Chapters Meanwhile, in the town of Ponyville, a light-grey earth pony had just woken up. She yawned and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. Standing at the stove cooking was her roommate and best friend, Vinyl Scratch. She was a white unicorn with a short blue mane. She was wearing her large purple-tinted sunglasses, which she almost never took off. Vinyl looked up from the stove to see her standing there.
"Jeez, Octavia," she said. "I thought you were never going to wake up. It's already eleven o'clock."
"Hey, I had a big concert with the orchestra last night. You would be tired too," said Octavia defensively.
"True. Concerts do take a lot out of you," she admitted.
"What are you cooking, Vinyl?" asked Octavia.
"Pancakes. I hope you like them, 'cause I made a lot."
Octavia looked around the kitchen. It was a total mess.
"I can see that," she said.
Octavia went to the table and sat down. She was a little upset about the kitchen, but Vinyl was a good cook and would help her clean up with her unicorn magic. Shortly after, Vinyl came to the table carrying a large stack of pancakes. She set it down, careful not to make it all tip over.
"So get this," Vinyl said as she was pouring syrup on a pancake. "I was talking to my friend Neon Lights the other day, and guess what? He got me a job performing at the Grand Galloping Gala! Isn't that awesome? I know your fancy orchestra's going to be there too, so we can all hang out and everything."
"That's great, Vinyl!" Octavia said. "I'm really looking forward to it. I don't think the Gala has ever used a DJ before."
"Totally. I always felt like the Gala could use some of my dubstep experience."
Vinyl grabbed a few more pancakes off the top of the stack.
"So how was your concert? I heard you guys killed it."
"Oh, it was just wonderful! We're really gaining a reputation. I wish you could have been there."
Vinyl Scratch sighed. "I'm sorry Octavia. I really tried to be there, but you know how my job can get. Things are always popping up at the last minute. I'll make the next one okay? I promise."
"It... It's fine. Don't worry about it," Octavia said. Even though it wasn't fine. She was really upset that Vinyl was never there to support her, and this was the exact same thing she had said after the last concert Octavia was in.
"So, what do you want to do today?" Vinyl asked.
"I really don't know. I've got a lot of practicing to do."
She rolled her eyes. "C'mon Octavia, all you ever do is practice, practice, practice. You should go out and have fun for a change."
"Well, like it or not, the Grand Galloping Gala is in seven days. The piece we're playing is extremely difficult, especially the cello part. I need to make sure it's perfect."
Vinyl got up and grabbed her saddle bag.
"Fine, you can stay here and play your cello. I'm going out shopping."
"Try not to spend all my money this time."
"Oh, I'll pay you back."
With the sound of the door shutting, she was gone. Octavia sighed and got up. She started cleaning the kitchen, something that Vinyl neglected to do.
Sometimes I wonder how I can live with that pony, she thought.
Octavia was never bitter about sharing a house with Vinyl Scratch. After all, they had been best friends since as long as she could remember. No matter how insensitive she could be, she always meant well. They both had a passion for music, and although they were into different styles, it was something they loved to talk about. Octavia knew that they were and always would be best friends no matter what.
Octavia stepped back and looked at her cleaning. There was not a spot to be seen across the whole kitchen. She took a short look around to admire it, and went to the living room for her cello. She grabbed her music and bow and sat down to play.
Octavia took a deep breath and concentrated. This was not an easy song by any means. She could not afford to be distracted by anything if she wanted it to sound good.
She held her bow and began to move it across the strings. It began with the first note, then the first measure. She felt herself slipping into the deep zone that she felt during every song she played. The bow moved faster and faster, dancing across each string. Each note was perfectly crafted and rang with a creativity that only Octavia could perform. She did not stop there. Eighth note. Quarter note. Half note. Chord. Sharp. Flat. She breezed effortlessly through the articulations and tones of each one. A little of her emotions came through in every note she played, combining together until the music represented her very soul. Octavia never felt more calm or at peace as she did in these moments.
Then, almost immediately, it stopped.
The song was over.
She set down her bow and smiled. For the first time in a while, she allowed herself to relax.
Luna took off that very night. She couldn't afford to waste any more time. Her head was a mess. Her own sister, who was always so patient and caring, turned on her and wanted her dead. It made no sense. The only way that Luna could get out of this was to play along with Celestia's game. She had one week to make a plan before Celestia would come and kill her. It was so horrible and unbelievable that all she wanted to do was cry. And she did. A lot. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore. But now it was time to get far away from there, and worry about surviving.
She spread her wings and flew off into the dark night. She flew past Canterlot and Ponyville until she came to the Everfree Forest, a place that no normal pony would ever want to go. This was all fine for Luna, she had to stay hidden. She walked through the forest, looking for a place that was even remotely habitable. Eventually, she came upon a deserted cave. She looked around and went inside. This was her new home.
One of the major benefits of being the Princess of the Night was her ability to appear in the dreams of ponies whenever she wanted. Since she couldn't meet anypony face to face, she would have to use this skill often. Luna knew there was no way she could win alone. She would need allies, and she would pick and choose only the very best. Luna would fight, and she would win. She would fix her sister, find out whatever corrupted her, and destroy it. Of this, Luna was quite sure. But the fight would start here, this first night, with a dream.
Octavia's day went by like a blur. She played through her songs, yelled at Vinyl Scratch for spending all her money on hair gel, and knocked out most of her to-do list. Understandably, she was exhausted. She walked slowly up to her room, and collapsed onto her bed. She fell asleep almost instantly. She started dreaming, but this was no ordinary dream.
In it, she was standing in a cave. Directly in front of her was none other than Princess Luna. She looked beaten down and tired. Seeing Octavia now in the cave, she began to speak.
"Hello, Octavia Melody. There is much that we must discuss."
Octavia was surprised, even if it was just a dream.
Luna continued. "You are very important to what I need done. I know you are attentive and patient, and I will need you to listen carefully."
"I'm important? What could I possibly do? I mean, it's not like I'm a princess or anything," she said.
"Don't discount yourself, Octavia," said Luna. "You are much more powerful than you know. Now, as I said, I will need you to listen."
Luna told her the entire story, from the beginning.
"That's unbelieveable. How could Celestia do something like that?"
Luna shook her head. "I don't know. But I do know that something made her do it. I need to save her, and I can't do it alone. That's where you come in."
"Just me? I don't think one average pony will make a difference in this."
"You won't be alone. I need you and several others, including your friend. Vinyl Scratch was her name, I believe. You're all very important. I just need you to promise me that you will be loyal and persevere, because it won't be easy. There will be times when you will want to give up, but you must not."
Luna suddenly looked very young and scared.
"Please. I know my sister is still in there somewhere. I need your help."
"Yes, I will help you. You have my word," said Octavia. "But how will I know when to begin?"
"When I am ready, I will find you," said Luna. "Thank you so very much. I will leave now. It's almost time to wake up."
She stomped her hoof on the ground, and the dream started to fade.
"Goodbye, Octavia Melody. We will meet again soon."
The dream went black, and Octavia woke with a start.
She rubbed her eyes and blinked. It was a crazy dream, but she knew it was real. Princess Luna only appeared in dreams if she wanted to. But it didn't make any sense. What had Luna meant when she said Octavia had power? She was nothing more than a musician, and she seriously doubted that she could fight the most powerful pony in Equestria by playing the cello.
It was all a big mess. Just when she was starting to relax, the princess threw the fate of the world in her hooves.
However, she did say that I wouldn't be alone, that there would be several other ponies to help me. One of them is Vinyl Scratch. I should probably talk to her and see if we can get things straightened around, she reasoned.
Octavia trotted downstairs to find her roommate. There she was, in the kitchen cooking. She was making eggs and toast, which was normal. The part that was not normal was the fact that she wasn't wearing her sunglasses. This made Octavia nervous. The only time Vinyl Scratch would neglect her sunglasses was when she was being serious, which was rare.
"Vinyl, something really bad just happened. I heard so in a dream," she said.
Vinyl didn't act surprised. She set her cooking aside and looked over.
"Your dream didn't happen to have Princess Luna in it, did it?" she asked.
Octavia was taken aback. "Yes, actually it did. Did you have the same dream as me?"
"I think so. It was about Princess Celestia turning evil, right?"
"Yes. That was it. We're chosen for something important, you know."
"I know. It's pretty insane. Princess Luna wants us to save Equestria! Can you imagine it?”
Vinyl finished cooking and set the food on the table.
"I just wonder who else is a part of it. We can't be the only ones," Octavia said.
"I don't know, but we can't really worry about it. Luna said she would tell us more when it's time. We're going to have to wait."
Octavia was surprised. Usually, Vinyl was not the patient one.
"In the meantime, we can enjoy ourselves," Vinyl said as she scraped some eggs onto her plate.
She put her sunglasses back on, signaling that the seriousness was over.
Princess Luna was awfully tired. Appearing in dreams took a ton of energy, even for her. But she couldn't give up. Not yet. There were more dreams to visit. She would have to fight through the pain to make her plan work. Tonight was even more important than the last. She just hoped it wasn't too late. She cast the dream spell and waited patiently.
Shortly after, a lavender alicorn appeared in front of her. The spell had worked.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle. I need to talk to you. We are all in great danger," she said.
Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Luna. How dare you show your face here. Get out of my dream now. I mean it," she said aggressively.
Luna was shocked. This wasn't the kind of response she was expecting. Especially not from a pony as kind as Twilight Sparkle.
"Please, Twilight. You need to listen to me. This is important."
Twilight turned away. "I already heard quite enough from Celestia."
"Whatever my sister said, it's not true. Something is very wrong. I need to help her. She is corrupting you and everypony else. Please. I can't do it alone," she pleaded.
"You have some nerve, you know that?" Twilight shouted. "First you run away saying you're going to return to take over Equestria, and now you're lying to me and insulting the Princess!"
"No! I told you. I didn't-"
Twilight cut her off. "I'm sorry, Luna, but I can't believe that."
