Welcome To Ponyville High

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 15

Chapter 1

A girl with purple hair with a pink streak stood nervously in front of the tall brick building. She was wearing a white blouse with a dark purple sweater vest and a black skirt. The sweater vest had a design that looked like a purple star on it. This young woman was no ordinary student, for it was Twilight Sparkle, chosen pupil of the long lived Princess Celestia. A magical prodigy she was, educated by the Princess herself since she was a little girl. Now as the years went by, her mentor thought it was time for Twilight to find and make friends of her own. To help her grow and hopefully find the magic of friendship.

As Twilight finally found the courage to open the door of the school building, she was greeted by the sounds of loud music and singing. As the sounds got closer and closer to her, she was able to identify where the sounds were coming from. The singing was coming from an upbeat and cheery girl with wild pink curly hair. She wore a pink striped shirt and blue jeans with two balloons stitched to it, one blue the other yellow. The music was coming from a party horn the gleeful girl was carrying and her loud booming voice sang:

”Welcome Welcome!
A fine welcome to you
Welcome Welcome!
How do you do?
I say to you today
Welcome Welcome!
To Ponyville Today”

“Oh wow,” Twilight awkwardly laughed noticing how all out the girl had put into everything, “You really did go all out, didn’t you?”

The girl gave her a goofy grin and started to laugh for a bit. “Of course I did!” She reached into her pockets and threw some confetti in Twilight's direction and smirked a bit. “My name is Pinkie Pie!”

Twilight smiled and started to laugh a bit as well. “I'm Twilight. I just transferred here.”

Pinkie nodded her head quickly and threw some more confetti. ”I know, Principal Mayor told me to get you and show you around the school.”

Twilight offered her a smile in return, “She did? Well that's thoughtful of her.”

“You don't need to worry much, I'll show all around the school.” Pinkie said as she blew on her party horn. ”Here, let me help you with your schedule.”

Twilight nodded and handed Pinkie a piece of paper that was in the folder that she was holding. Pinkie took the paper, examined it, and started to smiling bigger and bigger. “We both have first period together, that's so awesome!” She gave Twilight back the piece of paper and waved at her. “Come on, it's this way!”

Twilight gave a sigh of relief and followed Pinkie as she happily skipped around, saying hello to every student that they passed. One of the students, a girl with light blue wavy hair gave them a dirty look as the passed.

“Don't worry about Trixie. She's like that with everyone,” Pinkie whispered. Twilight nodded in response and continued to follow along. “And everyone is the same way with Trixie too.”

"Why is that?" whispered Twilight.

"Trixie has a habit of kind of being a show off. Oh and there's the all speaking in 3rd person thing too. It kinda gets annoying after a while." Pinkie whispered as she still was waving and smiling to everyone that they passed by.

“Pinkie,” a voice called. Pinkie turned and smiled at a girl with straight black hair wearing a white blouse and a black skirt. She gave Pinkie a piece of paper. “Band tryouts are today after school. You should join.”

“Oh cool! Thanks, Octi!” Pinkie said as she took the paper. "Can I play my party horn at band?"

Octavia only sighed at Pinkie's remark and turned to Twilight. Octavia smiled and gave Twilight the same piece of paper. She looked at it questioningly, then to the girl. “You should join too. The band could always use more members.”

“She's new here. This is Octavia! Octi, this is Twilight!” Pinkie giggled, shaking their hands together.

“It's nice to meet you,” Twilight nervously smiled.

“And you as well. Just be careful with her, Pinkie,” Octavia chuckled as made her way down the hall.

The school bell rang and all the students in the hallways hurried and tried their best to get to their classes as soon as possible. Twilight grew more nervous, as she realized she was going to be late on her first day.
***
The bell rang and all the students hurried to their seats, getting their books and notebooks ready. The teacher, Miss Starlight, stood from her seat and did a visual scan of all the students that were present. One seat was empty, as usual.

Pinkamena’s tardiness is starting to affect her grades.

Pinkie and Twilight rushed into the classroom as fast as they could. Pinkie had given Miss Starlight a nervous smile. “Sorry, I lost track of time...again. I got busy showing the new girl around the school.”

The teacher had sighed and gave Pinkie a stern look, “Miss Pie, you always have an excuse for these things. Perhaps I should give you a watch. Maybe that will help you get to class on time.”

Pinkie lowered her head sadly, and Twilight noticed that the curls in her hair seemed to go flat a little and the cheerful aura seemed to get a bit dull, “I’m sorry Miss Starlight, it won’t happen again I swear.”

“Since you have an actual reason for being late this time, this shall be your last warning. Don't be late again,” Miss Starlight told her. The stern glare moved towards Twilight. “As for you Miss Sparkle, I suggest you not to make this a habit of yours.”

Twilight sighed and went to the first available seat she could find. As she went closer to the seat, a girl with blond hair wearing an orange flannel with blue jeans and a belt with three red apples on it slammed her books onto the desk.

“So, you're the new girl. Let me give you some advice. Don't sit next to Pokey Pierce there, sugarcube.” she said in a strong southern accent, “He's a weirdo.”

“O-Oh, okay.” Twilight said softly as she nodded to what the girl said, “Thanks, I guess.”

“Don't mention it. Here, sit next to me,” she said as she gave Twilight a warm smile.

Twilight nodded and sat next to her and noticed that the girl sitting in front of her was asleep. The girl's hair had the colors of a rainbow, and she was wearing a cyan blue hoodie. The blonde girl chuckled as she threw a pencil at the sleeping girl, but got no reaction. She simply shrugged and moved her head towards Twilight.

“Don't mind Rainbow Dash there, she's always asleep. Oh, by the way, mah name's Applejack.” She threw a balled up piece of paper at Rainbow Dash.

Twilight smiled, "That's a nice name. My name is Twilight."

Rainbow woke up from that and raised her head to see an angry Miss Starlight standing next to her desk. She gave the teacher a sluggish nod and stretched. “Hey there, Miss S,” she yawned.

The teacher frowned and simply sighed, “Miss Dash, it's so nice of you to finally joined us. Please do tell me, when was the kingdom of Equestria founded?” Rainbow stayed quiet for a while and said nothing, but Twilight rose her hand to get the teacher's attention. Miss Starlight sighed again and went back to her desk, “Yes, Miss Sparkle?”

“The kingdom of Equestria was founded by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia's parents, King Solstice and Queen Eclipse in the year 20,000 B.C.”

“And what does B.C. stand for?” asked Miss Starlight to Rainbow. More silence, and Twilight's hand rose again. “Yes, Miss Sparkle?”

“Before Celestia, before Discord tricked the king and queen. Before Princess Luna was banished to the moon.”

Miss Starlight smiled as she began to write on the whiteboard. “Look at that class and she doesn't even have a book. I suggest you start taking some notes. Now turn to page 300, we are about to learn about the Age of Discord.”

Rainbow grabbed her book and slumped back into her seat muttering, “Egghead.”

"I'm not an egghead," remarked Twilight as she glared at Rainbow Dash, "I am well read."
***
After the school bell rang, all the kids in Equestrian History hurried as fast as the could to get out of the classroom. Twilight was one of the last and her eyes started to wander around the other students and around the school itself. She gazed back on her school schedule and made a mental note to not be late to her next class this time. She was soon brought back into reality as she suddenly fell to ground, confused on what had just had happened. She was on the floor her books now all over the place.

“Mac, ya gotta be more careful,” Applejack reprimanded softly, a hand offering itself to Twilight.

She looked up and saw that the hand belonged to a tall, freckle faced guy who wore a red button up shirt with the sleeves pulled up. He wore blue jeans and a belt with a big green apple on it. Twilight took his hand and started to feel a bit embarrassed. “I'm so sorry about that.”

“It's fine,” Applejack said as he picked up Twilight's books and handed them to her, "Just Big Mac here doesn't know his own strength over here."

“Thank you,” Twilight quietly said as she took her books from him. “I'm Twilight, by the way.”

“This here’s Big Macintosh, but most call ‘im Big Mac,” Applejack said as she slung an arm around his broad shoulders. “Mah big brother.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac nodded.

“He don't talk much, by the way,” Applejack informed her with a laugh.

As Twilight was just about reply to Big Mac, the school bell rang once again and she grew even more nervous.

I really need to stop being this late, especially on the first day of school too!

“Nice meeting you!” She shouted as she ran down the hall.

Applejack ran a hand through her hair and simply remark, "That there be one odd girl."

"Eeyup." responded Big Mac as he gave his sister a nod in agreement.
***
“Sorry I'm late,” said Twilight as she bursted into the room. The students gave her empty stares as she noticed that the teacher's desk was empty. “Oh... never mind then.”

“He usually doesn't get here on time, so you'll be fine,” remarked a girl with blue hair and headphones resting around her neck. She smiled at Twilight and handed her a slip of paper. “Name's Vinyl Scratch. I'm president the DJ Club. You should join if you're a fan of music. And if you know how to have an awesome time!”

“Like you now what music is,” a familiar voice sneered. Twilight looked and saw the voice belonged to Octavia. “Honesty I'm surprised you're in this class. Last I thought, Calculus was for focused people.”

Vinyl just slumped back into her seat and put her headphones back on. “Math is just music for the brain,” she quipped back.

“Right on!” said a man appearing from under the plain wooden teacher's desk, “Now that's one way to look at it!” The cheerful man had brown hair and wore a white button shirt with a bowtie. He smiled when he looked at Twilight. “I see we got us a new student.”

“Oh great, two periods with the egghead?” Rainbow groaned as she entered the classroom.

“Well, I see you and Rainbow Dash know each other,” laughed the brown haired man, “I am your teacher, Time Turner. But, you can call me Doctor.”

“Doctor what?” Twilight asked in confusion, “Doctor Who?”

Time Turner have a light and hearty chuckle. “Something like that.”

Vinyl smirked and laughed, glancing back to Octavia. “Yeah, only for focused people. You're funny, Tavi,” she said with a smirk.

“Okay class, let's get back on topic shall we?” said the teacher as he put on his brown jacket, “Miss Sparkle, why don't you sit in front of Miss Pie?”

Twilight looked around and saw there was no Pinkie. The only empty seat was in front of Octavia. Twilight looked at Octavia with a puzzled look, she was related to Pinkie? How? She would have never thought she was Pinkie's sister. Twilight thought nothing of it and grabbed her seat next to Octavia.

“Great, now the egghead is sitting next to me too,” Rainbow grumbled as she opened her notebook.

Twilight sighed and opened her notebook as well. She turned to Ranbow and simply said, "I am not an egghead. I just so happen to be well read."

Rainbow just shrugged and slumped down in her seat and remarked, "Sounds like something an egghead would say."

This mission Princess Celestia put me on is going to be the most impossible thing ever.

“Hey,” a voice said. Twilight turned to see where it came from. The guy had spiky blue hair and wore a blue hoodie with a lighting bolt on it. “Do you have a pencil I can borrow?” he whispered.

“Yes.” Twilight gave the pencil to her classmate with a friendly smile. “My name is Twilight, by the way.”

He returned the gesture as he took the pencil from her. “That's a nice name. I’m Soarin.”

Rainbow eyes narrowed on Twilight as she glared at her during the conversation Twilight and Soarin exchanged. Twilight felt her eyes stabbing her like daggers so she turned her head at Rainbow and mouthed, “What?”

Rainbow just glared and darted her head towards Soarin and back at the teacher, “Nothing, egghead.”

Twilight sighed and stared heavily on her notebook. "I'm well read, not an egghead there is a diffrence." she muttered against her breath.

This school year is going to be the most interesting school year of my life.

She scribbled down notes as the teacher explained to the class what functions were and how to solve them. During the entire school period, Twilight felt Rainbow's deadly glare on her during the entire time.

Chapter 2

As the bell rang, students began to spill out of the classrooms and into the hallway. Twilight was one of the last to exit the classroom and saw Pinkie in the hallway. She smiled and waved at the cheery girl and Pinkie skipped towards her.

“Hey, Twilight! How's your first day going?”

“Interesting.” Twilight said as she made way to find her locker. Her schedule said it was locker number 42. As her and Pinkie approached her locker she looked across and noticed the guy she saw in her math class. Blue spiky hair and a blue hoodie talking to a girl with a girl with shoulder length, orange hair wearing the same blue hoodie as him. She looked next to her locker and saw Octavia putting some books into it.

“That's Soarin and Spitfire. Captain and co-captain of the track team,” Octavia said as she closed her locker. Twilight gave her a quick glance as she tried her locker combination. “I heard the track team got into the Canterlot Games this year.” Octavia sighed. “So did the band too.”

Twilight blinked as she got her locker open. “How do you know all of this?”

Octavia shrugged and smiled. “Pinkie isn't the only Pie that knows everything about everyone.”

“Last period, Soarin asked me for a pencil and Rainbow gave me the most strangest look ever,” Twilight explained as she put her books into her locker.

“Not surprising. I heard from Rarity that she has a crush on him,” Octavia mused to the side.

“How do you know Rarity?” Pinkie asked as she grabbed the mirror out of Twilight's locker and started to make funny faces.

Octavia sighed and took the mirror from her hands and gave it back to Twilight. She gave her sister a scolding expression. “Unlike someone here, Rarity actually goes to band practice.”

“But Tavi, it's sooooo boring,” Pinkie whined, slumping against the locker. ”It almost makes me want to stay back home and go rock farming.”

“Um....excuse me....can I get to my locker?” The three looked to a shy girl with long pink hair covering one of her soft green eyes. She wore an oversize yellow sweater with butterfly designs on it. She recognized one of the faces and smiled softly. ”Oh, hi, Pinkie.”

“Hi, Fluttershy!” Pinkie beamed, giving her a tight hug. Pinkie quickly broke away from the hug and grabbed Octavia and Twilight's arm. “See you at lunch!”
***
“Welcome to the cafeteria!” Pinkie shouted happily as her and Twilight entered the room filled with table. “If you want to know more about everyone, then we should go see Rarity. She knows all the gossip around the school.”

“I'm not one for gossip,” Twilight said. Pinkie followed her onto the lunch line. “Would you believe me if I said this was my first school experience?”

Pinkie nodded with a giggle. “Yeah, I would. You don't have anything to worry! Just trust good ol' aunt Pinkie!”

Twilight blinked as she grabbed her lunch. “Pinkie, we're the same age!”

Pinkie laughed again. “I know that silly! I was just playing. Come on. Follow me, I know the perfect place to sit!”

Twilight smiled and followed Pinkie, her curls of hair bouncing as she skipped across the lunch table. She looked and saw all different groups in the lunchroom. All the students were divided in their own little groups. Maybe all the books about high school she read recently had some truth to them. The pair had made their way to the middle table and saw that the meek Fluttershy was there, and another person was there as well. A girl with curly violet hair wearing a white dress with a diamond design on it.

“Fluttershy, dear,” the violet haired girl said in a proper tone. “It's unladylike to play with your food.”

“Yeah, that's what toys are for!” Pinkie laughed as she plopped down beside them. “Hi, Rarity!”

“Hello, Pinkie,” Rarity said as she began eating her salad. She looked next to her. “Oh, you're the new girl I've been hearing so much about.”

“You already know about me?” asked Twilight nervously as she sat down on the lunch table.

Rarity giggled. “I know everything about everyone, dear.”

“Speaking of which! Give Twilight a crash course on all the people in the lunchroom,” Pinkie said as she grabbed candy from her hair.

“The table right next to us is where the freshmen sit,” explained Rarity as she spoke to Twilight in a hushed whisper.

Twilight looked across from her and saw three girls a little younger then her laughing. One with curly purple and pink hair wearing a pink dress, the other with red hair with a pink hair bow wearing a yellow shirt blue jeans and a similar belt to Applejack and Big Mac, and the last with unruly purple hair wearing an orange shirt with purple running shorts. The curly haired one stopped her laughing and started to wave at Rarity. She smiled and waved back to the younger girl.

“Ah don't see what's wrong with the freshman there, Rarity,” Applejack said as she set down her lunch onto the table. “Two years ago, we were just like our sisters.”

Rarity had nodded in response. “I suppose you're right.”

“Right about what?” asked Rainbow Dash as she threw her lunch tray on the table and quickly sat down. She sighed when she saw Twilight. “Oh great, the egghead is here too.”

“No way!” shouted a loud booming voice across the cafeteria. The girls looked and saw a tall senior with shaggy blue hair wearing red letterman jacket and a white t-shirt. He flashed a toothy grin and made his way to where the girls were sitting. He rested his hands on Twilight's head and smiled to the other girls. “I had no idea that you were the new girl, Twiley!”

Twilight's face got red and she rose from her seat and looked at the senior dead in the eye. “Shining, I told you to stop calling me that.”

Shining Armor only smiled and ruffled her hair. “No matter what, your still my little sister.”

“Shining, stop!” Twilight whined as she was trying her best to straighten her hair back to normal. “We aren't little kids anymore.”

Shining laughed at his sister's whines. He stole one of her french fries and walked away from their table. “Whatever you say, Twiley. I'll see you around!”

After the exchange she had shared with her brother, Twilight cleared her throat and sat back down to finish eating her lunch. She looked up to see that the girls all had confused looks upon their faces. Her face grew red in embarrassment and muttered, “Thanks for embarrassing me on my first day.”

Rarity was the first to break the silence. She cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow towards Twilight. “Twilight. You never told us that your brother was the captain of the football team.”

“Yeah,” remarked Rainbow in between gulps of her energy drink. “I guess that makes you 20% less of an egghead.”

The school bell rang and all the students got their things and threw away their trash. Twilight did the same and quickly glanced at her school schedule.

Health 101 in 620. Where is that?

“Um, excuse me,” Twilight said, grabbing the attention of the girls. “Does anybody know where room 620 is?”

“I can show you,” Rainbow said, being the first to speak. She threw away her garbage and made her way towards the exit, gesturing for Twilight to follow. “Come on and follow me, it's through the 300 wing.”
***
As Twilight followed Rainbow through the school hallway, she noticed that they were nowhere close to to the 300 wing. In fact they were outside by the track. Rainbow threw her bag by a tree that gave a perfect view of the track and offered Twilight a seat next to her. Twilight only sighed and sat across from where Rainbow was sitting on the grass.

“I don't think this the 300 wing, Rainbow,” Twilight said as she grabbed her schedule and gave it a second look.

Rainbow only laughed. “Oh yeah, the 300 wing got burnt down 10 years ago by a former student. She swore she saw a talking horse and set a fire in the Chemistry lab to get rid of it.”

“What about my health class?”

Rainbow ignored Twilight and added to the story she was telling. “That student became the Biology teacher and she still swears that the talking horse still haunts the school.”

“I will get in so much trouble!” remarked Twilight as she was quickly running a hand through her hair tiring to clam herself down.

“Relax it's the first day of health, what could you really miss?”
***
“Okay class, I don't want to be here and I know you don't want to be here,” groaned a red haired woman who was rubbing the temples of her head. “I'm the new health teacher, Berry Punch, for any of you want to know. So listen up” She threw a basket to one of the desks of the classroom. “Don't have sex or you'll get fat, and stay off drugs or your teeth will fall out.”

There were some bewildered expressions and stifled laughs and snickering. “Grab a condom.” said Berry Punch as she was throwing handfuls of the plastic towards every student.

Berry Punch groaned as the laughter in the classroom grew even louder. She went over to her desk and grabbed the bottle that was on there. She grabbed it, took a huge swig from it and quickly left the classroom.
***
“Hey, Twilight,” Rainbow said, her eyes dead set on the students running on the track. “Can you do me a favor?”

“What is it?”

She sighed lowly and kept her eyes away from her for a moment. “Can you be my… my tutor?” Rainbow asked. She turned to look at Twilight. “I need one for Math… mostly.”

Twilight gave Rainbow a surprised look. “Why do you want me to be your tutor?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Well, you seem smart. And if I want to fly with the Wonderbolts, I need to have good grades.”

Twilight blinked. “You want to join the royal air force?”

“That’s been my dream ever since I was little.” responded Rainbow as she gazed up to the sky, “Flying alongside the Wonderbolts would be the most awesome thing ever.”

Twilight smiled. “When I was little, I saw the Wonderbolts perform with my brother and father.”

The comment drove Rainbow from her daydreaming as she quickly rose up from laying on the grass and looked at Twilight with a surprised look. “No way, you actually saw them perform?”

Twilight nodded. “I sure did. Rainbow, why do you need a tutor so bad?”

Rainbow nodded. “This year the track and cross country team are going to the Canterlot Games. The winner of those gets to fly with any member of the Wonderbolts.”

“And?”

“If I can boost up my math grade, then I can go with the track team to see the Wonderbolts.”

Twilight smiled and nodded softly. “I'll be the best tutor anyone can be.”

Rainbow stood up from the grass and offered a hand to Twilight. “Come on, I'll help you get to your next class.”

Twilight smiled and took her hand. “Thank you Rainbow Dash.”
***
Room 444. AP Biology. A serious class for serious students. Such a shame that its teacher was anything but. The infamous Professor Lyra Heartstrings, known throughout the school for her insane ramblings about how talking horses would soon take over the school. Ms. Heartstrings had green mint hair with a white streak through it. She wore a green dress, the same as her hair. At the hem of the dress was a golden harp on it. It just so happened that Dr. Heartstrings was also the band director of the school. Now she two groups of students to pass along her insane ramblings.

When Twilight entered into the classroom, she was shocked to see how it was directed. The walls of the classroom covered his newspaper clippings of “talking horse” sighting. The occasional typical teacher posters were also found on the wall. In front of the classroom was the teacher’s desk and on top of it was large statue of a skeleton of horse.

“I see our new student has arrived safe and sound,” joked Ms. Heartstrings as Twilight entered the class. She stretched her arms out and announced, “Welcome to the laboratory!”

“Um... thanks, I guess?” uttered Twilight, still perplexed by the teacher's odd behavior. She did a quick scan of the room and noticed that the desks were longer and larger than the ones she saw in other classrooms. She also noticed that the desks could seat two students. Twilight looked around and saw that Rarity was in her class as well, and she was sitting alone.

As Twilight made her way towards Rarity, Ms. Heartstrings' loud voice could be heard. “And so the new student is self aware enough to find herself moving towards an empty desk. Now, that self awareness shall keep her genes strong and flowing through Equestria.”

Twilight blinked in confusion. “What?”

Ms. Heartstrings sighed and put her hand on her chin. “It appears as though she isn't that aware of her problems. Could be a problem when looking for food.”

“I am so confused,” Twilight whispered as she buried her head in her hands. “This teacher has to be the strangest one.”

“Students, flip to page 35. It's time we learn about Survival of the Fittest in case the horses rebel!” warned Ms. Heartstrings as she grabbed the teacher copy of the book. “First they will talk, then they will rule!”
***
The rest of the school day went in a blur. As Twilight was getting used to the setup of the school, she realized it was easy to navigate through. As the last period bell went off, all students went out of their classes and exited the school as fast as they could. As Twilight was at her locker, she saw one of the three freshmen from earlier approaching her.

“AJ,” called out the red headed one as she went towards Applejack. “Ah'm all ready to go.”

“Give me a second there, Apple Bloom,” Applejack replied. She pulled out a cowboy hat from her locker and placed it on her head. “Why aren't ya with yer friends today?”

Apple Bloom pulled on the straps of her backpack. “Sweetie Belle’s busy with choir tryouts and Scootaloo wanted to see the track team practice. Plus, Bon Bon wasn't in school today, so no art club meeting.”

“Ah see,” Applejack murmured as she closed her locker. She looked and saw Twilight and smiled. “Hey there, Twil. Need a ride?”

Twilight shook her head politely. “Thank you for the offer, but I’ll take the bus.”

Apple Bloom smiled and handed Twilight a flyer. “Ah heard there was a new girl. If ya want, you could join the art club.”

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack remarked, giving her sister a stern look. “Don't be bothering people with those papers, ya here?”

“Ah wasn't bothering a soul,” the younger Apple remarked as she started to play with her hair bow. “The art club just needs more members.”

“Well, don't be doing that from now on,” said Applejack as she made her way towards the school exit. The little redhead soon followed. “See ya tomorrow there, Twilight, “ Applejack called out as she exited the building.
***
As Twilight was going up the steps of her house, she saw her mother had put down her book and made her way down to see her. Twilight smiled at the older woman with with purple hair with white streaks through it. She smiled and pulled her daughter into a tight hug.

“Soooo, how was your first day of school?” her mother giddily asked as she and Twilight were walking up towards the porch of the house.

“Interesting,” Twilight answered, stepping in through the front door.

"Make any friends?" her mother asked as she entered the door behind Twilight.

Twilight had stopped for a moment and gathered her thoughts about what had happened in the past day. She turned towards her mother and smiled, "I think so."

Her mother smiled and Twilight quickly went up the stairs and made a left to her room. As she open her bedroom door, she was greeted by a purple fur dog begging for attention. Twilight smiled as she kneeled down to pet him. “I missed you too, Spike.”

She went up to her desk and grabbed a paper and quill from inside and began writing her letter to Princess Celestia.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I had a very good day at school today I met five other girls and I seemed to be hitting off with them. One of them even gave me a tour of the entire school. I was even offered to be a tutor to one of them as well. All of them made sure I wasn't getting lost too. I look forward to my future days of school and I hope to fulfill the quest you challenged me with.

Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle

Twilight rolled the letter up and tied it up with a ribbon. She smiled again and bent down towards the playful dog, who was spinning in circles behind her. “Spike, I need you to send this to the Princess.” The dog barked happily and sneezed a bright green flame that caused the letter to disappear.

“Twilight, honey, can you help your father and brother with the groceries?” her mother called.

“Coming,” chimed in Twilight. She hurried down the stairs with Spike in tow.

Chapter 3

Twilight blinked as she stared directly at the teacher's desk. There was no sign of the teacher anywhere. She sighed as she slumped back in her seat and looked around to see what other students were doing. Most were talking to their peers, but she noticed that Rainbow was reading a green book beside her. She looked closer to see the cover of the book. “Daring Do and the Crystal Cave.”

The cover had the famous titular character Daring Do swinging on a vine with a rare articat in her free hand. Rainbow looked greatly involved in it, from Twilight’s perspective. One hand holding the book, and the other allowing her chin to rest on it as she eagerly turned page after page. One could say that Rainbow Dash was on the edge of her seat while reading about the adventurous spelunker.

“I didn't know you liked the Daring Do books,” Twilight remarked with a smile.

Rainbow quickly closed her book and threw it on the floor. Ignoring the blush on her face, she crossed her arms and slumped back in her seat. She rested her head back quickly and said, “I'm not a fan of that egghead stuff.”

“Really?” Twilight giggled, raising a brow. “Because it looked like you were really into that book,” she teased with a mischievous grin.

“Whatever,” Rainbow muttered, turning her head in the other direction.

Twilight laughed and gave Rainbow a smile. “Well, I have all the Daring Do books,” she casually stated, eyeing her with eagerness.

“Really?” Rainbow immediately asked, shooting up in her seat and closer to Twilight. "Do you really have all of them?"

Twilight nodded and her smile grew even bigger. “I even have the “Adventures of Young Daring Do” series, too.”

Rainbow’s smile faltered as she realized she was indulging the bookworm. She sighed and moved back in her seat. “You know, I only really like the fantasy element of the books,” she explained.

Twilight chuckled at Rainbow's response and only smiled. “I didn’t ask why you liked the books, Rainbow.”

Rainbow shrugged and slumped back into her seat. “Whatever.”

Twilight only sighed and went back to staring at the empty wooden desk in front of her. She wondered where in Equestria the teacher could be? Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the school bell ringing, and the students exited the room. Twilight soon followed and made her way towards the cafeteria, but she was soon stopped as she had bumped into a girl with pale blue wavy hair.

“I am so sorry!” Twilight exclaimed as she knelt down to grab the girl's fallen belongings. She noticed that one of them was a purple warlock hat with faint designs of purple, blue, and yellow stars on it. Twilight then offered a hand to the girl on the floor and offered her a nervous smile. “Sorry about that, I need to pay attention more.”

The blue haired girl said nothing as she stood up and snatched her belongings from Twilight's hands. “How dare you bump into Trixie like that,” Trixie huffed as she gave her a deadly glare.

Oh no. So, this is the Trixie that Pinkie was telling me about.

Twilight shook off those thoughts and forced a smile for her. “I'm sorry, Trixie. I didn’t mean to bump into you like that,” she said as sincerely as she could muster.

Trixie simply huffed and put her hand on her hip. “Trixie will not waste her time with your rambling.”

“Um... okay then,” Twilight awkwardly murmured as she was slowly got on her way, walking past Trixie. “If you say so.”

Trixie simply glared back and harrumphed before continuing on her way. As Trixie walked by Twilight, she gave her slight push and glared as she walked away from her. Twilight stood frozen as she tried to process what had just happened. Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud buzz of the school bell. Twilight sighed and made her way quickly towards the cafeteria.
***
Twilight sighed as she sat at the lunch table. She looked and saw that Rainbow was still reading the Daring Do book she started in Math. Pinkie Pie was still munching on her candy, Fluttershy slowly picked at her lunch, and Applejack was getting her English homework done before her next period class. Rarity was the last to arrive at the lunch table, and when she did she noticed that something seemed a bit off with Twilight.

“Twilight,” said Rarity as she got her lunch on the table. “What’s troubling you, dear?”

“Nothing much. Just bumped into Trixie by accident before I got to the lunchroom,” she explained before taking a sip of her milk carton.

“Oh?” questioned Rarity as she raised an eyebrow to Twilight's response. “How did that go?”

“I tried apologizing to her, but she acted all offended and didn’t even say anything.”

“Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that,” Rarity assured her.

"If you say so." she muttered as she took a bite from her sandwich.

Laughter could be heard as something flew across the cafeteria. Twilight flinched as something hit her cheek. She pressed her finger where she’d been hit, and felt it was mashed potatoes. Looking around for the source, she jerked when another glob landed in her hair. She looked over and saw Trixie smiling at her, all while holding a spoon with mashed potatoes running down its length.

Rainbow looked up from her book and grinned as she grabbed her lunch tray. She looked towards Trixie and shouted for all the lunchroom to hear. “Food fight!” Rainbow flung all the food from the tray towards Trixie's general direction.

“Rainbow!” Twilight reprimanded, but it was too late. The tray flew towards Trixie, and she was hit by all the food that was in it. Twilight groaned and ran her hands over her face. “I came here to make friends not enemies.” she whispered.

“This is war!” shouted Trixie as she grabbed more food to throw at Rainbow. Soon more and more students joined in with throwing food in all sorts of directions inside the cafeteria. "I will show you to think twice about daring to bump into the The Great and Powerful Trixie."

Fluttershy gasped as she quickly hid under the lunch table to hide from the chaos. Rarity had done the same and complained about not wanting to get her hair messed up anytime soon. Applejack simply sighed and went underneath the table as well, trying to make sure that her work for the next period can get finish as quickly as possible. Pinkie stood up and smiled as she threw food and some confetti in random directions across the lunchroom. However, Twilight sat in confusion as she was starting to process the chain of events that were happening.

“Twilight,” Pinkie called out as she threw someone's pizza across from her and some more candy that was in her hair. “Why are you just sitting there? Come on! We need more hands on deck for this food fight!”

"You heard what Trixie said. This is war!" shouted Rainbow.

“What?” Twilight mumbled. She stood up from the table and looked at the chaos that what was now the cafeteria. She ducked under some food and moved behind the table for cover. “I've never been in a food fight! What do I do?”

“Its a food fight!” Rainbow laughed. Like Pinkie, minus some confetti, she was throwing food everywhere she could, “Just grab some food and start throwing!”

“The name is pretty self-explanatory,” chimed Pinkie as she smiled and handed Twilight a pizza slice.

Rainbow laughed and loudly proclaimed as she was getting more food to throw towards people. “You’ll never take me alive!”

Just before Twilight could take the slice from Pinkie's hands, they were interrupted by a booming voice that could be heard from through the hallways and soon the cafeteria. All students looked and saw the voice belonged to a woman with graying hair tied up in a bun. That woman was Principal Mayor, bearing a disapproving and stern look to all the students in the cafeteria. Everyone dropped any food and tried to hide their guilty and fearful expressions.

“What is the meaning of all this nonsense?” asked Principal Mayor, giving a quick glance of the mess the cafeteria had become.

“It was Rainbow Dash!” Trixie called out, pointing a finger towards Rainbow. “She started the food fight!”

“What?!” Rainbow shouted, glaring down Trixie and clenching her fists. She then pointed towards her direction as well. “Trixie was the one that started throwing food!”

Principal Mayor only sighed and gave both teenagers a stern look. She pushed up her glasses and cleared her throat. “I don't care who started it. Both of you, in my office now.” She pointed the two girls in the direction of the exit, then gave a harsh look to the rest of the students. “As for the rest of you, I expect each and every one of you to report back to the cafeteria after school,” she announced.

“Yes, Principal Mayor,” the crowd of students unanimously replied.
***
As the ending class period bell rang, students began leaving the room and paid no mind to what the nervous English teacher Carrot Top was talking about that. Twilight’s thoughts were soon racing as she exited the classroom and made her way to the cafeteria. Her worries were soon brought to a halt as she heard a voice whining and growing louder with every step. She looked and saw that the voice came Rarity’s younger sister, Sweetie Belle.

“I can't believe that we have to help clean the cafeteria. I wasn’t even part of the food fight,” she moaned out loud. Beside her, Apple Bloom and another girl nodded in agreement.

“Ah can't believe it either,” Apple Bloom grumbled. “Ah can't believe we gotta help clean up the juniors’ mess.”

