‘Do you remember anything else?’ A woman's voice greeted my ears as I lazily blinked my eyes. I felt extremely tired and very sore, the light in my eyes didn't help either.

“You were there. Why do I need to tell you?” I asked, earning a chuckle from the voice.

‘So I can tell if you suffer from memory loss, you baboon.’ The voice replied after chuckling. Rubbing the tiredness off my eyes, I let out a yawn before answering.

“Can't it wait till after I eat?” I asked after feeling the rumbling of my stomach.

‘No and I will keep you here until you tell me what happened last night in full detail.’ Answered the voice. With a groan, I decided to comply.

~Ω~

“Fuck. That.” With my hands raised and my palms open, a torrent of fire shot out from my very hands. The fire not only consumed the woman but set the balcony ablaze. “Not happening.” With that the fire stopped and I lowered my hands.

“You think fire will help you?” Her voice echoed through the large room as she stepped out from the fire and with a wave of her hand, the fire behind her was extinguished by the mist that now surrounded her. As the flames died, I couldn't help but flinch at the sudden pain. “You are a fool to think that it could stop me!” She exclaimed in anger before glaring at me.

“Knobs.” I muttered out of breath. I looked up only to be meet with the sight of an angry demi goddess holding not one but two swords and threw one at me. The blade embedded itself onto the wall just inches away from my face. “Fuck!” I yelled in shock.

“The night will last forever.” Nightmare repeated before the mist consumed her and left out the window.

The people that filled the room were still in shock. I tried moving away from the sword that nearly killed me only to see that my shirt was stuck on it.

“Oh come on.” I groaned before trying to pull out the sword but to no avail. It was firmly embedded onto the wall with my shirt. “This is my favorite shirt.” I spoke to no one before ripping my shirt off of the sword.

“Great. An insane woman is running amuck and my shirt is ruined, fucking hell.” I said, storming out of town hall but not before seeing Lydia dragging a very tired Drake behind her. With a frustrated grunt, I resumed my walk back home.

The walk was uneventful, which was good because I was not in the mood for anything else to happen today. Once I finally arrived back home, I went straight to my room for another shirt and a jacket.

After zipping up my jacket, I headed back downstairs. Once I reached the living room, I picked up a box of matched from the the drawer under the flat screen and left for the library.

Like my walk back home, the walk to the library was uneventful and to my surprise as well. Once I stood on the doorstep of the library, I opened the door and was greeted with Lydia explaining her knowledge of Nightmare Moon to Angelina, Dianne, Jacqueline, Rachel and Sophia.

“ -Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!” Lydia said to the other girls.

“The Elements of what?” I muttered in confusion. Lydia finally noticed me in the doorway before shaking her head and looking through the bookshelves. Dianne walked towards a far off shelf and pulled out a violet colored book.

“The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.” She read the title out loud, gaining everyone's attention. “Found it!” She exclaimed.

“How did you find that?!” Yelled Lydia in shock before running over to Dianne.

“It was under E~!” Dianne answered in a sing song voice before handing the book over to Lydia. While this happened, I walked over to Jacqueline.

“So what's going on exactly?” I asked her. Jacqui looked at me and shrugged.

“I'm as confused as you, partner.” The farm girl answered.

“Um… I know what's going on.” Angelina spoke out in her quiet tone. Despite her quiet tone, I heard every word she said and looked at her. “Lydia said that there was a way to defeat Nightmare Moon. She's trying to find out where they are.” I nodded at this, somewhat understanding the situation.

“Oh. There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the Celestial Sisters. It is located in what is now… The Everfree.” Lydia read out loud, causing the others to gasp except for me and Angelina. I've gone into the forest a few times, despite the many warnings given to me but those warnings were simply exaggerations and it seems that only me and Angelina knew this.

“It's just a forest, it's nothing to be gasping about.” I said to them.

“Just a forest? Haven't you heard of Timberwolves?” Asked Jacqueline.

“You mean the piles of living sticks? Not only that, they avoid any encounter with us as if they're lives depended on it.” I answered back with my arms crossed. Rachael opened her mouth to retort.