She stomped a hoof on the ground and disappeared.
Luna was stunned. She didn't expect it to go that way at all.
I was too late, she thought. Celestia had obviously got to her first and told her lies. Not only that, I just lost my chance to divide the Elements of Harmony.
One extremely important fact about the Elements is that it has very little to do with actual things. The Elements are only usable if they are attached to a pony or group of ponies.The Elements of Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic were tied to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle. Luna's goal was to get at least one of those ponies to join her side, but that was over now. Twilight would tell her friends and they would all fight for Celestia. Her sister had her in perfect position. It was almost checkmate.
Luna couldn't give up. She had to win. If she didn't, well, she tried not to think about that.
She sat there in her cave, brainstorming plans and drawing diagrams in the dirt with a stick. Let's see. I have two allies right now. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, she pondered. Celestia has thousands of allies and the Elements of Harmony.
Luna stopped drawing. Math wasn't her favorite subject, but the numbers were definitely not in her favor.
If what Celestia says is correct, then there is no way for me to stop the Elements. Of course, unless I kill one of Twilight's friends.
She shook her head. Murder was not a good way to handle this. The less lives lost, the better. She cast the idea aside.
We'll try to avoid that plan.
Luna closed her eyes and thought harder. She needed ideas.
There has to be more to the Elements than what Celestia is telling me. No weapon is unstoppable. It has to have some weakness, but what?
She stopped to ponder this thought. If she could find the weakness of the Elements, she would win. Luna did some more doodles, and thought until her head started to hurt. Still, she had nothing.
Okay, I need to slow down. There's got to be a pattern here. The Elements represent friendship, so that means...
She set down her stick. She knew what to do now. This plan would work, Luna was sure of it. She would no longer need a thousand allies, only six. Two were already with her. For the first time in days, she had an opportunity to save her sister, and she was determined not to let it go. But first, she had some dreams to visit.
The next day, a police box materialized out of thin air in Ponyville. This was not a normal occurrence, and it would have greatly confused any pony who had seen it. Except, of course, for the ones inside it, who were completely used to the strangeness. The two passengers stepped out, and looked at their surroundings. One of them was a coffee brown earth pony with an hourglass as a cutie mark, and the other was a grey pegasus with crossed eyes and bubbles as a cutie mark. They were talking to each other quite loudly, but no pony could understand what they were saying, so it didn't matter.
"So you see, Derpy," said the brown earth pony who called himself The Doctor. "If we calculate this logically, the number of planets with life must be finite, and the number of total planets is infinite, so the finite number divided by the infinite number is essentially zero. That means that the population of the universe comes out to zero. Isn't that fascinating?"
"Yeah, sure," said Derpy, whose attention was clearly focused on a strange leaf on the ground.
"Of course, that doesn't explain you and me here right now. Maybe life is just an illusion. That would be an interesting theory."
Derpy soon became bored of the leaf. She set it down.
"I forgot. Why are we in Ponyville?" she asked.
The Doctor sighed. "We've already been over this. You had the dream too, you know. We need to help the Princess. That's why we came back."
"Oh, right. Still, I don't get it. Why would Celestia turn evil? I thought she loved her sister."
"That's the perplexing part. We'll have to wait to figure that one out. We should probably stay in Ponyville while we're waiting."
"Thank goodness. That time machine was making me time-sick. Not to mention the fact that we ran out of muffins. I'm gonna have to make some more."
"Well, I guess you can go have fun if you want. Just be careful."
"Thanks, Doctor!" Derpy exclaimed.
She spread her wings and flew off at a speed that would have made the Wonderbolts jealous; humming to herself all the while.
Octavia stepped outside of her small house. She decided to take Vinyl's advice and enjoy herself. Although it was hard, considering that she would have to save Equestria in a couple of days. She took a deep breath and pushed that to the back of her mind. She pulled out her shopping list. There was a lot to buy. It would keep her busy for a while. First, she needed new quills for writing. She put away her list and headed in the general direction of Quills and Sofas, which was not far.
Octavia stopped. Something didn't seem right. She looked up just in time to see an out of control cross-eyed pegasus flying straight at her. She yelped, but it was too late to do anything else.
It was a painful collision. Octavia groaned and picked herself back off the ground. "Seriously?" she shouted at the dazed pegasus. "Who taught you how to fly? Shouldn't you watch where...?"
She quit shouting when she saw who it was. Her anger was replaced by wonder.
"Derpy? Is that you?" she asked. "Wow! I haven't seen you in so long. Not since you went on those adventures with The Doctor. We have so much to catch up on."
Derpy got up and steadied herself.
"Hi, Octavia," she said brightly. "Sorry about the crash. How are you?"
"I'm fine. I was just going out shopping. Do you want to come with me? We could talk about your adventures."
"As long as we can go get some muffins on the way."
Octavia picked up a dozen muffins from the Ponyville Coffee Shop, and they munched on them while they did their shopping.
"So why did you pick now to return to Ponyville?" Octavia asked. "What made you turn around all of a sudden?"
"Oh, that's an easy one. We ran out of muffins, of course. Traveling through time makes you hungry," Derpy said.
"Is that all?"
"Well, we also had dreams with Princess Luna in them. She said she needed our help to save Celestia because she turned evil."
Octavia didn't expect to hear that. Derpy and The Doctor had the dreams as well; this meant that they would all be part of Luna's plan together.
"Luna was in your dreams too?" she asked. "It was the same for me and Vinyl Scratch! What do you think the Princess wants us to do?"
"Gosh, I don't know. I tried to ask The Doctor but he explained it all confusingly and it made my head hurt."
"I think the four of us need to get together and talk about this. It's a really big deal, you know. If we fail, Luna will die and there will be nopony left to keep her from doing whatever she wants. If she isn't stopped, who knows what she'll do with Equestria?"
Derpy thought about this for a moment. They walked in silence until she finally spoke.
"That's really depressing. I guess we should talk about it. I don't know where The Doctor is, though."
"I'm sure we'll find him. He couldn't have gone very far."
"He did say he was going to stay here, in Canterlot."
"This is Ponyville, Derpy," Octavia said as nicely as possible.
Derpy hit herself on the head.
"Oh, right! Clumsy me. I'm always forgetting things," she said with a smile.
"Don't worry about it. You go find The Doctor. I'll get Vinyl Scratch and we'll meet up."
"Okie-dokie, Octavia. See you soon."
The two ponies went their separate ways. Octavia went back to her house to get Vinyl. She wasn't hard to find when she was practicing, as she was now. All anypony would have to do is follow the sound of the bass. She came in through the door, making sure she had her earplugs in.
Vinyl looked up from her system. Seeing her there, she shut it off. Octavia took out her earplugs.
"Hey, Octavia. How does it sound? I'm practicing for the Gala."
"It's great, Vinyl," she said. "But you need to put down your headphones and come with me for a minute."
Vinyl shook her head in frustration.
"Well then. First, you get on my case about not practicing, and now you want me to stop just as soon as I start. I was on the verge of a chart-topping hit too."
"You can finish later. Right now, we need to go."
"I don't see why we need to be in such a rush."
"I promised a couple of ponies that we would meet them soon. We need to discuss the dream. They said they had it too."
She sighed. "Oh, right. That dream. Well, I guess we kinda have to go then."
Octavia gave her a playful shove. "Don't say it so sarcastically. This is super important stuff we're getting into. The fate of Equestria rests on our shoulders; don't you think you can just cooperate for five minutes?"
"OK, fine. Let's get this over with."
She smiled. "I knew you would warm up eventually."
They headed out of the house and started looking around Ponyville for Derpy. Octavia knew better than to ask Derpy where they would meet, because she would always be somewhere else. After a long time of searching, they found nothing.
"Octavia," Vinyl whined. "My hooves are hurting. We must have searched every building in Ponyville by now. Can't we just go home?"
"No. We have to keep looking."
She pulled out a checklist of buildings they visited. Vinyl silently rolled her eyes at Octavia's organization.
"We have been to every place I can think of. That is, except for... Oh no. We need to hurry."
"Why? What place did we miss?" She asked with curiosity.
"The Ponyville bar. Come on, we can't waste any more time."
Vinyl allowed herself to smile.
"Finally! Things are getting interesting."
They ran together to the bar and made it to the entrance. Octavia stopped and turned to face her friend.
"Now Vinyl, we're here on business, so be professional."
"Of course," she said excitedly. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"That means no drinks. We need to be serious here."
Vinyl's heart sank. "Aw, c'mon. Why? We could very well die in the next few days. A couple of drinks won't hurt anypony. Please?"
She sighed loudly. "Fine, but try to stay at least somewhat sober, will you? Don't be stupid."
"Alright! Thanks a million, Octavia!"
She sprinted in as fast as she could before her roommate could change her mind. Octavia took a deep breath and followed. Vinyl was already at the bar, and she came by a few moments later with some drink that Octavia did not recognize. She took a sip, and grinned widely.
"Wow! This stuff is good. You sure you don't want some?"
Vinyl waved the glass in front of her face. Octavia pushed it away.
"Focus, Vinyl. This is important."
"Oh, well. More for me then."
She chugged the rest and set it on the counter. The bartender handed her a new one.
"OK, so who do we have to meet here anyway? Do I know them?"
"You might if you saw them. They have to be here somewhere."
Octavia looked around, trying to find Derpy and The Doctor.
"Oh, there they are! Let's go meet them. We don't have time to lose."
She stopped when she got a second look.
"Uh-oh. I think we're a bit late."
"What's going on?" Vinyl asked. "Did you find them yet?"
"Yeah. They're right over there."
She pointed with her hoof. When Vinyl saw them, she started to laugh.
"Does this mean I still have to stay sober?" she asked hopefully.
"No, go right ahead."
Octavia was feeling a bit upset. So much for having a professional meeting. It would be a miracle if they got anything done.
"Oh, and Vinyl?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"Get me a drink too."
