The Quill of Eternity

Chapters

Chapter 2 - Canterlot
Chapter 3 - Everfree
Chapter 4 - The Book
Chapter 5 - The Blanks
Chapter 6 - Ursas
Chapter 7 - Mitta
Chapter 9 - Reunion
Chapter 10 - Appaloosa
Chapter 11 - Strongheart
Chapter 12 - In the Orchard
Chapter 13 - Crusading
Chapter 14 - A Clue and a Clubhouse
Chapter 15 - The Fourth Crusader
Chapter 16 - Rainbow Dreams
Chapter 17 - An old friend
Chapter 18 - Friends Forever
Chapter 19 - Aftermath
Chapter 20 - Dragon Trials
Chapter 21 - Princess
Chapter 22 - Chaos
Chapter 23 - Princesses and Pie
Chapter 24 - The Crystal Cave
Chapter 25 - A Clue Within Crystals
Chapter 26 - BBBFF
Chapter 27 - A True Rarity
Chapter 1 - Discord
Chapter 8 - The Deal

Chapter 2 - Canterlot

“Discord… you‘re not getting away with what you did…” Twilight lets out an annoyed huff looking forward and seeing Canterlot is still far away she stops walking, slowly looking around before sitting with a sigh, “I‘m feeling so drained… and my hooves are hurting.” Twilight had been walking for three hours without resting, and after her sobbing and everything that had happened that day she wanted to continue but the unicorn lets out a deep sigh before she enters the bushes off to the side of the path.

Twilight lays down under a bush and curls up, closing her eyes as she breathes slowly, “I don‘t even know if I can be safe here…” Her breathing slows as she eventually drifts off to sleep, giving her body some much-needed rest.

A few hours pass before Twilight awakens to a hoof nudging against her stomach. The unicorn looks up sleepily, her eyes steadily adjusting to the darkness of night around her, “The sun went down…?”

“Of course the sun went down, Twilight. Now get up because Trixie is getting you to that castle!” Twilight’s eyes snap open and she stands up quickly. Standing across from her is none other than the light blue unicorn herself, the self-proclaimed, Great and Powerful Trixie, “Where are your little friends, Twilight?” Twilight pauses, seeing genuine concern in Trixie’s face as she looks around. Twilight looks down sadly, closing her eyes,

“They… we confronted Discord with the Elements and… he turned them all to stone… even the princess. She shielded me from the Elements of Harmony when Discord used them.” Trixie takes a step back looking stunned and she shakes her head,

“There’s… there‘s no way that‘s true Twilight! How could Discord wield the Elements anyway?!” Twilight sighs as she opens her eyes again, meeting the gaze of the unicorn,

“The Elements of Harmony are magical artifacts and since Discord has much stronger magic than both Celestia and Luna… he must have been able to tap into their power by corrupting them in some way. That‘s what I think at least… I bet the princess would know…” Twilight then gasps as Trixie slaps her across the face,

“Get a grip Twilight! Your friends and Celestia are gone now! What you need to do is keep a clear head and do what you need to do. Quit this moping around and do something!” Twilight looks down for a moment, saying nothing for a few moments before nodding,

“Y-you‘re right Trixie… but… what are you doing here?”

“Twilight, Discord‘s powers have spread far wider than Ponyville. I knew that Discord‘s statue was in the gardens and once all of this chaos began happening, Trixie decided to come to Canterlot to set him straight.” Twilight nods as she turns and walks out of the bushes followed closely by Trixie,

“It‘s going to be really dangerous Trixie… we‘re going to the castle to try and find Princess Luna. Are you sure you‘re up to this? I have no idea where Discord is now…” Trixie walks out onto the road, the same aura of magic cloaking her hooves preventing her from sliding on the soap,

“We‘re in a world of chaos now Sparkle. There is no room for cowardice. I‘ve been working on my magic to compete with you ever since I saw you last. Now let‘s go, the sooner we get to the castle the higher the chance of us being able to rescue Luna if she‘s in danger.” Twilight simply nods in response and the two unicorns begin galloping up the hill towards Canterlot, Trixie’s purple cape blowing in the wind as they run. They continue running for another hour, Twilight soon skidding to a halt as both she and Trixie gasp.

Canterlot is made up entirely of chocolate and various other dessert items. The path under their hooves had turned to bricks of white and dark chocolate, the unicorns looking around slowly as they enter through the gate, “This is… Trixie has never seen anything like this!” Twilight slowly nods as her eyes continue scanning the area,

“Trixie… where are all of the ponies?” Whilst Canterlot was made up of desserts, the entire city is deserted and not a single resident walks the streets,

“It‘s possible that they‘re inside of their homes. Let‘s check it out before heading to the castle!” They both nod to one another before opening the doors to various homes along the city street, both making the same discoveries that shock them to their cores. The ponies were all inside of their homes, but each and every one that the two unicorns found were made of chocolate, horrified looks permanently frozen on their faces. They hurried back to one another, both panting and trying to keep from vomiting at the sight. They both let out slow breathes before looking up at Canterlot Castle above the city,

“Discord did this to everyone… Colts… Mares… even all of the fillies…” Twilight growls stomping her hooves on the ground shattering the chocolate bricks under her, “They were just innocent ponies!” Trixie remains staring at the ground, clearly distraught over what she had just seen, “Trixie… you see what kind of a being we‘re dealing with now… If Discord has done this to Princess Luna as well he now has control of most of Equestria!” Trixie growls shaking her head rapidly before stomping her hoof,

“Then what are we standing around here for!?” They nod to each other and turn, running towards the castle, both with determined looks on their faces, passing chocolate forms of the palace guards as they get closer to the castle.

Both unicorns arrive at the front doors of the castle, seeing the two guards out front in determined, battle stances, both turned to chocolate like the other ponies in Canterlot. They hurry past the frozen guards and continue looking around, both of their horns lightly glowing as they cautiously walk down the halls of the castle. Twilight stops walking, putting up a hoof in front of Trixie as her ears twitch, “Trixie hold on…”

“Twilight what is…” Both of them watch as a black and starry trail disappears into one of the doors off to the side. Trixie nods and points off to where the trail disappeared,

“Luna must be alright!” Twilight takes off and opens the door, quickly motioning for Trixie to follow her,

“Come on!” The light blue unicorn quickly follows and as they enter the door closes, the two running through a dark hallway, their eyes fixed on a fading trail before they both slide to a halt again, many doors lining the edges of the hallway as they both look around,

“What now Twilight? Discord is obviously chasing her!” Twilight pauses as she looks around slowly before her gaze snaps back to the end of the hallway, a solid wall standing in their way,

“Right, and being a princess there has to be some kind of safe place in case of a takeover like this.” Trixie lays a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and she shakes her head,

“Twilight what if this is a trap?” The light purple pony shakes her head, looking forward with a gaze of determination as she suddenly runs towards the wall,

“There‘s a very powerful magic spell on this wall. Something Discord would never be able to find!” As Twilight touches the wall at the end of the hallway there is a bright flash of light and she disappears leaving Trixie wide-eyed,

“T-Twilight?! How dare you not wait for Trixie!” She hurries to the wall disappearing in a flash as Twilight did.

Trixie appears a few feet off the ground. Shaking her hooves rapidly before hitting the floor with a thud, “Where are we…? Twilight?” Trixie pauses, looking at the walls around them, made of hard stone instead of the chocolate of the rest of the castle as she stands up. She looks ahead, seeing Twilight looking towards the other end of the room and follows her gaze, seeing Princess Luna laying on a pile of hay looking at them with a gentle smile on her face,

“Twilight Sparkle, we are overjoyed to see you managed to escape Discord‘s powers.” Trixie silently walks forward to join Twilight as they both stand before the Princess, “We… my apologies… I was with my sister when she was writing the letter you undoubtedly now have in your possession.” Twilight slowly nods as her horn glows and the letter slides out of her bag, “As I thought.” Twilight gives a sad sigh as she hangs her head, the letter returning to her bag,

“Princess, Discord has taken over the entirety of both Ponyville and Canterlot… all of the ponies… they‘re all chocolate.”

“I know Twilight. I witnessed Discord‘s invasion…” Luna looks down and off to the side, a tear sliding down her cheek, “I heard their screams… every one of them running into their homes… that monster just walking down the street shooting these beams of light at the buildings… then it was all over, all of that screaming was ceased. I could do nothing but watch.”

“Princess what should we do now? We need to get out of here!” Luna pauses as her gaze turns to Trixie,

“You must be Trixie. Twilight spoke of you quite a long time ago and if you are here I trust you‘re here as our ally. Now then, there is something that needs to be found before we can depart this place and you will have to work together to obtain it.” Twilight tilts her head looking curiously towards the princess,

“And what do we need to find so we can get out of here?”

“There was a book I was unable to find before Discord got into the castle. It was brought here a few months ago by the one my sister mentioned in that letter to you.” Twilight pauses as she thinks for a moment before taking a step forward, her eyes widening,

“You‘re talking about Written Dreams aren‘t you? And the book is… ‘The Quill of Eternity’ right?” Luna simply nods in response to Twilight’s words, Trixie remaining silent as she takes in the information, “Written Dreams isn‘t here then. Where is the book?”

“When he was here, Written Dreams was staying in the suite at the top of the castle, you remember where your friend Rarity stayed while she was here?” Twilight nods, both of the unicorns with looks of determination on their faces, “Twilight Sparkle, Trixie, getting to the top of the tower means you‘re going to have to pass through most of the castle which means there is a high chance that you‘ll be confronted by Discord. We need that book if we‘re going to have any hope in finding that Pegasus.” Trixie looks back at the wall behind them watching it shimmer slightly,

“Are you going to be coming with us princess?” Luna shakes her head as she slowly stands up,

“I cannot as it is far too risky for me to leave this room with Discord searching for me like he is. Go now ponies, move quickly and do your best to remain undetected and under no circumstances are you to teleport. That kind of magical output would bring Discord to you immediately.” They both turn and hurry out through the magically sealed wall appearing back in the chocolate walls of the castle. The two of them hurry down the hallway, peering around corners before heading up the main stairway and across to the second level of the castle seeing battle-ready guards frozen in chocolate form periodically along the way.

Trixie remains almost silent as they continue down the hallways, ever vigilant that they could run into Discord at any moment, “Trixie.. You seem, I don‘t know, quiet.” The light blue mare walks to the end of a hallway with her and pushes the door open, looking up at a tower room at the top of many stairs,

“We‘re almost there. Come on Twilight.” The only sound around them is the light clopping sound of their hooves against the bricks under them as the unicorns ascend the stairs silently,

“Trixie…? What are you thinking about?” Trixie looks over to Twilight as they continue walking,

“I‘m just thinking about all of these things that have happened… it‘s all such a nightmare…” Trixie looks down with a light sigh as they begin to approach the large doors of the suite,

“Okay, here we are… the book shouldn‘t be hard to find at all.” Her hoof reaches out, pushing the door open and both of them walk through the threshold and into the room, a very sinister laugh filling the air as the door slams shut behind them.

Discord is sitting on the bed staring at the two of them with his head laying in his bear paw, “You‘ve come all this way Twilight Sparkle. For nothing but the princess I can only assume…” Discord slides off the bed and stands, towering above them as he grins darkly, “If Luna were here I would have gotten rid of her already.” Twilight growls as her horn glows brightly and her hoof hit’s the ground like a bull preparing to charge,

“Discord how could you do such horrid things to all of those innocent ponies?! And where are my friends and Princess Celestia?!” Discord raises a finger, shaking it slowly a few times,

“Twilight Sparkle after everything that has happened are you truly still trying to stop me? Oh and I have a question…” Discord casts his eagle claw out to one side, it glowing brightly and Trixie flies into his grip, a book falling from her grasp and sliding across the floor over to Twilight, “Who are you?” Trixie struggles in the Draconequus’ grip, Discord smiling and laughing at her attempts, “Well aren‘t you a feisty one!”

“Unhand me you beast!” Trixie growls as she flails around, yelling loudly before she bites down hard on Discord’s claw, the spirit of chaos recoiling and dropping her to the floor as he shakes his hand. Trixie lands and jumps back a few feet facing Discord with a growl. Discord snickers darkly as he stares down at the small unicorns and his claws begin glowing brightly,

“That‘s it! I‘ve had enough of you two!” Trixie looks back to Twilight with a yell,

“Twilight get out of here! I can stall him while you escape!” Twilight takes a step back, shaking her head as her expression turns to one of dread,

“Trixie you can‘t do that!! I can‘t abandon you! I won‘t leave!” Trixie’s horn glows brightly as she growls, “No time for a goodbye speech Twilight! I pity you won‘t get to witness my finest hour!” A powerful surge of magic fires from Trixie’s horn blasting into Twilight and she’s teleported from the room along with the book. Trixie looks back to Discord, seeing the Elements of Harmony shimmering brightly as he smirks looking down at her. Trixie stands her ground, glaring up at Discord,

“You don‘t honestly think a few pieces of flashy jewelry are going to be enough to defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie do you?!” She stamps her hoof, her horn glowing brightly as the blue unicorn charges with a yell, her starry purple cloak blowing behind her.

Twilight appears in a flash of light back on the first floor of the castle. She looks around quickly before looking up towards the tower, “Trixie!!” A tear slowly slides down her cheek, landing on the ground before she slowly turns away and runs back towards the magical barrier, “I can‘t lose anyone else…” She reaches the barrier quickly and slows down to a slow trot. Twilight reaches the wall and reaches out her hoof to touch it, a high-pitched scream of pain echoing throughout the halls and sends a chill down the unicorn’s spine, her ears pinning back as she looks down at the floor, walking through the barrier and she appears in the hidden chamber once again before she collapses to the ground sobbing uncontrollably. Princess Luna stands and slowly walks over to her, leaning her head down and nuzzles the unicorn lightly,

“Twilight… there is going to be a lot of sacrifices as you continue down this road… did you manage to retrieve the book?” Twilight sniffs a few times as she wipes her tears and slowly stands, her head hung low as she slowly nods, her horn glowing softly as the book raises from her bag and lays on the floor,

“This… this is so hard princess… I don‘t want to lose anyone else to Discord… especially when all they want to do is help me…” She looks up sadly, staring into Luna’s eyes, “Luna… please don‘t sacrifice yourself for me… I can‘t be alone again… It‘s just too painful.” Luna’s horn glows and the book raises up,

“Twilight Sparkle… I am going to do all I can to aid you in defeating Discord. During our quest I may fall but I need you to be strong and continue on no matter how hard this becomes.” Twilight lets out a slow sigh but nods to her, watching as Luna raises the book with her magic and it slides into the princess‘ own saddlebags on her waist, “For now we must escape this place. Once we are far enough away from Discord we need to find a safe place and then read that book, using it, we‘ll find any leads we can on tracking down Written Dreams along with the Quill.” Luna’s horn begins to glow brightly and she looks down at Twilight, “We‘re going to teleport a good distance away, get ready!” Twilight nods with a strong look as her horn glows and a powerful blast of magic engulfs the two of them, leaving the room bare.

Luna and Twilight appear back near the beginning of the road leading towards Canterlot, Twilight slowly looking around before she gazes up at Princess Luna, “Are we far enough away yet?” Luna pauses and looks up at Canterlot in the distance before shaking her head,

“Not quite yet. Discord would have noticed that kind of magical burst. We‘ll head through Ponyville and get into the Everfree Forest.” Neither of the mares say another word as they gallop through the chaotic town, the moon hanging high in the sky as they continue approaching the forest in the distance.

A few minutes of running later the two stand at the edge of the forest, both gazing forward as they walk inside. The dark trees twisted and decayed, looking much more haunted than they ever had before, “Princess… what did Discord do to the forest…?”

“From the looks of it he brought to life the fear that the forest places in ponies… we must be so much more careful if we‘re to get through because in this forest… I feel as though Discord would be a welcomed sight.”

Chapter 3 - Everfree

“Twilight get down!” Luna yelled as she leapt towards the unicorn, Twilight getting down low as the princess jumped over her. She watched as the princess slammed into a snarling wolf comprised entirely of wood. Luna swiped with her hoof, slamming one to the ground as she turned, seeing Twilight bucking one of the wolves hard causing it to recoil and move back. The two were slowly surrounded by the magical wolves, their eyes a dark and sinister red color as they continued to snarl,

“Princess what are we going to do?!” Luna crouched, looking quickly around them before looking back to Twilight,

“We charge through!” They both stomped a hoof before rushing towards one of the wolves, slamming hard against it and sent it skidding back before they began running quickly down the path, “We‘ll get away from them. Timberwolves aren‘t the fastest creatures in the forest!” Twilight simply nodded as they continued running for a while longer, slowing down to a quick trot as the snarling and howling of the wolves behind them faded,

“Princess… are we going through the entire forest before we open that book?”

“No, Twilight. We‘re almost there. The safest place I can think of in this forest is the very place you and your friends used the Elements of Harmony on me. We‘re heading to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.” The two continued down the path for a few more minutes before Twilight looked up ahead before going into a gallop, Luna blinking before hurrying after her, “Twilight why are you running?!”

“We‘re near Zecora‘s house!”

“Twilight slow down!” Luna hurried after the unicorn, panting as she’s finally able to slow down to a trot and join Twilight’s side, seeing the pony looking across at a house made from a tree, a few tribal masks around the area and various vines hanging down around the area as well, “The area… is unchanged?” Twilight nodded as she walked over to the front door and laid her hoof against the wood, a light flashed against her touch and spread across the entire tree, leaving it lightly shimmering as the unicorn pushed the door open and walked inside followed closely by Princess Luna, the two of them walking through the thin veil of magic. The inside of the tree was fairly dark, a bubbling cauldron in the center of the room, tribal masks on the walls and various jars of herbs and spices lining the shelves around them,

“Zecora! It‘s Twilight Sparkle! Are you here?”

“What is this my ears do hear?” Twilight’s eyes lit up and a bright smile appeared on her face as the Zebra walked out of the shadows smiling at the two of them, “Escapees of The Puppeteer!” Twilight ran over to her, embracing the zebra tightly as tears slid down the unicorn’s face,

“Zecora I‘m so happy you‘re safe! How did you stop Discord‘s magic from changing you to stone or… or anything else?!”

“Discord‘s power stretched so thin, I made a brew so I could win. The magic I made shielded my home, similar to an anti-chaos dome.” Twilight’s hooves set back down on the floor as she listened to Zecora’s words, “You must tell me what happened when, you and your friends fought Discord again.” Luna rolled her eyes, finding the Zebra’s rhyming a bit less than amusing, walking over to the side of the room before she sat down. Twilight looked over to her before looking back to Zecora, taking the next hour to explain to her what she had been through that day. Zecora remained silent as Twilight spoke, making them each a cup of tea and giving them each a bit of bread,

“Thank you Zecora… do you have any way of turning statues back into ponies?” Zecora paused as she thought, bringing a hoof to her chin before her hoof laid back on the floor, her head shaking slowly,

“I‘m sorry Twilight, I wish I could aid you, but I do not possess that kind of brew.” Luna closed her eyes, sipping her tea slowly before she opened them once again looking across at the zebra,

“Zecora… I pray you‘re able to come with us. Twilight has said much about you in her letters and there is no doubt in my mind that your knowledge would aid us greatly in our quest.”

“I had almost given up hope that anyone would come, together we‘ll defeat that demon, that scum. It‘s far too dangerous traveling at night, sleep now and we‘ll continue in the light.” The ponies looked at each other before nodding, deciding it would be best to stay in Zecora’s home for the night. Luna trotted over to a corner with many pillows before she silently laid down, laying down her head as she closed her eyes. Twilight looked over to Zecora as she laid down on the pillows she and Luna had been sitting on as they drank their tea,

“Zecora? Do you know of a Pegasus known as Written Dreams?” Zecora paused as she looked down, thinking for a few moments before looking back up at Twilight and nodding,

“Yes miss Twilight, I have met him twice, he has a very kind heart and is very nice.” Twilight listened closely as Zecora began recounting the tale of the time she had met the Pegasus.

Zecora looked over to her door hearing a light tapping against the wood. She tilted her head walking over to the door before opening it and smiled warmly as she saw the dark blue Pegasus standing just outside wearing saddlebags at his sides, “Welcome to my home, why is it here you have come to roam?” Written Dreams gave a light bow as he stood before Zecora, before looking back up at the zebra with a smile,

“It‘s a pleasure to meet you miss Zecora, the princess told me that you are a master of a great variety of potions.” Zecora motioned him inside, the two entering her house as Written Dreams closed the door behind them,

“The princess is wise to send you to me, a potion I‘m sure I can make for thee.” Written Dreams looked around the house slowly, standing off to the side before walking over and peering into the bubbling liquid in Zecora’s cauldron,

“My name is Written Dreams by the way.” Zecora nodded in response before trotting back over to her cauldron with a jar in her mouth, tilting her head sideways and she shook the contents into the cauldron before setting down the jar and smiling, using a wooden staff to stir the liquid,

“Written Dreams of such a dark shade, what potion is it you need to be made?” The Pegasus continued staring down into the cauldron for a few more moments before looking back up to her, inhaling a few of the fumes in the process,

“A potion that can stop magical traps I may be potentially facing on my journey. The more coverage the better. Could you make me such a potion?” Zecora hummed as the stick left her mouth and she nodded with her normal gentle smile,

“It will not be hard to make that for you, in a few hours I can make you that brew. Wait over there I don‘t require aid, I ask what you have for me as a trade?” Written Dreams trotted off to the side, sitting down on a few small pillows as he looked over at Zecora. He leaned his head down to his bag, withdrawing a small bag that jingles a bit as he drops it into his hoof,

“Would thirty bits be enough?” Zecora walks over to one of the shelves, taking a rather large vial into her mouth before walking over to a counter and sets it down,

“Far more than enough, you are the generous one, I shall include something to stun.” Zecora looked off to the side and opened a cabinet, taking out a lightly shining vial and set it on the counter, “Shattering this will make a bright flash, effective if you need to make a dash.” Written Dreams continued looking slowly around the inside of the house as he patiently waited for Zecora to finish the potion,

“Thank you very much Zecora, I‘m sure I‘ll be using it eventually. I met one of your friends yesterday, Twilight Sparkle. She was very helpful in finding a book I needed.”

“Twilight is excellent to go to for aid, her mind is of an exceptional grade.” A few hours passed, Written Dreams fell asleep on the pillows and awoke to find Zecora standing before him,

“Oh my… I apologize for falling asleep…” Written Dreams reached out with a smile as he stood up, taking a few vials and slid them into his bags one at a time, “Thank you very much Zecora, I‘m sure these will help me.” He handed her the bag of bits and trotted over to the door, opening it as Zecora walked over as he walked out turning back towards her, lifting her hoof and placing a kiss upon it, “I‘m sure we shall meet again Zecora.” The zebra let out a slight laugh, nodding with a light smile as she saw the Pegasus off, waving to him as he flew away through the trees above them,

“Farewell pony of the silver mane, I look forward to meeting you once again.”

Twilight had closed her eyes during the story and opened them again as Zecora finished, giving her a light smile, “So he came to you for anti-magic potions… that‘s a little odd. Perhaps he thought he would need them in his search for the Quill of Eternity. That is the book he borrowed from me when he came to the library that one time.” Twilight said as she recalled her own encounter with the Pegasus. She had finished her tea and watched as Zecora takes her tea cup into another room before returning, “Zecora… you mentioned meeting him twice?” Zecora walked over to the cauldron, stirring it a few times before looking back to Twilight and nodding,

“Indeed I did Twilight, but sleep now, it is almost midnight.” Twilight sighed as she laid her head down, hearing Zecora walk into another room she closed her eyes, waiting patiently in silence before she finally fell into a deep sleep,

“I wonder… if the others ever met him…?” Twilight’s breathing regulated as her sleep deepened and soon she began to dream.

Twilight blinked her eyes a few times as she awoke, looking around and seeing nothing but crushing blackness in all directions. She paused for a moment before focusing, her horn glowing brightly and illuminating the area before her. Still nothing but blackness but as she looked down she saw a path of dirt with nothing but grayness outside of the trail. She looked behind her, the illumination of her horn showing nothing but the grey earth indicating she was at the beginning of the path.

The unicorn shrugged to herself before she began walking down the trail, looking from left to right trying to see more than the dirt path under her hooves, “Where could I possibly be…?” The only sound around her was the light clopping of her own hooves as she continued walking, “It could at least be brighter-- ow!” Twilight gasped as she bumped into something cold and hard. She paused taking a step back as she shook her head and looked forward before she gasped. Before her was the petrified form of Pinkie Pie although instead of the horrified expression on her face like before, she looked incredibly sad with solidified tears in her eyes and a few tears sliding down her cheeks. She was also sitting down in a normal sitting position looking directly towards Twilight. She swallowed and let out a slow sigh before taking a step towards Pinkie’s statue, laying her hoof on the statue’s face and her ears drooped, her head hanging down as she closed her eyes and continued down the path.

The unicorn continued walking for a few minutes, occasionally passing another statue of one of her friends; Applejack next, then Rarity, Fluttershy, and then finally Rainbow Dash before she felt herself begin walking uphill but still she followed the path, feeling herself beginning to cry after having seen all of her friends with such sad and tortured expressions. Twilight suddenly stopped as the blackness around her came to an end, a thin line separating the darkness from green grass and the dirt path she’d been following. She stepped onto the illuminated path and let her horn stop glowing, since the darkness had left.

She paused and looked back behind her before she jumped back in fright. The five statues of her friends were standing directly behind her although now, instead of the sorrowful faces, they all had pleading looks, each with a hoof outstretched towards her. They were standing in a half-circle, their outstretched hooves touching one another. Twilight felt herself smile softly as she held out her hoof, touching each of their hooves at once as a tear slid down her cheek and touched the ground beneath her.

She turned after a few minutes and continued down the path before her, looking off into the distance seeing one final statue atop the hill, “Princess…?” She began galloping towards her and quickly reached the statue, looking up at her with teary eyes, “Princess! I…” She looked up at the princess, seeing a gentle smile on her face as the statue looked down at her. Twilight looked away, hanging her head and closing her eyes.

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student…” The unicorn gasped and looked up at the princess, seeing her looking down at her as before, but more animated than before, not as solidified,

“P-Princess…?” Princess Celestia nods to her, Twilight taking a few steps back staring up at her,

“Twilight Sparkle… by saving my sister and helping to get her out of the castle you have already made progress in your quest.” Twilight gasped as she felt the princess embrace her closely to her cold body,

“Princess… I don‘t feel like I‘ve made any progress at all!”

“Are you crazy?! It‘s not like you just laid down and did nothing after what happened to us!” Twilight turned hearing Rainbow Dash’s voice and smiled seeing her friends behind her, although they were all still statues,

“RD‘s right Sugarcube. Ya‘ll kept on movin’ after that fight with that feller Discord.” Applejack said as she and the others continued smiling as they all looked towards Twilight,

“Princess… I don‘t understand why this all happened… why did you tell us to use the Elements of Harmony when we weren‘t going to be able to defeat Discord in the end?” Celestia released her and stepped back, looking towards the unicorn and her friends with a serious expression,

“I did not think that Discord would be able to so easily defeat you all and for that I feel I must apologize to you. I‘m so sorry that you have to go through all of this alone Twilight but just because you don‘t have your friends or I with you that doesn‘t mean you cannot still succeed. There are others who were able to escape Discord‘s powers and you will no doubt be able to find them on your quest. Twilight Sparkle… Discord is going to begin chasing you if he believes you to have become a threat. Right now he thinks you small and broken but he knows that you have my sister with you. Do not give him a reason to come after you because believe me, he will and if he does… then you may suffer more loss.” Twilight looks down with a sad sigh,

“Princess… everyone… I‘ve already lost all of you and then I lost Trixie so soon after I met her again… Why me princess?! Why did you save me?! Why am I so special?!” Twilight paused as she heard nothing in response and she looked up, falling silent as she looked around quickly. She was alone again on the hill, looking down and closing her eyes again as she stomps her hoof, “Don‘t go!!”

“Twilight Sparkle…” Her eyes snapped open as she looked up, gasping as she took a step back. The dark blue Pegasus stood in front of her, his mane and tail slightly shining in the sunlight around them, “There is no doubt in my mind that you are going to be able to find me as long as you keep moving forward.” The unicorn shakes her head and drops her head yelling towards the ground as her tears fall,

“I… I know that it‘s just I don‘t want to lose any more of my friends to Discord.” Twilight looks up as she feels a hoof on her shoulder and looks up seeing Written Dreams standing in front of her, feeling herself blush given how close he was, his face nothing but serious,

“Twilight listen to me. This is going to be harder than anything you have done in your life. There will be loss, there will be heartache but I need to tell you that if you manage to succeed then Discord will be defeated and everything you and Equestria has lost will be returned to how they always were. Focus on that and you cannot be beaten.” Written Dreams’ hoof laid back on the ground as he narrowed his eyes, “You have the spark, the raw magical talent that made you the element of magic and that is what I think made the princess save you instead of even herself.”

Twilight took a step back from him before nodding with a gentle smile, “Okay. I understand that I need to continue no matter what happens but… what if I‘m alone again…? Feeling that kind of pain after discovering the magic of friendship is just… it‘s crushing and dark.”

“Are you alone now though?”

“N… No I have princess Luna and Zecora with me now!” Twilight said as she shook her head. Written Dreams nodded and tilted his head as he looked upon the unicorn before him,

“Right, and as the princess told you, there will be others.” Twilight gasped and looked up to the sky as the light began slowly fading around them, looking back to the colt as she shuffled nervously,

“What‘s happening?” He let out a light chuckle and looked down shaking his head before looking back up to her,

“You‘re waking up, dear Twilight. Feel any better?” Twilight nodded with a gentle smile and both she and Written Dreams tap their hoofs together and a few moments later both he and the world around her seemed to drain away.

Chapter 4 - The Book

Twilight blinked her eyes and yawned, raising her head and looked around the room. She noticed the room was fairly bright and she felt herself smile softly as she looked over seeing Luna waking up as well, “So we‘re heading to the castle soon?”

“Just as soon as we have our things sorted and in our bags.”

“Why can we not simply read the book here? We were able to stay the night without anything happening.” The princess shook her head and slowly looked around the inside of the house,

“We were lucky that nothing happened here last night but I do not trust how safe this place feels. We will be heading to the castle before we open the book. I apologize Twilight, but my senses tell me to get there as swiftly as we can.” Zecora trotted out into the room, wearing saddlebags like the two of them. She walked around to the shelves taking out vial after vial and slid them into her bag,

“Twilight, Princess, we’ll be leaving soon, if we leave now we shall be there by noon.” Twilight stood and nodded towards the zebra. She, Luna and Zecora took a few more minutes to rearrange the items in their bags before the three of the departed. As Zecora passed through the magical barrier last, the magic dispelled, the zebra closing her eyes as the sound of decay and the smell of rot filled the air around them.

They walked into the forest, the trees becoming steadily more dense as they continued walking down the path. The three walked in silence for a great number of minutes and soon the trees opened up. The ruins of the castle were nearly invisible in the thick fog before them. In front of them is an infinitely deep drop; the three standing at the edge of a cliff with a rickety rope bridge stretched across it to the other side.

Luna looked up at the castle, an expression of deep contemplation on her face before she looked to the left, looking down at Twilight, “Twilight let us continue.”

“Princess…” Twilight muttered as she watched Luna walk across the rope bridge carefully yet very swiftly. She reached the other side before motioning back to them. Twilight went next, her hooves shaking a little as she gulped, finding herself looking down into the infinite chasm below her. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she stepped onto the other side and gave Luna a light smile, the alicorn nodding to her before looking over to see Zecora trotting across the bridge. Luna paused as her eyes scanned the planks under the zebra’s hooves before her eyes suddenly widened,

“Zecora run!” The planks of the bridge were already heavily rotted, Zecora’s eyes widening as they began snapping in half and falling into the fog below. She ran faster across the planks until her hoof hit the final one and the wood below her hoof snapped, her chin hitting the cliff edge hard. She gasped as her eyes went wide, letting out a yell as she began to fall. She suddenly let out a gasp as her descent stopped, looking up slowly into the determined face of the Princess, “Not getting away from us that easily Zecora!” The alicorn pulled her back up onto the earth and Zecora let out a slow breath before looking back up at her,

“Princess you saved me from falling… I‘m sorry my level of care was appalling…” Luna shook her head as she and the zebra tapped their hooves together,

“You‘d have done the same for me Zecora… I mean, if I couldn‘t fly that is.” They all continued walking up the trail towards the castle, Twilight looking down at the ground with her eyes wide,

“Zecora almost… and I just stood there…” Twilight suddenly looked up feeling a hoof laying on her shoulder. She stopped walking and looked over to Zecora standing next to her with a gentle smile on her face,

“Twilight you needn’t look on with such gloom, regardless I did not meet my doom.” They continued walking as Twilight’s gloomy expression disappeared, “Twilight, Princess, we‘ll be there in a few moments. Be prepared for anything, keep yourself tense.” Luna laid her hoof against the doors of the castle, the door giving way slowly and sliding with a soft scraping noise against the stone ground beneath them. The three walked inside and across to the large stone pedestal that once housed the Elements of Harmony. Twilight let out a deep sigh as she looked up at the empty spaces where the spheres once resided but blinked as she looked across seeing Luna hadn’t stopped walking and had continued across the room. Twilight and Zecora hurried after her, following Luna up further into the castle, ascending to the place the princess had been defeated such a short time ago.

They shortly arrived at the tower, the three mares entering and walking to the center of the room, the unicorn and earth pony stopping as Luna stopped and turned back to them, “There is no way that Discord could know that we are here. Let‘s find out what‘s in this book.” Her horn glowed with a soft aura of magic, the book floating out of her bag and it sat on the cold stone before her. Luna laid down, looking down at the book as Twilight trotted over and laid down next to her peering down at the book as well. Zecora turned her head back as she smiled lightly to herself and withdrew a vial of glowing red liquid. She took it into her hoof and pulled off the lid turning her head and she let a drop fall to the ground, a light red mist growing from the ground radiating warmth that spread throughout the area eliminating the cold around them. Zecora walked over to Luna’s other side and laid down, the princess’ horn glowing softly as the book opened and she cleared her throat, beginning to read from the text.

The Quill of Eternity is a legendary artifact, its creation can be dated back farther than 1000 years. It is said that the Quill itself was created from the quills of a single feather plucked from a golden phoenix. The Quill’s shaft has the properties and look of glass but it was forged from pure light condensed into a physical form before it was hollowed and the quills of the feather were threaded through it giving it the appearance of a feather.

The tip of the Quill is a work of art in itself. It is said that the tip was formed from the tooth of a dragon, worked on for years until every aspect of it was perfect. The tooth was shaved down to a fine point and worked until it was thin and could easily be mistaken as a thick needle. It was attached to the end using powerful binding magic and the Quill was complete.

Given that the Quill was hollow, it could easily be filled with ink that could allow the one writing with it to complete several large paragraphs before it needed to be refilled. However, the Quill itself was only filled with normal ink a single time according to legend. Once the ink inside of the pen had been used up the creator of the artifact took the remaining years of his or her life to create an ink with an incredible amount of magical potential.

From what little is known about the creation of the ink itself it is said to have been made from a fine powder created from the horn of an alicorn and the very essence of a rainbow that was not created by a pegasus. Many more ingredients exist within the ink but they are unknown.

Before the passing of the unknown crafter of the Quill, he or she sealed it within a magical case and stated these words: “The power of the Quill must never fall into the wrong hands. Because of this I have to seal it away but one day it will be recovered and I pray it is used for a good purpose.” These words were cataloged by the only one that The Forger believed they could trust with the Quill but not even he could open the box containing the artifact.

Years passed, the existence of the Quill falling into legend, then myth, before it seemed to disappear from existence until one day, old scrolls, the diary of the apprentice pony who took on the responsibilities of keeping the Quill safe were found. These entries detailed the making of the Quill along with its powers, or so the finder claimed although only a single entry was able to be copied. The entry read like this and is believed to be one of the final entries in the diary:

Diary, Dated December 19th the year is unreadable

I have spent my entire life guarding the Quill of Eternity but in my vigilance I have failed to find a successor to watch over it when I am gone. Before I die I will use up the strength left in my body to travel as far away as I can and leave the Quill where it can remain undisturbed till the end of time or until someone is able to uncover it. During my travels I will leave clues that anyone with a sharp wit will be able to decipher although if anyone is reading this, I will do what I can to lead you both towards the Quill and cause you to stray and find nothing should you not correctly decipher my words. The first clue is located where the sisters dwell.

The diary entry ends abruptly there. It is believed that The Apprentice completed this journey before his death and secured the Quill far beyond the reaches of normal means. At the end of the entry it is stated that the first of what is believed to be hundreds of clues is located “Where the sisters dwell” This area has been confirmed to be the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. The dwelling of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

The clue itself has not been documented in any way in an attempt to keep the legend alive and ponies continuing the search for the legendary Quill of Eternity. Many ponies have gone on the quest to find the Quill but none have been successful in recovering the artifact. Some believe it only to be a legend and have given up their quest and others have been lead astray by a single clue and have lost their path never being able to find the correct way again.

The powers in the Quill are unknown and many have used their own imagination to decide what it might do when words are written with the maddeningly powerful magic within the Quill. Among searchers it is widely believed that the Quill grants the wish of those who write out their desires on any surface but this is unconfirmed. Some believe that it gives the one who writes with it untold power and the ability to rewrite history and change the course of time itself. Another guess as to the power of the Quill is a much darker fate stating that the bearer of the Quill must forever catalog the events of time until their own passing, this is thought to be the only guess that cannot be true given that the previous owners, The Forger and The Apprentice, were not under such a fate during their lives. One final speculation is that when a word is written on an object the object changes into whatever the written word is.

Many things about the Quill are unknown and until the Quill is finally recovered they will forever be a mystery.

Luna paused as she closed the back cover of the book, “Short story…” Twilight nodded to her, already pacing slowly around the outside of the room,

“Yes it is a short book… but it gave us a start and that‘s what matters… right now what‘s important is finding that clue…” Twilight said sighing as her eyes darted around the room. Luna stood up and shook her head, looking over to Twilight as she raised her hoof,

“Twilight… I was here when the clue was planted although at the time I thought nothing of it.” She trotted over to Twilight, followed by Zecora, and the princess stepped onto the pedestal at the end of the room. She paused and looked down, “You know… I was Nightmare Moon the last time I stood here…” Zecora raised a hoof laying it against the princess’ shoulder and the wise zebra smiled softly towards her,

“Fear not about the actions of old, your story still is being told.” Luna seemed to smile softly, letting her expression of guilt drift away as her hoof touched the pedestal, shifting away the dust before she hung her head low and let out a quick breath making the dust scatter. Below them were a few words elegantly carved into the stone below them: The Sunny Ruby.

The three paused as they contemplated what the words could mean. Twilight being the next to speak as she looked over to the princess, “Princess do you--” Twilight stopped as she saw Luna’s face. Her smile had faded and she was staring down at the words, a drop of sweat sliding down her face and splashing on the ground. Her expression was that of absolute dread, “Princess what is it?! Where do we have to go?”

“Twilight… Zecora… I am unsure that we should follow this clue. I feel as though it would be safest to abandon our search for the Quill!” Twilight took a step back looking to the princess with a shocked look, Zecora sharing this expression as they looked at her, the princess soon hyperventilating before Twilight stepped forward and ran her hoof down the princess’ back,

“Luna… it‘s alright just calm down and slowly, tell us what the clue means.” Luna’s breath slowed and she shakily sat down, watching as the zebra and unicorn stood in front of her with worried looks,

“Zecora… you live in this forest. Have you ever come across a place called Sunny Town?” The princess said with a frightened voice as she looked down, not meeting the eyes of the mares before her. Zecora paused as she thought for a few moments,

“Although this forest I have been up and down, I know nothing of this Sunny Town.” Luna nodded to acknowledge her, falling silent for almost a minute before she spoke again,

“Sunny Town is a place that almost no-one has been to. It is almost impossible to find unless you discover it by accident… getting lost in the forest or something like that. The ponies of that town… they‘re very friendly and kind… in the day time.” her face returned to one of deep dread, “But at night… how can I describe it… they stop being alive. Their bodies turn to decaying flesh and bone and they want nothing more than to add to those forced to suffer their cursed fate.” Twilight took a step back with an expression showing she had become very frightened,

“Princess… regardless of how dangerous it is we have to go!” Twilight looked scared, but her face was a mixture of fear and deep determination. Zecora stepped forward as she nodded towards the princess,

“She is right princess, although this town causes distress. We must go to find this Ruby, finding that next clue is our duty.” Luna looked from Twilight to Zecora before nodding to them both,

“Very well. We shall go to Sunny Town. Ruby is not a gem or an item of any sort. She is a pony among the cursed and is the only one with a cutie mark. The rest… are simply blank. Whilst we are there I will use my magic to conceal our cutie marks from being seen so they will be more welcoming towards us…” Twilight tilted her head as she took in the princess’ words,

“Do they have something against ponies with cutie marks princess?”

“Neither me or my sister know very much about the town itself but… the ponies were cursed to their fate after… they murdered Ruby. We don‘t know why and we‘re unsure if she‘s a ghost or cursed like the rest of them but she dwells within the village… although when me and my sister visited that town… we did not meet her.”

“Then how do you know she‘s even in the town?”

“One of the mares there told us about her… and how the villagers… ended her life. She will be the one we talk to because she will be the one who can help us to find her. We‘ll be looking for Mitta. She will be able to lead us to Ruby.” Luna took a slow breath as she stopped talking, looking seriously at the girls. Zecora looked at her curiously before she nodded,

“Well then the three of us should be going, the whereabouts of Ruby we soon will be knowing.” Luna shook her head in response and turned looking up at the broken glass windows behind the pedestal,

“Absolutely not… it is far too risky for us to go to that cursed place right now. We will spend the night here and leave for Sunny Town in the morning. If we left right now… we would undoubtedly be there at sun down… and we may not be able to get out.”

Hours passed and Luna fell asleep, laying on the cold stone with Twilight and Zecora near her. Twilight lifted her head as she’d been laying down and looked over to Zecora, “Zecora… could you tell me about the second time you met Written Dreams…?” Twilight asked and watched as the zebra raised her head and looked over to her,

“Our second meeting was simply a chance, although I must say it was more than a glance…” Twilight turned towards her, laying her head down as she quietly listened.

Written Dreams burst from the trees around Zecora’s home, looking around quickly and then behind him before pausing, “Whew… lost them…” He then blinked and looked across to see Zecora staring at him wide-eyed and startled, “Erm… hello there Zecora. Funny running into you again.” A drop of sweat slid down his head as he raised up his hoof and scratched his hair, “Could I possibly trouble you for a cup of tea by any chance…?”

A short while later Written Dreams took the cup of tea from the zebra and smiled. He was sitting on her couch and nodded to her gratefully, “Thank you very much…”

“Written Dreams you seemed so startled, it seems to me there‘s a story to be told?” Written Dreams paused for a moment in consideration before shaking his head as he looked towards the zebra, taking a drink of his tea,

“Trust me… you wouldn‘t believe me if I told you. I would stay and tell you the story but I‘m in a bit of a rush. I just found something I needed to find and I really need to get going and follow the trail it has opened up for me.” Written Dreams watched as the zebra looked at him curiously, no doubt wanting to hear the story of what had happened in the forest,

“That is alright, I know you are busy--”

“I‘m feeling better now, I was a bit dizzy.” Zecora paused as the pegasus chimed in before a light smile appeared on her face,

“From what I can tell that adventure was dark.”

“I am sure that encounter left its mark.” Zecora’s intrigued look only grew along with her smile,

“You‘ll have to return and tell me that story.”

“Perhaps when I‘ve returned from finding glory.” Her face then turned to a smirk,

“Would you like something, perhaps an orange?”

“When I look at your door I see no door-hinge.” Zecora blinked before giving an impressed nod and a happy smile,

“You truly are a master of rhyme.”

“We shall have to do this again some-time.” Written Dreams stood after he finished his tea, Zecora taking the cup from him before they shook hooves and he waved to her before departing from her home and the Everfree Forest.

Twilight smiled gently as she left her eyes closed, “He‘s a smart Pegasus… he didn’t pause at all when you were rhyming?” Twilight tilted her head a little looking across to Zecora,

“Indeed he did not whilst we were rhyming, his words were quick with excellent timing.”

“Sounds like he was coming from Sunny Town… I hope we don‘t have the same experience… I wish we could find him and just continue from the clue he’s at right now.”

Chapter 5 - The Blanks

Twilight awoke in the morning, her eyelids slowly opening before she blinked a few times feeling a hoof nudging her. She looked up seeing Luna standing over her and watched as she took a step back, nodding to her and then walked over to where Zecora was, doing the same to her. Twilight let out a light yawn as she stood up and stretched, closing her eyes and smiling as a light shudder went down her body, “Princess it‘s a bit early don‘t you think?” Twilight watched as the alicorn looked over to her, pausing before she looked out the window,

“I thought it would be best to get everyone up early so that we could get an early start. Sunny Town is a good distance from here and should take about thirty minutes of walking or so… I would much prefer teleporting although… Discord would wonder what we would be doing all the way out here.” Twilight and Zecora both simply nodded in response to her words. The three took a few more minutes to get their bags secured to their backs before they set off, leaving the castle ruins and they follow the path back to the broken bridge.

Luna looked down at the two ponies before getting down low, taking Zecora on her back and she flew across the chasm before doing the same with Twilight. The three cautiously walked through the decaying and shadowy forest around them, Zecora sighing as she looked down at the ground while she walked. Twilight noticed this and looked over to her, tilting her head a little as she spoke, “Zecora… what‘s wrong?”

“This forest was once such a beautiful place… now nothing is the same, not even a trace.” As they continued through the forest they once again reached Zecora’s tree. The tree itself was far more rotted after the time spent in the chaotic magic of the forest. The bark was dark brown and shaded slightly with a sickly green color. The odor of decay and rot was heavy in the air and the three decided it would be best to continue down the path quickly. Passing Zecora’s former home, both Twilight and Zecora continued following Luna’s lead, Twilight eventually speaking up,

“Princess… if we keep heading this way we‘ll reach the exit to the forest.” Luna stopped walking and turned, looking back to her before pointing to their right. The forest next to them was heavily overgrown but there was the slightest of paths etched into the landscape before them. Luna remained silent as she started walking down the path, “Princess…?” The three continued walking down the overgrown path, occasionally having to push aside a branch or push a plant out of the way. The path swerved east and west occasionally before moving up north and south as well, still, they made progress. Luna paused after nearly twenty minutes of walking and looked up ahead. The forest was thick around them cutting off most light but ahead, was a bright light indicating life in front of them,

“Zecora… Twilight… ahead is Sunny Town. Under no circumstances are we to become separated for any reason.” Her horn then glowed brightly, a veil of magic coating the three of them, their flanks shining momentarily until their cutie-marks vanished, “If things turn ugly… we run. No hesitation.” The ponies nodded and together, they walked through the veil of trees into the bright light of the town before them, “We‘re not to let any of them know who we really are. We‘re safe in the day so be friendly.”

“Why hello there! Welcome to Sunny Town!” The three jumped and looked towards a pony walking towards them. His coat was a neutral grey color whilst his mane and tail consisted of a deep black with a few streaks of grey in the strands and as Luna had said, he bore no cutie mark, “Grey Hoof, at your service. Celebration planner extraordinaire!” Twilight stepped forward as Grey Hoof held out his own hoof and she raised hers, meeting hoofs with him as they shook,

“Very nice to meet you Grey Hoof. I‘m Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Luna and Zecora.” She pointed back at the two as she said their names and Grey Hoof looked towards them with a happy smile,

“It is very nice to meet you all. It‘s not very often that we get visitors all the way out here so please enjoy your stay. We‘ve only just started the party so please, eat and drink your fill.” Twilight looked back to Princess Luna and saw her looking around the town before them. In front of them, off to the left, were a few farming patches with various vegetables growing in them and to their right, a few tables with various trays of food and a few punch bowls and glasses as well. Twilight looked ahead, seeing a large farmhouse and a path leading off to the left. The three walked past Grey Hoof and continued walking towards the farmhouse, hearing a mare near one of the tables muttering something to herself as she looked down sadly. Her mane and tail were a carrot orange and her coat was a pale white.

Luna and Zecora followed Twilight as she approached the farmhouse, shaking hoofs with the colt and he dropped his hoof back down as he stood before them, his body perfectly blocking the door to the farmhouse, “I wonder if you three could help me. My name‘s Roneo and over by the party tables is Starlet. I was supposed to give her a very special gift tonight but…” He looked down, his expression one of shame as he sighed, “I lost her gift, such a pretty thing it was too… I don‘t supposed you could try to find it for me, could you?” Roneo was a light cream color with a light blue mane and tail and also sported no cutie mark. Luna paused as she took in Roneo’s words, looking off to the side and down the path,

“We‘re not really supposed to run errands…”

“Oh, please? It would mean so much to me if you could find it. That gem is so shiny there‘s no way you could miss it!”

“…What do you think Twilight? Zecora?” Luna said as she looked between the two mares, seeing Twilight turn and look back at her with a nod,

“We might as well. We can‘t really have a proper look around without seeing what‘s inside that farmhouse anyway.” Luna nodded to her silently and they continued down the path, leaving Roneo looking across at Starlet.

The three walked down the path, the trees around them opening up once again into what looked like the main part of the town. There were many humble houses, along with a few party tables here and there along with a stringing of lights between them and above some of the tables themselves. Off to the side they noticed a pony standing at one of the party tables, eating a half-sandwich and not paying much attention to anything around him. His coat was a light brown and his mane and tail were a sandy brown color and like the others, he had no cutie mark either. In the distance, something caught Twilight’s eye, a very small sparkle near the dense trees. She motioned to the other two before she trotted over to it and picked it up. She paused as she looked down at the red gem in her hoof and looked back to the other two, “A ruby… do you think it‘s just a coincidence?” Twilight’s ears perked as she looked of to the side, seeing a pony with a coat of light green and a mane and tail of dark green watching them from far away. Twilight then looked over to Zecora hearing her speak next,

“It could be, or could not be, but for now let us take it to that pony.” Luna nodded to Zecora before looking back to Twilight,

“We still need to find Mitta.” Twilight nodded her head and slid the gem into her bag before the three hurried back to Roneo, seeing his eyes light up as Twilight withdrew the gem from her bag and presented it to the pony,

“This is it right?”

“Yes! Oh I can‘t believe you found it thank you so much!” Twilight was knocked to the ground as Roneo pushed past them and hurried over to Starlet, the two talking excitedly before embracing one another. Twilight shook her head as she stood up and dusted herself off,

“A bit excited wasn‘t he… come on girls, lets see what‘s inside this farmhouse.” The three entered, the scent of dust and wood heavy in the air as they walked inside. Twilight looked up and around before walking over to a large box, her horn glowing softly before the box began sliding, the mares slowly making their way through a small maze of boxes around them. After a bit Zecora paused as she trotted over and picked up a small metal crank. She looked back at the with a curious look,

“What would this be doing here? Perhaps something it fits is near.” All three then paused as the sound of faint sobbing was heard near them, Twilight slipping past Zecora and walking around the corner before she stopped and laid down before the pony who was covering her face, a small puddle of tears under her. Her mane and tail were a deep crimson whilst her coat was a lighter grey color,

“It‘s not right… nothing is right… it‘s just the same thing… again and again and again!” Twilight reached out, laying her hoof on the arm of the pony and she jumped, backing up against the container behind her and staring wide-eyed at them all, “Who…?” Twilight stood up, smiling gently towards the pony who looked at Twilight before her gaze shifted to the princess, “I told you to run! Why would you come back!?” Luna stepped forward as the pony seemed to calm down, breathing slowly as she wiped away her own tears. Luna raised a hoof and touched the pony’s mane,

“Mitta, we need to find Ruby. And the faster we do, the sooner we can leave… I just wish we could bring you with us.” Mitta shook her head and looked down in response, sighing softly to herself before looking back up,

“Every new pony who finds this village follows the same events… None of us know where Ruby is but… if you go out the northern exit of the town you‘ll find where she used to live… The key to her home was dropped down the well long ago after…” She stopped and looked down, tears sliding down her face once again, “Princess… and both of you as well… you have to get out of here--” She looks back up at them with pleading eyes, “Please! I was only barely able to help that little filly escape the village when she got here! It‘s not too late if you leave now!” Zecora stepped forward and shook her head as she looked upon the mare,

“Finding Ruby is what we must be doing. She holds a key to Equestria‘s renewing.”