“You guys are being softies,” remarked a girl with a boyish cut of purple hair. “That food fight was awesome, and I can't believe that Rainbow Dash started it!” She gave her two friends a goofy grin and waved her hands in the air. “I even get a chance to hang out with her after school today!”

“My sister told me that Rainbow didn’t start it. Trixie did,” Sweetie said. “Besides, Scootaloo, I don't think cleaning up a bunch of food counts as hanging out.”

“Sweetie Belle’s right,” Apple Bloom added.“Mah sis said the same thing.”

“The chick that Snips 'n Snails won't shut-up about?” said Scootaloo in a disgusted tone.

“Eeyup,” replied Apple Bloom.

The three girls laughed and made their way towards the cafeteria entrance. Twilight was not so far behind them and made her way through as well. She saw that the students had made their best effort to clean the cafeteria as fast as possible. Less time they had to spend cleaning would equal less time that they had to sacrifice out of their day. Twilight entered the cafeteria and gave her best effort to get done with the cleaning as soon as possible as well.

“I hate cleaning,” Rarity whined. Her curly hair was now tied up into a ponytail as she mopped the floor.. “Why did Rainbow have to encourage Trixie's awful behavior?”

“Like Ah said the last hundred times, Rarity. Ah don't know,” Applejack groaned, mopping alongside her. “You complainin’ ain’t gonna get this place clean.”

“Girls,” Fluttershy said softly as she and Pinkie scrubbed the tables. “If you two argue then nothing will get done.” Her efforts were in vain, her soft voice couldn't be heard over the arguing that soon took place.

“You know for once, I agree with Rarity,” Rainbow commented as she threw a garbage bag on the floor and stretched her arms. “Cleaning does suck.”

Soon more arguing too place and no cleaning was getting done. As Twilight approached them she noticed that they wasted more time arguing then cleaning the mess. Applejack was annoyed with how lazy Rainbow was and Rarity was annoyed by how much Applejack criticized her moping. Fluttershy stood in the middle of Rarity and Applejack's argument with a frightened look on her face and not even daring to say a single word. Pinkie Pie shouted nonsense simply because she was with them and wanted to feel involved.

“Girls!” The five stopped their arguing, and Pinkie’s rambling, to look at Twilight. Now with their attention, Twilight cleared her throat and swallowed the lump in her throat.“If we stand here and argue then we’ll get nothing done. We'll have to stay here longer than we would have if you all focused.”

Applejack sighed and adjusted her mop. “She's right. We're wasting time by standing here and arguing.”

Pinkie quickly rose from sitting on the ground with a bright smile. “If you guys want, I know something that will help pass the time.”

Fluttershy offered the cheerful girl a smile and softly said, “What is it, Pinkie?”

Pinkie's smile grew bigger and wider, “A song my sisters and I use to sing when working on the Rock Farm!”

“Please. Anything but that,” muttered Rarity as she too resumed with her moping.

That didn’t stop Pinkie from getting back to scrubbing the lunch table clean and started to hum a catchy rhythm. Moments passed and soon Fluttershy and Applejack were humming her rhythm. As soon as more humming started, Pinkie stood atop on the lunch table she got done cleaning and started to sing:

Come along my friends
As we sing along to this happy little working song
Merry little voices clear and strong
Come along and roll your sleeves, so we can pitch in
As we all sing along
To this happy little working song

After a while of singing and cleaning, Twilight examined the cafeteria. She had to admit, Pinkie’s song did help to pass the time. The cafeteria was back to its former glory and no longer a food ravaged battlefield. The other students smiled now that they're job was done, and they all ran to the exit, cheering for their regained freedom. She followed them on the way out, but stopped as she felt someone tug on her sleeve.

“Twilight, are you doing anything this weekend?” Pinkie asked as the rest of her friends were about to leave. “Like, anything tomorrow?”

“Not that I know off,” Twilight slowly responded, her question confusing her. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh cool!” shouted Pinkie as she dragged Twilight and Rarity in a group hug and gave them both a smile. “Twilight gets to go the party!”

Rarity gave the excitable girl a light chuckle and a warm smile as she slowly removed herself from the group hug. “Yes, Pinkie. She can come to the party.”

Twilight smiled and gave the two girls a smile, but it faded as she thought to herself. “I'll have to ask my parents, though.”

“Yay!” Pinkie cheered, skipping back towards the exit. “I live over by Sugarcube Corner. You can't miss it! See you tomorrow!”

The two glanced to one another and giggled before going their separate ways. As Twilight made it to the bus stop, she trailed back into her thoughts. A smile grew on her lips, and as she boarded the bus only one thought came to mind.

Maybe this mission won’t be so impossible after all.

Chapter 4

Twilight knocked on the door of the dull brown farmhouse. Her nerves were going all over the place as she heard footsteps slowly approaching the door. Her first high school party. She had no idea what to expect, or how she should act. Should she have brought something? Her anticipation then skyrocketed as she heard footsteps coming from inside. While she waited to be let inside, she ran a hand through her hair trying to calm herself down.

Octavia had opened the door and gave Twilight a surprised look. “Oh. I didn’t know Pinkie invited you,” she said, gesturing for her to enter.

Twilight nodded as she into the house and noticed how plain everything was. She looked and saw that the house was devoid of any decorations. The only pictures that hung on the walls were family pictures. She looked and saw a picture of three young girls standing together. There was a girl with black straight hair wearing a gray dress, holding a cello next to her as she smiled. She noticed that the two other girls were wearing the same color dress and both had the same straight hair. One was pink with dull blue eyes and the other was gray with piercing purple eyes.

“That was Tavi's first concert!” Twilight jumped and spun around. Pinkie smiled and went next to Twilight to look at the pictures that hung at the walls. She pointed to a picture with two stern adults and three sitting girls. Behind them was a plain gray farmhouse and a bunch of rocks. “This was back when we lived on the rock farm.”

“You used to live on a rock farm?” Twilight asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Pinkie replied. Twilight noticed her smile started to fade. “Ma moved Tavi and I away so we are able to go to better schools. My younger sister, Maud still lives with Pa on the farm, but we get to go visit them a lot.”

“That's nice,” Twilight said, looking at more of Pinkie's childhood pictures. “I used to live in Canterlot.”

Moments passed and Pinkie reverted back to herself. With her ever present smile, she tugged on Twilight's sleeve and pulled her deeper into the house. Down the stairs and into the basement held more people and loud music. Twilight saw that people were dancing along to the loud music playing. Pinkie pulled her to the corner of the basement and sat on one of the bean bag chairs that were in a circle. Twilight looked around and saw the others as she sat on one of the bean bag chairs as well.

“Guys, I'm back!” Pinkie shouted as she sunk down into her bean bag.

“What took ya so long?” asked a blond haired boy in a familiar southern accent. He wore a yellow flannel beneath a brown vest.

“Relax there, Braeburn,” laughed Soarin as he took a bite of apple pie on his plate.

“Okay, now that we have everyone here we can start to play,” chimed Pinkie as she set a bottle in front of her on the floor.

“Ready to play what?” asked Twilight in confusion, staring at the bottle that laid on the floor.

“Wow, you really are an egghead,” Rainbow laughed as she slumped into a bean bag chair. “We're playing spin the bottle.”

Twilight blushed a bright shade of red as Rainbow uttered those words. She had read multiple books about “Spin the Bottle.” It usually was a typical scene at a teenage party in one of those typical cheesy romance novels. She couldn’t believe herself when she found herself in that scene in a teenage party.

“What’s wrong?” asked Rainbow as she stopped her laughing to look towards Twilight. She groaned as she slumped lower into her seat. “You really don’t know anything about this, do you?”

Twilight gave a sheepish smile as the blush on her face got darker and more visible. As she slumped back into her seat, she felt her face getting hotter and hotter. She remembered asking her babysitter, Cadence, what spin the bottle was. She just remembered Cadence laughing and ruffling her hair and saying something about how adorable she was. Cadence never once did answer her question.

“Rainbow.” called out Braeburn as she shot a glare at her. “Ya shouldn’t make fun of the girl for not knowing that.”

Rainbow sighed as she rose from her seat. She offered Twilight a smile and muttered, “I’m sorry for teasing you.”

“It's real easy to play,” Pinkie told her as she offered her a warm smile. She slid the bottle across from her. “Here, Fluttershy, show her.”

Rainbow laughed and looked towards her blushing friend. “Yeah Fluttershy, show her how to play,” she snickered loudly.

“What?” stammered the blushing teen as she looked at Pinkie. Twilight was shocked, too. She had no idea that Fluttershy was there the entire time. "Who want me to do what?"

"Come on Fluttershy." whined Pinkie as she looked towards Fluttershy. "Please?"

Fluttershy sighed and muttered something so quiet nobody could hear and spun the bottle in front of her. The bottle spun for several seconds until it landed to the person sitting next to Pinkie. A blush rose on Fluttershy's cheeks as she slumped back into her seat, trying to hide herself in her hair. Twilight looked over and saw that the bottle had landed on Applejack's big brother, Big Macintosh.

Rainbow laughed and elbowed Fluttershy, “It's a good thing Applejack got stuck babysitting Apple Bloom and her friends tonight, right?” she jokingly whispered as she laughed harder.

Moments passed and Fluttershy rose from her seat and tilted her head towards Big Macintosh's direction. Big Mac did the same and the two locked lips for a split second. Fluttershy quickly went back to her seat and rose her knees, hiding her blushing face. Big Mac's head was still tilted, and a blush was forming on his face as well.

“That's how you play, Twilight,” Pinkie giggled uncontrollably. “It's your turn, now!”

“Wait, what?!” stammered Twilight as she felt her face get hot. It was too late, Pinkie had already spun the bottle widely for her.

Twilight watched it as it spun wildly. It spun and spun for several moments until it stopped at Braeburn. Braeburn smiled with bravado when the bottle stopped on him, while Twilight could only blush.

Celestia’s lessons never prepared me for something like this!

Twilight gulped as she remembered what Fluttershy did before. She leaned her head head towards Braeburn, and he did the same. When the two locked their lips, she was unsure what to do next, and decided to pull back as she blushed even more. Braeburb's head was still titled as he opened his eyes and gave Twilight a look of confusion. To make matters worse, Twilight suddenly felt something hit her head, then got doused in something. Her hair and shirt felt damp and all the others sitting near her gasped and rose to their feat. Braeburn held Twilight’s arm as he rose her to her feet.

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” said a blonde girl wearing a gray sweater with light blue bubbles on it. She looked around and saw the mess that she caused and quietly muttered to herself, “I just don't know what went wrong.”

“Oh my gosh, Twilight, are you okay?” Pinkie asked as she rushed to her side.

Twilight shook her off and gave Pinkie a nervous smile in response and laughed nervously. “It could be worse? Right?”

Pinkie offered a smile back and guided Twilight up the stairs. They reached the main floor before going upstairs near the door. As they went up the stairs, Twilight noted that at least the second floor had more decorations than the first. They went through the third door on the right that was colored white and with chalk, several balloons drawn on it. As they entered the room, Twilight saw the many shades of pink her bedroom was.

If it were possible, the bedroom of Pinkie Pie was filled with every possible shade of the color pink. Her room was also surprisingly clean, as the room was filled with balloons and pieces of candy scattered all over the place. Also on the floor laid several pieces of confetti. Pinkie went over to her window and went through the drawers of her dresser. As she waited, she could hear through the walls of her bedroom loud, classical music can be heard.

“Found it!” Pinkie called as she went back towards Twilight. She handed her a light pink sweater with a design of three mutli-colored balloons on it. “Sorry about your shirt,” Pinkie softly mumbled, handing Twilight a towel for her hair. “And your hair.”

Twilight smiled as she took the towel from Pinkie and wrapped it around her hair. “It's fine, Pinkie,” she said. The music that was playing in the room next to her grew louder and louder. “I didn’t know the party was upstairs, too.”

“That isn't the party, you silly billy,” giggled Pinkie, closing the drawers of her dressers, “That's Tavi's music.”

“She's playing that?” Twilight questioned as she listened closer. She could faintly hear the faint elegant sounds of a cello.

“Yep!” Pinkie proudly said, nodding her head. “Back on the rock farm when were younger, Pa didn’t like how Tavi spent all her time playing her cello. So she played the only CD she had, the Royal Orchestra playing the Lunar Cycle Waltz. So she could hide the fact that she was practicing her cello from Pa.”

“Well, if she's just practicing why does she need the CD playing?”

“She doesn't like anyone hearing her music when she's writing a song.”

“Oh. Then how come she’s not with the others?”

“I don't know. Whenever Ma’s out of town, Tavi locks herself in her room and practices her music nonstop,” Pinkie explained as she walked towards Twilight. “She wants to play with the Royal Orchestra in Canterlot one day.”

Twilight blinked. “Really?”

Pinkie nodded softly. “Yeah. And that's why she's been a bit cold recently. Since the band got to go to the Canterlot Games, she's been freaking out ever since.”

Twilight could see why Octavia would be, what with a chance to perform coming up. “She wants to make sure she does her best, I’m guessing.”

“Yeah, and most of time talent scouts go to the Canterlot Games for the track team. Tavi hopes that they have talent scouts for the band,” Pinkie told her.

Twilight blinked as she withdrew the towel from her now dry hair. “Wow. That's an impressive dream she has.”

Pinkie nodded in agreement. “Yep. So she practices her cello all the time to get better.”

A knock resounded against the door, and Pinkie happily skipped over and opened it. The figure behind the door was Braeburn. He tipped his hat towards Pinkie and gave her a smile.

“Ah don't mean to interrupt ya ladies.” He smiled and Twilight noticed that Pinkie's smile grew even wider. “Ah just wanted to make sure y’all were okay.”

Pinkie only smiled in response. “She’s all better now. Thanks for coming!”

Barburn smiled too and tipped his hat towards her. “Ah do try to be a gentlemen there, Pinkie.”

Pinkie laughed and playfully punched his arm. “Oh Braeburn, you’re so kind.”

“Ah try.”

Pinkie smiled and skipped out of her bedroom door. She then turned and smiled towards Twilight and waved at her. “Come on, Twi! The party just started!”

Twilight nodded at Pinkie and soon followed her towards her basement where she was re-introduced to loud music and laughter. She looked around and saw Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity all talking to each other and laughing.

“Oh, Pinkie, there you are, darling,” smiled Rarity as she saw the three of them coming down the stairs. “I was just wondering where the hostess for the party went.”

“Well! I'm here now!” Pinkie laughed as she jumped from the last few stairs. She smirked towards Rarity. “The hostess with the mostes.”

Rarity only smiled and drew her friend into a hug. “Sorry I'm late.”

Pinkie smiled too but soon broke from the hug and frowned at her friend. “Why are you so late?”

Rarity only gave a laugh in response and flipped her curly violet hair as she broke away from the hug, “Fashionably late darling, there is a difference.”

“Okey Dokey Lokey,” Pinkie giggled as she happily skipped along to her other friends.

“Come on, guys, Vinyl just got here!” Rainbow excitedly announced as she went towards the crowd of people forming in the back. “This party is about to get 20% cooler.”

Pinkie laughed and moments passed and her laugh grew louder and harder. She snorted in between her fits of laughter. “You always say that about everything, Dashie.”

Rainbow smirked in response. “Doesn't make it any less true.”

Pinkie laughed again much harder. “Whatever you say there, Dashie.”

The loud popping noise could be heard drew Pinkie from her laughter. Pinkie’s laughter died as she sharply turned her head and gave an annoyed look to her left. The look was given to a boy with pale wavy blue hair wearing a long blue sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans. He only grinned as Pinkie glared at him. He grabbed a balloon right next to him and popped it with a safety pin. Twilight looked at the smirking figure and wondered if he was the “weirdo” that Applejack was warning her about on her first day of school.

“Stop popping my balloons!” Pinkie shouted as she glared towards the laughing teenager.

“Calm down there, Pie,” he smiled as he grabbed more balloons to pop. As he grabbed another balloon, he made sure to pop it in front of herself and afterwards gave her a goofy grin and started to laugh. “They’re just balloons, you need to calm down.”

“Pokey Pierce!” Pinkie yelled, storming towards him and soon the two started to argue.

Rarity gave a light chuckle and did her best to hide her grin. She soon remarked with a light chuckle, “And she wonders why people in school think she has a crush on him.”

“Is that more of your gossip there, Rarity?” asked Twilight, watching Rarity trying to hold in a laugh.

“More like the entire school’s gossip, Twilight,” smiled Rarity as she chuckled. “If it helps, I think they would be an adorable couple.”

As time passed, Rainbow was right about one thing. The party did get cooler. The right percentage of cool the party got was still up for debate. As the music got louder, and Vinyl took over, more and more people started to dance along to it. The more time passed, the more fun everyone had. The music grew louder and more and more people started to dance along to it.

“Wow, Pinkie!” screamed Rainbow as she was dancing along to the blasting music, “You really do know how to throw the best parties!”

Pinkie smiled and jumped as she was dancing to the loud music as well. “Thanks, Dashie! Parties are always the best when you have your friends with you!”

Twilight smiled as Pinkie referred to her as one of her friends. “Yeah, It's almost like throwing these kinds of parties is your special talent,” Twilight shouted over to her.

Pinkie smiled even brighter as she danced more along to the music. “Thanks, Twilight!”
***
As time went on, the party died down and the music got silent. People were saying their goodbyes and leaving the party. Pinkie was at the front door giving everyone who went to the party a hug goodbye and thanks for attending her party.

Vinyl laughed as she broke away from Pinkie's hug. “You know, Pinkie, you're the cool Pie in the family.”

Pinkie laughed too and waved goodbye to Vinyl. “I try.”

“Hahah, well see ya, Pie.” Vinyl Scratch laughed as she walked towards her white motorbike.

Twilight was behind her and smiled at the cheerful girl. “Pinkie, that was an amazing party!”

“Thanks, Twilight! See you at school tomorrow.” Pinkie smiled as she hugged her for one last goodbye.

Twilight nodded and hugged Pinkie goodbye, too. She soon broke from the hug and gave her a warm smile. “Yeah, Pinkie. See you at school tomorrow.”
***
As Twilight entered the front door, she was greeted by her brother in the living room. He rose from the couch as she walked in and smiled at his sister.

“How did your first party go?” teased Shining as he looked at the clock beside him. He grabbed the clock and examined the time. “Aren’t you a little early to come back from a party?”

Twilight ignored her brother’s comments and only remarked. “It was… interesting, to say the least.”

“I’ll say.” Shining responded, pointing to her shirt. “What happened there?”

Twilight looked where her brother was pointing and only groaned as she realized she was still wearing her punch soaked shirt. She ignored her brother’s teasing and went up the stairs shouting. “Goodnight, Shining.”

She went up the stairs and to her room, opening the door and smiling as she saw Spike sleeping on her bed. She quickly changed into her pajamas and slipped into bed. She yawned and closed her eyes getting ready to go to sleep.

“Twilight,” a voiced laughed in her head as Twilight tossed and turned trying her best to be comfortable. “Sweet Twilight, if you only knew the chaos that happened.”

The laughter grew louder, and the voice rang louder and louder in her head. “Maybe one of these days I can show you the fun I had when I tricked you and your Princess. I had a lot of fun when I got you out of Equestria.”

Her eyes shot wide open, and she sprang up from her bed. She frantically looked around her bedroom and gave a sigh of relief as she saw everything was still the same. She then covered her ears as her alarm clock blasted beside her bed. She got out of her bed and shut off her alarm clock.

Twilight stretched her arms as she yawned. She went towards her dresser and grabbed her clothes to get ready for the school day to come. Twilight rushed down the stairs still running a brush through her hair as she reached the dinning room. She looked and saw her brother and father still eating their breakfast as her mother sat at the dinning room table taking a sip of tea from her cup.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty," her brother teased as he gulped a spoonful of cereal.

Twilight said nothing in response as she grabbed a seat at the dinning table and poured her own cereal in the bow that sat in front of her. As she was about to eat her breakfast, her father lowered the newspaper that he was reading and made eye contact with his daughter.

"Made any friends, sweetie?"

"I think so." answered Twilight as she got done pouring the milk in her cereal.

Her mother's eyes lit up as she smiled. "That's good to hear."

Twilight nodded to her mother in response as she glanced at the stove. When she read the time she rose from her seat, grabbed her bag, and ran out of the front door muttering, "Oh no, I'm going to be late."

Chapter 5

Twilight blinked as Ms. Heartstrings went through basic anatomy of the human body. What seemed odd was how Ms. Heartstrings was using the horse skeleton for her lecture of the human body. Twilight groaned as the human skeleton was going to waste right next to the teacher. She looked around the classroom and noticed most of her classmates didn't even bother paying attention to a word that Ms. Heartstrings said. She looked beside her and noticed Rarity was filing her nails and fixing her makeup. Ms. Heartstrings continued on with her ramblings of the evils of talking horses and how society would be with the possible future of the Equine Rebellion.

How was this person able to become a Teacher for this school?

“That was just my first encounter with the evil talking horses,” warned Ms. Heartstrings, her lesson having transitioned to her stories. “The very same thing could happen to you, so be careful!”

The class only groaned in response as she went back to her lesson.Twilight glanced over as a hand slowly raised, and she looked over to see who it was. Ms. Heartstrings pointed to the hand, and a shaky voice began to speak. Twilight looked closer and saw the hand belonged to the blonde girl that spilled the punch bowl on her.

“Ms. Heartstrings, wouldn't it be better if we used a human skeleton? I mean... this is AP Biology, after all.”

Ms. Heartstrings only laughed as she resumed to pointing at several bones in the horse's body. “Why use a human skeleton to explain things when the horses will soon take over?”

“W-Why would the horses take over?” she asked very nervously. She looked around the classroom looking for her peers to support her argument, but sighed when she realized nobody was paying attention.

“Why wouldn't they take over? I mean us humans have it pretty good,” explained Lyra as she laid the skeleton on her desk. “The horses stand around plotting their takeover, and what do we humans do about it? Nothing, that’s what!

“But... why would they take over the world?”

“Why wouldn't they?” responded Lyra. “We humans have destroyed this world. It would easy for the horses to take over it.”

“But, my question is why?”

“Ms. Ditzy Doo, the horses are going to rise up! You may call me crazy, but when that day comes, I will be the one that will say that I told you.” she announced, pointing to the several newspaper clippings hanging on her door, “When the horses come and take over, it’ll be better to know the anatomy of our future equine overlords.”

The class groaned at the response of their teacher. Lyra ignored the groaning of her class and resumed with her insane horse overlord ramblings. Twilight looked at the clock of the classroom and sighed when she realized there was still half an hour left of class. She yawned as she slumped down in her seat. Rarity looked over and gave her a concerned look.

“Twilight, dear, are you alright?”

Twilight rose from her seat and nodded to Rarity in response. “Yeah, I'm just tired.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I had the strangest dream,” Twilight yawned in response.

“What was the dream about? If you don’t mind me asking,” Rarity said, still concerned for her friend.

“Some voice talking to me in my sleep,” she recalled. “It was pretty strange. It was talking to me… it was almost like I knew the voice.”

“Well, did you?”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “No. I had no idea who it was. They just kept on saying the same thing over and over in my dream.”

“That's strange,” Rarity murmured.

“The strangest part is that the voice knew my name.”

“Girls!” Lyra shouted, glaring at the pair. “If what you're talking about doesn't have anything to do with the horse rebellion, I don't want to hear anything about it!”

“Yes, Ms. Heartstrings,” Rarity and Twilight said in unison. Their attention was now moved towards the whiteboard where the teacher was standing.

Ms. Heartstrings then went to the board and started writing down several words on it. Most of it was a survival guide on what to do if horses ever rebelled. A guide on how to survive an apocalypse, how to dodge a horse running straight at you, and other nonsense. Twilight sighed in annoyance as she wondered if a teacher like Ms. Heartstrings could possibly exist. Part of her wondered if this was a really bad dream she could never wake up from.

Twilight pinched herself and yelped quietly in pain. Rarity shot an inquisitive glance at her, but soon her eyes drifted back to the front. She yawned and looked at the clock, sighing at the lack of time passing.

Not a dream. This is very real.

As her head was resting on her hand, Twilight slowly drifted off to sleep. She wasn’t able to sleep for long, as an alarm started ringing. She soon covered her ears, shielding them from the loud noise the alarm caused. She stood up from her desk and noticed that the students were making their way to the exit. She looked in the front and noticed that Lyra was frantically erasing the whiteboard.

“Thank Celestia we’re out of this dreadful class.” Rarity mumbled as she followed the crowd of students making their way towards the exit. “I don’t think I would be able to survive another minute.”

“It's beginning!” Lyra shouted as her loud booming voice could be heard over the loud alarm. “The rebellion is starting and this is their war alarm!”

“I don't think that's the reason,” Twilight shouted over the bell. “I'm pretty sure that's the fire alarm.”

“Are you sure?!”

“Yes. I am positive that was the fire alarm.”

“I see.” responded Lyra as she went to the door. “One of these days the rebellion will start, and I will welcome it with open arms. I will gladly bow to our future equine overlords with a happy smile and an open mind.”

It’s official. Everyone in this school is CRAZY!

“Money’s on the Food and Nutrition class setting off the fire alarm to go off. Again,” muttered a student in the hall.

“Mine’s on the freshmen not knowing how the bunsen burners work,” another snickered beside him.
***
As Twilight was walking through the hallway, she was stopped by Apple Bloom as she was handing all who passed her a flyer. She was handed the flyer as well, and Twilight looked at the purple piece of paper and read it. The paper had two people drawn of them, one was a female wearing a dress and the other was a male wearing a suit. The two figures were dancing, and on the bottom there was text that read, “Don't miss the Spring Fling.” On the top some more text read, “You have a chance to be voted the Spring Queen and the Spring King.”

As Twilight was examining the flyer, she bumped into someone. She looked up from the flyer and saw Braeburn smiling, before he tipped his hat to her. She gave the Apple a sheepish smile as an apology.

“Okay, new rule, no more reading and walking.”

“You say something there?” Braeburn chuckled, reading the purple piece of paper. “Well, ah’ll be. Spring Fling is in three weeks!”

“I'm sorry, I need to pay more attention,” Twilight quickly said.

I need to get rid of this bad habit of running into people in the hallway of this school.

“No need to worry there, little lady,” Braeburn smiled, handing the piece of paper back to her. “Ah don't think ah got yer name before. Ah’m Braeburn.”

“Oh,” Twilight giggled as she took the paper from Braeburn. “I’m Twilight.”

“A pleasure, Twilight.” smiled Braeburn as he walked pass her. He soon stopped and turned towards her, a grin plastered on his face. “Hope that kiss was good for you.”

Twilight only responded with a blush as she began to run towards her next period class. When she rushed in, she saw an empty seat beside Fluttershy and sat beside her, giving her a small smile. Fluttershy smiled back and soon the period bell rang. A woman with orange hair and simple yellow blouse rose from her desk and smiled to the class.

“Well hello there, students,” Carrot Top greeted warmly. “Now as we reach the end of Hamlet, I remind you the essay is do six days from now.”

Twilight sighed softly and remembered she was excused from this assignment, since she just transferred. Even if she had to, it didn't really matter. Twilight loved to read, and at some point she had read Hamlet on her own, just for fun. She made a mental note to stop by the library after school to get a head start on the essay.

“Remember everyone, I want you to explore the themes of betrayal as shown in Hamlet. Was Hamlet's insanity all an act, or did he actually go insane?”

Twilight yawned again and rested her head on her hand. Fluttershy gave her a nervous look and quietly and in a hushed voice said.

“Twilight, are you okay?”

“Its nothing to worry about,” Twilight assured her. “I just had some trouble sleeping.”

“Oh, okay,” the meek girl said as her eyes faced the front. “Did you have a bad dream?” she whispered back.

Twilight yawned again. “Yeah, something like that.”

“A bad dream?” eavesdropped Carrot Top as a smile began to appear on her face. “Like the one Hamlet had?”

Twilight only muttered in response. “I hope nothing like Hamlet.”
***
As Twilight stared blankly at the computer screen in front of her, a faint voice could be heard in the distance. Twilight rose from the seat and followed the voice. She followed the voice to the back of the school's library, to a shelf with a single book on it. She looked at the book and saw five gemstones on each corner of the book. Blue, orange, pink, yellow, red, and in the middle of it a purple one. As Twilight stared at the book, she swore she could a hear a faint voice.

When she ran her hand across its hard surface, the voices went silent. Twilight rushed back to her seat and grabbed her bag. She went towards the front desk of the library and asked the student librarian if she could check it out.

Girls!” shouted a pink haired teenager as she looked towards the group of freshmen listening to the now blasting music. She sighed as she spoke in a much more soft tone. “The library is a place for reading, not for listening to music.”

“Ah’m mighty sorry there, Ms. Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom said guiltily as she rose from her seat. “We were just listening to a new music video we made during TV Production class.”

“Just do it quietly,” Cheerilee warned softly.

“Okay,” the three girls said in unison.

Cheerilee only sighed as she made her way back towards the front desk. Her look of annoyance quickly changed to a cheery smile as she faced Twilight. “Elements of Harmony?” asked the pink haired teenager as she scanned the book. “I take it you're a history buff?”

Twilight shrugged as she took the book back. “Something like that,” she murmured.

“Well, I hope you enjoy this book and the rest of your day,” beamed Cheerilee as she gave a bright smile.

“Thanks.” She put the book in her purple messenger bag and made her way out.

She went back towards her locker and saw two figures standing in front it. A groan escaped as she recognized the two, her brother Shining Armor and his girlfriend of well... forever, Cadence. Twilight never would've thought that her brother would be dating her former babysitter, and she would never have thought of the two being lost without one another. As Shinning had put his hand on the girl with pink hair with purple and yellow streaks running through it. She was leaning against the locker and laughed as Shining had put his arm on her. Shining Armor laughed too as he ran his hand on her arm.

As the couple was about to kiss, Twilight groaned quietly at their lovey dovey antics. She cleared her throat loudly and shot a glare at the two. “If you two are going to make out, I would appreciate it if it wasn't in front of my locker.”

Cadence withdrew herself from Shining and looked behind and saw Twilight. A bright red shade appeared on Cadence's face as she gave Twilight a sheepish smile. She had stopped leaning on the locker and gave Shining a peck on the cheek. She turned herself towards Twilight. “I'm so sorry. I didn't know that this was your locker.”

I didn't know, either,” muttered Shining Armor, his face just as crimson.

Twilight smiled and ignored the glare that her brother was giving. She walked towards her locker, opened it, and nodded softly to her old babysitter. “It's fine, Cadence. Don't worry about."

Cadence gave a nod in return and walked away from the two siblings. Shining Armor frowned, crossed his arms, and shot a glare at his younger sister. Twilight just smiled as she put some of her belongings in her locker. She closed it and gave her brother a mischievous grin.

“Consider that payback for embarrassing me in lunch.” Twilight smirked as she closed her locker and looked at her brother's glare.

Shinning had stopped his frowning and softly laughed as he shook his head. “Okay, I kinda deserved that one.”

Twilight had laughed too, but stopped as she grinned at her brother again. “And consider this another one if I tell mom the real reason why you been staying after school lately.”

Shinning had stopped his laughing and sighed. “Are you blackmailing me?”

His question made her smirk that much more evil. “Maybe.”

“Okay, fine. What I did to to you in lunch was pretty bad.”

Twilight just sighed and gave a mock glare at her brother. “What you did to me that day was completely horrible!”

Shining nodded and ruffled his sister's hair. “Oh come on, Twiley. You’re overreacting a bit.”

Twilight pushed his hand away with some effort. “I told you over and over again, Shining. We aren't children anymore, so stop calling me that. And stop messing up my hair!”
***
She now sat in her bedroom, the book on her desk with her hands on the hard leather. Twilight gulped and opened it. She was shocked to see all pages of it blank, but soon black text on pages of the book soon appeared.

“Don't believe what you see,” The book said, and soon the text faded to be replaced. “Everything you know, is not the truth.”

Twilight sat at her desk completely dumbfounded. She sat there just looking at the blank pages of the book. Soon more text appeared on the book.

“What is your name?”

Twilight pushed her chair back a little as she stared in disbelief. Moments passed and the text was still there. Twilight grabbed a pen as fast she could and wrote down her name. The text soon vanished and more appeared.

“We have met before, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight dropped her pen and rose from her seat. She grabbed the book and started flipping through every page. She gave a sigh in frustration as she saw that the pages in the book were blank. She sat down in the chair opened the book back up and gave a sigh in defeat. More text in the book then appeared.

“We met once as enemies, and then as friends.”

Twilight looked to see the text, but instead was a picture. Two figures were drawn on the page. On the top was a woman dressed in white with a yellow sun it. Her hair was a long flowing pink with sparkles in it. On the bottom stood a woman wearing a dark blue dress with a white moon it. Her hair was a dark flowing blue with white sparkles in it. Twilight knew this picture well, a picture of the Sun Princess Celestia and the Moon Princess Luna. Thoughts soon began to race towards her mind.

“Why did the book stop here? I only know Princess Celestia because I was tutored by her. Princess Luna is still banished on the moon. There is no way that she would be able to talk to me through this book.”

Twilight sighed as she looked at her clock. She gasped at the time and rushed into her pajamas and quickly went to her bed. Twilight yawned and again more and more thoughts began racing through in her mind.

“Princess Celestia told me to write to her everyday, yet she hasn't responded to the first letter that I sent to her. What is going on?”

Twilight tossed and turned trying to get herself comfortable. That didn't stop her eager mind from thinking still.