“It's just a forest.” I said through gritted teeth, earning a glare from the Athletic Skyborn. “Anyway, if these so called Elements of Harmony are in the Everfree then let's get a move on.”

“Then onwards onto Victory, friends!” Yelled Dianne, holding both a sword and shield before charging towards the door only to be grabbed by a lavender aura.

“Not so fast. Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own.” Lydia said, moving Dianne back. Lydia then began to make her way towards the door. Jacqueline quickly grabbed Lydia’s wrist, stopping the latter from reaching the door

“Oh no you don't. You ain't going nowhere without the rest of us, sugarcube.” Jacqueline said, gripping the wrist of the Magic user.

“Yeah, that crazy bitch picked a fight with all of us and there's no way I'm backing out now.” Rachael said with a smirk. “So if you're going, we're going.”

“So I suppose I can’t convince you?” Lydia asked. The group shook their head and with a sigh, Lydia said. “Fine, let's go.” With that, Jacqueline released her grip from Lydia’s wrist before following the latter out the door.

“Are you coming as well?” Angelina asked me as I stood behind. She looked at me, expecting an answer.

“You're basically going out in the dark into an even darker forest without any form of light.” I said before shaking my head. “I'm going.” With that, I followed behind Angelina.

After following them for five minutes, we had stopped just in front of the the path that led into the Everfree. It wasn't until we had begun our track that I had snapped my fingers and caused them to burst into flames and engulfing my hand. This action had gained me a curious look from Lydia.

After walking through the dark part of the forest, the light of the full moon shone brighter than the flame in my hand so with a quick flick of my wrist, the fire vanished into a puff of smoke. I then put my hands into the pockets of my jacket and felt something small and rectangular inside the left pocket.

“So, none of you have been in here before?” Lydia asked everyone. I stayed silent as I pulled out the item in my pocket before seeing that it was the MP3 player I had misplaced a few weeks back.

“Ugh, heavens no! Just look at it - it's dreadful.” Sophia said with a bit of disgust. I reached into my pocket again and pulled out the earphones that belonged to the Mp3.

“And it ain't natural. Folks say it ain't right.” Jacqueline added her words into the conversation. I plugged in the earphones before putting them on.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Lydia asked with a questioning side glance. I turned on the Mp3 and waited for it to loud.

“Nobody knows. You know why?” Rachael asked with a grin forming on her face. Once the Mp3 was one, I maxed out the volume before selecting random.

“Rachael, quit it.” Jacqui said with a groan and facepalm.

“Because everyone who-” Rachael’s words, along with everyone else's were drowned out by the song that had just began to play.

Just as I began to get into the feel of the song, the earth beneath gave away. Eyes wide as dinner plates, I fell and began sliding down to what I could tell was a cliff. I quickly took hold of an exposed root before looking and seeing Jacqueline sliding down fast. Quickly taking hold of her wrist, I held her up from falling just as she did the same with Lydia. I could see that Lydia had spoken to Jacqui but because of the music, I couldn't hear a single word coming from either of them. Shaking my head, I had managed to get the earphones out of my ears which in turn, caused them hang loosely from my pocket.

“Let go.” Was the first thing I heard coming from Jacqueline. Snapping my attention back at the two women under me, I could see the panic look on Lydia’s face.

“Are you crazy!?” Lydia yelled in her state of panic. I peeked over the edge and had caught a glimpse of Angelina.

“Just trust her dammit!” I shouted as I felt my hand start slipping away from the root. Closing her eyes, Lydia let of Jacqueline’s hand and slid off the edge with a scream of fear.

“Got ya!” Yelled Rachael as she held Lydia up with one arm while Angelina held Lydia up by the other arm. Both Skyborn’s struggled to keep a firm grip on Lydia as they flew down and out of my field of vision.

“Alrighty… now what?” I asked the woman under me. This brought a sigh from Jacquie.

She reached over to a large stone that poked through the ground before checking if it wouldn't just slip off. Getting her idea, I started to do the same and before we knew it, we had began to climb down the cliff and reached the others. Though I did find it odd that the cliff suddenly broke apart but thinking of the Night crazed woman from earlier, I only just shook my head and thought nothing of it. I reached into my pocket to take out the Mp3 only to find it missing again.