“I… I‘ll do what I can for you just… just be careful.” The three soon left the farmhouse and continued down the path towards the green pony from before. She stepped forward with a gentle smile on her face and waved to them,

“Hello there, it‘s always nice to see new visitors in our town. My name is Three Leaf, just let me know if I can help you in some way.” They simply nodded to her before continuing down the path, leaving through a gate in the fenced end of the town. Ahead of them was a small flash of grey and blonde before it was gone, heading down the path far ahead of them. Twilight’s eyes widened as she pointed ahead and the three began running down the path,

“That must have been Ruby!” As they continued down the path, the trees became much denser, blocking out the sun above them and as they looked ahead, a small home sat at the edge of the path, only the door and the shutters on the window noticeable against the crushing darkness around them. Twilight and Luna lifted their heads, their horns glowing and creating light around them as they walked, Zecora walking off to the side and peering down into an old well,

“This is the well that the mare spoke of.” She walked to the side and slid out the crank, pushing it in, “Slide in the crank, fits like a glove.” She took it into her mouth and began winding it slowly. Twilight and Luna waited a short while before a bucket rose to the surface of the well, the zebra slipping her head inside and drawing out an old rusty key, “We now have the key, let‘s open that door. Be careful though, no telling what‘s in store.” Zecora trotted over and fit the key into the lock, the door opening with a gentle nudge from the zebra as she walked inside followed closely by Twilight and Luna. The inside of the home, although illuminated looked old and dark. The only things inside were a small writing desk and a fireplace sitting in the middle of the room opposite the door. Zecora had walked over to the fireplace and was staring down into it, completely silent until Twilight walked over,

“Something wrong Ze--” Twilight leaped back in fright and covered her face shaking her head rapidly, “This… this is where she was murdered… her bones… in the fireplace!” Luna paused for a moment, walking past her and over to the fireplace,

“Burnt bones aren‘t going to hurt us Twilight but still… what a horrible thing to do to a pony…” Luna looked around slowly before she stopped, her eyes darting left and right quickly, “Everyone… look.” Twilight and Zecora looked up. The house around them was much older and decayed around them, boards had rotted away and the door was hanging off a rusty hinge. Cold had begun steadily filling the air and Luna began slowly backing towards the door, her face looking pale as she continued looking around quickly, “This is bad… this is so bad…” Twilight looked back to her and shook her head tilting it slowly,

“Princess… we can see this house as it really is now. But we‘re okay! It‘s still only a little past noon!” Luna pushed the door open with her back leg and shook her head in response, turning and heading out before being closely followed by the pony and zebra, “Princess!”

“Twilight… if the town we saw was from years and years ago… potentially a thousand… then the forest would have overtaken it.” She looked up towards the dense forest above them, “The town… there is no sunlight in Sunny Town.” The three then took off down the path, heading directly back to Sunny Town and Luna skidded to a halt as she looked around quickly before growling, “It was all a trick… those events lead to this town being dark!” As they cautiously walked through the town, an otherworldly version of Grey Hoof’s voice filled their ears,

“There was no other way… she was going to spoil the party.” They continued forward, treading slowly as they looked around. The three suddenly froze as the ground began to give way near the trees before them, hoofs rising from the ground before pressing against the decayed earth, a head rising next, a skull with glowing red eyes and a few hairs hanging down from its head. The body was nothing but bones and heavily decayed flesh, the scent in the air wafting from it would be enough to make the most adamant person sick. It spoke with the voice of Three Leaf as it took a few steps towards them,

“The curse had befallen her this very night. She had the mark… she had to die!” Three Leaf stayed standing before them, not moving at all as her eyes watched them closely as they hurried past her and downwards, Twilight’s eyes darting from left to right and as she sees a boulder barring their path she yells,

“Together! We have to push it now!” As they began pushing it another of the decaying ponies began slowly walking towards them, speaking in a deep voice they hadn’t heard before,

“Please… stay with us. We will never let the same happen to any of you…” Zecora backed up for a moment and slammed against the boulder pushing it far out of their way before they continued running towards the path to the farmhouse. Zecora suddenly tripped and hit the ground hard, Twilight yelling to Luna as the unicorn turned and ran back to her, grabbing her hoof and tried pulling her up. Zecora’s leg was bound to the ground by a hoof, and Twilight took a step back as another of the skeletal ponies rose from the ground and grinned a hellish grin out of his decayed jaw. Zecora looked up at Twilight as she began letting out shorter breathes, the zebra’s coat slowly darkening and becoming messier,

“Twilight… you have to leave me! I can distract him while you flee!” Twilight’s face went pale as she yelled out, Luna grabbing her and pulling her hard,

“Zecora has made her choice Twilight, let‘s go!” Twilight’s face remained one of despair as she shook her head and the rotting pony before them stood and looked to them with a dark cackle aiding the voice of Grey Hoof,

“Stay with us… FOREVER!” Zecora reached into her bag and withdrew a vial, smashing it against the ground and a bright flash erupted around her, Grey Hoof backed away as he roared and recoiled and Twilight and Luna hurried down the path and towards the exit of the town. As they approached the exit Twilight turned seeing Grey Hoof standing at the far end, near the farmhouse and what must have been Starlet and Roneo standing much closer to them, the voice of Roneo filling their ears,

“Don‘t go… all we want is your friendship.” They paid him no heed as they continued running towards the exit, a final skeletal pony rising up in front of them but it paused and stepped to one side, not barring their path and spoke with Mitta’s voice,

“Your friend… I promise I‘ll look after her… I‘m so sorry that this happened to you…” She looked down and Twilight walked over to her along with Luna,

“Please… do whatever you can for Zecora…” Tears were welling up in Twilight’s eyes and Mitta looked to her with a nod,

“You have my word. Now GO!” Twilight and Luna ran out through the gates of the town, the corpses rising from the earth and walking steadily towards them as they quickly rounded corners and continued to flee, tears flying back behind Twilight as she ran, both mares with determined looks on their faces.

They soon reached the edge of the forest, Twilight panting hard as she stumbled a bit, feeling the princess steady her with a hoof she looked up and nodded before they looked behind them seeing none of the civilians of Sunny Town chasing them and turned away from the forest. Twilight looked up at the sun and let out a slow sigh before dropped her head and silently weeping,

“You‘ve both suffered a heavy loss…” Luna paused as she turned her head back to the forest. Standing at the edge was a mare with a coat of light grey, her mane was styled a medium length and was an orange and blonde mix. Her cutie mark depicted a magnifying glass and her eyes were a deep glowing yellow as she stared at the two of them, “Twilight Sparkle… you were the one who rescued the young filly when she came to the village…” Twilight sniffed and wiped her eyes as she turned towards the pony before them and looked up at her with deeply saddened eyes,

“Why didn‘t you just appear to us before we went into that hellish town!?” Luna held out her hoof as Twilight let out a yell and charged her, Ruby pausing as she stood her ground,

“Only those who have been through that town and have escaped… those are the only ones I can talk to.” Twilight slid to a halt, standing inches from her with an angry expression as tears stream down her face,

“It‘s still your fault that we lost Zecora in there! How could you let that happen!?”

“She was lost before she even made her choice. The curse spread to her when she was tripped by Grey Hoof now be quiet and I can tell you where you need to go now.” Twilight fell silent as she backed away from Ruby, her ears lowering as she continued to softly weep, “The next path you must follow is in the cave of the ursa major. Treading silently will make this a very easy task for you both.” Ruby then nodded with a deep sigh, “I pray for your safety in the coming days… I‘m so sorry that you lost your friend. I‘ll look out for her, along with Mitta. Do not despair though, she will be in comfort and friendship with the blanks.” Luna nodded her head slowly and Ruby began walking back into the forest,

“Ruby, when this is all over we‘ll find a way to break the curse on Sunny Town and lay them all to rest.” Ruby stopped walking, looking back at her with a grateful gaze,

“I know you will, farewell.” She then disappeared into the trees of the Everfree forest and Luna looked down at Twilight embracing her tightly as the mare silently wept against her light purple coat.

Chapter 6 - Ursas

“The cave of the ursas… I‘m starting to wonder if any of these clues are going to be easy to follow.” Twilight said as she and Luna stood outside of the Everfree forest. They looked up at the dense and dying trees for a moment before they trotted back inside, “As long as we‘re quiet it should be quick and easy.”

“Yes, because Sunny Town was a walk in the park.” Luna rolled her eyes as she sighed, a rather angry look on her face as the two of them walked down the forest path. Twilight remained silent for a few minutes, her ears slightly drooped as their trotting echoed around them. She had only just regained herself after breaking down and sobbing again and gave a light sniff as she looked over to the princess,

“As long as we‘re together… we can take on anything that‘s thrown at us. So princess, how are we going to go about finding the next clue once we‘re at the cave?” Luna looked over to her before smiling lightly and looked back ahead of them,

“Well Twilight you‘ve dealt with an ursa minor before and you‘ve read up on majors as well. What I‘m thinking is that we simply move around the outer wall of the cave and look as hard as we can. Sound good?” Twilight gives a nod in response, a soft smiling sliding onto her face as they walk together.

After a short while Twilight paused, looking off to the side and down the overgrown path to Sunny Town and she stopped walking. Luna continued walking a few more steps before blinking and looking back behind her, looking upon the unicorn with a look of concern, “Twilight… there‘s nothing we can do but trust that Mitta and Ruby will look out for Zecora.”

“And there will be others…” Twilight let out a deep sigh, her head dropping as she closed her eyes. A moment later she raised her head again, looking down the dense path with a look of determination, “You‘re right princess. The sooner we find Written Dreams, the better.”

“Written Dreams? Oh you must be following him!” Luna and Twilight both jumped, looking behind them to see Ruby standing before them, looking upon the two of them with her brightly glowing yellow eyes, “Erm… sorry for the scare.” Twilight looked upon the mare questioningly as she tilted her head a little,

“Ruby…? I thought you returned to Sunny Town.” Ruby shook her head in response, walking over to the two of them whilst still smiling gently,

“I rather dislike having to step foot inside the village itself… I‘m more of an observer around the forest and that said… I think the least I can do is accompany you to the ursa‘s cave and help to locate the next clue. If you‘ll have me that is.” Luna nodded acceptingly as Twilight raised her hoof, touching Ruby’s and they shook before continuing on their way down the path,

“Hey, Ruby.” The spectral mare’s ears perked in response as she turned her golden eyes on Twilight, looking at her with curiosity, “I‘m sure you already know about Discord‘s magic having this effect on the forest but… Why wasn‘t Sunny Town effected? And what of the other creatures in the forest? How have they changed?” Ruby looked up at the trees above them, seeing sunlight peeking through the dark branches and leafs occasionally,

“I like how you assumed I already knew. Sunny Town was unaffected because it is a cursed place and only a magic stronger then that curse could change it… needless to say that wasn’t so. But once Discord‘s magic swept over this place almost everything else has changed. As you can see the forest around us seems like it is forever in a dying and rotting state but the thing is… it‘s been this way since the magic happened so basically after the initial change nothing continued changing. The animals have changed too. Although they continue to stay in their respective areas they are far more vicious then before, protecting their turf with the utmost of their determination and power.” Luna continued walking as she took in Ruby’s words but paused as she finished, looking back at her with a slightly worried look,

“So you mean the ursas have changed too?”

“The ursas… are very powerful beings and the chaotic magic only served to increase that power. It‘s not going to be impossible to find the clue, we‘ll simply have to be all the more careful when we finally reach the cave.” The three continued to walk for nearly twenty minutes until, after passing Zecora’s home, they followed the path towards the cave they were seeking, Twilight speaking up as she brushed the leaf of a fern from in front of her face,

“Ruby… you came with us after we mentioned Written Dreams. You must have met him at some point.” Ruby gave a nod as she closed her eyes, a gentle smile on her face as she continued to slowly walk,

“I did actually… he ended up staying in Sunny Town for a lot longer then most do… well the ones who escape I mean. I can tell you… about the first half before we arrive at the cave if you‘d like.” Twilight and Luna both nodded with smiles on their faces, Ruby, seeing this, smiled warmly herself as she began recounting her own experience with the pegasus.

Written Dreams let out a frustrated sigh as he trotted through the Everfree forest, looking up at the darkened sky, a beam of light catching his eye for a moment making him stumble a bit and he looked forward blinking his eyes a few times, “Should have seen that coming.” He continued on forward before he reached the end of the path and entered Sunny Town, looking up at the bright sunshine as he closed his eyes and looked towards the sky, a light wind blowing through his mane as he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He paused as he looked around before blinking, seeing the grey pony ‘Grey Hoof’ walking towards him. Written Dreams raised his hoof, meeting hoofs with the pony as he smiled, “Hello there, I‘m Written Dreams, it‘s a pleasure to meet you.” The grey pony nodded with a light smile in return as they shook hoofs and let their hoofs fall back to the grass below them a moment later,

“A pleasure to meet you as well. I am Grey Hoof, party planner extraordinaire, welcome to Sunny Town. The party has just started so please, make yourself comfortable. Eat and drink your fill!” Written Dreams smiled brightly as he nodded to the pony, looking past him to the various party tables before looking back to him and nodding again,

“That sounds very nice thank you. May I inquire as to the occasion?”

“No real occasion, we have parties daily so that if we ever have any new guests to our town they feel warm and welcome!” Written Dreams gave another smile as he trotted past Grey Hoof and over to one of the tables, sitting next to Starlet as he takes a cup into his hoof and drinks a bit of punch,

“Something wrong miss?” Starlet blinked for a few moments before sniffed and looked up at him through her tear-streaked eyes. She nodded slowly as she looked at him,

“I‘m… just upset because Roneo hasn‘t spoken to me all day… I think he might be mad at me, I‘m just trying to think of what I might have done.” Written Dreams remained sitting for a moment and set down his empty cup on the table a few seconds later. He stood back up and smiled lightly towards her,

“Is that him over near the barn over there?” Written Dreams said as he pointed over towards the colt standing in front of the door to the barn and Starlet nodded before sighing sadly, “How about I go talk to him for you, I‘m sure it‘s only a misunderstanding, couldn‘t be much. I‘m Written Dreams by the way.” Starlet wiped her eyes as she looked back up at him with a slight yet grateful smile on her face,

“Starlet, and thank you.” He hummed a bit to himself as he trotted over to the colt and smiled towards him friendlily,

“Excuse me, Roneo? My name is Written Dreams, Starlet asked me to talk to you.” Roneo looked over to him and let out a sad sigh before looking back off to his right down the path,

“Yes, I‘m Roneo… and I don‘t mean to ignore her, it‘s just I lost a special gift that I was planning to give her at the party tonight. I dropped it somewhere though.” Written Dreams thought for a moment before giving a light smile and nod,

“Tell you what, I‘ll keep my eye out for that gift and you head over and enjoy the party with Starlet. She thinks you‘re mad at her.” Roneo looked back to him and blinked with a surprised expression,

“Mad at… Of course not! The gift is a very shiny red gem, I hope you can find it.” Roneo said before he hurried over to Starlet and they began talking out of earshot. Written Dreams smiled to himself seeing the relieved and happy smile on the mare’s face before he looked back to the barn and then stepped inside.

As he walked inside he looked around for a moment before his wings slowly spread and beat a few times allowing him to fly over the boxes and look down to observe what was on the ground. He pauses for a moment before landing on the far side of the inside of the barn, looking down and picking up a crank before sliding it into his bag, his ears perking as he hears the sound of muffled crying, “Now who would be in such a dreary barn?” He trotted around the corner, pausing as he saw Mitta sobbing with her face buried in her hoofs. He walked over to her, leaning down and giving her face a light nuzzle, “There now, why are you crying?” Mitta continued to cry for a few more moments before she sniffed a few times, looking up at him and her eyes widened a bit as he moved his hoof over and wiped away her tears. Mitta remained silent as she simply stared at him, looking him up and down before she slowly stood up and tilted her head a bit,

“Who… are you?”

“My name is Written Dreams, I‘m here on business but I‘m more worried about you, are you okay?” Mitta paused, sitting down as she looked a bit off to the side and sniffed again,

“My name is Mitta. You‘re not safe here… you have to leave!” Mitta gave him a pleading look as she sat before him, her eyes beginning to well up once again but Written Dreams simply shook his head and let out a small chuckle,

“Mitta you don‘t need to worry about me. I‘m well aware of the curse plaguing this town.” She gave him a shocked look, staring at him in disbelief as she stood back up,

“Are you insane!? Why would you come here then!?” Written Dreams then smiled widely as he gave a sort of happy trot,

“I find this place fascinating!” Mitta’s face went blank as he said this, “The ponies turning to their true selves every night and never dying and everything else I just had to see it for myself. I was overjoyed when I learned that one of the clues I require is held by a pony known as Ruby who lives in this town!”

“I… well then… how did you find out about this town…?”

“One of the little fillies in Ponyville filled me in. I had been asking around and it seemed to both frighten her yet she was more then willing to tell me about her experience here. Also there are a few mentions of Sunny Town in books if you dig deep enough.” Mitta then sniffed again, the tears still in her eyes and she paused as Written Dreams wiped them away once again, “Here now, such a pretty face shouldn‘t be matter with tears. Come on, let‘s get you out of this drafty old place. I‘d be honored if you could show me around town.” Mitta simply stood there, blushing for a few moments before her eyes blinked a few times and a small yet gentle smile appeared on her face,

“Y…Yeah.”

“…And that‘s just about the first half of the story.” Ruby said as they had been walking throughout her retelling of the story. Twilight looked back at her, laughing a bit while she smiled,

“He‘s a bit of a charmer isn‘t he?”

“I believe that‘s just his nature. That he enjoys making others smile and enjoy his company.” Luna stopped walking and looked back to them, the three mares standing only a few feet away from a massive cave entrance,

“Written Dreams is a charming pony… Ruby, I’m curious to know how you remember everything he said and did.”

“I remember everything that happens when a new pony comes to Sunny Town. I consider it my duty to watch over them.” Luna took in Ruby’s words and smiled a bit, looking towards the cave opening before the trio,

“We‘re here. Let‘s head inside and find our next path.” Twilight paused for a moment, watching the princess for a few seconds before turning her gaze at the cave and nodding. They all entered the cave, the only sound around them the light tapping of their hoofs against the dusty ground. Each of them occasionally kicking a small pebble out of the way as they walked. After a few moments Luna peered around a corner and brought her hoof out to the side as a signal for them to stop. Both Twilight and Ruby paused at the motion, cautiously moving over to where Luna was and peered around the corner and they both stopped cold. Ahead of them was the form of an ursa minor, its eyes closed with a light snoring echoing over to them periodically. The bear still held the form of a bear but its body was fairly transparent, a shimmering of stars on its light blue fur and on its forehead was a large star mark.

Luna looked back at them for a moment before motioning them to continue. They treaded softly as they walked around the corner and continued through the cave, each of them ever vigilant and scanning the walls for anything out of the ordinary. They continued walking for a number of minutes before Twilight spoke up, although in a whisper, “I never knew just how big this cave was…” Twilight watched as Luna turned back to her and nodded while her eyes still scanned the stone walls around them,

“Keep in mind this cave also houses the ursa major so it has to be this big otherwise it wouldn‘t be able to move around much at all… Honestly I‘d feel safer in a hallway then this.” She looks up and around at the high ceiling and the wide open area around them. Twilight’s ears perked as she looked to the end of the chamber, her eyes widening for a moment before she started quickly trotting towards what she saw, Luna and Ruby following her gaze and quickly following her as well. As they reached the end of the cavern, the three looked up at the wall and at the enormous carvings etched into the stone.

Before them, against the stone, was a depiction of a tall mountain with spiked and craggily peaks, drifts of snow falling against the top in amazing detail. A few mountains behind it in the distance but with rounded tops, making the mountain depicted look far more dangerous. A few trees lined the ground around its base and down the path stretching away from it and at the very top was a small cave and a small arrow pointing towards it.

There was suddenly a loud rumble, the cave shaking around them along with the occasional boom as something approached them, a massive, purple and starry paw slamming down around the corner, rocks beginning to fall from the ceiling and stalactites crashing down around them. The dark purple face of the ursa major moved out from behind the corner and roaring powerfully at them, large fangs barred as all three of them were backed up against the wall. The ursa began to charge, the stomping oh its claws making the cave shake as it ran towards them roaring repeatedly.

Twilight let out a quick breath as she looks to the left then to the right, standing between Ruby and Luna and she went into a charging stance as she growled, “There‘s only one way we‘re going to get out of this. When I say ‘now’, then Luna, run to the right and Ruby, run to the left!” As the ursa continued to roar and charge Twilight let out a very slow breath as her eyes stayed on the charging bear. She then slammed her hoof down hard and let out a loud yell, “Now!” Luna leapt off to the right and Ruby and Twilight run to the left, leaving just enough time to look back and see the ursa slamming hard into the wall and collapsing, the cave shaking wildly and rocks falling all around them. The mares ran around the dazed major and down across and through the cave as rocks continued falling around the collapsing cave.

The trio ran past the ursa minor and the dark blue bear began chasing them with another powerful roar. Ruby’s eyes widened as she ran with Twilight and suddenly slammed into her, shoving her out of the way before Ruby disappeared under the falling rocks. Twilight’s eyes widened as she skidded to a halt and turned around screaming out before her body glows with magical aura, Luna carrying her as she continued running and put Twilight on her back, “We‘re almost out!” The ursa let out a loud roar as rocks slammed down upon it, but still it chased them, tripping over rocks and let out a roar of pain disappearing as Luna ran out of the cave, panting hard as Twilight was released from her magic and sat on the ground, the cave collapsing behind them and the entrance being sealed by rocks.

Luna panted a bit more before letting out a slow breath and looking towards Twilight seeing her barely holding back tears, “Twilight--” The ground next to the unicorn began to give way and a few moments later Ruby climbed out and shook dust and dirt from her coat before she walked over to Twilight and smiled softly,

“Crushed by rocks… now there‘s a new one.” Ruby blinked, taking a step back as Twilight suddenly embraced her tightly and began crying. Ruby blinked before laughing lightly and patting her back, “Forget I‘m undead? You know I‘m not going anywhere Twilight, I‘ve still got to finish that story after-all.” Twilight took a moment to regain herself, letting Ruby go and taking a step back and she sniffs before wiping her tears away,

“Sorry… I thought…”

“I know, Twilight, I know, but it was either you or me and being undead, it was a pretty easy choice. Now then… I suppose with the cave being sealed off I‘ll have to be letting ponies skip this clue.” Ruby looked over as Luna walked over to the two of them and nodded with a small laugh,

“Yes, I suppose you will. Twilight, you know where we‘re going right?” Luna looked over to the unicorn near Ruby as she said this and Twilight looked back to her with a nod,

“I‘ve been there before. It‘s the mountain that princess Celestia sent me and my friends to when that dragon was polluting the air.” Ruby knocked a last piece of dirt from her mane and looked from Twilight to Luna smiling lightly before she began trotting down the trail and turned back facing them,

“Well then your destination is set. I suppose I‘ve got the rest of a story to tell.”

Chapter 7 - Mitta

Written Dreams trotted out of the barn, looking back and chuckling seeing Mitta shying away a bit at the exit. He walks over to her and takes her hoof, leading her out into the sunlight of the town, “I‘m starting to wonder how long you‘ve been in that barn.” Mitta looked down in response, sighing a bit before shaking her head and looking back up at him with a light smile,

“A… long time.” Written Dreams continued down the path off to their right after leaving the barn, looking from left to right slowly as he walked, taking in the scenery with a bright smile on his face,

“This town is really beautiful Mitta, I envy that you live here regardless of the curse.” Written Dreams said as he looked down at Mitta who was looking down at the ground as they walked, the pegasus raising his hoof and patting her head as he walked with her, “What does it look like at night?” Mitta’s ears drooped a bit more and slowly raised her head again, looking to him with a sad look,

“The town becomes what it truly is, a dark and decayed town. All of the houses are falling apart and the trees around the outside of the town are all dying if not dead already. If you‘re staying here for a while then… I suppose you‘ll see it eventually.” Mitta stopped walking as her sentence ended, looking across to the light brown colt with a sandy blonde mane and tail. He stood at one of the party tables, seeming to be occupied and in deep thought, “Mr. Dreams…” Written Dreams blinked as he looked over to her in response, tilting his head a little,

“I actually prefer Written Dreams. But you seem worried about that pony. Are you alright?” Mitta continued to look at him silently for a few moments before nodding and smiling lightly,

“Y… yeah I‘m alright.” Written Dreams then continued walking, trotting over to the pony and Mitta’s eyes widened as she held out a hoof, “H-Hey wait up!” She then hurried after him, standing next to Written Dreams as he stands a few feet away from the pony,

“Hello there, my name is Written Dreams.” The colt turned his head, giving him a lazy look and simply stared at him sleepily in silence for a few moments before he spoke,

“My name‘s Gladstone.”

“Have you noticed anything shiny on the ground around here? I‘m looking for something for a friend.” Gladstone seemed to pause for a few more moments before he spoke once again,

“Shiny…? I don‘t know what you‘re talking about.” Written Dreams nodded in response with a light smile before turning to Mitta,

“Alright thank you Gladstone, come on Mitta.” Mitta nodded and followed the pegasus as he continued down the path, watching him looking at the houses before a light sparkle caught her eye and she pointed off to the side,

“I think I see something over there Written Dreams.” Written Dreams paused for a moment as he heard Mitta’s words and looked at her before following her hoof and grinning,

“That might be what we‘re looking for! Great work spotting it Mitta!” Mitta paused and took a step back as he raced over and picked it up, trotting back over to her a moment later with a grin on his face, “Thanks a lot for helping to find it Mitta, it was pretty well hidden I don‘t know if I could have found it by myself.” Mitta looked away with a light blush on her face, shaking her head as she looked to the ground,

“Really it was nothing…”

“No need to be modest Mitta. You did an excellent job spotting it. Come on, lets head back to Roneo now.” They then began walking back towards the party tables near the barn where he believed they’d find Roneo again, Mitta staring at the ground the whole way till Written Dreams turned his head looking down at her, “You‘re not complimented or praised very often… are you?” Mitta only silently shook her head in response, continuing to walk with her head hung low and a blush on her light-grey cheeks, “Well then I suppose I‘ll be doing a lot of it then!” Mitta’s head rose and she blinked looking at him in mild surprise,

“Really I‘m nothing special! You don‘t have to go so far out of your way Written Dreams, really.” Written Dreams only laughed in response, giving her a light grin, his eyes arching as he smiled,

“Out of my way, hehe, it‘s not out of my way to tell somepony when they‘ve done a good job. Ah, here we are.” Mitta looked ahead to see Roneo and Starlet talking to each other, Written Dreams and the light grey mare walking over to them before the pegasus speaks, “Hey, Roneo, good news! Mitta here spotted your gem so we‘re bringing it back to you!” Roneo held out his hoof as Written Dreams withdrew the gem from his bag and handed it over, the tan pony smiling gratefully as he took it and set it on the table sliding it over to Starlet,

“Thank you so much for finding it you two, Starlet? This is for you.” Mitta remained watching the two for a few moments before she blinked and looked around not seeing Written Dreams next to her,

“Erm… where‘d you go?!” She then heard a whistle behind her and the mare turned seeing him a bit down the path around thirty feet from her,

“We should let them have their privacy, Mitta!” Mitta felt a warm smile spread onto her face and she trotted over to Written Dreams before the two of them continued down the dirt path.

A few minutes of walking later the two found themselves back in the middle of the town, a few houses around them and Written Dreams, as usual, looking around at everything they passed before he stopped walking and turned to her with a happy smile, “I count seven houses. That would be… you, Roneo, Starlet, Gladstone, Grey Hoof and uhm…” Mitta trotted ahead a few steps and pointed towards a house around the corner, a lime green pony with a neutral green mane and tail waving to them both as she stood next to one of the houses, a hose in her mouth as she watered a few flowers. Written Dreams looked over to her and cracked a smile, soon walking towards her with Mitta a few steps behind him. Written Dreams trotted up to the pony as she had just set down the hose and turned off the water as he smiled towards her, “Hello miss, I‘m Written Dreams.” The pony raised her hoof, shaking with Written Dreams before their hoofs touched the ground again and she spoke,

“Very nice to meet you Written Dreams, my name is Three-Leaf. Have you been in Sunny Town long?” Written Dreams thought for a moment in response before shaking his head slowly, his eyes closing as he did so and smiled as he opened them once again,

“Not very long really, just about an hour or two.”

“How long do you think you‘ll be staying with us?” Written Dreams paused at the question, looking at Mitta’s worried expression as he thought and looked back to Three-Leaf with his normal smile,

“To be honest this town is really peaceful. If I weren‘t taking this journey I’m on right now I might even buy one of these homes for my own and live here with you all.” Three-Leaf gave a rather dark smile for a split second but then it faded to a normal and cheerful smile as she nodded to him,

“Who knows, maybe you‘ll just decide to stay with us instead of leaving.”

“Hmm, perhaps, but even if I don‘t I still plan to return some day. The ponies here are just so kind, I really feel a connection with you all already.” Written Dreams and Mitta soon continued on their way past Three-Leaf and over to the North-eastern exit of the town. Mitta paused as they stood near the gate and she looked at Written Dreams with a worried expression,

“You… you didn‘t really mean what you said to Three-leaf did you?” Written Dreams watched as Mitta walked over to the door of the house right next to the exit and slowly opened the door, watching him the entire time but Written Dreams nodded his head letting out a light chuckle,

“Every word actually. Although I feel like I would need to work out some kind of deal so I wouldn‘t get cursed… I‘d still like to go out exploring every once in a while you know?” As he spoke, Mitta simply stared at the pegasus with a dumbfounded look but nodded slowly as he finished,

“Y…Yeah I guess so.” She seemed to pause as she looked off down the trail away from town, “So you‘re going to finish the cycle so you can talk to Ruby now…?” Written Dreams looked off down the trail, walking a few steps out of the gate before looking back at Mitta,

“Nah, I figured I‘d just get the key for now. As Applebloom described it… once she went inside that house everything went to hell. I‘ll see you in a few minutes Mitta.” Mitta motioned to the inside of the house as she nodded to him, the worried look still heavy on her face,

“Okay then… when you get back feel free to some inside, It‘s a bit past dinner time but I‘ll make something for us if you‘d like…”

“That sounds excellent Mitta. I‘ll see you soon.” Written Dreams then trotted down the path, feeling a shudder go down his spine as the light faded around him and the trees showed their darker state. Written Dreams let out a steady breath as he walked, looking up at the sky and watching the sunset steadily disappear, looking behind him at the moon creeping up into the sky. The pegasus continued down the path for a few more minutes before he looked ahead at a rather large house with its back against the dense trees of the forest. He walked slowly over to the well and fit the crank in his bag into the hole in the side, turning it till an old wooden bucket lifted from the water, Written Dreams lifting an old and rusty key from it and he tossed it into his pack before walking back down the trail away from the house, “That little filly looked really shaken up about what she saw inside that house… too bad she didn‘t tell me what it was.” Written Dreams began to hum softly to himself as he passed the fence and walked back into Sunny town, looking around slowly before grinning to himself. The town remained intact although it was still dark. Some of the lights on the strings above the party tables were still on, giving the town a sort of ‘late night party’ feel to it. He turned and walked up to the door to Mitta’s house, pausing as he knocked on the cold wood, “Mitta it‘s me!” The pegasus paused for a few moments when he received no response, reaching out and pushing on the door it slide open and he trotted inside, looking around slowly before tilting his head, “Mitta…?”

A few moments more of silence passed before his ear twitched, the sound of muffled crying reaching his ear and he walked over to a closed door and knocked on it, “Mitta? What are you doing shut away all by yourself again?” Written Dreams waited for nearly a minute as the crying gradually slowed, a sniff being heard before he heard Mitta’s voice,

“I… don‘t want you to see me like this. You‘ll just run away.” He rolled his eyes, his hoof reaching out and touching the door as he shakes his head, the door creaking a bit as it opens and Written Dreams walks inside,

“See you like what-- oh.” Mitta sat before him, staring at the ground as she silently wept. Her mane was in tangles, bits of hair missing in small patches from her mane and tail. Her body was a much darker shade of grey, almost black and portions of her flesh were rotted away, leaving holes in her torso and hooves although her head was almost completely intact. Written Dreams stood in the door way, just looking at her for a few moments, Mitta looking up as she heard the clopping of hoofs growing louder and as she looked up he was standing before her. He reached out and wiped away her tears with a gentle smile and shook his head, “Worried about nothing.” He laid his hoof on her head, patting her a few times before taking a step back and standing before her, “Would you mind if I stayed here tonight? I‘ve got a big day of getting chased by zombie ponies tomorrow.” Mitta was silent, her eyes watering as she stood up, still looking at the floor before she met his gaze,

“Of… of course you can. You can use my bed if you‘d like.” Written Dreams watched as she motioned to the large bed next to her and he looked at it for a moment before shaking his head,

“No, that‘s alright. I‘ll sleep on the couch out in the living room. I actually prefer couches… they have that kind of feeling like a sleeping bag out in the wilderness that I love so much.” As the minutes passed Written Dreams made himself comfortable on the couch out in Mitta’s living room. The house was very dark, leaving the inside indescribable although it didn’t look like Mitta had any personal belongings much at all. Written Dreams laid down and gradually fell asleep, breathing normally as Mitta laid awake in her own bed, her tears streaking her pillow as she stared at the wall of the room.

Written Dreams’ eyes slowly opened a few hours later, his ears perking as he heard talking from the front door. He didn’t move his head, but looked across seeing Mitta standing in the doorway and another pony, mostly rotted away standing before her. The voice was male and sounded ethereal, since his jaw was hanging a little, “Mitta you can‘t protect him from us. He‘s asleep right now why not just turn him and I‘ll be on my way?” He heard Mitta sigh, but he saw how she was standing, barring the entrance,

“Grey… he‘s different from the ponies who have come here before. How many do you remember who actually stayed the night even after seeing any of us as an alternate form?”

“Even so, he also has a mark. That‘s not something that me and the rest of the town can just ignore. Let me through Mitta.” He heard Mitta growl in defiance, her stance widening as she stood before Grey Hoof,

“You know how I know he‘s different? He didn‘t just leave me in the barn like all of the others do. He brought me with him and actually cares about me unlike all of you!” Written Dreams closed his eyes as he continued to listen, the light splash of tears hitting the wood floor as Mitta continued to talk, “And when he met Three-Leaf… he even said that he would like to possibly live here once he‘s done with the quest he‘s on. There‘s no need to turn him, he doesn‘t fear us!” Grey Hoof took a few steps back and paused hearing Mitta’s words as he stared at her,

“Mitta. Once he enters that house there will be no more protecting him. It‘s only a matter of time before you slip up.” He heard a growl and the angry clopping of hooves from Mitta as she stared down Grey Hoof,

“Go back home Grey. You‘re not welcome here.” The sound of fading clops echoed away followed by the closing of the large door, Mitta’s sigh came next before she turned and walked over to the couch. There was nothing but silence for a few minutes before Mitta laid down at the foot of the couch, curling up and laying her head down, closing her eyes, “Sometimes I think Grey just needs a good buck to the face.”

“You really seem to resent them all Mitta…” Mitta slowly opened her glowing red eyes as she sighed a little,

“The only one who seems to care about me at all is Three-Leaf but that‘s only when I can get out of the barn… Roneo‘s always blocking the way… Starlet doesn‘t really do anything, same with Gladstone. All Grey cares about are his stupid parties to draw ponies in and curse them. Sometimes I just-- Hey!” Mitta felt herself lifted onto the couch, embraced tightly by the pegasus, his wings draped over her as she heard him chuckle softly,

“You worry too much Mitta.”

“I look disgusting… I feel disgusting… why would you hug me?”

“Sometimes all ponies need is someone to listen and hold them.” They both remained silent after that, Mitta eventually falling asleep with a small smile on her face and Written Dreams falling back to sleep a few minutes after.

The pegasus’ eyes darted back and forth as he ran through the destroyed town, turning his head seeing the zombified Three-Leaf rise from the decayed ground in front of him, “Don‘t leave…” Written Dreams paused, watching her movements as he cautiously moved around her, the glowing red eyes of the pony staring into his very soul. Written Dreams turned away from her and continued before his eyes widened, a large boulder in his way and one of the cursed ponies walking towards him,

“Not good.” His wings spread and he jumps but he hit’s the ground a moment later with a groan, pushing himself back up and pushing the boulder hard, sliding it quickly across the ground and slips through the open path before skidding to a halt, Grey Hoof standing near the end of the clearing in front of him,

“Look at you now. All alone and about to be cursed. Why not just walk over here and we‘ll make it quick hmm?” Written Dreams narrows his eyes with a growl as he gets down low and lunges towards the path, seeing Grey Hoof racing after him at an incredible pace,

“Not good!” Written Dreams turns back looking ahead and his eyes widen as Mitta runs up and jumps over him, slamming hard into Grey Hoof and pins him to the ground with a dark growl,

“Get out of here now!” Written Dreams only looks back for a moment and nods, running down the trail and towards the exit of the town. Getting through the gate he races down the winding path in the trees, avoiding the rising ponies and the ground giving way around them,

“Almost…” Two rise up, barring his path and his eyes dart to the thick wall of trees on either side, the pegasus leaping and running across the bark sideways as he grins, “It‘s times like this where I‘m glad I’m a pegasus!” Only a few minutes later Written Dreams burst from the trees around Zecora’s home, looking around quickly and then behind him before pausing, “Whew… lost them…”

After his encounter with the zebra Zecora, Written Dreams walked towards the exit of the forest, smiling lightly as Ruby was waiting for him.

“And then I told him of the next clue and he headed back into the forest again.” Ruby said as she turned to face the two of them, the three standing at the edge of the forest, the soft glow of the moon illuminating the grass and trail leading away. Twilight smiled gently as Ruby finished her story, the three mares bumping hooves before Ruby turned to go,

“Thank you for the story Ruby. Give our regards to Mitta next time you see her.” Ruby looked back at them, smiling as she looked at them through her glowing yellow eyes,

“I‘ll be sure to. Farewell Twilight Sparkle. Farewell Princess Luna. May your hooves be swift and your minds all the swifter.” Ruby then disappeared into the forest, leaving the two mares walking out of the trees and Luna looking up at the sky as Twilight looks ahead,

“Well Twilight, we‘ve got our heading so lets go.” Twilight gives her a happy nod and soon both of them are walking down the path, the huge mountain far in the distance.

Chapter 9 - Reunion

“Twilight… hey… Twilight…” The unicorn’s eyes tightened a bit as she awoke, feeling a hoof nudging her side before her eyes slowly opened and she looked up, seeing Applejack looking down at her with a confused look. Twilight stood up, her eyes beginning to well up with tears and both ponies embraced one another, tears streaming down Twilight’s face as Applejack closed her eyes, “I just woke up Twilight… what happened?” The two let their hooves fall back to the ground and Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash, who was laying on her back snoring periodically in her sleep,

“Let‘s wait till Rainbow comes to.” Applejack nodded and took a few steps over to her before Twilight raised her hoof to stop her, “AJ, you‘ve both been statues for a few days now… best to let her wake up on her own.” Applejack walked back over to Twilight before nodding to her, “What is it like being a statue…? What do you remember?” Applejack looked down, letting out a slow sigh before she and Twilight laid back down, the country pony tilting her hat back a little,

“Last thing I remember is us goin‘ up against that feller Discord and… then things really turned bad. He used the elements on us Twi and then I saw the princess jump out in front of you… then nothing. I could still think jus‘ fine but I couldn‘t see ‘er hear nothin‘… I also couldn‘t move at all, no matter how hard I tried to. I could sleep though, kinda let my mind shut off to pass the time. Lost track ‘a time pretty fast.” Twilight silently nodded during Applejack’s description of being encased in stone and she looked down with a sigh before looking back up at her with a slight smile,

“It sounds like hell but… at least you‘re out now--”

“So that‘s where we‘ve been this whole time.” Twilight and Applejack turned their heads to see Rainbow Dash giving them both an annoyed look as she still laid on her back, “What are we doing here Twilight? How did you bring us back?” Rainbow Dash said as she rolled onto her stomach before flapping her wings a few times to right herself and she trotted over to them, “And… where are the others?” Twilight took a deep breath before letting it out slowly and watched as Rainbow Dash laid down folding her wings as she watched Twilight’s face,

“Luna and I were following clues towards a mystical artifact called the Quill of Eternity. First Trixie and I made it to Canterlot castle where we managed to find a book detailing where the first of many clues were located. Discord confronted us… I don‘t know what happened to Trixie, she teleported me out of the room. Luna and I escaped the castle and headed into the Everfree forest where we found Zecora. The three of us went back to where the six of us originally fought Nightmare Moon where we found the first clue which led us to Sunny Town… A cursed town that’s inhabitants turn to decayed zombies at sundown. One of the ponies managed to catch Zecora… she was cursed and we lost her to the town. Me and Luna escaped and met Ruby, who told us to head to the ursa major‘s cave. We did that with Ruby‘s help and that clue led us here. To the cave at the top of this mountain but when we got here…” Twilight paused for a moment, looking down with a sad sigh, “Discord was waiting for us and forced me to make a deal with him.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the mention of a deal with the spirit of chaos as she stared at Twilight,

“You made a deal with him…?”

“I had to trade the princess to--” Rainbow Dash interrupted Twilight and stomped her hoof angrily, her wings beating to accompany her tone,

“What were you thinking trading the princess to that monster?!” Applejack stood and yelled towards Rainbow Dash, stomping her own hoof in defiance,

“Calm down there Rainbow! You know Twilight wouldn‘t have made that deal unless she had to.” Twilight had looked away, waiting a few moments as Rainbow Dash’s wings went back to her sides and she looked down, a bit ashamed of herself,

“Sorry Twilight… I…” Twilight looked back to the rainbow pegasus and shook her head,

“Rainbow it‘s okay… Applejack is right though, I didn‘t have a choice. Discord told me that in exchange for the princess I could choose two of my friends to be un-petrified and… I chose the two of you.”

“Well of course you chose me! I doubt you could have made any better choice!” Applejack nudged Rainbow Dash then, before pointing to Twilight who was looking down and away from them, a worried look on the unicorn’s face and Rainbow paused with a sigh as Applejack took a step over to Twilight and nuzzled her,

“We‘re mighty grateful for you choosin‘ us sugarcube, but why me and Rainbow and not either of the others?” Twilight was silent for nearly a minute before she looked back up at the two who were both looking at her eagerly awaiting her answer, Applejack with a concerned look and Rainbow wearing the same expression,

“It wasn‘t an easy choice to make… but Discord only gave me an hour to decide so if I didn‘t pick then I would have been turned to stone along with the princess and I wouldn‘t have been able to continue this journey either… I chose the two of you because you both have a lot of positive traits and you balance each other out as a pair. Applejack, you‘re strong and you don‘t give up, same with you Rainbow Dash. Your loyalty is unfailing and I know you‘ll do anything for either me or Applejack in any situation. Along with that… neither of you back down from a fight.” Both pegasus and earth pony nodded to her with grateful smiles on their faces and Applejack looked around slowly before her gaze shifted back to Twilight,

“So ya mentioned clues that we‘ll be needin’ to follow.
Did you two find the one that was here?” Twilight walked past the two and raised her head, her horn glowing brightly and she illuminated the enormous carving above the mouth of the cave. Applejack paused as it appeared and she tilted her head a little, “Twi, that looks like the stampeding grounds them buffalo and the appaloosan’s were fightin‘ over when we were there visitin‘ Braeburn.”

“That‘s what I thought too when I first saw it. From what it looks like what we‘re going to have to do is head there and possibly dig at where this x is on the picture.” Rainbow Dash stood up and nodded, her wings flapping once as she grinned towards the two of them,

“Alright then! Now that we know where we‘re going let‘s head out!” Twilight felt herself smile softly at Rainbow Dash’s words and looked from her to Applejack before nodding,

“I‘ll do what I can to answer any more questions that you both might have.”

The three of them descended down the mountainside without talking much, Rainbow Dash hovering most of the way instead of walking and soon they were on their way towards Appaloosa, “Twi, last time we went to Appaloosa, it was an overnight train ride. Do ya think we would be able to take the train again or are we going to have to walk?” Rainbow Dash landed and looked ahead of them, cringing as she saw Ponyville in the distance along with the chocolate Canterlot high up on the mountain,

“Discord turning everything all chaotic I really don‘t want to be taking any trains from Canterlot or Ponyville.” Both Applejack and Twilight seemed to accept the answer and thought it best to simply walk all the way there. Twilight looking around as they walked down the path before she stopped, thinking for a few moments as she drew calculations in the dirt below them,

“It was an overnight train ride so if we run for a few hours… and walk other times… we should be able to get to Appaloosa in about two days if we limit the time that we rest.” Without another word they all take off down the path, galloping together, all with determined looks on their faces as they make their way towards their next destination.

“Hey Twilight, I have a question.” Twilight looks to her right to the pegasus, Applejack to the unicorn’s left as she gives her a quizzical expression as they all run,

“What is it Dash?”

“Just wondering; what does this quill do? I mean, can it beat Discord and the elements or… what?”

“The book that me and Trixie found doesn‘t tell us anything about what the quill actually does, and I don‘t think that there‘s a book out there that even can do that. I don‘t even think it was ever documented.” Rainbow Dash didn’t seem even slightly accepting of the answer given and her quizzical expression only deepened,

“So why would we go and find something when we don‘t even know what it does?” Twilight nodded in response to her words, continuing to look ahead as her horn glowed and a scroll poked out of her pack, the pegasus noticing it as soon as it appeared,

“Because after the confrontation of Discord and before Spike was also turned to stone, I received a fail-safe letter of sorts from the princess instructing me to find it. You can both read it when we stop to rest in a few hours.” Rainbow seemed contented with the answer as her wings gave a few more beats as she flew along, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath a few hours later as the three continued to run, her mane and tail blowing carelessly in the cool breeze she made around herself in the warmth of the western-esc landscape,

“Oh man does it feel good to fly again! I was going crazy not being able to spread my wings! Woo-hoo!” Rainbow yelled as she did a few barrel-rolls and flips as she flew next to the two. Applejack giving an unamused rolling of her eyes as she looks over to the pegasus,

“Rainbow, I‘m all fer havin‘ a good time but we need at focus on headin‘ straight there.” Rainbow let out a laugh as she flew upside down, her front hooves behind her head and her back hooves kicking like she was swimming in a reclining pose,

“Are you forgetting I‘m the fastest pegasus in Cloudsdale? I could probably be there and back before you all made it halfway! Actually that‘s not a bad idea…” Twilight gave her an unsure look as the unicorn looked up at her and shook her head,

“Rainbow you can go ahead a bit if you really want to but just stay within eyesight of us okay? I don‘t know how Discord‘s magic has effected Appaloosa so we need to be prepared for anything.” Rainbow looked down at her as she continued her swimming motion as she flew and raised an eyebrow in concern,

“You really think it might be dangerous there Twilight? I mean, yeah, last time we were there the appaloosans and the buffalo had a big fight but it all turned out right in the end.” Twilight’s expression turned serious after she heard this and she narrowed her eyes at the pegasus,

“That‘s not what I mean Rainbow. Remember what happened to you and the others when you were all effected by Discord‘s magic? The same thing could have happened to any of the ponies or the buffalo there.” Rainbow Dash flew ahead after giving a nod, staying about half a mile ahead of the two, doing a trick or two periodically as Applejack and Twilight continued running. After a bit Applejack turned her head towards Twilight and gave a bit of a leap, letting her front hoof be free for a moment so she could adjust her hat,

“Hey Twi, we‘ve just about passed the fifth of the way mark if you wanna slow down for a bit.” Twilight continued looking ahead, a determined look on her face as she continued running, Applejack’s face showing concern for her knowing she didn’t run very often and wasn’t the fastest pony when she did,

“I‘m fine Applejack. I can run for about another hour before I‘ll need to rest.” Her head then turned towards the country pony, “How about you?”

“I‘ll stop when you do Twilight. No use in us seperatin‘ any time soon.” The next hour and a half went rather uneventfully, Rainbow Dash moving back to fly next to the two of them. Twilight had begun taking shorter breaths, indicating she was pushing herself incredibly hard to continue going, “Twilight, you‘re gonna collapse at this rate lets stop for a bit and rest.” Twilight’s hooves began to slow a bit before she slowed further and eventually stopped, panting hard as she looked over to Applejack,

“Yeah… I guess you‘re right.” Twilight started to fall forward, her exhaustion taking over and Applejack caught her on her back,

“Easy there pardner. Rainbow?” Applejack said as she looked up at the hovering pegasus, “See if you can find us a place close by where we can rest for a while out of this sun.” Rainbow zoomed off without another word, Applejack watching her as she hoisted Twilight’s unconscious body onto her back and trotted after Rainbow. If was only a matter of minutes before Applejack saw Rainbow motioning a bit in the distance and after a few minutes, she walked over to her, looking around at a small cave in some rocks with a burned out fire in front of it. AJ walked over to the cave, setting Twilight in the shade before walking over and poking the fire, “Nopony‘s been here for a long time.” Rainbow Dash trotted opened Twilight’s bag and withdrew a canteen from it before walking over to a nearby cactus and punching it hard, her hoof entering it before she replaced it with the canteen,

“Starting to think we should have gone back to Ponyville for a bit. Maybe get some supplies for this trip.” Rainbow then walked back over and lifted the canteen for Twilight as she lifted her head, making her drink a bit of the water before she drank a bit herself and passed it to Applejack who took a swig before sliding the cap back on,

“Maybe… but it looks like Twilight‘s carryin‘ more then her share of bags.” Rainbow shrugged looking back at Twilight before looking back to Applejack,

“Maybe she got the princess‘ bags from her before Discord took her away?” Applejack simply nodded in response, the two of them taking Luna’s bags from Twilight’s back and Applejack fitted them onto herself,

“Surprised she was able to run so long with so much weight… she really is determined when sets her mind to somethin‘.” The sun had set by the time Twilight awoke, the unicorn looking around hazily as her eyes adjusted. She then paused seeing a gentle glow near her, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sitting around a small fire as Applejack unfurled a scroll and had begun reading it as Rainbow was laid down. Twilight laid there for around a minute before she stood up and walked over laying next to her friends with a small smile on her face,

“Reading the princess‘ letter?” Applejack nodded to her as she continued reading aloud for Rainbow, her eyes slowly sliding from left to right as she did so,

“I pray that ya will never receive this letter from me and since ya have, ya’ll must find Written Dreams. Your mentor and friend, Princess Celestia.” Applejack paused for a moment as she read the name, bringing a hoof to her chin as she though about it, “Written Dreams…? Twilight, didn‘t you say we was lookin‘ for that Quill of Eternity?” Twilight nodded in response and her horn glowed, the letter rolling back up and sliding into her bag,

“I‘ve worked out that Written Dreams is looking for the quill himself and given that some ponies have looked for years and never found it I‘m very sure that we‘ll be meeting him eventually if we simply continue following the clues.” Applejack nodded to her with a light smile and the earth pony laid down looking across to her,

“Ya know, the name sounds familiar, I might ‘a met him a few months back I‘m sure it‘ll come to me eventually.” Twilight’s smile grew wide at hearing this, her eyes arching a little,

“I was wondering if anyone else had met him when he was in Ponyville. I met him when he came by the library for the book on the quill.”

“Hey Rainbow, did ya ever meet--” Both ponies paused as they saw Rainbow sort of staring up at the sky with a small smile on her face and a very faint blush on her cheeks. Her wings were straight up and seemed locked that way as she said nothing in response to Applejack’s words, “Looks like we lost ‘er.” Twilight giggled as she watched Rainbow’s expression and looked back to Applejack,

“Fond memories I guess. He was staying at the castle when he was around Ponyville. I don‘t know if he came into town more then once though. Zecora told me the story of how she met him twice and Ruby, from Sunny Town told us about his experiences there.”

“He‘s a pegasus right? Dark blue and he‘s got that silver mane and tail?” Twilight simply nodded with a happy smile as Applejack continued, her hoof under her chin as she continued thinking, “Yeah… yeah… I think he came by the farm for a bit before he got rushed off. Was kind of a short visit but he was there.”

“Book, potions…” Written Dreams paused as he looked around, “A farm… Well I suppose I‘ll need some food along the way.” As the pegasus continued up the road he caught sight of Applejack and smiled as he trotted over to her, “Hello miss, I was wondering if I could purchase some food for a trip I‘ll be taking. Small yet filling would be perfect.” Applejack laughed as she turned to face him, adjusting her hat as she smiled warmly,

“Cut right to the chase don‘t ya pardner? Well ya‘ll‘ve come to the right place as long as you‘re a fan of apples! I‘m Applejack by the way, friends call me AJ for short.” Written Dreams raised his hoof, happily shaking the farm pony’s hoof before they both returned their hooves to the ground,

“I‘m Written Dreams. So you‘re Applejack, the element of honesty?” Applejack gave a happy smile as she brought Written Dreams over to the barn, looking around for a moment before taking a few apple-based foods such as pies and pastries and wrapped them up for him, “Honest Applejack some call me. I take it ya‘ll know about the elements then?” Applejack said as she turned back to him. Written Dreams gave a happy nod as he stood before her, watching as she got the food put together for him,

“The elements of harmony are one of my favorite subjects to write about actually. Some of my research brought me to Ponyville so I was excited at the possibility of meeting some of the six who wield them.”

