circle around the prisoners, and the other two Royal Princesses had podiums beside Celestia and Luna, one to each side. The ponies took their seats, the Princesses stepped up to their podiums, and the trial of the infamous mercenary team, the Shadowbolts, began, with Cadance taking notes for the records. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was one for the books. Celestia and Luna, well trained in debating by their parents almost three hundred years ago, attacked every angle of the Shadowbolts’ actions that day and the century before. Every fact they stated was backed up by either Dash, Spitfire, or one of the Wonderbolts. Nightshade and Blueball Blitz seemed to be the only Shadowbolts who could go head to head with the Princesses and hold their own, even turn the tide of the trial in their favor. As soon as Spitfire noticed that the trial was heading in the Shadowbolts’ favor, she sent a panicked thought to Dash, who relayed it to Princess Twilight and the other Elements. It said: The Shadowbolts cannot be allowed to be granted a pardon!!! They have wormed their way out of many a punishment that I have seen over the years. Help us, Twilight. You’re our only hope. Turn the trial toward us. Quickly! There’s not much time left. The clock is ticking…. Princess Twilight vanished in a flash of magenta light, returning a second later with a tottering stack of old records from the Canterlot archives suspended in her magic. Princess Celestia was so surprised by this that she stopped speaking in the middle of her sentence, Cadance looked on with wide eyes, and the Elements sighed in relief. “May I speak?” asked Twilight. Celestia nodded, followed by Luna a few seconds later. Twilight proceeded to read off a list of each of the Shadowbolts, their crimes, and a detailed description of each. It took nearly half an hour to read through more than 100 pages of information, compiled over a century, mostly in a dialect of Ancient Equestrian. More than a few times, she had to ask Princess Luna for help in deciphering a particularly difficult rune, but she forged on determinedly. The Shadowbolts’ eyes grew wider and wider as all their crimes were revealed, the Elements were shocked at everything the mercenaries had done in the last hundred years, and even the Princesses looked mildly surprised. When Twilight finished, a clamor broke out as ponies fought to speak. Celestia exploded a firework from her horn and yelled “Silence!” The room went deathly quiet. “ I have one question, Twilight. Where did you find all this useful information?” “Oh, I was in the Canterlot archives, reading about Starswirl the Bearded, and I came upon this stack of scrolls. I opened them up and read a few, and it didn’t seem to be much more than a stack of old records, so I put them away. But when I got Spitfire’s thought-message a while ago, I immediately remembered them,” replied Twilight with a smile. “All right then,” said Celestia, winking at her former student. “Attention, everypony!” The heads of everypony in the room turned toward her, and they waited anxiously for her verdict. “Due to the new information now available to us, the jury has decided that the pegasi now before us are guilty of all pressed charges. The jury will now proceed to discuss the penalties for these actions.” The Shadowbolts’ jaws dropped, and Twilight, noticing the fact, quickly tightened their bonds and gagged each of them as to prevent any retaliation. Then she turned and joined the circle of alicorns that were waiting attentively for her to make the decision. After a quarter-hour spent in a furious debate, in which Princess Celestia finally came out on top, the alicorns headed to their podiums to deliver the verdict. Banging her gavel on the edge of her podium, Celestia declared in ringing tones that symbolized the moment, even though her crown was lopsided from the debate: “The jury has decided the punishments. Nightshade Fyre the Second, please step forward.” When Nightshade had done so, Celestia continued. “Due to the crimes the pegasus that stands before you has committed, Nightshade Fyre the Second is sentenced to death.” Before anyone could react, Princess Luna stepped forward, and then a series of disjointed events happened. There was a flash of bright blue light, Nightshade slumped lifeless to the floor, and a bloodcurdling scream filled the courtroom. “NO!” It was Blueball Blitz. “NO, NIGHTSHADE! No…” She rushed to her former leader’s side, a panicked look on her face. “No, no, no, Nightshade, please be okay, please, Nightshade…” Her voice faded as the truth overtook her, and a look of pure hatred twisted her face. “You,” she growled at Luna. She lunged at her, and then Celestia was there, and it was all over. Blueball Blitz’s body hit the ground with a thud, Celestia standing over her