My Little Pony Next Generation: The New Harmony!

by Alphamon_Ouryuken

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Original Character, Spike, Comedy
Length: 39412

An ancient evil has returned, and when the original wielders of Harmony aren't enough, a new generation of heroes must answer the call...

Everybody knows the story of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, from the time they got the Elements of Harmony, to the point where they co-founded the first Council of Harmony.

But every story must end, and every ending is a beginning, and this beginning is for their children. This is the story of the first great adventure of Starburst, Prism Bolt, Anthea, Turquoise Blitz, Crystal Clarity, Golden Delicious and Cotton Candy, as they embark on a journey to save Equestria from a new threat!

Based on the wonderful characters created by the talented Kilala97. Go and check out these links for info about these characters:

Kilala's Next Gen
All Next Gen Trivia

Cover Art by bico.

Co-written with Hidden Scorpius XI.

TRIGGER WARNING: This universe supports Flashlight, so if you are still hurting over your lost waifu, then turn back and leave. No need to be hating on here.

Published 2014-09-08 02:20:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-10-22 03:39:56 UTC

Last Day of School!

*Tick… tock… tick… tock...*

'Come on...come on...' Prism Bolt thought as he was impatiently looking at the clock, practically begging it to go faster. The last hours had become eternal in an attempt to mock his force of will. But he wasn’t going to lose over this matter, since in a few more minutes, the most important day of the year, and even his life, was about to commence. Prism Bolt was the son of the two Wonderbolts; Rainbow Dash and Soarin. He had inherited most of his looks from his mother, right down to her rainbow-colored mane, his coat was a darker shade of blue, he wore a small band-aid on the tip of his mussel, and his cutie mark was a prism with a rainbow-colored thunderbolt.

“Mr. Bolt!” Called an authoritative voice, breaking his concentration on the torture device mounted in the wall, remembering immediately where he was: Ponyville’s High School. The lilac and blonde mare that called him, Ms. Doo, looked incredibly annoyed and he could tell she had all the right to be so. “Can you please at least pretend you are paying attention? Maybe you could increase your grades the next period if you start doing that now.”

“What? I am paying attention...” ‘To the time’ Thought the young stallion. In truth, he hadn’t heard a thing from the history lesson; not that he didn’t care, but because there were more important things right now. He gave a quick glance to the clock again. ‘Ten more minutes!’

“Oh really?” Deadpanned the professor, her tone prompting everypony, Prism included, to turn to her. “Then you wouldn’t mind telling the class what families are responsible for the foundation of Ponyville?”

‘Oh shoot!’ “Sure. No problem.” He lied as his cogs turned in an attempt to improvise an answer and hope it is correct. “The Rich and Silver families!” Prism almost screamed.

“Correct.” Prism sighed in relief. “And the third family?” Only to get tense a second later.

However, an orange hoof raised from the other side of the room, saving Prism Bolt from the teacher’s inquiry. “Ah. Yes, Starburst?”

The pegasus mare perked up from her seat, as she blew away the blue and pink bangs from her eyes and readied to give her answer. “The Apple family, Ms. Doo.” She answered confidently. “It was because of their discovery of the Zap Apples, that the region where they settled became a point of interest for many farmers and small business, and because of that, the surrounding land where they settled grew and became the town we know today.” She finished her intervention and returned to her own seat. This was Starburst, the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Royal Guard Flash Sentry. Aside from her cutie mark, which was a pink diagonal line with two blue line making and "X" in back of it, she was practically an orange-coated version of her mother(minus the horn).

“Excellent, Starburst! Well done!” Ms. Doo praised, to which all the other ponies in the classroom contributed with compliments and light clopping.The pony right next to Starburst, a grayish-bluecoated filly with a pink mane with white streaks and a cotton candy cutie mark, gave her a playful push. She turned to see her friend and daughter of Pinkie Pie; Cotton Candy, who simply smiled at her friend and resumed to pay attention to the class. “Very well then, I suppose that can be it for today’s lesson."

“But before you leave!” Ms. Doo jumped to add as she saw Prism Bolt just extending his wings. The rest of the class tensed in anticipation to the bit of news they were all expecting to receive today “Here I have your reports from last week. And I’m glad to announce that all of you have passed this assignment!” She said as she levitated a stack of papers and set out to deliver each report, stopping on each desk to deliver compliments to each of her students. While everypony else took the chance to partake on small chat, Starburst remained still on her desk, eyes upfront, as she waited for the professor to pass by her desk and leave her report.

Still, even though Star pretended to maintain a disciplined attitude at all times, she still caught some of Ms. Doo commentaries out of interest, especially those regarding her friends. Like how Prism's record of all B+’s remained unscathed and her surprised yelp as she once again noticed Turquoise Blitz in the back of the room, followed by a plethora of apologies, to what the half-dragon simply replied “It’s no problem”. It was impressive how unnoticed that colt could undergo when he wanted, not an easy task when you were twice the size of a stallion of his age, not to mention his draconic features.

“Whatcha thinkin' about?” Came the voice on her left, pulling Starburst out of her musings. She turned to see Candy once again, the young mare sporting a friendly smile.

“Nothing special, really.” She calmly admitted, she knew better than anypony that you should always try to be open about anything when talking with Cotton Candy. That filly always had the best interest of everypony at heart, and it wasn’t any different with Starburst, especially considering that she’s technically a Royal Princess, so Star was very grateful for that “normal” treatment. Which reminded her: “I just remembered, what are we going to do this afternoon?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Candy asked, a bit confused.

“What, aren’t you gonna drag me around to socialize and have fun?” Starburst had to admit to herself, the idea of a day free from the crazy filly’s plans was like a dream.

“Nope, not today!”

Though it was still a surprising revelation. “Huh. Well, I’m not complaining. But I’m curious as to why.” She asked, now completely invested in the conversation.

Ms. Doo passed by Candy’s desk and left her report, graded A-, and continued to the students seated behind her. Candy put away the paper as she gave her answer. “Well, because I’m making cakes with Mom today, of course.”

“What?! But Candy, you hate baking.”

“No silly, I suck at baking. There’s a difference.”

Star mentally shuddered at the thought of Candy of all ponies cooking! While the mare had inherited many things from her mother, her cooking skills were not one of them. Every time she tried it ended either burned, liquefied (somehow), or on that one occasion brought to life! She still couldn't figure out how that happened...

“Besides, Mom will be helping me. But it doesn’t matter if what we bake isn’t the best cake we make. It’s been almost three days since I did something with my mommy. You know, quality time and stuff.” Candy explained as she she made a thorough inspection of the contents on her saddlebag, making sure they were neat and ordered. ‘Another difference from her mother’ thought Starburst.

“I see.” She simply said as Star resumed her position on her desk.

“Oh, I know! You could come along with your Mom!” Candy suddenly suggested, taking Starburst by surprise.

“... No, thank you, really. I wouldn’t like to intrude.” Starburst calmly stated.

“Oh well, then maybe you could ask your mom to have some quality time with you! She’s in town, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, but…” She sighed, finding hard to talk about this. Starburst loved her mom very much, but they hardly had anything in common, she herself was more interested in the duties and training of the royal guard, while her mother was very focused in her studies in magic and the royal business she had to attend to. As a result, they weren’t very close. “Ugh, you know how this is, Candy. Unless I have anything that we can bond over with, there’s little chance we can spend so much time together.”

“Here you are, Starburst.” Said Ms. Doo as she stepped between the two fillies and left the last paper from her stack. “Congratulations, you made an excellent progress this year!” She happily added before returning to the front of the class. with some trepidation Starburst took the report and directed her sights to the upper-left corner of the paper, where she found a big red A+ printed on it. She brought back the rest of her grades from the past school year to memory, and realised that they were all A+’s. She just got a perfect score this year.

Candy, on the other hoof, was glancing over her shoulder at the paper, but quickly retreated to her seat when Starburst noticed her, just a mild annoyance shown in her face. “So… you were saying?” Starburst didn’t answer, but she mentally noted that her mom would certainly be very proud when Star tells her the news.

“Okay, class. I guess we’re done for now. I’ll see you the next period! Enjoy your…”

*RIIIIIIING*

The classroom of young ponies depleted in a matter of seconds, the sound of hooves and wings drowning the sound of the schoolbell as they made their way to the door, through the hallways and finally to outside of the building, leaving Dinky Doo in a state of astonishment.

“...Vacations.”

~~~o~~~

"FREE AT LAST!" Prism called out as he burst through the doors and soared into the sky.

"Oh, stop being so over dramatic." A voice called out, Prism looked down to see a purple Pegasus mare with a spiky light blue mane and a mini-tornado cutie mark exiting the school, along with the rest of their friends. This was Whirlwind, the daughter of Cloudchaser and Thunderlane. "The way you're acting would make ponies think you'd just got out of prison."

"It wouldn't be too far from the truth!" Prism joked as he landed on a nearby cloud.

Whirlwind chuckled at her friend’s little joke. "You know, your grades would improve a lot if you actually took the classes seriously..."

"Aw, come on Dubz! You know I hate being stuck in one place for so long!" The tri-color-maned pegasus complained. "Besides, Ms. Doo's lectures are soooo boring. My mom teaches history way better!"

“Turquoise!” The little conversation they had was interrupted with the call that another pony made from the road left to the group, or more accurate, another dragon-pony. She had a light purple coat similar to that of a pony, but it had the tail and claws of a dragon with deep purple spines from her hair to her tufted tail, she also had two small white horns that extended behind her ears, and instead of a cutie mark she had several dark purple scales where one would be on a pony. This was Crystal Clarity, the daughter of Spike and Rarity and the worlds first dragon-pony hybrid. She advanced towards them in her feline-like way of walking, and there was a certain spring on her step, indicating that she was in a hurry, which usually never was something good for the pony she was looking for; in this case: her younger brother; Turquoise Blitz.

Turquoise, or simply T as his friends liked to call him, was alot taller than his sister despite being younger, and looked alot more like a dragon. His entire body was light-green, save form the darker scales where his cutie mark would be, his similarly-colored mane stood up like regular dragon spikes, and his wings were much larger than any ponies, to the where you hide under one of them.

“Good thing I caught you, T! Hello guys… Prism Bolt.” She addressed the airborne pegasus with a deadpan, to which the colt simply snorted, then returned to Turquoise. “Mother got a last minute order delivery for Canterlot and she cannot get it dispatched with her usual service in time, so she asked us to help her.”

“Now?” T dumbfoundedly asked. “‘Cuz I was actually going to…”

“Oh, we just gotta take her things to the train station, then you’ll be free to go and see Annie. I promise.” Claire said, understanding very well what concerned her little brother. T visibly relaxed at Claire’s assurance, and both made their way to Carousel Boutique after saying their “goodbyes”.

“Well, I guess summer is officially in progress!” Stated Candy while hopping in place with a big smile on her face. “Oh, I know! We should all go to the lake tomorrow! We’re gonna have so much fun this summer!”

"I’m with ya, CeeCee, but I’m not waiting ‘till tomorrow. I’m off to Sweet Apple Acres! Gotta score to settle with Del!" Prism announced as he took off. “See ya!”

Whirlwind rolled her eyes. "I'd better go too, gotta make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

"That and you're still sore at Red for beating you in that hoof-wrestling contest." Star teased, earning a snort of irritation from her fellow pegasus.

"AND you wanna see Prism getting all hot and sweaty!" Candy giggled.

Whirlwind blushed at Candy's remark before turning away. "W-Where did you get THAT idea?!"

“Didn’t hear a ‘no’!” Candy happily stated in a sing-song tone. Whirlwind simply glared at her and took off in the same direction as Prism, not without some grumbling.

"No wonder Prism dated her, she's cute when she's angry."

Star shot Candy a quizzical look.

"I'm kidding." Candy lightly assured, before turning to her last friend remaining. “So. You’re gonna try what we talked about?”

Starburst nodded. “Yeah, it’s not like I have anything to lose by trying.” She said matter of factly, walking down the road from the school building.

“That’s the spirit!”

~~~X~~~

"...25...26...27...28...29..."

Applejack watched the scene before her with a strong feeling of déjà vu. There was her son; Golden Delicious, a yellow-coated stallion with a brown, golden-striped mane, a big, golden apple for a cutie mark, and a red bandana around his neck. He was once again bumping heads with Prism Bolt. She had seen him and Whirlwind flying over to the east orchard, no doubt looking for Del. This time, the blue pegasus and the orange earth pony were engaged in a push-up contest, Prism had even went through the trouble of tying his wings to his sides for the sake of fairness.

"You ready to give up, Del?!" Prism challenged, sweat trailing down his body as he panted.

"Not on your life, Prism!" Del retorted, equally tired as he gritted his teeth.

Applejack approached the group and stood right next to the pegasus that wasn’t lying on the ground. "Hey there, Whirlwind!" The Apple Farmer smiled. "Came to watch, I reckon."

"Hello Mrs. Applejack!" Whirlwind greeted. "That and make sure Prism doesn't hurt himself." She said, watching the current competition between the two stallions. "I swear I don’t get where those two got that rivalry!"

"One of life's greatest mysteries!" A voice came from up the road. Applejack turned to glare a snickering Applebloom, who was making her way to the barn, and away from them, carrying a basket of ripe, red fruit.

She returned to see the two colts on their contest, which lasted another thirty minutes before ending in a solid draw. Of course, the two of them immediately began rambling about setting the score down in some other way. They were so focused on that that none of them noticed an Earth Pony Royal Guard approaching the farm until Applejack started walking to meet him halfway.

“Howdy, sir! What can I do for you?” She asked after meeting with the gray stallion with the gray coat and the brownish orange mane at the entrance of the lands.

"Hello Mrs. Applejack. I have a message from the Princess..."

~~~X~~~

Starburst’s home always bothered her a little, it can be a bit of an eyesore but she got used to it as time went on. The three shaped castle was located just on the east side of the town, it’s crystal-like entrance were always opened, and as such, there were always two guards dutifully standing on each side of the gate. She nodded to the Guards as they greeted her when she entered and made her way down the corridor, filled with several stained glass windows depicting her some of her mother's memories that she had alongside her friends; She knew the story behind those pieces, like the time Mrs. Dash pulled off her very first Sonic Rainboom that bonded them all without them knowing it, or the time when Miss Fluttershy' befriended Discord and effectively made him change for the better. There was also one from when her mother ascensended to an Alicorn and one portrait of her whole family.

Starburst ignored the rest for the moment, instead focusing on her approach. Mom usually was in her study doing some “light” reading; if that was the case, then getting her attention would be difficult, but she wouldn’t be too bothered to oblige in the end. Then, she would inform her about her performance during the last school period, earning a positive response in all likelihood. It is possible that Starburst’s mom could proclaim a small celebration, along with her dad and little brother, which would defeat her purpose, so Star was currently rehearsing a contingency route as she was walking down the halls.

“Actually Mom, I would like to do something with just the two of us.” She heard herself saying, evaluating tone and intonation. “No, sounds too disattached… Maybe I should try ‘eager’... Not really me, and ‘hesitant’ would make her believe I’m not interested.” She, stopped herself before rounding the last corner and kept debating on that choice.

After a few minutes, she resumed her way toward the study. As Starburst made her way there, she could heard her mom talking with somepony, likely visit from one of her friends, Star would just have to avoid being intrusive when she entered the room.

‘Not a problem’ She thought. However, when she opened the doors, she saw a pony she didn't expect: Anthea, Fluttershy's daughter. She was a cream coated unicorn with a lime green mane that was braided near the end, her cutie mark was a flower. Unlike the rest of the Council of Harmony, Anetha, or Annie as she liked to be called, was adopted by Fluttershy instead of being born. She was almost completely blind, almost being due to her unique magic that allowed her to "see", however it was mostly in blurry blotches of such, Starburst's mother had taken it upon herself to teach her how to control her magic.

The cream coated unicorn was standing in front of a potted plant, with Star’s mom right next to it. A few steps behind, Star could see her little brother, Night Light looking intently at the scene. None of them had noticed Starburst after she entered the room, though she really couldn’t blame Annie for it.

"Now focus Annie." Princess Twilight encouraged as the young unicorn directed all of her senses on the object in the middle of the room. "Remember, if you cannot pull the spell the first time, I’ll perform it immediately. There’s nothing to fear."

"I’m not afraid." The blind unicorn simply said as she readied herself for whatever was going on.

"You can do it Annie!" Night Light cheered from the secure distance between him and the plant.

Twilight let out a light laugh as she also readied her own magic. “Okay, in three…” her horn flashed a lot brighter. “... two…” a similar light enveloped the flower of the plant, which started to wiggle in a strange faction. “... one.” she released her magic, and the flower shot a puff of pollen directly at Annie.

After the cloud of pollen dissipated and Star could properly assess what it had done. Annie’s face was completely covered in polka dots! And more kept popping out down her neck and into her barrel. Anthea however didn’t seem really concerned about that, but instead she called her own magic, which extended past her horn and enveloped her entire body in a green light. A second after, the spell ended and all the dots had completely disappeared without any secondary effects.

"She did it! She did it! She did it!" Night Light cheered as he happily bounced around his mother.

"Excellent work Annie!" The lavender Alicorn smiled. "It took me at least a week to get that spell down back when I first learned it."

"Th-thank you Princess!" Annie said, beaming at the praise she received despite her mild exhaustion.

"Oh oh! Can I try the spell next mommy?! Can I, can I?!" The young unicorn pleaded.

"Woah, slow down there Nighty! This spell is too advanced for you to learn just yet."

"Awww." Nighty groaned.

Twilight also heard a small sigh, but turned just in time to see a glimpse of orange leave the room.

~~~o~~~

Two young filly's nervously peeked into the kitchen to see the aftermath of what was supposed to be an attempt at baking cupcakes, with the perpetrators of such disaster being no other than their elder sister and their own mother. One was a bluish-gray Pegasus named Cloudy Skies and the other was a light pink Unicorn named Sugar Rush.

"Hey look, half of them are barely recognizable this time!" Candy exclaimed as her mother placed a tray burned cupcakes on the table, blissfully unaware of the mess. All around them the kitchen was a war zone; batter coated the floor, walls, and ceiling, with some of the smudges had a few kitchen appliances sticking out of them, and a dark cloud of smoke was rising from the stove.

Pinkie eagerly took a bite out of the cupcake actually looked like it used to be edible. "Hmmm..." She mused as she chewed the-as Pound & Pumpkin had so elegantly put it-unholy abomination of cooking. "Well... it tastes like old dirty socks mixed with rotten eggs, dead fish, and just a hint of skunk fumes." She said bluntly. 'Still better than the ones Applejack made.' She mentally added.

Candy looked at her mom with a face that betrayed nothing, but much to the twins surprise, Candy beamed up at the end, her attitude remaining positive. "That's sooo much better than the last time! I'm getting close!"

"How in Equestria is that considered better?!" Cloudy Skies whispered to her sister.

“How in Equestria is Mommy able to eat that and not get sick!?” Countered the other twin.

"I swear, cooking like that should be a illegal!" Cloudy Skies muttered as she turned to leave... only to bump into a green Unicorn Royal Guard with a short, shaggy mane on the way out.

"Oh, hello little one. I’m sorry to intrude, but is your mother in home?" He asked politely.

Cloudy Skies' pupils shrunk as she and her sister quickly held the guard by his hooves. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT!! PLEASE DON’T TAKE CANDY!"

The Guard simply looked at the two fillies, before raising his gaze at the pink mare that came out of the kitchen. "...was it something I said?"

~~~o~~~

Star sighed as she entered her room and dropped herself on her princess sized bed, the springs bouncing her small body a few inches before setting down. She didn’t like that bed, it was too big, so it took a lot of space from her room. Space that she could be using right now for a little workout routine, but she had too much in her head at the moment. As she rested on her bed, she noticed a familiar white furball leaping onto the covers and getting near her face.

"Hey there, little guy." She said as Snow started sniffling her muzzle. She scooped the albino ferret and started to slowly petting him. It had a strange soothing effect, caressing his soft fur; she liked to do that whenever she had a lot on her mind, or whenever she was upset. Her thoughts revolved around what just had happened. ‘Of course today was Annie’s magic lesson, she had missed it the last week, and she told me that she really wanted to learn that spell. Why didn’t I recall that?’

Starburst was brought out of her thoughts by a knock from the door. "Star? It's me, can I come in?"

Star let a small smile graced her features. "Sure dad." She said as she hopped out of bed. The door opened to let in High Prince Flash Sentry, who met his daughter in the middle of the room. The two gazed at each other before standing firm and giving each other a salute.

“Rest soldier. Any news on the front?” Asked Flash Sentry.

Star gave a nod before answering the “how’s it been today?” from her dad. “Without casualties. The school period came to an end smoothly, and I saved one of my friends from the teacher’s interrogation about the founding fathers of Ponyville.”

“Prism?” Star nodded, earning a chuckle from her dad. “Guessed as much. Is there anything else?”

“There is.” Star answered without hesitation. “Today we were given the last evaluation of the period, and if my memory is correct, then my performance this year was perfect.”

“Excellent news! Now, ‘act dismissed.’” At that last instruction, Starburst dropped their little game and surged forward to give her father a heartfelt hug. “That’s my girl. I’m proud of you Star.”

Starburst’s smile grew a little after hearing those words.

“Have you told your mother?”

And the smile faded just like that. “I left the report on her study like always. Though I doubt she has seen it yet.” She said, maintaining an even tone at the same time she broke the hug.

"Are you okay sweetie?"

"I'm fine dad..."

"You seem upset about something."

"I'm not-"

"Is it a colt?"

"WHAT?! NO!! Why would you even think of...!?" Star nearly shouted, a blush now adorning her face, only to see her father holding back his laughter.

"I'm sorry, I just enjoy seeing you get riled up like that, you look so cute!" He chuckled before ruffling his daughter’s hair. "Just like your mother."

"Not funny, dad!" Star groaned as she pushed his hoof away.

Her dad chuckled a little bit more before taking on a worried tone. “Really Starburst, you aren’t usually this serious. Trust me, I can tell.” He added with a warming smile. “So, tell me what’s wrong.”

Starburst hesitated for a moment, but in the end she motioned to sit on her bed and her dad followed after, then she started. “It’s about mom. It started at the end of class when Candy told me that she was going to spend the afternoon with her mother, and I thought it would be a good idea to do the same and… Ugh, forget it, I shouldn’t have tried in the first place.”

“Don’t you ever say that!” Her father snapped so suddenly that Starburst was left startled, not an easy feat. He continued with a caring, yet firm voice. “Not trying is the same thing as giving up. And I know you are not a quitter.”

Star listened intently at her dad’s words, but she still felt conflicted about the whole situation. Flash continued. “Look Star, your mom isn’t the easiest of ponies. She can easily miss a lot of things when she’s too focused on something…”

“She doesn’t seem to have that problem with Anthea.” She muttered, to which her dad quickly caught up.

“Why? Because she goes out of her way to teach her magic?”

"Well, yeah!” Starburst answered. “I mean, Annie doesn’t even has to try to get mom’s attention, while I have to try so much only to have a conversation with her that lasts longer than a minute!” She unconsciously rubbed her forehead, in the place where a unicorn horn would be located. Her voice wavered a little as she spoke. “I…just wish we had more in common.”

Star felt a feather brush her side, and saw her dad offering another hug with his wing, which she accepted. They stayed like that for a good three minutes, after which Starburst had calmed herself enough. Then her father started again.

“Star, listen. You shouldn’t ever wish to be something you are not, because that won’t make you happy. Instead, you should always try and be the best version of who you are, and never give that up for nothing. You understand?” She gave a small nod, after what Flash continued. “As for the thing with your mom; well, if you didn’t have luck this time, then try again until you are successful. I know for a fact that your mom would love nothing more than to spend a day with you” He finished his lecture and proceeded to leave the room. Before he left though, Star called out again.

“You really think it’ll work? Trying again, I mean.”

Flash Sentry simply gave her a wink. “It worked for me.”