“Well I‘m sure Twilight could tell ya more then I could. She‘s the one with the smarts on the subject.”

“Honesty and modesty are a good combination.” Applejack gave a laugh as she finished packaging up the food and smiled as Written Dreams handed her a bag of bits. Applejack paused though as she looked inside and tilted her head a bit,

“Well aren‘t you the flatterer… but ya paid me far too much for all of this.” Written Dreams shook his head before turning back and reaching into his bag and withdrawing a canteen,

“I was actually hoping I could have this filled with some of that famous cider I‘ve heard about. I know it‘s not the season but I was hoping you still might have had a barrel or two knocking around.” Applejack blinked for a moment before she brought a hoof to her chin and thought before nodding with a happy smile,

“Actually tapped one of the reserve barrels we have stocked away a few days ago.” Applejack left and returned about a minute later with the canteen capped and smiled as Written Dreams replaced it into his bag,

“I‘ve heard a lot of really good things about this cider I can‘t wait to try it.” Applejack smiled softly before motioning again to the bag of bits now sitting on one of the boxes near her,

“I know I gave ya‘ll some cider too but I really can‘t accept this much.”

“Actually would it be possible to have that food delivered to the castle?” Applejack blinked before looking back to the few boxes behind her and turned back nodding,

“Well that sounds like a fair deal. I‘ll go get my big bro Big Macintosh to get on his way in a little while!” Written Dreams nodded to her before blinking, feeling a light tapping on his side and looked down seeing the small filly Applebloom standing next to him,

“Did I hear ya sayin‘ ya like to write about stuff?” Written Dreams paused for a moment before lowering his head to get eye level with her and grinned,

“Yes indeed I do. Why do you ask?” The little filly beamed with excitement as she looked at him and took a step back pointing off into the vast apple orchard,

“Mr. Dreams I have friends who would love to meet you! Can you come with me if you‘re not busy?! It won‘t take too long I promise!” The pegasus rose his head and looked back to Applejack with a light laugh,

“Looks like I‘m being kidnapped. I‘ll see you later AJ.”

“See ya WD.” Written Dreams laughed at the abbreviation before he had to run off after Applebloom as she constantly shouted for him to run faster.

Applejack let out a light sigh of contentment as she finished her story and looked over to Twilight who had been watching her with a light smile and her head resting against the ground. Twilight rose her head as Applejack finished her story and gave a light giggle, “I wonder what Applebloom and the other fillies wanted with him?” Applejack shook her head as she laughed a bit,

“I dunno, but Applebloom seemed pretty excited about it whatever it was. I didn‘t see him again after he left though but given how interested he was in the elements I‘m pretty sure he visited each of us at least once. Now let‘s get some shut eye. We all need our rest if we‘re gonna be runnin‘ all day tomorra‘.” Twilight nodded in response, the two walking over to the small cave and curled up inside before falling asleep, leaving Rainbow still looking up at the beautiful and cloudless, night sky.

Chapter 10 - Appaloosa

Twilight awoke in the morning to odd smells coming from in front of her, her eyes adjusting to the early morning light after a few moments and she stood, bringing a hoof to her eyes to rub them, “Applejack what are you doing…?” The farm pony looked over to her, Applejack having found a frying pan within one of Luna’s bags and was cooking a chunk of cactus over the small fire in front of her,

“Ah didn‘t wanna disturb ya to see what ya had in your bag fer food so I just took a chunk off that there cactus that Rainbow punched.” Twilight walked over to the fire, looking down at the cactus that had been somewhat shredded into smaller chunks before she looked up and around a bit,

“Well it smells kind of good though… where‘d Rainbow disappear to? I told her we were supposed to be able to see her at all times…” Applejack simply points up as she took the pan off of the fire,

“Actually she‘s just a bit above us on one of those clouds. Suppose even she‘d go crazy if she couldn‘t find some normalcy in all of this. Speaking of which…” Applejack said as she looked over to the unicorn, “How‘re you holding up Twilight? I‘m sure so much back to back has been hard on you. You okay?” Twilight went into a laying position and took a piece of cactus from the pan, inhaling the scent for a moment and examined it for spines before eating it,

“To be honest, if I were alone during this I probably would have lost it a long time ago. It hurt pretty bad losing Trixie so soon after our reunion but having Luna with me for so long really helped. I‘m really… grateful… that Discord gave me the ability to not have to continue on by myself but…” Twilight looked down with a sigh and stamped her hoof, “I hate that he‘s getting so much joy out of seeing us all suffering.” Rainbow Dash slid off of a small cloud above them, her wings steadily beating as she descended to the ground before her hooves touched down and she folded her wings laying next to Twilight and helping herself to a bit of cactus,

“So he‘s got full control of Canterlot and Ponyville now and he‘s remaining in the castle which is where I‘m guessing all of the other statues are.” Twilight nodded as she looked over to Rainbow Dash seeing the pegasus bringing a hoof to her own chin as she looks up, “So… if you could learn a spell to reverse the effects on them then we could save them?”

“We could, but they‘re under the power of the Elements of Harmony so we would need something with a stronger magic then them… which is what I‘m hoping the Quill of Eternity is able to have.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued to eat along with Twilight, the country pony tilting her hat a little as she looked over to the unicorn and tilted her head a bit,

“But Twilight somethin‘s been bugging me. The princess sent us after that feller Written Dreams so why are we so hell-bent on finding this quill? I know you said it‘s because he‘s lookin‘ for it but still… shouldn‘t our focus be on finding‘ him?” Twilight paused as she took in Applejack’s words of concern before she shook her head,

“I thought about that too and what I think is that the princess knew that initially I would think to only look for him, which I did but that led me to the trail of clues for the quill. Also Luna was the one who requested Trixie and I to go get the book from the tower room which I doubt she would have done if the quill itself wasn‘t what we really needed to find. Also I‘ve been thinking of one more thing… Written Dreams is also in this world of chaos and he‘s still looking for the quill. I have faith that if he wouldn‘t abandon his own quest for it then it must have the power to beat the elements and Discord.” Rainbow had her eyes closed as she tossed a piece of cactus into her mouth before slowly opening her eyes giving Twilight an odd look,

“So basically we‘re running on hope and faith.”

“Princess Celestia told me to find Written Dreams and Princess Luna told me to find the Quill of Eternity. And… I have nothing else to go on that can possibly overcome Discord‘s powers when he has the elements.” Both earth pony and pegasus were contented by Twilight’s explanation and Applejack stood a few minutes later after they had finished the cactus in the pan and she slid it back into the bag on her side,

“Alrighty so by Twilight‘s math we should be able to get most of the way there today if we run for about six hours out of the day.” Twilight smiled in response as she stood us dusting herself off a bit with her hoof before nodded to Applejack,

“Right, and we‘ll rest periodically along the way and by doing that we should be able to get to Appaloosa by around noon tomorrow.” A few more minutes passed, Applejack stamping out the fire before turning to the others with a nod, Rainbow hovering next to Twilight before the three of them began running, with the exception of Rainbow Dash who flew next to the two as they all continued across the dry landscape.

“So Rainbow I‘ve been wonderin‘ ‘bout somethin‘ from last night.” Applejack said as she looked past Twilight to the rainbow pegasus who seemed to pause for a moment before looking over to her with a wary gaze, “After Twilight mentioned that feller Written Dreams ya‘ll went all dreamy eyed. What was all that about?” Rainbow looked back ahead for a few moments before looking back to the farm pony and bringing one of her front hooves to her ear she gave Applejack an odd look,

“Sorry Applejack I can‘t really hear ya, wind in my ears ya know?”

“Ah said--!” Rainbow Dash soared up far above the two and continued flying along with them casually and Applejack cut herself off before sighing and looked over to Twilight hearing her giggle catching her gaze,

“You know the more you bug her about it the less willing she‘ll be to talk about it. But I‘ve got to say I‘m a bit curious myself.” Neither of the three had much to talk about during the time they ran, occasional chatting here or there but nothing exceptional.

Running for a good three hours the three slowed down, finding a semi-large alcove of rocks where they could rest out of the heat of the sun blazing above them. The inside of the cave but still fairly warm but as they walked a bit deeper it cooled down significantly. Applejack nudging Twilight before pointing a bit deeper into the cave, Twilight’s horn glowing and illuminating a small pond of water deep within the cave. They took a bit of time, filling up a few canteens before Rainbow Dash walked over to them and smiled a bit, “Anything I can do to help you guys?” Applejack turned to her as Twilight’s aura was covering the canteens and water, filling them rather quickly and the farm pony nodded to her,

“Sure thing Rainbow. Hows about ya get us a decent amount of cactus meat and put it in here.” Rainbow nodded with a salute as she took a small sealed container from Applejack and flew out of the cave leaving a brief trail of rainbow behind her as she did so. Applejack trotted a bit away from the water, looking at the cave around them curiously and laid her hoof on one of the walls, sliding it downwards slowly before letting it rest again on the ground, “Somethin‘s odd Twi. This cave looks hoof-made. Like the rocks were stacked up like this…” Applejack’s eyes shifted down for a moment before she looked over to Twilight seeing her sliding a canteen into her own bag before two floated over and slid into Applejack’s, “Twi, come over here for a sec.” Twilight gave her a quizzical look, walking over to her and tilted her head, watching as the farm pony started moving few of the smaller rocks out of the way with her nose and hoof,

“Applejack what are you doing…?” Applejack pushed a final rock out of the way and brought her hoof up, holding an ancient-looking scroll in her hoof. Twilight’s eyes widened greatly as she stared at it, her horn raising the scroll from her friend’s hoof over to her, “This is amazing, it must be nearly a thousand years old or maybe even older!” Applejack followed Twilight to the edge of the cave where the unicorn used her magic to very slowly unfurl the scroll, “Careful… careful…” Applejack simply watched silently, seeing Rainbow Dash fly back over to them and the pegasus walked over to the two, tilting her head as she moved behind Twilight seeing the unicorn’s eyes sliding back and forth very slowly, “Rainbow can you get a quill and parchment from my bag and copy down everything I read from this?” Rainbow Dash did as instructed, taking a quill and a small ink well from Twilight’s bag along with a roll of parchment, rolling a bit out and laid down before looking up at Twilight,

“Ready!” Twilight nodded before returning her gaze to the top of the scroll and began reading, this time, aloud for the two of them.

February 12th, unreadable year,

It saddens me that I feel as though I must make this entire journey alone. Companionship would, as I see it, keep my strength from waning as I feel it has been during my travels. There is still much life left in these old bones though and because the responsibilities have been passed to me by the passing of my master I feel that the rest I shall find once I am finished will be the truest of rewards. Perhaps I will catalog this journey… no I suppose I should not given that these entries could be considered a trail in finding the location of the quill. I wish I could describe the scene in front of me as I lay at the edge of this massive cave. It is truly a magnificent sight to behold.

Right then. My hooves are tired as I’ve just finished both a very large carving and descending this mountain and as I look up at it I feel a sense of accomplishment, like I am truly doing something I feel I must.

February 15th, no year written,

Three days since my first entry I have made my way into this harsh and dry plain, though water is scarce I have manage to construct myself a shelter against the heat. There is even a small amount of water here as well, leading me to think there may be an underground spring somewhere around here. I mustn’t wait too long as I fear my body will want me to remain here for longer then

Sorry for cutting off there. I noticed one of the herds of buffalo running across the plains off in the distance, truly a beautiful sight to behold although I wish I could have been closer. Soon, body, soon you will be able to rest but not till the quill is safe from those who would abuse its power.

Perhaps I shall try my hoof once again at carving given how beautifully my previous works have come out although I am unsure what to do. As of now I feel like I may be making this trail too easy to follow although my first clue seemed to get a few odd looks from the sisters themselves. If neither of them would be able to work it out then perhaps I am thinking too hard on the matter.

I suppose I should pack up as I’ve been here for a few hours already and the sun has set. Maybe I should simply spend the night here but traveling through that sunlight is so hard on my body. I shall travel through the night and rest during the day. That seems like it may be the better decision.

I shall be writing again soon when I find the urge.

“Did you get all of that Rainbow?” The pegasus paused for a moment as her eyes scanned over the last few lines she had written before she looked up at Twilight and nodded to her. Twilight looked over and smiled lightly as she examined what Rainbow Dash had written then blinks as she looks back at the scroll seeing the ancient parchment disintegrate in the aura of her magic,

“So what exactly was that, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said as Twilight rolled up the scroll Rainbow Dash had written on before cutting off the access with her magic and slid it into her bag,

“That was a diary entry written by the very pony who set up all of the clues we are now following. I‘m truly surprised that it was able to withstand this environment for as long as it did although I sensed a bit of magical properties in the parchment itself so perhaps that explains it.” Applejack smiled lightly at hearing Twilight’s words and tilted her head slightly,

“Ya think there might be more of them diary entries around?” Twilight looks back to her with an unsure look, shaking her head slowly before looking towards the mouth of the cave,

“I really doubt it but it‘s possible. I think that he may have just lost this one and it was pure luck that we happened to find it. But the diary entries would be invaluable in adding to the legend of the quill so if we manage to find any more then we need to make sure we copy them down immediately.” Twilight gave a bit of a happy trot as she turned back to her friends, “Oh this is so exciting! I really want to read the rest of that pony‘s diary now!” Rainbow Dash let out a laugh as the three of them walked to the mouth of the cave and she looked over to the unicorn,

“We‘ll all keep our eyes open along the way but don‘t get disappointed if we don‘t find them Twilight.” Twilight only gave her a happy smile before the three of them left the cave and started running across the savanna once again. They spent the rest of the day running, spending an hour here or there to rest but as the sun started to set the three set their sites on Appaloosa in the distance, deciding to get into the western town before sundown.

The three mares trotted into town a few minutes later, Twilight looking from left to right slowly as she and her friends examined the buildings, “Appaloosa…” The three said in unison. The town itself was relatively unchanged although every building looked as though it was made from apples. Applejack let out a bit of a sigh as she looked around and approached one of the houses, placing her hoof against it for a moment before looking back to her friends and nodding,

“It‘s apple alright. That‘s no s‘bad.” Twilight slowly nodded to her but the small unicorn continued scanning the area silently,

“It‘s not but something is bothering me about this place… where are all the ponies…?”

“Pretty sure I can answer that Twilight, cousin Applejack, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight turned and saw Braeburn as Applejack ran over and embraced him closely, the colt unchanged in appearance as he hugged Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash walking over to him and they looked at him curiously before Applejack let him go, Braeburn sighing as he looks down, “Things have been… bad since all of this chaos started happening. We received a letter from the princess when it started telling us that it was only temporary but… I‘m sure you three know more then I do.” Twilight stepped forward as she nodded to Braeburn in response,

“Me and the girls all got the Elements of Harmony and confronted Discord but… things went badly… really badly.” Braeburn took this in and paused before shaking his head,

“You don‘t need to go into details. I can tell it was a horrible experience by the look on your face but things haven‘t been much better here either you see… I‘m the last one left.” Braeburn took the three mares into the inn, giving them each some apples to eat as he sat down, looking across at them all as he sighed sadly, “To be honest I don‘t know what has happened to them all. After this happened to the town we resumed life normally but after a few days the buffalo came into town and were able to take over in just a matter of hours because of how much we trusted them… something was off about them though, it was like their color had drained and they were all grey.”

“Why did they leave you here?” Braeburn gave another sad sigh as he shook his head,

“They didn‘t leave me here. There were a few ponies I was doing my best to hide from the buffalo, mares and fillies while the fighting was going on but when one of the buffalo rammed into the building we were in, I was buried under a huge pile of wood and knocked out. When I woke up everyone was gone and it was quiet… I haven‘t dared leave the town to go search for them but what‘s brought the three of you here? Seems really far out of your way.” Braeburn turned his head to Twilight expecting her to give a response but Applejack piped up instead and the colt turned to her,

“We‘re actually here ‘cause we need to be findin‘ somethin‘ in the middle of the buffalo‘s stampedin‘ grounds.” Braeburn paused as he simply stared at Applejack for a few moments,

“Well you three know that the apple orchard was build right on top of the stampedin‘ grounds so whatever you‘re looking for should be in the middle of the trail that runs through the middle of it. I would suggest heading out to get it either in an hour or so or in the early morning when the buffalo are asleep. They haven‘t come back into town since that day so you should all be safe here.” Rainbow Dash was silent, staring out the window next to them with a contemplative look on her fact as she listened to Braeburn and the girl’s words, Twilight looking from Applejack to Rainbow Dash before looking back to Braeburn,

“I think we‘ll stay here and rest for a few hours before we do anything.”

“Then I‘ll wake ya‘ll up then. There‘s beds upstairs ya‘ll can use if ya wanna sleep. Also there‘s a lot of supplies I can give ya when you get ready to leave Appaloosa after you‘ve all found what you‘re lookin‘ for.” Twilight sat down with Braeburn, telling him about what they had been through and about their quest for the Quill of Eternity. Applejack retired upstairs and promptly fell asleep, followed by Twilight once she had finished talking with Braeburn. Rainbow Dash had left during the story, flying away from the town and up to the top of the cliffs that overlooked the stampeding grounds,

“Strongheart‘s always been a voice of reason… no way she‘d let things get this bad.”

Chapter 11 - Strongheart

“I‘m just never going to be able to believe what Braeburn said till I see it for myself.” The rainbow-maned pegasus said quietly to herself as she stood at the top of the high cliffs overlooking the vast apple orchard of Appaloosa. Her magenta eyes slowly scanned the area before looking off into the distance, “They‘ve expanded…” It was true. The number of apple trees in the orchard had drastically increased since the ponies had last visited Appaloosa so long ago. Rainbow Dash proceeded to fly down into the orchard, cautiously scanning the area but as she looked at the trees she noticed something off about them.

The trees themselves were still normal but similar to what happened in Ponyville, the fruits on the trees had drastically grown in size, leading her to believe the apples to be at least several times bigger then normal apples. Rainbow continued trotting through the trees, her eyes scanning the area and after a matter of minutes, she reached the edge of the orchard, looking off into the cold and deserted landscape, “Time to find out what happened to the Appaloosans.” She then took off, flying off into the distance, recalling the place where she had spent time with the buffalo, remembering how they had accidentally abducted Spike in their attempt to simply steal the apple tree Applejack had named Bloomberg.

Rainbow Dash sighed a bit to herself, her flying rather slowed compared to her normal speed as she felt the memories return to her. Her confrontation of Little Strongheart, even the pegasus herself slamming into a train sign while the buffalo made off with the train car containing the tree. The ponies had gone through so much arguing, Rainbow Dash hearing herself chuckle a bit as she remembered the sheriff’s and the chief buffalo’s responses to Pinkie Pie’s resulting song about sharing.

Rainbow Dash ceased her flight after a few short minutes before going to a slow trot and walked up to a rock, peering over it towards the buffalo’s camp. As she looked across, the teepees and small fire pits sat in the distance, the buffalo themselves nowhere to be seen, “Probably all sleeping…” Rainbow Dash then smiled softly to herself recalling how Pinkie Pie had unknowingly broken her cover the last time she had tried to sneak into the buffalo’s territory. Rainbow then gave an odd look as her eyes scanned the area, not seeing any of the ponies from the town, “An entire town‘s population gone without a trace… Gnngh!” Rainbow Dash groaned as a rock impacted her head, the rainbow pegasus falling forward into the dusty ground, the assailant taking her tail into its mouth and dragged her away towards an unknown location.

Twilight awoke nearly two hours later to Applejack nudging her with her hooves, “Twilight… Twilight wake up…” The unicorn slowly blinked her eyes and paused as they adjusted to the semi-darkness of the room, a small lantern on the table next to one of the other beds providing a bit of light for the room, but not so much as it would be hard to sleep, a small white candle gently glowing within the metal frame.

The mare sat up as she felt the sleepiness leave her body slowly and shook her head for a moment before looking up into the worried face of Applejack,

“Applejack…? What‘s wrong?”

“Twilight, I just talked to Braeburn and he told me that he hasn‘t seen Rainbow Dash for a few hours.” Twilight paused for a few moments before tilting her head slightly,

“Have you both checked the clouds?” Applejack simply shook her head in response, her look of worry only growing deeper as she stared at the unicorn,

“There‘s not a cloud in the sky tonight though. Braeburn said he hadn‘t seen her since you were tellin‘ him ‘bout the Quill of Eternity. Twi, I‘m really worried. Ya think she might‘ve gone off on her own?” Twilight slid out of the bed and nodded to the country pony in response, walking over to the door before turning back to her,

“Knowing Rainbow Dash it‘s possible she went to go have a look for herself… but two hours? There‘s no way she would be gone that long, especially with her speed to back her up. Something must have happened…” Twilight slowly looked down as she finished speaking, a look of deep thought on her face. Applejack walked over to her, raising a hoof and patted her shoulder lightly a few times to comfort her,

“I‘m sure she‘s okay Twilight, but let‘s head over to the orchard to see if we can find anythin‘ that might tell us where she might‘ve disappeared to.” The two ponies left the inn and headed to the cliffs off to the side of the town overlooking the orchard, the two mares noticing how the apples were much larger along with the sheer quantity of apple trees that now resided in the orchard. They were relatively silent as they slid down the mountainside and trotted through the orchard, the two looking around slowly and cautiously until they both thought that they were safe among the trees, “Twilight… I think she might have flown over to the reservation where the buffalo live.” Twilight gave her a rather disturbed expression and looked off into the distance ahead of them,

“Then we need to head out there now!” Twilight’s expression became much more serious as she finished her sentence and then took off down the path followed quickly by Applejack who adjusted her hat before she started to run after the unicorn.

Rainbow Dash let out a bit of a groan, blinking her eyes a few times as she awoke, “Ooh… my head…” She raised her hoof to her head, wincing for a moment as she felt a bump but as her vision cleared she slowly looked around, seeing a small fire pit with a few ignited logs within it and the stone walls of a cave around her being gently illuminated by the flickering light. She paused for a moment as her hoof rubbed against a few bandages that had been wrapped around her head and she looked around quizzically seeing no-one else in the cave, “Is anypony there?” Rainbow Dash stood before wobbling for a moment as her vision blurred and her head throbbed,

“Easy there Rainbow Dash… I hit you a little harder then I wanted to…” Rainbow paused before looking in the direction of the feminine voice, seeing a few pictures of Little Strongheart looking at her with a look of concern in the firelight although she seemed to be a bit of a lighter hue then before, seeming like color had almost all drained away from her. Rainbow Dash felt her vision right itself and she shook her head trying to clear it a bit more as she looked at the buffalo girl,

“Why did you hit me with a rock in the first place?” Little Strongheart looked a bit ashamed of what she had done to the pegasus but also looked like she felt she had no choice in the matter,

“I really am sorry that I knocked you out Rainbow Dash but I couldn‘t risk surprising you in any way. I don‘t know how you deal with surprise so I thought it would be best if I simply brought you here so we could talk.” Rainbow was silent for a few moments as she listened to Strongheart’s explanation and gave her own rainbow mane another light rub,

“I guess that makes sense… and I don‘t blame you since you had a good reason. I might have yelled feeling a hoof on my back… I was a bit tense sneaking around.” The buffalo seemed to smile gently as she looked across to her friend with a bit of an embarrassed blush on her face,

“Still I apologize. I didn‘t know of how much force the impact would have. I‘m really glad you‘re here though, are any of your friends here as well? I could… urgh…” Strongheart seemed to recoil a little as she lifted a hoof to her own forehead and closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash instantly noticed this and looked at her with deep concern,

“You okay?” She lowered her hoof a moment later and paused letting out a slow breath before nodding a little to Rainbow Dash,

“I‘m really not sure of how long I have left before I become like the other buffalo… I‘ve been fighting the change as much as I can but…” She paused and motioned to her body, “As you can see, almost all of the color has drained from my coat like the others.”

“I can see that… all of us were like that at one point but Twilight was able to bring us all back, only barely though. I‘m sure she could help you as well if we can get to her. She and Applejack are in Appaloosa right now. Do you think you could make it?” Little Strongheart paused for a few moments as she thought before slowly shaking her head,

“I do not think so… Appaloosa is nearly twenty minutes from here and I doubt I have that much fight left in me. Listen closely Rainbow Dash because I‘m going to tell you everything I can about what‘s been happening.” Rainbow Dash was silent as she nodded and laid down, watching as Little Strongheart laid down as well, looking across to her as she started speaking again, “It was something out of nowhere when it happened. A few days ago things were going normally as they did every day but then this wave of what I believe to be magic seemed to wash over everything. The apples in the orchard grew much, much bigger and… then the entire tribe with the exception of myself lost all coloration in their fur. But after that… the chief… he made plans to move and take Appaloosa‘s ponies.” Strongheart seemed to give a disheartened sigh and looked down, “They did just that. Moving on Appaloosa. I could do nothing to convince them not to do it and it didn‘t take long for them to enslave all of the ponies there.”

“Where are the ponies now?”

“In the day they‘re forced to work in the orchard, picking the apples and stockpiling them for the buffalo and at night I believe they are retired to the caves around here. I haven‘t been able to locate them myself as the chief himself said that if I continued attempting to get them to stop then I would have to work with them as well and… I ran away.” Rainbow Dash was silent as she took all of this in, pausing as she was looking down at the ground before her gaze returned to the buffalo,

“I don‘t blame you. Strongheart, there was nothing you could have done to change their minds. It‘s impossible to reason with them if they‘ve been effected by Discord‘s magic.” Little Strongheart seemed shocked as she heard the name and gave Dash a wary stare,

“D-Discord?! Meaning the spirit of chaos and disharmony himself has returned?!” She then paused as she looked down with a sigh, “That explains everything that has happened then.” Rainbow Dash nodded silently, realizing that the buffalo had not received a letter from the princess about what had happened given that, from what she had said, the events that occurred seemed to have happened after Rainbow Dash and the other five of her friends had confronted Discord, “Rainbow Dash… why is our land like this?”

“We fought Discord and we lost… he took the Elements of Harmony from us and used them against us all turning all but Twilight into stone. And she only escaped because Princess Celestia sacrificed herself to save her. Discord took Princess Luna from Twilight but gave her a choice of two of the five of us to be released from stone and she chose myself and Applejack. We‘re after something called the Quill of Eternity and one of the clues led us here because apparently the next clue is in the middle of the stampeding grounds in the orchard.” Little Strongheart seemed to pause for a moment at the mention of the quill and gave Rainbow Dash a bit of an odd look,

“I‘ve heard a legend about that from the chief a few times. He told us that about a thousand years ago or maybe it was more… anyway, a pony came to the stampeding grounds and befriended the buffalo there. He was very kind to the buffalo and requested that he be able to bury something in the middle of the stampeding grounds. Obviously this was no trouble and so he was allowed to do it.” Rainbow Dash gave her a quizzical look as she tilts her head,

“Has it been dug up before?” Strongheart simply gave a nod in response,

“It was dug up numerous times before being buried again. A few of the ponies who were looking for the quill asked us if they could simply take the stone tablet with them but we‘ve been sworn to protect it to this day.”

“Then where is it now? The clue is a bit of a minor priority right now but I know it‘s going to be itching at the back of my mind and both Applejack and Twilight‘s till we find it.”

“I‘d gladly bring you to the spot but…” Strongheart looked at her hoof, a bit of brown on her fur still remaining, “I fear as though we wouldn‘t be able to get there before I change completely. You should return to your friends Rainbow Dash and tell them what I told you. If the solution is as simple as one of Twilight Sparkle‘s spells then you should all be able to sort out what‘s happened with little difficulty.” Rainbow Dash looked down in silence for a few moments before slowly shaking her head with a sigh,

“Given how big the buffalo are it‘s gonna be hard for Twilight to get close to any of them. We‘ll do what we can. I promise.” Little Strongheart gave a nod before letting out a slow sigh, Rainbow Dash walking past her to the mouth of the cave before looking back, seeing the last of the color leave the buffalo and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as Little Strongheart looked back at her with a rather dark grin, the pegasus taking into the air and flying quickly away from the cave.

Rainbow Dash continued flying for a good ten minutes before her gaze drifted to the ground, seeing two ponies running through the moonlight across the savanna. She turned and headed towards them, Twilight and Applejack skidding to a halt as the rainbow pegasus landed in front of them, “What‘re you guys doing all the way out here? I thought you‘d still be sleeping.” Twilight instantly ran up to Rainbow Dash and hugged her tightly, the pegasus blinking as she looked down at the relieved face of the pony and gave a bit of a groan, “Twilight… a little too tight…” Twilight Sparkle blinked for a moment before releasing her friend, the pegasus letting out a few quick breaths before smiling towards them and Twilight spoke,

“Rainbow you‘ve been gone for hours! We were really worried something had happened to you!” Rainbow Dash blinked for a moment before tilting her head as she looked across to her friends,

“A few… hours? Erm… sorry about that. Little Strongheart found me and knocked me out so as not to risk me yelling if she surprised me. I guess I was out for longer then I thought.”

“You found Little Strongheart?” Twilight asked as she looked around for a few moments before looking back to Rainbow Dash, “What happened? Where is she?” Dash gave a sigh in response, shaking her head as she looked at the unicorn and earth pony in front of her,

“When I woke up she was mostly lost to Discord‘s magic but had been fighting it for the last few days. She told me that the ponies are being forced to work gathering the apples from the orchard in the day and are sent to some cave system but she couldn‘t give me an exact location…” Dash seemed to pause as she looked down with a sigh, “As I was leaving she was lost to the magic… that look she gave me… like she would tear me to pieces. Twilight can you use that memory spell on all the buffalo?” Twilight Sparkle thought for a moment, bringing a hoof to her chin before looking back up to Rainbow Dash and shaking her head,

“Even if I was able to get that close to the buffalo, I wouldn‘t be able to change more then one or two back without the risk of waking up the others. If I could somehow use the spell in a mass wave then I could probably do it but now… I just don‘t see a way it would work.” Applejack spoke up next, adjusting her hat a little as she trotted over to Twilight’s side,

“So what‘re we gonna do Twilight?” The unicorn was silent with her head lowered a bit, her wise eyes fixed upon the ground before she looked up again with a serious expression a minute later,

“Rainbow Dash can you take us to where Little Strongheart was?” Rainbow Dash nodded before turning her head a little and giving Twilight an odd look,

“I can… and I think Applejack and I could restrain her long enough for you to bring her back but what are you planning Twilight?” Rainbow Dash and the other two mares began running back towards the cave Rainbow Dash had come from a little while ago, the unicorn looking ahead before she let out a slow sigh,

“We can at least bring back Strongheart but girls… in the end I don‘t think we‘ll be able to save the Appaloosans. We have to think about what might happen if we did try. We could end up enslaved or…” Twilight ended her sentence rather abruptly as Rainbow Dash looked back at her, remembering the expression Little Strongheart gave her as she was leaving the cave, “Maybe even dead…” Both of the other two ponies simply nodded as they thought about confronting an entire herd of buffalo on their own. They had taken over the town of Appaloosa in a mater of an hour or two but it was possible there may have been casualties in the take-over given how sharp the horns of the buffalo were.

The three approached the cave after a little over ten minutes and Rainbow Dash whistled quickly towards it, “You there Little Strongheart?” There was only silence for a few minutes before the discolored buffalo slowly walked out of the cave to face them,

“You came back? What idiots.” Strongheart was giving the three mares a fairly dark glare and Rainbow Dash took a step forward as the buffalo got down low, stamping her hoof as she growled, “This is my land… and I take care of those who trespass on it.” Little Strongheart let out a yell as she charged them, the three moving back as the buffalo quickly scanned the three before leaping up and over the three, skidding for a moment as she turned and lunged with a sinister growl.

Applejack turned and narrowed her eyes for a moment as her eyes locked onto the buffalo leaping through the air towards her and the farm pony leapt back, before turning her back to Strongheart gave her a hard buck with both of her legs, the buffalo’s eyes going wide for a moment before she instantly collapsed to the ground with an angry groan, “I… I‘ll kill you… I swear it…” Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded to each other as they approached Little Strongheart on each side, each pinning her down to the ground and she began struggling against the hooves binding her as Twilight approached, her horn glowing brightly before she touched it to the buffalo’s forehead, her eyes closing tightly before opening wide. The color slowly returned to her coat, sort of flowing up from her hooves up to the top of her head and tail before she blinked slowly and looked up at Applejack and Rainbow Dash released her, “Applejack… Rainbow Dash… Twilight…?” Twilight took a step back from her as Little Strongheart stood up before her eyes widened for a moment and her legs buckled making her fall forward, “Nngh… I feel like I got hit by a train.” Applejack approached her with a bit of a sorry look on her face,

“Ah‘m mighty sorry about that, but I really wasn‘t takin‘ any chances with that murderous look in your eyes.” The three ponies carefully lifted the buffalo and brought her into the cave where Twilight wrapped a bandage from her bag around the buffalo’s torso and began using her magic to help mend the damage from Applejack’s kick.

Chapter 12 - In the Orchard

“Twilight, girls, what are we going to do about the buffalo and the Appaloosans?” Little Strongheart said with a rather worried expression. Twilight had spent a few minutes mending the damage from Applejack’s kick to her torso and the bandages had been removed. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were silent as they both looked over to Twilight Sparkle, who was staring at the ground seemingly lost in very deep thought.

It was silent around them as the three waited for Twilight to speak, only the sound of the crackling fire filling their ears. The unicorn eventually spoke up, looking rather sorrowfully across to the buffalo girl, “Strongheart… given the circumstances and how vicious you turned when under the influence of Discord, I fear for all of our safety if we even tried to bring any of the larger buffalo back.” She slowly shook her head letting out a deep sigh, “I just don‘t think it‘s possible right now… I‘m really sorry but I feel there‘s nothing we can do.” Twilight slowly rose her head, watching Strongheart’s face as she took in Twilight’s words, her expression a mix of different emotions,

“Twilight I don‘t blame any of you for not being able to help… I understand how dangerous it is because of what I‘ve seen from the buffalo myself.” Little Strongheart then stood, smiling across to the three, “I‘ll bring you all to the tablet containing the next clue on your search for the quill.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood with silent nods but as Twilight stood she let out another sigh,

“I know you must be disappointed…”

“As long as I can watch over the ponies and make sure they remain safe, I‘ll be fine. But Twilight, if you know of any place where you could find a more advanced version of your memory spell then please…” Strongheart looked at her with pleading eyes and a gentle smile, “Please go there and find a way to save all of them. Not just the ponies but all of the buffalo as well. They are just as much slaves as the ponies are.” Twilight nodded while returning the buffalo girl’s soft smile and after a few more minutes of packing up their things, the four left the cave, running across the uneven and rocky terrain.

A few minutes passed as the four simply ran but Twilight looked over to Strongheart with a bit of a quizzical expression on her face, “Strongheart, speaking of the Quill of Eternity, did you ever meet a pegasus by the name of Written Dreams?” She watched Twilight’s face for a moment, seemingly lost in thought for a few minutes before she nodded to the purple unicorn,

“Actually yes. He came by around…” She thought for another moment, “Two weeks ago I believe. He didn‘t stay all that long but he was very nice company.” The three mares seemed to give her shocked looks as they heard this, Applejack looking to the others and grinning,

“Looks like we‘re catchin‘ up right swiftly!” Strongheart seemed to tilt her head a little in response to Applejack’s words,

“You‘re trying to find him? If that‘s the case I apologize as I cannot effectively describe the clue itself. You‘ll all just have to wait till we get there.” Rainbow Dash piped up next, giving more of a gentle smile than her usual boisterous grin,

“Strongheart can you tell us about when he was here?” Strongheart looked ahead for almost a minute, silently gathering her thoughts before looking to the ponies with a smile,

“Alright then, let‘s see here…”

Little Strongheart’s ears perked a little as she noticed a dark blue and silver object flying overhead, continuing to watch as it became steadily bigger till the form of a pegasus was obvious above her. Written Dreams came to a landing about five feet from the buffalo girl facing away from her apparently looking around as his eyes were squinted, “Let‘s see now…” She heard him say as she walked over to him, raising a hoof and tapping his shoulder,

“Erm, excuse me…” She watched as he jumped a bit before quickly turning around to face her,

“Oh you‘re one of the buffalo!” He gave her a grin as he raised her hoof shaking it happily, “Pleasure to meet you my name‘s Written Dreams.” Little Strongheart blinked for a moment, a light blush appearing on her face as Written Dreams lifted her hoof further, placing a kiss on it before letting it fall back to the ground along with his own hoof, “May I know your name?” Strongheart took a step back, not used to such forward and gentlemanly behavior before she spoke while looking down a bit,

“My name is Little Strongheart.” She looked up again into the smiling face of the pegasus before looking off towards the orchard of apple trees,

“Did you just come from Appaloosa by any chance?” Written Dreams let out a bit of a chuckle as he followed her gaze towards the orchard, both of them looking in the direction of the town that neither could possibly see from their current location,

“Yes actually. They‘re a friendly bunch… especially that Braeburn pony.” The pegasus let out a laugh as he looked back to the buffalo, “He‘s pretty energetic about showing new ponies around the town.” Little Strongheart looked back to Written Dreams, nodding a little before smiling towards him,

“I wouldn‘t know. I mean, I‘ve met him but he seemed more like the logical thinking type of pony. I haven‘t seen him act all that energetic… Anyway, what brings you all the way out here Mr. Dreams?”

“Please, call me Written Dreams. And it was Braeburn that told me to come here. You see, I‘m looking for something and he said that the buffalo around here might know where it is.” Little Strongheart tilted her head in response to his words, giving him a quizzical look as she stared at him,

“Oh? What might you be looking for?”

“I‘m on a quest for the Quill of Eternity and the clue I followed told me that the next clue to find is… well it looked like it was in the center of a wide open plane. I was a bit surprised to see such a massive apple orchard out here.” Strongheart gave a nod as she smiled towards the pegasus and pointed out into the orchard,

“Oh you‘re another one of those ponies searching for the quill. We have a few legends about it and I‘m sure I could point you in the right direction but…” She paused as she looked at the pegasus, “You look pretty worn out. How about you come back to the camp I live at and rest for a bit? The buffalo of my tribe respect the quill hunters and enjoy hearing about the different experiences they‘ve had along their journey.” Written Dreams did not even pause to think before he gave her a happy grin and gave a bit of a happy trot to accompany it,

“With such a tempting offer how could I possibly refuse? Lead on, Little Strongheart.” As they began walking, Little Strongheart looked at him and tilted her head a bit,

“You seem as though you‘ve been flying for a long time. Did you have trouble finding this place?” Written Dreams turned to her as he continued trotting alongside the buffalo,

“It took me a while to find this place. I had to go back to the mountain several times to make sure I was in the right place… honestly I should have just asked someone in Appaloosa first… but that‘s no fun. Had to cross-reference the peninsulas and other rock formations against the apple trees to get them all to match up… a bit frustrating really.”

The two continued walking for a good ten minutes before arriving at Little Strongheart’s camp. A few of the buffalo gave him odd looks as he trotted through but the pegasus just hummed a soft tune as he trotted through with the buffalo girl, “Do the rest of the buffalo in your tribe not see ponies very often?” Little Strongheart looked back at the happy yet quizzical gaze of Written Dreams before she thought for a moment before speaking,

“We see some of the Appaloosans on occasion but few of them ever wander this far out so most of the buffalo in the tribe can go for months without seeing a single one.” The two of them continued walking for another minute or so before Little Strongheart and the pegasus came to a stop in front of a buffalo of a darker shade of brown than the others who wore a ceremonial headdress befitting a chief, “Chief Thunderhooves?” Written Dreams was silent as he looked up at the buffalo, who was staring down at him with both an expression of curiosity and great wisdom in his eyes,

“Why has Little Strongheart brought you before me, pegasus?” Written Dreams was silent for a few moments as he scanned the buffalo before him before he spoke in his normally cheery tone,

“Well she insisted on bringing me here after I told her I‘m on a search for the Quill of Eternity. My name‘s Written Dreams and I‘d be more than happy to share a story or two with you all!” Chief Thunderhooves looked down into the grinning face of the pegasus for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before he slowly nodded and waved his hoof,

“Very well. But that must wait until tonight. There are a few preparations to make before your story can be told Written Dreams.”

The remaining hours of the day were rather uneventful as Written Dreams mingled with the buffalo and Little Strongheart, occasionally making her blush with a word of praise or admiration for her tribe periodically.

The hours passed by rather swiftly, a few buffalo walking around and gathering various things from herbs and powders to some paints and dyes. Once darkness had fallen Written Dreams waited patiently as a few of the buffalo put paint on his cheeks in red and white lines curving up to his eyes and rings of black around his ears connecting to the white lines and both circled his eyes connecting at the top. After the paint was put onto his face a headband was put around his head consisting of many light blue and white triangles and in the back, two eagle feathers rose up connected to the ring. He sat on a log with the entire tribe gathered around a very large and roaring fire in front of them all. Little Strongheart approached him, handing him a small bowl of powder and looked up at him with a smile, “Cast some of the powder on the fire for each story you tell.” The pegasus paused to gather his thoughts before bringing a bit of the powder onto his hoof and blew it into the fire after gathering his thoughts.

He told them of his time in the Everfree forest, his trip to the ruins of the castle of the royal pony sisters and his experiences in sunny town, leaving no detail unturned as he smiled at the awed faces around him. He began telling them of his experiences in Ponyville, gathering his various supplies for his journey and his multiple meetings of Zecora the zebra.

Hours passed as Written Dreams covered each detail of his various meetings and the relationships he felt had formed from them, pausing after a while as he saw a bowl of red liquid being passed from buffalo to buffalo before Little Strongheart held it out to him, “It‘s traditional for the Quill Hunter to partake in this ritual. Don‘t worry, it‘s safe.” He took the bowl from her, seeing that he was the last in line he stared down into the bowl for a few moments before drinking the contents, a smile appearing on the faces of each of the buffalo as he did so. Chief Thunderhooves spoke up next, standing and walking over to the pegasus sitting on the log and watched as the pony looked up at him,

“And on this night, I grant you the name Starwriter and welcome you into the tribe. Are there any objections?” Chief Thunderhooves looked over the crowd of faces, seeing them all smile and cheer in response. Written Dreams smiled warmly as he looked at them all,

“I am truly honored to become a member of your tribe. Thank you very much.” As the minutes passed Written Dreams had finished his story and had began simply staring into the fire, the images that had appeared as he recounted his tale had disappeared leaving only the waving oranges and reds in his eyes. His pupils had become a little smaller and he said nothing as he quietly stared. Strongheart sat by his side, giggling a bit as she saw his expression,

“Just relax Starwriter, it‘s perfectly normal to hallucinate a bit. You‘re safe and nothing is going to hurt you here.” Little Strongheart said as she looked up at him with a gentle smile, continuing to say soothing things to him until he eventually passed out, laying on the log as he silently slept. Little Strongheart stood from her lying position and found a blanket nearby, draping it over him Eventually he was brought into one of the teepees that lined the camp in various places and slept soundly throughout the night.

Written Dreams awoke the next morning rather hazily, his eyes very slowly blinking open before he looked around with a bit of a groan before he paused for a moment and turned to his left, seeing Little Strongheart smiling at him as she had only awoken a few moments ago, “Morning!” She said before sitting up. Written Dreams simply stared at her for a few moments with an expression that seemed to be piecing together different thoughts before he blinked a few times,

“Did we…?” Strongheart blinked for a moment, simply staring at him before laughing and shaking her head with a light blush on her face,

“Absolutely not! Mine is just the only teepee that has room in it…” She rolled her eyes with a nervous chuckle, “Believe me I‘ve been asked that question a lot of times when the hunters wake up. Always an awkward moment really…” Written Dreams chuckled a bit as he sat up and brought a hoof to his head letting out a little groan as his other hoof fixed his bed head,

“Last night was just… wow. I‘m not sure if I‘ll ever have an experience like that again.” Little Strongheart stood with a small smile as she looked across to him,

“Everyone sees a lot of different things but you‘re not allowed to tell me what you saw. Those images are for you to think and reflect on during your journey.” Written Dreams tilted his head a little as he looked back to her,

“I can‘t tell anyone?” Little Strongheart thought for a moment, bringing a hoof to her chin before smiling,

“Well I suppose if you wrote them down somewhere like in a diary or something like that and someone happened to see it…” Little Strongheart smiled gently as Written Dreams stood up and stretched, flexing his wings for a few moments before nodding to her with a small grin,

“I see what you mean Strongheart.” The two of them trotted out of the teepee and looked around. The sun had risen but it wasn’t yet high in the sky leading the pegasus to believe it was only around nine in the morning at the time. He looked to the buffalo with a slight smile as he looked around, “I suppose I‘d better be on my way soon. Would you be so kind as to lead me to the center of the stampeding grounds?” Little Strongheart gave a nod and the two of them left the camp, heading back towards the enormous orchard of apple trees.

They walked for nearly thirty minutes before Little Strongheart smiled, turning to look back at him and pointed to a pile of disturbed earth that had been stomped flat by numerous hooves running over it, “Starwriter we‘re here.” Written Dreams looked to her with a smile and walked over to the patch of earth, beginning to dig rapidly with his hooves, Strongheart joining in after a short while and the two of them eventually unearthed a rather small tablet,

“There it is… what a beautiful piece of work.”

“He left shortly after he found the clue. I believe he may have headed back to Appaloosa first though but he did come back to the reservation with me to say goodbye to everyone first.” As the four looked ahead, they were running down a thin trail between the mostly barren apple trees of the orchard, Twilight letting out a light sigh of contentment as she looked over to the buffalo with a soft smile,

“It‘s really nice hearing about his journey from all of our old friends… I wonder who we‘ll hear from next?” The four of them soon stopped less than a minute later as Little Strongheart walked over to a patch of disturbed earth. Applejack chuckled a bit as she poked Rainbow Dash’s side with her hoof,

“Maybe Rainbow if she ever feels like talkin‘ about it!” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Applejack with a noticeable blush on the boisterous pegasus’ face,

“Pfft, yeah right AJ. There‘s nothing you can say that would make me spill the beans about that!” Applejack raised an eyebrow in response, bringing her hoof up and tapped one of Rainbow Dash’s upward-facing wings,

“Hoowee Rainbow, ya‘ll‘re lookin‘ like a tomato with that blush on yer face and yer wings are lookin‘ mighty impressive too!” Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes as she looked back to little Strongheart, the two of them digging into the earth together as the pegasus and earth pony argued.

The mare and buffalo stopped after Twilight’s hoof hit something hard. She paused for a moment, using the side of her hoof to wipe some of the dirt from the tablet before her horn glowed and the tablet rose out of the ground, her hoof wiping some of the grime from it and she squinted her eyes as she looked at it, “It‘s too dirty.” She reached into her pack and withdrew her canteen, emptying some of the water from it onto the tablet and watched as the dirt slowly loosened from around the carving. She repeated this numerous times, lifting the water from the tablet with her magic before pouring it back onto the tablet until it was completely clean. Twilight paused as she gazed down at the tablet laying on the ground in front of her, steadily looking over to Applejack for a moment seeing the two mares still fighting, “Girls!” The two mares stopped the instant Twilight yelled, Rainbow Dash’s tail falling out of Applejack’s mouth as they both looked over to her, “Applejack is this what I think it is?” The farm pony tilted her head a little as she walked over to Twilight,

“Whatcha mean Twi?” She paused looking down at the tablet before her eyes widened and she tilted her head, “That‘s…” The tablet laying before them had a perfect depiction of Sweet Apple Acers in its entirety. The barn and the farmhouse, along with the vast orchard of apple trees in amazing detail. Even each individual apple was carved into the stone that was before them, “But that doesn‘t make any sense though… Twilight you said that this feller put all the clues in place more than a thousand years ago!” Twilight was silently studying the carving before them, her eyes drifting slowly around before she looked over to Applejack,

“There are quite a lot of similarities but… the farmhouse and everything looks a little older while where you live looks fixed up and brand new. Applejack, how long has your family been living in Sweet Apple Acres?” Applejack paused for a moment as she shook her head,

“I‘d say ‘round eighty or ninety years by now. Not nearly long enough.” Twilight Sparkle looked back to the tablet, studying it closely before shaking her head and pointed to a small X near one of the trees,

“Well regardless this is the clue and we have to follow it even if it doesn‘t make any sense.” Little Strongheart looked down at the tablet and smiled gently towards the three of them,

“It‘s said that the one who carried the quill did this after he partook in the same ritual that Starwriter… or Written Dreams went through. Perhaps he saw this in a vision?” The three mares nodded and after another few minutes they reburied the tablet in the ground, the three of them shaking hooves with Little Strongheart before they turned to leave and Twilight looked back to Little Strongheart for a moment,

“Braeburn is still safe in Appaloosa Little Strongheart. You should head over there and speak with him about what you know about the ponies. We‘re going to see what we can find out about a mass memory spell and we‘ll return once we‘re able to help out the buffalo.” Little Strongheart gave a very grateful smile in response as she looked towards the unicorn,

“It‘s good to know I won‘t have to be alone in this. I‘ll go see him soon then. Goodbye Twilight, goodbye Rainbow Dash and goodbye Applejack.” With that, the three friends turned and started running once again across the barren landscape once they had left the orchard unsure of what they might find at the farm.

