That Which Darkness Sends

"You're sure this is the right way?" Megan nervously asked. The path they had been taking led them into the darker, much scarier part of the forest, then abruptly disappeared.

"Sure I'm sure," Rarity nervously answered.

The group of ponies plus Megan stopped in front of a wall of mushrooms. They gasped as the wall pulled away, revealing a peaceful mushroom-themed lawn.

"Oh, it's so beautiful!" Twilight exclaimed. "Mr. Moochiiick..."

A dwarf-like person like Megan ran up to them. "Come on, come on, come on, no time to waste!" He hurried them closer to his house. "Unless you want to stumble around in the dark for all eternity."

"Dark?" Megan asked.

The Moochick nodded. "Yes, Tirek's going to force your friends to bring in The Night That Never Ends!"

"How can he be stopped?"

"Somebody's got to sneak into his castle and swipe his Rainbow of Darkness." The Moochick seemed to be searching for something. "That's what gives him his power, y' know. Ah, here it is, here it-" He pulled a bunch of flowers out of his hat. "No... no, that's... that's not it."

"Whatcha lookin' for, Mr. Moochick?" Twilight inquired.

"The only thing that can beat him - a Rainbow of Light!"

"Do ya have one?" Applejack asked.

"I've got a little peace of one somewhere," the Moochick explained while still searching. "Somewhere... I just forget where it is... but I'll find it, yes yes. It's gotta be around here somewhere! Somewhere there's a little piece of rainbow-"

"NOPE," Typer interrupted. "I don't do singing. At all. Besides, I think we can all guess where it is. It's in your pocket."

The Moochick reached into his pocket and pulled out a heart-shaped locket. "Yes, here it is! Say, unicorn, how did you know it was in there?"

"Your rabbit in red overalls keeps pointing. You should really give him more credit," Typer explained. Habbit the rabbit leapt for joy that someone finally understood him.

"In any case, here's the rainbow." The Moochick handed the locket to Megan. "The Rainbow of Light!"

"But... it's so small!" Rarity noticed.

"Well, it's better than nothing," the Moochick said optimistically.

"But of course it is!" Megan announced. "And thank you for all you've done-"

"No time for thanks, no time for thanks, no TIME for thanks! You've gotta stop Tirek before midnight!" He noticed the absence of a watch. "You've only got, uh... you've got... uh oh..."

"Goodbye, Mr. Moochick!" Megan waved. "And thanks again!" The ponies set off again for Midnight Castle.

"Hey, you haven't seen my watch, have ya?" the Moochick called. "I know it was here yesterday..."

But about one second after the ponies left, Fluttershy stopped. Something kept nagging her. She turned around and headed back to the Moochick.

"There's no time!" he shouted. "Hurry! You have to go!"

"Mister Moochick sir? Your bunny here," she started. "I'm far away from home, and well, you see he kinda reminds me of my bunny, Angel."

For some reason at that moment, Habbit started to jump around frantically, waving his arms.

"Hush, Habbit. I'm trying to listen to Medley," the Moochick scolded.

"They're almost the same; irrational, impatient, and self-absorbent."

Habbit continued to hop around, pulling on Fluttershy's hoof.

"And I just thought-"

Habbit facepawed, fed up with this. He found an area of dirt that was suitable for his needs, and wrote a word: 'Angel'.

"-how similar they were and... Hey, what is he doing?" Fluttershy stopped, finally paying attention to Habbit, specifically what he wrote. "What does that mean..." Her eyes lit up when she realized what it meant. She grabbed Habbit in her forelegs, almost crying. "Angel! Angel! Oh, how I've missed you so!"

The Moochick stared, befuddled by what he was seeing. "Dear pony, is there any reason why you are cuddling my assistant?"

Fluttershy wiped a tear away with a hoof. "It's a long story, one I don't exactly get. If it's okay with you, can I borrow your rabbit for a while?"

"I don't see why not, just have him back in time... Time! You don't have much time! Go, go!" He hurried her away.

"Thank you again Mr. Moochick, and sorry if we caused any trouble!"

"No time for being sorry!"

"Oh. Sorry."

Angel facepawed.

* * *

When Fluttershy crested the rocky hill, the other ponies (plus Megan) were hunkered down, staring in awe at the black fortress that lay before them.

"Midnight Castle," Rainbow Dash summed up what everyone was thinking. She stood and walked forward, still looking up, so she wasn't looking where she was going.

"Wow, Those impassable river chasms really do seem to sneak up on you, don't they, Firefly?" Typer snickered. Rainbow glared at him while hanging from the cliff. "Yeah, you're right. That was bad. Oh, I know, I got a better one! 'What is up with you and falling off cliffs today?'"

Rainbow stopped glaring for just a second. "Really?"

"Yeah, you see what I did?"

"Yeah."

"I use a quote."

"Uh huh."

"From you."

"I see."

"From your first adventure."

"Shut up."

"Okay."

"How're we gonna cross that?" Applejack asked.

"I have an idea!" Megan exclaimed. She held the signal shell she had recently received. "The seaponies!" She chucked the shell into the swirling deep. What happened next startled them. Nothing.

"Where are they?" Twilight said nervously.

"They said they'd help..." Applejack murmured.

Suddenly, a group of the aquatic ponies burst through the surface. Everyone was very relieved.

"We've got gotta get inside that castle!" Rainbow told them.

"No problem!" one of the seaponies assured.

"We know a way!" another revealed.

"Hop aboard!" A seapony motioned to a giant shell floating on the rough water. Several other seaponies had vines in their mouths that were connected to the shell.

The next thing they knew, the little ponies were being pulled across the chasm.

A seapony pointed to a statue near the main door. "See that gargoyle up there? Pull its nose!"

Rainbow Dash flew up to the aforementioned statute in question and tapped it lightly on the head. The large door in front of Megan and the other ponies opened not-too-quietly. They stepped into the entryway. Little did they know that someone heard them and was watching from above.