Friendship was always there

Chapters

Party of six
Old friends meet new friends
It's dangerous to go alone
A quest's rocky start
Gone in a flash
Silly Break
The truth shall set you free
With our magic combined...
Homecoming

Party of six

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.

She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility...

"...for both sun and moon. And harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since." Twilight Sparkle looked up from her book, pondering to herself from the shade of her tree. "Hmm...Elements of Harmony. I know I've heard of those before... but where?"

The curiosity would not leave her mind, yet the book she held yielded no further answers within its text. This called for one thing, research! Stuffing her current book into her saddlebag, she made a beeline for her private study at the top of the astrology wing's eastern tower.

The quickest path there however, had others walking along it.

"There you are, Twilight!"

Twilight was stopped before three other unicorns, each with a present on top of their back. A spunky light blue with a two-tone mane that looked a little like something you'd squeeze out of a toothpaste tube, a lemon chiffon with a blue fluffy, curly mane, and a snow white with a matching pink one.

The white one in the center spoke up. "Moondancer is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard. You wanna come?"

The trio leaned forward towards her in expectation.

"Oh, sorry, girls..." Twilight fumbled for an excuse, and settled on an oldie but goodie. "I've got a lot of studying to catch up on."

As she zipped off past them into the distance, the white one sighed. "Does that pony do anything except study? I think she's more interested in books than friends."

"Hey, cheer up, Twinkleshine," the blue one said. "She might change her mind later. Let's set a place for her just in case!"

"That is so like you Minuette," the yellow one replied. "Always smiling, whatever the case."

"Well gee, Lemon Hearts. We wouldn't exactly be good friends if we just gave up on her, now would we?"

"I know I've heard of the Elements of Harmony..." Twilight muttered to herself, not even noticing the sea green unicorn she passed wave to her.

She ran up the circular stairway surrounding her tower study, and with a forceful push she slammed the door open...right in front of a little purple drake walking towards it from the other side.

"Ow!"

"Spike! Spi-ike! Spike?" Twilight looked around and found him sprawled out over the floor. "There you are."

Before Spike could even comment back, she trotted right past him up to the second floor and started scanning the bookshelves. "Quick, find me that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies."

As she looked back to him, she noticed a smushed box with a ribbon tied to it sticking on his tail. "What's that for?" she asked.

Spike then noticed it too, and grimaced at the fact it was ruined. "Well, it was a gift for Moondancer, but..." He didn't need to explain the rest as the broken stuffed bear that fell out of the bottom was self evident on its own.

Twilight just shook her head in annoyance. "Oh Spike, you know we don't have time for that sort of thing."

"But we're on break!" Spike protested.

His argument fell on deaf ears as Twilight levitated book after book off her shelves. "No, no, no...no, no, no!" She called to her assistant to signal her frustration. "Spike!"

"It's over here!" Spike waved the tome from his perch on the ladder. Before he could even get down however, he found himself and the book yanked to the ground forcibly by Twilight's telekinetic grip.

Twilight quickly set the book on her table and flipped through the pages. "Elements, Elements, E, E, E... Aha! Elements of Harmony, see: Mare in the Moon?"

"Mare in the Moon? But that's just an old ponies' tale-" Spike started.

"Mare, mare... aha! The Mare in the Moon, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!"

Twilight gasped as she pulled away from the book. "Spike! Do you know what this means?"

"No...whoa!" Spike lost his balance climbing back up the ladder to put the books away. Fortunately, he landed softly on Twilight's back, who had a parchment and quill ready for him.

"Take a note please, to the Princess."
"Okie dokie."
"My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster!"
"Hold on. Preci...preci..."
"Threshold."
"Threh..."
"Uh, brink?"
"..."
"Ugh, that something really bad is about to happen! For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
"Twilight Sparkle. Got it!"

With that, Spike rolled up the letter.

"Great! Send it."
"Now?"
"Of course!"

Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I dunno, Twilight, Princess Celestia's a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. And it's like, the day after tomorrow."

"That's just it, Spike." Twilight leaned close to him to emphasize the seriousness. "The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration! It's imperative that the Princess is told right away!"

"Impera...impera..."
"Important!"

As Twilight's shout sent Spike reeling back, she made a mental note to give him a thesaurus for his next birthday.

"Okay, okay!" With a deep breath, Spike sent the letter with blast of his flame. "There, it's on its way. But I wouldn't hold your breath..."

"Oh, I'm not worried, Spike. The Princess trusts me completely," Twilight said with a confident gait in her step. "In all the years she's been my mentor she's never once doubted me."

As if on cue, Spike suddenly belched out another scroll.

"See? I knew she would want to take immediate action."

Unfurling the scroll, Spike began to read aloud for Twilight. "My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely."

"Mm-hm!" Twilight nodded.

"...but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!"

Twilight's eyes snapped open as her jaw dropped. "What?!"

My Little Pony, My Little Pony

Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…

(My Little Pony)

I used to wonder what friendship could be

(My Little Pony)

Until you all shared its magic with me

Celebrations!

Much to see!

A bright attitude,

Confident and free.

Making memories,

It's an easy feat

And magic makes it all complete!

You have my little ponies

Do you know you're all my very best friends?

Spike continued to read the letter as Twilight grumpily trudged down the path towards the chariots.

"My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!"

Twilight sighed deeply. How could her wise and trusting teacher not take this warning seriously? Was this some sort of test? Did she simply not believe the evidence provided? Twilight shook head in determination.

Well, no matter. I know I'm right at least. And if the Princess isn't going to do anything about it, I'll just have to find a way on my own. It shouldn't be a problem, after all I am-

"Twilight Sparkle!"

"Huh?" Twilight snapped out of her inner monologue as she suddenly took in her current surroundings. Looking around, she saw several colorful banners with balloons wrapped around them, along with a table covered in a spread of delectable goodies from the local patisserie.

She then saw the ponies who voices caught her attention. It was none other than the trio she bumped into earlier.

"See? I told you she'd change her mind!" Minuette said giddily. "Hey Moondancer, she's here! Twilight decided to come after all!"

A red and purple haired unicorn with glasses sat at the far end of the table looking glum. But her ears suddenly perked up at the mention of Twilight. Swiveling her head around, she got a good look at the new guest, and her mood immediately brightened.

"Twilight, you did come!" She rushed over as if she was about to hug her. The other three crowded around as well.

"Guess studying isn't the only thing on your mind after all," Twinkleshine said.
"It's so good that you showed up, Moondancer was really looking forward to having you of all ponies here," Lemon Hearts concurred.
"Hey, did you bring a gift?" Minuette asked.

"Well, we kinda broke it at the last minute..." Spike admitted.
"I'm sorry, I must've taken a wrong turn while in thought and-"

"That's okay, it's not really a birthday anyways, a present wasn't mandatory," Twinkleshine assured the two of them before Twilight could finish. "Besides, we can always help you get her something later once the party's over."
"Besides, this party's more about the fun," Minuette agreed. "Hey, you should try the cake first!"
"Moondancer says it's your favorite, white chocolate raspberry swirl!" Lemon Hearts finished.

"Thanks, but I really got to-"

"Hey, now that there's six of us here, we've got enough for quick three-on-three hoofball game!"
"Uh, the kicking one or the throwing one?"
"Both! Come on, let's set up the goal posts! And after that we can-"
"I CAN'T!"

The party's atmosphere reached a dead silence at Twilight's aggravated outburst.

"What- what do you mean you can't?" Moondancer finally asked worriedly.

Twilight sighed. "Look girls, there's something way more important going on, and I may be the only one capable of preventing a disaster of cataclysmic proportions! I've just learned that Nightmare Moo-"

Spike deftly held his claw up to Twilight's mouth, silencing her. "What she means to say is, Princess Celestia has just tasked her to supervise the preparations for tomorrow's Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, so she's gotta leave early, okay?"

The other mares looked to each other in a bit of puzzlement. Moondancer's ears then drooped. "Oh, I...see..."

Twilight looked from one disappointed face to the next in awkward silence. "Yes, well. Okay, so I guess I'll be going now...have a busy day ahead of me...with the...Summer Sun Celebration preparations..."

She had not taken two steps away from the party when Minuette perked her head up. "Heeeey, that's right! The Summer Sun Celebration is tomorrow isn't it?"

Lemon Hearts nodded. "That's the day ponies gather around to celebrate the longest day of the year, and even watch Princess Celestia raise the sun, right?"

"And the town hosting the event has this huge banquet, with music, decorations, and everything! That sounds like one heck of a shindig!" Twinkleshine exclaimed.

"Hey, crazy idea, Moondancer," Minuette turned to face her friend. "Let's move your party to Ponyville!"

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. "What?!"

"Yeah! That's a great idea!" Twinkleshine agreed. "We can have fun, enjoy the feast and sunrise with everypony, and Twilight can still join us!"

Oh no no no no no no no! Twilight mentally panicked. Nightmare Moon is coming tomorrow. I've got to find a way to stop her! I don't have time to waste with these ponies!

"I think I remember Lyra saying she was going to Ponyville for the celebration today," Lemon Hearts mentioned. "She can have fun with us this way too!"

"Oh, boy! If we hurry, we can catch her at the train station, then we can all go together!" Minuette looked back at Moondancer. "Whaddya say, Moondancer? Wanna party over in Ponyville?"

Please say no! Please say no! Please say no!

Moondancer looked a little unsure. But after a moment of looking downward, she lifted her head and spoke. "Well, okay...I guess."

Nooooo!

Twilight immediately swerved around on all fours. "No, wait! Girls, you don't under-"

Minuette grabbed Twilight by her outstretched, protesting leg and pulled her along. "Yay! This is going to be a blast! Let's bounce! If I remember the train schedule correctly, next one leaves Canterlot in 15 minutes! We can make it if we run!"

"Wai-wait-aaaah!" Twilight soon found herself being carried away by the trio of enthusiastic ponies with Moondancer following close behind with Spike riding her back.

Well Twilight, Princess Celestia did tell you to make some friends. This is as good a start as any... he thought.

Old friends meet new friends

In the front car of the train coming down the mountain, four unicorn mares sat around each other, laughing and conversing with each other enthusiastically.

"I'm so excited you all decided to join me in going to Ponyville today!" Lyra, the sea green unicorn among them, gushed. "I can't wait to introduce you all to Bon Bon, and vice-versa!"

"Who's Bon Bon?" asked Lemon Hearts.

"My hometown penpal!" Lyra explained. "We've been writing to each other since we were little fillies. She runs this little confectionery down in Ponyville. She's my best friend outside of school. I see her just about every weekend and holiday nowadays if only for the free sweets!"

Meanwhile, another unicorn sat off closer to the corner, nose deep in a book, and one was off on the opposite side with a small dragon, hooves folded against the sill of the window and silently grumbling to herself.

"We could have been there more than an hour ago if I could have taken the chariot like we were supposed to. I am way behind schedule now!"

"Look on the bright side Twilight," Spike said to her as he pulled himself up to her height by the window. "Least you've made some progress on the friend part of your assignment. Plus, the Princess arranged for you to stay in a library while we're there. Doesn't that make you happy?"

Twilight turned to her assistant. "Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return."

"What about your friends? Didn't they want you to join them for the celebration?" he asked back.

Twilight almost facehooved. "She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends." She gestured back to the group behind her. "Danger is imminent, and time is of the essence. These ponies are only going to slow me down."

A small lurch and the train's whistle signaled to the group that they had pulled into the station.

"We're here!" Minuette bounced up from her seat. "Come on girls, I wanna be the first one off this train and into this new place!"

"Hmm?" Moondancer looked up from her book and glanced out the window. "Oh, we're here."

The group exited the train, some of their members more excited than others.

"Welcome to Ponyville, everyone!" Lyra announced.

"Oh, isn't this such the cutest little village you've ever seen?" Minuette said with glee. "Oh, what should we do here first?"

First, check off all the preparations as quickly as possible, and then it's off to the-

Twilight was yanked right back into the circle of mares by Twinkleshine's aura. "Oh, oh! Photo op, photo op! Everypony get together, I brought my grandfather's camera with me!"

With her and Lemon Hearts squeezing the group together at the edge of the station's steps, she brought the camera out of her saddlebags and levitated it in the air so she could get in the shot as well. "Everypony say 'pretty breezies'!"

"Pretty breezieeees!!" Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Lyra, and even Spike said with their widest pearly whites as the bulb flashed.

"Another one for the scrapbook!" Twinkleshine said as she put the camera back in her bags. "Oh, I hope I brought enough film for this!"

Twilight decided to hurry themselves along before they wondered if this station had a gift shop.

"Oh hey! It's a local. Let's say hi!" Lemon Hearts pointed out as they exited the platform.

Twilight really didn't want to be held up by even more ponies than she already had delaying her. "Uh, I really should get started checking on those preparations..."

"Come on Twilight, it'll be just a sec," Twinkleshine insisted. "Besides, maybe she'll know where you need to go."

"Just give it a try Twilight," Spike suggested. "Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about."

Twilight logically deduced that the fastest way to get through this was to comply to the peer pressure presented before her. She stepped within a hoof's distance of the bright pink and curly earth pony and tried to put on her most non-awkward smile ever.

"Um...hello?"

The pink pony just took one good look at the entire group, and then sprung up with a huge prolonged gasp and bolted away at a breakneck speed.

Twilight turned back to the other mares and Spike with a deadpan look. "Well, that was interesting all right."

Lyra however, just giggled. "Oh, that's just Pinkie Pie," she explained. "Don't worry, we'll all see her again soon enough."

"Do you know something about her, Lyra?" Moondancer asked.

Lyra's eyes just rolled to a corner of their sockets as she gave a faraway grin. "Oh, you'll see..."

She then leaped away from the gang in earnest. "Anyways, I'm going to see if I can find Bon Bon. Catch you all later!"

"I think I'll check out the town hall, that's where the big event's going to be," Twinkleshine said.

"I'm think I'll get a snack first," Minuette decided. "I wonder if this town has a doughnut shop?"

"I'm going to walk around and see if I can get some fresh air. That train ride was a bit stuffy," Lemon Hearts said.

"I'm going to the library," Moondancer simply stated.

"Okay then, split and meet at 5, shall we?" Minuette declared. "Go!"

Twilight sighed with relief as they all trotted off in different directions.

"Finally, no more distractions. Nothing can keep me from getting through this menial task and then stopping Nightmare Moon as soon as possible now."

"Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres," Spike read from his list as the two of them walked into the more rural area outside of the town.

They soon happened upon a large farmyard, with orchards of apples as far as the eye could see.

Well, it's obvious how the place got it's name. Twilight thought to herself.

"Yeehaw!"

Twilight and Spike saw a strong orange earth pony gallop head on towards a nearby tree, and with a swift buck knocked all the apples hanging from it into the baskets below.

Sighing, Twilight approached. "Let's get this over with..." She put on her most professional face and began to speak. "Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle-agh!"

She suddenly found herself being shaken all over by a very vigorous hoofshake.

"Well, howdy-doo, Miss Twilight, a pleasure makin' your acquaintance," the mare said. "Ah'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making new friends!"

Twilight tried desperately to pull herself free from the farmer's grip. "Friends? Actually, I-"

"Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight looked to her left and saw Lemon Hearts trotting up from the fields. "Hey Twilight, you checking out the farm life too?"

"Lemon Hearts? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I was out and about, getting some of that fresh country air I keep hearing about, when I stumbled upon this charming little, metaphorically of course, this place is huge, farm and bumped right into Applejack here. The mare's jaw almost touched the ground when I told her I'd never seen an actual apple tree in my whole life, and practically insisted I take the full Sweet Apple Acres tour to get in touch with my *giggle* inner apple! How could I say no to a hearty invitation like that?"

"You know this here pony?" Applejack asked Lemon Hearts.

"Well sure! Remember those friends I told you I came here with? These are two of them! That's Spike, and over there is Twilight Sparkle!"

"Well sugar mah coat!" Applejack hugged Twilight's neck up close with a playful noogie. "That practically makes us friends already, don't it?"

Spike couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Twilight's discomfort.

"A-actually..." Twilight tried but she couldn't break out of the hold this time. "I'm just here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. You're in charge of the food?"

"We sure as sugar are!" the orange mare answered proudly.

"Oh! Oh! You're serving the banquet? Can I try some?" Lemon Hearts asked eagerly.

Applejack's grin widened. "Heck, you can all try some! Ah was 'bout to call the family to eat anyhow!"

"Thanks, but I should really-"

Before Twilight could finish, Applejack rang a triangle and hollered out at the top of her lungs. "SOUP'S ON EVERYPONY!"

Twilight, Spike, and Lemon Hearts quickly found themselves overrun by a stampede of ponies, and when the dust cleared, the three of them were sitting at a small table set just for them.

Applejack popped right over next to them and waved to the crowd surrounding them, each with a plate piled high with different apple dishes. "Now, why don't Ah introduce y'all to the Apple family?"

"Well, I really need to hurry-"

"Yes please!" Lemon Hearts cut Twilight off.

"Delighted! This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin. Red Gala. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious..."

Twilight mentally groaned. So much for her 'friends' not holding her up anymore!

"...Big McIntosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith. Up'n'attem, Granny Smith, we got guests."
"Wha..? Soup's on? Ah'm up, here Ah come, Ah'm comin'..."

Lemon Hearts just looked at the huge stack of goodies that now towered on the table. "Wow, Applejack. Does your family cater? Cause I'm actually training as an event planner myself back home, and a spread like this would definitely cover some of my bigger stuff!"