Chapter 13 - Crusading

Discord sat in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, seeming rather content in his throne as he sat in a reclined position, a rather large orb in front of him on a golden pedestal. The orb itself radiated a sinister purple aura and an image was in it showing various chaotic activities around Ponyville. Discord let out a laugh as a pony ran away from some flowers that were several times her size roaring at her with gnashing teeth. Discord paused for a moment and looked down to his side, seeing a small pegasus mare of a stony grey color looking down and away from him, a black band around her neck with a dark red gem embroidered into the center. The Spirit of chaos raised an eyebrow and brought his bear hand down patting her head, “Enjoying the chaos Fluttershy?” She turned her head to the orb and gave a frightened look making Discord roll his eyes, “I thought you would be running around with your little friends, why are you here?” Fluttershy looked up at him, before looking away from him and then back to him, seemingly trying to decide whether to speak or not,

“Um… Master Discord… There‘s three fillies here to see you… if… if that‘s okay with you.” Discord paused as he brought his eagle claw to his chin, seeming to think for a moment before looking to the other end of the throne room to the enormous chocolate doors,

“Three… fillies? Interesting… send them in, by all means!” Discord said as he waved his claw to her, Fluttershy backing away slowly before running to the doors and slowly pulled one of them open,

“Right… this way girls.” A pegasus, unicorn and earth pony filly walked through, the earth pony looking up at Fluttershy and cringing as she saw her, the same reaction coming from the other two fillies as well, the earth pony speaking in a noticeably southern accent,

“You really don‘ look too good Fluttershy… Maybe you should lay down for a bit.” Fluttershy paused for a moment as she stared down at them before slowly shaking her head with a sigh,

“Master Discord wouldn‘t allow that. There‘s much too much work to be done around the castle for me to take any breaks Applebloom.” The pegasus said nothing more as she walked past them and closed the door leaving the three opposite Discord, the spirit of chaos waving for them to approach him. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all approached Discord, the spirit giving both an amused and slightly irritated look,

“Oh, it‘s you three again. Didn‘t I already tell you that you could have your little tree house as long as you didn‘t bother me?” Applebloom spoke up, the farm filly nodding towards him as she took another step forward,

“We were just wonderin’ if… we could see our sisters and Scootaloo could see Rainbow Dash mister Discord.” Discord gave an amused chuckle as he leaned his head on his bear hand, looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders with an amused grin,

“It really doesn‘t matter to me what you do. The only reason we have the deal we do is because you three hastened my escape from that statue. Of course, about your requests… Applejack and Rainbow Dash are no longer here I‘m afraid.” Discord looked at the shocked faces of the three while waving his claw at them, “Of her other friends, little Twilight Sparkle chose those two to be brought back from being in stone in exchange for Princess Luna here.” To Discord’s sides were statues of the two princesses. Princess Celestia to his right and princess Luna to his left from where he was sitting facing the girls and he motioned to Luna as he spoke her name, “Rarity is hard at work creating banners to be hung about the castle depicting my own brilliance. Go see her if you really want to just leave when you‘re done and don‘t mess anything up. The girls have got the castle just the way I like it.” Discord went back to watching the orb as the Crusaders left out a door to the side and walked down the hallway, Scootaloo looking to the other two from Applebloom’s right,

“So what are we going to do about rescuing everypony? Discord‘s probably gonna turn us to stone too if he catches on to us.” Sweetie Belle let out a sigh, shaking her head a bit as the three fillies walked down the chocolate halls of the castle,

“I really don‘t think there‘s anything we CAN do right now.” Applebloom spoke up, smiling a bit as she looked from Sweetie Belle to Scootaloo,

“Come on gals, we can‘t lose hope. There‘s always a chance that Twilight can find a way to beat Discord and besides, now she‘s got mah big sis Applejack and Rainbow Dash with her!” Both fillies grinned in response to Applebloom’s words and nodded towards her as Sweetie Belle pushed open a door and the three heard Rarity’s voice singing with a bit of a sadness to it,

“Stitch by stitch, stitching it together…” Rarity then sighed as she stopped working and dropped her head. She was the same stony shade of grey as Fluttershy was and sported the same collar as well. Around her were numerous black and red banners depicting Discord’s face; some spread out and some rolled up against the wall. Rarity looked terrible as well, her eyes had bags under them indicating she wasn’t getting the sleep she normally got and her mane was in tangles, split ends here and there, even on her tail. The unicorn paused as Scootaloo closed the door and looked up at the three, her eyes slowly scanning them before she laid her head back on the desk, “I don‘t want you to see me like this Sweetie Belle… why would you three come here anyway?” Rarity rose her head a moment later, giving them a rather sorrowful expression as Sweetie Belle walked over to Rarity’s workstation and rose up on her hind legs, planting her front hooves against the table she was working on and smiled towards her,

“To try and cheer you up of course! And Discord told us that Applejack and Rainbow Dash are with Twilight now so I‘m sure they‘ll find a way to save all of Ponyville and all of you too!” Rarity’s expression seemed to darken a little as Sweetie Belle finished talking and the unicorn started working again, running her hooves across the red and black fabrics as she passed them through the sewing machine in front of her,

“Sure she will. Discord has the Elements of Harmony and Twilight has Rainbow Dash and Applejack so… literally nothing. We‘re being enslaved here while she‘s out running around doing Celestia knows what!” Rarity gave a growl as she looked towards the girls with a look of resentment, “She is NOT going to save us and it‘s foolish to even think that way and the sooner you three get that through your heads the better now…” Rarity raised her voice as her expression became angrier, “GET OUT! I have much work to be done!” Sweetie Belle stamped her hoof in defiance while the other two crusaders looked intimidated by Rarity’s outburst of anger,

“You have to have faith that Twilight will come through in the end! Without hope what do you have?!” Rarity fell silent, simply staring at the filly for around twenty seconds before she spoke in a reserved and neutral tone,

“Exactly what I have now. If I did have hope that wouldn‘t change anything. Whatever Twilight is doing I couldn‘t be much help to her anyway I mean think about it. What are my talents? I‘m overly dramatic and I can make clothes. Really, how does that help in a world of chaos?” Sweetie Belled turned her back to the unicorn, hanging her head as she sighed softly,

“The Rarity I knew would never think that any of her friends would have abandoned her. I know full well that if Twilight had chosen you then you would have done everything you possibly could to help her. You also have magic Rarity and while you aren‘t as powerful as Twilight, you still have a unique and positive outlook when things get this bad…” Sweetie Belle looked back to her sister for a moment, tears having welled up in the filly’s eyes, “At least I thought you would.” Sweetie Belle then ran out of the room, followed quickly by the other two fillies leaving Rarity alone in the room once again. She silently watched the door as it closed before pausing for a few seconds and returning to her work, a neutral expression on her face.

Scootaloo and Applebloom ran after Sweetie Belle as she simply ran down the halls, tears falling behind her until she tripped and skidded a few feet, burying her face in her hooves as she sobbed loudly. Applebloom and Scootaloo trotted over to her, Scootaloo leaning down and nuzzling her lightly making the unicorn raise her head and sniff a few times as her crying slowed, “Come on Sweetie Belle… you know Rarity better than any of us. It must be Discord‘s magic that‘s making her think that way!” Sweetie Belle took a moment to regain herself, sniffing back tears for a short while before slowly nodding to the other two,

“Y-Yeah I guess you‘re right…” Applebloom looked to the other two with a smile,

“Should we go ask mister Discord where Pinkie Pie is? Maybe we can cheer her up a bit… unless she‘s still all springy and happy.” The other two crusaders nodded to her and they all ran back to the throne room, approaching Discord seeing him laying in a hammock tied to the statues of the two princesses as he basks in sunlight seeming to come from nowhere at all. He wears sunglasses as well and tilts them down as he hears them approach,

“What do you three want now…?” Applebloom was the one who spoke next, smiling lightly towards the spirit of chaos,

“We were just wonderin‘ where Pinkie Pie might be. We were sure you‘d know.” Discord fell silent, seeming slightly disturbed by their question and he sat up in the hammock, letting it tilt so he slid back into his throne and looked to them all,

“Girls I‘m going to tell you something. There are multiple forms of chaos.” Discord rose three fingers on his eagle claw, pointing to one after another as he spoke, “Physical chaos, the changing of one‘s physical being into something chaotic. Psychological chaos, which deals more with making one‘s mind chaotic with different thoughts. And finally there is environmental chaos, the changing out the landscape to be, well, chaotic.” Discord leaned back in his throne, laying his arms on the armrests, “Little Pinkie Pie, however has fallen out of my jurisdiction. There is a difference between chaos… and madness.”

“Wha‘da‘ya mean mister Discord?” Discord shook his head as he looked to the three, his eyes drifting from Applebloom to the door to his left,

“You might as well see for yourself. Through that door, the final door at the end of the hallway.” The three fillies were silent as they walked through the door but Scootaloo spoke up as she looked to the others after they closed the door,

“What do you guys think Discord meant by madness?” The two fillies shook their heads as they walked, but each of them stopped cold as they saw what was at the end of the hallway. Whilst every other door in the hallway was made of chocolate, the final door seemed to be wrought iron, similar to the highest caliber prison doors. Applebloom motioned to the side, a tall dresser against the wall and the other two nodded, the three pushing it up to the door and they all hopped up onto it, peering through the small window at the top of the door.

Pinkie Pie sat in the center of the room before them, the walls were solid white and the room was brightly illuminated by a single bulb at the top of the room that would occasionally flicker. Pinkie Pie’s usually poofy mane was hanging down and straight along with her tail which was laying against the floor. She was faced away from them, her face covered by her mane till Applebloom spoke up, “Pinkie Pie…?” Pinkie Pie was silent for nearly a minute as the crusaders watched her, but before a minute had passed they heard her voice,

“Come on everypony… smile, smile, smile…” Her voice had an eerie tone too it, as if it was both horrified and overjoyed at the same time, the tone of pure insanity, “Fill my heart up with… sunshine…” Pinkie Pie slowly turned her head, her eyes bloodshot and lifeless, but as she stared at them, fear began welling up quickly inside of the fillies as Pinkie’s smile grew wide, “You‘ve come? Come to see your good friend Pinkie Pie in this place?” Pinkie Pie slowly stood and turned around, fully facing them with a sadistic smile on her face, “He was so nice to give Pinkie Pie her own room. But chocolate rooms can be so messy so she decided to change it!” Pinkie Pie rushed up to the bars, pressing her face to them as the crusaders were knocked off the dresser and looked up at her from the floor, the grey pony staring down at them all with wide eyes, “It can be so boring in here though, no way to set up parties to have with Pinkie‘s best friends in the whole world. You three… have you come to let Pinkie out? Release her from this prison and back into the beautiful chaos of this world?!” The three of them shook their heads and Pinkie Pie paused for a moment before her head disappeared from the bars, her voice still echoing out to them,

“Girls. Can you come back up to the bars please?” Pinkie Pie’s tone had changed and seemed more normal then before, the crusaders looking to one another hesitantly before they all climbed back up onto the dresser and peered into the room. Pinkie was sitting in the center of the room again but was facing them, “To be abandoned, and be alone in a world like this… some minds simply can‘t comprehend it. As you all know…” Pinkie Pie looked down with a sigh, her eyes having become more normal as well as she looked to the floor, “I draw my own emotions from those around me and I do all I can to make others happy because that‘s how I become so happy myself. Go. Find Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash and tell me how they‘re doing…” Pinkie Pie gave another sigh as she laid down, burying her head in her hooves, “The only one who smiles here is Discord… I can‘t be happy knowing that my friends are so sad and there‘s nothing I can do to help them.” Pinkie rose her head as a tear dropped to the floor, “I have to stay in here because… There are only brief moments like this where I can even have control over my own mind. Go now and find out if they‘re safe, it will give me something to smile about because… I know Twilight chose Applejack and Rainbow Dash instead of either Fluttershy, Rarity or myself and that‘s okay but… if you see them tell them what‘s happening here… and tell them I still love and miss them dearly.” The three fillies nodded with determined looks and turned, leaving Pinkie Pie and ran down the hallway and out of the castle towards Ponyville.

Outside of Canterlot Scootaloo hopped onto her scooter, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom getting into a small wagon attached to it before Scootaloo beat her wings, sounding like a motor as she began moving, although was careful on the soapy road. Applebloom spoke up as they continued down towards Ponyville in the distance,

“So let‘s head back to the clubhouse and figure out how we‘re gonna find Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow!” The scooter sped down the road, Scootaloo swerving expertly on the road.

It took the girls a good two hours of straight riding to get all the way back to their clubhouse and they headed inside quickly as they arrived. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle laid down on the floor and Applebloom walked over dragging a large sheet of paper along with her and as she laid down she flipped it and placed it between them. On the paper was a map of Equestria, expertly detailed depicting various landmarks and locations, “Okay girls where do ya think we should look for ‘em?” Scootaloo brought a hoof to her chin and laid her other hoof on the castle of Canterlot,

“Well we can cross off Canterlot since there‘s no way any of them would go there again.” Sweetie Belle looked over to Applebloom, tilting her head a little as she smiled, laying her hoof on the map and slid it over to Ponyville,

“I think we should start in Ponyville and spread out from there.” Scootaloo stood up and trotted over to the wall, taking her cape from the wall and tied it around her neck, turning back to the other two fillies with a grin,

“Well what are we waiting for? Let‘s go crusaders!” The three spoke at the same time after they packed saddlebags for themselves and put on their capes,

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER FRIEND FINDERS YAY!” The crusaders jumped from the balcony of the clubhouse and Sweetie Belle and Applebloom hopped into the wagon and Scootaloo grinned as she hopped onto her scooter and the three sped off towards Ponyville. Applebloom unfolded the map as they sped through Sweet Apple Acers and began pointing to different locations,

“If we don‘ find ‘em in Ponyville where should we head next?” Sweetie Belle looked over to the map and brought a hoof to her chin,

“Let‘s check Ponyville first and then head back to the clubhouse before so we can make a list of places to check.” They continued through Ponyville for a number of minutes, arriving at Twilight’s library and went inside, looking around slowly as they entered and Scootaloo closed the door, the three spreading out and walking through the library. The crusaders proceeded through Ponyville, checking each landmark and area around town before they ended up back at the farm, Applebloom watching Big Macintosh digging holes and disappearing into the ground along with barking occasionally and acting like a dog,

“Ah can‘t wait till all of this chaos is fixed and everythin‘s back to normal again.” Scootaloo sped over to the tree house and the girls walked up the ramp leading to the door, Sweetie Belle closing the door after they had all walked inside,

“Okay so they‘re not in Ponyville so we can cross that off the list of places now.” Scootaloo paused as she walked back over onto the carpet and sat down looking from Sweetie Belle to Applebloom,

“Hey… what if they‘re looking for the Quill of Eternity like Written Dreams was?” The girls brought their hooves to their chins as they thought about Scootaloo’s words,

“Actually I‘m fairly certain you three are right about that.” The three fillies looked over with a gasp, their gazes locking on the door as it opened, a dark blue pegasus with a silver mane and tail trotting in and smiling to them all before he takes a step back and his eyes widen as the crusaders tackle him to the floor giggling and nuzzling him,

“Mister Dreams is back!” Written Dreams laughs and waves his hoof, trying to get the girls to get off of him,

“Okay, okay girls, come on, that‘s enough.” The fillies get off him a few moments later and sit in front of him as he stands back up and sits before them with a light smile, “I came back to see if you three want to take me up on the offer I gave you all when I got here.” He then raised a hoof as the crusaders opened their mouths to respond and shook his head, “Take a few days to think it over. I‘ve got the next clue to the quill so I‘ll be back soon. Oh…” He grins towards them, “It seems that there are three mares following the clues as well. When they get here no doubt they‘d like to learn about both the first time I came here and the time I came here to get the clue myself. And… if you could not tell them about me showing up here just now, that would be good. I‘d prefer they go through the clues as I did. I‘m really amazed at how fast they‘re making progress through the clues on their own.” The three nod to him with bright smiles on their faces and Written Dreams turned to the door before looking back to them, “Just wait here for them girls. I‘ll be back in a few days to check up on you.” He gives them all a gentle smile, “I‘m glad you‘re all still safe.” He closed the door behind him and took off into the sky, flying at an incredibly fast speed and disappeared from sight after only a few moments. The sun soon set, the twilight sky soon being shrouded in the dark blues of night.

Chapter 14 - A Clue and a Clubhouse

“Twilight, don’cha think it‘s really strange that the next clue is at Sweet Apple Acres?” Applejack said as she ran next to Twilight, Rainbow Dash flying to the unicorn’s right as Applejack ran to Twilight’s left. Twilight Sparkle paused for a moment as she continued looking ahead before her head turned towards Applejack and she nodded,

“It really is strange… I suppose it makes more sense as to why nopony has been able to find the Quill of Eternity for the last thousand years seeing as how the only way the clue could be followed is if one of the hunters…” Her gaze turned down as more thoughts ran through her head, “Perhaps some of the hunters had the same visions that the pony who made the clue had?” Rainbow Dash was flying upside down, doing a backstroke as her wings flapped keeping her airborne and flying at the same pace as the other two mares,

“Yeah but if they didn‘t have that vision then there‘s no way they could find it.” Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash with a nod and smiled to herself,

“That was a smart move… it‘s possible that he had no way of knowing that what he saw was a vision of the future or not but he must have believed that it would become a real place in the future leaving the quill safe for a good nine-hundred years or so when Applejack‘s family settled there.” Twilight then looked back to Applejack with a smile and nodded to her, “Applejack, do you know where that X was pointing on the tablet?”

“From what I could tell, I reckon that‘s the spot right next to the tree-house way out there in the orchard. Ah know where it is so it shouldn‘ be that hard findin‘ the place.” The mares had run through a good portion of the night and had rested for several hours before continuing their trek back towards Ponyville, choosing to run alongside the train tracks they had ridden on whilst they came out to Appaloosa the first time. The tracks were composed of solid ice, however, a complete contradiction to the heat of the sun overhead.

It was high noon the next day when the three mares returned to Ponyville, each of them looking around slowly at the chaotic town. Rainbow Dash had ceased flying when they had entered and was trotting along at Twilight’s right as she slowly looked around, “Looks like Discord‘s been playing around a bit with Ponyville…” The buildings in Ponyville resembled chess pieces and the ground below them was comprised of many enormous squares of alternating black and white, those of a chessboard.

The three paid the new landscape of their town little heed as they continued on to Sweet Apple Acres, which, apart from the massive apples contained on the threes, was still unchanged from the last time Twilight had visited it to restore Applejack to her former self. Applejack paused as she watched Big Macintosh digging random holes and jumping around wagging his tail while barking occasionally and turned to Twilight tilting her head, “Hey Twilight… think ya‘ll could bring mah brother back the same way you brought back all of us?” Twilight looked in the colt’s direction, pausing as she watched him minding his own business and acting like a dog before she slowly shook her head,

“I can‘t use the memory spell on him AJ… He wasn‘t changed by Discord‘s influence…” She lowered her head as she brought a hoof to her chin, “How can I explain this… He is… like the town. He‘s become an object under Discord‘s powers. If he were still able to talk and it was only his mind that was changed I could restore him but it‘s all of this chaotic magic that‘s making him act that way…” She stopped walking as she looked up at Applejack’s face, “Do you understand?” Applejack had a look on her face like she was trying to process what Twilight had been telling her before she looked back over to Big Macintosh and then back over to Twilight, her expression having changed to one of determination,

“Well then I reckon we‘d better hurry up and find out what that next clue is so we can stop Discord and bring everypony back to bein‘ normal again!” Applejack then took off into the orchard of apple trees, followed closely by Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

After around three minutes of running Twilight and Rainbow Dash came to a halt as they saw Applejack had stopped near a few apple trees and was looking up at something. Twilight gave her an odd look as she walked over to Applejack’s side and tilted her head towards the farm pony, “Erm… Applejack?” Applejack raised her hoof towards the tree-house and Twilight followed the gaze of the shocked earth pony before her own eyes widened. The tree-house was in pristine shape, even the apples above it being of normal size. Rainbow Dash flew up to the window a moment later before turning her head quickly towards the other two,

“They‘re here! And they‘re okay!” The door to the clubhouse opened a few moments later and Scootaloo rushed out, tackling Rainbow Dash off the balcony and she fell on her back, the little filly nuzzling her happily and Sweetie Belle stood at the balcony as well smiling to them all,

“We‘ve been waiting for you guys!” Applebloom leaped off the balcony, running over to Applejack and looked up at her for a moment before nuzzling her warmly, the farm pony embracing her with a hoof as Sweetie Belle trotted down the ramp from the clubhouse and smiled at Twilight who seemed utterly shocked to see them,

“How did… how are… Huh!?” Applebloom giggled as she looked to Twilight and her embrace with Applejack ended, the farm filly looking to each of them whilst Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash joined them,

“Come on inside the clubhouse and we‘ll explain everythin‘ to ya.” Neither of the three mares could argue and soon the six ponies were inside the clubhouse, the ground floor just big enough to hold them all. Applejack laid to Twilight’s left while Rainbow laid to her right. Applebloom laid opposite Twilight, Sweetie Belle laid opposite Applejack and Scootaloo laid opposite Rainbow Dash. Twilight let out a slow breathe before smiling lightly towards Applebloom, with a quizzical expression on her face,

“Okay girls… why is the tree-house so… normal?” Applebloom spoke up, a bright smile on her face,

“Well… when all of that chaos stuff started happenin‘ we found mister Discord on his throne and talked to him asking him the same question. Since we… uhh…” Applebloom looked down with a bit of an embarrassed blush on her face, Sweetie Belled continuing where she left off,

“Back in the gardens at the castle the three of us… we got into a big fight in front of the statue of mister Discord and it… made him escape a little faster than he would have.” The three fillies looked down out of embarrassment but Twilight shook her head with an understanding smile, a shocked look on the pegasus and earth pony at her sides,

“Girls it‘s not your fault. Even if you did speed up his release a little he still would have escaped eventually. So what did he tell you when you talked to him?” Scootaloo spoke up next, looking across to Twilight as the other two fillies had brought their heads back up as well with grateful smiles on their faces at Twilight’s understanding,

“He said that since we helped him escape faster that he would leave us alone as long as we didn‘t bother him. The tree-house was something we asked for and he gave it to us.” Twilight Sparkle gave a contented nod as did Rainbow Dash and Applejack before the farm pony spoke up in response,

“So I guess ya‘ll know why we‘re here then? Ya‘ll seemed pretty certain we would show up here.” Applebloom nodded to her as she stood up and trotted over to the side, bringing each of them an apple to eat,

“Mister Dreams told us when he came back here looking for the clue himself. And we guessed that ya‘ll would be lookin‘ for the quill as well and would be comin‘ here too.” Applebloom gave a bit of a sigh before smiling gratefully, “And we‘re all really happy ya did show up… we didn’t know the first place to start lookin‘ for ya.” Applebloom brings a hoof to her chin before smiling lightly, “We might‘ve even tried followin‘ those clues ourselves to try and find mister Dreams if ya‘ll didn‘t show up!” Twilight gave a bit of a giggle as she imagined the crusaders going through what they had already done,

“Something tells me you‘d probably succeed in the end. Oh!” Twilight smiled brightly, her front hooves clopping together as she raised her head more, “Applejack mentioned that you took Written Dreams here after he had come to the barn to have Applejack prepare him with food for his journey. What did you need him for?” The three fillies paused for a moment as they looked at each other for a few moments before they all nodded in unison and stood up yelling in perfect unison,

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER STORYTELLERS YAY!!”

“Come on mister Dreams! We‘ll get there soon if ya run faster!” Written Dreams let out a laugh as he ran after the filly, catching up to her and ran by her side as they ran through the orchard,

“Okay, I‘ve caught up with you. Now will you please tell me where you‘re taking me?” Applebloom slowed down after a few more moments and smiled up at the pegasus happily before pointing up at the clubhouse in the large tree ahead of them. Written Dreams raised an eyebrow as he looked towards it before he brought a hoof to his chin and smiled brightly before looking back down to the little filly, “I‘m intrigued. So we‘re going inside?” Applebloom gave a happy nod before motioning for him to follow her and she walked up the ramp before pushing the door open, Written Dreams following her up the ramp and he ducked his head slightly before trotting inside with her,

“Girls I‘m here! And I brought a friend with me!” Written Dreams looked around carefully as he entered the clubhouse, as if taking in every single detail around him before he looked to the open room in front of him, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sitting on the floor looking over a map of Ponyville. They looked up to Applebloom upon hearing her words before they both stood up and grinned walking over to him and looked up at him as Written Dreams sat down before them, “This here is Written Dreams! Ah found him talkin‘ with mah big sis Applejack at the barn!”

“And what might your names be? I‘m quite curious as to why I was brought here…” The three fillies lines up, Applebloom in the center with Sweetie Belle to her right and Scootaloo to the farm filly’s left before they all shouted in unison, each saying their own name,

“Ah‘m Applebloom!”

“Sweetie Belle!”

“And I‘m Scootaloo!” They then spoke in unison, their voices much louder then before,

“And we‘re… THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” Written Dreams smiled as he watched them, clapping his hooves together as he watched their display, Applebloom walking over to him and smiling up at him after they had finished,

“Mister Dreams I was wonderin‘… since ya told mah big sis ya like writin‘ so much that maybe… you could write about us?” Written Dreams paused as he heard her request, looking from Sweetie Belle to Scootaloo before he looked down and stopped in his tracks seeing Applebloom giving him an absolutely adorable, pleading look as she looked up at him. Written Dreams was silent as he looked down at her for a few moments before a warm smile spread across his face,

“I believe my heart may have just melted. But if I‘m going to write about you three…” He laid down and smiled towards them, “Tell me a bit about what you all do here. Judging by the name of your group I‘m guessing what you do is try to discover your cutie marks?” Scootaloo stood with a grin, trotting over to him before nodding,

“Yeah! We try anything and everything we can think of in order to find out what our cutie marks might be!” Written Dreams nodded as he saw Sweetie Belle had also moved close and smiled seeing the three fillies only around a foot and a half from him looking up at him with bright smiles,

“That seems like it could make for an excellent read girls.” He turned his head, reaching into his bag before he withdrew a roll of parchment and a quill and ink, “Let‘s start off by listing off everything you girls have tried. And please don‘t leave out any details.” The girls took several hours telling Written Dreams about their adventures in attempting to obtain their cutie marks, the pegasus writing quickly with the quill in his hoof as he listened to them, his ears twitching on occasion and a warm smile on his face throughout the entire retelling of their crusades.

After nearly five hours the girls seemed to have worn themselves out, putting real emotion into their retellings with various quick body movements and acting. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had fallen asleep and Written Dreams had draped a wing over each of them as they were at his sides and he looked across to Applebloom as he set down his quill, “I‘m sure you have a lot more stories to tell about your adventures but the girls seem to have drifted off Applebloom…” Applebloom gave a light smile as she was standing a few feet away from him and giggled lightly,

“I knew they‘d think you were great mister Dreams… but we spent so much time talkin‘ about ourselves that you never got any time tellin‘ us anythin‘ about yourself.” Written Dreams smiled softly towards her and he watched as Applebloom laid down in front of him, looking up at the pegasus with her big adorable eyes,

“Well I‘m on my own quest, for a mythical artifact known as the Quill of Eternity. I‘m going to be following a big string of clues that I‘m sure are going to be bringing me all over Equestria. I‘ve actually just come from the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters far in the Everfree Forest.” Applebloom’s ears perked as the pegasus spoke of the forest and she spoke softly,

“Miss Zecora lives there. And mah sis Applejack told me about when she an‘ her friends went there ta‘ fight Nightmare Moon.” Written Dreams paused for a moment as she said the name of the Mare in the Moon but he then smiled softly down towards her,

“Sounds like it would be an interesting story to hear. As I arrived there I soon found the first clue in my own search for the quill although… it might take some research to find out what it means.” Applebloom tilted her head with a curious look as she stared up at the pegasus, taking in his every word,

“What did it say, mister Dreams?”

“Well… it said ‘The Sunny Ruby’ although I‘m rather baffled as to what it might mean.” Applebloom paused for a moment as she brought a hoof to her chin while looking down to the floor,

“Sunny… Ruby…” She seemed to pause for a moment, “Ruby… Sunny… Sunny Town?” Applebloom’s expression darkened immediately and she looked up at Written Dreams with a look of dread,

“Mister Dreams… I know what the clue meant…” Written Dreams gave her a rather unnerved look, seeing her happy demeanor turning so gloomy in an instant,

“Could you tell me about Sunny Town?” Applebloom let out a slow sigh as she looked up at Written Dreams,

“A little ways after you enter the Everfree forest there‘s a really overgrown path off to your left… at the end of the path is Sunny Town… it‘s… a cursed town at night… all of the ponies… they turn dead and start walking around like zombies… but that only happened after I went into this house really far north of the town…” Applebloom paused, her expression turning to one of utter terror as she fell silent. Written Dreams stared at her for only a moment before reaching out and embraced her tightly against his blue coat,

“It‘s alright Applebloom… whatever you saw in that house… it‘s all the way back in that forest.” Applebloom clung tightly to him for a good seven minutes before she slowly let out a sigh and moved away around a foot before laying back down,

“I know… I hope to never go back there…” Written Dreams tilted his head a little as he looked across to her,

“So everything was safe till you entered that house?” Applebloom slowly nodded towards him, “Okay. I‘ll keep that in mind while I‘m there then. Is there anything else you feel you should let me know?” Applebloom thought for a moment before she slowly shook her head and smiled gently,

“There was a pony… she had a deep red mane and a grey coat… she seemed really sad. Like she was really regretful about whatever the ponies there did to get cursed.” Written Dreams nodded silently as he took in everything that Applebloom said, reaching out and patting her head with a gentle smile,

“Alright then. I‘ll see what I can do to find out more about her and perhaps a bit more about the town itself. I should probably head out there now so I can find the clue and get out before anything bad happens.” Written Dreams smiled softly as he brought his hoof around Applebloom, embracing her closely as he closed his eyes, “Thanks Applebloom, you might have just saved my life.”

The pegasus stood after another few minutes and said his goodbyes to Applebloom, telling her to say goodbye to the other two fillies after they had woken up for him before he walked out the door of the clubhouse and took off into the sky flying towards the Everfree Forest.

“An‘ that‘s everythin‘ that happened when he got here the first time.” Applebloom said as she smiled towards the three mares. Applejack narrowed her eyes a little as she looked towards Applebloom,

“Applebloom… ya never told me about headin‘ into Sunny Town.” Applebloom let out a sigh as she looked down for a moment before looking back up to Applejack, “Sorry fer not tellin‘ anypony about it but…” She hanged her head, “I didn‘t tell anypony else ‘cept for mister Dreams. I woulda told ya too if I knew ya were gonna head in there too…” Rainbow Dash looked over to Applejack and tilted her head a little,

“Hey AJ give her a break. What if you were still a filly and saw everything that she saw? That would be… really traumatic!” Applejack nodded slowly and embraced her little sister with a smile,

“I can‘t say ah‘m mad at ya for not tellin‘ yer big sis… it really must‘ve been scary for ya.” Twilight smiled softly as she looked across to the three fillies,

“Girls do you know where the clue is? If Written Dreams came back to find it then I‘m sure you must have seen him find it.” Scootaloo stood with a smile and walked over to a chest over to the side with three locks on it,

“We actually put it in here after mister Dreams dug it up with us last time he was here.” The crusaders all stood and each walked over to the chest before facing away from it and they all gave a simultaneous buck, all three locks clicked open at once and the lid opened, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack walking over to the chest and they peered inside.

The tablet fit flat inside of the chest and depicted on it were many dragons all flying together across the tablet, a few breathing flames down towards the ground and far off to the right was a large crater, a few dragons perched around the rim whilst one or two were depicted inside along with an arrow pointing to the inside of the crater. Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked at each other before the unicorn turned her head looking at Applejack, “I don‘t know where this could be…”

“Ah-hem.” The three mares blinked as they heard the crusaders clearing their throats in unison and turned around seeing Applebloom holding out a book in her mouth. Twilight’s horn was engulfed in a billowing aura as the book floated over to the three of them,

“Mister Dreams gave us that book after he looked at the clue and told us he got it from the castle when he was in Canterlot.” Twilight tilted her head as they heard Applebloom’s words and the book opened, the pages turning with her magic before she nodded, the picture on one of the pages nearly identical to the tablet’s picture,

“It says that this is the landing point for all dragons on their migration path… Hopefully there won‘t be any there… Let‘s see… Although next to nothing is known about dragons… their migration path…” Twilight eventually fell silent as her eyes slid from side to side before her eye twitched, “That‘s… really far. Girls… would you mind telling us about the second time you met Written Dreams before we leave? Seems like this clue could take several days for us to reach it.” Applebloom smiled softly towards them before she nodded,

“Course Twilight… but ya‘ll think you could spend the night here with us at least? Ya really look tired…” Rainbow Dash chuckled as she looked around, the pegasus standing next to one of the windows,

“I‘m okay with that… I mean, if you three have a deal with Discord to leave this place alone I can‘t really think of any safer place.” Applejack simply nodded and Twilight looked towards the three fillies as she smiled warmly,

“Okay then, we‘ll stay the night here with you. It‘ll be nice to get a good night‘s sleep for once…”

Chapter 15 - The Fourth Crusader

Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were laying against the cool wood of the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse. The sun had set since they had been there, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had fallen asleep, the small orange pegasus cuddling up to Rainbow Dash who was curled around her, looking more like a big sister to the tomboyish filly as she was asleep as well with the filly resting against her. Applebloom placed a blanket over the two pegasus as she walked through the tree-house, the inside dimly lit by a few candles, one on the windowsill off to the side and one in the center of the floor as Twilight Sparkle was laying in an unused sleeping bag, her eyes slowly sliding back and forth as she was reading the dragon migration book over again by candle-light. Sweetie Belle was in her own, smaller sleeping bag up against the south wall of the clubhouse near the door near Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, who were nearer to the eastern wall.

Applejack had also fallen asleep. Although she didn’t much show it, even the hard-working farm mare was worn out from all of the running they all had done along with the emotional stress of the world they found themselves living in. Applebloom continued walking around with a rather mature look on her face as she checked to see if each of them was asleep before she slowly walked over to Twilight and laid down next to her, speaking in a rather quiet voice as to not disturb the others, “Twilight, ah was wonderin‘ if ya still wanted to hear that story before ya headed off to sleep?” Twilight Sparkle paused for a moment, her eyes scanning the contents of the book before her for another moment before her horn glowed softly and the pages she had turned, along with the cover closed before the book levitated slowly over to the small bookcase off to the side and she slowly nodded towards the farm filly with a very gentle and warm smile on her face,

“I really would like to hear it… but won‘t you need the other girls to help you tell it like the last one?” Applebloom gave her a smile, looking up at the mare as she looked down at her and shook her head,

“Nope, but I understand if ya want Rainbow or Applejack awake when I tell it.” Twilight rose her head a little from her relaxed expression and looked over to Applejack, seeing that Applebloom had draped a blanket over her as well and tilted her head a little,

“I don‘t know if AJ is really all that interested in the stories actually… besides…” She looked back to Applebloom,

“If she asks, you could tell it a second time… right?” Applebloom gave a light nod as she smiled up at Twilight before both of their ears perked hearing Rainbow Dash’s voice,

“I‘d actually enjoy hearing that story too…” A few moments later Rainbow Dash had shuffled over to Twilight and Applebloom, leaving Scootaloo nestled against her and still fast asleep, “It‘s been… interesting hearing about more of what he did while in Equestria.” Twilight let out a soft giggle as she looked over to Rainbow Dash and nodded to her slowly,

“I can‘t wait to meet him again. Even though I only met him the one time he really does leave a lasting impression on those he meets…” Twilight looked down into the fire, a very light blush appearing on the purple coat of her cheeks. Applebloom leaned a bit against Twilight as she smiled up and over to the two ponies, nodding slowly towards them in response,

“Well ah‘m more than happy to tell ya about when he came back now…” Applebloom fell silent as she thought, bringing her hoof to her chin as she gathered her thoughts, “Let‘s see now…”

“Bit of an abrupt u-turn to say the least…” Written Dreams sighed as he walked through the orchard of apple trees, his eyes slowly scanning each one and his expression seemed to be locked as one of deep concentration. Applebloom had been trotting alongside him for a good four minutes before she finally decided to speak,

“Mister Dreams what brings ya back to Sweet Apple Acres? Gonna try ta get more cider from mah big sis?” Written Dreams jumped as he heard her voice, quickly looking to her as he had leapt a few feet away from her and had stopped walking abruptly,

“Ah! Oh my…” Written Dreams let out a slow breath as he gathered himself and shook his head, “Applebloom you scared me… when did you show up?” Applebloom couldn’t help but giggle as the pegasus stared at her and walked over to him, looking up at him with a bright smile,

“Ah was walkin‘ with ya for a while but ya seemed ta be thinking‘ really hard. Whatcha doin‘ mister Dreams?” Written Dreams started walking again, the little filly trotting along with him and he looked down at her again, smiling gently before looking ahead through the trees,

“Actually one of the clues I‘ve been following has led me back to the humble Sweet Apple Acres. But…” Written Dreams slowly looked around as he continued to ponder, “There‘s nothing that really sticks out in the orchard that gives me a clue as to where to start looking for it… there‘s a good chance it‘s buried somewhere but what I‘m looking for is some kind of significant object or landmark out here in the forest that it might be located near.” Applebloom thought for only a moment before pointing ahead through the trees, her vision locked up at the pegasus before her as she smiled brightly,

“Mister Dreams… the clubhouse is the biggest tree in the orchard! Maybe that‘s where you should look first?” Applebloom tilted her head a little as she finished her sentence, the colt walking next to her pausing for a moment as he took in her words before he looked down at her with a bright grin and took into a run, Applebloom at his side,

“Of course! Thank you Applebloom!” The two arrived at the clubhouse soon after they had ran for a minute or two, given that they were already deep in the orchard to begin with. As they arrived at the clubhouse Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were already there and greeted them, each of the two fillies giving Written Dreams a warm greeting and an embrace before Written Dreams looked around the base of the tree curiously as he circled it, the three fillies sitting in a line consisting of Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in that order. He continued to circle it for a few moments before looking back to them with a smile, “Girls if I‘m right then the clue could very well be under the earth around the tree. Mind if I dig a bit? It can‘t be that far down if I‘m not the first to find it.” The three gave no objection as they nodded happily to the pegasus and he began to dig, taking only a few minutes before his head disappeared into a hole under the tree before he brought it back up, setting down a large stone tablet from his mouth and onto the ground before him, “Here it is!” Scootaloo and the other crusaders walked over to him, observing the tablet as Written Dreams repeatedly brushed it with his left wing to clear off the dirt from its surface.

Written Dreams stared down at the tablet, the pegasus remaining silent for a few minutes before he looked up at the three girls seeing the three of them staring down at the tablet themselves. Scootaloo was the first to notice he was looking at them and looked up, tilting her head towards him as she smiled brightly but also wore a look of confusion, “So… you have to go to a volcano?” Scootaloo’s smile suddenly became much wider as she rose up onto her hind legs and made motions with her front hooves like she was punching, “And battle against dragons to earn your next clue?!” The other two crusaders looked up to the pegasus before he let out a light laugh and shook his head towards them,

“Come now, I‘m not some action hero I‘m a simple adventurer…” Written Dreams smiled softly seeing Scootaloo drop back to all fours and look a little disappointed before the colt mimicked her movements, punching at the air and grinned towards them, “But I‘ll battle dragons if I have to!” The three smiled brightly and Written Dreams laid down before them, withdrawing a book from his saddlebags and opened it on the tablet, slowly turning the pages, “Dragons have always been creatures that fascinate me but I‘ve never really been able to talk to an adult one up close before. The place on this tablet…” His hoof turned the pages a few times before he rested it on the very edge of the picture showing the migration grounds, “Is here. The place where dragons finally end their migration once in about every hundred years or so. Actually…” Written Dreams looked up to the sky as he smiled and looked back to the three, “The migration should be happening sometime this year… perhaps in a few months or so. But I digress… It shouldn‘t take me more than a day or two to get there. Can I trust you three to keep that book safe? I got it from the library up in Canterlot Castle.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders all grinned happily and Sweetie Belle levitated it with her horn before she trotted up the ramp,

“Leave it to us!” Written Dreams looked to the other two and Applebloom tapped the tablet with her hoof as she continued looking down towards it,

“What should we do with the tablet? Just bury it again?” Written Dreams paused as he looked down at it, falling silent again as he thought over his answer before shaking his head and ruffled Applebloom’s hair with his hoof,

“I think you three know how important these tablets are to those searching for the quill. Perhaps you could keep it up in your tree-house and safely tucked away? Showing it only to those who ask? Can I depend on you three to do that?” Sweetie Belle walked back down the ramp, the book safely stored within the clubhouse and Scootaloo grinned as her wings buzzed excitedly,

“Of course!” Written Dreams nodded to them with a grateful smile and looked up to the north, a cool wind blowing through the trees and made the four’s manes and tails blow lightly in the breeze,

“You know girls…” The pegasus looked back to the three fillies with a light smile, “What do you think about coming with me? My company has been fairly few during my travels and having some companions sounds rather nice. Especially, from what you‘ve told me… none of you are afraid of facing possible dangers we might face on the journey.” The three filly’s expressions were blank, but soon each of their faces turned to one of deep contemplation before they all huddled together and began discussing quietly among each other, Written Dreams sitting down and eating an apple from one of the nearby trees as he patiently waited on their choice.

After a few minutes Applebloom was the one to speak for them, taking a few steps forward as she looked towards the pegasus with a bit of a sad expression, “Well… we talked about it and even though it sounds like it would be really fun an‘ exciting we jus‘ can‘t leave with ya jus’ like that.” Written Dreams let out a light laugh as he shook his head, laying his hoof on Applebloom’s mane and patted her a few times,

“I know you all have families that would wonder where you all disappeared to so it makes sense that you would choose to stay. Just know that my offer will always be open to you if you ever decide that you‘d like to go on an adventure.” The three fillies gave him grateful smiles before Scootaloo’s eyes suddenly widened and she got the girls back into a huddle as she talked quickly, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both nodding happily before they all turned back to Written Dreams, who was giving them a quizzical expression before Sweetie Belle ran into the clubhouse and came back out a few moments later with what seemed to be a small badge in her mouth. Applebloom took a step towards Written Dreams and smiled lightly up at him,

“Mister Dreams we all talked it over and, well… even though ya already have yer cutie mark… do ya think ya could join the Cutie Mark Crusaders as an official member?” Scootaloo spoke up, the pegasus colt in front of the three’s eyes having widened at Applebloom’s words,

“We‘d love to have you as a member Written Dreams! You‘re just so awesome and you tell the best stories!” Sweetie Belle walked over to the blue and silver pony and set the badge in his upturned hoof, Written Dreams silent as he looked down at it before he looked back up to the three girls with a soft grin,

“I‘m honored that you would want to make me a member of your group girls. And of course I accept your offer. I‘m proud to be a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” The four were silent for a few moments before they each nodded to one another and took deep breathes, yelling loudly into the air in perfect unison,

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FOREVER YAY!!” Written Dreams remained with the girls for a few hours, the four of them heading into the clubhouse after a while to plan future activities and ways to earn their cutie marks, although since Written Dreams already had his cutie mark he simply contributed to the pot of ideas.

Hours passed but as the crusaders prepared to leave the clubhouse for the day there was a light flapping of wings in the distance that seemed to be coming from the barn at the edge of the orchard. It steadily grew louder but around a minute later there was a light tapping at the front door of the clubhouse, Scootaloo hopped up and walked over to the door, opening it revealing Rainbow Dash standing at the door with a platter of three apple treats on her back, “Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash grinned and ruffled the pegasus filly’s hair as she looked down to her,

“Hey there squirt. I was over by the barn and Applejack asked me if I could bring you guys a snack so here I am!” Scootaloo grinned up to the pegasus she looked up to as a roll-model and nodded happily as she tugged at her front hoof,

“Thanks Rainbow Dash! Since you‘re here we have to introduce our newest member to you!” Rainbow Dash tilted her head a little as she entered the clubhouse, setting down the tray on one of the side tables before she peered around the corner as Scootaloo hurried back into the larger part of the clubhouse,

“I guess I‘ll have to head back to the barn to get another for them then huh?” Rainbow Dash peered around the corner and paused as Written Dreams had stood, smiling lightly towards her as he extended his hoof towards her,

“Pleased to meet you. I‘m Written Dreams. The girls really insisted that I become a member of their club so I couldn‘t really refuse.” Rainbow Dash grinned as she shook the pegasus’ hoof and they both returned their hooves to the floor, “I‘ve actually been looking forward to meeting you Ms. Rainbow. After meeting the other five ponies representing the Elements of Harmony I felt a bit incomplete at having not met you yet.” Rainbow Dash chuckled, her mane swaying as she whipped it to the side and grinned towards him,

“Heh, well I guess ya get to feel complete now that you‘ve met all of us! So what do you know about the elements? Not us, I mean the elements themselves.”

“Well unfortunately, information on the elements seems to be a bit limited although once I discovered that I would be heading to Ponyville I was really looking forward to the opportunity to meet at least a few of you. I‘ve really glad I met all six of you in the end. I fell I must ask though, is your reputation true? Meaning, are you really the fastest pegasus to come out of Cloudsdale?” Rainbow Dash paused for a moment before she gave a snicker and shook her head,

“Hehe, nope! I‘m the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria! Nopony other than me has been able to pull off a Sonic Rainboom!” Rainbow Dash brought a hoof to her chest as she closed her eyes in a rather proud stance, the crusaders having begun on their snacks as the two ponies talked,

“The…” Written Dreams’ eyes had widened, his expression rather shocked before a very wide grin spread across his face, “YOU‘VE DONE A SONIC RAINBOOM?! I thought they were only a myth!! Oh I wish I could have seen you do it!” Written Dreams closed his eyes and let out a groan as he shook his head, clearly disappointed, “It must have been spectacular to behold!” Rainbow Dash snickered and whipped her mane again, grinning towards the pegasus in front of her,

“Well I pulled it off once as a filly and also a few months back during the flying competition up in Cloudsdale…” Rainbow Dash tilted her head a little as she looked at him, “Come to think of it… why didn‘t I see you there? Dark blue and silver you would have stuck out among the other ponies.” Written Dreams sat down, letting out a slow breath as he looked across to the pegasus mare in front of him,

“I received an invitation to attend but truthfully I prefer walking to flying. While flying can provide an excellent overview of surroundings… the only way to really take in everything around you is to take things slow and take in every detail so you don‘t miss anything.” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at Written Dreams’ explanation and let out a bit of a laugh a moment later,

“Don‘t like flying huh? No way you‘d be able to keep up with me then.” This response made Written Dreams pause for a moment, his eyes slowly scanning the pegasus before him as he raised an eyebrow and stood back up tilting his head only slightly,

“Miss Rainbow Dash… Are you challenging me?” Rainbow Dash let out another laugh and waved her hoof towards him, seeming to shrug off his words,

“I haven‘t met the pegasus yet who could beat me. I‘ve never seen you in Ponyville before so naturally I‘m curious about your abilities to be honest but…” Rainbow then shrugged, her tail shifting a bit as she smiled lightly towards him, “You said yourself you don‘t like to fly much so it looks like I‘ll be remaining the fastest pony around here.” Written Dreams gave Rainbow Dash a bit of an odd look and shook his head before letting out a light laugh,

“Miss Rainbow Dash… let‘s put that to the test then. I would very much like to see your speed with my own eyes and I have never been one to decline a challenge once it has been made.” Written Dreams’ expression became serious as he grinned with a determined look on his face, his hoof stomping against the floor, “I‘d like you to meet me up at Cloudsdale at midnight. Tonight is a full moon and flying at night is something I rather enjoy.” Rainbow Dash had fallen completely silent as she took in what Written Dreams was saying to her and she blinked a few times before she stifled a laugh,

“You‘re… you‘re serious? Hehe, well don‘t say I didn‘t warn ya! I‘ll be flying circles around you right out of the gate!” Written Dreams and Rainbow Dash both nodded to one another and grinned as they bumped their hooves together in a sign of mutual respect between pegasi and Rainbow Dash flew off leaving Written Dreams alone, once again, with the crusaders,

“Girls I‘ve got a bit of preparing to do before I head out to the dragon migration grounds. In case I don‘t come back here before heading out…” Written Dreams stopped and looked down, seeing each of the fillies embracing him tightly in a group hug and each of them smiling warmly up at him, Applebloom speaking as she nodded to him,

“Bye mister Dreams. We‘ll be waiting for you to come back to the clubhouse and tell us even more stories!” Written Dreams nodded with a gentle smile as the fillies let him go and the pegasus walked over to the door of the clubhouse before turning his head to look back to them as he opened the door,

“I‘ll come back girls. I‘m a crusader now too remember?” He winked to them all before he spread his wings and flew towards Ponyville, disappearing from view after a few moments.

Applejack had awoken during Applebloom’s retelling of the story and now Twilight and Applejack had their eyes fixed upon the rainbow pegasus who was shifting her eyes suspiciously, “Boy I‘m beat! Time for us all to get some sleep!” Rainbow Dash quickly laid down her head and began snoring lightly, prompting Twilight and Applejack to both raise an eyebrow as they continued watching her intently but Rainbow Dash kept up the charade, continuing her fake snoring.

Minutes continued passing until both Applejack and Twilight sighed realizing Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to tell them anything about her own experiences with Written Dreams quite yet and soon each pony laid their heads down, Applebloom sleeping in an embrace with Applejack before the mares had all fallen asleep.

Chapter 16 - Rainbow Dreams

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes slowly opened the next morning, the sun only barely peeking up over the horizon of apple trees as the unicorn gazed out the window next to her. She took in a deep and slow inhale, taking in the scents of the crisp morning air around her before slowly exhaling and the mare shook her head, smiling gently as she looked at the sleeping forms around her. She stopped suddenly, however, when she saw that Scootaloo was sleeping alone, Rainbow Dash missing from under the blanket the little filly was curled up in. Twilight turned towards Applejack and opened her mouth as she walked over to the sleeping pony but stopped and stood before her, a contemplative look on Twilight’s face before she shook her head and walked over to the door, slipping out quietly and started walking down the ramp, her eyes scanning the skies above her.

The unicorn began walking through the vast orchard of trees slowly, ever vigilant as she continued scanning the skies, “Rainbow… where‘d you run off to this time…?” She closed her eyes, a thin aura of magic cloaking her horn as she tilted her head up, scanning the area around her for any signs of the pegasus before she blinked her eyes open and turned to the right and started trotting down one of the paths between the trees.

Twilight could hear nothing as she approached one of the apple trees, peering around it slowly before looking down at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was leaning against the tree, in a position similar to that of a human with her back legs out in front of her and her front hooves to her sides. Rainbow silently stared at the ground before her as Twilight stood next to her, the unicorn’s head tilted slightly as she looked down at her friend, “Rainbow…? What are you doing all the way out here by yourself?” Rainbow Dash did not answer her immediately, continuing to stare at the ground for nearly another minute before she spoke, her eyes not leaving the earth under her,

“I guess your curiosity has peaked after last night… You‘ve already got the beginning to my story from Applebloom so I pretty much don‘t have any choice but to tell you guys now… right?” The pegasus was speaking rather quietly and with a hint of sadness in her voice and as she looked up at Twilight, the unicorn noticed that her eyes were red, no doubt from crying earlier. Twilight took a step forward, looking closely at the pegasus with her head remaining slightly tilted out of curiosity,

“Rainbow… were you… crying?” Rainbow Dash looked away from her and off to the side, a light chuckle leaving her mouth before she sniffs and wipes her eyes,

“Heh, come on… me? Crying? That‘s a good one Twilight! But… Twilight can I ask you something?” Twilight Sparkle nodded slowly as Rainbow Dash looked back to her, a curious expression on the pegasus’ face, “Do you really want to know what happened between me and Written Dreams? Or is it just that you like hearing about him?” Twilight paused at this question, feeling herself lightly blushing as she thought it over and looked down at the ground,

“Throughout our journey… we‘ve been hearing stories about him… and it‘s like we‘ve been piecing together the journey of someone who‘s path will be intertwined with our own soon. But to answer your question Rainbow Dash… a little of both.” Twilight looked up at the pegasus and smiled gently, “The fact that you‘ve been so secretive about your story has only made me want to hear it even more and after Applebloom told us that part of the story… it really made me want to hear it even more…” Twilight then fell silent as Rainbow looked back up at her and chuckled, slowly getting up and standing before her before she smiled,

“I feel like I should tell you that the crying is unrelated…” Rainbow grinned towards the purple unicorn and whipped her mane, “I was burning off some bottled up emotion about this whole mess… anyway… I figure I can tell you guys my story when we head out towards the dragon migration grounds…” Rainbow Dash sighed as she rolled her eyes, the two mares beginning to walk back towards the clubhouse, “Honestly I completely forgot that those three were even there when I had that talk with him… not every day I get to race a pegasus I‘ve never seen in action before.”

“I‘m sure it‘s going to be an incredible story Rainbow. I can‘t wait till we‘re on the road again so I can hear it.” Rainbow Dash laughed in response, looking down a bit as they walked,

“Twilight… I just realized that I never really said ‘Thank you’ for picking me to come with you on this quest so… thanks.” Twilight paused for a moment as she looked over to the pegasus, Rainbow looking over to Twilight before they both stopped and embraced one-another closely,

“You are very welcome Rainbow Dash.”

The two mares chatted casually as they walked back to the clubhouse, taking a good five minutes before they walked up the ramp of the clubhouse together and opened the door. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were still all asleep but Applejack was packing her bag and looked up at the two with a smile as she spoke in a whisper, “Was wonderin‘ where you two disappeared off to. Ya wanna head out soon Twi?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at one another before they both nodded with light smiles and walked around to their own bags, packing up what little they might have taken out for the night and strapped their saddlebags to their backs. Twilight stopped as she looked to the others before her gaze turned to the crusaders,

“What should we do about Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle? We can‘t just leave them here…” Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked from Twilight Sparkle over to the three fillies, both remaining silent till Applejack turned and looked back to Twilight,

“Those three‘ve been here since that feller Discord made this world and since they made that there deal with him ah‘m willin‘ to bet that they‘re safe here.” Rainbow Dash spoke next, nodding in agreement to Applejack’s statement,

“Applejack is right Twilight; and besides, if we do find dragons at the migration grounds then that would put those three in a lot of danger. We have some experience with dragons, they don‘t.” Twilight was silent as she listened to her friend’s words and her gaze returned to them for a moment before she nodded and walked over, nudging Applebloom till she woke up, hazily looking up at Twilight with a small yawn,

“Applebloom we‘re heading out to the migration grounds now. We‘re going to leave you three here because we know you‘ll be safe here.” Applebloom blinked slowly as she stared up at Twilight Sparkle for a few moments before she nodded,

“Be careful Twi… there might be dragons there.” Applebloom looked at her for another moment with a rather hazy expression before her eyes closed again and she passed out, laying back down and Twilight’s horn glowed a moment later, sliding the blanket further up onto the filly before Twilight turned back to the others and they headed out the door, each of them walking down the ramp with the exception of Rainbow Dash who simply glided down to the ground. Twilight looked up to the sky for a moment before slowly looking around and as her gaze caught Canterlot she turned a little to the left of it and pointed with her hoof,

“We‘re headed North. We should get through Ponyville and past Canterlot as fast as possible so as not to draw attention to ourselves… from anything.” The three mares nodded to one another before they galloped off through the trees, each with determined looks on their faces, Rainbow Dash beating her wings and weaving between the trees as they galloped.

The three mares continued on through Ponyville, which was now comprised entirely of cheddar cheese and on towards Canterlot. They continued running for a number of hours, eventually passing Canterlot and continuing past the mountain it sat upon.

