The Catacombs of Zalgo

Chapter 16: Friends

Meanwhile in the royal castle, Princess Celestia walked up and down a corridor with stained-glass windows on both walls. Her mind kept boggling her ever since she discovered the Necronomicon Gate sigil. She’d never expect such a dark conspiracy to slip through within the peaceful borders of Equestria. Outraged, she kept grunting angrily, while she talked to herself in her mind.

For eight hundred years, those sick and twisted wrongdoers hadn’t made their move until now. I’d never imagine they’d return like this. If they’re planning another apocalyptic war, then things will go down gruesomely. I might not know much about the lore of their religious group, but I can tell that this new threat will be too much for us to handle. Sigh… if only I’d destroyed that accursed book when I had the chance back then. While she kept walking up and down the corridor in her train of thought, Private Silver made his appearance at the entrance.

“Uhh, like yer majesty?” Silver called. Celestia stopped walking and turned her attention to Silver.

“Report.” She asked.

“Uhh… like we searched around most of the Everfree Forest, aaaand like, we uuuh haven’t seen somethin’ fishy, ya know?” Silver said, making Celestia sigh.

“Alright then, tell the search team to double check the areas. They have to be in there somewhere. And be sure to locate any unusual hideouts. Also, notify the mayor of Ponyville to set up a town's meeting at Town Hall. There will be a discussion about evacuating the citizens to the Canterlot Keep at sunrise. I’ll be there to inform the details once I’m ready. Now go!”

“Uhh, yes ma’am!” Silver saluted and trotted away. Once he was gone, Celestia continued pacing up and down the corridor.

“Whatever they’re up to, we’ve got to prepare for the worst.” Celestia mumbled, as she was preparing to raise the sun.

“Nuuuh…” Jack mumbled. The darkness in his vision were slowly lifting. He could see five colorful objects looming down at him.

“Guys! Look! He’s waking up!” Pinkie Pie announced. Once Jack’s vision was back to normal, he immediately felt sore on his right arm. Though, the pain he felt before was reduced, yet he still felt numb on his arm. Jack slowly sat back up, while moaning. He looked at the ponies’ welcoming smiles.

“You feelin’ alright, sugarcube? You’ve been out for hours.” Applejack asked. Jack nodded his head slowly.

“Uuuh… yeah. I-“ Jack suddenly flinched in pain. He placed his left hand on his right arm. To his surprise, he felt something different when he placed his hand on his biceps. He looked at his right arm, and noticed that he had a cleaned up arm. The gaps were sewed by suture and the blood was wiped away. Jack gazed at his arm quizzically.

“Huh? Wh-wha-?” He was just about to ponder, when Rarity cutted in.

“That arm of yours was such a dreadful sight. We… we tried to sew your wounds up the best we could.” She put on a smug smile. Right next to Rarity, Pinkie Pie winked at him.

“Yeah, it was fun! Except it was reeeeeally nasty to do! I don’t know if I’d ever do that kind of stuff again! But hey, you worked on my wounds like a professional!” Jack looked at the group who were smiling at him. He then gazed back at his arm, as he displayed his disbelief face.

“So… you all did this?” He asked. Every pony replied with a simple nod. At that moment, Jack started to feel yet another positive emotion brewing inside him. It warmed his heart to see such generosity to be put on him. He closed his eyes and grunted a chuckle.

“Heh… thanks.” He said. Jack stood back up to his feet and cracked his weary neck. He turned around and spotted the blue-lit jar next to Dash. Every pony gazed at the jar with excitement.

“You ready for this, Jack?” Dash asked earnestly. Jack eyed at the jar, then to Dash with a slight nod.

“Alright. Just stand back and let me take care of the rest.” Jack proceeded towards Twilight’s body, while he grabbed the jar. Standing next to her body, he kneeled down and gazed into her lifeless eyes. He placed the jar on the ground that marked a small circle. He noticed that the wound on her chest was already sewed up by the ponies. He felt a little bit of relief to see the work was cut off for him. Checking the green scribed symbols around them, he changed certain symbols by using the green ink beside him. Once he was done, he rearranged the candlesticks to their proper place.

Watching Jack preparing this kind of ritual made the ponies felt nervous. Finally, after the preparations were complete, he sat on his knees and placed both hands palm to palm. He closed his eyes and began chanting softly in a weird language. The ponies just stood there looking eagerly at the climax. They also prayed as hard as they can to hope this event would go well. During ten seconds of chanting quietly, his tone began to roughen up. The suspense was climbing higher than they anticipated.