with a soft, menacing hiss still sliding from between her teeth. For a moment Celestia’s eyes glowed orange, then it faded and she regained her composure. Using her magic to pile the bodies in a corner of the courtroom, she stalked back to her podium. “Blackwing Thundercloud is to serve a life sentence in the Canterlot dungeons. Guards, take him away.” Seven guards rushed to obey, picking up Blackwing in their magic and carrying him away. Evidently, the loss of Nightshade, Blueball Blitz, and Darkfire had finally broken Iceheart, for she broke down in tears in her chair. She then started rocking back and forth, muttering no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. After fifteen minutes, during which Iceheart continued muttering long strings of words over and over again, Twilight whispered “Mental breakdown” to Luna, who passed it down to Celestia and Cadance. “Um...Iceheart Thunder is to serve a life sentence in the Canterlot dungeons. Guards, take her away,” said Celestia. She seemed a bit startled by the fact that Iceheart’s mind had snapped, but she tried not to show it. The remaining Shadowbolts saw their chance, and leapt for it. With one fluid motion, they broke free of their chains and soared out the window as one single entity instead of three ponies. Everypony in the room froze. The silence dragged on for what seemed like forever. Then the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, and Rainbow Dash jumped to their hooves and zipped out the window in pursuit, but to no avail. The Shadowbolts had so much of a head start that not even the Princesses, when they awoke from their stupor, could catch them. A while later, the pegasi returned from their fruitless search. Celestia spoke for a while, waxing eloquent about how the Elements and the Wonderbolts had captured the Shadowbolts. She apologized for losing the three Shadowbolts, and reminded them to keep a close lookout for them. Finally, Cadance stopped taking notes, and court was dismissed. The trial of the Shadowbolts was over. Chapter 6“YAY!” The silence was broken by Pinkie Pie. “CELEBRATE!” “Ok Pinkie,” said Twilight, restraining the pink party pony with her magic as she tried to glomp all of them. “We can celebrate when we get back to Ponyville.” The other Elements sighed in relief as Pinkie just giggled. Bidding their farewells to the Princesses, the Elements and the Wonderbolts left the castle, chatting among themselves. The train ride back to Ponyville was fairly uneventful, even though Pinkie kept throwing confetti at random ponies, causing Twilight to be constantly rushing around cleaning up confetti. When they disembarked at the Ponyville train station, the Wonderbolts departed for Cloudsdale, which was right over Ponyville due to its monthly rotation cycle. Pinkie zipped off to Sugarcube Corner to prepare for the party that night, after giving her friends strict instructions to invite everypony in Ponyville. Soon, the time had come and they were heading down to Sugarcube Corner, which was full to bursting with ponies, food, and decor. DJ-P0N3 had showed up to do the music, and they danced and partied the night away. The Shadowbolts were no longer a threat, Twilight and the Elements were no longer in jeopardy, and the seven friends were closer than ever after their adventure. The End Chapter 1“Hey Flutters!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash and Spitfire as the shy yellow mare trotted into Sugarcube Corner. “Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. Hi Spitfire,” Fluttershy whispered. “Where are the others?” “Well, Pinkie is in the back and the others are on their way,” said Dash. The Mane Seven had agreed to meet at Sugarcube Corner to compose their latest letter to Princess Celestia. Just then, the tinkling of a bell announced Applejack and Rarity's arrival. “Howdy everypony!” said Applejack cheerfully. “Hello, everyone,”said Rarity, who was wearing a fancy blue hat. “So, we’re just waiting on Princess Twilight,” said Fluttershy. The five of them settled at a table in the back, chatting animately about Sonic Dashfire’s latest show, Fluttershy’s animal care business, Rarity’s newest dress design, and Applejack’s success in her fall harvest. After about 15 minutes, Pinkie asked: “Where is Princess Twilight anyway? She's never late!” “I don’t know. I saw her yesterday by the orchard,” said Applejack confusedly. “I think she'll turn up eventually.” They continued with their conversation. Ten minutes later, Princess Twilight hadn't turned up yet. Twenty minutes… thirty minutes… “Oh, for the sake of Celestia’s feathering sky chariot!” burst out Dash. “Twilight might be a bit late, but an hour and fifteen minutes?! Not possible! I think something’s wrong. Let's go to the library and check.” “Yeah, I agree,” said Fluttershy, Applejack, Spitfire, and Pinkie. The six ponies galloped out the door of Sugarcube Corner, heading for Golden Oaks Library. Dodging groups of ponies out on the sunny morning, they approached the familiar tree. Fluttershy tentatively pushed the door open, and screamed, diving into a shrub growing near the door.