They continued running for a good four hours till the three ponies were far past Canterlot and they decided to rest for a while before continuing on, Applejack looking over to Rainbow Dash as the three hadn’t spoken to one another much at all during their time running and flying, “So Rainbow…” Rainbow Dash looked over to Applejack and paused for a moment, seeing the farm pony grinning towards her and she raised an eyebrow,

“What..?”

“Come on pardner, time ta spill the beans about what happened with you and that feller Written Dreams!” The three were in a heavily wooded area, a vast grove of trees around them with a rather wide path through the middle for easy passing. Twilight had laid down, Applejack and Rainbow Dash still standing and they were a bit off to the side of the trail. Rainbow Dash took a step back, her eyes widening as she stared at Applejack,

“AJ! I said I didn‘t…” Rainbow cut herself off as the pegasus met the gaze of Twilight looking towards the boisterous mare with a light smile on her face. Rainbow Dash looked down and let out a sigh as Applejack took another step towards her with a grin,

“Lemme guess… he beat ya in that race didn‘t he?!” Rainbow Dash looked up quickly and narrowed her eyes,

“No! I…” Rainbow Dash looked off to the side, her wings were spread upwards and she looked away from Applejack with a bit of a blush on her cheeks, “Fine… I‘ll tell you guys everything. I‘ll start from the beginning though…”

“Hmph… he won‘t even stand a chance! He‘ll be blown away when he sees my moves!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew through the air towards Ponyville and away from Sweet Apple Acres. She continued through her day as normal, moving clouds here or there but still found time to relax and lay on one or two of them for a while although she found herself unable to drift off, the thoughts of her race at midnight were plaguing her and as the day neared its end she sprawled out in the cloud she was laying in above Sugar Cube Corner, her front hooves going above her head and a light puff of cloud rising from the white fluffiness around her as she groaned, “He was so impossible to read though! I can‘t tell if he was just bluffing or anything!” Rainbow Dash heard a whistle come from under her cloud and blinked for a moment as she heard a familiar voice yell out,

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow blinked, lifting her head and sitting up, peering over the edge of the cloud and down towards the ground, seeing Pinkie Pie looking up at her with a grin and waving her hoof, “Come down here for a sec!” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, her wings spreading and giving a few slow beats as she glided down to Pinkie Pie, giving her an odd look and a smile,

“What‘s up Pinkie?” Pinkie Pie gave her trademark grin and tilted her head a little,

“The Cakes made a few too many cupcakes today and we‘re getting ready to close. Do ya want one, Dashie?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but roll her eyes, not being very much fond of the nickname the pink pony had made for her but she thought for a moment before smiling lightly,

“Sure Pinkie I could go for a cupcake.” Pinkie Pie hopped into Sugar Cube Corner before returning a few moments later with a small tray in her mouth with a cupcake on it. The cupcake was rather plain, which was to be expected from an extra cupcake. The cake part was barely visible under the white icing, a few sprinkles in the shape of ponies on top and the cake was a light tan color, cooked to perfection like almost everything from the bakery. Rainbow raised her hoof and took the cupcake, peeling back the wrapped before she ate it in two bites, grinning towards the party pony as she gave her a nod, “Ah~ thanks Pinkie. That really hit the spot!” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash chatted casually for a few minutes before Pinkie Pie suddenly asked,

“Ya look like you‘ve got somethin‘ on your mind Dashie! Anything wrong?” Rainbow Dash looked into the calmly, yet concerned face of her friend before she sighed with a bit of a nervous laugh,

“Well.. I met this pegasus and… long story short we‘re going to have a race tonight.” Pinkie Pie paused for a moment as she tilted her head and smiled brightly,

“A race? But you‘re the super speediest Pony in all of Equestria! Are you worried about the race?” Rainbow Dash shook her head with another grin,

“Worried? Heh, when have I ever been worried?” Pinkie Pie only smiled, poking her chest as she giggled,

“How about the flying competition that was up in Cloudsdale?” Rainbow Dash blinked and looked off to the side with a sigh,

“Erm… yeah okay then. Well he‘s not from around here so I don‘t know how fast he is--” Pinkie Pie gave an excited gasp as she jumped a little bit into the air,

“I know who you‘re talking about! Written Dreams right?!” Rainbow Dash took a step back as she blinked, staring at her for a moment before she remembered what the pegasus had told her about Rainbow Dash being the final of the six for him to meet,

“Yeah actually. I found him over at the crusader‘s clubhouse. You wouldn‘t… know how fast he is by any chance… would you?” Pinkie Pie continued to grin before rapidly shaking her head and laughing,

“Nopey-Dopey-Lopey! But he‘s by far one of the bravest ponies I‘ve met! I actually met him when he first got to Ponyville and a few more times after that! I can tell you the story if you‘d like Rainbow Dash. But… he never flew when I was with him other then a little glide here or there.” Rainbow Dash laughed before shaking her head a bit,

“I think we‘ll leave the story for another day Pinkie. I‘m gonna do some cloud-moving before the race tonight so things are bright enough. I‘ll see you later Pinkie.” Pinkie Pie waved happily as Rainbow Dash zipped up into the sky and flew towards Cloudsdale,

“Bye Dashie! Good luck!”

Rainbow Dash flew till she reached Cloudsdale, walking around a bit before she flew up into the sky and began moving some clouds and bucking a few others, making them disappear in a puff. She paused after around twenty minutes and nodded with a soft smile, “Perfect!” She then flew back to Cloudsdale, heading back to her house and walked inside, hopping up onto her bed and let out a deep sigh as she pulled her rainbow-colored blanket over her, “Come on… Gah!” She sat up and groaned, “Why can‘t I sleep?! I am the fastest I have nothing to worry about!” Rainbow shook her head a few times and laid back down, remaining silent as she tried to clear her mind and eventually fell asleep.

Rainbow Dash slowly blinked her eyes as she awoke a good three and a half hours later and shook her head a bit before she slipped out of bed and walked to her mirror off to the side of her room looking at herself in the glass in the moonlight showing in through her window. The pegasus paused as she looked at herself before her eyes narrowed and she smiled in a determined stance, “Alright let‘s do this!” Rainbow Dash turned and flew to her window and out of it, flying above Cloudsdale and stood on one of the clouds overlooking the city. She slowly scanned the white clouds under her for the pegasus she had challenged, “He‘s going to be late if he doesn‘t show in a minute or so…” Rainbow Dash then paused for a moment, her ear twitching as she heard a light whistle. The mare looked up at the cloud above her, seeing the dark blue pegasus looking down at her with a raised eyebrow and a light smile on his face,

“Looking for someone?” Rainbow Dash spread her wings and flew upwards, her wings flapping a bit slower as she hovered before him,

“Heh, glad you showed up Dreams! You ready to do this?” Written Dreams stood from his lying position and chuckled a bit, his own wings spreading and flexing a few times,

“I am indeed. What shall the course be?” Rainbow Dash flew a bit closer and landed on the cloud next to him. She stood only a few inches from him given the cloud itself wasn’t all that large and pointed into the starry sky, moving her hoof back and forth as she steadily explained what their race course would be, full of twists and turns,

“…And then we‘ll end up back here at the end. A few of these are storm clouds so just make one drop a bolt of lightning to symbol you‘ve gotten back here. Sound fair?” Rainbow said as she looked over to Written Dreams who nodded happily and turned back looking ahead of him again,

“Got it. You ready?” Rainbow Dash grinned confidently as she got down low, preparing to take off, both pegasi’s wings spreading and very slowly flapping,

“Set…” The two looked at one another and exchanged a nod before they took off at the same time, Rainbow Dash quickly overtaking Written Dreams and started circling clouds in figure eights before she blinked and looked to her left, Written Dreams having caught up to her and was looking at her with a grin,

“Heh, what they say about you is true!” Rainbow Dash then blinked as the silver and blue pegasus flew ahead of her, blasting through a series of ten clouds before he flew into the air doing multiple barrel-rolls. Rainbow Dash growled and her wings sped up considerably, the gap between the two of them rapidly closing until they were neck and neck again, climbing higher and higher into the sky, neither one overtaking one another, their eyes locked on the other as they flew, spiraling and bursting through clouds together, an afterglow of a rainbow trailing behind Rainbow Dash before they both flew much higher into the sky before they both hovered, a few feet away from one another as Written Dreams softly smiled towards her, “Rainbow… you‘re amazingly fast.” Rainbow Dash’s cheeks were flushed. She slowly looked away from him for a few moments before looking back to him, her demeanor much calmer then before, a soft smile on her face as she moved closer to him,

“Nopony has ever put up such a good fight… I‘ve just left them all in the dust at the starting gate but you…” She looked down again before flying over and embracing him tightly, “You’re real competition…” Written Dreams paused, not expecting this from the pegasus but embraced her as well, a gentle smile spreading onto his face as she laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed as they embraced one another.

Nearly a minute passed before Rainbow Dash raised her head from his shoulder and smiled softly towards him, their faces illuminated in the moonlight, and Written Dream’s mane and tail shimmering softly in the night’s sky. Written Dreams was looking towards her with a gentle smile. Rainbow Dash then leaned in, sealing lips with the pegasus before her and like clockwork, the wings of the two pegasi ceased to flap, Written Dream’s eyes widening at the sudden kiss and very soon the two began to fall down towards the Earth, still embraced as one.

The two’s wings began to flap again as the two met terminal velocity, their wings beating rapidly to continue their speed in its increase, a mach cone invisibly forming around the two as their speed continued to rapidly increase. Rainbow Dash broke the kiss a few moments later, nuzzling his neck softly as their bodies pressed through the cone, an explosion erupting out from where they had broken the sound barrier with their speed.

Chapter 17 - An old friend

“Wait a second pardner! Are ya’ll sayin’ that ya did another Sonic Rainboom with him!?” Applejack said in almost a yell as she stared towards Rainbow Dash, her eyes widening considerably as she interrupted Rainbow Dash’s story. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had laid down like Twilight and the rainbow-colored mare lifted her head, slowly nodding towards her,

“We did…” Rainbow Dash looked over to Twilight, seeing the unicorn simply staring at her with a blush on her face,

“Rainbow… do you want to continue?” Rainbow Dash’s blush seemed to darken a little as she thought before she slowly nodded,

“Yeah I can tell ya a bit more before we get back on the trail again…”

The two pegasi pressed through the mach cone, an immensely powerful burst of light erupting from the spot and flew out in all directions. Similar to Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom every color of the rainbow existed in the spectrum flowing outward but it seemed much darker like the night’s sky, multiple shimmering stars within some of the darker parts. The vapor trail behind the two pegasi had changed at the speed they were now going, matching that of the Sonic Rainboom as they began spiraling down towards the earth, their trail looking like an aurora in the night’s sky as they flew downwards.

Mere moments passed before the two of them opened their eyes and their wings went flat upwards, releasing one another and flew away from one another at the same speed, both flying back towards Cloudsdale. With their vapor trails separated, Written Dreams’ became a dark blue and silver shimmer of the night’s sky whilst Rainbow Dash’s returned to being a rainbow.

A few seconds later there was a loud boom as Rainbow Dash slammed down against one of the storm clouds, her wings slowly flapping to steady herself before she collapsed down against the dark grey cloud below her, out of breath with her eyes still scanning the sky slowly until she heard a light beating of wings and turned her head seeing Written Dreams landing next to her and smiling gently towards her, “I wonder what we just did would be called…” She watched as the dark blue pegasus turned his gaze up towards the sky, a beautiful aurora cascaded across the starry sky before them. Rainbow Dash felt a smile slide onto her face as she watched the dancing lights above them and turned her head back towards him,

“Perhaps a Mach Aurora?” She watched as Written Dreams took a few steps forward until he stood beside her collapsed form and he laid down, looking towards her with a very gentle smile,

“I wonder if anypony else can see this right now.” Rainbow Dash felt her face heat up slightly before she leaned over and nuzzled him a bit,

“Just us…” Written Dreams returned her nuzzle, feeling Rainbow Dash lay her head against the base of his neck,

“Rainbow Dash…? Why did you kiss me?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes slowly opened and she raised her head, seeing him giving her a bit of a puzzled look although she was grateful to see nothing in his eyes but a bit of confusion,

“I… just…” Rainbow Dash looked away from him with a soft sigh, “When you‘re the fastest pegasus… and nopony can beat you it takes some of the excitement out of racing knowing you‘ll win.” She looked back towards him, wearing a bit of a cautious smile, “And the thought that I could lose to you… that there were still pegasi in Equestria faster then me… I just did what my body told me to do.” Rainbow Dash then blinked as Written Dreams let out a light laugh still while looking at her. Now it was Rainbow’s turn to look confused, “What‘s so funny…?”

“What would you say if I asked you to come with me?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head slightly at hearing this, her look of confusion growing a bit,

“Come… with you? What do you mean?”

“I‘m following a series of clues towards something that I really want to get my hooves on… and having a traveling companion would make things all the better.” Rainbow Dash fell silent as she stared at him before she leaned over again and gave him another nuzzle,

“I really wish I could… but my job as the weather manager pretty much prevents me from leaving…” Rainbow then closed her eyes as she laid against his dark blue coat, Written Dreams laying his head against her neck as well as he smiled,

“I‘ll come and see you the next time I‘m in Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash said nothing, a deep blush on her face as she silently laid her head against him, eventually falling asleep as the beautiful aurora remained above them both.

The three mares were now trotting down the path before them, Rainbow Dash trotting with Twilight on her right and Applejack to her left, “Then what happened Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said as she continued watching the rainbow pegasus. Rainbow Dash was silent for a few moments, her blush deepening for a few more moments before she shook her head looking up at Twilight,

“I‘d rather not talk about it. There‘s more to tell but I‘ll save part two for either tonight or tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight then over to Applejack with a grin, “Happy now AJ?” Applejack gave a laugh and adjusted her hat as she looked towards Rainbow,

“Hehe, never took ya for the kind ta get buttered up so easily Rainbow! Ah‘ve seen plenty of pegasi keepin’ up with ya, did ya kiss all of them too?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with an annoyed look on her face before shaking her head and growled towards Applejack,

“No! What kind of mare do you think I am?!” Applejack began making kissy noises as she laughed, puckering her lips as she grinned,

“RD WD sittin‘ in a tree!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she growled again at the farm pony,

“What are you? A filly?!” Twilight Sparkle spoke up next, a rather irritated look on her face as she raised her voice,

“Will you two knock it off? Applejack, Rainbow Dash shared something really personal with us that she could have very easily left out of her story. It‘s not nice to make fun of her for it.” Applejack paused at Twilight’s scolding of her and looked down letting out a deep sigh,

“Aw shoot Twilight, ah was jus‘ havin‘ a bit of fun with her. Sorry if ah made ya mad Rainbow, I was only foolin‘ around.” Rainbow Dash gave a small chuckle before nodding over to Applejack with a bright smile,

“No worries AJ. But hey, did either of you guys see the aurora? I‘ve been wondering if everypony was asleep while it was up in the sky.” Applejack shook her head in response as Rainbow was looking at her and smiled lightly,

“Ah was out like a light come nine or ten.” Rainbow Dash then looked over to Twilight, who was looking at her with a gentle smile,

“What about you Twilight?”

“I did see it actually.” Twilight looked up at the sky, “I didn‘t see when it happened though and it didn‘t make much of a sound. I just remember looking out my window and seeing it spreading throughout the sky… it really was something beautiful. Although… since I didn‘t see it a few minutes ago I was confounded as to how an aurora could show up so suddenly.” Twilight blushed a bit out of embarrassment as she nervously giggled, “I started going through books on them to try and figure it out.” Rainbow Dash let out a laugh and grinned at the mare,

“That‘s just like you Twilight. Always the egg head!” Twilight blinked at the name and closed her eyes smiling proudly,

“I‘m not an egg head, I‘m well read!” Rainbow Dash snickered as she looked over to Applejack and grinned,

“Egg head.” Twilight’s expression turned to one of frustration before she narrowed her eyes looking over to Rainbow Dash,

“I am not!” She then paused as Rainbow Dash and Applejack both stared at her with grins and Twilight blinked before she began laughing, accompanied by the other two mares and they all laughed together as they ran down the path.

The three mares ran for another good twenty minutes before a large shadow passed over them and quickly disappeared, Rainbow Dash, who was gliding along with them instead of running dropped to her hooves and watched the sky with a curious look on her face, “Anypony else see that?” Twilight Sparkle and Applejack both nodded and started looking around carefully as they all continued running, “I think… we‘re being followed.” Twilight nodded in response and the three slowed to a light trot before they all stopped, Twilight looking up to the sky and yelled,

“Show yourself!” There were a few moments of silence before there was a boom behind the three, a large dust cloud behind them and as the three turned around a form began to become visible in the dust. The form slowly became fully visible, a female griffon standing before the three with a slightly dark expression on her face accompanied by a sinister smirk, although her color scheme seemed off, “Wait… that’s…!” Rainbow Dash took a step forward, her head tilting slowly as she stared towards the griffon,

“Gilda?”

“Surprised you even still remember your old best friend after all this time.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened for a few moments before she shook her head,

“What.. What are you doing here?!” Gilda paused at her words, raising an eyebrow as she stared at the three,

“So that‘s the greeting I get after all this time?” Applejack spoke up next, taking a step forward as Rainbow Dash did,

“Ya weren‘t the face of kindness last time we saw ya. Have ya changed since then?” Gilda rolled her eyes with a loud laugh, her tail flicking as she shook her head and smirked,

“Actually I‘ve been keeping tabs on you three for king Discord.” Gilda let out another laugh before grinning to the three, “I gotta say, I‘m surprised it took you all so long to catch on to me but now that you have…” Gilda’s expression faded as she stared at them, “Congratulations. Discord has deemed you three a threat and has tasked me with eliminating you.” The mare’s eyes widened considerably as they all took a step back staring at her, Twilight pausing before shaking her head,

“You mean… You‘re going to kill us?” Rainbow Dash took a step forward with a defiant gaze as she got down low and growled,

“What‘s this all about?! A little humiliation and you agree to kill us?! What‘s Discord filled your head with?!” Gilda only smirked in response, her tail whipping again behind her as she stomped forward,

“Our friendship is dead Dash! It died when you chose those ponies over me.” She then began to growl as she got down low. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she stomped her hoof,

“Twilight! Applejack! Get out of here!” Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked down at the rainbow pegasus at her hooves,

“But…!”

“No buts! I‘ll hold her off while you two get out of here! Go find a place to hide!” Her expression then darkened slightly, “Nobody threatens my friends.” Twilight shook her head quickly, staring at Rainbow Dash with a look of fear,

“Rainbow we can‘t just--!” Rainbow Dash didn’t face her, her gaze fixed upon the griffon standing before them,

“Twilight listen to me. What matters the most is that you move forward with Applejack. I‘ll be okay…” Rainbow whipped her head staring into Twilight’s eyes with a mixed look of fear, pain, and determination, “Now GO!” Twilight took a step back as she gulped and nodded, her and Applejack turning and running down the path before Rainbow Dash turned her head back to Gilda once they had gone out of sight.

Rainbow Dash locked eyes, once again, with Gilda, the griffon having brought her left claw up from the ground and was looking at it before she flicked something from one of her claws and looked back to Rainbow Dash, “Never knew you could be such an idiot Dash. Sending those two away? I‘ll just finish with you quickly so I don‘t have to look too hard for them… Let‘s go!” Gilda leapt forward, swiping with her claw and Rainbow leaped back, avoiding her strike before lunging and jumped to the left, sending a good buck into Gilda’s torso before her wings spread and the pegasus flew up into the sky. Gilda gave an irritated growl, mostly unfazed by the buck and took off into the sky after her.

The sky above them was rather dark, the moon beginning to peek over the horizon next to them as both Gilda and Rainbow Dash stood upon different clouds. Rainbow Dash stared up at Gilda, a few tears streaking down Rainbow’s eyes before she yelled out, “Gilda I don‘t understand! Why would you work for Discord?! Why would you agree to eliminate us?! You were my best friend!” Gilda’s face was dark, the few feathers sticking out in front of her head like hair casting a shadow across her face as she shook her head and stared down the pegasus,

“Rainbow Dash. We stopped being friends the day that you sided with those ponies and I was humiliated. Discord is the ruler of Equestria now whether you little ponies want him to be or not. You are not going to stop him but the information I‘ve told him has caused him to believe that what you are after could possibly dethrone him so I asked if it would be easier to simply eliminate you three. He didn‘t order this. I asked for it.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened considerably as she took a step back on her cloud, shaking her head as tears streamed down her face,

“Gilda… if you intend to kill us…” Her eyes narrowed in anger and she stamped her hoof with a growl, “I‘ll stop you!” Gilda then smirked with a bit of a laugh and raised her claw, shaking one from side to side,

“Tch, Rainbow… although I suppose it‘s fitting that it be you who I kill first. Actually I was hoping it would be you and me last. Our history and all.” Rainbow Dash’s mane seemed to flare a bit as her eyes widened further in anger,

“Is this a game to you?!” Gilda planted her claws back against the cloud under her and narrowed her eyes,

“Loyal to the end aren‘t you? I have an idea actually. Discord said something to me before I left.” Rainbow Dash gave her a distrusting look as she slightly tilted her head, her wings, once slowly flapping, were now back at her sides,

“What did he tell you?”

“He said that if any of you make the choice to instead join him that I‘m to spare your life and bring you back. So how about it Dash? Come on!” Gilda grinned darkly towards her, bringing one of her claws up and clenched it into a fist, “Join our side! Then all of your troubles will be gone!” Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof again and whipped her mane and tail, getting down low as her eyes narrowed,

“Gilda…” The griffon blinked and tilted her head slightly as she looked down at Rainbow Dash, “You threaten my friend‘s lives… spy on us for Discord… then challenge my loyalty. No friend of mine would do anything like that. I‘m going to fight you Gilda. I‘m going to protect my friends.” Rainbow Dash then let out a yell as she rocketed forward and slammed hard into the griffon’s chest, the wind knocked out of her making her stumble and slip off the cloud, Rainbow Dash landing where she was standing and looked down as she began falling but Gilda quickly regained her balance and spread her wings, flying back towards Rainbow Dash with a dark glare of hatred in her eyes,

“So be it.”

Applejack let out a few pants as she stood at the back of a dark cave the two mares had found far down the path from where they had been confronted by Gilda. She looked around slowly, her eyes having steadily adjusted to the darkness around her and she looked down at Twilight who was laying down with her face in her hooves silently weeping, her tears catching the small amount of light floating in from the moon outside making them shine slightly, “Twilight please stop yer cryin‘… We‘re gonna be safe here and before ya know it Rainbow‘s gonna be trottin‘ through that cave entrance over there and we‘ll all be together again!” Twilight slowly rose her head, a look of fear and dread in her eyes,

“I could have just teleported all of us away from there! Why did she tell us to run?! Why Applejack?!” Applejack let out a slow sigh and looked back to the mouth of the cave,

“There‘re moments in all our lives where we just know we‘ve gotta do somethin‘… if Rainbow hadn‘t done what she did… then we might not have gotten out of there in one piece. Neither of us can fly Twilight so we‘d be pretty useless in a fight like that anyway… we‘d just be a burden ta Rainbow while she protected us.” Applejack looked back to Twilight and smiled softly, “If we had teleported she woulda just found us again… maybe while we were sleeping… Rainbow Dash may have saved both of our lives Twilight.” Twilight Sparkle paused and sniffed a few times, wiping the tears from her eyes before looking up at Applejack,

“I… I guess you‘re right but I‘m still really worried about her… logically… a pegasus shouldn‘t be able to beat a griffon… If only I could have gotten close enough I could have used the memory spell on her…” Applejack raised her hoof, wiping a final tear from Twilight’s eye and shook her head still wearing her smile,

“Twilight, we gotta have faith in Rainbow now. She‘s so fast that Gilda won‘t even be able to touch her! Twilight, do you have faith in Dash?” Twilight fell silent, a small smile spreading across her face before she looked up at Applejack and gave a small nod, “Then we‘ve got to believe that everything is going to be okay.”

Chapter 18 - Friends Forever

Rainbow Dash screamed as she flew down towards Gilda, tears flying back from her as she held her hooves out in front of her. The griffon growled as she swiped with her claws, her wings giving a large beat as she flew upwards. They then impacted. Rainbow Dash’s head slamming into Gilda’s chest knocking the wind out of the griffon once again and made her groan before she righted herself and slashed with her claws, Rainbow Dash letting out a yelp as the Griffon’s claws dug into her cheek, ripping into her coat and flesh. Rainbow Dash flew off to the side, cringing in pain as she shook her head, her eyes locking on Gilda who was flying back towards her at a rapid pace, “What a shame that was meant for your throat!” Rainbow Dash growled darkly and flew to the side, avoiding Gilda flying to her previous position before she spun and continued tailing Dash.

Rainbow Dash gasped as she landed on a cloud, getting down low in an attempt to buy herself some time to nurse her wound. She brought her hoof to it, pressing down hard to stop the bleeding as tears streamed down her cheeks, “Come on Rainbow… you‘re fighting for your life here.” Rainbow Dash nodded to herself after a few moments, confident she had stopped the bleeding and stood, seeing Gilda in the distance rapidly turning her head as she looked for her. Rainbow Dash looked down at her, letting out a slow breath before she took off, holding her hooves out in front of her and let out a yell, Gilda’s head snapping towards her and the griffon smirked before Rainbow Dash spun and threw her back legs out, bucking Gilda at terminal velocity sending the griffon reeling backward as her wings beat faster. Rainbow Dash hovered in the spot where she had impacted Gilda and watched as the griffon righted herself, “I‘ll admit you have an advantage with those claws Gilda but I‘ll always be faster then you!” Gilda growled and lunged forward, Rainbow Dash circling her rapidly a few times before avoiding a swipe of her claws and sent another buck into her side, Gilda giving an annoyed groan as she backed away from the pegasus. She then rushed Dash again, slashing wildly with her claws as she let out a loud yell, Rainbow Dash angling her wings causing her to expertly avoid her claws whilst staying only a foot away from her.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes suddenly widened as Gilda spun and slammed her wing down, hitting Rainbow Dash hard and she was sent spiraling downward for a few moments before she righted herself and looked up with a growl before feeling another wing impact her from below sending her back up into the air. Rainbow didn’t have time to right herself before feeling Gilda’s tail whip her neck hard leaving a heavily stinging feeling behind her head. Dash cried out before letting out a yell and spun slapping Gilda across the face with her own wing and then gave her a hard punch to the face before following up with a harsh uppercut. Rainbow then spun delivering another buck to Gilda’s chest before she flew away from her, the pegasus having begun to pant as her wings continued flapping.

Gilda reeled from the combination of strikes Rainbow Dash had given her and took a few moments, panting a bit harder as she stared at Rainbow Dash with murderous intent. Rainbow Dash simply shook her head slowly as she stared at her old friend and then her wings began flapping harder as she flew further up into the sky. Gilda stared, watching her for only a few moments before her wings beat faster as well as she began chasing her, “Stop running away Rainbow Dash!!” Rainbow Dash just continued climbing upwards in silence before finally stopping and stared down at Gilda who was still flying up towards her. Rainbow Dash turned her head, the moon enormous in the night’s sky behind her.

Gilda let out a yell as she held her claw out to her side in preparation to slash at the pegasus upon reaching her but Rainbow Dash let out a slow breath before she faced downward and began flying downwards and she let out a loud yell. Gilda stopped flying as Rainbow Dash flew down past her and turned flying back down after her, growling darkly in frustration.

Rainbow Dash let her wings continue flapping faster as her eyes narrowed in determination. She knew that her speed was the only way she could possibly defeat Gilda and the more speed she had, the more damage she could do.

She suddenly broke to the side, curving to use the speed of her falling to make her fly upwards faster, her body slamming hard into Gilda’s side a moment later and sent the griffon flying away from her. Rainbow Dash panted for a few moments before she cringed and brought a hoof to her shoulder, blood trailing down onto her right hoof.

Gilda righted herself, albeit taking a few seconds longer to do so then before and coughed a few times, some blood staining the feathers around her neck as she stared at Rainbow Dash. Her eyes narrowed and she began flying towards her again, Rainbow Dash doing the same as she let out a yell. Rainbow Dash ducked to the side, avoiding a swipe from Gilda’s claws and struck her with a few punches, hitting her a few times in the chest and face before she let out a scream as Gilda’s claws dug into her already injured shoulder, tearing through her skin and muscle and she quickly flapped her wings, flying away quickly as her left hoof clenched her shoulder the best she could.

Gilda was right on her tail, however, a very dark smile on her face as she once again readied her claws, “It‘s over Dash! I‘ll make it quick if you just give up now!” Only a few moments later Gilda located Rainbow Dash stumbling against a cloud and flew down on her, pinning her down on her back on the cloud before grinning as she raised her claws, “Goodbye Dash.” Rainbow Dash only looked up at her in defiance, her eyes narrowed before she smirked,

“No way we‘re done… yet.” Gilda brought her claws down but her eyes widened as Rainbow Dash sank into the cloud and disappeared through it coming out the bottom and flew up above her, flying down a moment afterwards slamming her back hooves into her back. Gilda’s eyes rolled back as a wave of pain surged through her body and she whipped her tail into Rainbow’s stomach causing her to flinch before she flew away from her, Gilda taking to the skies once again and she stopped, hovering as she looked around for the pegasus,

“Where are you Rainbow Dash?! Stop hiding and face me you coward!” The air around her was silent as Gilda looked around, her eyes very slowly scanning her surrounding area as she let out a frustrated growl, her chest then heaving and she let out a few loud coughs, sputtering blood as she groaned, “Nngh--”

Rainbow Dash was laying against a cloud much higher in the sky then the griffon, her left hoof pressing hard against her right shoulder as she slowly moved her right hoof back and forth, “Not… gonna last too much longer at this rate… dammit.” Rainbow Dash took a few moments more until she believed the bleeding had at least slowed and turned her head to examine her wound. Gilda’s claws had torn through a small amount of the muscle in her shoulder and had shredded the skin above it from the multiple strikes in that area. She groaned a bit and looked away with her eyes closed, “I hope Twilight‘s got some more advanced healing spells…” Rainbow Dash then peeked off of the edge of the cloud downwards seeing Gilda flying around as she searched for him, looking up and down and occasionally yelling out, “I can win this… I have to.” Rainbow Dash stood up on the cloud after using the moisture within it to somewhat clean her wound and flew downwards, her eyes narrowed as she focused.

Gilda’s eyes frantically searched for the rainbow pegasus before the sound of wings beating caught her ear and she looked up, her eyes going wide as Rainbow Dash rocketed towards her, impacting her within a few seconds in a vicious head butt against her right shoulder, a very loud crack being heard at the impact and Gilda let out a scream of pain, slashing upwards and caught the side of Rainbow Dash’s neck, the pegasus flying away from her a few feet before panting and brought her left hoof to her neck, Gilda’s strike no more then a light scrape, “That was too close… I must have broken her arm with that one though.”

Gilda wailed as her left claw clutched her right shoulder, letting out loud yells before she started coughing and cringed as her claw fell back to her side and she looked up at Rainbow Dash, “I knew this wasn‘t going to be easy… but you won‘t survive with those wounds you have now.” Rainbow Dash paused as she took in Gilda’s words and looked over to the wound on her shoulder, which had begun to bleed again, drops falling from her hoof as she looked back to Gilda and shook her head,

“I could say the same about you.” Gilda didn’t respond, instead she lunged again towards the pegasus, swiping rapidly with her claws as she let out a roar, her right arm much slower on account of the bone in her upper arm being all but shattered from Rainbow Dash’s strike. Gilda’s expression was of very intense pain but it was as if her desire to kill Rainbow Dash was helping to null her own pain. Rainbow Dash continued avoiding her strikes, utterly worn out both from her own blood loss and from exerting so much of her own energy in the fight.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes the widened as she felt something grab hold of her wing, her head whipped back and saw Gilda’s claws clenched around the soft feathers and she began squeezing until a loud snap was heard. Time seemed to slow down for Rainbow Dash as her eyes began to slowly fill up with tears from the excruciating pain of having her wing broken. Her head slowly turned back to Gilda, seeing a hellish look on her face before an image of them both growing up together at Junior Speedster’s Flight Camp flashed through her memory. Tears began slowly sliding down her cheeks before falling to the earth below.

Gilda was breathing heavily, her claw still clenched around Rainbow Dash’s broken wing, seeing the tears streaming down the pegasus’ face. Gilda then let her claws open, seeing Rainbow Dash’s eyes open wide and she began to scramble and tried to hold onto Gilda but her hooves were too slick to grab onto her feathers and she fell, her good wing beating for only a few seconds before it slowed.

Rainbow Dash let her tears fall, her tears cascading upwards as she fell, the light blue pegasus looking up at Gilda, her wings flapping slowly as she hovered, the griffon’s eyes locked on her as she plummeted downwards.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes slowly closed as she felt the wind rushing through her mane. She mentally prepared herself for her impact as she fell, time seeming to slow down as various memories rushed through her mind. Memories of her receiving her element of loyalty, meeting Twilight for the first time and the look on her face when she cleared the sky in ten seconds flat. The memories of her second Sonic Rainboom at the flying competition in Cloudsdale, of her time with the buffalo tribe out near Appaloosa. Rarity making her dress for the Grand Galloping Gala, and of course the Gala itself.

She slowly opened her eyes as the memories of Written Dreams faded into her time searching for the Quill of Eternity with Applejack and Twilight Sparkle, “I wonder… will I dream?” Rainbow’s mind went dark as she hit the tall trees below her, smashing through multiple branches before she hit multiple others, her body rolling and slamming down hard against more and more, breaking a few others until she finally hit the ground, laying on her side with her broken wing still spread out to her side and her good wing tucked at her side. Her mane was sticky with tree sap and the water of the clouds she had hidden in, pine cones sticking to her mane and tail and parts of her coat as well. Her right shoulder was against the dirt, a small pool of blood steadily forming from it as the pegasus laid there.

Written Dreams let out a light sigh as the beating of his wings slowed and he landed on the porch of the crusader’s clubhouse. He raised his hoof to knock before the door flew open and Scootaloo slammed into him, backing away with a slightly dazed expression before the filly blinked and looked up at him, “Something wrong Scootaloo…?” Tears were streaming down the filly’s face as she looked up at him with a few rapid nods,

“Something‘s wrong! I just got this horrible feeling! Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all came by like you said and they went off to the dragon migration grounds but… I just got this horrible feeling in my stomach!” Written Dreams paused as he took in what Scootaloo was saying and looked behind her to see the other two crusaders with similar looks on their faces. He slowly nodded to them in response and spread his wings,

“You want me to go check on them?” Scootaloo then nodded with a pleading gaze, rising up on her hind hooves and placed her front hooves on his chest,

“Please mister Dreams! We were gonna go ourselves but you can get there so much fast cause you can fly!” Written Dreams simply nodded in response and turned till he faced north, his wings giving a flap and continued beating as he hovered next to the clubhouse,

“Okay. I‘ll be back in an hour or two girls.” He then took off, his wings beating hard as he flew into the night’s sky.

Twilight’s eyes suddenly snapped open and she looked quickly around the cave having fallen asleep only a few moments ago and looked over to her side seeing Applejack sleeping a few feet from her. Twilight slowly raised her head and brought a hoof to her eye, bringing it away for a moment and looked at it in the moonlight seeing it shimmering slightly, “Crying…” Tears began streaming down her face before she slowly shook her head still staring at her hoof before lowering it and stared out the cave mouth, “Rainbow… No…”

Written Dreams continued flying for a good fifty minutes before he landed and slowly looked around at the trees around him, “I sensed it too… something feels wrong.” His gaze then caught the sight of a crumbled form in the trees away and he hurried over towards it, seeing the large form laying before him and breathing slowly, “A… Griffon…?” Gilda laid before him on her side, some blood on the ground near her mouth that she had coughed up although her coloration had returned to her normal colors,

“Who‘s… there?” Written Dreams paused and shifted so that he was standing where she could see him,

“My name is Written Dreams… you shouldn‘t talk though.” He laid his head against her chest and withdrew it a moment later shaking his head with a disheartened look, “You‘ve suffered… so many internal injuries… Ms…” Gilda’s eyes drifted over to him slowly before she spoke,

“Call me Gilda… and I know I‘m… not going to make it. You don‘t have to… tell me that. I heard them… speaking of you sometimes.” She then slowly lifted her head, smiling slightly, “You… really left an impression on those three.” Written Dreams’ ears drooped as he took in the words of the dying griffon and he shook his head, laying his hoof lightly against her beak,

“Please, you shouldn‘t speak… save your strength.” Gilda managed to laugh before slowly shaking her head as she looked up at him,

“All I have strength left for is talking. Don‘t worry about me… If you can find Rainbow Dash… and… she‘s still alive…” Gilda coughed again, groaning slightly before she looked back to Written Dreams, “Tell her… I‘m sorry… I‘m so sorry… I wasn‘t myself… and it was too late when she had finally knocked some sense… into me.” Written Dreams silently nodded and watched as Gilda laid her head down against the ground under her, slowly closing her eyes as she let out a final breath and her body fell silent.

Written Dreams was silent as he stood before the griffon’s lifeless body for a few more minutes before he finally turned and stared running through the trees, his eyes quickly scanning the area as he searched for the rainbow pegasus, “Come on Rainbow Dash. You have to be around here somewhere…” He continued running through the trees till he finally skidded to a halt and saw her, hanging his head low and his ears drooped, “Rainbow…” Written Dreams walked over to Rainbow Dash and he kneeled down to her, laying his ear against her coat, “Please…” His eyes then widened a bit and he withdrew his head, “Alive… but…” He turned his gaze upwards and cringed as he saw the tree above her, looking around him to the many branches near the fallen pegasus. Written Dreams watched Rainbow Dash for a few moments before he turned his head back and opened his back taking out a quill and a small roll of parchment, writing down a quick message before he threw it from the trees and out onto the path. He then bent down and lifted Rainbow Dash’s body onto his back and spread his wings, taking off into the dark sky and back towards Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight looked around quickly in the moonlight as she repeatedly called out Rainbow Dash’s name. Her gaze suddenly turned down as she noticed something on the ground, “Wha…” She ran over to it and looked down, picking the scroll from the dusty ground and quickly unfurled it, her eyes slowly scanning its contents, “Dear Twilight, I have Rainbow Dash. She‘s alive, but only barely. I‘m going to do all I can for her so please continue your journey without fear. Her injuries are severe and if she had remained like she was for the night she would have died… Written Dreams.” Twilight paused as she read the signature at the bottom of the scroll and shook her head letting out a deep sigh of relief, “Rainbow Dash… Written Dreams please… please save her.” Twilight rolled the scroll back up and took it with her as she trotted back towards the cave she and Applejack had found along the trail.

As Twilight entered the cave again she saw Applejack staring at her with a hopeful look on her face that seemed to slowly fade as she saw she was alone, “Twilight… did you find Rainbow Dash…?” Applejack’s expression seemed to turn to one of fear until Twilight slowly nodded, “Was she… you know…” Twilight shook her head slowly before she laid down next to Applejack,

“I didn‘t find her… I found a scroll. Written Dreams has her and in the scroll he said that he‘s going to do all he can to save her.” Applejack slowly tilted her head as she looked warily at Twilight,

“Okay… but… did you find Gilda? What happened to her?” Twilight shook her head and looked back to Applejack,

“I don‘t know about Gilda… but maybe Rainbow took her down with her… I didn‘t see either of them while I was out there looking around so I don‘t know.” Both mares eventually fell back to sleep a few minutes later.

Written Dreams continued flying as fast as he could with Rainbow Dash on his back, his eyes narrowed and a determined look on his face, “Don‘t die on me Rainbow Dash!” Sweet Apple Acres appeared in the horizon after nearly forty minutes of flying and Written Dreams soon landed at the crusader’s clubhouse, pushing the door open and yelled, “Girls! First aid kit! NOW!”

Chapter 19 - Aftermath

“Girls! First aid kit! NOW!” The crusader’s eyes widened as Written Dreams burst into the clubhouse, Sweetie Belle levitating a white box with a red cross on it over to him as he laid Rainbow Dash on the floor. Scootaloo’s expression turned to one of horror and she rushed over to Rainbow Dash’s side, tears welling in her eyes as she stared down at the mangled pegasus,

“R-Rainbow Dash?! Wake up!” Written Dreams turned his attention to the filly, giving her a nod before he looked back to Rainbow Dash,

“Scootaloo please get the bandages from the first aid kit and give them to me. Applebloom, I need you to tear up some rags and soak them in water!” Both fillies nodded and Applebloom went to a few drawers, taking out a few older pieces of fabric and began making rags before she fetched a bowl of water from the water the three had in the clubhouse and began soaking them.

Scootaloo also did as instructed, a rather determined look on her face as she tried to combat her feelings of despair. She quickly handed the bandages to Written Dreams who nodded and took the wet rags from Applebloom as she brought them over to him as well. The crusaders then stood back in silence, waiting for Written Dreams to request anything else of them and watched as he began cleaning her wounds with the rags before pressing them hard to stop the bleeding, “Stay with me Dash…” Minutes turned to an hour as Written Dreams began dressing her wounds in bandages, splinting her broken wing with a few thin boards the girls had provided him with before he bandaged that up as well. He then fell silent as he looked down at her, his eyes slowly closing as he laid his head down against her chest. His eyes then snapped open, “No heartbeat…” The crusaders’ eyes widened at what Written Dreams had said, tears beginning to well up in their eyes before they all jumped back hearing him let out a yell, “Dammit you‘re not dying on me!!” A look of anger and determination filled the pegasus’ eyes as he reared up on his hind legs and pushed his front hooves down hard on her chest, repeating this multiple times before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, breathing deep breathes into her mouth before repeating the process of pushing on her chest, “Rainbow Dash!!” He went back to blowing deep breaths into her mouth, tears having began to slide down his face as he continued the process, back and forth for the next ten minutes, the three girls behind him, their ears drooping as they silently wept.

Written Dreams had began panting as he stood next to Rainbow Dash. Simply staring at her bandaged form before he hung his head not looking at the fillies, “I… I‘m sorry girls…” Written Dreams slowly turned towards Scootaloo and the other two, his ears low as he shook his head, “We couldn‘t…”

“…You should know better then to count me out…” The four pony’s ears perked and they all quickly looked back to Rainbow Dash, seeing one of her eyes open as she stared at them, her usual tomboyish grin on her face. Scootaloo instantly ran to Rainbow Dash, hugging her tightly and Rainbow Dash paused, blinking before she brought her hoof around the little filly,

“Rainbow Dash we were so worried about you! When mister Dreams said your heart wasn‘t beating I… we…” Scootaloo held her head into Rainbow Dash’s dusty coat, crying loudly as Rainbow Dash held her in a weak embrace,

“Easy there squirt… I‘m still pretty banged up. Take it easy…” Rainbow Dash was wincing in pain every time Scootaloo moved and the filly got off of her, wiping her eyes before sniffing and looked at her with a happy smile,

“Sorry Rainbow Dash.” Written Dreams looked to the crusaders and smiled softly seeing happy and relieved looks on their faces,

“Girls. Rainbow Dash is going to need a lot of rest so she can recover. It‘s late girls so I think it‘s time for you to head off to bed. Don‘t worry about Rainbow Dash I‘ll be keeping an eye on her tonight.” It took a good fifteen minutes for the girls to agree to head off to their beds but eventually they went into another room where their sleeping bags were. Written Dreams laid down next to Rainbow Dash, sighing as he looked towards her, a pillow now resting under her head that she seemed genuinely happy to have there as she was nuzzling it a bit with her eyes closed. She paused after a moment and opened her eyes again, looking over to him with a soft smile,

“I… really thought I was going to die… I even had one of those flashback moments of a whole bunch of things when I was falling…” Written Dreams slowly nodded as he examined her bandaged form,

“A lot of bones are broken but you‘re alive and that‘s all that matters right now. Rainbow Dash… what happened? I can only assume you fell after your wing broke.” Rainbow Dash laid her head down on the pillow again and let out a sigh,

“The sun was just about setting when Gilda… she‘s a griffon… she showed up and said she was there to kill us. I fought her on my own… but at the end she broke my wing and dropped me…” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened for a moment and she stared at Written Dreams, “Wait! Nngh…” Rainbow cringed in pain and closed her eyes again, “Where… are Twilight and Applejack…? What happened to Gilda…?”

“Gilda is dead.” Written Dreams lowered his head as he spoke those words, letting out a slow sigh, “I can only guess that she was under Discord‘s influence because when I found her she told me that if you were still alive… to say she was sorry.” Rainbow Dash was silent as she laid there, her breathing remaining rather slow for a few moments,

“I wish I could tell her that I forgive her… it wasn‘t her fault…” Her eyes then slowly opened again and she gazed at Written Dreams, “It‘s Discord‘s fault this happened… he has to be stopped…” Written Dreams slowly nodded as he shifted his hoof over to her, running his hoof down her dirty mane slowly as he sighed,

“I only wish it were that easy… every time I think I‘m going to find the quill it seems to slip from my grasp once again… it just seems like there‘s no end to the clues…” Rainbow Dash was silent, a gentle smile on her face as a blush painted her cheeks as Written Dreams stroked her mane. After a few minutes she opened her eyes again and looked up at him, very slowly moving her head to get a better angle,

“Do… Twilight and AJ know that I‘m okay…?” Written Dreams was silent for a few moments as he thought and slowly nodded,

“Well, yes and no. I wrote a quick note when I found you telling them that I was going to do all I could but… not really more then that. As long as you make it through the night, I‘ll send them a letter in the morning, okay?” Rainbow Dash’s smile faded a little as she took in Written Dreams’ words and let out a slow sigh as she closed her eyes again,

“I‘ll make it, I always do…” The dark blue pegasus looked at her with a hint of concern as his head slightly tilted,

“You‘re going to have to stay fairly still for the next few days Rainbow Dash. You can‘t strain yourself okay? And definitely no flying till your wing is fully healed. As long as you give yourself all of the time you need to recover then you‘re going so be up and about, breaking the sound barrier again before you know it!” Written Dreams gave a happy smile as he looked down at Rainbow Dash, who let out a light laugh before groaning,

“Nngh… hopefully I‘ll be able to laugh again soon without it hurting too much. Hey… I just had a thought.” Rainbow Dash opened an eye as she looked back up to him, her smile returning to her face,

“Twilight‘s been piecing together the story of your travels bit by bit but you could reveal all the rest since they‘re about you anyway…” Written Dreams raised an eyebrow as he looked at Rainbow Dash, letting out a laugh as he smiled brightly,

“So, you‘re interested in some story time are you?” Rainbow Dash gave a slow nod before Written Dreams brought a hoof to his chin and looked back to her, “Well… first off what parts have you heard so far? I can do my best to put them in the correct order for you at least.” Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before she smiled up at him once again,

“Well… first Twilight told us about her own encounter with you in the library… Then your first meeting with Zecora, your experiences in Sunny Town, your second meeting with Zecora, your trip to Appaloosa and then both of the times you were here at the clubhouse.” Written Dreams seemed to pause for a few moments as he looked at Rainbow Dash with a bit of an odd look,

“Well it seems you‘ve heard of quite a few of my encounters but you‘re missing a good deal of them. But something you said strikes me as odd Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash tilted her head a little as she stared at him,

“What do you mean?”

“Well when you spoke of Twilight‘s encounter with me… do you mean she only told you of the first time we met?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes seemed to widen for a moment before she blinked, staring at him for a few moments,

“She… said she only met you the one time though.” Written Dreams paused again, bringing a hoof to his chin before he chuckled,

“Oh that‘s right… she ended up casting a memory spell on herself so that her memories would be locked away…” Rainbow Dash’s expression of curiosity only grew deeper as she continued to stare at him,

“I don‘t understand… why would Twilight get rid of her memories like that? I mean… she seems…” Rainbow Dash gave a sly smirk as she looked at him, “Really interested in you.” Written Dreams fell silent for a few moments, scratching the back of his head as he let out a rather nervous laugh before his expression turned a bit more serious,

“Have you looked into her eyes while she hears those stories about me? Because among the fascination is pain. I‘m sorry Rainbow Dash but I don‘t feel I should say any more about it.” Written Dreams then smiled softly towards her, “You really need to rest now though. Get some of your strength back. I can tell you a story tomorrow when you‘ve woken up.” Rainbow Dash then closed her eyes again, nuzzling the pillow beneath her head a little before a warm smile spread across her face, the feeling of a warm blanket being draped over her and the rainbow pegasus soon fell into a deep sleep. Written Dreams remained laying at her side, occasionally examining her sleeping form for the next six hours before he eventually passed out next to her, laying his head against the cool wood of the clubhouse, a scroll addressed to Twilight laying in front of him.

Twilight Sparkle let out a slow yawn as her eyes slowly opened the next morning, the early morning sunlight peeking in through the cave’s mouth. Suddenly there was a bright flash of silver light and a scroll appeared on the ground in front of her, the unicorn’s head slowly tilting before her horn became shrouded in a billowing aura and the scroll raised from the ground and unfurled, Twilight’s eyes sliding from side to side slowly as she read the contents of the message, “Dear Twilight Sparkle, I am writing you this message to confirm with you that Rainbow Dash is alright, although she has suffered many injuries in her fight she managed to pull through in the end. Gilda, although her ties with Discord were severed in the end, was not so fortunate. You will not have to worry about her coming after you. Twilight, I believe that for the time being it may he beneficial to allow Discord to believe that Rainbow Dash is dead for the reason that his sense of fair play may come into effect and also, gives us the option to opt for a sneak attack in the future.

I‘m sorry that we haven‘t been able to meet in person for the longest time but rest assured that, whilst I am taking care of Rainbow Dash it will not be difficult for both you and Applejack to catch up to me as far as the clues go. Discord went too far this time and must be punished but for now we must be both patient and aware of our surroundings. Your friend, Written Dreams.” Twilight felt a warm and grateful smile spread across her face as her horn glowed softly with a billowing aura and the scroll rolled up before sliding into her bag that she had placed off to the side as she slept, using the other as a pillow, “Written Dreams… I owe you so much.”

“Did ya get another letter from that feller Written Dreams? Is Rainbow okay?” Twilight turned her head to the farm pony, seeing her laying down with her head up, looking towards the unicorn with a look of deep worry and concern,

“Yeah, Rainbow pulled through in the end. But Gilda…” Twilight looked down as she fell silent, her eyes simply scanning the rocks below her hooves for a few moments, “It‘s more important now that we find the Quill of Eternity so that we can stop Discord and get back our friends and the Elements of Harmony! Gilda wouldn‘t have died if it hadn‘t been for him and Rainbow Dash wouldn‘t be in the state she‘s in right now.” Applejack and Twilight took a few more minutes, eating some of the food they had in their bags before they both got up and continued down the trail, determined looks on their faces as they ran.

“So from the stories you‘ve heard I can put them in this order: Me meeting Twilight, me meeting Zecora for the first time, my trip to Sweet Apple Acres for food from Applejack, meeting the crusaders for the first time, Sunny Town, Zecora again, then Appaloosa, back to the crusaders and then our time together Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash chuckled a little, her head still resting against her pillow as she looked up at Written Dreams who was still laying next to her. The crusaders weren’t in the clubhouse, having left after Sweetie Belle teleported Written Dreams’ letter to Twilight,

“Turns out Twilight saw the aurora we made… man I‘m still really curious about what happened between you two.” The colt gave a light laugh before shaking his head and grinning to Rainbow Dash,

“Sorry Rainbow, maybe when Twi and I are together again and she releases that lock on her memories she‘ll be willing to talk about it although, we had quite a fun time together. You know, I really think she‘s a lot like me in a lot of ways.” His smile seemed to slowly soften, a very faint blush painting the dark blues of his coat as his gaze was down to the side,

“It sounds like you guys were…”

“Rainbow Dash.” Written Dreams locked eyes with her, his expression a mix of seriousness but he also wore a calm smile, “Traveling as much as I do, I meet many mares and colts throughout my travels and in the end, some become more important to me then others. For example, just from my searching for the Quill of Eternity I‘ve met many like you, Twilight, and the rest of your friends, Mitta, Luna, Princess Celestia and a few others. My point is that some of the mares I‘ve encountered, we‘ve developed a closer bond then that but sometimes my leaving causes that individual too much pain. When I look into your eyes I see that we have that connection but that there‘s no desire for anything past that, am I right?” Rainbow Dash gave a bit of a smirk as she took in Written Dreams’ words,

“Well, while we did share my first kiss together, it‘s really that you don‘t love flying that causes me to doubt that we‘d be a good match.” Written Dreams let out a light laugh before shaking his head,

“Yeah, I‘m sure I‘d keep you grounded more then you‘d like to. In truth, while I do enjoy the times I experience closeness with those I meet I‘m unsure if I have ever found the one who I want to give my own heart to.”