~~~o~~~

“So… what did that spell do exactly?” Asked Night Light after a while.

Twilight and Anthea had been talking over the magical theory of the spell for the last minutes after Annie had performed it. By the look of their faces, it was clear that the question caught both of them by surprise. His mom blushed slightly, clearly ashamed to have skipped the part of the lesson where she explained the purpose of the spell. As she tried to find her voice, Anthea gave the explanation herself. “It was a purging spell. It is meant to eliminate any toxins from the target, as long as the poison comes from a plant and needs to be inhaled for it to make effect.”

“Poison?!” exclaimed the unicorn colt, as he looked at the purple flower that just a few moments ago had turned Anthea into a polka dot tapestry.

“Don’t worry Nighty. That flower is actually quite harmless,” assured Princess Twilight, “There are far too few poisonous flora that are actually a…” She was interrupted by a sudden surge of magic. Her horn started to crackle and glow on its own until a single wisp of smoke flowed out of it, before swirling in the air and taking the form of a scroll with the familiar emblem on it.

"Oooh, I'd love to learn how to do that!" Nighty said.

"Sweetie, this isn't a normal spell, I got a letter from Princess Celestia." Twilight explained as she unwrapped the scroll. Ever since Spike had married and moved in with Rarity, Twilight she had decided it would be better if she learned the spell to send and receive letters herself instead of having Spike fly all the way to her Castle, that and the fact that most letters had arrived in the most inconvenient of moments, as he had phrased it. Twilight dutifully read the scroll, expecting it to be a casual communication from her former teacher, but as she read, her face changed to reflect surprise, followed by concern.

Dear Princess Twilight.

It is of the utmost importance that you and the Council of Harmony come to Canterlot immediately. A new threat has made itself known and we require your assistance. I will explain more once you arrive.

Sincerely:
Princess Celestia.

"I’m sorry Annie, but I’m afraid we’ll end the lesson early today." Twilight said as she rolled up the scroll. “I also need to get your mother to help me with something. Can you get home on your own?”

“Of course I can.” She answered with a dry deadpan, before returning to her normal self. “But I’ll wait for Turquoise, he’s probably on the way by now.” That was all Annie got to say before the Princess teleported away.

~~~X~~~

"Come along T! We're practically there!" Claire called out as they approached the train station.

T however gasped in pain as he carried several bags and suitcases on his back, in contrast to the pair of bags she carried on her magic grasp. "No… problem!" He groaned from under his exertion. “Where is dad again?”

“He had to fly over to Canterlot to make sure that mother’s things are taken care of when she get’s there.” Clarity answered bluntly just as they entered the station. There they quickly found their parents in front of the train cars; however, mother seemed to be conversing with a Royal Guard; a dark-blue pegasus stallion whose gray mane obscured his left eye.

"I see, thank you mister Typhoon. I’ll see into it as soon as I can." Rarity said as the pegasus took off and flew to the distance. After that, Rarity finally noticed her two children arriving. "Oh, there you are! Thank you so much for helping me out with all these!"

"It was no trouble at all, mother." Claire proclaimed as she set the bags down.

*CRASH*

Both mares turned around to see Turquoise sprawled on the ground with a pile of suitcases and luggage on top of him, completely out of breath. "So...heavy..." He wheezed.

"I think your brother would disagree." Chuckled a voice from above, both mares looked to see Spike descending to the platform.

"Daddy!"

"H-Hey dad..." T weakly called out from under the luggage. "Little help?"

The full-grown dragon sighed as he moved to help T get out of his pinch, while Rarity gave her daughter a knowing glance, to which Claire grinned sheepishly. "I suppose I could have carried a few more bags..."

"I can't feel my wings!" T cried out, now only half buried in bags.

"Clarity..."

"OK, I should have carried a lot more… by the way, what is the thing you and that Royal Guard talking about?"

“Oh, that. You never miss a thing, do you?” Rarity chuckled slightly. “Well, since you want to know, there’s another chance at business that came up in Canterlot, and Princess Celestia was considerate enough to send a guard to let me know that!”

"Howdy everypony!" A voice called out, everypony turned to see Applejack trotting towards the train station with Pinkie Pie bouncing not too far behind. "Ah’m guessing y'all got the message too?"

“What, the message of the sudden business opportunity that my mom learned just now?” Claire lowered her gaze a little to see the reaction on her mother’s face and she fought the urge to smirk. “Now, Mother. Why would Princess Celestia inform Mrs. Apple and Mrs. Pie of that too?”

“Ouh, I swear you are just terrible Crystal Clarity.” Rarity complained. As she explained what is really happening, a flash of light caught everypony else’s attention, and they all saw Princess Twilight walking to the platform, with a mildly dazed Fluttershy in tow.

“Hi girls, I’m glad to see most of you are here already.” She turned to a special chariot, one adorned with jewels on it, in the shape of the the Cutie Marks of the first and current members of the Council of Harmony. It was landing on the road in front of the station, from which one of the guards that was pulling the vehicle unhinged himself and addressed the princess with a bow.

“Princess Twilight, we are prepared to escort you and the Council to Canterlot." The guard said with a bow.

Twilight nodded before turning to her friends. "Great work, Sergeant. Alright everypony, let's get moving!"

"Hold on a sec, Twi. Aren’t we forgetting’ about Rai-"

*BOOM*

Before Applejack could finish her question, a sonic explosion swallowed all the other sounds as a multi colored halo spread through the sky. From it’s center, a rainbow-colored streak shot and flew straight towards Canterlot.

"...never mind, let's go." The farmer said as they all boarded the chariot. All but one white unicorn.

“But… What about my things? I…” She was interrupted by a purple claw placed on her shoulder. She turned to see Spike giving her a comforting smile.

“Don’t worry about this; we’ll load it to the train and I’ll make the trip on it and make sure all is delivered properly” The grown dragon said as he ushered his wife to the chariot. After some more good byes, Spike turned to address his two children… only to find that both of them were long gone, and he was alone with a mountain sized pile of bags. “Aww… rats.”

~~~X~~~

After a short flight, the chariot carrying the five mares arrived to Canterlot Castle, just in front of the main gate. There, the rainbow-maned pegasus was waiting nonchalantly, placidly looking as the vehicle pulled by the pegasus guards landed a few feets away.

"You guys sure took your sweet time getting here!" Rainbow Dash snarked at the group that was approaching her.

"Oh look! You can break the sound barrier at the drop of a hat." Applejack commented as she as she walked past the cyan Pegasus, purposely dripping sarcasm with each word. “Big deal.”

“Hey!” Exclaimed Rainbow as she leaped and landed in front of the farm pony in a single motion. “Where does that exactly come from?!” The two of them looked like they were about to fight, only for Twilight to to use her magic to drag the two away from each other.

"Girls! This isn’t the moment or the place for that. The Princesses are waiting for us!" Twilight said as she trotted past them and into the castle, the rest of her friends following her soon after.

AJ, on the other hoof, started to chuckle as she gave Dash a playful punch. “Don’t worry none about that, I was just messing with ya.” She said before waking up the stairs along with the rest of them.

“Oh right… I knew that!”

Once inside the castle, a small escort hastily directed them to the throne room, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting on the front most part of the room.

"Princess, we came as soon as we got your message!" The lavender Alicorn said before bowing to her, the rest of the Council of Harmony following suite.

Celestia smiled happily as she approached her peer. "Honestly Twilight? All this time and you still insist on these formalities? We are both Princesses now."

"I’m sorry Princess, but you know what they say: ‘old habits die hard.’" She joked, earning a round of giggling among most of the ponies present. Rarity, who hadn’t actually found the comment all that humorous, let her sight to wander on the room, instantly stopping as she noticed other two entities in the room.

"Um… pardon me, your majesty" she interjected, "but I don't think we've had the honor of being introduced to the rather… em… rugged-looking fellow over there."

Everypony then turned the attention to what appeared to be a winged baboon sitting in a meditative pose on the far side of the room, apparently unaware of the upside-down pyramid of cards that was being erected on its head by none other than Discord. Some giggles came from a few of the mares at the draconequus’ antics, which seemed to bring the strange visitor out of his trance.

“‘Rugged-looking’? Now, that’s a first one!” Exclaimed the creature as he stood up, the pyramid still wobbling on his head, just before he removed the whole construct from his cranium with a finger and placed it on Discord’s snout, earning a few more laughs from the ponies, princesses included. “It is an honor to finally meet you: Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and the renowned Council of Harmony.” He said as he walked towards the group and making a quick reverence. “As for my name, it is Scorpan.”

“Wait a second.” Interrupted Applejack. “Scorpan as in Tirek’s brother? The Tirek that tried to take away the magic from all of Equestria?”

“Isn’t there somepony that knows me by another title?”

"No, the ‘other Tirek.’" Discord snorted with a roll of his eyes as he flicked the cards off his nose, the cards turning into butterflies with wings shaped like suits (♥♣♦♠). "You know, the one who bakes cookies and grow's posies for a living." He said sarcastically, earning himself a glare from Applejack.

"Oh, I remember now!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You're that guy who gave that necklace to Tirek, who gave it to Discord, who gave it to Twilight, who used it to open that box thingy all those, that helped us defeat Tirek!"

“Well, I’m glad that my gift turned out to be the key element for your victory.”

The pink mare let out a giggle. “I like this guy!”

"Right, you’re the good egg of the family." The cyan Pegasus muttered.

"True, though I’m glad to say that I’m not the only decent demon in my own land. However, today I have come to warn you of something that is threatening both Equestria and my own Kingdom."

"Is it some ancient villain from one thousand years ago again?” Rainbow asked, earning a few confused looks from her friends. “What? Am I seriously the only one who noticed that?”

“Uh, right...” Scorpan muttered before clearing his throat. "like I was saying, sometime before my brother and I set our sights on Equestria, we tried to take over the throne of the Demon Wastelands, so we waged battle with who was the king at the time: Grogar."

As he explained, he extended his hands and from them came wisps of smoke that began to swirl into the center of the room, eventually forming an image of himself and Tirek facing off against a demonic looking ram.

"However, Grogar emerged victorious and banished us while he continued his tyrannical reign over the land. After that, my brother and I did not abandon our wish for total control, but instead of trying to face Grogar again, we tried to conquer Equestria, and you all know how that turned out..."

The illusion shifted, turning into an image of Tirek being imprisoned in Tartarus by several chains conjured up by the Celestia and Luna. Scorpan waited until everypony nodded before continuing. “After my misguided brother was sealed away, I returned to challenge Grogar once again. But this time, I had an ace up my sleeve: a special charm my good friend Starswirl gave me, that helped me defeat Grogar and sealed that wicked ram away inside an inescapable dimension." The illusion shifted a final time, revealing Scorpan himself creating a special cyclone of green energy that sucked Grogar into a dark void.

"I would've sealed him in a rice maker, much more humiliating." Discord proclaimed before snapping his fingers, turning the image to show said appliance rattling in place with angry screams being heard from inside.

"Amusing." Scorpan chuckled as he dispelled the illusion. "After his defeat, and as it is the custom of the demons, I took the throne of the Wastelands and proceeded to bring the Demon Wasteland to a new era.”

All of the present stood in silence until Twilight spoke up. “Then what’s the emergency? Has Grogar broke free?”

“Not yet.” Answered Princess Celestia. “Scorpan told us already that Grogar is still trapped on this ‘dark dimension’, but that for some reason the seal is breaking.”

“Grogar is very likely to want to take back the Wastelands, but just like my brother after his escape, he’ll more likely try to conquer Equestria first. ‘The friend of my enemy...’” Scorpan quickly added at the shocked expressions of the six mares. “He knows ponies were the source of the magic that trapped him, so he won’t take any chances. We need to prevent that before it’s too late.”

Before anypony else could say anything else, Twilight continued her inquiry. “But why do you need us? Can’t you do it yourself?”

“No. The spell that was contained in the charm was supposed to trap him forever, and as such, it only works once. And I don’t have the power to send him back to his prison once he’s free.”

“But there’s one thing that can seal him again.” Continued Princess Celestia. “The magic that you girls received from the Three of Harmony is the best next option we have if we want to stop Grogar on his tracks.”

"So basically, we’re gonna just shut the door on that goat’s face before he can get out"

"Actually Rainbow, he looks more like a ram." Fluttershy corrected quietly.

"...whatever."

"That about sums it up." Scorpan nodded. "I will need to take you to the sealing grounds, that’s where he will reappear. We must act quickly if we want to stop him."

"Easy peasy, We'll be done by dinner!" Pinkie giggled before bouncing towards the doors. "Come on girls! Let's go get ready to save the world for the umpteen-gazillionth time!" She joked, making the rest of her friends to giggle a bit at her over-enthusiasm.

"Well not in those words, Pinkie has a point. We do need to return to our homes before we go, as well as to deal with… ahem, other things." Said Rarity, looking somehow anxious.

"An understandable request." Scorpan nodded. "Grogar won’t break free until twenty four hours, so I’ll wait until you are ready." With those words he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Huh, I thought only Discord could do that." Pinkie mumbled.

"Yes, but I make it look cool." Discord smirked before snapping his fingers, causing his body to vanish in a flash of light. After that, the Council of Harmony and the both princesses exited the throne room too. All failed to notice the figure with the form of a pony that raised from the red carpet, which then discarded that color and replaced it with a white coat and black fur in one flash of light. There stood the son of Celestia and Discord: Prince Illusion, his left hoof was seemingly a lions paw while his right back-hoof was a claw, he had a completely white coat, a black mane and chest hair of equal color along with two horns like his father, one being blue and jagged and the other being green and straight, like his father her had a lizards tail with a tuft of black fur on the tip, and his cutie mark seemingly a moon, star and sun all together.

"Heh, and Nidra says history lessons are boring..." He chuckled before snapping his fingers of his pawed leg and teleporting away.

~~~X~~~

The Royal Sisters watched as the chariot took off, heading back to Ponyville with Rainbow Dash flying by it's side. Down the road however, they saw a white unicorn trotting away to the business part of town, likely going to her appointment on the fashion store located there. Luna glanced to her side and saw her sister giving the finishing touches to a letter before rolling up the scroll and sending the message with a flick of her horn.

“What was that?” asked Luna out of curiosity.

“I sent a message to the Crystal Empire, so that they can take measures. Just in case.”

"Do you think they will make it, sister?" The lunar alicorn asked. “While they had dealt with situations like this before, they were usually against enemies that we had faced before.”

“I do, Luna. Even if there’s a chance of another outcome, we should always hope for the best...and prepare for the worst.” Celestia stated somberly, before changing the topic. “By the way, I noticed you didn’t say much in the meeting, not even a single word. Is there something wrong?”

Luna looked at Celestia with a serious semblance before calmly answering. “You know as well as I do that there is, Sister.”

Celestia once again fell a rock falling on her stomach. 'Of course she noticed…' “Yes, Luna. I also felt it, but I don’t know why is it here exactly. Right now we have this other problem to deal with, so unless this issue turns into a problem, we must remain focused on Grogar.”

Luna stared at her sister for a few seconds, before nodding and turning back to the castle. “Let’s ‘hope for the best’ then.” She said with a smirk.

The End of Harmony.

After arriving to Ponyville, Twilight said her “goodbyes” to her friends and made her way to the castle in the blink of an eye. Once in the main hall, she trotted toward her study and library in order to check whatever she would need to know for the next day; but first, she would need to re-shelf all of the books that she found were still scattered around the whole room. With a sigh, she started picking each tome and re-placing them in the exact location they were moments before the magic lesson started.

At the same time, she browsed through other books searching for information related to the Magic of Friendship, Dark Magic, Nations outside of the equestrian borders and the Demon Wastelands. It was a rare instance where she had some time in advance to gather useful information for a situation that threatened to disturb the peace of Equestria, and by the Sun and Moon she was gonna take advantage of this time. She neatly arranged every piece of text she found on the matter over her desk, at the same time she moved away what she didn’t need. Once everything was in order, she started to...

"Mom, are you busy?" Starburst asked as she stood in front of her mother’s studio.

Twilight was surprised, but after a quick glance at her books, she turned from the desk and welcomed her daughter in with a tender smile. “Not quite, Star, but I have time to spare. Please come in!” She motioned to one of the couches on one side of the room, but she noticed a bit of hesitation on her daughter’s expression, not that it changed a lot, but there certainly was something there. “Starburst, is everything okay?”

“Y-yes, everything is fine. I…” Starburst paused to take a breath before continuing. “I wanted to give you this.” She said as she brought a few papers from under her wing, which Twilight grabbed in her magical aura. “It’s my history report, Miss Dinky gave us the calcifications earlier today.”

Twilight looked at the report and her eyes widened when she saw the big A+ symbol on the cover, followed by a huge smile. “Star! You got a perfect score!”

“Y- yeah, I also got…”

“And you got all A’s this whole semester!” She ran over her daughter and gave her a bonecrushing hug. “Oh Star, I’m so proud of you!” After she was answered with silence, she broke the hug to see the blushed face of Starburst. She had to held back a giggle in order to stop embarrassing her any further.

“Tha-thanks mom.!” Star said after recovering a little from the shock. 'Okay, this is better.'.

“This are great news, Star. Oh, we gotta celebrate with the family!”

'Shoot! What was I supposed to… Oh right!' “A-actually, I wanted to do something else, just the two of us.” She quickly added, far too quickly, if her mother’s expression was anything to go by. However, her smile just returned ten times wider.

“I would like to do that, Starburst. But...” Suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed and she returned her gaze to the pile of books and scrolls stacked on her desk. “I don’t think we’ll be able to do that today. Or tomorrow, I’m afraid.”

“I-it’s okay! There’s no hurry” Starburst assured in a slower pace. “Really, I’m just glad that you agree with the idea.” She added, unsure whether the little smile formed of her face was forced or it came out naturally.

Her mother’s smile returned as she spoke again. “How about this: I’ll reschedule for the day after tomorrow so I’d be free the whole day. Sounds good?”

Star nodded eagerly. “It sounds excellent, Mom.” 'Darn it! What was the other thing I planned for the end? Oh right!' Starburst rose from the ground a little and wrapped her hooves around her mother’s neck and hugged tightly, which her mom quickly returned. “Thank you.”

They remained like that for a few seconds before they both broke the hug. Starburst thanked again before leaving the study and trotting towards her next destination within the castle, and Twilight could guess that the kitchen would be the most likely place. Then she returned to her desk and took a new glance at the study work she had ahead for her. With a rosen eyebrow, she lifted a third part of the text and placed them again on their shelves, deciding she covered pretty much everything with what remained on the desk. She then made a single addition from another shelf. A book titled “The Inexperienced Parent Guide for the First Experiences: The Teenage Years.” “And Flash said I wouldn’t need it.”

~~~X~~~

Starburst woke up the morning after at the same time she does everyday, before doing her usual morning exercise routine, which usually took her no more than five minutes; she then made up her bed, neatly tucking the covers beneath the mattress and throwing a bit on it, the coin bouncing three times over the the sheets before falling off the bed. Starburst then motioned to clean the rest of her room, Snow’s habitat, filling the ferret’s food tray and finally fixing up her appearance after a quick shower. By the time she finished, only thirty minutes have passed. 'Just as usual.'

Since it was the first day of vacation, she didn’t have any immediate matters to attend to in the morning, so Starburst decided to just take care of the next part of the day: getting breakfast.

When she arrived to the castle’s dining room, she was surprised to find her Father and Nighty on the table, both of them with a plate of waffles in front of them. Before Star could say “hi”, her stomach decided to announce her in a very loud way.

“Hm? Oh, good morning Star!” Said Flash after swallowing a mouthful of waffle. “I was wondering when you’d wake up.”

“Yeah, we could hear you snoring all the way over here!” Nighty joked in a playful way, which earned a glare from Starburst anyway. She then glanced at the clock and realized what time it was.

“Huh, I could swear that it was earlier.”

“Hey, it’s first day of summer. You can give yourself the luxury of getting up late.” Flash said as he walked to the counter and poured a ration of batter on the waffle-maker. The sight of freshly made breakfast made Star’s mouth to water, almost making her miss the absence of another pony. She shook her head and then spoke again.

“Mom left for Canterlot, right?”

"Yeah, she said something about a super cool royal thing that she’s gonna take care of! Kingdom Security stuff!" Nighty said excitedly as he scarfed down another waffle.

Starburst sighed as she sat down to join them. Night Light can be really impressionable at times, and the things he said could be a little exaggerated from the truth. "Say Dad, do you have any plans for today?" She asked as she began eating on her own waffle.

"Actually, I was going to take Nighty over for his little date with Pixel Bit." Flash explained.

The second those words left his mouth, Starburst noticed his little brother briefly choke on his waffle before chugging down a glass of water. "DAD! It's not a date! We're just gonna play video games!" He protested, despite the small blush evident of his face.

Starburst smirked at her younger sibling's embarrassment and decided to add in her own two bits. "Oh I wouldn't be so sure, after all she is one of the few fillies that tend to hang around you..." She chuckled.

Nighty glared at his big sister. "Have you forgotten that practically all of my friends except Icy are fillies?!"

"Well then, that means you have more choices." Starburst countered, causing her younger brother to bite his lip in frustration.

Her father apparently picked up on this playful banter and snickered. "Becoming ladies man at such a young age? I'm so proud of you son!" He said as he ruffled his hair.

"RGH!! KNOCK IT OFF!!" Nighty snapped as he leapt off his seat stormed off out of the dining room. Starburst took a brief glance at the half-eaten slab of toasted good left on the discarded plate, and with a swift movement of her wing she passed it to her own plate.

“You think we went too far this time?” She asked her dad as she continued eating her breakfast.

“I don’t think so. He’s gonna laugh it up in a few years.” He chuckled a little before lowering his voice a little. “I take it you stayed up late waiting for your mom, huh?” Star simply nodded “Had any luck this time? She didn’t tell me.” He quickly added.

Starburst sighed. "Well we-"

"STAAAAAAAARBUUUUUUURST!!!"

The young Pegasus rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for a moment." She said as she got up from the table and trotted towards the balcony. Unsurprisingly, her friend Candy was waiting for her. "Yes CeeCee?"

"I just came to make sure we're still getting together at the lake today!"

Remembering now that Cotton Candy had indeed mentioned the visit to the lake, Starburst knew that she couldn’t decline the invitation right now, though she was looking for a good excuse. With a sigh, she continued. “Okay, I’ll see you all later.” She watched as Candy gave her a happy nod and went back bouncing down the road. When she turned back to the kitchen, Star saw her father giving him a knowing smile. “Well, it’s not like I can say no now.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Said Flash, picking up the plates and putting them on the sink. “Go and have fun with your friends.” He suddenly pulled a face. “There’s gonna be a responsible adult, isn’t there?”

“BY THE WAY!” Came Candy’s voice again from the street, startling both ponies. “CRYSTAL CLARITY IS COMING TOO! TELL YOUR DAD SO HE DOESN’T WORRIES TOO MUCH!”