Vinyl looked back and smiled. "This is becoming more fun than I thought."
She walked off back towards the bar. Octavia took a longer look at the state of her friends. They were sitting at a table, giggling uncontrollably with several empty bottles and glasses surrounding them. Across from them was Lyra Heartstrings and her friend Bon-Bon, two fillies that lived in town. They were chatting and laughing so much that you would think they were all related.
Octavia braced herself and walked over to their table. She tapped on Derpy's shoulder to make her turn around.
"Hi, Octavia. How have you been?" she asked. "I found The Doctor like you told me to."
"Derpy, we can't talk about the dream here. It's a serious matter, and we can't discuss it when both of you are completely drunk."
Derpy looked disappointed. "But we just met these cool ponies here," she gestured at Lyra and Bon-Bon. "They said they had the dream too. Luna also told them that they were the last members, whatever that means."
Octavia was surprised to hear that. She really didn't know Lyra and Bon-Bon very well, but apparently they were the last members Luna would recruit.
Vinyl Scratch then came by with the drinks.
"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got what I thought you would like," Vinyl said as she handed Octavia a glass.
She took a small taste to be sure. It was delicious. Vinyl had been right.
"So, how about you introduce me to your friends here?" She asked.
"Well, this one is Derpy Hooves," Octavia said as she pointed at the cross-eyed pegasus.
Derpy waved happily. Vinyl gave her a nod in return.
"And this one is-"
Vinyl cut her off. "The Doctor. I remember him."
"Ah. So you two know each other."
"Yes. This is the jerk who disqualified me from the 'Equestria's Best Young DJ' competition."
The Doctor had heard this and now turned to join the conversation.
"I did, but for good reason," he said calmly. "The rules clearly stated that all solo tracks could be no longer than five minutes."
"Mine was literally five minutes and one second!" she argued.
"And by the rules, you should have been disqualified. That's why you were."
"That track was a total masterpiece! Couldn't you overlook one second?"
"No. Time is always important. If you overlook time, then what do you have left? Not much. Besides, the whole problem could have been avoided if you had just cut short the extended club buildup in the beginning."
Octavia knew this was a mistake. Insulting Vinyl Scratch's music was the best way to make her angry.
"You're lucky that you're drunk, or I'd tear you to pieces right now," she said aggressively.
She then turned and walked away. This surprised Octavia. Usually, Vinyl was not one to hold back her punches.
"I'm glad you didn't try to start a fight, Vinyl," she said softly.
"Well, I did want to, but I figured since we're going to have to save Equestria together soon, that would be a bad first impression."
"If I bought you a drink, would you feel better?"
"Yes, I think that would help."
They drank all through the night. Octavia was not normally one for this sort of thing, but the stress of saving the world was too much to handle soberly. She needed to forget about it for a while. Vinyl Scratch felt the same. She acted calm, but she was just as stressed out. After all, it was a pretty big deal; saving the Princess would be no easy task.
They finally stumbled home, and Octavia fell asleep as soon as she landed on her bed. Vinyl was not so lucky. In a drunken state, she passed out right on her bedroom floor. This was a night that would need some sleeping off. Unfortunately, Princess Luna would not let that happen. She had just recruited her final two allies, and she couldn't afford to waste another day. She cast her spell to appear in Octavia's dream one last time.
Octavia appeared in the cave. She looked horribly tired and hungover. Noticing Luna in front of her, she tried to stand up straighter, but failed badly.
"Luna! I didn't expect to see you. Is the plan ready?" she said awkwardly.
Luna was alarmed. Octavia looked in really bad shape.
"What happened to you?" she asked with concern. "Were you hurt?"
Octavia tried her best to look normal, gave up, and eventually just shook her head.
"No, I... I had a bit too much to drink last night," she said quietly.
Luna sighed. "You shouldn't drink, Octavia. It's really bad for your health."
"I know. I was just really stressed out. It's not something I make a habit of."
"Well, I'll try to keep it short then. The plan is put together, so we need to meet up tomorrow. I'll be just outside of the Everfree Forest, about a mile down from Fluttershy's house. Meet me there at 6:00. Don't be late."
"OK, thanks Luna. See you later."
"I'll leave you to recover now. Make sure you're alert and ready by six."
She stomped her hoof and the dream faded away.
Octavia didn't wake up until 3:00 in the afternoon, so she had limited time to prepare. She stumbled down the stairs slowly, careful not to fall. She walked into the kitchen, and was caught off guard by what she saw. She had expected Vinyl to be feeling just as bad, if not worse, than she did. But there she was, cooking food and humming to herself.
"Vinyl? How can you possibly have any energy? You drank more than I did," Octavia said, clearly confused.
"Good morning, Octavia," she said brightly. "Do you really think that I would perform at clubs for my entire life and not learn an anti-hangover spell? I can cast it on you if you want me to."
"Yes, please. I feel awful."
Vinyl concentrated and cast the spell. Octavia felt as if her brain was being beat by an electric mixer, and then reassembled back to normal.
"Thanks. I feel a lot better now."
"I thought so. Do you want something to eat? I figured since you've been asleep all day you would be hungry."
Octavia was starving. She grabbed some food off the stove and started eating. Now that she no longer was hungover, she started to remember the dream.
"Hey Vinyl," she called. "Did you have another Luna dream last night?"
She stopped to think about this.
"Oh, yeah. That one. She said to meet her at the Everfree Forest at six."
"That was it. We only have a couple of hours to get there then."
"But what about the other four? They're probably still hungover from last night,"
Vinyl contemplated.
"You will need to come with me and cast your spell. Then we'll all go to the forest together."
"Alright. Let's go find them."
They left the house and went around Ponyville. They first looked for Derpy, and they found her flying happily through the streets of town. Octavia waved and told her to come down.
"How are you feeling?" She asked as Derpy landed.
"Oh, just great, Octavia," she said. "I haven't felt better."
"Are you sure? Even after last night?"
"That was fun, wasn't it? I feel fine. I think it was the brand of drink I had. The Doctor said it would be the best for me."
Vinyl was curious. "What brand was it?" She asked.
Derpy tried to think. "I forget. He said it was called... non... nonalcoholic? Yeah. That sounds about right. Why? Did you guys have it too?"
Octavia was relieved. The Doctor wasn't stupid; letting Derpy get drunk was like putting out a fire with gasoline.
"No, not exactly," she said. "We came to bring you to the Everfree Forest. Did you have that dream last night?"
"The Luna one? Yep. We should probably hurry if we want to get there in time."
"First, we need to get the other three."
Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, and Derpy went off to find the others. The next pony on the list was The Doctor. They went to his house and knocked on his door. When there was no reply, they opened it and went inside. He was lying on the floor, under a blanket. He looked up a little to see them there.
"Oh, thank goodness you guys are here," he said nervously. "Could you please tell the lights to shut up? They scare me and they won't leave me alone."
Vinyl saw his frightened state and burst out laughing.
"This is too funny!" She said between laughs. "I wish I had a camera."
"No! No flash! No lights please!" He exclaimed.
"Come on, Vinyl. Just cast the spell," Octavia said.
"Aw, really? Can't we just leave him like this for a little while? It's hilarious!"
Octavia held her ground. "No. We don't have time. Cure him, and then we need to go."
"Okay, okay. Fine. You don't need to get all mad at me."
She walked over and cast the spell. The Doctor immediately bolted upright.
"Um, thanks. I should probably go now. I'll meet you there," he said.
He walked out the door and headed to the Everfree Forest. This made Vinyl Scratch start laughing again. Even Octavia couldn't resist a smile.
"Now we just need to find Lyra and Bon-Bon. They live about a half mile down from here," she said.
The three ponies left The Doctor's house to find the last two of Luna's allies. They were almost there when Derpy tripped over a rock in the street. She fell hard and started crying.
"Octavia sighed. "For goodness sake, Derpy. Can't you stay on your feet for five minutes?"
Octavia turned and went back to help the hysterical pegasus.
"Vinyl, can you go get Lyra and Bon-Bon? Their house is right over there."
She pointed at a small house nearby.
"Sure thing. I'll be out in a second," Vinyl said leisurely.
She went to the house and entered. Octavia did her best to console Derpy, and eventually she got her to stop crying. She sniffled a little and rubbed her eyes. After Octavia had calmed her down, Vinyl came out with the final two ponies. She looked pale and shocked.
"Are you okay, Vinyl?" She asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost. What was going on in there?"
"I don't even want to picture it."
"Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot to warn you," she said sheepishly.
"Warn me about what?"
"Well... Lyra and Bon-Bon are... you know..."
Octavia leaned over and whispered something in Vinyl's ear.
"My god, they really are weird."
Lyra and Bon-Bon were talking quietly and giggling to each other. They all grouped together and started walking to the Everfree Forest. Lyra was the first to speak.
"So, why are we all walking together again?" She asked.
"We're going to meet Princess Luna. We all had the same dream that you two had," Octavia said.
"Well, yeah. I knew that already. But we could have gone by ourselves. It's not like we were going to get lost."
"Yeah, right," Vinyl said. "You two would have been so hungover that you wouldn't know which way was up."
"I really don't like you."
"Well, I don't really like you either. Now we have something in common."
Octavia lightly hit Vinyl in the shoulder.
"Calm down, Vinyl. We need to be nice."
"See," Lyra pointed at Octavia. "At least some ponies are respectful."
"Shut up, Lyra. I don't need an ethics lesson," Vinyl said.
Octavia interrupted. "Both of you just be quiet. I promise that as soon as we save the world, you'll never have to speak to each other again."
"Now that is a day I can look forward to," said Lyra.
They walked in silence until they made it to the forest. Standing outside of it, as she promised, was Princess Luna. Also there was The Doctor, waiting patiently for them to arrive. As soon as they all did, Luna addressed them.
"Hello, everypony. I'm glad we could all meet face to face. I chose you all for a good reason. Whether you know it or not, you are some of the most important ponies in Equestria. Of course, it will take more than just talent to unlock your full inner potential. You need some training, and it begins today. It will not be easy, but I need you to put everything you have into it. Time is limited."