"Ain't no problem at all. Why, Ah'd say you three are already part of the family!"

A heavy backslap on Twilight's withers made her spit out the apple she had forcibly stuffed into her mouth.

"Heh heh...okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way."

She only manged a single step back before Lemon Hearts pulled her back into her seat. "Oh come on, Twilight. Don't be rude, we're guests here! Stay a while! Besides, it's practically a free lunch, who can turn that down?"

"Sorry, but I really have a lot to..."

Twilight then noticed a lot of expectant eyes were directly upon her, including an adorable wide-eyed cream-yellow filly with a red bow.

"...fine."

The family cheered.

"Food's all taken care of." Spike made a check on the list as the two of them walked back into town. "Next is weather."

Twilight moved at a somewhat slower pace than her assistant, her distended belly pulling her down. "Ugh...I ate too much pie..."

"That's not even half of what Lemon Hearts ate," Spike mentioned. "Either she skipped her last three breakfasts, or she sampled one of everything just to be nice."

"Lucky for us, she decided stay behind and help clean the dishes, and even luckier I managed to get myself and Spike out of there before she roped us into joining yet again..." Twilight muttered to herself.

Yet another hour had been lost thanks to her self-invited tagalongs. Well, the law of averages did say turn of events always had a habit of evening themselves out, so maybe things would go her way from here on out and no more ponies would end up delaying her research.

"Oh, Twilight! Hey! There you are!"

Then again, Marephy's law always did have a nasty habit of biting her in the flank.

She looked up to see Lyra approaching her. Paired by her side was a cream white earth pony mare that had pink and blue curls.

"Good timing on your part," Lyra said.

Bad timing on yours... Twilight thought to herself.

"I just found my penpal, and we were going to go around introducing her to you all." She hung a hoof around the mare next to her. "Meet Bon Bon, she and I have been friends since we were five!"

"Best friends," Bon Bon said with a grin. And the pair gave each other a playful bump of their rumps.

"Okay then, nice to meet you. I should really be going now."

Twilight moved to step around them, but an outstretched green hoof blocked her way.

"Woah, slow down there Sparks. What's the hurry?"

"I'm a bit behind schedule," she hastily explained,"and need to find the pony in charge of weather as soon as possible if you don't mind."

"You mean Rainbow Dash?" Bon Bon chuckled. "Good luck with that. She's probably napping on one of her private clouds over who knows where around here."

"What?!" Twilight scanned the skies to see it full of clouds, any one of which could be hiding the pegasus she was supposed to check up on. "But the skies are supposed to be clear for the celebration! What kind of pony just shirks their duty until the last-"

"Twi! Look out!"

Lyra tackled her away just in time to avoid a rainbow blur that crashed right into a mud puddle nearby.

"Well, speak of Tartarus, hello Rainbow Dash," Bon Bon said to the muddy blue pegasus.

"Mmmph." With a shluping sound, the mentioned mare yanked her head out of the gooey muck. "Hey Bons. You catch that triple twisting somersault I did at the end there?"

"No, but the mud puddle certainly did." Bon Bon giggled at her own joke as Rainbow Dash wiped the grime off her face.

"Yeah, I...meant to do that," she hastily defended her ego.

Then, like a dog, she shook the remaining gunk off her body and wings, stopping only after a quick 'Agggh!'.

"Betcha didn't mean to do that one," Bon Bon said as Rainbow Dash looked over to the splattered unicorns and dragon.

"Oh, hey Lyra. Didn't know you were back in town. Who're your friends?"

"Oh, this is Spike, and this here is Twilight Sparkle." Lyra grinned and leaned over with a cupped hoof. "She's the Princess' protege, you know."

"Oh, 'cuse me," Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. "Sorry 'bout the mess. Lemme help you there."

Lyra quickly raised a hoof though. "I got it." With a quick wink of her horn the three of them were clean. "Little clean up spell I learned for occasions like this. Sometimes when I'm over at Bon Bon's we have a little too much fun in her kitchen if you know what I mean."

Twilight dusted herself off while Spike rubbed a smudge off the checklist he was holding. "Thanks Lyra," he said.

"No problem," she replied. "You're lucky I was here. You do not want the Rainbow Dash method of cleaning up, trust me."

"Hey, everything I do has to match my own level of awesomeness," the rainbow maned pegasus bragged. "Whether it's eating ice cream, making my bed, or cleaning myself. Not my fault some ponies can't handle the full extremeness of the Rainbow Dash way."

"Yeah, who would've guessed dumping an entire raincloud on somepony would actually make them angry instead of appreciative?" Lyra snarked playfully.

"Ha ha," Rainbow Dash dryly remarked in return. "Now if you'll excuse me I gotta get back to practicing."

She turned to zoom off into the distance, but before she could streamline her wings, a magical yank on the tail pulled her right in front of a frowning unicorn.

"Hold on! You're not excused! You're the head weather pony in charge here right?"

"Got that right." Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs around her chest to Twilight Sparkle. "I'm the best of the best."

Twilight just motioned to sky above them. "The best of the best wouldn't just go darting about when the skies are supposed to be kept clear today!"

Rainbow just waved a dismissive hoof as she leaned back on one of the aforementioned clouds in a relaxed position. "Yeah, yeah, that'll be a snap. I'll do it in a jiffy. Just as soon as I'm done practicing."

"Practicing for what?" Twilight asked.

"Oh no, don't get her started..." warned Bon Bon. "She'll never stop."

"What's her current record for a Wonderbolt hype-up?" Lyra asked her friend. "Three hours?"

"And thirty-seven minutes."

"Hey, this is different!" Rainbow Dash stated with defiance. "This is a golden opportunity. The Wonderbolts are actually going to be here to perform at the celebration tomorrow. I can actually show 'em my stuff in pony. They'll be sure to let me in then!"

"Actually, recruitment is done through a selection process from a pool of qualified candidates with the proper credentials. Even if you do impress them, which I doubt given your work ethic, their superiors and sponsors won't allow them to just pick up some random mare they just met and induct them into their squadron if she doesn't have documented proof she's passed any of their preset standards," Twilight lectured. "You'd have a better chance of getting in if you just registered for one of their official training camps like every other pegasus who wants to join them."

Rainbow Dash looked completely dumbfounded for a minute there. "Wait...really?"

"Yes! Didn't you study the Wonderbolt recruitment processes and requirements beforehoof if you want to join them so badly? There's an entire textbook and manual for it in every local library!"

Lyra and Bon Bon just giggled to each other at Twilight's explanation.

"Gee, Rainbow Dash studying to be a Wonderbolt?" Bon Bon mock pondered.
"Wonder why she never tried that before..." Lyra mirrored her friend.

Rainbow Dash scrunched her face into a pout as the pair burst into another fit at their inside joke. "Alright, fine. I'll look up when their next course is..."

"Good, now that you see that practicing for an impromptu performance that won't raise your chances of achieving your goals is pointless, how about doing something actually productive and clearing those skies for the Summer Sun Celebration?" Twilight suggested.

"Yeah, yeah. Like I said, later." Rainbow Dash settled onto one of clouds to grouse her dashed expectations off.

"But...but that's the only other thing left to do in this situation..." Twilight reasoned, baffled by the illogical behavior the weather pony was giving her. "It's your job and-"

"I don't feel like doing it right now!" Rainbow Dash shouted back in a grump. "Stupid rules and regulations..."

"But-but-"

As Twilight continued to stammer, Lyra whispered something into Bon Bon's ear. With a silent nod, she gazed up nonchalantly to nothing in particular.

"Oh gee, guess I'm going to have to wait until later to open up that batch of Cloudy Puffs I made the other day."

Rainbow Dash suddenly sat straight up. "Huh? What's that? Somepony say Cloudy Puffs?"

"Oh yeah, that's right. That's your favorite candy isn't it?" Lyra tapped her chin, looking as if she just remembered that fact. "Few sweet shops outside Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus ever carry it, so you don't come by them that often do you?"

The pegasus flipped over and leaned over her cloud to look at the two of them like a puppy expecting a treat. "Boy, have you got that right. I haven't tasted one those things in months!"

"Well, I was planning on sharing a few with Lyra here for the celebration since, you know the saying, they're most enjoyable on the sunniest of days. And no day's more sunny than the Summer Sun Celebration. But...with all these clouds here it doesn't really feel that sunny-"

"Ten seconds, give me ten seconds!"

And with that, Rainbow Dash suddenly flapped into overdrive, kicking clouds left and right. "Hyah! Pow! Loop the loop around, and wham!"

With the skies clear and half a second to spare, she landed right in front of the confectioner. "So...feel like having those Cloudy Puffs now?"

"You know, I do feel like the weather's more appropriate for them now." Bon Bon made a cursory glance out of the corner of her eye to Rainbow Dash's, glistening with hope. "I don't suppose you'd like some too, would you?"

"Oh no no, I couldn't possibly- well if you insist!" Rainbow Dash replied with a wide, gleeful smile.

As she began to follow Bon Bon back to her shop, Lyra turned her head back to Twilight, still in a slightly disoriented stupor of trying to process what just happened, and gave a knowing wink.

"Got your back, Sparks!" And then she ran off to catch up.

Twilight and Spike entered the town hall, which was fabulously done up in enough banners and ribbons to stretch all the way to Canterlot and back.

"Decorations. Beautiful..."

"Yes, Spike. The decor is coming along nicely. This ought to be quick. I'll be at the library in no time. Beautiful indeed."

"Not the decor." Spike pointed with a raised claw and hearts in his eyes. "Her!"

He pointed to a pristine white unicorn with elegant purple curls switching ribbons about. "No, no, no, oh! Goodness no."

"How are my spines? Are they straight?" he asked while adjusting them.

Twilight just shook her head and approached the decorator. "Good afternoon-"

"Just a moment, please!" the mare said with a raised hoof. "I'm 'in the zone', as it were."

With one last tug, she fastened a glittering red bow to pole next to her. "Oh, yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you are a talent."

It looked like she was just about finished, so Twilight opened her mouth to address her again...and got an eyeful of flash.

"Picture perfect, Rarity! Another golden moment for the album!"

Twilight rubbed the spots in her eyes away, and as her vision came back, the image of a tourist by the name of Twinkleshine focused into her view.

"You're a whiz at this, Rarity. I mean, this hall looked so bare when I first came in here, and now look at it!" It was only then that she noticed the other company around her. "Oh, Twilight. You here to check out the site too? Can you believe only one pony did all this? She's a natural! I've even considered asking her if she could remodel my home after all this!"

"Oh, Twinkleshine dearie, you know this mare?" Rarity had turned around from admiring her own work to finally look over the newcomer for the first time.

"Oh, yes. Rarity, Twilight. Twilight, Rarity. This is one of the friends I was telling you about."

"Twinkleshine's friend?" Rarity eyes widened and glimmered. "Then...you're from Canterlot too?" she ventured in a soft voice.

"Well, yes. I was actually sent here to-"

A happy squeal cut her off as Rarity saddled up close to her side. "Well! Any friend of my dear Twinkleshine is a very good friend of mine too! Oh, I just can't wait to hear everything about you and that wonderful city you live in!"

Twinkleshine just giggled, seeing Twilight's uneasy expression. "Wouldn't you know it? Only half a minute after I chanced upon her, I give one little mention I'm from Canterlot and she's all over me like a bee to honeysuckle!"

Rarity broke away from her affectionate state of welcoming. "Well, how could I not? I mean, you're only from the most marvelous place in all of Equestria, Canterlot! The glamor, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! Oooh, I'm just so envious of you both!"

She then pulled the two of them together to give them both a friendly nuzzle. Of which Twinkleshine gratuitously returned, Twilight...not so much. "I daresay, we all are going to be the best of friends, you and I!"

Twilight did her best to hide her wince. "Well, friends might be a little strong a word-"

"Ooh, ooh! Selfie with our new BFF!" Twinkleshine's camera floated over on her magical command as she squeezed them all even together together, and even pulled the still lovestruck Spike into the frame.

Rarity turned her face to the side and primped her curls a bit. "Be sure to get my good side," she said with a bat of her eyelashes.

Several poses later, Twilight was finally released from their grips. "Okay, everything looks like it's in order here. I'll just be moving on-"

"Say Rarity, I've told you a lot about myself, but I still don't know that much about you yet."
"Oh, do pardon me, Twinkleshine. Where are my manners? *Ahem* I am none other than the proprietor of Ponyville's premiere fashion store, Carousel Boutique, where everything is neat, chic, and magnifique!"
"Oh wow! No wonder you're so good at decorating! You run your own dress shop! I was just thinking about what kind of souvenirs I could bring back from here! A dress would be perfect! I could even wear it to the celebration tonight! Hey! Twilight! There's an idea! Why don't I get you all new outfits for the festivities? The six of us will be the belle's of the celebration!"
"Fantastic! Darling, I was just thinking the same thing! You and I are definitely going to get along quite well!"

Twilight suddenly found herself being pushed along by a very insistent fashionista.

"Come now darlings! Fabulosity waits for no mare!"
"Wait! Where are we going?! Help!"

"No, no, uh-uh. Too green. Too yellow. Too poofy. Not poofy enough. Too frilly. Too...shiny."

Twilight stood miserably in front of the mirror, thinking only of how she could already be in that library by now as Rarity continued to swap her through a dozen or so outfits. The fashion forward pony finally settled on a beautiful baby blue, jewel embroidered saddle with an emerald collared brooch.

"There we go, now don't you just look smashing?"

Twilight looked again in the mirror, and had to admit it did look rather pretty on her. Although she really didn't see much of a point to dressing up, especially since all it did was waste more time with these ponies when she could be researching on finding a way to stop Nightmare Moon!

"I guess- urp!"

"Now, just give me a moment to tighten those corset lines for you."

Twilight reared up as Rarity leaned back with the straps being pulled strongly with her teeth, her hind legs planted firmly against Twilight's backside for leverage and body nearly parallel to the ground. The poor mare winced and a tear welled in her eye as she could feel her organs squishing into each other as her waistline slowly but surely narrowed into a supermodel-like figure.

"Hgggh! R-r-rarity...t-too tight...can't...breathe!" she wheezed under the sound of stretching fabric.

"Oh Rarity, could you help zip my back up over here?" Twinkleshine called from the changing stall she was in.

"Huh?" Rarity's grip on the laces loosened for but a fraction of a second, and that was all it took for them to snap away, sending her flying back and Twilight flying forward.

"Oh, be right there, darling!" As Rarity picked herself up and headed back behind the curtains, Twilight scrambled with the saddle's corset and gulped down five breaths of air for each lung in one go in full relief.

Before she could even do anything else though, Twinkleshine paraded out of the dressing rooms in a fanciful purple frock and glittering topaz shoes. "How do I look Twilight? Rarity says this color really bring out my eyes! That looks good on you by the way."

"Looks fine," Twilight said hurriedly. "Now if we're done fitting ourselves until we suffocate, I think I'll just pay for this and be on my way."

"Oh no no no. Please, allow me to treat you. This was my idea, after all. How much do I owe you Rarity?"

Rarity shook her head at Twinkleshine. "The first one's on me. A gift for my new Canterlot friends! Just be sure to tell everypony you meet back there where you got your fabulous new ensemble from!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Twinkleshine marched back to the line of ponyequins, motioning for Rarity to follow. "By the way, for Lemon Hearts, I was thinking a matching outfit in a different color, what do you think looks better? The red or the blue?"

Rarity soon disappeared after her into the back. "Well, Twinkleshine, if you ask me..."

"Quick!" Twilight rounded up the still smitten Spike. "Before those two decide to dye my coat a new color!"

Spike continued to smile dreamily on Twilight's back as she headed out towards the edge of town again. "Wasn't she wonderful?"

"Focus, Casanova. What's next on the list?"

Spike cleared his throat as he brought the checklist back up again. "Oh, uh, music! It's the last one!"

Perfect. The end to this menial task is in sight, thought Twilight to herself. And then I can finally get to- woah!

She tripped over an unsuspecting leg lying on the path. Pulling herself and Spike up, she looked back to find the leg belonged to Moondancer. Her back leaned against a tree on the edge of the path and a large tome took up nearly her entire upper body.

The bookish mare looked up from her reading to Twilight. "Oh, hello Twilight."

"Moondancer?" Twilight looked to her studious peer in surprise. "I thought you were at the library." Where I should have been the whole time...

"I was," she said curtly. "It got too noisy and crowded in there. This area was the next best thing."

"Noisy in a library?" Twilight was about the question that absurd concept further, when a chorus of chirping drew their attention past the bushes.

Poking their heads through the shrubs, they found a yellow pegasus directing a flock of many different birds in their song.

"Oh my. Um, stop please, everyone, umm." She addressed the blue jay in the fourth branch down. "Excuse me, sir? I mean, no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off." She then pulled back to her directing position. "Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one two three-"

"Hello!" Twilight called out.

The pegasus squeaked in surprise, scattering her flock away.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry," Twilight backpedaled a bit. After all the aggravation she had to deal with lately, she realized that last one may have been a little too forceful. "I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful."

The pegasus just dropped to the ground and rubbed a hoof against the dirt, her eyes never making contact with Twilight's.

After an awkward silence, Twilight ventured forward again. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

Another round of silence was all that answered her.

"What's your name?" she tried again.

The pegagus turned her head away, as if to hide behind the long silky pink mane of hers. "Um...I'm Fluttershy."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight started to lean in closer to get a better hearing, but fortunately, the other unicorn in the group had more astute ears used to listening for more faint noises.