There was a brief silence as Starburst and Flash Sentry hold their breaths in case of another surprise. When none came, both sighed in relief before Star’s dad spoke again. “Well, that answers my question.”

~~~X~~~

"Are we there yet?"

“Pinkie, you asked the same question fifteen times already in just half-hour. If you’re trying to turn it into a joke, it ain’t working.” Applejack deadpanned as they rode on the flying chariot. Once they regrouped again in Canterlot, they set off to their destination; the Demon Wastelands, with Scorpan as their guide, who opted to travel the distance on wing. The trip proved to be extremely long, which quickly turned the sight of nothing but clouds and the vast ocean into a very bland experience for the mares sitting on the vehicle’s cart, even Rainbow Dash who lived for flying was getting bored easily. She took wing from the chariot and immediately banked herself on earshot from their escort.

“So Scorpan.” Rainbow Dash called out as she flew next to him. “Since you’ve fought old goat-boy before…”

“He’s a ram.” He corrected half-heartedly.

“Whatever. Do ya think you could tell us what we’re in for? Y’know, to be prepared and all that.”

The scenery finally changed after they entered crossed a coastline to an arid desert, with sparse vegetation and several rock formations. Scorpan descended a few feet to the ground, the rest following suit, before he spoke again. “Well, before I captured him, Grogar was a powerful warlock, fluent in all forms of black magic. Very dangerous magic. Why, he was so powerful that he could reject even day and night.”

Twilight interjected in the conversation from her seat. “What do you mean with ‘rejecting day and night’?”

“Before he was dethroned, Grogar had casted a powerful curse over the kingdom, so that neither light from the sun or the moon could fall on it.” Scorpan winced at the surprised gasp from the six mares. “Me and my brother were the first demons in millennia to first learn of day and night and when Grogar was defeated, his curse was lifted, allowing for day and night to occur in the kingdom.”

“So,” spoke Rainbow once again, after landing back on the chariot. “Is he gonna try to conjure up that weird spell again. After he somehow beats my friends and I.”

“That’s very unlikely to happen.” Scorpan said with an odd mixture of pride and hesitation. “After the the curse was broken, a different kind of magic started flowing into the Wastelands. It had some good effects for the residents, but others not so good. Grogar’s most loyal demons had lost all their powers and were very sick for a time. I’m positive that the same energy is still entering the Wastelands and that it’ll have the same effect on Grogar. So, you’re gonna have that to your advantage.” After he finished, everypony fell silent once again, finding the new information for their next task incredibly solemn all of the sudden.

"Are we there yet?!" Pinkie asked once again.

“Consarn it, Pinkie!” Snapped Applejack, sitting besides the pink mare. “Can’t ya see that we~?”

“We’ve arrived.” Announced Scorpan with a smile as he and the rest of the procession passed over a large hill and gazed upon the valley in front of them. “Welcome to the Demon Wastelands!” The sun shone over trees of black leaves surrounded the majority of the area, with very few and thin rivers running through the expanse scenery. The section of the valley that wasn’t covered in thick forest contained fields of brown dirt, dotted with several buildings resembling modern houses, but with certain primitive appearance; among the houses, the six mares could see a wide variety of creatures of every form and size that none of them have seen before along with some that were considered dreadful monsters back in equestria. Some minded their own business, while others fixed their gazes and waved one or several members to the flying convoy.

All the towns were patterned with a web of roads that connected in one way or another to all houses, as well to the black forest, several rivers and a huge road that made its way to jagged mountain that looked over the whole valley. Atop the mountain was a castle of dark violet and black facade, contrasting against the bright sky above it. Scorpan directed the ponies to a terrace near the ground floor of the castle, where all the mares stepped out of the chariot once it had landed.

"Y'know, for a place called the "Demon Wasteland", this place is incredibly charming! In a strange way" Rarity said as she stared at the scenery.

"Yeah, as long as you can ignore all the Cloud Demons, Dragons, Chimeras, Lava Monsters and Gargoyles..." Rainbow Dash mumbled to herself before noticing with confusion a small figure coming from the doors to the entrance. “...and the occasional donkey here and there.”

All the girls turned to see a small donkey in jester garments frantically trotting toward the group, surprisingly avoiding to trip over himself even though a thick mane covered completely his eyes. He skidded to a stop just in front of Scorpan and saluting without missing a beat, although it was clear that the guy was completely exhausted. “King… Scorpan… sir.” He managed to pant with a deep, nasal voice.

“Whoa! Easy, Bray. Take a breath.” Scorpan knelt to attend to the donkey as it took his advice. After the donkey, named Bray, had calmed himself, Scorpan continued. “Now tell me, what’s happening?”

“Sir, there’s a lot of uneasiness stirring up in the council regarding the current events.” Bray explained, his voice sounding a bit uneasy too. “Councilman Lavan is doing everything he can to calm them down, but we need your help on that matter.”

Scorpan massaged his eyes for a few seconds before finally speaking. “More like they need me to humor them with my presence... Very well, I’ll go there right now. But I need you to take our guests to the sealing grounds, Bray.”

Bray looked over the girls, noticing them for the first time, before turning back to Scorpan, looking suddenly nervous. “Y-y-you want me, to escort them there?” His nervousness was replaced by surprise when a pink hoof hooked itself on his shoulder and was pulled to the mare attached to that hoof.

“Aw, don’t be a scaredy-pants about nothing! We came to solve all your problems faster than you can say ‘cake’!” Said Pinkie Pie in her usual bubbly self. Twilight, on the other hoof, addressed Scorpan.

“Excuse me, Lord Scorpan, but what are these ‘Sealing Grounds’?”

Scorpan facepalmed after he heard the question. “Right, how could I forget?” He then called the attention of all the mares to explain them more about their task. “The Sealing Grounds is the place where Grogar was captured, and it holds the amulet where he is currently trapped. It is near from the castle, but only accessible from land. I’m sorry I couldn’t guide you further, but I trust Bray will help you with what he can.” After that, Scorpan turned to enter the castle while the six ponies and the donkey made their way to a stairway that descended from the terrace and into an unkempt road toward the north of the castle, away from the rest of the kingdom.

“Um…” Came a soft voice from the back of the group, and the other girls turned to look at Fluttershy. “I don’t feel so sure about this right now. I mean… this feels… off.”

“Ah agree with ‘Shy in this one.” Added Applejack. “This ain’t like any other stuff we’ve done in the past.”

“You’re right girls. We’ve never had to face anything like how we’re going to now.” Said Twilight as she continued walking down the path. “We have more time ahead than other times, and we’re facing this opponent with a huge advantage… it doesn’t feels right.”

Rainbow choose that moment to speak up. “So what? I mean, I don’t like it more than you do, but this sheep-guy…”

“Ram.”

“Whatever, means serious business, doesn’t he? This task might not be pretty, but as I’m concerned, it’s way better than what would happen if we don’t stop him. There are many reasons why this needs to be done.” She lifted a bit from the ground and hovered ahead while muttering “I have three very good reasons to do this.”

As realization dawned upon the other mares, their resolve returned a little bit. And no other pony than Pinkie helped prove this fact.

“Dashie is right, girls! The important thing is that nothing awfully-awful happens if Grogar escapes. Besides, I bet it’s gonna be a walk in the beach!”

~~~X~~~

"CANNON BALL!" Candy shouted as she dive-bombed into the lake.

"Gah!" Starburst exclaimed as a spray of water assaulted her face. “Candy! Watch where you splash the water!” She said as her friend rose back to the surface.

"Aww! Then what’d be the fun of a water-fight?" She giggled as she unleashed another spray at Starburst, who then returned in kind, though without the same harmless intention. Back at the shore, Annie had convinced T to let her bury him in the sand (not that he minded), Prism and Del were delved in yet another competition involving a volleyball, while Claire and Whirlwind seemed to be just taking a sunbath. Crystal Clarity had accepted to keep an eye on the rest of the kids, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy herself in her own way.

That is, if it wasn’t for the sudden shadow that obstructed the sun rays from reaching her.

“I swear Prism Bolt, that if you don’t move in the next five seconds, I’m going to burn your coat from your body.” Claire warned, her eyes tightly shut.

“‘Prism Bolt’? Crys, I’m hurt!” At the sound of that nickname, Claire shot up from her spot and saw that in front of her wasn’t the immature pegasus, but a floating Prince Illusion. “Mistaking me for such a pony.” He said while feigning indignation.

“Lulu!” Claire exclaimed as she tried to compose herself from the surprise, immediately drawing the attention of everypony to the scene, who noticed the arrival of Illusion and went to meet with him, though Prism made a less than enthusiastic sound. “What a nice surprise! What are you doing here?”

“Meh, nothing much. I just thought about dropping by.” He said as he literally dropped himself to stand on the ground. He then turned to the rest of them "Hello guys... and Prism."

Prism smirked at the Prince. "Aw, what's wrong? You still mad about that whole chest-pubes joke?" Candy & Annie snickered at this and Star noticed even Clarie was trying to suppress a giggle.

Illusion glared at the Pegasus before smirking back at him. "Oh, not at all. I just don’t consider it fair to include you in the same level of ‘acumen’ as the rest of the present.”

Prism blinked. “Huh?”

Star rolled her eyes. “He’s calling you an i-”

“Anyway!” Illusion interrupted. “Say, yesterday I saw Mrs. Rarity and the rest of your mothers at Canterlot. I also saw them this morning; it seems they were attending an important political matter.” He started to say, earning a few interested looks, while most of the other teenage ponies just remained neutral. Prism made a sound of annoyance.

Starburst interjected in the conversation, in hopes of stopping what she was sure was just random speculation. “I heard about it this morning. Nighty said it was a matter of national security, but I don’t think that it would require the assistance of the “Council of Harmony” if it really were that dire of a situation.” She said matter of factly.

“Star, aren’t you being a little “unfair?” Said Anthea, who gingerly approached the group until she reached somepony and leaned on him. Out of curiosity, Star glanced to the shore to see T struggling to dig himself out of the sand where he was left. She rolled her eyes before addressing Annie.

“No Annie, I’m being realistic. I know, everypony has heard the tale many times, but that’s just it, a tale. There’s no actual historical evidence that any of our mothers were once ‘Defenders of Equestria’ or something like that. They are a public figure that inspired somepony to write a bedtime story for parents to tell to their kids. But that story couldn’t be farther from the truth. In actuality, the Council of Harmony is a group that has for objective attend matters related to isolated anomalies amongst the ponies of Equestria.” She said while keeping a calm demeanor. By this point, Starburst noticed that Prism Bolt was getting bored, so he went back to the shore to help Turquoise to dig himself out.

“My mother and her friends are a diplomatic front. National security would call for the army before a group of mares. No offense to anyone’s mom, but other than Prism’s and Del’s, none of our mothers would be fit for this kind of things.” She finished, taking another glance at Annie, who seemed to be taken aback, something Starburst has never seen before. As T re-joined the group and wrapped a wing around Annie, Star could have swore she saw Annie mouthing a phrase, though she couldn’t read what it was.

“Well…” Illusion spoke once again, drawing everypony’s attention again. “From what I saw, the threat of an evil demon warlock seems to be a situation of great direness.” At this, everypony present gave a surprised gasp. Even Star was taken aback from this revelation, and she noticed that Annie, while also surprised, seemed to perk up a little. “Yet mother insisted that it should be the council to deal with this. So, the odds say that maybe there’s a little bit of truth on that ‘bedtime story’.” He finished, making air quotes with both his hoof and paw.

Everypony shifted uncomfortably at these news. In previous occasions, each kid has their own experience when their mom would go out of town to attend to their duties of the council, some would miss her while others would be excited for when they come back. But now it was different, because of what Illusion had told them, now there was a new element of uncertainty for them. Starburst herself was having a hard time wrapping her mind about what she just learned. ‘Demon Warlock’? But, as far as I know, the Demon Wastelands have been stable for many years now, and it has kept zero connections with Equestria. What would have happened?'

Suddenly, another realization came to her, quelling her uncertainty. “Wait, you said that Princess Celestia asked for them to deal with this, correct?” Illusion simply nodded, making Starburst to let out a sigh. “There you have it guys. Princess Celestia clearly knows what is really going on, and she decided that the situation didn’t deem necessary the army to take any action, but the assistance of the Council.” She turned to the rest of the ponies with what she hoped was a comforting smile. “Thus, the ‘odds’ are that the business our moms have at the demon country is just a diplomatic meeting.”

Everypony seemed to be pleased with what Star said, though Annie still had that somewhat sad semblance. Before she could consider asking her what’s going on, she noticed another pony missing. “Wait, where's Pri-"

*ZZZZAP!*

“GIGKUKUK!”

A loud bang and a flash made everypony jump in surprise as a single lightning stroke the ground. When they turned to look, they found Illusion standing in place, his coat singed in a few areas, eyes rotating out of control and the mane of his head and chest smoking and puffed in an afro. "Looks like somepony in my 'level of acumen' was able to get the drop on ya, Princy!" Prism cackled from the cloud that sneakily drifted just above the prince before he dodged to the left, just narrowly avoiding Claire's blast of fire and started to fly around the lake, Claire hot on his tail.

“PRISM!” Claire screamed in rage as she chased the airborne stallion. "I SWEAR, WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU NOT EVEN ASHES WILL REMAIN!" She screamed as Illusion cleaned himself off, the other ponies simply laughed at the completely familiar scene.

"I'll go after him..." Whirlwind sighed as she flew in the direction of the two of them.

"Good idea! Just tell him he'll get no 'special time' with you for few weeks if he doesn't clean his act up!" Annie called out, causing the rest of the group to laugh even more. Whirlwind simply snorted and flew off in a huff, her face red with both rage and embarrassment.

Illusion however seemed incredibly concerned. "That's not good... he could never sneak up on me like that. Unless..." He pondered to himself before shooting a glance at Canterlot and then to somewhere in the distance. "Something’s not right..."

“What was that?” Asked Annie, who was the only one who heard him.

“Something is very, very wrong.” Illusion repeated, much louder so everypony could hear him. “The odds have just changed.”

~~~X~~~

Back at the Demon Wastelands, the six ponies were being led down vegetation tunnel, farther from the castle. The black canopy above them allowed only for a few rays of sun to give some sort of illumination for them.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Rarity asked.

"Don't ask!" Bray quickly said as they reached the of the tunnel and entered a clearing in the forest. It was a large, circular meadow, adorned with a number of rocks with symbols along their surfaces, on the opposite end was an underground entrance, which sported a gate in the shape of a demon face with several chains bolted to the floor. However, what drew the attention of the mares was the creature in front of it that none of them had ever seen before. The creature looked like a rottweiler, only that except of black and copper fur, this dog was made out entirely by rocks and pebbles.

“Whoa, look at that thing!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“It’s almost the same size as Cerberus!” Twilight stated, remembering the three-headed guardian of Tartarus.

“Th-that is Lord Scorpan's Rockdog; Crunch.” Bray explained as he tried to approach the imposing canine. Crunch on his part, snorted as the small donkey approached him before letting out a low yet menacing growl, causing Bray to hide behind Twilight. “GAH! What was Lord Scorpan thinking?! There’s no way any of us can get past…” He stopped after glancing again at the Rockdog. Crunch was lying on his back, happily wagging a hind leg as the yellow pegasus that was accompanying them rubbed on his belly.

"Oh my gosh! He's so adorable!" Fluttershy exclaimed with glee as she continued petting the Rockdog. Crunch gave a content bark as normally timid mare flew up his face and started scratching him behind his ears. Crunch shivered for a moment before slumping to the ground with a goofy smile on his face.

Bray's jaw hit the floor as he witnessed the spectacle before him. “I...I’ve never seen him calm down that quickly… no one other than Lord Scorpan is able to keep him under control!” He exclaimed in shock.

“Who's the cute widdle Rockdog?” Fluttershy cooed as she started to rub his belly. “Aww, he's just a big softy, aren’t you, Crunchy? Yes you are!”

“That’s Fluttershy for you.” Applejack explained with a knowing smile before whispering to Rarity. “No matter how many times I see her do that, she still manages to surprise me.” Rarity simply nodded.

“O-okay then!” Interjected Bray after recovering his composure. “The amulet that serves as the seal is located beneath us. So, we better get going.” After this, the group walked into the gates after Crunch stepped aside. Inside, they descended a fly of spiral staircase until they reached a spacious cave covered with more ancient runes. In the middle of this room was a pedestal with a glowing, green gem resting upon it; its glow was flickering, like an old candlelight that was about to fade. A sudden chill ran through everypony’s spine once they reached the last step of the stairs, and the already nervous donkey was starting to quake uncontrollably; one could almost see the fear in his eyes through that mess of hair.

“So… Are we supposed to act now, or we should wait until he comes out?” Asked Rarity, who was eyeing the strange gem with anxiousness.

“I’m not sure,” said Twilight, “trying to tamper with the prison right now could end up doing more harm than good. It’d be safer to be ready for when he comes out.”

Suddenly, the temperature in the area got colder, down to the point where the group could see their own breath. Suddenly the gem began to rattle violently, the Council of Harmony braced themselves for the inevitable while Bray took to hiding behind one of the standing stones.

"Get ready girls," Twilight whispered as all her friends took positions beside her. "Here it comes!"

Less than a second after she said that, A menacing roar echoed throughout the chamber as a swirling mass of black clouds erupted from the gem, the six mares found themselves shivering as if a cold breeze assaulted them from every direction. Even Rainbow Dash-as brave as she was-found herself shivering both in fear and from the cold. Black bolts of lightning cracked from within the swirling clouds as they slowly formed into a solid shape in front of the council. They all craned their necks upward, expecting to see the terrifying monster they were expecting to defeat...

...and then the figure dropped to the ground.

Grogar was there alright, but instead of the gargantuan and intimidating figure they saw on Scorpan’s recollections, there laid a grey ram about the size of an average pony. It struggled to stand on his hooves, rattling the small bell on its collar which had the green gem encrusted in it, opening his aged eyes one by one, revealing his black escleras and dim red pupils inside of them. Two sad excuses of horns emerged from the top of its head and a toothless mouth opened to drown a mighty yawn. It blinked a few times to clear his vision, and looked surprised when he finally noticed the six ponies that were in front of him.

“Wha~? Where? What are you?” He asked in a dry, decrepit voice. His expression then changed to one of disgust as he addressed them with renewed strength. “Ponies?! Get out of my kingdom!”

"Pffft-BWAhahahaha! This is it?!" Rainbow Dash laughed as she held onto Applejack for support, who is also making an effort not to giggle. "This is the big bad billy goat that's supposed to be so dangerous?! Even my little kid could take this guy down!"

"He's a ram, Dash." Fluttershy mumbled, keeping a cautious eye on their supposed foe, who is currently glaring them down with his piercing red eyes. Sadly that was the only intimidating thing about the old, decrepit, and wrinkled animal in front of them.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, puny creatures. Get out of my Kingdom!” Exclaimed Grogar, who then got caught in a coughing fit, which only helped his aged appearance to become even more apparent. Rainbow Dash stopped laughing and she, along with the rest of her friends, exchanged pitiful glances between themselves.

“What would you suggest we should do, Twilight?” Asked Rarity, trying her best not to wince because of the wheezing ram before them.

“Ya can’t be seriously thinking about fighting this fella. He can’t even keep himself together!” Said Applejack while daring another glance at Grogar, who had finally caught his breath and glared at them again.

“I don’t like this any more than you do, girls.” Interrupted Twilight “But what Rainbow said earlier is true. Grogar poses too much of a threat to Equestria for him to be left free” she took a deep breath. “We need to stop this now. We’ll talk if it was right or not later.” Twilight finished before taking one step forward. “Grogar, your position as an enemy of the Demon Wastelands turns you into a threat for the Kingdom of Equestria. I, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and The Council of Harmony, will stop you for the crimes you’ve committed to your own people and prevent you from ever doing that to any others.” After that, Twilight tapped with her magic a light inside of her and her friends. In a flash, their manes have all grown in length and volume, and were adorned with streaks of rainbow colors on manes, coats and hooves.

As the six ponies lifted from the ground and into the air, Grogar watched astonished at the display that was being shown to him. These six, small, colored things had a power so bright, so pure, so incredibly beautiful, that it made him feel sick; such a power he had seen before, in a not so different situation as he recalled, one that resulted in him losing everything he rightfully deserved. With a hateful glare, he stood up on all fours and simply kept staring at his would be apprehenders. When they finally released their attack, bean of rainbow colored light just as disgusting as the beings themselves, Grogar simply craned back his neck and let the full blast to strike the bell on his collar...

… and the gem encrusted to it.

A shockwave resounded on the walls of the dimly lit cavern, which then was replaced by the sound of swirling water. Twilight and her friends watched in horror how the rainbow light was being absorbed by a green and black vortex, into the gem on Grogar’s collar. The dreadness of the sight was overwhelming, which only became worse when the whirlpool started to suck in dirt and wind picked up towards its direction. Bray, who had been hiding all the time, finally lost the last ounce of courage he had left and tried to flee the havoc of the scene, only to be lifted up from the ground and pulled into the center of the vortex, where he disappeared from sight.

Twilight didn’t have enough time to process what was happening; Applejack and Rainbow Dash weren’t strong enough to push back; and Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie weren’t able to pull away. None of them could have been prepared for this. All six of them were also pulled by the abominable trap and they all eventually disappeared inside the gem. Trapped.

After every living thing inside the cavern except Grogar had been sucked in, the vortex closed and silence filled the space. A silence broken by a dry chuckle, which gradually started to grow deeper and was no longer ragged. Grogar’s grey wool became cleaner more attended, his legs became thicker and his two horns grew to a decent length.

"Heh heh heh, ha ha ha ha...." His chuckle grew in volume until it became a cackle. "Hahahahaha, AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

And why wouldn’t he be laughing? Grogar was free. He was free to do as he pleased. He also had gotten rid of those obnoxiously colorful equines that were annoying him so much. He felt good because of that, healthier, stronger. But not as much as before, he realized. He knew, he was still very weak to challenge Scorpan and defeat him. No, Grogar needed to regain his strength, needed to regain his health.

He needed to get rid of the thing that was weakening him.

Author's Note

Hey everyone, Hidden Scorpius here. Sorry for the delay for this chapter, my game hasn't been too hot lately, and DarknessRising has been trying to get me back on the story. I have to admit, I was looking for excuses, and my game isn't hot enough yet. I'll try to put an extra effort from now on, but I can't promise to get the next chapter sooner. Please be patient with me.

Thanks for the wait.

A Bumpy Start

“Can somepony explain to me what's going on?” Prism asked once again after he and the rest of his friends entered the crystal castle on the northern border of Ponyville. After he had pulled “his amazing prank” on Illusion, the Prince became extremely nervous and started to rant something about odds. Illusion said that he had this dreadful feeling that things are going to turn out pretty bad, and immediately urged them to go to a safe place, while asking Whirlwind to alert the Mayor to call an emergency state.

Golden Delicious went to check the farm, where he found his father, cousins, aunts & uncles perfectly fine; Candy and Prism each checked out on their homes to find the same and Claire, T and Annie went together to check on the Dragon-ponies’ Aunt’s home, where they also found Star’s little brother still playing with Pixel Bit. After asserting that everything was okay with their families, they decided to rendezvous at the castle, which was currently empty save for the kids and some stationary guards.

“Seriously. Why did Princy get freaked out all of the sudden?” Prism grumbled as he soared over the group.

Starburst, calm as ever, started to answer to the pegasus colt, even though she’d rather tell him to shut up. “Prism, Illusion seems to believe that whatever my mother and her friends went to deal with went south. But I don’t understand why he’s so nervous.”

“So… he’s pulling our manes.” He stated bluntly.

“I don’t think he is...” Said Claire with a worried frown. “He’d never joke with something like this. He seemed really serious about whatever's happening.”

Starburst, on the contrary, shook her head. “But it doesn’t make any sense. The council went to attend a diplomatic matter. Even if they went to a devil’s kingdom or whatever, the worst that could happen is that Equestria would lose a trading route or something.”

“But what if it isn’t as simple as that?” Annie asked from where she was standing, earning a few curious glances. She didn’t flinch because of the sudden change of focus to her, and simply continued her argument. “What if it's something really important, or even dangerous.” Her tone sounded really concerned, but it also sounded somewhat pleading. Star noted; like the tone a pony would use to convince somepony without actually saying what she means.

Of course, Starburst did knew exactly what she meant. “Annie, I’m sorry, but there is no way that those tales and bedtime stories are all true. They're just not real.”

“But what about the Mare In the Moon?” Candy suddenly asked, drawing everypony’s attention. “It used to be a bedtime story but turned out to be real.”

“Yeah, I remember Nidra mentioning it once.” Turquoise quickly added.

Del also took a turn to speak up. “Ah reckon that those old stories about Mr. Discord are also real, if what my ma’ speaks of him holds any value.”

Suddenly, Prism Bolt landed on the floor with a stomp, startling everypony. “Are we seriously having this discussion?” He asked before continuing. “As much as I hate saying this, but I agree with Shorty here. Sure my mom is pretty awesome, but I have never seen her doing anything else than performing in the Wonderbolt shows with dad and the rest of the team. And I haven’t ever seen Miss Applejack doing anything else than working on the farm. Not as awesome as being a Wonderbolt mind you” He said while Golden Delicious gave him a stinky eye.

“But even my mom’s job is pretty normal, besides the ‘council-y’ stuff. Star might be a buzz-kill, but I know when to take my head out of the clouds once in a while.”

At the back, Cotton Candy gave off a small chortle. “I get it! It’s funny because they’re pegasi.”

Meanwhile, Starburst smiled to herself. Prism can be really annoying most of the time, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he called her “Shorty”, she would've given him a pat on the back for siding with her.

“But what if there’s proof?” Asked Anthea, testing Star's patience once more. “Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean there isn’t any truth to it in my opinion,” she said with a smirk, “But if all you need is proof, then there is one place where we can find it.” At the sudden silence that fell on the room, Annie gave an annoyed sigh and answered. “The Castle’s Library.” At that everypony gave understanding sounds.

Star, on the other hoof, shook her head in disappointment before speaking up. “Very well, let’s check on the library. There we’ll find solid proof that our moms are nothing more than normal mares.”

After Star directed the group to the Castle library, she started browsing through all the books while the rest did the same, hoping to find anything anything pertaining to their mothers. Prism, Star and Del searched the shelves in the "Fantasy" section, while Claire, Candy, T and Annie browsed the "History" section. Or to be more accurate, Claire and Candy were reading the books, Annie was just flipping through the books and discarding them, leaving T to pick them up to read them again.

"Come on, come on." Starburst grumbled as she tossed a copy of 'Daring Do' over her shoulder. "There's gotta be something in here!" She muttered as she continued to search, tossing a comic book labeled 'Power Ponies' off the shelf, which landed on a table next to Claire. "Anything yet?" Star asked Prism.

"Nothing useful so far," He said, listing off the books as he flew to another section dubbed “practicals” and pulled them out. "Let's see, 'Slumber Parties 101', lame; 'Understanding Medieval Equestria', boring; 'Modern Spellcasting', not interested... 'The Art of the To-Do List'? Seriously?! Who needs an entire book on how to make A TO-DO LIST?!"

Star rolled her eyes. 'There's OCD...and then there's my mother...' She thought to herself.

Prism scoffed as he tossed it and was about to pull out another book, then he noticed Candy grabbing the discarded book and stuffing it into her mane, only to freeze when she noticed the look Prism was giving her. "...really CeeCee?"

"Ehehehe...Uh..well..." Candy stuttered, trying to hide her blush. "H-H-Hey guys! I think I found something that could help!" Candy shouted while holding out another book, hoping to draw attention away from her embarrassment.

"Here, let me see!" She called out as her friend tossed her the book. After catching it, she noticed that the cover was quite peculiar; The cover depicted six gems on a large gold pedestal, each one a different color and shape. "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. 2nd Edition" Star read as she inspected the book. "This sounds promising...” As Star opened the book her friends crowded around her, she started reading the tome. "Alright, let's see...ah! Here we go!

“The Elements of Harmony are magical artifacts that represent the aspects of harmony in Equestria. There are six Elements in total: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and the most elusive one; Magic." She turned to the next page which depicted Princesses Celestia and Luna in front of an odd looking tree. "Originally taken from the Tree of Harmony by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they were used to bring an end to the chaotic reign of Discord and enforce balance, peace and order throughout all of Equestria."

Starburst flipped the page, revealing Celestia battling and banishing Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony. Star was about to skip this part when Prism quipped in from over her shoulder.

"Wait, that's Nightmare Moon?!" Prism whistled. "Wow, Nidra's Mom looked hot when she was evil-OW!" The pegasus groaned, nursing the spot where Claire had smacked him on the head.

Star simply rolled her eyes as she kept flicking the pages, getting to a scene depicting six mares that looked just like her mother and her friends. Star kept reading, feeling a sense of futility on the task. “After Nightmare Moon returned one thousand years after her banishment, a group of six mares set out to find the Elements of Harmony: Applejack earned the Element of Honesty, Fluttershy earned the Element of Kindness, blah, blah, blah… This is the same story time book my mom used to read me! This still proves nothing.” She says putting the book down.

However, Anthea decided to speak in again. “CeeCee, where did you find that book?”

Candy hesitated for a second before answering. “Um… there, in the… history section.”

Star’s ears perked up before she spoke in a dejected tone. “Somepony must have misplaced it then.”

“Who, Princess Twilight?” Annie quipped in again. “I don’t think she would have placed this book on the history section by mistake, and less if she’s in it.” She said with a wide, yet apologetic smile.

Starburst grumbled to herself as everypony fell quiet, seeing the logic behind Anthea’s words. She could also see it, her mom wouldn’t misplace a “fantasy” book on the “history” section, unless she was delusional, possibility that has been invalidated by the fact that if her mother was crazy then she wouldn’t be a Princess. Star didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t argue against this.

"This. Is. AWESOME!" Prism cheered, finally breaking the silence.

"OUR MOMMIES REALLY ARE HEROES!!" Candy shouted in joy as she bounced around the room.

T however, was practically trembling in excitement. "I can't believe this! I-I'm speechless!”

"How is that any different as to what’s usual?" Annie joked as she giggled at her coltfriend’s reaction.

Everypony kept expressing their excitement, while Star was still processing the news and realizing how wrong she was on her assumption. It was something that she had never thought would be real, yet there she had the evidence, and it had been where she lives all this time no less, and all because she wouldn’t stay in the library for less than five minutes.

'Unlike Anthea...'. She thought to herself.

Before dwelling into that though, Prism turned everypony’s attention back to Starburst. "Oh, Staaar..." He called out in cocky tone. "Would you like me to get you a fork?"

"What?" Star blinked in confusion, getting everyone else's attention. "A fork? For what?"

"So you can eat your words!" He laughed before flying around the Princess. "Man, I bet it taste terrible, doesn’t it?”

Before Star could retort back at the annoying stallion, another thought crossed her mind. “Wait a sec… If all of this is true, then our mothers do have a great role in the protection of Equestria, which means that whatever situation they had to take care of in the Demon Wastelands is indeed for the Kingdom’s Security.”

“I know, right?! Isn’t it great?” Prism added with a smirk, but quickly became uncomfortable after everypony became somber all of the sudden. “Um… did I miss something?”

“Prism, did you forget why we went to the castle in the first place?” Claire chided the young pegasus. “Illusion said that something about the odds had changed, and that something bad could happen.”

“Exactly.” Starburst comments. “Then it must mean that…”

*rumble*

The pegasus was cut off as the ground shook slightly. "...did anypony else feel that?"

Prism arched a brow. "Feel what?"

*RUMBLE*

There was another loud rumble, that managed to shake everypony on their hooves. Even Prism was rattled by the booming sound. "What in Equestria was that?!" Prism shouted as he looked around, trying to find the source of the quakes.

"Well either a big storm cloud is coming this way or the entire world just hiccuped." Candy joked while pulling herself up.

Ignoring her quips, Star immediately flew towards one of the windows to see exactly what was going on. The moment she saw it, her pupils shrunk and her blood ran cold. The rest of her friends quickly rushed out to join her, and shared her shock.

Claire summed up what they were all thinking in one phrase: "Oh...my...Celestia..."

High in the skies of Equestria, a dark mass of clouds loomed over Ponyville, thunder resounding within it, but without any lightning. Every stallion, mare, and foal stopped what they were doing as a chill swept through the town. Suddenly, two piercing red eyes opened as the clouds re-shaped themselves in the form of a horned creature, glaring down at the land.

"Citizens of Equestria! Lend me your ears and listen to me very carefully!" The cloud's voice boomed across the skies. "I am Grogar, true ruler of the Demon Wastelands! And soon to be ruler of this pathetic land as well!" Grogar cackled as more thunder boomed out of the weather construct. "All who dare oppose me shall suffer the same fate as these fools!!" The moment he said that, the clouds shifted once again in a swirling motion, creating an image in the center of the circle of clouds.

However what got everypony's attention was what was on the image. Much to the shock and horror of Star and her friends, inside were none other than the Council of Harmony; their moms, all of whom were trying to escape their captivity.

"No..." Star mumbled as her ears flattened against her head.

"MOM!!" Candy, Prism, and T shouted in shock, or in Prism's case pure rage. "LET HER GO YOU MONSTER!!" The tricolor-maned stallion shouted as Turquoise, Starburst and himself prepared to charge towards the swirling mass of clouds, only for Claire & Annie to hold the former two back with their magic while Prism himself got yanked back after Del bit his tail, forcing him to land. "OW! LET ME GO DEL! I GOTTA-"

"Ya'll go up there and that thing'll trap you too!" Del grunted through his teeth as he pulled Prism back to land.

Before Prism could retort, a menacing roar echoed across the sky. "Well that doesn't seem to be stopping Mr. Spike." Candy pointed out, making everyone look up to find that indeed, Spike had taken to the air, fully intent on attacking the demonic goat. Not too far behind him were a Wonderbolt response team plus several Royal Guard Pegasi, both teams lead by none-other than Soarin and Flash Sentry.

Grogar noticed the flying threats coming toward him. "Hmph, insolent worms!" He said with an annoyed growl, he turned his neck and conjured up a vortex of green clouds from the base of his neck, which quickly began to swallow up all of his would-be assailants.

"DAD!!" Starburst, T, Claire, & Prism all screamed as they witnessed their airborne ponies and dragon vainly trying to escape the swirling trap. The Royal Guards and Wonderbolts tried to secure the escape of their respective leaders, but Grogar simply smirked maliciously as his horn crackled with dark electricity. With an unseen command several lightning bolts flew out towards the pegasi and dragon, striking them all down in mere seconds, leaving everypony helpless to be swallowed by the dark whirlwind.

"As you can see, any attempts to resist will be met with dire consequences!" The Demonic Ram said with a grim chuckle as he gestured back to his captives, which now included the small army of Pegasi, their leaders, and Spike. ”Not that your compliance would make any difference. I plan to deliver this same fate to all the harmonious creatures that live in this intolerably sweet land!

"However, my next goal lies elsewhere!" He added before turning his attention to Canterlot. "Once I take care of the remaining rulers of this land, nothing will stand in my way to conquer this place!" As he spoke his form, along with the image of his captives shifted back into a swirling mass of clouds before immediately drifting off towards Canterlot, leaving the residents of Ponyville in a state of mass panic...