“Well I‘m not really the one to talk to about mushy stuff. And hey, the crusaders are going to be here so if you want to leave and continue searching for the Quill of Eternity then don‘t let me stop you. It‘s important that we stop Discord as soon as possible.” Written Dreams thought for a moment before he shook his head looking back to the rainbow pegasus,

“Perhaps when you‘re a little more healed up. Your body is still really badly injured and if you go into critical condition like you were when I found you, the girls won‘t be able to do anything to save you… I just hope that Twilight and Applejack don‘t have any trouble at the migration grounds… when I was there it was about three days before this Discord mess happened.”

“Were there dragons there?” Written Dreams nodded slowly,

“Several actually… it was an exciting experience being among dragons to say the least and they really take quill hunters seriously. How about a story Rainbow? A short one before you rest a bit more?” Rainbow Dash gave him a nod, smiling brightly as she nestled a bit more into her pillow, “Alright. This is the story of when I first arrived in Ponyville…”

Written Dreams had been humming as he walked into the small town of Ponyville, gazing up at each house he passed whilst catching the gazes of a few ponies who hadn’t seen him there before, “What a nice little town.”

“LOOK OUT BELOW!” Written Dreams stopped instantly and looked around quickly, his eyes widened before something impacted him from the sky knocking him flat on his chest and head with his legs spread around him. As he felt the object move off of him the dark blue pegasus slowly opened his eyes hazily and stood back up shaking his head and looked around, blinking as he saw a light grey mare with a blonde mane and tail standing next to him with a sheepish grin on her face. Her cutie mark depicted several bubbles and she scratched her mane with her hoof as she stared at him, her right eye upwards whilst her left eye was a bit lower, “Erm, sorry mister. I was trying out a new flight pattern and it went kinda loopy…” Written Dreams blinked his eyes a few times, his eyes locked on the mare’s eyes for a few moments before he smiled warmly and shook some dust from his silver mane,

“Oh it‘s alright. Nothing broken. I‘m Written Dreams by the way, what‘s your name?” The mare’s face turned from an ashamed look to a neutral happiness as she grinned widely,

“My name‘s Ditzy Do but all of my friends call me Derpy Hooves.” He blinked for a moment as he took in both her name and nickname she’d gotten from some ponies around town,

“Well I would like to consider you my friend, but may I call you Ditzy? Derpy sounds kind of cruel to be honest.” Derpy then rolled her eyes, the two going back to normal as she did so,

“I think it‘s mainly because of my eyes usually being crossed but they don‘t say it meanly so I don‘t really mind. But you want to be my friend?!” Derpy gave an excited gasp as she trotted in place happily, “I love making new friends! And yeah it‘s fine if you call me Ditzy, it‘s my name after all!”

“Well it‘s settled then. We are now friends Ditzy! Now then… do you think you could possibly point me in the direction of the library? It‘s the main reason I‘m here in Ponyville.” Derpy thought for a moment, looking from right to left before she pointed,

“It‘s over in that direction mister Dreams. Say hello to the librarian for me when you get there!” Written Dreams then watched as Derpy gave a hop and flew away through the town while yelling ‘bye!’ Written Dreams slowly nodded, letting out a soft laugh before he began trotting in the direction he had been pointed in.

“And that‘s about it. Later I can tell you another story that‘s a bit longer then that one. Kind of interesting… you‘d have to randomly encounter the right ponies and ask them about me to even hear these stories.” He laughed a bit and gave Rainbow Dash’s mane another light stroke before his ears perked, hearing her breathing slow and soon the pegasus was sleeping beside him with a calm smile on her face, “Sleep well Rainbow Dash.”

Chapter 20 - Dragon Trials

“So mister Dreams…?” It had been two and a half days since Rainbow Dash’s encounter with the griffon Gilda, the sun sitting high in the sky as the blue pegasus looked over to Scootaloo. The little filly had been reluctant to ever leave Rainbow Dash’s side while she recovered and only did when plans for the crusaders to ‘crusade’ made her leave. Most of Rainbow Dash’s wounds had closed up and the splints on her wing had been removed although she couldn’t move it much as it was still stiff while healing. Rainbow Dash was laying on top of a blanket that had been folded into a makeshift bed for her some two days ago and although she could walk a bit she still wanted to heal quickly so she didn’t do that often. Rainbow Dash slept soundly with Written Dreams laying next to her still, a bandage around her torso and very few still around her wing to hold the bone in place while it healed. She also had a few bandages around her legs and a larger bandage over her shoulder. Her mane and tail, along with her coat were back to their normal sheen after being cleaned a day ago,

“What‘s up Scootaloo? Not helping to plan activities with the other crusaders?” The little orange pegasus looked up at him with a light and genuine smile,

“I was only wondering, are you a doctor? When you brought Rainbow Dash here… you knew just what to do. That was really cool!” Written Dreams’ expression turned from one of mild curiosity to a neutral happiness, a soft smile appearing on the pegasi’s face as he shook his head, his mane swaying a little as he did so,

“I‘m not a doctor. When you travel and read as much as I do it‘s good to know basic survival tools. And me, I sometimes travel with a companion or two with me so I went ahead and learned some about the anatomy… the body structure of pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies. Also CPR is important to know as well.”

“CPR?” Scootaloo said as she tilted her head, looking up at him with deep curiosity in her eyes,

“That‘s what I was doing when Rainbow‘s heart had stopped. That pushing on the chest and blowing air into her mouth.” Scootaloo listened patiently over the next few minutes as Written Dreams talked with her about basic survival techniques and he soon laughed a bit as he shook his head, “But mainly the things I know are out of a ‘better safe then sorry’ kind of mindset. Did you have any more questions for me?” Scootaloo thought for a moment as he said this, bringing her hoof to her chin before she shook her head,

“Um… not right now but if I think of anything I‘ll be sure to let you know!” Written Dreams nodded to her, his smile still remaining on his face before he brought a hoof forward and patted her mane,

“When Rainbow wakes up I‘m gonna tell her about the time I met Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Sometime tonight I think.”

“Oh man that sounds cool! Make sure that we‘re back before you tell it though!”

“I couldn‘t let you all miss it if you‘re this excited about it already.” The dark blue pegasus said before letting out a laugh. Scootaloo soon left to rejoin the other crusaders on the other side of the clubhouse, the three writing occasionally along with drawing their various plans for different ways to earn their cutie marks. Written Dreams’ ears would twitch on occasion, hearing Sweetie Belle humming a gentle tune, his gaze turning to the three fillies and seeing Applebloom drawing what seemed to be blueprints on the floor. His gaze slowly turned to Scootaloo’s scooter, which was propped up against the wall to the left of the door. He smiled gently as he looked to the three before slowly shaking his head with a small laugh, “Someday.”

Twilight groaned as she sat up, shaking her head a few times before she opened her eyes, gazing around her at the dark cave the two ponies had stayed the night in as they continued on their path towards the dragon migration grounds. Twilight stood, walking to the mouth of the cave before she peered out into the afternoon sunlight, “Noon already…? I must have been more tired then I thought.” She then paused and looked around blinking, “Applejack? Where are you?!” Twilight heard a whistle and looked to her right, a small campfire burning and the farm pony sitting next to it with a frying pan’s handle in her hoof. Twilight tilted her head as she walked over to her, her expression of worry turning to a light smile, “What‘s on the menu AJ?” Applejack’s gaze was on the food within the pan and she looked up at Twilight Sparkle, dumping half of it onto a plate before handing it to her,

“Ah think you‘ll like it Twi. Ah snagged a bit oh cinnamon from the barn when we were back at Sweet Apple Acres an I thought it might be good on eggs. Lemme know whatcha think!” Twilight blinked as she looked down at her plate, scrambled eggs with a light dashing of cinnamon. Twilight paused as she raised an eyebrow, looking back up at Applejack who was looking at her with an expecting grin on her face. Twilight then shrugged as she took a bite, thinking for a moment as she tasted the flavor before she grinned happily towards her friend,

“Applejack this is an amazing combination! It‘s delicious!” Applejack let out a laugh, serving herself the rest on her own plate before she sat down and began eating,

“Hehe, just goes to show you that experimenting can lead to some pretty good stuff!” The mares both shared a mutual giggle as they ate their meals before Twilight placed her aura around the fire and put it out, turning back to Applejack with a light smile,

“We should get there in an hour or two if we run the whole way.”

“Yeehaw! Let‘s get on the road then Twi!” Applejack yelled as she reared up on her hind legs and took off down the road before Twilight giggled and ran after her, catching up to her before long and the two ran together, not talking much as they ran, their expressions that of deep determination.

The two soon looked upwards, several volcanoes appearing in front of them as they exited the forest they had been running through. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack looked to one another before they both grinned and continued, galloping down the winding path that led up to the center volcano.

The mares had slowed their steps to a trot as they ascended the path upwards and soon found themselves at the rim of the volcano, Twilight looking around slowly, seeing a few pools of lava among the solidified ground covering most of the inside, “Applejack do you notice anything… odd?” Applejack blinked as she looked back to Twilight, raising an eyebrow as she adjusted her hat,

“Ah see a few dragons down there but ah don‘ see how that‘d be odd to ya Twilight.” Twilight shook her head and continued looking down at the few dragons in the crater before them,

“That‘s not it AJ… it‘s that this place… and the dragons are… unchanged. There‘s no sign of Discord‘s magic around here anywhere!” Twilight’s eyes widened as a massive red dragon lifted his head, looking up at the two of them before he stood up, his dark pink spines curving a little as he bent his head and began walking towards them but instead of a look of hostility the dragon seemed to be wearing a look of curiosity on his face, “Applejack… he‘s coming towards us!” Applejack looked over to Twilight who had begun hyperventilating with her eyes wide. Applejack raised an eyebrow before raising her hoof and gave Twilight a bonk on her head making the unicorn blink and shake her head before looking at Applejack, “Thanks…”

“It has not been long since we last saw a pony among us but you two. I remember you.” Applejack and Twilight both looked back to the dragon that had been approaching them, seeing him on all fours to be eye level with them both. He then looked around warily behind them both before he spoke again, “That pink maned pony isn‘t with you again… is she?” Twilight and Applejack were both silent as they shook their heads, the very same dragon they had gotten to leave the mountain above Ponyville was now before them but he showed no hostility as he let out a deep sigh, “Well that‘s good… I didn‘t do anything wrong this time anyway…” The dragon seemed to pause for a moment and looked back to them, “There must be some reason ponies would come here. But I can only think of one.” Twilight slowly nodded having regained herself and took a step forward,

“We seek the Quill of Eternity, yes, but can I ask something first?” As the dragon nodded to her Twilight looked around again, “I know that when Discord gained control of the Elements of Harmony he let loose a pulse of chaotic magic that spread over Equestria so… why are the dragons and this place so… normal? By dragon standards I mean.” The red dragon before them slowly shook his head before looking back at some of the other dragons in the crater behind him,

“We were all curious as to what that was… but to answer your question: the hide of a dragon, from birth, is incredibly resistant to magic of all forms, other then, say, a levitation or something like that. Chaotic magic, as you‘ve put it, is clearly no exception to this, and thus we remain unchanged.” Applejack then spoke, also looking around slowly before she shook her head,

“This bein‘ the migration grounds an all, why‘s there only a handful of dragons here?”

“More dragons reside in the other craters around here but the fact that you came to the center first helps to prove that you are indeed searching for the Quill of Eternity. However, I cannot lead you to your next clue to follow until you have proven yourselves worthy. Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, since you are the ringleader of your little group, you will take on the three trials.” Twilight Sparkle blinked as she looked to the dragon and raised her hoof,

“Wait a second, how do you know about me and my friends? I mean, yeah we came up to the mountain that one time but we didn‘t tell you any of our names.” The dragon let out a hearty laugh before shaking his head and stood up on his hind legs, his tail laying off to his left as he looked down at the two,

“Ponies know very little about dragons but the dragons that desire to, know anything they‘d like to know about ponies. Naturally I became curious about why the alicorn princess would send six ponies to remove me from that mountain instead of doing it herself so I looked into it a bit. I know of the elements of harmony and your ties to them; an interesting read you six turned out to be. Now then…” With a beat of his wings the dragon was lifted from in front of them, a path leading into the crater appearing before them and he landed in the center, motioning to them with his claw.

The two mares approached him again, other dragons in the crater staring at them, some with looks of hostility and others with looks of curiosity, “Your first trial is that of memory. Second is that of strength and the final trial shall test your heart.” Twilight Sparkle slowly nodded, the red dragon grinning towards her before he lifted both his wing and claw, motioning to a dragon who was laying on the ridge of the volcano to approach them. The dragon flew over a few moments, the scales of the dragon being a lighter blue shade whilst the spines on its back were aqua in color. As it landed next to them it spoke in a feminine, yet very deep voice,

“The test of memory is simple and yet, could spell the end for your search if your answer is wrong. Answer me this one question: Name, in order, each previous clue that led you here.” Twilight was silent as she stared up at the dragon before the unicorn’s eyes closed and she looked down, her memories flowing back to her of all of her experiences so far, a gentle smile sliding onto her face before her eyes opened again and she looked up into the dragon’s beautiful yellow eyes,

“The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, Sunny Town, The ursa‘s cave, which collapsed by the way, The dragon mountain outside of Ponyville, The stampeding grounds of the buffalo that reside near Appaloosa, under the tree containing a clubhouse in the orchard within Sweet Apple Acres and finally, the dragon migration grounds.” Twilight Sparkle smiled proudly and held her head high as she stared into the eyes of the dragon before her before seeing her slowly nod and smile towards the unicorn,

“Well done. The test of strength awaits you.” The dragon beat her wings sending a powerful gust outwards as she lifted off and flew back to the rim, the two ponies looking back to the red dragon they had been speaking to earlier as they heard his voice again,

“Your memory serves you well Twilight Sparkle. The test of strength is next.” Suddenly there was a loud boom as the dragon in front of them brought his claws down, a massive boulder now sitting on the ground in front of Twilight and Applejack, “This boulder must be sent into…” He then pointed off to the side at one of the pools of lava, “That pool of lava.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she grinned, the boulder before them glowing with the same light pink aura before it raised into the air, Twilight sticking her tongue out as she focused, staring up at the boulder that was levitating in front of her and the lave pool roughly thirty feet from them.

Twilight then jumped as she grinned, the boulder launching from her aura and flew away from her, landing, moments later in the pool of lava. Twilight Sparkle gave a few happy jumps as she giggled, Applejack grinning and watching her before she tilted her hat and yelled with a laugh, “Yeehaw! Three points right there! Ah!” Twilight heard Applejack yell as the dragon picked her up in his claws and held her out over one of the pools of lava, staring down at Twilight who’s expression had turned to one of sheer horror,

“Wha…! Put her down!”

“Last test.” Twilight took a step back, looking over to Applejack who was looking at her with pleading eyes before Twilight looked back to the dragon and nodded, “How much is finding the quill worth to you? I drop your friend and I‘ll bring you the clue, how does that sound?” Twilight was silent as tears began welling up in her eyes, she quickly looked back to Applejack and then back at the dragon before shaking her head, her eyes narrowing as she glared up at him, her horn becoming engulfed in a billowing aura,

“I could never agree to anything as horrible as that. And if you dare hurt Applejack I swear that I will fight you with all I have!” He blinked as he looked down at the unicorn, bringing his clawed hand out from over the lava pit as he continued staring down at the unicorn in mild surprise,

“Your friends mean so much to you that you would take on a dragon? Even knowing that you wouldn‘t last more then a few seconds?” Twilight Sparkle’s glare only grew more intense as she nodded,

“Try me.” He lowered his hand, opening his claws and set Applejack back onto the ground, the farm pony running over to Twilight and embracing her tightly,

“Twilight I was so scared!” Twilight’s expression softened into one of gratefulness as she embraced Applejack and looked back up to the dragon a moment later as she heard him speak again,

“You would take on any challenge for those you care for. There is no doubt in my mind, the strength that resides in your heart.” He then lowered his hand into the lava pit next to him, withdrawing it a few moments later and set down an object before the two of them. It seemed to be a bag of sorts that looked to have been formed from the hide of a white dragon. It was clasped with what appeared to be black glass and Twilight’s horn glowed, the clasp releasing and the bag opened a moment later, a slab of stone lying down on the ground before the two of them and Twilight gazed down at it curiously before shaking her head and looked up at the dragon who was looking down at them still,

“I… don‘t know where this is.”

“You will find where you need to go in time Twilight Sparkle.” Applejack continued staring down at the tablet depicting many crystals jutting from the walls of many spiraling and twisting caverns,

“Twilight, ya think we should head back to yer library? One ah yer books is sure ta lead us in the right direction, and we can go see Rainbow Dash too!” Twilight paused as she looked at Applejack before she slowly nodded,

“But… we don’t know where Rainbow Dash is. Only that she‘s with Written Dreams right now.”

“Well then first we need ta find out where we‘re supposed ta go but ya’ll can send a letter ta that feller Written Dreams askin’ him where he might be hidin’ Rainbow at.” Twilight then nodded with a gentle smile on her face and looked back to the massive red dragon who was sitting, towering over them,

“That sounds like a plan AJ… thank you for everything… um…” The dragon then shook his head, grinning again,

“My name is of no importance. Go now Twilight Sparkle, Applejack. You have a location to find and a clue to retrieve.” The mares then said their goodbyes to the dragon and continued on their way up the path and out of the crater before they ran down the winding path and back into the forest, determined to get back to Ponyville as fast as they could.

“…and then Mitta tackled Grey Hoof so he couldn’t catch me. Without her I wouldn‘t be here right now so I‘m really grateful for her help. Escaping the forest wasn‘t too difficult although it still was a really frightening experience.” Applebloom had been smiling during the story and spoke up after Written Dreams had finished telling them about his meetings with Zecora after he got out of the thick trees and then meeting Ruby,

“You tell the best stories mister Dreams! Can you tell us the one about when you met the princesses next?!” Written Dreams thought for a few moments before gazing out the window, seeing the darkness having begun to creep up against the twilights of the sky at the edge of the orchard in the distance,

“I‘m sorry girls but Rainbow really needs her rest. I‘ll tell you tomorrow, I promise.” The girls gave a group groan and ‘aww!’ and Scootaloo looked up at him with a grin,

“Pinkie Pie promise?” Written Dreams blinked as he looked at the girls before he let out a laugh,

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Goodnight girls.” He said while crossing his heart with his hoof before he flapped his arms and pressed one hoof to his closed eye respectively. The girls took a few minutes to head into the other room, Written Dreams turning his head to look at the sleeping form of Rainbow Dash peacefully breathing under the warm blanket over her light blue coat, “Maybe I should send Twilight and Applejack another scroll--” Written Dreams paused as he felt a light tug in his mane and turned his head, seeing Scootaloo standing in front of him, “Scoot? Is something the matter?” Scootaloo was silent as she stood, her face turned away from him but from what he could tell she had a very light blush on her face. Written Dreams gave the filly a curious look, the two in silence before Scootaloo finally spoke,

“Mister Dreams… can I ask you something?” Written Dreams slowly nodded as he looked down at the filly,

“Of course you can Scootaloo, what is it?” Scootaloo slowly looked up at him, her gentle azure eyes locking with his before she showed a cautious smile,

“Well it‘s just that… you‘re so awesome… and you saved Rainbow Dash‘s life and… I was wondering… if… maybe I could call you… my big brother.” Written Dreams was silent, Scootaloo having turned away from him as she finished her sentence, “It‘s okay if you don‘t want--” Scootaloo blinked her eyes as she felt a hoof wrap around her torso and she was brought into a close embrace, her eyes slowly closing before she nuzzled up against the warm fur behind her head,

“I‘d be honored to have such a cool little sister like you Scootaloo. How could I refuse with that adorable look you were giving me?” The two remained silent for nearly a minute before Scootaloo turned her head to look up at him, and he looked down at her as she smiled softly,

“I love you big brother.” Written Dreams felt himself blush slightly out of pride and gave the little filly in his arms a tender nuzzle,

“I love you too little sis.”

Chapter 21 - Princess

Twilight raised her head as she awoke in the middle of a forest. She and Applejack had gone a bit off the path to sleep for the night and as the unicorn awoke she slowly looked around before letting out a long yawn, her horn glowing brightly for a few moments and her mane was fixed of its bed-head. Twilight stood up and stretched, her horn glowing once again and her sleeping bag rolled up, two cords of string wrapping tightly around it before she slowly nodded and looked over to Applejack, seeing the farm pony sleeping soundly a few feet from her. She then looked up to the sky and smiled, seeing the sun only barely peeking over the trees above them indicating it was around nine or ten in the morning.

There was a flash of silver light and Twilight blinked as a scroll appeared near where she had slept, falling to the ground and it rolled a few inches before coming to a rest at her hooves. Twilight felt herself smile gently as her horn glowed, the parchment rising up and unfurling in her magical aura, “Let‘s see now…” Her eyes slowly slid from left to right as she read off of the scroll, “Dear Twilight, I know you must be a bit busy so I‘ll just give you a quick update. Rainbow Dash is healing up quite well and I feel like her own desire to get back to you is helping her heal even faster. Has Discord appeared to you again? Have you reached the migration grounds yet? No doubt he now knows about Gilda‘s passing but he may believe Rainbow Dash to be alive so if he does appear, make sure to put his worries to rest. The clue you will receive at the migration grounds baffled me for a few days but do not worry, if you look in the right places the location will not take you long to find. Oh yes, I don‘t believe I told you where I am in my last letter to you. Rainbow and I are with the Cutie Mark Crusaders in their clubhouse at the farm. Back to the quill though, I myself am only two clues ahead of the migration grounds and given that we will no doubt be on the same clue in the next week or so, so once you have made it back to Ponyville and have found the location you’ll need to find come by the clubhouse. Written Dreams.” The scroll rolled back up and Twilight slid it into her pack before Twilight let out a slow sigh, looking down at the ground with a look of deep contemplation on her face before her ears perked and she looked over to Applejack who had begun to stir and the farm pony raised her head, taking off her hat and smoothed down her own mane before smiling over to the unicorn,

“Sounds like Written Dreams has Rainbow all fixed up. That‘s a load off the shoulders.” Applejack stood up and tilted her head a little as she continued staring at Twilight, “Twi… if Discord sent Gilda ta get rid of us… won‘t he try to do that himself if he does show up again?” Twilight paused as she looked into the worried face of Applejack before she looked down, thinking over her words as she brought a hoof to her chin,

“I don‘t know AJ… but if he does show up again it‘s going to be important that we figure out his motives before making any hasty decisions.” Applejack was silent as she nodded towards the mare before she got a look on her face like she had a thought and continued having her head tilted a little,

“Hey Twi… if that feller Discord thinks Rainbow is dead then he might give ya the choice ta bring back somepony else… who might ya choose if he does?” Twilight paused for a moment, the thought having not occurred to her as she blinked before she looked down, seemingly lost in thought for a few moments before she looked up again,

“I wish I could just talk to Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy and explain what‘s been going on…” Twilight paused with a blink and her eyes then widened for a moment, “Wait a second… I just realized that Trixie wasn‘t among the five of you when I originally chose.” Applejack then gave her an odd look as she raised an eyebrow,

“Ya were talkin‘ a bit ‘bout Trixie before. Ya said she went head on against Discord and he used the elements on her… right?” Twilight slowly nodded, seeming to be in deep thought,

“Yeah… but was she just turned to stone or…” Twilight seemed to simply go deeper into thought as she fell silent, multiple outcomes to Trixie’s confrontation of Discord flowing through her mind before Applejack trotted a few steps over to her and laid a hoof on her shoulder,

“Twi, ah‘m sure Trixie‘s just fine. After all, the Elements of Harmony can‘t kill. They banish darkness an turn stuff ta stone.” Twilight nodded to her as a reassured look appeared on the unicorn’s face, smiling gratefully to the farm pony before she nodded,

“You‘re right Applejack. I‘ve been thinking of a few other ponies that I didn‘t see when Trixie and I were in Canterlot but I‘m sure I‘ll find out what happened to them eventually.”

Once the two mares had eaten and had packed up their saddlebags they got back onto the road once again and continued on their way back towards Ponyville.

“Mister Dreams can you please tell us about your tie with Princess Luna and Celestia now!?” Applebloom cried out with a begging expression. A few hours had passed since Twilight and Applejack had awoken, the sun now high in the sky and the time being a little past noon. Written Dreams let out a light laugh and looked over to see Rainbow Dash also smiling expectantly towards him,

“Alright girls no need to start yelling. I made a Pinkie promise after all. Anyway, it was a bright and sunny day…”

Written Dreams let out a light sigh as he trotted up to the main gates of Canterlot Castle, looking up at all of the high towers as he trotted through the courtyard, “It‘s even more beautiful than I could have imagined.” The Pegasus continued walking before he heard a loud clang, blinking as he looked in front of himself and away from the sky he saw two crossed spears barring his entrance to the castle. There was a guard at either side of the entrance, both pegasi wearing golden armor on their torsos and hooves along with helmets on their heads resembling those worn by roman centurions. Written Dreams looked to the one to his left as he heard his voice, rather low and a bit loud although that was to be expected by a royal guard,

“HALT! State your business at Canterlot Castle!” Written Dreams only smiled lightly in response as he stood before the guards, nodding before he spoke himself,

“The princesses are expecting me. My name is Written Dreams.” The guards both said ‘Proceed’ at the same time before they returned their spears to their sides leaving the entrance open to him.

Written Dreams laid his hoof against one of the large doors and gave it a light push, the door opening rather easily before he trotted inside and down the large hallway inside of the entrance. He looked down a few hallways that were off to the side before he lightly hummed and continued walking forward down the hall till he reached the end, pushing open another door between two more guards and entered the throne room, seeing the elegant Princess Celestia sitting in her throne opposite him roughly fifty yards away.

The princess seemed preoccupied, reading a scroll that was floating whilst engulfed in her own aura that also coated her long and slender horn as well. As Written Dreams approached her he stopped as he was around twenty feet from her and bowed his head, the princess looking up from the scroll and smiled warmly towards him, “Ah Written Dreams at last you‘ve arrived. I trust that your flight to Canterlot was nothing but smooth sailing?” Written Dreams left his bowing stance and stood before the princess, nodding his head lightly before smiling towards her,

“Yes it was quite pleasant. I get a bit frustrated when I have to fly through rain…” Written Dreams gave a bit of a laugh, “Clear skies were very welcomed. I have you to thank for that I‘m sure princess.” Princess Celestia nodded with a soft smile on her face before she noticed Written Dreams seemingly looking around for someone,

“Mister Dreams, are you looking for someone?” Written Dreams looked back to the princess with a nod,

“Well, I‘m curious as to the whereabouts of Princess Luna. Is she here as well?”

“Princess Luna should be returning to the castle very soon. But onto business. As I already told you, the tower suite has been prepared for you to stay in at your leisure whilst you‘re here. And the book you inquired about, unfortunately, isn‘t in the Canterlot archives but I believe there is a copy in the library in Ponyville.” Written Dreams gave her a bit of a quizzical expression and he tilted his head a little,

“That seems a bit odd… given that there are so few copies of that book in the world, why wasn‘t it added to the archives in the Canterlot library?” Celestia simply shrugged for a moment before she shook her head, looking down at the colt before her,

“The Canterlot library is home to hundreds of books but not all of them. I believe it to be a simple case of it being ‘just one of those books that wasn’t added’ so to speak.” Written Dreams nodded, seemingly contented with the answer before he looked around the throne room a bit more,

“Princess do you mind if I look around the castle?” Princess Celestia let out an elegant laugh as she nodded to the pony before her and continued to smile, her beautiful eyes full of deep wisdom as she looked at him,

“Written Dreams, this castle is your home for as long as you‘re here so please feel free to look around as much as you desire.” Written Dreams then approached the princess, lifting her hoof into his own and placed a kiss against the soft white fur of her hoof before letting her hoof go and nodded to her again,

“Princess Celestia, thank you very much for letting me stay in this castle. I feel truly honored to be treated with such respect while being so much lower than yourself as far as status is concerned.”

“Mister Dreams, whilst I may be the monarch of Equestria, personally, I enjoy it more when ponies that are in my presence treat me as one of their own. Given that I‘m royalty I expect that ponies will bow before me and show their respect but I prefer more natural treatment when I‘m not on my throne. So, if you will, just be yourself around me.” Written Dreams was silent as he simply stared at the princess before him, seeming relatively shocked at what she had said to him and he brought his hoof to his chin before smiling softly towards her,

“Okay, I understand, Celestia. I‘ll see you later then.” Celestia let out another light laugh as she nodded to Written Dreams,

“Now that‘s being natural. Farewell Written Dreams. I trust you‘ll enjoy your stay at the castle.” Written Dreams left the throne room, entering one of the doors off to the right of the throne room and found himself in another hallway, looking around slowly before he began trotting down the hallway, humming a bit to himself as he took in the sights around him.

Written Dreams trotted throughout the castle for nearly an hour, finding himself upon a causeway high above the castle grounds below him and gazed out at the rest of the castle around him before looking to the door at the end of the castle, “Oh…?” He walked over to it and slowly pushed the door open, a large room coming into view before him and as he walked inside he closed the door, gazing up at the various stained glass windows at the end of the room. As he walked to the edge of the room he walked down a hallway, various other stained glass windows that told the story of Discord and Written Dreams stopped in front of one depicting six ponies fighting a dark mare who he could only guess was Nightmare Moon.

His ear then perked as he sensed a presence off to his side, gazing off to his left at the end of a hallway, a lone, dark blue, alicorn was sitting on the ground, looking up at a pair of large doors at the end of the hall. Written Dreams walked over to her, sitting down next to her and Luna gazed over to him, tilting her head slightly as she caught his gaze as well, “Thou must be Written Dreams. Beith thou enjoying thy time in Canterlot?” Written Dreams’ head tilted slightly as he gave her a soft smile,

“I‘m enjoying myself here, yes. You speak like ponies of olden times--” Princess Luna blinked as she sat before him, staring at him for a few moments before she spoke again,

“Thou must forgive my speech. Being imprisoned in the moon for one thousand years we haven‘t had much to go on as far as speech is concerned…” Written Dreams shook his two front hooves as he also shook his head, scratching his mane with his hoof as he nervously chuckled seeing the princess’ slightly irritated expression,

“Oh Princess I think you might misunderstand me. I didn‘t mean to offend you I rather like the way you speak. I find it both pleasant and unique.” Princess Luna’s expression softened quickly and she then smiled slowly towards the pegasus, seeming to focus rather hard for a few moments before she spoke again,

“Well… I have been… working on speaking as my sister does. She asked that I try to learn so that I may fit in around our subjects… I have yet to visit them again after…” She seemed to look down with a bit of a sad expression as she let out a sigh, “After Nightmare Moon was banished from my heart and I regained myself… I have seen some ponies around Canterlot look at me similarly as they did so long ago… such fear in their eyes…” Princess Luna continued staring down at the floor and let out another sad sigh, “Do you not fear me as well?” Written Dreams was silent while Princess Luna spoke, simply sitting next to her but as she asked him that question he only continued gazing at her as he spoke again,

“I don‘t fear you Princess Luna… I understand how you felt.” Luna looked up at him with a bit of a quizzical gaze as he continued speaking, “Being the bringer of the night, and then, seeing so many ponies sleeping through it, was too much for you to bear. But princess… although most ponies sleep at night, they can only do so because of the beautiful peace that it brings them all. That kind of quiet beauty of darkness that allows them to do so. And personally… I prefer the night to the day in a lot of ways. When I write or read I much prefer doing it at night by candle-light. The feeling of having the stars and beautiful moon above me is so relaxing it‘s as if the night is full of magic and enchantment.” Princess Luna was silent, her eyes wide with a rather shocked expression as she simply stared at the pegasus before her for a good thirty seconds before she finally spoke again,

“I… never thought of it that way before… did… you really mean everything you just said?” When Written Dreams gave a nod and a gentle smile his eyes suddenly widened as Luna pulled him into a tight embrace, the pegasus, pausing before he embraced her as well and closed his eyes smiling gently,

“You‘re night is appreciated by so many, Princess, and… your own beauty is reflected in that enchanting time as well.”

“Please… call me Luna… and… if it‘s okay with you… may I call you my friend?” He heard Luna say as her grip on him only tightened further,

“I‘d be honored to be called your friend, Luna.” Luna and Written Dreams remained in their embrace for almost another minute before Luna slowly released him with a light blush on her cheeks as she let out a nervous giggle,

“Erm… I apologize for grabbing you like that… it‘s just that… having felt so unappreciated for so long and then meeting someone who truly loves my night… I couldn‘t restrain myself. I apologize again…” Written Dreams looked at the beautiful face of the mare of the night, seeing her looking off to the side a bit ashamed of herself but she looked at him with a shocked expression as she heard him let out a laugh,

“Luna you don‘t have to apologize. You can hug me anytime you like. That‘s what friends do, right?” Luna’s face lit up with a happy smile as Written Dreams winked at her and she watched as he looked to the large doors in front of them, “So… what‘s behind those doors?” Luna looked back to the doors, still wearing her smile although it had faded back to a neutral smile as she looked up at the tall doors before them,

“This is where the Elements of Harmony are housed. I come back here every once in a while to reflect on the events that transpired once my imprisonment ended and I was freed from the moon--”

“And on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she‘ll bring about nighttime eternal… I remember that day. I actually enjoyed having a bit of extra nighttime to wake up to although it did seem a bit odd it felt nice while it lasted.” Luna leaned over, giving him a light nuzzle as she let out a light giggle,

“Thank you… although I still feel bad about how I acted back then.” Written Dreams then shrugged as he looked back at her and shook his head,

“I don‘t blame you for how you acted Luna. Everypony wants to feel appreciated and when you do so much for Equestria and feel like you gain nothing in return, not even an appreciation for what you put forth, it could drive anypony to envy and anger. I think you were perfectly justified in what happened but… I still understand why Celestia did what she did and sent you away.” Luna tilted her head slightly as Written Dreams finished his sentence,

“What do you mean?”

“I think about it like this. A thousand years ago, when you first turned into Nightmare Moon and attempted to create an eternal night… if you had succeeded then plants would eventually die. Ponies would starve and nothing could grow. Sunlight is needed for life and growth whilst night is needed for rest and peace of mind. Night and day are a truly necessary balance in this world” Luna and Written Dreams continued talking for another few hours, the two eventually leaving the hall of the Elements of Harmony and the two walked throughout the castle, talking and occasionally laughing together and eventually Princess Luna’s horn began to gently billow with her dark blue aura as they walked, the moon slowly rising into the sky as Luna escorted the pegasus to his suite at the top of one of the towers of the castle the two smiling to one another as Written Dreams opened the door to his room, “Goodnight Luna. Sleep well and I look forward to spending more time with you come morning.” Princess Luna gave a soft giggle as a very light blush painted her cheeks and she nodded happily to him,

“And I hope that you sleep well as well my friend. I hope that you dream of pleasant things tonight.” The two then embraced each other, Luna giving the colt a soft nuzzle before he retired to his room for the night, the princess’ wings spreading before she flew from the tower up towards a much higher tower nearer to the center of the castle, a small telescope sitting at the edge of the balcony she landed upon before she walked into the room connected to it and disappeared, Written Dreams looking away from the window as she left his sight and he smiled gently, trotting over to the large bed and made himself comfortable for the night.

Chapter 22 - Chaos

A day had passed since the dark blue Pegasus had told of some of his time in Canterlot, the crusaders and even Rainbow Dash occasionally pestering him to continue the story he had started the night before.

The sun was setting in the horizon, Rainbow Dash slowly stretching her wings while looking back at them, a slightly pained look on her face as she grumbled under her breath and looked across to Written Dreams who was sitting off to the side, a book in his hooves that he had been reading for the last hour, “How long till my wings are better…?” Written Dreams looked up, chuckling towards her before he shook his head,

“Well it‘s going to be a while. Just be thankful that your other wing escaped any damage. It‘s incredible that your body resisted a lot of the impact you went through… I suppose you should be thankful that tree broke your fall.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with another groan before letting herself fall forward, her chin landing on a pillow under her with a light ‘poomf’ sound before she groaned once again,

“Yeah lucky… that tree‘s the reason I broke so many bones anyway!”

“Rainbow… if that tree wasn‘t there you would have hit the ground. JUST the ground.” Written Dreams said as he turned a few pages in the book he was reading, “You probably would have broken a lot more. Anyway, you‘re healing up nicely so just be patient.” Rainbow Dash sighed softly before turning her head so she could look at him from her lying position,

“I have been… I just don‘t remember the last time I‘ve had to sit still for so long!” Rainbow Dash then blinked as she eyes the book in the pegasi’s hooves, “You know those are meant for kids… right?” Written Dreams looked up and gave a chuckle before shaking his head with a light smile,

“I like these ‘choose your own adventure’ books… I find them fun to read and a nice way to pass the time.” Rainbow Dash sighed as she shrugged, turning her head back to upright before closing her eyes again,

“Well… how about reading it to me then…?” The silver-maned Pegasus looked over to her, seeing one of the pegasi’s eyes on him before he got up and walked over laying next to her with the book open,

“Well I just got into this deep dungeon. We can either head deeper inside or check the cavern off to the side…”

“Come on girls!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both nodded before quickly following Applebloom into the castle before them, the three heading towards the throne room and pushed open the doors before peering around, “Hey! Mister Discord isn‘t here!”

“Girls you shouldn‘t just barge into the throne room like that…” The crusaders turned back to the door they had opened seeing Fluttershy standing behind them, still the stony grey color she had been the last time they saw her. Scootaloo turned towards the pegasus and grinned whilst tilting her head,

“Fluttershy do you know where Discord is? We thought he‘d be here.” Fluttershy seemed to pause for a moment before she spoke again, steadily looking around before shaking her head,

“Master Discord isn‘t here right now, but he should be back in a little while. If you‘re here to see Rarity or Pinkie Pie I don‘t believe he‘ll mind…” Sweetie Belle spoke next, her expression turning quizzical after Fluttershy finished speaking,

“Where‘d he go?” Fluttershy’s attention turned to the small white unicorn and she looked around again a bit warily before she sighed,

“He said something about Rainbow Dash and Gilda the griffon but I don‘t know what he meant. We haven‘t seen Gilda in a really long time.” Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to speak, along with the other crusaders before they all stopped themselves and looked down a bit, pondering before they looked up again and nodded, Applebloom speaking,

“Alright Fluttershy, we‘ll go see Rarity and Pinkie now then.” Fluttershy slowly nodded to them before she left and closed the door behind her, letting the crusaders go about their business and they all looked at each other quickly, “Gals… whatcha think’s gonna happen?” The other two crusaders simply shook their heads and continued down the hallway towards where they had last talked to Rarity on their previous visit.

“Applejack do you have any idea what the clue means…? It‘s such a bizarre place!” Twilight said as her horn glowed, an illuminated image before the two of them depicting the crystal caverns that were on the tablet they had seen back at the migration grounds.

“Ah dunno Twi. Seems tah me that we best be gettin‘ on back ta Ponyville on the double so we can check yer library. ‘Sides that feller Written Dreams said he found it by doin‘ a bit a searchin’ on his own.” Twilight looked down as the two mares continued trotting down the path before them, the purple unicorn giving a light sigh as the image disappeared,

“I suppose--” They both stopped cold as the darkly familiar laughter of Discord echoed throughout the densely forested area they were trotting through. The leafs on the ground began to swirl together before there was a powerful flash of light and Discord appeared before them both, folding his arms as he looked at the two of them. The three sat in silence for a few moments before Discord blinked and looked around,

“Unexpected… where‘s that rainbow one? I was certain she‘d still be with you after my spy was silenced.” Twilight took a step forward, her eyes wide with anger as her horn billowed and sparked,

“You know what happened to her Discord! It‘s your fault! All of this is your fault!” Discord seemed unusually calm as he raised an eyebrow staring down at the little angry unicorn before him,

“You‘re saying that little Rainbow Dash is no longer with us? My, my!” Discord let out a laugh before grinning down at the two of them, “Then your bond with the Elements of Harmony is severed! Really Twilight Sparkle, I had expected this meeting to go much differently but in light of this… I‘m feeling generous.” Twilight narrowed her eyes, growling towards the spirit of chaos darkly as her horn sparked brighter,

“What do you mean Discord?!”

“Listen Twilight. Normally I don‘t deal in death and such. That‘s not how I do things. Miss Gilda on the other hand simply wouldn‘t let the idea rest once I had my magic corrupt her as it did your friends. I figured it would shake things up a bit and I must say… it‘s put an interesting spin on things.” Twilight and Applejack were both silent, giving Discord angry stares as the spirit joined his paw and claw behind his back as he paced back and forth in front of them, “Gilda and Rainbow Dash are both dead and nothing will be changing that. Your other friends have been less then fully cooperative--”

“You turned them to stone though!” Discord blinked as he looked back to Twilight and let out another laugh,

“Who chooses to be alone in a giant castle? I needed servants and your friends have their… talents.” Twilight’s glare grew colder as Discord said this, “Twilight, Applejack… in light of the unfolding of these events I feel, once again, fully secure in my throne. Even now I can sense the chaos eating away at your mind Ms. Sparkle and it‘s absolutely delicious to watch.” Twilight was silent as the spirit of disharmony grinned down at her, pausing. A few second later she spoke again, still glaring angrily towards him,

“Discord… where is Trixie?” Discord raised an eyebrow before he laughed once again,

“Do you mean that feisty, blue, unicorn that was with you in Canterlot?” When Twilight nodded Discord’s grin faded slightly, “I have no idea. That little confrontation went differently then I had planned it to go…”

Trixie looked back to Discord, seeing the Elements of Harmony shimmering brightly as he smirked looking down at her. Trixie stood her ground, glaring up at Discord,

“You don‘t honestly think a few pieces of flashy jewelry are going to be enough to defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie do you?!” She stamped her hoof, her horn glowing brightly as the blue unicorn charged with a yell, her starry purple cloak billowing behind her.

Discord let out a dark chuckle as his arms flew out to his sides, a surge of rainbow-colored energy blasting out towards Trixie but there was a bright flash and she appeared at Discord’s side, firing a blast of magical energy from her horn and shot Discord in the side. He gave out an annoyed grunt and swiped at her with his claws before he growled towards her and held out his paw and claw, Trixie’s horn losing its billowing aura and the mare’s eyes widened,

“How dare you remove Trixie‘s magic!” Discord rolled his eyes, clearly fed up with the display the unicorn was giving and the Elements of Harmony began glowing once again as his arms folded,

“Just sit there and I‘ll make it quick.” Trixie growled and got down low, focusing as hard as she could, her horn sparking slightly before her eyes tightened shut and she let out a scream, her head turning upwards as her horn shined brightly, a shield of magical energy surrounding her before Discord unleashed the power of the elements on her, the rainbow energy spiraling around her and Trixie growled keeping her eyes squeezed shut before she let out another yell, the swirling rainbow covering her before there was a bright flash and she disappeared leaving Discord with a baffled expression watching the spot she had just been standing in.

“…so you see girls… she disappeared when I used the elements on her but honestly, I think she just teleported and is just sitting around somewhere as a statue.” Twilight had paused during the story but as Discord finished she growled at him once again,

“Fine then, where is my brother Shining Armor?” Discord paused as he looked down at the unicorn, raising an eyebrow as he thought to himself, tapping his claws on his chin as he thought,

“Honestly the name doesn‘t sound familiar. Probably just one of the nameless soldiers I blasted with the elements when I took the castle.” Discord then gave a light cackle as he stopped pacing and stood facing them, “I‘ll be off now. Eager to watch some more chaos unfold from my throne. Farewell Twilight Sparkle, I trust it will be a while since we next meet--” Twilight tilted her head slightly as she glared up at Discord,

“Wait Discord! Give me another one of my friends back! You took Rainbow Dash from me by letting Gilda loose on us!” Discord paused as he looked at the two mares standing before him before he shook his head,

“Twilight Sparkle, our deal was two of your friends for Princess Luna. You‘re acting like you had insurance policies put out on your friends or something. No, because it‘s more fun seeing you trying so desperately to keep hold of your mind in all of this chaos.” Discord then disappeared in a bright flash of energy, Twilight stamping her hoof with an angry growl before she yelled up at the sky for a good ten seconds, Applejack silently watching her before taking a step over to her and rested a hoof on her shoulder,

“Twi… I know how ya feel…” Twilight looked down, her eyes squeezed shut as she growled in deep anger and frustration,

“I CAN‘T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!” Twilight let out another loud yell as her horn billowed brightly and she fired a beam into one of the trees, the tree falling over a moment later with a massive hole through it. Twilight gave heaving breaths as her wide eyes darted around and Applejack grabbed her, pulling her into a tight embrace and held her tightly,

“Twilight… don‘t let him get to ya… we‘re almost there, I feel it. We have to stay focused and keep going. Just think!” Applejack released her a bit, seeing Twilight staring at her, “When we beat Discord… you get to throw everything he said right back in his face! He thinks ya‘ll‘re weak an‘ can‘t do anythin‘ and ah‘ve got faith that we can pull through and wipe that smile right off his face!” Twilight’s breaths became a bit shorter as she steadily calmed down and Applejack released her, smiling softly as Twilight let out a deep breath,

“You‘re right AJ… but he was right as well, this world… I feel like my mind is going to fall apart!” Applejack tilted her hat slightly as she smiled towards the unicorn and leaned over giving her a light nuzzle,

“Twilight. There ain‘t a doubt in mah mind that we‘re gonna be able ta do this thing. Ya‘ll‘re not alone. Ya‘ve got honest AJ with ya ta the end.” Twilight sniffed back a tear before she embraced Applejack tightly and smiled, her eyes closed,

“Thanks AJ… you really are an amazing friend.” The two mares then continued down the road, Applejack looking over to her and she smiled softly towards her,

“Twilight ya‘ll mentioned a brother. Ah never knew ya had a brother!”

“I… haven‘t…?” Twilight said as her gaze turned back to Applejack, her expression fairly quizzical and she brought a hoof to her chin, “Hmm… I guess I haven‘t. He was the first pony I ever really accepted as a friend back when I lived in Canterlot. He was the only one I felt I could really talk to and… I feel kind of bad having not spoken to him since coming to Ponyville-- WAIT!” Twilight stopped, her eyes wide as she was looking forward and she quickly turned her head back to the farm pony, “Discord said that he was probably one of the nameless ‘soldiers’ that he blasted with the Elements of Harmony!” Applejack tilted her head slightly in response, shaking her head a moment later,

“Why‘s that weird Twilight?” Twilight shook her head again, her eyes still wide as she stared at Applejack,

“My brother is captain of the royal guard! The only way Discord would have been specific to soldiers instead of just saying nameless ‘pony’ would be that he must have met him and learned who he was! Something doesn‘t add up…” Twilight looked down, bringing a hoof to her chin before slowly shaking her head as she continued thinking silently,

“Twilight, that does seem a might fishy…”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders all hummed together as they walked down the hallway of Canterlot Castle to see Rarity, Sweetie Belle walking a few steps ahead of the other two and laid her hoof on the door the three stopped at, pushing it open and looked into the room with a cautious gaze, the small white unicorn remembering the last time she’d talked with her sister, “Rarity…?” A white unicorn with an indigo mane and tail gazed up from her sewing machine towards the crusaders, pausing before she let out a sigh and left her station, walking over to them and looked down at Sweetie Belle,

“Sweetie Belle…” She then dropped down low and embraced the filly tightly in her arms, Sweetie Belle blinking before closing her eyes and smiling as Rarity held her tightly, “I‘m sorry about everything I said the last time I was here… You‘re right. I shouldn‘t just mope around and be jealous and hopeless; I should have faith that Twilight is going to do all she can to stop that wretched beast and restore Equestria.” Rarity then released her, looking down at the three girls with a soft smile, “I was hoping that you three had seen Twilight recently and could possibly give me an update on whatever it is she, Rainbow and Applejack are doing.” Scootaloo gave a sigh as Rarity finished speaking, the small filly looking down but then up at the beautiful mare with a bit of a sad look,

“The three of them were trying to track down some kind of magical quill called the Quill of Eternity but… they ran into trouble.” Rarity gave them a cautious gaze as her eyes drifted from one filly to the other before her gaze turned to Applebloom as the filly spoke,

“Ya see… they were headin‘ up north ta get the next clue ta follow but then Gilda showed up.” Scootaloo chimed in next, looking away from Rarity and down letting out another sigh,

“She was effected by Discord‘s magic… and she had come there to kill the three of them. Rainbow hasn‘t told us the story of the fight yet but… Gilda died and Rainbow Dash almost did too…” Rarity was silent as she stared at the fillies before her before she looked down a bit and nodded closing her eyes,

“I felt it… a kind of wrongness in the air like something awful was happening… but Rainbow is alive though?” Sweetie Belle nodded with a light smile,

“Yeah. Mister Dreams flew off to where they had fought and found Rainbow Dash. He brought her back to the clubhouse and he fixed her up.” Scootaloo spoke next, a happy smile on her face as she also nodded,

“Yeah, and he even brought her back to life when her heart stopped! He‘s the coolest colt I‘ve ever met!” Rarity had a genuine smile on her face as she gazed at the three fillies before her and gave a soft giggle,

“That pegasus is certainly one of many talents… I‘ll have to make sure to give him my thanks for saving Rainbow Dash‘s life the next time the two of us meet And the next time you see him please say hi for me.” Applebloom tilted her head slightly and she and the other crusaders smiled brightly towards Rarity,

“Can you tell us the story of how you and mister Dreams met?” Rarity paused for a moment, bringing a hoof to her chin before giving a sad sigh and shook her head,

“I‘m sorry girls… doing the work Discord assigns us around the castle is the only way that we can remain unfrozen. I‘d rather Discord not find me telling a story as opposed to keeping to my work, I hope you all understand.” The crusaders all nod with understanding smiles and Rarity trots back over to her sewing machine smiling over to them all, “I‘m sure Pinkie Pie would enjoy you three cheering her up. She needs it far more then I do.” The crusaders then all nodded to her, Sweetie Belle giving her another hug before they left the room leaving Rarity to her work.

Chapter 23 - Princesses and Pie

“Big brother? Will you please tell us the rest of the story you told us yesterday?” Scootaloo said as she and the other two crusaders entered the clubhouse, the dark blue pegasus blinking as he looked up at them. The sun outside had set and the moon had begun to rise into the sky. Rainbow Dash was curled up next to him, sleeping soundly before her eyes blinked open and she looked towards them,

“Well WD?” Written Dreams looked down at her and chuckled as he closed the book sitting at his hooves in front of him,

“Well girls, I suppose I could. What happened when you three went to the castle?” Applebloom trotted over to him, laying down as she looked up at the pegasus before her,

“Mister Discord wasn‘t there… Fluttershy told us that he left to go see what had happened ta Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack.” Sweetie Belle spoke up next with a light smile,

“And Rarity told us to say hi for her and to thank you for saving Rainbow Dash‘s life.” Written Dreams let out a chuckle as he nodded to the girls, gazing around at each of them,

“I wish I could go up to the castle myself and see them again.” Scootaloo tilted her head in response as she walked over and laid down next to Applebloom,

“Why don‘t you?”

“Two reasons actually. The first is that I don‘t have a ticket to walk freely around the castle like you three and two; Discord doesn‘t know who I am and I‘d prefer to keep it that way until the final confrontation with the Quill of Eternity.” Written Dreams then let out a breath and smiled towards the fillies and mare around him, “So then, I suppose it‘s time I finished that story I was telling…”

Written Dreams’ eyes blinked open the next morning. He sat up with a yawn, looking around the room before he slipped out from under his blanket and let his hooves touch down on the floor. He walked over to the side of the room and looked into the mirror, his eyebrow raising as he saw his reflection, his mane in tangles and split ends. He paused for a moment before shaking his head rapidly and patted his mane a few times, every hair falling into place and he grinned, “There we are.” The pegasus trotted over to the large doors opposite the mirror he was just standing in front of. Reaching out with his hoof, he slid one open and stepped out, his eyes closing as he raised his head, the morning sun and a crisp morning breeze blowing through his mane as he took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before be began trotting down the steps and back into the castle.

Written Dreams merely hummed for a few minutes as he descended the stairs, beginning his journey to find the Quill of Eternity weighing heavy on his mind. His ear perked a few minutes later as he trotted down a corridor in the castle. Peering over to a door at his side he laid his hoof against it curiously and pushed it open, finding it rather easy as it was a swinging door and was rather large.