"She said her name was Fluttershy," Moondancer answered for her.

In response to being called by her name, the pegasus seemed to retreat a bit further.

"Oh, okay. Well, nice meeting you Fluttershy. I'll...just let you get back to conducting your birds..." Twilight looked around, with her ears flattened. "Which are no longer here..."

Moondancer looked between the two of them, then lit her horn's magic around the tree. The tree suddenly emitted a various series of chirps and warbles. One by one, each of the flock that Fluttershy directed soon flew back to the tree's branches.

"Can we go now?" she asked Twilight.

"How did you do that?" Twilight asked after staring agape for ten full seconds.

"Calling Card's bird call spell, remember? Page 83 of The Avian Enthusiast's guide to Bird Watching? It was a little tricky since I had to vary the signal frequencies for so many different species, but doable."

Twilight thought back and remembered she had read that book with Moondancer before during one of their biology classes. Of course the idea of that spell hadn't even come to her until Moondancer mentioned it. Well, problem solved anyways. Now she could get to the library and-

"Um...did you say Calling Card?"

Fluttershy seemed to creep a little closer to Moondancer, although her head was still low to the ground defensively.

"Yes, are you familiar with him?"

The pegasus seemed to grow a little bolder as enthusiasm began to fill her. "Oh, um, yes. He's my favorite zoologist. He's written five volumes documenting his research on animal communications and behavior, and cataloged 2,578 sets of languages for various species."

"2,579. His latest article in the Canterlot Times confirmed his finished work with narwhals."

All shyness seemed to disappear from Fluttershy now as this new revelation hit. "He did?! Oh my goodness, that's so fascinating! What did it say? WhatDidItSay?"

Warning bells seemed to go off in Twilight's head as this exchange seemed to follow a very distinct pattern she kept getting herself caught up in a lot today. "Okay then," she said to nopony in particular, "I'll just leave you two to your riveting conversation that doesn't need to involve me in any way possible and be on my way."

She moved over to her assistant, whispering to him. "Come on, Spike. The library awaits."

Fate seemed to rope her yet again as Fluttershy broke eye contact with Moondancer for just a second to see who Twilight was talking to. "A baby dragon!"

Poor Twilight was knocked aside as she rushed up to him. "Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's sooo cute!"

"Well well well..." Spike puffed up his chest proudly and spared a smug glance at Twilight. "Looks like we're important to the conversation after all."

"Oh my, he talks. I didn't know dragons could talk." Fluttershy was now so excited her wings unfurled and lifted her above the ground. "That's just so incredibly wonderful I, I just don't even know what to say!"

"Well, in that case we'd better be going." Twilight said, hoping to cut the conversation short as she lifted Spike back onto her backside.

"Wait, wait!"

Twilight inwardly groaned as she found herself being tailed by the pegasus.

"What's his name?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'm Spike," the dragon in question answered.

"Hi Spike, I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon!"

"You'd think a pony meeting a dragon would be a monumental event the way she talks..." Twilight muttered to herself.

"Actually, it is a pretty rare occurrence," Moondancer chimed up from beside Fluttershy. "Aside from the Dragon Town settlement in Fillydelphia, which by itself is relatively isolated, ponies have virtually no direct interactions with dragons. The most informational reference there is about dragons is Bold Brave's book of Exotic Explorations, and the one chapter that covers it only tells about diets, migrations patterns, and other basic behaviors, nothing cultural."

"Ooo...mysterious. So what do dragons talk about?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, what do you wanna know?" Spike asked.

"Absolutely everything."

Twilight groaned out loud this time. This was going to be a long walk to the library.

Twenty-six minutes, thirty-two seconds, and one thousand, four hundred, and fifty-three steps.

The mental counting had been all Twilight could do to drown out the non-stop chatter from the three behind her. Fluttershy's constant questioning, Spike's narrative autobiography, and Moondancer's endless trivia bits in between each sentence. At last her harrowing journey had an end in sight as her eyes picked up the giant tree that could only be the library she was staying at.

"Wait, you actually have a copy of Gentle Breeze's Language guide to Breezies? I've been looking for one for weeks in every bookstore in Canterlot!" Moondancer professed to Fluttershy.

"Oh, well, if you like, you can have mine," she offered. "I'm already quite fluent in it. One day, I hope to be able to talk to a breezie for real."

"Well, you've already talked to a dragon for real," Spike pointed out. "Maybe you'll get lucky twice-"

"I am so sorry, how did we get here so fast?" Twilight announced out loud for the three of them to hear. "This is where I'm staying while in Ponyville and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep."

"No I don't- whoa!"

Twilight sort of subtly shook him off her backside. "Aww, wook at dat, he's so sweepy he can't even keep his widdle bawance!"

"Actually, one of Bold Brave's excerpts confirmed that dragons can stay awake for as long as-"

"Yes well, I think I know a little better on how to take care of my dragon than some obscure reference from a pony who lived fifty years ago since I've been doing that ever since I hatched him," Twilight cut Moondancer off through her clenched teeth as she entered the library and proceeded close the door on them both.

Fluttershy intercepted in excitement however. "You hatched your dragon? You never told me that! Oh, how'd you do it? What did you feed him? Did you read him stories at night? What toys did you give him?"

Twilight rubbed a temple as Moondancer closed the door behind her. "Look, I really just need to be alone for a while, please? I'm sorry if I'm coming off rude, but there's something important I need to study and quick, and I can't do with a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time." She rolled her eyes both ways as to emphasize her point. "Now, where's the light?"

"Uh, Twilight, I think I should warn you-" Moondancer started.

Too late.

"SURPRISE!!!"

Twilight jumped as the moment she switched the lights on, she found herself surrounded by streamers, confetti, and a huge crowd of ponies.

The first to bound up to her was none other than Minuette. "Hey, Twilight! About time you got here! Oh, and thanks for bringing back Moondancer. We can really get this party started now that the whole gang's here!"

"The whole gang?" Twilight looked around, and noted to her dismay that Minuette was right. There among the gaggle of partying ponies were Twinkleshine, Lyra Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts and, oh joy, all their new friends were here as well.

Twilight then recalled Moondancer words about the library getting to be too loud and crowded. "Did you do this?" she asked Minuette without a hint of humor in her voice.

"Nah! I mean I was there and all, but the real credit goes to her!"

A familiar pink earth pony bounced right up to Minuette's side. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you six! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?"

"Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet," Twilight grumbled.

"Well, that's silly!" Pinkie Pie ducked around and came up to Twilight's side this time. "What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh! Booooooring!"

Twilight tried to walk away but Minuette stood in front, sandwiching her.

"Wouldn't you know it? I actually caught up to her! It was a totally crazy coincidence. Remember when I went to get us some snacks for later? Well I walked into this cute gingerbread bakery for a cupcake, and who should I find coming down the stairs with a boatload of party supplies but her?! And when she saw me she went all *GAAAAAASP* again!"

Pinkie Pie then picked up without even catching a breath. "Yeah! Y'see I've never saw you all before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville! I mean, meeting a new pony in Ponyville is one thing, but six new ponies? Well, okay, actually five since I already knew Lyra, but you know what I mean!"

I need a drink... thought Twilight. Something to take away this non-stop headache I've developed ever since I got off that train!

As she finally managed to squeeze out from the party pair and make her way to the punch bowl, the two of them followed behind, their babbling never ceasing for a second.

"So I always throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party for new ponies in Ponyville, and invite everyone in Ponyville so they can know everypony just like I do! And this party had to be extra special super-duper since I wasn't welcoming one new pony, but six new ponies! Well again, I already knew Lyra, but since she's part of your little friend circle, I didn't want her to feel left out!"
"And then I told her we were already planning to have a party here for Moondancer sake, and we got this crazy idea. Let's take Moondancer's party and this welcome party, and combine them together to make a double party!"

Twilight's ears folded to block out as much chatter as possible as she grabbed the nearest bottle on the table and poured into a cup.

"Yepper doonie roonie! A double party! Double the cake, double the games, double the laughs, double the FUN! So Minuette told me here that Moondancer was currently at the library annnnnnd you were staying here, so I thought, let's have the party here!"
"So I went around and gathered everypony up while Pinkie here got the library ready-"
"-and now you all have bunch of new friends, so none of you have to feel lonely like a bunch of strangers, see?"

Her little group of Ponyville and Canterlot acquaintances stood at attention next to her. Twilight just said nothing a took a big gulp of her drink. If only I had some aspirin as well...

Suddenly her cheek bulged as a fiery sensation traveled down her tongue and up to her brain.

"Uh, Twilight? You okay?" Lemon Hearts asked.

Twilight just jumped up screaming, and ran up the stairs away from the party, breathing fire as she went. Spike then took a look at the bottle she had emptied for her drink.

"Hot sauce. Ooh..." he winced.

Pinkie Pie just emptied another bottle onto one of the cupcakes she was going to eat. "What?" she asked innocently to the others staring at her. "It's like chocolate, it goes better with everything!"

Twilight moaned from live-in bedroom with a pillow over her head as the music continued to blast from the floor beneath. No way she was getting any research done before the celebration now.

The noise intensified a bit as Spike entered the room and let the music through. He lifted the lampshade hat he was wearing off his head to address Twilight.

"Hey Twilight! Pinkie Pie and Minuette are starting pin the tail on the pony! Moondancer's already scored a bullseye! Wanna play?"

Twilight just about erupted now as she ripped off her pillow muffler. "NO! All the ponies in this town are crazy! And my so called 'friends' are only making them even MORE crazy! Do you know what time it is?!"

"It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration," Spike stated obviously. "Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun."

He started to turn back to rejoin the fun downstairs. "You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!"

He closed the door behind him, prompting Twilight to turn over with a fresh wave of grumbles.
"YoureallyshouldlightenupTwilightit'saparty."

With her nasally mocking over, she stared up at the ceiling and vented some more.

"Ugh, here I thought I'd have time to learn about the Elements of Harmony but, silly me, all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it! Make some friends, Twilight. It's an essential task, Twilight. Well guess what, Princess Celestia? Turns out I already have friends, and they are the absolute last thing I need right now!!"

Yes, after all, all her 'friends' did was get in the way of what was really important in her assignment. She could have had an extensive report and a full counterattack plan written up for the Princess to utilize when Nightmare Moon returned. But noooo, she had to be stuffed full of apples, drenched in mud, choked on by a choker, have her ears talked off about irrelevant animal facts, and poisoned with fermented peppers...and it was all because of her 'friends'!

She silently swore to herself if this situation ever blew over without Equestria in ruins, she would be cutting all ties to these ponies the minute she got back to Canterlot. Friends couldn't stop Nightmare Moon. Friends couldn't save the world. Friends...weren't important.

She then looked out the window to the night sky. The Mare in the Moon could easily be seen from her position.

"Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night."
And I have no idea how to stop it if it happens...
"I hope the Princess was right...I hope it really is just an old ponytale..."

It's dangerous to go alone

Everypony within Ponyville gathered inside the town hall as the hour of sunrise neared. Twilight just stood among her crowd of associates, worry still etched across her face. The others all seemed to be to busy chatting among themselves to notice too much.

"Twinkleshine, dearie? Would you like to raise the curtains with me?" Rarity asked, starting up the stairs.

"Would I!" Twinkleshine marched right behind her in her brand new sundress.

"Apple tart?" Lemon Hearts offered Lyra one of Applejack's treats. "I saved a few from this afternoon."

Lyra eagerly accepted it and split it with Bon Bon. "You gotta admit, that farmer knows how to flavor up a celebration dinner good!"

"Mine's still better though, right?" Bon Bon teased.

"No one's better than you," Lyra agreed.

"Isn't this exciting?" Pinkie Pie asked Minuette. "Are you excited, 'cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited-- well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went *GAAAAAASP*. But I mean really, who can top that?"

"I know, right?" Minuette agreed. "This is the first time I've ever stayed up this late!"

The fanfare from Fluttershy's chorus silenced all further conversation as everyone's attention turned to the tan earth pony mare on spotlight.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"

As the ponies cheered, no one bothered to look out the window and notice the image of the Mare in the Moon fade away.

"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria...Princess Celestia!"

As the birds raised their voices again in triumphant song, Rarity pulled the tassels of the curtains while Twinkleshine did the same from the other end pulling them back to reveal-

-nothing?

"Huh?" The two unicorns looked to the empty space where the spotlight shone, then to each other.

"Umm...isn't Princess Celestia supposed to standing right there?" Twinkleshine asked.

"This can't be good..." Twilight muttered to herself.

Ponies all over the building were already starting to clamor nervously and confusedly. Something was clearly wrong, but none of them knew what.

"Remain calm, everypony," the mayor tried to assuage the crowd. "There must be a reasonable explanation!"

"Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games!" Pinkie Pie called out. "Is she hiding?"

"Maybe...she's late?" Minuette joined in. "Or had to use the little filly's room at the last minute?"

Twinkleshine came back from the room behind where she had ducked in to check just a few seconds ago. "Uh, no girls...she's just...gone!"

There was a collective gasp from the ponies.

Moondancer looked up from her novel. "Hmm? Is it over already?"

Her book then fell unceremoniously to the floor as her eyes widened to the sight of a dark midnight mist suddenly appearing and starting to swirl around the balcony.

Everypony else stared in shock too, unsure of what was happening. One however, had a very good guess.

"Oh no..." Twilight whispered.

The wisps coalesced together, and from it a pure black alicorn in dark blue armor stepped forth.

"Nightmare Moon!"

Spike fainted off her back dramatically. And as for the newcomer, she scanned the crowd below with her dragon-like eyes, like a vulture looking for the sickest beast.

"Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces."

"What did you do with our Princess?!" Rainbow Dash was about to charge the balcony, but Applejack pulled her tail back, while Lyra and Bon Bon pinned both sides down.

"Easy Dash, we don't even know if she's done anything," Lyra reasoned.
"Whoever she is..." Bon Bon remarked.

The alicorn up top must have had incredible hearing, because she immediately snapped her head in the candymaker's direction.
"Oh? Do you truly not know who I am?" she chuckled darkly.

"Ooh, ooh, more guessing games!" Pinkie Pie lightheartedly surmised. "Um, Hokey Smokes! How about...Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty-"

An apple from Applejack quickly muffled any other answers from the pink mare.

"Ooh! Me next! I want a turn!" Minuette waved. "Midnight Sky? Blacken Cloudy? How about Duchess Darkness? Am I warm or-"

An apple fritter from Lemon Hearts shut this one up.

The mysterious mare glared back and forth from one cowering face to the next, all humor lost from her tone of voice. "Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"

"I did."

All heads turned to Twilight Sparkle who stepped out of the crowd.

"And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon!"

Another round of gasps elicited from the mouths of everypony, some even fainted.

"Well well well," Nightmare Moon seemingly found her smile again, like a viper that had just waited for the mouse to turn around and see her upon him. "Somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."

Twilight gulped, knowing too well that no one here except the fiend herself would like the answer. "You're here to...to..."

Nightmare Moon decided to finish for the studious unicorn. "Hm hm hmm...Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!"

Lightning flashed from sky as the air above and around filled with her dark aura and triumphant laughter.

It was then that the mayor took action.

"Seize her!" she ordered the ceremonial guards that came for the procession. "Only she knows where the Princess is!"

The white pegasi commanded needed not a moment's hesitation. They moved into attack formation and dove at the villain of legend.

To say that this insolence was intolerable on her part was an understatement to Nightmare Moon. "Stand back, you foals!"

With three swift bolts of lightning, she struck them all down. Cackling, she then dissipated into the mist she arrived in and burst away through the doors and into the endless night sky beyond, disappearing over the horizon.

Or that's at least what would have happened, had some unicorns in the crowd not taken immediate action.

"Oh no you don't!" Minuette struck the doors and windows with a warding charm, a common spell used by unicorns in her city to reinforce points of entry from burglaries. Not nearly something powerful enough to stop a seemingly all powerful immortal, but with a few static spells laid upon it by Lyra and Lemon, it certainly gave her enough of a shock to send her back a few flaps.

But after the initial surprise that she had actually been hurt wore off, she immediately turned to glare at the scattered crowd below. "It would seem that an example needs to be made for the little ponies of Equestria to realize just how powerless they are before me!"

With a glowering whinny, she spread her wings wide and a billowing cloud of midnight blue dust showered from her feathers.

"Oh no! Look out!" Moondancer suddenly leaped into the center of the Canterlot unicorns and raised an airtight bubble around them.

The dust filled the entire room, and as it came into contact with every pony in the town hall, they all fell to their knees, backs, and sides, eyes closing shut.

Her work done, Nightmare Moon dissipated to mist again and resumed her escape into the dark, all the while laughing.

Moondancer waited until she was absolutely sure there was no more dust to pop her bubble. "Whew! That was close."

"W-what was that?" Twinkleshine asked.

"A bubble barrier. Weakest of the shield class spells. Mainly used for wind and weather protection at best, but it can also serve as an airtight shell for-"

"Nononono," Lemon Hearts clarified for Twinkleshine. "What Nightmare Moon did."

"Oh, that. That was a 5th tier sleep enchantment, highest of it's level. Those particles in the air were magical narcotics. A single one could knock out an elephant with one touch. Plus-"

"Bon Bon!"

The group turned to panicked Lyra, who was shaking her fillyhood pal like a limp ragdoll. "Come on Bonnie, snap out of it! Speak to me! Tell me you're alright!"