Suddenly, the candlesticks around the ritual circle lit up simultaneously in a counterclockwise. As the ritual progressed, the symbols and shapes started to glow from green to blue. The symbols gives off a loud bell-like screech that made the ponies felt fuzzy inside. This entire step went on for about thirty seconds until Jack slowly lifted his eyelids about halfway. Then he struck both arms in front of him, facing his palms at Twilight.

“Heralds of the sleepless dead, heed thy command!”
“Open the mortal gate for which I demand!”
“Descend the law of death, upon this lost soul!”
“Arise the act of life, making her all whole!”
“Both body and the soul, being into one!”
“Futile this forceful deed, so it shall be done!”
“Upon this ritual for which I called for!”
“REVIVE THE FALLEN, AND AWAKEN ONCE MORE!!”

At that very second, the runes around twilight lit up brightly. The lights ascended skyward towards the ceiling. Every pony jumped in amazement when they saw the special effects. On Twilight’s chest, a big portal gap appeared. Colorful lights escaped from the portal, giving off weird and soothing noises. Knowing now the time was right, Jack took the soul jar, held it above the portal gap, flipped it upside-down, and unscrewed the safety cap. The blue-lit sphere inside the jar fell out and slowly descended into the portal. As the soul slowly floated downward, Jack tossed the soul jar to the side. The jar shattered into a handful of pieces upon impact.

The ponies watched in awe, as the glowing sphere descended into the portal gap. A few seconds later, the sphere entered Twilight’s body. Jack slowly lifted both arms up above his head and waited a few more seconds. Just when the portal started to blink, Jack swung both arms in front of him, making a loud clap. The portal gap on Twilight’s chest immediately closed, making her body jolt. The ritual circle around both Twilight and Jack stopped glowing. The blue colored shapes and symbols returned to their natural green color. Jack took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

Now that the ritual was over, the ponies were eager to see the results, as they gathered around Twilight’s body in silence. Everypony stared at her closed eyes in suspense, hoping that the ritual worked. The ponies held their breaths in, as the suspense grew. They spoke nothing for the next few seconds. It felt like the ritual didn’t worked after all until…

“Oh my gosh, look!” Fluttershy quietly gasped. A pair of purple eyelids slowly rose. Very faint groans escaped from the purple unicorn’s mouth. And the sound of a steady heartbeat could be heard from her chest. Everypony bloomed, as they finally saw the results. Twilight slowly eyed her way up to see her friends with huge smiles on their faces.

“G-Girls…?” Twilight faintly spoke. At that moment, all the ponies cried out her name in unison and piled on top of her. They all shared a group hug around Twilight, as they laughed and cried gently. At last, all six ponies were reunited once more. As the feelings of joy and happiness spreads through their hearts, the fears from this place were slowly relinquishing. Every pony shed tears of elation, while their friendship bonds grew stronger. Rainbow Dash wiped away her tear streams and stared at Twilight.

“I knew you wouldn’t be gone forever! I’m so happy that you’re alive again!” Dash emotionally said. Twilight grinned at Dash.

“I’m sorry I scared you all like that. But I’m glad to be back here with you girls. Thank you…”

While the ponies had their time, Jack slowly stood back up to his feet and watched. He felt happy to see all of Fluttershy’s friends were reunited once more. Yet, at the same time, he felt like this feeling of happiness was nothing more than a forlorn emotion to him. He still hadn’t figured out why and how these positive emotions came to him. And on top of that, he knew that he would no longer experience these types of feelings, or even try to contemplate them. Giving up such treasured feelings for one’s only purpose in life made Jack more depressed. Upon these circumstances, Jack almost felt… jealous. Without wasting anymore of his actual time, Jack had to continue his mission. He trailed his eyes over to Fluttershy.

“So… Fluttershy, I take it this is all of your friends correct?” Jack said palely. Fluttershy took her eyes off of Twilight and smiled bigley, while tears kept shedding out of her eyes.

“Y-Yes! Thank you so very much! I don’t know what I’d do without them! It’s because of you; I now have all of my friends back! *Snivel*… Thank you, Jack! Thank you!” Fluttershy spoke emotionally. The other ponies stared at Jack and nodded happily. But suddenly, the ponies’ smiles faded as they saw Jack looking down on the ground emotionlessly. Everypony went silent for the moment. They wondered what was going on in his head right now. The ponies couldn’t help but notice Jack clenching his fists. Concerned, Fluttershy spoke up to get his attention.