“Something doesn't feel right and I'm going to figure this mess out.”

Twilight yawned as she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. She stretched her arms and soon felt her eyes grow heavier. She closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 6

“1,000 years ago, Equestria was ruled by two sisters. The eldest one, Princess Celestia, was in charge of raising and setting the sun, and all of Equestria loved her. The younger one, Princess Luna, was in charge of raising and setting the moon. All of Equestria loved the two sisters with all their heart. Princess Luna, however, felt differently. Soon; darkness, hatred, and jealousy swelled in her heart, and transformed her into a horrible beast known as Nightmare Moon. Armed with the Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia was able to defeat her sister, but it came at a price. With no way to convert her sister back to normal, she banished her to the moon. For eternity.”

Ms. Starlight stopped her reading as she made her way towards the chalkboard and began to write on it. The classroom had stopped its usual chatter and were sitting in silence, each student trying to process what they’d heard. She cleared her throat and began the class discussion.

"Now class. Care to share your thoughts on what we just read?"

The silence that once filled the classroom was now filled with loud chatter. Chatter soon began to fill the classroom as the all began to speak what was on their mind all at once.

“Being banished by your sister to the moon… forever?” Rainbow murmured as she slumped down. “Bummer.”

“After all they went through, too. Stopping Discord together, then she off and betrays her sister?” remarked Applejack as she crossed her arms. “Ah can’t believe it.”

"I could never think of doing such a thing to anyone. Especially my own sister!" shouted Pinkie as her voice raised to a volume louder then the chatter of the other students.

“Now, class,” said Ms. Starlight as she pushed up her glasses with her index finger, “It's important you know the history of Equestria.”

A hand raised up and Ms. Starlight pointed towards the hand. Twilight looked and saw that the hand belonged to Pokey Pierce.

“Ms. Starlight, does magic still exist?” Pokey asked.

She sighed softly as she kept her gaze away from him. “Mr. Pierce, historians say that magic existed during the time of both sisters. Without Princess Luna, Princess Celestia lost her happiness and magic faded.”

"She was the one who banished her sister in the first place. That's what I don't get."

"She may of been the one that banished her sister, but Princess Celestia had to do the best to keep Equestria safe from the wrath of Nightmare Moon."

“Oh,” said Pokey as he lowered his head and thought for a moment. “What about now? Did Princess Celesita found her happiness again?”

“Nobody knows. There’s hope among the nobility and scientific field… but all we can do is hope it one day returns.” explained Ms. Starlight as she started to write on the chalkboard. "To this day, only those who were chosen to be a student of Princess Celestia have been able to talk to her."

“Nobody ever thought to bring Luna back?” Chatter began to fill the classroom with all sorts of ideas to bring back the magic their nation had held. "If Princess Celestia is happy again, would that mean that magic would be back again?"

“Of course they have thought to bring back the Princess of the Night. But bringing her back doesn’t return her to her normal state,” explained Ms. Starlight as she turned away from the chalkboard. "Maybe with Princess Celestia happiness the reunion of the two sisters. The magic that once filled with Equestria could one day return once again."

“What about the Elements? Couldn’t they use that to fix her?” the chatter in the classroom seemed to grow louder and louder with every question they asked.

“For many years the nobility and scientists of all sorts studied the effects of the Elements. They could never figure out if they could actually cleanse Princess Luna of her new form.”

“Oh,” Pokey murmured as he gave his teacher a sigh of defeat. "So with Princess Luna stuck on the moon, there is no magic left in Equestria?"

Ms. Starlight tried her best to give her class a reassuring smile. “They say when there is a shooting star, it's the moon crying. Some think it's Princess Luna trying to tell her sister how much she misses her.”

“So… what you're saying is that magic does exists then?” Pokey questioned as she gave his teacher a confused look.

“It does, but only if you truly believe. If you truly believe then anything is possible,” smiled Ms. Starlight as she resumed writing. "Any more wish to share their opinion on the matter?"

"I see mow." sighed Pokey again as he slumped back in his seat to show a sign of defeat.

Twilight blinked as she looked at her teacher with a confused look. She shook her head and looked down to her fingers as she tapped them against the desk. Thoughts began surfacing questions in her mind, and there were too many for her to answer or even consider.

I was tutored by Celestia herself, not once did she never told me she had a sister. Something about that doesn’t add up. I guess the book had some truth to it after all.

“Does anyone know why we have the Canterlot Games?” asked Ms. Starlight as she looked to the class.

Rainbow shot out from her seat and quickly rose her hand. Ms. Starlight smiled and called on her.

“To celebrate another year of peace in Equestria,” smiled Rainbow. “During the celebration, The Wonderbolts fly every year to make the symbol of peace.”

“Does anyone know how the Wonderbolts were started?” asked Ms. Starlight. Rainbow was the first to raise her hand. She smiled and pointed to the ecstatic student.

“A branch of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard who broke off to celebrate the first year of Celestial Peace,” Rainbow answered with proud smile.

Ms. Starlight smiled. “I see you’re well versed on the Wonderbolts, Ms. Dash."

Rainbow smiled too. "My dream is to be a Wonderbolt. So I figured, I should know the history of them."

Ms. Starlight smiled as well. "A noble dream, Ms. Dash."

"Twilight." Applejack glanced beside her and saw Twilight zoning out. “You okay there sugarcube?” she whispered. She tried shaking Twilight to get her to snap out of her gaze.

“Huh?” Twilight grunted as she was shaken out of her stare. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Sorry, AJ. I was just spacing out.”

“You’ve been doing that a lot there, Twi,” Applejack remarked as she looked at her friend with a concerned look. “If ya need to talk about anything, ya know you can come to me.”

“Really?” Twilight asked.

“Eeyup .Trust me, mah sisiter Apple Bloom used to come home from school and tell me all her problems,” she chuckled softly.

Twilight gave her a soft smile and nodded. “Thank you, Applejack.”

“Now class,” called out Ms. Starlight as she grabbed a history book from the top of her desk. “Turn to page 342. Time to go over the Elements of Harmony and how Celestia used them to stop Nightmare Moon’s reign of terror.”

As the class did what they were told, Ms. Starlight began writing on the chalkboard. Twilight’s eyes began to feel heavy, and slowly but surely her eyes closed. As her head hit the desk the whole class gasped and rose to their seats, not sure what to do next.
***
Twilight’s head felt foggy as laughter grew louder and louder. She rose from her seat and began walking around and noticed that the other students sitting in their seats were frozen. As she walked around the classroom, the laughter grew even louder. She tried to cover her ears from the loud laughter, but still the laughter grew louder.

“Oh, Twilight,” sang the voice as he broke from his laughter. "Sweet Sweet Twilight."

Twilight frantically looked around the classroom and shouted. "You are you and how do you know who I am?"

"Now. Why would I do that?"

"You are you?" shouted Twilight again as her voice grew in anger.

The voice only laughed again in response. “Here, let me show you something.” replied the voice as it resumed to laugh again. "Consider this as a gift from yours truly."

“What are you going to show me?”

Right before her eyes, her surroundings started to change. Beside her were Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie. Something was different, as the group of girls had angry looks on their faces and started to shout. Also, something seem to be off at all of their appearances. They all looked duller, their appearance absence of color and life.

“Ah can’t believe that we were friends!” Applejack shouted as she crossed her arms and held her head up high.

“So much for being the Element of Honesty!” Fluttershy quietly sneered, her kind voice replaced by one filled with anger. "Lying behind all our backs like that."

"Ah see you're finally showing your true colors there, Fluttershy." shouted Applejack as she turned her back the group and sneered. “Ah am being honest here, and so much for you being Kindness!”

“Well I for one never want to talk to any of you again,” Rarity harrumphed as she too turned her back on the group as well. "I can't believe that were friends."

“You know for once, that isn’t a bad idea,” added in Rainbow as she shot a glare to the rest of the girls. "I can't believe that we were friends too."

“Well, looks like we finally found something to agree on,” shouted Pinkie as her usual smile was now replaced with a frown. She was now turning her back to them.

“Great, then let’s agree to never talk to each other ever again!” shouted Applejack, the five of them glaring each other down.

"I agree." sneered Fluttershy as the volume of her voice raised to a louder tone.

“FINE!” they all yelled at once and went off in their own separate ways.

“What’s going on?”

The laughter returned and grew even louder. Twilight tried her hardest to cover her ears, but she was frozen. Her surroundings around her rapidly changed again. She was standing in a throne room and saw a figure sitting in front. In her distance she saw an outline of some creature sitting.

“This the end!” the voice shouted in the distance.

“I doubt that,” another voice laughed. “The last time you made threats like that, you got banished.”

“Stop this madness at once!” the voice shouted as she pleaded with the insane laughter that soon followed.

The laughter grew louder and even more sinister in tone. “Without the Elements and your sister, you’re useless.”

“That voice. It… it was just like before.”
***
Twilight’s eyes darted open and she rose up with sweat drenched her forehead. She looked around and noticed that she was laying on some sort of bed. The room around her was white with several health safety posters hung all over.

“Well thank Celestia you woke up in time,” a woman with pink hair said. She wore a white blouse and skirt with a white cap with a red cross on it.

“Who are you?” Twilight questioned, sitting up from the bed.

“My name is Nurse Redheart. I’m the school nurse." the woman said with a smile. "Its good thing you woke up when you did. Your parents just got here."

Twilight rubbed her temples and muttered, “What happened?”

“You passed out during your history class,” responded Nurse Redheart as she placed her hand on Twilight’s forehead.

Oh,” Twilight slowly responded. She could feel her head getting heavier and heavier.

What’s happening to me?

Nurse Redheart lowered her head towards Twilight and gave her a concerned look. “Are you alright?”

“I think so,” she quietly replied.

Nurse Redheart drew herself back from the girl with a startled expression. “Sweet Celestia, you’re burning up!”

“I-I’m burning what?” Twilight breathed groggily. She winced as her head grew heavier and heavier, then felt her eyes close once more.

“Twilight!” screamed the nurse.
***
Twilight found herself frozen again as the laughter grew closer to her. She moved her eyes to a stone statue, the laughing only getting louder.

“Maybe next time you’ll learn to embrace the chaos,” the maniacal voice rang. “Come on, it's a lot of fun! Trust me.”

“Never!” a voice shouted back. “You will pay for what you’ve done.”

The voice resumed its laughing, even more amused than before. “I doubt that.”
***
Twilight was woken up the loud knocking on her bedroom door. She rose slowly from her bed, resting her hand on her aching head as she went and opened the door. She was greeted by the bright smile of the three freshmen, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.

They had all worn their normal clothes, but on their shoulders hung a red sash with many pins sewn onto it. On all three girls’ faces was a huge grin.

Sweetie Belle walked past Twilight and barged straight into her room and loudly said, “As Cutie Mark Scouts, we serve the community around us.” She smiled as she went through her purple messenger bag and handed the pile of papers she had for Twilight.

“My homework,” Twilight murmured as she put the papers on her desk. “Thank you, Sweetie.”

“No problem!” Sweetie proudly replied as the smile of her face grew wider and wider.

“Awesome!” shouted Scootaloo, as she was the next to enter Twilight's bedroom. “If we keep this up then we’ll get all of our Cutie Mark Badges in no time!”

“Eeyup,” Applebloom said in agreement. She entered into the bedroom last. “Especially the Community Service Cutie Mark Badge.”

As the three freshmen stood in Twilight’s bedroom, they all looked in awe as they saw the many bookshelves and piles of books that sat in them.

“Have enough books?” joked Scootaloo as she looked around her room. “It looks like you robbed a library.”

“Wow!” beamed Sweetie Belle as she rushed to go through all the books she could reach, “This is like a library!”

“Hey girls,” remarked Apple Bloom as her eyes turned to the open book that was one Twilight’s desk, “Check this book out.”

"Girls." called out Twilight as fast as she could as the three girls huddled around her desk. "What are you doing?"

“The Elements of Harmony?” read Scootaloo as she began to flip through all the the pages of the book and grumbled. “What kind of book has blank pages?”

Sweetie Belle now too was looking at the book. She flipped the book to its cover. “It shouldn’t be blank, it's a history book about the Elements of Harmony.”

“Maybe it's a super secret magic book?” asked Applebloom as she too now was looking at the book with her friends.

Scootaloo simply shrugged as she put the book back on the desk. “Whatever.”

“Come on girls, we need to report about back to Den Mother Cheerilee,” Applebloom said, grabbing the other two girls’ attention.

“Oh yeah!” Sweetie said, giving her friends a wide smile. “I can’t wait to add another badge to my sash!”

“We’ll totally get the Community Service Cutie Mark Badge now!” remarked Scootaloo with a grin on her face.

“You’re right!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle as she made her way to the door. “Soon we will have all the badges!”

“I can’t wait to get that Cutie Mark Badge,” Scootaloo squealed. "Starch that. I can't wait to get ALL the Cutie Mark Badges."

"Me too." Sweetie Belle too squealed in excitement as well. "When we get all the badges, then we can be a Den Mother just like Cheerilee."

"When that happened I'll be will the most awesome Den Mother ever. So all the other Cutie Mark Scouts can see how awesome I am." Proudly remarked Scootaloo.

"Bye, Twilight.” waved Applebloom as she followed the rest of the girls out.

"Bye girls." waved Twilight as they exited her room. "Good luck on that mission of yours too."

As the girls exited the room, the book on Twilight’s desk flipped itself open. Twilight heard the noise and looked back it as well. She got closer to the book and soon some more text started to appear.

“Hello again, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight sat down to her desk and quickly grabbed a pen and started to write. “Hello again too.”

“Did you get the message I sent you?”

“What message?” wrote Twilight with a confused look on her face.

“I can only go into your in your dreams. Did you get it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I see. Well when you go to sleep. I will make sure to see you.”

Twilight looked at her bed and back at the book. She looked at the clock and soon back at the book. She began to write back as fast as she could. “What if I go to sleep now?”

“Then we will have a chance to talk,” wrote back the book as it flipped itself closed.

Twilight arose from her desk and made her way towards her bed. She got herself under the blankets and turned off the lamp that stood on her night stand. She turned to the side and soon closed her eyes.

“This isn’t really what I expected high school to be like."

Twilight turned on her back as her head was now facing the ceiling of her bedroom. She sighed as she tossed and turned trying to get herself comfortable.

"Nothing like I thought. At all."

Chapter 7

In front of Twilight stood a tall, dark blue coated mare. She stared in awe as she examined the strange equine. Her mane was dark blue, and she had a splash of black on her flank with a white crescent moon on it. A black necklace with the same white moon on it hung around the base of her neck. Her mane was a wavy and starry blue, almost opaque to her. Twilight slowly grew more and more confused as she noticed the wings and horn… on the horse.

“Sweet Celestia,” Twilight gasped in disbelief, running her hands through her hair in an effort to calm herself down. "What am I seeing?"

“You have nothing to fear, Twilight Sparkle,” the strange horse said with a booming voice.

“I’m just as crazy as Ms. Heartstrings!” laughed Twilight as she was trying to make sense of all this, "I mean I am hearing a talking horse after all."

"Twilight Sparkle," said the creature calmly, "Listen to me."

“Maybe Ms. Heartstrings was right about the Equine Rebellion after all,” Twilight murmured as a look of fear began to grown on her face. “Is this the face of our new Equine Overlords?”

"Enough!" the creature shouted in a booming voice. Twilight snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the talking horse once more. “I am Princess Luna.,” the creature declared. “Do not fear me, Twilight Sparkle, for I come in peace.”

“A talking horse!” Twilight exclaimed as she grabbed a fist full of hair. “What kind of weird dream am I having?!”

“I prefer the term alicorn, if you insist,” Luna corrected, rolling her eyes at Twilight’s response.

“A what?” asked Twilight in confusion as she became to examine the creature again. “Does that explain the wings and the horn?”

Luna only sighed and nodded in annoyance at the comment. “Yes. That is a way to explain it.”

Twilight cautiously rose from the ground and slowly responded. “You said... you’re Princess Luna. Right?”

“Yes,” replied Luna, stretching out her wings and smiling. “It is I, Luna. Princess of the Night.”

“How... how are you in my dream?” Twilight questioned, still trying to process these odd chain of events. Twilight then quietly muttered, "And more importantly, how are you here?"

Luna only laughed as she began to explain. “”That is quite easy to answer. As the Princess of the Night, I am able to enter the dreams of my subjects. Dreams of those who need my guidance.”

“Am I one of those who need your guidance?” inquired Twilight.

Luna nodded in response. “Yes. For I have a message for you.”

“I just can’t believe that you’re real and not some old legend,” remarked Twilight in awe, but she soon shook her head in confusion. “Wait, I thought were still banished to the moon. And, how can you be Celestia’s sister if you’re… not a person?”

“In this world she is human, but I come from a different world. ” Luna laughed softly. “You and your friends freed me from the Nightmare’s possession.”

Twilight blinked silently. “I did what now?”

Luna tilted her head in confusion. “Twilight, we have met before.”

Her answer only confused the girl even more. “We have?”

“Yes. Once as enemies and again as friends.”

“Really?”

Luna only sighed and her eyes began to glow and shouted. “I have something to show you.”

Everything around them changed until they were standing in a dimly lit cave. Twilight looked in front of her and gasped. A tree made of blue crystal, its roots and branches stretching to the dimensions of the cave, sat towards the back. On the bottom was the sun and moon, and in the middle of its trunk was a bright lavender star. Each branch of the tree contained a different colored crystal. Blue, red, violet, orange, and pink.

“What kind of tree is that?” Twilight questioned softly, staring in wonder at the crystal tree. “It looks... beautiful.”

“My sister and I had the same response when we first saw this tree,” Luna said fondly as she too looked at the tree.

“A tree made of crystals? How is that possible?”

“This tree is no ordinary tree, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna reminded her.

“”What make this tree so special?”

“It’s known as The Tree of Harmony,” the mare explained, pointing her hoof to its crystals. “Each branch represents an Element of Harmony.”

That name rung a bell in Twilight’s head. “My dad used to read me stories about the Elements of Harmony when I was little,” she told her. “I thought they were just some legend.”

“They are more than just legend. Where I am from, you and your friends wield them.”

Twilight looked at Luna in utter disbelief of what she’d heard. “What?”

The lunar princess only sighed as her eyes began to glow once again. “I’m afraid it is time we part ways, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Why?”

“He cannot know,” Luna explained, frowning as she thought to herself. “My sister learned that lesson.”

“What?” Twilight blurted out. “Who is ‘He’? Why can’t he know and what can’t he know?”

"We have to keeps this meetings brief, so "he" never figures out what were a are doing."

"Who is "He"?" whined Twilight as her voice grew louder.

“You know who “He” is, Twilight. Deep down, you know who I speak of.”

Twilight couldn’t think of anyone at the moment, no matter how hard she tried. “I don’t! Luna, who is he?!”

“I have said too much already. I must go. And it is time for you to wake from this dream,” Luna said in a stern tone.

“Who is he?!” shouted Twilight as the image of Luna began to fade away. “What did he do to Princess Celestia?!”

“You mustn't tell anyone,” Luna ordered, her voice echoing loudly around her. “Their minds have been clouded by chaos. They will not listen to you.”

“What do you mean?!” Twilight demanded to know.

“Farewell, Twilight,” Luna’s voice softly told her, her image now gone. “We shall meet again soon. You must dream some time.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked even louder than before, trying to get the princess to stay. "Luna! Please tell me. What do you mean?"

Her efforts were in vain. Even with the silence, Twilight shouted louder and louder, before even she couldn’t be heard. She jolted up from her bed in a fright, sweat drenching her forehead. With a few pants, she cleared her face of the sweat lacing it. She frantically looked at her door as it began to open up. She rose out of bed and opened it, shocked to see her mother standing there. The smile she’d had vanished at the sight of her.

“Twilight, sweetie,” her mother said as she drew hand to her forehead. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yes,” responded Twilight as she darted to her dresser. “Much better.”

“The little scholar you are,” her mother giggled as she closed her bedroom door. "I haven't seen you this exited for school since you were a little girl."

“Mom,” Twilight whined. “I’m not a little kid anymore.”

First Shining, now Mom?

“I’m only teasing, sweetie!” her mother called.

Twilight only shook her head and began to change into her school clothes. As she finished brushing her hair, she saw her reflection in the mirror and began thinking back to the bizarre dream she’d had.

I can’t believe it. Ms. Heartstrings was right about the talking horses after all. And the entire school mocked her. If only they knew.

She shook that thought out of mind and grabbed her bag before heading out. As she raced down the stairs and out the front door, more thoughts raced through her mind as she made her way towards the bus stop.

These dreams I’ve been having and everything that’s been happening sounds more and more like something from Hamlet.

Once the bus arrived, Twilight climbed on and made her way towards her usual seat in the back. Even now, everything happening plagued her. It was all too coincidental to be just a figment of her imagination.

Maybe Ms. Heartstrings can help with all this. She seems like she knows all there is about talking horses.

When the bus stopped, the students aboard started filing out. Twilight was the last to exit. Looking to the entrance of the school, she smiled softly when she saw her friends busy chatting together. Pinkie was the first to notice her, and she waved vigorously and just as happily.

“Twilight!” Pinkie shouted in glee, rushing over before pulling her into a hug. “You’re back already!”

Twilight smiled as she hugged her friend back. “Yes, I’m back.”

“How ya feeling?” Applejack asked caringly. “Gave us all a mighty scare yesterday.”

“I’m sorry about that,” replied Twilight in a low tone. “I don’t know what happened.”

“I’ll say,” Rainbow remarked calmly, a grin appearing. “I mean we did have a free period after that happened. It wasn’t all bad.”

Applejack only rolled her eyes at Rainbow’s response. “Ignore her. How are you really feeling?”

“I said I’m fine,” Twilight lied as she smiled, attempting to ease them.

I wish I could tell you all the truth. But I don’t know the truth. Not yet.

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy softly questioned, just as concerned as the others.

“Yes,” said Twilight in an annoyed tone as she a quick glance at all the girls with the same concerned look on their faces. She sighed. “I mean it, girls.”

“Ya don’t need to be harsh there, sugarcube,” Applejack reprimanded sharply. "We're only asking because we care for ya, Twilight."

“Sorry,” muttered Twilight as her voice grew soft and quiet.

I wish I could tell you all. I really do wish I could, it would make things so much more easier.

As the girls stood in silence, Rainbow was the first to break it. She cleared her throat loudly and grabbed their attention.

“I know Ms. Starlight’s lessons are boring and all, but they never made me pass out,” she laughed, hoping to add some humor to this awkward silence.

Applejack smirked before chuckling with her. “Eeyup. That’s one way to give Ms. Starlight criticism.”

Twilight laughed as well, adding, “It would help if she didn't speak in such a monotonous voice.”

“Or learn how to take a joke,” Pinkie giggled as she added with the rest. "Or stop freaking out every time I come to class late."

The laughing stopped and silence came back again. This time, the silence was broken by Rarity.

“Twilight, darling,” Rarity said, turning to her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Twilight was about to open her mouth, but quickly closed it as she remembered what Luna had warned her. Still, thoughts were racing through her mind.

They won’t be able to believe me what I say. Something about their minds being clouded by chaos. Whatever that means.

“I’m fine, Rarity,” Twilight repeated as she gave her friends a nervous smile. “You girls don’t need to worry about me.”

"Lying like this to them, like this makes me feel awful inside."

“If you say so,” Fluttershy murmured.

“Twilight, you know you’re our friend, right?” said Pinkie as she smiled towards her. “If something’s up, you can always tell us.”

“Pinkie’s right, dear,” added Rarity, smiling back to Twilight as well. “We’re all here for you.”

The school bell rang, and all the students outside raced in to get to their first period classes. Twilight followed her friends as they too made their way inside the school.
***
The final bell rang, and all students made their way out their last period class. Twilight made her way towards the biology room. When she got to the door, she saw Ms. Heartstrings talking to another student.

Twilight recognized the boy as the one who sat next to Ditzy Doo a couple of days ago. He was running a hand through his wavy blue hair as he nodded along to what Ms. Heartstrings was saying. He was wearing a yellow long sleeved button up shirt and a white t-shirt with a blue star and a white crescent.

“Now, Comet Tail,” said Ms. Heartstrings,, handing him a couple of papers. “Just because your President of the Astronomy Club doesn’t you mean you can stop attending those meetings.”

Comet Tail only smiled as he took the papers from his teacher. “You don’t have anything to worry about Ms. Heartstrings.”

“If you say so, Comet Tail,” Ms. Heartstrings half-heartedly replied.

Comet Tail smiled and made his way towards the exit. He smiled when he saw Twilight.

“I heard what happened to you in history. Are you alright?” he asked her.

Twilight smiled in response. “Yes, I am. Thank you for asking.”

Comet Tail smiled back. “No problem.”

As Comet Tail exited the classroom, Twilight’s eyes focused back on Ms. Heartstrings, who was erasing her whiteboard.

“Ms. Heartstrings,” she called. The teacher stopped her erasing and glanced at Twilight.

“Yes, Twilight Velvet?” asked Lyra as she kept erasing.

“It's Twilight Sparkle.”

“Are you sure?” Lyra questioned as she raised an eyebrow.

“Very sure.”

“If you say so,” she replied with a shrug. She finished her erasing and faced Twilight. “What are you here for?”

Twilight sighed as she sat down on the desk beside her. She then said in a hushed whisper, “I had a very strange dream last night.”

“So did I,” nodded Lyra. “I dreamt I lead an army of horses in the Equine Rebellion.”

The purple haired student sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Well... in my dream, there was a, um... talking horse,” she hesitantly said.

The professor’s expression instantly turned to one of intriguement. “I see. Go on.”

“Well... in my dream, the... horse said that her name was Princess Luna,” explained Twilight. “But, how is that possible? I thought Luna was still banished to the moon.”

Lyra thought for a moment as she drew a finger to her chin and began to think. Several moments passed and suddenly Lyra rose with a radiant smile on her face.

“I may just be a biology teacher, but this could be case of a different Luna! A talking horse Luna!” She then laughed as her smile grew even wider. "I can't believe it! After all these years of being mocked. More people realize that there is talking horses after all."

Her explanation seemed profoundly off… but Twilight couldn’t rule it out when she’d spoken to a talking horse that called itself Luna. “How would something like that be possible?”

Lyra laughed. “With every action, there’s a different outcome. This could be an outcome of the past reaching out to us now!”

“Really?” asked Twilight in confusion. “But how does that work? Wouldn’t she be human, then?”

“What you’re describing to me sounds like what happened to me ten years ago. Expect it wasn’t a dream,” Lyra said aloud, ignoring her questions. "I still remember it like it happened yesterday."

Conceding to being ignored, Twilight asked, “What happened?”

“When I was a student at this school, I was in the 300 wing. I was about to go to my next period class, but then I saw a brown talking horse.” explained Lyra. "I knew from that moment it was a sign. A sign that the Equine Rebellion was soon upon us."

“What did the horse say to you?” Twilight questioned, leaning closer.

Lyra only shrugged. “I don’t know. I was too busy screaming and freaking out.”

Twilight blinked in confusion as Ms. Heartstrings explained this story of hers. She couldn't believe what had just happened to her and more importantly she couldn't believe that someone else went through something very similar.

"So that story Rainbow was talking about was real after all."

“What you’re talking about right now, Twilight, seems to be like some sort of message. I don’t hear of anyone being visited by Princess Luna willy nilly.”

“Really?”

Lyra nodded in response. “Legend has it that Princess Luna used to enter the dreams of others to torment others during her time as Nightmare Moon.”

“Sounds pleasant,” mocked Twilight.

"That was 1,000 years ago. What you are talking seems that somehow Princess Luna was free from her banishment of the moon." remarked Lyra. "So, it seems like you were visited by a completely different Luna."

"How is something like that even possible in the first place?"

Lyra only shrugged as she began to put some books away. “Maybe there’s a reason for all of this.”

Twilight backed off for a moment and quietly said, “Yeah, I think you’re finally right about something.”

“Twilight,” Lyra said as drew her index finger to her chin for moment. She then pondered fro a moment but soon, shouted.“Can you do me a favor?”

“What?”

“Every time you have these dreams, record them somewhere. See if you notice a pattern. Conduct your own experiment with these strange dreams that you're having.”

Twilight nodded in response. “I will. Thank you for helping me Ms. Heartstrings.”

Lyra smiled in response. “No problem, Ms.Sparkle.”

Twilight sighed as she exited the classroom. As she was making her way to the exit and towards the bus, she could only think about how odd and strange her life as been so far.

"Totally not what I thought high school was going to be like."

Chapter 8

Twilight drew her knees close to her body as she raised her head to look at the starry night. As she sat outside on her front lawn, she looked at the moon in awe, tracing the faint outline on its surface.

What was Princess Luna talking about?

“I didn't know you liked looking at stars.”

Twilight jerked her head away from the view and to her front. She smiled when she saw it was Comet Tail standing in front of her.

“Whenever I’m feeling stressed out I come out here to relax,” Twilight explained with a sigh. She turned her gaze back up to the night sky. “I’ve been feeling stressed out recently.”

“Yeah I can tell that you haven stress out recently.” he said with a reassuring smile. Comet Tail laughed as he looked on with her. “I never took you for a sky gazer, Twilight.”

“There’s a lot of things most people don’t know about me.”

“Why do you like looking at the stars?” asked Comet Tail as he smiled.

Twilight shrugged as she returned her attention back to Comet Tail. “I like looking at the different constellations in the sky.”

“Do you mind if I look at the stars with you?” Comet asked as he gave Twilight a goofy grin.

Twilight thought for a moment, then responded back with a warm smile. “Sure.”

“Awesome,” Comet laughed, taking a seat beside her. Moments passed as they looked in the the stars in silence. Comet was the first to break the silence as he spoke up. “If you had to pick a constellation, which one would be your favorite?”

Twilight shrugged and thought for a moment. “I guess if I had to choose, it would be Orion.”

Comet smiled and softly said. “Nice one. That’s a pretty good one. His story is very sad. At least he got to be with his dogs ‘til the end.”

“Yeah… not the worst, though,” said Twilight as she nodded. “When I lived in Canterlot, I used to stay up and do this all the time with my older brother.”

“Wow,” Comet breathed as he gave Twilight a smile. “I’ve heard being up there at night is a sight to see.”

“Yeah it really is.” She nodded with a nostalgic smile. “My dad used to point out the constellations to me when I was younger.”

“Really?” said Comet as his eyes lit up at her response. “That’s pretty cool.”

Twilight smiled. “Yeah, I guess you can say that.”

Before he could say anything, he saw a moving light in the sky, a smile plastering itself on his face. “A shooting star! Quick, make a wish,” Comet exclaimed, shutting his eyes immediately.

Twilight closed her eyes and smiled. They were both quiet for a while, then laughed as they finished their silent desires.

“What did you wish for?” laughed Comet, nudging her side.

Twilight giggled in response. “I can’t tell you what I wished for. If I did tell you, then it won’t come true.”

He laughed as well before shrugging. “It was worth a shot.”

She rolled her eyes playfully, their laughter returning to silence. Her smile slowly waned as she fell into her thoughts again. “They say when there’s a shooting star, it's the moon crying,” Twilight murmured.

“I heard something like that too.” said Comet as he glanced over to her shortly before looking back up. “Do you think they belong to Princess Luna?”

“Maybe.” Her eyes wandered to the moon, focusing on the image again. “Maybe it's Luna trying to talk to her sister.”

“What do you think she’s trying to say?” Comet questioned as he too looked to the moon.

Twilight couldn’t find any other answer than the one she’d read. “Maybe she’s trying to tell Princess Celestia that she’s sorry."

Comet sighed softly, grinning bittersweetly. “Do you think Celestia knows that?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said softly, turning to the ground again. “I think deep down, she knows Luna is sorry for what she did.”

“I would hope so. I mean, it’s been 1,000 years,” remarked Comet. “That’s a long time to think about what you did… and to be away from your only sister.”

“Yeah. I hope Celestia forgives Luna for what she did.”

“1,000 years without her little sister. How could can anyone live like that for that long?” asked Comet. “I guess they both had time to think about what they did.”

“Her punishment was never meant to hurt her,” reasoned Twilight as she drew her gaze from the sky back to Comet. “She was just trying to keep Equestria safe from harm.”

“Banishing her sister though for eternity to the moon, though?” Comet rebutted quietly. “Sounds a bit harsh.”

“She had to do what was the best for Equestria.”

Comet laid down on the ground as he looked up to the night sky. “Do you think Princess Celestia forgives her sister?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight sighed, breaking her gaze from the sky. “How about you?”

“I hope so,” Comet said. “With both sisters magic could come back.”

Twilight smirked. “You believe in that old legend, too?”

Comet smiled. “Yeah I do. How about you?”

Twilight had smiled too. “I do too.

He chuckled softly as he stood up, giving Twilight a smile and waved at her. “It was nice seeing the stars with you.”

“Same to you,” she warmly replied.

Comet waved as he turned his back and walked away. “See you in class!” he shouted to her.

Twilight stood up too and soon went up the stairs of her porch. “Yeah. See you in class.”

As she entered through the front door, she saw her mother standing by the window with a very smug grin.

“Who was that boy you were talking to?” her mother teased, grinning at her daughter. “The both of you seem to be hitting it off.”

Twilight only sighed in annoyance as she ignored her mother’s comment and made her way up the stairs and to her bedroom. She yawned as she soon was now laying on her bed.

"Maybe a goodnight sleep can help me a little less stressed today."
***
“And that’s how functions work.” smiled Twilight as she moved her notebook for Rainbow to see.