She magicked her aura into a five fingered appendage that slapped the cream earth pony's cheeks several times before Moondancer stopped her.

"That won't work. A sleep spell this powerful can only be dispelled by the one who cast it. They're virtually comatose until then."

Lyra looked up at her bookish friend, her lip quivering as she spoke. "Y-you mean...my Bon Bon...all our Ponyville pals...are going to sleep...forever?"

"Hey, no worries!" Minuette tried to cheer her friend up. "Like Moondancer said, the caster can undo the spell. That means Nightmare Moon can wake them up. All we gotta do is find a way to get her to do it!"

"Or vanquish her, anything that cuts off the spell's source would do," Moondancer elaborated.

"But, how do we do that?" Lemon Hearts asked.

"Well, Twilight seemed to know what was going on, maybe she has an idea! Don't you, Twilight?" Minuette turned around to the other scholar.

But all she found was an empty space.

"Uh, she was just here a minute ago, wasn't she?"

Twilight gently tucked Spike into his basket-like bed. A faint residue of Nightmare Moon's sleep powder was apparent on his left cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Spike," she said sweetly. "Just have a good sleep for now. I promise I'll find a way to fix this."

After a few motherly strokes to his head, she crept out of the bedroom, turned off the lights, and closed the door as quietly as possible.

Then she made a mad dash downstairs, yanking books off the shelves in a noisy clash and clatter.

"Elements, elements, elements..." The book pile behind her was getting fairly high as she tossed one cover after another aside, her search for information proving fruitless. "Ugh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?"

"The Elements of what now?"

Twilight turned abruptly to see the five other mares from Canterlot gathered around the library entrance.

"There you are, Twilight!" Minuette breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried for a minute there when you just ran off like that! Good thing I guessed right where you might be heading."

She suddenly found herself shoved aside as Lyra marched to the front, confrontation in her eyes. "Alright Sparkle, what's going on around here? The Princess and her sun are gone, our Nightmare Night icon just came into reality, we're the only ones left in this entire town who aren't sawing logs on an indefinite basis, and you're the sole pony who seems to have a clue about it! So spill it! My Bonnie's life is at stake here!"

Twilight took a step back from Lyra's intrusive face, and looked before the circle that had gathered around her before explaining.

"I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them. I don't even know what they do!"

"Oh, you must have been looking for this." Moondancer pulled out a book from her saddlebags and floated it over to Twilight.

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." Twilight looked up in astonishment at Moondancer. "How did find this?!"

"I checked it out earlier this afternoon," Moondancer said as she started to re-shelve some of the books. "This library has a surprising unorganized categorizing system. I actually found this book under E."

That was certainly odd to Twilight who was just as well versed with the Dewhoof Decimal System as Moondancer was. What did the last librarian here do? Sort the books by title?

Never mind, there where bigger things to worry about right now. Flipping the book open, Twilight found the page she wanted and began to read out loud.

"There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters."

Little did any of them notice a shadow near the window outside chose to dart off before Twilight continued further.

"It is located in what is now..."

"The Everfree Forest!"

All six mares stood at the edge of looming mass of wild overgrowth that stood on the outskirts of the village. Mostly uncharted, and home to a number of unknown creatures and untamed perils, almost everypony in Equestria knew the Everfree was one of the most dangerous places in the land for a pony to wander in.

"Woah, spooky..." Twinkleshine said to nopony in particular.

"Well, those Elements aren't going to get found with us just standing here!" Lyra began leading the others in. "Let's go!"

"Not so fast!" Twilight teleported in their way. "You're going back to town. I'm going to get the Elements."

The rest of the group all looked at each other, and then back to Twilight.

"Alone?" Lemon Hearts asked.

"I have to do this myself," Twilight affirmed.

Lyra shook her head. "I can't just sit on my rump while my bosom buddy is being held hostage in dreamland! And I'm certainly not losing another one by letting her run suicidal into the deep dark forest all on her own!"

"Yeah! And you know what they say, the more the merrier!" Minuette chimed in. "Every hero on a quest to save the world needs a party to help them out. Who better to be that party than your best friends?"

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS!!!"

Everypony jumped back at Twilight sudden rush of anger. She, on the other hoof, just looked disdainfully at each and every one of them.

"Ever since I got here, you five have done nothing but impede me! All I wanted to do was find out about how to stop Nightmare Moon before she could come back. And you know what? I could have done it! I could have found about where the Elements of Harmony were kept, and would have been to and back from the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters with them in hoof before the sun even set today. I could have prevented all of this!"
She waved up to the everlasting night sky.
"But I didn't, because I couldn't. And do you know why? Because all of you kept dragging me every which way but the right way with your pointless activities! You get it yet? Nightmare Moon is back because you all stopped me from stopping her! And now you want to come with me into the forest as I try to retrieve our world's only remaining hope? Why? So you can mess that up too?! Maybe stop to have me smell some flowers that end up spraying toxic fumes on me, or pause to pet a cute little mouse that grows into a humongous hydra that eats me alive! No thank you, I have a much better chance of succeeding at this without friends!!"

She finally slumped down after her tirade, the pent up frustration from today having been let loose all at once. As she panted, Minuette slowly approached, and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Even so, we're still going with you."

Twilight looked up in bewilderment as each one of them approached after Minuette.

"Maybe we aren't friends to you right now," Twinkleshine said with a soft smile. "But you are to us."

"And we'd never live with ourselves if something happened to a friend of ours that we could've helped with," Lemon Hearts added.

"Besides, we've got a stake in this too," Lyra insisted. "We don't want an endless night just as much as you!"

Moondancer just said nothing, she seemed to be the only one without a big reassuring smile, although she did seem to stick with the others on this case.

Twilight breathed in deeply a few times to collect her thoughts and work through the situation logically. Finally, she stood back up and addressed them all with a no-nonsense face.

"You promise not to get in my way and do exactly as I tell you?"

"Cross our hearts, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eyes!" Minuette chanted. "My new friend Pinkie taught me that."

"Alright then..."
With some reluctance, Twilight ushered the five mares behind her to follow.
"Let's go."

A quest's rocky start

The group had trekked through the jungle-like foliage for an uneventful ten minutes in silence. It soon came to and end though when Lemon Hearts finally decided to ask a question.

"So...Twilight. You're the expert here, right? Know anything about this place? What we should look out for here?"

"I actually have no idea," Twilight admitted. "I've never even been out of Canterlot, let alone stepped inside this place."

"Then...we're just going with our gut and hoping we stumble upon the old castle by chance?" Twinkleshine supposed.

"I've read Trailblazing for beginners," Moondancer said. "Settlements require an easy path to allow trade and travelers through. If there's a way that leads to the ruins, it'll have to be a wide enough gap with no obstructions like trees or rocks that runs through the forest."

They soon pulled out to a clearing near a cliff side.

"Wowza, that's a pretty sweet tidbit you've got there," Minuette complimented. "Know anything else?"

"There were a few footnotes regarding this particular forest in the alchemical regents journals I studied," Moondancer continued. "The proprieties of this forest are...unique."

"Unique...how?" asked Lemon Hearts.

"Magic is a fundamental part of this world, it exists in some latent degree in every place and object. It's how earth ponies can grow crops from the ground and pegasi can fly and create weather changes in the air. But the magical properties in the Everfree aren't latent, they're active. It manipulates the environment around it without anyone else, almost as if the area has a will of its own. It's why so many strange and unknown specimens run wild here, and why it's so overgrown. For some reason, ambient magic flows freely here with no set direction and activates on an irregular basis."

"Okay, so...what?" Lemon Hearts asked again.

"Picture it like this. Suppose you were in a pottery class and had a piece of clay to mold. With enough work you could shape it into anything you want. Now imagine that the clay was alive and could move on its own. You could still mold it into anything you want, but the minute you let go of it, it could reshape itself into anything else at any time. That's the basic theory of how things in the Everfree work."

"So, anything could suddenly change at any time?" Lyra guessed. "Even the very ground beneath us?"

"It's not quite so volatile as that, but in a sense, yes." Moondancer picked up a pebble on the ground. "The smallest outside influence, like throwing this pebble, could tap an unseen reserve and spark an escalating chain reaction."

*clack*

The cliff they were on suddenly started to shake violently. Wobbling to regain their footing, everypony pressed against the wall of the cliff for safety.

"I don't think we needed this big an example!" Twinkleshine yelled above the rumbling dim.

Something then bonked her on the head. "Ow!"

Looking to see what hit her, she found a coarse piece of stone very similar in texture to the face of the cliff they were gripping against. Twilight, noticing it too, took one look up and found that was not the only stone falling.

"AVALANCHE!!"

Rocks of all sizes and shapes battered down the cliff side towards the six unicorns, and they quickly started ducking and weaving all over the place to avoid becoming pony pancakes. In fact, they were all so frantic and busy, none of them seemed to notice a black mist from above the top of the cliff disappear further into the forest. After a few intensive moments, the rain of rocks seemed to start to thin out.

And yet the rumbling noise seemed to only intensify. Twilight dared to look up one more time and, to her dismay, found the reason why.

One last behemoth of a rock was tumbling right at them. This one was way to big to dodge, so Twilight did the only other instinctive thing that came to her mind. Pumping her magic with all the adrenaline she could muster, she tried to push the immense rolling ball of doom back. It barely even slowed down. Luckily, she was not the only unicorn in the group. Five more horns joined up against hers and began to glow against the incoming ballistic missile of earth.

With the combined strength of six unicorns, the massive rock slowed to a halt, hooves away from flattening them.

"Come on girls, push! Push!!" Minuette grunted. "We're not letting some silly rock end us! That's like, one of the most cliche ways to go on adventures like these!"

Slowly but surely, the looming boulder of death started to drift off towards the side.

"It's working, keep it up everypony!" Lyra encouraged.

"Lyra..."

"Huh?" Her neck snapped away back towards the trees from which they came. "That voice...Bon Bon?!"

Before anyone could say or do anything else, the sea green unicorn broke away from the shadow of the boulder and sprinted back the way she came.

"Lyra! What are you doing?!" Twilight cried. "We need everypony's magic here to move something this heavy!!"

The huge floating rock quickly seized up, and then started to ever so slowly lurch downward again.

"Uh oh..."

"Bon Bon! Bon Bon! Bonnie old buddy, is that you?!"

Lyra frantically parted every bush and fern in her way as she ran towards the sound of the voice.

"Lyra? I'm over here!"

Turning around, Lyra skidded to a halt as she saw her oldest and best friend standing in the hollowed grove of a giant tree.

Her eyes widened as her mouth broke out in the biggest smile ever. "Bonnie!"

"Lyrekins!"

The pair squeezed each other tightly as they nuzzled intensely. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, Lyra pulled a bit back while still holding onto her. "But how? Nightmare Moon put you to sleep!"

"She woke me up. I was able to reach her in my dreams and convince her!"

"Really? You got her to let you go just like that?"

Bon Bon winked at Lyra. "Hey, remember the old Nightmare Night legend? Offer her your sweets to gobble up so she doesn't do the same to you? And if you think Bon Bon's candies are fit for queen now, you haven't tried them in my dreams!"

Lyra giggled. "Only you, Bon Bon, could win over a fiend from our darkest fears with a gumdrop!"

"Lemon drop actually," Bon Bon giggled back.

"Lyra!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!"
"Lyra! It's starting to fall again! Help!"

Lyra's head snapped back towards the cries in the distance. "Oh, B flat to my treble clef! I totally spaced there! Be right back Bonnie, I gotta help pull the others out of the proverbial pickle jar."

But Bon Bon grabbed Lyra and pulled her back. "No Lyra, I can't let you go back there!"

Lyra spun on her hooves, flabbergasted at the very words that just went through her ears. "What?"

"Look, Lyra," her friend started to explain, "Nightmare Moon woke me back up on one other condition. I have to stop you all from going to the castle of the royal pony sisters. She...she agreed if I succeed, she'd spare one of you."

"What?" Lyra's voice dropped down half an octave. "You...want me to just leave them?"

"Lyra? You can hear us, right?"
"We really could use your assistance over here!"

"There's not a lot of options here!" Bon Bon insisted. "I can only save one, and I want that one to be you. I can't imagine my life without you of all ponies! It's not ideal, but we can start a new life under her eternal night. I'll be her royal candymaker and you can be the court's musician! Playing your lyre for royalty, that's a pretty sweet gig, right? And best of all, we'll still have each other!"

Lyra looked behind her again. "But...but they'll be..."

"They're not going to make it either way," Bon Bon insisted. "Do you really think they can stop Nightmare Moon? She's an all powerful alicorn, and they're just...a bunch of college students! Lyra, if I don't come back with you, she's going to put me to sleep again, in a never ending nightmare no less, and then she'll do the same to all of you or worse! We have to save ourselves."

"But...and Twilight-"

"Okay...this boulder is starting to get awfully close now..."
"Alright, joke's over Lyra. Now come back and stop this thing from squishing us!"

Bon Bon grabbed Lyra by the cheeks and pulled her muzzle to muzzle. "Lyra! Look at me! It's me, Bon Bon! Your best friend since forever! The only filly who played on the playground with the oddball unicorn and her weird cryptozoology theories. Who wrote to you every week when you got that scholarship for that prestigious unicorn university. Who's more important, me or some random mares you just go to class with?"

"Lyra?"
"Hey Lyraaaaaa!"
"LYRA! HEEEEEELP!!!"

Lyra looked back into her best friend's eyes, then a slow smile grew across her face.

"You...of course."

Bon Bon's grin threatened to split her face, but before she could say anything, a green hoof muzzled her mouth.

"IF you were really Bon Bon," Lyra continued, with a narrow-eyed, knowing grin. "You see, I am that close to my Bonnie. So close that I know the real Bon Bon would never make me choose between buddies, no matter how desperate the situation. And if it really did come to it, she wouldn't make me choose her. That's what makes her the sweetest pony I know. So if you'll excuse me, I've got some real friends to save."

And with that she bolted back towards the cliffs.

"Oh, and if I catch you wearing her face again, whoever you are, I'll clobber you next time!"

"Urrrgh...can't hold it...much longer..." Minuette groaned.

Beads of sweat trickled down Twilight's brow. She dared to open her squinted eyes for a moment. There was nothing but rock as far as she could see, inches from her face. It's...just...too...heavy...

Just when it seemed like it was the end for them, a pair of five fingered appendages grabbed the boulder from underneath.

"Hey girls! Need a hand?"

"Lyra!" the other five unicorns exclaimed with relief.

The huge rock started to lift itself up again with the additional lift.

"Thank goodness you're back," Twilight sighed. "I was really scared you had just run off on us when we needed you."

"Yeah, sorry I got sidetracked for a sec," Lyra said with a shrug, then patted Twilight on the backside. "But like I said before, got your back Sparks."

She then noticed a large crack on the underside of the boulder as began to reach a safer distance. "Now hold that hunk of granite there steady for juuuust one second..."

"Actually, that's shale..." Moondancer pointed out.

Ignoring the commentary, Lyra pulled back one of her magic hands, and gave a big windup as she curled it into a fist. And then, with a mighty uppercut, she smashed the big rock into a ton of smaller rocks that went flying everywhere.

Everypony else fell to their rumps as exhaustion from their horns caught up with them.

"That would have been a whole lot easier if we had noticed that fracture sooner..." Lemon Hearts said to herself.

"Aahhh!" a startled yelp followed by a crashing noise from right behind them shot the group back up to their hooves. Turning around they saw the mare who appeared to be Bon Bon half buried under some of the rubble that scattered from the broken boulder.

But the bigger thing that they noticed was that clutched in her hooves was a large, sharp dagger, whose point had been aimed for the back of Twilight's neck.

The targeted mare immediately took a few steps back. "What the-? She- Awake-? But that- In her- Did she just try- What-?!"

"That's not Bon Bon!" Lyra answered with an accusatory hoof. "That's...whatever it is that tried to look like her and lure me away from you all!"

Moondancer adjusted her glasses, and her horn glowed for a bit on the 'not Bon Bon'. "Hmmm, so that's it. A class AA glamour spell. The mare underneath is encased with a magical charm that gives her the feel, sound, and appearance of whoever it wants to mimic. A simple dispel counter should nullify it easily."

Minuette stepped over to the impostor's head. "Now let's see who this disguised mare really is!"

Her horn touched the forehead of the trapped mare and glowed for a moment. Pretty soon, 'not Bon Bon''s body erupted in a flash of green flames to reveal a black chitin, equine-like insect with transparent wings and a jagged horn.

Everypony gasped.

"It's...it's...it's...a something," Twinkleshine killed the tension as she eyed the creature with growing curiosity.

"A changeling..." Moondancer analyzed in a low voice. "I read about them in Obscure and Exotic Species. A natural master in transformation and mesmerism magics. Rarely seen in their true form, they are emotion eaters that convert the psychic energy generated from positive feelings into usable nourishment. They live by infiltrating other societies, taking on the forms of loved ones or those that are appealing to others, and harvest the love and adoration reciprocated to them."

"And it just tried to sneak up while we were busy with the boulder and stab me in the back of the neck!" Twilight cried.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing to in that case." Lyra began to approach, her magic fist pounding into the other palm. "Didn't I say I'd clobber you if you showed up again?"

The changeling hissed frantically. "Wait! Wait!" she hissed in a raspy voice. "Please! Have mercy! I was only following orders so I wouldn't be killed! I didn't really want to do this!"