“Jack? What’s wrong?” She hoped Jack would fill her in. But Jack just stood there, staring at the floor lugubriously. Fluttershy suddenly had this feeling of guilt boiling up inside her, making her more concerned about him. But just as she was about to call out his name again, Jack raised his head a little and gazed at the ponies in dismal.

“Nothing. Since I’ve helped you find and rescued your friends, there’s no longer a reason for you guys to follow me. Our pathways end here truthfully.” Jack said neutrally, making the ponies gasp. Jack pointed towards the generator behind the ponies.

“Behind that generator is a secret wall passage that leads you up towards the surface. It will lead you to the middle of a forest. There, you will find a small pathway that will lead you out of the forest. Now then, I must be going.” Without anymore words to add, Jack turned around and walked straight for the door. Seeing Jack bailout like that made the ponies’ heart sank. All but Twilight had this feeling, since she doesn’t know who he was. Desperate for answers, Rarity stood up on her hooves.

“W-Wait! What are you going to do, Jack?” She asked sincerely. As Jack continued to walk, he replied.

“I still have my only purpose to fulfill. And I attend to do this solely. If I die or succeed, it won’t even matter to me in the end. I’ll know that this is as far as I go in life.” Jack stopped walking for a moment, as he tried to cough up his regards. “And guys... I-I just want to say...” Jack’s throat started to burn, yet his composure got the better of him. “...thank you for your help. But now, I’m on my own now. Goodbye...” Jack silently grunted, and continued towards the door. Already, the ponies felt his pain. Watching Jack leave like this made Dash stood up eagerly.

“Y-You shouldn’t do this alone! We’re your friends! Let us help you out!” Dash spoke out. Once Jack reached at the doorway, he stopped dead in his tracks. At that moment, he froze completely from hearing what Dash had said. The ponies felt a little surprised to see him frozen like this. Slowly, Jack turned his head around at the ponies. His face was bewildered and shocked at the same time.

“W-Wha… what? Y-You…you’re my… what?” Jack shuttered in confusion. The smiles on the ponies’ faces slowly returned, as they felt like they accomplished something. Dash didn’t hesitate to repeat herself, as she spoke again.

“We’re your friends, aren’t we? Friends stick together to the end. We don’t want you to give up your life for nothing! We care about you, rather than our lives. You know why? It’s because I’m always loyal to those I cherish!” At that point, the rest of the ponies stood up on their hooves. Then, Applejack cut in the chat.

“That’s right, sugarcube! People like you shouldn’t live like this! I know that you’ve been in the dark for far too long, and you always wanted comfort in your life. Even though you attend to hide yer real feelings from us, I still respect you. Besides, I’m honest to those I respect and love!” Then Rarity spoke next.

“Darling, you helped all of us willingly. And since you helped us, we would help you in return! I am after all generous to those who are deemed worthy of being my friend!” Then Pinkie Pie giggled while jumping for joy.

“Hehe! Even though we’ve met for such a short time, you still look like a pretty awesome whatever you are to hang out with! You see, I make my friends and everyone else laugh while keeping them happy!” And finally, Fluttershy stepped in.

“You’ve made me stronger, Jack. I always knew that there was a good side of you just hiding in that lonely corner. There was never any doubt in my mind that you would help all of us. Like I said, all you ever needed back in your life... was a friend... or maybe even friends. I really want to help you get out of that dark and lonely place, because showing kindness to everyone like you and to my friends is what I do!” All of those words the ponies spoke out struck Jack’s heart immensely. His heart began to lift from experiencing this huge emotional feeling. As this feeling grew, he started to understand those five words he learned. This begun to change Jack’s perspective ways of the world, for this emotional feeling he was experiencing now was overwhelming him. He felt like he was about to explode in a massive outbreak of happiness. He opened his mouth to speak, but choked on his own words.

As Twilight felt left out on this, she came to her senses and spoke up.

“I… I don’t know who you are. But, I will give my sincerest gratitude of saving my friends and I. Heh, you’re like me kind of, growing up with no friends or possibly not knowing the true definition of friendship. You see, I didn’t know what friendship was like, until these ponies shared it’s magic with me. And since I have someone or some pony that cares about me, I’ll gladly protect them with my life. Because friendship is worth fighting for.” After Twilight spoke, a sudden message flashed inside Jack’s head.