~~~o~~~

"This is bad…" Candy mumbled to herself as the she and the rest of the group re-entered the library. "This is very, very, VERY, very bad..." She rambled as she chewed on her mane nervously.

"N-Now CeeCee, I know things look bleak…" Del said while he tried to register the situation himself. "...but we need to remain calm..."

"Yeah, you are right. I mean it's not like our moms and dads are being held captive by some evil, magical goat that wants to take over our home... OH WAIT, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HAPPENING!!" Candy screamed while shaking Del effortlessly. "WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!"

Star felt sympathy for her friend, whose reaction was completely normal in her opinion, all things considered. As she looked around she saw that the rest of her friends weren't doing much better. T was holding Annie close, as if she would disappear if he let go even for a second. The blind Unicorn herself was shivering in place, muttering to herself about her mother. Claire was pacing back and forth with a livid look on her face, occasionally snorting smoke from her nostrils. And Prism... was making way towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"You heard goat boy," Prism said, not turning around. "He'll be coming back for Ponyville after he's done with Canterlot. No doubt evacuations are already underway, so I'm going to get Icy & Dubz out of town before it's too late." He then turned to the rest of the group. "And if you're all smart, you'll get the rest of your families to safety too!"

"For once we both agree." Claire growled as she made her way towards the door. "Both my mother and father have already been captured, and I don't want to leave Aunt Sweetie and her family alone."

Del, after prying Candy off him, proceeded to lead her to the exit as well. "Com'on CeeCee, we'll stop by your house on the way to farm..."

"NO!" Star shouted slamming her hooves on the floor, drawing everypony's attention. “Look, I’m just as affected as you are after what we all saw. I know you're all scared, I am too. I also saw my mom trapped there, I also saw my dad getting captured too. But I can’t run away from this. We can't just run away like this. We have to do something!"

"And just what do you propose we do?!" Prism countered. "You want us to go against goat-man over there and stop him, when he just defeated the Royal Guard, a Wonderbolt Squad, a dragon and our moms before that? And let me remind you that they are very ones who were sent to deal with him in the first place, if I understand correctly. Now he's pretty much powerful enough to take on the Princesses!" He snapped, glaring at Star. “Look, I also want to kick goat-boy’s sorry flank to next week. But how in Celestia's mane are WE supposed to do anything about it?!

"He's got a point Star." T agreed, still holding onto Annie. "What could we possibly do against somepony that powerful?"

Star stared at the floor, feeling useless in this situation. Turquoise’s question was very valid: what could they do against something that has captured all their moms, when they were supposed to be powerful enough to prevent that?

Unsurprisingly, it was Annie who spoke up. "The Elements!"

Everyone stared at her as if she had just grown a second head. Del was the first one to break the silence. "Uh... beg pardon?"

"It's simple, we need to find the Elements of Harmony, and use them to stop Grogar!" The blind Unicorn explained as she pulled herself out of T's forehooves.

"Yeah, I don’t wanna burst your bubble, but there are a few holes in that plan of yours..." Candy stated, having finally calmed down. "One being that we don't even know where the Elements are. For all we know, our moms had them with them."

"Another problem is that we don't even know if they'll work for us, even if we find them..." Claire added.

"Um, don’t you guys remember that before our moms got the Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia and Luna were the original bearers?" Annie countered. "If the Elements can be passed on to a group of random mares, then I think their children are the most likely candidates to get them back."

Star sighed, she hated to admit it, but Annie made a good point. And it was the only option they really had at this point. But there was still one major issue. "While it's a good start, we still have no idea where to find them..."

“Doesn’t the book say where they are? Then just skip to the end.” Prism said off-hoofedly, drawing everypony’s surprised gaze on him. “What? That book has the history of one of the most awesome magic artifacts on Equestria, of course I was paying attention. It's gotta have some details or hints on where they hid the Elements. Just in case.”

Star stared at Prism for a second before going back to the book and flipping its pages once again, passing over several chapters. "Let's see...'The Return of Harmony', 'The Reformation of Discord', 'Magical Mystery Cure', ‘The ‘Human’ World', ..." Eventually, after skipping a huge chunk of pages she stopped at a page with a picture of their moms standing in front of the same crystal-like tree from the beginning, only with several black, thorny vines covering it. "’Relinquishing the Elements'...this might be it!" Star exclaimed as she started to read once again.

"After braving the Everfree Forest, the wielders of the Elements had finally found the fabled Tree of Harmony. Due to the Plunder Vine’s magic, the tree's power was growing dimmer with every passing second; it was then that Princess Twilight realized exactly what she had to do in order to save the tree as well as Equestria from the Plunder Vine's destruction; they would have to give up their Elements of Harmony. Naturally her friends were all greatly opposed to the idea, believing that without the Elements they could not fully protect Equestria, or rein Discord in if he got out of control, their fear of losing what kept them all connected was very clear. But the Princess reminded them that while the Elements of Harmony did bring them together, it was their friendship what kept them connected. With this newfound valour, the group returned the Elements to their proper place within the tree, and in doing so the tree regained it’s light once more, destroying every Plunder Vine sprouting from the Everfree Forest and freeing Princesses Celestia and Luna."

"I bet they were having a goooood time while they were waiting..." Annie said it was a knowing smirk.

"ANNIE!" Claire chided. "That's my boyfriend's mother and aunt you're talking about!"

"Oh good!" The blind mare giggled. "That means he might have the same kinks-"

"ANNIE!"

Star ignored the two of them and kept studying through the last pages of the book, seeing if there was any change about the location of the elements. “That’s all there is. The last known location of the Elements of Harmony is on the heart of Everfree Forest.” Star closed the book and turned to look at the rest of her friends. "Well, I believe the next course of action is obvious." She said with a confident smile, which worried Del, since Star only had that look when she was about to do something reckless.

"Star, you ain’t thinkin’ what I think you are thinkin’, are you?" Del asked nervously.

"Everypony, I need you all to go help with the evacuation." She said before turning towards the door. "I'll go to the Everfree Forest and find the Elements of Harmony!"

“I hate it when I'm right.” The farm pony mumbled to himself as he moved to stop her, only for Prism to step on her tail, halting her in her tracks.

"OW! Prism, what the hay do you think you're doing?!" Star growled, flaring her wings threateningly.

"And just where do you think you're going, shorty?" Prism asked teasingly.

"Like I just said, I'm going to get the Elements! Now get off of my tail!" The young Princess snapped.

"Uh Star, no offense but are you loco in the coco?!" Candy screamed as she bolted right in front of her, her eyes dangerously close to Star's. "You're talking about doing through the Everfree Forest! Y'know, the place where all kind of monsters and creepy stuff lives!”

Star groaned as she yanked her tail free. "Look, first of all: our moms were able to make it through the forest just fine when they were our age. Second: not all of the rumors of that place are true, like Slendermane or that ‘Village of the Blanks’..."

"You said that about our moms’ tales earlier today, and now look at what we know!" Prism countered. "So if you think we're just gonna stand by and let you go get turned into a lawn-ornament by a Cockatrice, you got another think coming!"

Star got dangerously close to Prism's face. "And what exactly are you going to do to stop me?!"

The rainbow-maned stallion simply smirked. "Who said anything about stopping you?"

"Yeah? Well you can-" The short pegasus blinked, registering what Prism had just said. "Wait, what?"

"We're going with you!" Candy gleefully proclaimed while bouncing in place, her mane having returned to it's poofy state.

"Our mothers stood by yours when she went in and so will we!" Del proudly stated.

Star brought her hoof to her face, she seriously didn't need this right now! "Look I appreciate you all wanting to help, but right now I think it's safer if you stay with everypony else."

"Where? In the town that Goat-boy's going to move onto the moment he sucks Canterlot dry?" Annie countered.

Star's eye twitched while the rest of the group stared at Annie. "Did you really have to phrase it like that?"

"What can I say? I'm like a shark, when I smell blood I bite." Annie shrugged. "But regardless, we're not letting you go in alone! Right guys?" She smiled before turning to the rest of the group, who nodded in agreement.

Star was about protest further, only to be interrupted as two unicorn guards entered the room. "Princess Starburst, we have orders to escort you and your friends to the evacuation point immediately!" One of them stated.

“What? Who gave the order?” Star questioned the guards, mentally contemplating on how to get them to leave.

“Standard protocol, Your Highness. The Royal Guard is to assist the evacuation efforts by gathering everypony during an invasion. High value ponies are priority, Your Highness.”

'And now this is happening...' Star mentally groaned before maintaining her serious demeanor. "While I appreciate your concern gentlemen, I’m afraid that I have more pressing matters to attend to, so if you could just help everypony else-" She started ordering, in hopes of getting the guards off of her case, but unfortunately none of them stepped back.

"I’m sorry Your Highness, but our orders are clear. Now please come with us and-"

*BZZZT*

That was as far as the unicorn got before he fell over unconscious.

"What the-?!" Before the second Guard -or anypony else- could react, a green beam shoot him in the back of his head and he fell to the ground snoring.

Everypony turned to where the beam had come from… and saw Annie smirking triumphantly. "You're welcome." She said with a smug smile.

"Was that really necessary?!" Star snapped

"Hey, you want to get out and find the Elements fast as possible don't you?" Annie said, carefully stepping over the unconscious guards. "But you wouldn’t be able to if I hadn’t knocked these guards out. Now, let’s get going before more guards show up, everypony."

"Anthea, none of you will be coming." Star stated, only for Annie to counter her once again.

"Ok, I’ll just wake these guys up so that all of us can go along with the evacuation then." She said, gesturing to the snoring guards.

"She's got ya there, Your Shortness." Prism added.

Star's eye twitched, resisting the urge to scream in irritation while trying to understand how the pink unicorn had just found a leverage to make Starburst let them accompany her. With no clear way out of this, Star took a deep breath, turned her attention to the rest of her friends before finally conceding. "Fine... you can all come..."

"That's the spirit!" Candy cheered. "Now let's get going!"

“Wait!” Called the blind pony all of the sudden. Everypony froze in expectation of whatever Anthea had in mind. But instead of words, Annie simply called on a spell from her horn and focused it on the two unconscious guards. In a flash and a pop, both soldiers now sported a pair of magnificent mustaches over their lips. “Okay, now we can go.”