She gestured towards a tree in the distance.
"The first test is speed. Which one of you can outrun the rest? There is no substitute for it, and the fastest runner is often rewarded. The race begins here, and ends at that tree."
The six ponies lined up with determined expressions on their faces.
"Go!" Said Luna.
They started off even, but they gradually fell into their places. Derpy was in last, then The Doctor, Octavia, Bon-Bon, Lyra, and Vinyl Scratch, who held a short lead in first. Eventually, that lead grew, and she was confident that she could coast to victory.
Suddenly, she tripped and landed hard. The other ponies passed her, and Vinyl got up fuming in anger.
"Alright, who did that?" She yelled. "I was about to win! That was so cheap!"
"Nopony tripped you, Vinyl Scratch," Luna said calmly. "You have only yourself to blame. Can you forgive your friends?"
"I'm only friends with Octavia," she said. "The rest can go take a hike."
"I see."
Luna sounded disappointed.
The rest of the training continued the same way. They went through typical athletic challenges, but found a way to argue and fight every single time. They couldn't work together, and that made them fail and argue even more. It was all a big mess. After a particularly bad fight, even Luna had enough.
"Stop. All of you," she said. "Training is over. You can go home now."
Octavia began to realize their error. "But, Luna..."
"Please. Just go."
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. We shouldn't have acted like that."
"No, Octavia," she said sadly. "I'm the one who is sorry. It was foolish of me to believe that you could all come together and be friends so quickly. These things take time; something I don't have. By tomorrow it will be too late. I thank you for trying, but there is nothing left to do."
"No! You can't give up, Luna."
"If you have ideas, I'm open to suggestions."
"Well, you could..."
She stopped. She couldn't think of anything.
"I thought not. It's over, Octavia. Please, just go home. I don't want you to get hurt."
Luna flew off into the forest before Octavia could protest. She sighed and turned around to go home. All this time, she never thought they would fail. Luna was going to die, and it was just because they couldn't get along. She had trusted them, and they let her down. Octavia walked alone and in silence. There was nothing left to say.
Lyra and Bon-Bon felt the same way. They made it home and sat on the couch. After a minute or so of silent thinking, Lyra got up and went to the kitchen. She opened the cupboard and began searching for something inside it.
"What are you looking for?" asked Bon-Bon.
"The bottle of whiskey I bought. Do we have any left?" Lyra asked in return.
Bon-Bon got up and shut the cupboard.
"Lyra, you can't do that. You already drank way too much last night. You're going to get yourself sick."
"Well I'm not drinking for my health."
"No, Lyra. Maybe we should just talk about this. Getting drunk won't solve anything."
Lyra went back to the couch and sat down. She started to cry. Bon-Bon patted her on the back reassuringly.
"It's okay. You don't need to worry," she said softly.
"But it's not okay. Luna's going to die. I know I can be a bit cold-hearted sometimes, but I don't want her to die. Now it's way too late to change anything," she sobbed.
A bright idea then crossed Bon-Bon's mind.
"Maybe it's not."
"What?"
"We're friends, aren't we?"
Lyra stopped crying. "We've been together for years now. We're more than just friends." she said.
"Luna said something about friendship a minute ago. Something about how it takes time."
"Yeah. She did say that. So?"
"So I can only assume that her plan had something to do with friendship. We need to be friends for it to work."
"Why wouldn't she just tell us that?"
"I'm not sure, but maybe it wouldn't have been genuine if she forced us. It has to be real."
"It's kind of late to do anything about it now."
"No, not necessarily," Bon-Bon said. "We all share a common interest. We care about Princess Luna and will do what it takes to help her. If we take that into account, we might be able to set aside our differences and work together."
Lyra was now quite interested. "So it's not over? We actually have a chance?"
"Yes, I think we do. But we still need to get the other four to believe it by tomorrow morning, before Celestia comes. Then we can find Luna and still have a chance to help her."
Lyra got up and hugged her friend. "Thanks Bon-Bon. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"I'll always be there for you, Lyra," she said affectionately. "Always."
Octavia stormed in through the front door of her house, looking for Vinyl Scratch.
"Vinyl! Where are you?" she shouted. "Do you realize what you've done? We need to talk. Right now."
"I'm over here," she called.
Octavia found her lying on the living room couch. She had her sunglasses off, and looked rather depressed. This was not about to stop her from getting yelled at though.
"How could you be so selfish? Luna's going to die now. I hope you're happy, because you just ruined all of Equestria. And only because you couldn't deal with a few ponies. You're absolutely unbelievable."
Vinyl Scratch mumbled something unintelligible.
"I can't hear you. Speak up."
"I said I'm sorry," she said, on the verge of tears. "I know what I did wrong. I got carried away. I didn't want this to happen."
Octavia stared at her in silence. Her anger started to subside. She couldn't stay mad at her best friend for too long.
"Please, Octavia," she said. "I'm really sorry."
She sighed. "Okay, I accept your apology. But now what? What can we do to fix this?"
They thought about it for a while, before Octavia finally came up with an idea.
"I know what to do. We don't have to quit just yet."
Vinyl looked up.
"Huh?"
"I think I'm beginning to understand Luna's plan. On the first day of the dream, I was wondering how she thought I could save the world. And I can't. Not by myself anyway. Obviously, none of us can do this alone. The most important part of her plan is us as a team, not what we can do individually. We need to try again. We have to get together and fight for her one last time."
Vinyl sat up and looked her straight in the eye.
"Will we get hurt?" she asked.
"Most likely, yes."
"I'll do it. You have my word. I won't let myself be so careless again. I will never let Luna down when she needs my help," she said with determination.
"Then we need to start tomorrow morning. That's when Celestia will come, and we have to be right with Luna the entire time."
Vinyl was almost never emotional, but she started crying again.
"I don't know how to thank you sometimes," she said.
"You don't have to, Vinyl," Octavia said softly. "I already understand."
Meanwhile, in the streets of Ponyville, Derpy Hooves was walking towards the blue police box known as the TARDIS. It was where she would be sleeping for the night. Although it looked small, the TARDIS was inexplicably bigger on the inside, so there would be plenty of room. She never was much of a deep thinker, but there was a lot on her mind. She sighed and pushed open the door. The Doctor was inside, frantically pulling levers and adjusting dials. This was not surprising for Derpy; The Doctor was always wound up about something.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
The Doctor looked up from the machine for a second, and then went back to work.
"Hello, Derpy," he finally said. "I was just about to come get you. We're leaving. There's nothing left for us here."
"Well, okay," she said passively.
"Good. I'm glad you understand. Now, could you calibrate the-"
Derpy cut him off. "No, actually it's not okay. I don't think you understand."
"Derpy, we don't have time for this. Please just-"
"You think I'm stupid, don't you?"
"What?"
"I asked," she said slowly. "If you thought I was stupid."
"Of course not."
"Then quit messing around and listen to me."
The Doctor stopped and turned to face her.
"There you go. What is it?" he asked.
"We're not leaving. Not yet."
"Derpy, it's too late. Luna already said it was over. We need to get out of here while we can."
"And you're just going to end it at that?" She was about ready to start screaming. "After all we've been through, you want to run away and let her die? Is that what you want?"
"No! I just..." his voice trailed off.
"You just what?" She yelled angrily. "On that first night, I made a promise to her. I never break my promises. Not ever. I may not be as smart as you, but I do have something that you don't. Loyalty."
She turned around and headed for the door.
"I'm not leaving. I may not make it out of this alive, but I'd rather die fighting than run like a coward. If you can't accept that, you can go and find a new assistant."
She opened the door and stepped out.
"If you decide to make the right decision, you know where to find me."
She shut the door and began walking to Octavia's house. She knew that she would offer her a place to stay for the night.
Derpy's ears perked up, as she heard the sound of the TARDIS door opening. She turned around to see what was going on. It was The Doctor, running to catch up with her.
"Wait!" he called.
They both smiled brightly. He had made the right choice.
"Where can we find these friends of yours?" he asked.
They walked together through the cold night, laughing and talking happily as good friends would do. After a short while, they came upon the house of Octavia Melody. Derpy knocked on the door and waited patiently. Octavia opened it a moment later. She looked quite surprised to see them there.
"Doctor! Derpy!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you came. We have a lot to talk about."
She held the door and waved them inside.
"Please, come in."
They all went inside and sat around the living room. Vinyl Scratch still occupied the entire couch, but Derpy and The Doctor found other chairs to relax in.
"I made some tea a while ago. Would you guys like some?" She asked.
They both nodded. Octavia went into the kitchen to get the cups. She came out a few minutes later with hot tea for each of them. After giving it to them, she went to the couch and nudged her sleepy roommate.
"Wake up, Vinyl," she said. "We have guests here and they want to talk to you."
Vinyl yawned and sat up slowly. She rubbed her eyes and squinted to see who was there.
"Oh, it's you two," she said when she could see clearly. "What's up?"
"I think there's something you need to say to them, Vinyl," Octavia said.
"Yeah. Listen, I'm really sorry about how I acted today," she said sincerely. "I totally screwed up and I shouldn't have been such a jerk. But I think we need to try this again. You know, do it for the Princess and all. I promise I'll be better this time."
She avoided their eyes. Vinyl hated apologizing. It made her feel uncomfortable.
"So, is that alright?"
Derpy answered by giving her a bone-crushing hug.
"The Doctor and I were just thinking the same thing!" She said emotionally. "Of course we will."
Vinyl tried to answer, but she couldn't breathe under the strength of the hug.
"I agree," The Doctor said. "We need to team up if we want to help the Princess."
Derpy finally let Vinyl go, and they all spent some time chatting and enjoying themselves.
"Oh no!" Octavia said suddenly. "I forgot. We need Lyra and Bon-Bon to be here too."