Magic… and friendship. I... I see... Jack said inside his consciousness. From that point, he finally figured out how those positive emotions work. To know how friendship works was an incredible accomplishment to him. Armed with this newfound knowledge, he could see a new perspective on the ponies’ faces. He found their smiles very heartwarming and comforting. Starting to embrace the positive feeling, his eyes were upwelling tears from seeing their faces smiling.

“S-So… so… all… all of you… are my… friends now?” Jack stuttered. Within a single silent moment, the ponies replied to him with a simple nod. Seeing them nod instantly made Jack’s heart burst out in profound happiness. His lips quivered, as tears begun to stream down his cheeks. The overwhelmingness of happiness started to weighed him down. He collapsed to his knees, covered his eyes with his hands, and began to sob. He tried so hard to obtain his composure back, but his eyes were so heavy that it felt impossible to do so. The ponies looked at each other, realizing that Jack’s heart was now free. They walked over to Jack and sat in a circle around him. Jack slowly removed his hands to see tears on his palms. He felt a little bit confused, since crying was a negative feeling.

“W-Why… why… why am I… crying?” He asked emotionally. “*Snivel*… I… I thought… that… friend…ship… *Heaves*… was… a good thing.” Fluttershy put her hoof on Jack’s shoulder. Jack looked up to see her watery eyes.

“You’re not crying… you’re happy. Does it feel like sadness or depression at all? No… it’s alright to cry if you’re really happy.” All of a sudden, Jack quietly gasped. He knew that he felt something different about this emotion. Giving only a few seconds to realizing this discovery, Fluttershy wrapped her forearms around Jack’s neck and gave him a hug. Jack’s body froze from this sudden feeling. His body felt the warmth and comfort coming from Fluttershy in a way he couldn’t explain.

“Wha… what… what is this? What are... you doing?” He stuttered.

“I’m hugging you, Jack. Don’t you know what a hug is?” Fluttershy asked.

“N...No... I... I never... had this done to me before... what is this hug?” Jack asked innocently. The realization of Jack not knowing how a hug works suddenly made the ponies’ jaws fall agape.

“You don’t know?! Oh that’s terrible!” Fluttershy gasped, before returning to her composure. “Well, a hug is an emotional form for affection and friendship. It makes us feel that we’re not alone anymore. Here, wrap your arms around my neck and squeeze me tightly.” Jack felt a little bit confused at this point. He doesn’t know what to expect from this hug. And yet, it felt so simple to him. Following Fluttershy’s instruction, Jack slowly worked his way to wrapping his arms around her neck. Once Jack had a firm grip on her neck, he suddenly felt a wave of affection hitting inside him. Feeling scared for a brief moment from this sudden emotion being presented to him, his fear relinquished in an instant. This made Jack’s heart burst into more joy.

Embracing this newfound feeling, Jack squeezed tighter around Fluttershy’s neck and wept quietly on her chest. Fluttershy rested her head on top of Jack’s head, and started to shed more tears.

“That’s it... just let it all out Jack...” At this point all the other ponies had tears flowing down their cheeks from watching this heartwarming event. Within Jack’s head, he started to flashback the events of his life. From all the pain he endured, all the fear he went through, and the anger he held inside him had finally lifted. On this day, Jack felt like he was reincarnated into a better life.

The hugging went on for at least a full minute until Jack finally unwrapped his arms around Fluttershy’s neck and went back up to his feet. Still releasing a few streams of tears left, Jack wiped his irritated cheeks with his hand. He inhaled through his wet nose, drying up his nostrils. Then he looked at the group and displayed his actual smile.

“I… I don’t know what to say. Y-You guys… have changed me greatly. In the past, ‘friendship’ was merely a word to me… nothing more, nothing less. But now, since I met with you guys, I realize now that the meaning of that word is now important to me. I can guess that… this world isn’t that half bad after all! And-“ Just as Jack was about to express his overwhelming feelings any further, he held his sentence for a moment and glared above the ceiling. The dark whisper echoed across the hallway once more, bringing chills down the ponies’ spines. But this time, the whisper was more intense than the previous three.

“He waits behind the wall… in a palace of tortured glass… served by legions forged from the tears of the sleepless dead… and clad in armor carved from the suffering of mothers.”