Chapter 2The center of the library had obviously been the site of a scuffle. Books were scattered everywhere, chairs were overturned, the bust and its table were on their sides, and Twilight’s immense collection of index cards was scattered all over the library, giving it the look it often had after a crazy week of studying. Pinkie Pie immediately yanked out her Sherlock Pones outfit and magnifying glass to examine the floor. She discovered scuff marks from hooves and… “Black feathers?” “Black feathers?!” cried Spitfire. “Oh no! The Shadowbolts!” “The who-now, sugarcube?” asked Applejack. “Who are the Shadowbolts?” asked Rarity. “Hold on a minute!” yelled Pinkie, pulling a glass of water out of nowhere and doing a spit-take. “Eek!” eeped Fluttershy. “The Shadowbolts?!! Are you sure, Spits?” asked a very worried and apprehensive Dash. “It seems like it. This is exactly the kind of thing Nightshade would do. Kidnap a Princess and Element of Harmony… Oh, Celestia! The Elements! They won’t work now that Twilight is gone!” Pinkie, who was still examining the floor, cried out: “Look everypony! Hoofprints! They're leading out the door!” With Pinkie in the lead, the six ponies tracked the hoofprints, which led through the town square, down the road, past Fluttershy’s cottage and chicken coop, and into the Everfree Forest. Suddenly, Pinkie stopped short and the others piled up behind her. “The hoofprints are gone!” she yelled, her mane deflating. “How will we ever find Twilight now?!” Dash and Spitfire kicked hard off the ground and shot up above the trees. They immediately saw light blazing from a single window high in a tower of the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Wordlessly, they touched down and pointed toward the castle. The earth ponies and unicorn galloped as fast as they could. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash left Fluttershy in the dust, going supersonic in a matter of seconds. Abruptly, Spitfire stopped dead in midair and Dash crashed into her. “Nightshade. I knew you and your team were behind this,” said Spitfire scathingly. “‘Course! The one and only Nightshade, in the flesh. Did you expect anything else, old friend?” replied the blue-maned Pegasus sarcastically. “You won't get away from me this time, Nightshade! You should be dead. That excuse for a pony Nightmare Moon brought you back to life. This time, you’re going back to Tartarus. For good!” said Spitfire, discreetly touching an amulet hidden around her neck. Dash did the same, thinking: We got stopped. Keep going. Save Princess Twilight! We'll take care of your opposition. Suddenly, the full team of Wonderbolts appeared out of nowhere, teleported by a spell inside Spitfire’s amulet. Catching Nightshade by surprise, Dash rammed her with a cyan hoof, causing her to spiral out of control. Recovering quickly, Nightshade yelled “Blitz! Intercept Alpha 1 thru 10 northeast of Gamma A-3!” A Delta-5 attack formation composed of Blueball Blitz in the lead, followed by Blackwing and Darkfire, then Hawkflight, Iceheart and Charger came streaking in a black blur out of the Ancient Castle of the Royal Sisters. Spitfire yelled “Wonderbolts! Icefire 10 Attack formation! Misty on point! Soarin’, you're with me.” The ten Bolts shot off, leaving Nightshade, Spitfire, Dash, and Soarin’ in their wake. Spitfire and Dash nodded at each other, their amulets carrying their thoughts; and to Soarin. The pair shot upwards, leaving Soarin to do his part. Plunging toward the ground, Soarin whirled up a tornado with his wings. Moments before slamming into the forest floor, he pulled up sharply and widened the twister, engulfing Nightshade in a swirling black vortex. Beating his wings furiously, he hovered just under Nightshade’s hooves. Dash and Spitfire came plunging by, hitting their explosions almost simultaneously. They gave out all they could in a brief performance and pulled into the bottom of a pyramid formation with Soarin. “Impressive,” said Nightshade. Trying to catch them off guard, she attempted to replicate Soarin’s trick. Spitfire and Dash exploded her tornado with a horizontal sonic and twist. Spitfire twisted off toward a cloud, while Dash spiraled in and cracked Nightshade across the forehead, breaking her shades. Nightshade retaliated by slamming a hoof into Dash’s back, breaking a rib. Dash healed it with her pegasus magic. Then she slapped Nightshade hard over a wingtip, causing her to spiral into an unintended loop. C’mon, Spits. Get it primed. I can’t hold out for much longer, she thought.