As he peered inside, a few ponies wearing aprons and chef’s hats trotted around the large and wide kitchen area but as Written Dreams gazed around, his eyes fell upon Princess Luna standing on her hind legs stirring a pot with a small fire under it, and a pony standing next to her looking less then amused. He then heard the cook’s voice that stood next to the princess, “Princess I really don‘t think… that seems to be too much… ehm… Princess…” As he said this, the princess was adding random things to the cauldron she was stirring including a wedge of cheese, and a ton of different spices,

“Your princess knows that she can make a delicious meal just the same as the chefs of our castle!” Written Dreams trotted over with a bit of a laugh, rather enjoying the situation as he watched the princess arguing with, he could only imagine to be, the head chef. The chef then rolled his eyes and let out a long groan, watching Luna put a dashing of pepper and salt into the pot before taking a few peppers and dropped them in as well,

“Princess… you don‘t have to cook. That‘s what we‘re here for!”

“Mind if I have a taste, Princess?” Written Dreams said as he trotted over to the cauldron, Luna’s gaze immediately turned to him followed shortly by a wide grin on the mare’s face. The Alicorn’s horn began glowing and a spoon lifted off of the table next to them. The cauldron was stirred a few more times before the spoon was dipped inside and it soon rose up again, bringing with it a dark grey and mushy substance with it. Written Dreams took the spoon from Luna’s aura as she brought it over to him, the end of the spoon entering his mouth before he slid out the empty spoon, his lips smacking a few times as he savored the flavor, “Well that‘s… different. Not bad though. It‘s missing that sweet element. Try adding some fruit!” Luna smiled happily before trotting over to a cabinet full of fruit and began browsing. The chef pony turned to face Written Dreams. His coat was a dusty white and his cutie mark was a chef’s hat. His mane and tail were a light orange with a few streaks of black,

“Must you really encourage her…?” Written Dreams chuckled as his gaze fell upon the pony standing before him, his hoof scratching the back of his head as he laughed,

“Oh I‘m sure she‘ll be done before too long. So much must have changed while she was trapped up there in the moon. I think she‘s just trying to do the things she missed doing or didn‘t get the chance to do before being sent away.” The chef let out a sigh as his gaze returned to the mare of the night who was happily giggling as she threw various fruits into the cauldron,

“I suppose… and she really isn‘t doing any harm. If she manages to make something that tastes delicious out of all of that mess then who knows, we might even be able to serve it!” Written Dreams laughed along with the chef and nodded to him,

“Well, I‘m off to see Celestia before I leave Canterlot to head down to Ponyville for the book I‘m after. I hope we meet again.” The chef nodded to him with a light grin in response and Written Dreams trotted out of the kitchen. As he was trotting from the kitchen he heard Luna’s voice, humming as he walked down a few hallways before entering the throne room. The majestic alicorn motioned for him to approach as he closed the door behind him,

“What brings you to me so early in the day mister Dreams?” Written Dreams continued walking up to her before he bowed with a bright smile on his face and soon raised his head getting back to his hoofs,

“I just came to say thank you for your hospitality and that I‘m going to be heading down to Ponyville today to start on my quest, Princess.” Celestia slowly nodded before bringing her hoof up to her chin as she examined his form,

“Let me think for a moment… there was something I wanted to tell you…” Celestia paused, her gaze turning up towards the ceiling before she suddenly smiled brightly, “Ah!” She looked back at him, “While you‘re in Ponyville I would like it if you could meet with the six wielders of the Elements of Harmony.” Written Dreams blinked as he turned his head slightly,

“Well I‘m sure I can do that. The elements are one of my favorite things to study about so meeting the wielders would certainly help fuel my research. Where are they in Ponyville?”

“Just trust your instincts. You know their names already I‘m sure. I have faith that you will meet them all if the fates allow.” Celestia said with a gentle and very wise smile, the dark blue pegasus nodding to her as he lifted his head and continued to smile,

“Thank you for everything Celestia.” Celestia simply shook her head in response, letting out a light laugh as she continued looking down at him,

“It was my pleasure to house you for the night Written Dreams. Swiftly now, off to Ponyville with you!” Written Dreams nodded with a happy smile before he trotted from the throne room and left the castle, heading out of Canterlot and down the mountainside towards Ponyville.

“Sounds like our little pegasus friend has a crush on Luna~!” Written Dreams blinked and shuffled a bit as he heard Rainbow Dash’s voice, looking at her with a light blush on his face as he shook his head,

“No! I mean… Yeah she‘s nice and fun to be around but the compatibility…” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, chuckling as she shifted over to him and poked his side,

“Hey bro, just messing with ya.” Written Dreams blinked before chuckling nervously,

“Very funny Dash…” Scootaloo spoke up next with a bright smile on her face,

“So! Back when we were at the castle we decided to go cheer up Pinkie Pie before we left and she told us about the time she met you! It was actually kind of interesting…” Written Dreams fell silent as he stared at the pegasus filly, running through the events in his head,

“Do you want me to tell it…?” Written Dreams said before Sweetie Belle spoke up, shaking her head with a grin,

“Nah, we‘ll tell the next story. You‘ve been telling all of them anyway!” Applebloom smiled softly as she looked across at the dark blue pegasus,

“Pinkie was really happy to tell us that story… it‘s the first time we‘ve seen her smiling in a while.” Scootaloo then cleared her throat, the Cutie Mark Crusaders laying in a line opposite Written Dreams with Rainbow Dash laying to their right, the five of them in a semi-circle,

“Anyways… let me try to remember everything Pinkie said… Oh! It was a bright and sunny day…”

Pinkie Pie hummed happily as she trotted around Sugarcube Corner with a broom in her mouth, the occasional dust cloud rising up a foot or two from each sweep. She was her usual perky self, her bright pink mane fluffy and bouncy as well as her tail and there was a bright smile on the party pony’s face, “I‘m all done Mrs. Cake!” There was a voice from the kitchen sounding rather upbeat and happy whilst rather motherish in tone as well,

“Alright Pinkie Pie we‘ll see you for work tomorrow then!” Pinkie then hummed happily as she trotted, or rather bounced out the door letting out a happy ‘La~!’.

A moment after she had closed the door behind her with her poofy tail there was a loud thud as Pinkie ran into another pony. The pink pony’s head wobbled a bit before she shook her head looking down at the pegasus on the ground, “Oh my gosh I‘m so, so, so, so, so sorry!” She then heard the wisdom-filled voice of her friend, Twilight from a few steps away from the downed pegasus,

“Really Pinkie you have to watch where you‘re going!” The dark blue pegasus took the hoof outstretched to him by Pinkie and hopped up to his feet, giving himself a quick brush off before he smiled,

“Really part of the blame is mine as well. Did I hurt you at all Ms…?” Pinkie paused for a moment before her hoofs bounced on the ground excitedly,

“OH MY GOSH!! I‘venevermetyoubeforeandifIhaven‘tmetyoubeforethatmeansthatyoumustbenewtotown! My name‘s Pinkie what‘s yours!?” Written Dreams paused for a moment, letting his brain attempt to process the blur of words coming from the pony’s mouth but he soon blinked as he chuckled a bit,

“A pleasure Pinkie Pie. You‘re the fourth out of your friends that I‘ve had the fortune to meet. You‘re the element of laughter if I remember right.”

“Yeppy Deppy Peppy! Some of my friends call me the party pony too because I love to throw parties! In fact I throw one for every new pony in Ponyville!” Pinkie said as she continued to bounce excitedly. Written Dreams continued to watch her, his head moving up and down in time with her jumps before he paused and rubbed his neck before rolling his head a bit,

“I‘m actually pretty busy Pinkie Pie so tell ya what. Let me get done with everything I‘ve gotta do and then we‘ll have that party, sound good?” Pinkie nodded with a happy grin in response and stopped hopping,

“Yepparoony that sounds just fine! So what are you two up to??” Pinkie stopped for a moment before she gasped loudly, “Oh my gosh are you two on a date?!” Twilight and Written Dreams both looked at each other quickly with light blushes on their faces before they each started talking incoherently over the other, each scratching the back of their heads while they tried to talk. Pinkie simply stood there smiling at the two before she finally chimed in, “Where were you…? You‘re both all dusty!” Twilight paused and patted her coat with her hoof a few times to get off some of the dust and dirt and Written Dreams did the same, “Well Pinkie… Written Dreams is a treasure hunter and he‘s going after a very powerful artifact right now. We were just up at the dragon‘s mountain to try and find another clue to follow and now we‘re heading back to the library for a little R&R.” Pinkie Pie nodded happily at Twilight’s explanation before she held up a hoof,

“Hold that thought!” Pinkie then disappeared into Sugarcube Corner and returned about a minute later with two cupcakes balanced on her head. Written Dreams paused as Pinkie set one in his hoof and he stared at it,

“Cupcakes…? Thanks Pinkie! What kind are they?”

“Oh these are new!~ The cupcake itself is a nice and moist chocolate and the icing on top is actually a good mound of butter cream frosting encased in even more chocolate!” She giggled, her eyes arching as she watched the two of them begin on their cupcakes, “I hope you both like them!”

Twilight paused partway through her cupcake and leaned over, giving the dark blue pegasus a tender nuzzle up against his neck. Pinkie giggled a bit at Written Dreams’ reaction of freezing up mid-bite before smiling with a bit heavier of a blush on his face as he continued to eat his cupcake after a few moments, “Just friends.. Mhmm…” Pinkie giggled with a smirk on her face watching as Twilight continued to happily nuzzle him having finished her cupcake and Written Dreams becoming increasingly frazzled as he tried to finish his own.

After a good ten minutes the pegasus was finally able to finish his treat and nodded happily to Pinkie Pie, “Thank you very much for the cupcakes Pinkie. I‘ll be sure to come back to this bakery whenever I‘m in the mood for some more of those amazing cupcakes!” Twilight and Written Dreams soon trotted on past her after saying their goodbyes and Pinkie Pie looked back at the two, seeing the door to the library close behind the two and she then bounced away humming a light tune.

Written Dreams had a very uneasy look on his face as his eyes were on the grinning face of Rainbow Dash staring at him with a wide smile, “Rainbow… please stop giving me that look…” Rainbow Dash then laughed, her hoof clopping on the floor a few times as she banged it down on the wood,

“That look on your face was just too priceless! I‘ve got to say I‘m even more curious about that story about Twilight now!” Written Dreams then let out a sigh as he shook his head,

“I can‘t… it wouldn‘t be right if I told that story while Twilight‘s memories are still locked away.”

A few hours later the crusaders had retired to the other room to sleep for the night and Rainbow let out a sigh as she watched Written Dreams writing by candlelight, “What‘re you writing…?”

“Just writing a letter for Sweetie Belle to send in the morning to Twilight. A few updates on what‘s happening here… I‘m a bit concerned about her I hope everything went well with the dragons.” Rainbow slowly nodded as she looked up at him,

“They should be back soon. They have been gone a while…”

Twilight Sparkle let out a long yawn as she rested her head on her pillows, Applejack already asleep next to her on the other side of the bed. The unicorn was sitting up in bed staring down at the blanket. The two had only just returned to Ponyville and had swiftly made their way to the library. They were both completely exhausted from their journey and Twilight’s eyes were heavy.

She slid out of the bed and made her way downstairs, beginning to pan through the books on her shelves by hoof as even her magic was beginning to fail her in her current condition, “Crysta… Crystalline…” Her eyes continued scanning back and forth through the indexes of various books until finally, her eyes closed and she passed out in a small mound of books, a few open on her back, the pages against her coat and one on her face the same way.

In the morning Applejack slowly blinked her eyes open before letting out a yawn and she rolled over, smiling a bit as she was still waking up, “Mornin‘ Twi-- light…?” Applejack slid out of the bed and trotted down the stairs before chuckling a bit to herself. She lifted the books off of Twilight’s back and face and lifted her onto her back before she started back upstairs, “Come on pardner… let‘s get you some real shut eye.” Applejack steadily made her way back down stairs after putting Twilight into bed and trotted over to the small mound of books, stopping as she gazed down at one that was open and from what she could remember, was the one open in front of Twilight when she must have passed out.

The farm pony laid her hoof on the book, spinning it around and her eyes began to scan the text, “Caverns that used to serve as a dungeon to unicorns who would hope to make off with the gems inside… under Canterlot. Lessee… widely forgotten among ponies the caverns are now completely vacant and aren‘t used for much of anything… Sounds like our place.” She then noticed a small picture off to the side of the caverns almost identical to the picture she had seen on the tablet when she and Twilight were at the migration grounds.

Chapter 24 - The Crystal Cave

“Twily… come on little sis…” Twilight’s eyes slowly opened and the small unicorn let out a groan. She rose her head as she started to stand but she stumbled a bit, panting a little before she shook her head to right herself,

“H…Huh…?”

“Twily… please…” Twilight gazed around slowly, an infinite void of darkness around her except for a small speck of light far off in the distance before her. Twilight gave it not a second thought and began to gallop towards the light,

“S-Shining?!” Twilight’s eyes suddenly widened as the form of her brother, Shining Armor appeared before her although something seemed… off about him. His mane was still a dark blue with a few streaks of sky blue and his coat was still a pure white color but his eyes… As she gazed into his eyes… Her brother, still a few yards away from her, looked as though he had no hope; the kind and gentleness she had always seen in his eyes, even in the toughest of times, was gone, “Shining! Please let me get you out of here! I‘m here now!”

Twilight began to reach of for him but she gasped as tendrils of darkness began to ensnare her brother and dragged him farther away from her. She reached out, a pained look on her face but she felt something holding her back. She looked down at her outstretched hoof and gasped seeing the tendrils having bound her as well. She could feel them pulling her back but the unicorn put on a determined face and growled as her hoof stomped down against the shadowy ground beneath her, her hoofs beginning to steadily continue forward as she let out pained gasps, “Shining…! I‘m going to find you! Just wait a little longer!!” She let out a scream as hundreds more tendrils wrapped around her, the mare clawing at the ground as she felt herself sinking down like quicksand, “I… promise…”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and she let out a loud yell, flailing around in her bed before looking around quickly. Sweat poured down the mare’s face, her panting beginning to slow as she laid her head back down on her pillow. Her eyes slowly closed again as she felt the cold chill of an ice pack being placed upon her forehead, “Thanks AJ…” Applejack let out a sigh as she took a step back,

“Twilight you‘ve been working yourself way too hard… You really need to rest.” Twilight quickly sat up, the ice pack falling into her lap on top of the blanket as she stared at Applejack,

“No!! We can‘t rest until Discord is stopped!!” Twilight then groaned, her eyes rolling back in her head a bit and she fell back onto her bed. Applejack replaced the ice pack onto Twilight’s head and then shook her head,

“Ya’ll need to rest Twilight. Ah got another letter from Written Dreams this mornin’ tellin’ us that everypony is safe and sound at the clubhouse.” Twilight’s response was to slowly open her eyes again and stare up at the ceiling,

“I had a dream… and this feeling like… my brother was reaching out to me…” The farm pony adjusted the ice pack on her friend’s head and slowly nodded to her with a gentle smile,

“Twilight… Do you think you‘ll be safe here while I head to the clubhouse and check in with everyone?” Twilight offered no words in response until she finally nodded her head,

“Yes AJ… I‘ll be okay. You‘re right, I need to rest.” Applejack slowly nodded before she slid her hoof over to Twilight’s bangs and pushed them away from her face,

“Be strong Twilight. Ah‘ll see what ah can do at the clubhouse and ah‘ll be back soon.” Applejack let out a quick breath, “Right then.” She trotted quickly down the stairs and Twilight soon heard the door to the library close as Applejack left.

Applejack arrived at the clubhouse within ten minutes and as she knocked on the door it was opened almost immediately by Applebloom before the small filly tackled her sister; or more ran into her and hugged her tightly around the neck. Applejack closed her eyes as she held her sister close to her, “It‘s good ta see mah little Sugarcube safe and sound.” AJ’s ears perked as she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice, the pegasus having stood up and Rainbow trotted over to her,

“Applejack… where is Twilight?” Applejack paused for a moment before nodding to her and then to Written Dreams who was also giving the farm pony a rather fearful gaze,

“Twilight is back home at the library. She discovered the location of the next clue but… this has all taken a huge toll on her mind and body. She can‘t continue in the condition she‘s in now.” Written Dreams took in her words and slowly stood, his tail swaying for a few moments before he nodded,

“I propose that we move to the library. It is only a matter of time before Discord comes here himself and if all of us are just sitting around here then that‘s the end of things… right there.” He looked to Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow I would like you to remain here for the time being. It‘s going to be you and Applejack who track down the clue in the crystal caves.” He then turned to the crusaders seeing the three of them looking up at him with serious expressions, “Girls, you have the ability to roam freely but I would like you to wait until the cover of darkness has fallen before you head to the library. It would be best if Discord did not see you head there. Applejack…” He looked back to her with a smile, “I‘ll watch after Twilight while you two retrieve the clue, is that alright?” Applejack slowly nodded to him with a grin,

“Ya‘ll have been workin’ this out in yer head fer a while haven‘t ya?” As Written Dreams nodded he then looked back to Rainbow Dash,

“Try stretching your wings a bit now. You should be okay to fly short distances.” The two of them then left, Rainbow Dash letting out slow breaths and showing twinges of pain on her face as she extended and brought her wing back to her side a few times,

“Man that‘s sore…”

After the two arrived at the library Applejack pushed the door open, “Ah‘m glad yer gonna be takin’ care of Twi while me an’ Rainbow are gone… Written?” She looked back at him, seeing the pegasus staring at the inside of the library with a bit of a sad look on his face,

“It‘s… been a long time since I last stepped hoof here.” Applejack looked back at him as she tilted her head a bit,

“What happened between ya’ll an’ Twilight?” The gaze of the pegasus shifted to the earth pony and he closed his eyes and shook his head, looking down a bit as he sighed,

“That is a story that Twilight and I should tell together… Rainbow Dash has heard a few of my stories while the two of you were away and she is curious as well.” He took a step inside, almost freezing as he heard his hoof touch the wood under him but he soon walked inside, letting out a slow breath. Applejack trotted up the stairs, followed by the pegasus and as Applejack entered Twilight’s bedroom Written Dreams was by her side, the two walking over to Twilight together,

“Twi… ah‘m gonna be gettin’ the clue with Rainbow. Ah brought somepony ta take care of ya while ah‘m gone…” The unicorn was breathing heavier then she was and looked unconscious but as her breathing began to regulate again her eyes steadily opened and she looked at the two with a hazy gaze,

“AJ… be… careful…” Applejack slowly nodded to her and gave the mare’s mane a light stroke before she adjusted the ice pack on her forehead and trotted out of the room, the clopping of her hoofs fading until the two heard the door close downstairs, “Heh… I bet I looked a lot better the last time we saw each other…” She gazed up at him with a soft smile on her face, “Remember…? You… came to get… the book from me…?” Written Dreams was silent as he slowly nodded, an ashamed and sad look on the pegasi’s face. Twilight closed her eyes again and once she had fallen back to sleep, Written Dreams heaved a sigh as he shook his head still looking down at the floor,

“I could barely even look at her… such pain in those eyes.”

Applejack grinned as she opened the door to the clubhouse and Rainbow nodded to her with a determined expression, “Ready to go AJ?” Applejack nodded and the two hurried out of the clubhouse after saying a quick goodbye to the crusaders. Rainbow Dash and Applejack set their sights on Canterlot in the distance, the location of the entrance to the crystal caves still fresh in the earth pony’s mind.

The two continued running for a good twenty minutes before they finally slowed at the foot of the mountain, Rainbow Dash looking to Applejack with a grin, “Alright where do we head from here?” AJ looked around before pointing off to the side and the two began running again, climbing further towards Canterlot but before they reached the gate Applejack smiled as she trotted over to a very overgrown trail off to one side.

Rainbow Dash followed behind her closely, occasionally dodging a branch that Applejack would push out of the way. The rainbow pegasus grumbled a bit as she ducked out of the way followed by a bit of a growl, “Come on AJ I just recovered. Last thing I need is a branch to the face.” Applejack looked back at her with a bit of a nervous chuckle,

“Erm… sorry there Rainbow. Shouldn‘t be too much farth--!” Applejack suddenly fell into the ground, a wide, dark hole under her and Rainbow wasted no time leaping in after her.

Rainbow looked around quickly as her hoofs touched down within the cave, “AJ! Where are you?!” Her ears then perked as she heard a groan off to one side and she hurried over, cringing a bit as she looked down at Applejack, “You okay AJ? That was a really nasty fall…” Applejack slowly stood, brushing herself off as she nodded,

“Ah‘m fine. Jus’ surprised me is all.” She looked around with a bright smile, “Lookie there Rainbow…!” Rainbow Dash blinked before following Applejack’s awed gaze forward. The mare’s eyes lit up as she looked around the caverns before them, all glistening brightly with crystals,

“Rarity would have a field day with this place!” Applejack motioned her forward as she started to trot,

“Come on pardner, let‘s find us that clue!” Rainbow nodded with a grin and hurried after her, the two mares continuously scanning the walls as they walked.

The two of them continued through the vast caverns of crystal before eventually Rainbow Dash sat down letting out a tired huff, “Why not get as deep as we can go and just search from there? I makes sense that the clue would be there anyway.” AJ looked back at her, pausing for a moment as she brought a hoof to her chin,

“Not a bad idea Rainbow. Let‘s hurry on down then!” Applejack looked ahead and grinned, hopping into a mine cart and looked back at Rainbow Dash as it started moving, “Come on Rainbow!” The pegasus blinked before rushing over and jumped into the mine cart as it continued to roll along the tracks.

As the cart started to pick up speed Applejack threw her arms in the air while laughing loudly and Rainbow Dash grinned, “I bet at the top of my game I could go way faster then this thing!”

Written Dreams let out a sigh as he stroked Twilight’s mane, the unicorn’s face flushed as she sweated. The pegasus lifted a cool rag and wiped her brow before setting it on the side table and smiled at her, “Your fever has gone down a bit…” The light purple unicorn then opened her eyes, yawning before she looked over to him with a blushing smile,

“Will you tell me a story…?” Written Dreams paused for a moment before slowly nodding to her. He sat up before he stood and motioned to a glass of water to her side,

“Drink some more water while I think of one.” Twilight did as she was instructed, her hoofs taking the glass into them as she sat up a bit and drank a bit,

“It‘s so weird not using magic…”

“It‘s for the best that you don‘t… you need to rest your mind as much as possible… How about the time I met Fluttershy?” As Twilight nodded to him with a bright smile on her face, Written Dreams stepped up onto the bed and laid down against the blanket at the foot of the bed.

Written Dreams let out a slow breath as he trotted out of the Everfree Forest, rolling his neck and flexing his wings before he looked around, “I wonder if there really is a cure for that curse…” His ear then perked and he looked off to his right, seeing a large cottage sitting at the edge of the forest, “I wonder who could be living there.” He then started trotting over, soon passing over a small bridge over a small creek and continued to look around. He paused after a moment though, as an almost heavenly singing voice drifted into his ears.

The pegasi’s eyes drifted around, following the sound of the singing until he saw her, a light yellow pegasus with a lighter shade of pink mane. Her singing faded as she stopped and landed at the far end of the creek, standing before a few ducks that looked very happy to see her, “There now little friends, I have your lunch for you.” her hoof pushed into a small bucket at her hoofs and she took out a pile of green flakes before tossing them out into the pond. She then turned her head and her eyes fixed on Written Dreams. She stared at him for a few moments before letting out a loud ‘Eep!’ and ducking behind a bush, her large eyes the only thing that could be seen inside of it.

Written Dreams paused a bit as he stared at her, seemingly mulling a few thoughts around in his head before he finished crossing the small bridge and instead of trotting over to the pony inside of the bush he laid down next to the bucket of food and started tossing a few out to the ducks, watching them eat it with a smile on his face.

He continued doing this for a number of minutes before his ear perked as he heard her approaching from behind him, “Um… p-please don‘t feed them too much…”

“My name is Written Dreams.” He turned his head to look back at her with a gentle smile on his face, “May I know yours?” She fell silent for a moment, taking a step back as he looked at her but her hoof set back down onto the grass as she gave him a timid look,

“I‘m… Fluttershy…”

“The element of kindness is fitting to you Fluttershy.” The two were silent for a moment, both trying to find further things to talk about before Fluttershy finally let out a slow breath and pushed her bangs from in front of her face,

“So… I noticed you coming out of the forest earlier… can… can I ask what you were doing inside?” The dark blue pegasi’s eyes lit up and he grinned towards her,

“Well I‘m a bit of a treasure hunter! Right now I‘m looking for something very special and a few of the clues have been within the forest so far. The next one kind of concerns me though.” Written Dreams noticed a curious expression on the adorable pegasi’s face and his smile softened a bit more as he continued to look towards her, “My next destination is the ursa’s cave.” Fluttershy’s expression almost instantly turned to one of dread as she shook her head and pressed her front hoofs into his chest,

“YOU CAN‘T GO THERE!!” Written Dreams took a step back, the mare falling back onto all fours as he tilted his head at her,

“I‘ll have to be extra careful then won‘t I?” Fluttershy was giving him a bit of an embarrassed look after she had shouted at him but she still gave him a pleading look,

“You don‘t understand though… the ursas are incredibly vicious and protective of their cave… if you wake one of them up then--” She was cut off seeing Written Dreams still grinning at her,

“What‘s living without taking risks sometimes? Pretty sure I‘ve been through worse then some big, old, celestial bears… want to come with me?” Fluttershy fell completely silent as she just stared at him with a look like she was trying to process what he just asked her,

“Well… I mean… I have a lot to do around here and the animals need me…” Written Dreams raised an eyebrow before he chuckled lightly and shook his head,

“Now you‘re just making excuses. It won‘t take more then an hour tops. Come on, let‘s go have an adventure, if only this one time.” The pegasus was noticeably blushing as she watched him closely,

“I… but… they‘re so big and… and scary.” He raised a hoof and touched it to her shoulder,

“I promise Fluttershy, I will get you out of there if anything bad happens.” Fluttershy silently nodded before cracking a small smile.

A short while later the two were at the entrance of the forest and Written Dreams caught the timid look of the pegasus, giving her a smile before he started to trot into the forest, “Another reason I asked you to come with me… is that I don‘t know where the cave is exactly.” Fluttershy seemed to have opened up a bit more over the short time they had spent together and let out a small giggle before she pointed off to the upper right,

“There is a path just a little ways in… and the cave is not very far down the path.” The two didn’t talk much as they walked down the path and soon turned to the right, Written Dreams gazing up at the enormous cave before the two of them,

“Now how did I miss that…?” He started to trot towards it once again and he soon paused at the mouth of the cave, looking back at her with a grin, “Coming?” Fluttershy looked from right to left quickly before she shook her head rapidly a few times. Written Dreams then raised an eyebrow before chuckling, “Well then… I hope you enjoy your time out here alone in the forest!” He then walked into the cave, Fluttershy letting out a loud eep and she then rushed to his side in less then a second and she cautiously looked around the inside of the cave as they both trotted inside.

Chapter 25 - A Clue Within Crystals

Written Dreams continued to scan the walls around them before he heard Fluttershy gasp and looked back at her quickly seeing the pony cover her mouth with her hoofs before pointing a shaky hoof in front of them. Written Dreams followed her hoof and his eyes widened as he saw the enormous, light blue ursa sleeping before them. It took long inhales before letting out longer exhales through its nose, the upper lip of the bear flapping a bit from the force of the exhale accompanied by the sound of growling. Written Dreams turned to Fluttershy and pointed to a corridor off to the side. Fluttershy turned her gaze from his hoof back to him and gave a shaky and slight nod before the two of them continued down the corridor off to one side, “Ursas are so much more beautiful then the depictions I‘ve seen in books.” Fluttershy looked at him quickly,

“Well… yes. But the only one who‘s been able to tame and put that ursa minor back to sleep was Twilight… it would have destroyed all of Ponyville if she hadn‘t done what she did.” Written Dreams tilted his head as he looked back at her,

“You seem like you‘re really good with animals… why didn‘t you work your own magic on it?” Fluttershy shook her head in response,

“I don‘t know if I would have been brave enough to try but even if I was… I wasn‘t there. I was asleep through the whole thing since when it happened was fairly late at night and… well my home is at the far edge of Ponyville…” Written Dreams shook his head as he looked back at her with a grin,

“It‘s alright Fluttershy. I‘m just glad that Twilight was able to handle things on her own.” The two continued walking for a number of minutes before the two finally entered a large, open cavern, the dark blue pegasi’s eyes fixing immediately to the far wall and his wings spread before he flew over to it and began studying the marking on the wall, “Isn‘t it beautiful Fluttershy? These have been preserved for at least a thousand years!” Fluttershy trotted over to him and smiled up at the drawing etched into the cave’s walls depicting the dragon’s mountain,

“The one who carved it must have been very skillful.” Written Dreams touched down and looked at her with a wide grin,

“This mountain is the tall one outside of Ponyville am I right?” The timid pegasus slowly nodded with a soft smile on her face,

“Oh yes… me and my friends once… well we went all the way to the top because a dragon was sleeping up there and… well he was polluting the air.” Fluttershy smiled proudly, “I had to give him a stern talking to but in the end he wasn‘t so mean at all--” There was a sudden and very loud boom and Fluttershy froze as Written Dreams looked around quickly. Both of their eyes soon fixed upon a giant bear claw slamming down onto the cave floor and soon the face of the ursa major appeared from around the corner. It stared at them, watching the ponies staring up at it before it growled and slammed its other claw down, causing a few rocks to fall from the ceiling, “What do we do Written Dreams?!” When Fluttershy heard nothing but grunting she turned to find Written Dreams’ wing pinned down under one of the fallen rocks, the pegasus trying hard to free himself,

“Fluttershy… Get out of here! I can lure it while you escape!” The ursa major got down low and nearly a moment later it began to charge them, roaring loudly as loud booms came from its claws with every bound.

Fluttershy looked from Written Dreams to the ursa major and back to him with a look of intense fear on her face before her eyes quickly narrowed and she stood, barring the path between Written Dreams and the ursa major, “WAAAAAAAAIT!!!” The ursa’s expression turned to one of confusion and it skidded to a halt, stopping several feet from the two. Fluttershy looked up at it defiantly as she stomped her hoof, “We are not here to hurt anyone! Only to look at this beautiful piece of art!” Her voice steadily became softer and kinder as she continued speaking, “We both know that this is your cave and that you are very protective of your child… we also respect that you have the right to attack any intruders but honestly now…” She smiled softly, “Are we really a threat? The only thing we both want is to be on our way and leave everything just as it was. Will you please let us do that…?” The ursa major was silent as it stared down at the two for a number of minutes of contemplation before it finally slid its paw over to written dreams and flicked the rock, sending it flying off into the corner and it then nodded and turned, leaving the room and disappearing around the corner.

Written Dreams simply stared at the pony for nearly a minute before he threw his hoofs around her and embraced her tightly, “That was absolutely incredible Fluttershy!!!” He then let her go, still smiling brightly at the now blushing pegasus opposite him, “Right then… umm.. Shall we go?” Fluttershy smiled gently as she nodded to him and the two exited the cave without further interruption.

After leaving the forest the two returned to Fluttershy’s cottage and talked a bit about their adventure but all good things must come to an end and eventually, Written Dreams said his goodbye’s to the timid pegasus, Fluttershy, and left, trotting with a grin, into Ponyville, Twilight’s library meeting his gaze off in the distance as he grinned.

Written Dreams’ ears perked a bit as he opened his mouth to continue speaking but paused as he turned his gaze to the unicorn who was still looking at him with a gentle smile on her beautiful face. Her lids were half closed giving her the appearance of sleepiness, “That was such a nice story Written… and… it‘s rare to know a colt who would give their life for somepony they just met.”

“Twilight… I live by believing that no matter what happens, there will always be a positive outcome. That way, I can never lose hope. When Applejack and Rainbow Dash return from the crystal cave beneath Canterlot I would be honored if you would accompany me until we find the quill together.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak but stopped as she gazed at him, slowly nodding with a happy giggle, “I feel like it‘s fitting.” His eyes then drifted to the corner of her eye, a single tear falling down her cheek. He reached forward, touching his hoof to her cheek and wiped it away, “Get some sleep Twilight. Rainbow and AJ should be back by morning.” Twilight offered no response but to close her eyes and snuggle a bit more into her blanket seemingly unaware that she had shed a tear. Written waited until her breathing slowed and she had fallen asleep before he beat his wings a few times to lift off of the bed without disturbing her and touched down against the cool wood of her bedroom floor.

As he trotted back towards the door to her bedroom his gaze returned to the sleeping unicorn in the setting sunlight and a warm smile spread across his face, “Sleep well Twilight Sparkle.” He then trotted through the threshold, his hoof holding onto the edge of the door as he pulled it and he heard the door touch the frame as he continued down the stairs, the door opening just a crack as he descended.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash braced themselves as the mine cart flew down the tracks, winding and turning every which way and the pegasus had her wings extended to give them further balance, “I think we‘re almost to the end of this thing AJ!” Applejack continued looking ahead, as she was in the front of the mine cart to begin with. Her eyes then suddenly widened and she pointed ahead,

“Ah‘ll sure say we are Rainbow! But there ain‘t much room fer us ta be stoppin’ at!” Rainbow Dash went down into the mine cart, grabbing the emergency brake lever and pulled it back, sparks grinding and spraying everywhere around them as the two of them flew towards the end of the tracks.

Mere moments later the two gave the other a quick nod before Rainbow Dash grabbed Applejack and flapped her wings as she jumped out of the mine cart, the cart hitting the small stopper at the end of the track and flew past it, slamming hard into the opposite wall and was partially embedded inside of it, “That wouldn‘t have been fun…” Rainbow said with wide eyes as she dusted herself off and Applejack stood up with a light smile as she chuckled,

“Thanks Rainbow fer makin‘ sure ah got out ah there.”

“No worries AJ.” Dash said with a grin as her ears twitched a bit and her eyes drifted around in her head, “So where to next? Looks like we‘ve hit the end of the line--”

“Hello?!” Both mares quickly looked towards the wall that the mine cart crashed into and the pegasus rushed over to it and hit it with her hoof, making a lightly echoed sound along with the light clop,

“Is somepony in there?!” She pressed her ear to the crystals before they heard the voice speak again,

“I‘m trapped in here and there‘s no way I can get out…” Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and the farm pony looked back to the wall of crystals,

“Don‘t worry yer head there pardner! We‘ll get ya out ah there in a jiffy!” The colt’s voice soon spoke again, letting out a relieved sigh and they then heard a chuckle,

“You know… I had lost hope of anypony coming to save me. My magic is strong but these crystals deflect it… I suppose it‘s the perfect prison for a unicorn.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack turned themselves around and faced away from the wall, Applejack nodding to her as she lowered,

“Ya‘ll should stand away from the wall! One… two… three!” They both slammed their hind hooves into the wall, a loud bang echoing throughout the cave. Applejack let out a slow breath before getting down low again, “Again!” She counted down and they slammed their hooves into the wall again.

As hours passed the sun eventually set over the horizon. Written Dreams was lying on a couch downstairs in Twilight’s home with the book on the Elements of Harmony open in front of him, his eyes slowly scanning the text as he read. Twilight was still asleep from before, the dark blue pegasus having gone up to both check on her and replace her ice pack every twenty minutes or so.

His ear then perked after a few more minutes and he stood up, stretching so that he could hear a pop from his back and flexed his wings. He trotted over to the door and slowly opened it, smiling down at the three crusaders as they came inside, “Don‘t be too loud girls, Twilight is still asleep.” They all nodded to him and he closed the door, Sweetie Belle going off into another room in search of her own book to read, the little unicorn’s eyes scanning the shelves as she trotted around.

Applebloom and Scootaloo trotted off in another direction and into the kitchen, Written Dreams following them with a light chuckle, “You guys must be hungry… what have you guys eaten over the past few weeks?” Scootaloo groaned as she quickly made her way to the pantry and began to rummage,

“Pretty much nothing but apples, it‘s been awful--” Scootaloo was cut off as she caught a glare from Applebloom and she chuckled nervously, “Erm.. Even if they were delicious apples.” Applebloom went about setting up bread, along with various flowers and other condiments. She also brought out a few bananas and a mango to be cut up.

Over the course of the next twenty minutes the three casually chatted, Sweetie Belle eventually coming back into the room with a spell book. The three crusaders were seated at the dining table off near the wall of the small kitchen as Written Dreams cut up the fruit and made them each a daisy and daffodil sandwich, “What are you reading over there Sweetie Belle?” The white unicorn looked up from the book she was reading and smiled a bit,

“Well I figured since I‘m also a unicorn I could learn a few more spells just in case.” Written Dreams paused, stopping mid-cut into the mango,

“In case of what…?” Sweetie Belle’s expression turned to one of unsure contemplation.

“Well… for if things don’t go the way we plan… when we fight Discord.” Written Dreams continued to cut the mango as he spoke, his tone fairly serious,

“Girls… the three of you are going to be staying here during the confrontation.” Scootaloo raised her voice a little and stood up in her seat, her front hooves planted on the table,

“No way! Why would we stay here while all of you go and battle Discord?!” Written Dreams was silent as he finished their dinners and brought the three plates to the table, giving them each a glass of orange juice as well,

“Quiet down Scootaloo and I‘ll explain. You see, the final confrontation is going to be one of the most dangerous situations any of us have ever been in and the reason I‘m telling you three to remain here is because it would kill me to see anything happen to you three. You‘re so young… you shouldn‘t have to spend your lives as statues if things go badly...” Sweetie Belle said nothing more as she continued to pan through the spell book, her eyes slowly sliding back and forth and Applebloom started on her breakfast. Scootaloo picked at her food with a bit of a disheartened look on her face.

Written Dreams looked over to the little orange and purple filly and took his hoof, touching it to her mane and stroked her mane slowly , “Can‘t let my little sister get hurt, right…?” Scootaloo looked up at him with a bright smile on her face but it faded slightly as she spoke,

“I know you‘re worried about us but after everything that‘s happened… we don‘t even get to watch?” The pegasus colt paused for a moment before he smiled over to Sweetie Belle,

“Tell you three what. If you can figure out a way to watch without being there then you can do whatever you‘d like, okay?” The three nodded with wide smile on each of their faces and they all began to eat happily.

After the three had finished eating Scootaloo looked up at her honorary big brother and tilted her head slightly, “Hey… I know you asked us to stop asking you about it but will you please tell us the story about you and Twilight…?” Written Dreams paused midway through picking up the dishes and gazed at her,

“Scoot…” He stood up, putting the dishes in the sink before he trotted back over to the table and sat down again, “I told you before… it wouldn‘t be right for me to tell you of the memories she has locked away in her mind. I‘m sure you‘ll know eventually… but not before Twilight realizes on her own what she did.” Applebloom tilted her head slightly, giving him an odd and disbelieving look,

“Mr. Dreams? How is Twilight going to remember if she locked her memories away?”

“Twilight is one of the smartest ponies I‘ve ever met. There is no doubt in my mind that she‘ll realize what her own body is telling her soon enough.” Twilight had stopped midway down the stairs, frozen in her tracks with her eyes wide and staring at nothing in particular. Many thoughts going through her mind as she took in the words that she had overheard Written Dreams say, her hooves slowly moving backwards as she went back up the stairs.

The unicorn stared at the floor as she trotted back over to her bed and sat at the foot of her bed, laying her head on the blanket, “Locked… memories…? Why would I…” She raised her head, her expression one of deep confusion, “What happened?”

“One! Two! Three!!!” The pegasus and earth pony slammed their hooves hard into the wall of crystal and it suddenly exploded, shattering all around them and the two mares jumped back at the sound. The mine cart also fell to the ground as it was freed from the wall and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop in the dusty air.

The unicorn on the other side of the crystal coughed in the dust cloud and the three waited for it to settle before they all looked at each other. The unicorn trotted over to them and nodded his head with a grateful smile on his face. His mane was two coats of blue, one dark and a streak of lighter along with his tail and his coat was a pure white. His cutie mark depicted a three-pointed shield with a pink six-pointed star inside of it and three blue stars, one above each point of the shield, “Thank you so much for helping me to escape that prison… please let me introduce myself. My name is Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard of Canterlot.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash were silent for a moment as they merely stared at him with light blushes on their face but eventually, Applejack smiled brightly and shook his hoof,

“Pleased ta‘ meet ya Shinin‘ mah name‘s Applejack. Ah run Ponyville‘s Apple farm with mah brother an‘ granny.” Rainbow spoke next after regaining her composure a bit,

“The name‘s Rainbow Dash! Fastest flier in Equestria and soon to be Wonderbolt!” Shining chuckled as he smiled at the two of them and gave them each another nod,

“A pleasure to meet you both. I‘ll put in a good word for you with the Wonderbolts once this whole mess is over. If I’m not mistaken, are you the elements of Loyalty and Honesty?” When the two of them nodded the unicorn grinned brightly, “I‘ve been wanting to meet my little sister‘s friends for a long time now and I wanted to say thank you, for watching over her while I‘ve been unable to.” The mare’s eyes widened and Rainbow went airborne, her wings lightly flapping to keep her hovering a few feet off the ground,

“Wait a minute! YOU‘RE Twilight‘s brother?! She‘s going to be so happy to know that you‘re okay!” Shining quickly nodded and his horn glowed, the mine cart righting itself and floated back onto the tracks properly. His expression turned a bit more serious as he looked at the two of them,

“Then we mustn‘t waste any time in getting back to her. You two can fill me in on what‘s been happening along the way.” They both quickly nodded but Applejack looked to Rainbow Dash for a moment,

“Rainbow we‘ve still gotta find the next clue.” Shining Armor paused for a moment before he turned around and pointed back into his prison,

“I was wondering what this was.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash trotted through the destroyed wall and both looked around the walls for a moment before their eyes fixed upon the wall.

The sight before them was of a massive castle surrounded by trees, however, the castle itself was riddled with holes and seemed more like it was made by insects like a hive instead of being made from stone. Also, small carvings of bug-like creatures were flying all around but were too small for any real details to be made out. The two mare’s ears perked as they heard Shining’s voice again behind them, “Do either of you know where that might be…?” They both looked back at him and shook their heads and Rainbow Dash spoke next,

“I know somepony who should know though. Let‘s hurry back to the library!” Neither of the others said another word before Applejack and Shining Armor hopped into the mine cart and it was soon flying down the tracks with Rainbow Dash flying right beside the two of them.

Chapter 26 - BBBFF

“Okay so which way now girls?” Shining Armor said as the three trotted across the crystal floor of the caverns. The mine cart had remained intact after they had reached the end of the line with the help of the unicorn’s magic. The tip of his horn glowed in a gentle blue aura, illuminating the cave as they walked through it. Rainbow Dash gazed over to him, still partially airborne as she paused for a moment,

“There aren‘t all that many twists and turns. We should be able to get out of here within the hour.” Shining slowly nodded and looked from Rainbow back to looking ahead of them,

“It‘s petty impressive that you two were able to navigate this place with such little light.” Applejack chuckled as she continued to look around,

“There was a lot of natural light in most parts of the cave. I‘m pretty sure that the darkest part of the cave was the part where ya‘ll were imprisoned.” The three continued walking for a number of minutes, casually conversing and telling the unicorn about what they had been through during the last few weeks, “So you two were statues when this all started…?” Applejack slowly nodded as she looked back to the unicorn,

“Yeah we were… and it was actually through a forced trade that me an‘ Rainbow were freed. Twilight was traveling with Princess Luna for a bit before me an‘ Rainbow.” Shining Armor let out a sigh as he looked down in response,

“I see… So both of the princesses have been taken by Discord and turned to stone. When Discord came into Canterlot the ponies in the town below the castle were already turned to chocolate along with a few of the guards that were in the city. Those that were in the castle were protected by the magical barrier that‘s used to ward off attacks but once Discord had reached the castle… I had to watch my fellow soldiers fall one by one around me.”

Shining Armor growled as he struggled to his feet, the intense blasts of magical energy having knocked him off of his hoofs numerous times. He looked quickly from left to right, his ears drooping as he saw the soldiers around him a mix of chocolate and stone, “Dammit…” Shining‘s eyes then fixed upon the Draconequus, who was casually walking towards him while letting out a dark cackle, “Discord! For this kingdom I have to do all I can to stop you right here!” Discord stopped walking about thirty feet from the unicorn and simply stared him down for a few moments before he folded his arms and lifted his eagle claw to his chin, scratching it before turning his gaze back to him,

“I see… Where is Princess Luna?” Shining Armor got down low as his horn sparked and glowed, shaking his head in defiance of Discord’s question,

“On my honor as Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard, I will never tell you where the Princess is!” Discord slowly nodded as he stared at the unicorn before him before he began to laugh and held out his eagle claw hand,

“Very well then. Let‘s see how quickly a captain falls when fighting for his country!” Shining Armor jumped back as Discord fired a beam of his chaotic magic towards the unicorn, the ground it impacted turning to chocolate along with many other parts of the floor as he continued to avoid the attacks, “Stand still! It‘ll be easier that way!” Shining Armor growled, avoiding another of the blasts before jumping towards Discord with a yell, firing a powerful blast of magic towards him like a laser. Discord dodged to the side, patting his scorched side as he growled, the Elements of Harmony beginning to glow brightly. He folded his arms as Shining prepared for another shot and he threw his claw and paw forward as he released the elements on the unicorn.

Shining Armor’s eyes widened as the Elements of Harmony’s magic was released upon him, an even more powerful blast of magic being fired from his horn. As the two beams of magic impacted the other they suddenly stalemated, pushing back against the other as Discord’s eyes widened, a smirk appearing on his face as he started to walk towards Shining, the stalemated part of their spells shifting back and forth but steadily moved towards Shining’s horn, “You‘ve got quite a lot of power in you.” Discord thrusted his arms forward, the stalemate breaking and an explosion of black smoke engulfed the unicorn, Discord folding his arms with a bit of a chuckle, “Hahaha… but as always, I win--” As the smoke cleared Discord stared at a glowing pink shield surrounding the unicorn, the colt panting hard as his shield shattered around him and he collapsed against the floor. Discord walked over to him with a scowl on his face and picked him up in his eagle claw by the throat, meeting the semi-conscious gaze of the unicorn as they were eye level, “You are more trouble then you‘re worth mister Armor. I think it‘s time for you to go.” The floor slowly opened into a wide pit and Discord dropped him into it, Shining Armor groaning with a grunt as he hit the crystals below him, “Don‘t come back.” The hole then closed, leaving Shining Armor in the darkness of the crystal caverns. He looked to the side seeing a wall of crystal rise up effectively trapping him in walls of crystal.

Shining Armor let out a sigh as he finished, the two mares looking at him in mild shock although Rainbow Dash was the one to speak, “You stalemated the Elements of Harmony?!” Shining looked over to her and paused, slowly shaking his head,

“Well yes and no. You see when Discord reworked the elements of harmony he did so by corrupting them with his own magic. That being said they were unable to retain their purifying magic and are instead only able to turn objects to stone or other chaos-related things. They became a bit less powerful when he took control of them but they are still the most powerful magical objects currently in existence.” Applejack stared up in front of them, raising her hoof and pointing up at a small hole with beams of moonlight being cascaded into the cavern in front of them,

“There‘s our exit. Rainbow we‘re gonna need ya ta lift us up there.” Rainbow nodded with a salute and Applejack was lifted up into the air by the pegasus who flew her up to the hole above them and helped her slip through before she flew down and smiled at Shining Armor,

“Ready to go?” Shining let out a slow breath before nodding to her with a determined smile,

“I‘ve been ready to get out of here for a long time.” Rainbow Dash let out a bit of a grunt as she hoisted the unicorn up and out of the crystal caverns below them.

Once the three were back on solid ground they all trotted back out onto the road and Shining looked around, “So where are we headed?” Applejack smiled a bit and pointed off down the path, the chaotic Ponyville off in the distance. They soon began to trot down the road, Shining Armor letting out a bit of a chuckle as he continued looking onward to Ponyville, “You know… I‘ve been wanting to go into Ponyville for a long time to visit Twilight and meet you all but…” His ears drooped a bit as he looked down with a sigh, “I just wish that it were on my own terms instead of this chaotic mess.”

Written Dreams lied on Twilight’s bed, watching as the unicorn paced around the room again and again with a worried look on her face, “Weren‘t they supposed to be back by now?” Written Dreams let out a sigh and continued to pat the bed with his hoof giving her a worried gaze,

“Come on Twilight the last thing you need is to give yourself more stress. You need to be resting right now. By now I’m sure they found the clue and have already started on their way back to Ponyville.” Twilight turned and stared at him as she stomped her hoof,

“Why didn‘t you just tell us all what the clue was and then we could have continued on from there?!” Written Dreams stopped and fell silent, looking away from her with a bit of a sigh,

“It is because I believe that the journey is more important then the destination, however, because of how close we are and the situation we are all in you are right. I should have done that and I‘ll apologize to Applejack and Rainbow Dash when they return.” Twilight continued to gaze at him after he stopped talking, her ears drooping slightly and he tilted his head, giving her a worried look, “Twilight… are you okay? You really should get back into bed.” Twilight raised her hoof slightly as she opened her mouth to speak but both pony’s ears perked as there was a knock on the door followed by the sound of the crusaders saying ‘Coming!’ all in unison.

Written Dreams trotted to the door with Twilight and opened it, the two of them heading down the stairs with Written Dreams steadying her with his wing occasionally until they reached the bottom. The door soon opened to reveal the two mares and colt. Rainbow Dash and Applejack came inside, Applejack hugging Applebloom as Rainbow flew over and picked up Scootaloo, ruffling her hair as the two chuckled together. Shining Armor trotted slowly through the threshold and looked around expectantly. Shining Armor and Twilight’s eyes met after only a few moments and the colt’s eyes widened as he ran over to her, “Twily!” Twilight broke away from Written Dreams and ran up to Shining, the two ponies embracing each other tightly, their cheeks nuzzling a bit as their eyes closed, “I‘ve been so worried about you little sis…” Twilight gazed up at him with tear-streaked eyes before she closed her eyes once again and gave him another nuzzle,

“I‘m so happy that you‘ve come back Shining! Where have you been?!” Their embrace then ended, Shining Armor taking a step back and laid his hoof on Twilight’s mane, a sigh leaving the colt as he shook his head,

“When Discord took Canterlot Castle I did my best to confront him but in the end I failed. Instead of sealing me in stone he imprisoned me in the crystal caverns beneath Canterlot.” He looked to Applejack and Rainbow Dash who were smiling at him, “If your friends hadn‘t come all the way down there I‘m willing to bet that I would still be there.” Twilight continued to softly smile, a look on her face like a heavy weight had been lifted from her heart,

“I couldn‘t feel happier to see you Shining.”

Shining Armor settled in in another section of the library, making himself a makeshift bed and one by one the ponies in the library had all fallen asleep. Written Dreams fixed the blanket over Twilight’s sleeping form and smiled down at her, his hoof reaching up and very gently stroked her bangs from her face, “I‘m glad things worked out as they did with the cave… tomorrow the hunt for the next clue begins.”

Written Dreams stood in the kitchen the next morning, cooking eggs, toast and other breakfast foods for the ponies in the library. His ear perked as he looked off to the side hearing a yawn and smiled as Shining Armor came into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. He blinked as he looked up at the pegasus with a chuckle, “Aww you beat me to it.” The two colts bumped hoofs and smiled at one another,

“You‘re welcome to help me with breakfast if you‘d like to Shining.” Shining Armor nodded with a chuckle before he trotted over to the counter and began to aid Written Dreams with whatever he asked the unicorn to help with,

“So you‘re Written Dreams if I remember correctly. I didn‘t get the chance to meet you when you stayed at the castle but the princesses spoke very highly of you.” Written Dreams nodded to him as his gaze turned back over to the unicorn and they began to put plates together,

“I‘m really glad that you‘re going to be with us. I had actually been planning to take Twilight with me to find one of the last clues to the Quill of Eternity. Would you want to come with us to look after her..?” Shining Armor paused as he raised an eyebrow while staring at the pegasus,

“I think it would be okay for the two of you to go by yourselves. Rainbow, Applejack, and the three fillies can hold down the fort while you two are gone. It‘s actually a better tactical move for it to be the two of you actually. It would make it easier for you to move undetected during that castle along with companionship to keep your heads in the right place. Also, having both magic and flight at your disposal will help greatly.” Written Dreams nodded and tilted his head slightly as he stared at him,

“Talking like that it sounds like you would be the better choice.” Shining Armor shook his head with a light chuckle,

“From what little I‘ve seen of you and what the princesses have said I believe that you are a better leader for this group then I could be. Also I would personally prefer it that she go along with you opposed to myself. Last night I took it upon myself to examine her state of mind and to be honest, she is more together with you then with anypony else right now. If she stayed here she would have two of the strongest members of this group to worry about and if something happened to both me and you it would be devastating. I don‘t think she could recover from something like that happening so it‘s for her sake that she go with you.” Written Dreams started bringing plates over and setting them on the table one by one before looking back at the unicorn once again,

“I see what you‘re saying Shining. In the event that Discord does discover everyone here I trust that you would be more valuable to have face him then anypony else.” Shining Armor let out a slow breath as he nodded,

“I promised myself that I would make him pay for imprisoning me down there. You have my word that I‘ll do all I can to protect everyone.” Both colts looked off to the exit of the kitchen seeing Twilight yawning with a light smile on her face as she looked at the two of them,

“There‘re my boys… Did you both make breakfast?” Shining Armor chimed in as he trotted over to Twilight and gave her a nuzzle,

“Good morning little sis. Yeah we have breakfast out for the three of us since we didn‘t think anypony else was awake yet.” Twilight nodded with a giggle as she looked over to the table,

“It looks delicious thank you Written, Shining.” The three were seated at the table within the next few minutes and all began on their meals, “So I‘m guessing that the two of you have discussed what our next move is. I went ahead and managed to find out where we‘ll be going. It‘s about two days from here; The Castle of the Changelings.” Written Dreams paused as he brought a hoof to his chin, various thoughts going through his mind,

“Two days? Could be worse. Changelings are one of those species that aren‘t really known about. Shining, can you tell us anything?” Shining Armor slowly nodded as he looked back and forth from the two,

“Well I don‘t know all that much but changelings are creatures that can take on the form of those you hold dear and they feed off of your love for them.” Twilight nodded her head as she finished one of her eggs,

“Are they dangerous though? Feeding off of love sounds like it could have some negative effects…” Shining Armor simply shook his head in response,

“Well at the castle we‘ve gotten a few reports of changeling attacks but apparently no ponies have even been injured in these incidents. I can‘t really say much more.” Written Dreams’ gaze turned back to Twilight and he let out a contented sigh,

“Alright then we have our destination. Shining and I were talking a bit about who will be going and we settled on you and I, as we previously talked about. If we could leave within an hour or so that would give us a good head start.”

