Mr. Original in: Friendship is Magic

[Previously]

Conscience looked around at his environment in confusion. He appeared to be on the sidewalk of a highway street. There was a fence on both ends of the road, and there was another road below that intersected the road he was on.

What was odd was that there was no traffic, not so much as a SIGN of a single vehicle was in sight. Conscience was going to Epic Shrug in delight at this discovery, but then he realized he was moving. He looked down to see that he was on a bike. HIS bike, no less. What color? You guessed it- black! Surprisingly, he had managed to coast while keeping good balance, without even realizing it. That was, however, when he lost his "auto focus" and began to tilt to the side. On reflex he straightened himself out, and began pedaling.

He continued to look at his surroundings to see if he could recognize where he was. But all he could see besides the road was the white, stormy-looking sky. Before he could get any idea of where he was, his eyes widened as he noticed something as his eyes fell on the road behind him... it was collapsing. FAST. It continued fall, gradually reaching him. And further behind the collapsing bridge... was darkness. Conscience shook his head in denial. He was NOT falling into some dark void. Not in his own damn DREAM.

He pedaled faster. And faster. He pedaled like his life depended on it. And it did... in this dream, it sure did. The highway bridge was endless. Conscience couldn't see any sign of it ending. No trees, no turns, no buildings, no traffic lights, or POLES for that matter. Of course he could've just got off his bike and Flashed away, and quickly lose the falling debris. But he wanted to out-bike it. Why? Because he was complicating.

The bridge rumbled quietly as it continued to fall. He looked ahead of him, and sighed in relief when he noticed that the sidewalk was ending. Maybe then, he could get off the road and get a clue of his location... hopefully. He got to the end of the sidewalk, and rid off the curb, onto the vacant street. He nearly dented his bike's handles from gripping it too hard, when he realized that the highway road continued on seemingly indefinitely.

"Oh, COME ON!" he shouted in outrage. He was about to turn around just to give the darkness 'the finger' before falling in, but then he realized something. "This is a dream. I can control what happens in here. Aw Conscience, you dunce," he smacked himself in the forehead.

"Rrrrrrrrr--" Conscience shut his eyes and grunted in concentration. He stopped when he heard something. It sounded like... voices. He opened his eyes. He almost did a wheelie in joy when he saw a giant crowd of people in the far distance. He was pretty damn far away, but it was still something.

"Are they having a gathering, or something? It looks like they showed up for a parade."

He realized there was still a rumbling sound and turned around... and deadpanned when he saw that the highway was collapsing even FASTER. Then he heard the crowd began to chant something.

"TWENTY! NINETEEN! EIGHTEEN!..."

"What?" Conscience asked to himself. "What are they saying?"

They continued to chant. "FIFTEEN! FOURTEEN! THIRTEEN!..."

Conscience was then able to tell what they were saying. "Oh, they're counting! I gotta think of something to say at the end of the countdown! Come on, Conscience, think think THINK...," he turned around to see the collapsing bridge getting REALLY close. He couldn't give up now. He was almost there.

They continued to chant. "TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!..."

"GAAAAAAAAAAA--!!" Conscience yelled in frustration as the debris was RIGHT behind him. But it didn't matter, he was only a few seconds away.

"FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!"

And then he made it. Before everything went black for a split second.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

[Theme Song]

Nightmare Moon laughed evilly as she stood over the terrorized crowd of ponies.

"Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!" the mayor cried out to the guards, who flew in the air, charging at the dark mare.

Nightmare Moon glared at the oncoming pegasi. "Stand back, you fools!" she laughed evilly as her eyes flashed, harshly throwing back the guards with a flash of lightning. She again turned into a blue mist. All the ponies in the way ran to the other corners of the wall as she stormed out of the door.

James turned to Conscience, "Conscience, get in."

"Aw, but I just woke up," Conscience protested.

"Get in here, damn it," James glared.

"Ugh. Fine, Mr. Bossy. LIKE A BOSS," Conscience sighed before merging with him.

At this point, Rainbow Dash escaped Applejack's hold and rushed out the door. "Come back here!" she called as she attempted to fly aftter the retreating mist. But it was too far gone.

"Nighttime? Forever?" Rainbow looked down at the ground in dismay. Upon looking down, her eyes fell on Twilight, who was running out of the Town Hall, a sleeping Spike on her back. James was right behind her. "Where are they going?" she asked to herself as her gaze followed them.

Spike was twitching slightly, almost entirely out of it. "We gotta stop Nightmare!" he shot up groggily before lying back down, unconscious.

Twilight threw his blanket over him, in which he shifted to a more comfortable position. "You've been up all night, Spike," she smiled warmly at him. "You are a baby dragon after all." She turned the light off she walked downstairs to begin her research. She had to find a way to stop Nightmare. As she made her way downstairs, there was James, waiting. He jumped, startled, when Twilight started throwing books everywhere. The part that made him jump was the way the ground shook.

"Elements, Elements, Elements, ugh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?" she fretted.

"And just what are the Elements of Harmony!?" Rainbow Dash suddenly came out of nowhere and got in Twilight's face, and continued to fly in her face, gradually cornering her. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh!? Are you a spy?"

KLPOW!