Rainbow, however didn't look that impressed. She was resting her head on one hand and was tapped the kitchen table with her other. She sighed as she slumped back into her seat and crossed her arms. "So boring." she muttered.

“Rainbow, sweetie, don’t slouch,” an older woman reminded her as she entered the kitchen. She had the same rainbow colored hair as Rainbow, but it was longer and the colors were less vibrant.

“Yes, mom,” muttered Rainbow as she straightened up in her seat. She grabbed her pencil and began solving the next problem on her notebook. When she was done, she pushed it to her tutor. Twilight began to examine her work, and when she was done she smiled to Rainbow.

“Rainbow, you got it right!” exclaimed Twilight happily. “You’re really getting the hang of this.”

Rainbow smirked. “Well, what do you expect from yours truly?”

Twilight smirked as well as she giggled at Rainbow's comment. “It’d do some good if we worked on your modesty.”

Rainbow chuckled and crossed her arms behind her back as she gave Twilight a goofy grin. “I have to give credit where credit is due. You make this math sound super easy.”

Twilight smiled and nodded softly. “I’m glad.”

“Twilight, you really are the smartest person I know!”

As Twilight went to respond, she sneezed. When she opened her eyes, she gasped in surprise. She was sitting at a kitchen table, yes, but she was somehow transferred to a different house. She looked around and saw four other people were sitting at the kitchen table too. They were in the middle of dinner and were currently staring at her in bewilderment.

There was an older male with white hair and an older female with purple glasses and red hair. Across from them were two teenagers, a teenage boy with long blonde hair and next to him… Fluttershy?

Twilight gave a nervous laugh as she waved calmly. “Uhhh…. hello there.”

The blond teenager gave a smile as he looked at Twilight. He smiled and winked at her, “Hello there yourself.”

“T-T-Twilight,” she stammered, giving Twilight a mortified look. “H-how did you get here?”

“Come on, sis,” said the boy in a more relaxed tone. “When a pretty lady randomly appears in your kitchen, don’t question it.”

“Zephyr Breeze,” Fluttershy whispered in embarrassed as her voice grew softer and quieter with every word she was speaking. “Shut up.”

Zephyr laughed as he gave a goofy grin to his sister. “I was just stating facts. The fact is that all your friends seem to be super pretty.”

“Zephyr,” Fluttershy harshly whispered, glaring at her brother even harder. “You do this every time.”

Twilight rose from her seat as she rushed out of her friend’s house. Apologizing the entire way out. As Twilight was out of the house, Zephyr gave a smirk towards his older her sister.

“Hey, sis,” Zephyr said, his smirk growing. “Wasn’t that one of your friends?”

“Yes,” replied Fluttershy softly as she restricted her eyes to the table. "Why do you ask?"

“She’s almost as pretty as Rainbow and she's quite the beauty there sis,” Zephyr laughed out loud as he gave his sister a brighter smile.

Fluttershy slumped in her seat and muttered, “Please stop talking, Zephyr.”

“I’m just stating facts there, sis.”

Twilight ran to Rainbow’s house right next door and started banging on the door. She was greeted by a surprised Rainbow answering the door. Before Rainbow could anything, Twilight had barged straight into the house.

“Where did you go?!” asked a shocked Rainbow as she closed the door. “I mean one second you're sitting in my kitchen and the next you're gone.”

“Well if I told the real reason how I disappeared, I have a feeling you won’t believe me.” replied Twilight softly as she was looking at the ground. "I don't quite believe what happened myself."

Rainbow smirked. “Try me.”

“I don’t know and I don’t know how I got there,” muttered Twilight as she entered Rainbow’s house.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

Twilight began to run her hands through her hair in an effort to calm herself down. She only sighed. “I just sneezed and I just appeared at Fluttershy’s house.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened in shock. “What do you mean you just sneezed and appeared in Fluttershy’s house?”

Twilight just looked at Rainbow with a confused look. “I don’t know how I got there. It was like magic or something.”

Rainbow deadpanned at her response as she just looked at Twilight confused. “Twilight, magic hasn’t exited in Equestria for a long time. Like a super really long time.”

“Okay, so what if somehow there was still magic in Equestria.” remarked Twilight as she tried to reason with Rainbow. “That at least as to explain how I suddenly appeared in Fluttershy’s house, right?”

"I guess." remarked Rainbow as she gave Twilight an uneasy look. "I mean I don't know of any other reason to why you just suddenly appeared in Fluttershy's house."

“Are you just staying that to make feel better?” asked Twilight as she gave her a nervous smile.

“No.” Rainbow quickly said. She exhaled softly and put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. “Why would I do anything like that?”

Twilight nodded. “Okay… good. I... guess we should go back to tutoring then.”

“Uhh, okay then,” Rainbow muttered as they made their way towards the kitchen.

“Am I going crazy or something? I must be going crazy. Only a crazy person would be going through things like this.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks and turned to her. She sighed as she tried to change the subject. “Did you know that Fluttershy had a brother?”

"Yeah, I did." Rainbow groaned in annoyance as she facepalmed. “Don’t remind me of that boy.”

Twilight blinked in confusion. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Where do I start?” Rainbow sighed as grew more and more annyoed.

Twilight just stood there as she gave Rainbow a confused look. “I guess you don’t like him then, right?”

“He just annoys me.” sighed Rainbow again as she grew even more annoyed, “Come on can we just go back to doing the math work?”

“Never thought I would see someone this excited to do math homework. Then again, there is a first for everything.”
***
Twilight sat in the living room of her house, looking intently on the program that was playing on the television. She glanced to her brother and his girlfriend, who were watching with her. Shining got up from the couch and went to the kitchen, leaving just Twilight and Cadence.

“Hey, Cadence,” said Twilight as her eyes remained on the TV.

“Yes?” Cadence questioned, looking to her.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

Twilight thought for a moment and looked back at Cadence. “Do you believe in magic?”

Cadence gave her a confused look. She thought for a moment and soon responded with, “Why do you ask?”

Twilight only shrugged. “Just a lot of strange things happening lately.”

Cadence slowly nodded. “Oh yeah, Shining told me about weird things that’ve been happening to you.”

“He has?” asked Twilight as she raised an eyebrow towards Cadence.

Cadence nodded. “Well, he was mostly talking about the weird way you’ve been acting, recently.” she paused for a moment and soon asked, “Are you alright, Twilight?”

Why is everyone keep on asking me that?

“I’m fine,” Twilight stated in annoyance. She rose from her seat and headed for the stairs. As she was storming off, her brother was entering the room.

He watched her climb her stairs before turning to Cadence.“What did I miss?” he questioned. “What caused my sister to leave in a huff like that?”

Cadence only sighed in response and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Shining nodded as he sat next to her on the couch. He then softly said, “My sister has been acting really strange lately. I’m just really worried about her.”

Cadence offered him a reassuring smile in response. “I know, I’m worried about her too.”

"Twilight is smart, like really smart. I'm sure she'll figure what's wrong soon." sighed Shining Armor as he sat back into the couch.

Cadence smiled again. "Your sister is smart Shinny, I just know she'll figure things out soon."
***
Twilight slammed the door before throwing herself on the bed and screaming into her pillow. She laid on her back and sighed as she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom.

"Why is all of this stuff keeps on happening to me."

She groaned as she closed her eyes. Maybe Princess Luna would see her again in her dreams, and this time maybe answer some of her questions.

“Maybe all of the answers to these questions are in my dreams. I’m sure Luna can at least help me a little.”
***
Twilight was now standing in an empty throne room. As she wandered about, she saw Luna sitting there. The Princess smiled as she made her way towards Twilight.

“Hello again, Twilight Sparkle,” the alicorn greeted as she smiled. “It is time that I show you something very important.”

“What is it you want to show me, Luna?” asked Twilight.

“It is time that I show you what the Elements of Harmony are,” stated Luna, her eyes beginning to glow again. “And when my sister and I last used them.”

"What do you mean?"

"You should know how to use the Elements of Harmony when it is needed."

Chapter 9

Twilight now stood in an empty throne room shrouded in darkness. The only thing she could hear was faint, sinister laughter. She walked forward slowly as she crossed her arms, shivering in fear with every step. She stood frozen in her tracks as she heard a voice grow louder and louder.

“Oh, girls! It’s about time you showed up! And here I thought you didn't get my invitation,” smiled a sinister creature. It had the head of a pony and body parts of all other things. The creature laughed at the alicorns standing before him. “Oh come on! Smile! I didn't destroy Equestria, now have I?”

That voice. That is the voice that was talking to me in my dreams!

“After all what we done for you Discord, this is how you repay us?” the white coated alicorn snarled. “How could you?”

Discord, Twilight presumed what the creature was called, bursted out again in his laughter. “You two are so surprised it's… it's beautiful!” he cackled, his body disassembling and writhing in laughter. “To trust the God of Chaos to not bring chaos!”

“You will pay for including our subjects in your madness,” declared Luna, her expression glaring him down.

The alabaster alicorn stomped her hoof as she stepped forward. “We've come here to reclaim Equestria and defeat you,” she announced sternly.

His expression turned sinister, a triumphant smirk etching itself over him. “But you have it all wrong.” The creature laughed standing up in mock defeat. “I've ensured that no pony can undo what I've done, and what I plan.”

The statement visibly shook the two. “What have you done, Discord?!” she shouted.

“I’m surprised you didn't see this coming, oh wise, dear, Celestia,” mocked Discord as he began to laugh and smirked at the two. “Oh, what a silly princess you are. Trying to contain all sorts of chaos and disharmony.”

Twilight gasped as she looked at the white coated alicorn. That was her teacher and former mentor, Princess Celestia? How was such a thing possible? She was an alicorn like Princess Luna was?

She paused for a moment and soon looked to the amalgamation of body parts that made up the laughing beast. The God of Chaos… Discord… chaos shrouding the minds of her friends.

So that was this thing that kept on talking to me in my dreams? Then, did I meet this creature before? Then why was he talking to me like he knew me from somewhere.

“If I were you, I would wipe that grin off your face,” Celestia sneered with amusement.

Discord smirked as he raised an eyebrow to the Princess of the Sun. He then went back to his sinister laughter. “And why is that?”

“We have a trick of our own. One you won't be pleased to see,” smirked Princess Luna.

Discord laughed again in response. “And what is that?”

Behind Celestia and Luna came forward a group of six other ponies. Around their necks were necklaces with the same symbols that the Tree of Harmony had. The necklaces began to glow, and so did her eyes as a bright light began to form from the group.

“With the Elements of Harmony, we shall be able to stop all the disharmony that you’ve caused in Equestria,” Luna proclaimed.

“Your reign of chaos is over, Discord,” shouted Celestia. “I hope you enjoy your new prison.”

“You shall pay for the harm that you’ve caused!” shouted Luna.

Discord could only laugh back in response. “As long as chaos and disharmony exists I shall still be.”

“With the Elements of Harmony, we shall make that an impossible thing for you to achieve,” Luna said with a confident grin on her face.

Discord gave the princess a sinister smirk in response. “Trust me, Princess Luna. Chaos and disharmony always find a way.”

“It does,” Celestia admitted as she still glared at Discord. “But we’ll make sure to make that as hard as possible.”

“As long as my sister and I are here, we will make sure that never happens,” Luna said with a nod.

“So bold of you to state. What happens if one you disappear?” laughed Discord as he noticed the sly smile on Princess Luna was soon no more. “Then what happens next?”

“What are you saying?” Luna questioned as she glared towards the creature. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t listen to him, Luna,” said Celestia as she was trying to clam her sister down. “He's toying with us.”

“I’ll have my revenge, ladiiiiiies,” sang Discord as he put one hand to his chest and the other up in the air as he was blasted by the rainbow of light.

The spectrum of color soon faded, and Discord was now turned into a stone statue. Where a throne once was sat a boulder, and slowly the corrupted magic began to dissipate. They looked out across the lands, cotton candy clouds transforming into storm clouds. Animals and trees all returned to their normal state as Discord’s reign came to an end. There was a whole nation of ponies in disarray, now without a ruler and without order.

“What do we do now?” Luna questioned, glancing to the Elements.

Celestia looked to the six ponies, all waiting for her command. “We must rule together, and make sure something like Discord never returns again.”

Luna looked out to the landscape as rain washed across the plains beneath the mountain. “There are terrors out there, sister,” she said softly. “Many ponies to rescue.”

“As long as we rule together, Equestria will be safe,” Celestia assured her.

Her younger sister sighed and nodded. “I hope you're right.”

Celestia gave her sister a warm nuzzle and a smile. “You have nothing to worry about, Luna. As long as we have each other, nothing can go wrong.”

Luna gave her sister smile back and replied with a much for cheerful tone. “Alright, sister. I trust you,” she sighed.

“It's time we repair Discord’s damage,” Celestia said.
***
Twilight was now standing in a different throne room, completely absent of light. As she made her way towards the laughter that could be heard, shivers began to race through her spine. She crept slowly as she heard voices begin to shout.

“Luna is no longer. Only the Nightmare remains, sister,” a voice declared. "All of you shall see what the night can bring."

“You are no sister of mine!” shouted another. It sounded like Celestia.

“Now all of Equestria shall know the power of the night. The power of darkness without light!”

“Luna, please, you don’t have to do this. I know deep down, you are still there, please stop this madness from happening.”

“Your sister was too weak. The only thing you have to fear now is I. Nightmare Moon!”

“You are a parasite!” Celestia bellowed, her voice sending wind through the halls . As Twilight heard her voice shouting, she stopped in fear. She soon trembled again as she heard Celestia's booming voice shouting again.

“I will free her if it's the last thing I do!”

The voice laughed in response. “Then you'll die trying,” the voice replied in an eerily calm tone.

“I will never let you plunge Equestria into eternal darkness.”

“We shall see, then.”

“You have to deal with me me in the meantime. Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight was now facing where the voices were coming from. The same white coated alicorn from before stood in front of a midnight black coated one.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Luna,” said Celestia softly as tears began to stream down her face. “But I must to keep Equestria safe. Just like I said. The I must do what is needed.”

Nightmare Moon laughed. “You think you can keep Equestria safe from me?”

“Yes,” shouted Celestia, ignoring the tears that were streaming down her face. “I do.”

Nightmare Moon laughed at Celesita's response. "We shall see who is the most powerful then."

Princess Celestia glared at the foul creature that possessed her sister. “I wouldn’t be laughing if I were you.”

The Nightmare’s laughter ceased immediately, and she gazed upon the elder alicorn. Her horn glowed blindingly, gems floating out from behind her. The Elements of Harmony surrounded her, their magic awakening from its slumber as Celestia funneled the love she held for her sister into it.

“Those won't save her and you know it!” Nightmare screeched, feeling the power of the ancient artifacts. The power the gems had caused the foul creature to wince in pain. Still, she shouted on the top of her lungs, “You'll never see your sister again!”

Celestia gritted her teeth as she kept charging the gems, which were now spinning around her. “I know,” she said, barely holding her voice together. "I'm not doing this to safe my sister. I'm doing this to keep Equestria safe from danger."

Magical chains tied Nightmare’s wings together, another blob covering her horn. “Stop! You can't do this!” the evil mare protested as she tried her best to break free of the chains. She shouted again glaring at the Princess of the Sun. “Your sister's presence is all that keeps it tied to you!”

Her words did nothing but fuel the fire in Celestia's heart. The gems shined their own colors, converging on the Princess of the sun. "Begone, Nightmare Moon! I shall free Equestria from your evil magic!"

“YOU WON’T SEE HER AGAIN!” Nightmare shrieked, fighting the magical bonds as the chains got tighter and tighter.

Celestia opened her eyes, light cascading out in a heavenly manner. “I know.”

The whisper echoed in her head as a rainbow beam fired out from her horn, encircling the helpless alicorn as it worked to seal her away. She cried out in pain, her voice mingling between the two personas. Celestia wanted to believe her sister was still there. That she was actually hurting her younger sibling. But she knew what had to be done… no matter the cost.

“I love you, Luna. No matter what, you’re still my sister and I love you.”

There was an explosion of light, and Celestia felt the magic gems power down. Each crystal hardened into stone, then fell to the ground loudly. She panted softly as she collapsed, looking to where her target once stood. Now, there was nothing. Celestia looked to the moon outside, watching as an image arranged itself on the surface. She saw up on the moon, the faint outline of her sitter face. Celestia looked down on the ground, tears slowly streaming down her face as she sobbed.

“I had to, Luna… please… please, forgive me,” she whispered, sobbing quietly. “We promised to protect Equestria. I'm so sorry.”
***
Twilight was awoken by the loud sound of a bell. She quickly shot up from the desk that her head was now resting on. She looked around her surroundings and noticed that she was sitting in a classroom. To be more precise, this was her math class. She sat back in her seat with a shocked expression upon her face.

Sweet Celestia, how did I get here? I was just in my house, now I’m in school?

“Jeez,” Rainbow chuckled as she looked up from her Daring Doo book, “Enjoy that nap of yours, Sleeping Beauty?”

Twilight shook her head as she rose from her seat. She then looked at her friend and said in a panicked tone, “Did I miss anything?”

Rainbow shrugged as she too rose from her seat as well. “Nope. The teacher didn't show up.”

How can teachers just disappear like that? What is happening here?

“Twilight?” Rainbow said as she shook the girl from her thoughts. Rainbow then raised her eyebrow. “You okay there?”

Twilight only nodded in response. “Yeah… I’m fine.” She began to examine Rainbow’s shirt. A white cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt.

"Wait, something about that design looks very familiar...."

Loyalty

Her eyes widened in response as she remembered the design on Rainbow’s shirt. It was the exact same as the on one of the branches from the Tree of Harmony. As they walked through the hallway and towards the cafeteria, a thought had crossed her mind.

Well then. I should test her loyalty.

“Rainbow, we’re friends right?” Twilight asked in a nervous tone.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “What kind of question is that?”

“Just answer me.”

“Okay,” sighed Rainbow as she rolled her eyes. “Yes, we’re friends. Why are you asking?”

“Because I need to tell you something.”

“Okay,” Rainbow said as she stopped walking. She looked at Twilight and put her hands on her hips. “What's going on?”

“Well, as you noticed recently I’ve been acting a bit strange.”

“Really?” mocked Rainbow as she laughed softly. She then smirked as she added, “I would’ve never guessed.”

“I’m being serious!” Twilight insisted. She then sighed as she resumed her talking. “I just want to make sure that you’re able to keep a secret.”

“That’s what you're worried about?” Rainbow only laughed as she smiled in response. “Oh, come on, Twilight, you can trust me.”

“Are you sure?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yes. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

Twilight took a big breath as she began to explain to Rainbow. “Okay then. I’ve been having strange dreams lately.”

Rainbow’s smile was now replaced with a look of… surprise. “Strange… dreams?”

Twilight could only sigh. “Voices in my dream. They talk to me like I know them from somewhere.”

“Well, do you?”

“No, but they keep on saying that I do.”

Rainbow blinked as she was trying to understand what Twilight was saying. “That’s weird.”

Twilight nodded. “You're telling me.”

Moments passed as the two resumed walking. The talking had stopped and now there was silence. As they reached the entrance of the cafeteria, Rainbow turned herself towards Twilight. She too sighed and faced the girl.

“Well… since you told me, I should tell you something too,” Rainbow said as she put a hand behind her head.

Twilight looked at Rainbow with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I know how you feel about those weird dreams of yours,” Rainbow murmured as she entered the cafeteria. “You aren’t the only one getting them.”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight. She raised her eyebrow and looked towards Rainbow, “Are you having these dreams as well?”

Rainbow only smiled and shrugged as she entered the cafeteria and walked away. Twilight only stood there, completely dumbfounded by her response. “Wait, so those voices are talking to you too?!” called out Twilight but Rainbow didn't respond.

So I’m not going absolutely crazy after all. That’s a first.
***
As Twilight ate her lunch, she looked up and noticed the balloons stitched on Pinkie’s shirt. Then the three red apples on Applejack’s belt and the three pink butterflies on Fluttershy's sweater. Something about them seemed very familiar to her. Twilight only shook her head out of her thoughts as she began to eat her lunch.

Laughter.

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as she listened to the voice.

Princess Luna? Is that you talking?

She looked and saw that Pinkie was laughing at something that was said at the table. Her laughing was soon stopped as Rarity came to the table. She also noticed that during the entire time, Fluttershy stayed quiet.

“Well that’s an obvious one,” muttered Twilight to herself as she took a sip from her milk carton. she looked and noticed the three blue diamonds that where on the hem of Rarity's dress.

"Something about those designs.....they seem familiar.....but I don't know why....."

“I cannot believe what I had just saw,” declared Rarity in a dramatic tone, sitting next to Pinkie.

“Well, what did ya see?” Applejack asked, expecting Rarity's dramatization.

“As I was entering the cafeteria, I looked and saw my sister standing in the front, ” Rarity began to say.

“And?”

“She was setting up the table for the the ‘Flowers for Hearts.’” gasped Rarity as she added in a dramatic tone.

Applejack rolled her eyes and simply sighed. “That’s what’s got ya freaking out?”

“Yes!” shouted Rarity back in response. “Why would I not be freaking out for something like that?”

Applejack simply shrugged and muttered, “Whatever you say there, Rarity.”

“I need to know who is going to give me a flower,” Rarity stated as she shot a glare at the farm girl.

“Whatever,” Applejack hummed as she went back to eating her lunch.

Twilight blinked. “What is she even talking about?”

“Oh, Twilight dear,” Rarity chimed with a smile. “They're for the Spring Fling coming up in the next couple of weeks.”

“Eeyup,” added Applejack. “Usually the guy sends his flowers to the girl the week before the dance, and then after he sends the flower he usually asks the girl out.”

“That is why I thought it would be something of importance to bring up,“ huffed Rarity. She then smiled at the rest of them. “Is there anyone you girls want to ask you to the dance?”

“I know who Pinkie wants to ask her,” snickered Rainbow as she put her tray down at their table. “And I think the rest of you girls know, too.”

Pinkie’s grin grew into a frown as she glared at the girl. “If you say Pokey Pierce I’ll be so mad at you!”

Rainbow laughed in response and elbowed her. “Oh, come on, Pinkie, I’m just messing with you.”

Pinkie smirked at Rainbow and with a playful smile simply remarked, “Well I know who Rainbow wants to ask her to the dance.”

“Oh, come on! That’s so unfair!” Rainbow whined, her face getting redder by the second.

Pinkie giggled as she elbowed her friend with a playful grin. “Calm down, Rainbow,” she mocked as her giggle grew louder. “I’m just playing with you.”

Rainbow’s face grew a bright red as the rest of the table all began to laugh. She sighed as she buried her head in her arms, trying to hide her blushing face. The laughter of the other girls had stopped as they heard the bell ring in the classroom. They gathered up their belongings and hurried as they made their ways towards their next period class.

Chapter 10

As Twilight walked out the front door, she made her way to the bus stop at the corner. She looked ahead of her and saw Fluttershy standing there, just like always. From the way she moved her head, Twilight assumed she was humming.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Twilight greeted as she gave her a warm smile. “How are you today?”

“Oh, hi, Twilight,” Fluttershy replied in her usual soft voice. “I’m okay. How are you?”

“I’m doing fine.” Twilight smiled as she looked beside Fluttershy and saw a white bunny hopping towards her. The bunny hopped to Fluttershy’s ankle and snuggled up to it.

Fluttershy bent down and petted it gently. “Hello, there,” she cooed softly.

Twilight laughed as the bunny kept snuggling up on her ankle. “Fluttershy, I think that bunny knows you.”

“Oh?” questioned Fluttershy as she looked closer at the cute rabbit. “Oh, there you are, Angel.”

“Angel?” asked Twilight as she raised an eyebrow to Fluttershy’s response. “Is that his name?”

“Yep,” Fluttershy giggled, kneeling down to pick him up. “That was the name I gave him.”

“That’s so sweet,” Twilight chuckled, watching her pet him.

“Oh, Angel Bunny, I'm so glad to see you!” Fluttershy quietly squealed as she snuggled the bunny close to her face.

Twilight smiled too when she saw the cute white bunny rabbit. “I didn't know that you liked animals so much, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled too as she bent down to put the bunny back on the ground. She went into her purse and pulled a carrot out for Angel. She stood back up as she soon said to Twilight, “I love being around animals. And the animals seem to love being around me.”

“Well you seem to be very good at it,” she said with a laugh, gesturing to the bunny nibbling at its treat.

Fluttershy smiled. “I’m a volunteer at the local animal shelter. I go there after school every day,” she told her.

“It must be nice. Since you love animals,” Twilight chuckled, thinking of how those places usually smelled.

“Sometimes it feels like being around animals is much more easier then being around people.” Fluttershy murmured, quickly glancing to her friend right after.

“What was that?” Twilight questioned softly.

“Nothing,” sighed Fluttershy, relief evident.

“Okay. If you say so,” replied Twilight as she gave the girl an awkward smile. Moments passed and soon Twilight was the first to speak up. “You seem to very good at caring for animals.”

Fluttershy smiled again as she gave a light chuckle. “It’s almost like caring for animals is my special talent.”

Twilight laughed too as she gave a warm smile to her friend. “Yeah. When you put it like that it does seem that way.” They turned to the road as the school bus came into view. Once it stopped, they climbed on, and she went towards her usual seat in the back. As she was sitting there, a voice began to run through her head.

“Element of Kindness.”

That voice from before. It sound so familiar. Is it Princess Luna? It sounds alot like her.

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as the voice rang in her head. She soon shook the thought off as she muttered to herself, “Yeah, I can see that.”

“See what?” laughed Comet Tail as he sat next to her. He gave Twilight a big toothy grin as then said in a upbeat tone, “Seen any cool stars lately?”

Twilight’s face grew red as she quickly drew her look from the bus window and back towards Comet Tail’s smirk. She gave him a nervous smile and laughed. “Not recently” she muttered as she ignored her blushing face.

“If you say so,” Comet snickered with a smirk.

Twilight's face grew redder. She then muttered, "Shut up."
***
“Applejack,” Apple Bloom said as she seated herself opposite her sister. “Can Ah ask ya something?”

Applejack put her milk carton down as she offered a warm smile to her sister. “What’s wrong, sugarcube?”

“Well, ya see….” stammered her sister as her face grew red, her voice lowering to a whisper. “Ah need advice on a boy in mah gym class.”

Applejack’s smile was now replaced with a frown as she shot a glare to Apple Bloom. “Is he making fun of you? Ain't no boy gonna make fun of mah sister.”

“It’s not that!” Apple Bloom quickly said, her eyes widening in response. She then sighed as she looked at the lunch table for a moment and then back at her sister. “No, AJ. It isn’t about that.”

“Then what is it about?”

“Ah... kinda like him,” she muttered.

Applejack frowned at her sister, unable to hear her. “Speak up, Apple Bloom. Ah can’t hear ya when you mumble.”

Apple Bloom’s face grew red as she sighed. She swallowed the lump in her throat and sighed. “It's about a boy that I... like.”

“... that’s all? You got me all worried about nothing!” Applejack laughed as she fixed her stetson. “If ya don’t mind me asking, who’s the boy that got yer fancy?”

Apple Bloom’s blush deepened as she fiddled with her outfit. “Tender Taps.”

"Tender who?" asked her sister as she raised an eyebrow to her response.

Apple Bloom smiled and added, "Well, he's the most nicest and cutest boy in mah gym class sis. Every time Ah'm around Ah get all fuzzy and mah face gets all red."

Applejack laughed at her sister's discomfort. “Well look at that, mah sister’s got her first crush!”

“AJ!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she frowned. “Ah’m serious, Applejack. Please, Ah need your help.”

“Alright, simmer down,” she chuckled. “What do ya need help with?”

“How do Ah talk to him?” asked Apple Bloom, her frown now replaced with a look of concern. "Whenever Ah try, mah face gets all hot and Ah say the stupidest things."

Applejack ignored her sister's comment and resumed her teasing. “It seems like yesterday you and your friends were complaining about how gross the boys in your grade were.”

“Applejack! Please, this is serious.” Apple Bloom whined, her face getting even redder. She shook her head and glared at her sister. “C’mon, I don’t know what to do.”

Her older sister nodded softly and simply shrugged. “Just be yourself,” she plainly stated.

“But, whenever Ah talk to him Ah get all flustered,” sighed Apple Bloom as she glared harder at her sisiter. “Ya gotta tell me what to do.”

Applejack chuckled at her sister's response. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, sis. Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.”

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow in response. “Really?”

“Eeeyup,” nodded Applejack as she offered her sister a reassuring smile. “Just be yourself. Ya shouldn’t change yourself for some boy.”

“Really?” sighed Apple Bloom. "That's all Ah have to do?"

“If you like this boy and he likes you, then you should have no problem being yourself,” smiled Applejack.

“Are ya sure?”

“Yes, Apple Bloom! You gotta be honest with yourself. If you aren’t, then you’ll never be able to know what you want.”

Apple Bloom nodded as she stood up from her seat. “Thank ya, Applejack.”

“No problem. Just remember whenever ya need any advice, ya can always come to yer big sister,” smiled Applejack. “And don’t forget, always be honest. Nobody likes a liar.”

As Apple Bloom was walking away from the lunch table, Applejack smirked as she took a sip from her milk cartoon. As Apple Bloom went back to her table, Rarity had smirked at the farm girl.

“I wouldn’t think you would be the one getting questions about boys from your sister,” teased Rarity as she smirked to her.

“Ah don’t see what yer laughing about there, Rarity.” Applejack snickered, giving her fashionista friend a devious grin. “Not like I don’t see you eyeing up a pretty-boy over there.”

Rarity's face grew red at Applejack's comment. The farm girl had laughed and quickly Rarity shook her head and simply muttered, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ah don't need to be a rocket science that boy yer eyeing up is mah cousin." teased Applejack as she smirked at the blushing fashionista.

Rarity had glared at the girl, "Don't be ridiculous Applejack. I don't have a crush on your cousin."

Applejack smirked and shrugged as she went back to eating her lunch. "Whatever ya say there, Rarity."

“Element of Honesty.”

Twilight smiled as she looked at the smirking Applejack. “Well who could deny it?”
***
“Now class,” shouted the booming voice of Dr. Heartstrings as she stopped her writing on the whiteboard. She turned around to face the rest of the class. “Time to grab your textbooks and turn to page 323.” The class did the what the teacher asked and grabbed their textbooks and turned to the page.

“We are going to learn about the scientist Lamarck. Whose theory of evolution was that the traits that survive are passed down through the mother,” explained Ms. Heartstrings as she began to write on the whiteboard.

“Well look at that,” Rarity said in mock amusement, looking to the whiteboard for a split second. “She’s teaching for once and not going insane about her rambles today.”

“Lamarck says the traits are passed down through the mother. Does that mean if your mother is a horse does that means there’s a chance of you being a horse too?” questioned Lyra as a new thought crossed her mind. She began to write frantically on the whiteboard. “Now then, let’s see if hybrids like this are possible.”

“Nevermind,” Rarity sighed, laughing bit. She resumed to filing her nails but soon stopped as she heard a hushed whisper of a voice.

“Aww, man,” muttered Ditzy Doo as she gave a sigh of defeat. She then muttered again, “I just don’t know what went wrong.”

“Hmmm?” asked Rarity as she peered over. She gave a concerned look to Ditzy Doo, who was sitting next to her. “What seems to be the problem?”

Ditzy Doo sighed. “I forgot my book at home.” Her eyes wandered away and she played with her fingers nervously. “Again.”

Rarity gave the blonde girl a smile and handed over her textbook. “You can have mine, if you want.”

“Really?” Ditzy asked in disbelief. “But wait. Don’t you need the book for class?”

Rarity smirked as she gave the girl a dismissive wave. “Knowing Ms.Heartstrings, she’ll get to her insane ramblings more than the curriculum.

Ditzy cracked an awkward smile and took the book. “Yeah, you’re right about that.”

“That shouldn’t stop you from using the book, however,” she jokingly scolded.

“Thank you.”

Rarity smiled again at the girl. “Think nothing of it, it’s a pleasure to help.”

Right then and there, Lyra began her ranting on how the horses would rebel and when it would happen. Now, she was talking about the possibility of the existence of half horse and half human hybrids.

“Now, class,” announced Lyra as she pointed to the white board. It was covered with drawings of squares with various letters inside. “If this punnet square is accurate, then it’s soon possible to create half-horse, half-human hybrids.”

“And here we are,” sighed Rarity. She began to file her nails while tuning out the rant that the teacher was going on. “Right on schedule.”

“Now, the chance of these hybrids existing could be the end result of an event I like to call the ‘Equine Rebellion.’”

“Oh, Sweet Celestia,” muttered Rarity as she sighed and slumped back into her chair. She then said in a dramatic tone, “Please let this a bad dream. This surely can’t be real.”

“Element of Generosity.”

Twilight watched them for another second, scribbling in her notebook as she thought “They’re all connected… just like Luna said,” she quietly said to herself.

“Twilight.” She lifted her head and saw Rarity looking at her. “Did you say something?”

Twilight slowly shook her head. “N-No.”

Rarity shrugged at her response and went back to filing her nails. “Well alright, I suppose,” she said.
***
As Twilight sat in the kitchen and wrote in her notebook, she covered her mouth and sneezed. As soon as she sneezed a puff of purple dust flew from her nose as she flew from the kitchen table and back into the fridge.

Her brother then came running down the stairs, the sight of his sister in a mess of papers and notes. Shining rushed over to his sister and helped her up from the floor. As she got up from the mess, she rubbed her head in pain. But as she made it back on her feet, her whole body froze.

“Element of Magic.”