Chapter 3While the pegasi fought an aerial battle, the remaining ponies of the Mane Seven battled the forest. The Everfree seemed determined to stop them too. There were bogs, trees, marshes, swamps, low branches, vines, animals… you name it, it has it. Nonetheless, they struggled on. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only 30 minutes, Applejack pointed out the ruins of the castle. The four ponies carefully walked over the crumbling wooden bridge, and entered the not-as-creepy-in-daylight castle. Suddenly, the floor dropped out from under them and they ended up far below ground in the dungeons. Fluttershy;s sharp ears picked out a sound that sounded much like Twilight’s voice, and she followed it. Rarity gained the attention of the other two, and followed Fluttershy. Along the maze-like paths of the dungeons, secret passageways spun in and out, causing choruses of screams as ponies fell into passageways, ended up in totally different parts of the castle, then spun back in to join the procession. “Oh! I hear them really well now,” said Fluttershy nervously. “Twilight???” called Pinkie. “Are you there?!” “PINKIE PIE?!!!!!!!!” came Twilight’s voice. “PINKIE PIE?” “TWILIGHT?!!!” “I'M OVER HERE!!” Fluttershy led them toward the source of Twilight’s voice. They found her in a dark cell, chained to a post. A magic inhibitor was clamped around her horn, and her wings were bound, too. “Hi Twilight!!!” cried Pinkie. “We missed you! What happened?” “Here, I’ll make you a deal. You get me outta here, and I’ll tell you what happened,” said Twilight. She looked utterly spent, so Pinkie agreed. “Pinkie Promise?” “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” “Okie-dokie-lokie!” Applejack bucked the door open with her back hooves, Pinkie removed the wing restraints, Rarity and Applejack unchained Twilight from the post, and Rarity, with Twilight’s instruction, removed the magic inhibitor after three tries. Free of her bonds, Twilight got up and stretched, then exploded a chunk of the wall to test her horn. “All good!” “So, what happened?” asked Pinkie. “Well, I was reading about Satanic, queen of Tartarus, when suddenly three black-uniformed pegasi burst in the door and attacked me. I tried to defend myself with a few spells, but the pegasi overpowered me and dragged me off. I thought they were taking me into the Everfree, but they took off and brought me here to the castle. One pegasus came in, I assumed she was their leader, and chained me up in this cell. I don’t know what happened to Spike. He wasn’t captured, and the guard outside my cell rotated every hour, so there was no chance that he could’ve been captured. You four came at a perfect time. The guards all rushed out a few minutes ago,” explained Twilight. “The guards rushing out wasn’t a coincidence,” said Applejack. “Dash told me that she and Spitfire would take care of our opposition. It seems that the two of them distracted your guards, Twilight.” “Oh? How are they doing?” Twilight asked, worried about her friends. “I don’t know sugarcube. I haven’t gotten any communication from Rainbow.” “We need to get out of here. I need to make sure those two are safe!” exclaimed Twilight urgently. The five ponies galloped out of Twilight’s cell, and Twilight cast a tracker spell on Rainbow and Spitfire so they could find the two pegasi. For some reason, the castle seemed to understand their plight. Nopony disappeared in secret passageways or found any dangerous obstacles. They reached the surface in half the time it had taken them to get down. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the sounds of battle from above, but it was only the Shadowbolts battling the Wonderbolts. Fluttershy taking the lead again to hear any sounds of battle, Twilight and the others fell into a single-file line to pick their way carefully through the Everfree. “Um, I hear something. It sounds like something exploded…” said Fluttershy after a while. “Oh, no! I hope Rainbow and Spitfire are safe!” cried Twilight. “C’mon girls!” They galloped off as fast as their hooves could go. Soon, the crackle of flames, the distinctive fire ring of Spitfire’s sonic flameboom, and the rainbow glow of Dash’s pegasus magic became clear in the sky. Suddenly, Fluttershy halted. “I see them,” she said quietly. And some kind of cage…” Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity rushed to the front of the line and tipped their heads up at the sky. Fluttershy told the truth. There was a strange silver cage suspended in Dash’s magical glow, while Dash herself hoof bumped with Spitfire a few feet above. “Rainbow! Spitfire!” called Rarity. “Huh?” said Dash. “Oh, hi Rarity. Hi Applejack, Pinkie. “TWILIGHT!” cried Spitfire. “You're all right!” The golden mare swooped down and