“In his right hand he holds a dead star… and in his left hand he holds the Candle Whose Light Is Shadow.”

“His left hand is stained with the blood of Am Dhaegar.”

“His six mouths speak in different tongues… and the seventh shall sing the song that ends the earth.”

“HE COMES!”

The demonic dark whisper echoed his last two words loudly before silence took over. Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle were completely off guard by the death-chilling whisper, for they had no idea what that was. As the whisper died out, both Pinkie and Twilight began shaking in horror. Twilight tried to talk, but her words were clothed up by the sensation of fear. She attempt to let out a few words, but was roughly cut short by Rainbow Dash.

“Hey! You freakhead! If you're hearing this, you're gonna pay for what you’ve done! You hear me, Zalgo?!” Dash thundered, while clenching her hoof in anger as she shook it at the ceiling. As Twilight was given a bit of courage by Dash, she finally spoke.

“Rainbow Dash? W-Who was that?” She asked. Rainbow Dash dropped her anger for a brief moment and stared at Twilight.

“That’s Zalgo, the biggest jerk head I’ve ever met!” Dash exclaimed while her rage rose. “He’s the one responsible for all of this, and the one who made Jack’s life extremely miserable! I can safely say that he’s much worse than Discord and Nightmare Moon combined!” Given the major details about him, Twilight and Pinkie were a bit astonished about this newcomer villain. Curious, Twilight stepped closer to Rainbow Dash for more answers.

“So… this song… is it really possible to sing a certain song to end the world? A-And… how powerful is he? What did he do to this place? What’s his pur-“ As Twilight was anxiously getting carried away by questioning Dash, Applejack stepped in and interrupted her.

“We don’t know, sugarcube. All we know is that this could be the biggest foe we could ever encounter. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s been extremely crazy!” Rainbow Dash nodded back at her.

“Yeah, we’ve been almost killed countless of times! Without Jack, we wouldn’t be here! Well… I say it’s Zalgo’s turn to be afraid of us, right Jack?!” Rainbow Dash swerved her head at Jack, who was still glaring at the ceiling silently.

“We’re gonna kick his butt together, right?!” She asked earnestly. But Jack didn’t replied back. He kept staring at the ceiling, while thinking about what he would do next. Every pony looked at him quizzically, as they wondered what’s going on in his head right now. It only took a couple of seconds for Jack to display a simple grin. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled softly.

“Where are you guys from anyway?” He finally spoke out. It felt a little off topic for the ponies, but Fluttershy gladly spoke up.

“Well um… we live in a town called Ponyville which is located south from a city called ‘Canterlot’. And well… if you want… well… after this, would you like to come live with us in our town? There are a lot of ponies there that will gladly welcome you. And I promise, it won’t be like Graniteville. You will be able to make more friends there too!” Hearing her offer made Jack’s heart even warmer than ever. Getting a second chance in life felt good to him. He opened his eyes, and stared at the generator.

“I… I would love that.” He responded. Jack suddenly reached inside his back pouch, and pulled out a big scroll. He unwrapped the scroll, and it revealed ancient texts and a huge symbol on the center of the parchment paper. The ponies quizzically gazed at the parchment as they wondered what that was.

“Umm… Jack?” Dash asked. “What is that? Is that gonna help us defeat Zalgo?” Jack kneeled down, and laid the parchment paper flat on the ground.

“You could say that…” Jack confessed. He took out the vial of blood again, pulled out the cork, dipped his finger in, and scribbled certain text on the parchment. The ponies gathered around him and observed his work. They couldn’t understand the ancient symbols he was inscribing, yet it didn’t bothered them. A few seconds of writing blood on the paper, he plugged the cork back in and stored it away. He then gazed at the ponies around him.

“Place your hoofs anywhere on this paper. Trust me.” He spoke confidential. They were puzzled at this, but since there were no doubts to be put on him, the ponies placed their hoofs on the edges of the paper. They looked at each other in confusion. But as the events were being unfolded, the ponies were growing curious by the second. Jack stood back up on his feet and made a weird sign with his right hand. His thumb and index finger stood straight up while his other three fingers closed in. He placed his index finger next to his lips.

“Gavu!” He chanted loudly. Suddenly, the whole parchment glowed blue and hummed a weird vibe. It only lasted two seconds until the paper stopped humming and glowing. The ponies gazed at the parchment puzzled. Then they look back at Jack who dropped his hand.