"Too bad, I want to do this." Lyra raised her magic fist in a pounding motion, but just then Lemon Hearts leaped in between.

"Hang on," she raised a hoof. "She's not going anywhere in this state, so maybe we should hear her out."

"Huh?" Everypony else looked confused at her statement.

"Lemon Hearts, it just tried to kill me!" Twilight nearly screamed.

"Well, maybe if we listen to her side of the story, we'll find out why," Lemon Hearts argued back. "It's only polite."

She then turned to the changeling stuck under the rock pile. "Now then, my name is Lemon Hearts. What's yours?"

"N-nectar..." the changeling responded hesitantly.

"That's a lovely name," Lemon Hearts said sweetly. "Now, could you tell us why you came after us like that?"

"W-well, you see..."

"I've actually been living in Ponyville for over ten years now. I was just a worker in a growing colony that got completely ransacked by a bigger hive in a vie for resources, one of the few that got away. I never wanted anything much, just a nice quiet life where I could collect love in peace, maybe raise a small brood, away from all the hive wars! Ponyville turned out to be such a perfect little place for me. Everyone there was so friendly to me, I didn't even need to try imitate anyone living there. Just a little hi to a few folks down the lane and I already had my breakfast. And then...then...tonight happened!"

A pretty, freckled, light green earth pony with a braided ginger mane walked into the town hall as the birds began to sing.

"I was all set to enjoy the Summer Sun with the rest of the town when she appeared!"

Nightmare Moon appeared before everyone in the room, and the events played out right up to where she cast the sleep spell on the crowd. Soon after the Canterlot unicorns left for the library, the earth pony blinked awake and groggily got to her feet.

"When I came to, all the ponies around me were asleep, and wouldn't wake up! I decided to try and get some help from another town, but it was only after a few minutes when I ran outside..."

Creeping across the open square, the lone mare plodded as silently as she could towards the train station. Suddenly, a mist swirled around her, and the infamous Nightmare Moon materialized directly in front of her.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A little lost mare trying to sneak off without my say so?"

The pony shook in fear as Nightmare Moon reached out with a hoof a brushed a few specks of dust from her mane.

"But this is certainly odd. My spell was supposed to send every pony it touched into an endless slumber. You couldn't possibly be awake before me now..." she then narrowed her eyes to notice a faint shimmer come from her confronted prey's body. "Unless...you aren't really a pony..."

With a quick zap from the mistress of the night's horn, the disguise of the earth pony evaporated to bring Nectar's true form, crouched down and quivering with the added fear of being discovered to her terror.

"One of the shapeshifters..." Nightmare Moon observed with a hint of disgust. "It would seem my absence has made the state of my kingdom even more lax than I suspected if despicable pests like you can just come and go as they please in my settlements. Not that I'm surprised your poisonous kind still exist after all this time. Celestia always was too softhearted to edict an extermination of any creature, even one such as you."

Her horn began to glow again, violently.

"A weakness, I might add, that I do not possess whatsoever."

Actual tears stemmed from Nectar's eyes as she covered her head, low to the ground. "Please! Please! Don't kill me! I'll do anything you want! Anything!"

The dark alicorn looked down upon the desperate, pleading bug that prostrated itself before her in an attempt to beg for its life. A devilish grin curled upon her lips as a thought entered her head.

"Well then, creature, fortune may still be on your side tonight. It just so happens a being of your particular talents may be of great use to me. There is a certain group of unicorns that seem to have evaded my initial retribution. I have learned as of late they plan to seek something that would be bothersome to me in one of my old hideaways. Stop them for me, and I shall reward you with your life...perhaps more if I'm in a good mood afterwards."

Her dragon-like eyes glowed intensely as she leaned in close, fangs bared. "Disappoint me, and you will wish the consequences were as kind as death..."

"...and that's it," Nectar finished. "I just wanted the nice quiet pony life I worked so hard to get back! Please don't blame me for that!"

The changeling's body stiffened as she felt a hoof touch her carapace, but the tension lessened as she saw the pony in question still smiling at her.

"Awww...you poor thing," Lemon Hearts assured, stroking Nectar gently. "You were just scared, that's all. It's okay, we're not mad, right girls?"

"It tried to kill me!" Twilight stressed again.

"She was all alone and desperate!" Lemon Hearts argued. "Like a kitty cat in a tree! Who's to say any of us wouldn't have done the same if we had been in her horseshoes?"

"I can," Lyra said flatly. "I just did so a few minutes ago..."

"Well I think she's just a nice pon- er...changeling who just got caught up in a very bad situation." She then turned to Nectar. "If we help you out of there, will you promise not to attack us anymore?"

"But...but Nightmare Moon..."

"It's alright. We promised to stop Nightmare Moon, remember? So we'll make sure she doesn't do anything bad to you too, right?"

"And...then, when Ponyville finds out about this...what I really am..."

"We'll talk to them for you. I'm sure they'll understand. And if not, then you can come back with us! So how about it? Are we friends now?" She turned back to the group. "All of us?"

Moondancer seemed to shake her head slightly. "Not a good idea. Changelings are deceptive by nature. For all we know her entire backstory is completely fabricated."

"Yeah! And she impersonated my Bon Bon! And tried to get me to abandon you!" Lyra added.

"IT. TRIED. TO. KILL. ME!" Twilight enunciated as if she was trying to break a language barrier here.

"Come on girls," Lemon Hearts insisted. "Show a little compassion here! It's no wonder she tried attacking us first if this is how she thought we'd treat her."

She started to clear off the rubble trapping the changeling with her horn's magic. After a few hesitant seconds, Minuette and Twinkleshine joined in.

"There we go! Now doesn't that feel better?" Lemon Hearts asked when they were done.

"Um...thank you..." Nectar rasped meekly. "I...I really am sorry..."

"It's alright," Twinkleshine said. "Like Lemon Hearts said, we already forgive you."

"Plus it's super cool I get to be pals with a changeling," Minuette chimed in. "How many ponies can say that?"

"...oh, all right," Lyra relented. "I guess there was no lasting harm in the end." She then pulled her magic hand's fingers to her eyes and then to the changeling's. "But I've got my eye on you, capisce?"

"It tried to kill me..." Twilight grumbled under her breath one last time before speaking up. "Well this is all dandy and such, but I think we need to get back to the more pressing matters here. Like the fact that Nightmare Moon is on to us, and we still need to find out where the castle of the royal pony sisters is."

"I know where it is."

Everypony looked back to the changeling who spoke up.

"Really?" Twinkleshine asked.

"Yeah, I passed through there years ago right before I found Ponyville," Nectar explained.

"Can you take us there?" Lemon Hearts asked sweetly. "Please?"

"Okay, if you really can get everything back to normal, I'd be glad to do whatever I can to help." Nectar proceeded to take the lead in front of the group.

"Could be another trap..." Moondancer warned as they followed her down into the gnarled grove below.

"Oh shush," Lemon Hearts answered. "She has no reason to do that now. Haven't you ever heard a little niceness goes a long way?"

Gone in a flash

The trees continued to thicken as Nectar led the group on.

"Ooh, check that out. I don't think I've ever seen a plant like that before."

Another flash from Twinkleshine's camera caught the foliage on film...with Minuette doing a little pose next to it.

"That's a lot of pictures you've taken so far," Lyra pointed out.

"63 since we arrived in Ponyville, and an additional 15 starting from when we entered the forest," Moondancer recited.

"What can I say? Photobooking's a family pastime for me," Twinkleshine said. "My grandpa got this camera since he started field reporting for the Canterlot Sun. Can you imagine how many snapshots he took with it? There's at least a dozen full albums of his life's articles on my shelves."

"And triple as many scrapbooks of yours..." Lemon Hearts noted.

Twinkleshine just giggled. "When I see a moment I want to remember, it goes in the camera! You never know when there a chance to make a one of a kind memory in your life! That's why wherever I go, it goes!"

Twilight shushed the mares from behind her. "Quiet! Have you all forgotten Nightmare Moon is somewhere in this forest hunting for us? Along with any other beast that happens to like the taste of pony?"

"Actually, this part of the forest is always deserted," Nectar pointed out. "I've seen manticores and cragodiles avoid wandering through his particular area like it's plagued."

"That sounds oddly perturbing," Moondancer pondered. "Any reason why?"

A skittering noise too faint to be heard by them approached from above, then there was a silent twang.

"I dunno. This is the first I've been through here as well, but it is the shortest way to the castle. I know that much."

*twang* *twang*

"Maybe one of your books has a clue?" Lyra suggested. When she got no answer, she turned around to address the ponies in the rear. Except there were no ponies in the rear.

"Moondancer? Twinkleshine? Lemon Hearts? Uh, girls? Half our group just went splitsville..."

Everyone abruptly turned around to see the open emptiness behind them.

Twilight could only sputter in shock. "What?! But...that's..."

*twang* *twang*

"Alright bug, what's the big idea? This path was your idea so-" Lyra's voice trailed off as she now saw the front end of the group was gone too. "Uh...miss changeling? Minuette?"

Twilight turned back around to find that Lyra's fears were well founded. "O-okay Lyra. Let's just remain calm. Stick right by my side and don't leave my sight..."

*twang*

Twilight's hoof felt nothing but air beside her. Swiveling her head and body all around, she found she was completely alone in the darkened, untrodden path. And yet the feeling of loneliness was the furthest thing from her mind.

She could feel her breath start to quicken. Don't panic. Don't panic. Your guide and group have vanished one by one for some unknown reason, and what's happened to them is unknown as well. But panicking isn't going to help figure out their whereabouts. Calm down and look at all your options. There's been no disturbance of any kind from any of the directions you've looked around, so the only places left to look are-

*twang*
She suddenly felt something very sticky cover her entire back.
-above.

A feeling of vertigo overtook her as her body snapped upwards at a breakneck speed, ending abruptly as it started with a full body smack against a ceiling of webs.

"Hmmf! Urrrrgh!" Try as she might, she could only barely wiggle her limbs against the sticky mesh that entrapped her.

"Twilight!"

Twilight strained her neck up to see each of her companions splayed against the webbing near her in a similar fashion.

"I think it's safe to say we now know why everything else in this forest avoids this route," Moondancer stated.

Lyra craned her neck over her neighbor, the webbed up Nectar. "It was a trap! You did trick us!"

"If this was my trap, do you think I'd be stuck with you up here?" Nectar deadpanned.

Lyra expression softened. "...Good point. So whose trap is this?"

"Theirs I believe," Lemon Hearts said looking up.

They all looked up to see a band of eight legged creatures, each with different stripes and markings, varying in size, although every one of them was at least a pony and a half in girth. Their two front limbs seemed to be shorter and resemble pony hooves, and their heads and torso were also vaguely equine shaped. The similarities ended there though, as the rest of the anatomy was completely spider-like in appearance, including the eight eyes that locked onto them and the pincer jaws that seemed to drool venom.

Nectar's eyes bugged out as she quivered in fright. "A-a-a-arachne..." she squeaked.

"Arachne?" Twilight asked.

The others looked to Moondancer, who raised an eyebrow to that, then sighed. "A master weaver race, known as the queen of all spiders. Barely sentient, their bodies are evolved for hunting, not intelligence. Very few among the species can communicate with more developed races, although there have been rumors of a more elder branch with their own civilization, but no definite proof. Methods of catching prey vary between breed and nest, but all digest their catches the same way; they use their highly caustic venom to dissolve the insides of their victims in order to drink the nutrients down their needle thin throats."

"Too much information that time," Minuette said, suppressing a retch.

"Alright, hang on girls, I'm teleporting us out of here." Twilight's horn glowed, but the feeling of power soon seeped from her head down to her limbs and out her body. "Huh? What? I can't use my magic!"

"Mana webbing," Moondancer observed. "Arachne thread serves as an excellent conduit for magical energy. Many mages and alchemists use it to diffuse magical overcharges in experiments, the arachne themselves use it to disable any magical defenses their captured prey may have."

"Nectar seems particularly unnerved at them," Twinkleshine noticed.

"A-arachne eyes are completely immune to glamour, they're the one creature we can't hide from or sense," the changeling whimpered. "Our only defense against them is numbers, it's why we have a saying to our nymphs: Always swarm, never scatter, lest the lurkers of the web catch you alone."

She flinched as a particular drip of venomous drool fell near her. "When my hive fell, before I found Ponyville, it was always my greatest fear, any changeling's greatest fear, to remain alone. Because there's only one end for a changeling that's alone, at the jaws of the arachne. N-now it seems...my fear's finally come true."

A warm hoof wrapped around her's, and she looked to see Lemon Hearts straining over to reach her from the right.

"It's not come true yet, cause you're not alone."

Her smile caused the tiniest of ones to reciprocate from the changeling, which soon widened as a pale green stream of mist seemed to seep out of the unicorn's body and into hers.

"Everyone! Quick! There may be a chance! Right now, think about the ones you love the most, and don't stop!"

"Huh? What will that-" Twilight started.

"When I said a changeling's sole defense against arachne was numbers, it didn't have to be other changelings. Now hurry! They're closing in!"

Without any more hesitation, the mares closed their eyes and began to concentrate. Within seconds, six strong streams of energy started to flow out of them and into Nectar.

The arachne hissed, sensing something was up, and quickened their approach. But just as the lead one was a leg's reach away from the changeling, her horn erupted in a flare of green fire. The webbing around the six ponies burned in the green flames as the hunters fell back, screeching in pain.

The six mares and changeling fell to the ground, free of the webbing. Twilight shook her lightheadedness off as she clambered back onto her hooves.

"How...how did that work? I thought you said their mana webbing stops all magic from working."

Nectar caught her breath. "Changeling magic isn't just mana though..."

"It's emotion," Moondancer recalled. "Psychic energy collected from our thoughts. It wasn't a compatible form for the webbing to hold, that's why she was able to burn it up."

"Cool..." Minuette breathed. "So...we're safe now."

"Not yet. Now comes part two of the plan," Nectar explained.

"And that is?" asked Lyra.

With several soft thumps, a dozen eight legged predators loomed over them. One gave a very angry blood curdling scream at their escaped prey.

"Run."

A cacophony of screeches echoed through the grove as the mares hightailed it away from the hungry spiders.

"How...long...do we have...to...do this?" Lemon Hearts panted.

"They won't chase us beyond their territory," Nectar called back. "We'll be a wasted effort to them at that point."

Lyra ducked to avoid a spat webbing aimed at her. "They're chasing us from the trees too!"

"Any chance we have a plan B to this?" Twilight cried. "Slow them down perhaps?"

"Um...oh! The possum reflex!" Moondancer exclaimed.

"The what?" Minuette asked.

"All spiders have a nervous system where the ganglia are tied closely to their legs, it's what gives them the sensitive precision in handling their sticky threads, the arachne are no different. If a sharp enough stimuli is given to them, they'll seize up and cause the muscles to relax, effectively putting them in a sham-death position for a few moments."

"So, what? Bonk 'em in the right spot hard enough and they'll play dead? How are we going to do that to a whole group that all over the place?" Lyra asked.

"Gah!" Twilight took at unfortunate time to trip over a rock in the path and fall back.

The lead arachne seized the chance an gave a great pouncing leap at her, jaws wide open with venom foaming.

Twilight shut her eyes and braced for the end.

"Smile and say 'seizure' longlegs!"

Twinkleshine's camera flew right into the face of the pouncing spider, and with a quick bolt from her horn it exploded in a banging flash. With a sudden halting cry, every arachne closing in on them instantly flipped on their back and curled their legs inward.

By the time they could stand up again, their hunt was nowhere to be found.

"We should be well outside their range now," Nectar assured the group as they finally stopped to rest.

"Whew! Good thing I carried the model that uses flash powder!" Twinkleshine said.

Twilight approached her somberly. "I'm...I'm sorry. Because of me, you had to...had to..."

"What? The camera? I can always get another one."
"But...but it was your grandfather's..."
"And he bought it from the bit store on the discount aisle. In fact, they're still selling the same series there today at an even cheaper price!"
"All those photos you took, your precious memories..."

"Still got 'em in here." Twinkleshine knocked her noggin. "I can always make new ones if I want anyways. But I certainly can't make a new you."

"Well, thank you," Twilight admitted. "For doing that for me."

Twinkleshine just shrugged as their changeling guide began to lead the group again. "Hey, anything for a friend."

Silly Break

Fog rolled in thickly as the mares pressed onward.

"Can barely see three hooves in front of me," Lyra muttered.

"There should be a river coming up," Nectar pointed out. "After we cross it the castle should be close."

"Sounds great," Lemon Hearts said. "Between rockslides and giant hungry spiders, I've pretty much had my fill of this forest."

"Trust me, you're not the only one..." Twilight concurred grimly.

"Aaaaah...ahhhhhh~"

"Hey Lemon Hearts, I'm hungry. Hoof me one of those pastries you saved, will ya?" Twinkleshine said.

"Why should I give you one? You already had two of them before we even left the town hall," Lemon Hearts said back.

"Well I want another one now. I am still a little sad over the loss of my camera, so I think a little pick-me-up wouldn't be too much to ask for."

"Well you didn't say please. And I'm not the only one with treats on hoof, yet you always ask me. Why not ask Lyra for one of Bon Bon's candies?"

"Hey! Those are my candies she gave me, and they may be the last ones she ever makes in a long, long time. So I don't have to give them up for anypony!" Lyra huffed.

"Hey, easy girls. Let's not get our horns in a twist when we're so close," Minuette joked.

