Chapters When they got there, Twilight breathed in and smiled.
"I missed that smell..."
"Darling, you were just here yesterday." said Rarity.
Spike whispered to Rarity, "Believe me, she has a weird thing with books."
"I heard that, Spike!" said Twilight sternly. Spike laughed nervously and went back to scanning the shelves.
"What kind of book are we looking for, Twi?"
"I'm not sure. Are there any books about the history of Canterlot High?"
"One," said Pinkie Pie, "I saw it when I was decorating Principal Celestia's office. It's probably still there." Pinkie Pie grinned as much as her face would allow her.
"Good work, Pinkie Pie!"
"What are we supposed to do!" said Rainbow Dash, "Just walk in and tell Principal Celestia that we need the book that she hid from all the students?"
"We'll think of something." said Twilight confidently, "We have to."
Sunset Shimmer and a Plan
When they got to the bottom of the steps, Sunset Shimmer was waiting by Twilight's locker.
"Hey! I was hoping we could maybe go and get some lunch or something?" Sunset saw the despair in their faces, "What's going on? What's wrong with you?"
"Vice Principal Luna's gone." said Applejack.
"What!" yelled Sunset.
One of the teachers scolded her.
"Sorry," she spoke softly. They told Sunset about everything that happened since they had gotten to school. Sunset's voice changed to a whisper, "What should we do?"
"I believe there is a book in Principal Celestia's office. If we can get to it, it may tell us where she went or why she left," said Rarity matter-of-factly.
"Great!" beamed Sunset, "If only we could get into her office."
Sunset's gaze fell to the ground.
Twilight's face lit up as she said, "We can. And I know exactly how to do it."
"Are you sure this is going to work?" sighed Sunset nervously.
"Positive," said Twilight as she adjusted Sunset's purse.
"OK, whatever you say, Twilight."
Sunset walked out into the hall and started running towards the door. Principle Celestia turned around and caught Sunset by her arm.
Under her breath, sunset whispered, "So close."
She looked at Sunset sternly and said, "To my office, now." As Principal Celestia squeezed her arm tighter, Sunset stared back at Twilight as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Our plan failed," said Rarity disappointed.
"No it didn't," beamed Twilight.
"But I thought the plan was to have her get gear and then we would sneak in tonight," said Rainbow Dash sounding frustrated.
"That may be the plan I told you, but it's not the one I told Sunset."
"What did you tell Sunset?" asked Fluttershy.
"Never mind that, we need to get to the janitor's closet."
Rarity squealed, "I refuse to go in such a place!"
"It's the only way we'll know if the plan worked."
"You go, I'll stay here. I wore my new matching necklace and earring set. I payed a fortune for these."
"Rarity, quit your moanin' and put it in you locker." said Applejack sounding quite annoyed.
"But what about my shoes?" whimpered Rarity.
"Fine, you can stay while Twi, here, tells us the plan."
Rarity moaned and said, "Alright, I'll come. But if anything gets on me, you are going to get it, Applejack!"
"Believe me, nothin' will." Applejack rolled her eyes as they headed towards the closet.
"Stand back! I don't want anything to happen to my outfit!" Rarity was on complete defense mode. "If anything, anything!"
Rainbow Dash cut her off and said " We get it, Rarity! Now please tell us why we're standing in a cramped, smelly closet."
"This holds all the school's surveillance system. We can see what's going on inside Principal Celestia's office."
"Oh, I get it. We can see Sunset Shimmer," said Pinkie Pie as she grinned from ear to ear.
They all stared at the screen that showed Principal Celestia's office.
"Sunset Shimmer, why would you try to run out the doors of the school. This is a very safe environment. If there is something wrong, you can tell us and the problem will be resolved."
Sunset set down her purse and shuffled her feet under her chair.
"I was just trying to get to class early."
"In the exact opposite direction of the classrooms. Sunset Shimmer, tell the truth."
She hit her purse with her foot and her shoe got shuck in the handle.
She bent down to untangle her foot when Principal Celestia said, "Is something wrong, Sunset Shimmer?"
She quickly straightened up and said, "Oh, nothing, just my foot."
When she swung her foot forward, her purse flew open and papers flew across the floor. When they both bent down to pick up the papers, Sunset's purse wiggled around. Then, Spike popped his head out to see them picking up the papers. He leapt out of the purse and climbed the shelfs up to where Pinkie Pie said the book was and replaced the book with a decoy that would give them enough time to read the book. He clutched the book in his mouth and jumped off the shelves. When he landed, his claws clicked on the wood of the floor.