“Twilight, what happened?!” She was sure he’d been asking various times before, but only now did she hear him. He then put his hands on her shoulders and gently shook her. “Are you okay?”

Twilight didn’t respond as she hugged her brother. She buried her head in his chest as she started to cry. Shining hugged his sister slowly and unsurely, as he was trying his best efforts to calm his sister down.

“Shining, I’m scared,” she whispered into his shirt.

“Scared of what?” asked Shining in a confused tone as he hugged his sister back. “Please, Twilight. Tell me.”

“All these strange things are happening to me and I don’t know why,” cried Twilight as she pulled away to look up at him. “I don’t have anyone to tell.”

Shining frowned as he placed his hands on her arms and gave her a firm look. “Twilight you can tell me anything. I’m your brother. You don’t have to keep this to yourself.”

“Really?” sniffled Twilight as she began to wipe away her tears. “Even if I tell you… you probably won’t believe me.”

Shining Armor gave his sister a reassuring smile. “Trust me, I’ve heard some pretty crazy things. You're my sister, so no matter what you tell me, I will always believe you.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” smiled Shining Armor. “You don’t have to be afraid. Whatever’s on your mind, you can tell me.”

“A-A-are you sure?” stammered Twilight as she gave her brother a nervous look. “Are you sure that you can believe me?”

“Of course, Twilight. What kind of big brother would I be?”

She weighed her options, unsure of how it would all sound. “Well, what I’m about to tell is crazy,” Twilight murmured as she frowned. “I have a feeling you wouldn’t be able to trust me.”

“If I couldn’t trust you, then would be able to be your Big Brother Best Friend Forever?” smirked Shining Armor as he tried to add some humor to the situation.

Twilight softly laughed too as she smiled at her brother’s comment. “Okay, BBBFF.”

“Come on,” replied her brother as he pulled her into another tight hug. He pulled away and gave his sister another friendly smile. “Spill it.”

Twilight broke from the hug and smiled at her brother. As she opened her mouth to speak, the voice of Princess Luna began to echo in her head.

“Twilight, you cannot tell your brother about this. His mind is clouded like the rest. They will not listen to you. My sister learned this truth the hard way. You must wait.”

She slowly closed her mouth and wiped her eyes as she felt new tears coming. Without another word, she separated from Shining and started past him.

“Twilight,” he called quickly. “What are you doing?”

“Going to sleep,” replied Twilight in a hushed tone. She then looked back at the stairs and muttered, “I’m tired.”

“Aren’t you gonna tell me?” questioned her brother as he gave her a concerned look. He then added. “Come on, I can’t leave you like this, can I?”

“Yes… you can,” she coldly answered, resuming her walk up the stairs. “You don’t have to worry about me, Shining. I’m fine.”

Shining watched as his sister rushed up the stairs, and soon he heard the loud slam of her bedroom door. He sighed as he went to the living room and sat on the couch. He couldn’t say anything to her. Something was bothering her badly, but she wouldn’t let him help. For now he had to trust she could handle it… and trust she would come to him if she couldn’t.

“Whatever you say, Twiley.”

Lying like this. To all these people, it makes my head hurt. It’s awful.”

After slamming her door, she went and laid on her bed. She screamed into her pillow and let out a loud sigh. As the she was staring at the ceiling she heard Princess Luna’s voice going through her mind.

“I know how much it pains you to hide the truth from your loved ones. You will be able to do so in time, Twilight. I promise you.”

“I can’t do this Luna. I can’t keep lying to everyone,” Twilight whispered. She sat up on her bed and waited for the Princess to respond. As moments passed and no response was made, she sighed as she went back to screaming into her pillow. "It makes me awful that I have to lie to my friends and family like this."

"I know it pains you to lie like this. But, it has to be done Twilight Sparkle. Trust me, it will be easier.

Twilight's ignored Luna's voice as she screamed more into her pillow, "Why does my life have to be so complicated."

Why couldn’t I be a normal teenager? I just wanted a normal high school experience, not all of this.

Chapter 11

Laughter
No matter what, Pinkie would make it her goal to make sure you had a smile on your face. It was somewhat of a necessity she had acquired during her time at the rock farm. When her father made her and her sisters work, she would be there to make them smile. She would always make them laugh and smile, but she wished her parents would notice her gift. However, whenever she made her sisters laugh, her father would give her a look and tell them to go back to work. Whenever her father told her that, it made her feel like she didn't belong.

Of course she loved her parents, and of course her sisters. She loved to be with her family, but she just didn't feel at home at the rock farm. Instead of smiling and being happy, she just felt miserable and sad. Her mother knew how much it meant for her to smile, and so did her sister. But it wouldn’t happen on their farm. So, they moved away from the rock farm. Pinkie still made it her mission to see all of her friends with a bright smile on their faces.

So when she saw the frown on Twilight’s face, it reminded her of the frowns her sisters had so long ago. As Twilight entered the school building, shoulders slumped and a gloomy frown upon her lips, Pinkie started planning her next endeavor in secrecy. Well, she decided to surprise her at her locker.

"No friend of mine is going to be sad." remarked Pinkie as she looked at the sad look on Twilight's face.

Pinkie stopped her skipping when she saw Pokey Pierce at his locker, which was just a few numbers down. When she approached their section, Pokey looked over and greeted her with a sly grin.

"Hi Pokey." greeted Pinkie as she gave him a forced grin. "You're standing in front of my locker."

Pokey smirked and stood in front of her. "I am?"

"I would appreciate it you move out of the way. Please." answered Pinkie as she gave him another forceful smile.

Pokey didn't say anything as he moved out the way. He went to the next to Pinkie and closed his locker and mumbled, "Whatsoever, weirdo."

Pinkie only laughed at his comment in response. “It takes a weirdo to know one.”

“Whatever, Pie,” he scoffed.

Pinkie gave him a forced grin, stowing away any bad thoughts behind it. She then smiled and simply remarked, “Okie-dokie-lokie.”

Pokey only rolled his eyes at her response and laughed again. “Weirdo.” As he walked away from the locker, he shot her one last look of annoyance before turning back around. Pinkie stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry, but stopped when she saw Twilight walking her way.

No friend of mine is going to be a mopey mope. Mission is a go!

“Hey, Twilight!” she cheerily chirped.

“Hi, Pinkie.” murmured Twilight as she opened her locker.

Pinkie gave the girl a toothy grin. “How are youuuu?”

Twilight simply shrugged and closed her locker. “I’m fine.” she mumbled.

Her expression faltered slightly, noting how down her friend really was. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” her friend mumbled, just as quiet as before.

What seems to be eating her up?

Pinkie leaned on the locker next to her, a giggle escaping her. “Hey, Twilight, wanna hear a joke?”

Twilight shrugged. “Sure. I guess.”

Another snicker made it past Pinkie’s lips. “So the past, present, and the future walk into a bar.”

She paused for moment, which caused Twilight to sigh. She then asked, “And?”

Pinkie giggled again even harder, fighting the urge to laugh. “It was... tense!”

Her little joke caused a slight smirk and the smallest chuckle to escape from Twilight. “Funny,” she said, still a bit dead.

Pinkie blinked and only sighed in response. “Oh… I thought you’d laugh.”

With a shake of her head, she turned away. “See ya later, Pinkie,” replied Twilight as she walked away.

As her friend walked past her, Pinkie’s laughing stopped as she eyed her for a moment. She watched Twilight walk into her first period class before yelling after her, “ CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!”
***
As the school day went, Pinkie thought out a plan to cheer up her nerdy friend. It wasn’t until last period bell rang that she finally came up with an idea. Everybody in the halls saw the smile on her face as she happily skipped out of her classroom. Her smile grew wider when she found Twilight at her locker.

“Twiiiiiiiliiiiiiight,” she sang as she waved happily.

Twilight could see the unusually high amounts of happiness, which prompted her to raise a brow. “Yes, Pinkie?” she questioned in a monotone voice.

A smirk was her only warning before the pink haired devil shouted, “Tickle Attack!”

Pinkie then shot her arms out to her sides, her fingers scurrying along her friend. The sudden assault on her ticklish spots caught the girl off guard, and she dropped her books. As the army of fingers abusing her weaknesses went on, Twilight’s frown disappeared and was replaced with her uncontrollable laughter. Pinkie soon started laughing along with her as she tried prying her off, to no avail.

“Pinkie… Pinkie stop! I’m ticklish!” she pleaded, tears forming from her constant laughing. "Stop please. I never laughed this much before."

Pinkie eventually declared peace and grinned at Twilight, who was still laughing. “I kinda gathered that,” she joked, giggling with Twilight.

Twilight’s laughing died down, leaving her with a few giggles here and there. “I guess you did,” she replied, life in her voice now.

Pinkie nodded with a smile as she helped her gather her books. When they were all back in Twilight’s arms, she waved her off. “See ya, Twilight!”

"See you Pinkie." laughed Twilight as she waved at her. Moments had passed and her laughter had died down. "Thank you putting a smile on my face."

Pinkie snorted as she was still laughing. "No problem Twilight."

While her friend walked away with a much brighter expression, Pinkie skipped away while quietly cheering to herself. She smiled when she saw the smile on Twilight's face. It reminded her so much of times she would put smiles on the faces of her sisters. It made her laugh that she was able to put a smile on friends face.

Operation Make Twilight Laugh: SUCCESS!
***
Kindness
Ask anyone around, they’ll all agree on who is the nicest one around. The quiet, meek girl who spends her time caring for animals. The one who sometimes feels like animals are much easier to understand than other people. Even so, Fluttershy was there when you needed a kind heart. A heart that has no exception and is always there for you when you need it.

Just because you don’t say much, doesn’t mean you don’t know anything. That’s what Fluttershy was; she observed others while they were busy talking. She was quiet, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t listening to the things people said around her. What else would she do in class?

She noticed how agitated Twilight would get when the others would ask if she was okay. How she would say she was fine and to just drop the subject. But from the tone of Twilight’s voice, she knew that Twilight was not okay. None of them believed her for a second when she said that. She wouldn’t join the rest and constantly ask her the same questions again and again. She needed a new approach, and she wouldn’t leave her friend alone now. Not with such a stressed expression.

In English, she looked to her left and watched Twilight frantically writing notes down. She could see that the tiny smile she’d had on her first days was now replaced with a frown. With a small tingle of anticipation, she leaned closer to her friend.

“Twilight… we're only asking if you’re okay a lot because we care about you,” she whispered. “You’re our friend and we just want to make sure everything’s okay.”

Twilight didn't look up from her notebook as she respond to her in a hushed whisper, “I know.”

"So, what's wrong?"

Twilight had only frowned and put her head down in her notebook. She muttered, "Nothing."

Moments passed and the silence was brought back. Fluttershy sighed as she went down to her notebook to write. She looked and saw that Twilight was back to frantically writing into her notebook.
***
Kids poured out of their classes as the bell rang. Fluttershy walked down the hall to her locker, shocked to see Twilight waiting there. She looked at the frown and the bags underneath her eyes. As Twilight went and approached her, she gave Twilight a warm smile and Twilight gave her a smile back.

“Fluttershy,” said the girl in a nervous tone, “I should tell you what’s been bothering me lately.”

She nodded and gave her a smile. “Okay. What is it?”

Twilight kept silent as she thought for a moment, then sighed and faced her again. “I’ve been having… strange dreams lately.”

“H-How strange?” Fluttershy asked, a familiar curiosity entering her tone.

“Voices talk to me like they know me from somewhere,” replied Twilight. She leaned against the locker and avoided eye contact with her.

“If it helps… I’ve been having odd dreams too.”

Twilight blinked. “Really?”

Fluttershy nodded and softly added, “They sound like the ones you've been having.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight questioned, quickly looking up from the ground.

"Yes. Voices talking to me. Like they know me."

"I see." mumbled Twilight. "It makes you feel crazy doesn't it? Like you're the only one that has these dreams and it feels like you're going crazy."

"I know that feeling."

"Really?"

“Yes,” she nodded. Fluttershy gave her friend a smile as she put her hand on her shoulder. “If you want, whenever you have these dreams you can tell me about them.”

A look of disbelief plastered her expression. “Are you sure about?"

“Of course,” Fluttershy said with a nod.

Twilight smiled as she hugged her friend tightly. “Thank you so much, Fluttershy,” she whispered.

She returned the gesture gladly, happy to see some relief for the stressed girl. “What are friends for?”
***
Loyalty
Rainbow Dash may be lazy, being proud of sleeping for ten hours straight once, but there is one thing no one can deny. She is the most loyal of them all. If you tell her a secret, she’ll keep it to her grave. Twilight had made no mistake when she told her about the dreams she’d been having. However, Rainbow did come close to spilling the beans.

Outside on the track, the gym class was running for the day’s activity. Rainbow was the first to finish running the warm up laps, and she was soon joined by Applejack. Rainbow sat in the shade under the scoreboard and laid down there. The farm girl jogged up to her as she caught her breath away from the sun. She glanced up and gave her friend a cocky smile.

“Hey, AJ,” Rainbow greeted as her cocky grin grew louder. "Had any trouble catching up with you?"

“Hey, Rainbow,” panted Applejack as she sat down next to her. She ignored her comment and joked, "Well Ah be, yer a fast one aren't ya?"

Rainbow smirked. "I didn't think you'll be able to catch up with me AJ."

Applejack gave her a sly grin. "Ah wouldn't be so boastful if Ah were you."

Rainbow laughed. "Whatever."

“Mind if… ah ask ya something?”

Rainbow shrugged as she yawned. “Sure. What’s up?”

The way Applejack shifted looked like she’d just tried robbing a bank. “Ah know I shouldn’t be doing this behind her back an’ all, but do ya know what’s been bothering Twilight so much?”

Rainbow stopped mid yawn as she looked to her friend. She sat in silence for a few moments as she tried to figure out how to respond to her.

No. I promised Twilight I would keep this all a secret. I can’t just break my promise like this.

Rainbow entertained the idea of lying, but she knew the farmgirl could sniff out something like that. Applejack always had this talent of finding out if someone was lying. In the end, she sighed and scratched the back of her head. “Well… she did.” Before her friend could push for more, she held up a hand and covered her mouth.

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she looked at the strange actions that Rainbow was doing. "What are ya doing there Rainbow?"

Rainbow only sighed in response as she resumed, “But… I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone. Not even you girls.”

“Come on, she’s got a lot on her mind,” Applejack pressed. “We gotta know what’s goin’ on so we can help her.”

Rainbow shook her head. “I made a promise to her, AJ,” she said firmly, laying back on the ground. Shen then said to the farm girl, “Look, maybe she’d be willing to tell you, too. You two are friends, too. I bet she’d be okay telling you.”

“I guess yer right,” Applejack sighed as she stood up. “Thanks anyway, Rainbow.”

“No problem,” she yawned.

“Ah don’t mean to push a promise. Ah’m just concerned fer Twilight is all. She’s been acting all kinds of weird lately and it ain’t getting better,” said Applejack, nervously rubbing her arm.

Rainbow sat up from the ground with a smirk on her face. “Hey, c’mon, I know that. Just go ask her. Maybe it’ll help her,” she replied lightheartedly, getting up as the class finished warming up

Applejack nodded and stood up as well. "That sounds like a good idea Rainbow."

"I know." remarked Rainbow as her eyes widened in shock. "You can ask her."

"Really?" asked Applejack. "Ah don't want her to think that Ah'm bugging her."

"Relax Applejack." smirked Rainbow, "If she told me what's bothering her, then she'll be able to tell you what's been bothering her."

Applejack nodded. "Ah see." She then jogged to where the class where going. As she saw Applejack jog away, Rainbow only yawned again as thoughts began to start racing through her mind.

Why does everyone seem to trust me all their secrets?

“Hey there, Rainbow.” She glanced over to see Zephyr again. She only groaned when she saw the goofy grin that was on his face.

Rainbow sighed as she shot a glare at the sophomore. “What do you want, Zephyr?”

He only smiled in response. “Just wanted to know how you are this fine day,” he said with a wink.

Rainbow groaned in response. "Well if you want to know so badly, I'm doing fine."

Zephyr smiled and winked at her again, "That's good to hear."

Rainbow simply scoffed as she jogged away from. “Can’t a guy take a hint?” she muttered under her breath.
***
Generosity
Being an older sister means you have to share things. Sharing the love of your parents and sometimes sharing clothes. Rarity learned over the years that if she shared her problems with her sister Sweetie Belle, it would give her a chance to open up in return. Open up and tell her about her day or any problems she had. If this tactic worked with her sister, then perhaps it could work to help Twilight open up. It wouldn’t hurt to try at least.

As they were sitting in lunch, Rarity looked around the table and noticed that her and Twilight were the only ones present at the moment. The rest had gotten on line to get food, which gave Rarity an idea.

“I wonder who I’ll get a flower from,” Rarity hummed aloud, resting her head on her palm. “How about you, darling?” She waited several moments to get Twilight’s attention, then loudly huffed as the bookworm’s eyes stayed glued to the book in front of her.

Twilight looked up from her book and to Rarity. “Did you say something, Rarity?”

Rarity smiled again and then repeated herself. “I said I wonder who my flower will come from.” Her smile turned a bit brighter as she set forth. “Have you been thinking of someone?”

“What would the flower be for?” she asked. Rarity would have groaned if Twilight wasn’t new to the school.

“Every year we have Flowers for Hearts Day. The boys give a girl of their choosing a flower,” she giddily explained. “Would you be getting a flower?”

Twilight shrugged at her response. “I wouldn’t know that answer. I’m sorry.”

Rarity smiled again at the girl. “Surely there must someone that’s taken a fancy to you, dear,” she teasingly remarked.

Twilight blinked and soon replied. “I don’t know.”

“Are you sure?” Her trump card, from days of offhand observations. “Not even that sweet boy, Comet Tail?”

"How do you know about Comet Tail?" asked Twilight in a hushed tone. Twilight's face had gotten red and she then muttered, "Not that I care or anything."

"I have my ways of knowing things, darling." remarked Rarity as she smirked. She then added, "By the way your acting then it looks like you do have some sort of feelings for him."

Twilight’s face had gotten red at her words, and she quickly stood up from the lunch table. As her face grew redder and hotter, she quickly said, “I just remembered I have to be at the library!”

Rarity put but her hand over her mouth, trying her best to hide her laugh. “I’m sure he’ll pass by at some point for your gift. He seems to enjoy passing by to see you,” she continued, adoring the tomato color Twilight had now become.

The studious girl had ignored Rarity's comment as she bolted out of the cafeteria. She moved so fast she had almost bumped into Braeburn, who was walking by. Braeburn looked at the sprinting Twilight with a confused look. He then made his way over to Rarity.

“Well someone’s all flustered,” Rarity devilishly snickered.

"Howdy there, Rarity,” smiled Braeburn as he sat across from her. His smile was then turned into one of amusement. “Why’s Twilight barrelin’ out in such a hurry?”

Rarity giggled before taking a sip from her water bottle. “Don’t worry about it, Braeburn, dear. I think I just learned something from Twilight.”

“Really?” smiled Braeburn as he laughed. “What did ya learn?”

She only let out a small giggle. “Girls’ business, Braeburn. It’s very ungentlemanly to pry, you know.”

Braeburn only chuckled in response. “Well if ya say so, Rarity.”
***
Honesty
Granny Smith didn’t raise liars. Not a soul in the Apple family would ever lie to anyone. In fact, they were horrible liars. They always spoke what was on their mind and treated all those who crossed their path with respect. It didn't take Applejack long to realize that something was eating away at Twilight. Her whole personality since her first day in Ponyville had changed. She seemed more distant, more stressed, and always had a look of annoyance on her face.

She decided that it was best she tried confronting her friend about her behavior for the past weeks. As the last period bell rang, Applejack made her way to her locker. As she approached her locker, she noticed another student with blue spiky hair walking towards her.

“Hey, AJ,” greeted Soarin as he smiled towards her. “Is your sister still selling Cutie Mark Cookies?”

Applejack nodded as she greeted the teenager, “Yes, why do ya ask?”

“Does she still have the Apple Pie Crumbs left?”

“Ah think so.”

“Alright, cool. If you don’t mind, tell her I want to make some orders for her.”

As Applejack opened her mouth to respond to Soarin, she looked and saw that Twilight was standing by her locker. She looked back at Soarin and simply said, “Sorry to be rude, Soarin, but Ah have something to do.”

Soarin nodded and smiled at her. “It's cool, no worries. See ya, AJ.”

Applejack smiled in response as she waved him goodbye. She then walked to Twilight and noticed the frown that she had on her face still. “Twilight,” greeted Applejack as she walked to her locker. “How are ya, sugarcube?”

“I’m fine. How are you?” her friend asked with a smile.

“Not too bad,” she replied with a nod. She looked at Twilight at the corner of her eye and noticed that her smile soon turned into a look filled with nervousness.

“AJ,” she suddenly said, closing her locker. “I need to be honest with you.”

“What are ya talking about?” Applejack questioned.

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. “The reason why I’ve been… well, not myself recently is because… I’ve been having strange dreams lately. Dreams filled with voices talking to me. Like I should them from somewhere.”

“Oh.”

“...yeah….”

Applejack slowly nodded. What she was planning on saying next had one of two possibilities. “If ah’m being honest here too, Twi, ah’ve been having dreams like that, too.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock at her response. “You’re serious?”

“Eeyup,” nodded Applejack. “At first ah thought ah was going crazy or something, but then Pinkie told me in Home Ec. that she’s been having weird dreams.”

Twilight gave Applejack a huge smile. “AJ, don’t you realize what this means?”

Applejack ignored her friend’s comment as she continued. “Then again, she also told me she gets weird dreams whenever she eats a lot of sugar. Ah told her to lay off, but that didn't stop her.

“Applejack.”

“Then Rainbow Dash was talking about that time she read all the Daring Doo books in one day, and she started to dream that she was in the books.”

“Earth to Applejack,” Twilight said, shaking her softly.

“Then there was that one time Rarity was talking about how she had a nightmare where no matter how hard she tried, no clothes of hers were able to match. And then there was Fluttershy talking about how she dreamt of having to give a public speech-”

“AJ!” shouted Twilight, still shaking the farmgirl.

Applejack shook her head and looked to her. “Sorry about that. What were ya saying, Twilight?”

Twilight shook her head as she grabbed Applejack shoulders. She held her there as she stared intently at her green eyes. “Applejack don’t you know what this means?”

“Er… nope,” Applejack murmured as she backed away from the girl. “Ah don’t know. What does it mean?”

“I’m not going crazy!”

She blinked in confusion. “What?”

Twilight laughed as she turned from the girl. She smiled as she let out a nervous laugh. “I’ll show you what I mean tomorrow.”

Applejack didn't say anything as she closed her locker door. She looked and saw Twilight walking out of the school building. She put on her cowboy hat and quietly muttered to herself, “That there must be the weirdest girl ah’ve ever seen. And ah’m friends with Pinkie.”
***
Magic
As Twilight finished brushing her hair, she looked on her desk and saw the old leather book. She picked the book up and traced the gemstones on the cover with her index finger.

“I think it's time I tell them what’s going on,” she muttered to herself. She paused for a moment as she looked in the mirror. “I’m sorry, Luna. I can’t lie to them anymore.”

She put the book in her bag, hiding it with a shirt in case someone were to see in her bag. “If Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Applejack are having the same dreams as me… maybe this will explain things better.”

“Twilight!” shouted her mother, scaring her stiff. “You’re going to be late.”

“Coming!” Twilight called as she grabbed her bag and raced down the stairs.

I can’t wait any longer. I have to do something about this.

Chapter 12

Twilight sat in the school library, typing away on the computer in front of her. She was completely focused on the text in front of her, until she noticed someone sit beside her. The blonde sat down next to her and gave her a small smile. She turned to him with a confused glance.

“Hey, there,” he greeted with a wink. “The name’s Zephyr Breeze, by the way.”

“That’s… uh…. nice,” responded Twilight as she went back to typing.

Zephyr thought for a moment and soon asked, “Aren’t you one of my sister's friends?”

Twilight drew her eyes away from the computer to examine him. She couldn’t see anything immediately similar to her friends. “I’m not sure. Who’s your sister?”

“Fluttershy.”

Twilight eyes widened in shock at his response. She gave him a nervous smile in response. “Oh yes, we’re friends.” The memory of suddenly appearing at a dinner table came back to the front of her thoughts, and the boy who smiled at her.

“Yeah,” Zephyr said with a nod. “Didn't you like, just appear in our kitchen that one day? That was so weird.”

“Yeah,” muttered Twilight in response. “That was super weird.”

“How did you get there, anyway?” he asked, pulling out a notebook from his bag. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Uhhh...” Twilight’s mind went into overdrive as she tried coming up with something. Anything, at this point.

Zephyr raised an eyebrow in response and replied, “I’m listening.”

“Well….you see……”

“Yeah?”

“.....about that…..”

“Are you going to say anything?”

At the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Rainbow entering the library. As she walked in, Twilight noticed Zephyr’s gaze wandering to her friend.

Oh thank Celestia.

As Rainbow made her way to Twilight, she saw the mopey grin of Fluttershy’s brother and shot him a look of annoyance. She dropped her bag on the table and sat opposite from Zephyr on Twilight’s other side.

"What are you starring at Zephyr?" said Rainbow as she shot a glare at him.

Zephyr didn't say anything as he was still smiling at her, Rainbow only scoffed as she sat down at the table next to Twilight. Twilight gave a sigh of relief as her friend came in at the right time.

Rainbow, thank you so much for coming in the time you did.

“Hey there, Rainbow,” snickered Zephyr Breeze as his smile grew wider.

“Zephyr,” muttered Rainbow, ignoring his smile and wink. “Don’t you have someone else to bother?”

“Why would I bother anyone else when I have you to talk to?”

Rainbow just rolled her eyes in response. “Whatever.”

“So hostile,” teased Zephyr, giving her another playful wink.

Rainbow just shrugged in response and muttered. “Whatever.”

Zephyr smiled as he stood up. “I never took you for the jealous type there, Rainbow. I mean, I know it's hard since you have this monster crush on me since we were kids.”

"Me have a crush on you?" Rainbow laughed at Zephyr's remark as she leaned back. “Yeah, right.”

Zephyr laughed too and his smile morphed into a smirk. “The more you deny it, the more it's true.”

“Whatever you say, Zephyr,” she huffed, taking out a notebook.

Zephyr laughed as he grabbed his bag. With one last wink, he waved them goodbye and started for the exit. “See ya, Rainbow. Stay beautiful.”

Her face turned red immediately, and she looked down to her notebook. Twilight watched her for a second, then giggled to herself. Rainbow had muttered to herself as she quickly began to scribble down into her notebook.

Rainbow lifted her head to glare at Twilight, who stopped her giggling after feeling the contempt in her gaze. She then sighed as she slumped back into her seat. “Shut up.”

Twilight smirked and let out a soft chuckle. “I didn't say anything.”

Rainbow grabbed a pencil out her bag and went to writing in her notebook. “Whatever.”

Your face says more than anything I could say.

"Whatever." was all that Rainbow Dash said before she stormed out of the room.
***
Twilight tapped the book in front of her impatiently. She was the first of her friends to arrive at the lunch table. She drew her gaze back to the book and opened it, sighing in frustration as she saw that the book was still blank yet again.

“Hey, Twilight!” Pinkie chirped as she sat down beside her. She frowned when she saw the frustrated look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight closed the book and put on her best smile. “It's nothing.”

Pinkie glared at her friend for several moments. Twilight’s smile faltered a bit under her scrutinizing gaze. “Okie dokie,” she slowly said. She went to reach for something, then slapped her forehead. “Oh, horse apples. Forgot a napkin!” Pinkie turned and started skipping back to the lunch line.

“Howdy there, Twilight,” greeted Applejack, sitting down across from her. She looked at the book, curiosity slowly forming as she did. “Whatcha got there?”

As Twilight was about to open her mouth, she was stopped as she watched Pinkie hopping around the cafeteria. The bouncing girl stopped and waved at her two friends. She giggled as she sat down, glancing to the book as well. She took the book without a second thought, flipping through the pages with a confused expression. “What kind of book has blank pages?”

Applejack leaned over as Pinkie showed her. “Ah don’t know. Twilight?”

“Maybe it's a picture book?” wondered Pinkie as she kept looking through each page. She then sighed as she closed the book. “Not a picture book.”

“Then what kind of book is it?”

“Maybe it's a sketch book?”

“It’s actually-”

“Ah mean that could be a possibility,” Applejack said with another shrug.

“That’s cool! I didn't know that you liked to draw Twilight. That is so cool!”

“It’s not a sketchbook!” Twilight exclaimed, snatching the book back.

She grabbed a pen and began to write on the first page. As she was writing, Rarity and Fluttershy soon arrived. Twilight ignored the two girls and continued writing more and more. She turned the book back to the others once she was finished.

“Watch this.” Their faces all took on a confused expression as they watched the text disappear.

“Whoa, let me try!” Pinkie laughed as she grabbed the book from Twilight’s hands. She then grabbed her pen and began to write. The cheerful girl’s smile disappeared when she realized her ink hadn’t even come out on the page.

Applejack grabbed the book and flipped the page. “What is this?” she asked, checking for any writing on the page after it.

“What’s what?” asked Rainbow as she dropped her lunch tray down on the table. She grabbed the book from Applejack and simply shrugged as she tossed the book back onto the table. Rainbow laughed as she settled next to Pinkie. “Who gets a book with no words in it?”

“Maybe it's a journal? A diary perhaps?” asked Rarity as she too examined the strange tome.

“That’s a really big diary,” Fluttershy commented as she watched on beside the fashionista.

“It's no journal,” remarked Twilight as she took her book back. She gestured to the cover and looked at her friends. “It's a book on the Elements of Harmony, but all the pages are blank.”

“Oh wow. That’s… unusual,” said Fluttershy.

“That isn’t the oddest part of it,” Twilight said as she wrote a simple “Hello” on the page. The girls gasped as they saw “Hello, Twilight” appear afterwards.

“Where did ya get this book?” asked Applejack.

“I got it from the school library,” she replied as she closed the book. “The voice I’ve been hearing… one of them, is the one who wrote back.”

Rarity scoffed softly with a deadpan look. “Don’t be ridiculous, Twilight. Books can’t talk to people.”

“It sounds like magic” said the soft voice of Fluttershy.

Rarity shook her head. “Magic doesn’t exist, Fluttershy. It hasn’t existed for a long time.”

Rainbow took the book and looked at the gems decorating the cover. “Well, how do you explain all the strange stuff that’s been happening to us?”

“Magic hasn’t existed since Luna and Celestia were ruled Equestria together,” Rarity reminded them. “It couldn’t just suddenly pop up now.”

The athlete shrugged in response. “I don’t know, Rares. Ever since Twilight got here all sorts of weird stuff’s been happening recently.”

“And we’ve all been having the same dreams,” Fluttershy quietly added.

“Ah gotta agree with Rainbow Dash here,” sighed Applejack as she crossed her arms. “Ah mean, there’s no other way to explain any of it.”

Pinkie harrumphed at her friends as she grabbed some candy from her hair. “So when I tell you people I have weird dreams, you tell me to lay off the sugar.”

Without any sort of explanation or answer, Rarity sighed and conceded. “So we agree these events are all happening because of magic?” she asked, hoping someone would offer an alternative.

“I guess so,” Rainbow replied weakly. “It’s the only thing that could explain any of it.”

Twilight pulled the book away from them and rested it on her lap. “So you’ve all been having the same dream?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes. Sometimes I hear a voice, or it’s just eerie laughing.”

“Yeah, and the laughing never shuts up about winning,” Rainbow added, crossing her arms.

“Winning?” Twilight questioned. “He’s never said anything about that before.”

“He?” Applejack asked. “So ya know him?”

Twilight gave a wary glance around them. “He calls himself Discord. He’s supposed to be the God of Chaos.”

“Discord?” Fluttershy repeated curiously. “I… I feel like… I should know what that means.”

“Something about that name does seem to be very familiar,” Rarity chimed in agreement. “It’s almost like I should remember him.”

Twilight felt relief and some happiness flowing through her at the comments of her friends. “So I’m not going crazy after all.” She then added in a mutter, “That’s good.”

“Well, we could all be going crazy,” Applejack chuckled, followed by the rest. “Now, what does this book have to do with any of this?”

Twilight gave her friends a sheepish smile. “Would you girls call me crazy if I told you Princess Luna was using it to speak to me?”

Pinkie stopped her munching on the pile of candy that was in front of her. She smiled and then laughed, “Don’t worry, Twilight. People say I’m crazy all the time.”

“Well that’s because you kinda are,” blurted out Rainbow as she went back to sipping her energy drink. She stopped when she noticed Pinkie was glaring at her. She then shrugged and said, “What?”

“It's not my fault I have dreams of cupcakes talking to me,” Pinkie huffed as she threw more candy into her mouth.

Rarity rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s response. She then gave Twilight a reassuring smile. “With all of the stuff that’s been happening to us, it would be wrong of us to make that claim.”

“Yeah,” added Fluttershy in a soft smile. “But, I thought she was banished. How can she be talking to you?”

“I don’t know. One day I was in the library and heard a voice calling me,” sighed Twilight as she explained. “When I first opened this book, it was all blank. But then one day I just saw words popping up. She’s using it to talk to me.”

Rarity kept quiet for a moment before something clicked in her head. “So that’s the book my sister and her friends have been talking about.”

“What?”

“My sister was talking about this book she saw where all the pages were blank.”

“So did mine,” nodded Applejack.