A few groans and giggles later, the group rushed out of the library. All except for Crystal Clarity, who had remained behind while everypony else rushed to outside of the castle. Once nopony was out of the library, she grabbed the discarded comic-book from the table and placed inside her saddlebags before rushing to catch the rest of the children.

~~~X~~~

Celestia paced back and forth inside the war chamber, constantly glancing at the oak door that sealed the entrance to the room. When she wasn’t staring at the door, she dared to look through a window, only to be reminded that they were in a safe room with no windows. She had alerted the guard once Illusion had returned and urged her to call an emergency. Then, when Grogar appeared over Ponyville and stated his threats, she along with Illusion, Discord, Luna, her niece Nidra and Captain Supernova had been moved to the small chamber in the heart of the castle.

Luna and her husband were going through some strategies over the table in the middle of the room, Illusion making some quick comments when he felt it necessary. Meanwhile, Nidra looked completely bored out of her mind, trying to find something even remotely interesting in the shelves. Discord wasn’t looking any better than Nidra, though; he was extremely anxious, often tapping a finger on the table or fidgeting with several finger traps that he’d produce out of nowhere. Celestia quickly caught on to that and dared a guess at what was upsetting him. “Still uncomfortable with small places, Discord?”

As if caught with his paw on the cookie jar, Discord froze almost immediately and dropped the finger traps on the floor, which then crawled away like caterpillars. “I’ve gotten better on that regard, my dear. Mostly.” He muttered to himself. “What really bothers me is that I really don’t see the point of cooping up in this room and wait for Billy-Goat-Boy when I could solve this problem with a snap of my fingers.” As if to prove his point, he snapped his eagle talons and made appear a modern rice-maker, wiggling it in front of Celestia as if to try to convince her.

Celestia let out a stifled giggle, but then her tone became somber. “I’m sorry Dis, but the fact that Grogar made it out of the Demon Wastelands only means that Twilight and her friends failed at their mission.” She lowered her head, a sad expression on her face. “I do not wish to take any more risks.”

“I understand your concerns, Tia. But I simply don’t like the idea of doing nothing, not unlike that Scorpan fella. Why isn’t he doing anything to help us, hmm?”

“Scorpan is also looking after his own kingdom, Discord. We all knew what were the risks.” Celestia said before sighing. “However, I could have never foreseen what was going to happen. We’re lucky that Illusion was able to warn Canterlot. Though I wish we had learned of it it sooner.”

Celestia realized that her son must have heard her, because he had turned away from the plans and was walking towards her. “Mother, don’t worry.” He donned a comforting smile. “I know things look bleak, but I have a feeling that everything will be alright.” He said while placing a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. Though it didn’t remain much in that place, because Discord decided to pop up in between them in that moment.

“Oh really?” Discord asked in a sing-song voice. “Well my son, why don’t you tell us more about this ‘feeling’?” At Illusion’s confused expression, Discord went back on what he said and how he said it and then gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I guess I had some sort of regression back there.” He said before letting a small chuckle out.

“Uh-huh…” Came Illusion’s response. “Anyway, I really don’t understand how I know when something good or bad is going to happen, I never know exactly what is going to happen. I just do. But I know something good will come out of all of this.” He finished, seeing both his parents relaxing a bit (though it wasn’t that clear in case of his father). But then pondered for a second before adding. “Though, maybe it has something to do with Crys and her friends going to the Everfree.”

At that moment, Celestia’s worrying became instant surprise, which wasn’t a sensation that she felt often. She looked over at her sister, who had turned away from the map on the table, having heard that last part. “Celestia, are you thinking…?”

“I don’t know, Luna. When I had Twilight go to Ponyville all those years ago, I was kinda certain. But now… this is completely sudden!” Celestia said, sweat starting to build on her brow. “No, it can’t be… Why would they go there?”

“For what else, Sister?” Luna counter-questioned. “But do you think they might be able to claim the Elements?”

The other three ponies in the room and Discord remained quiet while the exchange took place, glancing back and forth as each of the sisters talked. “I don’t know. It might be possible, but there are too many risks to let this matter to the chance!”

“Mother, I…”

“We need to search for them!” Celestia suddenly announced, ignoring Illusion’s quip. “We need to make sure that they’re fine, or at least assist them in anyway we can. This might as well be our only option if we want to stop Grogar”

Luna hesitated for a second before nodding in agreement. “Then we don’t have much time to waste. We’ll go to the Everfree.”

An annoyed snort ruined the tone of the situation, as everypony turned to stare at Nidra, who was starting a slow walk toward the door. “Finally! I thought I would die of boredom in here.” She said as a cyan aura enveloped her entire frame and lifted her from the ground, much to her dismay.

“By ‘we’, I meant your Aunt and I, young lady.” Luna said as she deposited her daughter besides Supernova while she and Celestia made their way towards the door. “You shan’t leave this chamber until this crisis has been resolved.”

“But mooom!”

“No ‘buts’,” Luna countered while willing her magic on the door handle, “if you believe I will let you unguarded while there’s a very real threat out in Equestria, you are sadly mistaken.” With that said, Luna opened the door to exit to the chamber…

… And stared right into the face of a blue ram.

“Boo.”

With a start, Celestia and Luna waved their wings and hovered back to the center of the room and immediately shot a stunning spell at the invader. However, several barrier shards of a dark purple appeared around Grogar, deflecting all the magical blasts before both elder princesses stopped their assault.

“Grogar?!” Celestia exclaimed, dumbstruck at the sudden appearance of their enemy. “How did you manage to get in here?” She asked while also spreading her wings threateningly.

“Quite simple: I just had to clean up the whole castle until only your disgusting stench was left.”

Luna’s eyes widened at the boldness of the insult, but Celestia was able to understand what he meant. “You captured everypony in the castle so it would be easier to pinpoint our magical signature.” She said, internally lamenting the fate of all the guards ponies and castle staff. She then devised a distraction, to give Luna and herself a chance to find an opening and exploit it. “Why are you doing this, Grogar? Equestria has never been a threat to you?”

“That’s a lie and you know it!” The ram bellowed before continuing while glaring at the princesses. “It was your repulsive magic what allowed that fool Scorpan to beat me. And it is your very existence in this world what is weakening me now. I came here to remove the source of this good magic from the world.” Grogar adopted a wicked smile, just what Celestia needed, he’s feeling confident. Just a little more. “It is poetic actually, that the answer to all my problems comes from this little amulet made by your kind. The same that was used to incarcerate me will now…” Grogar stopped death mid-sentence as a blunt object struck his left horn.

The insulting item then bounced once on the floor before rolling to a skid in the middle of the stand off. Everypony and the ram looked bemusedly at a rice-maker that had flown across the room.

Celestia sharply snapped her head towards Discord, who was frozen in the final motion of pitching a throw. He looked sheepishly at Celestia before commenting. “Hmm, I guess I panicked?”

An annoyed grunt called everypony back to the chamber entrance to see Grogar rubbing his temple with a cloven hoof. “Was that your best?” He asked before stomping his hoof back to the floor and lowering his head. “Then it's my turn.”

In an instant, the black vortex opened again in the bell of his collar, and engulfed every corner of the chamber, devoiding it from all living creature except for him in just mere seconds. Grogar then closed the vortex again, but a change was evident on him. He was larger, thicker; his cloven hooves have turned into five fingered claws; his back had arched upwards, making him look like some sort of buffalo; his horns turned a menacing black and grew even more thicker and two small tusks sprouted upwards from his jaw. With a sinister chuckle, he conjured a magical blast and destroyed a wall right in front of him and stared off to the landscape before him.

“Soon Scorpan, you will regret your own foolishness.”

~~~X~~~

"Well, here we are." Star said as she and her friends trotted down the road leading to the dank, overgrown, and very foreboding wilderness known as the Everfree Forest.

"Oooh~ Ominous!" Candy exclaimed as she bounced towards the entrance alongside her friend. “Well, let’s get going everypony. Those Elements won’t be found by themselves.”

“I’m telling you guys,” Starburst warned while also stepping beneath the oppressing canopy of the forest, “it isn’t too late to turn back and go with the evacuation.”

“I’m pretty sure we're past that window, Shorty.” Prism said as he hovered just a few hoofs behind her. “You aren’t convincing us to turn tail and run.”

“What Prism Bolt is trying to say, Star, is that we’re coming along with you no matter what.” Golden Delicious quickly added.

“Besides,” Annie spoke too, much to Starburst’s chagrin, “who says we’re not ready to stare down danger and tell it ‘bite the pillow, ‘cause I’m goin in dry’.” Almost everypony tripped on their hooves at this.

“Dude, what’s up with you lately?” Prism asked.

“It’s a defense mechanism, let’s move on.” T answered instead of his marefriend, who was simply trying to hold back a fit of giggles, much to the Dragon-pony’s embarrassment.

After half an hour of traveling through the forest, the ponies found themselves approaching a steep cliff overlooking the deeper parts of the forest. In the distance, one could barely make out the form of a ruin in the distance. "No turning back now..."

"I just hope we don't run into too many problems in here..." T said as he draped one wing over Annie protectively.

Star rolled her eyes. "Oh relax, our parents have braved the forest before, plus there's seven of us. What could possibly go wro-MMPH" The Princess was cut off as Prism shoved his hoof in her mouth.

"Don't you ever, ever, EVER say that!" The tricolor-maned pegasus hissed. "Haven’t you EVER heard of death-flags?!"

Star angrily smacked his hoof away and was about to retort, only for cliff to start shaking.

Prism glared at Starburst. "SEE?!"

In a split second, the cliff side they were standing on began to slide off beneath their hooves, dragging everypony with them. Prism and Star immediately went airborne, while T instinctively grabbed Annie and quickly joined the two in the air. Unfortunately, the earthbound members of the group were sent tumbling down the cliff with the rockslide, prompting the two pegasi to dive towards them as fast as they could, trying their best to avoid the numerous rocks that rolled down the cliff along with them.

“LOOKOUT!” Prism screamed as he tackled Star out of the way of one particularly large rock that threatened to squish her.

As they slid down, Del just barely managed to catch a glimpse of a hole in the base of the cliffside they were tumbling down. Thinking fast, he planted his hooves firmly on the ground, breaking down his speed and skidding to a halt just a few feet away from the hole...

...only for Candy to crash right into him, sending him rolling towards the edge of the hole, with his fore legs dangling over the edge, but otherwise safe from falling into it.

Candy managed a peek over Golden’s shoulder, and gave a sigh of relief “Whew, that was clo-”

“WATCH OUT!!” Claire called as she crashed into Candy, sending them both mares tumbling towards the dangling earth pony and with a loud thud, sent them all three of them careering over the edge and into the hole.

“GUYS!” Star and Prism called out as they flew as fast as they could towards the hole. But before they could get close, the large boulder they avoided before crashed over the entrance and caused a large cloud of dust to appear.

As the dust settled down, the group was treated to an unwelcome sight: the boulder had wedged itself in the ground, completely sealing the entrance of the cave.

“Are you all OK!?” Star called out as everypony landed around the boulder and began examining the damage.

“Aside from a little rattled, I’m fine.” Came Claire’s muffled voice from the rubble.

“I’m still alive!” Candy shouted.

“Hey girls…” Came Del’s strained voice. “would you two kindly… get off of my entire body? I think I might be dying...”

"Don't worry guys, we'll get you out of there!" T shouted as he began digging around the boulder.

“WAAAAAAAAIT!” Came a muffled scream from beneath the rock, stopping everypony on their tracks. Once silence had settled, Candy continued speaking just loud enough so that everypony could hear her. “We’re not in just any hole. It’s a Diamond Dog’s tunnel!”

“All the more reason we need to get you out of there!” Starburst exclaimed, knowing full well how problematic would it be if they ran into one of those dogs.

“No Star; Candy is right.” Anthea quickly added into the discussion. “Diamond Dogs can dig tunnels with ease because of their innate magical abilities, though it only works for making tunnels. If something or somepony were to tamper with the tunnel, though, it could cause a collapse!” Everypony made loud gasps, and Turquoise immediately retracted his claws into hooves. “We’re lucky that the boulder didn’t cause a cave in.”

“Then what the hay do we do?! We can’t just leave them down there!” Prism groaned, pulling on his mane. “I mean, maybe we can find another entrance and-”

“That’ll take too much time!” Came Candy’s voice. “Diamond dogs only make entrances to their tunnels really near to each other or really far in between, and I don’t see any paths from where I’m standing, so it’s probably the latter case.”

T, Annie, Prism and Star exchanged an uneasy look. “But… then what do we do? We need to stick together for when we found the Elements. I doubt they’ll work with less than six ponies.” Star hesitantly asked.

“Just keep moving forward.” Del spoke up. “This tunnel ought to end at some point.”

“Out of the question.” Star coldly refused, though she was wrangling her brain to think of another option. “You could end up miles away from where we need to go or never get out.”

“I’m sorry Darling, but as I see it our only options are to walk down this tunnel or try to dig out and let the ground bury us.” Claire said in a calmed but definitely firm tone. “I rather try my luck with the former.”

The four ponies overground exchanged a few glances, but none of them could find any objections to the matter. “Very well.” Star said finally, switching into “army mode”. “You guys down there proceed with caution. Once you find an exit and are in the surface, try to make some sort of signal so that we can locate you. Got it?”

“You bet!” Came Candy’s response, to which Claire and Golden also agreed.

“The rest of us, we must continue to scan the forest and locate the ruins of the Old Castle, while also keeping a look out for their sign. We must proceed to the location of the Tree of Harmony after we rendezvous with everypony. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am.” Prism muttered with a sigh.

“Okay.” Star said, satisfied with everypony’s agreement. “Now, let’s get moving, we don’t have much time to lose.” With that, everypony started to walk down their respective path. However, Anthea (and by relation Turquoise) lingered beside the obstructed entrance and called to the ponies underground.

“Please, be safe guys.”

Paths and Choices

Inside the Diamond Dog tunnel, the three ponies started their trek down the abandoned burrow. The tunnel was surprisingly well lit, despite the lack of torches or any other light source. After walking a few paces, they stumbled upon an old mine-cart, seated on a set of tracks that led onwards down the tunnel. “Well, this is convenient!” Candy mentioned merrily while approaching the cart.

“You're not really suggesting we use this rusty old cart, are you darling?” Crystal Clarity asked while eyeing the vehicle with uncertainty, at the same time Candy climbed into it. “I mean, we aren’t sure where it leads, or if it still works.” At this, Claire applied a small magical push on the cart, which only moved a few centimeters before getting stuck in place. “See? It is broken. This simply won’t…” She stopped after feeling a hoof tapping her shoulder.

She turned to see Golden Delicious smiling coyly and pointing at the other side of the cart, where several rocks were obstructing the tracks. “Ah reckon we should move those first.” He said to a somewhat embarrassed dragon-pony before moving to the front and kicking away the rocks to clear the track. “And it is our best choice if we wanna get out of here faster.”

“I… can’t argue with that logic.” Claire conceded before hesitantly climbing up into the cart. Once both mares were inside, Del began pushing on the cart in order to build up some speed. The worn out wheels let out a creak a few times, but it complied with the stallion’s efforts and kept moving forward. All the time, Claire kept a close eye at the tracks, reacting quickly to remove any and all rocks in their path with a little flick of her magic. Soon, the cart began moving on its own, and Del jumped into the metal vehicle with the two mares, and it seemed that they were quickly approaching the end of the tunnel and into a bigger area.

"And we're off!" Candy proclaimed. "Next stop..."

However the moment they left the tunnel, they were treated to the sight of a large cavern lined with several tracks coming from many other tunnels and an old turning platform in the center of the web of rails. Most of them were either worn out from years of non-use, having collected dirt and cobwebs over the years, while others had completely broken off all together. Overturned mine-carts littered the floor, most of which were broken beyond repair. Claire had enveloped the cart in her magical hold to break its speed almost as soon as they entered the cave, and now they are slowly rolling towards its center.

"Huh… okay…" Candy said as the cart slowed to a halt on the turning platform. “So… which way do we go now?”

"Argh, darn it!"

Everyone froze as an aggravated shout echoed throughout the mines, the trio quickly went silent as they looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"Great, just perfect!" The voice continued. "Dozens of mines to get stuck and now I am lost in the only mine right in the middle of the scary forest!"

After a few seconds, the young ponies placed the source of the voice on the tunnel exactly to their right.

"Unbelievable, there’s sompony else is in these mines?" Claire asked in disbelief.

"Well then we're in luck!" Candy smiled. "Let's go find them, maybe they know the way out of this place!"

"Do you really think it's wise to just follow some random voice?" Claire asked quizzically. "We don't even know if they're actually friendly or not, for all we know it could be some thief..."

"We don't exactly have many options at the moment." Del interrupted, getting their attention. "And judging by what they just said, they seem to be just as lost as we are."

Claire sighed, knowing she was outvoted. She held her breath as she focused her magic on the turning platform itself, slowly turning it towards the tunnel the voice was coming from, the moment it connected with the tracks she released her magic hold on it, panting and sweating from the strain of moving so many gears at once.

Del got out of the cart and started pushing the cart towards the tunnel, the voice getting louder as they approached. The tunnel made a small turn to the left, but just as they were approaching the corner, they heard the same voice, unmistakably feminine now, speaking again. “I just wanted to find prettiest gems, but Pack didn’t listen to me. Now I am all alone with more gems than I can carry, and now I am lost. This is worse than stinking flea-baths.”

Just as she was saying this, the trio of ponies turned the corner and suddenly stopped as something bumped into the cart, followed by a small yelp and the sound of many small objects dropping to the ground. Candy and Claire jumped out of the cart and Golden Delicious rounded the vehicle to join the two mares and see just what they have stumbled with.

On the floor next to them was a small diamond dog pup, with big arms, a lumpy tail and a round, childlike head. She was small, just barely the same size as Starburst. She has grey, dirty fur common to her species and is wearing a brown, sleeveless jacket. She was currently rubbing her forehead, one jade-colored eye open as she winced from the small crash that sent her to the floor. Immediately, her eyes popped open as she clambered to pick up the dozens upon dozens of gems that were strewn across the tunnel’s ground, all while she muttered complaints and curses to herself.

“Perfect, just perfect.”

“Hey little one, are you okay?” Candy asked, earning a surprised look from the pup and an cringed stare from her friends.

The Dog suddenly became uneasy, slightly backing away, but with her eyes flickering at the gems. “I-I don’t want trouble. Roxy hasn’t done anything to big ponies. I only want to get pretty gems and leave.”

“Relax sugarcube,” Del says in a calming voice, “you’re more worked up than a mouse in a cat-house. What’s the matter?” Golden asked the now calmed dog.

“Uh… You ponies won’t hurt me?” The pup, Roxy, asked incredulously.

“Of course we won’t!” Said Cotton Candy, suddenly sweeping Roxy into a cuddlefest, from which she was too scared to even react. “I wouldn’t even think about hurting such a cute little thing like you.”

Roxy was lifted from Candy’s hooves by a magical aura and delicately dropped on the floor before Claire continued. “What my friend is trying to say is that we are not planning to do anything to you. Where did you even got that dreadful idea?” She asked.

Roxy dusted herself off before answering. “The Pack always tell me how bad ponies are. I don’t believe much of what they say though. But I’ve only seen one pony before, so I'm not at all sure.” She says, unaware of the few times her syntax made Claire cringe.

Del stepped up again, tensing up a little. “Your pack isn’t here, right?”

“Nah, Pack left long ago.” She explains, which made the three ponies sigh in relief.

“Then why are you still in this abandoned mine?” Candy asks.

At this, Roxy beams brightly and picks one of the tiny gems scattered in the floor. “I’m here to collect gems. Tiny gems are pretty, more pretty than the big gems. Big gems are too dirty. Tiny gems are clearer.” She trails off after seeing one of the gems float up to Claire’s face, who squinted at it for a few seconds.

“My goodness, she’s right! I can practically see through this little emerald!”

“Hey, give it back!” Roxy yelped as she jumped from the ground and snatched the green gem from the air.

“Then why are you alone?” Candy asked again. “Shouldn’t any of your friends be helping you?” She says, ignoring the panicking expressions she was getting from her friends.

Roxy sulks a little. “I don’t have friends in the Pack. They don’t listen to me because I’m tiny. They only want big gems because they are dumb.” She shakes her head before giving a confident smile at the ponies. “But I’ll will prove them, by getting enough gems that they’ll have to take me more seriously."

“The problem is,” She says as she looks down at all the gems scattered in the floor, “that Roxy is tiny. I can’t carry many gems on my own. And now I am lost and can’t get back to the den. And I can’t find my way back if I’m carrying more gems than I can.”

“Oh, I know! Why don’t you use our ca~ Hmmph!” Candy almost offered before a hoof-claw found its way on her muzzle, silencing her.

Crystal Clarity on her part began. “Excuse us for a second, darling.” She says to Roxy before trying pull Candy to the back and have a brief talk with her, but Roxy caught on what the blue mare was offering.

“Yes! Roxy can use mine-cart! Please, please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!” Roxy begs while pulling at Del’s fetlocks, whom was at a loss of what to say.

Claire frowned at Candy. “CeeCee, you do realize that you can not just put us in this kind of situation without talking it with us first, right?”

“What do you mean?”

Del joined the conversation. “Candy, we need the mine-cart to get out of this cave and meet with the others.”

Candy let out a small gasp. “No we don’t! All three of us can walk perfectly fine! We can just walk our way out.”

“Darling, we sure can, but time is of the essence here. We can’t afford to just wander around forever, and the cart will make things move a lot faster.”

“You want to get out?” Came Roxy from between all three of them, startling Claire all of the sudden. “Because Roxy knows where closest exit.”

Del leaned in at this. “You do?”

“Yeah! So I’ll make a deal with Big Ponies.” She says while rubbing her paws together. “Ponies give me your mine-cart, and I’ll tell you that closest exit is right down this tunnel.” She ends her offer by closing her eyes and crossing her large arms. A few seconds after, her eyes popped open in realization of what she just said.

“Now, is it? Well that’s awfully convenient.” Claire says as she eyes the way down the tunnel. “It seems that now our route is clear.”

“No wait! I mean…” Roxy started to stammer, practically seeing her opportunity slip out of her paws.

Candy frowned at this and asked again. “Roxy, just how far is this exit?”

The little Diamond Dog looked up. “It… is many paws away. But exit is right at the end of this tunnel. Ponies can’t get lost.”

“Okay then!” Candy said with a smile before turning to Crystal Clarity. “Claire, can you pick all the gems for Roxy?”

“I… Sure, why?” Claire asked Candy as she levitated all the gems and rounded them together.

“We’re giving Roxy the mine-cart!” She happily answers.

Claire almost drops the ball of gems at this statement, but before she could retort, Cotton Candy started again. “Roxy needs the mine-cart more than we do now. You just said that our route is now clearer, which means that now we won’t be wandering so much, which means that we don’t need to go fast to save time, which means we don’t need the cart at all!”

Claire just stared in astonishment, ignoring the zealous glare from Roxy at her telekinetic hold as she processed Candy’s line of thought. Finally and in defeat, she levitated the armful of gems over the mine-cart and dropped them in it. “I can’t possibly argue with that.”

Candy smiled at this and then turned at the surprised puppy and gave her a playful noogie. “There you go now cutie.”

Roxy practically bounced in happiness as she went for a hug at all and each of the ponies. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You ponies are the best!” She quickly hops to the mine-cart as she turns back to them while the vehicle starts moving back on its own. “Trust Roxy, the nearest exit is straight down this one tunnel. I ain’t lying, I promise!” And with that, the cart disappeared around the corner, and Roxy with it, leaving three ponies to walk down the extension of the mine.

“You know? I don’t mind walking this much, but I find it hard rejecting a chance to avoid it.”

“As I recall, you didn’t want to be on that ‘rusty old cart.’” Del jokes. “Besides, she did need it more than we did. And she helped us out, so it was only fair.”

“Hmm, I suppose you are right.” Claire comments before turning to address Candy. “I have to give it to you though, Darling. I was ready to leave that poor thing with her arms full, but you insisted on letting her use the cart. You have my respect.”

“Oh please, it was nothing really.” Cotton Candy dismissed while looking forward. “I just did the right thing. Besides, helping others is its own reward.”

“Well, I reckon we need to keep moving. We won’t find an exit just by standing here.” Golden Delicious said.

“Also, I know the best way to speed things up!” Candy said, beaming broadly. “A Song!”