"Don't worry about it," Vinyl said. "I'll go get them."
She opened the door and left to get the final two ponies. She couldn't help but feel extremely happy at how well things had gone up to this point. Octavia was right; apologizing did work.
Don't get ahead of yourself, she thought. You still have a few more to make.
She came upon Lyra and Bon-Bon's house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it swung open.
"Vinyl Scratch!" said Bon-Bon, who had answered the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't close the door on me just yet. I came here to say sorry. I really acted awful and I wish I could take it back. But we need to get back together and try one more time," she said in full seriousness.
Bon-Bon stared at her curiously. She did not answer.
"Please. You don't have to do it for me. It's for the Princess. She needs us."
"Hey, Lyra!" Bon-Bon called. "Come over here. It's important."
A few seconds later, a light green unicorn came to the door. She stopped and looked at her in silent confusion.
"Vinyl! What's going on? I didn't think you would be here," she said.
"I'm here to apologize to you both. I know things didn't go so well, but this is about more than just me and you. We need to try to help Luna again."
They continued to stare. Vinyl became very nervous; maybe the apology didn't work. If they couldn't get Lyra and Bon-Bon to come back, the whole plan would be worthless.
Suddenly, they both broke out into wide smiles.
"Of course!" Lyra said. "You were being awful, but I think we can let it go for now. What's really important is that we save Princess Luna."
Vinyl smiled with the rest of them.
"I couldn't agree more," she said.
"So, where do you want us to go?" asked Bon-Bon.
"We've got the rest of the group at Octavia's house right now. I can take you there if you want."
"Alright. Let's go then."
They stepped out the door and into the cold streets of Ponyville. It was getting late at night, but they were happy nonetheless. Now that they were all back together, Luna would not have to die. They were all quite sure about that.
Vinyl came to her house and stepped inside.
"Hey, Octavia! We're here."
Octavia ran up to greet them. A look of relief washed over her face when she saw Lyra and Bon-Bon.
"Are these two good with the plan?" She asked.
"Yep. Everything's cool."
"Thank goodness. You were gone for a long time. I was afraid you couldn't convince them."
She looked at her two new guests.
"How are you? I suppose we didn't really get a chance to meet before. My name is Octavia Melody."
She stuck out her hoof to offer a hoofshake. Lyra accepted it first.
"My name is Lyra Heartstrings. It's nice to meet you," she said.
Bon-Bon took it next. "My name's Bon-Bon. Thanks for getting us all back together again."
"Oh, it was nothing. I'm just glad to see that we're finally getting along," she said happily.
Octavia called in Derpy and The Doctor so they could all introduce themselves. This time, there were no arguments or fights. They stayed up very late, talking and laughing while drinking Octavia's tea. It had taken a while, but things were finally going right for them. Eventually, after a long night, they all fell asleep from exhaustion. Octavia set her alarm clock bright and early; tomorrow was an important day.
The Princess and six other figures soon came into view. Luna continued to stare, nearly motionless, until they were close enough to see clearly. When Celestia felt at a safe distance, she stopped. They stared silently, evaluating each other for a few seconds until Celestia spoke.
"Hello, sister. It's been a while," she said.
"It has."
"Are you sure you don't want to give up? I could turn away and let you live right now if you so wish."
All Luna could manage was to shake her head. Celestia's eyes narrowed.
"Then prepare to die."
She called Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash to her side. Luna did the same with her defenders. Suddenly, Luna stepped back in surprise. She looked around, clearly confused.
"Wh... Where are the Elements of Harmony?" She stammered.
"Oh. I'm glad you noticed," Celestia said coldly. "You see, I can't kill you and your friends here. It would be a bit too messy and I can't risk the other ponies finding out about it. It would hurt my reputation. It would be much better just to capture you and bring you back to the castle first."
"But what are you-"
"Oh, Luna. I have my plans and you have yours. I couldn't share everything with you, now could I?" She said in mock enthusiasm.
Celestia turned to her defenders.
"Capture the other six. I will take care of Luna."
She smiled, but not in a kind way.
"Let's begin."
The fourteen ponies rushed at each other before any of them had time to think. Vinyl Scratch pursed Rainbow Dash in pure rage. They had never known each other personally, but it did not stop them from having an intense hatred. Vinyl sprinted towards her and dived at her hooves. If she could get her on the ground, she could win this fight. Rainbow Dash looked at her casually and then flew straight up, causing Vinyl to hit nothing but the ground.
"Ha ha! Loser!" She called down to her dazed opponent. "You'll have to do better than that."
Vinyl got up and shook off the dust. She did not respond.
"Oh, giving up already? I can't blame you. I am pretty amazing," she boasted.
Suddenly, a grey pegasus smashed straight into Rainbow Dash at top speed, knocking her on the dirt. Vinyl grinned at her menacingly.
"Yeah. Amazingly stupid. Do you really think that we would have a team without a pegasus? I thought you were smart."
Rainbow picked herself up.
"Impressive. Maybe this won't be such a boring battle after all," she said.
Vinyl lunged and got ahold of her this time. The weight was too much for her to fly away, and Vinyl started attacking. There was little style to it. They kicked and punched at each other with everything they had, both of them inflicting as much pain as possible. After only a few minutes, their bodies were slick and their manes matted down with blood. Vinyl began to feel woozy. Rainbow noticed this, and a sinister smile crept onto her face.
"A little tired, are you? Don't worry, it will all be over quickly."
Vinyl desperately tried to steady herself. She wiped the blood out of her eyes and charged again with everything she had.
Immediately, she felt a sharp pain right across her jaw. Applejack had got her with a surprise blow. The force of it made her drop to the ground, but this time, she was unable to get back up. Gradually, she felt her consciousness slipping away.
"Thanks, Applejack," said Rainbow in what seemed like a far off voice. "That's one down, five more to go."
Then everything went black.
Slowly, the lights switched back on in Vinyl's brain. She tried her best to shake the cobwebs and focus on her surroundings. When it came into view, Vinyl wished she could be unconscious again.
Around her were her five friends, in similar broken and bloody states. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be dead, which made Vinyl breathe a sigh of relief. They had all taken quite a beating from Celestia's army, which seemed to be well-trained.
I wonder how such nice ponies could turn so evil, she thought. They didn't seem to care about what happened to us. From what I hear on the streets, they are wonderful ponies to be around, so why did they attack us in cold blood?
Vinyl contemplated this for a minute. The answer soon became very clear.
Duh. They have only heard what Celestia told them. They think that we are evil and disloyal. If Luna hadn't convinced me first, I probably would have believed the same thing.
She looked at her friends once again. They really did look horrible.
But still, can't they see how brutally they fought us? It doesn't seem right.
Vinyl no longer wanted to think about it, so she entertained herself by looking around the room.
It was not a happy place. Her five friends and herself were tied to chairs with a thin rope. She struggled and fought to get free, but it was no use. The rope was bonded with magic. She gave up and continued looking. In the corner of the room was a large magical sphere. Something was inside it, but she couldn't quite make out what it was.
Suddenly, her eyes opened wide in surprise. Inside the magical sphere was the the frozen figure of Princess Luna. It all began to make sense. Luna could break out of the chairs easily, so Celestia had trapped her in the one thing she couldn't avoid, time. Luna's expression was still that of shock, and Vinyl began to realize that Celestia was even more powerful than she let on.
It was too much. Vinyl closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, but to no avail. She couldn't ignore the fact that every pony in the room would soon be dead. She searched through her mind, hoping for a plan or escape route. She thought harder and harder, until she couldn't think anymore.
Still, there was nothing.
Her breathing got shallower, and she broke down crying. Vinyl had cried before, but never like this. There was nothing she could do to stop it or make herself feel better. Every time she had ever felt sad before, she could cheer herself up by knowing that tomorrow would be better. This time, there was no tomorrow to look forward to.
She heard the sound of a pony stirring, but she was too hysterical to care.
"Vinyl? What's wrong?" Said the pony.
Vinyl turned to the sound of the voice, finding that it was Octavia. She continued to sob.
"What do you mean, what's wrong?" She yelled in frustration. "We're all going to die! That's what's wrong!"
"Please don't cry, Vinyl," she said weakly. "It's not so bad."
"Not so bad? We just got beat to near death, Princess Luna is trapped in a time bubble, and Celestia will be down here any minute to finish us off! How could it possibly be worse?"
"Well, we could have died alone. But we're here together... as friends."
She smiled sadly. Vinyl's anger subsided, and her crying was reduced to a loud sniffling.
"But Octavia... I don't want to die here. I never made it to one of your concerts. There's still so much I want to do..."
"You've done so much for me already, Vinyl. If I die here, I will die happy, knowing I lived a good life."
Vinyl managed to smile back.
"Only the good die young, right?"
"Right," Octavia said softly.
The other ponies began to wake. Their eyes fluttered open, and most of them were too shocked to react. Derpy spoke first, with a nervous edge in her voice.
"Wh... Where are we? Doctor? What happened to us?" She said to the brown earth pony.
"We've been captured," he said in a sad monotone.
"But what can we do? There has to be some way out of here."
Derpy pulled against the ropes on her chair. It did not budge.
"Please Doctor. Help me," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
He said nothing. All he could do was stare at the ground.
"No... Please. Don't do this to me... I can't..."
She stopped. The full wake of what had happened finally hit her. It was over, and there was nothing left for them to do.
"It's okay, Derpy," said Bon-Bon. "We're all in this together."
"But... I don't want it to end like this. Not after all we've been through. I mean... we were just starting to become friends. I never had many friends, and as soon as I get them, my life is over. It's all wrong. How could something so wonderful be gone so fast? We were only together for a day."
"Well, Derpy, as short as it was, that one day was one of the best of my life. I am grateful for it, no matter how it ends," Bon-Bon said.
"I agree," said Lyra. "Being with you guys was more than I could have asked for. We had our problems, but overcame them. We may have lost, but I would do it again in a heartbeat."