‘Great, it must've slipped out while I was climbing down.’ I mentally groaned. Everyone made sure that no bones were broken and that no one was hurt, though I did ask where had Sophia been while all this happened.

“I'm terribly afraid of heights so I tend to stay in a relatively safe distance from the edge but I did find another way down here.” The Fashionista said before pointing at what appeared to be an old stone staircase that was carved out from the large hill.

“But what about Dianne?” Asked Jacqueline after she had took a glance around the group. I did the same but saw no sign of the party enthusiast.

“Weee!” The loud voice belonging to the baker in question echoed just as she appeared sliding off the edge before performing a perfect backflip and landing on her feet unharmed.

“Should've seen that one coming, huh?” I asked the farmer next to me, earning a laugh from her. Lydia only stared in disbelief but stayed silent dispute the situation she had been in.

Once everyone made sure they were fine, we began moving once again. As we walked deeper into the forest, the soothing sounds of the night echoed around us but of course with the constant bragging that Rachael does, the sounds were drowned out by her egotistical rambling.

“... But once Me and Angie saw the edge, we spread our wings and flew faster than you could ever see us fly and BAM! Caught you in the nick of time.” Rachael said for the tenth time in a row. Everyone groaned at the excessive bragging that Skyborn brought.

“Don't you ever shut up, bird brain?” I asked with a frown. She looked down at me and glared.

“ Why I aught to-” She started but was cut off my Angie as she simply glared at the both of us.

“Why do you to act so immature towards each other?” Lydia asked to the both of us.

“Cause that's how our friendship works.” Both me and Rachael said without missing a beat.

“What?” Asked Lydia. Jacquie caught her attention before asking anymore questions.

“It's complicated, so don't ask.” Was all the farmgirl said. It was true, our continues ‘Fights’ never lead to anything more than an argument that would be simply be solved by a dare given to us by Dianne. It's an odd type of Friendship that can leave others to wonder if we were friends or enemies, maybe even frenemies.

“So I heard Simon was back in town-” Rachael began to say before being cut off by a gasp from Lydia.

“Manticore!” She yelled in surprise as the animal in question growled but hadn't made a single move. With a more focused glance, I had noticed that it kept its right paw up. By the looks of both Jacquie and Rachael, they looked ready to start a fight.

“How ‘bout we let an animal expert handle this.” I told them, keeping my arm up and my hands open in case they wouldn't listen. “Angie, can you see what's wrong with it?”

“Him.” The Animal caretaker corrected.

“Him. Can see what's wrong with him?” I repeated my question. With a nod, Angie walked up to the growling Manticore before saying soothing words to it. Everyone looked ready to defend Angelina at the moment the Manticore decides to attack but to their surprise, the Manticore lifted its paw and showed Angie a large gash covered in dry blood. Angie frowned before taking a hold of an item that was lodged inside the open wound before pulling it out without haste, causing the Manticore roar in pain. Jacquie and Rachael were about ready to shove me aside until they both heard the cat like pure from the beast itself.

In Angelina’s hand was a jagged silver dagger covered in blood. She held it up despite her disgust while the Manticore’s wound simply closed itself, leaving only the dry blood and a scar behind. It looked at Angie and purred while itself onto Angie. The latter was taken by surprise but quickly began to pet the Manticore.

“Aw you're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are.” Angie cooed at the Manticore.

After the Manticore walked deeper into the dark forest, Angie then dropped the dagger in pure disgust. Seeing this, I walked over to her before the others caught up.

“How did you know there was something wrong?” Lydia asked the Pink haired Skyborn. Angie turned to look at Lydia.

“I didn't, Isaac did but I showed him kindness and helped the poor thing.” She answered with a smile. I smiled as well.

“We should keep moving.” Said Lydia once she walked on ahead of the group. We followed behind and as we walked deeper into the forest, the light of the moon was soon blocked by the treetops above us.

“No. My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck.” Just as Sophia said those words, everything seemed to have become darker. “Well, I didn't mean that literally.”