hugged Twilight, closely followed by Dash, who had been cut off by Spitfire just as she was about to welcome Twilight back. “We have our friend Nightshade, leader of the Shadowbolts here,” said Dash, jabbing a hoof toward the cage. “Twilight, could you put an anti-sorcery spell on the cage? Our friend here has a bit of Nightmare Moon’s sorcery that she inherited after being brought back to life. Long story, we’ll find a time to tell you guys.” Twilight nodded and her horn flared to life, and a sparkling pink glow enveloped the cage for a few seconds. “There. Done.” “Now, let’s take Nightshade to Canterlot,” said Spitfire. “She deserves to be in Tartarus, but she needs to be tried first in front of all the Royal Princesses. That includes me.” “We’ll tell you how we defeated her on the way home, right Dashie?” said Spitfire. “Of course Spits,” said Dash. “I want to see how my team’s doing. The Shadowbolts should be tried too,” said Spitfire. “I think they’re alright, but I think we should collect the Shadowbolts for transport back to Canterlot.” “All right girls, you heard her. Let’s go!” cried Twilight. They galloped off in the same direction they came in, Dash towing Nightshade’s cage behind her with her magic.
Chapter 4When the Mane Seven and the unconscious Nightshade arrived at the place where they had last seen the Shadowbolts and the Wonderbolts, they found a unhappy scene. Misty Fly had been knocked out and Silver Lining was bleeding from a nasty gash in his right hoof. Surprise had a black eye and her goggles were broken, and Wave Chill was bruised all over, his suit was veritably torn to shreds, and his tail was twisted in a knot. The Shadowbolts were much worse off though. Charger’s shades were broken and he was pressing a hoof to his head in pain, Iceheart was bleeding from all four hooves, and Blackwing’s wing was twisted at a strange angle. Hawkflight was lying unconscious on the ground, Darkfire had a black eye and a torn suit, and Blueball Blitz was bleeding from the left hoof, right wing, and left cheek. Twilight healed the injured Wonderbolts with a simple spell while Dash enclosed the Shadowbolts in separate cages. As the large group of ponies comprising the Mane Seven, the Wonderbolts, and the caged Shadowbolts headed toward Ponyville to catch the Canterlot train, Rainbow and Spitfire told the story of how they defeated the Captain of the Shadowbolts, Nightshade Fyre II. “So after I sent you the message that we would take care of your opposition, Spitfire here summoned the Wonderbolts with the amulet that you gave her, Twi,” said Dash. “Nightshade called Blitz and the others to battle them, thus the injuries.” “Dash, Soarin’ and I stayed to fight Nightshade. We found that our amulets are very useful in battle,” continued Spitfire. “We don’t have to say anything that our enemy can pick up. Soarin’ distracted Nightshade while Dash and I performed a quick display of how far we’ve come since the last time we saw her.” “Typical of Nightshade, she tried to copy Soarin’s move. We were too smart for her. I broke her shades, effectively distracting her, while Spits got the stun grenade we planted in a cloud earlier primed. Nightshade broke my fourth rib, but I discreetly healed it, saving the knowledge of my pegasus magic to show her later and possibly stun her.” “While Dashie was distracting Nightshade, I was getting the stun grenade. Basically our plan was for Dash to distract her while I primed a stun grenade. Then, I would use the grenade to knock her out, Dash would enclose her in a prison, tada.” “I decided to show off my own magic after a bit of the teleportation sorcery left over from Nightmare Moon-long story-thwarted one of my best attacks. Simple attack, just a rock and telekinesis. I didn’t expect it to even make Nightshade flinch. But when the first telltale glow flared from my wing, she seemed to freeze, turn to stone faster than we can do with Discord. I guess she was stunned by the realization that I had unleashed the magic inside me, that I was ten times more powerful than I was as a cadet at the Academy, and she didn’t even see the rock until it hit her. My aim was true. She was hit squarely in the chest.” “As my old nemesis and former student fell, I performed a flameboom and threw up the now-primed stun grenade. My fire ignited it and it exploded in Nightshade’s face. Dash and I both could’ve let her slam into the ground without a thought, but we knew that she should be tried for her crimes in front of all four Royal Princesses.” “Stopping Nightshade’s falling figure with my magic moments before she hit the ground at over 50 mph, I pulled a titanium cage and rope net from a portal and enclosed her in them. And that’s when we heard your voice, Rarity.” Over the course of the long-winded story, Pinkie had done five spit