And with that, the three ponies continued their trek down the mine...with Candy singing along the way.

~~~X~~~

"I still can't believe this..." Prism grumbled as the group continued their journey through the forest. "We shouldn't have left them behind!"

"You know exactly why we couldn't just stay there, Prism." T stated. "The best we can do is hope they manage to find another way out..."

"You wouldn't have left if Annie got trapped..." Star mumbled to herself.

Thankfully, her voice was drowned out by Prism's. "I still don't like it!" He repeated, throwing his hooves into the air. "For all we know they could be headed back towards Ponyville, or end up getting even more lost or heading to another part of the forest altogether!"

"Look, we can't waste time bickering about where they might end up." Annie interrupted the two. "We have to trust that they'll make it out on their own..."

"This wouldn’t be an issue if you'd all just stayed behind like I asked." Starburst stated, this time loud enough for them to hear her. “I could’ve made it back with the Elements a lot faster too if you all just waited.”

"Y'know, for someone who thinks of me as egotistical, you sure are full of yourself." Prism sneered, earning a glare from her.

"Excuse me?!" Star snapped, flaring her wings threateningly.

“What? Because your mom and dad are in danger and you want to be a royal guard means that you gotta stick your neck alone? Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess, but my mom and dad are also in trouble, so I’m helping whether you want it or not!” Prism fired back, flaring his own wings in response.

"I'm not saying you aren't affected by this," Star said in defense. "I'm simply saying that it would've been a lot safer for all of you if I'd just gone by myself."

“It’s not us whom we’re worried about though.” Annie said, drawing the attention of the two pegasi. “You’re in just as much danger as we are now, Star. Don’t get me wrong, you are really strong. But you can’t do everything yourself. Especially not if it involves the Everfree Forest. You can never know what will happen in this place.”

Star simply grunted to herself as she kept her frown down the road, trying as best as she could to ignore Anthea’s lecture. A task that would be easier if said pony wasn’t still talking.

“Besides, while getting to the Tree would be easy enough, wouldn’t it be better if there are at least five more ponies with you? After all, the Elements have to~”

“I found a cave!” Prism suddenly blurted out, breaking Annie’s line of thought as she and everypony else turned at the sound of Prism’s voice. Sure enough, they found the brash pegasus hovering in front of an entrance to a tunnel on the side of a rocky hill, just a few hoofs ahead on the trail they were walking down. “Do you guys think it leads to the mine?”

Starburst peeked into the entrance of the cave, seeing it’s gradual descent to beneath the ground. “I am not sure, but it looks that way. Maybe we could find the others and help them back to the surface!” She offered before approaching the entrance. Star was about to enter when she heard a loud snorting sound coming from behind her; She turned around to see Anthea with her muzzle upwards, sniffing the air before scrunching her nose and crossing her blank eyes. “What are you doing?” Starburst deadpanned, while staring in confusion at the unicorn.

“I’m picking a really strong smell from down that cave.” Annie said while pointing a hoof directly at the tunnel’s entrance. “Are you sure it’s a good idea?”

‘Okay, this is amusing.’ Star thought with a smirk. “What? Are you afraid of getting dirty?”

“It’s not that! Though the cave might be a little dark… What I mean is: what if there’s something just down this tunnel?”

Star rolled her eyes at this. "Please, I seriously don't think there's anything living in a dank, dirty cave like this. What could g~ Hmph!"

Prism shoved his hoof into her mouth once again. "Don't jinx it! Did you seriously forget what happened a few minutes ago?!"

"Will you stop doing that?!" Star snapped as she slapped Prism's hoof out of her mouth. "First of all, the slide wasn't my fault at all. Second of all, why are you against going in now? I thought you wanted to get Del and the others back."

Turquoise noticed something off from inside the cave, he craned his neck to get a better look, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head before he called out to the bickering pegasi. “Uh, guys…?”

“Sweet Luna, you’re really genre-blind. You are never supposed to say ‘what could go wrong’ at any time! Bad things always happen when ponies say ‘what could go wrong’ or anything like that, and you had one strike today already!” Prism sneered at Starburst.

An imperceptible shake reached Anthea’s hooves, who quickly picked up the source of the ground movement. "Guys?" Annie called out too, more urgently, only to be ignored as well.

“Prism Bolt, what in the hoof are you talking about?!” Star shouted, oblivious to the low growls echoing from the cave.

"GUYS!!" Both T and Annie's voices bellowed, finally getting the attention of the two pegasi.

"WHAT?!" The two snapped.

*ROOOOOOAAAAAAR*

The two pegasi quickly took to the air, narrowly avoiding the fireball that nearly incinerated them both.

"WELL LOOK WHO'S WRONG!"

"NOT NOW PRISM!!" Star snapped, glaring at the dragon as the two landed beside T, who wrapped his wing protectively around Annie.

From within the cave crawled a slender yet imposing dragon that rivaled Turquoise in size. Its scales are a bright aqua-blue color, while the underside of its body and wings are a pale green. The wingspan of the wings is quite impressive, putting Starburst's’ to shame. The thick yet smooth spines that run from the top of its head to the tip of its tail are a deep green. She also had deep green eyes, though her left eye had three scars over it. It regarded the ponies with a malicious stare before speaking in a gruff yet feminine voice.

"Well well, what do we have here?" She growled as she approached the group.

Star looked to her friends and then back to the dragoness, before stepping forward while flaring her wings in an attempt to intimidate her. Even though the dragon didn’t even flinch, Starburst began addressing her, stuttering all the while. “Listen miss… um…” She paused expectantly, waiting for the dragon to catch on. However, she looked at starburst with a raised eyebrow, so Star had to inquire a little bit further. “What is your name?”

The dragon simply scoffed at this before speaking again. "Mind it, little pony, that I’m only answering because I feel like it. I’d very much like you to know that I’m Avarax the Strong." She flared her wings too, catching Starburst by surprise. “Now you’ll answer me my question: Why were you trying to enter my cave?”

Starburst started thinking of an answer, but to her dismay, Anthea started speaking. “We’re sorry, miss Avarax. We didn’t mean to trespass to your home; we just wanted to get back to some friends that got trapped in the mine beneath this place. Would you mind letting us through?”

Avarax let out a rueful laugh "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't let anything into my cave. Especially not lost little ponies..." She paused upon catching sight of T. "... and their pet dragon." She quipped, snorting smoke from her nostrils.

"Half-dragon, actually." T corrected her, taking one step forward to stand besides Annie, his wing tentatively extending over the unicorn.

"’Half’?" She repeated, somewhat confused by the statement. She sniffed the air a few times before snorting and scowling at him, baring her sharp teeth. "So you're another one of those freak! Just like that other disgusting wyrm I met years ago..."

"Hey, that’s not a very nice thing to say you know..." T retorted, exhaling small puffs of smoke from his nostrils, with only the smallest of frowns.

However, Starburst was caught on “another” and “other.” “Guys, I think she’s talking about Claire.”

"Hmph, I’m not surprised you'd defend such scum like her!" She snorted in disgust before casting a glare at T. "And you’re related to that freak? Figures, just another bad link in the world's worst chain."

"You condescending bi-!" Prism snarled as he attempted to change at her, only to be held back by T himself.

He addressed Prism with a calm tone and an even stare, to which the pegasus simply grumbled before staying put. "Listen…” T began, taking a step forward, “our friends are stuck in the tunnels, we only want to try and find them so we can bring them back up." He calmly explained.

"You make it sound like I'm supposed to care." Avarax snorted with the disdain. "This is my home, MY territory, and I will not allow a group of ponies and a half-breed to pass through it!"

T winced at that remark, but remained calm all the same. "Okay, then we’ll just keep looking somewhere else-”

"Perhaps your little half-breed ears didn't hear me…” Avarax interrupted, lowering herself menacingly. “I am NOT letting ANY of you walk further into my home. Especially not scum like you!" She snarled.

"What the hay do you have against T and Claire anyway?!" Starburst, having grown tired of hearing this dragon insult her friends.

"Because it was that other half-breed’s fault that I have this hideous scar!" The Dragon snarled as she pointed at the three claw marks on her right eye, “her and her traitorous daddy.”

Suddenly, realization dawned upon all four of them. Avarax is the Dragon Claire that she and Illusion met many years ago. She had told them that she and Illusion had gotten a dragon to chase them through the Everfree Forest until Mrs. Rarity and Spike rescued them. Starburst wasn’t about to question the veracity of that story at this point, especially since said dragon was in front of them

Turquoise, for his part, folded back his ears and looked honestly saddened to hear this. “I’m sorry about that. My dad went too far. But that wasn’t my fault.”

“I don’t want your apology. I want payback! And it seems today is my lucky day.” Avarax says with a malicious smirk.

“What? You want T to fight you? Ha! Good luck with that.” Prism Bolt joked, before noticing Turquoise questioning stare. “No offense, bro.”

“He won’t have to fight!” Snapped Star as she stepped in front of him, flaring out her wings. "Why don't you try picking on someone half your size?!"

"Actually, you're more of a third her size." Prism quipped.

"SHUT UP, PRISM!" Star snapped.

Turquoise Blitz simply rolled his eyes before addressing Avarax again. “Look, I really don’t want to fight you.”

“Really?” Avarax asked, mockingly pretending to be moved by this. “Then I’ll give you no choice!”

In that second, Avarax lunged forwards, intent on causing pain. T was almost as fast as her, leaping towards the encounter before anypony could react, leaving a surprised and panicking unicorn staring at their general direction while Star and Prism also looked at the struggle.

“Oh no!” Annie whimpered. “That green is blending with that green and I don’t know which green is my green!” She whined before collapsing on the ground and putting her two forelegs over her eyes. “Please tell me when it’s~”

“It’s over.” Prism said with an astonished deadpan, causing Annie to blindly peek from between her hooves.

In effect, the fight was over already. In only ten seconds, Blitz had somehow managed to knock Avarax on the floor and was now currently pinning her down using his entire body despite her violent thrashing. Not even Starburst couldn’t make heads or tails on how he had managed to subdue her so fast. Avarax on her part was making sure that everypony knew how angry she was, growling struggling against T’s hold.

“Annie, would you…” Turquoise muttered while trying to hold the angry dragoness down. His marefriend quickly got to her hooves and cautiously approached the two of them as her horn glowed with a warm, green light over the dragoness. Slowly, Avarax’s struggle and growls decreased in frequency, until she no longer looked like she wanted to go on a rampage.

T slowly got off from her and walked back to stand next to Anthea. Avarax craned her neck upwards while she simply laid in there, looking somewhat sleepy. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” T asked with concern.

Avarax frowned a bit before looking away. “No…” She says, with no small amount of resentment. She then looked at Annie and spoke again, with curiosity rather than anger. “What did you do?”

Annie gave her a sheepish smile as she answered. “I just helped you calm down a little. It’s sort of what I do best, to be honest.”

Avarax simply stared at her for a few seconds before looking back at the rest of the group. She frowned in confusion, but didn’t seem to be about to lash out at them any time soon. “Man, this sucks.” She said looking away from them once again. “I really want to be angry right now.” She grumbled bitterly.

Prism and Starburst, on their part were conversing between them. “So… she doesn’t want to kill us at the moment?” Prism asked.

“It seems so.” Star replied.

“Uh-huh… do you think we might get into the tunnel now?”

“NO!” Avarax blurted out, startling everypony. “Please! Don’t go inside there.”

“Why though?” Star asked in irritation.

Avarax glanced to the sides before speaking again with venom still in her voice. “I don’t want to fight you anymore, but I still don’t like any of you.”

“Aww. She’s tsun-tsun!” Anthea joked, earning a confused look from everypony, including Avarax. Before anypony said anything else, Turquoise spoke again.

“Okay, then we won’t insist.” He calmly stated before looking back at his friends. “Let’s go guys, there’s no point in keep trying.” He then started threading the road they’ve been walking down a few minutes ago, Annie remaining by his side and the two pegasi following behind, leaving a confused dragoness to stew on her bitterness.

“You should’ve let me at her.” Prism mumbled once they were out of earshot. "I could’ve whooped up her scaly tail..."

“She would’ve roasted you, literally.” Starburst countered, causing Prism to stick his tongue at her. She ignored him as she trotted to stand next to Turquoise. “I gotta give it to you though, T. That was very fast thinking on your part.”

He smiled a little before looking down to his hooves. “I’m just glad that nothing bad happened.”

“Yeah,” Prism said, “although I think you let her off too quickly. She didn’t have to say that nasty stuff about you and Claire. You could’ve taught her a lesson or two...”

“That’s right. I could’ve, that’s why I didn’t. She was just angry, and I can’t blame her.” T explains, suddenly adopting a serious tone. “You guys know that I don’t like violence, and it wouldn’t have solved anything in this situation. She was expecting a fight, but I didn’t give her one. That’s the best lesson she could receive.”

Anthea smiled at him and nuzzled the base of his neck. “I’m proud of you.” This managed to bring a smile on Blitz’ face.

“Yeah… I can get behind that...” Prism commented

“Really?” Star asked, arching a brow. “I figured you’d be complaining about how ‘anti-climatic’ the fight was and how it needed ‘more action’…”

“I’ll admit, two dragons going at with claws bared, shooting fireballs while flying after each other would’vebeen pretty awesome to watch,” he mused with a smirk, and then added. “but T was definitely smarter than her.” The four ponies simply laughed and continued walking through the forest.

“By the way, can I ask you a question?” Annie suddenly said.

Turquoise looked down at her. “Sure?”

“You didn’t enjoy that too much, correct?”

T, Star and Prism looked at her in confusion before the Half-Dragon answered. “No, I didn’t.”

“Really? You didn’t enjoy being on top of a girl?” Annie asked, a familiar smirk on her face.

Turquoise’s face turned beet-red, Starburst slapped a hoof on her face and Prism just started giggling like an idiot. After that embarrassing moment, the four ponies continued their trip, drawing nearer to the heart of the forest.

Fascinating Nature

Prism Bolt rose from the thick canopy of the forest and hovered in place for a few seconds, eyes looking for anything out of the ordinary. A trail of smoke, blue flames, prissy whining. Anything that could point to the presence of their friends. When he couldn’t spot any sign of them, he descended back from where he came through and met again with Starburst, Turquoise and Anthea.

“Nothing yet,” he announces with a disappointed sigh. “They’re probably still stuck in that tunnel.”

Star let out a sigh before looking at the other two ponies. T looked down in miserable disappointment while Annie was more subdued with her reaction. ‘Like she often does,’ thought Starburst. “Very well. We need to keep pushing forward, we’ve wasted more than enough time and aren’t still close to the ruins.” She said as she started walking forward, with everypony else falling back behind.

“If only that jerk dragon lady had let us in her cave we’d been done a lot sooner.” Prism said before noticing Annie snickering for some reason.

“There’s no point on keep wallowing on that, Prism. At least we got away without severe injuries.” Starburst rebutted.

“Hmm, if you say so.” He conceded. After a few seconds of just walking in complete silence, Prism let out a frustrated groan. “I’m bored.”

Starburst’s eye twitched. “And what exactly do you want me to do?” She asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

“Easy, grumpy-pants. I was going to suggest we all play a road game or something.”

“Ooh! Let’s play ‘I Spy!’” Anthea suddenly called. “I’ll start. I Spy with my little eye something green.”

“It’s me.” T deadpanned.

“Wow, you’re good!” Anthea giggled before glancing in Star’s direction. “Ok, I see with my little eye… somepony that has a big-”

“Annie!” T interrupted.

“-pair of wings.” Anthea finished, giving her boyfriend a coy glance. “What did you think I was gonna say?” She asked as T looked away to hide his blush.

The two pegasi simply rolled their eyes, Prism in amusement and Star in indifference, before continuing talking. “Seriously shorty, we should do something else besides walking.”

“I understand what you’re trying to do, Prism.” Starburst immediately said. “You want to distract everypony from what has happened, lift our spirits. But right now we can’t afford any distractions. We have to remain focu-WAUGH!”

Something had snuck between Star’s and Prism’s hooves and had tied itself around them. They were lifted from the ground and unceremoniously dropped a few hooves back. After recovering from the surprise, Starburst scanned the area to find their assailant, but with no luck.

Prism Bolt on the other hoof, was too surprised to move, but not too much to stop him from expressing his thoughts. “What in the hay was that?!”

“I don’t know!” Replied Star, who still couldn't find the creature that snared them.

“What happened?” Annie asked from behind the group.

“Something grabbed me and Shorty and threw us away!” Said Prism, finally getting on his hooves. “Did you see where it went?”

“No. And I don’t see any kind of movement either.” Said Starburst, who folded back her giant wings and took a tentative step forward. When nothing happened, she took another step but was immediately lifted from the ground and dropped backwards. “Okay, what is going on?!”

“Did anypony see what it was?” Anthea asked, raising her voice above Star’s.

“It looked like some kind of vine.” Blitz answered, eyes fixed on the treetops.

“You mean like a Plunder-Vine?” T ask, nervously wrapping his wing around Anthea.

“No, those are more aggressive than this.” Annie explained diligently. “I think I know what it might be. Does anypony see a big, pink bud somewhere?”

Soon enough, the three other ponies spotted a bright pink, onion-shaped bud growing on the ground a few gallops away from where they were standing. From beneath the bud, they could see several roots and vines growing into the ground and the treetops in a gnarled mess of vines and branches.

“Question: How didn’t we notice that before we began looking for it?” Prism pointed out.

“Well, there’s the bud.” Starburst deadpanned before addressing the blind unicorn. “What is it?”

“It's a Ticklish Bloom,” Annie explained with a worrisome tone. “It doesn’t like anything getting near it's bud, so it’ll try to keep us away from it.”

“Okay then. Let’s just go around it and move on.” Star states, eyeing the plant cautiously.

“That could literally take us hours, Star.” Annie replies. “Ticklish Blooms aren’t arbitrary about what is too near for them, so the radius of their territory is never constant. It could cover three meters from this bud to where we’re standing on this edge, but it could be five kilometers from the bud to the edge opposite from where we are. There’s no way to know. We would be wasting a lot of time going around it.”

“Then what about flying over it?” Starburst asked. “Or does it also dislike things going above it?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Anthea confirms with a frown. “There is a way to get through its territory, however.” She adds.

“Somepony has to get near it and tickle it.”

There was a stagnant silence after Annie revealed the trick to get past this new problem. This silence was broken by the exasperated sigh of an orange pegasus.

“Seriously?! Is it literally a ticklish plant!?” Star asks incredulously. “And let me guess, the reason it doesn’t want us near is because it doesn’t want us to tickle it, correct? Then how is tickling it gonna help us in any way?!”

“Well, duh! It’ll actually make it stop from pushing us back.” Prism said, suddenly having a mirthful smirk on his face.

“Ugh. This doesn’t make a lick of sense.” Starburst muttered bitterly.

“We're in the Everfree Forest,” Prism retorted. “The only thing that makes less sense than this place is Mr. Discord.”

“Besides, this is the only way past that plant. If you move fast enough, you might be able to dodge the vines and get near the bud.” Annie explains.

“See Shorty? It’s a race now.” Prism claims, his previous mood long gone. “The first pony to tickle the onion wins!”

Starburst directed a deadpan glare at her fellow pegasus. “This is serious, Prism. There’s no time for silly games.”

“Then what if we bet on it?” He said with a toothy grin. “If I win, I get to call you ‘your majesty’ for a year, and you can’t complain.”

“That’s not gonna happen!” She interrupts.

“But if you win, I stop calling you ‘Shorty’ for an entire year.” Prism continues.

“I-” Star trailed off at the mention of what Prism is willing to do if she wins. The offer is tempting. Still, the idea of making this task a silly competition is bound to just be a waste of time. “We’re not racing to tickle the bloom. And that’s final.”

Surprisingly, Prism simply shrugged. “Whatever you say.” He said…

...right before crouching to a running position. “ReadygetsetGO!” He shouted as he darted into their target, taking sharp turns left and right as vines started to reach out for him.

“Hey! I wasn’t ready!” Star screamed behind Prism as she flew into the gnarled maze after him.

“Should I help out?” T asked as he stood beside Anthea.

“Nah, let the love-birds have their fun.” Annie replied with a silly smile.

T gave his marefriend a sceptical look. “You know they’re not a couple, right?”

“Let me dream, Blitz!” She grumbled under her breath.

Back with the pegasi, both Starburst and Prism Bolt expertly flew around their target, banking and hovering between the impossibly quick vines that weaved around them. Star’s small frame allowed her to slip through the loops before they could tie themselves around her, and her amazing wingspan gave her enough power to remain afloat for much longer. Prism on the other hoof, compensated his large size with his impressive maneuverability, changing directions so quickly, that the vines chasing him around were having trouble keeping up with him.

Both ponies were doing a good job avoiding being snared by the vines, but getting to the bud has proved to be a more difficult challenge, since all the vines came directly from it. Star then began analyzing the situation; their objective was clear, now was the matter on how to reach it. Before Starburst could devise a plan however, a vine got hold of her right hind leg and dragged her towards her starting point, where Prism was already waiting for her.

“Ready for round two?” He asked in a challenging tone.

Star gives him a disbelieving stare. “Prism, this is not time for distractions.” She says as she takes a take-off position.

“Whatever you say, Your Majesty.”

And with that, the two pegasi took off into the air once again, flying between vines and brambles toward their objective, each of them falling back to how they were performing a few seconds ago, with Prism Bolt zig-zagging through the air and Starburst slipping past knots and loops. She wasted no time to analyze the situation this time around. To reach the bud, I have to get past its vines. The problem is that the vines are coming directly from the bud, so getting closer raises the probability of getting caught by it. I gotta find a window to make my- “Waugh!” Star yelped as another vine snared itself around her barrel and brought her back to the beginning.

Seconds after she was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, another vine brought a complaint Prism and released him in the air before he landed next to Starburst. “Having fun yet?”

“How can you have fun at a moment like this?” Star asks with a bemused stare.

“So… you aren’t?” Prism asks in a slightly disappointed tone.

“Of course I’m not having fun!” Star exclaims, a little stronger than she intended to.

Prism just stared at her for a second before letting out a chuckle. “See shorty? That’s why you aren’t going to win. You’re focusing too much on the problem. If you loosened up a bit, maybe you could beat me.”

“Oh yeah? If we go by that logic, you should have reached the bud already.” She countered.

“Yes, but watching you get pulled back is just too fun to miss it out.” Prism commented, earning a few laughs from Annie and T, much to Starburst dismay.

Starburst let out an annoyed snort before looking back at the Ticklish Bloom. “Why must everything be a game to you?”

“Hey, not everything is a game to me.” Prism quickly corrected before taking on his usual smirk. “I just like to enjoy the things that I can. But I don’t like doing fun stuff only by myself. It is always better to have fun with somepony else. You should try it sometime. But anyway, ready for round three?” Prism asked before prepping for take-off.

Starburst pondered on what Prism just told her for a few seconds. She then rolled her eyes before prepping too. “Just for the sake of saving time, I’ll play for real.”

“Yeah! Now that’s the spirit!” Prism said before the two of them took off, actually racing this time. Starburst had no idea of what she was doing, their objective was the same, but apparently she couldn’t ponder on how to achieve it or else she’d fail again. And not only that, but since she’d decided to humor Prism on his silly contest, now she had to worry about him getting to the bud first. Knowing that, she decided to focus only on getting their task done and not on how.

Her musings were broken, not by a incredibly annoying vine, but by an equally annoying blue blur that whipped past right in front of her, making her spin in place. “Augh… Prism Bolt, you did that on purpose!” She said oblivious of the vine that caught her just a second after.

“Of course. I gotta make sure you don’t beat me.” Prism said between laughs as he continues to zip past knots and vines. “Is that all you got, you overgrown weed?!” Prism taunted as he dodges another vine attempting to coil around his hooves. “My mother could dodge these things blindfolded!”

Pushing back her discomfort, Star took to the air again. For a while, both pegasi kept going at it for a while, each of them getting the upper hand on the other until the other recovered and turned the tables once again. Throughout the entire ordeal, Starburst couldn’t avoid having a smile on her face.

Only after what only seemed like an hour, the two of them were panting, hovering in place just outside the Bloom’s range. “Having fun now?” Asked Prism, showing off a cocky grin.

“Oh, I will.” Starburst said with a smirk of her own.”After you eat my dust.” And with that, the two of them took off once again. No more wasting time, this time one was going to reach the finish line. Starburst really felt like she was enjoying the small at this point, but now the thrill of competition escalated to a wish for victory. Plus, she wasn’t gonna let Prism Bolt win if he pretended to make good of his word. She looked to her side and saw Prism bolt flying along with her, intent on outsmart her at the last second probably.

“Careful Shorty,” Prism chuckled. “I think they might be drawn to your sass-whoa!” The stallion was cut off as a vine sprouted just in front of him, causing him to veer to the right and falling into a cat-cradle of vines and roots. Starburst turned back towards the bud and flapped her wings as fast as she could. She slipped between loops, knots and cat-cradles, causing the vines to end up twisting and tangling around themselves in a vain effort to catch her. Finally, she had a direct route towards the plant’s center. That’s my window.’. Without thinking it for a second, she dove right to the bud, turned left and started wiggling her right wing as her momentum reduced the distance between herself and the Ticklish Bloom.

The moment the feathers started tickling the base of the plant, all the vines stiffened up and the pink onion started to shake and…

Laugh!

It was a high pitched laugh, like a foal who had inhaled a bit of helium. It squealed and giggled in such a manner, that Starburst couldn’t help but chuckle herself at just how absurd it was, ignoring completely how all the roots and vines started to extract themselves into the ground.

In just a few seconds, the path was completely clear. Starburst stopped tickling the bloom and it let out a sigh of relief after its torture was over. Star took a deep breath before turning to see her companions approaching her. Her face became stone-like as she addressed the other pegasus. “What happened to you back there?”

Prism looked like he was taken off-guard for a second before he returns the question. “What do you mean?”

“You usually don’t miss a turn like that. Knowing you, there’s only one reason for you to do such a mistake…” Starburst stated before a smirk crept up to her muzzle. “Your ego slowed you down.”

She watched in silent amusement as her three friends looked at her in disbelief. Proud of her delivery, she turned on her hooves and started walking down the unobstructed path. “Well, I guess we can continue now. Let’s go.” She says.

Prism Bolt was the first to recover and let out a short chuckle. “Good one Star. You got me there.” He said before starting walking along with Annie and T.

“She’s wrong though,” Annie says with a knowing smile “You let her win, didn’t you.”

“I may have.” Prism answered nonchalantly, smiling as he watched Star leave. It was very rare to to see her genuinely enjoying situations like this, even when she participated in their little get-together’s it seemed like she was only there out of some sense of duty rather than enjoyment. “But still, it was a fun race, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was.” Turquoise answered.

“Well, that little obstacle could've been a lot worse...” Annie stated from beside T

“How so?” T asked curiously.

Annie gave her lover a devious grin “Those Vines could've gotten a little too friendly...”

Everypony stops and stares at Annie in shock, registering what she'd just implied.

“...Gross.” Prism deadpanned while T covers his face with his wings.

“EWW! Annie!” Star groaned as she trotted ahead, trying to distance herself from the unicorn. “Honestly, where do you even get these gross ideas?!”