"Aaaaah...ahhhhhh~"
Nopony seemed to notice the fog had a slight green tinge to it as the sound of rushing water drew closer.

Soon, the ponies were all staring at the deep and wide river flowing before them.

"So how do we cross this?" Twilight asked Nectar suspiciously. "Cause the current here is obviously too strong for us to try and swim for it."

"Why swim? It's easier to fl-" Realization dawned upon the changeling. "Oh, right. I forgot I'm the only one with wings here." She coughed a little uncontrollably as Twilight gave an exasperated groan.

"Are you telling me we're at a dead end here?! There's no bridge or crossing or anything?!"

"We could always try heading upstream to find a ford."

Twilight turned incredulously to Moondancer. "Ford?!"

"It's a natural area of the river where the water is most shallow and-"

"I know what a ford is, Moondancer! I've read the Encyclopedia of Bodies of Water too, you know! Look how big this river is. The shallows would very well likely be miles away from our position, and we can't waste time looking for them while going off map to boot!"

"We're in the Everfree forest Twilight, we've been off map since we first hoof in here!"

"It's still a bad idea! The quickest way to the castle is straight across, and we need to be quick if we're going to beat Nightmare Moon there! we have to overcome this obstacle, not circumvent it!"

"And just what do you suggest, miss self proclaimed leader?" Lemon Hearts snarked.

"If there isn't a bridge, we make one." Twilight's horn glowed and a few large rocks and a large log floated on over, embedding themselves on the bank. "Now hurry up and start damming. We're going to need a lot more than this if we're going to safely cross."

The seemingly sudden grumpy mares all started to comb the riverside as the greenish tinge thickened ever so slightly.

"Hey, Twinkleshine! I got this rock, you pick up that one!"
"No way, Lemon Hearts! That one's like, three times bigger. Why should you carry all the light ones? Just get Lyra and her freakish magic hands to do it."
"Hey! They are not freakish! They are extremely useful, and they're what I use to play my lyre with!"
"Moondancer, the basing on that log isn't supported enough, you need to put another stone on the end."
"That was what I was about to do before you interrupted me, Twilight."
"Well, you're doing it wrong. That one's not nearly strong enough. Put this one on instead."
"Wait! The moss on that bark indicates that section is rotted out, if you put that there-" *CRACK* *SNAP* "Great! Now we have to start all over!"

"Hey. Girls. Lighten up..." Minuette chimed again.
"Aaaaah...ahhhhhh~"
Nectar knelt over as her breathing started to become labored and her eyes dimmed. "Something's wrong," she lethargically wheezed. "The air...so much negative energy...not natural...feeling...weak..."

Her warnings could not be heard though, over the rising dim of arguments.

"You girls promised me you'd do exactly as I say and not get in my way!"
"Hello? We've saved your flank at least three times since this whole thing started! We've been nothing but useful! Well at least I have..."
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm the one who found us a guide to get to the castle in case you forgot!"
"Who I still don't really trust. I mean, look at it! It led us past a nest of monsters to a roadblock only it can cross. And now it's just lying down and not even lifting a leg to help build our bridge!"
"She, Twilight! Not it!"

*FWEEEEEEEEEE*

Everypony's hooves shot to their ears as Minuette's whistle echoed throughout the forest. Once she had all eyes on her, she took her hoof from her mouth and looked to each of them with a stern grin.

"Alright, now that I have your undivided attention, that's enough bickering out of all of you. It's clear to me we're not going to be moving one step further until we can find a way to build this bridge properly and cooperatively. So, I have no choice now but to..." she paused for dramatic effect before flashing her big pearly whites, "call a silly break!"

"A...WHAT?!" Twilight shook her head as if to clear something out of her ears. "Silly...break? Minuette, that's ridiculous! We don't have time for breaks and this certainly isn't the time to be silly!"

Minuette poked her hoof into Twilight with a sly smile. "It's the perfect time to be silly, Twilight! Because you're all acting silly right now with all this angry blubbering and hoof pointing! But if you're going to be silly, you've got to do it the right way, the fun way!"

"Fun? How is being silly fun?" Moondancer rhetorically asked. "It's just a waste of time."

"This really is the first silly break for all of you, isn't it?" Minuette said with a cheery quirk of her brow. "Well don't you worry, I show you all exactly how it's done! Rule number one: there are no rules!"

She tapped her hooves a few times to warm up her tune, then she began to dance.

"A doctor I met once took me for a ride
aboard a blue box bigger on the inside.
Everywhen and everywhere he showed me wonders galore,
yet the only thing I wondered was what the round things were for!

Oh gee, ain't it fun to be si~lly?
Oh gee, ain't it fun to be si~lly?
Giggly and foalish the whole night long!
Oh gee, ain't it fun to be silly?"

"Minuette, this is complete nonsense!"

While Twilight said that, her features did betray the tiniest of twitches on her mouth, and hers wasn't the only one.

"That's the point!" Minuette said. "You don't think when you're silly, you just do!"

She nudged Lemon Hearts with a wink. "Comeon, what's the craziest thing that's ever happened around you?"

The mare's hooves shifted a little as she thought. "Well...I guess there was this one thing..."

"When I was just a filly in the science lab one day
I got to asking myself 'why are flasks shaped that way?'.
They say curious cats often wind up dead
I guess in the case of unicorns it's a beaker stuffed with their head!

Oh boy, what a day to be si~lly!
Oh boy, what a day to be si~lly!
Googly and goofy with no sense at all!
Oh boy, what a day to be siiiiilly!"

Twinkleshine giggled. "Oh, I remember that day! We chased you around for hours til we got that thing off! Oh! Hey! I think I've got one!"

"I once met a stallion down in the valley
who loved to bathe in giant jars full of jelly.
When I asked him why, he told me with glee
'I can't use peanut butter. I'm allergic, you see!'

Aw wow, such a way to be si~lly!
Aw wow, such a way to be si~lly!
Zany in the brainy til the cows come home!
Aw wow, such a way to be...si-lly!"

A few scattered chuckles were shared among the mares as Twinkleshine rolled her eyes in a mismatched fashion, and then Lyra raised a hoof. "Ooh! Me next! Mine's even wackier!"

"Last Equestrian games tryouts, me and Bon Bon went wild.
I dressed up as a peacock and wrestled her as an owl.
We both made the team, but oh, what a sight.
It isn't every day you see the cock bet on the fight!

Wow wee, what we did was so si~lly!
Wow wee, what we did was so si~lly!
Crazy and so gaily and just a bit weird!
Wow wee, what we did was so si~lly!"

"Your turn!" Minuette said to Moondancer through the funny faces she was making.

"O-okay. Just give me a chance to catch my breath," Moondancer giggled before she began.

"One day at the archives I read up new spell
magically designed to help a pony's hair grow well.
I should have read the footnote to end, cause if I had
my sister now wouldn't have a mustache thicker than my dad's!

Da dum, it's so great to be si~lly!
Da dum, it's so great to be si~lly!
Dancing and a' prancing like you just don't care!
Da dum, it's so great to be silly~!"

It was now full blown laughter as the six of them were wiggling and waggling with the most impromptu dance moves ever imagined.

"Come on, Twilight! Finish us off strong!" Lyra said as she can-caned.

"I got something that can top them all," she answered in kind.

"When Spike first got a cold I saw a chance I could seize
to learn how a dragon immune system fights disease.
I guess in hindsight I should have kept my distance when I studied
One magic sneeze later and I'm the Princess' bath buddy!

Oh joy! It's so fun to be si~lly!
Oh joy! It's so fun to be si~lly!
Laughing at your troubles til they all go away,
Oh joy! It's so fun to be si~lly!"

The six synced their voices for one last chorus.
"Oh joy! It's so fun to be...it's so fun to be...it's so fun to be SILLY~!"

"AAAAARRRRRGGH! ENOUGH! SHUT THE FLAPPING FIN UP ALREADY!!!"

The unicorns stopped their raucous laughter to suddenly see the fog give way and reveal a green pony-like figure floating in the middle of the river. A red gem was embedded into her chest while a large dorsal fin encompassed her back, and instead of two hind legs, a fish-like tail composed almost all of her lower body.

She snarled her sharp teeth at the mares. "That had to have been the most childish, graceless, idiotic, inane, and just plain awful tune I've ever had to listen to!"

Nectar, who had managed to be revitalized by the disappearing green mist, pulled herself up to get a clear look at the being in the river. "So that explains it. A siren..."

"Siren?" Twinkleshine repeated.

"A divergent branch of the elusive seapony tribe. Like changelings, their magic is adapted to use psychic energy as a power source. Except they operate on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, using strife and aggressiveness to fuel their spells."

Everypony looked at Lyra incredulously. "What? I know stuff too. The merfolk were a big part of my cryptozoology curriculum. Anyways, they imbue their magic in their voices, which often generates a twofold effect to anyone who hears it. Charm magic is mixed in with the voice, usually making the targets unaware of the spell while all adoration and positive feeling is directed towards the caster, leaving only the hate and anger to fester and spread between the others."

"That's why Nectar fainted when she did," Lemon Hearts reasoned. "Caught in the middle of all the negativity we started generating, it must have been like not being able to breathe."

"We probably would have been arguing until we literally ripped each others throats out if hadn't been for Minuette..." Twilight realized.

"Yes, and here I thought I had a nice easy dinner set for me when I got a tip off that six clueless ponies were heading straight into my neck of the river," the siren grumbled. "But noooo, you lot had to be a bunch of tone-deaf, bubble brained, bimbos who couldn't dance to a good song if their lives depended on it. Gah, seriously, I think my ears are literally bleeding from that ditzy themed atrocity you belted out. You're all more trouble than you're worth!"

"Hey, it was sung all in good fun you know," Minuette replied lightheartedly. "Don't hate the player, as they say."

The siren just growled. And with a flick of her tail, a large reef of coral rose out of the river, forming a solid stable bridge for them all to cross.
"Know what? I don't even care anymore. You want to cross this river? Just go. The sooner you get out of here and away from my waters, the better. Now if you excuse me, I'm hightailing it out of earshot before you all decide to start another nursery rhyme verse on the joys of being stupid."

Minuette called after the siren as she splashed away. "DARE to be stupid, miss sour note!"

She then giggled as she turned to the newly formed bridge. "Well, that problem seems to have solved itself! Shall we mosey on forth, then?"

As the group proceeded to cross, Twilight fell back a bit to stay in step with Minuette. "Thanks Minuette. I guess a little silliness really was exactly what we needed at the moment."

"No problem, Twilight!" Minuette leaned over to keep her next comment between them. "Though between you and me, I think your dancing was a little too silly for anypony's taste."

The truth shall set you free

As the group steadily trekked deeper into the forest, the foliage soon thinned and parted to reveal a broken down ruin, sitting directly under the moonlight.

"There it is, the ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony. We made it!"

Twilight started to break into a gallop, hurrying ahead of the others.

"Wait! Hold it!" Nectar started.

"We're almost there. Whoa!"

Twilight flailed forward as her hooves suddenly touched down on thin air. Scraping against the ledge wall, she barely managed to backpedal to a safe standing.

"As I was about to say..." Nectar continued. "Last time I passed by here, the entire keep was encircled by a huge ravine from all sides. Making simply walking inside it impossible."

Twilight looked helplessly across the gap that was too wide to jump. "No! It's so close! There's got to be a way!"

Lyra looked downwards into the chasm, mist shrouding her view of the bottom, making no way to tell how far it went. "Hey look!" She pointed to the side of the ledge. "A rope bridge!"

"Yeah, too bad it's broken," Twinkleshine dryly observed.

Minuette inspected the posts, then leaned over to take a closer look. "Hmmm, all the boards seem intact. I think the rope just needs retying on the other end."

"Except how do we reattach it over there when we're all over here?" Lemon Hearts asked.

Moondancer raised an eyebrow, her horn glowing as the bridge rope started to pull itself back up under her magical grip.

"Oh...right." Lemon Hearts chuckled sheepishly.

A few self tying knots later, the rickety rope bridge was back in commission for crossing.

Twinkleshine tapped her hoof against the first creaky plank a few times. "Are you sure this is safe?" she asked.

"We don't really have any other options here," Twilight insisted. "Now let's go!"

"Single file please," Minuette chimed as the ponies began to cross. "Final stop on our Everfree tour, the castle of the royal pony sisters!"

As the final mare stepped onto the bridge, a black mist slowly crept up from behind and started to envelop the tethered ropes. It wasn't until the last two unicorns were the only ones left crossing when a sudden snapping sound jolted the bridge.

"AAAH!" Twilight instinctively latched onto the remaining railing with her front hooves as the entire left side gave away, her legs now dangling in midair. "What just happened?!"

The other remaining pony clinging to the side, Moondancer, looked behind Twilight to find the cause. The support posts from the end of the bridge they had come from were burning in a black fire, and the flames were eating away at the rope with an alarming speed!

"Fire-"

That was all she was able to get out of her mouth before the dark conflagration severed the other line. The pair of unicorns screamed as they vanished downward into the misty trench, the fading voices of the other four unicorns crying out to them on the other side were all that seemed to follow.

Twilight weakly opened her eyes, her vision slowly clearing to bring into view a sticky, swampy carpet of weeds and mud as far as she could see. The cliff walls surrounding the pit stretched upwards beyond her sight and into the nighttime darkness.

"Oh no..." With great effort and aching, she pulled herself up from the side, knee deep in the muck. Fighting against the viscosity, she crawled to the nearest side, her hooves scrambling to climb up with no avail. "No...no no no no!!!"

Trapped. She was trapped at the bottom of the chasm with no foreseeable way out. It couldn't end this way, coming so close only to starve to death in an abandoned moat! No, scratch that, she'd dehydrate before she starved. Unless, of course, she got a cut down here and died of infection!

And then the consequences she'd face in the afterlife! Provided there was one, that is. She had failed the most important mission in history, condemning her world to an eternity of frozen darkness and eventually making all life unsustainable. This practically made her an associate to mass genocide! Her soul would be thrown into the deepest, blackest corner of Tartarus, subject to a never-ending series of torments until the end of time!

A sloshing noise from behind suddenly took her breath away, which was inadvertently good since her train of thought was starting to push her to hyperventilate. Spinning around, she came face to face with the mud-encrusted coat of Moondancer.

"Seems there was enough sediment and water at the bottom to cushion our fall," she said as she cleaned her glasses off. "Although based on the soreness of my flank, I would not recommend going through that a second time."

The relief that some kind of swamp monster lurking around in the depths of ravine hadn't snuck up on her soon faded as Twilight's thoughts soon turned back to the predicament she had come to.

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do?! There's no way back up! We're trapped like-"

"Twilight! Moondancer! Are you okay down there?"

Twilight would have jumped from the spot she was trying to pace in place if it weren't for the fact that a foot of mud was anchoring her legs.

"Was that Minuette's voice I heard echoing?"she asked.

"Volume control spell," Moondancer surmised. "She's magically amplified the sound of her voice so it can reach us down here. We should reply in kind."

Twilight nodded, her own horn lighting up.

"We're fine, but we're stuck down here. We can't climb out!"
"Okay. Just hang on! We've got an idea! Nectar's going to fly down and find where you are down there, meanwhile the rest of us are going to tie some vines and whatever's left of the rope together to pull you out. Just stay put for awhile, okay?"

"Oh thank goodness!" Twilight slumped down in relief. "It's not over, I still have a chance to stop Nightmare Moon..."

"Right, that what matters, isn't it?" Moondancer said in a lower tone.

A moment of silence passed as they waited for their rescue to arrive.

"What are you going to do after you after you defeat her and bring the sun back?" she asked.

"Well, fortunately, this all happened on break, so I won't have to catch up on much when I get back to my studies. I'll probably want to set some time aside for composing a dissertation on the Elements of Harmony. I'm sure I can get research access to them after I bring them back to Canterlot."

"...And that's all, huh?" Moondancer's tone seemed to be usually short. "You know, a lot of ponies will probably treat you like a hero once they find out what you accomplished. You'll likely have quite a few banquets and celebrations made in your honor."

"I'm sure that's nice, but I've had more than enough celebrating with ponies this past day than I've had in my entire life," Twilight chuckled to herself, reflecting on how crazy the past 24 hours had been for her. "I'd really rather not bother with going through all that pomp and circumstance if I can avoid it."

Moondancer half-lidded her eyes. "Like how you tried to avoid my party?"

"Huh?" Twilight's head swiveled around to meet Moondancer's gaze. But before another word could be said, a small droning buzz came from the distance.

"There you two are!"

Nectar descended upon the pair, a long coiling rope in her clutches. "Here, tie this around yourselves and give two tugs. I'll stick around in case something goes wrong."

Twilight eagerly reached out for the rope, but a pale white aura suddenly pulled it high out of reach.

"Could you go up and tell the others to give us a few minutes?" Moondancer asked. "I've just realized there's something I need to talk to Twilight about, and I'm not going to get another chance like this."

"Moondancer?" Twilight tried to pull back the rope with her own magic, but Moondancer held it firm. "What are you doing? We don't have time for this!"

"Well for once, you're going to make time Twilight! Because I've been doing a lot of thinking about you since this afternoon, and now you're going to listen to it. Not later, now!"

"Okay...I see this something that's probably private between you two, so I'll just head on up and let the others know you're not ready yet."

As Nectar flew back up, Twilight started to glare back at her suddenly hostile companion. "Alright, Moondancer. What's this all about?"