“I appreciate your help guys…” Jack said, while slowly smiling. “But… I’m afraid I have to do this alone. I’m teleporting you guys back to Ponyville.” At that very moment, the ponies let out a shocking gasp.

“WHAT?!” Everypony yelled in unison. They attempted to remove their hooves off the parchment, but to their surprise, their hooves were glued onto the paper. Each pony pulled their hoofs in an attempt to get free, causing the others to be yanked around. It felt like a six way tug of war to them. No matter how hard they tried, the paper still kept hold of them.

“Wha?! What did you do?!” Rarity desperately asked Jack.

“I added an enchanted spell that glues you six to that paper.” Jack confessed. “The word ‘Gavu’ means ‘Lock’ in R'lyehian, a language we use for the practice for the Cthulhu culture. I knew you guys were going to follow me, and… well… I’d figure I use up my only teleportation scroll, which was meant for me, on to you six.” Every pony looked at him in a disbelief way. Especially Fluttershy, who began to panic on Jack’s decision.

“W-Wait! You said we could help you! And yet you insist on doing this alone! Why?!” Fluttershy made a good standard point, but Jack kept his composure.

“You are helping … by being kept safe from harm. Zalgo insists on destroying all life on earth, making each and every one of you his mindless slaves. Back then, I didn’t even care about this world. I was like the avatar once, wanting all of my hatred and suffering to burn down this world until it’s nothing but ashes. That is, until we became competitors. To see which one of us has the strongest hatred. To figure out which one of us has a stronger existence. And the strongest purpose in life. Even if I die, I’ll die knowing that death was the only path to end all of this madness. But now… I met you guys… and you all saved me. Each and every one of you saved me from my loneliness and my suffering.” Jack looked up at the ceiling as he continued.

“I thought that vengeance was my only motivation to continue to live. But now… I have a new motivation. And that’s to protect those who care about me. And to those who have felt the same pain I had. By giving me this motivation, you also gave me hope. I don’t want anyone to live like me… being all alone and hated. And that’s why, with this new motivation, I feel a lot more stronger and more determined to end Zalgo’s plans. I don’t want to risk losing you six. Cause now, you ponies are the only thing that makes me feel happy to be alive. You guys reflect what I should of had in the first place.” Jack took his eyes off the ceiling and stared at the ponies. At this point, their eyes were coated in tears. Jack closed his eyes and widened his smile.

“Besides, I am confident that I’ll be able to do this. Even if I do somehow put an end to Zalgo, I... I might not be able to return to the surface. For this place marks my tomb. You can say that fate has already made plans for me.” Jack grunted a chuckle from that.

“If only I had more time to spend with you guys… that would be something, wouldn’t it? If only I didn’t have this terrible fate, I would spend the rest of my life with you guys. Oh well…” Jack opened his eyes and stared at Fluttershy. Tears streamed down her irritated cheeks as her heart sank.

“Jack…” She whimpered. Jack slowly lifted both arms up to the side, as he was preparing to do something. He dropped his smile and displayed his serious face.

“I guess this is where we now separate. Make sure not to speak of Zalgo’s name under any circumstances. Otherwise, a terrible curse will befall upon those who hear his name. Also, don’t even mention what has happened down here this evening. I want this place to be forgotten, if this world wants to live free from the tyranny of fear. Please keep this promise… for me.” Every pony except Fluttershy nodded, yet they weren’t unable to speak properly due to the tears.

“Thank you… my friends.” A single tear streamed down Jack’s cheek, but Jack’s smiled brightly due to that.

“Farewell…” He said, and collided both palms together, making a loud clap. At that sudden moment, Fluttershy desperately stretched out her hoof to reach for Jack.

“Jack, wait!! Don’t-“ Suddenly, all the mane six’s bodies dematerialized almost in an instant. Their body particles rushed through the ceiling with such blinding speed, and the spell lead them towards home. At that point, Jack was now alone. He stared at the parchment paper, as the inscribed text and symbols disappeared. This left the parchment paper completely blank. Jack closed his eyes again, inhales slowly, and exhales softly. Seconds later, Jack opened his eyes, and displayed his determined face.

Here I come you fucking bitch! Jack uttered in his mind. He turned towards the doorway, and began running out the exit. As Jack ran towards his inescapable fate, he failed to notice that Aero was hiding behind the door. He placed his hoof on his mouth.