I had tried to light my hand on fire again but it was extremely cold for me to do so. After the fifth attempt, I gave up and put my hands into my pockets for warmth.

“That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it.” Lydia complained.

“Hey!” I shouted at the person who pushed me.

“I didn't see you there, my apologies.” It was Sophia who apologized.

“Right here…” Rachael said to which was followed by a disgusting squelch or squish. “Guh…” She said in disgust.

“Oh wait, I think I stepped in somethin'.” Jacqueline said. Just as she said this, I felt the bottom of my shoe sink an inch into the ground.

“I think I did too.” I replied but continued on walking, ignoring the horrendous filling of mud seeping into my shoes. Without warning, Angie let out a terrified scream and this caught the attention of all of us.

“It's just mud.” I told Angie. She shook her head and simply pointed to the left of her. Looking towards where she pointed at, I was greeted with a scary face carved onto a tree.

I walked over to it before looking at the trees surrounding us, seeing the same face growing more and more grotesque as I looked on. All of a sudden, Dianne had appeared in front of the tree I stood next to.

“Wow, the unoriginality on these are off the charts.” She said before seeing the rest of the face carved trees. “Seriously, it's like she isn't even trying?” She grumbled the last part, leaving confused.

“Okay?” I said in confusion. She looked back at the tree and took a very deep breath.

“Things that bother you never bother me! I feel happy and fine, AHA! Livin' in the sunlight!
Lovin' in the moonlight!
Having a wonderful time!” She yelled in a singing song fashion that had made her look and sound hilarious. Her normal happy go lucky smile was replaced shortly by a furious look.

By the distant sound of laughter, I could tell that the group found this oddly funny as well. I mean, I did too knowing the song she just yelled was supposed to be one of joy and happiness but she expressed it in the most ironic way possible.

It's almost as if an illusion was being broken around us, the trees grotesque faces soon vanished while the darkness around us was lit up from the moonlight. After everyone had stopped laughing, which took longer than one would expect, we began to resume our trek towards the ancient castle.

As we walked, the distant sound of flowing water echoed and was coming from up ahead. Ignoring the feeling of dread, I followed the girls as we spotted a river. I made sure to keep myself away from the very edge of the river while making sure no one noticed me doing so.

“How are we supposed to get pass this? The current is way too violent.” Lydia said in an informative tone. It looked Dianne had an idea but wasn't able to tell it as the distant cries of despair sounded from our right.

Oddly enough, it was a tall giant that made those cries as he stomped the waters in sheer disgust to something. The Giant's attire appeared as if he was a fashion enthusiast and his mullet was a golden blonde. Lydia was the first to speak as she walked closer to the giant.

“Excuse me, Sir? Why are you crying?” Asked Lydia while everyone caught up behind her. The Giant turned and looked down at us before answering m

“Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid.” Said the Giant before sobbing into his hands almost comically.

“Is he serious? This has to be a joke.” I told Rachael.

“If only.” She groaned.

“So that's what this fuss is about?” Jacquie groaned as well while Dianne and Angie stared with a blank expression.

“Why, of course it is. How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such smooth and unblemished skin.” Sophia said, gesturing towards the Giant.

“I know.” The Giant said with a sniff.

“And your expertly coiffed hair.” Sophia kept speaking towards the Giant.

“Oh, I know, I know.” The Giant said with a loud sob.

“Your fabulous manicure.” Sophia said, looking at the Giant’s nails.

“It's so true!” The Giant said with another sob.

“All ruined without your beautiful mustache.” This caused the Giant to finally break into tears again.

“It's true, I'm hideous!” The Giant said between loud sobs.

“I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected.” Sophia said with a hint of determination.

“But it's just facial hair.” I said out loud only to be ignored by both Sophia and the Giant. “It'll just grow back.” I grumbled to myself with an annoyed frown.

“This is sooo not cool.” Rachael groaned just as a loud snip was heard from Sophia. Looking back at the fashionista, I was surprised to see her long ponytail missing.

“Oh-hohohoho! My mustache. How wonderful.” On the Giant's face was the cut off hair attached onto his face, replacing his torn mustache.