"We will die, but we will die as friends," Bon-Bon added.
"And that," said Octavia. "Is worth dying for."
The other ponies nodded and smiled at each other. Not another tear was shed.
Shortly after, the sound of hoofsteps pierced the silence. The door swung open, revealing Princess Celestia and the other six ponies. They were all wearing the Elements of Harmony around their necks. If it had been any other circumstances, it would have been beautiful. Instead, they were met by looks of slight annoyance.
Rainbow Dash walked straight up to Vinyl Scratch. She smirked.
"Hi, Vinyl. How's it going?"
Vinyl glared at her, but did not respond.
"I'll give you credit, you really delivered a beating out there. It's just too bad you were on the wrong side. That's going to cost you."
Vinyl stayed silent.
"Aw, c'mon Vinyl. You need to lighten up. Don't you have any last words or something?"
She thought for a while, and then grinned brightly.
"Actually, I do have something to say to you, Dash."
"And what would that be?"
"Fuck off."
Her eyes flashed with anger for a second, and then faded back to normal. She laughed a little.
"Oh, Vinyl. I normally would have killed you for saying that, but that would be kind of pointless because you're going to die pretty soon anyway."
"Hey Dash!" Called Twilight Sparkle from the other side of the room. "Quit playing with the enemy, will you? Let's just get this over with."
Dash stepped back from Vinyl Scratch and walked back to her friends.
"Enjoy the rest of your pathetic life," she said. "It won't be very long."
“Wow,” said Derpy. “You’re a total jerk.”
Rainbow stopped walking and turned to face the pegasus.
“What did you just say to me?”
“I said you’re a jerk. I thought you were supposed to be all loyal and super awesome. You're pretty much thought of as a hero across Equestria, you know."
"For your information, I am loyal and awesome. I deserve to be known as a hero."
Derpy shook her head.
"No, you're not. You and your friends just beat us up and are going to kill us. Then you come in and mock us, smearing our faces in the dirt one last time before we die. That doesn't sound very heroic to me."
"Yeah, right," she snorted. "You're one to talk about heroism, supporting Luna."
"No, Princess Luna is the good one. Whatever Celestia told you is all lies. Luna's trying to stop her. I don't know why you don't get it."
Rainbow leaned closer, to the point where their noses almost touched.
"It doesn't matter, Derpy. Nothing you say here matters. Every trace of your existence will be removed by tomorrow. It's like you had never been born. Plead all you want, it makes no difference."
Derpy just stared at her blankly.
"You're an idiot. Not only that, you're arrogant and a jerk. Don't you feel the slightest bit of sorrow that you're murdering seven ponies for no reason? I'm getting concerned about you, Rainbow Dash. I think you need some professional help."
Rainbow's voice quivered in anger. "Listen, you little mentally retarded bitch. If you don't shut up, I'm gonna-"
"You're gonna what, Rainbow Dash?" asked Derpy calmly. "Are you gonna kill me? Because I think you've already got that covered."
Rainbow tried to say something, but nothing came out. She glared at her one last time and then stomped away angrily.
"By the way," Derpy called to her. "I prefer the term mentally challenged."
As soon as she was gone, Vinyl started laughing.
"That was great, Derpy! You totally just showed her up."
Derpy smiled. "Well, what was I supposed to do? I wasn't about to let one of my friends be insulted like that. She deserved it."
"Hell yeah. I can't stand that pony."
They beamed at each other. Not a hint of sadness was shown on their faces.
Princess Celestia stepped into the middle of the room.
"Twilight Sparkle, line up all your friends," she commanded.
They quit talking and lined themselves up quickly. Celestia stared at Luna's army with disdain.
"Anything you have left to say? Any last words for me to bring to your families?"
"Yeah. I got something," said Vinyl Scratch.
"Then say it now."
"Okay. I will."
She fixed her eyes on Celestia and hit her with a piercing stare. It was a look that would have made ordinary ponies cower in fear. Celestia took a step back.
"Fuck you, Celestia," she said in full seriousness. "Fuck Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack. Fuck the Elements of Harmony. Fuck all the ponies who believed your lies, and fuck Equestria."
Celestia was clearly getting irritated. "Is that all?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"Anything from the rest of you?"
"No," said The Doctor. "Vinyl pretty much summed it all up."
"Good. Enjoy hell."
Celestia turned to Twilight and her friends.
"You may cast the spell now," she said.
Twilight hesitated. "Are you sure?"
The Princess sighed. "Yes. Cast the spell. Is there a problem?"
"I don't know, it's just that... they don't seem that evil to me. Maybe they need a second chance or something."
"I know these ponies much better than you do. They're traitors. They deserve what's coming," Celestia said, frustration in her voice.
"But don't you think it's a little harsh? I mean, they were just fed bad information."
"Tell me, Twilight, would you like to continue your studies as my student?"
"Oh, yes. More than anything. It's just that-"
"Then cast the spell," she ordered.
"O...okay. Come on, girls. Let's do this."
She tried to say it confidently, but her tone sounded uneasy.
Twilight Sparkle stepped closer to Princess Luna and her allies and focused. A faint glow began around her horn, and spread across her body. The same happened with her friends, and the glow became so bright that it forced the rest of them to avert their eyes. Luna's allies did not struggle. There was no point.
Suddenly, the glow ceased. The Elements fell off of their necks with a dull thud. For a solid minute, all they could do was stare at them in shock. Finally, Lyra spoke, summing up what everypony was thinking.
"What the hell?" She said, purely astonished.
None of the ponies answered her. They couldn't.
The Elements began to illuminate themselves again, gradually floating upwards. Each Element floated towards the captured ponies, and they settled around each of their necks with a satisfying click. Vinyl looked down at hers. It was a red lightning bolt, Rainbow Dash's Element of Loyalty. She was at a loss for words.
"My god..." she whispered.
She glanced around the room at the other Elements. Derpy had received the Element of Laughter, The Doctor had Honesty, Lyra had Generosity, Bon-Bon had Kindness, and on Octavia's head lied the most powerful Element, Magic. They all had the same confused expressions on their faces.
Once all the Elements had settled, a powerful shock wave erupted through the room, destroying their bonds and shattering Luna's time bubble. Luna's eyes fluttered open, appearing slightly dazed.
"Luna!" Shouted Octavia. "What's happening to us?"
Luna looked at them carefully. When she saw the crown on Octavia's head, she beamed in pure joy.
"The Elements! You guys did it! Just keep focusing, Octavia, you're doing great!"
Celestia had by now regained her composure, and she charged at Luna in a bitter rage. She knocked Luna on to the ground, but she was still smiling.
"What the hell have you done?" Celestia screamed.
"I haven't done anything," she said gleefully. "It was all Octavia and her friends. They're the ones controlling the Elements."
Celestia's body began to shake in anger; her plan was failing and she knew it.
"Tell me what's going on. Right now."
"Okay. You see, the Elements are a special kind of magic. They represent the power of friendship, something extremely powerful and nearly unstoppable when used right. Sounds like the perfect weapon, doesn't it? It's not. The Elements have one glaring weakness: they will not respond to evil. If the Elements are misused, they lose the bond that they had formed with their carriers and link with a new group of ponies. In this case, the ones you captured. After I had selected them, it was their job to become true friends in order for them to be able to control the Elements. They did it."
Reality began to set in Celestia's mind. She had lost her only weapon.
"It's over, sister. I won your game."
Luna picked herself up off the ground and directed her attention to Octavia.
"You must cast the spell now," she ordered.
"B... But how do I-" Octavia stammered.
"You already know how, Octavia. It's in your blood."
That triggered something in Octavia's brain. A wave of confidence swept over her. She closed her eyes and concentrated harder, sifting through her thoughts little by little, growing more relaxed by the second. An unrecognizable feeling flowed through her veins, and time itself seemed to stop. The feeling grew stronger, gradually reaching its climax. It was power at its purest form.
The glow began, spreading across the room at first dimly, and then much sharper. Octavia started to feel a connection with the other Elements, willing them to do whatever she wanted. She pulled them all together and targeted Princess Celestia. She felt unstoppable. Without a moment's hesitation, she cast a colorful beam of light from each Element, intertwining with each other to form the final dagger. Celestia screamed, but it was too late for her to do anything else.
The rainbow weapon cut through the room and sliced into the Princess. Octavia had done it.
Suddenly, she felt the power and energy slip away from her body. Her hooves could no longer support her weight, and she collapsed into a heap on the floor. Every muscle felt like it was about to burn up. It was all she could do to remain conscious. Still, she gave a feeble grin, knowing that it had worked. She and her friends had succeeded.
Exhaustion finally overcame her, and she passed out.
Luna opened her eyes to see what she expected. All of the ponies were sprawled across the floor, unconscious. Luna had known from years of experience how to shield herself from the indirect effect of the Elements, but the rest were not so lucky. They would not be waking up for at least a few more hours. In the middle of the room lied Princess Celestia. Luna gave a sigh of relief when she saw that she was still breathing; Octavia had not killed her. As much as she wanted to celebrate, there was still one thing left to do.
She walked up to her injured sister and gently tapped her. Celestia began to stir.
"Sister," she cooed. "Wake up."
Celestia rolled over and stared up into the kind face of Princess Luna. The evilness that had been in her eyes for so long was gone.
"Luna..." she said sadly. I... I'm so sorry. I was wrong."
"It's okay. I forgive you."
"No, it's not okay. I tried to kill you and your friends just so I could have more power. It was pure evil."
Luna said nothing. All she did was stick out her hoof. Celestia stared at it in confusion.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's my hoof," answered Luna. "Take it."
"After all this, after I tried to murder you, you want me to take your hoof? You can forgive me that easily?"
Luna smiled and nodded.
"But how?"
"Because we're all capable of becoming Nightmare Moon."
Celestia looked deep into her eyes. A look of understanding passed between the two.
She smiled back and took the hoof.
The crowd hushed as a booming voice came over the loudspeaker. The show was about to start.