Principle Celestia swung her head around and asked,"Did you hear that?"
Sunset started to sweat and said,"I didn't hear anything."
She shook her head to one side gesturing for Spike to get back into the purse.
When they were done, Principal Celestia handed the papers to Sunset and said,"Remember, you can always talk to me."
Sunset nodded and walked out of the office with the purse in her hands.
"See, those are the branches I use as a net," boasted Rainbow Dash, "I never miss 'em."
"Everyone abandoned the park. It over grew with bushes and trees. The old school is in there. It's probably only fallen rubble now," said Fluttershy, "Those poor animals."
"Fluttershy, I doubt there are any animals livin' in such a place," said Applejack.
Twilight started to crawl through the thick growth, struggling to get through.
"Come on! We have to get to the old school," said Twilight. They all started to inch their way through the trees until the came upon different pieces of cracked stone.
"This must be it," said Twilight sounding more exited than ever, "Let's go check it out!"
They all stepped onto the foundation of the old school and scanned the rubble.
"I found something!" squeaked Pinkie Pie.
It was a sign that read 'Canterlot Nightmares.'
"Does any of this have to do with Vice Principal Luna?" Twilight stared at a statue."Rainbow Dash, doesn't this kinda looks like her."
"Yeah, but she doesn't exactly wear armor or anything. And there was no record of her ever being at this school."
"But who was the principal, then?" asked Fluttershy.
Applejack said," Some person called 'Nightmare Moon.'"
Twilight fainted and the others caught her by the arms. They tried to fan her awake and Fluttershy gave her a bottle of water.
"If that's what I think is going on, we're in big trouble," said Sunset sounding very worried.
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Rarity.
Twilight started to wake up as Rarity asked the question.
"It means Canterlot High is in big trouble," said Twilight," Nightmare Moon is Vice Principal Luna. They are the same person. Nightmare Moon is the evil version of Vice Principal Luna. She will spread dark magic all around CHS. If we can't stop her, this whole town will disappear."
"WHAT!" Rarity gasped.
"We need to find Vice Principal Luna or Nightmare Moon as soon as possible. We're gonna need a bigger army," said Twilight, "and I know just the people."
They started walking to Sugarcube Corner.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Trust me," said Sunset," They'll join."
They walked in to three people sitting on bar stools.
"Hey guys!" said Sunset.
"Hi, Sunset!" they all rang in unison. "We haven't seen you for a while."
"Sonata, you just saw her yesterday. Remember, at the library?" said Aria.
"Give her a break, Aria," said Adagio, "It's her special way of expressing herself."
"Whoa, you guys changed a lot," said Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, we learned the hard way," said Adagio.
"Wanna sit down and get smoothies. We have some bad news," said Twilight.
"Smoothies won't cover up the bad news. But it's worth a try!" They got their smoothies and sat down at a table.
"So what your saying is we might lose our school?"
"Only if we can't stop her in time," said Fluttershy.
"Ooh, ooh! I know what to do!" screamed Pinkie Pie.
She ran into the kitchen and we heard many pots clanging and tape peeling of of its roll. She came out with a pile of rope and duck tape in her hands.
"Alright, which one of you first?" she said almost evilly.
Sunset screamed and hit a hard stone floor. She felt around, not able to see anything.
"Fluttershy!" Sunset screamed.
"Over hear!" Fluttershy yelled hoarsely. Sunset crawled over to Fluttershy. "I hurt my leg. I can't move it."
Fluttershy started to sob. Sunset gingerly helped Fluttershy stand.
"Sorry," Sunset said disappointed, "Your too heavy for me to carry. You don't happen to have anything that will help us see down here?"
Fluttershy sat down and rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a cracked lantern.
"It broke a little when I fell," she said, almost whispering.
Sunset lit the oil in the lantern. She swung the lantern around the room. On the walls were many symbols. One wall had a tapestry with Nightmare Moon sewn in dark blues and black. She must have been an alicorn in Equestria, the world beyond because she had a helmet with a unicorn horn and armour with pegasus wings. She was floating above the school with her legs out on each side and fists on her hips. Below her was Principal Celestia running away from the falling debris of the school.
"I don't like the looks of this," said Fluttershy.