“This isn't like you, Sophia. You'd normally rather die than mess your hair up.” Rachael commented. Sophia gave somewhat of a forced smile.

“Oh don't worry, hair grows back and I've heard short hair is back in season.” She said before looking at the now calm river. “Now let's keep moving.” She said. Those words caught the attention of the twenty foot Giant.

“Allow me.” Said the Giant as he bent down and picked up large log and placing down, making sure it was on the ground at the other side as well. Sophia thanked the Giant, so did Dianne and Angie.

I only gave him a friendly wave but was still annoyed at the situation we were just in. The girls walked across the log without delay while I simply looked at the moving water before taking a large gulp of air and carefully walked across. Once I was across, I felt my entire body shiver in fear over what could've happened.

“Hey, slowpoke!” Rachael yelled. I looked up and saw that she along with the others had gone farther away. “Come on!” She yelled. Taking a deep breath, I sprinted towards the rest and caught up with them the span thirty seconds.

Once I did catch up with them, the ancient castle came into view. I wasn't the only one who saw this by the sound of Lydia’s excited voice.

“There it is, the ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony. We made it!” Lydia exclaimed in excitement before beginning to.run towards the castle.

“Lydia, wait for us!” Shouted Jacquie as we all tried to catch up with her but stopped as we saw the edge of a cliff. After seeing this, I kept sprinting.

“We're almost the- Whoa!” She yelled as she tried to balance herself but to no avail and slipped. I reached towards her right hand and took a firm hold of it before pulling her back, causing me to fall onto the ground on my back with Lydia on top of me.

“Developed a fetish for falling?” I joked, earning a frown from the woman on top of me before she stood up.

“Now what?” Dianne said with a frustrated sigh. Rachael looked down at her feet and saw the untied rope for the the other post on the other side.

“Duh.” She said with the rope in hand. I gave her deadpan look as she held the rope.

“You don't even know how to tie a knot. You avoid shoelaces like if was some sort of a disease.” I told her with my arms crossed. This made the athletic skyborn frown while blushing in embarrassment.

“I practiced and I'll prove it.” She said before spreading her wings and flying across the large gap. As she flew, a thick layer of fog settled in.

“Odd, it isn't that cold.” Lydia noted while I stood, shivering from the sudden shift in the temperature.

“S-says y-y-you.” I stuttered out. Lydia looked back at me with a questioning glance.

“You okay, Icy.” Asked Dianne. I glared at her use of the nickname.

“I'm tired and cold as balls, I'm far from okay.” I said, managing to not stutter my words. “When I get back home I'm taking a hot shower.” I said to no one in particular.

“I think I'll second that.” Jacquie said with a raise of her hand.

“I just want to lay down. I've had too much excitement in one day.” Angie said in her usual quiet tone. We continued to wait while conversing with one another, though Lydia wanted no part of the conversation as she would ignore any and all of our questions about her.

“What's taking her so long?” Lydia said with frown as she stood in front of the bridge. Looking towards the thick layer of fog, I narrowed my eyes as I caught a glimpse of four silhouettes. One silhouette took flight and Rachael appeared from the fog.

“Pfft, like I'd ever leave my friends hanging.” Muttered the Skyborn athlete. She looked crossed with whatever happened at the other side of the bridge but said nothing, only mentioning how she'd never leave her friends hanging for something so selfish, whatever that something may be.

After cautiously making our way across the bridge and calming down Angie from her fear of heights. She was never interested in flying and often chooses to walk but seeing the large chasm below the bridge must've really frightened her.

After a short trek from the bridge, we had finally arrived at the ancient castle and by the looks of it, it has been abandoned for ages. I let out a loud sneeze as the dust fell from the broken roof, earning me an angered shush from Lydia.

“A simple bless you is too much to ask from you, isn't it.” I muttered as I wiped my nose. We had been going from room to room in search of the Elements of Harmony only for our search to be a failure. At least it was until we arrived at the large throne room, seeing five hanging stone orbs on the ceiling as if they were chandeliers.

“Are these it?” Dianne said, pointing towards the stones above. Lydia’s eyes grew wide as dinner plates.