"And now," said the voice. "The moment you've all been waiting for, Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch!"
The crowd went crazy. Sounds of cheering echoed through the packed concert hall. It was a sound that the performers lived and breathed for.
The two ponies behind the curtain gave each other a hoof bump and went to their instruments.
"You ready for this, Vinyl?" Asked the pony holding the cello.
The other pony walked up to her turntable and put on her trademark sunglasses.
"Hell yeah, Octavia. Let's do it."
Just then, the curtain opened, revealing the screaming crowd. Through all their years in music, the crowds were something they could never get bored of. They drunk it in for a minute, and the song began.
It started with a simple pull across the strings by Octavia. She closed her eyes and drifted off into the zone that she felt when she played. The notes were slow and carefully articulated, gradually growing in sound and speed. Vinyl set up a beat, coordinating perfectly with Octavia's notes. The beat quickened, and Vinyl played a stuttering DJ buildup right up to the climax. There was a slight pause.
Vinyl dropped the bass. Octavia played right along with it, feeling better than she ever had before. There was a certain defiance to the song. Ponies had always criticized them for combining classical and EDM, but they didn't care. Critics could say what they want. They continued playing, combining their styles almost effortlessly. Note by note, measure by measure, flowing to perfection.
Suddenly, they stopped playing. The song had ended. They performed a few more songs, and the concert was over before they knew it. The voice came over the loudspeaker one last time.
"Give it up for Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch!"
The crowd exploded in a euphoric frenzy. Octavia sighed. Concerts sapped her energy, but it was always worth it for the applause at the end. She took a bow, and the curtains closed. Another performance was finished.
They packed up their stuff and left the stage, talking and laughing happily. By the time they made it back to their house, they were dead tired. Octavia and Vinyl each grabbed a chair in the living room to relax for a while.
It was short lived. A sharp knock on the door snapped Octavia awake, and she got up slowly to answer it. She opened it to see four of her best friends. She smiled and waved them inside.
"Come on in, guys," she said. "How did you like the concert?"
Derpy, The Doctor, Lyra, and Bon-Bon found a place around the living room to sit. The sudden stimulation woke Vinyl up, and she waved hello when she saw who they were.
"Oh, it was just great, Octavia," Derpy said energetically. "You were all playing the cello all smoothly, and then Vinyl came in with the wubs right after that. You guys are awesome!"
"Thanks, Derpy," said Octavia. "We do our best."
"I'll say. Ever since we saved Princess Luna last year you two have just been stunning. I'm surprised you haven't bought a house in Canterlot yet," Bon-Bon pointed out.
"I don't know, I'm kinda attached to this place. I would hate to leave all my friends behind."
"Well, I'm glad you chose to stay," said Lyra. "It's been fun having you two around."
"Luna said to stick together in case we need to use the Elements of Harmony again anyway. There would be no point to run off."
Lyra nodded. "That's true."
"So anyway," said The Doctor. "How are you both doing?"
Vinyl sat up, as if she had just remembered something.
"I almost forgot. Something interesting happened to me yesterday, and I think you might want to hear it," she said.
That grabbed their attention. A lot of things happened to Vinyl, and when she said something was interesting, it usually was.
"I got a phone call," she continued. "Can you guess who it was from?"
"No clue," said Bon-Bon.
"Rainbow Dash. I trust that you all know her."
The other ponies grumbled and complained. None of them liked her very much.
"Why would she call you?" asked Lyra.
"To apologize for how she acted last year. Can you believe it? Rainbow Dash apologizing? She sounded so funny, it was all I could do to keep from laughing through the whole thing."
"So, what did you do?" Derpy asked in curiosity.
"I accepted her apology. I mean, what could I do? She offered us all tickets to the Wonderbolts rally tomorrow, saying we could start over. All her friends are going to be there too. I couldn't help but feel bad for her, so I took the tickets. You guys want to come with me? They're really good seats."
They contemplated this for a minute.
"Why not?" said Bon-Bon. "I got nothing better to do. It could be fun."
"I'll go. It's worth it for the free tickets," Lyra said.
"Me too!" Derpy exclaimed. "The Wonderbolts are great!"
"Sure," said The Doctor. "Sounds good to me."
Vinyl looked at Octavia hopefully.
"What about you, Octavia? You don't want to be left out, do you?"
She sighed. "Okay. I suppose we should give these guys another chance."
"Alright!" Vinyl cheered. "Wonderbolts rallies are awesome, you'll love it."
They chatted lightly for a while, and soon it grew very late.
Lyra yawned. "Gosh, I'm getting really tired. I need to hit the hay," she said. "Great concert you two."
She left for the door, and Bon-Bon followed.
"Yeah, I'd better go too. See you at the rally tomorrow," she said leisurely.
Derpy and The Doctor also wished them good night and left. Octavia and Vinyl waved goodbye until they were all gone.
"Well, it was nice seeing them again," Octavia said. "But yeah, I need some sleep. Good night, Vinyl."
Octavia got up off the couch and headed towards the stairs, barely managing to keep herself awake.
"Wait!" Vinyl called. "I need to talk to you for a second."
Octavia turned around to face her. Vinyl took off her sunglasses and set them on the table.
"Yes, Vinyl?" she asked sleepily. "What is it?"
"I don't really know how to say this, but please, hear me out."
Vinyl looked nervous, something she rarely was. Octavia smiled reassuringly.
"Of course," she said. "Don't worry."
"My whole life, I've tried to be normal. I hid how I really felt just so I could be like all the other ponies. Day in, day out, I wasn't myself. I thought it was worth all the stress it caused me, but I was wrong."
Octavia nodded.
"I didn't realize it until I was tied up and faced with death. Thanks to the Elements, we escaped and were victorious. From that point on, I swore that I would tell you how I truly felt about you, because I knew we would never be that lucky again."
Vinyl stared at the ground. Octavia was slightly confused, but she said nothing.
"I... I wanted to tell you how beautiful you looked. How much you meant to me. But every time I tried, I couldn't. I was afraid you would just laugh."
Octavia reached over and stroked her mane. She had no idea what Vinyl was trying to say, but she was clearly stressed out.
"I would never laugh at you, Vinyl," she said.
"Then I'll just go out and say it. I love you, Octavia. I always have. For years, I've tried to deny it, tell myself that I was normal, but I'm not."
Vinyl got down on one knee. Octavia stared at her, stunned. She didn't know how to react.
"I want us to be together. If you say no, that's fine, but I can't live knowing that I never told you how I feel. So please, give me an honest answer."
Vinyl looked her right in the eye.
"Octavia Melody, will you marry me?"
Octavia couldn't believe it. All these years, they had felt the same way about each other, just too scared to say it. She had been turning down all the stallions that chased her, waiting for the right moment to say these words to Vinyl. A single tear fell from her eye.
"Yes," she said softly.
They smiled at each other, happier than they had ever been. Vinyl stood up and hugged her. Both of them were trying not to cry.
"You know," Vinyl said. "Things are really looking up."
Princess Luna strode slowly towards the balcony, preparing to cast the spell that she had done for so many years. Her sister, Celestia, was lowering the sun to make way for Luna's night. The sunset was beautiful, as it always was, casting a bright beam of light through the window and shining the last drops of sunlight around the room. The light eventually reached a large statue. It illuminated the figure, a stone carving of an alicorn. It was a statue of Luna herself, as Nightmare Moon. She remembered too well when she returned from her thousand year imprisonment in the moon to shroud Equestria in eternal night. Many ponies had asked her why she kept the statue, why she didn't try to forget, but it was hard for any of them to understand. It was to remind herself of what she had become that day. She nearly destroyed Equestria, and it was only because of her greed. She swore that she would never turn on her friends again, and the statue was there to tell her what she had almost done.
It was impossible to forget.
The memory made her shudder. She continued to the balcony. There was no longer any need to worry. Nightmare Moon was gone, she was Princess Luna now. She and her sister were the rulers of Equestria, it couldn't possibly be going better. Still, she couldn't help feeling the slightest bit of doubt in the back of her mind, and it bothered her that she didn't know the reason.
Doubt or not, the moon still needed to be raised, and night brought over Equestria. She concentrated and cast the familiar spell. As the last rays of sunlight disappeared over the horizon, Luna raised the moon, and the night had officially begun.
The end of the day brought upon something new, but just as wonderful, she thought. All endings start new beginnings. Even when we think that it's all over, the next adventure is just starting.
Luna headed back into her bedroom and closed the balcony doors.
That's rather inspirational. Perhaps I should write a story about it.
Luna was a talented writer, and it was something she enjoyed in her spare time. She wrote it down quickly in her notebook and went off to bed. The doubt in her mind persisted, and she became a little worried.
Relax Luna, she told herself. It's nothing a princess can't handle.
That calmed her down, and she slept soundly for the rest of the night.
Luna woke up just in time to see the sunrise. Just as it was her job to raise and lower the moon, Celestia did the same with the sun. Luna got out of bed and trotted down the castle stairs to prepare for the day. Today, like any other day for the princesses, was immensely important. They were preparing for the Grand Galloping Gala, which was next week. She had a lot on her mind. Luna went to the dinner table to eat breakfast and read the newspaper, as she did every morning. She was delighted to see that there was a plate full of blueberry muffins on the table, next to the day's paper. Normally, Luna preferred to make her own breakfast, but somepony had already beat her to it. She assumed it was Celestia. She was always so kind to her. Luna said a silent thank you and picked up the paper. The pegasus weather report was nice and sunny today, they did not have a scheduled rainstorm until tomorrow night.
This means we will have to get most of our work done today, before it rains, she thought.
The rest of the paper was rather boring, and she set it aside to finish breakfast. Celestia then walked into the room. Luna waved a hoof to say hello.
"Good morning, sister," said Luna. "Thanks a lot for the breakfast. It's delicious."
"You're welcome. I want you to eat well. We have a lot to get to today," Celestia said.