takes, Twilight’s expressions had gained an even wider range, Fluttershy had hidden in Applejack’s saddlebags, Rarity was in awe, and Applejack tried to congratulate the pair while supporting Fluttershy’s weight. All the Shadowbolts had had a sleep spell put on them by Twilight, but the Wonderbolts were cheering for their former captain and her partner. They had also reached the Ponyville train station without noticing. “All aboard for Canterlot!” cried the conductor. “Oh, good. We didn’t miss the train. Let’s go!” called Twilight from the head of the line. The twenty-four ponies boarded the train and arranged themselves and the cages Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity were carrying all into one carriage. They got some strange looks due to the six caged ponies they were transporting, though Twilight had tried to find an empty carriage. Five minutes later they were on their way to Canterlot.
Chapter 5When the train reached Canterlot, the ponies disembarked with their cargo and headed toward Canterlot Castle. Now they did get some strange looks from the upper-crust citizens of Canterlot due to the six cages, but Twilight, who was leading, paid no attention. The guards surrounding the drawbridges lifted their spears upon seeing Princess Twilight in the lead, and the group continued toward the castle. They encountered no opposition as they entered the castle. Trotting into Celestia’s courtroom, Twilight dipped her head to the guards, who responded in kind. “Ah, Twilight,” said the Princess of the Sun kindly. “How nice to see you. And who is here with you…” she trailed off as she saw the Elements, the Wonderbolts, and the six caged Shadowbolts. “GUARDS!” she cried. “Cancel my audience with the Prench Ambassador-tell him I will see him in two days. A serious matter has come up. Summon Luna too.” Half the team of guards that had seemingly materialized at their Princess’s call rushed off toward the quarters of the Prench Ambassador, Green Clover, while the other half headed for Luna’s room. Celestia concentrated hard, her horn glowing a brilliant gold, and a speaking pool appeared in front of her. Cadance’s image filled the pool, projected from the Crystal Empire, but before she could say a word of welcome, Celestia said urgently: “Cadance. Come to Canterlot at once. A dangerous group of ponies has been captured.” “Celestia, what…?” said Cadance. “No time to explain. Come!” replied Celestia. About thirty seconds later, Cadance arrived in a blaze of blue light. Luna burst through the doors at about the same moment. “Tia! Twilight! Cadance! Sister, what is thy meaning of this meeting?” asked Luna. “Why art the Elements here? And the Wonderbolts? And those… what do you call them? cages?” “Luna, Cadance. We have an important decision resting in our hooves. The Elements have captured one of the most reputed mercenary teams in all of Equestria-the Shadowbolts.” Luna’s face had become whiter and whiter as Celestia’s explanation continued. “They...what...Sister, dost thou speak in jest? That foul demon Nightmare Moon created them as an illusion when she inhabited Our body. Art thou meaning they are… real?” she said, her voice getting higher pitched in panic with each word she spoke. “Yes,” Twilight said simply. Luna’s jaw dropped and she began to mutter an incoherent series of curses under her breath, slipping inadvertently into her native tongue, Ancient Equestrian. Cadance, however, seemed perfectly calm. “So, I presume we’re here to give them a fair trial and then sentence them, right?” she said. “Correct, Cadance,” replied Celestia. Anticipating the need, Twilight cast an awakening spell on the Shadowbolts. Her control over her magic seemed to have improved after she became a Princess, seeing as her spell did not misfire. Awaking sluggishly, the Shadowbolts looked around them in confusion as the realization dawned on their minds: they had been captured. Before they could react, the princesses had magically subdued them. Princess Celestia summoned a judge’s gavel and six chairs with built-in chains, and the Elements started setting up the throne room for the trial. Within a span of about fifteen minutes, the throne room had been transformed into a replica of a courtroom from Ancient Equestrian times. Celestia and Luna’s podiums stood at the front of the room, the six chained chairs, now binding the Shadowbolts tightly with their chains, sat three to a row in front of the podium, the Wonderbolts and the Elements were arrayed in a half circle around the prisoners, and the other two Royal Princesses had podiums beside Celestia and Luna, one to each side. The ponies took their seats, the Princesses stepped up to their podiums, and the trial of the infamous mercenary team, the Shadowbolts, began, with Cadance taking notes for the records. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was one for the books. Celestia and Luna, well trained in debating by their parents almost three hundred years ago, attacked every angle of the Shadowbolts’ actions that day and the century before. Every fact they stated was backed up by either Dash, Spitfire, or one of the Wonderbolts. Nightshade and Blueball Blitz seemed to be the only Shadowbolts who could go head to head with the Princesses and hold their own, even turn the tide of the trial in their favor. As soon as Spitfire noticed that the trial was heading in the Shadowbolts’ favor, she sent a panicked thought to Dash, who relayed it to Princess Twilight and the other Elements. It said: The Shadowbolts cannot be allowed to be granted a pardon!!! They have wormed their way out of many a punishment that I have seen over the years. Help us, Twilight. You’re our only hope. Turn the trial toward us. Quickly! There’s not much time left. The clock is ticking…. Princess Twilight vanished in a flash of magenta light, returning a second later with a tottering stack of old records from the Canterlot archives suspended in her magic. Princess Celestia was so surprised by this that she stopped speaking in the middle of her sentence, Cadance looked on with wide eyes, and the Elements sighed in relief. “May I speak?” asked Twilight. Celestia nodded, followed by Luna a few seconds later. Twilight proceeded to read off a list of each of the Shadowbolts, their crimes, and a detailed description of each. It took nearly half an hour to read through more than 100 pages of information, compiled over a century, mostly in a dialect of Ancient Equestrian. More than a few times, she had to ask Princess Luna for help in deciphering a particularly difficult rune, but she forged on determinedly. The Shadowbolts’ eyes grew wider and wider as all their crimes were revealed, the Elements were shocked at everything the mercenaries had done in the last hundred years, and even the Princesses looked mildly surprised. When Twilight finished, a clamor broke out as ponies fought to speak. Celestia exploded a firework from her horn and yelled “Silence!” The room went deathly quiet. “ I have one question, Twilight. Where did you find all this useful information?” “Oh, I was in the Canterlot archives, reading about Starswirl the Bearded, and I came upon this stack of scrolls. I opened them up and read a few, and it didn’t seem to be much more than a stack of old records, so I put them away. But when I got Spitfire’s thought-message a while ago, I immediately remembered them,” replied Twilight with a smile. “All right then,” said Celestia, winking at her former student. “Attention, everypony!” The heads of everypony in the room turned toward her, and they waited anxiously for her verdict. “Due to the new information now available to us, the jury has decided that the pegasi now before us are guilty of all pressed charges. The jury will now proceed to discuss the penalties for these actions.” The Shadowbolts’ jaws dropped, and Twilight, noticing the fact, quickly tightened their bonds and gagged each of them as to prevent any retaliation. Then she turned and joined the circle of alicorns that were waiting attentively for her to make the decision. After a quarter-hour spent in a furious debate, in which Princess Celestia finally came out on top, the alicorns headed to their podiums to deliver the verdict. Banging her gavel on the edge of her podium, Celestia declared in ringing tones that symbolized the moment, even though her crown was lopsided from the debate: “The jury has decided the punishments. Nightshade Fyre the Second, please step forward.” When Nightshade had done so, Celestia continued. “Due to the crimes the pegasus that stands before you has committed, Nightshade Fyre the Second is sentenced to death.” Before anyone could react, Princess Luna stepped forward, and then a series of disjointed events happened. There was a flash of bright blue light, Nightshade slumped lifeless to the floor, and a bloodcurdling scream filled the courtroom. “NO!” It was Blueball Blitz. “NO, NIGHTSHADE! No…” She rushed to her former leader’s side, a panicked look on her face. “No, no, no, Nightshade, please be okay, please, Nightshade…” Her voice faded as the truth overtook her, and a look of pure hatred twisted her face. “You,” she growled at Luna. She lunged at her, and then Celestia was there, and it was all over. Blueball Blitz’s body hit the ground with a thud, Celestia standing over her with a soft, menacing hiss still sliding from between her teeth. For a moment Celestia’s eyes glowed orange, then it faded and she regained her composure. Using her magic to pile the bodies in a corner of the courtroom, she stalked back to her podium. “Blackwing Thundercloud is to serve a life sentence in the