Sunset started tracing the patterns on the walls. Fluttershy pulled a notebook out of her bag and wrote down all the symbols and drew a picture of the tapestry. When she was done, she put the notebook back in her bag and latched it shut. Sunset touched one of the stones and it was jutted out more than the others. She carefully pulled out the stone and threw it on the floor. She pulled out bricks as fast as she could. With each stone, the walls became weaker and weaker. After Sunset pulled out one of the last stones of the wall, the structure began to shook and dust and dirt fell from the ceiling. Sunset ran through the hole in the wall, but turned around and grabbed the tapestry. She threw it through the hole and then turned to Fluttershy. She picked her up and threw her onto the tapestry. Fluttershy raised her head and yelled for Sunset as the walls came crashing down.
Author's Note
I thought these two would work well in this scene because they are about the two most quiet characters which could make them stealthy.
They started to go faster down the hall. Fluttershy collapsed and screams rang through the hall. Except, they weren't hers. Sunset had knelt down next to Fluttershy and fell down too weak to move. They both laid there motionless. They both fell asleep. When they awoke, Adagio hovered over them.
"Hi," she said, "We're glad we found you. Well, we didn't really find you."
Sunset sat up and saw the were still in the hall, except they were at the end in a locked room with a door like those on a prison cell. Fluttershy was laying on Sonata's jacket and was still sleeping.
"We went out to find you and fell through a trap door right into this room. The only reason we came was because we found the counter spell for Pinkie Pie. It was a bunch of symbols. There was a translation for all of them and we had to chant something about 'The reign of darkness is no more.'"
"It made her turn back to normal," Sonata snapped her fingers as she said, "Just like that."
Aria handed Sunset a bottle of water and she guzzled half of it down. Sunset wiped her mouth while Pinkie laid out a jacket for Sunset to sit on.
"I think the ceiling is the only way out," said Sunset, "If that's how you got here."
They heard screams from above them and moved toward the walls. Rainbow Dash and Applejack dropped into the room. Applejack looked up and yelled again, this time surprised by all the other people in the room. The screams startled everyone and they all sat back down.
"We were pulled through a hole in a tree," said Rainbow Dash, "A tree!"
"Well, at least we're together. I don't know if that's good or bad, but we're together," said Applejack.
They felt vibrations in the wall and a hidden door slid open. Rarity screamed as she came sliding down and fell on top of Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, hello," Rarity said startled, "Why was I the one that was alone? That is so unfair."
"That's the least of our problems," said Sunset. Sunset was looking around the room, almost looking insane.
"What are you doing?" Rarity asked.
Sunset answered, "We don't have the tapestry."
Sunset started to breath heavily. She started turning in circles looking as the debris was being pushed out of the room. Sunset quickly pulled Twilight to her feet as she bent down to grab a bigger stone. As the walls grew closer, they laid against them. Sunset jammed the stone between the walls, keeping them from coming closer. She sighed and hugged Twilight. They almost started crying. Sunset started to wedge herself between the walls and shuffled toward the ceiling. Twilight had built up enough strength she could join Sunset. By the time Twilight lifted her foot, the floor slid away and the walls started moving back. Sunset grabbed some stones that jutted out of the wall and pointed some out to Twilight. They both were secure as the walls started moving down. They stared up as the light from the torches disappeared and darkness surrounded them. When the wall reached the bottom, it swung sideways, throwing both of them off. They could still hear faint yells from their friends. They didn't have any supplies and couldn't see. As soon as they started to move, one-by-one, torches lit up in a circle around them. They were both thrown to the ground. Not by a person, but more by a force. Shadows crossed the walls and metal cuffs came up through the floor and grasped their wrist and ankles. The figure stepped from the darkness and faint light lit their face. They had long, dark hair. Fangs for teeth. Armor and a helmet reflecting the light. Nightmare Moon.
"Hello, girls," Nightmare Moon said evilly. She hissed and began to circle them. "Why did you ever come down here. Haven't you heard. No one likes a snitch." The words sounded so snakelike, they thought she wasn't real. But she was real. Too real. "Sunset, darling! Why ever did you abandon my tasks?" Nightmare Moon stared into Sunset's eyes.
When Twilight lifted her head, they were back on the surface. They all rose up and hugged. They walked over to Vice Principal Luna. She was laying in the grass. Her eyes were closed. Twilight bent down and touched her face.
They all walked outside, hand-in-hand. The students all cheered. They gathered around the statue in front of the school. It cracked and small bits of lights oozed from the crevices. The stone flew off and the statue was different. It was a carving of Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack huddled around Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Twilight was standing and above her hands floated Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna holding hands.