"This is about me working up the nerve to tell you how I feel about you not wanting to come to my party."
"That's it?! Moondancer, we're in the middle of stopping eternal night! Why in the world you be delaying that for something as trivial as a party?"
"It was my party, Twilight. My first party! And you just saw it as an annoyance the whole time when the others kept trying to include you!"

Twilight huffed impatiently at Moondancer's raising voice and stomping hooves.

"I was on assignment for Princess Celestia! I think that takes a little more precedence than your-"
"Just admit it! You said so yourself I wasn't your friend! Even if this whole Nightmare Moon stuff never happened, you still weren't ever planning to show up to my party, were you?"
"Alright fine, I didn't want to go to your party! I wanted to do something more productive, like advance my studies. Something that would accomplish more in my life. It wasn't important!"
"It was important to me! And when you tried to brush it off, you pretty much ruined it!"
"How?! Why in the sun and stars would a single pony like me trying to leave your party ruin it?!"
"Because the party was supposed to be about you Twilight!!!"

Twilight's mouth hung open as her heated mind just stopped dead. Moondancer, meanwhile started to tear as her rant gained ground.

"Yes, Twilight. I threw the party for you. To thank you for being my first friend. I had no one but my books and obscure facts when I first came to Celestia's school. Nopony approached me for weeks until you became my lab partner. Then you started doing study sessions with me, trading books, comparing notes. You were the first pony that ever had anything in common with me, and above that, spent time with me!"

She jerked a hoof upwards without even giving a glance in that direction.

"It wasn't long after that when they started wanting to spend time with me as well. They noticed me because of you noticing me! I never had this many ponies wanting to do things with me! It made me think they wanted to be friends with me, that you wanted to be my friend! That I was a pony worth being friends with!

"I told you this was the first party I ever had, the first time I put myself out there. And you, the guest of honor, didn't even want to be my guest! Do you have any idea how humiliating that makes me look in front of the others? How humiliating that makes me feel?! How scared I am they don't want to be my friends either now?! I thought for so long that we were friends Twilight. I wanted to be your friend so badly. And YOU! DIDN'T! EVEN! WANT! TO! COME!"

And with that final outburst, she collapsed in sobbing heap in front of Twilight, her hooves covering her face and muffling her sobs.

As she continued to sob, Twilight's brain wracked itself for a response. Something, anything! But there was nothing, not even in her books about social interactions and conventions that could address the swirling mix of emotions she was experiencing now.

Finally, she just knelt down to her level, and said the first thing to pop into her head.

"I'm sorry."

Moondancer sniffled as she looked up into Twilight's guilty expression.

"That party really was important to you, and I really didn't take your feelings into consideration when I first refused your invitation," she continued. "I didn't realize how much I meant to you, and what that party was supposed to symbolize between us. I know I was being angry and frustrated when I said it, but I guess I really wasn't your friend, not a very good one anyways."

She pulled Moondancer to her hooves, wiping the tear stains from her cheeks. "Thank you for telling me this Moondancer, because now I know how you feel, and I don't want you to keep feeling this way. So, when this is all over, let's try that party again. I'll come for real this time."

"D-do you mean it?" Moondancer said with a hiccup.

"I promise," Twilight assured. "I know there's absolutely nothing academic about it, but...I guess you and the rest of the girls really are my friends. I mean, now that I think about it, no other pony would even think about sticking with me here for this long if they weren't. Plus, you all really did help me out quite a bit. And if you're all putting in so much effort to be so, it wouldn't hurt to for me to try and be a better friend back, if you still want me to."

Before she knew it, Moondancer had her hooves wrapped tightly around her. "Thank you, Twilight. I never realized how much I needed to hear that."

A buzzing noise signaled that Nectar was returning. "Um, the others up top are wondering if you're ready yet?" she asked.

"We've just finished up," Moondancer nodded in reply. Her magic released the rope's length to the ground level.

Nectar prepared to spot them as she hovered over a large pink flower with yellow thorns while they started to tie the rope around their barrels. "Well that's good, because-"

Her leg barely brushed against one of the black anthers around the center, and suddenly they all lashed out and seized her. Before she could even let out a cry, the petals of the flower snapped closed around her like a mouse trap.

Twilight stared in shock along with Moondancer before finally finding her voice again. "The flower...ate her!"

Just then, a series of small black eyes opened around the ring of petals, and with an earth shaking rumble, a large purple serpentine body erupted from the red, leafy base. It's eyes swiveled to the unicorn pair, and it opened it's maw again with a hungry, saliva spitting roar.

"That's no plant!" Moondancer cried. "That's a tatzlwurm!"

Twilight gave two very panicked tugs at the rope as the beast lunged at them. Almost instantly, they were heaved upwards as the tatzlwurm crashed into the spot where they were just seconds ago. But relief was short lived as the tatzlwurm reared its head up and caught the ends of both their legs with its writhing mass of long sticky tongues.

Both mares could feel themselves slowly being reeled in as the tug-of-war leaned in favor of their predator. It was then Moondancer spied a particular patch of berries growing on a small ledge. With a glow of her horn, she ripped off as many as she could and splattered them all over herself and Twilight.

"Ack! Hey! What was that for?"
"No time to explain! Cut the rope now before the others are dragged over the side with us!"

"What?!" Twilight's eyed bugged out. "Are you crazy?!"

"Twilight, you said you wanted to become a better friend for us, right?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then trust me...like a friend would. We'll be alright."

Twilight looked down into the gaping maw of the tatzlwurm, gulped, and then with her eyes squeezed shut, snapped the line with a blink of her horn.

The pair were instantly slurped up into the tatzlwurm's mouth. A few seconds later though, the creature's eyes widened in surprise. It squirmed and convulsed like its belly was on fire. Finally it raised its head high, and coughed out three mucus-covered, pony-sized objects.

One second, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Lyra Heartstrings were braced upon the edge of the ravine, hooves dug deep into the ground and teeth gripping a long rope like their lives depended on it. Then with a distant snapping sound, they found themselves tumbling over backwards until they piled up against the large tree that had been their anchor.

A few more seconds later they saw a very slimy Twilight Sparkle, Moondancer, and Nectar shoot up from out of the depths and land squarely on top of the pile, sharing the goo with everyone.

"Ewww...dare I ask what this is?" Twinkleshine said as she got up to try rub the ooze off.

"A tatzlwurm's stomach lining," Moondancer answered instinctively.

That drew out a round of ewwww's from just about everyone, even the changeling.

"At least with arachne, you aren't digested alive..." she grumbled.

"What...was...that...you just did?" Twilight asked Moondancer in bewilderment.

"The berries I slathered ourselves with were from a mandragora plant," Moondancer explained. "Known in pharmaceutical terms as mandrake root, it's roots are widely used in medicine to create anesthetics-"

"-but the fruits they produce contain toxins that are used to induce vomiting!" Twilight finished. "That's brilliant!"

"So, let me get this straight," Lyra said. "You guys got swallowed by a giant worm down there, and used some weird medicine berries to make him puke you up."

"That about sums it up," Moondancer said.

A moment of silence passed before Minuette shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, sure. Why not? Anyways, the final hurdle awaits!"

"Hold on!" Twilight raised a hoof. "Before we go any further, there's something I'd like to say...to all of you."

Everyone stood at attention, looking expectantly to Twilight. Twilight turned to Moondancer, receiving a small nod before she took a deep breath and began.

"I want to say thank you. You really have helped me a lot, accompanying me through the Everfree Forest. I probably wouldn't have even made it this far if it hadn't been for you. And also, I'm sorry for denouncing you as friends. I've come to learn over the course of this night that, you all really have been good friends to me, but I haven't been one to you. But I promise from now on, I'll do everything I can to make up for all the times I took each of you for granted. Can you forgive for that?"

To her surprise, the mares before her all giggled.

"Come on, Twilight!" Minuette insisted. "Didn't we already tell you before we didn't mind all that? It's not like we weren't used to that from you!"

"Yeah, none of us hold it personally," Twinkleshine agreed.

"But it is really good you want hang with us more now," Lemon Hearts assured.

Twilight smiled warmly at all of them. "Thanks girls, that actually means a lot to me."

"Hey, you all thinking what I'm thinking?" Minuette asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Lyra, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts looked to each other and back to Minuette.

"Group hug?"
"GROUP HUG!!"

And with that, the mares were groped together in a big embrace. They even found a spot for their changeling guide to squeeze in.

Unbeknownst to all of them, a glowing pair of eyes observed them from above within the shadow of the ruined castle.

"How sweet, I'm getting cavities just watching. Go ahead little ponies, enjoy your happy moment.

It'll be the last one you ever have..."

With our magic combined...

Upon entering the ruined castle, Twilight and her companions found themselves in a large audience hall leading up to a broken throne. Before the steps leading up however, there was a large dais that held several stone spheres on each of its branching arcs.

"Hey, is that what we've been looking for?" Twinkleshine asked, pointing to the platform in front.

"The Elements of Harmony," Twilight marveled in awe. "We've found them."

"I got 'em!" Lyra's magic hands reached up a plucked them from their branches one by one.

"Four...five..." Lemon Hearts counted out loud each one Lyra set down in front of them. "Um...didn't that book say there were six?"

"When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed," Moondancer read from the reference guide she had kept with her.

"Alrighty then! One spark, coming up!" Minuette spoke with gusto as she grabbed the nearest one. "Uhhh...what did the book mean by spark?"

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea." Twilight said. She arranged the five stones in an even circle before readying her horn. "Stand back. I don't know what will happen."

As Twilight closed her eyes and began to concentrate, a starry midnight mist slithered in from the corner of the room through one of the broken windows, its presence to each of their backs as it crept closer. It was just within striking distance, ready to pounce, when Nectar happened to turn around at that very moment.

"Look out!" she screeched, eyes bugging out in alarm.

Her warning came just in time as the unicorns all jumped away at the alerted danger that had thrown all aspects of stealth out the window. But the ponies weren't its intended target. With a whipping wind behind it, the luminescent smoke encircled the five stones sitting on the floor and engulfed them in a whirlwind of power.

"The Elements!" Twilight realized with a start. Her body moved on nearly pure instinct, and she lunged into the tornado after them.

"Twilight!" With the exact same mindset, her five friends all jumped in after her.

With an intensifying roar, the wind carried them all up. And before anyone could even think of what would happen next, the mini maelstrom vanished, taking its contents with it, leaving only a lone, bewildered changeling remaining in the room.

Materializing into thin air, the six unicorns landed in an unorganized heap on top of one another.

Coughing up the unsettled dust, Twilight was the first to gather her bearings, and quickly gasped as she did. They were clearly still in the castle, most likely in one of the nearby mage towers from the looks of the chamber's design. But what she was more focused on were the five stones that had landed out of reach on the far side of the room, and the dark alicorn that stood directly between them.

Nightmare Moon laughed wickedly as the unicorns all huddled up against each other.

"An amusing display you lot have put on thus far," she gloated. "But I'm afraid this farce is at its end. Did any of you really think you were one step ahead of me this entire time? This is my castle. My domain! Your so supposed hope was always within my grasp." She then turned her cheek. "And now that the reality of this situation has had time to sink into your skulls, I benevolently offer you all, my subjects, one last chance at mercy. Kneel before me and swear your fealty. Do this, and I shall overlook this sorry attempt at rebellion."

Twilight's friends shared glances at each other out of the corners of their eyes, then all hunched down in a charging position with grim determination.

Nightmare Moon frowned in annoyance as one of them pawed the floor. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right?"

Minuette's cheek touched Twilight's as a whisper left the very edge of her closed mouth. "Go for the Elements, we'll hold her down."

"What?" Twilight hissed back. But her blue friend just screamed out the craziest and loudest battle cry as she spirited forward, the others right behind.

Lightning flashed as Nightmare Moon jumped down from the dais to meet her foes in combat. Her eyes remained on their glowing horns as they both fast approached, not their saddlebags. Which is probably why Lemon Hearts was able to catch her off guard with a flung apple danish as she suddenly halted bucked her backside up like a catapult.

"Direct hit!" she cheered.

The black alicorn had just wiped the cream out of her eyes when a large green fist socked her right in the snout, actually sending her back a few feet.

"That first one's for Bonnie!" Lyra proclaimed. "Now put 'em up, you big palooka!"

Her magic boxing stance was broken through quite easily however, as her opponent just glared at her, and then a second later two shadowy gloves ten times the size of her own sent both her and Lemon Hearts leaving a rather lasting physical impression on the wall.

"Ding...ding..." she muttered with a punch drunk slur.

"Can somepony please stop spinning the room around?" her tag team partner asked in a mirrored fashion.

Nightmare Moon chuckled to herself right before her tail shot straight up from a static bolt that pinned itself right in the cutie mark.

"Zapped ya again!" Twinkleshine taunted from behind. Nightmare Moon turned around to fire a spell of her own when Minuette landed right on her back, one front hoof wrapped around the neck, the other pressing smack dab on her horn. Her hind legs also pressed into the sides, pinning the wings.

"Always wanted to try my hoof at a rodeo at least once!"

She yipped and yahooed as her ride twisted and turned, trying to throw her off. All the while Twinkleshine aimed more magic bolts at the larger of the two.

After a few moments though, their foe was through with the horseplay. With a snarl and a growl, her entire body dissipated into her formless mist. Minuette, with nothing solid to grapple anymore, fell right through, as did Twinkleshine's zaps. The mist then swirled around and grabbed them both by the barrels before flinging them right into the loser corner, hard.

She barely had time to smirk in victory when she jerked her head to the side to avoid the swing of a blade.

Moondancer stood before the upstart tyrant, having taken an actual sword that decorated a nearby coat of arms in her magical grip. With the step of a fencer, she moved forward with another thrust.

Almost instinctively, Nightmare Moon summoned the other crossed sword from the wall mount and parried. Moonlight through the shattered stain glass drew their shadows long as they inched across the room, their dueling blades ringing with the thunder.

With the twenty-seventh clash, Moondancer had Nightmare Moon backed against the wall. But as Moondancer knocked her opponent's weapon out of her grasp, her adversary just grinned smugly. For despite having nine volumes worth of fencing techniques in her eidetic memory, the trivia smart unicorn had one lesson in weapon mastery not found in any book that was about to be taught to her quite thoroughly.

Never bring a sword to a magic fight.

With an almighty blast of her horn, Nightmare Moon sent Moondancer bowling down the floor for a strike against her dispatched comrades. Nightmare Moon began to laugh again, but stopped to narrow her eyes as she counted the pins.

Where was that sixth one?

Her eyes wandered back to where she had first stood in realization, and there she saw the lavender unicorn hunched over the stones with her horn glowing furiously.

"Errrn...just one spark. Come on, come on."

With the fury of a tempest, Nightmare Moon warped her way in and kicked Twilight aside as a surge of electricity spurted from her horn.

"Aah!" Twilight skidded across the floor in pain. The stones around Nightmare Moon meanwhile, began to glow in power from Twilight's spell.

"No, no!" Nightmare Moon gasped in horror.

Twilight looked up from where she lay with a grin, but the grin soon faded as the Elements did too.

"But...but...I made the spark," she gasped. "Where's the sixth Element?!"

Nightmare Moon looked warily at the inert spheres before her, but her confidence was soon renewed as she concluded that whatever the unicorn had tried to do, it failed.

"You little foal!" she laughed. "Did you really think it would be as simple as that? Regardless, I've toyed with you for far too long. With this, I END IT!"

Raising her hooves, she stomped on each one of the stones, shattering them to pieces. Twilight could only stare in disbelief as she watched the shards clatter in a heap before her hooves.

Nightmare Moon continued to laugh as Twilight couldn't even reach a hoof out to the broken pieces. "And thus, the last of my sister's legacy crumbles before you! As do your hopes of ever seeing her again!"

That snapped Twilight out of it. "S-sister?"

Nightmare Moon stopped her triumphant laugh to look at the defeated unicorn incredulously. "Seriously? You, who read the legends, who connected the events, didn't even know?"

Twilight just fumbled with her words, unable to fully comprehend the ramifications of this revelation. "You're...Princess Celestia's...sister?"

Nightmare Moon slowly walked down from her platform as she began to monologue.

"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. One sister controlled the sun, the other sister controlled the moon. Who else did you think the stories were talking about?"

Twilight sat there, seemingly dumbfounded. The more she looked back on it the more it made sense. Heck, this castle was called the castle of the royal pony sisters. Still, that left one thing that didn't make sense at all.

"Why then?" she asked. "Why would you do all this? Taking the sun away, imprisoning Princess Celestia...why would you betray your own sister?"

Nightmare Moon looked down at Twilight with scrutiny. "Of course she wouldn't tell you," she continued. "She moves the heavenly bodies for you, and rules this land fairly and justly for each and every pony. That's all she needs you to know, because that's all she ever cares about anymore!"

She looked out through the large open window behind her, up to the starry night sky. "Alicorns aren't born you know, they're made. The details of how are not relevant to my point, but what you should know is that there was a time before Celestia and I were rulers, a time before we took charge of the sun and moon. It was just her and me. Young foal, you at least know why Celestia banished me and took away my control of the night?"

"Because you refused to lower the moon out of jealousy for your sister's day," Twilight answered automatically. "The ponies worked and played through the day and slept through the night, making you feel they didn't appreciate it as much."

"But do you know wanting my little ponies' adoration and respect was only half the reason behind my actions? Do you know what it was my sister said to me, word for word, when she confronted me here all those years ago?"

Twilight's silence said it all for her.