Canterlot dungeons. Guards, take him away.” Seven guards rushed to obey, picking up Blackwing in their magic and carrying him away. Evidently, the loss of Nightshade, Blueball Blitz, and Darkfire had finally broken Iceheart, for she broke down in tears in her chair. She then started rocking back and forth, muttering no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. After fifteen minutes, during which Iceheart continued muttering long strings of words over and over again, Twilight whispered “Mental breakdown” to Luna, who passed it down to Celestia and Cadance. “Um...Iceheart Thunder is to serve a life sentence in the Canterlot dungeons. Guards, take her away,” said Celestia. She seemed a bit startled by the fact that Iceheart’s mind had snapped, but she tried not to show it. The remaining Shadowbolts saw their chance, and leapt for it. With one fluid motion, they broke free of their chains and soared out the window as one single entity instead of three ponies. Everypony in the room froze. The silence dragged on for what seemed like forever. Then the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, and Rainbow Dash jumped to their hooves and zipped out the window in pursuit, but to no avail. The Shadowbolts had so much of a head start that not even the Princesses, when they awoke from their stupor, could catch them. A while later, the pegasi returned from their fruitless search. Celestia spoke for a while, waxing eloquent about how the Elements and the Wonderbolts had captured the Shadowbolts. She apologized for losing the three Shadowbolts, and reminded them to keep a close lookout for them. Finally, Cadance stopped taking notes, and court was dismissed. The trial of the Shadowbolts was over.
Chapter 6“YAY!” The silence was broken by Pinkie Pie. “CELEBRATE!” “Ok Pinkie,” said Twilight, restraining the pink party pony with her magic as she tried to glomp all of them. “We can celebrate when we get back to Ponyville.” The other Elements sighed in relief as Pinkie just giggled. Bidding their farewells to the Princesses, the Elements and the Wonderbolts left the castle, chatting among themselves. The train ride back to Ponyville was fairly uneventful, even though Pinkie kept throwing confetti at random ponies, causing Twilight to be constantly rushing around cleaning up confetti. When they disembarked at the Ponyville train station, the Wonderbolts departed for Cloudsdale, which was right over Ponyville due to its monthly rotation cycle. Pinkie zipped off to Sugarcube Corner to prepare for the party that night, after giving her friends strict instructions to invite everypony in Ponyville. Soon, the time had come and they were heading down to Sugarcube Corner, which was full to bursting with ponies, food, and decor. DJ-P0N3 had showed up to do the music, and they danced and partied the night away. The Shadowbolts were no longer a threat, Twilight and the Elements were no longer in jeopardy, and the seven friends were closer than ever after their adventure. The End
Chapter 1“Hey Flutters!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash and Spitfire as the shy yellow mare trotted into Sugarcube Corner. “Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. Hi Spitfire,” Fluttershy whispered. “Where are the others?” “Well, Pinkie is in the back and the others are on their way,” said Dash. The Mane Seven had agreed to meet at Sugarcube Corner to compose their latest letter to Princess Celestia. Just then, the tinkling of a bell announced Applejack and Rarity's arrival. “Howdy everypony!” said Applejack cheerfully. “Hello, everyone,”said Rarity, who was wearing a fancy blue hat. “So, we’re just waiting on Princess Twilight,” said Fluttershy. The five of them settled at a table in the back, chatting animately about Sonic Dashfire’s latest show, Fluttershy’s animal care business, Rarity’s newest dress design, and Applejack’s success in her fall harvest. After about 15 minutes, Pinkie asked: “Where is Princess Twilight anyway? She's never late!” “I don’t know. I saw her yesterday by the orchard,” said Applejack confusedly. “I think she'll turn up eventually.” They continued with their conversation. Ten minutes later, Princess Twilight hadn't turned up yet. Twenty minutes… thirty minutes… “Oh, for the sake of Celestia’s feathering sky chariot!” burst out Dash. “Twilight might be a bit late, but an hour and fifteen minutes?! Not possible! I think something’s wrong. Let's go to the library and check.” “Yeah, I agree,” said Fluttershy, Applejack, Spitfire, and Pinkie. The six ponies galloped out the door of Sugarcube Corner, heading for Golden Oaks Library. Dodging groups of ponies out on the sunny morning, they approached the familiar tree. Fluttershy tentatively pushed the door open, and screamed, diving into a shrub growing near the door.