“Oh dear…” He mumbled.

As the sun rised to begin its daily routine, every pony in Ponyville headed straight towards Town Hall. Each and every one of them felt like a zombie, due to waking up extremely early. It only took a few minutes for the crowd to quietly gather in a file line. Spike, who was all night taking care of the crusaders, was in the crowd. And next to him were the sleepy crusaders. Their eyes were half way shut as they kept yawning.

“*Yawn*… What’s the deal here…?” Scootaloo drowsily spoke. Spike wanted to answer, but he thought it would be best to not mention what was really going on. So, he made up a slight lie.

“I’m not sure… *Yawn*… but we shouldn’t worry about it.” Scootaloo gazed at the other drowsy ponies, who were confused as she was.

“If you say so…” She replied. Suddenly, the mayor of Ponyville appeared out of the front doors, and stepped behind a lectern. She banged the gavel to quiet down the mumbling crowd.

“Attention!” The mayor called out. At that moment, the crowd’s mumbling died out. At that point, the mayor was free to speak.

“Welcome everypony! Now then, you all have been summoned here for an important message straight from the Princess herself! Your highness?!” The Mayor called out behind her, and stepped off the lectern. At that moment, Princess Celestia appeared out of the Town Hall building. She stood behind the lectern, and gazed at her people with great concern.

“Good morning, everypony!” Celestia spoke. “I apologize for waking you all up at a such inconvenience time, but I bare a serious message for you all!” This made the ponies murmur to each other quizzically. Spike suddenly had a horrible feeling that this message was going to spell trouble. As the confused murmurs slowly died out, Celestia cleared her throat and went on.

“Now then, as you’re all aware-“ Celestia continued, but was suddenly interrupted by sudden gusts of wind blowing behind the crowd. At that point, every pony turned around, and spotted a blue-glowing ball of energy taking form on the center of the street. The apparition started to grow, making the light radius brighter and the gust stronger. It was so bright, that most ponies shielded their faces with their forearms. Celestia squinted her eyes, as she was puzzled at this sudden event.

“What the...?” Celestia mumbled. At that moment, the ball of energy shrunk back down to a single point, and then bursted to fill the area with a blinding radiance. Once the blinding radiance started to recede, the ponies’ glares subsided to the point for them to un-shield their eyes. Now, standing on the center of the street, were the mane six. Their bodies froze for a mere second, before they could become active again. As they finally moved, Fluttershy resumed her desperate call.

“Do this!!” Fluttershy yelled out. At that sudden moment, Fluttershy realized that the scenery instantly changed. The ponies gasped in surprise, due to this sudden event. They all gazed around anxiously to view their surroundings. They suddenly realized that they were back in Ponyville. This left every pony hopelessly confused.

“What the…?!” Pinkie was the first to break the awkward moment. “Are we…?” She was cut short by a sudden outburst of cheering coming from behind her. The mane six turned around and spotted the crowd cheering in excitement. Spike, the crusaders, the Apple Family, Angel, and the Cakes saw the mane six, as they gasped with enough force to burst a pony’s lungs. The crowd of ponies started to run towards the group with excitement. They surrounded the six, as the cheering grew. The group was unexpectedly astonished to see so many ponies smiling with joy.

Within the crowd, Spike was the first to squeeze through the bunch and headed straight towards Twilight. He called out her name with his arms spread wide, while droplets of tears bounced off of his cheeks. Twilight heard Spikes call, and both collided with one another in a big hug. Spike smeared his face on Twilight’s chest, as he cried.

“I’m so glad your back! I was so worried about you!” Spike tearfully said. Twilight grinned as she placed her hoof on the baby dragon’s head.

“I’m sorry I worried you so much. But I’m here now…” Twilight replied. The Apple family and Apple Bloom rushed over to Applejack in a warming reunion. Sweeite Belle and Rarity hugged each other so tightly, that tears streamed down their faces. Pinkie Pie and the Cakes gave each other a warming hug. Scootaloo cuddled against Rainbow Dash, as the two shared their affections. Princess Celestia sighed in relief that Twilight and her friends were back home safe and sound. She just stood there and smiled at them. Every pony in Ponyville rejoiced for the mane six’s return. They all were happy and joyful… all for except Fluttershy. She just gazed at the ground in depression while Angel greeted her with a welcome hug.