“What about Applejack and Rainbow Dash?” Shining Armor paused as he took in Twilight’s question and looked down at her with a smile,

“We‘ll see how they feel about it before you two leave.”

Within the next twenty minutes Rainbow Dash and Applejack had woken up and the five ponies were in the main area of the library. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood on either side of Shining Armor and Rainbow groaned a bit as she shook her head with a disheartened look on her face, “Aww come on why can‘t we come with you?! I just got better too!” Twilight raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head slightly,

“Well, you two balance each other out when you‘re together and if you both came with us then Shining Armor would be here all by himself with Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom and to be honest only Fluttershy is capable of taking care of all of them at once. So you‘ll be helping him take care of them along with keeping Shining company while we‘re gone.” Shining Armor grinned as he put a hoof around the mare’s shoulders and let out a laugh,

“Don‘t worry Twily, I‘ll do my part to take care of these two and the fillies as well.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash both blushed slightly and Rainbow’s wings sprung upwards before the pegasus cleared her throat and folded her wings,

“Well we‘ll see you guys when you get back from the castle!”

Within the next few minutes Twilight Sparkle and Written Dreams were outside and had begun on their journey towards the Castle of the Changelings, “Twilight I‘m really glad that you decided to come with me on this one. I‘ve really been wanting to spend more time with you.” Twilight let out a happy hum as she looked over at him as they left the chaotic town,

“Me too Written. I‘m really glad you asked me to go. It seems like most of this journey has been spent just trying to find you. How many clues do you think are left before we reach the quill…?” Written Dreams said nothing for a few moments as he brought his hoof to his chin,

“Perhaps one or two… perhaps three. We‘re definitely close though. Hopefully the changelings will be helpful and we won‘t run into anything deadly on our way there…” Twilight blinked and glared at him before rolling her eyes with a sigh,

“Nothing on this journey has been straightforward and easy so a journey to the Castle of the Changelings isn‘t going to be an exception but still… you didn‘t have to jinx us Written.” Written paused as the two of them left town and began to walk down the road out of Ponyville,

“Oh come on Twilight. Anything that we find we can overcome as a team. Neither of us are even close to weak.” Twilight rolled her eyes before nodding with a sigh and opened her saddlebag at her waist and withdrew a map that had a red circle drawn on it far off to the east. As the map levitated in her magical aura her eyes scanned it along with Written Dreams, who trotted alongside her,

“So Written, the eastern Everfree forest is a very dangerous place…”

“We can stay mostly on a straight line given that there is a beaten path through most of the forest.” He laid his hoof on the map as he spoke, “And then we can simply follow this line here and we‘ll be there before we know it.” His hoof slid over to the forest containing the red circle, “And then we‘re done, just like that.” Twilight nodded with an agreeing smile as she returned the map to her bag and the two ponies turned slightly so that they were trotting to the northeast.

Within the Canterlot throne room Discord sat upon his throne, his hoof turned upright on a pillow as Rarity was giving him a hooficure, the unicorn mare occasionally gagging as small bits of dirt flaked off from her work. Discord laid back in his throne with a very relaxed look on his face, a hooded figure standing before him before a feminine voice began to speak, “I was hoping you would reconsider my offer Lord Discord.” The Draconequus stroked his beard with his eagle claw before holding out his bear paw towards the hooded mare,

“You‘re quite adamant about that ever since I took you in.” The mare simply stood there silently before Discord spoke again, “Fine then. I grant your request. Trail Twilight Sparkle and confront her. Do not fail where that Griffon did. Rainbow Dash has fallen but with that unicorn still around, the others may still find some courage and hope. I‘d like you to crush it.” The hooded mare only nodded before she ran from the throne room, her dark grey hooves visible under her billowing cloak.

Chapter 27 - A True Rarity

Discord paused as he felt Rarity cease her filing of his hoof and gazed down at the unicorn mare seeing her beginning to tear up, “Discord… the ponies of Equestria did nothing to deserve this cruelty…” Discord reached down and put his eagle claw under her chin, raising her head up so that she was looking directly at him. A calm smile then appeared on his face as he stared into her eyes,

“The ponies? No, they did nothing to deserve this. It was your leaders… your… previous rulers who deserve this. Do you know what it is like to be imprisoned in stone for one thousand years?” Rarity raised her hoof to speak but she was immediately silenced by Discord, “Being fully conscious, unable to sleep, unable to eat? To be alone with your thoughts knowing that the reason you are imprisoned is because of the actions of two alicorns?!” Discord stood as his smile disappeared and a very dark look appeared on his face, Rarity falling from the throne but quickly regained her footing, backing up a few feet as Discord took another step forward, “To not even know that your torture could last for an eternity?! You don‘t seem to understand that before those two…” Discord spat to one side as he growled, his eyes locked on the statues of Celestia and Luna next to the throne, “Princesses… ruled Equestria that I was high king! They deserve to know EXACTLY what it feels like to be imprisoned and KNOW that they will NEVER be free again!”

Discord closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, turning his head from the statues back to Rarity and opened his eyes once again, “It is by far the cruelest torture known to ponykind and I am going to do all I can to ensure that my rule remains for all time. My assassin will take care of that purple pest and once that is done, I shall be unstoppable.” Discord turned away from the grey unicorn and folded his paw and claw behind his back, letting out a growl as he did so, “Know your place, Rarity.”

Rarity paused as her gaze was locked on the back of the draconequus. She then silently shook her head and took a step forward, “My place… is by Twilight‘s side, Discord.”

“Funny…” Discord remained facing away from her for a minute of silence until he finally spoke again, “I thought I broke you a long time ago… and yet it seems that you still cling to hope that your friend is going to stop me. Things really have been fun… bringing her mind to the brink of shattering…” Discord held his eagle claw palm up forming what seemed to be a crystal form of Twilight. The being of chaos stared at it and smiled rather darkly, “You never know what that last little spark will be that will finish her off for good.” He closed his eagle claw into a fist, crushing the statue and turned his gaze back to Rarity, “Do you honestly think you can benefit Twilight by being at her side?” Discord turned to face her, walking forward until he was staring down at her, now only a few feet away, “What can you do that she cannot? When she had the choice between five of her friends she chose Rainbow Dash and Applejack, but why not you? Certainly another unicorn by her side would make things better in the long run, right?” Rarity continued to back up as Discord continued to come closer until she stopped and closed her eyes, throwing her head down to the side while tears streamed down her face,

“Just stop it! That was a horrid thing to force on her and one of the cruelest acts I‘ve ever known! Things are hard enough without you trying to break her spirit every step of the way!” Rarity then opened her tear-streaked eyes and gazed up at Discord, slowly shaking her head, “But that‘s just it… our friendship and the true power it has can never be broken. It can be weakened, even strained, but it will never break. Not ever.”

Discord gazed down into the defiant eyes of the unicorn and clapped his hands together a few times sarcastically as a smirk appeared on his face, “Such a touching sentiment.”

Discord held his claws out towards Rarity and the unicorn shivered, her color returning to her body and she blinked her eyes, staring up at him, “Wha…?”

“If you really think you‘ll make a difference then go ahead, be with your little friend.” Discord leaned down so that he was eye level with the unicorn, “And when you realize how weak you truly are, you are more then welcome to return.” Rarity only gave a silent nod before she ran from the throne room, said her goodbyes to Fluttershy and left the castle in full sprint towards the eastern Everfree Forest.

Written Dreams continually gazed upwards into the treetops, a bright smile remaining on the pegasi’s face as he hummed. The two continued walking for a good half an hour and were soon deep within the Everfree Forest. Twilight began to look around nervously the more they walked, the twisted and mangled trees giving off a rotting odor that stung her nostrils, “Written, we‘re headed the right way… right? If we keep heading this way we‘re going to reach the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.” Written Dreams turned his gaze to Twilight, nodding while he continued to smile,

“We‘re heading the right way. We are actually heading past it so passing straight through and out the back is our best bet in terms of speed.” Twilight paused as he finished speaking, turning her head and gazing down a long, winding and overgrown path. Written continued walking for a few moments more before he noticed that Twilight had stopped walking. He turned back and returned to her side, looking down the path before looking back at her, “Are you alright Twilight?” Twilight didn’t look at him, her eyes steadily welling up with tears as she stared,

“Sunny Town is down that path… I still wonder if Zecora is alright…” Written’s ears drooped as his eyes widened and he took a step back,

“She… was cursed?”

“She sacrificed herself to save Luna and I…” Written closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, shaking his head as he looked down,

“What do you want to do?” Twilight slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him before she shook her head and turned looking down their original path,

“If we can just stop by her home for a little while I‘d appreciate it.”

“It‘s not even a detour Twilight. Of course we can.”

The two continued walking for a few more minutes before the large, rotting, tree home came into view of the two ponies. Twilight hung her head as she trotted over to it. Written sat down and closed his eyes, saying nothing as he also hung his head.

“There now Twilight, shed no tears. I am here, so rest your fears.” Twilight gasped as she looked up seeing Zecora standing outside of her home smiling softly at the unicorn. The curse on the zebra was in full effect against the moonlight giving her coat a raspy and very slightly decayed look. Part of her left ear had rotted away and her mohawk had small pieces missing in patches along with her coat. Twilight ran up to her, embracing Zecora tightly and Zecora put a hoof around her, holding Twilight closely as she smiled, “I must say to mind the smell… if you could not already tell.” Twilight paused for a moment, sniffing a few times before she shuddered and gagged, taking a few steps back and broke away from the embrace,

“Oh Zecora I didn‘t even notice… How are you? Apart from the obvious I mean…” Zecora smiled softly as her hoof raised and she rubbed her own neck,

“I am doing well Twilight. Young Mitta has been treating me very well and helping me to adjust to this new life. I must say that things aren‘t that much different now then when I was alive… except that with my home in this state parts of it have become unusable. How are you though Twilight? What brings you back to the forest?” Twilight patted her coat a bit as she let out a light sigh and shook her head,

“I‘ve been better to be honest Zecora… as for what Written and I are doing back in the forest; we‘re nearly at the end of our quest for the Quill of Eternity.” Written stepped forward till he was standing next to Twilight and slowly nodded as he began to speak next,

“Right now we‘re on our way to the castle of Queen Chrysalis so we can find where to go after that.” Zecora nodded her head with a soft smile as her gaze turned to the dark blue pegasi standing next to the unicorn,

“You seek the changelings ever unseen.. Yet you wish to meet their queen..? How do you plan to make it inside and to her highness?” Written paused, appearing to he lost in thought as Twilight gazed over to him before he finally spoke again,

“Chrysalis and I have previously met for a short time actually. I‘m sure that she will remember me when we arrive.” Twilight gave him an odd look as she blinked,

“Wait.. You met her before and didn‘t ask her where the quill was?!” Written raised his hoof to stop her before he shook his head,

“I had no idea of her ties to the quill at the time Twilight. I‘d be glad to tell you the story but.. I‘m sorry to say that we really must continue on.” Twilight slowly nodded her head before looking back to Zecora with a hopeful gaze,

“Will you be able to accompany us Zecora..?” The zebra had been silent as the two talked before she let out a soft sigh and shook her head, looking back to Twilight’s face,

“Unfortunately I cannot. This curse binds me to my home and that cursed town.” Twilight slowly nodded before she embraced Zecora again tightly and smiled,

“It was really wonderful seeing you again Zecora… I promise we‘ll visit you again on our way back.” Few more words were spoken before the two continued on their trek towards the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

Another hour had passed until the two reached the bridge spanning the infinitely deep chasm connecting their side of the land to the ruined castle before the two of them. Written gave a nod before he began to trot across, gazing up at the castle in deep contemplation, “It‘s been a long time since I was back here…” Suddenly a beam of magic shot from the trees and hit the binding ropes on the bridge. Written blinked and jumped across to the other side, watching as the bridge fell into the fog below, still connected on his side. Twilight had leapt to the side to avoid the blast and Written spread his wings calling out to Twilight, “I‘m coming back over!”

“No you‘re not you little foal. This is a no fly zone!” There was a glow around the area of a sinister red for a moment and Written grunted as he collapsed, his wings snapping back to his sides. He stayed conscious though, panting a bit as Twilight looked off into the trees,

“Show yourself!” The mare cried out as she took a step back. Her call was answered as a hooded pony trotted out of the trees and stood twelve feet from her. The mare’s hooves planted against the decayed soil as her face was shrouded under her hood,

“Anti-flight spell… I doubt even you have that one Twilight.” The voice was rather superior sounding along with a bit higher as well. Twilight’s eyes widened in response as she took another step back,

“But… but you were helping me!!” The robed pony stopped where she was and raised her hoof, sliding down the hood to reveal the face of none other then Trixie, however, her coloring was of a lighter grey color opposed to her blues and white mane,

“Maybe at one time but to be honest, Twilight, you knew this was coming ever since you humiliated me in Ponyville.” Trixie began to slowly circle Twilight as she spoke, only rarely taking her eyes off of her, “After that I tried to continue my shows; traveling from town to town but something had changed… word of what had happened had spread so far so fast that I was laughed out of almost every town in Equestria that I visited!!” Twilight shook her head quickly as she took a step towards Trixie,

“Trixie please! I didn‘t mean for you to be humiliated! When the ursa came into Ponyville I simply put it back to where it was supposed to be!” Trixie narrowed her eyes, her horn glowing a crimson color as she growled,

“It‘s too late Twilight. Discord helped to open my eyes to what you really are. You‘re just a rebel going against the true king of this country!” Trixie swished her mane before pointing her hoof at Twilight, “But I insisted that I be the one to do the deed that Gilda was not able to do and that is to rid Equestria of you.” Twilight’s horn began to glow as her eyes widened,

“Trixie wait! You‘re under Discord‘s influence! If you just let me cast my memory spell on you then you‘ll be back to normal!” Trixie simply shook her head in response, waving her hoof as if to shoo Twilight away,

“No, Twilight. You see, Discord didn‘t do this to me. I did.” Trixie noticed Twilight’s quizzical look before she continued, “When the elements of harmony were used on me only one thought was in my mind: how I wanted to become greater then you. I was transported to a place I had never seen before and before me was a door. However, I could not open it, not with all of the magic at my disposal. I was alone in an empty void of a place for an entire year. My thoughts and magic the only company I had. And so I decided to work on my magic to pass those long days… even developing a few new spells for myself like the one I cast on that little blue colt over there. My thoughts eventually turned to revenge. Revenge on you and any of your little friends that got in my way… A few days ago my magic became strong enough to open that door and I awoke in the very room I was sent away from. And there was Discord, his claw outstretched to me and a smile on his face.” Trixie turned her gaze back to Twilight and smiled, a look of deep insanity adorning her face, “You‘re going to die here Twilight. But not without a proper duel. I still hold my honor as a unicorn.”

Twilight had been completely silent as she took in every single one of Trixie’s words, closing her eyes and she then let out a slow breath, “You are consumed by your jealousy and hatred Trixie…” Twilight opened her eyes and slowly nodded her head, “I accept your--”

“Twilight no!!” Both unicorns looked to the struggling pegasus as he had begun to stand back up, “You can‘t duel her! You‘re in no condition to fight!”

“Quiet fool!” Trixie shot him again with a second blast of her spell, Written hitting the ground hard as his eyes began to close. Trixie looked back to Twilight and nodded her head, “You are prepared then?” Both unicorn’s horns began to glow and Twilight nodded as both she and Trixie stood ten feet from each other,

“I am.”

“Then… DRAW!” Trixie lowered her head only slightly and a powerful beam shot from her horn. Twilight leapt to the side and fired her own shot but Trixie held out her hoof, a crimson shield forming in front of her and Twilight’s spell disappeared as it hit it, “Your magic is weak Twilight. Try not to make this too easy for me--” Twilight then ran towards Trixie with a yell, firing another beam that Trixie leapt out of the way of before Twilight pivoted and bucked Trixie hard in the face. Trixie was sent flying by the impact, slamming hard into a tree and hit the ground with a thud before she stood up again and spat blood off to the side.

The two unicorns continued their fight for a number of minutes, dodging and shields playing a major factor heavily hindering any damage either would have taken otherwise. After their twentieth minute Twilight was panting having dodged to the side away from one of Trixie’s shots before Twilight ran into a tree, the momentary stunning enough for one of Trixie’s shots to connect, making Twilight bounce off the tree and skid along the ground coming to a stop next to the infinitely deep chasm. Twilight began to struggle to her feet as Trixie began to laugh darkly, “Come now Twilight; you might as well face your death with dignity… that‘s right. Stand up for me.” Twilight’s legs began to shake before she planted her hooves and did her best to stand strong, a line of blood trickling down her muzzle from her forehead.

Trixie’s horn began to glow brightly and she smirked, turning her horn back to Twilight, “Goodbye Twi--”

“How dare you harm my friend you brute!!” Trixie’s eyes widened and she looked to the side in time to see the bright beam rocketing towards her before she was shot in the side and stumbled a few feet. Rarity leapt from the trees with an angry look in her eyes, “Attacking a weaker opponent then yourself, you ought to be ashamed!” Trixie simply smirked as she looked back at the white mare,

“Shall I simply restyle your mane again and make you run back home crying?” Trixie put up a shield to the responding blast against her but she flinched as it pushed her back, “Nngh… giving it your all this time Rarity?” Both unicorns fired a powerful blast from their horns and they met, stalemating for only a moment before the connection began pushing back towards Rarity, Trixie standing proudly with a dark smile on her face, “How fitting that I get to destroy both of you this day!” Rarity groaned as she replanted her hooves into the soil beneath her. Her eyes slowly shifted over to Twilight, who’s horn was merely sparking as she watched with watery eyes.

Rarity’s eyes began to slowly widen seeing the ball of energy traveling towards her but still she tried, growling as she closed her eyes. Trixie suddenly grinned, a large explosion emanating from the beams as the connection reached Rarity’s horn, bits and pieces of horn scattering everywhere as the white unicorn slammed hard into one of the twisted trees and crumpled into a heap. Trixie nodded with a satisfied smirk before she turned her gaze back to where Twilight was standing, “Now as for--” There was a piercing sound, Trixie’s eyes widening as her face began to turn pale. She began to shiver as she slowly and shakily looked down, seeing nothing other then Twilight’s mane until Trixie let out a gasp, a cold feeling filling her as Twilight withdrew her horn from her chest. Trixie took a step back, gazing into the mare’s face for another moment as tears formed in her eyes, “No… you… I‘m the…” Trixie then collapsed, a pool of blood forming around her as her life slipped away into the decayed soil and dead grass under her body.

Written Dreams stood up and flew across the chasm, running over to Twilight and embraced her tightly, Twilight’s eyes closing tightly as she began to sob into Written’s mane. There was silence for only a moment before the two heard a cough from Rarity. The two hurried over to her and Written helped the mare to sit up against the tree. Blood was caked on her face from a hole in her forehead where only a small bit of her horn still remained. She gazed up at the two of them and smiled softly,

“I suppose I don‘t look very glamorous as I am now…” Apart from the head injury her body was also black in some areas, horridly burned from the explosion. Written shook his head as he smiled down at her, a few tears filling his own eyes as well,

“Oh shush Rarity… you‘re still beautiful.” Rarity let out a slight giggle before she began coughing again and looked up at Twilight who was doing her best to hold in her tears,

“Twilight… thank you for everything you‘ve been doing in trying to stop Discord… if you had chosen me before… then I wouldn‘t have been able to save you now. I always had faith in you Twilight. I know that you will stop Discord and that every decision you made was for all of us.” Twilight leaned in and gave Rarity a soft nuzzle, tears beginning to stream down the purple unicorn’s blood-stained face

“You‘re going to be okay Rarity… I promise you‘ll be okay just… just don‘t…” Twilight began to cry as she choked on her words. Rarity looked back to Written and chuckled softly, keeping her gaze on his own

“Written… I hope you‘ll forgive me.” Written tilted his head slightly as he looked down at her,

“For what..?”

“I was never able to finish that outfit for you…” Written cleared his throat and wiped a few tears from his eyes,

“Th-That‘s okay Rarity… take your time. I know it‘s going to look amazing when it‘s done. It‘s your work after all…” Rarity slowly closed her eyes and let out a slow breath,

“And Twilight…? When this is all over and Discord is defeated? I‘d like you to tell Spike… that I just wanted to wait until he was a little older… to be his mare-friend.” Twilight tearfully nodded her head, her tears streaming down her face as Rarity softly smiled, the color slowly leaving her face as she let out one final breath,

“I promise that I‘ll tell him Rarity. G-Get some rest now and we‘ll talk to you in a little while…” Twilight then paused, falling silent as she simply stood there, staring at the lifeless form of one of her closest friends. The element of Generosity was dead.

Chapter 1 - Discord

Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six smiled and giggled happily, Twilight’s magic having been enough to return her friends to normal. Just then, three buffalo wearing tutus danced by on their tip-toes. “Maybe it‘s a little early for a group hug,” she said as the others watched the bison.

The Six of them hurried to the center of Ponyville, where they knew they could find Discord sitting in his throne. Buildings were hovering above roads replaced with soap. The clouds, made out of cotton candy, spewed chocolate rain. Discord sat in his throne, laughing triumphantly as pies rained down in front of him. Having seen a precipitating cloud of cotton candy sitting to his left, he held out his eagle claw hand, and a glass appeared in a small flash before being filled with the chocolate milk raining from the cloud. The Draconequus brought it back over to himself, and looked at it for a moment before grinning and closing his eyes. “Chaos, is a wonderful, wonderful thing.” As he raised the glass to his mouth he heard Twilight’s voice from in front of him:

“Not as wonderful as friendship!” Discord looked back to the Six standing before him, looking confident as they sport the Elements of Harmony in the form of necklaces on all but Twilight, who wore her golden tiara. Discord groaned, sitting back in his throne.

“Ugh, this again?” He raised the glass to his lips, the glass itself pouring into his mouth leaving the chocolate milk behind. He then threw the chocolate milk behind him and it exploded, creating a large cloud of gray smoke behind him for a few moments before it cleared.

“That‘s right! You couldn‘t break up our friendship for long!” Discord grinned, having heard Applejack’s words, and raised his bear arm. One of the fingers started glowing along with Applejack’s necklace, and it was slowly levitated towards Discord.

“Oh, Applejack, don‘t lie to me. I‘m the one who made you a liar.” Discord grinned a sadistic grin as he raised his eagle hand, the claws glowing a bright yellow, and the necklaces on the other four pulled towards him, the ponies leaving the ground and floating before the Spirit of Chaos.

“Will you ever learn?” Twilight sneered angrily after hearing Discord’s words, and her horn shined brightly. The unicorn raised her head and she disappeared in a flash of light, appearing between her five friends with her hooves out to the side, a pink shield forming around the Six of them.

Discord growled, his eagle claw shining as he swiped at the shield, causing Twilight’s magic to dispel and the Six of them to fall to the ground with a thud. The Draconequus stood up, looking down at them all as a sinister smile crept onto his face. “I think we‘ve had enough fun for today; would you all agree?” His claw shone brighter, and a light snap was heard from the necklaces as they flew over to him. “It seems to me, Twilight Sparkle… that you have yet to learn your place in this world.” By this time the Six had gotten up and were staring wide-eyed at Discord as the necklaces flashed, bound together, and hung itself from Discord’s neck.

“Discord! We played your games; now give the Elements of Harmony back!” Twilight growled as she stepped forward, her horn becoming engulfed in powerful magical energy.

“Twilight Sparkle… do you think of me as stupid? I knew you would find the Elements and, being one of Celestia‘s best students, I knew you would find a way to restore your friends. I was only playing with you, but now.... Play time is over.” Twilight’s eyes faded to white as her expression of determination only grew stronger.

“It‘s over, Discord!!” Twilight suddenly gasped as Discord touched her horn, the light fading in her eyes. Suddenly, there was a flash and she was thrown backwards, skidding a few feet before rolling and landing face down in front of him. Discord folded his arms as he shook his head while Twilight’s tiara floated off the ground to lay on his head.

“Oh Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and of course miss Rainbow Dash… I really believed you would put up more of a challenge than this.” Twilight stood, walking over to rejoin her friends, as Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack showed warning signs of fear of Discord. Rainbow Dash continued to hover as her wings flapped, and she looked back to her friends before yelling towards Discord:

“You may have taken the Elements, but there‘s no way you can use them!” She then rocketed forward, letting out a yell as Twilight held out her hoof:

“Rainbow Dash wait!!”

Discord gave an unamused look as the Elements of Harmony around his neck and on top of his head began glowing with a dark shimmer. “Foolish little Pegasus, I posses magic far superior to both Celestia and Luna, and now you‘ve all lost the Elements of Harmony to me once again.” Discord held out his arms as the shining energy grew brighter and more powerful. “I don‘t turn ponies into stone. The Elements of Harmony do.” Twilight’s eyes widened and she threw her hooves out to her sides, forming a thin pink bubble of magic that temporarily shielded her and her friends before it flickered and disappeared, the unicorn hitting the ground once again. She groaned, looking up at Discord from the dirt and seeing a shining wave of power engulf Rainbow Dash. Twilight closed her eyes tight, preparing herself as the wave washes over them all, Discord laughing maniacally as he unleashed the power of the Elements on them. “What‘s this?”

A few moments later Twilight blinked as she opened her eyes, slowly turning her head to face Discord-- but her view was obstructed. She paused, slowly standing and looking around before her eyes began to well up with tears. Discord was sitting in his throne once again, a satisfied grin on his face. Near him, slightly embedded in the ground was a stone statue of Rainbow Dash, still looking back at her friends with a worried gaze frozen on her face. Around Twilight were more statues of her other friends, all with frightened and horrified expressions on their cold and lifeless faces.

Twilight paused as she looked in front of her, her ears dropping as the tears stream down her face. Standing in front of her, shielding her from the power of the Elements was none other than a statue of Princess Celestia. Twilight began to cry more as she saw her face. She was looking back at Twilight with a very gentle smile on her face that seemed to say, “You did your best.”

Discord clapped his paw and claw as he began to laugh. “You should see the look on your face Twilight Sparkle! You were so sure that I was just going to let you turn me to stone with the Elements that you just couldn‘t bring yourself to realize there was no way you could win!” Discord leaned his head on his bear paw as he smirked, “Would you like to know how the princesses managed to use them on me?” Twilight said nothing, looking down as she wept for her friends and mentor. “It was a brilliantly executed sneak attack-- but back to my point. You see, when I was trapped in that stone for all of those long years I patiently waited. I waited for that curse to finally break so I could be free once more-- and I wasn't going to let a group of little ponies stop me.”

“Discord… please…” Hearing Twilight’s words, Discord brought his eagle claw to his ear as he grinned.

“What was that you said?” The Draconequus said as he leaned forward. Twilight, her head hung and her tears falling rapidly to the ground, yelled:

“Discord please! Give me my friends back! I‘m begging you!”

“Tsk, tsk, Twilight Sparkle. You are the one who challenged my rule. I intended you to be turned to stone as well, but without your friends or the Elements you‘re not even a threat to me anymore. Not that you ever were.” Twilight brought a hoof to her eyes, slowly wiping the tears before casting them to the ground,

“At least… turn me…” Twilight paused, her gaze meeting with Celestia’s gently smiling face once again, and her face turned from one of despair to one of determination. “Discord, I‘m going to stop you! And I‘m going to save my friends!” Discord shook his head as he stood, walked over to the unicorn, and reached down, picking her up to be on eye level with him,

“Ms. Sparkle, I‘m only going to say this one more time: if you challenge me, you will lose; if you accept this world of chaos and me as your ruler, then we both win. Either way, chaos rules, and Celestia drools.” He dropped her and turned, facing his throne. Twilight used her magic to slow her fall as she touched down,

“You restored my magic…?” Discord remained turned away from her.

“The fight is won; there is no reason to not give you back your magic.” He then flew off, leaving Twilight alone in a destroyed and chaotic Ponyville.

“What now…?” She turned her head to look off into the distance, the library still standing strong albeit a large hole in the upstairs wall from Rarity’s boulder. Her eyes widened as she began galloping rapidly towards her home: “Spike!”

She quickly opened the door and hurried back upstairs where she had left him, panting from her sudden output of energy. “Spike, where are you!?”

“Over here Twilight!” Twilight turned her head, a hopeful look on her face as she hurried towards the voice. She stopped as she saw him though, her little dragon mostly turned to stone, and from the looks of it the effect was still unfinished. Twilight’s horn began glowing brightly and she laid it against the dragon, Spike closing his eyes at the flash of light, but as it faded Spike remained in his almost frozen state, “Twilight… what‘s happening to me…?” Tears began sliding down Twilight’s beautiful face once again as she looked down at her dragon companion,

“Spike… Discord took back the elements when we got to him… he turned everyone to stone… I only escaped because the princess sacrificed herself and shielded me at the last moment… I‘ve managed to slow the process Spike but… I don‘t know how much longer you have.” She saw the dragon beginning to cry as he looked up at her from his prostrate state.

“Twilight… tell me the truth… can you save us?” Twilight closed her eyes as she looked down, still weeping,

“Spike I… I wish I had a spell to reverse this… but Discord‘s magic is so much greater than my own. I‘m going to do everything I can to save everyone I promise…” Spike paused for a moment after hearing Twilight’s words, and suddenly he burped loudly, a puff of green smoke turning into a letter and falling to the ground. Spike smiled softly up at Twilight as another tear slid down his face. Twilight looked from the letter back to Spike and sniffed back a tear, leaned down, and gave him a light kiss on his forehead, feeling it become cold under her lips before she moved away, “Goodnight… Spike…” Twilight took the letter into her hoof before pausing. She stood for a few moments before collapsing onto her bed and sobbed loudly. All of her closest friends were gone now, even her ever-faithful dragon Spike-- and even the princess.

Twilight broke down, crying for around twenty minutes before she finally ceased, still silently weeping into her pillow as she forced herself to sit up, taking a few deep breathes as she leaned against the back of her bed. Her horn glowed softly as the letter rose up and unfolded, the unicorn’s eyes sliding from side to side slowly as she read:

My faithful student,

If you have received this letter it can only mean that Discord managed to triumph over the Elements of Harmony and, for one reason or another, I am no longer able to speak with you. I know that you and your friends did everything in your power to stop Discord. You did your very best and I could not be more proud of you.

I began writing this letter as I watched you selflessly chase down your friends one by one and restore them to their rightful ways. You are the greatest student that I have ever had, Twilight, and I know that you will find a way to stop Discord, even without the Elements.

What you should do first is get out of Ponyville, assuming that you reading this tells me that you managed to escape Discord’s powers. I cannot gauge your losses, but you must be heavily distressed. Do one of two things after leaving Ponyville: head into the Everfree forest or attempt to get to Canterlot and find out if my sister is safe.

I must finish this letter now as I see that you have begun your confrontation of Discord. I pray that you will never receive this letter from me, but since you have, you must find Written Dreams.
Your mentor and friend,
Princess Celestia

Twilight took a deep breath as she folded the letter back into a scroll and slid out of her bed. She walked over to her closet and took out a saddlebag, sliding the letter into one of the pouches and putting other various necessities into the other pouches. “Why does that name sound so familiar to me?… Written Dreams.” Twilight walked downstairs, packing a bag of bits into her bags before nodding to herself: “Not too heavy, good.” She walked around the library, going through book after book of spells and famous ponies, and sighed when she was unable to find anything about the pony mentioned in the princess’s letter. She tilted her head, seeing a book missing from one of the shelves. “What book is supposed to be here? … Nopony has borrowed a book for quite a long time… perhaps I‘ll remember after my mind calms down…” She headed over to another shelf and slid a book titled Basic Survival: A Complete Guide into her bag.

Twilight then walked over to her front door and opened it, pausing as she looked around at the chaotic landscape. She looked to the left-- the Everfree Forest in the distance-- then to the right-- Canterlot Castle high up on the cliff face.

“First priority has got to be getting to Princess Luna.” Twilight began walking, letting out a slow breath as she walked through Ponyville. “Nothing new… where is Discord…?” She said to herself, seeing some long-legged rabbits run past. She looked up at the sky, the sun still hanging high overhead and the moon not climbing up to replace it anymore. “Looks like Discord regulated the sun and moon…” Twilight continued to walk for a number of minutes before pausing, seeing Discord’s throne empty atop his small hill, and every statue of her friends and even the princess mysteriously missing. Twilight heard herself growl as she continued through the area. She had hoped to see her friends again, even in the state they were in; it would have at least gave her more hope.

“Discord… your cruelty knows no limit…” The little pony continued to walk in silence, her gaze straight ahead at the castle in the distance as she reached the end of town and continued to walk down the soap road towards Canterlot, her hooves enveloped in magic preventing her from sliding on the slick path.

The unicorn continued to walk down the path, her mind drifting back to the letter that Princess Celestia had written to her. “The princess must have had some kind of fail-safe in case Discord won… otherwise she never would have thrown herself in front of the Elements like she did.” She withdrew the letter from her bag and unfolded it again.

I pray that you will never receive this letter from me and since you have, you must find Written Dreams.

“Written Dreams…” Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered an encounter with a pony of that name. “He came into the library once…”

Twilight hummed as a feather duster floated around in front of her, her horn lightly glowing with magical aura as she went around the library, dusting off the bookcases and each book individually, “Spring cleaning is such a nice time, don‘t you agree Spike?” The little dragon only grumbled as he stood in front of a different bookcase, dusting it off as well,

“Yeah, wonderful,” he said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. As Twilight giggled, there was a knock at the door,

“Keep cleaning, Spike; I‘ll get it.” The light purple pony trotted over to the door, humming a familiar tune, before opening the door with a happy smile. “Yes?” Standing in the doorway was a pegasus with a dark blue coat, a silver mane ,and a semi-long silver tail. His cutie-mark depicted a pen writing a line of stars along with a small moon just above the base of the trail.

“Hello miss, this is the library right? Sorry if I‘m mistaken.” Twilight shook her head as she opened the door fully, stepping to the side and motioning him inside with her hoof,

“Yes this is the library. I apologize: I also live here so sometimes people mistake this as my house instead.” She hummed lightly, trotting over to a bookcase, before looking back at him with a happy smile. “So you like to read?” The blue Pegasus walked over to the bookcases, nodding as he looked over to her,

“Well, yes and no, I read when I need to know something, but all in all I much prefer writing.”

Twilight’s ears perked when she heard this, and she walked a few steps closer, tilting her head a little with a curious expression,

“What kind of things do you write? If you don‘t mind me asking of course…” Twilight felt herself blush sheepishly, realizing she was asking him something personal. He smiled at the question, however, and looked over to her, his hoof touching the ground instead of the books.

“Ah, all sorts of things. Magic, ponies, pegasi, and unicorns-- I write about just about anything you can think of. Some things can take a lot of research though.” Twilight had sat down as she listened to him speak, and her ears perked a bit as he finished.

“I consider myself a pretty well-read pony. I‘ve read every book in this library by now.” She heard the colt laugh and nod in response to her,

“Books really can be fascinating journeys. Oh, I‘m sorry I forgot to ask your name.” Twilight stood back up, offering her hoof to him.

“Ah, of course. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” She then saw the pony’s eyes light up and he grinned, taking her hoof and shaking it before the two of them returned their hooves to the ground,

“Ah, I was hoping to run into you when I visited Ponyville. The Princess has told me a lot about her best student. It‘s an honor to meet you Ms. Sparkle.” Twilight took a step back and blushed, seeing him giving a light bow before her,

“Ehm… sorry I‘ve just never had anyone bow to me before. Really I‘m nopony special.” The pegasus moved his head back up from the bow and shook his head.

“Oh, but you are! You and all of your friends wield the Elements of Harmony, one of my personally favorite subjects.” Twilight looked a bit off to the side, embarrassed about the praise she was being given.

“So… is there anything I can help you find?”

“Actually, I‘m looking for a specific book the princess said you would have. It‘s called The Quill of Eternity. My name is Written Dreams by the way.” Twilight nodded with a gentle smile before looking up and around for a moment,

“Spike, can you bring me--”

“The Quill of Eternity, I have it right here!” The baby dragon was by her side in an instant with the book in hand. Written Dreams smiled lightly as he took it from him and slid it onto the bag he had on his side,

“Thank you very much, Twilight, Spike. I promise that I‘ll return this book to you the next time we meet.” Twilight nodded to him with a gentle smile.

“Let me know when you‘re in town next; I can ask Pinkie Pie to throw a party for you! She loves meeting new ponies.” Written Dreams chuckled as he walked over to the door with Twilight beside him.

“Till then, Twilight.” He lifted her hoof and gave it a kiss before departing from the library and began walking down the road towards Canterlot.

Twilight looked up at Canterlot, so far up the mountainside, and sighed to herself, “I wonder if he‘s still there… it‘s been so many months since he came by the library…”

Chapter 8 - The Deal

Twilight and Princess Luna had finished walking through the chaotic town of Ponyville and had begun down the path towards the towering and snowy-peaked mountain ahead of them, the unicorn letting out slow breathes that caught the princess’ attention and Luna looked over to her with a concerned expression, “Twilight… what are you thinking about?” Twilight continued looking ahead, even after hearing her words she continued walking with her in silence for a number of minutes before she stopped and looked to the mare of the night,

“A few things. That Discord may have grown suspicious of what we‘re doing… and I‘m wondering what could be waiting for us at that cave. We haven‘t used much magic at all but still… I can‘t help but think he‘ll be showing his face again soon and then what?”

“We escape again.” Twilight stopped walking at the princess’ quick response and looked at her with a worried expression,

“Princess it can‘t be that easy! What if he--” Luna stomped her hoof angrily, glaring down at her,

“I don‘t know Twilight! I don‘t know what will happen if we encounter Discord again! What else can we do but just keep on running and searching for this quill and pray we never see his face throughout our entire journey?!” Luna paused, seeing Twilight take a step away from her and the alicorn sighed softly, hanging her head a little, “Twilight… I‘m sorry for yelling but… I am just as scared as you are about finding Discord again…” Twilight took a few steps towards her, putting her front hooves around her neck and embracing her tightly,

“Princess… I‘m sorry… you‘re right. I need to stop thinking about so many scenarios and just continue looking ahead and taking things as they come. Regardless of how hard they might be to overcome.”

A little over an hour later the two mares found themselves at the foot of the enormous mountain, looking up at the cragged peaks and jutting stones before them before they nodded in unison to one another and began walking up the trail up the mountain. It didn’t take the two very long before they came to an enormous rockslide barring most of the path in front of them, Luna pausing as she looked up and down at all of the boulders, “Oh my… what happened here?” Twilight gave a bit of an embarrassed laugh and scratched the back of her head, looking over to the princess as she walked forward and started walking over the boulders,

“This was actually Fluttershy‘s doing. She yelled so loudly that it caused an avalanche. It wasn‘t her fault though, she got startled when the rest of us were talking about avalanches so she thought one was happening.” Princess Luna gave a small laugh as her wings spread, flapping a few times as she flew across the rockslide, watching Twilight trot over to her after she had climbed over a few more boulders,

“Sounds like you all had quite the journey climbing up here.” Twilight looked back at the princess as the two continued up the path, making their way quickly up the mountain side with no interruption,

“It really was a fun experience in the end and we all learned that even though she‘s shy, Fluttershy will stand up for her friends no matter who opposes her.” Another hour passed before Twilight sat with a groan, panting a little as she was out of breath, “Princess, can we sit down for a few minutes? I’m exhausted.” Luna stopped walking, looking up at the remainder of the mountain they had left to climb before she trotted over to Twilight and laid down next to her,

“We‘re almost there anyway. It‘ll be better for us to get there and not be completely warn out from this hike.” Luna waited for a few moments, silently looking around before she blinked and looked down, seeing Twilight’s head resting on her arm and the little unicorn sound asleep. Luna watched her for a moment before smiling warmly down towards her and laid her own head down on the ground, “Still so young… everything that‘s happening is reeking havoc on her mind and body.”

Luna patiently waited for nearly thirty minutes before Twilight stirred, lifting her head and then standing up and blinking with a blush of embarrassment, “Oh my, did I fall asleep?” Luna nodded as she stood up as well and laughed, turning back towards the trail as she began walking once again,

“you haven‘t been able to really sleep peacefully in a while, and what‘s happened has taken its own toll on your mind and body, it‘s understandable Twilight.” Twilight took in Luna’s words and her expression turned to one of concern for the alicorn and she tilted her head a little as she trotted after her,

“What about you princess? Shouldn‘t you get some rest as well?” Luna slowly nodded her head, her smile fading a little as the two of them continued walking,

“Compared to what I‘ve endured, this is nothing.” Luna looks down at the pony walking next to her and she smiles softly, “Try being imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years but…” Luna pauses, looking ahead again, “This is second only to that…” After that, the two walked in silence until they reached the enormous cave near the top of the mountain. Twilight walked over to the entrance to the cave and looked around slowly before looking back to the princess as she walked over to join her,

“Okay princess, lets keep our eyes peeled for anything inside the cave.” Luna simply nodded in response and the two of them walked inside, both looking at the walls as they walked along opposite sides so that they would meet in the middle, “Princess… if these clues are hundreds of years old and carved into stone… wouldn‘t they have disappeared by now?” Both of the mares continue walking along the wall, Luna peering over to Twilight to acknowledge her before looking back to the wall,

“Logically yes, but I sensed it in the ursa‘s cave. The carving of this mountain was coated in a very thin layer of time magic.” Twilight stopped and looked over to the princess but Luna shook her head as she saw her face, “I know what you‘re thinking and no, there is no spell that allows a pony to rewrite history. The magic on the carvings stops them from ageing by sealing them in the second the spell was cast, and then it simply replays that second over and over again. It seems like it only works on carvings though as it doesn‘t have the properties to effect living beings.” As both Twilight and Luna met at the other end of the cave Twilight peered up towards the ceiling and her horn glowed a bit, illuminating the darker parts of the cave. Luna and Twilight both smiled in unison as the next clue was revealed to the two of them. Depicted above them was a large open prairie, some mountains off in the distance and a few rocks on the ground here or there. An ‘X’ sat in the center of the drawing, along with a herd of buffalo running across the picture. The two then paused and fell silent as they heard steps in front of them at the entrance of the cave,

“Twilight Sparkle I think you may have finally lost it.” Discord slowly walked towards the two of them with a sinister grin on his face, the draconequus imitating Twilight’s voice as he laughed, “I‘ve lost all my friends! Better climb a mountain!” Both Luna’s and Twilight’s horns glowed as they stare angrily towards the spirit of chaos but he throws up his arms and stands his ground, ceasing his approach, the elements of harmony around his neck and on his head, “Easy now ladies I didn‘t come her to fight you.” Both remained silent except for the growling leaving the two mares and Discord dropped his arms giving an unamused sigh, “Oh come now. If I wanted to I could have just blasted you both with the elements when I first saw you but that wouldn‘t have been fun at all.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak but Luna took a step forward staring down Discord with an angry expression,

“Discord why would you come here?” Discord brought his eagle claw to his chin and laughed before shaking his bear paw at the princess,

“Oh come now is that how you really greet an old friend after… how long has it been?”

“Not long enough. Now tell us why you didn‘t attack!” Discord rolls his eyes in response, folding his arms as he stares at them both,

“I came to strike a deal since I find it boring to pointlessly chase you both to… wherever it is you planned on going.” Discord walks around the cave a bit as he speaks, joining his paw and claw behind his back, “But this cave is actually quite nice though a bit drafty for my taste I much prefer my castle--” Twilight took a step forward and yelled towards Discord, both of their horns glowing brighter,

“What‘s this about a deal Discord?!” Discord blinked as Twilight cut him off, looking back to them with a smirk,

“Ah, yes that. Well seeing as how you two seem to have a habit of teleporting whenever I show up I think I can offer you something in exchange for completing my collection of the royal sisters.” Luna took a step back as her eyes widened in response to what Discord had said, the alicorn’s eyes narrowing with hatred-filled eyes. Twilight pauses hearing Discord’s words and looks towards him with a distrusting look,

“There is nothing you could possibly offer me that would make me give up the princess, and besides, that‘s not my choice to make anyway!” Discord fell silent as Twilight finished speaking and he stood before them for a few moments,

“Actually it is your choice Twilight because it‘s more fun for me that way. If either of you try to teleport, I shut off your magic. There is no way out of this for the princess.” Twilight stopped as she heard this, giving Discord an odd look,

“Why would you let me go?”

“I‘ve said it already. You are no threat to me but with the princess, you do pose a threat so I‘m restacking the odds in my own favor by removing her from the equation now then…” Discord brought his claw and paw out to his sides, both glowing with a bright shimmer and in five flashes, the statues of Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash appeared before them, Discord grinning as he saw Twilight’s eyes widen,

“Discord… what…?” Discord remained standing behind the five statues, motioning to each of them with his claw as a sinister smile creeped onto his face,

“In exchange for the princess, you may pick two of them to be returned to you. Two is more than fair I believe wouldn‘t you say, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna let out a slow breath and looked over to Twilight, her ears lowering a little,

“Twilight… my fate is already sealed here. You have no choice but to take Discord up on his offer and continue on without me.” Twilight was silent, staring at the ground as she said nothing. In her mind she was processing the situation. She was going to lose Luna now, that was set in stone as there was nothing else she could possibly offer the spirit of chaos but now she had to choose two of the five friends in front of her.

Discord turned away from them, walking to the mouth of the cave and laid down, closing his eyes as he looked over to the two, “You have one hour to make your choice, Twilight Sparkle.” He then disappeared in a flash of light and was gone. Twilight walked over to the statues of her friends, accompanied by the princess as the unicorn looked at each of them. Each of them were in the same positions they had been when they were originally changed, Rainbow Dash the only one not standing and in a flying stance laying on the ground. Twilight then simply looked down to the ground as she let out a sigh,

“Princess… I don‘t know who to choose… and how would they feel about me not choosing another?” Luna walked over next to her, putting a hoof around her and held her closely, giving her head a nuzzle as she sighed,

“Twilight… he‘s forcing you to make a selfish choice, there‘s no way around it. I would look at it this way. If you have to pick two of your friends, think of the future ahead of you and which two of your friends would be more useful against what you might face. Think of their skills and strengths, but do not forget their weaknesses as well.” Twilight listened carefully to the princess’ words and looked across at each of her friends,

“Rarity… she has a strong heart but can be overly dramatic at times. She‘s good at manipulating to get her way but is also generous to an incredible point.” Twilight looked to the next in line, “Fluttershy… quiet and shy, scared of most things but has a powerful bravery that comes out if one of her friends is in trouble and requires her to be strong.” Twilight continued to ponder as she looked to Applejack, “AJ… honest and physically she‘s very strong. Level-headed and very trustworthy although she can be a little too dependant on what other ponies think of her.” The unicorn continued, taking a few steps to the side as Luna continued to watch her, “Pinkie… dependant and trustworthy… she‘s able to see the silver lining in just about any situation and she‘s always positive and smiling but she can be serious if she needs to be.” Twilight lowered her head to look down at the statue of Rainbow Dash on the ground, “And finally Rainbow Dash… Loyal and strong, fast but prideful.” Twilight slowly closed her eyes and she laid down, laying her head down on the ground and groaned, “This is such a hard choice.”

The minutes passed by slowly and Twilight had stood up again, pacing around the cave as her eyes remained on the floor. Luna watched silently as Twilight mulled everything over in her mind. She silently waited and watched the unicorn as she made several laps around the cave before the princess eventually stood up and walked over to her, laying a hoof on her shoulder, “This must be hard for you Twilight… but pacing around is only going to make this harder. Come sit with me and rest your mind a little, it will do you a lot more good than thinking so hard about this.” Twilight said nothing as she looked at the princess, a look of heavy distress on her face, the small unicorn slowly walking over to the princess and laying down, laying her head on the ground as she sighed, feeling Luna running a hoof down her back periodically as she laid there,

“Princess… can you help me make this choice in any way?”

“Twilight… I feel I‘ve helped you as much as I can. In the end this is your decision to make. It might make things a little easier if you think about what we‘ve faced so far and think of that as what may happen in the future. Perhaps it might be easier if you could think of one or two to eliminate from your choices.” Twilight slowly lifted her head, looking up at her friends before closing her eyes,

“I wish they didn‘t have those horrified looks on their faces… it hurts to even look at them knowing I‘ll be leaving three of them in stone.”

“How do you think Fluttershy would have reacted in Sunny Town? Or against the ursas?” Twilight shook her head looking to Luna,

“That‘s not fair, that‘s just playing on weaknesses. When we were here she made the dragon leave and never return.”

“That was then, this is now. What you need to do is find which will be more valuable to YOU Twilight. Don‘t think about how they will feel about it. Yes, you are going to be leaving three in stone but if the two you choose can help you all the way to the end, then you have to choose them. The strongest, the ones who will look on with determination and the ones that can pick you or another up if they fall. There are a lot of different factors to choose from.” Twilight remains silent for a number of minutes until her hour expires and Discord appears in a bright flash of light, standing before them with a grin, his arms folded,

“Have you chosen?” Twilight nodded and took a step back as the Elements of Harmony glowed brightly, Discord raising his arms before he unleashed the power of the elements on Luna, the princess spreading her wings and standing with a determined expression as her body turned cold and grey. Discord gave a satisfied smirk as Twilight looked away from the princess with a sad sigh and sniffed before she rose her head hearing Discord snapping his fingers, “Go ahead and make your choice now.” Twilight pauses, looking at each of her friends before looking up at Discord with a scowl,

“Answer me something first. Why would you have me make this choice?” Discord folded his arms at Twilight’s words, shaking his head slowly as the spirit of disharmony lets out a laugh,

“It should be obvious. Chaos of the mind can be even more damaging than simple physical chaos. Yes I can make houses float and I can turn ponies into chocolate but when the war rages inside of a mind, that is when chaos is at it’s most powerful.” Twilight looked over as the statue of Luna glowed brightly and then disappeared in a flash of light, “Now Twilight. Make your choice, you‘ve stalled me long enough I‘m missing some excellent chaos while I sit here talking with you.” Twilight was silent for another few moments before she looked up to Discord and nodded slowly,

“I choose Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all disappeared in a flash of light and the Elements glowed brightly, as Discord touched a finger to the two remaining statues, color filling them as their solidification disappeared. Discord looked at Twilight Sparkle for a few moments before a dark smile creeped onto his face,

“An interesting choice Twilight. I hope this decision won‘t haunt you for too long.” Discord let out a loud laugh as he disappeared, his laugh echoing throughout the cave. Applejack collapsed to the ground with a groan and passed out in front of Twilight, Rainbow Dash doing the same and Twilight let out a slow sigh as she walked around the cave, gathering a few twigs and branches and gathered them in the middle of the cave, her horn glowing for a few moments before she touched it down, the raw magical aura making the dry wood catch on fire after a few moments, Twilight withdrawing her horn and walking over to her two friends, bringing them over to the warmth of the fire and she smiled gently, seeing the two of them breathing slowly as they slept

“Honesty and Loyalty, Strength and Stealth… I just hope I made the right choice.” Twilight then laid opposite the two and laid her head down, staring into the flames as she held back her tears, the loss of the princess weighing heavily on her heart.