"Twilight, come on! We're gonna be late!" shouted Pinkie Pie.
Twilight scrambled to stuff all her books in her backpack.
"Why do you need so many books?"
"Do you even know me, Spike! School's almost over at Canterlot High and I need to finish with a good grade."
"You mean an A+ isn't high enough?" said Rainbow Dash. "I only have an A+ in Gym. Not like there was any competition."
Rainbow Dash smirked at Twilight.
"We're gonna be late!" They all scurried out the door and ran to school.
Author's Note
This is my first story I have posted. I hope you enjoy it!
When they got there, Applejack and Rarity were waiting at the door.
"You got here fast." said Applejack.
"Where's Fluttershy?" asked Rarity.
"Here I am," Fluttershy whispered. She was hiding behind a statue. "I don't like when everyone comes to school. It's too many people for me."
The bell rang and they all scurried to class. They sat down at their desk and waited for the morning announcements.
When the speaker clicked on Principal Celestia said, "Vice Principal Luna has repealed from her job. Due to this, there will be no announcements for the rest of the school year. Thank you."
Twilight gasped at the news and Rarity nearly fainted.
Pinkie Pie said sadly, "But I didn't even get to throw her a going away party. There would have been cake and steamers and balloons and-"
Twilight cut in and said, "There won't be any need for a party. We need her back. Canterlot High will fall apart without her." After she said it, a light behind her clicked off. "See what I mean! Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna have magic in them like the rest of us. If she leaves, the magic the school that relies on will no longer exist."
Rarity fainted again.
Rainbow Dash said, "Wait, your telling me the school will fall apart?"
Twilight answered with a shudder, "No, it won't. Even worse than that. It will no longer exist."
"What do we do?" squeaked Fluttershy.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna need some books. Spike, come on! We're going to the library."
"That's the Sunset we all know!" one of the students yelled.
They must have seen her walk out of Principle Celestia's office. She shaded her face with one hand and walked quickly to the library. When Sunset got there, they were all waiting for her.
"Nice job!" beamed Pinkie Pie.
Twilight asked, "Spike, do you have the book?" Spike's head popped out of the purse.
"Sure do!" He was so proud of himself.
Twilight took the book and opened it gingerly. She blew off the pages and dust flew around them.
Rarity ran away screaming, "Not on my clothes!"
"It's OK, Rarity. The dust settled," sighed Applejack.
"No way! I could get dust on my shoes!"
"OK, Rarity, we'll come to you." They all shuffled over to Rarity as Twilight started to read.
"It says something about the original school being abandoned for this one. The old school was inside a forest."
"Oh, you mean Everfree Park. Sometimes I practice my awesome soccer moves there," said Rainbow Dash as she posed in a kicking position.
"I have a weird feeling that's where we need to go," said Twilight.
"Come on," said Rainbow Dash, "Follow me!"
She grabbed Twilight and rapped her rapidly with duck tape. Twilight sat up as Pinkie Pie tied rope around her ankles. She did this to every person and one-by-one to an object far away from one another.
"Pinkie Pie, what in tarnation are you doing!" yelled Applejack.
"It's obviously an interrogation!" said Pinkie Pie, "I'll ask you questions one by one to see who really knows where Nightmare Moon could be. OK, Rarity, you first!"
She untied the rope from a sofa and started to drag Rarity across the floor.
"Let go you brute! Ahhhhhhhh! Look what you did to my hair! You are going to get it now! Pinkie Pie!"
Then Rarity disappeared into the room with Pinkie Pie. When Rarity came out, she looked a mess. Mascara was running down her cheeks. She had untaped Rarity and tied her wrist to the arm of the sofa. Then she untied Fluttershy and scooted her across the floor while she sat on the pillow.
"Oh, my," she said as Pinkie Pie slammed the door shut.
When she came out, she was sobbing and Pinkie tied her next to a window where Fluttershy set down her head across her arms. She tried to grab Rainbow Dash, but she shouted and kicked like a mad, little kid. When she remembered who was in the room, she immediately stopped and blushed so hard her cheeks turned bright red. She let Pinkie walk her to the room and later tie her up to the TV set. She tried too take Applejack, but she lassoed Pinkie with the rope.
"Sorry, Pinkie Pie, but this madness has gotta stop."
"Pinkie Pie, why are you acting so strange?" asked Twilight. Pinkie was laying on the floor laughing hysterically.
She kept saying, "Nightmare."