James was in Rainbow's face. "Hey, you better calm down. She's on your side, not hers."

Fortunately, Applejack came to the rescue, and pulled Rainbow's tail. This got her to stop pressing. "Simmer down, Sally," she said as Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy came in behind them.

"She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's goin' on. Don't you, Twilight?" she asked she, and the other four ponies, looked at Twilight.

Twilight looked at them all before she began to speak. "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."

"Without killing her, that is," James raised his index.

Twilight continued. "But I don't know where they are. Where to find them. I don't even know what they do!"

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide," Pinkie spoke up, looking at a particular book. James's lips subtly curled upward in amusement when Twilight bowled her over. "How did you find that?" she asked baffled.

"It was under 'E!'" Pinkie sing-songed as she bounced back to her friends, apparently unfazed by getting tackled.

"...Oh," she said as she began flipping through pages in the book. Eventually she stopped on one page. James walked next to her as she began reading.

"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." Everyone was too focused on Twilight reading, so no one noticed the blue mist that lingered a few seconds in front of their window.

"Hey, Twilight, what's that?" James asked, pointing at the right page.

"Huh? What's what?" she asked.

"That," James pointed at a caption that was below a picture of a black colored gemstone.

Twilight read the caption. "Many studies of magic in ancient time have lead to believe that the seventh Element, Fighting, may lead to corruption of the Elements of Harmony. Therefore, it has long since been rejected of use. Though, this belief has never been proven true."

James nodded. "...Okay. That's all it says about that?" he asked, his eyes darting around the page.

"Yes, that's it," she replied as she continued reading. "And it says the castle is located in what is now..."

"The Everfree Forest!?" the six ponies exclaimed in unison. James was just looking ahead with a serious expression.

There was a long pause as Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack stared at the forest hesitantly.

Eventually, Pinkie broke it. "Weee! Let's go!" she proceeded to start walking, but Twilight stopped her in her tracks.

"Not so fast... look, I appreciate the offer. But I really'd rather do this on my own."

James gave Twilight a quizzical look. "Twilight, you saw the way everyone reacted to this place. And you want to walk into this apparently dangerous place alone? I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone," Applejack agreed, Twilight blanching on the f-word. "We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." She, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash entered.

"Especially if there's candy apples in there!" Pinkie added, in which Twilight stared at her blankly. "...What? Those things are good." She then followed the others, leaving Twilight and James.

James looked at Twilight as he gestured a hand towards the forest. "Well, shall we?" he said Cheerfully. Twilight sighed before walking to catch up with them, as did James.

"So, none of you have been in here before?" Twilight asked from the front.

"Oh, heavens no. Just look at it. It's dreadful," Rarity practically squeaked.

"And it ain't natural. Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria," Applejack added as a blue mist stealthily seeped into the rocky ground everyone walked on.

"Come on. It's not that bad," James replied from the back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked Applejack fearfully.

"No~pony knows," Rainbow replied slowly in a creepy voice. "You know why?" she asked as she prowled towards Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and James.

"Rainbow, quit it!" Applejack glared. Rainbow ignored her as she continued to walk towards the other four. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were visibly scared. James had a mildly exasperated look on his face.

"'Cause everypony who's ever come in has never. come. OUT!" she jumped, startling the three ponies.

At that point, the cliff they were all standing on gave away, as the blue mist snuck away unnoticed. Fluttershy and Rainbow took to the air, while everyone else fell.

"Fluttershy, quick!" Rainbow called as she raced after the others.

"Oh my goodness oh my goodness," Fluttershy mumbled to herself as she flew down as well.

Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack slid uncontrollably down the slope that formed from the broken cliff. James had regained control, and was sliding on the side of his leg as he held his hand out to keep from sliding too fast. Rainbow picked up Pinkie, while Fluttershy grabbed Rarity by her tail. Applejack caught hold of a root sticking out of a surface with her teeth. James, who had made it to the edge first, pulled out his cape from Super Mario World and slowly parachuted to the ground below safely.

Twilight was the only other to reach the end of the cliff. She nearly slipped as she finally came to a stop, her hind legs dangling off the edge. Applejack let go of the branch she was biting onto, and slowly slid down to Twilight.

"Hold on! Ah'm a commin'!" she called out to Twilight.

"Applejack, what do I do?" Twilight panicked as she failed to get any footing on the edge. Applejack grimaced, before she looked up, then back to Twilight.

"...Let go."

"Are you crazy?" Twilight protested.

"No Ah ain't. Ah promise you'll be safe," Applejack replied.

"That's not true!" Twilight argued frantically.

Applejack gave her a mildly stern look. "Now listen here. What Ah'm sayin' to you is the honest truth," she gave her a reassuring smile, "Let go, and you'll be safe."

Twilight looked at her. She closed her eyes... before hesitantly, she let go.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed before something caught her. She looked beside her to see Rainbow and Fluttershy. She yelped in fright when Fluttershy nearly dropped her.

"Sorry girls," she apologized. "I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two." Twilight watched as Applejack skillfully jumped down steps that were conveniently on the side of the cliff.

"Wow, talk about the trust game for real!" James chuckled.

As Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Twilight slowly descended toward the ground, a blue mist slunk away and charged right at a nearby beast, who roared in pain.