“Okay, well that still doesn’t explain how Princess Luna can be banished and still able to talk,” Rainbow reminded them. “Did she say how she was doing it?”

This is where Twilight felt the most doubt her friends would believe her. “Would you believe me if said that she was a… pony?

None of her friends said anything. All they could do was stare at her with their mouths open. “A PONY PRINCESS LUNA?!” blurted out Pinkie. She squealed for a moment before narrowing her eyes on Twilight. “Wait, wouldn’t she be banished, too?”

Ignoring her question, Rainbow closed her mouth and leaned forward. “Twilight, how can you be talking to a pony? And besides, she can’t be Princess Luna. She’s a person!”

“Maybe it's because of magic?” asked Pinkie as she looked up in thought. “I mean with magic, anything is possible!”

“But how can that be possible?”

Pinkie then shrugged as she shoveled more candy into her mouth. “I mean… it's what Ms. Starlight said. If you really believe in something then anything is possible.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought so, too,” muttered Twilight as she looked down at the book. “Could something like that be even possible?”

Rarity shook her head. “I’d give the magic a chance, but a pony, Twilight? A talking pony? It sounds like something Ms. Heartstrings rambles about.”

"Trust me Rarity, I know what I saw and I indefinably saw a talking pony version of Princess Luna." declared Twilight.

"Well okay then Twilight." sighed Rarity as she gave her friend a warm smile. "Then well I guess I believe you on this."

Twilight blinked. "Really?"

Rarity had nodded in response. "Yes truly I do Twilight. We are friends after all."

“Well, maybe magic can do anything,” Fluttershy said nervously. “M-Maybe… it could make any animal talk. Like Angel.”

“Or a book that can let two people talk,” Pinkie added.

Rainbow had rolled her eyes at Pinkie's comment. "Two people can already talk, Pinkie."

"No, not that Dashie. I mean the book can be used for two people to talk to each other."

Applejack also said, “Or give us all the same dreams.”

Twilight responded in a nervous laugh. “I mean, if you believe anything is possible, right?”

All Rarity could do was sigh as she looked away in the distance. “I suppose that’s one way to look at things.”

Twilight didn't say anything. All she could do was smile as she was finally able to tell her friends what has been bothering her. As she was done telling them, she felt a so much weight get off of her shoulders. Finally, she was now free of the the guilt she had gotten whenever she had lied to them. It felt good to finally be able to tell them the truth.

So, I’m not going crazy after all. That’s relieving.

Chapter 13

As the school bell rang, students rushed to get to their classes. Rainbow Dash, however, had just arrived. She had overslept and was now rushing to her locker, hoping she wasn’t going to be late to her class. Those hopes were crushed when she saw Zephyr Breeze leaning against her locker and smiling at her.

“Hey, Rainbow,” he greeted with his usual smile.

She only sighed as she shoved him aside and opened her locker. “Can’t talk. Gotta get to class,” Rainbow quickly said, ignoring his gaze as she pulled books out of her locker.

“Well, I was just gonna ask if you’ve heard the rumors.”

“What rumors?” she asked, cocking her head in his direction.

“Rumor has it there’s a haunted castle deep in the Everfree Forest.” he sang as he winked at her again.

“And?”

“In that castle they say that it's haunted by some creature.”

“Your point is?”

Zephyr’s eyes widened in shock as Rainbow seem unfazed by his words. He moved himself closer and said in a hushed tone, “They say it’s Nightmare Moon.”

Rainbow took a moment to see if he was serious, and could only laugh in response. “Nightmare Moon? She hasn’t been around in a thousand years.”

“It’s real! Honest,” said Zephyr as his face was now replaced with a look of shock. “They’re saying she’s back.”

“Okay,” Rainbow sighed as she rolled her eyes. “If it is real, then why are you telling me this?”

Zephyr gave her his best roguish grin. “I thought if I told you, you’d want to prove those rumors wrong.”

“Oh yeah?” she chuckled in disbelief. “And how would I do that?”

“Going to the Everfree Forest. After school, of course,” Zephyr told her, his smile growing. “And I wanted to ask if you do go, can I go?”

Rainbow laughed as she closed her locker. “Okay, so if I do end up going to the Everfree Forest, what makes you think I’ll take you?”

“I know where the castle is,” Zephyr proudly stated as he smirked. "So I figured you know. I can show you where it is."

"How do you know where it is?"

"I hear people talk."

“I can figure out where it is,” she replied as she crossed her arms. “The forest isn’t that big.”

Zephyr gave a nervous laugh as he put a hand behind his head. “W-Well you shouldn’t go in the forest alone.”

“I can manage on my own.”

He didn't say anything and just sighed. His eyes shot open, and a devilish smirk made itself present. “I mean if you told any of your friends, would they go to the Everfree Forest with you?”

Rainbow looked at him sternly, then sighed. “I guess you’ve got a point.”

“So, I can go to the Everfree Forest with you?”

“Fine,” Rainbow groaned as she stopped leaning against the lockers. “You can come.”

Zephyr smiled. “Awesome.”

Rainbow glared at the boy. “If you’re a scaredy cat like your sister, I’m bailing.”

“Oh please, Rainbow. I know you’re worried about me and all, but nothing can scare Zephyr Breeze.”

With a roll of her eyes she muttered, “Just when I think he’s normal he pulls stuff like this.”

“Nothing can stop this Breeze from coming through,” smirked Zephyr as he winked at Rainbow again.

“Whatever. See you after school,” she said.

Zephyr blinked and stared at Rainbow. “Wait… you actually said yes.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah and?”

He started to laugh and gave her another smirk. “So I take it you finally realize you’re madly in love with me? After all these years of fighting it?”

Rainbow only groaned as she turned her back on him. “Not in a million years, Zeph. Keep on dreaming.”

“Well, we’re still down for after school right?”

“Yeah. See ya after school.”
***
Rainbow stood in awe as she looked to the ancient building. The castle looked worn and destroyed, but still it stood. The two black pillars of the castle still stood, but the main structure was collapsed in on itself. As she and Zephyr stared, Rainbow could hear the faintest of voices calling out.

Rainbow Dash….I have something to show you…..

“Wha?” she softly murmured.

“Did you say something?” asked Zephyr.

She shook her head slowly. “No.”

Rainbow looked back at the castle, the voice seeming to be calling out to her again. As she was about to cross the bridge, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She stopped and looked at Zephyr, who seemed frightened.

“What are you doing?” he questioned, warily glancing to the ancient structure.

“Heading to the castle,” she casually stated. Seeing his pale expression made her smile. “What? Too chicken to go in?”

Zephyr took a deep breath and soon moved to the bridge. He smirked and gave her a nervous laugh. “I told you. Nothing can stop this Breeze.”

“Then why are you just standing there?” she chuckled, giving her own smirk.

“Because it's cold in the forest,” replied Zephyr, laughing nervously.

“What are you, a scaredy cat like your sister?”

Zephyr Breeze glared at the giggling Rainbow Dash. “I’m not afraid of anything!” he exclaimed, but she only laughed louder.

“Prove it.”

He looked at the castle and swallowed hard as he slowly started across the bridge. As he shakily continued, Rainbow followed with an amused grin on her face. Zephyr glanced back at her, bravado clashing with his fear of the rickety planks.

“Told you nothing can stop this Breeze from moving.” She shook her head and punched him in the arm.

“Guess I was wrong about you, Zeph.” Rainbow gestured up to the castle and smirked. “Now then, let’s go exploring.”

“W-w-what?” stammered Zephyr as he rubbed his arm. “You want to do what?”

“Explore the castle,” Rainbow chuckled. She then smiled at Zephyr. “You said Nightmare Moon is there. Might as well see if the rumors are true.”

“You can’t be serious, Rainbow!”

Rainbow nodded sternly, wearing her victorious smirk on her sleeve. “You bet I am.”

“But what if the rumors were real and we really do see Nightmare Moon?”

Rainbow laughed and smiled at him. “Well, then that makes it about 20% cooler, doesn’t it?”

Zephyr chuckled in disbelief and gave her a nervous smile. “Okay, yeah, cool. Lead the way there, Rainbow.”
***
As the two approached the door, Rainbow’s pace slowed. The voice from before called out again, a bit louder and more clear.

No, Rainbow….don’t enter there…..not yet…...not without the others.

“What?” she muttered. “Who is that?”

“You okay there, Rainbow?” asked Zephyr as he looked at her with a concerned look.

Rainbow only shrugged. "Its nothing. I thought I heard somone say something."

"Oh." spoke Zephyr softly. "Okay."

She shook her head and started wandering over to the castle. The front entrance had been blocked by the collapse of the archway, so she moved around to the side wall for another way in. Soon enough she saw a window just above them. Zephyr followed her eyes and saw it as well. He then bent down and locked his fingers together.

“Here,” he said. Rainbow looked at him in confusion. “I can boost you up and you can look through the window.”

Rainbow nodded and and put a foot on his hands. Zephyr lifted her up towards the window, and she tried her best to look through the muddled glass. She was looking into the throne room of the castle, but something was amiss. In one of the two thrones sat a tall figure, obscured by the dark.

Rainbow's eyes widened in shock at what she saw. "I see someone sitting on one of the thrones."

“What do you see?’” asked Zephyr.

The clouds above parted, giving her light in the pitch black room. She saw a woman wearing a long dark purple dress, her hair waving about in an intangible breeze. Surrounding the woman’s body was a subtle and dark aura of blue. The woman was sitting back in the seat of the throne. She could hear her speaking, and she leaned closer to make out what was being said.

“After 1,000 years, she’ll finally pay for what she’s done,” the woman laughed, almost maniacally. "I will show Celestia is truly the most powerful one."

“Do you see anything? Rainbow?” asked Zephyr impatiently.

“They’ll know the horrors of the night when their precious sun never rises.”

“It’s… it’s her...” mumbled Rainbow as she trying to listen to what more the woman was saying.

"My sister shall pay for what she has done to me."

“Her? Who are you talking about?” Zephyr asked again raising the volume of his voice as he was getting more and more impairment.

”They’ll know who is the true ruler of Equestria. And they shall see what happens to those who cross the Nightmare!”

“I can’t believe what I’m actually seeing.”

“What are you seeing?!”

Rainbow looked down and glared at Zephyr, then silently sneered, “Zephyr, put a sock in it!”

She turned back, but shouted in surprise when her eyes made contact with two purple cat-eyes. Rainbow lost her balance, and Zephyr did his best to catch her. They landed in a messy pile, but she scrambled to her feet.

“Ugh. You okay, Rainbow?”

“Yeah,” she grunted, rubbing her head.

“What did you see?”

Her head perked up, and she grabbed his arm before bolting to the bridge. “I saw her!”

“Saw who?” he asked, struggling to keep up with her.

“Nightmare Moon!” remarked Rainbow in disbelief.

“Hold on,” replied Zephyr as he pulled his arm away and slowed down. “You actually saw Nightmare Moon?”

“Yes!” Rainbow shouted, annoyance creeping in. “She looks just like all the pictures from when I was little! But I thought it was all just some stupid fairytale, o-or just a dumb legend!”

"Seriously?" his voice cracked as Zephyr began to panic. "Aw man. Those rumors really where true."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Yeah they really are true. Your aren't going to believe what I heard too."

He seemed to be just as perplexed. “What happened?”

“She was talking about revenge or something.” explained Rainbow she then added, "She kept on talking about showing Equestria the true power that the night can cause."

“Revenge on who? Princess Celestia?”

“I guess… she’s the one who put her away, right?” Rainbow weakly asked. She couldn’t wrap her head around seeing the evil from countless tales she’d dismissed. "I just can't believe what I just saw."

“That’s some crazy stuff there, Rainbow.” sighed Zephyr. "What else was she talking about?"

"Talking about how she wanted to make Equestria pay for her banishment. She wanted to get rid of the sun and have only night."

"Wait....she wants to get rid of the sun."

"Yeah. She wants to make Celestia pay for what she did to her."

"You sure you heard all that, Rainbow?"

"Yeah Zeph. I'm sure."She nodded as she began to pace around before stopping suddenly. “You believe me, right?”

His eyes wandered away for a moment. “Well…”

“Zephyr!” she shouted.

“It sounds crazy, Dash!” he said in defense. “After 1,000 years she just shows up at her old home?” Before Rainbow could let loose on him, he held a hand up. “But… I know you wouldn’t joke about something like this… so… I guess I believe you.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks. Come on, we gotta tell someone.”

“Yeah, I know,” Zephyr said hesitantly. “But who’s gonna believe Nightmare Moon just magically appeared back in Equestria?”

Rainbow’s eyes lit up when she thought about his question. “I know just the bookworm.”

“Who?”

“You’ll see.”
***
Zephyr kept silent as Rainbow assaulted the door with knocking, since they’d arrived just seconds ago. She waited several moments, but nobody answered the door, so she knocked even more frantically. Impatience had gotten the better as she was beginning to tap her foot. Just before she could knock on the door again, she stopped when the door opened to Twilight.

“Hey,” greeted Rainbow as she gave Twilight a smile. “Are you busy?”

“He-” Twilight began, but was cut off as Rainbow rushed into her house. Zephyr awkwardly followed suit. She closed the door slowly and followed them into her living room.

“Listen, Twilight, I got something big to tell you,” Rainbow anxiously said.

Twilight only looked on in confusion. “Uhh… why do you have to tell me?”

“Just remember, you have to believe me when I tell you this.”

Twilight had only giggled at Rainbow’s comment. “I’m not one to talk about asking people to believe me when I tell them crazy things.”

“Okay, cool. Just listen.”

“Um… okay.”

Rainbow sat beside her on the couch while Zephyr chose to stand. “Twilight, after school Zephyr and I went into the Everfree Forest.”

“We went to see the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Zephyr added, giving small glances to Rainbow.

“You mean the old castle in the Everfree Forest?” questioned Twilight in shock.

“Okay, so you know about the old castle.” Rainbow dismissively said. “But that isn’t the important part.”

“What is?”

Doubt crept up in her mind, but Rainbow shot out of her seat and exclaimed, “Nightmare Moon!”

Twilight’s eyes had widened. “Wha… what?”

“She said that she was going to ‘make her pay’ and ‘they’ll see the night’ or something,” said Rainbow. “She might be talking about revenge on Celestia!”

The studious girl took a second to gather her thoughts before she stood up from the couch. “Zephyr, can you do me a favor and get your sister for me?”

“Why do you need my sis?” Zephyr questioned suspiciously.

“Just get her for me,” said Twilight.

Zephyr peered over to Rainbow, who nodded resolutely. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

“Rainbow and I will get the others. It's time that the rest of us try reading the book.”

Zephyr nodded and ran out the door and started back towards his house while Twilight and Rainbow went the other way. As they exited the house, Rainbow looked up to see the moon. She noticed the night sky was absent of any stars, and as she looked at the moon she realized the imprint of a face was gone.

“So… she’s really back isn’t she,” Rainbow murmured in disbelief.

“It looks like it,” Twilight quietly said, as she too was looking up at the sky. “What happened to the stars?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with Nightmare Moon.”

“Yeah,” replied Twilight. “It probably does.”

“Come on,” said Rainbow as she waved at Twilight. “We gotta get the others.”

“Right,” she replied. “After we’re together, we’re heading for that castle.”

“Why?” asked Rainbow.

“There’s something in that castle that we need.”

Chapter 14

As the cold wind howled in the forest, Fluttershy shivered and pulled her arms close to her body. She looked to Twilight for some sort of comment on why they were out there. Twilight looked around and saw the questioning looks of her friends.

“So as Rainbow was saying,” Twilight said as she tried explaining, “we have to go into the Everfree Forest.”

“You want us to do what?!” exclaimed Fluttershy as she moved her arms close to her chest. She felt her heartbeat go faster and faster. “W-We can’t go in the th-there! There are monsters!”

“Come on, Fluttershy.” Rainbow said, pushing her forward to keep up. “Those are all just stories. It’s just a creepy forest.”

“It doesn’t matter!” said Fluttershy in hushed tone as she dug in her heals in protest. “Why would you want to go in the forest during night?!”

“Well, we don’t have time to wait until morning,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “Besides, I got something to show you.”

“W-w-what is it?” stammered the meek girl.

Rainbow grinned as she shrugged. “I mean, you have to come if you wanna see it.”

“C’mon, we wanna know! Pleeeeease?” asked Pinkie as she tugged on Rainbow’s shirt.

“And what were you doing with my brother?” Fluttershy questioned, her voice jumping in volume. She put a hand over her mouth and awkwardly cleared her throat. “Um… n-not that it matters.”

“It could,” added Rarity as she raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. “Why were you in the forest with Zephyr Breeze?”

"It doesn't matter why I went with Zephyr." glared Rainbow. "All it matters that I have something super cool and awesome that I need to show you girls."

“When you put in that way, it does sound rather odd,” remarked Twilight as she quietly mumbled to herself.

“So um… Rainbow…” said Fluttershy softly. “Why were you in the forest with my brother?”

“‘Cause Zephyr said there was something cool in the Everfree,” she answered with a shrug. She then shot a look at Fluttershy. "Why does it matter?"

“Well, why did you agree to go with him?” Rarity asked, leaning closer with a smirk Rainbow had seen countless times. "Last time I checked, you couldn't stand the boy. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"B-because...." Rainbow muttered as rosy blush appeared on Rainbow’s face as she glared at her friends in response. She sighed as she tried her best to gather her thoughts. She cleared her throat and began to speak more clearly, “That doesn’t matter. What we saw in there was the most awesome thing ever.”

“Well what did ya see?” asked Applejack.

Rainbow went to reply, but quickly shut her mouth and thought over her words. She laughed awkwardly to herself, then stopped as she gave her friends a hesitant smile. “Okay, you gotta promise me that after I tell you this, you’ll believe me.”

“Of course we’ll believe you, Rainbow,” Rarity assured her.

“Come on, Dashie,” Pinkie impatiently groaned. “Just spill the beans already!”

Rainbow nodded and took a deep breath. “We went to this castle in the forest. It’s pretty far from the entrance. There’s a bridge that takes you there.”

“I know that castle!” exclaimed Pinkie as her eyes widened in response, “Isn’t that the castle where Luna and Celestia lived?”

"That castle is real?" asked Applejack. "Ah thought it was some sort of old legend."

"No," nodded Rainbow. "Its real. Yesterday, I went there and saw everything."

“You’re talking about the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight slowly said. “You went there?” Rainbow nodded proudly.

“Wasn’t it also the castle where the Princess’ fought each other, too?” the farmgirl questioned. "Ya know, where Celestia banished her sister to the moon for all of eternity?"

“It was when Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon,” Twilight informed her. "When Luna let all that hate and jealousy transform herself into a monster."

Rarity cleared her throat to get their attention. “How is this relevant to what you saw, Rainbow?”

“Well,” was all she could say before staying silent. She couldn’t think of anything that might compare to what she’d seen. Moments passed and she finally replied, “Zeph and I saw something in there.”

“In the castle?” asked Applejack. Her friend nodded once again. “Well are ya gonna tell us what it was?”

With another calming breath, Rainbow found the words she needed. “We saw… Nightmare Moon.”

“What?” shouted their group, minus Twilight. Rarity recovered first and gave a halfhearted laugh. “Rainbow,

“It's not a legend. I saw Nightmare Moon with my own two eyes!” responded Rainbow, glaring at her friends. “I could hear her talking to herself!”

“Relax, Rainbow. It’s just pretty far-fetched. Ah believe ya,” Applejack said as she tipped her hat, “What did Nightmare Moon say?”

Rainbow, knowing someone believed her, relaxed a bit. “She… she said she would finally have her revenge.”

“Who would she want revenge on?” Pinkie questioned aloud. The other five stared at her for a moment with deadpans, and soon she remembered. “Ohhhhhhhhhh, poop.

“But Princess Celestia can handle her, can’t she?” Rarity questioned, her usual mannerisms fading at the question. "She's the princess of the Sun, surely she should be able to win a battle like that."

None of them could give a resolute answer. Twilight was the first to respond to Rarity's question, “Without the power of the Elements, she can’t seal her away. And they don’t even work anymore,” she said as she pointed the book. She then began to read the text, "It says that after the fight between the two sisters, the Elements of Harmony turned into stone and Princess Celestia stored them deep in the castle for a thousand years."

“So… what happens now?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean… if the princess can’t beat her then… what do we do?”

Rarity hugged her and sighed. “We’re out here because it’s up to us to stop her. Right, Twilight?"

Twilight suddenly said, turning the heads of her friends. “A lot of strange things have been happening to us, and now with Nightmare, we have to stick together. I might know a way to stop her, but I need you all to help me.” She tugged at her skirt and waited for a response. “I know this sounds crazy,” she began, less determined than before, “But I want to find some answers… and the only way I think I’ll get them is if we face this. You don’t have to come… this all sounds crazy… but I could really use a few friends right about now.”

A gasp escaped her as Applejack slung an arm around her and smiled. Rarity and Fluttershy nodded to one another before giving Twilight their most comforting smiles. Pinkie pulled them all into a hug as she squealed.

“Of course, Twilight!” the ecstatic teen laughed. “We’re not gonna leave you out here alone!”

“What kind of friends would we be?” Rarity added, stepping away from a puddle of mud. “We could never leave you in this filthy place.”

“We’re here fer ya no matter what,” Applejack told her, knocking on her head. “Don’t forget that, now.”

Rainbow’s smile faded as she realized the moon was higher in the sky. “Why are we just standing here? Come on, we’ve got a castle to see!” She dashed off into the forest, laughing as she left their sight.

Applejack ran after her, shouting, “We can’t get there if we can’t see ya!”

Pinkie laughed too as she skipped into the forest. “Wait up for us, girls.” she giggled as she happily skipped along.

Fluttershy and Rarity laughed too as they too went after their friends. Twilight stayed behind the girls as she opened the book she was holding.

“It said in the throne room… we have to find the Elements.” Twilight then closed her book and ran up to the other girls.

I just hope this works.

“Don’t worry, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna’s voice said. “I am sure they will know who they are when the time comes.”

“Good,” Twilight whispered as she started running into the forest. "I'm starting to worry."

“You have nothing to fear Twilight. I am quite sure your friends are ready to face what is to come.”

“If you say so, Princess,” sighed Twilight.

“Believe in them. You’re all capable of what’s to come.”

“Twilight, dear,” Rarity called as she gave Twilight a confused look. “Did you say something?”

She shook her head softly and smiled. “Nothing at all.”
***
The girls stared at the castle with their dropped jaws, frozen in both fear and awe. Rainbow ignored their looks as she crossed the bridge before whistling to them. She gave them a smug grin as she waved to them.

“Come on, girls,” Rainbow shouted as she turned her back to them. “Nightmare Moon isn’t gonna be there forever!”

As the other girls went across the bridge, Fluttershy didn’t dare move a muscle. She looked at the bridge with a petrified look on her face as she watched her friend’s cross. Rainbow glanced back and saw Fluttershy standing back while the others walked to the other side.

“Fluttershy,” she called, snapping her out of her trance. “Are you coming?”

The teen gulped softly and cautiously stretched her foot out to touch one of the planks. The moment it creaked, she jumped back. “I-It… the bridge doesn’t look s-safe!” she called back in a soft voice. “I think I’ll just… stay here!”

Applejack made her way back across to comfort her. “Come on, Fluttershy,” said Applejack as she gave her friend a warm smile. “Ya got nothing to worry about, sugarcube.”

"You girls have fun at that super scary castle." she mumbled as she pulled her arms close to her chest. "I'll be here if you need me."

"Nonsense Fluttershy. We ain't leaving ya behind. Ya have nothing to fear, just believe me Fluttershy."

“A-Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Applejack declared, not an ounce of hesitation. "Would Ah lie to ya?"

"No of course Applejack. You wouldn't." she muttered as she sighed loudly. She looked back over to her friends, and they all waited with smiles. “Okay,” she sighed. As she put a foot onto the bridge, the board creaked again. “A-Actually… I think....um...its best that....I stay here."

Rainbow sighed as she made her way back across the bridge. She didn't say anything as she grabbed the shy girl’s hand and guided her across the bridge. Fluttershy dug her heals into the ground in protest, but Rainbow didn’t stop dragging her and muttering to herself. Fluttershy had closed her eyes and was muttering to herself now. Once they reached the other side of the bridge, Rainbow turned to her passenger and smiled.

“There. Wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I guess so,” mumbled Fluttershy, opening her eyes. “Um… thanks for helping me across the bridge, Rainbow.”

“No problem,” she chuckled. “It just like when we were in Cloudsdale Elementary.” She could see the tip of the castle already, and she turned back to Fluttershy. “So are you ready to go into the castle now?”

Fluttershy’s eyes darted to the castle and back to Rainbow. She gave a deep breath and a nervous smile. “Yeah….I guess I am.”
***
They’d finally made it to the castle. This time, Rainbow led them over the rubble of the entrance. They found themselves in an enormous hall, leading down to a set of turns into the castle’s various wings. Twilight followed the dusty and marred red carpet deeper into the building. They could see ancient paintings and sculptures, and even a few armor decorations standing in the halls. Almost like the guards in Canterlot. Wind blew into the structure through holes and damaged parts of stone. The battle that had taken place so long ago made itself prevalent.

Soon enough, they entered another large chamber. Across was a set of thrones, one with a sun above and the other with a crescent moon. Between them and the throne was a table with an intricate device. On the arms of said device held six stones with various designs. Each of the girls made their way towards the table suddenly, as if they were being called to it. As they were about to grab the stones, a voice began to shoot through their minds. They gripped their heads in pain and shouted out at the sudden mental assault.. The shouting soon stopped, but what replaced it chilled them. It was soft laughter, as if amused. They looked up and saw a woman dressed in a regal purple and black dress.

“This is what my sister sends to welcome me home?” the woman laughed. “I suppose these are the so called Elements of Harmony?”

"Oh shoot." mumbled Pinkie as she looked down on the ground. "I didn't know that we were suppose to throw her a welcome back party."

The woman had laughed again. "This is what my sister thinks can defeat me?" She then stopped her laughing and rose from her seat, "Whatever trap my sister sends my way, I will get rid of."

Twilight’s eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe it… Nightmare Moon was back. The Elements didn’t work, and the corrupt princess knew that they needed them to face her.

“Okay, Rainbow,” Applejack whispered in fear. “Ya proved yer point. Ah think it's best we leave now.”

“Leave?” mocked Nightmare Moon as she gave the girls a warm smile. “It’s rude for guests to leave after they arrive.”

“Well, I’m sure we could all live with it,” Rarity hurriedly said, helping a quivering Fluttershy to her feet.

"Nonsene." laughed Nightmare Moon. With a wave of her arms the girls now stood frozen in fear. "Please, make yourself at home." The woman began to laugh again, "I hope you find yourself comfortable, because you are going to stay here forever."

"I doubt that." shouted Rainbow as she glared at the figure. "We only went here to get something and leave."

Nightmare Moon laughed. “So I’m assuming my sister sent you to retrieve these,” she said as she gestured to the ancient stones. "It wouldn't do you much to take these stones. It appears that they lost their power."

“Why would we be sent by your sister?” asked Rainbow as she glared at the woman. She then declared, “I’m not scared of you.”

“Well aren’t you a brave one.” she teased, “Well, let’s see how brave you are in the face of your fears.”

“What do you mean?”

“It won’t matter to you,” shouted Nightmare Moon as her eyes began to glow. “I won’t be stopped by a group of jesters. Your fears will keep you here while I visit my lovely sister.”

“F-F-Fears?” quivered Fluttershy.

As Nightmare Moon’s eyes began to glow, the girls soon fell down to the ground. Each girl had tired their hardest to keep their eyes from closing. One by one, their eyes closed and they went off into a deep slumber.

“Without the Elements, nobody can stop me. Not the guard… or Celestia,” laughed Nightmare Moon. “Equestria will bathe in my moonlight. Forever!”

"I'm sorry Princess Luna. Please, I hope that you can forgive me." muttered Twilight as her eyes grew heavier and heavier. "I've failed you. I failed you both and I'm sorry." Twilight's eyes then closed as she was now the last to fall asleep.

"I hope that Canterlot hasn't changed much since my last visit." laughed Nightmare Moon as she smiled at the girls that were asleep in front of her. "I owe my swear darling of a sister, Celestia a visit. A one thousand year late visit."

”This is the final test. Break free from the nightmares. You all can. You must.”

Each one of the girls began to toss and turn as a voice began to laugh in their heads. The dreamy illusion faded, and they could finally hear the voice clearly.

“Chaos goes a long way to shrouding the truth,” it laughed softly. “

Chapter 16

"This is more boring then I thought." laughed Nightmare Moon as she was pinning Celestia against the wall with her magic. She gave an annoyed sigh and soon added , “What’s wrong, sister? Why aren't you fighting me?"

Celestia managed to lift her head and glared into her eyes. “I won’t… fight you.”

“You're 1,000 years too late to show sympathy.”

“This isn’t the real you that’s talking, Luna. Its some impostor and you can fight this! I know you can!”

“I seem to remember this talk,” Nightmare snickered, slowly getting closer. “Oh yes, this was the same talk you had before we fought and you banished me.”

“Which means I’ll say the same things before I am forced to fight you,” said Celestia. “However, I know that somewhere my sister is in there. I will not rest until she is free from you.”

Nightmare only snarled back in response as her eyes glowed white and she pushed Celestia against the wall again. “Where was this compassion when you banished me?” she sneered. "Where was this kindness you're just now showing me. Where was all of this when we first fought like this?"

“You were threatening to bring about eternal night!” Celestia shouted, returning the stern look she was given. “You threatened to enslave all of Equestria under eternal darkness. You forced my hand.”

“And what makes you so sure this isn’t as then?”

“Your banishment was meant to help you,” pleaded Celestia, her gaze softening as she sought reason. “It was to soothe your anger and give time for you to reflect.”

"You thought that all alone on the moon was supposed to make me less angry? Surely, you must be jesting. It did the complete opposite."

"It appears I was wrong after all." sighed Celestia in defeat.

Nightmare Moon laughed, almost pitying the goddess at her mercy. “You’re not wrong. You gave me 1,000 years to think of my actions that day.”

“Have you?” Celestia questioned, raising an eyebrow to her response. “Your actions speak otherwise.”

“Oh yes,” nodded Nightmare Moon, “I realised that all of Equestria was foolish enough to worship such a pathetic excuse for a ruler.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes and before drooping her head in defeat. “You haven’t changed, have you?”

She grunted in pain as the hold on her tightened, almost crushing her body. “You expected 1,000 years of isolation to change me, did you?”

“I believed you would realize all of the destruction you caused was for nothing,” Celestia retorted. “That you would see our nation loves us equally!”

Nightmare Moon only scoffed at her comment. “I’m not the naive little sister anymore. I won’t fall for your lies, sister.”

“These aren’t lies, Luna. It’s the truth” Celestia pleaded, praying her words had some effect..

“Enough of this!” shouted Nightmare Moon. “Now you will know the pain you dealt me. Only this time, it will be eternal.”

"Eternal?" asked Celestia. "What do you mean by that?"

"You will soon know the pain that the isolation of my banishment you caused me." shouted Nightmare Moon. She then gave her sister a sly smile. "Its my turn to rule Equestria now."

Celestia lowered her head once more, mustering one last plea. “Sister… I know this isn’t you. I know deep down you're still there.”

“You waste your breath!” shouted Nightmare, her eyes lighting up as she prepared her spell. "I told you before. Luna no more. Now, only the nightmare remains."

“...I wasn’t the sister you needed… but remember this-”

“Silence!”

“I forgave you then… and I forgive you now.”

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Nightmare roared, her magic turning black as her spell changed.

Before she could unleash her spell, the throne room doors opened with a booming thud. An annoyed sigh left Nightmare when she recognized each face that entered.

“These children again? I thought I was done dealing with you six.” snarled Nightmare. “How did you escape your nightmares?!”

Celestia eyes widened in shock as she looked to the young woman leading the group of girls. “Twilight!” she called. “What are you doing here?”

“Sorry to interrupt, Nightmare Moon,” Twilight sarcastically announced, “but I’m pretty sure it's part of my civic duty to stop you from overthrowing your sister.”

Nightmare only smirked and gave the girls a round of applause. The girls watched her with a touch of confusion, and it only caused Nightmare to chuckle lightly. “Well consider me impressed. Most don’t make it past their own nightmares, you know.”

Her words caused the group to quiver a bit. She then added, “I tormented the people that defied me with their dreams. Some didn’t even remain sane,” Nightmare softly laughed, feasting on their horrified faces. Her smirk faded when the rainbow haired girl stepped forward brazenly.

“Gonna have to do better than that to scare me,” smirked Rainbow Dash. "Nothing you can do will make me afraid."

“Well, aren’t you the brave one,” scoffed Nightmare Moon as she crossed her arms. She looked to the only trembling girl and pointed a finger. “Your friend there isn’t so brave, now is she?”

“I-I-...umm…” whispered Fluttershy as she tried to stop the shudders.

“Hey!” shouted Pinkie as she pointed her finger at Pinkie Pie. “Don’t pick on Fluttershy like that, you bully!”

“Oh?” mocked Nightmare Moon. “And what might you do about it?”

“Defeat you,” stated Twilight boldly.

"Oh really?" laughed Nightmare Moon in response, “I would love to see this.”

“You listen here,” Applejack said as she moved to Twilight’s side. “Ah’m with you till the end on this, Twi.”

“As am I,” declared Rarity.

“Same here,” Rainbow said.

“Come on, girls, let’s show Nightmare Moon that the Elements of Harmony are back!” shouted Twilight.

“Yeah!” they all shouted in unison.