'What will our ponies do without my sun?'

She whirled about, her glare more piercing than ever. "THAT was her argument. How important her sun was to the ponies, how important it was to her! She cared more about that yellow ball of light than she did me!!"

The floor cracked as she stomped her hoof down in front of Twilight. "I betrayed her...because she betrayed me first! She stopped loving me because something more important came into her life. There was never time anymore to be with sister dearest or admire anything she does because now she needs to take care of her ponies who frolic under her sun all the time. Let the little sister just play with her moon all by herself, she's not as precious to her anymore.

"I don't want the night to last forever just so the ponies can finally learn to love it as much as I do. I want them to hate the day just as much! I want the moon in the sky for all time so that I and no one else can ever see that accursed sun ever again! That sun which stole my sister, my only friend, away from me!"

She then stepped back, holding her head up high. "But I've digressed more than enough for your sake. You stand before me now as an enemy of the nation, guilty for treason and attempted assault on royalty. Your sentence? Execution! Do you recant?"

"Never." Twilight looked to the alicorn, her expression more empathetic than defiant. "And you're wrong. Princess Celestia would never stop loving her sister. She'd never stop loving you."

Nightmare Moon scowled. "Let it be noted then that heresy is added to your list of crimes. Pity, a unicorn of your caliber would have gone a long way in my court had you been willing to pay penance. Farewell."

A crimson bolt of lightning erupted from her horn. But a wall of five different auras raised itself in front of Twilight, shattering upon impact, but managing to divert the divine wrath enough into a nearby column that disintegrated upon impact.

Minuette, Lyra, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Moondancer all raced up to her. Their horns were all smoking and their coats were matted with sweat.

"Ha...haaa...whew! Don't think we can do that again," Lemon Hearts panted.

"Girls? What do you think you're doing?! Get out of here!" Twilight exclaimed.

Lyra just rubbed charred tip of her horn clean, wincing a bit at the pain of its overuse. "Yeah, we all know that's not happening Sparks."

"Don't you get it? It's over! The Elements are gone. I've...I've failed. And now Nightmare Moon's going to destroy us all! You have to run!"

Twilight felt Moondancer's hoof on her shoulder. "And just how far do you think we'd get, running from her? At least this way, we all go together."

"But-but-"

Twinkleshine zipped her buddy's lips. "Hey, it was fun while it lasted Twilight. And nopony's blaming you for this."

Twilight could feel her eyes watering as they all hugged around her. "N-no...you all...*hic* girls..."

As Twilight buried her muzzle in the embrace, Minuette strained her head up over the crowd to yell at their judge, jury, and executor. "You hear that Nighty? You wanna off her, you're going to have to smite us all at once!"

Nightmare Moon just shrugged with a sadistic smile. "Very well. Saves me the effort of hunting you all down then."

With a crackle and cackle, the victorious villain sent another salvo of god-tier destruction beaming straight at the group, who all shut their eyes and braced for the end.

But it never came. With a blinding light, the six mares opened their eyes to find themselves wrapped in another aura of protection, this one coming from the broken shards of the Elements of Harmony that now orbited around them.

"W-what?!" Nightmare Moon fired an even stronger blast, but it dissipated as it touched the barrier. "What is this?!"

"The Elements of Harmony...they're protecting us!" Moondancer realized.

"But that's impossible!" Nightmare Moon cried. "I just destroyed them! They shouldn't have any power left!"

Twilight looked all around the fragments encircling her circle of friends. Suddenly she let out a tiny gasp and a glimmer in her eyes appeared as an epiphany surged into her mind.

"Did you really think it would be as simple as that?" Twilight said back with a smile. "You didn't destroy the Elements of Harmony. That's because they're more than just stones, they're the embodiment of all goodness and virtue that exists in the hearts and spirits of all ponies." She gave a grand gesture to her friends around her. "Ponies like these!"

"Lyra Heartstrings, who didn't abandon us just to save herself in the face of her own fears and temptations, represents the spirit of...loyalty!"
"Lemon Hearts, who showed mercy to an enemy and in turn gained an invaluable comrade, represents the spirit of...kindness!"
"Twinkleshine, who selflessly gave up something treasured to her for the sake of another, represents the spirit of...generosity!"
"Minuette, who dispelled a trap of hatred and malice with nothing but her own cheerful nature, represents the spirit of...laughter!"
"And Moondancer, who had the courage to face her doubts and even renew faiths afterward, both mine and hers, represents the spirit of...honesty!"

With each of her friends she listed off, parts of the fragments began to break off and form tighter rings around the individual mares.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."

"But that still makes no sense! The Elements of Harmony only work when they're all together!" Nightmare Moon tried to reason. "The sixth one is still missing. Your spark didn't work!"

"Not my first one, no," Twilight agreed, turning back to her friends. "But when you all stood by me in the certainty of doom, I felt another spark, a much different one. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all...are my friends!"

Then, as if on cue, a blinding light shone above them, and a sixth sphere suddenly materialized and slowly floated down towards Twilight.

"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the...the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element. An element with magic so strong, it transcends all others, even those of an alicorn."

The six of them began to float as the Elements coalesced upon their bodies. And the dark alicorn took a step back in fear as Twilight continued.

"And Nightmare Moon, I now know you have a heart too. A heart that has long since lost that very spark that unites the Elements of Harmony together. Which is why what happens next is going to be good for all of us, you most of all."

"No! Stay back! I won't be imprisoned again!" Nightmare Moon screamed in terror.

"And you won't. When Princess Celestia used them against you last time, she didn't understand the real reason behind your torment, why you lost your spark. But now that it's clear to us, we can give that spark back. This time, the magic of the Elements of Harmony aren't going to hurt you, but heal you."

Everyone's pupils disappeared in a glistening glow as a ribbon of rainbow light erupted from all their chests where the Elements conglomerated.

"Because friendship is magic!"

Nightmare Moon cried out in anguish as the rainbow shot forth and enveloped her in a swirl of color. Her cries however, faded quickly upon the ears of the six unicorns as their senses seemed to leave them as the light coming from them only continued to intensify.

All soon faded to white.

Author's Note

Loyalty!
Kindness!
Generosity!
Laughter!
Honesty!
GO FRIENDSHIP!

Homecoming

Twilight blearily opened her eyes to find herself sprawled out over the floor. Looking around, she saw her friends awakening in the same fashion.

"Oi, feels like I dipped a little heavily in Berry Punch's secret stash," Lyra moaned.

"Ooh! Ooh! Look what you're wearing!" Minuette yelped.

Everypony looked to their necks, and saw where the fragments of Elements of Harmony had coalesced hung golden necklaces with a large gleaming gem embedded in the chest piece. A trio of yellow hearts, a blue hourglass, three orange stars, a green lyre, and a red crescent moon.

"Cool! They match our cutie marks!" Lemon Hearts exclaimed, tapping hers.

"Hey! Why does Twilight get the fancy tiara?" Twinkleshine pointed out.

Twilight looked to her head, and found that her friend was right. Instead of a necklace for her, there was a jeweled tiara on top of her head, sporting the magenta six pointed star of her cutie mark.

"What does it mean?" Lemon Hearts asked.

"The Elements of Harmony were originally wielded by the two royal pony sisters," Moondancer theorized. "Perhaps this is their way of signifying they've accepted us as their new bearers."

"You are correct, my little pony."

Everypony turned and gasped as a rich, golden light started to fill the room from the windows.

The sun was rising. And from the newfound morning, another ball of light descended from the sun. It slowly grew as it stopped inches from the floor until it dispersed in an intense radiance, leaving behind the form of a tall, regal alicorn in all her splendor, head held high with a smile and wings outstretched to their full length.

Everypony bowed to the royal pony, everypony except Twilight, who showed her reverence in a more endearing way.

"Princess Celestia!"

She ran straight up to her ruler and mentor, whereas Princess Celestia answered in kind by lowering her neck to warmly nuzzle her student.

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it."

Twilight looked quizzically at Celestia as their embrace ended. "But...you told me it was all an old pony tale."

"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more," she explained. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, but I knew if I confronted her again as I did 1000 years ago, history would merely repeat itself...or worse. I wanted to save my sister this time, not defeat her. If I was to do that however, I needed to entrust that task to somepony other than myself. It's why I did not resist when she imprisoned me in my own sun. There was, after all, no better place to refrain from unnecessary action but still listen and watch her movements than from within a cell of her own magical design.

"You had the potential to unlock the power of the Elements of Harmony as I once did, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. That's why I sent you to Ponyville in the first place, Twilight. As the friendliest town I've known for years in all of Equestria, I was sure you would be able to find the friends you needed there."

Twilight smiled back at her teacher knowingly. "But that's just it, your highness. I didn't need to go to Ponyville to find friends." She looked back at the unicorns who were lifting their heads up and now smiling back at her. "I already had friends in Canterlot. Friends that have stood by me and shared experiences with since I started coming to your school, and I have just learned I am so very lucky to have after all this time."

Celestia beamed. "So I see. Perhaps you knew more about friendship than I was led on to believe. Nevertheless, I'm proud to see that your actions this day have touched the hearts of so many. Now if only it will reach one more..."

She slowly crossed the hall, pass all the unicorns, to a darkened corner of the room. Laying there, and opening her eyes with a start, was a smaller indigo alicorn among the discarded jet black regalia littered about.

"Princess Luna."

"Not...Nightmare Moon?" Minuette asked out loud.

"That was merely a title she took when she allowed her dark thoughts to consume herself," Celestia replied almost automatically, never taking her eyes off the other alicorn. "But to me, she has, and always will be my dear sister Luna."

Luna seemed to cringe and cower as Celestia now stood directly above her.

"It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. More than long enough for me find the exact words I need to say to you."

She knelt down to her level, much to everypony's surprise, with a softened expression.

"I never meant to put my obligations before your love. But intentional or not, I did take our relationship for granted, always believing it would be there no matter what happened. And as a result, I lost it...by willful neglect. You're not faultless in the matter Luna, as you let the darkness take hold in your heart by choice. But I am just as much to blame, as I allowed it the opportunity to do so. And for a millennium, I have stood, virtually alone, never one day passing where I thought about what I had, and how I lost it."

She stood up once more, an inviting hoof held out. "Now, what I want more than anything, is another chance. I want for us to rule together again, as we both swore we would do. Can you forgive me, as I have you, and be my friend once more?"

Every other pony leaned forward in anticipation, as Luna seemed hesitant to answer. But when she did, she did more than just take Celestia's hoof, she took her entire body.

"I'm so sorry!" She squeezed the other alicorn tightly. "I never meant for this either! I do forgive you, and I missed you so much, big sister!"

Tears misted over them both as Celestia closed her wings around her sister. "I've missed you, too," was all she said. It was all that was needed to be said.

A clacking of steps signaled the approach of someone, and just then Nectar emerged from the spiral stairway leading into the room.

"There you all are! For a few minutes I was-OH SWEET ALL-MOTHER OF THE SWARM IT'S THE PRINCESS!!!"

Her backpedaling resulted in tripping over a fallen pillar and landing on her wings before Lemon Hearts rushed over and helped her up.

"Easy! Easy!" She did her best to quell the flailing of her friend's legs and flashing of disguises. "She's nice. Really friendly. She won't hurt you, promise!"

The now polka-dotted burnt-sienna pegasus stallion in her hold peaked over her shoulder timidly. "Really?"

Celestia broke out of the embrace and approached, a look of genuine curiosity on her face. "Well now, who do we have here?"

"Oh, yeah!" Lemon Hearts set all four hooves down and stood at attention next to her friend. "Princess Celestia. This is Nectar, Ponyville's resident changeling. She sorta knew her way around this forest and helped us get here in the first place." She shifted a hoof slightly between them. "You will be nice to her, right?"

Celestia's bemusement slowly dissolved to amusement. "Well now," she said, looking down to pony figure in the mix-matched color palette, "why don't you come a little closer so I can get a better look at your face?"

Nectar looked at Lemon Hearts, who nodded. So, with a few tentative steps, she met the solar alicorn at face point.

Celestia grinned. "And your other one..."

Nectar blinked, but then realized what was implied. Green flames washed over her as she dropped her makeshift guise.

Celestia continued to smile as she looked her over. "I've never actually seen one of your species this close up before. I can't help but notice what beautiful blue eyes your kind have. It's a wonder why you ever want to hide those, and I'm sure the ponies of Ponyville would agree once we get back to them."

Nectar's gossamer wings gave a buzzing twitch of hope. "Does...that mean you're letting me go? You're not going to exterminate me?"

Celestia lightly chuckled. "I'll certainly do more than that my little po- er...changeling. After all, what kind of ruler would I be if I didn't reward a national hero?"

She turned to the others. "In fact, you all should be rewarded. This calls for a celebration, posthaste!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I make a suggestion then?" Minuette blurted, waving her hoof frantically.

"Yes?" Celestia asked.

"Would you two like to come to Moondancer's party?"

Music filled the air as now awake ponies cheered and rushed to the center of town to praise the return of both their princesses. Once word had gotten around that she was the one that had woken them up from their eternal slumber, the ponies of Ponyville were more than happy to welcome Celestia's long lost sister as their honored guest for the remainder of the celebration. A pair of pegasi hung a necklace of flowers around Luna's neck as she approached. But what really touched her was when they, along with the rest of the crowd, bowed for her as well for Celestia.

Twilight watched from the side of the royal chariot as she observed the conclusion of her quest in it's entirety. Lyra and Bon Bon were there in the crowd, hugging each other so hard with all fours it almost looked like they were going to melt into each other. Minuette was bouncing all over the place with her Ponyville pals, her enthusiasm outdone only by the pink poofy one who kept leapfrogging over her.

Twinkleshine was encircled by at least every foal in town as she shared party favors. One foal in particular, a thin legged and somewhat lanky pegasus presented a bow wrapped box to her. She unwrapped the gift to find a brand new camera, flash bulb and film included, and she squeezed the colt tightly before taking the camera's maiden selfie with him. Lemon Hearts stood by Nectar, undisguised, reintroducing her to the group of ponies in front of them. They all responded with hoofshakes, hugs, and white smiles, while the changeling had the biggest one of them all.

As for Moondancer-

"Twilight!"

Twilight turned around to see her number one assistant, his sleep broken as well, riding on Moondancer's back as she came from the library. He soon hopped off and ran right to her, hugging her tightly.

As Twilight finished her heartfelt reunion with the baby dragon, Moondancer saddled up right next to her. "So, Twilight. What now?"

"Well, I know this is only the start," Twilight said, still looking off into the crowd. "Princess Celestia's going to need to make a public address once she and Princess Luna are back in the palace. Plus, there'll be several royal cabinet meetings, arrangements with foreign ambassadors..."

"I mean for us," Moondancer clarified. "It all just feels so surreal putting it into perspective. We stop a world deprived of its sun, shatter its perspective by bring back another Princess, and now...we just go back to the university, and resume studying like nothing happened over break?"

"Oh, one thing is for sure," Twilight stated with certainty. "I am not just going back to my tower and reading those 'dusty old books' all the time! Princess Celestia is going to do right by her friend this time, and so am I. I'm going to be doing a lot more with you all from now on, no more skipping out on parties and such! I just hope the Princess is okay with me not having as much time for her studies anymore."

"I wouldn't be too concerned about that."

Twilight turned meet Celestia, who approached with the rest of the Canterlot unicorns in tow. "In fact Twilight, I think you'll need the time off, as you and your friends will likely be busier than ever. And that is because I have another special assignment that involves all six of you."

Twilight stiffened. "Oh no! Princess! Don't tell me there's a third sister out there! O-o-or is there some kind of cataclysmic anti-Elements that have awakened along with ours! Or...or is there some kind of huge war that's about to break out because the other nations felt threatened by the eternal night that came from Equestria?! Or-"

Celestia could not help it. She laughed, full belly and loudly. After all the emotional flooding that had happened between her and her sister in that one night, she just could not keep her composure in front of her amusing student this one time. Having fully grabbed Twilight's attention with that outburst, she regained herself and announced concordantly.

"No, my dear student. It's nothing like that. You see, Elements of Harmony awakened for you because they reacted to a certain kind of magic, a magic that, though practiced often by many, eludes understanding to all but few. Now that they are active again, I believe it would be in the best interest for ponies and all other beings that the magic that powers them be looked into further. Thusly, I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship and report to me her findings."

She then looked to the other unicorns, a sly grin on her face. "And what good would studying the magic of friendship be if you didn't have friends to do it with?"

They all grouped around Twilight, chattering and cheering excitedly as it sunk into Twilight what Celestia was saying.

"Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before."

"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited cause I'm excited I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I went *GAAAAAASP* but I mean really-"
"Pinkie Pie? Who are you talking to?"
"Oh, hey Minuette! The story's pretty much over, so I'm just doing my iconic ending speech that comes in at the end of the first season opener. Which is probably going be the last major thing I do in a while since I'm not a main character in this spinoff!"
"Um, okay. I'm not sure I understood even half of what you said. But it seems to make you happy, so go for it! Anyways, I gotta get back to Canterlot now. Twilight's planning on doing something with me next Saturday. See ya!"
"Bye Minnie! Looking forward to that new episode! So anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, I was just saying how excited I was because-"

Author's Note

Annnd that's it! The opening is the only idea I got, aside from the wedding that is, which is why I'm officially opening the Canterlotverse for all writers to join in on. I'm really hoping you all will help me to expand this, cause I want this to grow.

I'm looking forward to see who will give me a good story next!