~~~o~~~

Back in Canterlot, Amber Lily sneezed as she stood guard near the patissiere entrance where she and other ponies had taken refuge. Next to her, Hot Head and Lucky Star stared into the streets outside until the sudden sneeze broke their concentration

“Good grief. You’re not getting sick now, are you?” Asked Hot Head with a hint of dread in his voice. Lucky, for his part, watched with curious concern.

“I don’t think so.” Said Amber while rubbing her muzzle with a hoof. “Maybe some of that armor dust got in my nose.” She offered before taking a look back at the other ponies hiding inside the building. “Man, I can’t believe this is really happening. And it was such a nice day too.”

“Well, I don’t think that demon-sheep cared much about letting anypony enjoy the lovely weather.” Lucky muttered as he returns his gaze to the streets.

“I think it was a ram.” Hot Head says aloud, but went unnoticed by his friends.

“At least he’s not rampaging through the city,” Lucky sighs. “I don’t know for how much longer we’ll be safe in here, though. We’ll have to head out sooner or later.”

“Just where’s everypony else?” Hot Head asks. “Do you think they left the city?”

“Probably. There’s no way to know, though.”

“Then why are we staying cooped up in here? Let’s make a run for it and escape too!”

“Hothead, don’t be stupid. It’s not safe out there.” Amber chides. “We don’t know what that jerk is going to do if we leave.”

“I know, but staying in here won’t make the problems go away. There’s something we gotta do.”

“I agree with Hot Head. But we gotta be patient for the moment. There’s no telling what might~”

“Help!” Came a voice outside of the store, making all three ponies turn their heads around.

“Did you hear that?”

“Somepony’s outside!”

“There!” Hot Head points a hoof at the street. In the building right across, a blue pegasus mare with blueberry, frizzled hair stumbled right out of the door, limping badly on one wing and looking dazedly to her surroundings. “Wait here, I’m gonna get her!” He says just as he dashed out of the door and into the street.

The pegasus was surprised by his sudden appearance, but offered no struggle as he scooped her up and flew her back into the store in almost three seconds. “Are you okay?” He asks before a yellow hoof hits him in the top of his head.

“You jack-a-mule! You could’ve been caught or something out there!” Amber Lily reprimanded him.

“Ow… What was I supposed to do, Mom?” He whines as he rubs his head. “I wasn’t gonna leave her outside by herself.”

“Any other time, I’d have commended you for being so gallant, there’s a crazy evil warlock jerk terrorizing the streets!” She argued back.

“Shut up you two!” Lucky chided before walking up to the mare. “Are you okay? Is there anypony else in that building?”

The blue pegasus simply shakes her head as she looked at the three of them and to the inside of the patissiere. “Do you know where anypony went?” Lucky asked again.

The pony nodded this time, before speaking in a frail voice. “G-grogar… he entrapped everypony with that jewel of his. Everypony. I haven’t seen anypony since.” She explained.

“Shoot. We gotta go now.” Hothead exclaims.

“Of course we won’t. It’s way too dangerous out there still.”

“Calm down you two. All we gotta do is wait a while longer and wait until nighttime, then we’ll make our way out of the city.”

“That won’t happen.” Said the pegasus mare, who stood up in her four hooves. “Grogar already went to the castle and entrapped the Princesses and their families. The night won’t be coming.”

“What?” Amber Lily asks in astonishment.

“Oh man, that’s not good.” Hot Head muttered, pacing back and forth on the entrance.

Lucky Star, however, eyed the mare with skepticism. “Wait, how do you know that?”

The mare simply blinked before asking. “How do I know what?” She asks back.

“That the Princesses have been captured too? We’re way far away from the castle, and it’s been only a few minutes since that Grogar reared his ugly face around. If he captured the princesses, and you saw it, then how did you arrive here so fast on a broken wing?”

The mare blinked before frowning and putting a hoof on her face. “I knew I was missing something. Let’s cut it with the charade.” In a flash of blue and green light the mare was replaced by the monstrous ram they’ve all feared to stumble with, right in the middle of the store.

Grogar cackled as ponies panicked and ran around the building before craning up his neck and vacuuming it clean of every pony hiding in the room. “Well, that could’ve gone better…” He says as his frame grew more even larger, “No matter, they’re taking care of.” He inhales deeply. “Hah… this is definitely better. Now…”