“Yes! Hurry, get them down from there.” She said, using her magic to grab one and safely pull it out of its restraints. Rachael flew up and release the very chains that held the stones up before landing and putting it on the ground. Jacquie picked up the first one from the ground while Rachael brought down another one, to which Dianne took hold of. This went on until all five of the orbs were safely placed on the ground in a circle.

“There's only five here.” I said before looking at Lydia with raised brow. “I thought you said there were six of them.” I told her.

“The book said: when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.” Lydia said with a worried look.

“These are just rocks. What are we supposed to do, bash the crazy bitch with them?” I asked, frustrated to see that our journey through the forest was all for a few stone balls.

“Of course not!” Lydia retorted with an angered look. “Just… Just let me do something and stand back.” With that she raised both her hands towards the stones orbs. Her hands began glowing a lavender color.

Without warning, the midnight blue mist appeared behind Lydia as an armored hand took a firm hold of her shoulder. I was the first to react and ran as fast as I could only to slip into the mist along with Lydia and all five of the orbs.

A sudden urge to vomit overpowered the pain of hitting the cold hard floor once I was thrown onto the ground. I opened my eyes before groaning and saw the shattered stone orbs.

“Did you honestly think I'd allow you to defeat me so easily?” This was the voice of Nightmare. Looking towards the direction she spoke from, I saw Lydia lying on ground unconscious with the tip of Nightmare’s sword just inches away from her neck. “I mean really, I've only allowed you and your friends to live for the sake of my own amusement.”

“Sta-stalker much?” I said between groans, earning her attention. Her glare softened for a mere second before becoming cold again.

“I've had enough of you, it's time I show my sister the error of her ways.” With that she raised her swords, ready to strike and as she swung down I let loose large breath of fire that had managed to push her away from Lydia’s unconscious form. I weakly stood up before rolling my shoulders and hearing both of them crack. “Why you little brat!” Yelled Nightmare as she suddenly appeared in front of me and with wave of her hand, took hold of me in a dark blue aura before throwing me against the wall. I howled in pain as I felt my entire body hit the stone wall. I took another deep breath but Nightmare stopped me by covering both my mouth and nose. I began to struggle to break free from her grip as I felt the air in my lungs sucked out of me. Her grin was sick and twisted and she held her sword up, ready to end me but howled in pain instead and it was followed by a familiar roar.

I was dropped onto the ground with my back against the wall and began slipping into unconsciousness but before I did, caught a glimpse of the assailant.

I couldn't help but smile weakly before blacking out. It felt like seconds when I opened my eyes again but it was actually than that as I saw the girls wearing strange necklaces except for Lydia, who wore a tiara. Nightmare stood with shocked expression before everything went black once again. Like before, I slipped back into consciousness only to see woman in white looking at me with worry in her eyes

~Ω~

“And that's basically it.” I finished retelling yesterday's events. I waited for a reply but only heard a sigh.

‘You could've died, you know.’ The womanly voice said with a stern tone.

“You say that about everything I do.” I said with a deadpan tone as I sat up on my bed.

‘Because everything you do is dangerous and idiotic.’ Replied the womanly voice, I could feel her roll her eyes as she did. ‘I did not help raise you to be some sort of daredevil.’

“Yeah, thanks mom.” I said in a mock tone as I stood up from my bed. I moved the my left arm slightly, adjusting the strap that kept my arm up. “How long do I have to wear this? My arm is getting itchy and it bothers me that I can't scratch it.”

‘The Doctor said that your arm should be fine by this afternoon. So get used to it, you still have a few hours before you can take it off.’ The womanly voice said informatively as I looked over to the door, absentmindedly trying to scratch the itch only to feel the cast.

“I'm going to eat now.” Was all I said as I opened the door and left, leaving the door ajar.

Author's Note

To those of you wondering why Dianne sang a part of Running in the Sunlight, click this Link and watch the whole thing. It's like a minute long.

Anyway, this is edited by my long time friends and trusted editors CommanderWolffe and Dragonoidsix Seekers.

Hope you're enjoying the story so far.