Applejack had just set down the barrel of cider that she had been carrying when it happened. Her cutie mark lit up and felt tingly again. "Dagnabbit! Why do I get called so often? Big Mac needs help with the orchard!" Applejack trotted up the cellar steps and shut the door behind her. "A'hm not meanin' ta act lazy when ponies need me, but I've been stayin' up until sunrise trying to buck all of the apples I couldn't get to from last time..." She galloped into her home, past Big Mac, and up to her bedroom. Sighing, she got out a piece of paper and wrote her grandmother a message to read when she got home. Trotting back downstairs, she unceremoniously dropped the note on the table, yelled out and told Big Mac where she was going, and started off towards Twilight's castle.
...
It started as an itch on her flank. A tiny buzz that she couldn't get to. Apple Bloom squirmed uncomfortably in her desk as Cheerilee droned on and on. She glanced sideways as a flicker of movement caught her eye. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had the same uncomfortable looks on their faces. Scootaloo motioned to her flank, as did Sweetie. Something was off somehow, and- Cheerilee looked away from the board. "Apple Bloom! Pay attention please! I'm not wanting to go over Princess Luna's apple theft again!" Apple Bloom groaned internally as she looked to the board again. The itch must be a side effect of new cutie marks or something. It was something she'd ask Applejack about when she got home, but for right now, she was stuck listening to a lecture on Celestia's diplomacy issues and the Great Cake War IV from 2,000 years ago that she started over a cupcake being claimed as a cake.
...
Twilight paced nervously as she waited for her friends to arrive. She didn't know what to make of this. Something was very off, and for once, there was no guide to what was wrong. A pink blur shot in front of her and started poking the table. "Too bad there isn't a magical book that lets you diagnose your magic table that makes our flanks super tickly, huh? I mean, normally it only tickles a little, but now it's like somepony put a-" Twilight tuned the newly arrived Pinkie out as she continued pondering the table. Where there usually were one to six cutie marks floating around a city or town, there were nine cutie marks floating randomly about. Her, and her five friends' cutie marks were there, of course, but there were three colored circles floating about as well; one circle was red, one was white, and the last one was light purple.
"Maybe it's broken..?" Twilight bit her lip and glanced to her door as Spike walked in. "Spike, take a letter. I have to ask Celestia something."
...
Celestia looked up from her book just in time to see the scroll. The one that would be hung in a museum. Yes, she knew exactly what was in it; she had known the scrolls contents ever since she took Sunset Shimmer under her wing. It was the scroll that told of new colors on the map, she was sure of it. Who's were they though? She had always assumed it would be Sunset to be in this predicament, to be the one called to help. As of now, she had no idea what to expect, but she was sure it had to do with defeating an unrivaled evil, the kind that would make anypony shrink away and hide. Celestia flew out her window as fast as she could. She needed to get there and warn them before...
...
Starlight Glimmer finished putting together the pieces of the device before her. She may not know how it worked, but she was sure she could figure it out. She glanced up at the door as he came in. The tall hooded figure that had at first refused to speak, yet offered her something as valuable as gold. Why he chose to help her, she'd never know, nor did she need to. A green glow overtook the room as he powered on the device. The figure paused and spoke finally, as she stared at the glow. "Ah yes, my dear. Very nice, but not quite... powerful enough yet." A lion's paw reached out from the cloak and touched the device, sending tendrils of magic seeping into its core. A chuckle reverberated throughout the room as the green smoke grew ever thicker.
"Another one, grandma! Pleeeeease?" A green and orange colt bounced on his bed waiting for another bedtime story.
Pinkie Pie laughed and sat on her grandson's bed once more. "What kind of story would you like, Splatter? Another adventure?"
The colt stopped bouncing and hugged Pinkie. "Can you please tell the one about the brave fillies? The ones who helped you and the princess?"
Pinkie giggled and pounced on him to tickle him. "It wasn't just us! Who else was it?"
The colt, giggling uncontrollably, started shrieking out names to get away from the offensive hooves. "Applejack, Miss Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow!!" He squirmed away frantically.
Pinkie Pie, now an older mare, let him go and flopped onto his bed. "Yes sir! Ooh! Your bed is soft!"
Splatter snorted in amusement at his grandma before interrupting her bed hugging session. "Can I please hear that story again? I forget a lot of it..."
Pinkie glanced up and smiled softly. "Okie Dokie Lokie! But you just heard it yesterday!"
The colt stopped in confusion. "Yesterday? But yesterday I spent all day reading MLP fanfics!"
Pinkie cracked up laughing and winked at him. "My young grasshopper, you have much to learn. But didn't you want a story first?" Splatter nodded excitedly and stretched out next to Pinkie. She sighed in nostalgia and began. "This is the story of the most confusing time in equestria and what ensued before. It is a story of hope and power, and all who hear it from Pinkie Pie gain magical powers!" The colt glanced over at her, confused, before Pinkie winked and waved it off as a random thought. "It all started with Applejack, the first one called in..."