Nightmare grinned as she watched the girls reach into their shirt and pulled out necklaces. Her composure faltered as they held hands, prompting the gems to glow. A surge of magic began to flow through their bodies as their eyes shone a bright white. From the gems six bright lights erupted, spiraling above them and forming a powerful rainbow before it came crashing down on the corrupt goddess. She cried out as she was pummeled by the ancient magic, her clouded mind being filled with the warmth her cold heart had forgotten. Soon, the rainbow enveloped her before flashing into white. Once the magic had left them, the girls collapsed almost immediately from exhaustion.

A new figure rose from the ground, her hair a twinkling dark blue like the night sky in an ethereal wind. She glanced down at her midnight blue dress, the shattered armor of the Nightmare at her feet. There was nothing but shock as she looked around the familiar but different throne room, and gasped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to Celestia with fear, but upon seeing the warmth in her eyes her own started to well up with tears..

“Sis...Sister?” the woman weakly asked.

“Welcome back, Luna,” Celestia sniffled, pulling her younger sister into a tight hug.

Luna tightened her arms around her sister as tears fell from her eyes. “I missed you so much,” she whispered, gritting her teeth. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” chuckled Celestia. “I’m just glad to have you back.”

“Oh my,” mumbled Rarity, watching the sisters hug each other. “We reunited the Princesses.”

“This day just got a whole lot cooler,” smiled Rainbow Dash.

“I know!” sobbed Pinkie as she started to cry hysterically. “I’m so happy!”

The two sisters broke away from their hug as Celestia turned to the winded group her student had gathered. She offered a hand to her student and helped her back onto her feet and into another embrace.

“My faithful student,” smiled Celestia. “I must say I’m impressed with your progress.”

Twilight blinked in shock at her words. “R-really?”

“Yes,” nodded Celestia. “Not only did you find friendship, but the magic to awaken the Elements… and return Luna back to normal.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Twilight nervously laughed, rubbing her head.

“I can only imagine, my prized student,” smiled the Princess. “But no matter how old you were or how difficult my tasks were, you never ceased to impress.”

Tears of joy formed in her eyes as she hugged her teacher. “Thank you, princess.”

“However, I must know. How did you know where the Elements of Harmony were?”

“Oh, umm,” said Twilight as she gave Princess Celestia a sheepish smile. “Well I kinda used an old history book to find them.”

“And know that your friends represented each Element? I very impressed, Twilight.”

“So then… I passed?”

“With flying colors, Twilight.” she smiled. Celestia's smiled soon faded as she gave her student a more somber look. “Since your friends were able to find the Elements of Harmony, it's time that I tell you six something important.”

“What is it, Princess?”

"As you can tell, you six are now the new wielders of the Elements of Harmony. That task means you a required to defend Equestria." explained Celestia. "These defeat of Nightmare Moon isn't the only threat you six face. There is a new one that you all will soon face."

"What is it?"

As Princess Celestia was about to open her mouth, everything around Twilight froze. Twilight’s eyes widened as she heard laughing, but no matter where she looked she couldn’t find where it was coming from. Twilight jumped in surprise as a hand touched her shoulder.

She looked and saw a man with white hair parted by a streak of black. He wore a brown suit with mismatched sleeves and pants, and a crumbled top hat.

“It appears you have a habit of ruining my plans no matter where we go,” the man laughed. “I misunderstood you, Twilight.”

“Your voice,” murmured Twilight. “I remember… the dreams.”

“Oh?” the man chuckled with a wink. “I didn’t know you had dreams about me.”

Twilight shrugged his comment off and narrowed her eyes. “Discord.”

“Front and center,” Discord said with a bow. He then laughed and offered Twilight a smile. “It took even you long enough to figure everything out. Still however, you did figure out everything just in time to ruin the little gift I had left you."

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight in an annoyed tone. "I'm sick of these games, just answer my questions now."

Discord ignored her comment and added, “I thought, ‘the great Twilight Sparkle’ was so intelligent,” Discord chimed in laughter. “Well then again, you did find the Elements of Harmony all by yourself. So there’s that.”

Twilight didn’t let her guard down to his rambling. “Why are you here?”

Discord only laughed harder in response. “What’s the point of making sense now?”

She was taken back by his peculiar answer. “What?”

“I am the God of Chaos and Disharmony,” smiled Discord. “Causing all this conflict is something I take pride in doing.”

“I’ll find out what you’re doing and why you’re doing all of this,” declared Twilight as she glared at Discord.

"Good luck trying to figure out this sea of chaos I created." smiled Discord.

"I'll make sure that I'll solve this." declared Twilight as she glared harder at Discord.

"If looks good kill." laughed Discord as he faked being wounded. “Well until then,” sang Discord as everything around Twilight began to disappear, “I’ll be seeing you, Twilight Sparkle.”
***
Twilight’s eyes darted open as she shot up. She looked around and saw her friends watching her with concerned expressions.

“Twilight,” Applejack said, greeting her with a soft smile. “You all right there, sugarcube?”

“Yeah,” she sighed as she got up. She looked out the window, noticing the land passing by. “Where am I?”

“A train to Ponyville,” replied Rarity. “After we freed Luna, you passed out.”

“Ya gave us all a mighty scare,” added Applejack.

“After you passed out, Princess Celestia wanted to talk with us,” Fluttershy explained.

“What did the Princess say?”

“The Princess told us that it might have been something with the thingy she was going to talk to you about,” Pinkie said with a shrug.

“She said she knows what’s up with our weird dreams. She said it was something about the return of this guy Discord,” shrugged Rainbow. “Whatever. If it's anything like Nightmare Moon, then bring it on!”

“Well, when you pass out you have some pretty weird dreams,” pointed out Rainbow as she leaned against the wall next to Twilight. “So, have any weird dreams lately?”

“You know that guy that’s been in all of our dreams? Discord?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I saw him.”

“You saw him too?!” spoke Fluttershy in an usually louder voice. The girls all looked in shock and Fluttershy hid herself behind her hair once more, letting out a soft whimper at their focused attention.

“So you met him?” Pinkie questioned, leaning onto Twilight’s legs. “That sounds super scary!”

“I bet he looked like some creep,” Rainbow scoffed. “What kinda guy talks to girls in their dreams?”

“Well, I wasn’t the only one that’s seen him, apparently,” Twilight reminded them, turning back to Fluttershy.

Rarity came closer to her and held her hand. “So you saw him as well?” she asked. Fluttershy nodded softly and gulped. “Did he touch you? If he laid ONE evil hand on you-!”

“He didn’t,” Fluttershy quickly said, recoiling when she realized what she did. “He… he told me… not to believe anything you all say.”

“That’s weird,” said Applejack. “Why would he say that?”

“He said that we’re friends…. but I don’t remember meeting him before then,” said Fluttershy.

“So what do we do now?” asked Rainbow. “I mean, about Discord.”

“I guess… we just wait for him,” Twilight murmured, realizing the flaw to her promise.

“Well, how long do we have before we all meet him?” asked Rarity.

“I… I don’t know,” mumbled Twilight, thinking of any sort of leads. “I wouldn’t even know where to start. We’re just gonna have to wait for him… unless I can find some sort of history book with him in it. If a book like that exists.”

“So all we can do is wait for ‘im to try and take down Equestria?” Applejack questioned. Sadly, all Twilight could offer her was a nod.

“Until then, I guess we have try to live things normally.”

“Well, alright then,” Rarity said, just as clueless as the others. "I guess that's one way to deal with all of this."

"Its going to be the way we have to deal with this." said Twilight. "I don't know how else we could deal with it."

Soon silence filled with room with no girl daring to talk. Moments passed and Pinkie was the first to break the silence. Pinkie's voice wasn't filled with life. This time it was soft and spoken in a much more serious tone.

“If we have to face Discord, I don’t want him going inside my head,” said Pinkie in an unusually somber tone.

Twilight looked at her friend with a concerned look and noticed that her hair was now straight and her eyes were dull blue. She wasn't her usual happy self, and that caused great concern to Twilight.

“Ah second that,” Applejack chimed in. “Nightmare Moon going inside all our heads like that was a little too much.”

“Yeah,” agreed Rainbow Dash. “It all felt like it was really happening.”

“I agree with that,” added in Rarity. “It was all too real. It felt like it actually happened.”

“It didn't really happen,” said Twilight, trying to give the two girls a reassuring smile. “It was just a trick she was using to scare us.”

"It felt too real to be just a trick." mumbled Pinkie.

"It was just a trick Pinkie, trust me. We would never do that to you ever. Believe me."

However, Pinkie didn't do her usual smile or laugh. Instead she looked at Twilight dead in the eye with a serious look on her face. “The way she made me feel reminded when I used to live on the Rock Farm. I don’t wanna feel like that ever again.”

“You won’t have to,” assured Twilight. “We’re your friends, Pinkie. We’ll never leave you like that.”

Pinkie didn't respond as she rose from her seat. She then exited the room, leaving her friends to worry about her reaction. Silence yet again filled the room once more. Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence.

“I guess Nightmare really struck a nerve, huh?” remarked Rainbow.

“Having a nightmare where you feel like all your friends betrayed you… would, um, normally do a number on you,” mumbled Fluttershy, her voice getting lower and lower.

“That’s understandable,” sighed Rarity. “Given what’s happened recently.”

Rainbow then yawned and stretched her arms. “Let’s talk to her when she calms down. I’m gonna hit the hay. Fighting an evil version of Princess Luna tired me out.”

“I think that’s best,” agreed Rarity. She then gave Twilight a smile. “Goodnight, Twilight. Hope you don’t have any strange dreams.”

“I hope so too,” mumbled in Twilight as she started to look out of the window of the train.

Little by little everything is starting to make sense. So that’s a good sign. I guess.

Chapter 17

Ever since that fateful day in the Everfree Forest, the days seemed to go by in a blur. Everyday after school, Twilight would try her best to find out more information about who and what Discord is. Everyday would end the same way. Hours of digging through the library, coming up empty, and wondering if there really was any information about him. The only thing her books would tell her was his title and what he looked like.

“There has to be more about him,” Twilight murmured as she dug into yet another tome. “I just know it.”

Like the last dozen books she found nothing but a mentioning and his title. She glanced to a book beside her depicting what was said to be him. A mess of a being with parts of mythological creatures and animals.

“The only thing these books are telling me about Discord is his appearance.” murmured Twilight as she went through the pages of the book. She gave a sigh of frustration as she closed the book and grabbed another one and began reading through that one.

“Discord. God of Chaos and Disharmony,” she repeated to herself, sitting back against a tower of books. She sighed as she looked at the clock that hung on the wall. “That’s all the books are telling me about him. I need to find more.”

“Twilight, darling. What are you doing with all of these books?” called Rarity, entering with the others. They made their way through the towers of various tomes to where Twilight was.

“Ah think yer letting this Discord thing consume you there, Twi,” Applejack said. Behind her, Rainbow gasped as she bumped into a stack and grabbed the pile before it could fall over.

“Yeah,” Rainbow nervously laughed. She did a quick glance at Twilight and the amount of books that surrounded her. “You look like you’re in egghead paradise.”

Twilight shook her head in response as she stood up from the library floor. “Well, where else do you get information from?”

The girls all shrugged. “Did ya try asking the Princess?” asked Applejack.

“What do you mean?”

“Ah mean, she should be able to help ya find something on him, right?”

Twilight facepalmed and groaned loudly. “Of course, that sounds fairly obvious now, doesn't it?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow chuckled. “Don’t you write letters to her or something like that?”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as she looked at her friend. “How did you know that?”

Her friends didn’t respond back. They just stood like frozen statues standing perfectly still. Their brightly colored features were no more and completely dull and absent of color, almost like a shell. Twilight waved her hand infront of her friends’ eyes trying to get a reaction. Moments passed and the girls stood frozen still like a perfect stone statues.

“Guys?” Twilight hesitantly called. None of them made any movements. The color around her began to drain. “Guys! Snap out of it!” She tried shaking Applejack, but she held firm… like a statue.

I’m going crazy… I really must be losing it.

“No, Twilight,” a soothing voice whispered. “Far from it.”

“That voice,” mumbled Twilight. “Why does it sound so familiar?”

Blinding light flashed behind her, and she turned to see but had to cover her eyes from the powerful rays. A woman dressed in white appeared, a golden tiara depicting the sun in her long flowing summer colored hair. She smiled down to her student, who was stood frozen in awe at the sight of her mentor.

“P-Princess!” Twilight managed to say. Never had she seen such a display. It was like she was… magical. After shaking from her stupor, she rushed to hug her. “I’m so glad to see you.”

Celestia held her close as she smiled. “It’s good to see you, too, Twilight,” she giggled softly.

“Princess, what are you doing here?”

Her radiant smile vanished almost immediately, and she took on a look of urgency. “I’m here to show you what you need to know.”

“And that is?”

Her eyes began to glow, and the world around them broke down. “The reason why you and your friends are in this world… and what you must learn if you wish to defeat Discord.”

“Discord?” asked Twilight, her eyes widening in shock. “What do you mean?”

“See for yourself.”

Before she could even blink, Twilight found herself standing in the middle of a destroyed Ponyville.The sky was a dull gray with pink clouds. There was rain, but it wasn’t water. Instead, chocolate milk poured down on them like any storm. She could see chunks of land floating upside down, some with houses or trees. From where they stood, she could see Canterlot… or what was left of it. A chunk of the great city was reduced to rubble, the iconic towers of the castle leaning over buildings in ruin.

“Where… where are we?” Twilight asked. She looked in every direction, but couldn’t seem to find anyone else.

“A world the God of Chaos has claimed as his own,” her mentor replied.

“What do you mean, ‘claimed as his own?’”

Celestia gestured to the side. Twilight turned to where she pointed and looked upon a statue untouched by the disorder around it. It even seemed to shine across its surface. It was a creature of many different animals thrown into one… just like Discord. The more she looked at it, the more she saw the similarities. It wasn’t just a depiction… he was laughing.

“The Discord I saw looked different from this one,” she remarked. Celestia walked closer to the statue, angered at it’s mocking presence.

“You saw the Discord of the world that you are in. What you are seeing is the Discord of the world you are from.”

“Is this like the dream I had with that pony Princess Luna?” Twilight questioned, rubbing her head in confusion.

Celestia shook her head. “I’m only showing an illusion. But don’t confuse what I’m showing you what I’m telling you,” she said firmly. “Many worlds exist, and you were sent to one. You are in a world where humans walk and talk, yet you are from a world where ponies walk and talk. Discord tricked you into leaving to make sure nobody would be able to stop him.”

“What? What do you mean? I’ve never met Discord before,” Twilight told her, still struggling to grasp what she was being told. “What are you talking about?”

Celestia conjured a bubble in her palm, showing her group of friends and Discord sitting together… at a picnic. “In this world Discord had us believing he was reformed and done with his evil ways. It was all a lie, and he had fooled all of us.”

Twilight examined the bubble, unable to remember a time when she had ever seen Discord. “And what happened to me?”

“When our guard was down, he managed to send you here, so that the Elements would never be able to use their magic against him,” she explained, the bubble showing her friends wielding their respective gems. But she wasn’t present. “By the time we discovered what he’d done, it was too late.”

Equestria was covered in his magic, spreading until it broke past the country's borders and over the world. Discord’s laughing came, the two all too familiar with his evil cackling.

“Why can’t you and Luna stop him? You did it before and I’m sure you could do it again.”

“We defeated him with the Elements, Twilight,” she reminded her, conjuring a copy of her tiara. “Without all six, they’re stones. And… Discord wasn’t as careless as before.”

Her eyes glowed brightly before they flashed. Once again their location changed. Only know, she could recognize where she was. The ruins of Canterlot Castle’s throne room, albeit with a chunk of the castle missing. Standing on either side of a now barren throne, were two horses, one bigger than the other. The larger of the two wore a crown with a sun, and the other with a crown for the moon. The symbols of the royal sisters:

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

“It was his revenge for what we’d punished him with,” she said softly, touching the cheek of Luna’s pony face. “Without us or you to guide the Elements, no one stood a chance against him. Which is why, Twilight, you are our only hope.”

She turned to Twilight, the fake tiara sitting itself on her head. “You want us to stop Discord?”

The princess nodded in response. “You six are the only ones left that can defeat him. It seems as though Discord was planning this attack for quite some time, but he didn’t count on you coming this far. His magic is failing with the Elements in your world active again. You’re breaking free from his chaos.”

“But are the Elements enough?” she asked. “How could he have gotten me here? How come I don’t remember being a pony.”

There was a flicker of grey in her eyes, like with her friends. Instead of freezing, she shook her head and made her eyes shine like before. “I’m losing my control… I’ve said too much,” she grunted, gripping her head in pain. She grabbed her student by the shoulders as she fought the pain. “Twilight, you must free your friends from the chaos. You all must break free and find Discord.”

“B’But how?! Princess, what’s-”

“We have to go. This is goodbye for now, Twilight.” Her hair dulled and she fell to her knees. “We’ll see you again, soon.”

In a flash, Princess Celestia disappeared and Twilight was back in her room. There was a knock at her door, but she kept still.

“Twilight!” Pinkie sang. ”We’re gonna be late for school, lazypants!”

She exhaled shakily and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “I’ll be down in a second!”

Twilight waited until Pinkie’s skipping went silent, then ran her hands through her hair and let out a long sigh. "Wait. What is Pinkie doing in my house?"

What in Tartarus is going on?

Pinkie began to knock on her door. “Your mom is super nice Twilight. Anyways you don't want to be late for the History test, do you?”

“Hold on Pinkie, I'm getting something.” spoke Twilight as she grabbed her bag on her bed.

Spike snored loudly, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked under her bed, finding him asleep with his bone. She carefully pulled him out and rested him on her lap, petting him softly. His ear twitched and he lifted his head up, his tail wagging as he nuzzled into her chest.

"Aren't you a little sleepyhead?" teased Twilight as she gave Spike a playful grin.

Spike jumped from her hands and playfully barked. This time when he barked, bright green flames were coming from his mouth.

“Dogs don’t breathe fire,” she mumbled to herself. Thinking about what the Princess had told her, one thing nagged at her. “So if I was a pony in that world… then what were you?”

Twilight sat in disbelief at what she just saw. She just stared at Spike who was wagging his tail eagerly.

“The only things I know that breathe fire are dragons,” she paused to gather her thoughts for a moment. “Spike, are you a dragon?”

He tilted his head and barked again, more flames coming out. Everything in this world was fueled by Discord’s magic… so what was the past month? The memories she had? Was there anything untouched by his magic?

“Twilight, come on we’re going to be late.” sang Pinkie's voice much more louder.

As Twilight’s hand reached the door knob, she looked down at Spike who playfully barked and wagged his tail.

“Something else that I have to figure out when I get back home.”

She turned the knob and as the door opened up, she was greeted by Pinkie’s playful grin. Pinkie grabbed her hand and the pair began to descend the stairs quickly.

Chapter 18

Twilight sat in the lunch room, staring at the Elements sitting in their book. She ran her thumb across the headpiece of her crown. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Applejack heading towards their table. She quickly shut the book and stuffed it into her bag as her friend reached her.

“Twilight, why do ya have the Elements with ya?” Applejack asked.

She smiled at her friend in response. “I need to make sure that if Discord ever attacks, we’ll be ready.”

“Yer letting this Discord thing get to ya, sugarcube,” she replied, shaking her head softly. “Why would Discord attack a school?”

“What’s the point of making sense?”

Celestia’s words echoed in her head. They weren’t free from the chaos. But what was it and how would she free them? “I guess… I might be overdoing it a bit,” Twilight stammered, setting her bag beneath the table. “ You're right AJ. I just have to relax, right?”

Applejack smiled reassuringly and winked. “That’s the spirit.”

Twilight decided not to go further and looked off into the distance. In the past couple of days, she’d been very careless. She would hide the Elements underneath her bed and not go anywhere near them. It was to the point where she gave up on trying to find more information on Discord. However, that didn’t keep her from at least keeping the gems with her. What Celestia had shown her only proved that he could pop up at any time, and that she would have to be ready.

And when he decided to pop up, he’d be sorry. She only wished her friends were as prepared as her.

Twilight was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the cafeteria chatter get louder suddenly. She shook her head free of her thoughts and looked up, watching Pinkie point across the room.

“Why can’t girls send the flower to the guys too?” asked Pinkie. She was gesturing to Ditzy Doo running from table to table delivering flowers. "It just doesn't seem fair that only the guys can send flowers to the girls."

“You could if you wanted too,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “I mean, nobody’s stopping you.”

Rarity squealed girlishly as she watched one of the jocks hand Bon Bon a flower. “There it is, girls. This years Flowers for Hearts,” she gushed dreamily, sighing as she closed her eyes. “I wonder who will be my Prince Charming?”

"Yer worse then my sister when she saw one of Winona's puppies." remarked Applejack.

“How are you gonna know who’s Prince Charming?” asked Pinkie as she raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I know everyone’s name in school and I don’t know anyone named Prince Charming.”

Rarity rolled her eyes with a grin. “It's a figure of speech, darling.”

“Well ah can’t believe that yer looking forward to this nonsense,” Applejack huffed, crossing her arms.

“Oh, come on, AJ. Lighten up a bit,” smirked Rainbow Dash. “Let Rarity get all dreamy about her knight in shining armor.”

The farmgirl shot a suspicious glare at her rival athlete. “Why are ya taking Rarity's side, Rainbow?”

A blush had appeared on Rainbow’s face. She tried her best to hide it, but her friends already saw it. “I-I’m not… it’s just… you know, um… I just want Rarity to enjoy the Flowers for Hearts!” She put up the most genuine smile she could, whilst the entire table stared her down. "It's not like a I want a flower or something."

Pinkie finally broke out laughing, scooting around the table to hug her. “I doubt that, Dashie!” she giggled, wiggling her eyebrows. “Someone wants a flowerrrrr!”

Shooting Pinkie a fiercely embarrassed look of anger, Rainbow pulled herself away and crossed her arms. “Well I know who Pinkie wants to get a flower from.”

PInkie’s grin dropped and turned into a frown. “That’s not fair!”

Rarity shook her head as Rainbow smirked triumphantly. “Well isn’t this wonderful,” Rarity chirped giddily. “Rainbow Dash isn’t a complete tomboy after all.”

Rainbow’s face got even redder as she stammered out, “S-shut up.”

“Aren’t you girls nervous at all about the Spring Fling coming up soon?” mumbled Fluttershy. “I mean, I would. An anonymous flower gets sent to you and a week later a… boy asks you out?” She took a long breath and held herself. “I mean, I would be terrified about it.”

“Fluttershy, darling,” said Rarity in a soft tone, “you don’t [i}have to go if you’d rather not. You could even ignore the flower if it helps you feel better.”

“But… wouldn’t that be rude? Just ignoring someone like that?”

“So don’t do that,” laughed Rainbow. “I mean it's as easy as it sounds, Fluttershy.”

“I guess so….” mumbled Fluttershy, moving her hair out of her face. “Still, it doesn’t make you girls paranoid at all that you have no idea who sent their flower?”

“Not at all,” Rarity stated, grinning deviously. “A little suspense can do wonders for effect.”

“I lose track of time like all the time,” Pinkie giggled softly.

“Frankly, ah don’t care if ah get one or if ah don’t.” added in Applejack.

Rainbow only shrugged. “I don’t really care about this stupid Spring Fling stuff.”

Fluttershy sighed and mumbled. "I guess I'm the only one then."

Ditzy smiled and waved to them as she approached the lunch table. She reached into her brown messenger bag and handed the six girls a flower for each of them. She then grabbed another flower and handed it to Rainbow.

“Rainbow Dash!” remarked Rarity. “You got two flowers?”

“Huh?” Ditzy handed her the flowers, and she simply shrugged and gave a nonchalant grin. “Guess I did. That’s pretty cool.”

Twilight looked down at her flower; a red rose symbolizing love and romance. Who could have given her this flower? As far as she knew, no guy in this school had ever caught her attention. She would find out eventually, but that didn’t stop her from trying to figure it out herself.

“You got two flowers Dashie?!” asked Pinkie with huge grin. “That’s so cool!”

Rainbow shrugged in response. “What can I say? Oh wait, maybe it’s because I’m just that awesome.”

Their entire table rolled their eyes in unison. “But seriously, Dashie. Who gave you the flowers?” Pinkie questioned.

“Eh, beats me,” smirked Rainbow.
***
When Twilight opened the door to her bedroom, she was greeted by the sight of a tall and skinny man sitting on her bed. He looked like he was homeless, with a ragged colorful shirt underneath a brown vest and slacks. She looked to his face, grimacing at the sight of his crooked smirk.

“Hello there, Twilight,” he chimed, smiling brightly at her.

Twilight’s bag had dropped down to the floor as her eyes widened in shock. She then blurted out, “What are you doing in my house?!”

“Visiting you in your dreams got a little creepy,” he shrugged. “So I decided it was time I meet you personally. You never fail to impress. You’ve gotten a lot farther than I thought you would.”

“Discord.” Twilight’s expression hardened, her legs slightly trembling as she realized who sat before her.

“God of Chaos? The one and only. So tell me, Twilight, do you know why I’m here?”

“You want to stop me from freeing my friends from your chaos,” Twilight evenly replied. “Well I’m here to tell you, that my friends and I are going to stop you.”

Discord started chuckling humorously as he rested one leg on the other. “Oh I’m going to enjoy watching you try,” he snickered. “Well, you're right about one thing. I’ve been meaning to pop in and ruin everything, but being God of Chaos means a busy schedule.”

“What are you doing in my room?” Twilight snapped, her eyes widening as he floated up to the ceiling.

“I just wanted to congratulate you on your victory against Nightmare Moon,” Discord said, feigning innocence. “So where was I again? Oh yes, now I remember. Congratulations!”

Twilight glared at the smirking man. “Are you sure that’s all you want?”

Discord snickered in response. “Oh, my dear Twilight. This is only the beginning.”

“Beginning? Beginning of what?”

“The beginning of a new start for chaos.” Discord exclaimed loudly. He then brought a finger to his chin and laughed. “Instead of telling you what’s going to happen, how about I show you instead?”

With a snap of his fingers, he was gone. She looked around her surroundings and noticed where she was now. She was now standing in the hallway of her school. Twilight turned around and started to walk forward before she bumped into someone. She looked up and saw Braeburn, who chuckled softly as he recognized her.

“Well ah’ll be,” he said, tipping his hat to her. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

Twilight examined him thoroughly, unsure if this was the real Braeburn. “Braeburn?” she finally asked. “What… what are you-”

"Ah'll love to talk to ya, but Ah got somewhere to be." Braeburn smirked as he waved his hands with a smile. “No need to apologize. I’ll catch ya later, Twi!”

As Braeburn walked passed her, she saw Comet Tail walking towards her, a red rose in hand. The same red rose she got during lunch, and the one she found in her locker.

“How’s my stargazing buddy dong?” smiled Comet Tail. He twirled the flower in his hand and held it out to her. “Got something for you.”

Twilight slowly took the flower and looked at it as well. It felt like a rose… and it looked like a rose. “What’s this for?”

“I figured you don’t have enough flowers, so I’m going to give you another one,” smirked Comet Tail.

Ignoring the blush that was spreading on her face, Twilight took the flower and brought it to her nose to smell it. It smelled like a rose, it looked like a rose, and it felt like a rose. Could all of this be real? Or just one of Discord's tricks. “Um, thank you.”

“So, Twilight,” said Comet Tail as he shifted to one side and put his hand behind his head. “Do you maybe… want to go to the Spring Fling with me?”

Twilight’s heart fluttered about, and she felt her tongue twist and spaz out like she never knew tongues could. Just as she found a will to speak, she stayed quiet. One minute she was speaking to Discord, then she was in school getting asked to the Spring Fling? Part of her believed that all of this was real, but deep down she knew this was one of Discord's tricks. She went with her gut and didn't want to fall for it. “No.”

Instead of responding, Comet Tail stood there in the hallway frozen like a statue. The color in his face had dulled and was now gray. Panicking, Twilight looked around and saw all the other kids in the hallway were frozen like statues. Features now a dull gray and frozen in time.

“Aww, isn’t that just adorable?” teased Discord as he appeared right next to Twilight. “And here I thought you were too buried in books for boys. I’m sure if this was the real deal you’d jump on it, hm?”

Twilight jerked her head towards his voice and saw that Spike was in Discord’s arms. She backed away and stood in silence as she was trying to gather her thoughts.

“I don’t have time for your tricks anymore, Discord. Stop this now!”

“You’re no fun,” grumbled Discord. “You sound exactly like Celestia when she told me to stop making chaos.” He rubbed Spike’s ear, eliciting a small growl of discomfort.

“I don’t care what you do to me, just leave Spike out of this.”

Discord brought the dog close to his face and frowned. “I don’t know any dogs that are purple and green.”

Spike barked at Discord and spat green fire at him. Discord shouted out in surprise as his face caught on fire, then set Spike down as he laughed. Twilight quickly bent down and scooped the dog up into her arms and held him away from the strange being.

“I also don’t recall dogs breathing green fire!” wheezed Discord. His head was now burnt black, but he dusted off the ashes with a small broom. “Now that just doesn’t make any sense. Now does it?”

“I said to leave Spike out of this!” shouted Twilight.

Discord held his hands up with a grin. “No need to get hostile now,” he assured her calmly. “You have questions, and I have the answers to those questions.”

“You didn’t come through all this trouble to answer my questions,” Twilight barked, prompting Spike to growl at the strange man. “Now why are you here?”

His aloof countenance creeped into a more sinister expression. “Well you asked for me to make sense. So here I am. Making sense now.”

“What?”

“Wait,” said Discord as he crossed his arms. “This doesn’t seem right. I didn't want to show you this.”

The world around them dissipated again, leaving them in an empty void of white.

“Oh that’s right.” Discord snapped his fingers again, and a set of doors fabricated itself into existence beside them. “If you think you and your friends are able to defeat me,” he extended his arm and pointed to the door, “go through that door and I’ll take you where you need to be.”

The God of Chaos was… helping her? Celestia warned her about him for a reason. She wasn’t about to stop doubting him now. “Why are you doing all this?” asked Twilight in confusion.

“Just trust me Twilight.” smiled Discord. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

She didn’t seem phased by his words of assurance. “Give me one reason why I should trust you after all of this.”

Discord smirked and put his hands on her shoulders, forcing Twilight to look at him face to face. Whatever Discord was trying to do, Twilight tried her best to resist it but it wasn’t working. She felt at ease, her pupils dilated ridiculously.

“Why don’t you go through those doors over there?”

Twilight nodded softly in response and moved to the entrance. She opened both doors and moved through, the door slamming shut behind her.

“Just because you were able to break free from my chaos doesn’t mean you win. Your friends aren’t completely free….yet.”

Chapter 19

Twilight walked into the gym and was amazed. Even though she knew all this was only an illusion, it was beautiful beyond words. It looked like every student from the school was there, and they were all clad in nothing but the finest attire. As she surveyed the room, she saw Comet, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash setting the dance floor ablaze. Well, the "ablaze" part was mostly Pinkie, but still. She had no clue Comet Tail had moves like that! She was absolutely gobsmacked by his groove. Her jaw hung agape. The shock seemed almost like it sent her to another world. Meanwhile, Comet stopped dancing. He noticed her and froze in place. Now it was his turn to have his gob smacked!

Comet stared in her direction for several minutes before he finally gathered the courage to approach Twilight. His voice snapped her out of her other-worldly trance.“Wow, Twilight. You look beautiful! I know you're a bookworm, but you clean up better than any worm I've ever seen!” Comet laughed a friendly laugh. He wore a stylish purple suit with a faint crescent design on his chest. He wore a tremendous smile on his face.

Twilight blushed. She didn't know what to say, so she resorted to her classic fall-back. “T-thanks. You don’t look half bad yourself." But she didn't want that conversational genius to be the end. "A– and uhm, you look, uh, you look … nice too …."

As hard as she tried to come up with something clever, that was all she had. Comet laughed again. “Horse catch your tongue, sweetheart?” Knowing that actions speak louder than words, he held out his hand invitingly. “Would you honor me with a dance, Beautiful?"

“S– su-”

A hand grabbed Twilight's shoulder and dragged her off toward the opposite corner of the gym feet before she even realized what happened. Having not even seen the kidnapper, Comet stood befuddled. It all happened so fast that he was lost. Saddened, he started dancing all by his lonesome again.

When Twilight came to her senses, she realized it was Pinkie, wearing an uncharacteristically frilly white dress. She was briefly irritated that her friend ruined her romantic moment, but it's hard to stay mad at her wide-eyed, naive friend. Completely oblivious to her previous conversation with Comet, Pinkie smiled and pulled her friend in a tight hug. After releasing her friend, Pinkie started gushing.“Wow, Twilight! You look super pretty. Like, not just peppermint patty pretty, like triple chocolate cheesecake covered in pumpkin pudding and topped with wonderful whipped cream and– "

Twilight giggled. She figured she should stop her friend before this got out of hand. “Thanks, Pinkie.”

“Come on.” Pinkie smirked as she grabbed Twilight’s hand, “You're going to miss it.”

Twilight was confused. She stopped walking and raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Miss what? What about Comet Tail? We were just about to start dancing before you yanked me out of there.”

“Don’t be a silly willy.” Pinkie laughed. “If you just stand there, you’re going to miss the crowning of the Spring King and Queen.”