She said it with a smile, but there was a bit of edginess in her voice that made Luna believe they had more than just the Gala preparations to be worried about.
"Is something wrong? You seem nervous," Luna said.
Celestia paced a little. "I wouldn't want to worry you with it right now. Finish your breakfast, then meet me in the throne room at eleven. There is much to discuss."
She turned around and left without another word. Luna was concerned. She had never seen her sister this way, not ever. Not with Discord, King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, or any villain they had faced. She was always calm and collected, never nervous.
Whatever it is, it can't be good, she thought.
Luna got up and headed towards the throne room. It was a bit early, but she couldn't concentrate on anything else. The only time the sisters discussed things in the throne room was when they were in danger. It was the most secure place in the entire castle. As she went to the door, she couldn't help but imagine the possible horrible things that could have happened.
She pushed it open to see her sister standing there. Celestia no longer looked nervous or scared, but confident. Luna relaxed a little.
Perhaps it won't be so bad after all , she thought.
"Close the door behind you," said Celestia. When Luna did this, she continued. "I brought you here for something very important. I will need you to listen carefully. Do you understand?"
Luna was now even more concerned, but she tried her best to regain her composure.
"Of course, sister," she said. "I understand."
"Good." She gestured to one of the stained glass windows, each one told a story. This one was the tale of Nightmare Moon, one that Luna knew very well.
"You remember this, don't you?" she asked.
Luna was confused. Celestia was acting very strange. She never forced Luna to talk about Nightmare Moon before, but now she was.
"Yes, I... I do," she said hesitantly.
"And do you remember your thousand year imprisonment in the moon?"
"Yes. I'd really prefer not to talk about it. It's not a good memory."
"Did you ever wonder what I was doing while you were there?"
"No, not particularly. I know you had to be the lone ruler for a while. You had to be in charge of everything without my help. Look, if you brought me here to make me apologize, I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to do to make it up to you.”
Celestia smiled, but it was not warm and comforting. It was more sinister, as if she knew something that nopony else did.
“Oh don’t worry, Luna,” she said. “I didn’t bring you here for that.”
She paused.
“I realized something while you were gone. I learned what I truly wanted and dreamed of. It took years without you to figure it out.”
Luna had no idea where this conversation was going anymore. She said nothing.
Celestia continued. “I learned that what I truly wanted out of life was to have absolute power. I thought I wanted you here next to me, but I realized you were just getting in the way."
But I... I don't understand," stammered Luna. "We're sisters, and friends. Why would you..." her voice trailed off.
"Oh, I think you do understand, Luna," she said. "We can do this easily, or it could get difficult."
Celestia stepped closer.
"The easy way is for you to resign. We can say you were tired of the job. No lives will be lost. You will, of course lose your immortality, but that is the least violent route,"
Luna gathered herself. She wasn't about to submit to her sister's greed. There was no way that she would give up her position.
"And if I refuse?" she said.
"Then things might not go so well. I will have to hunt you down and kill you. You are much too dangerous to be left alive if you don't cooperate."
Luna was shocked. Celestia never threatened anypony, let alone her sister.
"You can't kill me, not while I still have my immortality. Even if you could, you would never get away with it. The ponies would see how evil you really are," Luna said with determination.
"That's where you are wrong. I trust you know of the Elements of Harmony. Every time they have been used, they have only been to defeat or weaken the enemy. But the Elements have another, much more powerful spell that can be cast. Only Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself know this. If cast right, the Elements can kill any being, mortal or immortal. Even a princess."
Luna couldn't believe it. After all this time, Celestia had been keeping secrets, even about something as powerful as the Elements. However, she had to stand her ground.
"Even so, you will need to convince everypony to join your side. You can't fight me alone."
"I know that, Luna. But you have to understand, they already are on my side, or at least they will be. They think of you as the more dangerous, unpredictable one. You tried to run away and ruin Equestria once before, who's to say they won't believe that you did it again? Once I tell them, they won't hesitate to believe me."
They stared coldly at each other. Seeing no response from her younger sister, Celestia continued.
"So, what will it be? You can leave now and save yourself and your friends, or you can fight me and every pony in Equestria. It's your choice."
"You're not my sister. Celestia would never do this. She always cares for and protects me. We have always ruled together, and we function as one. She would rather die than lose me, and I would do the same for her."
Luna stepped forward and met her eyes.
"I will fight you. No matter what it takes, or if I lose the respect of every pony alive, I will get her back. She matters too much for me to let her go."
Celestia shook her head. "That's what I thought you would say. I will give you until the Gala to prepare. On that day, I will come and find you. You must leave now, if you want to survive."
Luna turned around and went to the door in silence.
"And Luna," Celestia said with a sinister smile. "Your loyalty to your friends will be your downfall."
As soon as she closed her eyes, she heard a loud noise.
Beep, beep, beep.
She turned over to see the source, and was annoyed, but not surprised, to see it was the alarm clock. The bright red numbers showed that it was four o'clock.
No, she thought with determination. I will not get up. I don't care if I have to save the world. I won't wake up at four in the morning.
She put a pillow over her head to drown out the incessant beeping. The other ponies seemed to do the same. Eventually, even Vinyl Scratch couldn't take it anymore.
"Octavia!" She shouted. "If you don't turn that thing off in ten seconds, I'm gonna drop your cello off of town hall."
Octavia's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."
"Believe me, I would."
She sighed and turned off the alarm. It wasn't worth fighting with Vinyl Scratch, especially not this early.
Vinyl pulled the blanket back up over her head.
"Thank you," she muttered.
The memories of saving Luna came back to her, and suddenly she remembered why she had set her alarm so early. She sat up quickly; energy flowing back into her body.
"Vinyl, we need to wake up. Right now."
"No. You can't make me."
Octavia's voice took a more sinister tone.
"We'll just see about that."
She walked up casually to the couch, and pushed Vinyl off of it. She hit the ground with a loud yelp.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?"
"I told you to get up," she said calmly. "And you didn't."
Vinyl threw up her hooves in surrender.
"Fine. I'm up. What now?"
"Now we need to wake up the rest of them," she said, gesturing at the other four ponies who were still sleeping around the room.
Octavia and Vinyl went to each of the ponies and gently nudged them. They awoke slowly. None of them seemed too excited to get up at four A.M.
"C'mon Octavia," Lyra whined. "Can't we just wait another hour?"
"No, Lyra," she said firmly. "Celestia is going to come any minute. We can't afford to be late."
Octavia grabbed a scarf and threw it around her neck.
"I would advise you to dress warm. It gets cold around here in the mornings," she added.
Vinyl finished waking the other ponies and walked into the kitchen.
"I'm going to make a pot of coffee," she said.
"Vinyl, we don't have time for that," Octavia said. "Hurry up and get ready."
Vinyl turned and stared at her blankly.
"You wake me up at four and dump me off the couch. The least you could do is let me make one pot of coffee."
Octavia gave up. "Fine. Just make it quick. We need to get out the door as soon as possible."
She left to make sure that everypony was ready to go.
Octavia couldn't help but feel nervous. She did her best to hide it, but it was impossible. After hundreds of musical performances, she thought she knew how to deal with stress. This was different. The future of every pony in Equestria, including herself, rested on what she did this morning. It was too much to comprehend, so she didn't bother trying.
After they had all dressed warmly and had a few cups of coffee, they were pumped up and focused. All of them had some nerves, but they pushed it to the back of their minds. It was way too late to turn back now.
Luna's Army, as they liked to call themselves, headed out the door and to the Everfree Forest. The morning was sunny, but brisk. Dew from the previous night was gathered on the grass, and it made their hooves wet as they walked. The cold air made them shiver, and Octavia was grateful for her scarf.
After walking silently through a thin layer of fog, a line of trees appeared on the horizon. They had arrived. Whether that was a good thing or not was still debatable.
They started searching for Princess Luna. After looking for what seemed like forever, Lyra finally spoke up.
"Are you sure she's here?" Lyra asked. "She could be deeper in the forest or something."
Octavia was shaking under all the stress.
"I... I don't know. Just keep trying," she said quietly.
She turned around and started looking a little farther away. Her mind was awfully busy, and she almost didn't notice when she walked straight into a pony.
"Sorry," she muttered.
She went around the pony and kept walking.
"Looking for something?" Asked the pony in a familiar voice.
Octavia's eyes widened when she heard her voice. She looked up to see who it was. Right in front of her was Princess Luna; staring coldly back at her. But beneath that coldness was a bit of sadness, as if she felt sorry that Octavia had come. It was enough to make Octavia shudder.
"Luna! I have so much to say to you. We all got back together and-"
Luna cut her off. "Did I not tell you to stay home and never look for me?"
She was a bit taken aback. "Well, yes, but you have to understand-"
"I did not want you to come. You will surely be hurt, or maybe even killed. Not to mention that you can not work together, which will make your presence meaningless. I was ready to die alone. I do not need you to die with me."
"No! Luna, please listen to me," she begged. "We changed. We apologized and got back together again. We would do anything to help you, and none of us want to watch you die. I know you feel forgotten sometimes, but we care about you, Luna. There was no way that we could go through our day knowing that we had just let you down."
The other ponies noticed the argument and went over to join them. Luna looked at them all silently.
"I knew we might get hurt, but it's worth it for the sake of Equestria. We will fight for you, even if it is a lost cause."
The coldness slowly seeped away from Luna's eyes. She even smiled, although it was a sad one.
"And you all understand what is at stake? It will take only your best effort to make this work," Luna said.
The other ponies nodded.
"Then until our last breaths, let us fight side by side, as friends. Through wins and losses, success and failures, we will never hang our heads or accept defeat. If that is done, this battle can be won."
Luna stopped and turned her head to a sound that the others could barely make out.
"They are coming. Prepare yourselves to fight."
She stopped talking and stared straight ahead. The other ponies jumped around and gritted their teeth. They had all been through some skirmishes, but nothing close to a battle with an immortal princess. None of them knew exactly what to expect.