Grogar walks up to the door of the store, which crumbles to rubble at his touch. “Onto the rest of Equestria.”

~~~o~~~

Claire and Golden pressed their ears flat on their heads as Cotton Candy continued singing about the goodness of sharing and caring, as they all kept walking down the mine tunnel. “My goodness, this song is awful.” Claire muttered between clenched teeth.

“It’ll be over soon.” Del muttered back. As if on cue, Candy finished the song on a high note which echoed on a large round chamber they’ve just entered.

The half-dragon rolled her eyes. “Honestly CeeCee, was the entire song really necessary?” She asks as Del began exploring the area.

“Of course! My mom always says that a good song helps lift a pony's spirits and turn their frown upside down!” The enthusiastic mare explained as she placed her hoof around Claire. “Especially in a dark and lonely place like this!”

“Yes, I suppose That is a better alternative if we take everything into account.” Claire mused to herself before turning her attention back to Candy. “But please pick a shorter song next time.”

“No promises. Hey Del, Found anything yet?” She shouts at the stallion before the eldest pony could retort. The farm pony was preoccupied looking at one of the chamber’s walls, which seemed to hold a rudimentary mine map bolted to it.

“Well, this here chamber only has two entrances apparently.” He says looking back at the two mares and pointing a hoof at the tunnel. “That one we just came from, and…” He says, slowly moving his other hoof to the opposite end of the chamber. “That one over there!” He announces after locating the second entrance just a few trots to his left. “This map says that this is a direct route to the surface. Just going straight.” He says as he started walking along the wall towards the door.

“Well, those are certainly good news.” Crystal Clarity says, making a beeline towards the second tunnel, with Candy right behind.

“See? I told you we could trust Rox~” A cracking sound stopped Candy on her tracks and made her look at the floor on the chamber. She quickly rubs her elbow on the surface, and immediately goes several shades paler. “CLAIRE! Stop moving now!”

The sudden outburst caused the two older ponies to jump up in surprise. “Candy, what’s wrong?” Claire asks as she turns in place.

“No, don’t~!” Cotton Candy tried to warn her. However, Crystal Clarity’s clawed hoof breached through the stone beneath it, causing a number of cracks to open and spread all across the floor. “move…”

In a blink, the entire floor shattered and the two mares started falling.

“CeeCee! Claire!” Golden Delicious yelled from the entrance of the second tunnel. He glanced over the ledge to find another floor just two meters below where the first used to be. And just a few meters away from him were the two mares. “GIRLS! ARE YOU OK?!” He calls from above.

“Define ‘OK.’” Claire retorted sarcastically.

“Right, stupid question.” Del mumbled sheepishly. “Come over so I can pull you up”

“NO! Crystal Clarity, don’t move an inch!” Cotton Candy commanded. This time, Claire did as told and remained laying on her stomach.

“Very well. Can you maybe explain what is going on now?” Claire asks as patiently as she could.

“Claire, we are standing over Moskovite.” She plainly explains.

“Moska-what now?” Golden asks from his vantage point.

“Moskovite. It is a thin layer of volcanic stone that forms inside lava shafts. It is incredibly thin and also incredibly fragile. That’s why it fell apart just a few seconds ago.”

“How do you know that?” Claire asks.

“Auntie Maud taught me.”

“So wait a sec.” Del says. “That thing that just broke down was that volcanic fake floor thingie. Didn’t you just say that you’re laying on another one?”

Candy’s ears wilt down at this. “Yes. We were lucky that there was a second layer here. But I can’t tell if there’ll be another one.” She shoots Claire a frenzied stare. “That is why we cannot move, or else it’ll break again!”

“Well, we can’t stay here forever either, There must be a way out!” Crystal Clarity countered.

Del takes a glance at the tunnel behind him before turning back at his friends. “Don't worry, I'll go and see if I can find a rope or something!” He shouted before taking off into it. “I'll be right back, don't move!”

“No duh!” CeeCee called out as the two of them laid down.

‘Gotta hurry, gotta find a rope before it's too late!’ Del thought to himself as he galloped through the empty cave, searching frantically into any and every branching path he found in the main tunnel. However, something caught his eye when he looked into the third exit he found, a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel

As he got closer his eyes widened in disbelief as he realized what exactly he was looking at.

“The Tree of Harmony!” He exclaimed as he approached the object that he and his friends were looking for. There it was, illuminating each corner and cranny of the cavern. They have found their goal

And what was more important: he had found it before Prism!

Now, Golden Delicious finds himself on a golden opportunity to show up to Prism Bolt, he thought with a chuckle. “I just gotta stand next to it and wait for the others to arrive.” Even after saying this, he couldn’t shake away the feeling that something was off.

Shrugging it away, he took a step forward… and immediately fell flat on his barrel after tripping with something. “Well, that’s embarrassing.” He muttered before looking at his hoof and finding them tangled up in a long rope. That’s when it hit him.

“THE GIRLS!” Del immediately shook his head in disbelief as he turned away from the tree, how could he have forgotten about them so easily?!

Del stood up before taking the rope in his mouth and giving one glance at the tree. He could simply wait for the others, but he could not possibly leave Claire and Candy hanging! He turned away and started trotting down the tunnel and back into the lava shaft. “Girls, I’m back. You still with me?”

“No, we went to Prance and partaken on haute cuisine.” Came Candy’s sardonic comment.

“Alright. I found a rope. I’ll throw it at ya and you try to tie it around yourselves.”

“Got it, dear.” Claire answered.

A cracking sound started resounding around the chamber, followed by Candy saying. “Please hurry!”

Del had to throw the rope at least four times before Clarity could reach it with her telekinesis. After some agonizing seconds, she gave a nod. The cracking started getting louder, so Del planted his forehooves on the ground and lowered his head before giving the rope a sharp tug. In an instant, Crystal Clarity and Cotton Candy were sent flying in his direction, just in time before the second layer of moskovite gave away and down a bottomless abyss.

Both mares crashed into the stallion, who gave a sigh of relief after seeing both of them safe and sound. Candy was the first to recover. “Let’s NOT do that again!”

“Seconded.” Says Claire as she climbed off from Del’s barrel and helped him up. “You sure took your sweet time. What kept you?” She asks with a raised eyebrow.

Golden Delicious, on his part, rubbed the back of his head and gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I got a little carried over after finding the Tree and wantin’ to show up to Prism and all…”

“WHAT?” Asked the two mares before taking off trotting down the tunnel, with Del soon falling back behind them.

“It is just by the third…” He began, taking the front of the procession, but when he reached the branching path where he had found the Tree, he only found smooth, untouched stone. “Exit.” He said after fully stopping in his tracks. “It… it was right here. I swear.”

Claire gave him a concerned stare. “Del, dear. Should I ask you if you’re feeling well?”

“I… guess I’m a bit tired, is all.” He said with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I wasn’t going to leave you hanging onto certain death just to one-up Prism once again. Hehe.”

Clarity and Candy gave him both knowing smiles of their own. “Whatever you say.” Said Claire before moving onwards.

“Men.” CeeCee commented before starting to walk behind Claire.

“He-hey! I resent that!” Del retorted before falling back once again. “I mean, I came back for you in the end. That has to count.”

“Yes, and we appreciate it.” Claire said, with a tinge of snarkiness in her voice.

“You girls don’t believe me, do you?”

“Nnnope!” Candy answered.

Del frowned at both of them, but then shook off his head with a smile. “Meh, it ain’t that important. Let’s get out of this dang cave, shall we?” He offered before all three continued walking up the tunnel.

Fangs and Fears

After narrowly escaping that bottomless trap, the three young ponies found themselves in a seemingly endless tunnel in the mines, their path occasionally turned and weaved without rime or reason, and apparently without any branching paths either. Despite her frustrations (and growing doubts about the average Diamond Dog’s IQ), Crystal Clarity kept quiet as she and the two younger ponies continued their trek. Still, she’d much rather have brought the smallest of luxuries to make this situation more bearable.

Thankfully, both Golden Delicious’ and Cotton Candy’s company was more than welcome in this dreary place. “So Del, are you seeing the Tree of Harmony this time?”

“Cut it out already CeeCee,” The only colt in their group pleads. “I already feel bad enough for almost letting you fall to your doom, y’know?”

“Yes, we thank you for coming back to your senses, darling,” Claire adds while giving Candy a look that clearly conveyed “That’s enough” before turning back to look at the road “Let’s just hope we can just find a way out of this dreary mine sometime soon.”

“Yeah,” Candy sighs. “We’re definitely going up though. It’s just a matter of time before we find~”

“A branch!” Claire exclaims excitedly.

“Of course not, silly. Those are on trees!”

“No, Candy, there’s a branching path ahead!” She explains as she starts trotting towards it with feline grace. “With any luck, we’ll find our way out!”

Claire then turns the corner and bumps noses with a teenage dragon.

“Oh goodness!”

Both she and the dragon jump back and recover from their shock. Clarity takes a moment to look at the aqua-blue dragon as she does the same, as if both were trying to recall something. Both Del and Candy glance at each other and cautiously approach, watching as the scene unfolds.

Then at the same time, both Claire and the dragon come to their realization. “You!?”

“You are that dragon that chased me and Illusion all those years ago!” Claire explains, utterly surprised.

“And you’re that little pink freak who came looking for trouble and made her daddy beat me up back then!”

“That’s ridiculous!” Candy interjects. “Can’t you see she’s lavender, not pink?” She says indignantly, even as Golden gently pushes her back while muffling her complaints.

Meanwhile, the dragoness starts huffing while she grumbles “This is great. Not only do I find another group of lost ponies in the same day today, but one of them is that little troublemaker. Can’t I catch a break?”

“Pardon me. Did you just say you’ve encountered another group of ponies today?” Claire inquired with urgency.

The dragon raises an eyebrow before replying. “Yeah. You know ‘em?”

“If we do?! Ha ha, yes! Please miss… um?” Claire gestures with her claw towards the young wyrm, who luckily catches on with a roll of her eyes.

“Avarax. And don’t call me miss!”

“Right,” Claire offers sheepishly. “Could you tell us where they are?”

Avarax let out an exasperated sigh. “They’re back at the surface.”

Something amiss finally caught up with Claire at that moment, seeing how compliable Avarax is acting, but she decided to keep poking around to confirm her suspicions. “Alrighty… would you mind telling us where the nearest exit is?”

At that, Avarax’ eyes open wide as plates and she rears back. “Definitely not through here! Nope! This is not the nearest exit!” Her claw goes directly to her mouth, while a knowing smile creeps onto Clarity’s.

“So this tunnel does lead to an exit. How fortunate.” She says with a musical chuckle.

CeeCee stage whispers to her “Claire, what are you doing? Do you wanna get her angry?”

Crystal Clarity simply laughs more at the prospect. “Oh, I believe that will hardly be an issue at this moment. I think Avarax here became acquainted with Anthea, did you not?” She asks, addressing Avarax herself.

“The one with the magic thing on her head? Yeah. You’re very lucky that whatever she did to me hasn’t worn out yet, or else I'd have opened a can of whoop-your-rump on you right at this moment.”

“Or maybe not right at this moment,” Candy interjects once again before adding in a nervous whisper. “‘Diamond Dog mine’, ‘cave-in’, ‘buried forever’...”

“Uhhh, right…” Avarax says dismissively before gripping the walls of the cave with her claws. “Either way, you three have to scram someplace else. I’m not letting you ponies through my tunnel.”

At this, Claire’s face dons an unreadable expression. “Why won’t you?”

Avarax squints her eyes in a scowl. “Because! I don’t need to explain anything to sissy little ponies. ‘Specially not to a half-dragon freak like you!”

“Alright missy, you take that ba~!” Del’s retort and approach is cut short by a raised, cloven hoof, as Clarity continues to calmly inquire.

“But there is a reason for your animosity- er, anger towards us other than simply wanting anybody away from your hoard, correct?”

Avarax’ eyes widen a little, though not lessening her stance. “Wait, how did you know I keep my hoard here?”

For the first time, Claire lets out an embarrassed laugh. “Let’s just say I know the tell tale signs first-claw. Nevermind that. If you are worried we will plunder anything from your hoard, I can assure you, we have no intentions of doing that. Is that not right, friends?”

“Yeah!” “Sure!” “No need for them!” “We’re just fiiine!” Comes the deluge of agreements from the two ponies in the cave.

Claire continues. “So I say we strike a deal: We want to be out of the mine, and you want us to be out of the mine. Let us go through, and the faster we will be out of your hair- um, spikes.” She ends her offer with an extended hoof-claw.

Avarax drops back on all four claws and stares at the extended limb. After a few seconds she looks up with a scowl. “No.”

“Oh WHY NOT?!” Cotton Candy whines, prompting Golden to push her down, panic defeating the gentleness of the action.

“Because, I haven’t forgotten about what you did.” She growls, pointing at the scar under her left eye for emphasis.

Claire is taking aback. “That wasn’t my fault. My father…”

“Came flying to the rescue of his little precious princess!” Avarax interrupts in a mockingly sweet tone before frowning again. “Which wouldn’t have happened if said little princess wasn’t being so nosy in the first place.”

“But she didn’t do anything wrong. You are the one who went and chased her through the forest!” Del points out.

“Nobody asked you!”

“Right, sorry.” Del apologizes before Candy sweeps both of his right legs off the ground and makes him trip, all the while wearing a quiet smile.

“The point is, that I can’t forget something like that. So yeah, call me spiteful, selfish, whatever other fancy-word you know. I won’t change my mi~!”

“I am sorry.”

“... What?”

“I am truly sorry, that my actions carried such a negative consequence on your well being. I never intended to cause such a violent outcome back then, and I resented my father for a long time for hurting you.” Claire lets out a sigh. “Sadly, that does not change what happened.”

“My apologies. We will be on our way now.” Crystal Clarity states before turning and starting back down the main tunnel, leaving a perplexed teenage dragon staring as her two companions rush to reach her.

After distancing themselves a few paces, Del steps up to walk next to Claire. “Pardon me, but how can you be so calm after she talked to you that way?”

“Oh, I am far from calm, Golden,” She replies, stopping where she stands but never raising her voice. “However, had I failed to contain my distress, who knows how things would have escalated. Trust me, I am livid by her words. But her cuts are quite literally deeper than mine.” She then shakes her head. “No, an unadulterated apology is all and everything I could say to Avarax.”

“Yeah…” Candy says as she walks up to the two of them. “Shame it wasn’t enough to change her mind.”

“Wait!” Calls the dragon’s voice from up the tunnel.

“… Oooor maybe it did.”

Avarax skids to a stop as she reaches the group and looks directly at Claire. “Are you reaaally sorry for what happened?”

Claire walks up to her. “I am. I never intended for any of that to happen.”

Avarax holds her gaze for what feels like an eternity, and Claire holds it back. Finally, Avarax breaks eye-contact by rolling her eyes. “You can go through my exit…”

All three ponies cheer at the announcement. “BUT! You leave my hoard alone.” The dragoness adds while crossing her arms.

Claire nods graciously. “Absolutely. You have my word.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up before I change my mind again.” Avarax says while letting them walk past her. Claire hesitates to speak again, but Avarax simply holds a claw and smiles wryly. “No need to thank me.”

“Very well.” Claire relents before dashing after her friends.

“I’m still sour at your daddy, though!”

The path through the tunnel was a surprisingly straight walk, so all three of them ended up running up, and up and up until there was a blinding flash. A few seconds pass as their eyes adjust to the light and find themselves back in the surface, in a tiny clearing in what’s definitely the Everfree Forest.

“Whoo hoo! We made it BACK!” Cotton Candy cheers, jumping up and down and everywhere.

“I’ll be darned. Never expected to be out so soon. Thanks Claire.”

“Oh, do not be absurd, Golden,” Claire says while waving a claw. “I barely did a thing.”

“That might be, but we are outside thanks to you, you cannot deny that!.”

“Hmm… I guess I can not,” she concedes in a knowing tone.

“Cool! Now, let’s go find the others!” Candy interjects, landing in between the two of them before turning to Claire. “Care to do the honors?”

Claire’s smile is adorned by a furrowed brow as her horns begin to glow. “I’d be delighted.”

Prism Bolt and the rest of his group continue their trek through the Everfree Forest, being wary of their surroundings in anticipation for anything out of the ordinary. “It’s quiet… too quiet.”

“Prism, if you say that one more time, so help me I’ll make you eat your own tail.” Starburst threatens in a bored yet frustrated tone.

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty tired of that too,” Anthea adds from beneath Blitz’ wing. “Besides, aren’t you the one who insists on not inviting danger with worn-down phrases?”

“Yes, because I know what those phrases carry on in these situations! And I’ve been proven right every time! I just want to make sure we are all on edge for anything that could happen!” Prism explain, a bit too loudly for anypony’s comfort.

“We are already on edge,” Turquoise mutters in a tone not unlike Star’s.

“Ugh… Why don’t you check over the canopy again Prism Bolt? See if you find sign of the guys.” Star suggests in a commanding voice.

The pegasus colt replies by shaking his wings before lifting off the ground. “Alright. You stay here and stay together, okay?”

“Okay” All three of them drone boringly as he takes off.

Once up in the air, he hovers in place while slowly panning his gaze over the horizon in search for some kind of sig-

A flame is shot skyward in the distance…

A blue flame… Followed by another.

Eyes widened, Prism Bolt shoots in direction to the fire.

~~o~~

Claire lobs a third fireball into the air, followed by a fourth one, making sure to use just enough magic fire so that it dissipates as the projectiles reach their apex. After the sixth flame, she decided to take a break. “I believe that should be enough for now.”

Not a second after, a tri-colored streak crashes into her, followed by a loud cheer as Prism Bolt hugs the living patience out of Crystal Clarity. “I found you! Foundyoufoundyoufoundyoufoundyoufoundyou!”

“Well, somepony is happy… now, please let me go.” Claire happily says, despite the deep frown and thinning pupils.

Prism complies and lets go while hovering in the air. “I’m really happy that you guys made it back up. I need to tell the others!” He points with a hoof down a path “I saw a larger clearing up ahead. You start walking there and we’ll meet you in a second!” And in a blink, he shot back up and out of sight.

Del looks after the point where he left. “… Gee partner, I’m also glad to see you.” He deadpans

“Yeah, I would rather have him tackle you than myself any day.” Claire comments while shaking off her coat.

Cotton Candy tries to stifle a giggle. “Yeah, well, let’s not worry thinking about that, let’s go,” her struggle becomes hard not to notice as she starts down the road, leaving the two older ponies to stare confusedly at her.

“What is up with her?” Claire wonders.

“Beats me.”

~~o~~

Back with the other group, they all decided to lay down after Prism took more than a minute to come back down. And even there in the dangerous forest, all three ponies were starting to get bored.

“What about we hide so he freaks out when he comes back.” Annie suggests while drawing dribbles with her hooves.

“I don’t think it’d be very funny afterwards.” Star counters.

“It’d be funny to me.” Anthea replies boredly.

“I FOUND ‘EM!” Prism crashes through the trees, startling all three ponies. “They’re back up and up ahead! Follow me!” And just as suddenly, he takes off once again, this time frantically followed by Star and T, the latter carrying Anthea in his arms.

“Prism! Where are they, where did you find them?”

“That doesn’t matter. We’re meeting them all over at a-”

~~o~~

“A swamp?!” Claire exclaims indignantly at the edge of a wide, humid and gaseous marsh. “Of all the places he could lead us to, Prism Bolt has the nerve to lead us to a sticky, muddy SWAMP?! Ugh, send me back to the cave!”

“You’re worried about gittin’ dirty now? C’mon, Clarity.” Del amusedly comments.

“That is not the problem,” She says while cautiously eyeing the nearest puddle. “We do not know how deep the marsh might be, or what might be living in it.” A loud giggle makes both of them look forward to see Candy jumping to and fro the swamp and splashing water in her wake.

“Looks pretty shallow to me. Let’s get moving.” Del says, ignoring Claire’s annoyed moan.

Soon, the three land-bound ponies spot the rest of their friends approaching from the sky, landing amongst a few clouds of fog. “See? I told you I found ‘em!”

“Claire!” Blitz says as he gently drops Annie on the ground and rushes to hug his sister.

Likewise, Cotton Candy jumps in and pulls both Anthea and Starburst into a tight hug while Golden and Prism start telling each other about what the each of them has done and discussing about which feat was better.

Starburst smiles while rolling her eyes, when something draws her attention. “What is that?”

Everypony stops and follows her gaze and find the inklings of a castle spire over the treeline.

“Is that…?”

“The castle ruins!”

“Then that means we finally arrived!”

A loud cheer goes around the group of ponies as their joy and excitement returns tenfold. "Okie-dokie! The whole gang's back together, and the Castle's right on sight! Nothing can go wrong now!” CeeCee cheers as she starts trotting forward… only to notice Prism glaring at her. “What?"

"You just had to say it, didn't you?!" Prism groaned. “You just had to jinx it a third time?”

“Uh, guys?” Claire interrupted. “Was the fog always this thick?”

The seven ponies look around and realize that indeed the fog is growing thicker in an alarming rate, instantly obscuring the castle from them. What is more alarming is that all of them were unable to see farther than three hooves in front of them.

“See?! Bad things for everypony!” Prism yells from somewhere within the fog.

“W-What’s going on?!” Annie calls out in terror. “Where is everypony?!”

“Annie?! ANNIE!!” T shouts.

“Everypony, stay calm!” Starburst commands to her friends. “Stay together and most importantly, don’t~”

Her words are drowned by a sudden tremor and the floor beneath her immediately gives away, causing her and -as she could deduce from the varied yelps- all her friends to fall out of control into a deep chasm. Starburst instantly tried to stop her fall, spreading her massive wings to correct her position, intent on helping everypony immediately after. But before she could do any of that, she collided with something thin, elastic and resilient, jerking her up and completely stopping her fall.

After recovering from the whiplash, she shakes her head and starts calling out “Is everypony okay?” Star crans up her neck to look around for signs of her friends. She found and heard nothing but darkness and silence. Concern floods her mind as she tries to get herself back up again, but finding herself stuck to whatever had broken her fall. “What the…” she mutters before looking at the substance.

She is laying in some kind of net made out completely of white, silk-like ribbons that extended and crossed each other as far as she could see, in a pattern that triggered an alarm in Star’s brain. She pulls her hoof off of it, but the thread stretches and rattles with each of her movements. Her heart starts thumping on her chest as her eyes quickly dart around, realizing not only that none of her friends are with her, but confirming what she was currently on.

She is on a giant spiderweb…

And she’s trapped like a fly!

Her pupils shrink in fear as she starts feeling a vibration on the web, coming from somewhere in the dark cave she was in.

“Somepony…” Star squeaks out. “Help!”

~~o~~

Prism Bolt landed in something soft and familiar after falling for a few seconds. He stands up and shakes his head before taking on his surroundings “Guys are you oka~ What the…?”

He is standing on a cloud high up in the sky. “What? When did I…?” Bolt shakes his head again and furrows his brow. “Alright Prism, make sense of things after you find everypony.” He says to himself as he crouches down and jumps up from the cloud…

…only to fall right on his face. “Ow! My band-aid!” Prism says while rubbing his muzzle, before gathering himself up and trying to take off again, only to fall on his hooves. “What the heck?” He asks while looking to his back. “Aw great. My wings are missing…” He listlessly says… before the realization set in. “MY WINGS ARE MISSING?! What?!”

Bolt starts pacing on the cloud and to hyperventilate. He peeks over the edge of the cloud. “Oh man, that is really high… How am I getting *gulp* down?”

Before he could ponder on that, a small speck of cloud broke from his platform and drifts away. “Wait!” Prism shouts as he catches the tiny cloud with his hoof and pushing it back into the main cloud, “You stay right there!” Even as he does this, another tiny cloud breaks and floats off from the main one. “Wait, stop it!” He screams as he futilely tries to catch it. Another cloud breaks off, followed by another and another, at the same time Prism Bolt rushed to gather as many tiny clouds as he could, all the while feeling his heart jumping into his throat.

“I want my mommy!”

~~o~~

Cotton Candy fell a few meters before landing in some sort of springboard that immediately threw her upwards and through a trapdoor, before the contraption closed itself and she landed on her rump. Before she could recover her bearings, a powder pad applied a thick layer of makeup on her face, a microphone was pushed into her hooves and a spotlight turns on above her. “Wowzies, what is going…” she starts saying before actually looking around where she was currently in. “... on.”

She is in a theatre stage in front of rows and rows of ponies, all of them staring directly at her… the lighting allowed to discern that much. Her eyes, wide as saucers at that very moment, started darting left and right; she notices a sign reading “Cotton Candy’s Clever Comedy,” which only causes her to start sweating profusely. ‘I have to think fast. I have to think fast!!!!’ Candy flashes a daring smile as her hooves quickly scramble in an effort to take her off the stage. However, a vaudeville hook comes from the opposite end she was heading towards and pulls her back on the spot.

“He he, he… Uh, sorry everypony, but I…” Candy mutters through a mouthful of hair, which she had started biting without realizing. “I’m not exactly a come~”

“Say something funny!” Calls a pony from the audience as they throw a tomato next to CeeCee, making a loud *SPLUT.*

“Eeee! Okay, okay!” She says even as she tries to still herself from quavering. “So… Wh- when I heard I’d be p-performing tonight, I-I was besides myself with joy…” She pauses, letting a few seconds go by before speaking again. “Then I realized I was next to a changeling.”

*deafening silence*

“…Not funny!”

*SPLUT*

Another tomato lands right on her face, splattering on impact. Distressed, Candy wipes it off to see that everypony also started throwing more food at the stage, pelting her relentlessly and laughing hysterically while at it. With tears in her eyes, she starts trotting off the stage before another hook catches and pulls her back on stage, where several ropes shoot out of the darkness and wrap themselves around her hooves, pulling her up and forcing her to dance like a puppet as the crowd continues to laugh at her.

“MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP!!”

~~o~~

To say Claire was baffled was an understatement. One second she was falling down a chasm, and now she’s fallen into a lake of some sorts.

Claire desperately flails to reach something solid she can cling onto in a panic. “Of all the places in this forest I could have ended up in, why did it have to be deep water!?” She gasps as she finally pulls herself out of the water and onto a solid surface.

Before she could even start to shake herself off however, she notices that she’s actually standing on logs instead of solid land, which is in fact nowhere to be found in her current scenery. That is because she’s now in the middle of the ocean on a rickety raft.

“Eek!” She yelps before laying belly down and clinging on to the edges on the rocking raft. “Oh no. No, no, no, not here. Anywhere but here!” She trembles as she holds on for dear life at the relentless waves. “SOMEPONY HELP ME!!”

~~o~~

“Gotta go fast. Gotta go fast!” Golden Delicious repeats to himself as he runs through the cave he had just fallen in. Behind him, flapping their leathery wings, the very reason why he is running: A swarm of giant bats!

As he continues to run he finally spots an exit from the tunnels and quickly makes a beeline for it… only to to be confronted by twice the amount of bats that were chasing him, each one baring its fangs menacingly and drooling as they set their sights on him.

“OH, COME ON!!” He screams as he continues to flee in terror.

~~o~~

“I’m telling you! You got the wrong pony!” Turquoise Blitz repeated himself for the nth time as the ponies in lab coats and surgical masks push him through impeccable white hallways.

“I’m sorry Doctor, but there is nopony else qualified for this job,” the nurse pony drones to him in an eerie monotone that raised the scales on the back of Blitz’ neck. “Everything is prepared for surgery.”

“Su-su-surgery?!” He echoes, unable to pull himself away from the ponies no matter how hard he tries. “Please, you gotta let me go, I am really not comfortable with~ Hmmf!” His voice is muffled by a surgical mask placed over his muzzle, just as the same time he is pushed through a pair of doors and into a dimly lit room, with a pony laying on an operating table in front of him. Blitz could barely register that fact before a scalpel was pushed into his claw.

Eyeing both the body and the cutting tool and the multitude of nurses watching him expectantly, Turquoise Blitz could only let out a quiet “Gulp!”

~~o~~

It was dark, cold, quiet... and lonely… not a single hint of color anywhere around Anthea. No matter where Annie looked there was only darkness.

“Please…” She whispers as she curls down on the floor. “Someone please help me… I don't wanna be alone... I don't wanna be alone in the dark!”

No one replies, which only helps to make the pale unicorn feel even more isolated and lonely.

“I don’t wanna be in the dark. Not alone,” she whispers to herself, afraid that the darkness would swallow her. Anthea couldn’t see anything beyond her muzzle, couldn’t feel any warmth around her and could barely tell what she is laying on. She wasn’t even able to tell by scent where she is. She is lost, with nopony around to help her.

“I don’t want to… I don’t want to…” She repeats once and once again, hoping that somepony would find her. She couldn’t help herself now, and her breathing gradually becomes more and more erratic. Anthea soon registers that she’s about to have a panic attack, and couldn’t do anything to stop~

Somepony help me!

Annie’s breath hitches for a second, and she feels her ears lifting up. She holds her breath for a second, trying to catch again that sound.

Leave me alone!

I’m gonna get sick!

Help!

“T? Starburst?” Annie trembles as she climbs onto her hooves. “Guys! Where are you?! I’m over here!”

Annie doesn’t hear any reply, only more faint cries for help. “Am I losing it?” she wonders out loud before shaking her head. “Okay Anthea, question your sanity later. Everypony is near, and they’re in danger too… I gotta do something!” She says, filled with a sudden surge of courage. Then, she tries to conjure light from her horn; even if she couldn’t really see better with it, it would still help her find the guys.

However, she still couldn’t see the light. She could feel her magic working, but she couldn’t see the light shining over anything, not even the tip of her muzzle. She could only see the absolute darkness around her. “That isn’t right. My magic is working, so why can’t I see anything yet?” Annie takes a hesitant step towards the nearest sound, keeping her body low to avoid tripping. Just a few seconds after, she stumbles upon something near her hooves, which flinches back at her touch. Keeping herself from yelping back, Annie slowly neared a hoof to the object. Whatever it was, it is moving on its own, and has a familiar texture to it. “Blitz?”

‘So gross, so gross, so gross…’ Comes the muffled sound of Turquoise’s voice

“Blitz! It is you!” Annie nuzzles the large dragon-pony, heedless of the quivering of his body. “T, what happened? I can’t see anything!” She nudges him to draw his attention, but to no avail. He keeps tossing and turning on the ground. “Biltz, wake up. You’re having a nightmare?”

‘So much… blood…’

“Oh… I hope you are having a nightmare. Where’s everypony else?” She asks herself as she cautiously threads over to another voice. She finds a small pony with massive pegasus wings, also thrashing on the floor.

‘They’re all over me… get them off...’

“Star? Not you too.” With a spring in her step now, she approaches the next pony she could barely hear. Soon, she found out that everypony was still with her, but they were all thrashing and quivering in fear, often muttering in between fits. “Why is everypony having nightmares? It’s almost as if…”

Annie stopped herself mid-sentence. Quickly, she recalls everything she learned about Dream Magic from both Princess Twilight’s lessons and her off-talks with Nidra, as well as going back to the seconds before this very moment. “Yes, that must be it!” She finally concludes as she starts charging up her magic, focusing on the spell she was going to cast. A pale green dome forms around her, restoring the little sight she ever had before it expands all around her and engulfing each and every one of her friends.

Everypony wakes up with a start. Starburst jumps to her hooves, takes a low stand and flares her wings, Candy and Claire yelp and hug each other, Turquoise simply snaps his head up while laying in the floor while Prism and Golden both sit up from where they laid screaming, with the latter throwing a hoof at the former’s face.

“OW! WHAT THE HECK, MAN!?!”

“Sorry partner!” Says the befuddled earth pony.

“Oh good, it worked,” says an almost fainting Anthea, who quickly finds herself draped by a wing and next to a body to lean onto. “Thank you, T.”

“What… did just happen?” Starburst asks, ruffling her chest feathers.

“I’ll explain later, we need to leave the marsh first!” Annie instructs, being picked up and flown onwards with the rest following close behind.

After a moment, all seven kids were resting by an array of rocks overlooking a chasm next to an old bridge. “Okay Annie, do you know what was going on back there?” Starbursts asks, being careful to keep her voice unrattled.

Anthea massages her temples before saying matter-of-factly. “We were in a Spooky Swamp.”

“I bet it was!” Prism Bolt exclaims.

“No. I mean it was a Spooky Swamp. They are a rare natural phenomena that produce a gas capable of inducing sensory hallucinations. Particularly, they make ponies experience their worst fears.”

“So basically, we were all having a nightmare?” Golden offers.

“Essentially, yes,” Anthea answers before shuddering. “Had none of us woken up… well…” She hesitates and finally decides to keep quiet, leaving the implications clear and a many of the ponies gathered to shift uncomfortably.

“He-Hey you guys, quit it with the long faces,” Prism urges everypony, breaking the silence. “None of that happened in the end, did it? We’re all lucky that Annie is crazy smart about all this nature stuff!”

“Yeah! If it weren’t for Annie, we would’ve been swamp goop!” CeeCee adds too. “You saved us!”

Anthea smiles sheepishly. “It’s not as if I wouldn’t have done it. You’re all my friends! I would do anything to help you guys!”

Star stands up and starts walking to Annie. “Still, you were very brave to overcome that illusion all by yourself. Well done, Annie.” She places a hoof on her shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.

Anthea smiles at the gesture before talking again. “Yeah! How lucky that Princess Twilight taught me that spell yesterday! Then we would’ve been in deep trouble.”

Star stiffens a little, Anthea’s smile falters after. But before any of the young mares could say anything else, everypony else gathers to cheer for Anthea, who is swept away from the tiny pegasus. Starburst herself is left standing, silently pondering on why did she feel upset for half a second.

Yet, she didn’t have much time left to ponder. Somepony found the stairs descending the chasm, and one commented on what appeared to be a cave entrance. Star didn’t have time to be upset. She has a mission, and she is definitely going to finish it.

Author's Note

Prologue

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies lived together in peace and harmony under the rule of the Goddess of the Sun: Princess Celestia. However one fateful day, the Princess’ sister, once corrupted with jealousy and spite, returned from her 1,000 year banishment, the wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon."

“Nightmare Moon vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night, and would have succeeded if not for six special mares -the most outrageous bunch of mares you'll ever hear of- who stood together to face the corrupted Princess, each one wielding the magic of the Elements of Harmony: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Magic.”

“Together they freed the Princess from the darkness that corrupted her, and went on to fight many evils that threatened the peace of Equestria. The God of Chaos who was tamed and shown the true power of friendship, shapeshifting creatures that were banished from the lands, an evil Unicorn King who was vanquished with the help of their ally: a brave young dragon.”

“But eventually, they were forced to return the Elements to whence they came: the Tree of Harmony. And in doing so, unlocked a completely new power: the Rainbow Power, which aided them in imprisoning a powerful demon back in Tartarus."

"However as time has passed on, our heroines became older, and started the next, wonderful step of their lives...Parenthood. Each of our heroines eventually married and had children of their own to love and raise. But, even with a new charge on their hooves, they never forgot those daring times of adventure and how they all protected Equestria from Evil…”

Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled as she finished her story before looking down at the sleeping unicorn colt in his bed. “Goodnight Nighty.” She said before giving him a small kiss on his head before leaving the room and letting out a content sigh. ’I never do get tired of that story...’ She thought to herself as she walked down the halls of her castle.

However, darkness doesn’t cease to exist even in times of peace, it only seeks to grow…

“Could you please knock it off?”

“What? I’m not doing anything.” Answered a maroon pegasus wearing royal guard armor

“Seriously, Hot Head. If the Lieutenant catches you, don’t expect me to stand by your side.” Warned the lavender unicorn stallion; Lucky Star. He and his friend; a red Pegasus named Hot Head, had been patrolling the hallways of Canterlot Castle as usual, making sure that nothing was out of place. Of course that is the exact opposite of what his pegasus buddy was doing.

The prankster had spent all their time in duty turning the helmets of every suit of armor they found, so that they were looking at the wall behind it. “Pfft, I don’t get why you’re so worried. I just wanna see how long it takes Fletcher to notice this.” Calmly said Hot Head while adjusting another armor, one that was located on the entrance hall.

“Which could happen sooner than you expect and get you into some serious trouble. Just finish with that one and move on.” Lucky pleaded to his all time friend. Even though Lucky would be much rather avoid unnecessary risks, he also enjoys a good prank once in a while. He’d sometimes even play as a lookout for Hot Head, so that neither of them got caught.

“Hold it right there!”

Just like now.

The two stallions turned around in alarm, only to glare at the source of the feminine voice. An Earth Pony mare with a golden mane and coat giggled as trotted towards the two. "Honestly, you guys can be too easy sometimes!" She snickered.

"Oh ha ha ha, very funny Amber!" Hot Head snorted.

"It's not my fault that you're so easy to tease." She smirked. "And besides, if you're going to go through the effort of pulling a prank..." She paused before grabbing one of the armor Hot Head had been messing with and adjusted the body and back-hoof, making it look like it was taking a leak. "...you need to go the extra mile." She finished as Hot Head fell on the floor laughing and Lucky just rolled his eyes.

"I swear it's like I work with toddlers sometimes!" Lucky groaned. "You do realize we‘ll be in serious trouble if we get caught right? And I'm not covering for you two this ti-" The lavender unicorn's eyes widened when he noticed someone approaching them, the other two noticed their friends shift in tone and immediately turn to where he was looking...and gasped in shock

It was not a pony, that much was sure. It appeared to be a large gargoyle of some sort. It was tall, even taller than Princess Celestia herself, though that was because it walked on its hind legs. Brown fur covered its body, ending just before its wrists and ankles, after which each member ended on a grey skinned appendage. On the back it sported a pair of bat wings and long tale, the end of which ended in a tuft of dark brown, similar to the lion mane around its neck, that just barely reached the top of it’s head. The creature's face resembled that of a baboon, with a long muzzle and flat nose. However, the most shocking thing of the gargoyle were its eyes, black as the void, with green irises.

"Halt! State your name immediately!" Lucky shouted as he quickly got in front of his friends.

“I need to speak to the Princesses at once.” Said the gargoyle in a raspy, slithery voice.

"I don't think you heard him." Amber said with a scowl as she and Hot Head got to their friend’s side. "State your name immediately or we will be forced to use force!"

The gargoyle narrowed his eyes for a moment before sighing and relaxing his muscles. "My name is Scorpan, I come bearing important news for the Princesses."

"And why in Celestia's mane should we believe you?!" Hot Head snorted as he took a step forward. "For all we know you could be planning to assassinate the Princesses!"

Scorpan seemingly rolled his eyes, before giving the three of them a deadpan expression. "Yes, because assassinating the Princesses within breathing distance of the God of Chaos would be such a good plan." He said, sarcasm dripping off of every word.

Hot Head was about to retort when another voice interrupted them. "What is going on here?!"

Everyone turned to see another Royal Guard approaching them, an Earth Pony Stallion with a light brown coat and a brown & yellow mane.

"Commander Fletcher!" Hot Head exclaimed giving a salute, mimicking that of his friends. "This creature," He said, casting a glare at the gargoyle. "Is demanding entrance as well as an audience with the Princess!"

Fletcher arched a brow. "And you are...?"

"Scorpan." He answered, just mildly annoyed at the slow reception.

Fletcher blinked. "Scorpan? As in Scorpan, "Brother of Tirek"?" He asked, much to the three guards confusion.

Scorpan nodded.

"Wait, you know this guy?" Amber asked.

“I’ll debrief the three of you later. Please Sir, follow me.” Added Fletcher addressing the unusual guest. Both took to the hallways, undoubtedly in direction to the throne room, leaving the trio of guards completely confused. However, right before he turned a corner, Fletcher returned to address them. “By the way, Hot Head. Somepony has been messing with the castle armors. Be sure to fix those few after you polish each and every one of the castle.” Satisfied with the instruction, the lieutenant continued his way.

“Oooooooh, busted!” Lucky taunted him while Amber snickered shamelessly.

“Shaddup.” Hot Head muttered.

"You too, Amber!" Fletcher called, causing the Earth Pony to stop giggling, Lucky simply gave them a smug smirk.

As Fletcher and Scorpan entered the throne room, they were treated to the sight of the Princess of the Sun in the middle of an argument with her husband; Discord.

"Honestly, you are just impossible sometimes!"

"I honestly fail to see how this is my fault."

“Who else would drop a bucket of bleach that turned me into GRAYSCALES?!” Hollered the alicorn mare to the suddenly frightened draconequus. Effectively, the pinkish white alicorn, with a flowing mane of the colors of the morning lights and golden and purple regalia now stood up in the throne room with none of those colors, but rather a selection of gray tones. It was a rather amusing sight to behold, which earned a stifled laugh from the current visitor, prompting the couple to direct their gazes upon him, after which the Princess of the Sun seemingly exchanged her rage into confusion. “Scorpan? What are you…?”

“My apologies, your Majesty.” Interveined Commander Fletcher, taking a step toward the Princess and giving a deep bow. “Lord Scorpan has arrived just a few minutes ago. He claims to have important news to give you.”

Princess Celestia nodded in understanding, and after asking Scorpan to wait a few seconds more, she returned to her husband. “Could you at least turn me back again?”

Discord immediately snapped his fingers and in a flash Celestia recovered all of her colors. “If you ask me, you look just fine either way.”

“Thanks honey, but we’re not done about this.” The Princess added before dismissing both him and the lieutenant, though she knew the former wouldn’t go too far, leaving just herself and the current king of the Demon Wastelands. “It’s been a long time Scorpan, but I’m glad to see an old friend again.”

“The sentiment is mutual, your highness.” Said the gargoyle demon at the same time he gave a brief bow. “I’d come to visit sooner, but due to the recent events… How is he?” Scorpan asked in a solemn tone.

Celestia also took on a sad semblance as she faced that question. “Tirek’s been kept under triple security after his re-imprisonment, but he’s still as defiant as ever.” Celestia winced when she looked the expression on Scorpan’s face, that betrayed the burden of shame and guilt. There was something else on him though, like certain eagerness to say something that is bothering him. “But Tirek is not the reason you came to Equestria, is it?”

Scorpan somberly nodded before turning to gaze upon the morning sky, the Sun pouring its light through the room’s windows. “I’m afraid you are right, Celestia. I have terrible news for Equestria:” He turned to see Princess Celestia to the eye, and she could see the graveness of the situation engraved on his factions.

“Grogar is returning.”

DarknessRising And Hidden Scorpius XI, present:
A “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” Fanfiction.
Based on the characters created by Kilala97.

My Little Pony Next Generation: The New Harmony!