"Adagio, Aria, Sonata. All of you need to stay with Pinkie Pie. We'll go out and look for Nightmare Moon. See if you can find a counter spell in one of my books," said Twilight.
They turned around to a mountain of books on the shelves.
"Ok," squeaked Adagio," We'll give it a shot."
"OK, start looking around everyone."
"Uh, Twi, weren't we just here?" asked Applejack.
"This is where she is. I just have this weird feeling in my gut."
"Are you sure it's not the truth-telling cupcake I gave you?" said Pinkie Pie, "I think I used too much salt."
Rarity gagged,"You put salt in a cupcake?"
Rarity started to unwrap some gum and shoved it in her mouth.
"I need to get this flavor out of my mouth!"
Rarity chewed hard on her gum. They looked in every nook and cranny, but found nothing.
"I don't understand. I thought for sure-"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack screamed.
They all looked around for them.
They all started shouting, "Rainbow Dash! Applejack!"
Fluttershy began to cry and said, "I'm scared."
Sunset sat down beside her and stroked her hair.
Sunset said comforting Fluttershy, "Shh, Fluttershy, shh."
Rarity gave a shrill cry and Sunset Shimmer could feel Fluttershy shaking in her arms.
"No, no, no, no, no! This can't happen!"
"Twilight!" Spike screamed. He was being dragged away by an odd creature with horns and wings.
Twilight ran after Spike.
"Where are you going!" yelled Sunset.
She reached a hand in Twilight's direction but when she did, Fluttershy dropped through a trap door. Her screamed bounced off the walls of the small hole. Sunset looked back to Twilight, then jumped in.
Author's Note
This is probably my favorite chapter in this book, but that is just my opinion. Tell me which is your fave!
"Sunset!" Fluttershy screamed.
The stones covered the floor and dust filled the air. Fluttershy coughed and tried to wave the dust away from her face. She started to look through the pile of stones. She saw a piece of Sunset's hair and started to throw stones everywhere. When she moved enough stones, she pulled Sunset out. She laid her fingers under where Sunset's jaw hinged. Fluttershy sighed. She found a pulse. Fluttershy examined Sunset. She pulled off her own scarf and wrapped it around Sunsets head after she had poured some water from her bottle onto it. Sunset began to wake up drearily. She sat up and breathed in sharply as she clutched her head in her hand. They both looked around the long hall. They each helped each other to recover. Sunset tried to splint Fluttershy's leg with two rulers and tape while Fluttershy dabbed Sunset's forehead with water. Sunset ripped of the remaining tape then crawled across the floor. She was careful of where she placed her hands because debris covered the floor. She found a stick and handed it to Fluttershy. They both stood and walked down the hall. The hall was long and they both grew tired. Toward the end of the hall, torches lined the wall. They were all lit. They weren't alone.
Author's Note
I called this chapter Cornerstone because Sunsey Shimmer acts as the backbone for this story.
"What do you mean?" asked Applejack.
"In the room that we came in there was a tapestry of Nightmare Moon. There were also many symbols on the walls. The room collapsed and I don't remember any of them. I do remember the tapestry, though. I was Nightmare Moon on top of the school and Principal Celestia was running away," said Sunset.
There was a loud crack and the ceiling door opened. Sunset stood up and held it open as Twilight fell through unconsciously and her head fell against Rarity's legs. Sunset strained to keep t open as they crawled through the passage. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata had all made it safely to the top. They tried to wake Twilight and Fluttershy, but couldn't.
"Don't worry," said Sunset, "All of you need to leave. I'll stay with them until they wake up. You stay at the top. Drop a rock down and I'll be able to yell to you and the door will be open."
"Great idea!" said Rainbow Dash.
The rest all climbed up with all the gear. As Rarity pulled her foot up, Sunset released the door and it slid back fast. So fast, Sunset could of broken her fingers if she hadn't of pulled them away. Sunset sat for long amounts of time. Every few minutes, she tried to shake them awake. It was almost morning and everyone was getting hungry. Sunset thought that their hunger would wake them up soon. And it did. Fluttershy and Twilight alike were too weak to even try climbing up the passage. After about five o'clock in the morning, a rock fell out of the passage.
"They're awake!" Sunset yelled, "But they're too weak to climb up."
"One step ahead of you!" yelled Applejack.
They lowered a halter through the passage. Sunset helped both Fluttershy and Twilight. Once Twilight was ready to be lifted up, the door snapped shut, almost on Twilight's head. The rope snapped and they heard stones grinding. The walls were starting to move.