“Oh,” Twilight responded, in a deadpan tone. Twilight honestly couldn't care less about the crowning. She looked around and carefully scanned the gym, but she was crushed to find that she couldn't locate Comet Tail anywhere. Moreover, she noticed something strange. Everyone was dancing and smiling, but there was an uncanny, uncomfortable feeling dominating the room. She didn't have much time to think about this before Pinkie began to drag her off again, this time toward the crowning ceremony. Twilight stopped her this time. “Wait, Pinkie, I just got here.”

Pinkie began to laugh as Twilight said this. “That’s what you get for arriving late, you silly willy.”

Twilight sighed. Her dance was already ruined, so she figured she may as well go along. “Okay, lead the way Pinkie.”

“That’s the spirit, Twilight. Come on and follow me!” Pinkie cheered as she grabbed her friend's hand and resumed walking.

And so the pair reached a stage at one side of the gymnasium.Principal Mayor was standing on top of the stage. The chatter of the other students was soon halted as the principal tapped on her microphone.

“Now is the time we've been waiting for, everyone!” Principal Mayor announced with a huge smile on her face. She pulled an envelope out of her hat and walked towards the podium in the center of the stage. “I am as eager as all of you to find out who the next Spring King and Queen are going to be."

"And we're certainly all eager to hear," muttered Twilight under her breath.

“I wonder who the will couple be,” chirped Pinkie.

“It looks like this year’s Spring King and Queen are ….” Principal Mayor paused as she was opening the envelope. She then exclaimed, “Shining Armor and Cadence!”

The pair walked onto the stage as the other students clapped and cheered for them. They both smiled at each other as the plastic crowns were put on their heads. Just then the lights were cut off, shocking everyone. When the lights were back on, the crowd of students shrieked in horror as they saw that two stone statues stood on the stage.

Twilight couldn't believe was her eyes were seeing. Her brother was now a stone statue! Cadence was too! Her brother and Cadence were now transformed into the statues she saw in her dreams. Discord was choosing this time to strike.

Sinister laughter came from above the room. "Now I have another Princess for my statue collection,” smirked a shady figure as he emerged from the shadows.

Twilight gasped when she saw that it was Discord. She was filled with anger and spitefulness. She was sick of all the chaos. This time it hurt her brother!

Discord smiled and laughed, “To think I got a Princess and her knight in shining armor too.”

Twilight looked at the stone statues again. Cold and lifeless. They looked just like the statues she saw in her dreams. The statues looked like the frozen statues that Celestia and Luna became in the other world. This Equestria was starting to turn into the one that Celestia had shown her. Was this what he wanted to show her through that door?

Discord grabbed the plastic crown that sat on the head of Shining Armor. He then placed the crown on his head and smiled a huge, crooked grin. “Now then. Let’s all have some fun!”

Twilight muttered to herself, “Not again ….”

“Twilight, did you say something?” asked Pinkie as she gave her friend a concerned look.

“No, Pinkie.I didn't say a word.” Twilight's muttering was hushed and bitter.

"You sure?"

Twilight glared at her friend and coldly stated, "Yes. I am quite sure."

The lights turned off again and everyone in the gym began to panic. Twilight felt Pinkie grab her hands and begin to pull her forward . Not knowing what else to do, she followed along as she was guided through the darkness that now filled the room. They ran through the crowd of panicking students toward the hallway. Twilight looked around and saw she was standing in front of her friends.

“Twilight.” greeted Applejack with a warm smile. She noticed the frown on her face and tried to draw her attention “Ah think he just turned your brother into a rock.”

Twilight grimaced and responded sarcastically, “Yeah. I know. Thanks for pointing that out, Applejack.”

Twilight felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw that it was Rarity, who tried to smile. “Ignore Applejack, dear. We are so sorry for what happened to your brother. We want to help end all this madness.”

“Discord is attacking us, so what do we do now?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Twilight,” mumbled Fluttershy in a soft tone as her eyes were glued to the floor. "What should we do now? There has to be some way we can free Shining and Cadence."

"There has to be," said Rainbow authoritatively. "We WILL free them!

“Eeyup,” nodded Applejack in agreement.

Rarity was determined as well, but she wasn't sure what course of action to take now. “Well then Rainbow dear, what do you suppose we do?”

Rainbow couldn’t think of a response and turned to Twilight. “Come on, Egghead. You DO have an idea, right?”

Twilight thought for a minute. If they had the Elements of Harmony, this problem would be easy to solve. She tried to retrace her steps to figure out where the Elements were. She had them when she arrived at school, …. She put them in her locker! They have to be there!

“My locker!” Twilight was filled with hope at this revelation. “They have to be there.”

“So that’s where we go.” smirked Rainbow. “Time to get rid of Discord once and for all.”

“Alright girls,” smiled Twilight as she nodded in agreement to Rainbow’s words. “Let’s do this, once for all.”

So the girls ran outside to the hallway, where all the lockers were.Twilight hurriedly opened her locker. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw her tote bag. As she opened the bag, she smiled broadly when she found that the Elements were still there. She handed each Element to her friends.

“Well Ah’ll be.” remarked Applejack as she took the tiara from Twilight. “You really are prepared for this ain't ya, sugarcube?”

“Of course,” bluffed Twilight, blushing. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Less talking more doing.” said Rainbow as she snatched the tiara from Twilight's hands.

“Alright, girls.” said Twilight. “Are you all ready for what is about to happen?”

Fluttershy gulped and mumbled to herself, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You know it!” remarked Rainbow and Pinkie in unison. Rainbow cringed at this, while Pinkie giggled.

Pinkie giggled and stuck her tongue out at Rainbow. “Jinx! You owe me a soda!”

“Yeah,” muttered Rainbow, “You on soda is the last thing I want to see.”

“We will be with you the end of time, Twilight,” smiled Rarity. “That’s what friends are for.”

“Let’s go then.” declared Twilight. The others all nodded in unison.

So the six ran back to the gym as fast as their bodies could carry them. When they arrived, the greeting party was less than stellar.

Fluttershy was the first to notice. She gasped when she saw all her friends in the gym. Discord had been busy while they were gone. All of the other students stood paralyzed and lifeless. They were colder than stone and harder than ice, just like the King and Queen of the dance. "Oh no! All our friends have been … um… what would the word be for it?”

“Statue-fied!?” inquired Rarity as she arched her eyebrow.

“Yeah. What you said.” muttered Fluttershy as she nodded in agreement.

“Wow,” remarked Rainbow Dash as she too was modified as Fluttershy, “Frozen solid, just like– .”

“Like my brother and Cadence.” finished Twilight, bitterly.

“Right,” muttered Rainbow as she facepalmed and added, “Sorry about that.”

Twilight was filled with anger when she saw this. "We have to stop this! We can't let Discord get away! Let's go, girls!" She led the group charging into the gym. "We won't fail you, Brother," screamed Twilight, "We WILL put an end to Discord's chaos!"
***
Discord was sitting in the plastic throne meant for the King of the dance. He smirked to himself when he heard Twilight and the others charging. "Oh, at last," he announced to no-one in particular, "The fun is finally beginning!"

“No, actually, the fun's about to end, Discord,” said a booming voice. Cackling, Discord stood from his throne and smiled as he looked toward Twilight and her friends.

“Color me impressed Twilight. You found the Elements.”

Twilight bluffed bravely. “I always knew where the Elements were, Discord.”

“That may be true, but can you use them to stop me at the end of the day?” Discord cackled. "The tables have turned, Twilight! All of your friends and your precious brother are mere decorations now."

Twilight ignored his worlds and spoke confidently, “Your chaos stops here once and for all.”

“Oh?” questioned Discord as he raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s words. “Is that so?” He laughed. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“What do you mean?”

Discord cleared his throat and cackled as he walked toward the girls. “Say, Twilight, have you had a chance to tell your friends the truth?”

“The truth?” asked Applejack as color started to fade from her body. She frowned and glared at Twilight. “What does he mean by the truth.”

“Oh? So you haven’t told them after all.”

Applejack was befuddled."Twilight, what's he talking about?" Suddenly, color started fading from her body. Her features were dimming by the second. Panicking, she grabbed Twilight’s shoulders and glared at her. “Twilight. Have you been lying to us?”

Discord’s smile grew. “Indeed it is so. She has made fools of you all. All of you are from another world, completely different from this wretched cesspool!"

“AJ," cried Twilight, "It's not s– um, well, … maybe it kind of is?” Twilight shrunk back ashamedly.

“The truth has a funny way of catching up with you,” remarked Discord.

Completely devoid of her original courage and gusto by now, Twilight painfully squeaked, “.... H– he's right …. I lied to you, all of you. I'm so sorry. All of this is a lie. I just didn't know how to tell you guys." mumbled Twilight as she looked down at the ground defeated and at a lost for words.

“Ah can’t believe ya Twilight,” glared Applejack, “How could ya?”

“So what?" Rainbow said, shrugging. “I mean yeah she lied, but we have bigger things to deal with right now. Twilight fibbed a little– well, okay a lot, but we're kind of in the middle of a battle here!”

“Don’t you get it Rainbow?” remarked Discord twistedly. “She lied to all of you. She could have told us all about this other world, but no. Here we are just now finding out about your home. Isn’t this lying very unloyal of Twilight?”

Rainbow’s eye began to twitch. “W– well, … when you put it that way, I guess you're right.” Rainbow's voice was monotone by now as well.

Twilight was at a loss of words for what was happening. She didn't know what to say. Everything Discord said was true. She just stood there, motionless just like all the frozen students, while still more words flew out of Discord’s mouth.

"Twilight's course of action was terribly unkind," Discord said, smirking in Fluttershy's direction. “It was incredibly selfish to hide something this important from you," he smirked, glancing at Rarity. "Friends should never talk about friends behind their backs," he said while laughing, looking at Pinkie Pie.

When Disord spoke these words, silence filled the room. Twilight collapsed in a shameful, shivering heap, while the other girls glared grudgingly at her and each other.. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to break the silence.

“I don’t want to be friends with any of you girls anymore,” shouted Fluttershy, her voice filled with anger.

“Finally something that we can agree on,” nodded Rarity.

“I– I, i, …” Pinkie babbled, sniffling. Finally, she wiped the tears away from her face. “I don’t need you girls anyway,” she declared grimacingly.

Discord crackled at he ate from a popcorn bag he stole from one of the frozen students. He stopped eating and smiled at Twilight. “What a show. I wonder how the great Twilight will get herself out of this one.”

Twilight stood and begged the group. “Girls, just please let me talk! I can– "

“Listen here," warned Applejack as she waved a finger at Twilight’s direction: "ya better explain all this to us, Twilight, and fast.”

Discord smirked again, “No need Applejack, I can do this better then your so-called friend ever could. She lied to you about this world. This isn’t the world that you belong in, yet she let you believe that it was.” Discord's smirk was growing wider and wider.

“Ah can’t believe this. Here Ah thought you were mah friend.”

“Applejack please, just listen to me. I can explain,” begged Twilight as tears were streaming down her face.

Applejack crossed her arms and glared at Twilight. “Ya had yer chance well before all of this went down, Twilight!”

“I can’t believe that you lied to all of us,” muttered Rainbow Dash. The bright colors of her hair began to fade. “That’s so unloyal.”

“I can’t believe that I was friends with you,” shouted harshly a now grayed-out Fluttershy.

“I never want to talk to any of you anymore.” cried Pinkie as her once-brilliant, bright, beautiful hair was now gray and straight.

“I have never felt more disgusted in my whole life,” scoffed Rarity as she stuck her nose up high. Her violet hair was now dull and void.

“Girls!” shouted Twilight. “Don’t let Discord mess with your heads like that. Just listen to me for a second. Please.”

“I’m sick of all this!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she stormed off.

“Rainbow’s right,” remarked Fluttershy in a harsh tone and followed after Rainbow Dash, “Smell you later.”

The remaining girls ignored Twilight’s pleas and began to argue amongst themselves. The arguing stopped as Rarity shouted, “Well, fine! Let’s all agree to never to talk to each other ever again.”

“Agreed,” said the fuming girls in unison as each went her separate way.

Discord applauded loudly and bowed. “Encore! Encore!”

“No …,” cried Twilight. "No‼" Tears began to flow down her face like rivers down a mountain. She fell to her knees and felt her heart ache in pain. “I …. I failed everyone.”

Friendless and alone on her knees in the gym, the color of Twilight's brilliant purple hair drained. She gazed miserably at the backs of the girls she onced called her friends as they all stormed off. Her heart ached as she rose to her feet sniffling. She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe her tears and she started to walk toward the doors out of the gym. Shoulders in a slump, she looked at the ground and gave a sigh of defeat.

“Why the long face, Twilight?” Discord said teasingly as he appeared in front of her.

“You know why.”

“Oh Twilight,” said Discord. “Don’t beat yourself up. I have had a lot of time to make sure this plan is foolproof.”

She was bawling openly. “Why did you do this, Discord?”

Discord could only smile at those words, “You honestly thought that the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony could be reformed?” Discord cackled. “You were wrong, Twilight! The fun just began, and I’m loving it.”

Twilight didn't respond as she walked out of the doors. Standing in the hallway, she mumbled, “Princess Celestia, wherever you are, please hear me …. I have failed you miserably. I am not worthy to be your student. I am so sorry."
***
Twilight exited the school and walked toward her home, with her head drooped pitifully toward the ground. As she sulked her way down the path, rain started to pour. "Typical," she muttered, as she kept walking. 45 minutes later, she reached her house. She walked inside, slunk up the stairs, and collapsed onto her bed. Disgusted at herself, she threw her Element to the ground. Spike, asleep in the next room over, awoke. He barked excitedly when he realized Twilight had returned.

Twilight sat up to inspect the sound. When she had noticed it was Spike she shooed the dog the with her hand muttering, “Spike, go away.”

Worried about her, Spike ignored the command. He lept onto the bed in Twilight’s lap. "Twilight, what happened? Why are you so pale? Where is everyone else?" He rubbed against her and whimpered.

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock after Spike spoke those words. She gasped and stood up from her bed.”You can talk? Spike, when did this happen‽”

Spike gave her a confused look and blinked. ”You taught me, remember?”

“What?” she shouted.

“You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

Spike suddenly sneezed, and puff of green smoke appeared. A letter manifested out of the smoke. He sneezed again, and another letter appeared. Again and again, and more and more letters began to fill the room.

Twilight looked around the room in amazement. She had no idea what just happened. “What are these, Spike? Something wild is happening ….”

“Aw man. Twi. What happened to you?”

Ignoring his comment, Twilight drew her eyes to the large pile of letters on her bedroom floor. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened one of the letters and began to read. The letter that she was reading said that Rainbow Dash injured herself in a crash. It went on to say she was admitted to the hospital in the middle of Canterlot. During that time it appeared that Rainbow had mocked reading but during her time in the hospital, she had learned to love it. The letter ended by saying that she learned a lesson about not knocking something until she tried it.

When she finished reading the letter, she placed it on her bed. She looked down at Spike with a look of confusion, “Spike, ….”

Spike whimpered, “Come on Twi, please tell me you remember.”

Twilight didn't say anything as she read more letters. As she was reading each letter she noticed that most of them started with the phrase; “Dear Princess Celestia,” and some ending with the phrase; “Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle”. Slowly but surely, everything was starting to make sense; the dots were being connected. Twilight looked down and noticed Spike wagging his tail..

Twilight was starting to understand. “So what you're saying is that In this other world, a Princess Celestia sent me to 'Ponyville' learn the magic of friendship, and I wrote her all these letters about the lessons I learned?”

“Yeah. You're on the right track,” howled Spike.

Twilight sat down back on her bed and began to read the other letters from the pile. One letter was about Rarity spending time with her sister, Sweetie Belle, another about Applejack learning that no man's an island. The next, Fluttershy learning to stand up for herself. Another one about Pinkie learning that friends need space, …. The last letter was about her learning about not freaking out and overexerting herself.

“Please …. Please work,” muttered Spike as he jumped onto Twilight’s bed.

Twilight’s eyes grew wider and wider, She realized why the contents of the letters were so familiar. She wrote these! She remembered sending them to Princess Celestia. Now they were all being sent back to her as if the Princess herself was trying to help her.

Twilight was overjoyed by her revelation. She joyfully shouted, "I remember these! I remember everything!"

“Okay good,” yelped Spike. “I was beginning to think you finally snapped.”

Ignoring his comment, Twilight bent down to retrieve her Element. She stood and made her ways towards her door. “Come on, Spike.”

“Where to?”

Twilight smirked as she put her hand on the door handle, “We are going to save our friends from Discord’s magic."

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait....I JUST DON'T WHAT WENT WRONG!

Chapter 15

Inside Canterlot Castle sat a woman dressed in a long white dress. On her summer colored hair sat a tiara with a sun etched on the front. Royal guards lined the room and waited near the main entrance, encumbered with golden armor and shields depicting the mark of their ruler. They stood poised and ready to take on whatever came through the great doors.

“Princess Celestia,” one of her guards spoke up. “Are you sure that she is coming?”

“Yes,” Celestia calmly answered. “She should be here at any moment.”

“What does she want from you?”

Celestia only shook her head. “To settle what I should have long ago.”

She stood up as a figure appeared in the middle of the throne room. The guards raised their spears, a womanly laugh echoing throughout the chamber.

“I see that you're doing well, sister,” Nightmare Moon mocked as she laughed harder and harder with every word that she said.

Celestia glared at the apparition. “How did you escape?”

“Does it matter?” Nightmare smiled as she approached her sister. The guards raised their spears as she got closer and closer.

Princess Celestia raised her hand and looked at her sister intently. “What games are you trying to play?”

“Games? Dear sister, do you take me for a child?”

“No,” Celestia firmly retorted, “But attempting to bring eternal night does things to trust.”

“Is this anyway to treat your dear sister?” she laughed in response.

A chill crawled up Celestia’s spine at the playfulness the woman before her displayed. “You are no sister of mine.” She stepped down the steps some and offered a less hostile expression. “Why are you doing this?”

Nightmare Moon only offered her smile in response. “Well since you asked so nicely, I will tell you.”

With a flash the guards that once stood with their spears held high, were now on the ground with eyes closed. Celestia looked at Nightmare Moon with a shocked expression on her face,

“Why did it come to this?”

“Why?” shouted Nightmare Moon as her eyes began to glow. She then pointed at Celestia and her voice grew with anger. “All these years I had to live in your shadow! They basked in your light and not once did I feel their love! Well that time is no more dear sister. If they will not love my night, they will fear its power!”

“We made a promise to protect our subjects, Luna!” Celestia shouted, plea in her voice. “Fight this! This isn’t who you are, Luna!”

“No matter how many times you call me that, it won’t change a thing.” shouted Nightmare Moon. “Luna is gone. She was weak. I have the strength to succeed where she failed.”

“Do you?” Celestia questioned, taking on her more stern demeanor. “We may live for millennia, but we have weaknesses just as any other.”

Nightmare Moon only laughed in response. “You would do well to remember I am not the petty excuse for a princess your sister was. You will bow to my power.”

Even in the face of danger, Celestia’s voice was still calm as she tried her best to still reason with her. “Don’t make me harm you, Luna,” Celestia warned, clenching her fists as Nightmare approached.

A smile formed on the Nightmare’s face as she snickered. “It was a refreshing joke to your pitiful attempt at reviving the Elements.”

“I did no such thing,” she responded. Celestia thought quickly about what this devil was talking about. It very well could have been a trick. But if she wasn’t lying… then there were people who had gone for the Elements.

“It was foolish on their part,” laughed Nightmare. She then gave her sister a sinister smile. “They will pay for your mistakes.”

“What do you mean?” asked Celestia, worry now in her voice. “What have you done?”

Nightmare Moon’s voice boomed as her eyes began to glow white. “Enough talk! I have waited 1,000 for this moment, and I won’t delay it any longer!”

“Luna… I won’t fight you… I won’t fight my only sister.”

Nightmare scoffed softly before her eyes narrowed in and her face scrunched up into a snarl. “I have no sister.”
***
Twilight felt someone’s gaze bearing down on her, but she could only stumble around in the dark. She bumped into someone, and when she looked she found her mentor glaring down at her. She’d never seen her give such a disgusted scowl.

“Twilight Sparkle,” called out Celestia, barely looking to the young girl. “You have failed your test.”

Twilight felt her voice hitch and tears come flooding out as she fell to her knees. “I’m sorry Princess,” she whispered as she wiped the stream of tears.

“As punishment, I’m sending you back to magic kindergarten.”

“No!” Twilight exclaimed, begging at the princess’s feet. “Please Princess, give me a second chance!”

Celestia only shook her head and frowned down at Twilight. “I expected so much better. Especially from you.”

“You can still expect more from me!” cried Twilight as she looked up to her irritated mentor. “Please, just give me another chance.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” replied the Princess. “I see now that I expected too much.”

Twilight felt herself being thrown backwards as her surroundings began changing. She looked around again and saw that she was in a room full of small children. They all started to point at her and laughed, their voices echoing all around her. Twilight sat down and curled her legs in close, hugging them tightly with her arms.

“No… no, no,no,” she said to herself, the laughter growing louder and louder. “This can’t be real. This can’t be happening.”

“I can’t believe she’s still in Magic Kindergarden!” she heard one of the children laugh. “She must be super stupid!”

Twilight buried her head in her arms, her sleeves dampening from the crying. “Please oh please. Wake me up from this nightmare.”

“I mean she’s how old and she’s still here?”

“Wait… Nightmare.” Twilight picked her head up, the laughing slowly drowning out. “This is a nightmare… she must be trapping us here to stop us.”

Wiping her eyes clean, she rose up from the wall and began to run as far from the room as possible. As she ran, reality began altering around her once more. Soon, she found herself coming up to an altar. Shining Armor and Cadence stood across from each other, both giving the same stern look as Princess Celestia. He was wearing a tuxedo and Cadence was wearing a wedding gown, and off to the sides her friends were wearing their own dresses.

“Twilight!” said Shining with an angry expression on his face. “I can’t believe what you just said! You know what, just forget about this wedding completely. I don’t you anywhere near it.”

“I can’t believe I was looking forward to having you as a sister,” Cadence sneered as she turned her eyes away.

Part of Twilight wanted to cry, but the rational part was reminding her that none of this was real. She ignored their comments and began to run past them. She ignored their hate-filled words and kept going, distancing herself as much as possible. When she ran out of breath, she finally decided to slow down.

“Okay,” she panted heavily. “If this is a dream, I must be asleep somewhere. I just need to wake myself up.”

She smirked to herself as a thought began to cross her mind. Clearing her throat, she started forcing out coughs. As she coughed and coughed, the odd environment around her began to blur around her and deteriorate. A choked gasp escaped her as she jolted up from the ground. She was out of the nightmare, but as she glanced around she could see her friends were still caught in theirs.

“Come on, girls. You can do this. They’re just bad dreams.”

She looked beside her and saw Pinkie tossing and turning. She touched her shoulder and gingerly tried to shake her from the nightmares.
***
“Would you like some more tea, Madame LeFlour?” Pinkie asked a sack of flour, her eye twitching as she poured imaginary tea.

Snickering to herself, she stood up and went around the table and behind the bag. She grabbed the sack of flour and said with her best French accent, “Oui.”

“What about you, Mr. Radish?” The bucket of radishes didn’t seem to want anymore tea. “That’s fine. You don’t have to talk to me.” Her lips twitched as she she muttered to herself, “I’m used to it by now.”

She looked and saw a pile of rocks and asked again if they wanted tea. Pinkie laughed more as she looked at her reflection from the solid metal teapot. Her normally curly pink hair was now straight and covered one of her dark blue eyes. She twitched again as she dropped the teapot, looking down with a frown at the smashed ceramic.

“Who needs tea anyway?” she cackled again, flopping down in the center of the tea party. She rose up again and began to speak in the voice of her new friends.

“You don’t need those phonies that you called friends,” said Rocky.

“Oui,” replied Madame LeFlour. “You are better off.”

“They were holding you back,” shouted Mr. Radish.

Pinkie began to laugh more erratically, but it died down as she heard a voice that wasn’t any of hers.

“Pinkie,” the voice said. Pinkie smiled, since it sounded like her friend Twilight. Probably there to tell her she was a nuisance. Only… she never did. She wanted her to wake up. Her voice was soft and sincere… nothing like she thought her friends would act. Her party guests began to disappear one by one, replaced by the family of friends she’d made. Twilight held her hand out to her, and she took it in hers.

Pinkie yelped and shot up from her prone position, grabbing at her head frantically. She gave a sigh of relief as she realized her hair was still curly. She looked at Twilight and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Oh, Twilight!” said Pinkie, “I had the weirdest dream! I had a dream that none of you girls ever liked being around me.”

“Don’t be silly, Pinkie,” Twilight assured her with a smile. “Why would we ever stop hanging out with you? You’re our friend, Pinkie.”

Pinkie laughed. “Aww. Thanks, Twilight. Did the rest of you girls have the same strange dream as me?”

“Well… sorta,” muttered Twilight. She pulled away from the hug and moved towards Rarity, who was muttering in her sleep. “Now, help me wake them up.”

Pinkie smiled in response as she went towards Fluttershy and began to shake her awake. “Okie Dokie Lokie!”
***
Her parents told her that they were going on another one of their week long vacations. As usual, Rarity was in charge of caring for her younger sister. She locked herself in her room and began to sew fabric together to make a dress. She didn't have a reason to make said dress, she just wanted to get her mind off things.

Rarity sighed in frustration as she sat alone in her bedroom. She began to start up her sewing machine as she shook those thoughts away from her mind. Moments had passed and she stopped her sewing. She drew her hands to her face and noticed that it was stained with tears. With a quick wipe, she went back to making her dress.

“It isn’t fair,” she muttered as she rose from her seat. “They get to leave for all these vacations and Sweetie and I are always stuck home alone.” She stopped for a moment and rolled her eyes. “This isn’t much of a nightmare, now is it? Just a reminder of how selfish my parents truly are.”

Her surroundings around her began to change. She was now comparing fabric together and occasionally glancing over to an aloof Rainbow Dash. She was leaning against the wall and staring at nothing in particular, until she noticed Rarity waiting for her.

“What?”

Rarity gestured to the dress. “Aren’t you going to ask me to change something?”

“No.”

“Do you not like the dress?”

“The dress is fine it's just….”

“Do you not like the color?”

“The color is fine just….”

“Just what?"

Rainbow shrugged as she looked at the dress. “Just make it… like, cooler. It needs to be at least 20% cooler.” After giving her opinion, she walked out of the room.

Rarity dropped the fabric that she was holding as her eye twitched. “That doesn’t help me with your dress, Rainbow Dash!”

The world around her began to change again as she sewed a different fabric to make a dress. Each of her friends would pop in and demand a request to be done with the dress. Twilight wanted Orion's belt decorating the hem, Pinkie wanted balloons and candy to be stitched on, Fluttershy wanted an entirely different style, Applejack wanted galoshes in case it rained. Oh, and Rainbow’s request to make it 20% didn't seem to help at all. Rarity looked to her side and saw a dress template she hadn’t even started.

A door then opened wide before Sweetie Belle could be heard shouting. “Rarity!” her sister called. “Did you remember that you volunteered to make the costumes for the school play?”

Rarity smiled to herself. “Of course I remembered, Sweetie. Why do you ask?”

“Well… the play is tomorrow and you haven’t even started!”

Rarity's eyes jolted open as she rose up, muttering about never wanting to make dresses again. She looked at Twilight, pulling her close she desperately declared, “Never again!”

“Never again…. what?” blinked Twilight as she shook Rarity again. “Are you up or still sleeping?”

Rarity looked around a bit, then glanced back to Twilight. “Never again.”

“O-kay?” murmured Twilight as she pulled herself and Rarity up. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“I had to make so many dresses… so little time… never again.”

“Oh…” said Twilight as she walked towards Applejack who was still sleeping, “That’s what you meant.”
***
Fluttershy sat in the middle of a field of flowers. As she picked each flower and hummed along with the birds, she saw a bunny running through the field. As the bunny scurried past her, Fluttershy got up and went after it. She stopped herself when she approached the entrance of the woods.

“Angel Bunny!” Fluttershy weakly called out, but no response came. Fluttershy looked back up to the woods and slowly entered.

With each step Fluttershy took, she pulled her arms closer to her chest. She whimpered and ducked her head whenever a tree branch would rustle, or when an owl would hoot. She gave a panicked scream when she heard footsteps behind her. She stood frozen in fear as the steps came closer and closer.

A figure came of the shadows and greeted Fluttershy with a grin. The man had silver and black hair, and wore a brown suit with mismatched sleeves. One pant leg was green while the other was brown.

“Long time no see, Fluttershy,” the man smiled.

Fluttershy backed away from him and stammered out, “W-w-who are you?”

He frowned… jokingly? “You don’t remember me? And I thought we were friends.”

Fluttershy softly replied, “I-I’m sorry… I don’t know who you are, mister.”

The man laughed. “Well since I am such a good friend, I should warn you. Don’t believe what the others are saying. None of it is true.”

“Um… okay.”

“Well I’ll be leaving you now Fluttershy, but remember my words. Don’t believe a word anyone says, none of it is true.”

As Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, the man went away, and the forest around began to fade away. Her eyes were now open as Pinkie was still shaking her. Fluttershy rose up from the ground and looked around, realizing they were still in the castle.

“Fluttershy you're up,” smiled Pinkie as she quickly moved towards Rainbow, “Come on and help me wake Dashie up.”

As Fluttershy made her way towards Rainbow, a thought started to race through her mind. Who was that strange man in dream? Did they really did know each other? What was he talking about, don’t believe anyone they are all lying. Those questions began to race through her mind and she had no answer.

Who was that man and what was he talking about? Why would everyone be lying?
***
Applejack looked on in horror as she stood in the center of Sweet Apple Acres. Every single apple tree had rotted away. The trees now looked dead and not a single apple was on the tree.

“What do we do now?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Ah… ah don’t know,” Applejack replied, still dumbfounded as she stared at the ruins of her family’s farm.

Her sister hugged her side. “Ah mean, what’ll happen to us now? What’re we gonna do without the farm?”

Applejack put a hand on her sister's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile as she wiped her eyes quickly. “Don’t you worry none, Apple Bloom. We just gotta stick together. We’ll figure somethin’ out. Right, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said.

“But… something about this seems to be a little off,” mumbled Applejack as she looked at the trees again. “It just happened overnight. Nothing like this is possible.”

“Applejack,” said Apple Bloom, her voice beginning to echo. “Did ya say something?”

Applejack blinked and looked out to the fading lands. “Nope… nothin’ at all.”
***
With a flash, Applejack jolted awake. She blinked several times as she was trying to figure out if this was real or still a dream. Twilight and Rarity sat beside her, both breathing relieved sighs as she sat up.

“Applejack, darling, are you alright?” asked Rarity as she helped her up. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ah appreciate yer concern, Rarity.” Applejack said with a sigh. “Don’t you worry none. Ah’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” asked Rarity.

“Eeyup,” grunted Applejack as she stood up. She looked ahead and noticed that Fluttershy and Pinkie were still trying to wake Rainbow up. “We should make sure she wakes up alright.”

“Even in a situation like this, she manages to get sleep,” Rarity giggled softly.
***
Rainbow Dash did her best not to cry, but nothing could help her at this point. She couldn’t believe it… her worst dreams had came true. She was rejected by the Wonderbolts. Her dream of flying with the Royal Air Force would never come true.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, sweetie.” she heard her mother’s voice say. “You can’t let this bring you down so much.”

Rainbow didn't say anything and shrugged her mother’s hand off her shoulder. She went into her bedroom and slammed the door shut. She then went and laid down in her bed, eyes staring at the Wonderbolts poster she had hanging on the ceiling. Moments passed before she stood up and tore down her poster, ripping it carelessly. After she was done, she went around her room and purged it of anything that had to do with the Wonderbolts. After she threw them in the trash, she went back to her bed and started to cry.

“My dreams will never come true,” she mumbled as she buried her face in her hands crying. “I’ll never get to be a Wonderbolt.”

”Please, Rainbow, wake up. You’re gonna be a great Wonderbolt when you’re older. But you have to wake up.”

Rainbow lifted her head and quickly looked around the room. “Fluttershy?”

As more of her friend’s soothing words made it through to her, her posters began appear on her walls once again. When it was all back to normal, she felt everything go numb.
***
Rainbow groaned as she sat up and rubbed her head. She looked around and saw that her friends all waited in anticipation,

“Are you okay, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked softly, holding her friend’s hand.

Rainbow rose to her feet and cleared her throat. “I had the worst dream ever.”

“What was it about?”

“I was rejected by the Wonderbolts,” she mumbled, looking down at her feet. “It was way too weird… and way too real.”

“It wasn't, Rainbow,” said Twilight. “It was Nightmare Moon trying to mess with us. All the dreams we had were our worst fears.”

“You got that right,” mumbled Rainbow.

“Girls, look!” Twilight exclaimed as she ran to the center of the throne room. They all turned to where she was going and saw the Elements. They were no longer petrified orbs, but shining emeralds inside of golden necklaces. Twilight then handed each girl one of the necklaces.

"Oh my." mumbled Fluttershy as she looked at the necklace.

"I like this one." smiled Pinkie as she held the stone in front of her. "Its all sparkly, I love it!"

"Ah aint one for jewelry, but Ah have to ambit. It does look pretty." said Applejack as she held the stone.

"Now this necklace looks pretty awesome." smirked Rainbow as she looked at the stone.

“Oh my!” remarked Rarity as she examined the stone Twilight gave her. “They’re gorgeous!”

“Come on, girls,” said Twilight aloud as she placed the tiara on her crown. “We have to stop Nightmare Moon.”